Friday, September 12, 2008

Two Books and a Contest




Oh, but I do belong to a book club, and this was our September book! The speaker, Marie, is fighting facing 60, and she journals about it like mad. My first impression was just to get through the darn thing, but it grew on me. Very British! In true British spirit, Marie gives everything equal importance, whether it be a hangnail, or the birth of her grandson, Gene. What began as a flippant little rant about an approaching birthday, grew into a year of discovery and growth. I marveled at all the miracles, large and small, that filled a single year in Marie's life. Of course, she does examine aging, and the imminent death of Hugh, a long time friend, allows ample opportunity for her and others characters to discuss their fears and philosophies about dying.

I related to her on a couple levels. She tries real hard to be intellectual, but never quite gets there. At one point, Marie applies Jung's theory of the collective unconscious, to mundane passtimes, including working crossword puzzles! She theorizes that it would be wise to wait to do the daily newspaper crossword until the day after the puzzle was published. That way, all the energy from all the people who did it right away would be in the universe, and it would be easier for her to solve. Well, I tried it, and went one step further. I waited two days, allowing all the puzzlers to complete it and check their answers against the correct ones printed the following day. That's twice as much stuff out there to find it way to my unconscious. Despite all the flying info, I still had blank boxes and scratch outs. I do crosswords in pen, don't you?

In general, the book was warmly, but not enthusiastically, received by our group.


Since this book was a short, snappy read, I snuck in The Namesake, by Jhumpa Lahiri this week, also. Way too sad for me. I think many of you have read it, so I'll just say that I know the story belongs to the son, but my heart broke for his mom. She was uprooted at such an early age, settled into a new culture, and her very core beliefs were challenged time after time. I wondered if she ever got to be happy. She really didn't fit in America, but returning to India during the prime of her life was not an option.

ANNOUNCING

our first monthly big, fun but tough, LaDeDa contest.

The first person to email me (bdenor@lsol.net) the correct answers to these questions will win a huge $10.00 gift certificate. All of the answers can be found somewhere in the blog. I got the idea as I was digging through past entries, noting, but not correcting, the spelling errors. Que sarah sarah...or would that be sera sera? I thought, what good can become of all this that I, and others, have written? Of course, a contest! Anyway, here goes

Deadline: Sept 30.


1. Who are Jon and Justin.

2. How did I meet Emily Trask?

3. What movie star occupies my thoughts in a nearly irrational way?

4. What was the theme of Heart-A-Rama 2008?


5. My (mine, not yours)favorite book ever is_____________


6. What does ARC stand for?


7. Who wrote John and Rose?


8. What are cozies?


9. Who is George?


10. Where did Heart-A-Rama move to in 2008?


Have fun digging.

What am I reading? In preparation for Lesley Kagen's Nov. 22nd visit, I started Land of a Hundred Wonders. Once I dug in, I ended up putting most of sunday on hold. Lesley will be at the trade show I'm going to next week, and I can't wiat to talk with her about this book. Great story, facinating characters, tricky plot...more next Monday!

No comments:

Post a Comment