Capote

I finally finished Goodnight Nobody (by Jennifer Weiner) and it was good but not great. She is not a mystery writer and should not pretend to be one in writing.

I just wanted to alert you all to my next book of choice. After watching, and loving, the movie Capote I was inspired to go out and buy "In Cold Blood." I have been warned that this book is not my kind of book, but I have started it--which in my world these days means I got three pages in--and I hope to finish it (sometime in the year 2007). It is a cultural icon that I should be aware of and I figure the book would be easier for me than the movie, but we shall see. Of course, I am now having flashbacks of the Friends episode where Joey had to keep The Shining in the freezer because he was so afraid while reading it. I have never been afraid while reading a book, but nothing scary ever happens in the books that I read.

I found it ironic that in the movie, (which is all about Capote writing "In Cold Blood,") while he is obsessing and whining and being completely neurotic, his sidekick is writing one of the best books ever written. His sidekick is Harper Lee and he asks her about that "little bird book" she is writing a couple of times. Maybe I will just go read "To Kill a Mockingbird" again.

Book Lust

I just heard another interview with Nancy Pearl on NPR. This time she was reviewing books to read on a rainy day (they've had 23 days straight of rain in Seattle). She was leaning toward science fiction and spy mysteries, so I was not enticed. Then she started to describe an autobiography which is the first volume of a projected four volume set. The writer talks about his adolescence and she read a few sentences saying that she absolutely loved his sentence structure. It was so cool. I can't remember the phrase now, but it was so surprisingly descriptive. I'll go on NPR.com and find the author. I've been wanting an excuse to visit the library.

The Week

Thanks to Daddy, now I have a way of getting all the news of the land in one compact, do-able, news magazine per week. I have finally caught up (I had six stacked up for a while there) while Lyle's mom was visiting and I am looking forward to reading the new one tonight. I still rely on Newsweek if there is an in depth article I want (have time to) read, but The Week is just perfect for giving an overview of what is going on in the world.

Thank you Daddy.

Risa Baby (Any Minute Now)

OK, at around 9:30am LA time, Marisa had the cervadil from last night removed and she was starting on Pitocin to induce labor. As I understand it she already has the epidural in place (smart girl). Mom said she was 50% effaced if that means anything to you all. So hopefully in a few hours we will have brand new baby.

Risa Baby (almost)

OK, mom just happens to be at my house so I am getting first hand news. Risa called and said that she is going into the hospital at 6pm to be induced. Adrienne is not convinced that this will produce a baby, but our fingers are crossed. I will update on this site when we here more.

New Blog

Posts to this site hit nearly everyone (at least the known adult population). I started a new blog for me (as opposed to that adorable little boy sleeping upstairs); we will see if I have enough of a life to keep this up. Don't expect the same level of upkeep as the JKZ site, but I will try to keep to the once a week that others promised.

I will link this from mom's site, but let the kids in your lives know that it is here. I am not linking to this from the JKZ site because I don't know if I want it opened up to the other world.

http://jkzynda.blogspot.com/

Heavy Reading

I have just finished "The Hills at Home" by Nancy Clark. I have been flying through books of light reading all summer and this one was heavy. Big long sentences that still managed to keep you interested. It is about the Hill family. Lily Hill, the matriarch person lives in the family homestead and various family members come home to roost. At first its a little hard to keep track of the characters (there are two Becky's and a Betsy. It took me a couple of weeks, and I slipped in a light book in between, but all in all I give it a thumbs up.

History is vital

Last night we had a history trivia contest at Toastmasters about the Revolution in honor of Independence Day--I knew all the answers except which signer of the Declaration of independence had two descendants become president--I had an inkling that Samuel Adams was a trick, but I couldn't remember two Harrison presidents. What surprised me is how few other people knew any of the answers--and we had multiple choice.

Today at Kiwanis we had a guy portraying General Lee giving us background and history from his perspective. It was pretty cool. I had no idea that Lee had seven children and that all three of his sons were officers in the Confederacy and none of them died in the war. I had no idea that Lee's sole injury in the war was that he broke both his wrists when he was thrown from his horse--not even in battle. I had no idea that Stonewall Jackson was killed by friendly fire because the gray and blue looked so similar all faded out and there wasn't a lot of grey left as the war dragged on--Lee had to wear beige for the pictures after the surrender. Stonewall Jackson's death probably played a part in his decision to surrender. I had no idea that Lee wore a red sash which denoted that he was an engineer (which he was) rather than a gold sash for commanding officers so as not to be too obvious a target. I had no idea that one of the last battles was the confederacy trying to capture a shoe factory, because they needed shoes and that the union army had anticipated the battle and was ready for them. [Your trivia update for the day, so that if you ever play trivia and it's about the Civil War, you can make fun of all the people who can't get these answers--even when it's multiple choice.]

No luck!!

I have had no luck with the books on CD recently. After the Robert Parker that I finished a few weeks ago, each one I have picked up has been a dud. I had been hearing about Don DeLillo and I picked something up by him and it was terrible. Maybe it just didn't work on tape. I never had any idea of who was talking or where they were. I wish I could get a list of books that my library has on CD so that I could look up reviews, etc. before I go. I usually just stand in front of the selection, pick something up at random, and if it sounds OK on the jacket I get it. This is not a good method of book choosing.

Shopoholic

I have read 2 of the 4 books in the Shopoholic series by Sophie Kinsella. They are great for escapism and beach reading. The first is a little hard to get into, but you quickly fall into her web of stupidity and irresponsibilty.

testing yahoo

Trying to see how to get it to update yahoo

Bad Choices

While looking for the right size paperback book to carry on my travels I picked up 5 at the 5 for $1.00 store. I read the first two and am trying to read the last three. Till Morning Comes by Han Suyin (author of A Many Splendored Thing) is very tedious and takes place in late 1930s China. After 62 pages I decided to try the next one The Vertical Smile by Richard Condon (author of the Manchurian Candidate). Oh, my God. I challenge any of you to read more that the 43 pages I was able to do. If I could decipher who the people are and what they're doing I still don't think I could muster the energy to give a crap. That's 40 cents shot that I could have invested in better band aids.

Persuasion

Last weekend, there was nothing on tv, so I went to my bookshelf and tried to find something to read. I was thinking about Jane Austin, but I've read all her stuff and I was looking for something new. But nothing was jumping out at me so I picked up a collection of Jane Austin and found Persuasion. I couldn't remember what it was about, so I started reading. I didn't remember reading it at all. I know that I've read them all, because I particularly remember being so disappointed that there weren't anymore. I'm wondering if I've gotten to the age where my memory is a whole lot shadier, so that I can read all my old standbys over again as new. BTW Persuasion was a great book, though I did go back and forth being thrilled with the language and intricate paragraphs and being bothered by how tedious one sentence could be to get through when I wanted to know what happened next, right now. It's hard to read, but so worth it in the end. Not quite as good as Pride and Prejudice, but close.

Closing Out the Year

Well I read 137 books in 2004. Just shows what you can do without a pesky job to get in the way. Based on the number of books by each author Robert Parker (Spenser novels) is way ahead with 35 books. But since I had never read anything by him before I had a lot to catch up on and they are easy reads. Another author I found this year and read 7 of his books (the only 7 my library has) is Richard North Patterson. He writes legal stuff but not in the same sense that Grisham writes legal thrillers, Patterson's books deal more with the politics of laws. My favorite and one I would highly recommend is Protect and Defend. I managed to get in four Danielle Steele, and three Jennifer Crusie.

I have read three so far this year and am currently reading Jon Stewart's America as my living room book. I don't usually have two books going but America is in the style of a text book and is way too cumbersome to read in bed. Not to mention that it is extremely funny and I quite often laugh out loud and would disturb Gordon's sleep if I were to read it in bed.

Ah well, so many books, so much time!

Can't read

For some reason I am having trouble getting into any book lately. There have been many days in the last few weeks that I never even pick up a book. Of the last three that I started, one was just too stupid and the other two I had already read. I have started Joy in the Morning now by Betty Smith (A Tree Grows in Brooklyn) and although it is not grabbing me, at least it isn't stupid. I hate that that's the best thing I can say about a book.

Rita brought over a few yesterday. One of which she earmarked for Megan called Emily of New Moon by L.M. Montgomery. That was a TV show on CBC that I used to watch and I liked so I'm going to read that one next (before I give it to Megan).

tres libras

1 week, 3 books! That's alot for someone that hasnt read an actual novel in a couple of months. Jennifer Weiner is wonderful. I thoroughly enjoyed all 3 books. And highly recommend them to everyone.

Good in Bed

Is just that... a good bedtime (or in my case mostly, plane ride) read. I started it on the plane Friday and finished Saturday evening in bed. Today, I went and purchased In Her Shoes which is her second book and will read Little Earthquakes next.

It's Okay - Go Ahead And Exhale

Today’s to-do list contained several errands to take care of. Planning my trip with as few left turns as possible it consisted of: library, bank, hair place, store. I am in the middle of a Jennifer Cuisie and have a Parker and an unknown left to read. This makes me nervous as I like to make sure at all times I will have something to read. So I take my stack of read books and head to the library. There are absolutely no cars parked at the library and my heart starts pounding. The library is under construction and was supposed to be closed for a few days last week. Sure enough I get to the door and there is a sign dated today that says “Library still closed due to construction in public areas” OMG. I have the interview tomorrow, hopefully it will be open on Saturday. I drop off my read books and head to complete my errands. As I am getting my hair cut I start to panic, what if the library is not open on Saturday, I’m going to be gone Monday through Wednesday next week and then it’s the holiday and they will be closed for the whole weekend. That’s almost two weeks, there’s no way even if the unknown is a good book that what I have left will last two weeks. Maybe I should just pick up a book at K-Mart. But I hate buying books, I really can’t afford to buy a book. But what if I have nothing to read. I have to have something to read. I’ll look at Mommy’s tomorrow she’ll have something. Oh yeah, she has that Good in Bed book. Yeah, but Adrienne wanted that, what if she’s reading it when I need a book. I have to have a book. I make it through the hair cut and don’t buy a book at K-mart. When I get home there’s a message on the machine, “This is Marcia from the library we have three books in for you, we’re not open to the public today but if you come by and knock on the new front window I can check them out for you through the window.” It’s okay to breathe again.

Leaky leak

It's easy to say "its not my problem" but that stupid leak is starting to make me lose sleep. Those slugs at the maintenance department couldn't even send one guy for one minute to shut off the valve under the sink. I am willing to go without water in my bathroom sink for the sake of their leak and they won't even do that.

I did manage (last Friday) to find the place where the water hits the floor and I put a frying pan under there. The pan got full and overflowing by morning and then again when I went to bed. I have to use a cup to take water out of the pan until it gets to a place where I can lift it to dump it into the sink. For a couple of days I put a cookie sheet under the pan to catch the overflow but now my best cookie sheet is getting all rusty so the heck with that.

Not counting today, only 3 more days before I get to go pick up Adrienne. Gretchen, we would be honored and excited if you would come to the party saturday night. Steph called and asked if it would be allright if Dana and Jeff came because they would like to see Adrienne. Kelly hasn't answered one way or the other yet.

Robert B. Parker

While Laurie was cleaning the living room (we have decided that she would rather be called Laurie) I took my book upstairs to get out of her way. When she was done and I came back down, I had forgotten to bring my book down, so I picked up another one I had down here called Perish Twice by Robert B. Parker. I think I love him. So easy to read. Kept me interested and I could finish the book without staying up all night. I didn't know it until I looked at the list of 38 books he had written but he is the one that wrote the Spencer books. I will have to start looking for him at the 25 cent used book stores.