Review: Man in the Dark

From the New Yorker: A car accident and the death of his wife have left the retired book critic, August Brill, a physcial and psiritual invalid. Virtually confined to his house with his recently divorced daughten and a twenty-three-year-old grandchild stricken with grief after the murder of her ex-boyfriend, Brill, an insomniac, attempts to stave off thoughts of death by telling himself bedtime stories. His tired mind weaves a tale that combines details of his life with more fantastic flights, such as the story of a man who, waking up in an alternate universe where 9/11 never happened and the 2000 election led to civil war, is sent on a mission to detroy the very person who has imagined him into existence.

I recently finished reading Paul Auster's latest book. I had read The New York Trilogy on vacation this summer, and the impression of the book was vividly in my mind for a long while after I had finished reading it. I was eager to read more by Auster and requested a copy of Man in the Dark from the local library.

Auster has a unique writing style that is difficult to explain. My experience with his work is that he writes of things that would never really happen but makes it so believeable. And, he has a true talent for helping you feel the emotions of the characters, even while they are in the midst of the unreal situation. Through Brill's bedtime stories and interactions with his granddaughter, the reader gains insight into his current existence and is encouraged to think beyond what is written on the page.

Although I liked The New York Trilogy better than Man in the Dark, I continue to want to read more by this creative author.

Stitching Update...Shhh!

Contrary to the book-heavy posting I've been doing, I have actually been stitching quite a bit. The problem is that I'm stitching gifts for people who read this blog. So, I can't provide much detail beyond what is pictured here, which is one of the super secret gifts. Miss Ellie believes it is her job to supervise all my stitching efforts. Within five minutes of my pulling out the fabric and threads, she is sitting in my lap. I often find myself contorting my sitting position to accomodate the princess because it's the only time she turns into a lap cat. Go figure.

Pretty Fly for a White Guy

Today was the perfect winter day...chilly and snowy with nothing on our schedule. We went to our favorite breakfast place, and then I took my forever farm boy on his first excursion to Fleet Farm. Of course, he liked it and ended up finding his ideal winter coat...so warm he almost had to unzip it while outside replacing my wiper blades later this afternoon. My favorite purchase of the day, aside from the gingerbread and egg nog flavored coffee I found, was this new sweater for Herman. Isn't he a great model? He loves it so much he hasn't taken it off since I brought it home for him! He thinks it's the perfect napping attire.

Ouch!

So, I've been working out 5 days a week for 2 months now. This is huge for me as I HATE exercising. Even when I feel better for having done it, I still hate it. But, I seem to have made it a habit and have reached the point of being able to do four 10-minute miles or 35 minutes of strength training (using The Firm). I know from past experience that I would never keep up an exercise habit if I had to go to the gym. So, I have been relying on DVDs, which allow me to go from bed to work out in about 10 minutes.

Anyway, I was getting bored with the DVDs I had. Last week I read about the 30 Day Shred on a blog that I now cannot recall. I read the reviews on Amazon.com. I was encouraged to buy it (new from an Amazon reseller for a great price) after reading many positive reviews, but I was skeptical about the type of results I would get from a 20-minute workout. I saw one review that stated the person's muscles were weak for 2 hours after doing the 20-minute workout, and I thought, "she must have been really out of shape." HA! Guess I'm really out of shape. Although I recovered after about an hour, I could barely complete the three sets of strength/cardio/ab rotation at Level 1. I have a bad feeling that getting out of bed for tomorrow's 4-mile walk is going to be painful. But I am now convinced that a 20-minute workout could actually result in visibly better fitness.

Review: The Graveyard Book

Product Description - From Amazon.com
Nobody Owens, known to his friends as Bod, is a normal boy.

He would be completely normal if he didn't live in a sprawling graveyard, being raised and educated by ghosts, with a solitary guardian who belongs to neither the world of the living nor of the dead.

There are dangers and adventures in the graveyard for a boy-an ancient Indigo Man beneath the hill, a gateway to a desert leading to an abandoned city of ghouls, the strange and terrible menace of the Sleer.

But if Bod leaves the graveyard, then he will come under attack from the man Jack—who has already killed Bod's family. . . .

I can't count the number of blogs that have featured this book and given it rave reviews. It is considered a graphic novel for kids ages 9-12. There aren't an abundance of pictures and adults are clearly loving it as much as kids might. Although I am not much for fantasy books - Harry Potter aside - but I wanted to see what all the excitement was about. Besides, it's a short book, and I figured even I would be able to read it fairly quickly as it is aimed at younger readers.

I may be some kind of kids 'book prude, but this seemed like kind of dark subject matter for the targeted reader...murder, graveyards, being stalked by mean men...then again, I am from the Ramona Quimby and Choose Your Own Adventure generation. I'm sure kids' reading interests have changed since then.

Prudishness aside, I didn't love this book at all. It wasn't horrible. Bod was a likeable character. The characterization of graveyard inhabitants by their epitaphs was really entertaining. The creativity of the author was well-demonstrated when we were shown how certain everyday knowledge was novel to a boy raised in a graveyard by "people" who had inhabited the world centuries before. But, in general, I didn't have the significant emotional reaction to the book that some reviewers reported, and I have no burning desire to read more Neil Gaiman books in the near future.

Don't Panic - Pork Chops!

This weekend we cooked up one of our entrees from last week's marathon cooking session. They were super easy to make. We just blended up a marinade of honey, cider vinegar, ginger, garlic, and soy sauce and put the chops in a freezer bag with the marinade.

We thawed them in the fridge for 2 days before we prepared them. (Most freezer meals take more than the recommended 24 hours to thaw completely.) My live-in grill master not only braved the cold temperatures to fire up the grill, but performed what I call kitchen chemistry and made a hashbrown side dish. He described it as "fried rice with hashbrowns in place of the rice." It was really good, and the pork chops had a wonderful flavor that was not at all overpowering.

Marathon Cooking

I am a big fan of freezer meals - the kind you assemble ahead of time and require little work on the day you serve them. I've been known to frequent Let's Dish and love the variety of meals I bring home after only two hours of "work." Don't Panic - Dinner's in the Freezer is one of several books that helps you prepare freezer meals at home.

Yesterday my sister-in-law and I spent 5 hours preparing four different entrees. We tripled every recipe so that we would have 9 servings of each dish. When she and my brother had to go home I finished a fifth recipe. After 6 hours of standing on the ceramic kitchen floor, I was walking like a 90-year-old woman. But, I think it was definitely worth it. I literally have weeks' worth of quick meals that only require enough foresight to thaw them a day ahead of when I want to serve them. Not to mention, they're healthy. And, my "food tester for a lifetime" sampled one of the meals for dinner last night and went back for seconds!

What did we make? Chicken Tortilla Soup, North Woods Wild Rice Soup, cheese-filled manicotti, egg bake with hashbrowns and Canadian bacon, and honey porkchops. I will post pictures as I serve each for the first time.

Review: Affinity

Synopsis (from http://www.bn.com/): An upper-class woman recovering from a suicide attempt, Margaret Prior has begun visiting the women's ward of Millbank prison, Victorian London's grimmest jail, as part of her rehabilitative charity work. Amongst Millbank's murderers and common thieves, Margaret finds herself increasingly fascinated by the one apparently Innocent inmate, the enigmatic spiritualist Selina Dawes. Selina was imprisoned after a seance she was conducting went horribly awry, leaving an elderly matron dead and a young woman profoundly disturbed. Although initially skeptical of Selina's gifts, Margaret is soon drawn into a twilight world of ghosts and shadows, unruly spirits and unseemly passions, until she is at last driven to concoct a desperate plot to secure Selina's freedom and her own.

I first learned of author, Sarah Waters, at A Work in Progress. I am not typically drawn to historical fiction, but that review of Fingersmith made it sound too good to resist. I read that book last year and really enjoyed it. There were definitely unexpected plot twists. I think my previous experience with historical fiction was that it was not written in modern English, which slowed down my typically slow reading pace even further. Sarah Waters' books are quick reads.

Last month I picked up Affinity at the library. I finally finished reading it last weekend after an extended break two-thirds of the way through to read Edgar Sawtelle.

The story is told from the journals of Selina and Margaret - Selina's journal kept up to the point of the seance-gone-wrong and Margaret's current journal. It touches on several themes, the first being depression. Depression, and mental illness in general, was not well-understood. Margaret was treated by her mother as being physically frail, and the prescribed charity work was basically an attempt to distract her from her depressed thoughts. The result is that she really just trades one set of troubling thoughts for another.

Hope is a second theme running through the book. People were drawn to Selina as a spiritualist because they believed she helped them connect with deceased loved ones. As she communicated on behalf of the lost loved one, the survivors are given hope that the person still exists out there somewhere and they will see him/her again. Margaret also finds herself drawn to Selina. Their relationship gives Margaret the hope that a life worth living is within her reach, and this becomes her driving force.

There is not much else I can say without giving something away. Consistent with my previous Sarah Waters experience, there is a very unexpected twist at the end of the story, and all along the way things are not what they seem.

The Perfect Way to Spend a Chilly Day

While my handyman-for-life tore into the bathroom rennovation project, I met up with a college friend for tea at Lady Elegant's Tea Room. (Our seat today was at the blue table in front of the window.) It is a charming little place almost hidden amongst an eclectic mix of independent shops and always offers a relaxing time away from the real world. The Tea Room is modeled after an English-style front room and dining room and has only a handful of tables. Though casual dress is acceptable, many women dress for the occassion, and the Tea Room offers hats for use during your visit if you really want to be "authentic." Lady Elegant's was as busy as I've ever seen it today, which, we were told by one of the employees, was due to all the husbands being away for the open of deer hunting. Surrounded by light classical music and the buzz of tea-time chatter from other tables we enjoyed Pumpkin Creme and Apple Pie seasonal teas accompanied by finger sandwiches, cranberry orange scones, and almond cookies. The service there is intentionally leisurely, leaving us ample time to catch up on life and enjoy the atmosphere. Of course, I couldn't leave without buying a handful of teabags and some loose leaf tea (apple pie and oatmeal raisin cookie). Heading back to our cars in the brisk November wind, my friend and I made a pact to get back to the Tea Room once a quarter from now on. There's just no reason to relax like that only once a year.

My First Reading Challenge

I just joined my first reading challenge: The What's in a Name Challenge 2009! Here are the rules...

Choose one book from each of the following categories.
1. A book with a "profession" in its title. Examples might include: The Book Thief, The Island of Dr. Moreau, The Historian
2. A book with a "time of day" in its title. Examples might include: Twilight, Four Past Midnight, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
3. A book with a "relative" in its title. Examples might include: Eight Cousins, My Father's Dragon, The Daughter of Time
4. A book with a "body part" in its title. Examples might include: The Bluest Eye, Bag of Bones, The Heart of Darkness
5. A book with a "building" in its title. Examples might include: Uncle Tom's Cabin, Little House on the Prairie, The Looming Tower
6. A book with a "medical condition" in its title. Examples might include: Insomnia, Coma, The Plague

I'm certain I can read six books in the next year no matter how busy I get, and I know there are books waiting on my shelf that will fit perfectly into the categories.

Happy Friday!

Review: The Story of Edgar Sawtelle

From Publisher’s Weekly:
Starred Review. "A literary thriller with commercial legs, this stunning debut is bound to be a bestseller. In the backwoods of Wisconsin, the Sawtelle family—Gar, Trudy and their young son, Edgar—carry on the family business of breeding and training dogs. Edgar, born mute, has developed a special relationship and a unique means of communicating with Almondine, one of the Sawtelle dogs, a fictional breed distinguished by personality, temperament and the dogs' ability to intuit commands and to make decisions. Raising them is an arduous life, but a satisfying one for the family until Gar's brother, Claude, a mystifying mixture of charm and menace, arrives. When Gar unexpectedly dies, mute Edgar cannot summon help via the telephone. His guilt and grief give way to the realization that his father was murdered; here, the resemblance to Hamlet resonates. After another gut-wrenching tragedy, Edgar goes on the run, accompanied by three loyal dogs. His quest for safety and succor provides a classic coming-of-age story with an ironic twist. Sustained by a momentum that has the crushing inevitability of fate, the propulsive narrative will have readers sucked in all the way through the breathtaking final scenes."

Last night I reached the end of the journey that is "The Story of Edgar Sawtelle." In a word, it was heavy. Within the first 20 pages a dog and a baby had died, and that set the tone for the rest of the book. I raced through the first 250 pages, continuously curious about what would happen next but always uneasy about what the next chapter would bring. Somewhere after that, Edgar was on the run, and there were nights I looked at the book sitting on my nightstand and almost didn’t want to pick it up. The effort that was his life was making me tired, even though he was persevering. But, I had come to care about Edgar as much as one can care about a fictional character, and I knew I would finish the book because I had to know how things turned out for him.

There are so many themes threaded throughout the book, all of which contribute to the realness of the characters and the overall literary value of the story. First, the human-animal bond. Edgar’s relationship with the Sawtelle dogs, particularly Almondine and the litter of pups Edgar’s dad assigns to his care, demonstrates the strength of non-verbal communication, the power and value of the bond, and the purest kind of love. The personalities of the dogs are as real as Edgar’s, and we experience them through Edgar. Not much more can be said without giving something away, but it is a certainty that any animal lover will be deeply touched by the Sawtelle dogs and their bond with Edgar. Second, the impact of family legacies – both positive and negative. Edgar demonstrated unwavering devotion to preserving the Sawtelle breed first created by his grandfather. Along the way he encountered evil, corruption, and greed, but honored the breed and its intended purpose in every way he knew how. He believed in it will all his heart and tried to do right by those who came before him and preserve their traditions. Edgar’s story also speaks to overcoming adversity, the impact of grief and trauma, self-reliance, and moral responsibility.

The final scenes are breathtaking, and I will not giveaway the ending here. Be assured it is the type of ending that leaves you silent and reflective for a long time after you turn the final page. It’s a story that draws you in from the beginning and is worth every emotion-filled minute.

Scherzo Growing

Here's what Scherzo looks like after a week of intermittent stitching. Much more time was spent reading The Story of Edgar Sawtelle (<100 pages to go!) and sleeping away the effects of a stomach virus. I may set this one aside for awhile. The pattern is one that repeats in each of the four corners of the piece. It's a fun look but not quite as satisfying as seeing a picture grow as I stitch it. Now, to decide which of my other WIPs will get the attention...

Pesto Turkey Burgers

My first recipe post and I forgot to take a picture of the end result...always room for improvement. So, for this time, the recipe alone will have to do.

A co-worker passed this one along compliments of Cub Foods and TCF Bank. I have not had much success with ground turkey in the past. It always seems too dry or flavorless. Not the case with this recipe! I even could have gone with the 4% fat turkey instead of the 7%. These will definitely make an encore appearance in our kitchen.

We ate them bunless with a side of hashbrowns - for lack of fries. It was plenty of food!

Pesto Turkey Burgers
1¼ lbs lean ground turkey
2 tbsp. basil pesto
1 tsp. minced garlic
½ c. crumbled feta cheese
1½ tsp. seasoned salt
½ c. bread crumbs

Preheat an outdoor grill for medium-high heat. (I cooked them in a skillet on the stove tonight.) Mix together the ground turkey, pesto, garlic, feta cheese, seasoned salt and bread crumbs in a bowl until evenly blended. Form into 4 patties. (I think 5 would have been better, especially if you're putting them on a bun.) Grill peto burgers until no longer pink in the center, about 5 minutes per side.

Scherzo...

–noun, Music. a movement or passage of light or playful character, esp. as the second or third movement of a sonata or a symphony.



Here is the last of my LNS purchases - Threadworx Chili Peppers and coordinating 28-count Jobelan. It's been fun to watch the pattern grow amongst the randomness of the varigated floss. (I am still perfecting my photography technique, as you can see.)

My First Trip to the LNS

Last Saturday I made my first venture to the best LNS in our area (that I know of). It is a 45-minute drive to the other side of town to get there, which is what took me so long to plan a trip out there in the first place. It was a cross stitch candyland.

I already owned five patterns from Whispered by the Wind (Canon, Rondo, Largo, Adagio, and Scherzo). My plan was to buy supplies to make two of them. As you can see, I got a little more than that. I picked colors other than those recommended by the pattern and ended up with Threadworx Pastel Bouquet, Dust to Dust, Society Life, and Mosaic. I picked coordinating 28 count Jobelan for each pattern. The fifth pattern with threads and fabric will show up soon in a WIP post.

I made two additional impulse purchased while there...a small pattern called Looner Night and a Pine Mountain Pillow Kit. I became the owner of a sewing machine at Christmas last year and still have only gotten as far as admiring all the non-framing finishes displayed on other blogs. In the meantime, the Pine Mountain kit will serve as my alternative finishing method.

October's Book Collection (so far)

This month, as usual, my TBR pile has grown much faster than my finished books pile. First, from the library, I have accumulated and already once renewed 5 books:

1. The Mammoth Book of 20th Century Ghost Stories, which I thought would be a fun way to get in the Halloween spirit.
2. The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood. I have never read anything by Margaret Atwood and I figured it was about time.
3. Affinity by Sarah Waters. I read Fingersmith earlier in the year and really liked it. I have less than 100 pages left to go in this one, but it is due after Edgar Sawtelle, so it's on the back burner for the moment.
4. Oracle Night by Paul Auster. I read The New York Trilogy in August and my enjoyment of it grew with each installment. I've read elsewhere that some believe Oracle Night is the best introduction to Auster, so I thought it would be a good second foray into his work.
5. Cooking Among Friends. I love the convenience of cooking once and ending up with several different meals in the freezer. This is a cookbook that contains freezer meal recipes to make in large quantities and share among households. I will have a chance to test some of them out next weekend. Review to come!
   
   
   In addition to the library pile, I have accumulated some books without a due date at very little cost:

1. Faith of My Fathers by John McCain. This has much less to do with my political leaning than it does with my interest in the experiences that have led him to this point in life.
2. The Wednesday Letters by Jason Wright. A $1 find at the library book sale.
3. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Persig. $2 at a charity garage sale, and I've never read it.
4. Spilling Clarence by Anne Ursu My first mooch from Bookmooch!
5. Coming to Our Senses by Jon Kabat Zinn. Another $2 find a the charity garage sale.
6. Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden. I saw the movie but have yet to read the book. Another $1 library sale find.
7. An Instance of the Fingerpost by Ian Pears. My final $1 library book sale find.
   
   After a 3-day work trip, I'm 200 pages in to the Story of Edgar Sawtelle. I've been able to read about 50 pages at a time without falling asleep...rare for me!

First Appearance of the Tuesday Thingers

As I have learned from reading other blogs, Marie at The Boston Bibliophile asks a book-related question each week...on Tuesday, if that wasn't obvious :-)

Today's question: Series. Do you collect any series? Do you read series books? Fantasy? Mystery? Science fiction? Religious? Other genre? Do you use the series feature in LT to help you find new books or figure out what you might be missing from a series?

The only series I have collected are those that hold fond childhood memories. These are series that have been reprinted several times, but when I buy them, they must be the editions I read when I was young. I own the complete Little House on the Prairie series by Laura Ingalls Wilder- the ones with the yellow-bordered covers. I actually never got past "Little House in the Big Woods" when I was young, but I LOVED the tv series. Someday I will actually read the books that inspired it.

I also own most of the Ramona books by Beverly Cleary. Now these are books I read multiple times. A few years ago I learned that there was a new addition to the series, "Ramona's World," that didn't exist when I was actively following them. I checked it out from the library and read the whole thing in an hour or two. I remember spending multiple days on one of these as an elementary student! I must admit the last installment did not live up to my memories of the earlier ones, but the memories are comforting and maybe, one day, my not-yet-existent daughter will Ramona's escapades as entertaining as I once did.

I cannot think of any current series I have collected. All the Harry Potter books I've read have come from the library, as have most of Patricia Cornwell's Kay Scarpetta mysteries. Somehow it's easiest to justify spending the money on the tangible reminders of days passed.

As for LibraryThing, I am new to it and haven't used many of the features yet.

Latest Start

I had read about "The Story of Edgar Sawtelle" on other blogs and added it to my library request list before it was announced as an Oprah selection. This weekend a copy became available for me, and I picked it up yesterday. (Three books followed me home from the library book sale too.) Twenty pages in and already a mix of emotions are at play. I'll take this as a good sign.

The real challenge will be finishing it in the two weeks I have before it's due. I must find a place to read other than in bed...and find the will power to ignore the new stitching project in the name of reading deadlines. Pictures of that to come whenever we find the charger for the camera battery :-(

The Fly on the Wall

For a few years now, I have been the a fly on the blogosphere's wall. I've been enjoying your book reviews, WIPs, recipes, and expanding my own reading, cooking, crafting worlds because of them. Now, after much internal debating about whether or not I would be disciplined enough to regularly update my own blog, I'm giving it a shot. At the very least it will serve as my personal hobby journal and thank you note to those who continuously share their great ideas, and, at best, I will become an active part of the blog community.

Cozy and Content will be focused on those things that make me so during my alone time. Mostly books, cross stitch, cooking, and my pets....all usually accompanied by a cup of coffee.

If you've found me at this early stage in my blogging life, welcome! Please bear with me as I personalize the layout and learn all the blog perfecting techniques you likely have been using for years now.