Stopping to Look

Is it my imagination or is the Earth more beautiful than it has ever been? More robust, bountiful, glorious. Flowers rich, bursting with color. Oranges bigger, more succulent. People kinder. More considerate. For the most part:)

A funny thing happened the other day. I wore a mask to the grocery for the first time and stepped aside for an older gentleman not wearing a mask. He was blocking a very narrow aisle. I told him nicely and indicated that he was welcome to go ahead. He pretended not to understand me. Finally, he said, “I can’t hear you through the mask.” He then laughed and said, “You know, the micro-molecules of that virus will cut through that mask like a hot knife through butter.” I wonder how long he was waiting to say that to someone. I’m sure it made his day as he cackled and passed me. I guess he didn’t get the memo. I wanted to protect him. He may be correct, but shouldn’t we do everything to try to stop the spread?

Anyway, as I was saying, everything seems cleaner, clearer, kinder, more precious. I know a lot of people are going crazy with the isolation but they are trying. They are singing arias from their balconies in Italy, they are playing jazz from their porches in New Orleans, they are sending free Audible books to children, arranging virtual tours of museums, FaceTiming with their loved ones and friends. It gives me faith in the beauty not only of the Earth but the beauty, resilience, and strength of the human spirit.

There will always be the grocery cacklers (I hope he’s okay), the necessity hoarders, the scammers, but I truly believe they are in the minority. People are giving, when they don’t have to. That’s what happens, isn’t it? When we stop and look. When we let ourselves. 

Good begets Good.

 Sending love and strength out there.

AMERICAN DIRT- APRIL 2020 BOOK SELECTION

Lydia Pérez lives in Acapulco with her journalist husband and eight-year-old son, Luca. Her husband is a journalist and she owns and runs a small bookstore. She and her family have a good life, but the increasing activities of drug cartels in Mexico are becoming impossible for her husband to ignore. He begins to write of the events and corruption while others are choosing to remain silent for fear of their lives.

Meanwhile, in her bookstore, Lydia meets a charming and friendly customer. He becomes a regular customer and dear friend. She has no idea who this man is until a picture is printed in husband’s article. It is the ruthless leader of the most lethal cartel.

During a celebration at her home, her husband and entire family pay a price for her husband’s exposé. Lydia and her son escape merely by chance. So begins a harrowing ordeal as she attempts to escape to America and safety. The cartel and its influence is everywhere. She can literally trust no one. She must suppress the horror of what has happened and rely on her wits and instinct to protect her son.

American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins is breath-taking. So fast-paced and beautifully written and researched, the reader is on the journey with Lydia and Luca. It’s a novel of acute danger and survival but also of the deep reserves of strength found when safeguarding those we love.

There has been controversy surrounding the fact that Cummins is not Mexican and that there were what some considered insensitive remarks. Regardless, this is a superb work of fiction based on the experiences of real people living in fear and desperation. It’s a must read.

Highly recommend.

Holding Close

I’ve been around for a while and I have never seen anything like this in my lifetime. There are and have been so many disturbing and distressing things that have altered life as we know it. Global Warming, Wars, 9/11. But this.

Still, I refuse to believe this is the “new normal” as people are fond of saying. So as we transverse this mess and attempt to do so with some sort of grace, I’m looking for what is good.

We are faced with what is the most important to us. News flash. It’s not missing a hair appointment or having our nails done. It’s not that report that was due. It’s not those petty misunderstandings or inter-office politics. Those things will resume. Sooner rather than later. In the meantime, what?

Health. First and foremost, as it never has been before. Sure, we want to stay in shape and eat right. But now, we want to live. We want our loved ones to live. We can hold close our loved ones if we are lucky enough to be with them. Texts, emails, phone calls, if we are not. Fresher air without all the exhaust fumes. Guess what? I took a walk with my dog today and the trees and bushes and shrubs are putting on a show as if there is nothing out of the ordinary going on at all. It made me smile. I got to finish a book I wanted to read and start another one. I started to meditate again.

So treasure being present. If you have children, teach them to be present by your actions. Pick your battles. Your children are here and although I hate this for them and their future, they will learn by how you navigate this.

Expect the best. You are smart enough to handle the worst if it comes. I one hundred per cent believe we will get through this. For some it will be a sea change. For others, it won’t. I may be a Pollyanna. So what. Better than a doomsayer.

Help where you can. Breathe and hold close the beauty of every single day.

ORDINARY GRACE- MARCH 2020 BOOK SELECTION

Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger was a surprise. It was a surprise not only because of the writing, which was terrific, or the story, which was deceptively simple, but because I had never read anything by Krueger before. It’s always a pleasure to discover a new (to me) author.

The story takes place in small town, New Bremen, Minnesota. The narrator is a middle aged man looking back on the summer of 1961 when he was thirteen and living there. During that summer, several deaths and the mysteries surrounding them changed the life of everyone in the town, some personally, some peripherally. The narrator was a pastor’s son, living what some would characterize as an idyllic life. He was the middle of three children, an older sister and younger brother. It was a seemingly simpler time.

One of the most interesting facets of the story was the dynamic of the small town. It is a microcosm of anywhere, any size town, USA. There are the same passions, prejudices, kindnesses, unfairness and drama that you find everywhere in any time period. Human beings, doing what they do. Sometimes good. Sometimes bad. Sometimes with tragic consequences.

The story also examines the dynamic within several families and how each person navigates their circumstances and how that shapes how they navigate their communities and their lives.

Winner of several awards including The Edgar Award for best novel, this is a beautiful story.

Highly recommend.

Cold Comfort

When I was a little girl and still being bathed by my mother, she always finished the bath with a generous splashing of cold water. We always squealed with mixed portions of delight and shock. As I’ve gotten older, the water has become a little warmer, but still on the cool side. I may go back to ending with cold because as it turns out, she may have been on to something.

I recently watched an episode of Gwyneth Paltrow’s new series, Goop Lab, on Netflix called Cold Comfort. In the series, Paltrow investigates different modalities of what I will call alternative medicine and treatments. She and her staff experience these modalities first hand. I have only watched two episodes so far but say what you will about Paltrow and her methods, there is compelling science behind all of what she explores.

In Cold Comfort, we meet a Dutch athlete named Wim Hof. Hof practices a method of deep breathing and exposure to cold to help his clients treat everything from panic disorder to autoimmune disease. He himself has set numerous world records with these techniques and has had some rather amazing results with his clients. Hof is not only a vigorous and enthusiastic teacher but his claims have been studied scientifically with very positive results.

This series is definitely worth a look-see.

AND THEN THERE WERE NONE & THE WORD IS MURDER- FEBRUARY 2020 BOOK SELECTIONS

Two mysteries, published almost eighty years apart, were this month’s selections. It was of interest to me how the genre was handled by two masters of the form. Back to back listens of the two novels on Audible was fascinating.

Agatha Christie is arguably the most famous mystery novelist of all time and her novel, And Then There Were None, published in 1939, perhaps one of her most lauded. Ten people are brought to a secluded island; all lured there for supposedly logical reasons. None, however, know their host. Once there, they each find framed in their rooms, the nursery rhyme, Ten Little Soldier Boys. Each stanza of the rhyme tells of the death of a little soldier. After dinner the first evening, a recording plays which names each guest in turn and accuses them of murder. Soon, one by one, the guests begin to die in mysterious circumstances. Circumstances which eerily match the rhyme.

The novel is skillfully crafted; the reader is subtly led to believe each guest is the murderer of the others. They are stranded on the island and the tension is ratcheted as each falls victim. Christie uses partial omniscience and extensive dialogue. Too good to reveal the ending.

The Word is Murder is the second novel I’ve “read” by Anthony Horowitz. The first, Magpie Murders, was my first listen on Audible and a Book Selection in my blog of November 2017. Not only did it get me hooked on Audible, but interestingly, in the blog, I compared him to Agatha Christie!  

In The Word is Murder we are introduced to former Detective Inspector Daniel Hawthorne. I understand he may be the focus of a new series by Horowitz. Hawthorne is a “former” inspector because his unorthodox methods got him fired from Scotland Yard. He is a brilliant investigator of somewhat mythical status however, so Scotland Yard continues to use him on difficult cases.

In a fun twist, the author himself is a character in the novel. Hawthorne is investigating a baffling case and wants Horowitz to write about it. Very reluctantly, he agrees. The case involves a woman who enters a funeral home and arranges her own funeral. Six hours later, she is murdered in her home. Once again, Horowitz allows us to be the sleuth along with him as a reluctant side-kick to Hawthorne. Horowitz’s droll wit is a perfect pairing with Hawthorne’s caustic, take-no-prisoners personality. Another great who-done-it.

THIS IS THE STORY OF A HAPPY MARRIAGE- JANUARY 2020 BOOK SELECTION

I selected this title on Audible because I am a fan of Ann Patchett. I didn’t realize it was a collection of essays by the author written over many years. I was also initially surprised that the essays were read by the author herself. She is not a professional narrator but in the end it seemed fitting that she performed them herself.

The essays cover everything from her application to the Los Angeles Police Department to travels across America in a mini-van to the titular essay on Happy Marriage. In between we see her struggles as a fledgling writer, her disastrous first marriage, the importance of her friendships and much more.

These works were originally seen in such well-known publications as Atlantic Monthly, Vogue and The New York Times Magazine. The essays appear remarkably candid. They leave you feeling as if you actually have spent time with Patchett, as if you actually know a bit of her. I guess we do.

Recommend.

Words for the New Year 2020

Beginning in 2013, instead of making New Year’s Resolutions, I’ve been choosing words for the New Year. The words themselves are always written in good faith, and though often remembered, reflected upon even, do not seem to have any power in and of themselves. Sort of like resolutions:)

I still love the thought of it, so this, my eight year, I will continue the tradition. As I did last year, I will see them as intentions; Wishes thrown out into the Universe instead of Words to live by.

My Words for 2019 were Write and Health. As in do and take care of. My health is good at the moment. I will keep Write and add Find an Agent.

Write

Find an Agent

May you take the time to find your Word/Wishes and have a splendid New Year.

FAVORITE BOOK OF 2019

This has been another good year for reading. As usual, more books were read or listened to on tape than I reviewed, but the ones below made the cut. I decided a while ago that I was not going to disparage another author’s work. If I don’t like it, I won’t review it. How to choose? I really enjoyed everything on the list. This may be my hardest choice yet. I was fascinated with Pachinko and its culture, I loved hearing about Michelle Obama’s life in Becoming. Where the Crawdads Sing is one of the few novels that really surprised me. I could say something similar about what I liked about each one. I loved them all for different reasons.

January 2019:  Pachinko- Min Jin Lee

February 2019: Becoming- Michelle Obama

March 2019:  Where the Crawdads Sing- Delia Owens

April 2019: The Art Forger- B. A. Shapiro

May 2019: Spinning Silver- Naomi Novik

June 2019:  The Heart’s Invisible Furies- John Boyne

July 2019: The Trespasser- Tana French

August 2019: Tigana- Guy Gavriel Kay

September 2019:  Southernmost- Silas House

October 2019:  The Lake House- Kate Morton

November 2019:  Lethal White- Robert Galbraith

December 2019: Stormrise- Jillian Boehme

If I could only pick one to recommend to a friend, it would have to be Becoming by our ex-First Lady. Articulate, Humble, Intelligently and Honestly written, it’s a must read for anyone and everyone.

STORMRISE- DECEMBER 2019 BOOK SELECTION

I have been following Jillian Boehme for several years on her blog, Miss Snark’s First Victim. She created this blog for fellow writers who are seeking publication and a community in which to share ideas, writing samples, frustrations and victories. Agents and editors followed her blog as she spearheaded several contests. Pairings and success stories followed. She remained anonymous as a fellow seeker until last year when she finally got an agent and then a book contract. I and so many other fans were thrilled for her. It’s as if we actually know her. Her first published, YA fantasy novel, Stormrise was published this fall. Although this blog is a little late, I read Stormrise in December and enjoyed it thoroughly.

Boehme tells the story of a young girl, Rain, taught exceptional fighting skills by her father, a Neshu master of the form. Although this is forbidden for females, she excels. When a war in her kingdom threatens her family, she risks everything, including death, to join in the fight. She uses Dragon magic to disguise herself as a boy. This same Dragon magic has unforeseen side-effects which shape the destiny of the kingdom and Rain’s future. 

There is everything to enchant the reader, from unique world-building, breath-taking adventure, well-drawn characters, magic potions and friendship to a strong, capable heroine.We need more heroines like this in literature to help all our daughters see an unlimited future which is not defined by gender. Kudos to Boehme.

Grateful

This is a season of gratitude. Of Thanksgiving. We are encouraged to be aware of what we have. Instead of what we don’t.

First, I am grateful for my family. We are literally spread from one end of the country to the other. I wish this wasn’t the case but it is. So I live with it. FaceTime, texting and email are wonderful things. Perhaps if we were all in one place, as it was when we were, and they were growing up, we would take one another for granted. I doubt it.

I’m grateful for my friends. Those that I have lost and those still here. What a comfort friendship is. It can be like family, actually is family, if you don’t have one. My best friend has been someone I can count on. She has helped me through dark times and even bailed water out of my basement while wearing a Chanel suit. She has made me laugh until I cry. Indispensable.

I am grateful for my home. It’s privacy, warmth and comfort sustain me. I don’t need house beautiful and I certainly don’t have it. We are furnished with Early Attic and Late Basement; we love to say. It’s home. Enough said. But I like it best when it’s full of family.

I am grateful for my new dog, a one-year-old rescue, for starting to fill the hole left by our fifteen-year-old Golden we lost three years ago. He’s a challenge and about to put me to bed, but still, it’s good.

Last but not least, I am grateful for the man I married. No one said it would be easy, we are very different people. If I could go back and choose someone else, I wouldn’t. He’s not perfect and goddess knows I’m not, but he is perfect for me.

Sometimes watching the news or seeing the tragedies around us every day is debilitating. It’s important to not ignore the bad but remember the good.

LETHAL WHITE- NOVEMBER 2019 BOOK SELECTION

Lethal White is the latest in the Comoran Strike dectective mystery novels written by Robert Galbraith. Galbraith is the pseudonym used by J.K. Rowling for this series. I am a fan of mystery and detective novels and have read everything from Agatha Christie to Tana French. I will say that it’s unfair to compare apples and oranges, but Galbraith/Rowling’s two main characters, Cormoran Strike and his partner, Robin Ellacott are two of the most well-drawn and fascinating in the genre.

The four books in order are: The Cukoo’s Calling, The Silkworm, Career of Evil and Lethal White. Each begins where the last novel left off. Intricately plotted, Rowling deftly takes you along as the pieces of each mystery unfold. I’m usually good at deciphering the killer/ bad guy, but so far, I’ve batted zero. She is a master of suspense. Along with the detective work, the reader comes to explore the private lives of the main characters as they develop as well. Although considered stand-alone, it does make the argument to read them in order.

Interestingly, I have never read a single Harry Potter book. I may need to revisit this. Rowling’s skill as a writer is spectacular. I look forward to book number five. Three of the novels have been made for TV with the fourth in progress on BBC1. They have been shown here in the States on HBO and Cinemax.

Highly recommend.

A Week at the Beach with Friends

Friend is a multifaceted word. I have a number of friends. Some are people I really like and wish I could see more of. Some are acquaintances whom I enjoy being with but never seek more time with. There are people I met later in life with whom I am very close and see frequently. Then there are those I have a lifetime history with.

Recently, I had the chance to spend a whole week with two women I have a lifetime history with. This happens so rarely because we literally live in three different parts of the country.

So what makes a lifetime friend? There are several people I have known just as long in years. I have affection for all of them but the bond with these two remains unique. It has to do with immediate comfort. It has to do with feeling safe. Shared history, yes but more than that, a shared sensibility. It has to do with sharing secrets, knowing old secrets, being who you are with no judgement. It has to do with picking up exactly where you left off. Instantly.

How is this possible? I really don’t know. If I am guessing, we have all experienced this with maybe a handful of people in our lives. I remember my incredibly wise mother saying, “If you can count true friends on the fingers of one hand, you are lucky.”

It’s a mystery and a gift and I am grateful.

I

THE LAKE HOUSE- OCTOBER 2019 BOOK SELECTION

Kate Morton is a favorite and The Lake House does not disappoint. Intricately plotted, it begins with a contemporary drama and moves swiftly into a decades old mystery.

The Lake House begins with a young detective, Sadie Sparrow, on a forced sabbatical after a disastrous case which may end her career. Restless and worried, she literally stumbles upon a run-down mansion on the Cornish coast. More to satisfy her curiosity and pass the time, she begins to investigate the house’s history. What she discovers is the decades-old unsolved mystery of a vanished child.

The story is told from the point of view not only of Sadie Sparrow but also of a young girl living in the house at the time of the disappearance both as a child but also as a present day, elderly woman still looking for answers.

The Lake House with its many twists and turns is a family drama, a love story, and a mystery. Wholly satisfying.

Recommend.

The Road Not Taken

There is a reason that the poem below is so often quoted. The problem is we
seldom see its significance until reflecting back on our own lives. As Frost so

elegantly put it, until it’s too late to go back.

We all make decisions every day, from what clothes to wear to what toothpaste to

buy. The interesting thing is we rarely see when certain decisions…that road

choice, will alter the course of our lives. I don’t say this to paralyze but to nudge.

I would urge you to attempt to be cognizant of your choice of road. Be as aware

as possible.

THE ROAD NOT TAKEN

by Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

SOUTHERNMOST- SEPTEMBER BOOK SELECTION

Every once in a while a book comes along that takes you with it; that absorbs you. Everything about Silas House’s novel, Southernmost, was that book for me. The last time I was that entranced by a book was when I read Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese. It’s hard to define what makes a novel special for each individual. Sometimes it is the story, but often for me what immediately grabs me is the writing. Not only is this story fully original but House is a master craftsman.

Asher Sharp is a fundamentalist preacher in Appalachia. He has been sure of his beliefs all his life; even to the point of rejecting his gay brother at the insistence of his mother. During a catastrophic flood which destroys many homes and takes many lives in his town, he experiences an epiphany. It is this realization and its aftermath that completely alters his life and that of his son.

Because of this heart-change, he feels forced to make a decision that will transform the world he knows. As a result, he meets people and sees places that enrich him in ways he could not have foreseen.

If someone described this book to me to me, I’m not sure I would have been interested. Fortunately, it was once again a book club pick.

Don’t miss it.

The Stillness of Trees

We can learn a lot from trees. Take note of their stillness, their strength, their nurturing of one another, their singularity, their connectedness, their beauty. They offer protection and a home for small birds and animals. Shade. Oxygen, our life’s blood. They ask for nothing back. They just are.

I have always felt a connection and affinity, with trees. It began, as so many things, with my mother. Growing up, we lived across the street from a beautiful park that used to be the estate of a prominent statesman. From the time I can remember we would walk there over the grounds and among the old growth trees. It’s one of my heart memories. My mother would suppose that certain trees were partners. One tall proud one, the father. A wider, spreading, embracing one, the mother. I find myself, even to this day, doing the same thing.

A lot has been written lately about spending time outside and the health benefits of doing so, forest bathing, etc. Books are numerous. Among them: The Three Day Effect by Florence Williams; The Overstory by Richard Powers; The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Hohlleben. This is not too surprising. It seems it took a while to realize it but finally people are coming full circle. Many ancient cultures believed trees housed spirit or had souls. It’s not hard to understand.

My eldest brother once planted a tree in the yard of our childhood home. It’s still there and flourishing. If I had one wish it would be this:  If you must cut down a tree for any reason, replace it. Plant another one. It’s not just a gift for you. It matters.

TIGANA- 2019 AUGUST BOOK SELECTION

I was given this book many years ago by my daughter. She had read it, loved it and recommended it to me. I kept it and intended to read it many times but because it’s quite a hefty tome, I put it off. Finally, because I was already reading a novel for my book club, I decided to try it on Audible. Aside from initially trying to keep up with the multiple characters and their names (this resolved quickly), it was wholly satisfying.  I loved this book as well. It is an epic fantasy, full of magic, a new world, a war for freedom, survival and hope. It also explores more than one unusual love story.

It has everything, but the thing that stood out for me was not only the beautiful writing but the characterizations. Each character is unique and multi-faceted. Each character takes a significant journey and each surprises.

Guy Gavriel Kay tells us at the end of the novel what inspired him. He says it was primarily memory; that without memory, without nostalgia for what “used to be,” men could live peacefully and without pain. I could not help but draw comparisons to the struggle of the American Revolution. Both were about a country struggling against tyranny. The difference was one sought to recapture what it used to be, the other was fighting to reach for what it could be. The novel reminds us of the power of good, integrity and the unbreakable human spirit.

Recommend.

Seekers

We are all seekers, whether it is to discover the meaning of life, or to discover our own journey and place in life. But sometimes it’s easier to float, not questioning anything, just putting one foot in front of the other. I think one hundred years ago, even fifty, that was more or less the conventional wisdom; the old Puritan Ethic. The model was work hard and don’t think too hard. It was more or less a matter of survival.

At about that time, the late sixties, the paradigm shifted. For many Timothy Leary summed it up with his famous, "Turn on, tune in, drop out.” The pendulum swung to the opposite side. Everything was a colorful jumble of ideas, philosophies and lifestyles. While living in a commune sounded idyllic for many it was not sustainable for others. Many people preferred to buy their food rather than grow it, shave instead of grow a beard, wear deodorant rather than smell “earthy.” Many wanted a more conventional way of life without sacrificing the positive ideas.

There are many good things that came out of that time that seem to be sticking around. Beards:); both men and women, are often not afraid to talk about their feelings; Mindfulness; Meditation; a sincere belief in the sanctity of nature; conservation of the Earth; a belief that we are all connected.

Still, with the advent of technology came a double edged sword. In the last twenty odd years, it has robbed us of some of that connection. In some ways we are more connected digitally than ever before but in others we have never been more separate. For some, the struggle will always be the journey. Perhaps the pendulum is swinging in another direction altogether.

I do have faith in basic human kindness and intelligence. So I do believe the Seeker in all of us will figure it out. Consider the words of Rainer Maria Rilke in Letters to a Young Poet:

"Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and to try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books that are written in a very foreign tongue. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer."

      September, Pisgah Pike, Versailles, Ky.            Photographer: Whit Chandler