Book 10: Dead Land by Sara Paretsky

Just last month, I was looking through a list of Sara Paretsky's books and missed this one--published 2020. I also missed Love & Other Crimes: Stories. Not sure how that happened. Anyway I found Dead Land at last week's library sale. 

I really enjoyed this book. The plot had several seemingly unconnected threads that of course were connected after all: South American politics, a homeless singer-songwriter, Chicago park lands. 

I always enjoy reading about VI Warshawski. This time I'm proud to say I actually picked up a clue before VI did. Go Lynne.

I'm looking forward to reading more about VI--as she continues to fight against the criminals of Chicago. 

Thoughts on Sleeping Beauty

For this Monday's writing class, our homework was to select a fairy tale character and write a story about that person 10 years later. I immediately know I would write about Sleeping Beauty.

For as long as I can remember, Sleeping Beauty was my favorite fairy tale. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that the Disney film came out when I was four years old. My parents told me I played Sleeping Beauty sitting under our drop leaf table calling for Prince Phillip (my father) to save me.

As I got older, I was bothered that my favorite fairy tale was about such a passive character. But I still liked the story, even if it is problematical. Here's an interesting take.

I liked that the princess has a real name: Aurora. She even had an alias: Briar Rose. I liked that the prince had a real name, not something corny like Charming. Of course, Maleficent was an incredible villain. She even morphed into a dragon. Luckily a dragon was no match for love and magic. 

It was fun to write about Aurora and Phillip. In my story, Aurora suffered from PCSD (post curse stress disorder) and couldn't sleep. Sounds natural to me. 

Library Book Sale

I was psyched yesterday to go to a library book at Pequot Library in Southport. It's been over a year since I've been to a book sale. The sale was held outside in a tent; entrances and exits were clearly marked; reservations were taken. 

I ended up buying five books (for $13.)

Dead Land by Sara Paresky: I started this yesterday.

Paradise Alley by Kevin Baker: Years ago I read a review of Baker's book Dreamland and was interested. While I haven't read Dreamland, I remembered Baker's name and picked up this book.

Four Novels of the 1960s by Philip K. Dick: the novels are The Man in the High Castle, The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? and Ubik. I've never read Dick and am looking forward to reading these novels. 

The final books are two I read before.

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle: I wanted to have my own copy of this.

Katherine by Anya Seton: I read this book years ago, but decided to reread it since I've been reading about the Plantagenets, Beauforts, and Tudors. 

Book Nine: Lady Jane Grey A Tudor Mystery by Eric Ives

Eric Ives wrote the definitive biography of Anne Boleyn. I'm embarrassed to say I haven't read it. I requested it from the library along with this book. This is the third book I've read on Jane Grey. 

I liked that this book had a different theory: the Duke of Northumberland is not the power-hungry-villain as he is often portrayed. Here he is man following the wishes and will of King Edward VI. Here Jane is a duly appointed sovereign, and Mary is a rebel. All versions of the story portray Jane as innocent. She didn't crave the crown or its power.

As Alison Weir said she truly was an innocent traitor. 

Strangely, most stories can't even get the length of her reign correct. She ruled for 13 days, not nine.

Ives mentions the four Tudor queens who died on the scaffold: Anne Boleyn, Katherine Howard, Jane Grey, and Mary Queen of Scots. We remember Jane as we remember Anne Frank, he says, for the multitude of brutality's victims who have no voice.

Happy Anniversary Lola!

Five years ago, we brought Lola home to live with us. She spent a lot of her time those first days under this table. 

She's much more confident than she was then; she's a strong defender of her home. 

We'll never know her history, though she was clearly abused. Our goal is to make her feel loved, and we've succeeded in that.  

I knew that today is Earth Day. But Jeff told me it's also Beagle Day. How appropriate.

Happy Anniversary Lola. We love you. 

Spring Walks with Lola

Today's thunderstorms held off until around 3 this afternoon, so Lola and I had a nice long walk at Oyster Shell Park. I saw egrets, a swan, a hawk, and groundhogs. Here's one hiding; he retreated as Lola and I walked too close. 

Last week, we made sure to get to Sherwood Island on the 14th; dogs aren't allowed again until October. We came upon some deer. We were headed in another direction and were pretty close before I noticed this pair. 

As we passed the pair, I saw this deer.

Obviously, the deer weren't threatened by us. 

Pride and Prejudice (1995 TV Series)

Many have called this series the definitive adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. I agree, though I must admit it took a while to warm up to Jennifer Ehle as Elizabeth. I really liked Keira Knightley in the role. Of course, Colin Firth was terrific as Mr. Darcy. 

I liked having six episodes to get more of the story. 

I wasn't as familiar with as many actors as I had been in the 2005 film, but I enjoyed Julia Sawalha. The flighty Lydia is so different from the serious Saffron in Absolutely Fabulous. 

Maybe it's time to revisit Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

This Week

It's been a long week. On the other hand, it also flew by. I don't understand how both could be true. 

I got my second Covid-19 vaccine on Monday.  I had a reaction to the second dose--fever, chills, body aches, and a headache. Tuesday was pretty much a lost day. I felt like I was trying to catch up the rest of the week. 

Apparently, I should have some protection in two weeks (at least that's what two people have told me--I will check for myself.) I will still be careful: Fairfield County is still a high risk area, and there are variants to worry about. I wear a mask most of the time; I don't go inside restaurants. But I can start thinking of doing things, like going to the gym. Take it slow. 

The Great Lie 1941

TCM was showing this film as part of its 31 Days of Oscar: Mary Astor won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her portrayal of Sandra Kovak. 

The script is pure soap. Astor and Bette Davis (Maggie) worked together to re-write parts of the script to improve it. I can only imagine how soapy the original was.

I've seen this movie several times, and it's not a favorite, so I usually don't record it. This time I did, and I'm glad. For one thing, I had forgotten the beginning. Sandra's maid (Doris Lloyd) is quite funny as she looks over the trashed apartment after a wild party/bender during which Sandra marries Pete (George Brent.) She says something like I'm only getting $14 a week. 

I had also forgotten that Grant Mitchell (Sandra's manager) and Jerome Cowan (Pete's lawyer) are in this movie. 

Sandra had some good lines in her scenes with Maggie: "Who ever heard of an ounce of brandy?" Another line: "I'm not one of you anemic creatures who can get nourishment from a lettuce leaf."

I've written about this film and one annoying scene before. That scene bugged me this time as well, but the scene with Sandra's maid helped me forget about it. 

Bette Davis in the Checkout Aisle

I was thinking about Bette Davis the other day. I asked myself if it was her birthday. I was two days late; her birthday was April 5. 

On Friday I went grocery shopping, and there was Bette staring at me from the cover of Closer magazine with the headline, "A Life of Fame & Tragedy."

The headline and part of the subhead, "suffered the ultimate betrayal on her deathbed" are over the top for the article, based on an interview with Kathryn Sermak, Bette's last assistant. The deathbed portrayal, for instance, occurred in the last decade of her life. 

Kathryn shared a few stories from her book, Miss D and Me. I'll read that book. I'm always glad to hear about and watch Bette. 

Mets Anxiety

The first few games of the Mets season epitomize how stressful it can be to be a Mets fan. 

In the Mets' first game, Jacob deGrom pitched six scoreless innings. He struck out seven batters and hit two singles. deGrom left the game with a 2-0 lead.  Continuing an unfortunate trend, the Mets blew the lead and lost the game 3-5. An attempted comeback fell short.

The Mets fared much better in their second game. They got a strong pitching performance from Marcus Stroman, actually scored runs for him, and won 8-4. But the Mets looked bad in the later innings. I was afraid they would blow the lead and lose this game too. 

Today, hopes that the Mets would win the game and series were dashed in the first inning when pitcher David Peterson gave up four runs. While Peterson settled down for another few innings, the Mets went 1 for 12 with runners in scoring position.

Sigh. I might have been okay with today's game (well not exactly okay) if the Mets had managed to win the game they should have won for their ace. 

Can I hope for something better for tomorrow's home opener?

Mets Opening Day

Better late than never. As Gary Cohen said--the Mets had to wait four months for their opener last year, four days isn't too bad. 

Better safe than sorry--I'm glad they postponed all three games for the first series because of Covid-19 cases in the Washington Nationals. 

Tonight in Philadelphia, Jacob deGrom started his third Opening Day, gave up three hits in six innings, had two hits and a RBI. 

But alas, deGrom is denied again. He left the game with a 2-0 lead, and in an all too familiar scenario, his teammates cost him the win. 

Taste of Childhood

This was our second Easter while sheltering. While many people are traveling to see family, Jeff and I are not. Plus, Jeff was semi-quarantined for the weekend. He tested negative for Covid-19 on Friday and has a procedure tomorrow at the hospital. 

I made dinner. For a change, I made dessert--what my sister used to call depression dessert--because the ingredients are cheap. My mother used to make it and I assume my grandmother before her. A few months ago, my nephew asked if I had the recipe--I do--and I bought the ingredients shortly after that, so I had everything ready to go. 

My mother's recipe is a little vague, and I apparently used the wrong size pie plate, but the result was delicious. I didn't remember this dessert being this good. 

This Lemon Fluff recipe is very close to what I made.

Mets Opening Series Postponed

Baseball's Opening Day was Thursday. We were psyched to see the Mets/Nationals game: deGrom v. Scherzer. But the game and later the series was postponed. Four players on the Nationals have Covid. It was the right decision to postpone the series, though I must admit that I'm disappointed. 

The Mets will play their first game Monday night in Philadelphia. The home opener is still scheduled for Thursday afternoon.

LGM!

Book Eight: The Wars of the Roses by Dan Jones

 Subtitled: The Fall of the Plantagenets and the Rise of the Tudors

This is the second book of the same name that I read this month.

This book didn't go into as much detail as Alison Weir's. In Weir's book, I felt that I knew some of the people much better, especially Richard, Duke of York (father of Edward IV and Richard III.)

I liked the framing that Jones used: both the introduction and epilogue referenced the butchered execution of Margaret Pole, one of the last Plantagenets.

Both emphasized how the inept reign of Henry VI made the setting ripe for rebellion. Weir said the deposition of Richard II was a precedent.

I want to read more about Richard III and the princes in the tower. My next books from the library, however, are strictly Tudor tales.