Sunday Salon ~ Easter eggs, friendships, and books

Raegan, my great-granddaughter, hunting Easter eggs.  Here, you can see what's in her basket.

Easter eggs symbolize new life, the spring of the year, rolling around once again.  Raegan symbolizes, for me today, continuation of my family into the newest generation.  I can remember my grandmother who died when I was only a month older than Raegan is now.  That's six generations I hold in my memory:

1. my grandmother Inez
2. my mother Mildred
3. myself Bonnie
4. my daughter Sandra
5. my granddaughter Mackenzie
6. my great-granddaughter Raegan

My grandmother Inez was born in 1880, so our lives — from then until now — span more than 130 years.

BOOKED UP

Into the Tangle of Friendship: A Memoir of the Things That Matter ~ by Beth Kephart, 2000, memoir

Beginning with the rediscovery of a long-lost best friend, we meet a next-door neighbor facing the death of a spouse, watch two young boys learn what it means to be friends, and feel the heartache of a professional caregiver whose compassion and dedication ultimately come up short.  Kephart is concerned with the haphazard ways we find one another, the tragedy, boredom, and sheer carelessness that break us apart, the myriad reasons people stay together and grow.  What is friendship, and what is its secret calculus?  This book will resonate with anyone who has ever had a friend, or lost one.

This one is a "library re-loot."  When I checked it out of the library last year, it was one of eight books.  I didn't get it read that month, and back it went to the library.  This time, I'm ready to read about friendship after this sequence of events:

1. I read how Lauren F. Winner was affected by this book.
2. I typed out the paragraph.
3. I sent it to Beth Kephart.
4. I read what Beth posted here
5. and here.

Friendship is a funny thing, huh?  This week, Beth and I have each been thinking about the meaning — and the reality — of friendship.  Some of my friends mentioned on this blog are Martha and Jess, the couple I married twenty years ago; Donna, who opened a bookstore with me and is now my roommate; Jane, an artist working with tiles and pastels and other mediums.

Marg @ The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader posted this cartoon along with her library loot this week.  I thought I'd re-post it for all the bookaholics who read my blog.  Enjoy!

STATS

Just finished:  Patience, Princess Catherine ~ by Carolyn Meyer, 2004, YA fiction (England), 9/10

Currently reading:  Mary, Bloody Mary ~ by Carolyn Meyer, 1999, YA fiction (England)

Concurrently reading:  God Is No Laughing Matter: An Artist's Observations and Objections on the Spiritual Path ~ by Julia Cameron, 2000, religion

Up next:  I Could Tell You Stories: Sojourns in the Land of Memory ~ by Patricia Hampl, 1999, memoir writing

Totals for 2012:  38 finished + 1 DNF (did not finish) + 15 reviews

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Saturday Snapshot ~ Martha and Jess

Martha and Jess were married 20 years ago this week (April 4, 1992).  She posted this photo on my Facebook wall, asking me, "Bonnie, do you remember where you were 20 years ago today???"  Yes, I was right there in the middle of it all.  The wedding, I mean.  No, I wasn't a bridesmaid wearing black with a cute white collar, but you kind of needed me there.  I remember driving three hours from Morristown to be in Chattanooga that day.  Mother and I didn't move back to Chattanooga until late June of that year.

I also remember that, in spite of major surgery not long before, Martha was determined to walk down the aisle — and she did!  Yay, Martha!  And I know you two still act madly in love with each other.  I must have tied that knot pretty well, huh?

Saturday Snapshot is a meme hosted by Alyce from At Home With Books.  To participate, post a photo taken by you (or a friend or family member).  Your photo can be old or new, as long as its subject is appropriate for all eyes to see.  Check out the snapshots others are sharing this week.

Beginning ~ in a dental class

The Age of Grief ~ by Jane Smiley, 1987, fiction

Dana was the only woman in our freshman dental class, one of two that year in the whole dental school.

I set out to buy this book because I'd just finished reading Lauren F. Winner's Still: Notes on a Mid-Faith Crisis (2012), where she wrote on the first page of her preface:

Smiley is quite possibly my favorite living American novelist — I read her novella "The Age of Grief" at least once annually.

I've read several of Jane Smiley's novels and think she is a great writer.  Her novel A Thousand Acres is a modern version of King Lear by Shakespeare, but I'd never heard of "The Age of Grief."  At the bookstore, I learned it's a novella of just under a hundred pages at the end of this book by the same title, packaged with five short stories.  Since the novella is the whole reason I got the book, its beginning is what I quoted above, rather than the first line of the first short story.  Here's the synopsis of the novella itself:

A man meditates on the vagaries of love and family life.  Certain that his wife has fallen in love with someone else — and been spurned by him — he tries to recover what he calls "the ironic middle," the good-humored, matter-of-fact heart of the marriage where he can keep her from knowing of his own sorrow.

I don't know how the story gets from that opening sentence to the man (apparently the narrator) worried about his wife, but I'm curious now.

Gilion at Rose City Reader hosts Book Beginnings on Fridays.
Click here for today's Mister Linky.

BTT (#20) ~ recommendation

At Booking Through Thursday this week, Bookish Sarah asks:

If someone asked you for a book recommendation, what is the FIRST book you’d think to recommend (without extra thought)?

Having just yesterday bought (and read) Little Bo, this would be my recommendation, if anyone were looking for a great children's book.  Here's a synopsis:

Little Bo: The Story of Bonnie Boadicea ~ by Julie Andrews Edwards, illustrated by Henry Cole, 1999, children's, 10/10

After being separated from her brothers and sisters, a very small cat named Bo falls in with a sailor and becomes a ship's cat, having various adventures at sea.

What I liked

I was taken by both the writing and the illustrations, making this a "purrfect" book for me.  The hateful people who got rid of Bo and her siblings are just mean enough, without being too scary for a child.  The kitten has several close encounters in the first half of the book, ratcheting up the suspense.  Will she starve to death?  Will she find someone to feed her and love her?

And then, almost precisely dead center in the book, Bo meets Billy Bates on a cold rainy night.  This illustration reminds me of the day I got my first cat.  I was nine years old, playing in the rainy-day mud with a boy who lived next door, when a scrawny gray kitten (like this one) found us.  Mickey's mother wouldn't let him keep her, but my mother relented.  I named her Duchess, and the young sailor named this cat — wait for it — Bonnie, Bo for short.  Of course, I've gotta love a cat with my name!

Red Betsy, the fishing boat, whose captain doesn't like cats.  (You do see where the story went, don't you?)

And here's Bo riding off with Billy, who quit his job rather than give her up.  See her on his shoulder?  Aww, what a sweet guy!

How I rate it

Julie Andrews (yes, the singer-actor of "The Sound of Music" and "Mary Poppins" fame) Edwards wrote a gripping story that made me keep turning the pages, all 96 pages of it.  Although I ran across this book online a year and a half ago (see my blog post), my library didn't have a copy.  When I saw it on sale yesterday, I bought it.  Because I couldn't put it down, I rate it 10 of 10, my highest rating.

Library Loot ~ April 4-10

Hattie and the Wild Waves: A Story from Brooklyn ~ by Barbara Cooney, 1990, children's

Based on the life of the author's mother, a young girl from Brooklyn enjoys her summer at the beach where she can paint and listen to the wild waves.

Island Boy ~ by Barbara Cooney, 1988, children's

Matthais, the youngest son in a family of twelve children, grows from a little boy to a grandfather on the small Tibbetts Island out in the bay.

Miss Rumphius ~ by Barbara Cooney, 1982, children's

Great-aunt Alice Rumphius was once a little girl who loved the sea, longed to visit faraway places, and wished to do something to make the world more beautiful.

Kali's Song ~ by Jeanette Winter, 2012, children's

Thousands and thousands of years ago, a young boy gets his first hunting bow and learns to shoot, but he prefers to use the bow to make music.

Before I Go to Sleep ~ by S. J. Watson, 2011, fiction, 9/10

Memories define us.  So what if you lost yours every time you went to sleep?  Your name, your identity, your past, even the people you love — all forgotten overnight.  And the one person you trust may be telling you only half the story.  Welcome to Christine’s life.

Because my mother had Alzheimer's, I have spent a lot of time thinking about memory.  My first-grade teacher told my mother I had a photographic memory, but that isn't true.  I did have a very good memory and memorized whole picture books, but that's because I loved stories and because I paid attention and because I probably had my parents read the stories over and over and over to me.  I really hate it, these days, when I can't put my finger on a name or a word I want to use.  Sometimes, even simple words.  It scares me, wondering if this is an early sign of Alzheimer's or simply old age catching up with me.  I like to think maybe it's as simple as having 72 years of memories that I have to sort through to come up with that single word I'm trying to find.

Anyhow, I'm trying to read twice as many books from my own shelves as I read from the library, so there's only one adult book from the library this week (I'm not counting children's books in this reading challenge).  Since this book by S. J. Watson wasn't originally on my list for the 2012 Spring Reading Thing, that means I'll have to read a couple of extra books to "make up" for checking out this one.  But it was worth it.  As you can see, I've already finished the book and rated it 9 of 10 because it's an excellent book.

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire @ The Captive Reader and Marg @ The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader that encourages bloggers to share titles of books they’ve checked out of the library. To participate, just add your post to their Mister Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries this week.

1967 was only 45 years ago

The Boston marathon had always been for men only.  In 1967, Katherine Switzer signed up by using her initials.  An article by NPR (posted yesterday) tells what happened on the day of the marathon.  The article also includes a PBS video interview with Katherine Switzer, as she remembers that day.

Sunday Salon ~ feeling foolish

Thursday evening, I went with Jane Yelliott and her friend Tillie to an art show featuring local artists.  Here's Jane (on the right) with Linda White, a fabric artist.  Framed between them is one example of Linda's intricate needlework.  Jane and Linda are members of In-Town Gallery.  When we left the art show, Jane and Tillie and I went to Sweet Basil, a Thai restaurant.  I forgot to photograph our food, but I had delicious Pad Thai.

Another snapshot of the ornamental cherry tree in bloom, though the sidewalk is beginning to have as much pink as the tree.

Pink blossoms of the Japanese cherry tree are shredded underfoot.

The trees are turning green.  This field, which was underwater a few weeks ago, is beyond the tall trees in the photo above.

BOOKING AROUND

It's sort of nice to be reading more of my own books, rather than feeling pressured to complete library books so I can return them on time.  Okay, I admit that I picked up a handful of children's books from the library yesterday.  When I wrote about Barbara Cooney on Wednesday, I found that she considered three of her children's books to be as near as she would ever come to an autobiography.  So I checked out those three books, which you'll read about on Wednesday in my next library loot post.

FEELING FOOLISH?

It's April Fool's Day.  I think I'll be foolish today.

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