Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts

Monday, October 7, 2019

the shell seekers

One of my favorite books is
The Shell Seekers
{published 1987}


Back then I was the age of the adult children
Now I am older than the heroine 


A different perspective as I read it again.
I still LOVE this book . . . 


Wednesday, January 23, 2019

things i will miss

I just finished reading Nora Ephron's book
I Remember Nothing: And Other Reflections 

At the close of the book she wrote a list of things she won't and will miss.  It has inspired me to thoughtfully make my own list. I won't bore you with mine but I encourage you to think about what your list would look like.



Her is Nora's list . . .
What I Won't Miss

Dry skin
Bad dinners like the one we went to last night
E-mail
Technology in general
My closet
Washing my hair
Bras
Funerals
Illness everywhere
Polls that show that 32 percent of the American people believe in creationism
Polls
Fox TV
The collapse of the dollar
Bar mitzvahs
Mammograms
Dead flowers
The sound of the vacuum cleaner
Bills
E-mail. I know I already said it, but I want to emphasize it.
Small print
Panels on Women in Film
Taking off makeup every night

What I Will Miss

My kids
Nick
Spring
Fall
Waffles
The concept of waffles
Bacon
A walk in the park
The idea of a walk in the park
The park
Shakespeare in the Park
The bed
Reading in bed
Fireworks
Laughs
The view out the window
Twinkle lights
Butter
Dinner at home just the two of us
Dinner with friends
Dinner with friends in cities where none of us lives
Paris
Next year in Istanbul
Pride and Prejudice
The Christmas tree
Thanksgiving dinner
One for the table
The dogwood
Taking a bath
Coming over the bridge to Manhattan
Pie

The great Nora Ephron passed away on June 26th of 2012, aged 71, following a battle with leukemia that began in 2006. She had many strings to her bow, but most notably wrote the screenplays to some of the best loved films ever to grace the big screen, many of which she also directed and produced.


Julie & Julia 
You've Got Mail 
Sleepless in Seattle 
When Harry Met Sally
Mixed Nuts 
This Is My Life 
Heartburn
Silkwood
Hanging Up
Michael 

Monday, September 14, 2015

found

Found
written by Salina Yoon

On one of our many visits to the Terrace, BC Library
we came across this book and it is already a favorite.
It has a nice lesson about "doing the right thing"


A bear finds a lost toy bunny and sets out to find its owner.
Even though he has come to love it,
he covers the forest in 'Found' posters.


The double page spread of 'Lost' posters provides
a bit of humor for older readers.
{my favorite: Peter Pan's lost shadow}


I say those of you with little ones
should put this on your Christmas list.





Saturday, September 5, 2015

tuck me in

Tuck Me In
written by Dean Hacohen 
illustrated by Sherry Scharschmidt.

On one of our many visits to the Terrace, BC Library
we came across this book and it is already a favorite.


Several baby animals are going to sleep and need to be tucked in. 
By turning the half-pages you  put a “blanket” on each animal.
Once turned, the animal is covered by a coordinating colorful blanket. 
You will also see a new star with each animal you tuck in. 


and then more fun . . . 
We made our own version that 
included all of our family members.



I say those of you with little ones 
should put this on your Christmas list.






Sunday, February 1, 2015

the rent collector

My book club is now reading
The Rent Collector 

Though the book is a work of fiction, 
it was inspired by real people living at Stung Meanchey.


I loved this book.
When I finished it I sat frozen for quite awhile processing it all.

It had extra meaning to me as we have spent
several months in Cambodia in the past 4 years.

Here are a few of my photos that the book brought to mind . . .

{view from Amanda's 4th floor balcony - Phnom Penh}

{Amanda and Ezra - Prey Veng}

{recycling - Phnom Penh}

{traveling by moto - Phnom Penh}

{the blessing of having a foreign doctor - Phnom Penh}

{another blessing - dear friend Ming Kohm}

The Rent Collector is the story of a young mother, Sang Ly, struggling to survive by picking through garbage in Cambodia's largest municipal dump. Under threat of eviction by an embittered old drunk who is charged with collecting rents from the poor of Stung Meanchey, Sang Ly embarks on a desperate journey to save her ailing son from a life of ignorance and poverty

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

lark rise to candleford

My new favorite TV show is
Lark Rise to Candleford
showing on PBS


I have just discovered that I am watching the third season.
Apparently, it ran for four seasons so . . . 
I will now be looking to secure sets 1-2.


From Wikipedia;
Lark Rise to Candleford is a British television costume drama series, adapted by the BBC from Flora Thompson's trilogy of semi-autobiographical novels about the English countryside, published between 1939 and 1943



The series is set in the small Oxfordshire hamlet of Lark Rise and the wealthier neighbouring market town of Candleford towards the end of the 19th century. The series chronicles the daily lives of farm workers, craftsmen, and gentry, observing the characters in loving, boisterous, and competing communities of families, rivals, friends, and neighbours.



Did you recognize Mr. Bates from Downton Abbey?
In this series he plays Robert Timmins


Tuesday, February 28, 2012

what should you read next

I recently found a website that suggests books for you
to read based on the last book that you read and enjoyed.



whatshouldireadnext.com

I am currently reading:
The Florabama Ladies' Auxiliary & Sewing Circle by Lois Battle

Search results for this book:
"Sorry, there were no results - this is probably because your
search edition doesn't appear in many users' booklists."




Go figure!

Sunday, June 26, 2011

open-eyed sneeze

My daughter's friend, Jessica Martin, has published her first novel.



The setting is our little village, Brockport, and provides a humorous account of life after college.

I’m a farm girl at heart and the idea for this book was planted here. ~ Jess Martin

We had the pleasure of attending a book signing for Jessica last evening and it was fun to reconnect with the whole Martin family. The only thing that would have made it better is if we could have attended her book signings in Boston or NYC!



Her book is dedicated to her family . . .
"There when I laughed, there when I cried. Usually responsible for both."

Open-Eyed Sneeze is available for sale at the Harvard Book Store.

"A perfect gift for graduates attempting to make meaning of it all, this refreshing first work will keep you laughing through the most frustrating of post-collegiate questions - Now what?" - Harvard Book Store

Here is the link to buy the book if you are interested.

Congratulations Jess!

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

beach read #4 {last}

First book of the Elm Creek Quilts Series
It is a good peek at quilt making but ...
I am not inspired to read the rest of the series.



Glows with the love of quilts, the importance of family,
and the value of friends to share our joys and sorrow with.

- Kathryn Smith, Anderson Independent-Mail

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

beach read #3

each time I picked it up I read slowly as
I didn't wanted the story to end


"The Birth House is an astonishing debut, a book that will break your heart and take your breath away…To read The Birth House is to enter a world, a richly imagined and keenly observed ….To say this is a powerful debut is to damn Ami McKay's novel with too faint praise; it is an altogether remarkable work from an impressive new talent." ~~~ Ottawa Citizen

Thursday, April 28, 2011

beach read #2

a reminder that everyone has a story
and how little time we take to learn that story


It begins outside a burning plantation hut in Louisiana and an East Texas honky-tonk and, without a doubt, in the heart of God. It unfolds in a Hollywood hacienda, an upscale New York Gallery, a downtown dumpster, a Texas ranch. Gritty with pain and betrayal and brutality, it also shines with an unexpected, life-changing love. ~~~ from the book's website

Friday, April 22, 2011

beach read #1

this book was a surprise gem


"Lawson communicates not only the lovely awe and beauty of the landscape but the way its inhabitants function within it. Crow Lake is the kind of book that keeps you reading well past midnight; you grieve when it's over. Then you start pressing it on friends."~~~The Washington Post

I couldn't agree more ~ I have already "pressed it on" to a friend.