Two Films in One Week!

Somehow, I've had the fortune to watch 2 films this week.

The first was Stranger Than Fiction starring Will Ferrell and Emma Thompson. I thought I would like this film, being about an author, and it turns out I really enjoyed it. Will Ferrell is not the sort of actor I imagine in a dramatic role, but he was perfectly cast as an ordinary quirky man who finds himself in an extraordinary situation. The part of the movie that I loved was when you saw the reaction the characters had to the book being written by Thompson's character once they read it. They were moved by it to such an extent that it really showed the power of the written word, the power of books. I can certainly relate to that.



The second movie I saw was Miss Potter with Renee Zellweger. I enjoyed this as well, particularly the beautiful locations and scenery. I'm still not sure how I feel about the drawings coming to life as it felt a bit precious. I am now intrigued by how much of the movie was an accurate portrayal of Potter's life. The recent biography Beatrix Potter: A Life in Nature by Linda Lear is presently in my amazon shopping cart. Everything always leads to books, does it not?

Julia Child by Laura Shapiro

Did you know that Julia Child had plastic surgery? Multiple times? I didn't, and I thought that was going to be the only new information I learned from this book which is part of the Penguin Lives series. These books are short, less than 200 pages and I wondered how much one could learn about someone in such a short book. I've read My Life in France which was written by Child and her nephew and it was a wonderful memoir but I wanted to read something more objective.

The book covers Julia's early life, her relationship with Paul Child, the BOOK, the television shows, and finally the aftermath. The final 2 chapters made the book worthwhile. Julia's prejudice against homosexuals is described at length. It turns out Julia was a supporter of MSG, canned food when prepared correctly, and the various government food boards and councils which support industrial farming. She was opposed to the organic, local, sustainable food movement, calling it's advocates 'cultists'. I find this all so fascinating, coming from a woman who lived to cook and eat. Apparently she believed simple preparations were boring, and ingredients, irregardless of quality, could taste wonderful when prepared well.

All in all, I found this a quick read, and ultimately enlightening about Julia's views.

I will include this as my first entry in the Non-fiction Five Challenge.

Nineteen Minutes

I have gone to hear Jodi Picoult speak twice. She is a lovely woman, very generous, and I can just imagine her as a neighbor that I would chat with outside or have over for dinner. She loves talking to her fans, answering their questions, and is very grateful for their support. She falls into the popular fiction category more than the literary fiction category, though I know her biggest fans would argue with that. She seems to have a formula that she is comfortable with, it often includes teenagers, often a court scene, and pretty much always a twist at the very end. I have read many of Picoult's books. Some I have liked and some have just been so-so. I keep reading her, though, and I think it's because I just like HER so much.

I finished her most recent offering, Nineteen Minutes, a few days ago. It is about a school shooting, the events leading up to it and the aftermath. The difference in her story is that the shooter survives the event and goes to jail. She presents him in a very sympathetic light. There is the usual twist at the end, but I thought it a bit too abrupt and wish she'd spent more time on it. Overall, I liked the book and thought it one of her better ones.

This phenomenon of school shootings in the United States is quite horrifying on many different levels. The fact that this is not generally occurring in other countries should be some sort of huge red flag to our government that something needs to change. What are we doing differently that is leading to this? Guns, of course, are a big factor. Also, I believe it is our education system. Perhaps it should be more rigorous and intense so that students don't have so much time to spend on their social lives. I think this topic was of interest to Picoult because she looks for controversial topics but I think primarily because she is the mother of teenagers and was driven to research and understand how and why these shootings happen.

Life around here lately has brought one sick child - strep throat, and one very tired Mommy. In the last 2 1/2 months my daughter has had strep twice, conjunctivitis and an ear infection. I do hope this cycle ends.

The weekend is almost over.

I always feel a bit of a letdown, getting ready for Monday. I work most Mondays at my job, as well as Tuesdays and a weekend rotation. I'm off with my daughter the rest of the week, but Sunday evening always brings with it a bit of melancholy. Thus, I will take this opportunity to reminisce about my weekend.

I've decided to pay the fee to librarything and catalog my books there. I spent some time on that this weekend, borrowing my husband's laptop to move around the house finding the various stashes of books. I am by no means finished. My main 'working' bookcase, where many of my favorites and newer books reside will be moving soon, so I've waited to list those. There are also many books in the basement I'll have to find. I've taken the word library quite literally and feel I want the list to be MY library, not my daughter's or husband's as these books do not necessarily reflect my tastes. I've noticed that some members on librarything have listed anything they've read, whether or not they own it or borrowed it from the library. I'm not sure if this is common practice or not. It seems to me a list of 'books read' is quite different than a list of 'books owned'. So I will have to figure that out.

Yesterday we had a mini Cinco de Mayo celebration, something quite popular in the United States. It was really just an excuse to make margaritas and eat Mexican food, which we enjoy. I made the season's first fresh salsa and guacamole for only the second time. My husband generally proclaims not to like guacamole which is why I've never made it more often. I feel that having tasted quite a bit of that green dip over the years, I know what I like, and have to say my creation was very, very good. I insisted that the others try it, and it was deemed a success by all and I think I have two converts. The best guacamole I've ever had was at the Frontera Grill in Chicago. I felt very strongly that there were sun dried tomatoes in it, perhaps they were roasted, but in any case the flavor of them was quite intense. I added them to my dish and think it made all the difference.

And off we go to Monday. I hope your transition is painless.

Lovely discovery

Thanks again to bookgirl for leading me to my favorite recent discovery, bookcloseouts.com. I was able to find a few books there I've been wanting for some time which for the most part were unavailable in the US. Here's what I received:

The Kitchen Diaries by Nigel Slater - I love, love, love this book. I borrowed it from the library last December based on a recommendation from Bon Appetit magazine ( yes, I'm a magazine addict as well) and I thought I would just skim over it and take it back. I started reading it and wound up reading it cover to cover, mostly at my in laws house when I was there for Christmas. It reads like the best novel, and I just want to move in with Mr Slater and eat everything he's serving. Well, I knew then that I had to OWN this, but was waiting to find a deal on it, which I finally did.

Tarte Tatin by Susan Loomis - I read her book On Rue Tatin some years ago and really enjoyed it. I browse Amazon UK quite a bit and became aware that she had written a sequel, which for some unknown reason was never published here in the US so was thrilled to find this.

Missing and Revenge by Mary Stanley - I came across her book Retreat some years ago in a used book store and again, enjoyed it quite a bit. She has not been published in the US, so, although I knew she'd written other things since then, there was not an easy way to add them to my library. I was thrilled to find these.

Sixty Lights by Gail Jones - I've read a couple reviews of this out in blogland, and a particularly good one over at Reading Matters. I've had my eye out for this ever since.

The Accomplice by Kathryn Heyman - I don't know much about this except it kept coming up as similar to the others and looks interesting. It is about a shipwreck off the coast of Australia and the survivors.

The company's headquarters are in Canada, and they cross the border to ship to US addresses via Media Mail which makes for fairly inexpensive shipping. Their stock must be coming to them from all over, as 3 of the books I received are Australian editions. Most of their novels are between $3.99 and $5.99 so the prices are a steal as far as I'm concerned. I highly recommend them!

A book and a film

I have finished Jane Harris' The Observations and enjoyed it very much. It is reminiscent of those other Victorian 'bad girl' novels such as Slammerkin, The Crimson Petal and The White, and Fingersmith, though I would say not in the same category of accomplishment. It is a bit of a romp, our narrator Bessy is quite funny, and the story contains a bit of mystery, a ghost, and a lunatic in an asylum. I don't think this book takes itself too seriously, which is why I think it works. All in all, a fun, entertaining read. For me it fit the bill for a long weekend at work with short bursts of reading in between.

I have finally gotten around to watching The Queen. I thought it an absolutely wonderful film and Helen Mirren was magnificent. I thought it was interesting how the tone of the movie changed, at least in my opinion, from being quite negative towards the Queen in the beginning and more gentle towards the end, coinciding with Tony Blair's appreciation and understanding of her.

Embroidered pillowcase #1

This is a pillowcase I gave my nephew for Christmas. I'm really pleased with how it turned out; I like the combination of the red and light blue especially. Patterns by Jenny Hart. I'm thinking of doing some pillowcases for my bed soon, but cannot decide on the colors.