Historical fiction

The Women ~ by T. Coraghessan Boyle, 2009, literary fiction, 464 pages

Is it easy to live with a genius?

Frank Lloyd Wright’s life was one long, howling struggle against the bonds of convention, whether aesthetic, social, moral, or romantic.  He never did what was expected, and he never let anything get in the way of his larger-than-life appetites and visions.  Wright’s triumphs and defeats were always tied to the women he loved:

1. Olgivanna Milanoff, an imperious Montenegrin beauty who was a student of the Russian mystic Gurdjieff and was known by Wright’s apprentices as “the Dragon Lady”;
2. Maude Miriam Noel, a passionate Southern belle with a mean temper and a fondness for morphine;
3. the spirited Mamah Borthwick Cheney, tragically murdered at Wright’s Wisconsin estate, Taliesin, in 1914; 
4. and his young first wife, Kitty Tobin, with whom he had six children.

T.C. Boyle deftly captures these very different women and, in doing so, creates a gripping drama about marriage, the bargains men and women make, and the privileges and pitfalls of genius and fame.

But do you know who Frank Lloyd Wright was?  He was born on June 8, 1867, and died on April 9, 1959.  He was an American architect who designed more than 1,000 structures over a period of 70 years. Wright played a key role in the architectural movements of the twentieth century, influencing other architects worldwide.  He believed in designing in harmony with humanity and the environment, and his philosophy was exemplified in Fallingwater (1935), which some see as the best American architecture ever.  This photo shows Fallingwater.

If you want a BIG book, here it is

Things We Never Got Over (Book 1 of 3 in the Knockemout series) ~ by Lucy Score, 2022, romantic comedy, 570 pages

Naomi wasn’t just running away from her wedding.  She was riding to the rescue of her estranged twin to Knockemout, Virginia, a rough-around-the-edges town where disputes are settled the old-fashioned way … with fists and beer.  Usually in that order.

Too bad for Naomi her evil twin hasn’t changed at all.  After helping herself to Naomi’s car and cash, Tina leaves her with something unexpected.  The niece Naomi didn’t know she had.  Now she’s stuck in town with no car, no job, no plan, and no home with an 11-year-old going on thirty to take care of.

There’s a reason Knox doesn’t do complications or high-maintenance women, especially not the romantic ones.  But since Naomi’s life imploded right in front of him, the least he can do is help her out of her jam.  And just as soon as she stops getting into new trouble he can leave her alone and get back to his peaceful, solitary life.  At least, that’s the plan until the trouble turns to real danger.

. . . and to another book that was recently

added to our Crown Center library collection.

Another book donated to our library for residents

Unfreedom of the Press ~ by Mark R. Levin, 2019, history of journalism, 272 pages

Levin shows how those entrusted with news reporting today are destroying freedom of the press from within:  “not government oppression or suppression,” he writes, but self-censorship, group-think, bias by omission, and passing off opinion, propaganda, pseudo-events, and outright lies as news.

With the depth of historical background for which his books are renowned, Levin takes the reader on a journey through the early American patriot press, which proudly promoted the principles set forth in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, followed by the early decades of the Republic during which newspapers around the young country were open and transparent about their fierce allegiance to one political party or the other.

It was only at the start of the Progressive Era and the twentieth century that the supposed “objectivity of the press” first surfaced, leaving us where we are today:  with a partisan party-press overwhelmingly aligned with a political ideology but hypocritically engaged in a massive untruth as to its real nature.

Week in Review

• For Monday Musing, I had noticed "Divorce: The End of an Error" and wrote about it HERE.
• On Twosday, I wrote about a book and the title I would give a memoir, HERE.
• On Thursday, I wrote about the Crown Center's new bus, HERE.
• Friday's book beginning was about a suspense thriller, HERE.
• I got chocolate on my shirt yesterday and wrote about how to get it out of fabric in my Saturday post, HERE.  Did it work?  Yes, it did!

is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz.

Saturday stuff

I ate soft chocolate earlier, and some of it fell on my shirt.  So I looked up how to get it out without making it set permanently, and I'm hoping, hoping, hoping.

Key Steps to Remove Chocolate Stains:

1. Remove Excess:  Gently scrape off solidified chocolate with a dull knife or spoon.
2. Rinse Cold:  Run cold water through the back of the stain to prevent it from setting deeper into the fibers.
3. Pre-treat:  Apply a heavy-duty liquid detergent (like Tide) or dish soap (like Dawn) directly to the stain.
4. Soak:  Let the garment sit for at least 15–30 minutes to break down the grease.
5. Wash:  Launder the item as usual in cold water.
6. Check Before Drying:  Ensure the stain is completely gone before putting it in the dryer, as heat can permanently set any remaining stain.

I'm about to do a load of laundry in cold water.  When it's done, then I'll know whether this is a happy Saturday or not.

  (Added later:  Yes, it worked. )

Beginning ~ with an offer

Beginning

I was standing at the bar in the Green Parrot, waiting for a guy named Carlos from Miami who'd called my cell a few days ago and said he might have a job for me.

The Cuban Affair ~ by Nelson DeMille, 2017, suspense thriller, 530 pages

Nelson DeMille is a #1 New York Times bestselling author.  His new novel features U.S. Army combat veteran Daniel Graham MacCormick — Mac for short — who seems to have a pretty good life.  At age thirty-five he’s living in Key West, owner of a forty-two-foot charter fishing boat, The Maine (named for his home state).  Mac served five years in the Army as an infantry officer with two tours in Afghani-stan.  He returned with the Silver Star, two Purple Hearts, scars that don’t tan, and a boat with a big bank loan.  If the truth be told, Mac’s finances are more than a little shaky.

Mac is in the famous Green Parrot Bar in Key West, contemplating his life, and waiting for Carlos, a hotshot Miami lawyer heavily involved with anti-Castro groups.  Carlos wants to hire Mac and The Maine for a ten-day fishing tourna-ment to Cuba at the standard rate, but Mac suspects there is more to this and turns it down.  The price then goes up to two million dollars, and Mac agrees to hear the deal, and meet Carlos’s clients — a beautiful woman named Sara Ortega and a mysterious older Cuban exile named Eduardo Valazquez.

Mac learns there is sixty million American dollars hidden in Cuba by Sara’s grandfather when he fled Castro’s revolution.  With the “Cuban Thaw” under-way between Havana and Washington, they all know it’s only a matter of time before someone finds the stash.  Mac knows if he accepts this job, he’ll walk away rich — or not at all.

Gilion at Rose City Reader hosts

Book Beginnings on Fridays.

A new bus for the Crown Center

When I first saw this bus today, Tim (who manages the property) was walking toward me with some people who don't live here or work here.  I saw him later with other employees and asked, "Do we have a new Crown Center bus?"  Yes, we do!  The old one was maroon and white (my high school colors), but this bus is blue and white.  Tim asked me, "Are you going to write about it?"  Hmm, that thought had not yet occured to me, but most people know I'm a blogger and it does sound like a good idea to tell the whole world about new stuff.  So here's our new blue-and-white Crown Center bus.

Two thoughts for TWOsday

I have a tiny booklet for grades 4-8 (dated 2001) that has "journal topics."  Page 199 says, "Write the title and back cover description for the autobiography you hope to write some day."

I have already blogged that if I ever write a memoir, I'll call it Bits of Bonnie.  Click HERE to read more about it.  As for what to say on the back cover, I'll have to give that some thought.  But I can give you "one bit" as an enticement:  I have always enjoyed words:  playing with words, learning new words, writing blog posts about words and ideas, writing poetry (my first national publication was a short poem about a baby playing with her feet up in the air).  Maybe I should pull out my thick "Bits of Bonnie" notebook (shown above) and read stories that I have collected over the years.

Come Pour the Wine ~ by Cynthia Freeman, 1980, Jewish fiction, 517 pages

Cynthia Freeman portrays an insightful and moving story of Janet Stevens, a teenager from Kansas who comes to New York in search of fame and fortune.  The pursuit of her dream leads her into marriage, motherhood, a heart-rending separation, and then divorce.  At the age of forty five, she meets a man who not only gives her a renewed sense of her Jewish heritage, but also offers her the chance for total fulfillment as a woman.

A reviewer on Amazon gave this book five stars and wrote:  "Girl with Jewish background marries a man she falls for like a ton of bricks.  They go through life with a silent problem hovering over their life until one day it's out in the open.  How she and Bill go forward with life is the whole story."

I found this book in our little Crown Center library and brought it home last night to read.

.

AI Overview tells me about this phrase

"Divorce: The End of an Error" is a popular, witty phrase frequently

used on greeting cards, party banners, and custom cakes to celebrate,

with humor, a fresh start after a marriage ends. It frames the dissolution

of a marriage not merely as a loss, but as the conclusion of

a mistake, often marking a transition into a new chapter.

The suspense is killing me! (Take that with a grain of salt.)

Storm Prey (Book 20 of 36 in the series) ~ by John Sandford, 2010, suspense thriller, 416 pages

There's a storm brewing.  Very early (4:45 a.m.) on a bitterly cold Minnesota morning, three big men burst through the door of a hospital pharmacy, duct-tape the hands, feet, mouth, and eyes of two pharmacy workers, and clean the place out.  But then things swiftly go bad, one of the workers dies, and the robbers hustle out to their truck and find themselves for just one second face-to-face with a blond woman in the garage.  She is Weather Karkinnen, surgeon, wife of an investigator named Lucas Davenport.

Did she see enough?  Can she identify them?  Gnawing it over later, it seems to them there is only one thing they can do:  Find out who she is, and eliminate the only possible witness.

On Amazon, 69% of reviewers give five stars to this Lucas Davenport thriller from the #1 New York Times-bestselling author.  This is one of the "millions" of books stacked all over my apartment (see HERE) that have been donated to the Crown Center library, probably by a resident.

Week in Review

• On Tuesday, I remembered old friends celebrating St. Patrick's Day together, HERE.
• My word for Wednesday was quiddity, HERE.
• Friday was the first day of spring, HERE.
• Saturday's subject was eating black-eyed peas and hummus, HERE.

is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz.

Black-eyed peas

Do you like black-eyed peas?  I do, but I haven't eaten any lately.  I was just thinking about their nutrition value, so I looked it up.  The illustration below shows that they are full of vitamins, proteins, minerals, and fiber.  They are also good for heart health.  So people would eat them on New Year's Day for luck.

Eating black-eyed peas (with cornbread, in my family) on New Year's Day was supposed to make us rich or something.  I have now missed New Year's Day by several weeks at this point, but I should go look to see if I have a can of them in my kitchen cabinet because my mouth is watering.

But first, let me tell you why I was thinking about black-eyed peas in the first place.  I was casually scrolling on my phone and came across this:  "The black-eyed peas can sing us a tune, but the chick peas can only hummus one."  I know I have hummus in the fridge, if I don't find the other.

Spring and happiness go together, don't they?

March 20th is the first day of spring in my part of the world, the time of year when night and day are of equal length.  Today is also the International Day of Happiness.  How can you celebrate?  Maybe call a friend to chat, or even better, get together.  People all over the world will be celebrating this day.  It's a time to cultivate happiness and connection.

Looking for a happy illustration, I found these three characters.  They are doing some sort of happy dance, aren't they?  Can you name all three?  (Names below.)

Today's happy dance is brought to us

by Lucy, Snoopy, and Sally.  We miss

you, Charlie Brown, Linus, Woodstock,

and Schroeder with your piano.  (Oh, wait,

do I hear a happy tune in the background?)

Quiddity is today's word

quiddity (ˈkwɪdəti), quiddities (noun) =  (1) the essential quality of a person or thing; (2) a distinctive feature; a peculiarity.  Example:  My quirks and quiddities make me unique.  (I found the illustration HERE, to give credit to the artist.)

St. Patrick's Day

My friends Marilyn and Donna celebrating St. Patrick's Day in 2015 in the Circle@Crown Café.  Notice they are wearing green.  Neither of them is still with us, but today (reminded by this photo) I'll think of them and St. Patrick, patron saint of Ireland, who is said to have died on March 17 around 493 A.D.

Let me end this blog post with a bit of humor:  "A best friend is like a four-leaf clover:  hard to find and lucky to have."

Please don't let the word "philosophy" keep you from reading this post

Philosophy 101: From Plato and Socrates to Ethics and Metaphysics, an Essential Primer on the History of Thought ~ by Paul Kleinman, 2013, philosophy, 288 pages

A reviewer wrote that this books takes you "on a journey through the development of human intellectual thought from several hundred years B.C. to present."  That's a fair summary.  Since philosophy was part of my double major in college, I smiled when I saw that someone had donated this little book to the Crown Center library.  I'll probably read it before shelving it (or trading it for fiction, which people living here are likely to read).  Hey, I see The Thinker musing in the top right corner.

Week in Review

• On Monday, I mused about walking to the store for groceries, HERE.
• On Tuesday, I wrote about a book I had decided to re-read, HERE.
• On Wednesday, my subject was a novel set in Egypt, HERE.
• My Thursday Thoughts were about the massive piles of books donated to the Crown Center library that are currently piled up in my apartment, HERE.
• My Book Beginning for Friday was from a novel about swimmers, HERE.
• Saturday was Pi Day, pronounced Pie Day, so I mentioned both fruit pies and pizza pie, HERE.  I am certain some of you who read this will remember "pi equals 3.14" from your math class and say, "Philosophy and now math?"

is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz.

Today is Pi Day

What is Pi Day?  I first learned that Pi equals 3.14 (with a longer string of numbers, if you are really interested) when I was a youngster in school in the 1950s.  The day itself dates to 1988, though, when (according to what I found online) "physicist Larry Shaw began celebrations at the Exploratorium science museum in San Francisco."

But it was 2009 when Congress designated every March 14 to be a holiday.  Why?  I read somewhere that someone hoped it would spur more interest in math and science.  Today, I read that it is, fittingly enough, also Albert Einstein’s birthday and (get this!) also the day that Stephen Hawking died.  I'd say they are probably the two biggest names in math and science most of us could come up with.

So celebrate by eating a piece of pie.  It could be a slice of pie like those above or, if you want to be different, it could be a slice of pizza pie.  I want pepperoni.

Beginning ~ with the people at the pool

Beginning

The pool is located deep undergrounw, in a large cavernous chammber many feet beneath the streets of our town.  Some of us come here because we are injured, and need to heal.  We suffer from bad backs, fallen arches, shattered dreams, brokwn hearts, anxiety, melancholia anhedonia, the usual aboveground afflictions.  Others of us are employed at the college nearby and prefer to take our lunch breaks down below, in the waters, far away from the harsh glares of our colleagues and screens.

The Swimmers ~ by Julie Otsuka, 2022, literary fiction, 192 pages

From the award-winning author of The Buddha in the Attic and When the Emperor Was Divine comes a novel that "starts as a catalogue of spoken and unspoken rules for swimmers at an aquatic center but unfolds into a powerful story of a mother’s dementia and her daughter’s love" (The Washington Post).

The swimmers are unknown to one another except through their private routines (slow lane, medium lane, fast lane) and the solace each takes in their morning or afternoon laps.  When a crack appears at the bottom of the pool, they are cast out into an unforgiving world without comfort or relief.

 

One of these swimmers is Alice, who is slowly losing her memory.  For Alice, the pool was a final stand against the darkness of her encroaching dementia.  Without the fellowship of other swimmers and the routine of her daily laps she is plunged into dislocation and chaos, swept into memories of her childhood and the Japanese American incarceration camp in which she spent the war.  Alice's estranged daughter, reentering her mother's life too late, witnesses her stark and devastating decline.

One reviewer wrote:  "As the book progresses, I found [the crack at the bottom of the pool to be] a clear metaphor for the beginning of Alice's demise, the crack in her mind so to speak."  Now I'm into the book and enjoying it so far.

Gilion at Rose City Reader hosts

Book Beginnings on Fridays.

Thinking about books, as usual

I'm thinking about the million donated books that have piled up on my table in the kitchen.  Well, maybe not quite a million, but more than a thousand.  Why?  Because when people die, their relatives often donate their books to our little library.  Since I am currently the only librarian working here (for free, as in volunteering my time), it means people (even current residents) often ask me how they can donate books.  During our recent renovation of the library, no books were being processed.  And we (including me) had no access.  So I ended up collecting them on my table (make that plural, as in tables).  And on the floor around the table.  And in boxes under the table.  And taking up part of my desk top.  I can barely move, folks!

Another book donated to our Crown Center library

Children of the Alley ~ by Naguib Mahfouz, 1996, (Egypt), 464 pages

The novel was first published in Arabic in 1959.  It's about an Egyptian family, but it's also the setting for a second, hidden, and more daring narrative:  the spiritual history of humankind.  The men and women of a modern Cairo neighborood unwittingly reenact the lives of their holy ancestors:  from the feudal lord who disowns one son for diabolical pride and puts another to the test, to the savior of a succeeding generation who frees his people from bondage.  This powerful novel confirms that Mahfouz is "the single most important writer in modern Arabic literature" (quoting Newsweek).

In 2016 an Amazon reviewer wrote:

This book is a fictional retelling of the history of the great religious leaders of the Middle East, including Moses, Jesus and Mohammad, and a scientist to represent the modern era, when God is supposedly dead.  The story is a bit predictable, because you know who the players are in advance, but Mahfouz plays with their histories enough to provide some surprises, and the way he interprets the temperament of the great spiritual leaders is designed to be entertaining and leave you wondering what will happen next.  The writing is quite good, better than in many of his books, though I don't know how much of this is Mahfouz and how much is the translator.  The book is fast-paced, and I found myself turning pages quite rapidly as the heroes appear on the scene, take on the bad guys, and effect spiritual enlightenment which never lasts long.  I have read many Mahfouz books, and this one is a gem.  I found it on a list of great world literature, and I agree with whoever made that list; this story is excellent.  Highly recommended!"

A book I've decided to re-read

What We Keep ~ by Elizabeth Berg, 1998, fiction, 304 pages, 8/10

A reunion between two sisters and their mother reveals secrets and complexities in the lives of the women in a family.  Ginny Young is on a plane, going to visit the mother she hasn't seen or spoken to for thirty-five years.  She thinks back to the summer of 1958, when she was twelve years old and a series of dramatic events divided her family, separating her and her sister from their mother, seemingly forever.  Moving back and forth in time between the girl she once was and the woman she's become, Ginny confronts painful choices in a woman's life — even as surprising secrets are revealed about the family she thought she understood.

Grocery shopping

I went grocery shopping this afternoon.  My store isn't far from my home.

It was warm enough for me to walk there today, so I went.

I was really tired by the time I got home, but exhilirated

because I now have fresh fruits and things I was out of.