The Stone Diaries

Thoughts  The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields, Penguin Books 1995, 361 pages

“Yet wherever she goes, her story marches ahead of her. Announces her. Declares and cancels her true self. Oh, she did so want to be happy, but what choice did she have, stepping to the beat of the that ragbag history of hers?

- p.122

WHAT’s it ABOUT:   I’ve been avoiding the review of this in equal measures with my enthusiasm. I loved this book. It’s funny!  Sly humor, we should say. Short sentences, deep thoughts, a bit of whimsy even. Delightful. You might even think it is a happy story from all my gushing here but that would be a lie.

Daisy Stone Goodwill Hoad Flett is just a witness to her own life. She was born to a big fat woman who didn’t even know she was pregnant and then died! Died in childbirth. Slam bam, cruel cruel world. Daisy ended up being raised by an Aunt who was really a neighbor and well, you’ll just have to read the crazy storyline if I have interested you so far. (No? oh, OK:  aunt dies, she moves with her bio-dad to Indiana from Canada, grows up & goes to school – story glosses over this part, marries but not for long (ha!), needs an adventure and ends up back in Canada married to her ‘uncle’ – yep, the original aunt’s son; has three kids, gets a job, loses job, gets depressed, gets older, moves to Florida of all places, takes a crazy trip to Scotland and and…  I won’t ruin that part – it’s quite astonishing and finally is a witness to her death and a little after.

In an interview at the back of the book – DO READ THIS, I like when I like the afterwords; so refreshing, wouldn’t you agree? Carol Shields says that many women of the generation of Daisy just fail to claim their own lives and thus never get books written about them.  So Ms Shields attempted it and was beautifully successful in writing something wholly entertaining and profound.  There, I said it. It is my opinion.

It’s the writing and the theme and the creativity and the humor that got me. I didn’t rush through this; it wasn’t a fast-paced page-turner. I savored this.

Fraidy, friend of Daisy, was my favorite. It makes me smile just to think of her letters, her words, her attitudes. Oh yes, there are letters and scattered perspectives of Daisy’s life interspersed through the entire book.

I dreaded this review because I don’t really know what to say or how to express what I loved so much. Huh, I’m at 600 words!

Or is love something less, something slippery and odorless, a transparent gas riding through the world on the back of a breeze, or else – and this is what he more and more believes – just a word trying to remember another word.

-p.165

Carol Shields has me thinking she would be really fun to hang out with. I can’t wait to read more of her stories to see if she really should be one of my new favorites. If you follow my blog at all, you know I don’t tend to follow an author’s oevure. If she passes the 3 book test (3 books is when I tend to tire of an author’s ‘style’), then a favorite she will be.

WHAT’s GOOD:   Humor. I was ready for a book that made me laugh. Not that this is a funny book!  It is, but I wouldn’t classify it in that section of the library.  It’s funny in that life-is-absurd kind of way.

It is inevitable that each of us will be misunderstood; this, it seems, is part of twentieth-century wisdom.

-p.145

WHAT maybe NOT so good?    Can’t think of a thing.

FINAL THOUGHTS:    [crickets]

RATING:  Five slices of pie.

… the great story she let rise up and swamp her.

- p.125

REVIEWS:   Results of Fyrefly’s Book Blog Search for this title and then the one that first brought this book to my attention:  the Bluestocking Society where she says ‘we glimpse truths about the entire human condition’. Shoutouts to Kailana and Chris of Bookarama (whatdoyouknow! Canadians) for chatting with me about this on Twitter and goodreads.  *smiles*

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Copyright © 2007-2011. Care’s Online Book Club. All rights reserved. This post was originally posted by Care from Care’s Online Book Club.  It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Beet Pie

Weekend Cooking!    Visit Beth Fish Reads blog for more.

A few book reviews back, I rated The Hottest Dishes of the Tartar Cuisine by Alina Bronsky with 4 pies and wondered if those pies of worth should be beet, since beets were prominent in the Tartar diet.  That got a few of us wondering about beet pie and the search was on.  I knew I would have to experiment for this year’s Thanksgiving..

The Mini Beet Pies were a success.  I have documented the process on my Tumblr page.  Hopefully, it is accessible?  Never know with tumblr…   OR Try this link:   http://bkclubcare.tumblr.com/

Beet Pie 2011

I had given a piece to my friend Holly who called to tell me that it was INCREDIBLE.  Aint she sweet?

Happy Crazy Shopping Weekend — or in my case, Happy Crazed House Cleaning Days!!

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Copyright © 2007-2011. Care’s Online Book Club. All rights reserved. This post was originally posted by Care from Care’s Online Book Club.  It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Happy American Thanksgiving

November is both a favorite month and a not so favorite month for me. It’s the start of the busy holiday shopping/planning/prepping season and a big travel time for us, as we always attend the Opening Day Pheasant Hunt in Kansas and then it is our wedding anniversary. Sometimes we don’t do much but this year, we spent a lovely weekend at a Bed & Breakfast in Vermont. And of course, there is the pie baking tradition for the day of thanks that we celebrate the fourth Thursday.  But the baking starts TODAY.

This year I’m making a Pumpkin using my grandmother’s “secret” recipe and I’m also trying a brand new one: Beet Pie! I’ll photo doc the process and share it later. So, while I hope to carve a few minutes of reading as the month whirls to a fast busy conclusion, I will post this shot of a pile of pumpkins.

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A few things I’m most grateful for in alphabetical order:

A – the Alphabet, Authors, Apples, Automobiles

B – Books!

C – Creativity, compassion, crustaceans, cartwheels

D – Dennis

E – energy electricity enigmas eyes

F – fun

G – green things

H – the word ‘happy’, hearts, health, hugs, hands to hold

I – imagination

J – joy

K – kindness, kites

L – LO♥E,laughter, letters of correspondence sent to and received from family & friends

M – ♫, movies

N – nice people, notebooks, November

O – oxygen

P – pansies, petunias, passion, pumpkins, pies, plumbing, plums

Q – quiet, quests

R – romance

S – smiles

T – texture

U – understanding

W – wine, water, whirligigs

X – x-rays? (Just found out that I have spine issues, thus-or-because: the sore hip)

Z – zoos

I am grateful for what I am and have.
My thanksgiving is perpetual… 
O how I laugh when I think of my vague indefinite riches. 
No run on my bank can drain it 
for my wealth is not possession but enjoyment.

- Henry David Thoreau

The Thanksgiving 2011 Pumpkin Pie

Copyright © 2007-2011. Care’s Online Book Club. All rights reserved. This post was originally posted by Care from Care’s Online Book Club.  It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

A Visit from the Goon Squad

A Visit from the Goon Squad  by Jennifer Egan, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group  2011, 341 pages

Winner of MANY Awards including the Pulitzer.

My thoughts:  I first gave this three stars but must again proclaim the fickleness of time and place and situation and mood when one brings stars (or slices of pie) to evaluate and weight the worth of a novel.   Three stars – I liked it!   Four stars – I liked it a bit more!   A bit more than WHAT exactly?  than the latest book I gave 3 stars to?

But that last book I gave 3 stars to was Bad Girls Don’t Die and that was a totally different kind of book intended for a different audience.  So, if the audience happens to be ME, then, yes, Goon Squad must get more pie.

It’s creative, it’s clever, it’s smart. It entertains, it keeps you on your toes. It bounces around in time and through various decades, decades (well, not ALL decades yet) of which I have lived so thus relatable. It evokes mood and tone of dread and then lightness and suggests the questions of WHAT-IS-GOING-ON-HERE-EXACTLY? (Wait, who is this? oh! Bennie was in the last chapter. Oops. Oh yea.)

I got lost more than I care to admit. A reader can’t sleep through this one and hope to keep the pace and attention.  I liked it more and more as it went on but was worried at first that I didn’t know enough of the music references to ‘get it’. I brought much more expectations of being blown away to this than I should have.  I wasn’t blown away but I keep thinking about it.

I would even say this is a short story collection on par with Olive Kitteridge (another Pulitzer Winner; I gave 5 stars) and The Imperfectionists (I recommend this highly but? I assigned 4 stars, hmmm. I think I liked it better than Goon).  THAT was a surprise; that it was much more a short story collection than a ‘story’. I don’t think I saw this mentioned in any reviews.

The last chapter/story was futuristic which was a pleasant surprise but I didn’t like the characters (sigh). I would even say I liked the Slide Show section the best.

And, I do believe it is a book that continues to build esteem as time clicks away. It has staying power. But it suffered (while I was reading) from my knowing it won so many prizes so it HAD to great. If I had stumbled upon this book blind — I LOVE the title! — I would have liked it very much.

I won’t try to convince you to read this one – I am supposing that you have made that decision already.  And if your decision is “YES- I want to read this”, you will likely find much to be impressed with. If you have already decided “Nope – not for me”, then you are not a fan of creative clever smart contemporary fiction and that’s OK.  If you are on the fence, then change it to a YES. Put it on the tbr and see what happens when you finally get to it. I suspect you won’t be disappointed. I honestly figure that most of you reading THIS post have already read Goon! yes? Well, my aim really isn’t to convince anyone of anything – just to record my own thoughts and have something to post. I seem to be on a Pulitzer kick all of a sudden… I’ll end with a photo from Brattleboro VT which is where I spent last weekend having a lovely time celebrating 23 whacky years with the Big D.  ♥

Rating:  

      

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BAND: Reading for a Cause

BAND — Bloggers’ Alliance of Nonfiction Devotees — is a group organized to promote the joy of reading nonfiction. We are “advocates for nonfiction as a non-chore,” and we want you to join us. Each month, a member of BAND hosts a discussion on their blog related to nonfiction. 

The host for November’s BAND discussion is Amanda (Opinions of a Wolf) who writes about her tendency to read books related to specific social causes. She asks:

Do you read nonfiction to help support a cause(s)?

I do not often choose my nonfiction reads by cause. But I have been WANTING to collect titles on a subject dear to me. I have yet to work actively on this endeavor. In fact, I just went to my goodreads tbr to see what I had so far and realized I never created a category*. SO this post is just what I need to jump start and/or define that motivation.

My cause is the support and encouragement of women in STEM careers.

STEM = Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.

First off, I would LOVE to have anyone – male and female – cease and desist saying such things like “I’m not good at math.” Stop saying this!  and NEVER EVER SAY it around children.  People say it like it is a badge of honor and you should all be ashamed of yourselves.   *GLARE*

Second, buy this book:  Math Curse  by Jon Scieszka.   So darn CUTE and adorable.  ~4th grade humor? Loved this kids book.

Third, biographies. I want the one on Ada Lovelace. I’m taking suggestions, please let me know of any awesome women in technology I should know more about. Searching Ada Lovelace – I find many MANY books written about her and I only became aware of her from blogging**. Shameful! It’s possible that I *did* know of her once and just forgot. These things happen.

I have read many terrific nonfiction books that could be classified STEM but they weren’t specific exclusive to my theme here. I did read The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks – this might count as a fascinating STEM book for this topic. My favorite part of this book is when Rebecca Skloot mentions she hated school until she heard about HeLa cells in science class.  Thus she begins her odyssey of chasing the Lacks’ story.

But would it fit into the ‘CAUSE’ category? I am not sure.

Fourth, the ONE book I did find that I have read that touches on this cause is They’re Not Dumb, They’re Different and it was an academic treatise full of statistics from 1990 about how to keep students (not gender specific) from dropping out of and/or changing their majors from the sciences. See my previous post, also from today.

Clearly, I need a focus and some dedicated time to work on this.  I thank the BAND for giving me this little kick.

* I have collected many twitter friends who subscribe to this cause – now I just need to solicit book titles.

** I included a link to Nymeth’s blog and her post on Women in Science to celebrate Ada Lovelace Day.  Or click the underlined part a few words back.

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Copyright © 2007-2011. Care’s Online Book Club. All rights reserved. This post was originally posted by Care from Care’s Online Book Club.  It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

They’re Not Dumb…

(reposted from last year, almost to the week.)

They’re Not Dumb, They’re Different:  Stalking the Second Tier, “An OccasionalPaper on Neglected Problems in Science Education”  by Sheila Tobias, Research Corporation 1990

Back of the book blurb:   They’re Not Dumb, They’re Different is a study to determine why students abandon science for other disciplines.

Whatever possessed me to purchase this (for a dime) at a library sale in southeastern Nebraska?  Well, the fact that perhaps I was not a good candidate for the degree program in college that I signed up for.  Hmmmm. Engineering wasn’t easy but I stuck with it. Matter of pride, of economics, of belief that I was ‘smart enough’; but that doesn’t mean I found a good fit.

This booklet describes a study of placing students into pre-engineering and science classes to find out why they would or would not MAJOR in these programs. I found it quite interesting. It also stirred up memories of people I met as a freshman and why people chose to major in engineering. I recall a girl who had a generous one-year full scholarship to the College of Engineering who fully intended to take the money and then switch to Business since she couldn’t qualify for any dollars from that college! There was less competition for scholarships for women to study engineering. She knew she was ‘smart enough’ to get an engineering degree but it was ‘boring’.

I also thought this book would address how we can encourage more women to study for traditionally male careers. It touched on it some but its focus was not gender-based.

Anyhoo, what I got out of it was that Engineering schools have (had?) no interest in wooing over anyone who ‘might’ be interested in sciences. They prefer to scare new students and allow that only the tough should survive. So if ‘kids’ abandon these programs, are they stupid or was it the educational style? Who says there is a shortage of engineers, anyway? Supply and demand – if fewer engineers are graduated, than starting salaries remain high. What’s the problem? No problem.

Thus, professors need not concern themselves with being excellent EDUCATORS and students only just need to study hard and really want to be scientists and engineers. All those who pass through this system subscribe to it, endure it and perpetuate it.  Thus, we breed ‘typical’ engineers;  the stereotypes fit. Smart kids who could do well if they had classes that appealed to their personalities or styles of learning are not being encouraged and thus miss out on what could be an excellent career choice. Or not.

Unfortunately, I am not in a position to know much about whether or not this is still a problem nor if any schools addressed the idea of reform pertinent to the results of this study. The document was published 2o+ years ago.  I found the study interesting, nonetheless. And it was no help in my quest to grow up and figure out what I want to do with myself for the rest of my life. I have a pretty good gig* right now , but I feel like I should ‘do’ something more…

* ’keeping the house’, caring for and training the dogs, volunteering, reading & book-blogging, practising yoga, tutoring in math, and occasionally substitute teaching…   I am very thankful for my life and appreciate all that I have.  Happy Thanksgiving!

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The Paris Wife

Sad Thoughts  The Paris Wife by Paula McClain, Ballantine Books 2011, eKindle on my iPad.

.

I can tell that my mother still has amazing powers of influence in my life. Most especially when it comes to books. If she tells me she didn’t care for something, I can bet that I bring a bias to it not easily overcome.

My mom did not like The Paris Wife. I can’t actually remember what exactly she found displeasing or unsuitable, but I do remember she was not fond.

and so, I didn’t either.

Honestly, I was bored.

I did like the protagonist’s name ‘Hadley’.

☺

Why it was her nickname? or why she went by Hadley and not her given name Elizabeth, I don’t recall.

I liked her spunk. Sometimes. By which I mean that sometimes she exhibited some spunk. I didn’t like that she felt lost and overwhelmingly lonesome when Ernie left on his first 3 week assignment. Come on, Hadley!  Find something to do!  (or go get drunk or … pregnant – THAT will fix things. I didn’t get to this point in the book — I am only assuming that might have happened.)

I was amazed that she was willing to hike through the Alps!  I was unimpressed that she chose to wear silly shoes to do so and then felt the need to tell me about it. Be practical, woman!

I don’t know much about Ernie other than to assume I shouldn’t like him. I did google some photos of young Ernie to see what he looked like and I will admit the man was ruggedly handsome. I wasn’t impressed with his moodiness.

I wasn’t impressed with Hadley.

I felt like I was reading a celebrity ‘tell all’ about the poor first wife of some great (?) – famous – person.  But I could never summon enough interest to care; except for wondering about other little things mentioned like the neighborhoods in Chicago/St. Louis and that guy who wrote Winesburg Ohio. His wife was named Tennessee? cool. I know absolutely nothing about Ezra Pound – what a name! Sounds like one from a different time. And Gertrude. I am intrigued by Gertrude Stein.

But this book felt like it was going to ramble on into the Poor-Me stories of the girl who had to clean up with the womenfolk after the big dinner and having to miss the fun of watching the football game on TV. Poor Hadley, missing the big conversations about culture and art and literature.  Hadley had to sit and have tea with Alice instead.

I was spectacularly aware of how each chapter ended with a doomsdayish ominous teaser about the pain ahead.

“Are you happy?” he said softly.
“You know I am.  Do you need to ask?”
“I like asking,” he said. “I like to hear it, even knowing what I’m going to hear.”
“Maybe especially, then,” I said. “Are you happy?”
“Do you need to ask?”
We laughed lightly at one another.

I was annoyed by this book. I made it about 1/4 of the way through.

 Two slices of pie. Avocado Meringue Pie.

For insightful, enlightening and much more credible professional reviews, may I point you to Fyrefly’s book blog search?  or click here – an impressive review at A Work in Progress.

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We Interrupt This Blog, …

I have been on a mini-vacation and I thought I had posts to post while I was gone but apparently not.  I hope to have an update for you all on Wednesday.

Carrie on.

In the meantime, tell me if you are going to bake a pie for Thanksgiving or if you look forward to a pie for Thanksgiving, or if you aren’t of the US-Thanksgiving-Holiday celebration crowd, what book you are reading.

Just trying to stay a bit involved. Thanks for humoring me!

*\o/*

.

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The Killer Angels

Thoughts    The Killer Angels  by Michael Shaara, Ballantine 1975/orig 1974, 355 pages.  Winner of The Pulitzer Prize.

EXCERPT:

 ”This is a different kind of army. If you look at history you’ll see men fight for pay, or women, or some other kind of loot. They fight for land, or because a king makes them, or just because they like killing. But we’re here for something new.  I don’t . . .  this hasn’t happened much in the history of the world. We’re an army going out to set other men free.”    (Chamberlain, p.30)

WHAT’s it ABOUT:  In the author’s own words, in the preface To The Reader:

This is the story of the Battle of Gettysburg, told from the viewpoints of Robert E. Lee and James Longstreet and some of the other men who fought there.

So, it’s a fictionalized account of the imfamous Civil War battle, told from both sides of the line.  I certainly am no expert on battles of the Civil War and have only a passing knowledge of the main players.  But I love history.  I have actually visited Gettysburg and only wish I had read this book before seeing that ground.

“Give them fifty years, and all that equality rot is gone. Here (the South) they have the same love of the land and of tradition, of the right form and the right breeding, in their horses, their women. Of course, slavery is embarrassing, but that, of course, will go.  But the point is they do it all exactly as we do in Europe. And the North does not. THAT’s what the war is really about.” (Fremantle, British ‘tourist’, p. 165)

This is another book that had me wiki-ing all the characters – I had to find out if they lived or died!   And I screwed it up – I *thought* I had searched for Col Chamberlain, the rhetoric professor from Maine, and saw that he died on the first day. All due to the ominous tone in this description at the very beginning:

“His younger brother Thomas becomes his aide.  Thomas too has yearned to be a soldier.  The wishes of both men are to be granted on the dark rear slope of a small rocky hill called Little Round Top.”

I immediately had to go to my iPad open google to find out WHAT HAPPENED?!  - mind you, this was page xix – and somehow?? not sure what I did, but I must have googled John Reynolds name by mistake.  Anyhoo…

Later, I was discussing this book – I am about half way through reading it at this point – with a coworker of my husband’s who was helping us move the boat to its winter storage location, when I told him, “I think I am in love with Chamberlain and I could just cry! I can’t believe he didn’t make it!” when Jerry says, “What? No, he lives. He survives.”

So I was all confused and had to google all these old dead (now) guys again.

“Once Chamrberlain had a speech memorized from Shakespeare and gave it proudly, the old man listening but not looking, and Chamberlain remembered it still:  ”What a piece of work is man . . . in action how like an angel!” And the old man, grinning, had scratched his head and then said stiffly, “Well, boy, if he’s an angel, he’s sure a murderin’ angel.” And Chamberlain had gone on to school to make an oration on the subject: Man, the Killer Angel.” (p.119)

LOVED that the book had maps even though they were a bit small to read.

A big THANK YOU SHOUT OUT to Jason for helping me with army organization.

Sure, I would have enjoyed a bit more perspective from and respect for a woman’s point of view but I can leave that for another book.

RATING:  Who am I to argue with the Pulitzer Committee AND General Schwartzkopf, who said, “The best and most realistic historical novel about war I have ever read.”   FIVE SLICES of PIE. Cherry.  Any guesses as to why cherry?  ;)

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Tuesday Topical █ November 8, 2011

Another Tuesday, another Tuesday Topical.

First, the most exciting news!  I received the name and address of the person I will be sending a Persephone to in the Holiday Exchange!  SQUEEEE!!!   Now, to choose the title.  Sigh – this is where it gets difficult…  Time to spy on the blogger and see what books s/he likes.

I will be sending clues.  I hope others send clues so that the SantEE doesn’t realize that I am the only one sending clues cuz that would give it all away.

Second, I have a book to tell you about that I have NOT read (yet) but hope to give as gifts:

 Lobster Lady by Vivan Volovar, Flat Hammock Press 2007 (I usually try to have a link to goodreads from the bookcover but goodreads isn’t cooperating.  I will fix once the site is up again.)

yes, a KIDs BOOK.

I didn’t buy it when I saw it, but I wish I had.  They only had one so I thought to myself, I’ll just order online and get a copies for ALL the N&Ns!  So this post is my reminder to do so.

I might have to get one for myself, too.

Third, Fourth, Fifth, etc…    I am so annoyed at goodreads.com today – every search I make results in an ERROR  BAD # msg, GRRRrrrrr.  I can get very distracted with Pinterest.  I have a book review of The Killer Angels to post soon. I’m currently reading A Visit from the Goon Squad and have to read The Paris Wife before Nov 17′s BookClub meeting. That’s all, have a beautiful Tuesday and rest of the week.

☺

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