RebaRelishesReading in 2014 - part 2

Celebrating rain in San Diego!

My reading goals for 2014 are to:
- read 100 books, including
- 10 Pulitzer winners
- 10 books written by Nobel winners, and
- more from TBR pile than ones purchased in 2014.

Books read in 2014

January

1. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
2. The Hawk and the Dove by Nicholas Thompson
3. Homer & Langley by E. L. Doctorow
4. Life After Life by Kate Atkinson
5. Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope
6. We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo

February

7. A Hologram for the King by Dave Eggers
8. Philomena: A Mother, Her Son and a Fifty-year Search by Martin Sixsmith
9. The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank

March

10.An Unnecessary Woman by Rabih Alameddine
11.A History of the Present Illness by Louise Aronson
12. Radiance of Tomorrow by Ishmael Beah
13. At Night We Walk in Circles by Daniel Alarcon
14. The Caine Mutiny by Herman Wouk
15. Songs of Willow Frost by Jamie Ford
16. The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion

April

17. The Names of Things by John Colman Wood
18. The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
19. Every Day is for the Thief by Teju Cole

Ah! Delightful! I'm first. And there is your lovely rain!

We have so much ice now, here in VT, that while I long for the thaw, I am a bit fearful of it if it comes fast instead of gently.....

Hi Lucy -- Welcome home! Looks like you got home without freezing. I hope you're nice and warm inside and get to stay there today. I was trying to sneak my lists over to here without reserving a spot and you were so quick you're now going to be between my monthly reads and my Pulitzers and Nobels. Perfect spot for you I would say :)

PULITZER PRIZE WINNERS (for fiction) read in 2014

64. The Caine Mutiny by Herman Wouk (1952)

Pulitzer Prize Winners read before 2014
1. The Bridge of San Luis Rey (1928) by Thornton Wilder
2. The Magnificent Ambersons (1919) by Booth Tarkington
3. The Stories of John Cheever (1979)
4. The Optimist’s Daughter (1973) by Eudora Welty
5. The Able McLaughlins (1924) by Margaret Wilson
6. His Family (1918 – first award) by Ernest Poole
7. Early Autumn (1927) by Louis Bromfield
8. The Reivers (1963) by William Faulkner
9. A Death in the Family (1958) by James Agee
10.The Good Earth (1932) by Pearl Buck
11.Angle of Repose (1972) by Wallace Stegner
12. A Visit from the Goon Squad (2011) by Jennifer Egan
13. Tinkers (2010) by Paul Harding
14. Olive Kitteridge (2009) by Elizabeth Strout
15. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (2008) by Junot Diaz
16. The Road (2007) by Cormac McCarthy
17. March (2006) by Geraldine Brooks
18. Gilead (2005) by Marilynne Robinson
19. The Known World (2004) by Edward P. Jones
20. Middlesex (2003) by Jeffrey Eugenides
21. Empire Falls (2002) by Richard Russo
22. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay (2001) by Michael Chabon
23. Interpreter of Maladies (2000) by Jhumpa Lagiri
24. The Hours (1999) by Michael Cunningham
25. American Pastoral (1998) by Philip Roth
26. Independence Day (1996) by Richard Ford
27. The Stone Diaries (1995) by Carol Shields
28. The Shipping News (1994) by E. Annie Proulx
29. A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain (1993) by Robert Olen Butler
30. A Thousand Acres (1992) by Jane Smiley
31. Rabbit at Rest (1991) by John Updike
32. The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love (1990) by Oscar Hijuelos
33. Breathing Lessons (1989) by Anne Tyler
34. Beloved (1988) by Toni Morrison
35. A Summons to Memphis (1987) by Peter Taylor
36. Lonesome Dove (1986) by Larry Mcmurtry
37. Foreign Affairs (1985) by Alison Lurie
38. Ironweed (1984) by William Kennedy
39. The Color Purple (1983) by Alice Walker
40. Rabbit is Rich (1982) by John Updike
41. A Confederacy of Dunces (1961) by John Kennedy Toole
42.Humboldt’s Gift (1976) by Saul Bellow
43. House Made of Dawn (1969) by N. Scott Momaday
44. To Kill a Mockingbird (1961) by Harper Lee
45. The Old Man and the Sea (1953) by Ernest Hemingway
46. The Grapes of Wrath (1940) by John Steinbeck
47. The Yearling (1939) by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
48. Gone With the Wind (1937) by Margaret Mitchell
49. Arrowsmith (1926) by Sinclair Lewis
50. So Big (1925) by Edna Ferber
51. One of Ours (1923) by Willa Silbert Cather
52. Alice Adams (1922) by Booth Tarkington
53. The Age of Innocence (1921) by Edith Wharton
54. The Orphan Master's Son (2013)
55. All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren (1947)
56. The Collected Stories of Katherine Anne Porter (1966)
57. The Keepers of the House by Shirley Ann Grau (1965)
58. Martin Dressler: A Tale of an American Dreamer by Steven Millhauser (1997)
59. The Fixer by Bernard Malamud(1967)
60. Elbow Room by James Alan McPherson (1978)
61. A Bell for Adano by John Hersey (1945)
62. The Late George Apley by John P. Marquand
63. The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara (1975)

note: the year in parenthesis is the year the book won the Pulitzer Prize

Books by Nobel Prize Winners read in 2014

Book by Nobel Prize Winners read before 2014

1. Ernest Hemingway (1954): A Moveable Feast, The Sun Also Rises, Old Man and the Sea
2. Pearl Buck (1938): The Good Earth
3. W. B. Yeats (1923): A Poet to His Beloved: The Early Love Poems of W. B. Yeats
4. William Faulkner (1949): The Reivers
5. Doris Lessing (2007): The Sweetest Dream
6. Gunter Grass (1999): The Box: Tales from the Dark Room
7. Rudyard Kipling (1907): Captains Courageous
8. Yasunari Kawabata (1968): Snow Country
9. Gabriel Garcia Marquez (1982): Love in the Time of Cholera
10. Mario Vargas Llosa (2010): The Storyteller
11. Sinclair Lewis (1930): Main Street, Babbitt, Arrowsmith
12. John Steinbeck (1962): The Grapes of Wrath
13. Saul Bellow (1976): Humboldt’s Gift, Herzog
14. Toni Morrison (1993): Beloved, The Bluest Eye
15. John M. Coetzee (2003); Disgrace
16. Siddhartha by Herman Hesse (1946)
17. Fatelessness by Imre Kertesz (2002)
18. Vipers' Tangle by Francois Mauriac (1952)
19. Red Sorghum by Mo Yan (2012)
20. Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T.S. Eliot(1948)
21. The First Man by Albert Camus (1957)
22. Cain by Jose Saramago (1998)
23. The Appointment by Herta Muller (2009)
24. Midaq Alley by Naguib Mahrouz (1988)
25. Dear Life by Alice Munro (2013)
26. One Day in the Life of Ivan denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (1970)
27. Silent House by Orhan Pamuk (2006)

note: the year in parenthesis is the year the author was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature

An Unnecessary Woman
by Rabih Alameddine ****1/2

The fly-leaf of the book describes our heroine/narrator, Aaliya, as "a book-loving, obsessive, seventy-two-year-old 'unnecessary' woman with a past shaped by the Lebanese Civil War". The story unfolds through Aaliya's description of current events and her mental musings of things past. She was married off at 16 to a young man who blames her for his impotence and, when she is 20, divorces her leaving her with the very nice apartment they lived in. To survive, and keep the apartment and her independence, she finds a job in a bookstore where she stays until the owner dies 50 or so years later. She is alone. She has never been close to her mother, step-father or half-siblings and has few friends. Her only close friend died years ago. She observes the friendship of three women in the building where she lives but thinks of them as the "weird sisters" while listening to their conversations while remaining unseen in her kitchen. She develops rituals around which she forms her life, chief among them, each year she translates a book into Arabic. She always begins the translation on January 1, with set rules for the equipment used and the way it is laid out. The book is always one written in a language other than English or French and she translates from previous English and French (both) translations. Once the translation is finished it is packed away in a box, with the French and English versions taped to the top, and stored away. No one else knows about her translations.

Aaliya finds her self "unnecessary" to everyone. When disaster strikes she questions even her life-long passion of translation:

I am nothing
I'll always be nothing.
I can't even wish to be anything.
Aside from that, within me I have all the dreams of the world"

I felt sad for Aaliyq but I also respected her. I found this book captivating because I was engaged by Aaliya's story but also because it was an interesting view of Beirut in the late 20th century. It's unusual in that Aaliya is extremely well read and her thoughts include many (very many) allusions to literature and writers. It was fun to see how many of them I had read (or even heard of).

I marked several passages but decided to share the following because I thought most Lter's would relate.

I walk myself back to my bedroom, back to the stack of books on my mirror less vanity, unread books that I intend to read, a large stack. Choosing which book isn't difficult. The choice is typically the last one I brought home I acquire books constantly and place them in the to-read pile. When I finish with whatever book I'm reading. I begin the last book I bought, the one that caught my attention last. Of course, the pile grows and grows until I decide that I'm not going to buy a single book until I read my stack. Sometimes that works

UP NEXT - I don't usually read more than one book at a time but when I'm reading poetry I find I need to break it up. I'm not a huge fan of short stories so I thought perhaps mixing it with something else might work for me too. So...I'm going to see how reading three at once goes.


Radiance of Tomorrow by Ishmael Beah


the great enigma by Tomas Transtromer

now a plea for help -- There seems to be a new way to link comments to previous comments but I can't find how to do it. Directions anyone?

Also, I would love to have the books above lined up from left to right instead of one under the other. Is that possible? How does one do it?

>10 RebaRelishesReading:

Hi Reba! Happy new thread!

you just type > and the number of the post you are refering to without space inbetween

>10 RebaRelishesReading:

>10 RebaRelishesReading:: Maybe if you post the booklinks with no spaces



TBR Yes!!

And type the titles afterward

>10 RebaRelishesReading: Hi Connie. I just visited your site and found my answer, came back to report that and here you are helping me out. Thank you! I tried posting the book links with no spaces (although I did have the title and author info in there) and that didn't work. Hope you're having a lovely, pain-free day.

I think the title info will seperate them. So just try a post. You can always delete whatever you put in there!

The covers are so blurry you can't really read them so I don't want to lose the title info here. I'll try it next time.

For those blurry covers you can add the info underneath, can you?

Happy new thread, Reba! That top photo is very cool. Did you take it?

I think your positive review of An Unnecessary Woman has tipped me over into adding it to my WL.

I hope your weekend is a good one!

Reba - As you may have noted challenges and lists and stats are things I am inordinately fond of. In consequence I'll be very interested to see how you do with your own this year.

Congratulations on your latest thread. xx

Wonderful review of a wonderful book Reba. I loved An Unnecessary Woman too. Where are you getting the images of the book covers? Do you get them from the work page? If you do I don't know why they come out blurry.

Try this but use the pointy brackets:

(img src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/P/0374246025.01._SX140_SY224_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg"/)(img src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/P/1608198308.01._SX140_SY224_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg"/)

It should come out like this:



I'm glad your in normal mode more often now. Do you know if you had the less invasive newer knee replacement surgery or the regular one? I'm just curious because your recovery seems quite good.

>17 katiekrug: Glad you like the photo but, no, I found in on the web. I do recommend An Unnecessary Woman It's an unusual book and I really enjoyed it. Hope you're having a great weekend too.

>18 PaulCranswick: Hi Paul -- you're much better at lists and stats than I am I'm afraid. I'll limit myself, like last year, to just trying to keep track of what I read in the three simple categories.

>19 brenzi: Thanks Bonnie, I'll give that a try. I picked the cover images up on the pages about the books, I think. What do you mean by "work page"? I appreciate the help and will your formula next time.

I'm glad to be pretty much back to normal, as to energy at least. My knees still ache when I move them but otherwise it's pretty good. Both knees were the standard full-knee replacement from the front. I do keep hearing from medical folks that my recovery is quite quick. I don't know why really. I'm quite healthy (other than my arthritic joints) and I have been faithful in doing my exercises but I haven't really done anything extra. I guess I shouldn't be looking a gift horse in the mouth though lol

Now I understand your knee pains! You had surgery done and have new knees! Wow. Get better soon!

Happy new thread, Reba! It's nice that you can celebrate rain ;-)

Happy New Thread, Reba!

>22 connie53: That's right Connie, I got two new ones on Dec. 20. It's not the easiest thing I've ever done but I'm making progress :)

>23 wilkiec: Hi Diana. With the drought we've been having we're thrilled to get this storm. It's still raining! I know that's just normal life for a Nederlander but it's a nice treat for a Californian.

>24 scaifea: Thanks for stopping by, Amber. I love visitors!!

Reba, thank you for that lovely review of An Unnecessary Woman. I have it on the wish list and can't wait to get to it with all those literary references. That was a very appropriate quote about Aaliya's to-read pile. Something we can all relate to.

I'm glad you finally got some rain. Unfortunately, as it moves its way east, your rain is becoming our snow! Oh well, it is still winter and we haven't had nearly as much snow as regions north of us.

I hope you are having a relaxing Sunday. Rest those knees!

Hi, Reba ~ Hope you are having a lovely Sunday!

>26 Donna828: Sorry to be sending you snow. We're wringing as much water out of this storm as we can while it's here :) I am having a lovely Sunday, thank you. Hope you are too.

>27 Storeetllr: Thanks Mary. Hope yours is great too.

Hi Reba! Glad to hear that you are getting some much needed rain. Your review of An Unnecessary Woman was great! I definitely want to get to that one soon.

Reba, I can't quite commit to *Unnecessary Woman* yet although another review or so on the order of yours will likely push me over.
I'm sorry that your water is coming all at once, but I'm awfully glad you're getting some at all.
And congratulations on dealing with the knees successfully. I hope they get better and better!

>29 porch_reader: Thanks Amy. Looks like our rain is over for now. Glad you liked the review of an Unnecessary woman and hope you like it when you read it.

>30 LizzieD: An Unnecessary Woman is a bit unusual but I really enjoyed it and have seen a couple of other very positive reviews on LT. As to the water...it tends to go that way in CA but here in San Diego we didn't have too many problems with this storm. If we're lucky we'll get another good rain or two in March and then we'll be in pretty good shape for the year. Thanks for you good wishes for the knees :)

I am joining in with others in adding An Unnecessary Woman to the BlackHole. Thanks for the recommendation, Reba!

>32 alcottacre: Hope you like it :)

Sky is blue, sun is shining. The storm has passed. Now if we can just have some more of those in March we'll be just fine. We got almost 2 inches at the coast, over 2 further from the coast and over 8 in the higher mountains. That's not enough to end the drought but it sure helps.

Reba, I'm so glad you got some rain at last. I hope some more comes along this month to help ease the drought a bit more.

Glad for the rain, but not the knee pain.

Thank you Julia and Lucy, and thanks for stopping by. I just love having visitors :)

Just at three inches in the rain gauge in the garden--very nice and badly needed. THe ground soaked it all up, too--no run-off.

Yes it was great...now if we can just have two or three more like that later in the month.

A History of the Present Illness
by Louise Aronson ***

Ms. Aronson holds an M.D. from Harvard and also has an M.F.A. in fiction. She is an associate professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. A History of the Present Illness is a collection of short stories about patients, medical students and doctors portraying the human side of medicine. It's an interesting book but not my cup of tea right now (the *** reflects that more than the quality of the collection). I'm never a huge fan of short stories but these suffered more than most because of the subject matter. Many focus on aging patients and their families. Not only are my husband and I undeniably "senior", a friend has been trying to find care for her 96-year-old mother recently and her stories of the choices (and cost!!) available are depressing. This spilled over onto my feelings about those stories. Others dealt with the lives of medical students and doctors, showing their human side and daily struggles. I preferred those. In sum, I didn't like it much but I can imagine others might really enjoy this collection.

Crossing my fingers for a few more episodes of rain and an end to the drought!

Thank you Mary :) We'll take all the help we can get.

Thanks for stopping by my thread and giving me the good news about your knees, Reba!

You're welcome. Thanks for stopping by here :)

I am late to your new thread, Reba, but I am all caught up with you now! Like Katie, your review for An Unnecessary Woman has tipped it onto my WL. If you posted it, I will give it my thumb. Hoping that your weekend is full of fabulous!

Thank you, Mamie. I hadn't posted it, with your promise of a thumb how can I resist?

I love your rain picture!

Thanks. I like it to but it isn't "mine", I got in on the web.

What a lovely couple of days here, Reba! We went to the park yesterday and all the toddlers were splashing in the fountain (picture on my thread) but today we sat out on the deck and soaked in the sunshine.

Other than a trip to the market (where we hadn't been for far too long) I haven't really been outside. I'm having lunch with a friend today though and think someplace with tables outside would be a good choice. I can imagine the park was great. But is "winter" really over after just one week?

Haha, you guys. "Winter" has taken on a whole new meaning here at the foot of the Rockies.

Seriously, though, I'm glad you are enjoying the beautiful SoCal weather! It was amazing over the weekend here ~ it got up to 70F! ~ but it's supposed to snow tomorrow. It hasn't really fazed me as much as I was afraid it would, though I do like to joke about it. I think it's because there is so much sunshine.

Hi Mary, I do think sunshine makes a lot of difference plus the beautiful surrounding in CO must help. Hope you enjoyed the break of warm temps too though.

Radiance of Tomorrow
by Ishmael Beah *****

Ishmael Beah is the child soldier from Sierra Leone who wrote A Long Way Gone, a memoir of his early life. He came to the U.S. in 1997, at age 17, and graduated from Oberlin College in 2004. He is now married, lives in New York City and serves as a UNICEF Ambassador and Advocate for Children Affected by War, a member of the Human Rights Watch Children's Rights Advisory Committee, and president of his own foundation which is "dedicated to helping children and youth affected by war reintegrate into society and improve their lives. The Foundation aims at creating and financing educational and vocational opportunities for children and youth who have been affected by war, so that they can be empowered to choose a life free of conflict."

Radiance of Tomorrow is Mr. Beah's first novel. It is begins in Imperi, a small village in Sierra Leone which has been destroyed by the war. All of the residents have either fled or been killed. As the book begins people start returning, first some elders then families and children who have no parents. All have lost loved ones, some have fought in the war, some have had their hands or arms cut off, one has been forced to maim others. They begin to rebuild not only the village but also their lives, sharing their meager resources and reestablishing community. But the people have changed and the world outside the village has changed. A foreign mining company moves in, causing perhaps the biggest challenge to the villagers yet.

Radiance of Tomorrow is not only a compelling story, it is written in language that is often poetic. Mr. Beah chose to incorporate the cadences and figurative imagery of his native language into the book. His sun and earth are animate forces. The wind has moods.

...She sat on the ground, allowing the night's breeze to soothe her face and her pain, to dry her tears. When she was a child her grandmother told her that at the quietest hours of the night, God and gods would wave their hands through the breeze to wipe just a few things off the face of the earth so that it would be able to accommodate the following day....

I learned that you are not free until you stop others from making you feel worthless Because if you do not, you will eventually accept that you are worthless.

This is a beautiful, gripping book.

Wonderful review, Reba. I will keep an eye out for that one.

I've finished the two novels I was working on but poor Mr. Transtromer hasn't been getting much attention, I'm afraid.

Today I'm going to start on At Night We Walk in Circles} by Daniel Alarcon

Thank you Katie. I think you'll be glad you did.

Still trying to catch up on threads. Popping in to say hello!

Hi Lori -- thanks for stopping by :)

That's a great review of the Beah book, Reba! I remember that there was some question about the facts in his memoir, although I have to imagine that recreating the story of such a hard young life would be difficult. The lines between memoir and fiction can be thin - with so much truth being carried by fiction and so much based on interpretation in memoir. I never read his memoir, in part because of the controversy, but it sounds like Radiance of Tomorrow might be a good place to start with him.

Hi Amy! How are you feeling? Recovery going well? I didn't read the memoir either but I really did like the book and thought it had some interesting things to say.

Another fine day. I wonder if we really will get some rain tomorrow afternoon?

Excellent review of Radiance of Tomorrow, Reba. Ishmael Beah is speaking later this month at a local college and I am very much hoping to attend!

>61 ronincats: It's a bit cloudy now but I haven't heard about any rain on the way. Sure would be nice. *waving out the window in your direction*

>62 Linda92007: Hi Linda, Thank you. It would be nice to hear him speak. I'd love to hear about it if you get there.

A new book arrived from Book Passage yesterday: the UnAmericans by Molly Antopol

Stopping by to say hello mainly - some of your reads sound interesting, but none compelling me to hit the WL button, thank goodness!!!

Hi Lucy. Glad you stopped by. As to you hitting the WL ... Guess I'll just have to try harder lol

#60 & #64 - Reba - I'm doing much better! thanks! And I'm always fascinated by your Book Passage books. I like the idea of a surprise every month!

Glad to hear you're doing well, Amy. I'm sure Book Passage would be happy to send you a surprise every month too :)

We're having a dinner party tonight. I don't do that often any more when means it's quite a production before I get it all together. Not much reading happening as a result...OK, also as a result of not being very engaged by the book I'm reading.

It's a lovely day for it! We just got home from the park.

Were you at the parade?

How did the dinner party go?

Hi Reba, great review of Radiance of Tomorrow. How was the dinner party and how are you feeling three months out from surgery?

No, we were just out walking the dog.

The dinner party must have gone excellently, given the time you were posting on my thread last night!!!

Hope your party went well!

I used to have folks over to dinner at the drop of a hat, didn't mind the prep - even got pretty good at being efficient so I could enjoy myself - but I've become such a curmudgeon! My SL loves socializing, he's sort of a quiet extrovert and I used to be a sociable introvert, but now I'm hopeless. I do feel a bit sorry for the SL though.

Hi Connie, Bonnie, Roni and Lucy!! How nice to have you all drop by.

The party went OK in spite of glitches. It was just two other couples, who didn't know each other. They got along well, conversation flowed. I made a chocolate mousse cheesecake for dessert on Saturday...and then dropped it upside-down on the kitchen floor when trying to move it to the plate so we had wonderful cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory instead. I put onions in both the rice and vegetables and then it turned out one husband is terrible allergic to onions (he still had chicken and salad so guess it was OK). We're of an age where everyone went home by ten so that wasn't why I was still up to write you, Roni. Actually I went to bed before I was really sleepy and my dear Hubby was snoring so I gave up and got up again.

I'm doing well, Bonnie. The surgeon said to come back when it had been a year and PT said to just keep on with what I'm doing (which I haven't been doing very well). Knees still hurt to bend or straighten but once I get them in the position I want they're fine. Standing and walking are MUCH better than before surgery.

Three weeks from right now we'll be at the airport with the grandkids awaiting our flights to Europe. I'm excited and a little apprehensive. My hubs is nearer frightened lol. I'm trying to be as prepared as possible so am making lists and fretting that I'm forgetting something.

At Night We Walk in Circles by Daniel Alarcon **1/2

This book follows a young actor, Nelson, who joins the revival tour of a guerrilla theater troupe, Diciembre. The troupe was originally formed during a past war in the unnamed South American country where the book takes place. Nelson's life isn't turning out as he had hoped and he sees this as a chance to turn things around. I'm afraid the story never "grabbed" me and, as a result, reading the book was a slog for me. Sorry Mr. Alarcon.

Next up I think I'll try The Caine Mutiny. It's been a while since I've read a Pulitzer winner

Full moon over San Diego last night - it's a beautiful photo but I can't get the path to insert it here, sorry

Thanks for your words of encouragement on my thread, Reba! Really appreciate it!

Tomorrow's the Vernal Equinox! Yay for the first day of Spring!

Hope it comes soon to all of those who have had such a tough winter! It's a foggy morning in San Diego today.

Hi Reba! I'm sorry that At Night We Walk in Circles wasn't a better read for you. It caught my eye when it made the Tournament of Books, but based on the comments there and on your review, it's not high on my TBR list at this point.

>83 porch_reader: I was sorry too. I'm reading Caine Mutiny now and really enjoying it so I'm recovered.

Reba, I have fond memories of The Caine Mutiny and other books by Herman Wouk. As I recall, his books were hard to put down. I am having trouble picking up a book these days. The grandkids wore me out as usual. I can't imagine traveling with them unless their parents went along. I'm all for it, though, if there are more adults than children!

Hi Reba! I've been away most of the week (stupid work) so am slowly getting caught up...

I'm sorry the Alarcon book didn't work for you. It has not been calling to me. I seem to have some kind of mental block about South American literature. It holds almost zero interest for me. Dunno why...

I've only ever read The Winds of War and War and Remembrance so will look forward to your thoughts on The Caine Mutiny. I think my husband has a copy I could borrow...

Hope you'll have a wonderful weekend, Reba.

Which countries are you going to visit in Europe, Reba?

What a mishap! (With the cheesecake) and then the onion...... I've had people call me and get very particular about what family members can and can't eat, and I've started doing the same in return - it's a different world isn't it? I can't imagine my parents ever doing that in their day!

I can't believe you are going on your trip so soon! I know it will be wonderful.

Have a wonderful and safe trip Reba. Keep us all updated on your adventures. xx

An onion allergy would be calamitous in so many ways! It sounds like you served a lovely dinner, and I am sure that your guests appreciated it.

>85 Donna828: I'm definitely having a hard time putting Caine Mutiny down. i spent most of yesterday reading it. We were gone most of today but I grabbed it as soon as I got home. I only have about 30 more pages to read but it's 11:30 p.m. and I have a meeting in the morning so won't get it finished until tomorrow afternoon.

Our grandkids are older than yours (9 and 11) and we'll be 2 adults to 2 kids so I think it will be OK. My hubby is rather nervous about it though.

>86 katiekrug: It didn't hold too much interest for me either. I got it as part of my first editions club from Book Passage so I read it. I kept hoping it was going to get better but it certainly didn't call me to read it, in fact I kept finding other things to do instead. I'm loving Caine Mutiny though.

>87 wilkiec: Thank you Diana. It was busy but good. Hope you had a nice one too.

>88 connie53: Just two Connie. We're spending a week in Noord Holland making our base on a dairy farm which should be fun for the kids. Then we take the train to Paris where we'll stay for 6 days. The kids are only 9 and 11 and this is their first trip abroad (actually first trip except to visit family) so we're trying to keep it pretty simple.

>89 sibylline: Yep, Lucy, it was quite a dinner party!! Fortunately the floor is cleaned up, no one went hungry, I'm able to laugh about it and the guests were great. I'll invite them again and I imagine they'll have the courage to come.

I can't believe how soon the trip is either. We've been talking about, and planning, this for about three years and now here it is on the door step.

>90 PaulCranswick: Thanks Paul.

>91 banjo123: Thanks Rhonda. I knew he had a serious allergy to fructose but didn't realize there was a problem with onions. Apparently it is the worst thing possible for him. Oh well, we live and learn and, like I told Lucy they were great about it.

Reba: how nice, a week in Noord Holland! I hope the weather will be fine and you will enjoy your week there. Paris is of course an adventure for kids that age.

Thanks Connie. I'm holding my breath about the weather in Holland. You all say it's been nice so long that I expect it to turn about the day we arrive lol

The Caine Mutiny by Herman Wouk

After slogging my way through At Night We Walk in Circles I decided I needed a change. I had made no progress toward my goal to read 10 Pulitzer Prize winners this year so I picked up The Caine Mutiny which had been sitting in my TBR pile for a long time, frightening me off by it's size. Those of you who haven't read it have probably seen the movie (or read one of the many reviews of the book) so I won't summarize the plot. but simply say that I enjoyed it immensely. A woman on Good Reads said that she has three criteria for a 5-star book: It entertained me, it made me think, and it made me feel. I think those are excellent criteria and on that basis The Caine Mutiny gets *****.

Reba, your review intrigued me! I'm not familiar with The Caine Mutiny at all, but I've visited the page for the book and now I think I'll look out for it. Hmmm, the Kindle edition is just £4.31!

Sounds like a good deal on Kindle and will be easier to hold that the hefty paper edition. I think you'll enjoy it.

All caught up here, Reba! Glad to hear that your dinner party went well - sorry about the onions! I always try to remember to ask, but I do think that if you have a serious allergy to a common ingredient, then you need to be responsible for letting people know ahead of time. Sounds like it all turned out okay - I would totally have dropped the dessert, too! That kind of stuff always happens to me, it seems.

You have hit me with The Caine Mutiny - I have seen several different movie versions, and the plot always fascinates me, so onto the list it goes.

Wishing you luck as you plan your European adventures with the grandkids - how fabulous of you!

Hi Mamie. Nice to have a visit :). Actually I knew our friend had a food allergy and he, and I, thought I understood what it was. Turned out I didn't completely. Anyway he was fine about it and all is well.

Hope you enjoy Caine Mutiny. You can tell I did.

Thanks for good wishes for the trip. It's coming so soon I can't believe it.

Hi Reba, thanks for bringing The Caine Mutiny to my attention. I think I will look for the Kindle version. Have a great trip. It sounds like it will be a wonderful adventure:-)

Glad that you liked the Wouk!

Actually, I cringe at the idea of never being able to have onions in my food! Poor man.

Hi Bonnie -- thanks for stopping by. Hope you find Caine Mutiny and enjoy it.

Morning Lucy -- thanks :)

Hi Roni -- I agree. I not a fan of raw onions but cooked they really add something AND they smell wonderful At least as bad, he can't have most fruit...not sure I could live with that one.

Songs of Willow Frost by Jamie Ford ****1/2

The author of On the Corner of Bitter and Sweet takes us back to the Asian community in early 20th century Seattle where we meet William Eng, a 12-year old resident of a Catholic orphanage. William has been there for 5 years and has memories of his mother and things that happened which caused him to be in the orphanage but the memories are fuzzy and incomplete. As the book progresses we learn the mother's story. Both William and his mother, Willow, are sympathetic characters facing prejudice (both race and gender based) and hard times. It's an engaging story.

Thank you Amy for suggesting it :)

We bought tickets to the "Travel Adventure Show" at the convention center a couple of weeks ago. Planned to go today. Got all dressed and ready to go and then noticed the show is tomorrow and Sunday. Guess we have some "found time" today but sure changed our plans for tomorrow.

>104 RebaRelishesReading: Boem, book bullet. Thank you, Reba :-)

>106 wilkiec: You're quite welcome, Diana. Thanks for stopping by.

For the first time in a very, very long time I read a book straight through in one sitting yesterday. It was unusual both because I had time to do that and because I was so engrossed in the book I really couldn't bear to put it down. I need to think about it a bit before I write it up but I'm quite sure The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion will get *****.

Ooh, I've got that one waiting on my Kindle!

Hi Katie -- hope you enjoy it like I did

We went to the Travel Adventure Show at the convention center this morning and then had a lovely lunch outside in the Gaslamp District. Beautiful day in San Diego.

Nice!

Glad you are having a beautiful weekend!

>111 RebaRelishesReading: Oh, that does look like a lovely day!

Oh pain! It looks so lovely and cheerful. On my walk this morning I couldn't even go on our road as about 2/3 of the way down it was all an enormous and very deep puddle. Miss Po waded bravely in and then stopped and looked at me as if to say: Are you freakin' kiddin' me Mom? So we turned around. Then I decided to slog up the woods road but the snow is still very deep and kind of these weird slush and I came home sodden up to the knees. Really frustrating!

Hi Jim and Mary and Amber -- thanks for kind words

Lucy, I'm sorry. I know you're totally done with winter and the weather gods aren't cooperating. I hope it changes soon and that you have a wonderful summer in repayment. Or... how about a visit to California?

The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion

The fly leaf of the book jacket introduces this book so well I will just quote it

Meet Don Tillman, a brilliant yet socially challenged professor of genetics, who's decided it's time he found a wife. And so, in the orderly, evidence-based manner with which Don approaches all things, he designs the Wife Project to find his perfect partner: a sixteen-page, scientifically valid survey to filter out the drinkers, the smokers, the late arrivers.

While this is the main story line, a second thread is his involvement with Rosie in helping her figure out who her father is. Rosie's mother died when she was a child and she has reason to believe that her biological father is a member of her mother's medical school class rather than the personal trainer who was her mother's husband and who has raised her.
Dr. Tillman and Rosie are both delightful characters, very human, kind and full of foibles. I found myself rooting for both of them and anxious to see how both quests turn out.

As I mentioned above, I can't remember the last time I read a book "in one go" but I just couldn't resist with this one. *****

OK, I put in the coding for the cover picture three times but, even though the code is there and it's correct, the picture doesn't show up!! I don't know why.

#104 - Wheww! I'm so glad that you liked Songs of Willow Frost, Reba! it was one of my favorite reads of March. And now you got me back with a book bullet! I have The Rosie Project on my Kindle. My mom already read it and liked it too, but all she told me about it was "It's got a professor in it - kind of like you." Now that I see that he is described as "socially challenged," I'm not sure what to think! But I'm looking forward to reading that one!

Looks like it was a beautiful weekend in San Diego. It was in the 60s and sunny here in Iowa today, so I can't complain.

>119 porch_reader: From what I have observed, you are not socially challenged so I'm sure your Mom was just referring to the "brilliant professor" part. It is a very good book on a couple of levels IMO. Hope you like it.

>117 RebaRelishesReading: Well Reba, I was sitting here wondering what my next book should be and BOOM! I picked up The Rosie Project when it was a Kindle Daily Deal.

>121 brenzi: Good...glad to have helped :)

It's raining outside! Not hard but everything is wet and they say we may get 1/3 of an inch or so. Not much, but we'll take it.

I've spent the entire morning this morning on the threads. Need to get my chores done and start reading something else...like a book maybe :)

Can't resist seeing if I can get it to come up for you:


It might be that the cover you picked is from a non-american edition or something kooky like that? Who knows why - all I know is that when this has happened to me, I fish around and come in at a different angle......

Hi Lucy. Maybe it 's something like that although the book came from The Book Passage up in the Bay Area so it should be an American edition. Any way thanks for providing a cover.

Travel shows are fun. I haven't been to one in a long time. I always want to go everywhere!

Swooping by to say high and to wish you a happy weekend. Great reviews.

Reba, the April issue of Smithsonian has an article on America's Best Small Towns. Chautauqua is no. 1. I thought of you, wondering if this will bring a deluge of tourists!

>127 thornton37814: Hi Lori -- this was the first one we'd been to and we enjoyed it. Came home with a huge bag of folders and all kinds of new ideas of places to go, but then, we're very susceptible to travel ideas lol

>128 Thebookdiva: Thank you Abby. Nice to have a visit.

>129 Linda92007: I heard about that Linda but haven't seen it. I imagine it will bring some additional people by although it's a bit out of the way plus if you come during season you need to buy a pass to enter (except on Sunday when it's free) and if you come out of season it's awfully quiet. I'll have to find a copy of that magazine and see what they have to say.

>95 RebaRelishesReading:: I like that criteria for a 5-star book and would add beautiful writing to the list. I have such good memories of The Caine Mutiny and am happy that I still have my copy. I see a reread in my future.

>117 RebaRelishesReading:: I am saving The Rosie Project for a time when my spirits need a lift. I am still on a Hope High!

Reba, the travel show sounds delightful. Traveling with DH is usually such a whirlwind affair that I don't enjoy it that much. I love your laid back plans for The Netherlands/Paris trip. Now that's the way to do it! You and your grands are going to make some wonderful memories.

>131 Donna828: I certainly expect to have great memories of the trip. Hope the grandkids are old enough to keep some too (I think they are).

My Hubs used to like to do road trips and make as much distance as possible, stopping for quick "hits" to get a sense of each place and then moving on. I hate that and am very glad that age has slowed him down. Last night he was telling me (as though it was his idea and he was trying to get me on board) that he really would prefer to always stay at least a week in each place when we travel, except for cruises. I had to chuckle inside as I agreed.

All caught up here. Need to quickly turn the computer off (before I'm behind again) and move to the reading chair :) Today is a lovely day with nothing on the calendar so hope to finish my book, The Names of Things, which I'm not enjoying all that much but want to finish.

The Names of Things by John Colman Wood **1/2

This novel is the story of an anthropologist who spent years with his artist wife studying tribes of northern Kenya. After her death he returns to the area and travels around areas they have known, remembering their life there and afterwards when they returned to academic life in the western world. The story moves from the present to the past and is interspersed with pages from his journal, all of which make it rather disconnected and jumpy. It's also a very reflective book as the anthropologist seeks to find peace with his life. I'm afraid it really wasn't my cup of tea.

We were going to spend part of the day working in the yard, but the rain last night left everything too wet. So I've been beading and now watching basketball games. Are the knees continuing to improve?

Hi Roni -- nice to have things too wet to work, isn't it? Plus sounds like you got a bonus day to craft which is always nice. I started getting things out to pack and, in the process, cleaned out the shelf that has travel "stuff" on it and the one that has medicines. Both things that really needed to be done. The knees continue to improve (thanks for asking) but it's very slow now which is OK because they do everything I need them to on a daily basis, it's just that it's still uncomfortable/painful (depending on how long it's been) to bend or straighten them. I'm hoping that will be over by summer.

The Wood sounds like one of those novels full of feeling but without a center.

Hi Lucy! It didn't even seem to have all that much feeling to me. The main character was retracing steps he had taken before and didn't know what he was looking for. I read into it that he was trying to make peace with the past but I don't really know that. I note that it was an early reader book a while back -- some rated it 2 1/2 or 3 like I did but several gave it 5 stars so it may just be that I was missing the point.

Hi, Reba ~ Just checking in before the official end of the weekend to say hi. Glad you've gotten more rain, and a nice bonus of a day to be spent inside organizing Hope the drought is history, as it seems to be this year here in Colorado, though it could change in a heartbeat.

I had to chuckle with you at your DH's turnabout on travel preferences. I'm with you ~ the "if it's Tuesday it must be Belgium" style of travel has never been for me!

Have a great week!

Hi Mary -- thanks for stopping by. I'm afraid the drought is no where near over. I don't think this last rain amounted to more than 1/2 inch at most but we'll take any moisture we can get.

Long list of things to do today including packing. Our flight is at 11:15 tomorrow and we won't arrive at our Dutch farm until around 6:00 p.m. tomorrow (Dutch time but it will be over 24 hours door to door). Once we recover from that it should be all downhill. I will only have my iPad with me so will do limited LT for the next two weeks but I'll catch back up when I get home.

Have a wonderful time, Reba!!

Omg, it's trip time ALREADY! Safe travels and have a great time, Reba.

Thank you Katie!

Yes, omg indeed! We've been talking about this trip for about 3 years. Hard to believe it's almost here. Thanks for good wishes, Roni.

Have a lovely trip and safe travels, and take lots and lots of photos!

Thanks Mary, I will.

Have a safe and wonderful trip!!

Thanks Mary.

We've arrived in Holland. After about 25 hours travel (door to door) we were all exhausted and asleep by 6:00 p.m. Local time. Of course we also all woke up hungry at midnight (8:00 am in California) so gave up and had our first breakfast at 1:00. Now we're back in bed trying to get some more sleep and bridge the hours to local morning. Weather is beautiful...Hope it holds.

Have a wonderful trip, Reba!

Have a wonderful trip! What a great gift to give the grandkids.

Have a wonderful time, Reba!

Oh my! You're on your trip! Enjoy!

Have a great trip!

Now that rested and more awake I realize that midnight Europe is 4:00 pm California...not 8:00 am. Anyway we all got back to sleep and got up at a normal time this morning. It's cold ( to a Californian) and cloudy today so we went to Madurodam and had a great time. Now the kids are outside riding some go-kart like things and I'm enjoying a few minutes of quiet before we go to "help" the farmer milk.

Thanks for visiting and your good wishes Amy, Rhonda, Diana, Lucy and Abby.

We're staying a farm and the grandkids are having a wonderful time helping milk, finding eggs, petting lambs and running around. There is a family from South Africa staying here too with three English speaking kids of similar ages. They've hit it off big-time and the five of them are outside together every possible moment. Fun times.

That sounds lovely, Reba! How long are you there for before going to Paris?

That sounds so perfect!

When we were in Paris with the LD when she was younger we made quests of things like finding THE BEST hot chocolate. It was very fun!

Hi Katie and Lucy. Nice to hear from you. The farm is working almost too well in that the kids ( esp my grandson) would really prefer to just stay here rather than going out to see things. We have, nevertheless, managed a day trip each day. Today we took a steam train, then a steam boat, then visited an outdoor museum then took a modern train back to the car. Lovely but tiring.

We leave for Paris on Wednesday which is a week after we arrived. I like the idea of quests, Lucy. I'll see if I can think of something appropriate. I've been happy to successfully introduce a few new things to my normally picky eaters...not necessarily healthful things but they tasted several new things and actually liked some of them!

>154 RebaRelishesReading:: I'm sorry I wasn't there to wave "Bon Voyage" to you, Reba, but it's good to know that you reached your destination and are adjusting to the time. I have some fond memories of Madurodam (that is the miniature village, isn't it?) from our whirlwind trip there in 1969 with a 3-month-old baby. We went with another couple in a Volkswagen van and I remember being terrified of the crazy driving in Amsterdam.

How fun that the grands have made some buddies already. The farm life sounds like a great way to bond. Maybe they can be pen pals (or e-mail pals) with their South African friends. How's the knee holding up?

>155 RebaRelishesReading: Oh, that sounds lovely!

Hi Donna and Mary, thanks for visiting.

My granddaughter and the girl from the South African family exchanged emails and addresses and I think they will probably stay in contact (at least for a while). The farm isn't as much fun for our grands since they left. There are other kids but the bond isn't the same. Nevertheless the kids chose to stay on the farm today rather than going back to Amsterdam but they aren't playing outside as much (it's cold too, which isn't helping). They do plan to go help the farmer milk at 5:30 which will be their goodbye since we leave first thing in the morning. Train to Paris..arriving at 2:40. Five full busy days there and then the long flight back home.

I've been really pleased with my knees. Yesterday I stood in line for well over an hour and then climbed the steep stairs all the way to the top of Anne Frank's house (and back down) and I could still walk afterwards!

Yes, Madurodam is the miniture village. It has been greatly added to since "my time" and now has a bunch of stations where the kids can do hands on things like loading wooden blocks onto a boat using a crane or putting out at fire on a boat. That made it a lot more fun for them than it was when my son was little...even though it's one of his favorite memories of Holland and the one thing he was insistent they should see.

The playground in the Jardin de Luxumbourg is fun for kids - i have lots of photos of the LD clambering about in there.

I forget too what it is called but there is a whole park dedicated to 'fun' for kids - a longish ride on the metro.

The LD also became obsessed with the macaroons from LaDuree.

And also was obsessed with the cats in Shakespeare and Co. Although last time we were there I heard rumours that the shop was closing or moving. That would be terrible! If you get desperate for an Anglo bookshop and you are on the right bank, there is The Red Wheelbarrow which I ADORE.

She became obsessed also with the vitrine displays and took incredible (and hilarious) photos of the mannequins, dressed, half-dressed, fallen over. Hmmm. They are probably still around on her FB pages, I'll go poke around for one or two of the great ones.

Phooey - no luck - I guess she never loaded them on here or lost them in some computer switcheroo.... that does happen.

Sounds like your trip is going fabulously, Reba! What great memories you are making for our grandchildren. Wishing you safe travels to Paris. And hooray for those new knees!

Glad your knees are holding out so well, Reba. Have fun in Paris!

Hi Lucy, Mamie and Roni. Thanks so much for stopping by and for the good tips Lucy. We had a quick efficient trip on the Thalys although we couldn't see much because we had seats next to one of the few pieces of wall. We're now getting settled in our apartment. I made a trip to the local supermarket for dinner, milk, etc. difficult shopping when you can't read the packages lol. After dinner the four of us took a stroll around our neighborhood and found some ice cream for dessert. Also found a bakery for tomorrow morning. Tomorrow we'll explore further afield.

Reba, I'm very much enjoying your descriptions of your trip so far. The farm sounds really wonderful. What a great idea to introduce your grandchildren to both sides of modern European life — rural and urban. This sounds like the kind of trip they will remember forever.

Thanks, Julia. I hope you're right that they'll remember it. The choice of rural and city wasn't quite that thought out I'm afraid. I just happened upon the farm accommodations when looking for something in the Netherlands and thought it sounded fun. It really was a stroke of good fortune because they loved every minute, especially when the family from South Africa was there and I loved seeing them get so comfortable with cows, sheep, etc. I'll post some photos when I get home.

Today we walked Paris. We started out toward the Opera and came upon a twice weekly market that was lots of fun. Then we got Hop On Hop Off tickets and rode around looking at the sights. The weather was near perfect today so sitting up top in the open air was great. We got out at the Eiffel Tower but the line was huge (expected that) so we walked a couple of blocks to a very typical Parisian restaurant and had a lovely lunch. Then made our way to the Place de Republic from where we walked home stopping at Carrefores for some provisions on the way. It's 6:00 p.m., we're all quite tired and happy after a very fine day. Tomorrow my granddaughter and I are going to a fashion show together while grandson and granddad figure out something else to do. Should be a good one too.

Happy Easter!

This afternoon my granddaughter and I went to a fashion show. A first for both of us and quite fun. Grandpa and grandson went to the Tuilleries to play while we girls were busy with fashion. Another good but tiring day.

Hi Reba, I love your stories about your visit to the Netherlands!

Have some lovely days in Paris!!

Hooray for your knees doing so well! I am glad that the trip is working out so well--the farm sounds like great fun for the kids.

>172 connie53:. Hi Connie! Thanks. We had a great time in NL and only rain once for about five minutes. It was while we were in line for the Anne Frank house so we couldn't do anything about it but at least it was short.

>173 banjo123:. Thanks. I'm delighted by the knees and the farm turned out to be even better than I expected.

Reba - I'm so glad your trip is going well. You are doing quite a variety of things. I'm having fun living vicariously!

Thanks Amy...happy to oblige lol. It's cold today. We started off to see Notre Dame but the line was huge so we decided to try another day. Line at Ste. Chappelle was long too but we braved it. I really think that's one of the most beautiful buildings in the world. Then we used the last day of our hop on hop off ending at Luxembourg Garden where the kids had a great time with the boats on the pond, a pony ride and then over an hour in the amazing play ground there. Got them a fresh crepe with butter and sugar after (Imre and I shared one while we waited...kept us from freezing) and then caught a taxi home. Lazy evening at home now.

Sounds like so much fun, Reba! Enjoy your well-deserved lazy evening.

Grandson was feeling under the weather last night and seemed have a fever. He's better this morning but we decided to have a pajama day today anyway. Now we'll have some hard choices to make tomorrow which is our last day of the trip.

Happy Easter, Reba! Sorry to hear that your grandson is feeling under the weather - hoping that the jammie day does the trick! Sounds like a lovely idea!

Ah! So glad the Luxembourg was the 'thing' - it is truly a great place for children, no? I used to jog around the perimeter too, to earn my croissants and crepes! I agree wholeheartedly about Ste Chapelle although, of course, outside of Paris there are places like Chartres!!!!!

I just remembered too that if there is another fine day Versailles is something else. But there can be a LOT of walking. I think on Sundays the fountains are on - we went for that and it was worth it - but that would be today, so probably too late for that.

I hope that the last day of your trip is lovely. I vote for more crepes--those sound lovely.

Have a safe trip home, Reba!!

Hi Mamie . Hope your Easter was wonderful. PJ day seems to have helped as both kids feel better today. IF they ever get ready (11-year-old-girls seem to need about as much time to get ready as teenagers), we're going to head out to the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame and possibly either Tuilleries or the natural history museum. Unfortunately, yesterday was nicer weather than today but we should be OK.

Hi Lucy -- hope you had a great Easter. We'd never been to the Luxembourg before but it was great - cold but great. The kids sailed boats, rode ponies and then played in the huge playground for an hour or so. We decided against even trying for Versailles because of time needed to get there and so many things to do in Paris itself.

Thanks for good wishes Rhonda and Connie. Hope you both had wonderful Easters.

Reba - I'm glad the PJ day helped. Hope you are enjoying your last day in Paris!

We had a good last day...up the Eiffel Tower (2 hrs in line), finally braved the line for Notre Dame (not bad) and had a last crepe. Now we.re at Charles de Gaulle waiting for flight to Frankfort...first of three steps home. It's gonna be a long day.

Wishing you safe travels back home, Reba!

Reba, I hope the trip home passes speedily, and everyone is kept entertained :-) The trip sounds fantastic, and something your grandchildren will surely remember forever. How lovely of you to take them, and how great that your new knees performed so well!

Yikes - my two least favorite airports in Europe - De Gaulle and Frankfort - in one trip!

Sounds like you had a great trip, and I am only the teeniest bit jealous :)

Safe travels home!

Adding to the wishes for safe travel and a good homecoming, Reba!

WELCOME HOME!!!!!!!!

Because I know when you read this you will be!

Mamie, Susan, Katie and Roni -- thank you so much for traveling with me and for your good wishes for the trip home. Everything went smoothly. The electronic toys all ran out of battery before we got home but the kids did fine anyway. We were traveling about 22 hours door-to-door so we were all really tired when we got back. Both kids slept from San Francisco to San Diego where we turned them over to their mother. We were in bed within an hour of getting home. I slept for about 10 hours and woke up feeling refreshed yesterday morning. Breezed through the day until 4:00 p.m. when I hit a wall. Managed to stay up until nine then woke up at 1:30 and was unable to sleep after that. Got up at 4:15 or so and started in on the back-log on my desk. I'll try to get outside as much as possible during daylight hours and hope the jet lag will be gone tomorrow. I love being in Europe but hate getting there and back, especially from the west coast, but we're thinking that now that we have our little place at Chautauqua we may just make future trips to Europe from there -- easier flights and less time change both sound good.

The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett**

I've had this tome on my Kindle for ages but the time never seemed right to read it until this trip. Turned out that the length of the trip and the book matched very well and I finished it on the plane on Tuesday. I was quite happy to be finished with it actually. I rated it a bit higher than christineplouvier did in her review but never the less I thought her description nailed it:

Get out your compass, square and plumb bob — you’re going to want them on the jobsite in The Pillars of the Earth, a historical melodrama that chronicles the lives of people who are occupied — and preoccupied — with building a cathedral in 12th-century England.
Now, I like cathedrals — I’ve lived in Europe and looked at plenty of gargoyles and rose windows. But Pillars regales you with everything you never wanted to know about how religious architecture evolved, from Romanesque arches, to Gothic groined vaults, to flying buttresses. A short course in Euclidean geometry and a multiplicity of excruciatingly graphic descriptions of gratuitous sex and violence double the book’s length. An attempt to give depth to a cardboard villain by giving him nightmares and a fear of hellfire is laughable. The characters’ peripheral involvement in the struggle for succession between the descendants of Henry I is unconvincing, and complicity in the murder of Thomas Becket is one of several clumsy deus ex machina solutions that appear throughout. The writing is flawed by an excess of adverbs and points of view, as well as anachronistic slang.
I haven’t seen the screen adaptation, but it might be an improvement upon the book — like James Clavell’s Shōgun. As published, I think it fails to live up to its potential, but if you’re a fan of encyclopedic tomes like Arthur Hailey’s Airport and James Michener’s Hawaii, you might enjoy getting a snootful of stone dust as you witness the building of The Pillars of the Earth.

Unless someone convinces me that this isn't a typical Follett book, I don't think I'll be reading any more by him.

Glad that you arrived home safe and sound, Reba. Sorry the book was a bust, but thanks for sharing that review - it made me laugh out loud! Here's to better reading in you immediate future!

Welcome home, Reba! I enjoyed all the details of your trip with the grands. The trip home sounds truly exhausting. I've only dealt with jet lag from Europe to the Midwest, but that was bad enough!

Reba, it's good to hear you're back home safely.

Re the jet lag, it's supposed to take one day for every hour of time difference, so don't be surprised if that wall creeps up on you today too!

On my second night in NZ, my stepmother announced, at about 7pm, as we were finishing dinner (at home but with some friends of theirs) that she had to take me back to my hotel. "But I feel OK", I said, not wanting to look rude. "You've turned white, dear," she said, picking up her car keys. "Now come on."

Take it easy!!

Hi Mamie. I thought that was a great review too, which is why I decided to just quote her. I've had a couple of really good ones lately so don't feel to bad about this one. It was also good to be reading about building cathedrals while in Europe.

Hi Julia. I really didn't have any problem going east and felt great most of yesterday. I tried to take a morning nap about an hour ago but couldn't fall asleep. Too bad because I'm really tired.

Hi Susan -- love your step Mom!! I hope it doesn't take a day per hour because it was a 9 hour time difference!!! I'm hoping to be better tomorrow.

Here are some photos to share from our trip.



My granddaughter experimenting with how different loads affect the stability of a barge at Maudrodam in the Netherlands.



The grandkids wearing traditional Dutch farmer overalls which the farm we stayed at provided for the kids to wear when helping with the milking.



At Kinderdijk



Sunset from our deck at the farm



Boarding the steam train from Hoorn to Medemblik



My granddaughter on the viewing deck of Galerie Lafayette before we went to the fashion show there.



Grandkids on deck 2 of the Eiffel Tower



Eating warm crepes on our last day in Paris

And now for you tulip lovers....

Great photos, Reba! Your grandchildren are very photogenic. And I love the picture of the sunset from your deck - beautiful!

What Katie said! Thanks so much for sharing your journey with us - it was delightful, and the photos are just lovely.

Hi Katie and Mamie -- thanks for stopping by and for looking at my photos. It's fun to share.

Love the pics, Reba! Had to smile at the happy faces of the kids!

Sorry your book didn't match your journey in wonderfulness. I tried reading it a few years ago, but the melodrama was too much, and I put it down after only 50 or so pages (Pearl ruled!). If you ever feel the need to read about cathedral building in the Middle Ages again, try The Heaven Tree by Edith Pargeter. It was absolutely sublime! (Pargeter is the author of the Brother Cadfael and George Felse mysteries, written under her nom de plume, Ellis Peters.)

Hi Mary -- funny thing but I enjoy those happy faces too :) Thanks for the reference to The Heaven Tree. I'll keep it in mind if I do ever feel that need again.

Lovely pictures, Reba. Looks like your knees did pretty well for the trip too! Had to send the tulip picture to my sister--she loves tulips and has them planted all over their lot, mostly blooming right now.

>203 ronincats: We were lucky to be there when the tulips were at their peak. They were really beautiful both in gardens and in the bulb fields. My knees were great. I stood in some very long lines, climbed some steep stairs and walked for miles with no real problem. How are your feet doing? Shot still working?

Those photos were fabulous! It looks like you all had a spectacular time.

Love the pictures from your trip, Reba. Your grandkids are lovely and they really look like they are having fun! What a trip for them to remember.

Hi Abby and Julia -- thanks for stopping by and for the kind comments. We did have a fun time :)

Lovely pictures! It looks like the grandkids had a marvelous time.

Well it looks like you had a fabulous trip Reba and thank you for the pictures of your beautiful grandchildren. They certainly have something to tell their classmates about.

As far as the Follett book goes, I haven't read it but I remember quite distinctly this scathing review from 2009. It was thumbed 52 times so lots of people agree with this LTer and you.

Hi Rhonda and Bonnie -- thanks for stopping by and sharing the travel photos. It's always nice to have people agree with one's assessment of a book but I did also note that the average rating was something like 4 stars!

Hi Reba, you have got handsome grandchildren! Such lovely photo's. I hope you beat the jetlag soon!

HI Connie. Thanks for the kind words about my grandkids. I, of course, think they're wonderful :) Jetlag is much better. I only had one really bad day but I still woke up this morning at 4:30 and couldn't go back to sleep. Since I'm naturally a night-person, that's REALLY early for me but I had gone to sleep at 10 last night so I"ll be OK.

Reba, your grandchildren are adorable! And I was glad to see a photo of you in there too - sometimes it's so easy to be the one taking the pictures but not in them.

Hi Reba - returning visits and not really understanding why I haven't before :) Love the comments on the Follett - I was hoping to get to it soon, but not a chance this year. I think interminable commentary on cathedral building would be a step too far at the moment (having enough probs with Hawksmoor).

Love the pics too :)

Hi Susan -- thanks for the nice comments :) How are you recovering from your long flight?

Hi Bekka. Nice to have you visit and hope you come more often now that you've found me. As to the Follett, for me the comments on cathedral building were almost the best part. It was the gratuitous graphic sex and cartoonish bad-guys that got to me.

I know that crepe stand!!!!!!!!!!!! So glad your trip was wonderful and that you are all home safe and sound.

Believe it or not I listened to Pillars - the only reason I stuck with it is that I really liked that narrator's voice! At least the various bad guys die in suitably agonizing ways.... oops.... is that a spoiler? Not really, is it?

Hi Lucy. You know Paris well I think. We had just left Notre Dame and were about to head "home" to pack. We had promised ourselves and the grandkids another crepe and there it was!! A lovely end to the trip.

I don't think that's a spoiler and, you're right, the ends were certainly appropriate. I'm just glad to be through with it.

Crepes are the food of GODS! Which reminds me... the annual Boat Show is on next (long) weekend and there are always loads of French over on the island with stalls. And crepes. And cheese. And cider.... nom nom.

Sounds wonderful!! Actually just visiting the Channel Islands sounds wonderful...someday...someday.

Oh Reba! What great pictures!!! I know that all of you will have great memories of the trip. Jet lag is the worst, isn't it? I hope that you are back on Pacific Coast time soon!

Hi Amy -- thanks, I think I'm over the jet lag now. I slept from 10:00 to 6:30 last night and feel normal today. It was indeed quite a trip.

Every Day is For the Thief
by Teju Cole ****1/2

Teju Cole was born in the U. S. but raised in Nigeria. He returned to the U. S. in 1992 when he was 17 and currently is Distinguished Writer in Residence at Bard College. He won the PEN/Hemingway Award (and several other awards) in 2012 for Open City. Every Day Is for the Thief was originally published in Nigeria in 2007. The revised edition which I received from The Book Passage First Editions Club is the first version to be made available outside of Africa.

In this lovely little volume, Mr. Cole writes a first-person account of an expat writer's return to Lagos for an extended visit. The hero has been away in the U. K. and the U. S. for nearly two decades. While he knows what has been going on in his home country, he nevertheless is constantly shocked by his experiences. I could relate to the odd culture shock one experiences when moving back home after living abroad. The story is enjoyable and the writing is often beautiful. In addition the book puts a human face on the issues facing Nigeria in a very interesting and thought-provoking way.

And yet, and yet. The place exerts an elemental pull on me. There is no end of fascinations. People talk all the time, calling on a sense of reality that is not identical to mine. They have wonderful solutions to some nasty problems; in this I see a nobility of spirit that is rare in the world. But also, there is much sorrow, not only of the dramatic kind but also in the way that difficult economic circumstances wear people down, eroding them, preying on their weaknesses, until they do things that they themselves find hateful, until they are shadows of their best selves.

I read Open City and liked it quite a bit, but you make Every Day is for the Thief sound even better, Reba! In Open City, which takes place in NYC, I remember thinking that Cole had a unique eye, a way of seeing and describing the world around him. The quote that you shared from Every Day Is for the Thief has a similar insightfulness to it.

After reading Every Day is for the Thief I thought I would like to read Open City. You're confirming that.

Nice review of the Cole! That quote does demonstrate his appeal.

Thanks Lucy.

I went on Amazon to order The Goldfinch and, while I was at it, ordered two more older Pulitzer winners that I hadn't been able to find yet. One is The Franklin Library edition of the collected stories of Jean Stafford which arrived yesterday. Other than someone else's book plate in it, it look like it's never been touched and oh how i love the leather binding, gilt page ends and silk endpapers. It's so beautiful I want to just sit and caress it.

It looks beautiful too, Reba.

My copy of The Goldfinch just arrived. I'm glad everyone likes it so much because 771 pages would be a lot of "not so good"!!

Went to get the mail and found another book had arrived: The Executioner's Song by Norman Mailer. I sure am acquiring some tomes, this one has 1050 pages!! Maybe I'll make this The Year of the Big Book and not even try to reach 75 lol

>230 RebaRelishesReading: WOW 1050 pages! If you read 75 of those I will applaud you!

The year of the big book is a great idea!

94 here at the house, and STILL 5% humidity. They said today was supposed to be better! Better at what?

Thanks, Connie. I will applaud myself too lol

Glad you like it Rhonda. I got the last of my ordered books today. Advise and Consent. It's another beautiful Franklin Library edition AND...714 pages!!! I really managed to order big ones this time.

I know what you mean Roni. I was down at Costco about 12:30 and my car said it was 95. It's not supposed to be this hot here in the middle of summer. I sure hope this goes away soon.

It's still puffa coat weather here, ladies (although I tend to think that after some other people have given up...). I'll try and waft some cold air over! Reba, your recent purchases sound enormous!

Hi Susan. Sorry you're still having cold weather. We (wimpy Californians that we are) nearly froze when we were there two weeks ago. Yes, those are some hefty books. I really do think I'm going to declare the Year of the Big Book and concentrate on them.

It's cooled off a bit today (29C instead of 35C) but still hotter than I would prefer so we would be apply to accept some cold air of you can manage it :)

I will trade with you. I take 4C if you like, Reba! Then we will have 21C here tomorrow.

x
Here are my grandkids (in red with blue wigs) taking curtain calls after performing in Seussical, Jr. last night. It's been a busy weekend. Dinner and symphony with friends Friday night. Son arrived during the night. Saw the grandkids in their show last night and then everyone came back here for the night. Church and lunch with everyone today. Now they're all gone and quiet is restored.

Also restored is wonderful weather. It was 75F/24C today. With the Santa Ana winds gone the humidity is also up to something comfortable. I have all of the windows open and it feels wonderful.

I haven't read in two or three days but now I'm going to take my book over to the gym and get on the bike. Good for my knees and relaxing too.

Hope you're all having a great weekend too!!