Reading: Quick summary of recent read: Candy Girl: A year in the life of an unlikely stripper, by Diablo Cody - one word: "yuck!".
To come in future posts: Elizabeth Enright's The Melendy Quartet which I have been listening to on CD - wonderful! Every child should read these along with the Little House series and the All-of-a-kind Family books. Harry Potter 6 and 7 and the recent movie for year 5 - I could read these again and again. Oh wait! I have!
Upcoming selections for my bookclubs (now I am part of 3!): KnitLit, Wicked, and Eye Contact. I will review as I complete these.
Eating: In addition to the salmon cakes and pesto I mentioned before, I will post about other quick and cool meal ideas for cooking on busy hot summer nights: pasta salad ideas, what to do with chicken breasts, great grilling ideas and more!
Gardening: To be posted soon: the mid-summer report of what is still alive and what has succumbed to the heat and/or garden pests (like deer and rabbits). I have done better this year than in years past, surprisingly so considering the early and persistent heat and drought and the frequent long weekends when my gardens have been left to survive without me. I have several small but tasty tomatoes, peppers though the deer have eaten the leaves, an abundant supply of herbs, and several hardy drought-resistant flowers. I am going to figure out how to post pictures...
Stay tuned for these exciting stories and more! Also, I may start blogging on current knitting projects.
Monday, July 23, 2007
Monday, July 02, 2007
Reading: I have been reading a lot lately, just not blogging.
I finished Lance Armstrong's second book, Every Second Counts, which I found equally as interesting as the first book. We discussed Lance and his books at bookclub last night and as one person says, even though you know what happens (as you are reading about his chemo or about the 1st, 2nd or 3rd Tour de France victory) you still feel yourself on the edge of the seat, reading frantically to see how it turns out. The descriptions of the the Tour are gripping and interesting, even for those who have never seen bike racing or the Tour. I was cheering for Lance as he battled the French press and the anti-doping trial, as he struggled to have a happy home life and a successful career. Inspiring and interesting, even if you don't personally like the guy.
I also finished the last 2 books in the Series of Unfortunate Events: The Penultimate Peril and The End. I love this series. These are supposedly kids books but they are so fun to read. There are hints of philosophy, lots of cultural references, tons of great vocabulary words. I especially like the development of Sunny, the youngest Baudelaire orphan. In the course of the 13 volumes, she learned to walk, talk, and cook gourmet meals. Even her one-word phrases convey a lot of meaning (if I could find my book right now, I would give an example). I love that the Baudelaires are intelligent, well-read children, who demonstrate time and again how they can think for themselves and survive the idiocy of the grownups around them. I think in that way, they can allegorically represent all children - surviving, even thriving, despite the idiots raising them, teaching them, even those who are entrusted to care for them.
Coming soon: commentary on The DaVinci Code and A Thousand Splendid Suns; food items including salmon cakes and pesto; gardening info including tomatoes, peppers, and drought.
I finished Lance Armstrong's second book, Every Second Counts, which I found equally as interesting as the first book. We discussed Lance and his books at bookclub last night and as one person says, even though you know what happens (as you are reading about his chemo or about the 1st, 2nd or 3rd Tour de France victory) you still feel yourself on the edge of the seat, reading frantically to see how it turns out. The descriptions of the the Tour are gripping and interesting, even for those who have never seen bike racing or the Tour. I was cheering for Lance as he battled the French press and the anti-doping trial, as he struggled to have a happy home life and a successful career. Inspiring and interesting, even if you don't personally like the guy.
I also finished the last 2 books in the Series of Unfortunate Events: The Penultimate Peril and The End. I love this series. These are supposedly kids books but they are so fun to read. There are hints of philosophy, lots of cultural references, tons of great vocabulary words. I especially like the development of Sunny, the youngest Baudelaire orphan. In the course of the 13 volumes, she learned to walk, talk, and cook gourmet meals. Even her one-word phrases convey a lot of meaning (if I could find my book right now, I would give an example). I love that the Baudelaires are intelligent, well-read children, who demonstrate time and again how they can think for themselves and survive the idiocy of the grownups around them. I think in that way, they can allegorically represent all children - surviving, even thriving, despite the idiots raising them, teaching them, even those who are entrusted to care for them.
Coming soon: commentary on The DaVinci Code and A Thousand Splendid Suns; food items including salmon cakes and pesto; gardening info including tomatoes, peppers, and drought.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
