Thursday, July 16, 2009

Plans Change

So I was all set to have Memoir Week here on Books and Cooks, thanks to the memoir reading binge I've been on. But as I was writing my first post on Tuesday announcing memoir week I was called in early to work. Which was a good thing! And then I spent most of, okay all of my kid-free time on Wednesday trying to get into Harry Potter after the first show I showed up for was sold out. I finally did see it after buying a ticket online, retrieving it, standing in line for a half hour, then sitting in the theater for another half hour. Was it worth it? I'm going to say Yes. I'm not sure how close it was to the book, I read that back in 2005 after all. I did love that there was a bit of humor in this installment and enjoyed the romantic tension between the characters. Alan Rickman is fabulous.


So, here I am on Thursday. I think that it is too late to begin memoir week and I will hold that thought for next week. I will instead tell you about another book I read recently, The Lace Makers of Glenmara by Heather Barbieri.




Reading this book was like putting on an old comfortable sweater. The plot is familiar: a young woman has been facing tough times in life and love and decides to travel. In this case, the young woman whose name is Kate travels to the homeland of her mother's family, Ireland, and finds herself in a small village. She is immediately taken in by a lovely but lonely woman and instead of moving on like she expected, Kate stays on for a bit. She soon begins learning how to make lace with the village women and because pretty things are hard to find in small villages in Ireland, they begin to create beautiful lingerie out of the lace. We get to know the lace makers, the challenges and struggles that they have faced. We get to know the village priest who thinks lacy lingerie is Evil, a storyline that seemed a little far-fetched. I guess I just don't see what fancy underwear has to do with religion. But I let that go, since there was so much to enjoy about this book, including a little romance. Except for the priest, this is a warm and gentle book, one to curl up with. For some reason, I wasn't expecting to like it as much as I did, perhaps because it seemed formulaic. But it brought me pleasure and I am happy to recommend it.

10 comments:

Ti said...

I hope you do go forth with your memoir week idea. That's the beauty of blogging. It's your schedule and it can be changed if needed.

Lacemakers looks pretty good, and the cover is so striking.

bermudaonion said...

This just came yesterday and I'm looking forward to reading it. I'm with Ti - I hope you still do memoir week.

Anna said...

I can't wait to see Harry Potter, but it'll have to wait until after my vacation next week.

I have this book, and I can't wait to read it. I'm looking forward to an upcoming memoir week (hint hint).

--Anna
Diary of an Eccentric

Carrie K said...

Plans change! That's life. Lacemakers looks like a great cozy read.

JoAnn said...

I took a carload of teenager girls in costume to the midnight premier of HP...now that was an experience!! Hope you can do memoir week soon.

Staci said...

I'm taking my son to see HP this Saturday...we can't wait!!

I'm posting my review of the Lace Makers of Glenmara tomorrow!! So I'm going to add your link to it. I loved it too and couldn't agree more with your review!!

heatherb said...

Hi, Staci,
Thank you for the review of my book. You and your readers might like to know that Lace Makers is based, in part, on an actual event a few years ago, in which a Polish village priest threatened a group of local lace makers with excommunication for designing lace panties. Crazy but true!
Please know that I enjoy doing speakerphone interviews and in-person visits (for those in the Puget Sound area) with book groups too.
Cheers,
Heather Barbieri

Iliana said...

I want to see the Harry Potter movie but being that I don't like crowded movie theaters, because inevitably we are always next to loud people, I guess it's going to be quite a while before we get to see it.

This book sounds cute and cozy. It's funny, I just saw that Joanne Harris has a blurb on the front cover and as I was reading your review I kept thinking of Chcolat what with the priest getting all in a huff over chocolate :)

Bookfool said...

My son usually goes to the Harry Potter movies, but he says his friends didn't like this one so he's disinterested. Okay. I guess that gets me out of a movie trip, since he's not dating (I get to go to the movies with a strapping young man).

The book sounds great. I love the setting. Funny about the lace. I did see the author's comment, but I don't think I'd have had trouble with believability. It's not unusual for religious leaders to jump all over some little thing they think is evil but which makes little sense to most people.

Tara said...

Ti, I think I will - thanks!

bermudaonion, I hope you like this one!

Anna, I think memoir week is going to take place!

Carrie K, it sure is life, isn't it!

JoAnn, what fun! I hope my daughter wants to do something similar when she's older. With me. Hehe!

Staci, I hope you like(d) the movie! Loved your review.

Heather, Hi! Thank you for your comment and for explaining the situation with the lace panties. How interesting! Thanks for stopping by.

Iliana, I'm not a big fan of packed theaters either, but I went to an extra spacious one for htis. Funny - I had forgotten about the Chocolat similarity!

Bookfool, You could go yourself! It was fun to see, and these movies are never too long for me. I think you would like this book! I guess I don't have much experience with this aspect of religion (our church is pretty liberal) but it does make for an interesting story.