Merry Christmas

Wishing you and yours a very 

Merry Christmas!

First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros - The Opposite of Everyone; Joshilyn Jackson

Every Tuesday I host First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros where I share the first paragraph sometimes two from a book I am reading or thinking about reading soon.  Today's selection is by an author I've enjoyed reading in the past - I love first person narrators too.

The Opposite of Everyone; Joshilyn Jackson

William Morrow - 2016

CHAPTER 1

"I was born blue.

If my mother hadn't pushed me out quick as a cat, I would have been born dead nd even bluer; her cord wrapped tight around my neck.  She looked at my little blue lips, my blue toes and baby fingers, and named me after Kali. Kali Jai.

My mother was in the middle of a six-month stint in juvie for shoplifting and possession when I was born.  She had thirty-six hours with me in the hospital before the state took her to finish out her sentence.  My grandparents--stiff, unhappy couple that they were --got temporary custody."

What do you think -- keep reading or pass? 

(Feel free to join in this week by posting your intro below?

Sunday Blatherings

Yes, it's another snowless week here in New England - December 20th and not a flake has fallen. The outlook for a white Christmas looks next to impossible as well.  How can this be?

How was your week?  Ours was busy but, still found time to relax and read a bit.  Last Sunday was my birthday brunch with Santa and the day was extra special because we all were together.  The sisters (middle and right) were cooperative and sat on Santa's lap, but the youngest granddaughter preferred to keep her distance this year. 

On Wednesday evening we went to see an awesome Christmas show. The first half was music performed by (12) individuals with a 50's and 60's theme.  The second half the same group performed Christmas songs, many with a rock-n-roll beat.

This week I did something I haven't done in probably 30 years - rediscovered my fondest for coloring books.  I only had tome to color one page but I'm ready for more soon. So very relaxing, and, I love my new gel pens but, I was disappointed that there wasn't a dark brown one in this set.  

Those of you who have begun coloring once again? Do you have any particular markers or pens you like?

We had some sad but not unexpected news yesterday. My SIL's father passed away at 98.  He in his wife (95) lived alone in their condo until 18 months ago when they had to go in a nursing home - both special people.

Reading - Chris Bohjalian's, The Guest Room (so very good).

This Weeks's Plans - a wake, a funeral, making Christmas cookies, cleaning the house and food preparations for Christmas Day when everyone come's over the house.

Has a great week and a lovely Christmas.

The Journey of the Penguin; Emiliano Ponzi

The Journey of the Penguin; Emiliano Ponzi

Penguin Books - October 2015

A charming book (no words just illustrations) to celebrate Penguin's 80 years in publishing.  With gorgeous illustrations we watch how the life on one Antarctic penguin is transformed as he makes his way across the continent to London back in 1935.

While his penguin friends shed a tear or two back home, the world traveler finds the opportunity of a lifetime as the icon of a brand new publishing house. With stunning pictures of glaciers (melting), sea life,  Big Ben, palace guards, and adorable animals who are trying out for the leading role as well, the penguin in his top hat steals the show. Not only does the penguin get the job, he even gets a private office complete with pictures on the wall of famous Penguin authors such as Arthur Miller, Jack Kerouac and Dorothy Parker.

A beautiful book to celebrate this special occasion - Penguin's 80 years  in publishing.

5/5 Stars
(sent by publisher)

Coming Soon to a Book Store Near You - Weathering; Lucy Wood

I came across this book which sounds kind of different.  I hope to read it in 2016.

Weathering; Lucy Woods

Bloomsbury - 2016

(AMAZON DESCRIPTION)

Pearl doesn't know how she's ended up in the river--the same messy, cacophonous river in the same rain-soaked valley she'd been stuck in for years. But here her spirit swirls and stays . . . Ada, Pearl's daughter, doesn't know how she's ended up back in the house she left thirteen years ago--with no heating apart from a fire she can't light, no way of getting around apart from an old car she's scared to drive, and no company apart from her own young daughter, Pepper. She wants to clear out Pearl's house so she can leave and not look back. Pepper has grown used to following her restless mother from place to place, but this house, with its faded photographs, its boxes of cameras and its stuffed jackdaw, is something new. Fascinated by the scattering of people she meets, by the river that unfurls through the valley, and by the strange old woman who sits on the bank with her feet in the cold, coppery water, Pepper doesn't know why anyone would ever want to leave.

As the first frosts of autumn herald the coming of a long winter and Pepper and Ada find themselves entangled with the life of the valley, with new companions who won't be closed out, each will discover the ways that places can take root inside us, bind us together, and become us.

Trouble Maker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology; Leah Remini

Trouble Maker: Surviving Hollywood & Scientology; Leah Remini

Ballantine - 2015

Leah Remini is one tough lady: after reading her memoir, the title of this book seemed to fit her well.  

Raised in Brooklyn, NY to parents who were more than a little "rough around the edges",  her father and mother split up when Leah was only 7.  Her father had been physically and verbally abusive and, her mother Vicki wasn't much of a mother either. Neither a cook nor a nurturer, Leah and her older sister Nicole, were ofter left alone. When the sisters complained to their mother was never home she told them they could join her at church if they wanted to see her. She was lured to Scientology by her then boyfriend.  New York Org.,  the local chapter, was located back then in what was the seedier parts of NYC  - Times Square.. The sisters needed to take several subways alone from Brooklyn to get there after school.  The hook for her mother in Scientology appeared to be the promise of food, clothing and housing for mother, daughters.

The family later moves from NY to FL (Clearwater being described as "the mecca of Scientology" at that time). The sisters are indoctrinated into the organization by performing many, many hours of manually labor and heavy lifting and studying what was expected of Scientology members.  Both sisters dropped out of school to spend more time with the group, even if it required severing relationships with family and friends. Church members were required to disassociate with those who were considered to be - SPs (suppressive persons).  With a goal of becoming an actress, Leah eventually moves to LA to pursue her acting dreams with much success but, she remains heavily involved in the church and moving up through its ranks. 

The Church of Scientology is not about God or saints, but rather about helping individuals to "live their life better". I was shocked to read that most church members  (35,000 world-wide) spend at least $500,000 moving to the highest ranks in the church even someone with an annual salary of $50,000 regardless, if they have to borrow the money.  She claims to have given several millions of dollars to the Church over the years. There was plenty of juicy info about her 30+ years in Scientology, until 2013 when she broke with the church after a falling out and in order to protect her own 6-year old daughter.  She outlines how high members of the church have broken their own rules and when she confronted them with their transgressions, they turned each accusation around on her.  She does quite a bit of Tom Cruise bashing as well in this memoir, discussing his preferential treatment, his behavior and her perception that he seemed to be running the church.

The memoir felt very honest. It's written in a way that was both eye-opening and funny as well. Her break with Scientology seemed like both a brave and freeing move on her part.  I enjoyed learning about her acting career both before and after her leading lady role for 9 years on The King of Queen's. The blue-collared sitcom ended in 2007. We still enjoy the reruns several times a week to this day. If you are curious about Scientology, pick this memoir up.

4.5/5 stars

(library eBook)

First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros - The Guest Room; Chris Bohjalian

Every Tuesday I host First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros where I share the first paragraph sometimes two from a book I am reading or thinking about reading soon.  Today's selection is by a favorite author - the first paragraph is soon long - sorry

The Guest Room; Chris Bohjalian

January - 2016 - Doubleday

CHAPTER 1 

"Richard Chapman presumed there would be a stripper at his brother Philip’s bachelor party.  Perhaps if he had thought about it, he might even have expected two.  Sure, in sitcoms the stripper always arrived alone, but he knew that in real life strippers often came in pairs.  How else could there be a little pretend (or not pretend) girl-on-girl action on the living room carpet?  Besides, he worked in mergers and acquisitions, he understood the exigencies of commerce as well as anyone:  two strippers meant you could have two gentlemen squirming at once.  You could have two girls hovering just above two sets of thighs—or if the girls saw the right combination of neediness and dollar signs in the men’s eyes, not hovering but in fact descending upon each of the men’s laps.  Richard wasn’t especially wild about the idea of an exotic dancer in his family’s living room:  there was a place for everything in his mind, even the acrobatically tensed sinews of a stripper.  But that place wasn’t his home. He didn't want to be a prig, however; he didn't want to be the guy who put a damper on his younger brother's bachelor party.  And so he told himself the entertainment would be some girl from Sarah Lawrence or Fordham or NYU with a silly, mellifluous made-up name making a little money for tuition.  He didn't completely believe this, but in some backward universe sort of way, he felt a little less reprehensible--a little less soiled--if he were getting turned on by a twenty-one-year old sociology major with a flat stomach and a Brazilian who understood intellectually the cultural politics of stripping and viewed herself as a feminist capitalist."

What do you think -- keep reading or pass? 

(Feel free to join in this week by posting your intro below?