It's Monday 12/12! What Are You Reading?

Whew, another busy holiday week! 'Tis the season, right? My focus last week was on working on my annual family DVD - all the photos (plus some video clips) I took during the year, organized into slideshows with music, with copies made for all of our extended family. We are having our holiday celebration with one branch of the family this coming weekend, so my deadline for finishing the DVD is quickly approaching!

I also finished my gift shopping (mostly online but a bit in person), contacted another part of the family to organize a gathering when we visit after Christmas, updated my address list for holiday cards, had everyone home to decorate the tree, and spent a few hours sorting out and paying a huge stack of medical bills. This is final exam week for my sons in college, and then they are on break for six weeks!

Of course, we all found time to enjoy our books last week, too:

• I finished Orange is the New Black by Piper Kerman this week. My husband and I are HUGE fans of the TV show (my review at the link). This is the real-life memoir that the Netflix show is based on, and it is every bit as good! Piper brings that same mix of heartfelt emotion, humor, and social commentary to the book that you see on TV (though without the graphic sex scenes!). It was one of those books that I never wanted to end - I read every last word, including acknowledgements, references, author's note, etc.
• Now I am reading The Art of Hearing Heartbeats by Jan-Philip Sendker for my neighborhood book group this week (this is our 150th book, so we are celebrating with a nice dinner out!). It's been OK so far, but I'm not loving it. I wonder if it's because I just finished an amazing book that bowled me over or if perhaps the translation is a bit flat. I don't dislike it - it's the story of a NYC lawyer who disappears, and his grown daughter who tracks him to Burma, where he grew up, to try to find him and uncover his past. It's interesting, and I want to finish it, so we'll see how I feel when I'm done.
• I finished listening to The Outliers by Kimberly McCeight, a teen/YA thriller. An agoraphobic teen girl named Wylie who recently lost her mother overcomes her anxieties and leaves the house when she gets a text that her best friend, Cassie, is in trouble and needs her help. Wylie and Cassie's boyfriend, Jasper, take off on a crazy road trip in search of Cassie, without knowing exactly what they are getting into. Lots of suspense and unexpected twists here. I had no idea where the plot was going until the very end. It's the first in a series.
• I just spent a few minutes choosing my next audiobook - and probably my last one of 2016. I decided on LaRose by Louise Erdrich. I've been wanting to read this novel, have never read anything by Erdrich (a National Book award winner) before, and this was a 2016 release, and I rarely get to new releases in the year they came out. So, we have a winner! I am downloading it now, and will start it this morning.
• My husband, Ken, finished Before the Fall by Noah Hawley, a book I gave him for his birthday this fall. It's about the aftermath of a small plane crash with only two survivors: an adult man and a small child. He enjoyed it and says I need to hurry up and read it, too, so he can talk to me about the ending!
• Now, Ken is hoping to finish up one of his 2016 reading goals before the end of the year - to read another classic. He started The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper, a book he has been wanting to read for a while. I'd like to read it, too, because I grew up in New York state, learning about the tribes of the Iroquois nation. I recited the tribes from west to east for him last night :)
• Jamie, 22, finished re-reading Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas in preparation to read a new book in the series - he does that a lot! Now, he is re-reading book 2, Crown of Midnight. He has two finals this week, and then he is off for winter break and can read nonstop again!

Not a lot of blogging time last week (and even less this week!), but I managed to get a few posts up:

Movie Monday: The Legend of Tarzan - an action-packed adventure

Teen/YA Review: Vivian Apple at the End of the World by Katie Coyle - an apocalyptic road trip

New Travel Article: Exploring Cajun Country - my latest travel article - about Louisiana

Fiction Review: The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah - a different persspective on WWII and women's roles in the war

Saturday Snapshot: Florida Keys - a few last photos from our vacation - take me back to the islands!

What are you and your family reading this week?    

What Are You Reading Monday is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date, so head over and check out her blog and join the Monday fun! You can also participate in a kid/teen/YA version hosted by Unleashing Readers.
 

Our sons and the finished tree! (just needs tinsel)

Saturday Snapshot: The Florida Keys

Saturday Snapshot is hosted by West Metro Mommy Reads. 

This week - as it is truly getting COLD here in Delaware - I'm featuring a few more photos from our wonderful vacation in the Florida Keys Thanksgiving week. You can also check out last week's post, with photos of gorgeous Keys' sunsets. Ahhh....wish we were still there, enjoying sunshine and 70's!

The backyard of our rental house, on the water, with 2 readers!

View from our snorkeling boat that went to Looie Key, a marine sanctuary

Kayaking through the mangroves at Curry Hammock State Park

The beach at Curry Hammock State Park

Our sons & a girlfriend on Key West at Fort Zachary Taylor State Park

The bay side of Bahia Honda State Park

Driving on 7-Mile Bridge

Sunshine & palm trees!

Hope you are enjoying the weekend and keeping warm!

Fiction Review: The Nightingale

Years ago, I read Kristin Hannah’s novel Firefly Lane. I loved it and cried three different times while reading it (that’s a good thing)! Ever since then, I’ve been eager to read another of her novels, so I was excited when my cousin chose The Nightingale for our online family book group. I was a bit disappointed when I realized it was set during WWII, just because I’ve read so many novels set during the war, but was pleasantly surprised to find that this novel is a different perspective on WWII than I’ve read before – centering on the occupation of France and the role of women in both winning the war and in saving people.  As with other Hannah novels, it was intricate and full of emotional depth.

The novel is a bit slow to start, setting up the main characters, but quickly picks up its pace. It opens in Oregon in 1995, with an unnamed elderly woman who is packing up her belongings to move to a retirement community. She opens up an old trunk and finds an identity card from the war for Juliette Gervaise. Her adult son sees it and asks who that was, but it is clear that the woman has secrets she’s never told her son – and she’s still not quite ready to tell him.

The action then shifts to 1939 in France, with chapters alternating between Vianne, a young mother living in a small, rural town in the Loire Valley with her husband and daughter, and Isabelle, her nineteen-year old sister. Isabelle is being thrown out of yet another boarding school as the novel opens and sent home to her father in Paris, who hasn’t even tried to take care of his daughters since their mother died about fifteen years ago.

He dropped them both off with a woman who would board them in the town where Vianne still lives. Vianne thinks she got off easy because she met her husband at age fourteen, shortly after being dumped by her father, and escaped into love and then marriage. Isabelle, who was ten years younger, was left behind, first with the uncaring woman and later in a series of boarding schools that either kicked her out or she ran away from. Though Vianne knows she was too young to take responsibility for her little sister, she still feels guilty, and Isabelle is still resentful. Both sisters were marred by their abandonment.

As the story progresses, the war abruptly enters both women’s lives. Vianne’s husband, Antoine, is conscripted into the armed services (along with most of the men in France) and must leave their idyllic country home and his adored family, leaving Vianne alone with their daughter. Having watched her father come back from WWI a changed man, Vianne fears not only for Antoine’s physical safety but for his mental health as well.

In Paris, the war intrudes even more suddenly and starkly into Isabelle’s life. Contrary to what anyone thought possible, the Nazis move into the city and quickly take over. Isabelle is swept up in the mass exodus of people out of Paris, walking for days, carrying her possessions with her, in a stunningly punishing march, as she tries to get to Vianne’s home, where her father thinks she will be safe.

But, of course, the Nazis soon occupy that little country town, too. German soldiers billet in homes all over town, including Vianne’s. Overnight, their quiet life is turned upside down, as food becomes scarce, Nazis come into their homes to take whatever furnishings and valuables they want, and long days are spent standing in line for meager rations that barely keep them from starving. Before long, just when they think things can’t get any worse, their Jewish neighbors begin disappearing. Eventually, Isabelle secretly begins working for the resistance, and Vianne finds her own role in the war.

Two aspects of this novel really captured my attention and fascinated me: the details of what daily life was like – both in small towns and in Paris – during the Nazi occupation of France and the roles that woman played in winning the war and saving their fellow citizens. I hadn’t read much on either topic before, despite the many novels I have read set during WWII. We generally think of men off fighting the Nazis and women at home taking care of their families, but this novel takes a much deeper look at women’s roles during the war, and it’s captivating.

As with Firefly Lane, I also enjoyed the complex, realistic characters that people this novel, flaws and all. Hannah is adept at capturing real-life emotions in her characters and stories – and in wringing those emotions out of her readers. Yes, I cried while reading this novel, too, though at a moment that surprised me. The elderly woman in modern times comes back into the story once in a while, though her identity is unknown until the end of the book.

Besides its intriguing history and interesting characters, this novel also has a wonderfully twisty plot that will keep you guessing at every turn. The things that happen are often horrible and had me yelling at the book, “No!” but this is, after all, a book about WWII. There are also plenty of heartwarming moments that remind you of the power of compassion and the strength of humanity. This novel, with its unique and eye-opening perspective on a well-worn topic kept me riveted until the very end. The characters felt like old friends, and I was glad to have taken this journey with them.

440 pages, St. Martin’s Press

New Travel Article: Exploring Cajun Country

Down on the bayou in Cajun Country

A local resident

My latest travel article, Exploring Cajun Country, has been published on My Itchy Travel Feet, a fun travel website that calls itself The Baby Boomer's Guide to Travel.

This time, I take readers to southern Louisiana, known affectionately as Cajun Country. This region features flora & fauna, food, music, and culture that are all wonderfully unique. It's like traveling to another country without leaving the U.S.!

Crawfish - yum!

My husband and I used to live in New Orleans, so Louisiana holds a special place in our hearts. We have taken our sons back to NOLA several times, but this visit to Cajun Country was especially memorable. My article includes details on swamp tours and other local entertainment, enjoying the unique outdoors, great food, and wonderful music.

Check it out at the link.

Have you ever been to Louisiana? What did you enjoy there? I'm ready for another visit!

Teen/YA Review: Vivian Apple at the End of the World

Every summer, I sign up for SYNC, which offers two free audiobooks each week of the summer, usually a mix of contemporary teen/YA novels, nonfiction (often in a similar theme to their fiction pick), and some classics, too. One of my downloads from SYNC this summer was Vivian Apple At the End of the World by Katie Coyle, and I finally found time to listen to it last month. I enjoyed this intriguing and unique post-apocalyptic take on religious extremism.

Seventeen year-old Vivian lives in a world like ours, except that one religious zealot has successfully taken over a good-sized portion of the U.S. population.  Beaton Frick started the Church of America after supposedly being spoken to by God and writing the Book of Frick. As a self-styled prophet who believes America is God’s favored land, he gains many thousands of followers. Frick predicts that there will be a Rapture on a certain March day, followed by an Armageddon six months later. Followers, including Vivian’s parents, faithfully prepare, while non-believers ignore the dire predictions. Vivian and her best friend, Harp, attend a Rapture’s Eve party the night before the predicted event. Everyone has a good laugh at midnight.

However, when Vivian returns home from Harp’s the next morning, her parents are gone, and there are two burned-out people-sized holes in their bedroom ceiling. All over the country, the same thing is happening, with people discovering loved ones are missing. Thousands are gone…but not even close to all of the believers. Many take the missing people as proof that Frick is right and begin to prepare for the predicted end of the world. Others – believers left behind and quick converts – hopefully prepare for a second Rapture event that is rumored to be coming. Vivian and Harp (whose parents are also gone) don’t know quite what to do, but within days, the outside world starts to become a frightening, foreign place.

Eventually, Vivian and Harp set out on a cross-country road trip, based on some slim hypotheses that California might be the center of what’s going on, with some stops planned along the way to see distant family. Joining them is a boy their age named Peter, whom Vivian met at the Rapture’s Eve party. As the three of them travel across the U.S., from Pittsburgh to California, they see some very scary things. Religious extremism – and with it extreme intolerance – takes over, now that there is some “proof” behind it. They encounter lots of other people: some who help them, some who want to harm them, and others like themselves just trying to stay safe. As they travel, the predicted date of Armageddon draws closer.

I really enjoyed this unique book that combines a post-apocalyptic feeling (even though the apocalypse hasn’t quite happened yet) with a classic road trip, while delving into issues of friendship, family, extremism, and intolerance. As with the best dystopian and post-apocalyptic fiction, it is frightening because you can see elements of our own society in this made-up world and imagine that this just might really happen with the right set of conditions. Along the way, there are lots of plot twists and surprises to keep things moving and interesting. I enjoyed listening to this original story on audio and, though the story wraps up in some ways, I am eager to read the sequel!

288 pages, HMH Books for Young Readers

Audio book from Dreamscape Media

(click on the Amazon link below, then on the Audible version, for an audio sample)

          

Movie Monday: The Legend of Tarzan

My husband and I have been watching some adventure epics lately, starting with The Legend of Tarzan a couple of weeks ago. Our son and his girlfriend came in the family room in the middle of the movie, sat and watched some of it with us, and then went back to her house to watch it themselves on a streaming service! So, yes, we all enjoyed it. It's an entertaining, action-packed adventure movie.

This is not the Tarzan you might remember from older movies, TV shows, or the original book. It's Tarzan with a twist, the story of what happens to Tarzan years after the original story took place. As the movie opens, Tarzan, now known by his original name of John Clayton (and played by Alexander Skarsgård), is happily living in London with his wife - you guessed it - Jane, played by Margot Robbie. He has acclimated to city life and doesn't intend to return to the jungle. King Leopold of Belgium has other plans, though. He thinks that a visit to the Belgian colonies in the Congo by John would be the perfect PR move, to show everyone how much he has accomplished in "civilizing" the Congo. At first, John says no, but an American named George Washington Williams, played by Samuel L. Jackson, approaches him. George says that he is fairly certain that King Leopold is committing human rights atrocities, including enslaving the natives, and he wants to go to the Congo to find proof.

With George's extra push, John agrees to make the trip, and Jane insists on coming along to visit her childhood home. They set off for the Congo and are both filled with joy to visit Jane's old home and the native friends they left behind. Soon, though, a bad guy named Rom, played by Christophe Waltz, attacks the village where they are staying and abducts both John and Jane. John escapes and sets off across the jungle to find Jane. George insists on coming along, though John doubts that he'll be able to keep up. Cue the jungle scenes, with plenty of swinging on vines (and of course, Tarzan quickly loses the shirt).

From there, the story is a fast-paced and suspenseful adventure through the jungles and rivers of the Congo. Just in case anyone doesn't know the original Tarzan story, there are also plenty of flashbacks to Tarzan's adoption by the apes after he was orphaned and his childhood growing up in the jungle. Samuel L. Jackson even adds some humor, with his usual wise-cracking one-liners. It's not a great movie, but it is an entertaining one, an action-packed adventure with plenty of cool CGI effects and plenty of heart, too. Not to mention Tarzan's abs - wow. It's a fun ride.

The Legend of Tarzan is recently out on DVD (we rented it from Redbox and it is also available on DVD from Netflix). You can also rent the movie (streaming) for $3.99 on Amazon (link below).

It's Monday 12/5! What Are You Reading?

Whew, we are definitely in the midst of the holiday season now! It was a rude awakening to go from relaxed vacation mode - "living the island life" - to the hectic-ness of the holidays last week! I was kept very busy with Cyber Monday, more online shopping, Giving Tuesday, and what I termed Photo Wednesday (and Thursday and Friday and...). I spent a lot of time with my photos from 2016, making calendars and gifts on Snapfish (a holiday tradition), and getting everything organized for my annual DVD of family photos - that's this week's job! I give the calendars & DVDs to extended family members as gifts every year. We also went to get our tree this weekend, another family tradition that we all enjoy. Finding time in the midst of school, work, and finals when both boys can come back home to decorate the tree has been a challenge, but I think we've settled on Tuesday. So, another busy week of holiday preparations is ahead! I'm glad I planned ahead and finished all of my December writing assignments before vacation.

As always, we make sure we have downtime for reading. Here's what we've all been reading this past week:

• I have been reading (and loving!) Orange is the New Black by Piper Kerman this week. My husband and I are HUGE fans of the TV show (my review at the link). This is the real-life memoir that the Netflix show is based on, and it is every bit as good! Piper brings that same mix of heartfelt emotion, comedy, and social commentary to the book that you see on TV (though without the graphic sex scenes!). I am really, really enjoying it - one of the books where I look forward all day to bedtime so I can read more.
• On audio, I have been listening (in between podcast binging) to The Outliers by Kimberly McCeight, a teen/YA thriller. An agoraphobic teen girl named Wylie who recently lost her mother overcomes her anxieties and leaves the house when she gets a text that her best friend, Cassie, is in trouble and needs her help. Wylie and Cassie's boyfriend, Jasper, take off on a crazy road trip in search of Cassie, without knowing exactly what they are getting into. Lots of suspense and unexpected twists here - I'm enjoying it so far.
• My husband, Ken, is reading Before the Fall by Noah Hawley, a book I gave him for his birthday this fall. It's about the aftermath of a small plane crash with only two survivors: an adult man and a small child. He's enjoying it so far.
• Jamie, 22, Jamie finished reading Frostborn: The Gray Knight by Jonathan Moeller and enjoyed it. 
• Now, Jamie is re-reading Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence, Book 1 in The Broken Empire series, in preparation to read a new book in the series - he does that a lot! His reading will have to slow down for a while - 1 more week of classes with a bunch of group projects due, a week of finals, and then he is off for the winter break and can read nonstop again!

A very slow blogging week - too much holiday stuff going on! I hope to get back to my book reviews this week. Here's what I posted last week:

 TV Tuesday: Timeless - a fast-paced, suspenseful time travel series all about history

Saturday Snapshot: Sunsets in the Florida Keys

Weekend Cooking: 3 Great Restaurants in the Florida Keys

You can see my mind is still in the Keys!

What are you and your family reading this week?    

What Are You Reading Monday is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date, so head over and check out her blog and join the Monday fun! You can also participate in a kid/teen/YA version hosted by Unleashing Readers.

Our annual trip to the tree farm (see the 2 reindeer in the background?)

 

Weekend Cooking: 3 Great Restaurants in the Florida Keys

Each weekend, Beth Fish Reads hosts Weekend Cooking.  This is perfect for me since I love food and cooking almost as much as I love books!

We just returned last week from a week-long family vacation in the Florida Keys - a rarity for us these days, now that our sons are 18 and 22. The whole week was just wonderful, filled with snorkeling, kayaking, and lots of relaxing downtime & reading!

But, of course, one of the best things about a vacation is sampling the local food, which in the Keys means...seafood! Though we took advantage of our little rental house & cooked many meals there (including burgers for our Thanksgiving dinner!), we enjoyed a few wonderful meals out. Here is a sampling of three excellent restaurants - from the upper Keys down to almost Key West - that were all reasonably priced and had great food.

The Fish House - Key Largo

All of us at The Fish House - note the decor!

My own Fish Matecumbe at home

Moving from the upper Keys down, I'll start with our last Keys meal. On our way back to the airport in Fort Lauderdale, we stopped at The Fish House in Key Largo, at mile marker 102.4 on Route 1. We chose this place randomly, using my son's iPhone map app, because we were hungry and traffic had been too heavy to get us to Miami in time for lunch. By coincidence, I later discovered The Fish House has been lauded on both Diners. Drive-Ins & Dives (one of our favorite sources for food on the road) and on Bobby Flay's Food Nation! I also found later that both Bobby Flay and Guy Fieri recommended the dish I ordered, Fish Matecumbe, which I ordered with fresh Mahi Mahi. It was so good that when we got home, I recreated it for dinner, using this recipe from The Food Network website - delicious!.

The Fish House has a huge menu, with fresh fish & seafood highlighted (they have a fresh seafood market in the same building). My son loved the Fried Calamari and Crab Quesadillas, his girlfriend enjoyed a fish burrito, and the rest of the group ordered fresh fish, prepared in various ways. All of our meals were super-fresh and delicious, and the restaurant is a fun place, decorated with great gusto with all sorts of sea-themed items, with the ceiling covered in a variety of different shaped strings of lights (flip flops, margarita glasses, fish, shells, etc.).

Keys Fisheries - Marathon

Our crew at Keys Fsheries

Close to where we were staying in Marathon, we had dinner our first night there at the Keys Fisheries, located at about mile marker 50 (ish) on 35th Street on the bay side, just before the Seven-Mile Bridge (as you are heading south). Talk about fresh! They are located right on the water in the midst of their own marina and get their fish and seafood directly from the boats every day. It is super-casual with picnic tables outside, but don't worry- if it is rainy or cool (it was quite windy the night we went), they have an area covered by a tarp with plastic walls that kept us warm.

Tarpon off the dock, lit up

The food is super-fresh and well-prepared, with a widely varied menu. I ordered a yellowtail snapper dinner, my husband got a seared yellowfin tune sandwich, our older son ordered the seafood paella (which he loved) plus lobster bisque, our younger son tried the house specialty, a lobster reuben sandwich, plus some conch fritters, and his girlfriend loved the lobster mac & cheese. We all wanted to try the stone crabs, so the guy at the order window quietly advised us to go upstairs to the adjoining bar, where stone crab claws were just $2 each, rather than buying a big meal. Those were delicious, too! Our meals were all good, and while we waited, we could watch the tarpon off the dock (and feed them after 6 pm).

Hogfish Bar & Grill - Stock Island

Enjoying Hogfish Bar & Grill with friends

While visiting some old friends in Key West (what an awesome retirement they are enjoying!), they took us to another great, casual seafood restaurant that is a locals' favorite: Hogfish Bar & Grill, located on Stock Island (the small island just before Key West). You might have to be a local just to find this place, but it is worth the search! When you walk up to the restaurant and bar, you see a very island-style open-air place located right on a marina, with picnic tables, open rafters, and lots of funky decorations. They have a huge menu, with lots of options for fresh seafood. Several of us ordered their specialty, Hogfish Tacos, which were excellent. My husband enjoyed the Hogfish Sandwich, and our son liked the conch chowder and pork tacos. The food was all delicious and the atmosphere casual and fun.

Ah, I want to go back! Warm, sunny days and delicious food - it was a great vacation.

Saturday Snapshot 12/3: Sunsets in the Florida Keys

Saturday Snapshot is hosted by West Metro Mommy Reads. 

I missed a couple of weeks of Saturday Snapshot because we did something very unusual for us this Thanksgiving - we took a week-long family vacation to the Florida Keys! Our sons are both at the same school (University of Delaware) for the first time in over a decade, and UD gave students the entire week off for Thanksgiving (something we've never seen before), so we took advantage of this rare opportunity and headed south. We had a wonderful time! We rented a lovely little house right on the water, our younger son's girlfriend came with us, and the five of us spent a very relaxing & entertaining week living the Island Life. We went kayaking through mangrove tunnels, snorkeling both from the beach and off a boat at a reef, visited Key West and some old friends there, and spent lots of time relaxing (and reading!).

Sunset is an Event in the Keys. The kids were all intrigued to see a crowd gathered at sunset, applause, and music to accompany the setting sun. Several times at 5:00, we headed to the small beach in our community - aptly named Sunset Park - to watch the sun set. When it sets, the residents there play the 1812 Overture and "The Islands of Marathon" (we were in the middle Keys, near Marathon). For this week's Saturday Snapshot, here are a few of my best sunset photos - wish I were still there!

Our first sunset - not a cloud in the sky for days!

A few clouds later in the week for sunbeams to hide behind!

One of my favorites - living the island life!

Almost time for sunset - cue the music!

We finally got a few drops of rain on our last day - made for a good sunset!

Our last sunset

Rain brings rainbows!

Hope you are having a great weekend!

TV Tuesday: Timeless

It's been a few weeks since I had time for a TV Tuesday post - Tuesday is the best day for both of my sons to get home from college, so we had some family dinners get in the way, plus last week's vacation. All good reasons to skip blogging, but now I have so many great new TV shows I want to share with you! For starters, my husband and I have been enjoying NBC's new time travel thriller, Timeless.

The first episode of Timeless sets up the plot and the pattern for the rest of the shows. A young history professor named Lucy, played by Abigail Spencer (a veteran of Suits, Mad Men, and True Detective) is picked up and whisked off to a large warehouse filled with strange equipment. There, the leaders of a scientific team explain to her that they've invented time travel. A nasty bad guy named Garcia Flynn, played by Goran Visnjic (one of our favorites from ER and Extant), has stolen the latest model of the time travel ship and headed off to May 6, 1937, which happens to be the date the Hindenburg exploded. Besides Lucy, they have also brought in a Delta Force solider named Wyatt, played by Matt Lanter, to provide protection. The third member of the time travel team is Rufus, played by Malcolm Barrett (who is hilarious in Better off Ted), a shy scientist who helped invent the time travel method and is needed for his technical expertise. They convince Lucy she must help them at once before history is irreparably changed.

So, the new ragtag team gets into an older model of the time travel ship and follows the first ship to May 6, 1937, in New Jersey. It soon becomes apparent that Flynn wants to change history and save the Hindenburg. Although that would save dozens of lives in that moment, Lucy immediately understands the devastating effects that any change could have on history and the decades that came after the Hindenburg. The team, dressed in period clothes, rushes around Lakehurst, NJ, to try to stop Flynn from stopping the disaster.

I won't tell you whether they succeed or not because that is part of the suspense of this unique show. On each episode, they follow Flynn off to some other date in the past. In every case, Flynn is trying to change history - sometimes dramatically. I will tell you they do not always succeed in stopping Flynn, and they do see some repercussions - both personal and global - from his messing with the historic timeline. Flynn's motives remain a mystery (we have watched seven episodes so far) that viewers get small hints of in each episode. The team travels to major historic events like Lincoln's assassination and the Alamo, but sometimes, it is less obvious why a particular time and place are pivotal points in history.

I am really enjoying this show. I am a huge fan of time travel stories, both on screen and in books, and this show is no exception. It has everything that makes me love time travel stories: fascinating history lessons, the clash of modern and historic, and - most of all - the thought-provoking ramifications of time travel and changing history. That theme is especially prominent here, as are the ethical dilemmas that result. For instance, Rufus, a black man, has a really difficult time with their mission to make sure that Lincoln's assassination goes on as it really happened in history. It is those kinds of thoughtful and mind-blowing concepts that I enjoy about this show.

Overall, I wouldn't say this show is excellent or perfect. It's no Orphan Black (but then, nothing is!). It is very good, though. I wasn't all that familiar with the three main actors who make up the time travel team, but the more I get to know their characters, the more I like them and the interactions between them. The show has a good sense of humor (very important to me!) which works especially well with some of the modern day vs. historic clashes. And, as I gushed in the previous paragraph, I LOVE the premise and plot. This show will not only appeal to sci fi fans but also to history buffs, and the historical details have been fascinating. Besides all that, it is a fast-paced and suspenseful thriller. I can't wait to watch episode 8 tonight, when the team travels back to the moon landing.

Timeless airs on NBC at 10 pm on Mondays. All episodes, starting with the first, are still available On Demand if you have cable or on NBC's website (the last 5 are available for free; you have to sign in with your cable or satellite provider to access the first 3 episodes). Timeless is also available on Amazon for $1.99 an episode or $19.99 for the entire first season (link below).

It's Monday 11/28! What Are You Reading?

Ahhh! Just back this weekend from a wonderful week in the Florida Keys. It was a fabulous family vacation - super relaxing, lots of fun, and perfect weather. We loved our little rental house on the water in Marathon and never wanted to leave! We enjoyed kayaking through mangrove tunnels, beaches, snorkeling, delicious seafood, and of course, plenty of reading time!

Here's what we've been reading the past two weeks:

• I finished my review book, The News from the End of the World by Emily Jeanne Miller (due for release in February 2017), a family drama set on Cape Cod. This one was full of secrets and lies and was quite compelling. I really enjoyed it.
• While on vacation, I read The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah for my online family book group. I just finished it last night and was completely engrossed in it from start to finish. It's set during World War II but a different perspective than I'd read before. It's set in occupied France - which is in itself fascinating (and horrifying) - and focuses on the unsung roles of women in winning the war and saving people by telling the stories of two sisters who each do their parts in very different ways. Excellent book, though very sad. I have no idea what I'm going to read next! I love that moment of choosing a new book...
• On audio, I finished listening to a teen/YA novel called Vivian Apple At the End of the World by Katie Coyle. It's about a teen girl whose parents disappear in a supposed "Rapture" event and the panic that ensues in the world, as Vivian searches for answers. It was one of my free downloads from SYNC - if you didn't participate in the program last year, sign up now for reminders for next summer - dozens of free audio books! I really enjoyed the book and am hooked enough to want to read Book 2. I need to choose my next audiobook, too.
• My husband, Ken, read my recent review book, The River of Kings by Taylor Brown (due out in March), because I enjoyed it very much. It's a novel that uniquely combines adventure (a kayaking trip), modern family drama, suspense, and historical fiction. He liked it, too!
• Now, Ken is reading Before the Fall by Noah Hawley, a book I gave him for his birthday this fall. It's about the aftermath of a small plane crash with only two survivors: an adult man and a small child.
• Jamie, 22, took full advantage of all the extra reading time on vacation! He finished The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan. This is Book 1 in the renowned Wheel of Time sci fi series. He and I have both heard great things about this series, so he was thrilled to finally read it! He's asked for more books in the series for Christmas.
• Jamie read some (all?) of the Whill of Agora series by Michael James Ploof while on vacation. I don't know how many of the books he got through since he was reading them on his Kindle, but he said they were quick reads (for him!).
• Now, Jamie is reading Frostborn: The Gray Knight by Jonathan Moeller and enjoying it. His reading will have to slow down abruptly for a while - 2 more weeks of classes, a week of finals, and then he is off for the winter break and can read nonstop again!
• Craig, 18, doesn't enjoy reading for pleasure (whose child is he?), but his girlfriend also came with us on vacation, and she is enjoying reading The Maze Runner by James Dashner.

Lots of great books! That's one of the wonderful things about vacation, isn't it? I was offline all last week, but here are a few blog posts from the previous week:

Movie Monday: Thin Ice - a funny crime caper starring Greg Kinnear & Alan Arkin

Memoir Review: When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi - the best-selling memoir by a young doctor dying of cancer was as good as I'd heard!

Fiction Review: Tales of Mystery by Edgar Allen Poe - diverse collection of some of Poe's best short stories

What are you and your family reading this week?    

What Are You Reading Monday is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date, so head over and check out her blog and join the Monday fun! You can also participate in a kid/teen/YA version hosted by Unleashing Readers.

Now I have to get started on my Cyber Monday shopping!

Our lovely backyard in the Keys last week (my son is reading n the hammock & his brother's girlfriend is reading in the chair):

Reading in the Keys - Vacation Bliss

 

Fiction Review: Tales of Mystery

I’ve been trying to read more classics this year, though I got a very late start to my 2016 Classics Challenge. For October, I chose one to fit the season: Tales of Mystery by Edgar Allen Poe. This slim paperback (shown in the photo here) is so old and tattered that its cover price was originally 50 cents, and my husband bought it in a used bookstore in high school for just a dime! I thoroughly enjoyed this creepy and varied selection of short stories by the master of the macabre.

This particular collection includes eight of Poe’s better-known short stories:

·      The Tell-Tale Heart

·      The Cask of Amontillado

·      The Black Cat

·      The Masque of the Red Death

·      The Fall of the House of Usher

·      The Murders in the Rue Morgue

·      The Purloined Letter

·      The Pit and the Pendulum

I probably read all of these short stories many years ago, when I was a teenager, because I used to have a large compendium of Poe’s work. A few of the stories were vaguely familiar to me, but I didn’t remember details from any of them, so I experienced them anew with this reading. Almost all of them involve death and/or murder, and many of the stories feature supernatural phenomena, so these were perfect reading for the last week in October!

Of course, I remembered the basic storyline of The Tell-Tale Heart, but it still surprised me in its brevity (just 6 pages) – in my mind, I remembered the story carrying on for much longer (possibly through some re-tellings). Even knowing what is coming in that story, it was still suspenseful and compelling. The Black Cat didn’t sound familiar to me, but when I got to the end, I did recall its strange and spooky climax.

I think I was most intrigued by The Murders in the Rue Morgue and The Purloined Letter, two stories in a series that feature an amateur detective and his friend assisting the police in solving crimes in Paris. I hadn’t remembered that Poe had written such classic mysteries that very much have an air of Sherlock Holmes about them (and their brilliant, keen observer protagonist). In fact, I found out that Poe is considered the inventor of detective stories, and Arthur Conan Doyle’s famous fictional detective came along well after Poe’s death. The first of these stories is a classic closed-room mystery, with a twist I never expected. I was further surprised by the sense of humor these stories display and enjoyed them both very much.

Poe is an engaging writer, pulling the reader into the story, whether it is brief or longer, and not letting go until the usually surprising ending. Although written over 200 years ago, the language does not feel outdated or difficult. I was surprised that many of the stories were set in Europe, since I knew Poe was an American writer (I live near Baltimore, where he is a much-celebrated former resident). I enjoyed this chance to get reacquainted with the famed writer of mystery and suspense and found his eerie, unnerving stories perfect for this spooky season.

143 pages, Award Books, Inc.

(This particular book I read is long out of print, so I have included a similar collection of Poe's short stories in the Amazon link below)

 

Memoir Review: When Breath Becomes Air

I rarely read a book the same year it is released (just too many waiting on my shelves already!), but when I saw the best-selling memoir When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi at our favorite bookstore, I impulsively picked up a copy. I’m so glad I did – I was deeply moved by this stirring memoir written by a young doctor dying of cancer.

No spoilers here: you know from the Foreword and the Prologue that the author was diagnosed with cancer at a young age and died before the book was published. In some ways, that makes his words even more poignant, because he knew he was dying and his remaining time was short when he was writing them. He used those last months of his life to write about life and death, topics that had interested him intensely long before he became ill. He starts from his childhood and the beginning of his college career.

Paul Kalanithi knew with certainty as he started college that he did not want to be a doctor. His father and his uncle were doctors, and Paul was more attracted to literature and writing. He went to Stanford to study English Literature, but while he was there, he became interested in the physical workings of the mind and added Human Biology as a double major. He explains this unusual pairing:

“I studied literature and philosophy to understand what makes life meaningful, studied neuroscience and worked in an fMRI lab to understand how the brain could give rise to an organism capable of finding meaning in the world, and enriched my relationships with a circle of dear friends through various escapades.”

A perennial student, Kalanithi earned an MA in English Literature and a BA in Human Biology from Stanford, then moved to Cambridge and earned an MPhil in History and the Philosophy of Medicine. He finally settled on becoming a doctor and got his medical degree from Yale, then returned back to Stanford to complete his residency. Along the way, he met his wife, Lucy, who is also a doctor, and they got married.

Kalanithi was only 36-years old, months away from becoming a neurosurgeon himself, when he was diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer. Ironically, he had been on the other side of this for years, treating patients with serious cancers, talking to them, and supporting them. Although he’d suspected cancer for a while (and interestingly, as a doctor with plenty of experience, denied it for a while), in that moment, looking at his own scans with his wife and his doctor, his life changed instantly. Suddenly, instead of struggling through the grueling days of residency and making plans for the next decades of his career, he was unable to work at all and focusing in on the next days and months with his family.

The author’s early instincts to become a writer were right on. His love of literature comes through clearly, and he has a beautiful way of describing the world and his experiences with a sense of clarity. His early fascinations with death and the meaning of life are also put to good use here, as he considers these topics from his suddenly shortened life and impending death. Although I do not have a terminal illness, I found much here to relate to, from his thoughts on how illness changes your life (applicable to chronic illness as well as terminal illness) to his experiences with late-stage cancer, as I just lost my father to melanoma last year, to his reflections on life and death.

Kalanithi died before he finished the book, so his wife wrote the last chapter. Have a box of tissues nearby for that – it is a rough one! He left behind his wife and 9-month old daughter, as well as the rest of his family and friends. Before he left, though, he gave the world a gift – a thoughtful, moving memoir that tells the story of an interesting but too-short life, while musing on the meaning of life. This is a special book.

225 pages, Random House