Laura Lippman is the author of My Life As A Villainess. This is a book of 16 essays about her childhood, her education, and the influences on her career as a journalist. She writes about marriage and motherhood, aging, sexism, accomplishments and regrets. She is a very talented writer who normally writes crime novels.
The Californians, a book written by Brian Castle, spans 100 years in California. One hundred years earlier Klaus Aaronsohn, a Jewish German immigrant, reinvented himself as a silent film director by the name of Klaus Stiegl. He becomes a famous movie director. His granddaughter, Di Stiegl grows up in Palm Springs. She becomes a successful artist in New York City. In 2014 Tobey, a college dropout currently working as a waiter, looses all his belongings in a Northern California wildfire. He steals three of Di Stiegl's paintings from his father to fund a new beginning for himself. This was an interesting story to read.
The Last Camellia is a book written by Sarah Jio. The story revolves around two women living in a manor house in England. The first woman is Flora. Flora lives with her parents and helps them run a bakery. Financially the bakery isn't doing well. Her father insists on giving bread away for free is people are impoverished. A man offers her a large sum of money if she will go to England and pose as a nanny at a manor house. This is before World War Two. She takes a boat to England and gets the job as a nanny to four young children who just lost their mother. She is being paid to find a rare camellia. There is no way to find it unless it blooms. The man who hired her is putting pressure on her to find it. Eventually she learns that her father is ill and she goes back to New York City. Fifty years later Addison comes to the manor which is now owned by her parents-in-law. She tries to figure out the history of the people in this house. She comes across Flora's artwork. But she is in danger from a boy she lived with in her childhood. He is a sociopath and he is bound and determined to hurt her. Eventually she finds a locket. Inside that locket is a seed for that rare camellia. The seed is still viable so now there is another camellia tree growing. This was a good mystery and historical fiction story.
John Green is the author of The Fault In Our Stars. This story revolves around a 16 year old girl named Hazel Grace. Hazel Grace is forced to attend a support for cancer patients. Hazel suffered from thyroid cancer and now she has lung issues. She has to have supplemental oxygen day and night. At the support group she has a friend named Issac who had cancer in his eye. Issac bring another friend, Augustus, who had osteosarcoma. He had a leg amputated. Hazel and Augustus fall in love. They give each other books. Augustus takes Hazel and her mother on his "Make A Wish" trip to Amsterdam so she can meet her favorite author. This was a very nice story to read.
Christina Lauren is the author of The Paradise Problem. This story is told by two characters, Anna Green and Liam (William) Weston. While attending college at UCLA, Anna agrees to a fake marriage with Liam so they can get into subsidized family housing. Once they graduate Anna expected they would divorce. Years later Liam comes back into her life asking for a favor. Liam is from a wealthy family. The only way he can get his grandfather's inheritance is by staying married for 5 years. Liam's sister is getting married in an expensive resort near Hong Kong. Liam asks Anna if she will go to the wedding with him and pretend to be his loving wife. Anna is living paycheck to paycheck because she has to pay for her father's chemotherapy. She doesn't know how the rich live. Liam will pay her a boatload of money to do this. Will she pull it off?
I have been to Kenya so naturally I like reading books about Kenya. Paula McLain is the author of Circling The Sun. The story is about Beryl. Beryl was born in England but her family moved to Kenya when she was a baby. At age 4 her mother left with her older brother to go back to England. Beryl grew up with her father who eventually remarried. Her father raised race horses and Beryl is good with horses too. Her father encouraged her to marry at age 16 which she did but the marriage didn't work out. Beryl becomes the country's first licensed horse trainer. Later in life she became the first female pilot. Beryl is quite the woman and this is quite the book.
Harry Turtledove is the author of the dystopian novel called Powerless. Charlie Simpkins lives in the San Fernando valley of Los Angeles, part of the west coast's People's Democratic Republic. In this country people must obey orders. One day Charlie gets a notice to hang up in the window of his produce store. He doesn't want to hang up the propaganda notice in the window. So he doesn't. At first things go badly for him. He looses his job. His wife thinks he should have hung up the notice. His son gets kicked off his sports team. His daughter looses the chance to be in a girls group. Charlie gets another job that takes a longer bus ride and pays less. Eventually the family is told they must move to another town 30 miles away. Suddenly things start going better for Charlie and his family all because he stood up for himself and didn't hang that notice.
Morgan Jerkins is the author of Zeal, a novel about star crossed lovers. In Natchez, Mississippi, Harrison returns a free man after fighting in the Civil War. He is looking for Tirzah, the love of his life. He goes to the plantation where they both were slaves but she is not there. He finds the wallet he gave her years ago. He writes to the Freedman's Bureau in search of information about her. He eventually marries a different woman. Tirzah, newly freed, is working at a school in Louisiana. She sees the add Harrison wrote but it is too difficult for her to get to Natchez. She eventually marries a man in Louisiana. Tirzah and her family move north to fight oppression. The lives of Harrison and Tirzah and their descendants continues until an engagement party in Harlem in 2019. This was an excellent story about the power of love.
Lisa Genova is the author of Remember: The Science of Memory and Forgetting. I have loved other books by this author including Still Alice, Left Neglected, Love Anthony, Inside the O'Brians, and Every Note Played. This book is different from those. In those other books the story revolved around a patient with a brain disease. This book has no patient. The author talks about how memories are formed. Everyone has memory failures and that is no indication of dementia. She gives ideas on how to get a memory to stick such as keep repeating it or attach it to an emotion. Forgetting is just as important as remembering.
Janet Daily is the author of Lie For A Million. This novel is set in horse country. Lila Culhane has just become a widow after her husband, Frank, was killed in the horse barn. She is trying to manage the farm on her own with the help of a cook/housekeeper and Roper, a cowhand. A FBI agent is there trying to solve the murder. Frank's first wife wants to take the farm away from Lila. Frank's son and his wife want to take the farm from Lila. Now Frank's young lover tells Lila that she is pregnant with Frank's child. Lila's life is a mess.
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| Last night I walked to the Winona County Historical Building for a talk about Bay State Milling which is located a few blocks from my house. The plant manager talked about the history of Bay State Milling which started in Massachusetts. The company decided to expand to Winona, MN because there is an abundance of wheat grown around here. Now they have locations throughout the United States and one in Canada. Their goal was to sell the perfect product. They sell bleached and unbleached flour, high protein flour and six other kinds. They sell mixes such as for pizza dough or biscuit dough. They do not sell any retail. They do sell to local businesses such as Bloedow's Bakery here in Winona. They sell both regular and organic flour. They have 215 employees. Some times of the year they work 7 days a week. Their products are moved by train and trucks. The speaker did a good job answering all the questions. |
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| Yesterday I drove 25 minutes north and west to visit Whitewater State Park again. Many years have passed since my last visit. I walked the trails. I saw a guy fly fishing for trout. I saw an indigo bunting and a rose colored grosbeak. I visited all 5 camper cabins. I walked past many camp sites. They have wild parsnip everywhere. This rogue vegetable plant has spread all over. If you touch it with bare skin and then are exposed to sunlight you can get a painful rash. I usually think of vegetables as innocent but not this one. |
In Stop Me If You Heard This One, a book written by Kristin Arnett, Cherry lives in Orlando and wants to make a living being a clown. Her mother does not approve. She finds some gigs as a clown but not enough to pay the bills. She also works at an aquarium store with a friend and a very lazy third employee. Her fortune looks up when she meets Margo the Magnificent who is a magician. Together with Margo's mentoring, Cherry hopes to make it as a clown. This is a wonderful comedic fiction story.
In The Three Lives of Cate Kay, author Kate Fagan writes about the friendship of Amanda with another girl in 3rd grade. Both grew up in difficult households. Both dream of moving to California the day after they graduate from high school. Amanda and her friend starred in all the high school plays. Now they want to become stars in Hollywood. The day before they are due to leave a terrible accident befalls Amanda's friend so Amanda leaves without her. Amanda goes on to become a writer of books and screen plays. Amanda writes under a series of three pen names. Due to the machinations of a jealous girlfriend Amanda is told her friend died from the accident. That is not true. Her friend reads Amanda's books and knows it is her. Her friend writes letters to Amanda that never arrive, again due to the jealous friend. When the letters finally do arrive, Amanda changes course. She goes back to her home town and reunites with her friend. This was a good story. Kate Fagan is a talented writer.
Nora Roberts is the author of Identity. The story starts out with Morgan and Nina living together in Morgan's house. Morgan works at a construction company during the day and tends bar in the evening. One evening Morgan and Nina hold a dinner party with Nina's boyfriend and a guy Morgan met at the bar. The next evening Morgan comes home to find her car stolen and Nina dead on the floor. All of Morgan's assets have been stolen from her bank. Credit cards are taken out in her name, used to buy things that Morgan is expected to pay for. The FBI tells Morgan that they are familiar with the murderer and that Nina is not his typical victim. Morgan is his typical victim which are blond women under 35 who own a house. The FBI inform Morgan that the murderer will likely come after her next. Morgan ends up selling her house and moving to Vermont to live with her mother and grandmother. She gets a job managing a bar at a fancy resort. Will she be safe there? You had better read the book to find out.
Now Is Not The Time To Panic was written by Kevin Wilson. The story starts off with Franky meeting a guy named Zeke when he asks her to help him catch the greased watermelon in the public swimming pool. Franky sends her 3 brothers to help by promising them twenty dollars. After that, Franky and Zeke, both 16 years old are friends. They hang out at Franky's house. They find an old copy machine in the garage. Zeke fixes it. They design a poster with an image of their two faces with an enigmatic phrase. They post 100 copies throughout their small town in Tennessee. The talk of the town is abuzz with speculation on who put out these posters. Some panic ensues. Neither Franky nor Zeke ever take credit for the posters. Now, twenty years later, a reporter calls Franky and starts asking questions. Franky decides to talk to Zeke after all these years of not speaking. I enjoyed this coming of age novel.
Rumaan Alam is the author of Leave The World Behind, a novel that has also been made into a movie. A loving couple and their two kids leave their home in the Bronx to rent an AirBnb on Long Island. On their 3rd night there someone knocks on the door at 9:30 at night. Turns out the owner of the AirBnb were attending an opera in New York City when the electricity went out everywhere. Their AirBnb still has electricity but the televisions don't work and the internet is down. The owners ask if they can move in with the family until things get figured out. The next day the daughter spots hundreds of deer in the backyard. The daughter and the son go running off into the woods. The son gets a tick bite. The next day the son falls ill. He is vomiting and his teeth start to fall out. The owners will lead the way to the hospital. And then the novel ends and I didn't know if the world had ended or what was going on.
This is an unusual book for Jodi Picoult. By Any Other Name is a novel with two threads. In the 1500's Emilia Bassano is educated and witty. She writes plays. But women are not allowed to write plays. Instead, in order to support her family, she gives her plays to William Shakespeare and he prints them under his name. The performances are widely attended. In the current time, Melinda Green researches her ancestor Emilia Bassano. Melina is also a playwright. In college her work is disparaged. Ten years later, her play about Emilia, is turned into a contest with the name Mel Green. Melina has to get around the misogyny of the judges. Her play wins the award so the convinces her male roommate and friend to pose as Mel. I loved this story about how women can do beautiful work despite the prejudices of culture.
The author of Solito, Javier Zamora, was born in El Savador in 1990. His father fled to the United States when Javier was one year old. His mother left when he was five years old. He migrated to the United States, unaccompanied, when he was nine years old. This book is a memoir about his journey. The 3,000 mile journey was supposed to take two weeks. He was headed north through Guatemala and Mexico. His journey was much longer. Another man took Javier under his wing. Together with a mother and her daughter they pretended to be a family. When they finally made it into the USA they were caught by border agents and deported back into Mexico. This was a harrowing and emotional story to read.
The acclaimed author from Saint Paul, MN wrote Fox Creek. This is one of William Kent Kruger's series of tales about Cork O'Connor who lives near the Canadian border. Cork used to be a police officer but now he runs a burger joint. Less stress for him and his family selling burgers. One day a man comes in looking for help to find his wife. He knows Cork does some private investigation work. He claims his wife is having an affair with Henry. Cork knows Henry. Henry is 105 years old and a spiritual leader in the local tribe. Henry is also an uncle to Cork's wife. Cork goes to visit Henry where he also finds his wife and the missing wife. When Cork shows the wife a picture of her husband on his phone she says that is not him. This starts an ordeal as 4 people come hunting for the wife. Henry leads the two women out into the wilderness for their own safety. Cork and other tribal police follow the hunters to assure the safety of Henry and the two women. This was a fascinating tale about survival in the wilderness.
I listened to an audio version of Tom Lake by Ann Patchett. As a special treat the book was read by Meryl Streep who is a very good reader. In 2020 the 3 daughters of Lara come home to the Michigan cherry orchard to help with cherry picking. The three daughters ask Lara to tell the story of dating a now famous actor. When Lara was in high school a talent scout flew her from her east coast home in Maine to Hollywood for an audition. Lara ended up getting the part. After a couple years in Hollywood she flew to northern Michigan to work in a summer theater. This is where she met the actor and his brother and also her husband. After the summer theater Lara married the cherry orchard keeper and settled down to lead a happy life. The actor always remembered the cherry farm. He actually tried to buy it on a few occasions. Eventually his brother settled his ashes on the cherry farm. Ann Patchett is fine writer.
Alice La Plante is the author of Turn Of Mind. The story is told from the perspective of Doctor Jennifer White. Dr. White is a retired orthopedic hand surgeon who just retired because she has dementia. When her frenemy/neighbor is found dead from a head wound and with four fingers removed, Dr. White is a prime suspect. Dr. White can't remember if she murdered her neighbor or not. The police interview her multiple times despite her daughter, Fiona's, strong objections. By the end of the book we come to understand what happened. Sometimes listening to Dr. White's confusing thoughts, I became confused too. This was a really good book to read.
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| After I got home from the musical performance, I walked around my building to check my mail. The red brick building next to mine is a storage facility. They have a high chimney. I watched for 10 minutes as the chimney swifts flew inside. The chimney swifts looked like winged cigars. I saw close to 100 swifts enter the chimney |
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| Last night I went to listen to the municipal band play patriotic songs. |
In Ian McEwan's book, The Children Act, a judge in England is named Fiona. She presides over cases such as child custody, maltreatment, and family court. In one case she had to rule about two boys who were co-joined. Together they shared a bladder. One boy was stronger than the other. His heart was working for himself and his brother. He wasn't able to do the work of two boys for ever. If the boys were not separated, both would die. If the boys were separated, the weaker boy would die. People were impressed with her wise judgement. She gets a new case about a 17 year old boy who will die without a blood transfusion. His parents told the hospital they will not allow him to have a blood transfusion. Fiona hears the case in court and then travels to the hospital to meet the boy. Meanwhile, at home, Fiona's husband has told her he wants to have a sexual encounter with a younger woman before he settles into old age with her. He seems to think she would be okay with an open marriage. Fiona is not okay with this idea. This was a terribly interesting story. I hear it has been made into a film starring Emma Thompson as Fiona.
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| Today we met in Pepin at the Laura Ingalls Wilder museum which is right downtown on Highway 35. Inside they had a gift shop with her books and other books, prairie style dresses and hats, mugs, cups, postcards and old time candy. They had tools and implements, stoves and cookware, spinning wheels, furs, information about the school and Laura's teacher, information about Laura's family and where they lived. We spent a couple of hours in there. |
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| Afterward we had lunch at the Pickle Factory. From there we drove 8 miles in land to the site of the cabin where Laura was born. |
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| Here is the inside of the cabin where Laura lived. Behind me is the bedroom where all five family members slept. The other room is a pantry. |
Jenny Slate is a comedian. She used to be on Saturday Night Life. Although this book, Lifeform, was listed as a comedy I really didn't think it was funny. I listened to the author read the book for five hours. She rambled through her status as being single, in love, pregnant, giving birth, and afterward. Some parts were amusing.
Yesterday I met Offspring #1 and his family in Wabasha. We met at the National Eagle Center. Because of the way the river narrows after Lake Pepin, eagles gather here in the thousands.We walked around the center for an hour before going to a eagle talk for an hour. Last year I was here and I was the only one at the eagle talk. Today we had about 40 people gathered. We learned that an eagle can see a rabbit hopping three miles away. We learned about their dangerous mating behavior called cartwheeling. The young eagles show their sexual prowess by locking talons and cartwheeling down from the sky until they break apart right before impacting the ground. The 3 eagle ambassadors are named Angel, Latsch, and Was'aka. Was'aka was the eagle at our talk. Was'aka ate half of a rabbit during the hour. He tore pieces of fur off the rabbit and spread it around the room. I was glad not to be in the front row. What a mess. Below is one of the 50 photos grandgirl#2 took with my phone.
Charmaine Wilkerson is the author of the historical fiction novel called Good Dirt. Ebby lives in a New England town. When she is 10 years old, intruders break into their house with the intention of stealing a large jug that has been in the family for generations. Her older brother confronts the thieves and they shoot him. Ebby feels responsible for his death. The story goes back and forth in time. We learn about the enslaved man who made the jug, Ebby's great great great grandfather. The story isn't told linearly but I found it easy to keep track of the characters.
Judy Blume is known for her children's books but she has written 4 for adults. This one is an historical fiction novel about her experiences as a child growing up in Elizabeth, New Jersey. In The Unlikely Event gives details about the 3 passenger planes that crash landed in Elizabeth in the space of 58 days. One of the main characters in the novel is Miri who is 15 when the first plane crashed. Judy was actually 14 when it happened. Miri lives with her mother and grandmother. Miri's Uncle Henry comes over for dinner nearly every night. He is a reporter for the local newspaper. Her boyfriend lives in the orphanage near the site of the third plane crash. The author describes the 1950's era by mentioning songs, hair styles, shoe styles, and cars. My only complaint is that she included so many characters and some with similar names so it was hard to remember who was who.
I just spent an hour reading Big Fish A Novel of Mythic Proportions by Daniel Wallace. As I got to the second chapter I thought this story reminds me of a movie I saw with Ewan McGregor and Jessica Lange. As it turns out this is the book the movie was based on. The story revolves around a son's irritation with his father for all his hyperbole and bull s**t. The poor son just wants the story told straight. The story is told differently in the book and the movie. In the book the father is often gone for weeks at a time but he always comes home eventually. In the movie, the night of his wedding, his father starts telling a story of how he caught a giant catfish using his wedding ring as bait. The son is disgusted and cuts off all contact with the old man until, years later, he learns his father is dying. In both the movie and the book, the father is more of a story teller than an actual father who can have an honest relationship with his son. Great story though, I loved it. I don't think a person has to be a great story teller or have an honest relationship with their child. I think it's possible to do both.
British author Joanna Miller is the author of the historical fiction novel called The Eights. Set in 1920, four women are the first women to be enrolled at Oxford University. These four women are housed in the 8th dormitory. They have strict rules about what to wear, when they can leave the University (with a chaperone) and who is allowed to visit them. Otto (short for Ottoline) served as a nurse in World War One and she is trying to process the horrors she witnessed. Beatrice is trying to get out from the shadow of her mother, the famous suffragette. Dora had planned to get married but decided to come to Oxford after her brother and fiancee were killed. Marianne is the quiet and clever daughter of a pastor out in the country. She has to go home every other weekend to help him with his church duties. Together they form a friendship to battle the rampant misogyny and the Spanish flu. The author also attended Oxford. These four women are fictional. Some of the events they witnessed were actual.
I am not sure that I fully understood the book, The Coin by Yasmin Zaher. The story is set in 2016 in New York City. A young Palestinian woman lives in an apartment. She has a job teaching young black boys at a school. Most of her funds come from an inheritance from the car crash that killed her parents. She gets involved with this well dressed homeless man. Together they make money buying Birkin handbags and reselling them for more money. She wears designer clothes. She has an obsession with cleanliness and goes into detail about her hygiene routines. She also writes in a "stream of consciousness" style like Virginia Wolf which I do not appreciate.
Set in San Francisco during the 1980's this historical fiction novel, Shopgirls, was written by Jessica Anya Blau. The main character is Zippy who graduated from high school and now lives with a roommate who is a lawyer. The lawyer eats only every other day so Zippy does the same. Zippy got a job as a shopgirl at the famous I. Magnin store. This store has famous designer clothing and make up. Zippy is in the women's dresses department. She has a skill for knowing what would look good on a woman and she quickly becomes the best selling shopgirl. She works with other women at the store. Some are mean, some are indifferent, and some are friendly and kind. Zippy has to deal with her mother who works at a hardware store and her mother's new husband. They need her help financially. I thought the story was somewhat entertaining.
Have you ever heard of the Lebensborn program? This was a Nazi program during World War Two. The Sunflower House, written by Adriana Allegri, describes the situation by using a character named Allina Strauss. Allina lives in Germany with her aunt and uncle. She works at her uncle's bookshop and makes strudel with her aunt. One day her aunt and uncle are killed by the Nazi military. Other soldiers try to rape Allina. One commanding officer protects her and takes her in his car. He rapes her and leaves her, bruised and bloody, at a state run baby factory called the Hochland Home. She is forced to work as a nurse to the expectant mothers. Once born, the babies are taken from their mothers and given to high ranking Nazi members. This was an excellent historical fiction novel.
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| This is my second year attending the Steamboat Days parade in Winona. This was a 2 hour parade including Miss Winona, Miss Minnesota and Miss America. I saw 6 marching bands. I saw a huge class of gymnastic students cartwheeling down the street. I saw clowns but no politicians. |
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| A Marine Corp. marching band. |
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| Someone had to scoop the road after the Clydesdales went by. |
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| The Percherons wore black diaper bags under their tails. |
Today at noon I attended a no kings rally here in Winona. Three people spoke for about 15 minutes. Then the protestors stood on the edge of the park along Broadway. Many cars and trucks honked in agreement. Some of the protestors had some great signs. One guy had photos of Lenin, Mussolini, Hitler, and Kim John Un indicating who liked military parades. One held a sign that said "The Emperor Has No Clothes." I have had that in my mind for many years now. The protest was peaceful. I felt good seeing all these people join together. This afternoon I traveled to Wabasha to see a driftless water dance group perform. The performance was at the National Eagle Center amphitheater. Four dancers entertained the crowd while a videographer and a drone took photos. The dance was entertaining. I remember when I could run and jump and leap off the stairs. Those days are gone for me.
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| I went for a hike this afternoon. I parked near the Super 8 and hiked up to Sugar Loaf Bluff. In the far distance you can see a small sliver of the Mississippi River. Lake Winona is in the near distance. That parking lot is for the YMCA. There is a large white structure/silos which are the Bay State Milling Company. My apartment is just 2 blocks south of there. This picture was taken with the north to my back and the south to the front. Scarlet Tanagers were calling today. |
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| On my way down I had enough energy to hike left towards the Winona Ice Park. |
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| In the winter when ice forms on these bluffs people climb them. |
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| The ice climbing area goes for like a 15 minute hike. Lots of people could hike here. Me? No way, Jose. |
Laura Lippman is the author of My Life As A Villainess . This is a book of 16 essays about her childhood, her education, and the influence...
