Happy Thanksgiving to ALL

The Wedding People by Alison Espach

This book is not at all what I expected.  I wanted a lighter read but nothing cozy or frivolous. The labels for chicklit and romance were neatly balanced by literary fiction and humor. Couldn't put this one down.

Without spoilers - this is a story about Phoebe, a serious intelligent woman, a professor of English literature, arriving at a posh hotel with the intention of taking her life.  She arrives when, unbeknownst to her, an enormous group of people swarm in for a million dollar wedding.  Lila is the bride-to-be and streams into the lobby with hoots and hugs, passing out gift bags to all.  She sees Phoebe, hugs her and tells her she is SO happy she could attend, gives her a gift bag and makes her rounds. Lila and Phoebe had never met until that moment.

Later they meet in the elevator:

"But you have to be in one of our families," Lila tells her.

"No," Phoebe says "I’m not in any family."

What has she got to lose now by telling the truth to this stranger and so she does.  Informs Lila she is there to kill herself. Lila informs her she just can't as this is a week long celebration culminating in her dream wedding.

 Believe it or not but this is the beginning of the strangest friendship and honest conversations ever. There were so many pages I bookmarked; here are some:

It’s been a crushing realization, one that started slowly after the divorce, and got stronger with each passing holiday, until she woke up this morning to a quiet house. She finally understood what it meant to have no family. She understood it would always be like this, just her, in bed alone. Not even the sound of her cat, Harry, meowing at the door. 

This is the gift random strangers can give you, Phoebe is realizing – the freedom to say or be anything around them. Because who cares? He doesn’t know her, and he’ll never know her. He will list all kinds of reasons why she shouldn’t die and she’ll tell him she’s not planning to die anymore then they’ll get out out of the hot tub and she'll carry on with her life. 

What a waste of money. A huge waste of money. “Every wedding even a successful wedding, is a waste Phoebe says. Every wedding is an egregious amount of money that could have been spent on much more practical things, like say a house, a down payment, on a school in a small dying Midtown. A wedding is a fleeting spectacle that is 100% going to become packed down into teeny tiny garbage squares that end up in your landfill one day. 

There are so many heartfelt conversations between the two women, revelations which helped them both.  Character growth and an ending I just loved. Both women were suffering with different issues and each sought to handle their problems  in very different ways. 

Themes of friendship, infidelity, infertility and hope are strewn throughout.  Would I read more by Alison Espach?  Absolutely. 4.5 stars

Thoughts about bookish goals.....

 Here we are ushering in the end of November with December creeping up rapidly.  Or so it seems.  Time for me to think about reading goals for the upcoming year and deciding what is....achievable.  I have an ambitious list so far but some of the goals entwine with others.  

 #1 The Classics Club 

This has been a fascination for quite some time as I have seen it on bookish friends' blogs. Step one is making my list of 50 books and with a five year goal in mind, that seems like something I could accomplish.   Still making the list at present ....

#2 The Nonfiction Reader Challenge

This Challenge has been hosted by Shelleyrae at Book'd Out. and so next year I plan to join in.  Already have a few titles listed.

#3 Read what I own

A personal challenge/goal to get through stacks on my shelf and on my Kindle. I like that my Kindle has a feature to sort by newly owned books or those unread so, that part will be easy to select from.

 It's early for the goals but I wanted to get my list started.  Have any of you bookish friends started a list yet or have something new in mind for 2025?  I love new ideas so please make a suggestion and let me know about other reading groups.

Sharing with Deb at Readerbuzz for Sunday Salon.

Roddy Doyle and Elena Ferrante {Armchair travel to Ireland and Italy}

When it rains I end up inside reading quite a bit.  No complaints about that!  First up is a trip to Ireland with Roddy Doyle's book of short stories titled Bullfighting.

In this collection of short stories the meandering stream of consciousness of an older man dominates the narrative.  I can see things from the female point of view when he wonders at what point in time did his wife move to another room.  When did certain things occur when he was, apparently, not paying attention.

The stories take you into a middle aged man's life in Ireland.

Getting older wasn’t too bad. The baldness suited Martin. Everyone said it. He’d had to change his trouser size from 34 to 36. It was a bit of a shock, but it was kind of nice wearing loose trousers again, hitching them up when he stood up to go to the jacks, or whatever. He was fooling himself; he knew that. But that was the point—he was fooling himself. He’d put on weight but felt a bit thinner.

The story Bullfighting is about four male friends in Spain and their honest conversations.  They are all middle aged and facing the realities that life is half over for them.  Admitting loneliness and being honest...for once.

Not my favorite book by Doyle by a longshot but a nice respite to read something short between anything else I am currently doing.  Themes of aging and loneliness with some humor and a great deal of Irish culture. 

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Next up we visit Naples Italy in the 1950's with My Brillant Friend by Elena Ferrante.  This was an enjoyable buddy read with Susan at The Cue Card.

This book starts off in Turin Italy, present time with Elena getting a frantic phone call from Rino, her best friend Lila's son.  His mother is missing. Lila and Elena had been friends for over 60 years and more than 30 years ago, Lila had confessed to Elena she wanted to disappear one day.  Leave without a trace. Apparently this is what happened.

The book is about Elena's account of friendship with Lila growing up in 1950's poverty stricken Naples. Lila was from a poor family, her father a shoemaker with little money to spare on a girl's eduaction...or anything else.  She was very intelligent and headstrong, teaching herself to read and educate herself  despite being held back by her family and financial standing.  That said, she never let anything dampen her spirit for life and learning.

Elena and Lila crossed paths in school at a young age but it wasn't an immediate or tender friendship. In the era described, their lives were filled with misogeny and violence, something they didn't find appalling as it was predominent in their culture and upbringing.  It was just life.

I think each girl challenged the other to do better.  Possibly from Elena's point of view she was motivated by Lila's  strong will and refusal to conform to the norms of their society.  Lila was intrigued by Elena's stubbornness and her refusal to capitulate to her bullying.  Not many stood up to Lila's strong personality.  That is my opinion on the ongoing relationship.

If you have read the synopsis this won't be a spoiler - it ends with Lila's wedding.  I was half expecting it to end with her appearance in the story, finding out where the 66 year old went and some resolution to her disappearance.  Book 2 will no doubt continue the story and I am looking forward to that eventually.

This would make a good series of books to read in August for the Women in Translation month/project but I can't wait that long to tackle books 2 and 3.

Currently I am working on a list of bookish goals for next year and hope to post about that next week. Happy reading to you all!

Sharing with Deb at Readerbuzz for Sunday Salon. and Joy's Book Blog for Britsh Isles Friday for Long Island and The Life Impossible.

October round up

First off, a big shout out to Shelleyrae at Book'd Out.  I was so happy to see her posting again and hope to join her for an event next year :-)

The election - I am glad it's over and frankly, I was surprised by the results. I remember way back in the day when things were civil between people, regardless of which party you supported.  If your candiate lost you'd say, oh well...maybe next time, and life went on.

Not so much anymore.  The outward gloating with new yard signs here is unbelievable. 

Reading and travel - Last month I didn't get much reading done because of travel but staying in a hotel we were able to watch two games of the World Series!  

Here is Loki balancing on a chair while he watches me, him on the bed while we watch the baseball game and a photo of delicious fish tacos and black beans from  Bahama Breeze restaurant.

He was kenneled for a day while we toured houses and had a meal out.

October reading consists of only two books but no DNF this time.  One book was on my fall reading.

📚📚   Books read  📚

The Woman Behind the Door by Roddy Doyle

Within Arm's Reach by Ann Napolitano

October book travel took me to New Jersey and Ireland.  Currently reading My Brillant Friend with Susan at The Cue Card so I am immersed in an Italian town.

Currently doing a buddy read with Susan at The Cue Card.  We are immersed in 1950's Italian culture with My Brilliant Friend by  Elena Ferrante.

 That's it for the round up.   Looking forward to more good reading in November. I'd love to know what books you favored this month.

Sharing with Deb at Readerbuzz for Sunday Salon. 

The Woman Behind the Door by Roddy Doyle

Well, we are recovered from more travel than we usually do and now I can read again.  Yea! I started with the new Roddy Doyle book.  Also went to vote early and made another slow cooker meal for Crocktober - click HERE for Thieves Stew..

From my fall reading list I have managed to fit in Roddy Doyle's latest book The Woman Behind the Door. Our main character is Paula Spencer and one I am familiar with.  My introduction to Paula and her story was in the 90's with in The Woman Who Walked into Doors.  She was a young 39 year old reminiscing about her childhood (which was good) and dealing with her marrige to an alcoholic, becoming one herself.

Then ten years later the book Paula Spencer  was published. Continuing her story Paula is a widow, dealing with her new sobriety but also the PTSD of beatings and a horrible marriage.

This may well be Paula's final chapter (no pun intended) as we now see her as a sober 66 year old.  I loved the language and how you could grasp the raw emotions in some scenes, especially between Paula and her daughter Nicola. Not a cozy, feel good novel but a powerful look at a life with broken dreams, surviving it all and the impact it made on her daughter growing up.

The only two complaints I have is the way the conversations were not written with quotes or the typical identifier on the speaker.  It wasn't hard to keep up with but that's my preference.   The other is the excessive detail in some scenes about the ordinary things like making tea, etc.  

3.5 stars

Other books by Irish author Doyle which I have enjoyed are Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha and A Star Called Henry.

Sharing with Deb at Readerbuzz for Sunday Salon. and Joy's Book Blog for Britsh Isles Friday.

Thieves Stew for Crocktoberfest!

Thieves Stew for Crocktoberfest!  This is a recipe my son told me about.  He saw it on Tic Tok by a fellow called Quincy.  I am not on TicToc but the link he sent worked and I could watch the video.

If you look for it there the video shows you the step-by-step but there is an error in the cooking time.  It states cook on high for 8 hours. No!

I told my son and his brain had corrected it to LOW because c'mon....high heat for that long would result in shoe leather.  But I did try it and I cooked on low for about 6 to 7 hours.  It was delicous!

This uses some convenience items but it was great and we are making it again this week.

Thieves Stew

1 chopped onion
8 ounces of chopped mushrooms (I used way more)

salt and pepper

2 cans of cream of mushroom soup

3 and bit more cups of beef broth

2 -3 pound beef roast

Egg noodles - uncooked

Add all ingredients EXCEPT the egg noodles.  Cook on low approximately 7 hours then stir in about 10 ounces of uncooked egg noodles.  Put the lid on and when the noodles are cooked in 30 minutes you can eat.

This is my last post for Crocktoberfest.  This one is hearty and good for fall or winter weather, in my opinion.

Nebraska trip and catching up

I never. Want to fly. Again. ✈    Getting to Nebraska wasn't too awful, except the exceptionally high prices for food in the airport. It was so good to see the kids and my sweet granddaughter after a year and we sure had fun.

Getting home had it's challenges with delays in a flight and more babies and young children on one flight from Atlanta to Tallahassee than we have ever experienced. A late flight means cranky kids.....yikes!

I know most folks have cable or some tv feed but as we don't, I was so happy to watch baseball at the hotel one evening!

Before we left we had a good DVD from the library.  It's a PBS show titled Pompeii: The New Dig.  It's in three one hour segments and was very interesting.

I posted about Crocktober fest earlier, check that out HERE if interested in slow cooker meals.

I only finished one book this month - Within Arm's Reach by Ann Napolitano

That's it.  Driving to Memphis to look at that area this week. Hope you all are well, have good books and loving life!

Sharing with Deb at Readerbuzz for Sunday Salon.

Crocktoberfest!

I'm taking a break from the book talk today to share some slow cooker recipes.

Jinjer told me about CrocktoberFest!  Here are a couple of easy meals. 

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The BBQ shredded chicken couldn't be easier.  Take boneless skinless chicken thighs and place them in your slow cooker.  I have an oval 6 quart slow cooker for this one.

Place it on high for 3 hours. Use a slotted spoon to remove the chicken and place in a bowl for shredding.  Drain all the juice from the crock and place shredded chicken back in.  Cover with BBQ sauce and heat up on low for a bit.  This makes great sandwiches. 

We have had this on buns or straight on to the plate.  Sides are whatever you like. 👇

Links to more slow cooker meals!

Split Pea Soup

Chicken Gnocchi Soup

Santa Fe Chicken

Rotisserie Chicken

This was my last post on the food blog! Some folks just had to tell me they get theirs from Costco but I like doing this one at home.  Less greasy.

Chicken and Dumplings

Click on the titles which will direct you to my recipes at the old food blog.

I have a good one with beef and noodles coming up called Thieves Stew.  See you later with another Crocktober post and then back to books and life :-)

September Reading Roundup

Hello October!  Yesterday we drove to a park where Loki likes to walk and saw the parking was roped off to a small area.  The National Guard was set up, available to give people ready made meals and tarps.  It was astonishing to see the number of vehicles coming through to pick something up. What a horrible path of devastation this storm left. I am hoping, as are we all, the rest of the hurricane season is quieter.

We lost water for a bit and are still using bottled water for cooking, brushing our teeth, etc.  Water is back and we have a boil notice but that's just a minor inconvenience.

September reading was quite varied in location and genres. I  did not have a DNF this time :-)  Thanks to hurricane Helene I finished two books in record time.  This knocks out four books I had listed for my fall reading.

📚📚   Books read  📚

Sipsworth by Simon Van Booy

The Life Impossible by Matt Haig

The Orchard by Peter Heller

Burn by Peter Heller

Long Island by Colm Toibin

Trust by Hernan Diaz

September book travel took me to Vermont, Maine, New York, Long Island, Ireland, England and Ibiza.

 That's it for the September round up.   Looking forward to more good reading in October. I'd love to know what books you favored this month.  Hope life is good for you all :-)

Sharing with Deb at Readerbuzz for Sunday Salon. and Joy's Book Blog for Britsh Isles Friday for Long Island and The Life Impossible.

Working on Trust and Sipsworth from my reading list{and preparing for hurricane Helene}

Earlier this month we had my husband's birthday and some surprisingly nice weather.  He has been able to get out with his solar telescope in the daytime and a few evening sessions with his other scope.  Perfect.  

Now we are prepping for Hurricane Helene.  Getting the Kindle, phones, etc all charged for the loss of electricty. 

My week has been a dermatologist appointment, biopsy, bread making and a slow cooker recipe my son sent. The excitement never ends :-)

While looking at a news story on my phone I saw there was an Instagram post embedded and I couldn't access it.  So I dusted off my old Instagram account to have a look.  Then I tried to follow a few book blogs and authors.  Apparently you have to get permission now even if the accounts are public. 

Currently reading Trust and while very well written it's more narrative than dialogue. Thus I took a short break to read Sipsworth.  I finished this in a day and it's a sweet story.  Helen Cartwright is in her eighties and returned to England to live out her last years quietly and alone.

She had a full life in Australia with her husband and son but they are gone now.  She isn't ill but she knows at her age the end is coming.  Without friends or family she decides to settle in the English neighborhood where she grew up over 60 years ago.  Helen finds that life still has a few surprises for her.

Simon Van Booy is an author new to me. He grew up in rural Wales and currently lives in New York, writing and volunteering as an E.M.T.  I will seek out more of his work.

Once I finish Trust I am starting Long Island by Colm Tóibín.

All three of these books are on my fall reading list.  Has anyone else read books by Simon Van Booy and if so, recommendations?  I hope you have nice weather and good reading.

 Sharing with:

Joy's Book Blog for British Isles Friday. and Deb at Readerbuzz for Sunday Salon.

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