Food is not supposed to be a soother. I’ve tried desperately in the last year to stop looking at it that way. It’s food, not a favorite blankie. But today was kind of a day, and this week has been a mix of good and frustrating and all hands on deck 24/7 coupled with insomnia, and when I can sleep there are vivid nightmares, and I didn’t get to see Piper today which is one of the only reasons I’m even sort of sane every other day of the week. Oh, and I’m not packed for our trip to Athens tomorrow. And Sammy loves working down to where he’s only nursing four hours a day so much (yes people, I said down) that he head butted me in the sternum four times. And it hurts. Plus I spent 30 minutes with children having my on-line banking password reset only to have it lock me out anyway when I tried to sign in again. So, I’m going to get gluten-free, dairy-free, coconut ice cream. I’m eating it all in one sitting. And I am not feeling guilty.* Forget the blankie; I’ll rest easy with my food.
*I know this is not an interesting post. I’m writing it to remind myself why I shouldn’t feel guilty when I start to feel guilty after I eat all the ice cream.
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Saturday, August 18, 2012
Book Review Part 3
1000 Days: The Ministry of Christ -Jonathan Fallwell
Non-fiction
This was a great book about Jesus’ time on earth during his ministry. Simple, straight forward, and in language that’s easy to understand whether a person is well versed in the Bible or not, I enjoyed it. It takes you back to the basics of what Jesus said to do and the example He set.
The Newlyweds-Nell Freudenburger
Ficton
I’ve read everything by Freudenburger. This is her second novel, and she has a collection of short stories that were published before anything else. Her writing style is simple yet intricate, and her books always take the readers on a journey, this time from the U.S. to Bangladesh. This story is about a couple who marry only to realize they don’t know as much about each other, or maybe even themselves, as they thought. It’s a great study in how our cultures, our pasts, and our desires can conflict with the life we’ve created. Very good book.
Memoirs of Pontius Pilate-James Miller
Fiction
Dennis read this one after I did because I told him how good it was. This book is a fictional account of the time of Christ from the perspective of Pontius Pilate. From what I know of history at that time, it seemed accurate, and being able to get into Pilate’s head, even through another author’s view of what he might have thought, really was incredible. Some questions I had about why certain things happened during that time were given possible explanations when looked at from the eyes of others involved. Ultimately, as Christ is about to be crucified and the reader knows it’s going to happen and knows it has to happen, it’s hard to feel anything but one emotion: don’t let it happen. Dennis and I walked away from this book so grateful for what Christ did for us and so saddened it had to come that. This was a very sad book, and I highly recommend it anyway.
A Moveable Feast-Ernest Hemingway
Fiction
Hemingway’s account of life in 1920s Paris is both entertaining and informative. Whether he meant this book to be taken as fact or if he embellished is still up for debate, but it’s a good read either way. Hemingway’s straight forward style paired with interesting characters like Gertrude Stein, the Fitzgerald’s and more helped me finish this book in one night.
Non-fiction
This was a great book about Jesus’ time on earth during his ministry. Simple, straight forward, and in language that’s easy to understand whether a person is well versed in the Bible or not, I enjoyed it. It takes you back to the basics of what Jesus said to do and the example He set.
The Newlyweds-Nell Freudenburger
Ficton
I’ve read everything by Freudenburger. This is her second novel, and she has a collection of short stories that were published before anything else. Her writing style is simple yet intricate, and her books always take the readers on a journey, this time from the U.S. to Bangladesh. This story is about a couple who marry only to realize they don’t know as much about each other, or maybe even themselves, as they thought. It’s a great study in how our cultures, our pasts, and our desires can conflict with the life we’ve created. Very good book.
Memoirs of Pontius Pilate-James Miller
Fiction
Dennis read this one after I did because I told him how good it was. This book is a fictional account of the time of Christ from the perspective of Pontius Pilate. From what I know of history at that time, it seemed accurate, and being able to get into Pilate’s head, even through another author’s view of what he might have thought, really was incredible. Some questions I had about why certain things happened during that time were given possible explanations when looked at from the eyes of others involved. Ultimately, as Christ is about to be crucified and the reader knows it’s going to happen and knows it has to happen, it’s hard to feel anything but one emotion: don’t let it happen. Dennis and I walked away from this book so grateful for what Christ did for us and so saddened it had to come that. This was a very sad book, and I highly recommend it anyway.
A Moveable Feast-Ernest Hemingway
Fiction
Hemingway’s account of life in 1920s Paris is both entertaining and informative. Whether he meant this book to be taken as fact or if he embellished is still up for debate, but it’s a good read either way. Hemingway’s straight forward style paired with interesting characters like Gertrude Stein, the Fitzgerald’s and more helped me finish this book in one night.
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Because You Can’t Make This Stuff Up
A couple of weeks ago it was High Maintenance Toddler Week in our household. I’m not sure if anyone else’s children participated, but mine were in rare form. I blamed the full moon.
Is there a chance this Mars landing I keep hearing about had some kind of effect on the brains of toddlers as well? With only a week break, High Maintenance Toddler Week Part 2 is under way. Let me share a vision of what a day with two, we’ll assume environmentally affected, children under four is like.
Tuesday, August 14th
Popping out of bed like gluten-free pop tarts from the toaster, the two precious angels began burping and bouncing on my head to awaken me. There’s nothing like a child landing on your head then saying, “Oops, I farted!” to really get you ready to move.
I decided to give them the choice between the splash pad or the mall for some it’s-over-100-degrees-again fun. They chose the splash pad, so I told them to hustle because mama burns after 11.
I must say Wren can hustle if it means going to the splash pad. Sammy mistook the word hustle for bend over, touch my toes, find my crack, stick my finger in it. After unsuccessful negotiations that included reminding him how much he liked the splash pad and how much he would not enjoy e.coli, I decided just to tackle him. He didn’t so much like that, so he wiggled away, grabbed his sister’s water glass and prepared to launch it. Now, this kid has broken more glasses than I can count, so I was ready for this. Grabbing under both arms, I put him in the you’re-under-arrest pose and clamped his wrists preparing to take the glass from his hand. Believing I had temporarily immobilized his upper half, I went to grab the glass just as he almost motionlessly flicked his wrist sending the glass sailing across the room. I’m an optimist, so I thought we were still good. It was going to land on the carpet. And it did, but it hit at just the right angle to shatter into a million pieces anyway. So much for hustle. (Why do my kids drink from glass cups instead of plastic? Because I don’t trust plastic, and the oldest never threw things. The stainless steel cups were in the dishwasher, and I had no intention of Sammy actually getting Wren’s glass.)
After cleaning up what we could find of the glass, we headed to the splash pad. That was actually fun. Kids, water, heat that can cause anyone but a Texan to pass out, these are all ingredients for fun on a random Tuesday. We actually had a lull in high maintenance activity until we attempted to get back to the car. That’s when the little one went rogue. Instead of following the concrete path that led to the parking lot, he shot off to the left for the grass that eventually leads to the road. I can’t 100% tell you what he was thinking, but I’ll do my best.
Sammy’s brain thoughts: Hmmm, everyone is walking on this concrete, but I’m not a sheep. Forget the herd, I’m making my own way in this world. I’m headed for the grass! Yeah, grass! Run, run, run! I’m so free…wait, this grass has not been watered. It hurts. Is this even grass? It feels like a million tiny needles pricking my tiny, delicate feet. I want to be a sheep, put me back on the concrete, I hate grass!!! How can I get everyone’s attention? Oh, yeah…scream! Now just stand here and scream. There’s no need to walk back to the concrete myself. That woman who nurses me needs to learn her place. Come get me woman, get me off the grass! I will keep screaming!
If you’re wondering why I was taking so long to retrieve my son from the grass, it’s not because I wasn’t trying. Unfortunately, while running to grab him I found another piece of glass from this morning’s incident. It was in my foot surrounded by blood. The pain slowed me down a bit.
We made it to the car and I gave them almond bread so everyone’s mouths would be too full to say things like: “Can we stay at the splash pad forever?” “Meat!!!”(that’s how Sammy asks to be nursed) “I don’t want to go home.” “Is there fruit in your bag?” It worked. I was able to bleed into my sandal in peace.
When we arrived home I thought maybe we hadn’t done a bang up job of removing glass from the carpet. I grabbed the vacuum and the carpet shampooer. I had no intentions of digging glass out of people’s parts for the next week.
Shampooing the carpet is always an interesting family time. I shampoo, the kids run in front of the shampooer attempting to lose toes. At the very least, it keeps them happy. For some reason, they bored of that game after ten minutes, so they disappeared into the office. Not to sound ungrateful because I love attempting to hit my children with a carpet shampooer, but I was sort of glad for the quiet and for how fast I could vacuum when no one dove in front of me. I did not check to see what activity had drawn them to the office. In hindsight, that was a mistake.
So pleased with myself for shampooing the carpet while caring for two kids, I made my way to the office and found a crime scene drawing of cookie monster on the floor. Blue crayon, light carpet, it looked like Cookie had one too many macaroons and met his end sometime around noon.
Me: “Who drew on the carpet?”
Wren: “Sammy.”
Me: “Remember how I said I would rather you tell me the truth even if I don’t like it instead of lie?”
Wren: “Okay, maybe I helped.”
In the end, I have no idea who wielded the blue crayon. The carpet shampooer was already out, so I guess it didn’t really matter.
Finally, we prepared for nap. When I say we I mean me. Sammy eventually gave in. Wren did not. Somehow we all still survived the afternoon and I escaped to work that night without giving Daddy much of a hint of what he was walking in to. He can just think I’m awesome for cleaning the carpet.
Is there a chance this Mars landing I keep hearing about had some kind of effect on the brains of toddlers as well? With only a week break, High Maintenance Toddler Week Part 2 is under way. Let me share a vision of what a day with two, we’ll assume environmentally affected, children under four is like.
Tuesday, August 14th
Popping out of bed like gluten-free pop tarts from the toaster, the two precious angels began burping and bouncing on my head to awaken me. There’s nothing like a child landing on your head then saying, “Oops, I farted!” to really get you ready to move.
I decided to give them the choice between the splash pad or the mall for some it’s-over-100-degrees-again fun. They chose the splash pad, so I told them to hustle because mama burns after 11.
I must say Wren can hustle if it means going to the splash pad. Sammy mistook the word hustle for bend over, touch my toes, find my crack, stick my finger in it. After unsuccessful negotiations that included reminding him how much he liked the splash pad and how much he would not enjoy e.coli, I decided just to tackle him. He didn’t so much like that, so he wiggled away, grabbed his sister’s water glass and prepared to launch it. Now, this kid has broken more glasses than I can count, so I was ready for this. Grabbing under both arms, I put him in the you’re-under-arrest pose and clamped his wrists preparing to take the glass from his hand. Believing I had temporarily immobilized his upper half, I went to grab the glass just as he almost motionlessly flicked his wrist sending the glass sailing across the room. I’m an optimist, so I thought we were still good. It was going to land on the carpet. And it did, but it hit at just the right angle to shatter into a million pieces anyway. So much for hustle. (Why do my kids drink from glass cups instead of plastic? Because I don’t trust plastic, and the oldest never threw things. The stainless steel cups were in the dishwasher, and I had no intention of Sammy actually getting Wren’s glass.)
After cleaning up what we could find of the glass, we headed to the splash pad. That was actually fun. Kids, water, heat that can cause anyone but a Texan to pass out, these are all ingredients for fun on a random Tuesday. We actually had a lull in high maintenance activity until we attempted to get back to the car. That’s when the little one went rogue. Instead of following the concrete path that led to the parking lot, he shot off to the left for the grass that eventually leads to the road. I can’t 100% tell you what he was thinking, but I’ll do my best.
Sammy’s brain thoughts: Hmmm, everyone is walking on this concrete, but I’m not a sheep. Forget the herd, I’m making my own way in this world. I’m headed for the grass! Yeah, grass! Run, run, run! I’m so free…wait, this grass has not been watered. It hurts. Is this even grass? It feels like a million tiny needles pricking my tiny, delicate feet. I want to be a sheep, put me back on the concrete, I hate grass!!! How can I get everyone’s attention? Oh, yeah…scream! Now just stand here and scream. There’s no need to walk back to the concrete myself. That woman who nurses me needs to learn her place. Come get me woman, get me off the grass! I will keep screaming!
If you’re wondering why I was taking so long to retrieve my son from the grass, it’s not because I wasn’t trying. Unfortunately, while running to grab him I found another piece of glass from this morning’s incident. It was in my foot surrounded by blood. The pain slowed me down a bit.
We made it to the car and I gave them almond bread so everyone’s mouths would be too full to say things like: “Can we stay at the splash pad forever?” “Meat!!!”(that’s how Sammy asks to be nursed) “I don’t want to go home.” “Is there fruit in your bag?” It worked. I was able to bleed into my sandal in peace.
When we arrived home I thought maybe we hadn’t done a bang up job of removing glass from the carpet. I grabbed the vacuum and the carpet shampooer. I had no intentions of digging glass out of people’s parts for the next week.
Shampooing the carpet is always an interesting family time. I shampoo, the kids run in front of the shampooer attempting to lose toes. At the very least, it keeps them happy. For some reason, they bored of that game after ten minutes, so they disappeared into the office. Not to sound ungrateful because I love attempting to hit my children with a carpet shampooer, but I was sort of glad for the quiet and for how fast I could vacuum when no one dove in front of me. I did not check to see what activity had drawn them to the office. In hindsight, that was a mistake.
So pleased with myself for shampooing the carpet while caring for two kids, I made my way to the office and found a crime scene drawing of cookie monster on the floor. Blue crayon, light carpet, it looked like Cookie had one too many macaroons and met his end sometime around noon.
Me: “Who drew on the carpet?”
Wren: “Sammy.”
Me: “Remember how I said I would rather you tell me the truth even if I don’t like it instead of lie?”
Wren: “Okay, maybe I helped.”
In the end, I have no idea who wielded the blue crayon. The carpet shampooer was already out, so I guess it didn’t really matter.
Finally, we prepared for nap. When I say we I mean me. Sammy eventually gave in. Wren did not. Somehow we all still survived the afternoon and I escaped to work that night without giving Daddy much of a hint of what he was walking in to. He can just think I’m awesome for cleaning the carpet.
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Book Review Part 2
What Alice Forgot-Liane Moriarty
Fiction
This may have been my favorite summer read. Recommended by a woman from church who helps run a book club, this book was uplifting, hilarious, and thought provoking all at the same time. I prayed for
my children to take longer naps when I was reading this book so I could devour it as fast as possible, then I was sad when I finished reading it because it was over. It was that kind of book.
Alice wakes up after passing out at the gym believing she is 29, passionately in love with her husband, and pregnant with their first child. Those were her last memories before she blacked out. But actually, the bump on her head lost her ten years: she is 39, has three kids, and is in the middle of an ugly divorce. Confused and determined to get her life back, Alice embarks on figuring out what happened during those ten years. With a strong voice, real characters, and a dose of humor, Moriarty shows us how we can get from one place in our life to another, and that the journeys we take can lead us to places we never planned on going. Amazing, awesome, stop reading this and go grab this book!
Bossypants-Tina Fey
Biography
I’ve never really watched much Saturday Night Live because we don’t have TV, and if I am up that late I’m usually reading or nursing someone. The cover of Tina Fey’s Bossypants is what drew me in. I figured anyone whose book cracked me up from the cover and the descriptions on the back was worth a read. Plus, I’ll admit, at this point I was getting worried about making it to twelve books, so I was looking for a fast read. This did not look like a book that causes one to think exceptionally hard, and it wasn’t. It was hilarious though. Good fun, and not completely void of insight.
The Forgotten Waltz-Anne Enright
Fiction
I found this title on Novellist or some other search engine I use to introduce me to new authors who I might not have heard of but who are making a name for themselves with solid literature. Enright is Irish which caught my attention because of William Trevor, an Irish author whose literature I fell head over heals in love with in college. The Forgotten Waltz follows the protagonist’s affair as well as her life leading up to it. The writing is clean, the story was good in the sense that it was not manipulative. No contrived surprises, no
drawing a reader in for the big boom at the end. It was well written enough to stand alone as the story it was written to be. The book was real and strong and I will definitely read more from Enright.
Fairy Tale Interrupted-Rosemarie Terenzio
Non-fiction
Once again, I judged a book by its cover. John F. Kennedy Jr. and Caroline Bessett Kennedy adorn the cover of this one, and it is told by Kennedy’s assistant for the last few years of his life, Terenzio. This was also a quick read and chronicled Kennedy’s time at George, the magazine he founded. It was nice to hear about this beautiful power couple from someone who knew them both pretty well. I remember where I was when the plane carrying JFK, Jr., Caroline, and Caroline’s sister Lauren went down, and this book brings back those feelings of sadness and loss. Terenzio weaves in the story of her life and how it intersected and was forever changed by her relationship with Kennedy.
Next up:
The Ministry of Christ 1000 Days-Jonathan Fallwell
The Newlyweds-Nell Freudenburger
Memoirs of Pontius Pilate-James Miller
A Moveable Feast-Ernest Hemingway
Fiction
This may have been my favorite summer read. Recommended by a woman from church who helps run a book club, this book was uplifting, hilarious, and thought provoking all at the same time. I prayed for
my children to take longer naps when I was reading this book so I could devour it as fast as possible, then I was sad when I finished reading it because it was over. It was that kind of book.
Alice wakes up after passing out at the gym believing she is 29, passionately in love with her husband, and pregnant with their first child. Those were her last memories before she blacked out. But actually, the bump on her head lost her ten years: she is 39, has three kids, and is in the middle of an ugly divorce. Confused and determined to get her life back, Alice embarks on figuring out what happened during those ten years. With a strong voice, real characters, and a dose of humor, Moriarty shows us how we can get from one place in our life to another, and that the journeys we take can lead us to places we never planned on going. Amazing, awesome, stop reading this and go grab this book!
Bossypants-Tina Fey
Biography
I’ve never really watched much Saturday Night Live because we don’t have TV, and if I am up that late I’m usually reading or nursing someone. The cover of Tina Fey’s Bossypants is what drew me in. I figured anyone whose book cracked me up from the cover and the descriptions on the back was worth a read. Plus, I’ll admit, at this point I was getting worried about making it to twelve books, so I was looking for a fast read. This did not look like a book that causes one to think exceptionally hard, and it wasn’t. It was hilarious though. Good fun, and not completely void of insight.
The Forgotten Waltz-Anne Enright
Fiction
I found this title on Novellist or some other search engine I use to introduce me to new authors who I might not have heard of but who are making a name for themselves with solid literature. Enright is Irish which caught my attention because of William Trevor, an Irish author whose literature I fell head over heals in love with in college. The Forgotten Waltz follows the protagonist’s affair as well as her life leading up to it. The writing is clean, the story was good in the sense that it was not manipulative. No contrived surprises, no
drawing a reader in for the big boom at the end. It was well written enough to stand alone as the story it was written to be. The book was real and strong and I will definitely read more from Enright.
Fairy Tale Interrupted-Rosemarie Terenzio
Non-fiction
Once again, I judged a book by its cover. John F. Kennedy Jr. and Caroline Bessett Kennedy adorn the cover of this one, and it is told by Kennedy’s assistant for the last few years of his life, Terenzio. This was also a quick read and chronicled Kennedy’s time at George, the magazine he founded. It was nice to hear about this beautiful power couple from someone who knew them both pretty well. I remember where I was when the plane carrying JFK, Jr., Caroline, and Caroline’s sister Lauren went down, and this book brings back those feelings of sadness and loss. Terenzio weaves in the story of her life and how it intersected and was forever changed by her relationship with Kennedy.
Next up:
The Ministry of Christ 1000 Days-Jonathan Fallwell
The Newlyweds-Nell Freudenburger
Memoirs of Pontius Pilate-James Miller
A Moveable Feast-Ernest Hemingway
Saturday, August 4, 2012
Summer Book Review
I am continuing grad school starting at the end of this month, so I decided to have one last hurrah while I was free to read what I chose instead of what the syllabus says I must. I’ve spent the last two months devouring books to complete my goals for the two summer reading programs I signed up for, and I made it! I read 12 books in two months while caring for two children, keeping the romance alive with one husband, cooking seven roasts, running my son to the potty 1800 hundred times so he could pee for 1.4 seconds and then scream “Bye pee-pee”, and sleeping at least six hours a night. This may be my biggest lifetime accomplishment so far. As practice for grad school, I am reviewing these twelve books on the blog. As a Library Science major, I’m going to be forced to do this in three weeks anyway, so might as well give it a shot while I’m not under duress. I’ll review them four at a time and would love to hear other reading recommendations for when I am free to read my own choices again at Christmas break.
While I was Gone bySue Miller
Fiction
This was my first book by Miller. Part mystery, part a tale of marriage and family, this story explores how your past can land in your present with chaotic results. Very enjoyable, some violence, a good book that keeps you reading to find out what happens.
The Last Nude-Avery Ellis
Fiction
This book combined with watching Midnight in Paris began our newest obsession: 1920s Paris, the lost generation. I am now reading The Sun Also Rises and The Paris Wife, and am planning on diving into F. Scott Fitzgerald's books next.
Ellis' book centers around 1920s Paris, the artist Tamara de Lempicka and her muse. This book is fiction, but it has a historical fiction feel to it. Several characters from Hemingway’s A Moveable Feast appear here as well. Passion, betrayal, and an overall sense of Paris as a paradise and also a kind of hell to exist in during this time period kept me reading. There are highly charged, somewhat intricately described sex scenes, which I wasn’t expecting since I knew nothing about 1920s Paris, but they aren’t what the book is about as much as it is about relationships, trust, and what people will do to survive. This is not 50 Shades of Grey 1920s style for those of you who are like me and trying to avoid that.
Gone, Baby, Gone-Dennis Lehane
Fiction
This book is hard to give an accurate review of because I have mixed feelings. I could not put this book down, which is a warning that you may not want to pick it up in the first place. Lehane creates a mystery involving missing children, corrupt systems, and two private investigators who have not always made the most by-the-book decisions. Combined with his descriptions of Boston and characters you care about a little too much, Gone, Baby, Gone is unforgettable. It’s so unforgettable that I will never read anything by Lehane again.
I have a very sensitive mind, and when an image lands in my brain, it settles. Disturbing images have a special way of doing this. Violence against children, some very unsettling freaks, and Lehane’s amazing ability to describe this until the reader hurts still leave me trying to projectile vomit some of the images from my brain. When you finish this book, you will be left with moral and ethical questions galore, and I love that in a book. However, after a couple of months to reflect, it was not worth the mental anguish I suffered knowing, even though this is fiction, some of the scenes in this book actually happen to people in the world. So, thumbs up if you can handle this kind of stuff or have figured out how to use bleach to clean your brain. If you cried at Gremlins when you were nine and threw your Gizmo doll in the trash can because you got it wet and thought it was going to kill you, maybe not. If you still won’t watch Gremlins(I’m serious, never again) for sure no.
There’s also a movie. I didn’t watch it. Refer to Gremlins above.
Fragile-Lisa Unger
Fiction
Why I jumped into another missing person book after Gone, Baby, Gone is unknown to me. This one did not cause me tears of anguish or make me run to check on my children every 15 seconds for two weeks while they slept, though it was disturbing in its own way. A teenage girl goes missing in a small town, the past and presents of the townspeople collide, and a missing girl case from long ago is brought back to the surface. Again, really good moral and ethical questions, but I found by the end of Unger tying off the loose ends again and again, I didn’t care about the characters as much as I probably should have, and I think the book could have ended sooner. She made her point, and she had a purpose in what she wrote, but some of it was so interwoven at the end that I just needed it to stop. Still, strong writing, and I may read another book by her.
Next up to review:
What Alice Forgot-Liane Moriarty
Bossypants-Tina Fey
The Forgotten Waltz-Anne Enright
Fairy Tale Interrupted-Rosemarie Terenzio
While I was Gone bySue Miller
Fiction
This was my first book by Miller. Part mystery, part a tale of marriage and family, this story explores how your past can land in your present with chaotic results. Very enjoyable, some violence, a good book that keeps you reading to find out what happens.
The Last Nude-Avery Ellis
Fiction
This book combined with watching Midnight in Paris began our newest obsession: 1920s Paris, the lost generation. I am now reading The Sun Also Rises and The Paris Wife, and am planning on diving into F. Scott Fitzgerald's books next.
Ellis' book centers around 1920s Paris, the artist Tamara de Lempicka and her muse. This book is fiction, but it has a historical fiction feel to it. Several characters from Hemingway’s A Moveable Feast appear here as well. Passion, betrayal, and an overall sense of Paris as a paradise and also a kind of hell to exist in during this time period kept me reading. There are highly charged, somewhat intricately described sex scenes, which I wasn’t expecting since I knew nothing about 1920s Paris, but they aren’t what the book is about as much as it is about relationships, trust, and what people will do to survive. This is not 50 Shades of Grey 1920s style for those of you who are like me and trying to avoid that.
Gone, Baby, Gone-Dennis Lehane
Fiction
This book is hard to give an accurate review of because I have mixed feelings. I could not put this book down, which is a warning that you may not want to pick it up in the first place. Lehane creates a mystery involving missing children, corrupt systems, and two private investigators who have not always made the most by-the-book decisions. Combined with his descriptions of Boston and characters you care about a little too much, Gone, Baby, Gone is unforgettable. It’s so unforgettable that I will never read anything by Lehane again.
I have a very sensitive mind, and when an image lands in my brain, it settles. Disturbing images have a special way of doing this. Violence against children, some very unsettling freaks, and Lehane’s amazing ability to describe this until the reader hurts still leave me trying to projectile vomit some of the images from my brain. When you finish this book, you will be left with moral and ethical questions galore, and I love that in a book. However, after a couple of months to reflect, it was not worth the mental anguish I suffered knowing, even though this is fiction, some of the scenes in this book actually happen to people in the world. So, thumbs up if you can handle this kind of stuff or have figured out how to use bleach to clean your brain. If you cried at Gremlins when you were nine and threw your Gizmo doll in the trash can because you got it wet and thought it was going to kill you, maybe not. If you still won’t watch Gremlins(I’m serious, never again) for sure no.
There’s also a movie. I didn’t watch it. Refer to Gremlins above.
Fragile-Lisa Unger
Fiction
Why I jumped into another missing person book after Gone, Baby, Gone is unknown to me. This one did not cause me tears of anguish or make me run to check on my children every 15 seconds for two weeks while they slept, though it was disturbing in its own way. A teenage girl goes missing in a small town, the past and presents of the townspeople collide, and a missing girl case from long ago is brought back to the surface. Again, really good moral and ethical questions, but I found by the end of Unger tying off the loose ends again and again, I didn’t care about the characters as much as I probably should have, and I think the book could have ended sooner. She made her point, and she had a purpose in what she wrote, but some of it was so interwoven at the end that I just needed it to stop. Still, strong writing, and I may read another book by her.
Next up to review:
What Alice Forgot-Liane Moriarty
Bossypants-Tina Fey
The Forgotten Waltz-Anne Enright
Fairy Tale Interrupted-Rosemarie Terenzio
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