I read this book because Publishers Weekly said that the main character, Isabel, “could easily pass as Buffy or Veronica Mars’s wiser but funnier older sister.†Veronica Mars? I’m in. And I did read this book with Veronica’s voice in my head. I pictured her tailing people and doing surveillance and climbing in and out […]
Categories: Books
One of my favorite books is Circle of Friends by Maeve Binchy. Sometimes I like books because they are “important,†but this is not one of those times. Instead, this book is important to me. It hit me at the right time, the story of Benny and Eve and the people around them. The ending […]
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When I registered for my first semester of college, we still had to do the wait-in-line-at-the-registrar’s-office thing. Just that first semester. And there wasn’t really a line, because it was just freshmen and it took me forever to pick out my classes (because everyone told me that they would be helping me pick out my […]
Categories: General
I finished The Memory Keeper’s Daughter early last week, but I wanted to wait until after my book discussion to talk about it, because sometimes the book discussions make me change my mind about a book (hello, The Secret Life of Bees, which I liked much better after talking about it). I had been avoiding […]
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Like most of the country, I had no idea what was going on in the Men’s Division II Tournament, but my mom mentioned tonight that Barton (from Wilson, NC) won, and that the ending was kind of incredible. I pretty much had no idea what she was talking about (because, you know, I don’t have […]
Categories: Sports
I had been meaning to read The Other Boleyn Girl for a few years now – I remember putting a lot of holds on it for patrons not long after I started working at the library, and it was in the back of my mind as “one I’d like to read at some point.†This […]
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A friend of mine lost her mother this week, and I have tried to be helpful in small ways: going to the service, providing a couple of meals, offering to come and help clean (and making her promise she would call me if she needed it later on) . . . six months ago, I […]
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-Is it just us, or was CBS airing and commentating these games like no one was watching them? Could they have BEEN any more low key? -At this point, it’s a cliche to hate Billy Packer. But, you guys. I really really hate him. And he hates everyone. Everyone is wrong, he could do everything […]
Categories: Sports
KARI: I read an article that was talking about 300 and how more women are going to see it than they thought. MIKE: Yeah, they were saying that after opening weekend. They thought maybe it was because they had expanded the Oracle’s role or something. KARI: That is not why. It is because of this. […]
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Let’s talk about black pants. Five (FIVE!) years ago, I went into Lerner/NY and Co./whatever that place is called and bought the perfect pair of black pants. For, I don’t know, $30. Maybe $40. They are polyester, so I don’t have to iron them, and I can wear them in all but the coldest days […]
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My wonderful husband, seeing Anne Lamott’s latest book on my Amazon wish list, preordered it for me. It came in on Wednesday, and I refused to open the Amazon box until I finished The Memory Keeper’s Daughter, knowing I would want to dive in right away, knowing that the other book would lie sadly discarded […]
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Mike and I would never have a conversation like this: KARI: Remember the time we came back from vacation and we had turned the heat off and our apartment was so cold and it took forever for the baseboards to heat up and we put on our warmest clothes and drank hot chocolate and put […]
Categories: Books
I read most of Amazing Grace while listening to the Pan’s Labyrinth soundtrack: a big chunk on the beach and another chunk while sitting in my car on my lunch break. I didn’t do that on purpose, but I realized later that the soundtrack of a “fairy tale for grownups†is, in many ways, a […]
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I wish I had taken a picture of The Greatest Fruit Salad of All Time, which included strawberries, grapes, bananas, pineapple, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, kiwi, and eventually even oranges. But not a honeydew or cantaloupe in sight. So much deliciousness. So little melon. Just how I like it. Because melon is the fruit of the […]
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After the death of Mary’s five-year-old daughter, Stella, her mother encourages her to learn how to knit. And so Mary finds herself at Big Alice’s Sit and Knit, where, with the help of the women in the group, she learns about knitting as well as about life and grief and friendship. This is a pretty […]
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While I was reading this book, I got a lot of strange looks. Mostly, I think, people thought I was being morbid. “It’s like HAMLET,†I said. “The ghost of his father tells him that his uncle had him killed. I’m not being morbid!†Nobody seemed to care. The Dead Fathers Club is about Philip, […]
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Between the time change and bracketology (and checking scores), this is probably one of the least productive weeks America’s had in a while. I just can’t seem to wind down at night in time to get enough sleep. The daffodils, however, are lovely.
Categories: General
This year’s Newbery winner, The Higher Power of Lucky, has caused quite a stir. If you aren’t familiar with the controversy, this New York Times article will help you catch up. To sum up: the book uses the word “scrotum” to describe where a rattlesnake bit a dog, and it does it on the first […]
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The whole time I was reading this, I had Smalltown Poets’ song in my head: Take this bread / drink this cup / know this price has pardoned you / from all that’s hardened you / but it’s going to take some trust. It didn’t surprise me when I picked it up and Mike started […]
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Last year I went on a bit of a Marie Antoinette kick after seeing the movie, and read Antonia Fraser’s Marie Antoinette: The Journey. I enjoyed it so much that I also tried The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette by Carolly Erickson, which was a huge mistake. Fraser’s book was excellent, humanizing a woman who […]
Categories: Books