Do you remember that video of the woman wearing really large eyelashes, and she blinks, and a spider comes out of her eyelashes? Well I am just sitting here thinking of what to write and an eyelash just fell out from my left eyelid, and I about lost my mind.
No surprises there. It’s been an emotional few weeks, to say the least.
My oldest daughter and I got to go see Broadway’s Peter Pan, and let me tell you, it was not very good. I think the script itself was just pretty lackluster, and the songs weren’t anything special. As far as musicals go, it is one that I would say to skip. But the night out together was still fun, and we got to see some talented actors doing their best with mediocre material.
A Middle-Grade Historical Fiction, a Murder Mystery, and a Collection of Nature Essays Walk Into a Bar…
My reading has been slow the past few weeks. I’ve had a lot on my mind (understatement of the week) and am also so close to hitting my reading goal for the year that I don’t feel any urgency to keep on top of my reading. In the past two weeks, I’ve finished three books.
We Solve Murders by Richard Osman is the much anticipated first book in a new series by the author of The Thursday Murder Club series, which I love. The premise is still murder—an older man named Steve is a small-town PI in England, who loves his routine and his weekly trivia night at the pub. His daughter-in-law Amy works as a private security guard for the rich and famous, and is currently protecting the author Rosie D’Antonio. When a series of influencers are murdered, Amy comes under suspicion and has to go on the run to save herself. Rosie hilariously comes along, they recruit Steve to join them, and many antics ensue. The only flaw I would say is that there was too many characters—it took a lot for everything to finally come together. But they were all very fun and funny, and I enjoy the way Osman writes. ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Upstream by Mary Oliver is a collection of essays from the famous poet. I have only ever read Oliver’s poems that are the most widely shared (“What will you do with your one wild and precious life?”), so I didn’t have any real expectations for the essays. The book is short and not difficult to read, but it definitely meanders through nature scenes that are described beautifully and maybe contain metaphors that were not clear or uninteresting to me. I think the author is talented, and enjoyed some of her commentary on well-known transcendentalists and poets, but still skimmed quite a bit and ended pretty underwhelmed. ⭐⭐
The Lost Year by Katherine Marsh is a middle-grade historical fiction novel set in two timelines—1933 Ukraine (USSR), 1933 New York, and 2020 New Jersey. The narration alternates with the chapters. Matthew is a modern 13-year-old dealing with the Covid lockdowns. His great-grandmother is living with them, and in the process of helping her go through some old boxes, he starts to uncover her unique story of childhood in the Ukraine. Mila is a privileged young girl living in Kyiv in 1933, and at the age where she believes the propaganda from Stalin but is open to asking questions. When she learns about people starving in the countryside, including her own family, she has to choose what kind of person she wants to be. Helene is an immigrant to the US living in New York, and hears of the famine through family. She does everything she can to share the truth that the Russian government doesn’t want people to know—that people are starving and dying. The famine was man-made, and is a true piece of history that is not often discussed. The kids stories were emotional and tied together well, and I really enjoyed the audiobook. ⭐⭐⭐⭐
What I’m Reading Now
The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune is just wonderful. It is fantasy, but makes you feel better about the world. This is a reread—I opted to reread it before I read the sequel that came out recently.
Ruthless Vows by Rebecca Ross is the sequel to Divine Rivals, which I read way back at the start of this year. I tried to read this earlier in the year, but just wasn’t feeling it when I started. I’m hoping now it has been long enough that I will be able to get reinvested in the characters.
On My Want-to-Read Shelf
Atonement by Ian McEwan is/was one of my favorite books I read in college, and I haven’t read it since. It is the choice for one of my book clubs this month, and I look forward to rereading it soon.
The Grey Wolf by Louise Penny is the latest in the Armand Gamache series, which I absolutely love and recommend to everyone I speak with. I’m on the wait list for the book from my local library, and I can’t wait to dive back into the world of Three Pines.
Weekly Wrap-Up
We took my three kids and two of my niblings to Disney On Ice this last weekend, which was really fun. They had a great time eating snacks, singing along to the songs, and watching the amazing skills of the ice skaters and gymnasts.
My oldest is in a play productions class at her school, which is an audition-only class for aspiring actors. They have been working on a play all semester, and opening night was last night. It feels like a dream to have raised a beautiful, amazing person and get to watch her thrive in doing something she loves. After the show was over, we found her in the lobby and she saw me and immediately burst into tears because, in her words, “That was so much fun!” I will never not feel lucky to have such wonderful children.
It’s nice to have family and kids to keep me grounded when things are hard.
I hope you are having a peaceful week. See you soon.
I just love her so much. (Mo, that is)