Big City

I know lots of people who mostly like blogs for the pictures. I am not one of those people. Give me a lot of well-written words any day of the week. Also, for me it is easy to sit down and pound out some (not particularly well-written) words, while pictures take soooooo long to upload, choose, organize in the post, etc. Okay, so maybe my real problem is laziness.

Either way, this post is the answer to you picture-loving people's prayers. Bart was in charge of the camera on our New York Thanksgiving Weekend Bonanza which means that there were approximately ten times as many pictures taken as there would have been had I been manning the camera.

And, with that lengthy introduction . . . . here we go:

We took the Bolt Bus down to New York. It departs right from South Station and costs about $15 a person. Pretty awesome. Many many thanks to Emily Kate for the info about this.

In Times Square. Obviously.

We totally went to the Charmin' store. Don't judge us - I REALLY had to go to the bathroom.

The New York Public Library

Yes, we do indeed take a picture any time the word "Bart" shows up.

Thanksgiving Dinner

The pumpkin pie. Oh. My. Word. The cashew ice cream, the creme fraiche, the pie itself. There are no words.

Top of the Empire State Building

This is me smiling really fast so that Bart will put away the camera and we will stop looking so much like tourists (looking like tourists is one the things I hate most).

The thing I was looking forward to most was Max Brenner for breakfast. It did not disappoint. This is Bart's chocolate peanut butter crepe with toffee bananas and spicy peanut ice cream. With a little jar of chocolate sauce.

And my apple pie cinnamon waffle. Wow. I could eat this every day for breakfast.

Do we look a little fatter than we did going in?

The Strand bookstore. Some 18 miles of book shelves. They even sell ARCs for $2. I loved this place.

Looking out over Ground Zero. Bart tries to look both pleasant and not overly excited. Success?

All awesome pictures of me are taken on ferries. Remember this one?

It is not fair that Bart's hair never gets messed up.

Wall Street!

Shake Shack. It's no In-n-Out but it's quite delicious. Especially when you haven't eaten in six hours.

The most fantastic store windows ever.

F.A.O. Schwartz. And the only kind of pet we will ever own.

At Mary Poppins. We bought the cheapest tickets imaginable, which meant we were in box seats on the veeeery side. I kept my eyes peeled the whole first act and then we moved to empty seats in dead center on the balcony. It was brilliant. I love this show.

In front of Rockefeller Center and their famous tree.

Books of Wonder. Holy cow, this was the greatest bookstore ever. I could have stayed all day.

And then there was a sadly fruitless trip to Brooklyn for Grimaldis (line was so ridiculously long and we had a bus to catch) and there was much more fruitless searching for food and in the end we were just glad to get on our bus and go home.

The weather was pretty terrific - never dropping below about 45 and staying in the low 50s for much of the trip. No rain, no snow.

We're already planning a return trip.

Chorus

Sometimes I look over my life and see patterns that emerge, things that repeat over and over again.

One of them, sadly, is the fact that I look nearly ten years younger than I am. The time, as a high school freshman, I was volunteering at the elementary school and got asked whose class I was in. My boyfriend at BYU who was teased relentlessly about dating a middle school student. The lady at the grocery store who wouldn't give me a sample. The lady at Sam's Club who wouldn't give me a sample. (Maybe I should stop asking for samples?)

Last week, in the bathroom at work, a mother who works at the school, told me how much her daughter likes me. A warm glow settled on my heart.

She followed it up with, "And she thinks you must be really really smart." Oh, how my ego was soaring.

"Because you have to be really really smart to finish college when you're only in eighth grade."

Rinse, repeat. Thank heavens I do not work in a high school.

New Moon

And. . . . I went to see New Moon tonight. You couldn't have expected anything less. This will be the nineteenth post I've written that references Twilight in one way or another (and that doesn't count the quarterly or yearly recap reading recap posts). I have embraced my Twilight nerd status. Ask to see my tattoo some time.

First off, you all know I am ultra-ultra Team Jacob. Last year, when I reread the books, after finishing Eclipse again, I walked around in a fog of despair in Kohl's because I was just so depressed for Jacob. So yeah. I came into it with some biases.

But the movies? Make me even more Team Jacob. After watching New Moon, I'm pretty certain the producers are too. I mean, here we have Jacob marching around for several scenes with no shirt on, and he looks mighty good without a shirt on. Then, Edward pulls his shirt off in Italy. He's all pasty and hairy and nothing compared to Jacob's six-pack. It's like taking candy from a baby; how could you NOT love Jacob more? Of the seven girls I went with, three or four of them said they'd totally switched to Jacob's side (as well they should have). I'm not complaining. The movie of Eclipse will probably kill me, what with the total heart-breaking rejection of Jacob.

Also, Edward? Lipstick or no lipstick. You've gotta stick with one or the other; none of this bouncing back and forth between the two. It's ludicrous. I can't take my eyes off your lips. And not in a good way. More in a "hmm, does he have lipstick on his teeth?" kind of way. Maybe not what you're going for.

Last time, I had low hopes for the movie, and it exceeded them (at least for the first viewing). This time, though, I had pretty high expectations, and it was still FAR better than I'd expected. It didn't have that same "shot with a home video camera" feel and I felt like the cheese was waaaaaay toned down.

Jacob just saved the movie for me. He translates better from the book to the screen than any other character, I think (Kayla reminds me, rightly, that Charlie is also spot on. Oh, how I love him too. He couldn't be better).  Jacob is so perfectly sweet and simultaneously snarky. I'm so so thrilled they didn't recast Jacob - I don't think anyone could possibly have played him better. It's even possible that this movie will help my misguided mother and sisters see the error of their ways and turn to the light (not that I'm holding my breath). From the screaming in the movie theater, it certainly seemed like most of the theater tonight was on Jacob's side.

My real problem, of course, the one that I'll never fully be able to get over as a movie viewer, is that Robert Pattinson is just not good-looking. Why did they not cast someone else?! I would have been happy to make suggestions, had anyone bothered to call for my opinion (shockingly, no one did).

Frankly, I don't care for Robert Pattinson OR Kristin Stewart in real life (your high and mighty attitudes about Twilight? Are not endearing. Take your mega checks with good grace or let them recast), but I was able to forget about their real life irritating-ness after a minute or two.

Also, did the guy who plays Mike get dramatically less good looking? I mean, I thought he was somewhat cute, in a pudgy faced way, in the last movie and in this one, I kept thinking, "Did they recast?!" 

I could talk on and on about the details, boring you all to tears, but you can all be grateful for Kayla, who will spare you that horror by allowing me to text her far into the night with my mindless neural firings.

I know that some people feel pretty pleased about not being Twilight fans, some even to the point of being superior about it, but I watch the movies and read the books and talk to other people who love them too and I'm glad to be a part of it. If you decide in ten years to give them a chance, you'll have missed out. It'll be over and you'll have missed it.

I watched Jacob's shy but insistent efforts to woo Bella and remember so clearly those same feelings from high school - the frustration, the hope, the disappointment, the almost right moment that disappears like it never happened. Say what you want about Stephenie Meyer's lousy writing, she's created some characters that ring pretty true to what teenage life is like.

Whoa, hello, sermonizing on about the goodness and truth of Twilight here. Clearly, I should not be allowed to stay up this late.

Alone Together

When you're one of several children, I think most people, at least occasionally, daydream about what it would be like to be an only child. I know I did.

One of the things that my parents did that I loved most was take just one of us on vacation - one parent, one child. Three or four days as the only child, with one parent completely focused on you, was absolute bliss.

It started when my little brother Shepard was diagnosed with cancer and was doing chemotherapy. Because chemo weakens your immune system, you're not supposed to travel.

My family had traveled a lot throughout my life, so my parents didn't really want to cut it from our lives entirely, especially when there was no telling how long Shepard's treatment might go on.

Instead, they decided that one parent would take one child on vacation, rotating among the children.

My mom and I went to New Orleans in the last few weeks of the summer before I started my freshman year. My mom's sister came along for two days or so, and we all had a terrific time. We stayed a few nights in an old plantation, and another couple in the French Quarter. We ate our body weight in praline patties. We toured some of the Mardi Gras warehouses, with all the floats and decorations stored there. We went to the aquarium, the D-Day museum, and wandered through the Flower District. We got caught in pouring rain. Coming from Las Vegas, we were shocked when the casino wouldn't let me in because I wasn't 21. It was a fabulous, fabulous trip.

The next year, my dad and I went to Washington D.C. We saw everything - the Holocaust museum, the Library of Congress, Ford's theater, the monuments and memorials. I especially remember during that trip that my dad was reading a book about improving your memory and we practiced remembering the names of every person we met or came in contact with. It was just as terrific.

My mom went on a cruise through the Panama Canal with Merrick. She took each of my sisters to Boston at different times. My dad took Landen on a cruise to Mexico. Some of the trips were long, some were shorter. It gave each of us time one-on-one with my parents, and it let the rest of us practice not being jealous of someone else's good fortune.

Even after Shepard died, and we could go on family vacations again, my parents kept it up, interspersing these individual trips with entire family vacations. There are few things that I remember with as much fondness and joy as those trips, that time with just one of my parents, a chance to talk and talk and talk, and spend time together, and be the only child for a few days.

And I can't wait to do it with our kids someday.

The Best Bad Luck I Ever Had by Kristin Levine

9.5 of 10: I can't say anything about The Best Bad Luck I Ever Had that will do it justice. Just trust me that it's really terrific and should definitely be read.
 
It’s sometimes delightfully fun to read a book with no idea what it’s about. It doesn’t happen to me all that often, but it did last week.

I saw a review of this book on Becky's Book Reviews (I had to look it up, since I didn’t remember), and put in a request for it at the library. By the time it came in, I didn’t even remember why I’d requested it or what the book was about, and it languished in the library bin for several weeks. I renewed it once, but when it only had a few days left before the final due date, I figured I had better at least start it.

I was in the middle of four or five books that were doing nothing to grip me, so on Thursday night, I lay down on the couch figuring I might as well give this one a chance. I thought it might be either fantasy or realistic fiction and I assumed, for some reason, that it was narrated by a girl. I was wrong on all counts.

Dit is a boy and the narrator of the story. He lives in Alabama during World War I (the year is 1917), but for a 12-year-old boy, the war is almost virtually absent on his radar. What is vitally important to him is the arrival of the new postmaster who has a son, just his age. His family always rents out the house on their property to the postmaster’s family, so it will be a built-in friend for Dit and an ideal replacement for his best friend who is away visiting his grandmother for the summer.

Except, the rumors were wrong and it’s not a boy, it’s a girl named Emma. And what’s more, she’s black.

It’s an interesting scenario, with Emma’s family being very well-educated (Emma, in particular, is extremely bright), while Dit’s (white) family is reasonably poor, their house brimming with 10 children, with education a fairly low priority for them all.

Coming from Boston, Emma’s family doesn’t have quite the same experience with racism that go on in the deep South, but they’ve had enough, especially the parents, to be pretty careful about how they act around the white people in town, particularly the extremely racist sheriff, called “Big Foot.” Emma is by turns furious and resigned to this change from her previous life in Boston.

At first Dit doesn’t care for Emma at all, mainly because she’s a girl and also because he thinks she’s stuck up, what with always sitting with her nose in a book and not even knowing how to swim or play baseball, like his sisters do. But, because Dit’s mom is so insistent that he be nice to Emma, eventually they become tentative friends. As the summer comes to an end, though, and his friends return, Dit starts getting a lot of grief about his black girlfriend (the other boys, frankly, seem just as horrified that she’s a girl as that she’s a different race from them). And watching Emma go off to a pretty pathetic and far-away school while he goes to a fairly good school he is so indifferent to, strikes Dit as just wrong.

Dit has other things to worry about, too. In a family with 10 kids, he’s not even sure his father knows his name and he’s desperate to win his father’s approval and recognition. Watching Emma, an only child, makes him even more anxious to have his parents hanging on his every word, like Emma’s parents do for her.

There is a big event that happens in the last 1/3 or so of the book, and it was gripping, but it was not one of those books were you plow through the first part of the book to get to the real action. The whole book is so well-written, that you don’t even realize you’re being drawn toward a climax. And even if there had been no major action in the end, I would still have loved this book – just the development of their relationship and Dit’s expanding understanding of the tensions in the South would have been plenty to mesmerize me.

It could have been such a trite story, such a “friendship rising above differences” kind of feel-good story that are all too prevalent; I could have rolled my eyes at a too-neat ending or at cheesy sentiments, but there are none of those. Instead, this book is both practically perfect and messy all at the same time. There is nothing not to love about “The Best Bad Luck I Ever Had.”

Food, Glorious Food

I'm still cooking with a vengeance, and oh, how Bart loves doing all the dishes I'm producing (I think).

New priorities are 1) at least three vegetarian meals a week and 2) two side dishes per meal, unless it's soup and sandwiches.

Friday

• Homemade Pizza (I always use this crust recipe)
• Mango
• Guacamole Salad I think Bart's eyes rolled back in his head when he tasted this.

Saturday

• Chicken Salad Sandwiches. I accidentally over salted these. Tragic.
• Tomato Soup. I bought some "reduced produce" including uber cheap tomatoes which needed to be used quickly.

Sunday

• Blueberry Cornmeal Pancakes. I was going to make chicken pot pie, but then I realized I really wanted something sweet. These were so ridiculously delicious. I ate twice as many as I usually do.

Monday

• Lemon Fusilli with Arugula. Oh my word. I could have died, it was so good. 
• Roasted Zucchini 
• Corn and Bean Salad. Only so-so. 

Tuesday

• Mozzarella, Tomato and Pesto Paninis. Yum. What's not to like?
• Mint Pea Soup. I do not even LIKE peas, and I ate all the leftovers for lunch. Delish.

Wednesday

• Glazed Pork. This was the most tender pork I have ever eaten in my life. Not sure if it was the sauce or the meat or both. 
• Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes
• Tomato/Mushroom/Crouton Salad with homemade ranch dressing

Thursday

• Creamy Chicken and Rice Casserole. I would never have picked this because, well, I break out in hives at the thought of that many processed ingredients, but Bart thought it looked amazing and it wasn't bad.
• Mango 
• Steamed Broccoli

Friday

• Chicken Gyros. Just as good and as time-consuming as last time. 
• Spinach, Pea, and Pesto Salad. I loved this. So crisp and cool and delicious.

Other things? 

• Maple Oatmeal Scones. I. . . have no words for how delicious these were. I am totally over my fear of making scones now, as these were pretty much the easiest thing ever.

I hope I never stop loving food. I'm not particularly worried, though.

Lincoln: A Photobiography by Russell Freedman

9.5 of 10: You can't ask for better non-fiction than Lincoln: A Photobiography. A very fair and interesting look at Abraham Lincoln from birth to death. I couldn't put it down, which is sadly rare for non-fiction books. 

I mentioned in my goals post, that I was trying to crank through some Newbery titles in order to reach my mark of twelve this year. Fortunately, I had this one sitting on my shelf, kindly sent to me by the lovely folks at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (why they were offering this book, published some 22 years ago, I don't know, but I did not quibble).

For some reason, I clearly remember seeing this book at the library many times growing up, but never read it, even in the throes of my family's Civil War mania. Now, I can't believe I waited so long.

There's not much to summarize, really, as, come on, you pretty much know the basic gist of Lincoln's life. Born in a log cabin, grew some whiskers, assassinated.

A few parts stood out to me as really well done. First, the discussion of Lincoln's changing views on slavery and the impact his final feelings about the topic had on his decisions to run for politics was extremely well done. I thought it did an amazing job of not attempting to paint Lincoln as something he wasn't.

Second, the Emancipation Proclamation was really terrifically described as both a moral decision for Lincoln as well as a tool in the war for the North. So interesting.

Third, and sort of related to the second, was the analysis of Lincoln as a war president and what a struggle it was for him to find his stride as the commander-in-chief. I knew all about the problems with the generals, but it was interesting to read about Lincoln getting so much grief about it back in DC and feeling the tremendous pressure of so many lives hanging in the balance of his appointments.

This book made Lincoln, who I obviously admire a great deal, so real to me. He hated the job of reviewing court-martials for the soldiers and often would try and find ways to pardon them from being sentenced to death. He said, in reference to a solider being called up for cowardice, "if Almighty God gives a man a cowardly pair of legs, how can he help their running away with him?"

The pictures, too, add a lot. Sometimes I sort of skim the images in a book (this may make me a bad person), but I found myself poring over the photographs and the occasional drawing in the one. They worked perfectly with the text - I never felt like they were thrown in just for the sake of having an image. 

This book was so clearly a worthy Newbery winner (some of the books, you wonder if they just drew titles from a hat to select a winner). If you're looking for a book about Lincoln for children, this is it - I can't say enough good things about it. Next week, I'll be doing some booktalking about American Hero biographies for part of a school program and you better believe this is a book I'll be pushing hard.


Copy sent to me by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt many many moons ago

Jumped by Rita Williams-Garcia

I am half way through the fourth of the five National Book Nominees and thus I feel entitled to say that Jumped is far and away my least favorite.

Not only do I think this book is the worst of the nominees, I think it's flat out lousy, compared to a far wider range of books. It makes me crazy that this book was picked for the shortlist when so so so so so many excellent books didn't make it on this list. 

Was I clear enough about my feelings towards this book? As my mom would say, "You really need to learn not to be so wishy-washy."

The book is quite short (hallelujah!) and is told from the point of view of three different girls at an urban high school over the course of a few hours.

One of the girls, Trina, is an artist who is absolutely convinced she is the most envied and beautiful girl in school (based on the other characters voices, it seems that this is all in her head). Another, Dominique, is a basketball player who doesn't mind getting rough on and off the court when necessary, including threatening a teacher who gave her a grade that's keeping her from playing. She is accidentally cut off in the hallway by Trina and determines that she'll jump her after school and teach her a lesson. The third voice is Leticia who saw the whole thing happen and knows that Trina is going to get jumped, but hesitates to say anything, despite the urgings of her best friend, not wanting to get involved and second guessing what she heard.

These three characters were impossible for me to keep straight. Also, I deeply disliked every one of them.

I read this on the airplane, and when Leticia breaks a nail in gym and throws an absolute fit, first storming into the principal's office to demand the school pay for it and when he dismisses her concerns, she calls her parents to insist they SUE the school, it was all I could do to keep from audibly groaning with disgust.

I am crossing my fingers hard that this book doesn't win the award, because I would just die from the disappointment.

I'm sure there will be some people who will love it, but I am so obviously not one of them.

Goals Remix

A few weeks ago, Lisa posted about her family's resolutions for the year, reporting on their progress as the final countdown to the end of the year begins.

It reminded me that I should probably look over my 2009 goals and see how I was doing.

• Read 120 books this year My count as of yesterday is 170. Ta-da! I'm feeling good. 
• Write 50 book reviews here I just checked and I have written 49 this year so far. Awesome.
  
• Eat better
  • Only 2 desserts a week. Success! Every single week, although I will admit that our idea of a serving of a dessert has gotten more lax as the year progresses.
    
  • No fast food this year This has been so easy. Except when I'm in the airport and the french fry smell TAUNTS me. I am still eagerly looking forward to my New Year's Eve In-n-Out burger, though.
    
• Run three miles by the end of February. I was so close. And then I just kind of fell off the wagon. My new goal is to reach this by the end of the year.
  
• Work out three days a week all year long (this will be measured with stickers on my kitchen calendar). There have been, I think, two weeks this year that I haven't hit this target, but even those weeks I went at least ONCE. So I'm counting it as a mega success.
  
• Refinish kitchen table and chairs I. . .bought a new table. And sold the old, unfinished one on Craigslist. And I feel no guilt.
  
• Organize closet and weed out clothing I did this right after Christmas and then again when we moved here. I probably should do it again!
  

One of the goals I didn't list on the blog in January was to read 12 Newbery winners and all the Printz winners. After looking at Lisa's post, I suddenly realized that it was the end of October and I had read only THREE Newbery books and only TWO Printz books. Time to get cracking.

So, in the last two weeks, I have read seven Newbery books and two Printz titles. It delights me to have my goals pushing me to do things I want to be doing!

And my number one goal for the year was Get a job in a library (either public or school).  Ding-ding-ding-ding-ding! We have a winner! I couldn't be happier or more grateful. 

(Also, I normally write my posts in the evening - what a happy moment to be writing this at 7:30 in the morning, instead of finishing the mad rush to get out the door and begin the drive to school. I love Veteran's Day and my job).

I love looking over my goals, both the ones I've accomplished and the ones that I realize I need to work harder on or maybe give up altogether.

The Girl with the Silver Eyes by Willo Davis Roberts

7 of 10: The Girl With the Silver Eyes is just the kind of book I would have loved as a kid, although the ending was kind of a disappointment.

I love books where a totally normal person has special abilities. As a kid, I just wanted so BADLY to be able to do something magical (I'm twenty four now and no special powers have shown up).

Katie has lived with her grandmother most of her life, but when her grandmother dies in an accident, Katie's mother comes to take her back, even though she's obviously uncomfortable with Katie, who she senses, rather than knows, is unusual in some way.

Her mom is right - Katie is not normal. She can move things with her mind, much like Roald Dahl's Matilda.

Katie isn't really wild about living with her mother either, especially because her mother insists on hiring one lousy babysitter after another and this means she has to do things like turn the pages of the book with her hands instead of just doing it by thinking about it.

But really, life isn't too bad, especially with the friendly neighbor woman who is very kind to Katie and the nice newspaper delivery boy. And then Mr. Cooper moves into the complex and he seems far too interested in Katie and her special abilities. An overheard conversation between her mother and the mother's boyfriend makes Katie suspect there might be more children like her out in the world somewhere and she is determined to find them before Mr. Cooper finds out more about her.

It's a fun book and a quick read, with just a hint of mystery/scariness to it, which I liked, but the ending was so abrupt and open-ended that it kind of tainted it for me.


Also, don't you just LOVE that orange outfit on the cover?

Picture Day

One of the "perks" of working in the public school system - one which I had not anticipated - is the complimentary school pictures they take of the teachers.

I have seven wallet size pictures now, with absolutely no plans of what to do with them. I joked with one of the other teachers that I might write "Stay cool! Have a great summer!" on the backs of them and pass them around to the other teachers.

I mean, what do adults do with wallet size pictures of themselves?

Especially when those pictures make them look about fifteen. I cannot look at these pictures without giggling - I mean, really. This is such a stereotypical school picture, I can hardly believe it.

Halloween

Last Thursday, I left directly from work to the airport. I caught a flight to Salt Lake City and was kindly picked up by my father-in-law, who drove me back down to Provo. I had a midnight dinner with my in-laws and went to bed in their very dark guestroom (you will never get such a good night sleep, as you will wake up at 10:00 a.m. and it will feel like the middle of the night).

The reason I was flying across the country on a weeknight was because it was my dad's 51st birthday this weekend. Last year, Bart and I went to Las Vegas for his 50th birthday bash and good times were had by all. This year, my mom called me a few weeks ago and asked if we'd like to come to Salt Lake and spend the weekend with the family, as they'd be there for Dad's birthday and they'd also be going to see Frankenstein, which my sister Landen had done all the costume design for.

It took me about half a second to say yes.

It was a bit complicated by the fact that Bart was out of town last weekend and it was a little unclear whether or not he'd be done on Thursday or Friday, but after 9 (no exaggeration) different tickets on Southwest, we got it straight and he flew in from Minnesota on Friday afternoon.

I spent the morning on BYU campus with Landen, feeling so nostalgic it hurt, and then an hour or so with various members of Bart's family, until my mom called to say "Dad's in the bathroom, so I'm calling to tell you that we're here in Provo and you should show up at the costume shop."

Oh, that's right. He didn't know we were coming. There is nothing my family likes more than a good surprise.

I walked into the costume shop and Landen was facing me; my parents had their backs to the door. Landen (who I'd seen that morning), waved at me and my parents both turned around to see who she was waving at.

The look on my dad's face was priceless. He said later it was like an out of body experience.

We headed up to Salt Lake for a big birthday dinner at my grandparents' home, as I lied through my teeth about Bart being in Minnesota (he had just landed in Salt Lake). He arrived minutes before we did and when he walked into the living room, we got to watch my dad's jaw drop a second time.

It was a delightful, wonderful weekend, full of my favorite people, an excellent stage production, and a nice flight passed by reading good books. I'll have to start saving my pennies to fly out next year.

*********************************

P.S.: The most amusing part of the weekend was this conversation between me and my four year old niece:

C: Are you pregnant?
Me: No.
C: Well you will be soon. And then that will be a cousin for me. And you and Bart and my cousin can move into my basement.

I'll have to think about that basement offer.

These Is My Words: The Diary of Sarah Agnes Prine by Nancy E. Turner

9.5 of 10: Go read this book. I haven't put together my list of the top books I've read this year, but there is absolutely no question in my mind that These is my Words will be on it. This is the book I'll recommend for a long time when people ask me for a title. 

I almost cannot contain myself long enough to write this post. I loved this book. There are likely not enough gushing, rhapsodic words in my vocabulary to talk about this book, but oh, I intend to make a valiant effort.

Before I'd even finished the book, I was flipping back to reread my favorite sections. And then the very same day I finished the book, I was at the library and I absolutely had to pick up their copy and reread my favorite bits. People, I had a copy of this book at home, and I still had to do this.

The very first month that I did Tell Me What to Read, Emily suggested These is my Words. The next two months, Diana Banana did the same. And then my mom recommended it.

The month my mom recommended it but didn't win the favor of the random integer generator, she commented saying, "I will have to send you a copy of MY book and then I can cut in line." 

And in delightful Mom fashion, she did just that. The book arrived, no joke, the next day (she must know someone).

The front cover says "Jack and Sarah are as delicious a couple as Rhett and Scarlett." Well. Count me in.

It took me a few weeks to get to it, as October was a fairly bad reading month reading for me (if it wasn't on audio CD, I probably didn't read it), but when I went to Utah this last weekend, I packed it, hoping to force myself to get started. I read my other four books on the flight out, and so on the flight home, I opened it up.

My mom had warned me that the first 30 pages were a bit slow and they were (although not overly so). I read them, then lay down to take a nap (hello, open middle row and two warm coats). When I woke up, I started reading and then I could not put this book down. I read until we landed, read through our layover, all the way through our next flight and while we waited for the airport security people to come jump our dead car battery in the Manchester Airport parking lot.

I read at school on Monday morning before my classes arrived and finished it during my lunch break, trying desperately not to let tears run down my face since my aide was sitting at her desk only a foot away from me.

The book is written in diary form, which definitely made me not want to read it, but it actually worked well and I didn't really think twice about it after the first few pages. So if you're inclined to dismiss this book on that count, well, just put that thought out of your head.

The diary is the property of Sarah Prine, beginning when she is about 16 or 17 and follows her family's life in the Arizona Territories. Her father, who has the kind of wandering spirit I associate with Pa Ingalls of the Little House books, is determined to set out for a new life in the Arizona Territories, but pretty much every bad thing you can imagine happens and eventually they join up with a wagon train to take them back to a place they passed during their journeys (also in the Arizona Territories). The leader of the wagon train is Captain Elliot and Sarah by turns admires him and despises him. Of course she does.

They settle back down and begin their new lives there. I read this book with very little knowledge of the plot and I'd hate to not let you do the same - it's so fun to watch things unfold, some things that you expect, and others that catch you totally off guard (if by "you," I mean "me").

This is good historical fiction, and I could talk at length about that, but what I really want to talk about (of course) is the fact that this book is a seriously good romance. The Rhett and Scarlett reference might make you think it'll just be the tearing-your-hair-out-in-angst variety of romance, and there is a bit of that, but things are significantly happier than they are for Rhett and Scarlett (although this book did leave me wanting to go back and read Gone with the Wind again).

Sarah is the most wonderful heroine you can possibly imagine. She is strong and smart and quick on her feet and desperate to get an education in whatever way available. The book starts out with some fairly  poor writing because Sarah is just not that educated and it's fun to watch her writing improve over the years as she reads more and gets snatches of education here and there.

There are two more books about Sarah, and I've picked up the next one from the library, but I'm almost not ready to open it - this book could have stood completely on its own.

I've mentioned before that I don't buy a lot of books and I think some people have taken that to mean that I don't like owning books. It's not that - it's just that I read a lot of mediocre books that I have no desire to clutter up my shelves with. But books I love? Oh, I am glad to have my own copy of, ones that I can lend out or reread in the middle of the night or flip through when I just need to read ten pages of something I love.

This is a book I am so so glad to have my own precious copy of.

Medina Hill by Trilby Kent

Many moons ago, when I got invited to participate in the Medina Hill Book Blog Tour, I convinced Kayla that she totally should read it along with me so we could chat about it. 

This is how our conversations went every couple weeks in the 2 months leading up to today’s post.

Kayla: Have you finished Medina Hill?

Janssen: Have not yet picked it up. I am an important person with an important job and a life. And we have plenty of time! Do not worry!

Kayla: Are you ready to talk about Medina Hill?

Janssen: Well, I read the inside flap so…no.

Kayla: Ok, seriously, you need to read Medina Hill so we can talk about it! The tour is next week!

Janssen: I have new boots!

Or something like that.

In any event, I finally read the book and we discussed.

Here is the official blurb from the publisher:

In the grimy London of 1935, eleven-year-old Dominic Walker has lost his voice. His mother is sick and his father’s unemployed. Rescue comes in the form of his Uncle Roo, who arrives to take him and his young sister, Marlo, to Cornwall. There, in a boarding house populated by eccentric residents, Marlo, who keeps a death grip on her copy of The New Art of Cooking, and Dominic, armed with Incredible Adventures for Boys: Colonel Lawrence and the Revolt in the Desert, find a way of life unlike any they have known. Dominic’s passion for Lawrence of Arabia is tested when he finds himself embroiled in a village uprising against a band of travelers who face expulsion. In defending the vulnerable, Dominic learns what it truly means to have a voice.

Kayla: Ok, so, how much did you love all the stuff about Lawrence of Arabia? All I knew about him was that Peter O’Toole played him in a film in the 60s but I had NO CLUE he was a real person. I loved the stuff about him sprinkled throughout the book. I kind of want to go check out a book about him now.

Janssen: I know! I love a book that references other books or major historical characters as a main plot point. Mockingbird, which I read a few weeks ago, heavily relied on "To Kill a Mockingbird," "Girlfriend Material" referenced "The Sun Also Rises" and I love Lawrence of Arabia stuff since taking a World War I class from my father-in-law back in London. It was just so fun to watch Dominic get inspired by Lawrence and act like he thought Lawrence would. Isn't that what history should do? (Oh, is that my history nerd self talking?) I think that was the book’s major success.

Kayla: Agreed.

Janssen: But frankly, that was pretty much the only success for me.

Kayla: Also agreed. The whole thing just fell kind of didn’t it? And it was really slow for a children’s book.

Janssen: Exactly. It was made worse, perhaps, by the potential this plot had. I mean, you couldn't ask for more than this book offered up (except maybe romance, but I'll let my personal preferences slide because this is a children's book) - crazy characters, a father suffering the effects of war, gypsies, a treasure hunt, a COOKING CONTEST, but I never felt like it really all came together. It was just too much; a classic case of too much width, not enough depth. It spread itself too thin, without making me care much about any of the characters, and it resolved itself too quickly.

Kayla: Exactly, the climax felt really unsatisfying and I would have loved to hear more about the quirky boarders. There was a whole lot more story there that just didn't get told. I do think I would like to know what happened to the gypsies. I was very concerned when they moved CLOSER to Hitler at the end of the book. A follow-up book on the Romany during WWII would probably be worth reading. The thing is, I think Trilby Kent has a lot of potential. The ideas were there. I think she just needs to give herself more pages to really delve into her characters and possibly write for a slightly older audience (like shooting for older YA rather than middle grades).

Janssen: Precisely.

Overall, we felt some kids will find a lot to like here, but it's going to need to be a very dedicated reader who is willing to accept the slowish pace. It's really the kind of book we could see a kid reading and then going off hunting for some books about Lawrence of Arabia. And we wouldn't blame him one bit since that’s totally what we’re planning on doing.

To continue on with the Let's Tour Medina Hill book blog tour, please visit Carrie's YA Bookshelf!

What I'm Going to Read: Round 5

The winner was Kathleen with her vote for East by Edith Pattou. I've put in the request for it from the library and I'm excited to get started. (And, er, I did read The Girl with the Silver Eyes early on last month, but just haven't gotten around to finishing my review yet. Coming soon!)

There were some seriously good suggestions this month. I wish I could read them all immediately. Alas, I am not a lady of leisure with unlimited reading time.

• The Help by Kathryn Stockett (Tina and Peaceful Reader)
• We Were the Mulvaneys by Joyce Carol Oates (Saskia)
• Uglies by Scott Westerfield (Mary)
• The Ugly Pumpkin by Davie Horowtiz (Steph)
• Life of Pi by Yann Martel (RA)
• Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin (Sherry)
• The Magician's Assistant by Ann Patchett (Kelly J)
• The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson (Stacy)
• What Dreams May Come by Richard Matheson (Kayla)
• Marie Antoinette: The Journey by Antonia Fraser (Melanie)
• Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner (Zillah)
• The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley (Jennifer)
• These is my Words by Nancy Turner (Sammy)
• The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver (Becca and Miri)
• Eyes Like Stars by Lisa Mantchev (Katie)
• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larsson (Shelly)
• Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese (Jenny)
• Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Murrillier (Angiegirl and Science Teacher Mommy)
• Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton (Heidikins)
• Drums, Girls, And Dangerous Pie by Jordon Sonneblick (Katie)
  
• Thirsty by Tracey Bateman (Lorielle)
• The Rag and Bone Shop by Robert Cormier (Angela Noelle)
• Gilead by Marilynne Robison (Jenna)
• Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood (Amy Sorenson)
• Funny in Farsi: A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in America by Firoozeh Dumas (Tootie)
• Daddy-Long-Legs by Jean Webster (Carly Jane)
• Autumn Street by Lois Lowry (Jessica)
• The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey (Megan)
• The Summer Tree by Guy Gavriel Kaye (Lynn)
• The Lake of Dead Languages by Carol Goodman (Jenn)
• East of Eden by John Steinbeck (Merry)

Of these, I've read:

• Uglies by Scott Westerfield
• These Is My Words by Nancy Turner
  

I think that's the least I've read of any month so far! Time to get cracking, clearly.