Falling Angels ~ a teaser

Today's teaser is from page 85 of  Falling Angels ~ by Tracy Chevalier, 2001.

Once or twice I've convinced the missus that I should go instead of her.  Rest of the time I've to sneak out of an afternoon.  He ain't there evenings.  Gardeners work shorter hours than maids, I like to remind him.

"Yep, an' we get paid twice as much," he said.  "It's a dog's life, innit?"

Teaser ~ A Thousand Sisters

Knowing I've taken on the Women Unbound reading challenge, my friend Halle put an ARC (advance reading copy) of this book in my hands today.  I had not (yet) heard of it, but this evening I was reading news online and discovered that Nicholas D. Kristof, the op-ed-columnist, wrote about this book and this author yesterday.  I love synchronicity, don't you?  Since I haven't started reading it, I'll "tease" you with some of what Kristof wrote about A Thousand Sisters: My Journey of Hope into the Worst Place on Earth to Be a Woman by Lisa J. Shannon, which will be published April 1, 2010.

"Five years ago, Lisa Shannon watched 'Oprah' and learned about the savage, forgotten war here in eastern Congo, played out in massacres and mass rape."

Lisa felt she needed to do something, and she did.  From a 30-mile fund-raising run ("Run for Congo Women"), to sending $27 a month to help Generose Namburho (whose leg was chopped off when she shouted as militants prepared to rape her), to going to Congo in person.  Recently, Nicholas Kristof went visiting with Lisa in Bukavu, Congo.  He wrote:

"On this visit to Congo, Lisa is organizing a Run for Congo Women right here in Bukavu, for Feb. 28, with Congolese rape survivors participating. You can sponsor them at www.runforCongowomen.org. And one of those participating in the run, hobbling along on crutches and her one leg, will be Generose."

Watch Kristof's short video about Congo, which was posted today.  (By the way, I have just finished the book Kristof wrote with his wife, Sheryl WuDunn:  Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide, 2009.)
__________

Oops!  While I was composing this post, midnight came and went without my noticing.  So everywhere I said "today" now becomes "yesterday" instead.

The Book Seer

 

I'll blame Alison if you and I become addicted to this.  It's called The Book Seer.  Type in a book you like, and it really does come up with books (recommended by Amazon and LibraryThing) that are similar.  At least it did for me.  I typed in the title of the most recent book I completed, which I read for the Women Unbound reading challenge, and this site did indeed suggest a number of others that would be appropriate for that subject.  So go have a little fun with it.

Remarkable Creatures ~ a teaser

Remarkable Creatures, a novel by Tracy Chevalier, was published this month.  These quotes show how one of the main characters reacts to remarks about the other main character.

Lord Henley (p. 105): "Besides which, Mary Anning is a female. She is a spare part. I have to represent her, as indeed I do many Lyme residents who cannot represent themselves."

Elizabeth Philpot (p. 106): I was furious at Lord Henley for riding roughshod over scientific discovery; for turning a mystery of the world into something banal and foolish; for throwing my sex back at me as something to be ashamed of. A spare part, indeed.

I'm really enjoying this book so far.

Blogiversary

It was three years ago today that I began this blog, posting about The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri.  Two years ago I missed the date, thinking "last day of January," which was off by a day.  Last year I was sick, unable to breathe (or sleep) all night and on the morning of the 31st I called my friend Donna to take me to the emergency room.  I couldn't breathe, it turned out, because my heart wasn't pumping the fluid out of my lungs, and in February I had open heart surgery.

 

This is a photo Ginnie took while I was recuperating at her house after leaving the hospital.  In one hand is her cat Wootchie, which I was holding onto to keep her from sitting on my chest where there is now a thin white scar, even though that's what Wootchie wanted to do (she's a loving cat).  In my other hand is a paper on quantum physics, which Ginnie and I were reading because we are both nerds.  Notice I'm wearing a heavy jacket because, after surgery and losing 30 pounds, I seemed cold all the time, even in Ginnie's warm house (well, it was winter).  Below is my granddaughter with her baby Raegan, who was born three months after my surgery.

It's been an eventful three years! Now I'm ready to begin my fourth year as a book blogger.  Come along with me as we explore books and adventures and life.

And now it's slushy

My mailman delivered a book to my door, leaving slushy footprints in his wake. We doubled yesterday's snow before it started melting in 34*F weather this morning.

It's snowing

My cell phone camera didn't pick up the snowflakes drifting down, but it's still snowing.  And it started before 1:00 pm.