Challenge

As part of this creativity challenge I am participating in a read-a-thon at Bout of Books.  I have signed up already over at Joyful Jottings where I will be making most of my posts but one of the things that this creativity challenge has done for me is to take me out of my comfort zone with reading.  I am reading more and I am reading a variety.  In addition, I am reacting - publicly - to these reads.

If I am not "making" things, at least I am getting more involved in the book.  My reading isn't a passive exercise.  I am putting more of myself into the story and then getting more out for myself.  

I am excited about the challenge.  I can't wait to see how I progress.  I have some lofty goals, one of which is to read the books I have on hand.  I will not buy another book, or download one on Kindle, or check out one from the library.  I am going to knock off some of the ones here gathering dust.  

I will probably do lots of cross-over posts but that's OK.  I am writing.

These are near the top of my stack. These have been around a while!   


The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, May 9th and runs through Sunday, May 15th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 16 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

Wordless Wednesday

Little Beach Street Bakery

I shy away from Chick Lit.  I am not sure why except I think I feel that that aspect of life has passed me by.  I am no longer a 30 something looking for love.  I am advancing into my Miss Marple stage or at least the Mrs. Marple stage!

I do like books with recipes such as the Tea Shop Mysteries so perhaps the bread recipes are what grabbed my attention.  I am so glad they did.  I loved this book.  I am drawn to the setting and the food but eventually the story sucked me in.  

Polly's life is falling apart.  She and her boyfriend are facing bankruptcy with a failing business and their relationship has hit rock bottom as well.  There is nothing left for her to do but leave and try to start over.  She moves to a small island into a falling apart former bakery with a grouchy baking rival as her landlady.  Before long her therapeutic baking attracts the attention of some locals which leads to a new relationship that isn't what it seems.

Although the ending is uplifting, there are plenty of drops along the way.  

From Amazon:

In the bestselling tradition of Jojo Moyes and Jennifer Weiner, Jenny Colgan's moving, funny, and unforgettable novel tells the story of a heartbroken young woman who turns a new page in her life . . . by becoming a baker in the town of Cornwall

A quiet seaside resort. An abandoned shop. A small flat. This is what awaits Polly Waterford when she arrives at the Cornish coast, fleeing a ruined relationship.

To keep her mind off her troubles, Polly throws herself into her favorite hobby: making bread. But her relaxing weekend diversion quickly develops into a passion. As she pours her emotions into kneading and pounding the dough, each loaf becomes better than the last. Soon, Polly is working her magic with nuts and seeds, chocolate and sugar, and the local honey—courtesy of a handsome beekeeper. Packed with laughter and emotion, Little Beach Street Bakery is the story of how one woman discovered bright new life where she least expected—a heartwarming, mouthwatering modern-day Chocolat that has already become a massive international bestseller.

Wordless Wednesday

#tbt - Throw Back Thursday

I taught high school English.  I am a reader so maybe that means in a way I will always teach English.  I believe there are some books everyone should read - classics perhaps by some "experts" standard but definitely classics by mine.

Everyone should read Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck.  There is sadness and despair.  The Great Depression has made finding work almost impossible, but men who are willing to travel and move on can find limited work as laborers.  It can be a lonely life moving to one farm after another facing the role of "new guy."  But, Of Mice and Men shows this life in a different light.  

The two main characters George and Lenny travel together.  Nothing alike, they still manage to stave off loneliness offering each some sense of belonging even as they enter a new situation.  George is small but strong.  He has the brains.  Lenny is big but doesn't know his own strength.  He has the dream.  The dream - they are going to get themselves a little farm and Lenny will raise the rabbits.

They are closer to their dream than ever before when they settle in at the ranch in the Salinas valley. The guys they work with seem fair and hard working if they can just steer clear of Curley and his wife.  But Lenny likes pretty things, soft things and that sets them on the path to destruction.

The book is sad and it can make the reader angry.  After it has long been over, the beauty and love becomes evident and some of the darkness fades.  It is a short but powerful work.  Everyone owes it to themselves to set aside a weekend to spend with George and Lenny to learn the lesson of love.

There are several movie versions.  I have only seen two of them.  The 1981 version stars Robert Blake as George and Randy Quaid as Lenny.  The 1992 version stars Gary Sinise as George and John Malkovich as Lenny.  I liked both films but my favorite is 1992.  I love Gary Sinise.  Watch both and compare.  I am sure there is a 1939 film as well but I don't know about others.  Watch the movie after reading, please.  Both are fairly faithful to the story but the power of words will be diminished if the reader knows what is coming.  

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Books and Beat

Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My Teaser:

"For the first time, she was grateful for the city's blackout conditions.  She slipped into the darkness on the sidewalk and all but disappeared." (185  Hannah, Kristin.  The Nightingale. New York:  St. Martin's Press. 2015.)

Eggs In Purgatory

Remember this blog is connected to the challenge posed in A Daily Creativity Journal and today's "assignment" was to use food that was in the house for our project!  

I recently started the Cackleberry mystery series by Laura Childs.  I am a huge fan of her Tea Shop mysteries.  Since I am up to date with those books, I went in search of a new one and was happily satisfied with this.

Three women who by their own description are on the north side of 40 have opened a restaurant in an abandoned gas station.  With a book nook and a knitting corner, the cafe is a big success.  They are the hit of the town.

One day after Suzanne's lawyer stops by with some papers for her to sign, his body is found in his truck behind the Cackleberry Club.  How can Suzanne let this go?  She and her buddies Petra and Toni are off to find the truth.  Luckily, their restaurant is popular and gossip abounds along with several clues.  It makes sleuthing more intriguing.

There are bumps along the way with more crimes and not without accusations but in the long run Suzanne finds the guilty party.  

Technically, my eggs are in the Inferno but they had to go through limbo to get here.

Library Day: Memories Part I

Today is library day.  Actually I have no set day to visit the library.  I usually go when they call.  Let's be clear.  They don't invite me to visit.  There is no need for that, but they do send me emails when they know it's time for a visit.  For example, yesterday I got two messages:  one reminding me that I have two books due soon and one announcing that two books are ready for me to pick them up.  So off I will go for a two for two trade.  It doesn't always work out so evenly but today it is even steven.

I am a library lover.  I have been fortunate to live near great library systems.  It began early when my mother would walk me to the DC library branch closest to our house.  Now that was a library - heavy wood furniture, a separate children's room, and "Ssssh" signs all over the place.  I had a paper card(!) and each book had two cards in a pocket in the back - one card with bibliographic information and the other for a date stamp.  Then the librarian stamped the due date on that card and took a picture of my library card and the two book cards.  Imagine no automation.   There was a limit to how many books could be checked out at a time and the late fine was one cent per day.  What a difference a "few" years make.  As I grew up, the DC branch I visited changed but the set up remained the same.  Back then there were not many "young adult" books, if any, so in high school I left the children's room behind and went straight to adults.  I think that is why I read so many classics.

After college, my new library was in Prince Georges county Maryland.  These branches were newer and more modern that the DC library but they were stocked full of delights.  I was exclusively in the adult section now.  My favorite shelves held mysteries but I did drift over to True Crime.  I still enjoyed classics but now I also looked at the "New Release" section.  My interests were broadening.

After I was married, Howard County, Maryland was my home and their libraries became my haunt. These were fantastic.  The main branch by Merriweather Pavillion and the Miller Branch in Ellicott City were my homes away from home.  In the evening after dinner I would wander around those stacks for hours.  Saturdays at the mall often ended with a quick stop at the library.  Card were plastic now and computer systems were all the thing!  I think this library system is one of the very best in the US.  They have so much to offer and if they didn't have what I wanted they got it for me.  Howard County Libraries still are the standard for which I judge all others.

There are other library systems:  Carroll County, South Coastal Library, and now Chesapeake but I have books calling me.  Those stories will have to wait for another day.

The Lake House

The Lake House by Kate Morton.  I LOVE this book.  It ranks right up there on my all time favorite list.  I bought this book months ago and it has been sitting in the bag on a chair in my bedroom.  I'm not sure why I left it for so long:  I've been reading several series books?  I've been busy?  I am just not sure.  I'll say now that I was saving it.  I certainly was savoring it.  At one point with about 50 pages to go, I put it aside.  I didn't want to finish.  I didn't want it to end; however, I did want to get some answers.

One of the things I love about Kate Morton is that she knows how to keep a secret.  She can keep her readers in suspense until the very end.  But, the really very clever thing is that early on she reveals the true story.  She just keeps giving plausible alternatives until the reader is not sure who or what to believe.  By the end, and I mean the very end, the reader is surprised.  Perhaps surprised because he knew it all along or perhaps surprised because it didn't seem likely.  Either way by the conclusion everything is neatly brought together in ways that seemed impossible.

There are two stories moving through the book.  The first is the story of Alice Edevane and her family who live at the lake house pre-World War II.  In 1933 at a midsummer party held at their home, Alice's baby brother disappears.  Through a masterful arrangement of flashbacks and flash forwards gradually the facts come out.  Family history, tensions, worries are revealed all contributing to the crime.  

Meanwhile there is a story of Detective Constable Sadie Sparrow who is on forced leave from her job in London.  She comes to Cornwall for a rest at the home of her grandfather who raised her.  She is in trouble because she has become too close to a case of a mother who disappeared leaving her baby home alone.  Sadie can't let the case rest.  There must be an explanation for the mother's disappearance.  There must be foul play.

The stories converge when Sadie discovers the lake house deserted and in disrepair while jogging from her grandfather's cottage.  Curiosity leads her to the mystery surrounding the Edevane family giving Sadie a new case and a distraction from her troubles.  Chapters of her investigations in 2003 are mixed among the chapters during Alice's youth and the story shifts just as the reader begins to understand.

With the help of Sadie's grandfather, an elderly policeman from the original investigation, and Alice Edevane herself, Sadie is able to find the truth in both of her cases.  Some might say the ending is too perfect, but fairy tales play and important part in the story, so why not happily ever after?

I love this book and I love this author.  Unfortunately, she only has four other books for me to read. Should I put them off to extend my pleasure?  

Time Out

Today I am taking a time out from individual books to slow down and enjoy a cup of tea.

A lovely stop along the Book Road.

Scraps and Paper Planes Flying Along the Road

Creativity can be painful.  Thinking of things to meet the daily challenge can be a challenge in and of itself.  Create something from paper without using scissors or glue...and no drawing at all.  That just hurts my brain.  Luckily for my teachers, I was never a paper plane flying ace but in keeping with the theme "Book Road" I made the effort to create a plane.  Don't judge.  I am good of lots of other things.

Today we stop along the Book Road in New Orleans with a book that incorporates uses for scrap paper.  Keepsake Crimes by Laura Childs is the first in her scrapbooking mystery series.  Carmela Bertrand owns a scrapbooking shop in New Orleans.  She has a good business that thrives particularly because she has a small group of regulars who spend lots of time and lots of money there. They also act as sidekicks in her adventures.  

In Keepsake Crimes, Carmela is newly separated from her husband who has decided his stodgy banking position no longer suits him.  He is off to the Bayou to photograph nature sans wife.  She has been left behind to handle their friends, his family, and the police.  There has been a murder and Shamus is a prime suspect.  Although she is hurt and angry at his departure, Carmela can't believe he is guilty so off she goes to investigate.

In addition to the mystery, there are scrapbook tips and recipes included and there is a great picture of life in New Orleans.  This particular book gives a peek at Mardi Gras from the perspective of the home town folks.  Like Childs' other two mystery series,  there are strong women and an assortment of kooky characters.  I am well into the Tea Shop series and just started the other two.  Childs hasn't let me down.

A Daily Creativity Journal 365 by Noah Scalin

I am taking the challenge. I bought this book A Daily Creativity Journal by Noah Scalin.  Scalin invites us to join him in a creativity marathon over the next year.  Choose a medium or a theme and do SOMETHING with it every day for the next 365 days.  Wow! that is a marathon and it is a scary one at that.  I can't do anything consistently for a year, can I?  Well, I do read every day.

That's it.  My theme will be books.  That is simple enough.  I will look at books every day.  Cinch!  But wait a minute, "Share Your Work!"  I think that is a bit much.  I've committed to looking at books but now I have to share.  What does that mean - share?  I need to read further.

Good!  Included in the book are some online sharing tools:  blogging, facebook, twitter, etc.  These are handy and accessible ways to document my work.  I can post pictures of books.  That's settled.  I can do that, but where's the creativity in posting 365 pictures of books?  Oh, I get it.  I need to do something or say something about the books.  That's where the creativity comes in.  Now there's the challenge.  Luckily, there are 365 prompts and projects suggested to get me started.  I'm feeling better about all this now.  All I have to do is follow along.  I'm not the kind of person who always colors in the lines and I don't always use the logical colors.  Ah ha! that's creativity.  

Well now I think I am ready to get started.  

Day 1:  "The first step is the hardest, so start small today and make something that fits in the palm of your hand using only the materials in your immediate environment." (29)

I "heart" books.