What have you been reading lately?

What have you been reading lately?  I've been fortunate, I've had some wonderful time to just sit on backside on my chair and read.  As I look forward to a new year, I thought maybe I should look back and see what I've managed to get through.  I'm very thankful for Pinterest, because I've "pinned" the books I've read not only for book club, but also for fun.  Here goes:

Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins
Let's Pretend This Never Happened (A Mostly True Memoir) by Jenny Lawson
Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay
Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn
The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe
Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
Couples by John Updike
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
Wishin' and a Hopin'  A Christmas Story by Wally Lamb

The above titles were our book club picks.  The list that follows is a partial list of other books I read besides.

Exit the Actress by Priya Parmar
Demons are a Ghoul's Best Friend by Victoria Laurie
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
The House of Hades by Rick Riordan
The Demigod Diaries by Rick Riordan
The Silver Star by Jeannette Walls
The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes
Deeply Odd by Dean Koontz
Inferno by Dan Brown
Joyland by Stephen King
Another Fine Myth by Robert Asprin

As I look the lists, I'm very thankful for the time I have to enjoy my reading and for a very understanding husband.  I'm also very fortunate that I have a quiet husband who doesn't insist on talking my ear off!

It will be fun to look back a year from now, and see what I've managed to accomplish.   

The Play's the Thing, pt 2

In an earlier post, I wrote about the play I've been involved in, The Diviners. This past weekend we performed in the MACT (Minnesota Association of Community Theatres) Festival at North Hennepin Community College.  It was an amazing experience!  I was able to see productions from eight other community theatre groups around Minnesota.

We performed on Saturday afternoon. We had a few difficulties/challenges here and there, but were able to pull off a great show.  The cast and crew found out that our show was good enough to go to the Regional competition in Fargo at the end of April!  Along with the honor of being chosen to represent MN, many members of our show received special recognition. I'm the proudest of the Best Ensemble award given to us.

I'm still in a bit of shock and disbelief over all of this. Our group will have a couple of public performances to raise funds for our trip.  So I get to go back to the fictional town of Zion, Indiana, (the show's setting) at least a couple more times.  My greatest hope is to be Best Show in Fargo and be able to go to Carmel, Indiana, for the National festival.

Let's Pretend This Never Happened (A Mostly True Memoir) by Jenny Lawson

My book club group decided to read Let's Pretend This Never Happened (A Mostly True Memoir) by Jenny Lawson.  I thought it was a hoot!  She says out loud what some of us just think!  As I've always said, I'm not a professional reviewer, I just like to write and have fun.  I hope that Jenny Lawson would appreciate my attempt at a rhyming review:

Lawson gives us a look into her life.

I'm thinking Victor must really love his wife.

The parts where I howled the most were early on,

that isn't a con.

The language she uses isn't for the faint of heart,

but I'm still glad I read it in whole and part.

She is a woman of great passions

and I was glad she didn't dwell on fashions.

I don't want to say anything bad about Jenny

because I don't want her to come after me with a machete!

There were serious times interwoven throughout the tale.

We got to see pictures of Beyonce the rooster bought on sale.

Her photos from past and present were a nice touch.

We got to see the people mentioned and such.

I loved her letters and post-its!

When Jenny wrapped up her dishwasher, that gave me fits!

If laughter is good for the soul,

then that woman is whole!

 

The Prodigal Son, Frankenstein by Dean Koontz

Last summer I binged on Dean Koontz!  I started reading his ODD THOMAS series and got totally hooked on his writing.  I was browsing Barnes & Noble over a month ago and saw one of the books in his Frankenstein series, and thought, "Why not?  I've enjoyed all the other books I've read by Koontz."  So, I went to his website and found book one in his series, The Prodigal Son.  I then ordered it from a member of PaperBackSwap.com.  (Is that ever a cool site!  That's a post for another time.)

Anyway, I waited patiently and got the book.  I devoured it!  What started as a binge last July was reawakened!  I highly recommend the novel, but then I've also become something of a Dean Koontz fan.  As I've said many times before, I'm not a professional reviewer, but I always like to throw in a few words.

Here goes:
The story of Frankenstein has long been retold,
but Koontz's rendition will never grow old.
The monster, Deucalion, is quite a hero.
Victor Helios, the bad guy, is a big zero!
I did want to see more character development from the detectives, Michael and Carson,
but know that in time that goal will be won.
Koontz has a gift for creating an interesting character,
yes sir!
I got totally caught up in the mystery.
Of turning the pages I didn't grow weary.
As I read a sense of horror gripped me.
I won't let this series be.

I'm reading a memoir right now, so my copy of City of Night is waiting in the wings.  Soon I'll end my fast and hit the Koontz again!

The Play's the Thing...

"The play's the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the King." 

This is one of my favorite Shakespearean quotes from Hamlet.  I always like to quote the first four words, though.  For my purposes, the play's the thing wherein I'll catch my joy and sense of being.  Ok, it's not true iambic pentameter, but I've never claimed to be Shakespeare either.

I'm a theater geek; I enjoy acting.  I was involved in plays throughout high school and college and always had a wonderful time.  Four years ago I took the plunge to get back into acting by auditioning for a show called More Fun Than Bowling.  I didn't think I'd have a shot at getting a part, but I thought, "Why not? Nothing ventured nothing gained."  I took the step and got a role!  I enjoyed working with the cast and director, getting out of my home, and being busy.

In January an opportunity presented itself to audition for a show called The Diviners by Jim Leonard, Jr.  I screwed up my courage and decided, "Why not?"  I was pleasantly surprised and happy when I got a call from the director and he offered me a part.

For the past two months I've had the chance to play the character Norma Henshaw.  I've been having a wonderful time!  We just finished our first weekend of public performances.  I'm glad that I've had the opportunity to work with such a talented ensemble cast in a community with a great tradition of fabulous theatre productions.  Next weekend we have three performances, but we're not done yet. 

In mid March we'll be presenting our show for the MACT Fest.  MACT stands for Minnesota Association of Community Theatres.  We'll be competing against nine other shows.  The top two plays will go on to a Regional competition in Fargo, ND.  I'm hoping we'll do our best, knock 'em dead, and advance to North Dakota competition!

  

Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins - It has beet!

While at a Dairy Queen in Hutchinson, MN, my book club group was brainstorming potential books for upcoming months.  A young woman wearing incredibly high heels said, "Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins; it's the best book ever!"  Being an adventurous sort of group we decided to follow her advice.  In keeping with my last attempts, I will give my review in a few...sentences that is.

The prose read like poetry.
The language was beautiful!
Intriguing characters abound.
Alobar and Kudra were the best.
I kept reading to see if they would find rest.
The search for immortality is intriguing to all.
Do a bandaloop jitterbug and you may never fall.
The search for the perfume formula needed to be found.
Throughout the book the sense of smell would abound.
Going back and forth in spaces and times made for quite the epic.
The character of Pan also lent the book a kick.
 I'll always think about beets differently now. 
Because from the beginning I thought,"What's the beet? Wow!"
Wisdom was sprinkled throughout
and sometimes my laughs were a shout!
Overall I guess I would proclaim
that Robbins deserves his fame.

If I were to see that nice young lady again, I believe I would have to thank her for the suggestion. I'm not sure if it's "the best book ever," but it was quite the adventure!

“The beet is the most intense of vegetables. The radish, admittedly, is more feverish, but the fire of the radish is a cold fire, the fire of discontent not of passion. Tomatoes are lusty enough, yet there runs through tomatoes an undercurrent of frivolity. Beets are deadly serious.

Slavic peoples get their physical characteristics from potatoes, their smoldering inquietude from radishes, their seriousness from beets.

The beet is the melancholy vegetable, the one most willing to suffer. You can't squeeze blood out of a turnip...

The beet is the murderer returned to the scene of the crime. The beet is what happens when the cherry finishes with the carrot. The beet is the ancient ancestor of the autumn moon, bearded, buried, all but fossilized; the dark green sails of the grounded moon-boat stitched with veins of primordial plasma; the kite string that once connected the moon to the Earth now a muddy whisker drilling desperately for rubies.

The beet was Rasputin's favorite vegetable. You could see it in his eyes.” 
― Tom Robbins, Jitterbug Perfume

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

I recently finished Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith's Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. It was one of the best books I've read in a while.  It was laugh out loud great!

I'm not a Jane Austen purist, so the addition of the "unmentionables" was a hoot!  I've definitely become a fan of Seth Grahame-Smith.  As I've mentioned in my last review, I'm not a professional so I'll keep my thoughts down to a few short sentences.

Loved the entire concept!
Marveled at the author's creativity.
Laughed loudly!
Enjoyed the illustrations.
Wanted to read more about the "stricken."
Appreciated the added character depths.
Can't wait to see what Grahame-Smith comes up with next!

Beastly Cold

Today has been beastly cold here in good ole Minnesota, so I've spent a good amount of time on my laptop.  I've looked up resources for my class for use with our smart board.   I've played Words with Friends on Facebook and I've seen what my friends have been up to on the same site.  I've been listening to Pandora. I've been pinning away happily on Pinterest.  I also listed and looked  for good books on Paper Back Swap.  I also decided to take a peek at Prezi.  It's been quite fun!  I also decided to play around with Blogger and see how my blog could change looks.  I hope you notice the difference (for those of you that may read my postings on occasion.)

I've also had the occasion to read quite a bit today.  At one point I even told my husband I had to get back to my book Pride and Prejudice and Zombies because Elizabeth was literally kicking Mr. Darcy's butt.  I enjoy Seth Grahame-Smith's work and have been thoroughly enjoying this book.  Where some may scoff, I love it! 

 In between I've also been working on memorization of lines for the upcoming community theatre production I'm involved in!  Tomorrow is my first rehearsal.  So although I have the day off from school, I'll still have to go out in the sub-zero temperatures.  Oh well, life goes on.  Such is our lot in the great state of Minnesota.

The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe

The first time I saw the book The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe I was in a Target and perusing the book selection.  It's one of my favorite things to do when I go there.  I noticed the title and thought, "Hmmm, a book about a book club.  I should look into it."  As a member of a book club, we're always looking for good ideas about what to read next.  I thought the book would be helpful.

The book turned out to be more than helpful, it was insightful.  Now that I've read it, I'm still thinking about it.  I can't wait to have my book club read it so that we can discuss it!

In this memoir, the author's mother, Mary Anne, is diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.  While she is undergoing chemotherapy, the mother and son begin to chat about books and what they've been reading.  It becomes more than just a book club, though.

I'm not a professional reviewer, so I'll make my thoughts/review simple:

Loved the book.
Fell in love with Mary Anne Schwalbe.
Wished I could have met her in person.
Loved reading about her life.
Enjoyed reading about her family.
Got a glimpse into her world.
Impressed by her accomplishments.
Respected her work and her career.
Liked reading a book about another woman's faith.
Shared her love of books and of learning.
Want to read many of the books from their "club."
Thank her son for writing a book like this.

There are many other things I could add, but my recommendation is to read the book for yourself and then pass it on to a friend.

Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

One of my goals in 2013 was to write a bit more, so I've gone back to keeping a journal, and I've decided to spend a bit more time with my blog.  When I looked back at past successes that I've had with my posts (the most readers) my postings have included my reviews of books I've read.  So I've decided to stick with my successes!

Yesterday I finished reading Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell.  My book club is meeting in the middle of the month and we are going to discuss it.  I don't read nonfiction as often as I should, sometimes I get the idea that it might be boring.  I really enjoyed this book, though, and found it quite interesting. It made me think about what it takes to become successful.  In the past I've viewed success as something that happens to a lucky few.  According to Gladwell, though, it's more than just luck.

Gladwell points out that success is based on a number of factors.  Thanks to Google I found a wonderful illustration!

Success can be had based upon practice, lucky opportunities, your cultural legacy and upbringing, and timing is important too.  Mr. Gladwell recounts many true examples throughout the book.  I also found it interesting that he applied this model to his own family in regards to his mother and grandmother.  It made his point all the more real to me.  It got me thinking about my own family and success.

I'm not rich or famous, but I'm the first one on my side of the family to graduate from college with a degree.  I could see how all of the above factors played into how I received my teaching degree.  I won't bore you with my story, but I would recommend the book.  Even though I've set the book aside, I'm still thinking about how I can continue my journey to the top of the pyramid.  Isn't that what a good book does, is make you think?  My answer is most definitely yes!

Book Lover's Paradise

As a book lover, I always enjoy going to Barnes & Noble Booksellers.  I made the trip to my favorite store today with my sister, Denise.  I was given some gift cards for Christmas, and they were burning the proverbial hole in my pocket.  I was amazed at the selection of diet books out on display.  I could tell it was the new year, and that the booksellers were hoping to cash in on New Years resolutions for weight loss.  I also looked around at the new teen fiction.  It's amazing to see how well the paranormal sells.  There were Lego sets for sale, and deals on classic literature.  The bargain books were plentiful as well.

Denise and I had a great time just browsing.  I did eventually purchase a book and an sd card for my nook.  Whenever I go into B&N I compare prices between the actual books and the nook books.  Most times the nook book is cheaper, however I do find I still enjoy holding the book in my hand and turning the pages.  I can also share the book a bit easier with my book club ladies.

I bought The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe.  I'm looking forward to reading it.  If I like it I'll recommend it to my book club.  Browsing through the stacks of bargain books I found a book I wanted to read by Dean Koontz.  I ordered it from Paper Back Swap, a website where members swap books with others.  The only cost is shipping the books you have for other members to choose from.  Sites like PBS make me wonder about the future of big book stores.  I know, though, that as long as there are book lovers like me that book stores will live long and prosper.