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I did a lot of walking - the weather has been gorgeous. I don't mean to rub it in here, but all that awfulness the rest of you have been experiencing has basically missed us, with the exception of some rain here and there. (Hint - come and visit me!) My son was in a Regional History Bee. He did not advance on to National, but it was a pretty intense but fun experience. Sort of like Jeopardy, with buzzers and stuff. I golfed on Thursday, despite the fact that it was nippy and VERY WINDY. Only four of us showed up, but dammit we hit that ball! I had lunch with a long-lost friend who moved away and is now back n town again. And Valentines Day was supposed to have been celebrated Friday night by going to some friends' house, but the hubby came home from work with the flu. Yep, that was special. So I drank my champagne, ordered in pizza, took a bath and fell asleep reading. Bah.
So this is kinda cool. A girl from my daughter's high school qualified for the top 30 on American Idol. Her name is Emily Piriz. She is really GOOD! We are very proud of her. We don't get much celebrity action around here.
So I finally finished "Winter's Tale" by Mark Helprin. I know this is a "beloved" work of fiction, and it did hold my attention, at least enough for me to finish it. But it just did not deliver in the end. I was waiting for some revelation, but it never came. What I got instead was a bloated stream of weirdness. Very strange magical realism, which I'm not against if it makes sense. And the writing, which has been praised to the hilt, to me just sounded like the author was in love with his smartness. Ack! The movie released on Friday and got 13% on Rotten Tomatoes. So. I will probably see the movie if I get the chance, but how disappointing.
After that experience, I grabbed something short. I am now (slowly) reading "Fight Club". I adore the movie, and while I like the book, I think maybe the movie is even better. I should wrap that up fairly soon.
On audio I finished "Zealot", a book about the historical life of Jesus, versus Jesus of the Bible, which was a bit of a mind-blower. I have no idea whether everything this guy says is true (alas, I am not a Bible scholar) but he sounded like he knew what he was talking about and I was willing to listen. My husband wouldn't hear any of it though. There were some challenging ideas in there. I like to have my brain tickled.
I'm now close to finishing "The Raven Boys" by Maggie Stiefvater. And wow. I had actually downloaded this from the library awhile back when Jill raved about it, and didn't get to it. I'm glad I tried again, because I love the story and I love the narrator. Which is a shocker because I usually have plenty of disdain for these kinds of books. I think this is the first of four books (of course) and I couldn't be happier.
Not sure what I'll be doing for the rest of the day. Definitely a couple hours at the animal shelter. My son and I talked about going to the shooting range with my dad...will see if my son can actually find his way out of his room today. And my son also has tomorrow off from school, so somewhere in the next 24 hours, I predict a movie. Hope you all have a great Sunday!
14 comments:
Well and yes, I raved about Zealot also! LOL I took 3 courses at a seminary (as you may recall, not because you were THERE, or even BORN, no doubt, but because I probably mentioned it) but anyway, everything he says in Zealot is fully in accord with everything I was taught.
I'd like to know what you think is nippy! We've had subzero days and nights or else a gazillion inches of snow. I'll take Florida's idea of nippy.
We'll be getting some of that glorious weather this week so I'll be coming for you on fitbit! lol
I'm supposed to go see Winter's Tale with a friend on Tuesday. I'm not sure it's for me but she's always game when I want to see something lame so I'm going along for the ride.
When I mention Zealot to C.J. who is much more of a biblical scholar than I ever was and who studied the ancient world in college, he basically dismissed it as Bible Studies 101 stuff. Apparently, it's pretty much all old news.
However, much of it was new to me.
Isn't Raven Boys awesome?! I love the actor Will Patton, who reads it - have for years. I downloaded the sequel from Audible and am hoping to listen soon.
We had gorgeous weather on Friday and Saturday but I'm still getting rid of a cold so I didn't do any bike riding. And, of course today looks all gloomy. Bleh.
Hope your hubby feels better soon!
I'm sort of tempted to read Winter's Tale but well aren't there always a million books that tempt us! Have a great Sunday!
I'm so jealous of your weather. I could live with the cold temperatures better if my kids didn't keep giving me germs. :) I was well for four days between colds this time and the one I have now comes with a horrid cough. My theory is we haven't built up immunities to the Ohio versions of these sicknesses yet.
I haven't read Winter's Tale yet, but I've had that happen with books that everyone else loves. In particular I'm thinking of Simon Van Booy. I was expecting to love his writing because everyone else seemed to, but I hated it.
Emily is really, really good! How exciting! Someone from our choir made it to Hollywood once but was eliminated right after she got there.
I was a spelling bee champ too! Thinking back, it's surprising how intense it all felt.
I liked this post. I love reading all my book review buddies' blogs but sometimes I just want to know what they're up to during the week. I like the idea of a Sunday wrap up / look ahead. Like some of the previous posters, I was a spelling bee champ too! I think it's probably pretty common among book lovers. Have a great week.
13% on Rotten Tomatoes! That's pretty bad. I kind of want to see it more now... but will probably wait until it comes out on DVD.
Thanks for the heads up about Winters Tale. I think I'll avoid it after getting way too big of a dose of magical realism in 100 Years of Solitude. I thought Fight Club was really good but it is one of the few books where I actually think the movie was better! I'm curious about Zealot now too.
I'm so jealous of your weather. This has been way too long of a winter for me and no surprise we are getting snow today. Ugggh.
Hope you have a good week.
Very cool about your son and the classmate on Idol. AND the good weather. You are living the life :) I knew nothing about Winter's Tale before Jason and I saw the movie on Valentine's Day. I was pleasantly surprised by it (but I did have two glasses of wine with dinner beforehand, so it's a judgement call) :)
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