my books - The Song of the Lark (1915) by Willa Cather

When I finished O Pioneers!, I went directly into the second book in this series - The Song of the Lark.

O Pioneers! is centered around the Bergson family (who have one daughter and three sons) and takes place in Nebraska.  One of the Bergson son's daughters marries a clergy man and moves with him to Moonstone, Colorado and raises their family there (this all happens between the end of O Pioneers! and the start of The Song of the Lark). One of the daughters of that Colorado/preacher's family, Thea Kronborg, is the main character in The Song of the Lark.  The original characters/family from O Pioneers are barely mentioned and not a part of the second book, but the history of the family is there in subtext.

The book's title (The Song of the Lark) comes from a painting at The Art Institute of Chicago. The art museum and the specific painting are mentioned in the book.  I remembered the painting as soon as I saw it. I spent a lot of time at The Art Institute the year ME was with us. Her law firm was in Chicago. While she was meeting with her lawyers, I would spend lovely afternoons at the museum. I think I covered the entire museum,  every single piece, that year.



Very interestingly, although O Pioneers! and My Antonia (books 1 and 3 in the trilogy) are listed in Sparknotes, The Song of the Lark is not. It should be (in my opinion).

I am not linking to the Wiki notes, because they give away too much of the plot of the book (in my opinion).



When I started this book, I was a little nervous it was going to be a daddy thing nearly bordering on a pedophile thing. Because older men gravitate toward Thea in this book. It starts right at the beginning of the book when she is 10-12 years old.

There is a 30 year old who is waiting for her to grow up so he  can ask her to marry him (for example). But he IS waiting until she is 18-20. So it isn't actually a pedophile thing. It is more the type of thing that happened back then when families thought of those men as settled and reliable and able to provide for a family. And in this book, Thea's mother, does not approve of this man's plan anyway. 

At various points in the book the characters even discuss how older men gravitate toward her. It is actually part of the plot. There is nothing icky about it. It is part of the character development. I just happened to pick up on it right when the book started. It is a subject that raises my hackles.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. (If you loved the Little House series, I suspect you might love this series too.)

And as soon as I finished this second one, I went right into the third in the trilogy, which is Willa Cather's most famous - My Antonia.

my books - O Pioneers! (1913) by Willa Cather

Wiki writes:

O Pioneers! is a 1913 novel by American author Willa Cather. It was her first novel of her Great Plains trilogy, and written after she was living and working in New York. O Pioneers! tells the story of the Bergsons, a family of Swedish immigrants in the farm country near the fictional town of Hanover, Nebraska, at the turn of the 20th century.  

Here is the context section from Sparknotes for O Pioneers! 



When I first looked at this book and saw 'prairie' and 'trilogy', I wondered if it was a set I should have read to my kids. My mind went to Laura Ingalls Wilder. Her Prairie series is beloved at our house.

Laura Elizabeth Ingalls Wilder (February 7, 1867 – February 10, 1957) was an American author who wrote the Little House series of books based on her childhood in a pioneer family. Laura's daughter, Rose, inspired Laura to write her books.

No, O Pioneers! is not a book to be read to kids (in my opinion). The book starts with the death of the father which leaves the family at risk. And then the main story is about two sets of relationships which are not simple. They are more adult understanding topics.

To some it might be a sad book. To me it was more of a 'what actually happened' book.

I didn't look for the link, but I am pretty sure I remember reading Laura Ingalls Wilder addressing this topic (what really happened) in writing her own books. She left the death of a brother (or maybe even two) out of her own books. The cold winters and lack of food and challenges are still in her books. But she left out things she feared might cause anxiety for children. Remember Laura was writing her books in the 1930's and 1940's, long before The Hunger Games. And honestly, I did not and will not read The Hunger Games. I have to watch my own anxiety.

O Pioneers! is written in a beautiful, slow, simple style. The audio edition I used was just under 7 hours and read by Barbara McCulloh, lovely voice, well matched to this book.

Might be my shortest read ever, certainly my shortest read lately.

I did enjoy this book. I did not need to keep a list of characters. I knew what was happening all the time.

I enjoyed the fact families were comprised of recent immigrants or first generation American kids/grand kids. The families (in O Pioneer!) were Swedish and Norwegian and German and French/Catholic.

My husband's family is very German. My maternal grandmother was a full Swed, born in this country to two immigrants. We are Irish Catholic. The (old Catholic) churches in the area where we now live were founded by French Catholic Priests.

A very simple book to be enjoyed between complex books. Or a good book to read on travel days. I could have finished the whole book on my flights/airport time to/from the east coast for oldest's spring break.



When I finished O Pioneers!, I went directly into the second book in this series - The Song of the Lark (next week's review).

O Pioneers! is centered around the Bergson family (who have one daughter and three sons) and takes place in Nebraska.  One of the Bergson son's daughters marries a clergy man and moves with him to Colorado and raises their family there (this all happens between the end of O Pioneers! and the start of The Song of the Lark). One of the daughters of that Colorado/preacher's family is the main character in The Song of the Lark. The original characters/family from O Pioneers are barely mentioned and not a part of the second book. The books are stand alone from each other. But also are lovely together.

Kitchen Pictures / Household Hints

Organic (fresh) strawberries were on sale at the food coop. I walked by them the first time. But they were on my mind and I thought of an experiment to try.  Two days later, I bought the remaining two packages. I brought them home, washed and cored them, cut them in quarters and then spread them out on this cookie sheet (it might actually be a jelly roll pan, because there is a edge/side) and put them in the freezer. 

I put the frozen strawberries in a freezer bag. The tray above fit in a one quart freezer bag. This is not the whole two packages of fresh, because youngest and husband ate a few while I was prepping. This worked well, the strawberries ARE individually frozen, none are stuck together. This is flash freezing and worked well with CUT strawberries (CUT was my experiment). The youngest, middle, husband have been taking a few out to add to yogurt or a plate of other food. They do not eat them frozen (can eat raspberries right from the freezer). But in the 1/4 sliced form, they thaw quickly.

The bag on the left says "asparagus/chicken soup" and the bag on the right has a V for vegetarian (I have two at my house) and is Lentil soup. That is one serving each, of soup cold from the refrigerator in one quart (each) bags. I put them, flat, in the freezer to keep an easy to thaw (not a big block, but a flat plain) shape. Yes, the trick to this is to be sure those zip lock seals are really zip locked!

This is Buffalo Vegetable soup, clearly not vegetarian, that has been frozen. My husband eats soup a lot. These one serving sizes work well for him. He gets one out of the freezer, and wedges it upright in the refrigerator to thaw. Then he eats it within a day or two. This soup was all sold, one serving size, at our food coop. Each one was dated and marked down. I pick up soup there, and freeze for my husband on a very regular basis. It gives him a much wider variety. It is no different than I would make at home, because I cook from many of their same recipes.  I still make soup at home. But honestly, no, I am not going to cook a big batch of Buffalo (for example, girls will not eat it because of meat, I cannot eat it because of many of the vegetables). Buffalo is very good. Tastes like beef. Better numbers. 

Earth Day

Earth Day is observed on April 22 and was started in the United States in 1970 by Senator Gaylord Nelson to create awareness for the Earth's environment and to encourage conservation efforts. In 1990, Earth Day was taken international, and today, more than 500 million people in 175 countries observe Earth Day.

Potty Training and Pregnancy Nausea

My kids are 15, 19, 23 (as I write this). My  nephew is 17, my niece is 21. But I do remember.


I left this note (recently) for a blogger who is potty training. I know there are several of you with little kids. Middle reads every day and is always looking for new information, so I thought I would save it.


Things that worked well for me (potty):

 I never asked kids if they needed to go.

Instead I sent them to go.

Do you want to go potty in the big bathroom or the little bathroom? gave them a sense of choice – but sent them TO GO.

I had them go every time we switched activities.

Go potty and then pick out the game you want to play.

Go potty and then it is story time.

Go potty and get on your swimming suit, time to go to the pool.

I had them go before we left to go somewhere, and then go again as soon as we got there. and then again as soon as we left that place. Especially with middle, I knew where every potty in town was located.

I think boys should be taught to pee standing (from the start). It is just more fun for them. It is socially more acceptable. (Yes, there are men who have gotten 'stuck' on sitting down and it is just weird in our society.)

I kept them in diapers at night.

I gave them only water to drink (I stopped juice when potty training. Before potty training, anytime they were drinking juice, I cut the juice in half with water. And they were not drinking juice very often. They did not drink any other sugared drinks. They have been water only for most of their lives. They drink orange juice, full strength, not diluted, now as adults.).

Sugared drinks, even if it is natural sugar, has a huge impact on potty training and sleeping dry through the night, especially for boys.

Sugared drinks make a big difference in bladder urgency/control for grown women also. Water only is important for women too – sugar and caffeine create urgency/control problem. I primarily drink water – except I now have 1/2 c oj with breakfast (working with a female issues doc on my food and supplements). When I was drinking tea, even though it was herbal, non caffeine, it created bladder issues. Water only - no bladder issues.

It is important not to start potty training until the kid seems like they are mature enough to handle it. Do not start unless you can make it a positive experience. If it is going to be a power struggle, do not do it until you can figure out how to be in the right frame of mind. Potty training is a common goal, doing what is best of the kid thing, not the rule of the parent thing.








I have left this note, for pregnant women with nausea problems many times -

Nausea is caused by unsteady blood sugar.

As the blood sugar takes a dive, nausea hits.

Protein is what holds blood sugar.

Eat non-starchy veggies and protein mostly. Make carbs serving size only and a complex carb. And always eat a protein when eating a carb. A protein serving size is 7-10g.

Eat regularly spaced meals, eat healthy (not to satisfy a craving). 

Many women will crave things like orange juice and fruit.

Their doctors might even tell them to eat saltine crackers.

But both those things will cause more problems than good, because they cause blood sugar to go up and then plummet.

Fried foods will cause blood sugar problems too.

I have suggested taking food (protein and complex carb for example) with them to bed, to many a mom, to eat in the early hours, before rising, so blood sugar is stable when they start their day.

And I add -
This is (all) not something you will (ever) hear from a doctor (unless you are very lucky). This is not an area most doctors study. You will be very lucky if you even hear it from a nutritionist.

Kitchen Pictures / Household Hints

We replaced our dishwasher a couple months ago. I now suspect all we needed to do was switch soap products. I switched from regular, powder Cascade to the two shown in this picture. The bin on the left holds soap packets. The container on the right is rinse solution.

This is the inside of my dishwasher door. The blue thing is the soap packet. The lid is off the rinse concentrate compartment. I squirt rinse solution in there once a month and then reattach the lid (shown below the hole).  My clear glass dishes are now pristine. 

I have three or four of these plastic cutting boards. They are very old. I pour bleach on them, before I put them in the dishwasher, if they are stained. They come out very white each time. The bleach does not appear to do anything to the plastic. 

My kitchen is full of deep drawers, very few cupboards. This picture is looking down into the inside of (half of) one of these drawers. That is my measuring cup collection. They are contained in old ice cube bins from a variety old freezers. We use a lot of measuring cups every day. I use three 1/2 cup containers every day at breakfast. I use one for raw egg whites (going into pan) and then another for first my orange juice (to take my supplements, I drink right out of the measuring cup) and then the same one for the milk for my oatmeal. The third 1/2 cup to measure the dry oatmeal, stays in the oatmeal bin always.

My books - Far from the Madding Crowd (1874) by Thomas Hardy

Wiki notes:

Far from the Madding Crowd (1874) is Thomas Hardy's fourth novel and his first major literary success. It originally appeared anonymously as a monthly serial in Cornhill Magazine, where it gained a wide readership. Critical notices were plentiful and mostly positive. Hardy revised the text extensively for the 1895 edition, and made further changes for the 1901 edition.

SparkNotes explains the title:

One of Hardy's central concerns in all of his writing was the problem of modernity in a society that was rapidly becoming more and more industrial. One of his projects as a writer was to create an account of life in the swiftly changing Dorsetshire as it had once been. He was particularly interested in the rituals and histories of that part of England, as well as the dialect of its locals. The title Far From the Madding Crowd suggests avoidance of the life of a city, modernized government, crowds and industry; in it, Hardy tries to fashion a portrait of what he saw as an endangered way of life and to create a snapshot for future generations.

Hardy took the title from Thomas Gray's poem - Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard, 1751:

'Far from the madding crowd's ignoble strife,
Their sober wishes never learn'd to stray;
Along the cool sequester'd vale of life
They kept the noiseless tenor of their way.'

I had always thought it was Maddening, not Madding.

I have no idea if this is correct, but found this explanation:

By historical convention, "madding crowd" is the idiom, dating from the late 16th century. Unlike "maddening," which describes the effect on the observer, "madding" (= frenzied) describes the crowd itself.

Thomas Hardy also wrote Tess of the D'Urbervilles. When I started Tess, middle warned me it was a T R A G E D Y. Especially at that time, it was important for me to know (tragedy) in advance of reading Tess. So before I started Far from the Madding Crowd, I called middle and asked her to check on SparkNotes and see if Madding  was a tragedy too.  She said while it was not necessarily all happy, she did not think it was the tragedy Tess was.

She is correct, not all happy, but certainly not a tragedy.




Far from the Madding Crowd was a bit too predictable for me. It will be interesting to see if the other people at my book group have this impression also. There are members who really love Hardy.

It will (also) be telling to see what the people who love Jane Austen thought of this book. There were characters who reminded me of Austen classics.

It was 13 hours, 35 minutes on 12 CD's. Narrated by Nathaniel Parker who was excellent.

So, it was a good read. Not a great read (for me). Glad I listened, lots for interesting discussion.

my books - Moby Dick (1851) by Herman Melville

Yes, I read Moby Dick.


WIKI:

Moby-Dick; or, The Whale is a novel by Herman Melville, first published in 1851. It is considered to be one of the Great American Novels and a treasure of world literature. The story tells the adventures of wandering sailor Ishmael, and his voyage on the whale ship Pequod, commanded by Captain Ahab. Ishmael soon learns that Ahab has one purpose on this voyage: to seek out Moby Dick, a ferocious, enigmatic white sperm whale. In a previous encounter, the whale destroyed Ahab's boat and bit off his leg, which now drives Ahab to take revenge.

Here is the context section from SparkNotes.


This is not a book I thought I would ever read.

If you remember, I have been slowly working my way through (several years worth of) classics my one reading group read before I joined. Moby Dick was on that list. And when I asked if there was anything on that list that I should not bother reading, they all chorused - MOBY DICK.

So, I had dismissed it from my mind.

Then one of my other reading groups (which is a dictatorship) assigned Moby Dick. He did it kindly, assigning a very short book the month before Moby, and gave us a two months heads up.

I do like this group (A LOT) and actually love the dictator/facilitator, that is my private/pet name for him. He is young, smart, very laid back. But he picks all the books (himself). And usually only tells us the assignment one month in advance. I am spoiled, my other two groups plan the titles as a group and schedule the titles for a whole year. But the dictator does push us to read things (like Moby Dick) that we would probably not read other wise. He is the same one who had us read 4 plays by Chekhov one month. And Reading Lolita in Tehran and Lolita another month. Yes, sometimes I sigh, but I still complete the assignment in full, and I am always glad I did. I always tell him I am glad I did. I sent him an email when I had 3 hours left on Moby telling him I was almost done and loved it. 

I downloaded Why Read Moby-Dick? by Nathaniel Philbrick from Audible, two months ago, still not sure I was going to read Moby. Mr Philbrick might have had the best of intentions, but when I got to the part about how Herman Melville originally wrote a whaling manual, and then decided to turn it into a novel, and inserted the story, here and there, around the whaling manual, I was not at all persuaded. Not at all. (The whaling manual must have been very short because the majority of Moby Dick is story, not manual).

Then I happened to notice another blogger, who does not write about books, had ready Moby and loved it. What are the odds of that - hardly ever mentions a book and then the ONE she mentions, repeatedly, is Moby Dick. She has even read it more than once. She tries to read it every year. So, with that, I thought - I can at least TRY.

I started (exactly) two weeks before the meeting of this group. So, he gave us two months to read and it took me a month and a half to make up my mind to DO IT.

The copy (Moby Dick) I used was from Audible. It was read by Frank Muller (who I always like) and was 21.3 hours long. There were free copies available around the web, but since I was a bit on the fence and needed as many positive things as possible, I spent one of my credits at Audible on Moby. I did not use a credit on Why read Moby? I bought that outright.

So, I started my two week read with the pace of 2 hours of Moby, Monday-Friday, and picking up extra on the weekend if I was in my car. That was a good way of looking at it. And it did work very nicely.

This is not my longest read, Bleak House was 33 hours, The Woman in White was 25 hours. Those were just the first two that came to mind, my guess is there are other long books on my lists.

To be very honest, before I even finished Moby, I was already saying - I will read this book again.

One of my other book groups is considering it for next year. If they do, I will read it again with them. If not, I will read it on my own. There have been other books where I have finished, and turned right around and read them again to see what I missed the first time.

It is extremely well written. The language is beautiful.

I didn't mind the 'whaling manual' parts. To be honest, I found it interesting to know how they catch them, how they clean them, all the different types. Those parts did not bore me (remember I loved the daily details in Robinson Crusoe). And really the 'whaling manual' parts are needed in the story, because most of us do not know anything about whaling. We cannot understand that risk, the danger, if we do not understand what they are doing.

And all the stories were fun reads for me.   The book is very much a collection of adventures weaving in and out of the different chapters of the book (with the whaling manual inserted where needed). There are 135 chapters. Moby himself only appears in a couple of the chapters. The rest of the stories are about all kinds of things.

If you are a classic book kind of person, yes this book is a must read. And I found as I mentioned, here and there around town, that I was reading it, people were sort of tipping their hat in respect.

I will give you a hint. If you read Moby, you should not be thinking about skipping any parts of the book. All are needed. It is not a book that needs edited or shortened. It is a book that needs read more than once to understand it all. There is a lot there. Every word is sort of priceless.

There is a SparkNotes entry (link at top of this post) with very good chapter summaries. I did not read the summaries as I read the book, but I did read them to refresh my mind before my group discussion.

There were twelve people at the discussion and everyone LOVED the book. I will add these are hardcore classic book people. We had a lot of discussion.

Several had read it before, but read it again last month. One had read it last summer, read it again last month, but this time listened to it (I wear off on people with my audible habit) and said it was an entirely different book that way. He happens to be an college literature professor who specializes in Old English (think Beowolf at college level, it is not an easy class).

It would be an excellent book to take as a class. It would also be an excellent book to read and discuss with friends (like read 10-20 chapters at a time and discuss).

One of the men in the group read this book, out loud, to his wife all during her last pregnancy, at bed time, so she could unwind and go to sleep. I thought that was lovely. Really lovely.

Figuring my food - cilantro and lime chicken

I found this recipe.

I simplified it putting a large bunch of fresh cilantro (from my produce box) in the food processor, squeezing 5 smallish limes, and spreading both of those over thinly sliced boneless skinless chicken breasts in a sprayed 9 x 11. I covered and baked at 350 for 1 hour. Very good.

Post Office Cubbies

My husband's mother died September 2010.

Husband brought back a whole truck load of stuff.

Our house was already fairly full.

But we managed to squeeze everything in the nooks and crannies.

As soon as kids start moving out, things will go (oldest is in a furnished apartment right now).




Post office cubbies came in the truck.

I have always loved it.

Husband's mother used it for wine.

I don't keep wine in the house (nor drink it).

It sat in the garage for a couple months before we found a spot.

I am not sure if I thought of it or middle did.

It is 45" x 29".

That is the corner of our living room, right next to the TV.

All of those wires and black things are gaming controllers and cords.

You can just see the Wii on top.

Very good use for it.

My husband did an outstanding job in what he chose from his mother's house. There was NOTHING that came out of the truck where I thought - what were you thinking. NOTHING. He is the youngest of four boys. They did a good job of deciding who got what. Some of the things my husband wanted, none of the other three (single, no kids) wanted. And versa visa. Mirrors for example. There were really good ones, my husband happily took them all, knowing girls would want them in future years. Paintings. Many good ones came. Wooden chests and boxes. Baskets. Footstools. A grandfather clock. Dresser with carved wood. A light blue love seat and chair (also with a lot of carved wood) that are now in our bedroom. We got the stuff that had more of a feminine look to it. 

I was especially pleased when we unearthed these cubbies, unloading the truck.

My husband had remembered I had always loved it.

Even if I had never said a word, I think he would have known any way.

It is very much like something I would like.

my books - State of Wonder (2011) by Ann Patchett

Wiki notes:

State of Wonder (2011) is a novel by American author Ann Patchett. It is about a drug company employee who journeys to Brazil, to bring back information about seemingly miraculous drug research being conducted there by Dr. Swenson on behalf of the company.

So, this was a contemporary read for me. Not a classic. The title was assigned by one of my book groups.

There were 11 discs/12.3 hours in the audible edition I used, read by Hope Davis (who was very good).

I had no idea what to expect with this book. I listened to it on the plane on the way to and from Charleston, SC and then finished it within a couple days of returning home. (I listened to the whole of The Lemon Tree (between flights) while we were there. I had no trouble dropping right back into State of Wonder.) I finished this one, in the house, because I was very curious to see how it ended. I do not have driveway moments (NPR term) as much as I have headset in the house moments.

State of Wonder is very much a story. No historical background. Not an intellectual read the way One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich or Lemon Tree was. So this book came up just in the right place (after those two) on my reading list. A welcome break after two thinking cap kinds of books. (Wait until you see what I read after this one, stay tuned for next week's review).

To be honest, I am not sure what I would have thought of State of Wonder if I had been reading other contemporary, non classics, books all at the same time. It might have seemed light to me then. But in view of the heavier reading I was doing before and after this book, it was very much enjoyed.

There are not a lot of characters in State of Wonder. I did not feel I needed to keep notes. I found the story to be captivating and believable*** and interesting. I had no idea where the story was going at any point in the book.

***I am the one, in every reading group I attend, who says - odd coincidences do happen, if you keep your eyes open and can see them, strange sets of events happen all the time. 

It also confirmed South America stays on the NO TRAVEL ZONE list for all of my kids.

my books - The Lemon Tree: An Arab, a Jew, and the Heart of the Middle East (2006) by Sandy Tolan

Here is a bio page from Sandy Tolan's own website. There is all kinds of other, interesting information on the sidebar of that page.

Here is a NPR piece (All Things Considered, 2006) where Sandy Tolan talks about his book. On that same page, near the bottom, is another link to the original Fresh Air documentary from 1998 (basis of the book).

The Lemon Tree was 11 audible hours and was read by the author. He was very, very good. If you like NPR, you will love his voice/style.

The oldest and I listened to this book, in the car, on the way to and from Charleston, SC.

We both enjoyed it very much. We both learned a lot.

The book weaves the historical events and also follows the lives of two individuals and their families:
Bashir Al-Khayri, a Palestinian (male),
Dalia Ashkenazi Landau, an Israeli (female).

The book starts in 1967 when Bashir knocks on the gate of his former home and Dalia answers the door. The lemon tree (if you are wondering about the title) was planted in the backyard of this home by Bashir's family.

The book then goes back in time to early life in Palestine and also life in Bulgaria (for Dalia's family) and the whole sequence of events that rolled into present day Israel. Presidents Carter and Clinton, all those peace summits, and the cast of characters from the PLO and surrounding countries in the Middle East are all in there. And the happenings of both families are in there too.

There is a LOT of data. We frequently stopped the CD and talked about various points. It was very much an intellectual read. It was a great discussion read.

I am almost 52, oldest is 23. We have little active memory of most of the events in Palestine/Israel. I of course remembered more (first hand) than the oldest. But I did not remember a lot.  All kinds of things came back to me as we listened. Oldest has been keeping up on current events in that area more since we finished the book.

And we realized, listening, that we have (mostly) heard the pro-Israeli side of things. We did not realize that Israel has done some really nasty things over the years.

Neither one of us realized that Jewish people were moving into Palestine prior to WWI (yes I,  not II).

We knew nothing about the lives of Jews in Bulgaria during WWII.

We loved this book. But again, it is an intellectual read in NPR documentary style.

my books - One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich (1962) by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

Wiki noted:

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich is a novel written by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, first published in November 1962 in the Soviet literary magazine Novy Mir (New World). The story is set in a Soviet labor camp in the 1950s, and describes a single day of an ordinary prisoner, Ivan Denisovich Shukhov.

The book's publication was an extraordinary event in Soviet literary history, never before had an account of Stalinist repression been openly distributed. The editor of Novy Mir, Aleksandr Tvardovsky, wrote a short introduction for the issue, titled "Instead of a Foreword", to prepare the journal's readers for what they were about to experience.

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich was specifically mentioned in the Nobel Prize presentation speech when the Nobel Committee awarded Solzhenitsyn the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1970.

Often considered the most powerful indictment of the USSR's Gulag ever made, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich forced Western intellectuals to acknowledge their sins of omission in regards to the Soviet human rights record. A decade later at a US-Soviet summit, a human rights agenda was created as a topic of concern. It appeared on the Independent newspaper's poll of the Top 100 books, which surveyed more than 25,000 people.

There is a list of the main characters included in the Wiki page (linked above). Yes, the names are foreign and the list might be helpful. Here is another list of characters from Sparknotes.



Here is the SparkNotes Context section which gives (more) background on Solzhenitsyn.



So yes, I listened to a book which takes place in a (assumed to be) Siberian Russian Labor Camp.

This book was far less graphic than All Quiet on the Western Front.

It was also far less graphic (from what I understand) than Unbroken, which I skipped when one of my book groups read it.

One Day in the Life isn't really graphic at all. There is almost no blood. They are not getting up and beating everyone, everyday (not at all).

The story is exactly what the title says - the book starts when Ivan gets up (one random day) and ends when he goes to bed. It is simply about daily life in a labor camp.





The audio addition I used was just over 5 hours (one of my shortest ever) and was read by Richard Brown.

I went to Audible.com and pulled up all of the books narrated by Richard Brown and listened to a clip of each one. I suspect he has a British accent (I am terrible at placing accents) as I listen to the other clips. But it seems he changed it up a bit for One Day in the Life. If someone had told me he was raised in Russia but then moved to England, I would have believed it.I could not find a site that told me for sure, there are several Richard Browns.  I sent a suggestion in to Audible that they add a biography section on their Audible narrators to the site.

While it is not graphic, I guess it is not really easy listening either. They are freezing and wish they had more food. It is an intellectual read of sorts because it is a translation and because it is a non-popular topic.

I did enjoy the book in an intellectual, different culture, way. I would not have liked to listen to 20 hours of this story line, but 5 hours was an interesting read.  And it is probably a book that everyone should read. I plan to work my way through (any of) the Pulitzer and Nobel (that I have missed) at some point in the future.

Sweatshirt blankets

Sweatshirt blankets can be found in most university bookstores (these days).

This is the closest link I could find. Cotton/poly blend, heavy, 50 x 60 is a close match.

I am not sure if they are a new thing. We started seeing them when the oldest started undergrad college 5 years ago. I do not remember seeing them when my husband and I were in college (1979-1983). So somewhere in that 25 year time span, sweatshirt blankets were designed and began being marketed.

I think the first one we bought was for my mother's husband - because, in the end, it was very difficult to come up with gift ideas for him.

I put a sweatshirt blanket on my birthday or Christmas list last year. Mine is green and has oldest's undergrad college emblem on it. It lives in my car. I use it ALL THE TIME.

Oldest has a blue one, also from his undergrad school. His lives in his apartment.

Thank goodness I thought to ask him to throw it in the car before he picked me up at the airport last Saturday. I napped with it in the car. I used it under the hotel sheets/blankets, next to my body, each night. I need a room that is pretty cold to sleep well, but then freeze.  It is two fold, I do better if I breathe cold air, I get cold easily.

When oldest and youngest travel with me, they bring a twin size fleece blanket which they use in bed the same way (because they are sleeping in the same cold room, with me).

Sweatshirt blankets would make a very good gift idea for many people. College emblem ones are good in some families. Special ones with a family crest or family name would be another idea.

My books - The Good Earth (1931) by Pearl S. Buck

Wiki wrote:

The Good Earth is a novel by Pearl S. Buck published in 1931 and awarded the Pulitzer Prize for the Novel in 1932. The best-selling novel in the United States in both 1931 and 1932, it was an influential factor in Buck's winning the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1938. It is the first book in a trilogy that includes Sons (1932) and A House Divided (1935).

Here is the SparkNotes Context section which does not give away the plot of the book.

All three of my kids had read this book (required reading list the summer before freshman year) before I did.

All three of my kids loved this book. I sent each a text the day I started it. And got three texts back saying how good it was all the way thru.

We all agree that one needs to be an experienced classic book reader (probably) to enjoy this book. Less sophisticated high school readers, in all three of my kids Freshman English classes (for example), did not like it at all.

The story is simple and easy to understand. I personally think the whole book is strong and captivating. There were no weak areas in my opinion.

There were parts which were very sad to youngest (she is a crier, so is my husband, they are quite the pair at movies and plays).  It was not sad to me. It was simply how they lived and what they did and what happened.

The ending was ironic as it is exactly what happened in my mother's family.

Different book, different ending - I was listening to a woman tell about how two of her children were complaining she played (serious) favorites with the third. I listened to what she said and the two were correct, she was not being fair or nice. And she was not setting her children and grandchildren up to have (positive) relationships with each other. I wanted to say to her - you need to read the story of Cain and Able and then read East of Eden. Saying to my grandparents - you need to read The Good Earth - would not have achieved anything because they would not have believed what their son would do after their death, but he was actually raised to do exactly what he did.  Excluding mental illness which is a whole other issue, most of us do what we are raised to do, unless we purposely, mindfully change our path, and the paths of our children.

If you are a true classics lover and have not read this book, time for a visit to the library.

Organic Farmer's Box

We belonged to a CSA (local Organic Farmer) program in 2009.

CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. 

We paid for the season up front. We got what we got in the box each week (which was way too many starches and peppers). We had to travel to pick up the box.

The "food/organic farmer box/farmer markets" label at the bottom of this post will take you to all posts related to that topic.

The program we belonged to in 2009 did not work well for us.

I joined a new program this week which I think will work for us.



The differences are -

This program is large (regional, and buying from organic farmers across the country rather than one, local farmer). The diversity of products is pretty huge.

There are organic products available through this program that are not offered (organic) in my local stores.

I am emailed a list of what is (to be) included in my box one week in advance and I can change items to better suit my needs (I can delete items, increase volume of items, add other items). So I can plan what I need to put in my box and what I can buy in my local stores.

The box is delivered to my front porch.

My box arrives on Friday afternoon and I normally batch cook/prep over the weekend.

The program runs year round.

I pay for one week at a time. I can drop at any time. I can suspend a week if we are gone.

My books - The Language of Yoga (2005) by Nicolai Bachman

Here is what I originally wrote, months ago:

The same way it was darned well about time I learned to read translations and was exposed to Hemingway and Steinbeck and Dickens, I decided I needed to mature myself with Sanskrit for yoga.

If you do not know what I am talking about, here are some examples:
Downward Facing Dog - Adho Mukha Svanasana
Extended Side Angle Pose - Utthita Parsvakonasana
Pyramid Pose - Parsvottonasana
Raised Hands Pose - Urdhva Hastasana
Standing Forward Bend - Uttanasana
Standing Straddle Forward Bend - Prasarita

If you are a long time yoga person, you probably know more Sanskrit yoga pose names than I do/should, after all these years. I am embarrassing light/lacking in this area. There are a few names I sort of recognize. There are none that I can came up with and say, on my own. None.

To be very honest, it just sounds like gibberish to me. I suspect I am not a (foreign) language person.

When I am in a yoga class, I rarely look at the instructor. I listen to what the instructor says and I apply it to my own body.

When I am in a class with an instructor who uses mostly Sanskrit, I have to look, because I do not know the words. And that looking sort of moves me out of my own body, off of my own mat. And it (having to look) makes me realize this is an area ready for growth.

I am also an experienced enough yoga person that I really should be thinking in sanskrit as I work through poses in any situation.

Helen very kindly sent me Iyengar's Light on Yoga. I use it often. Great resource of names/poses. But the book does not talk to me. And as you know, in my world, books talk to me. I realized I needed to hear the Sanskrit words to have them really sink into my brain.

That is the first half of this post, written months ago.



Part Two (written last week):

At this same time, I was tired of being in regular yoga classes where the instructors let people look like wadded up tissues in their poses. I do not think that each person needs to be perfect. I know my eyes should be on my own mat. But in classes, one can't help but at least noticing the person who is right in front or beside you, and I was not happy with the instructors who did not help these people. It is (pretty much) ridiculous for a person to have been in yoga classes for YEARS and still not have been helped. And not know they have not been helped. When I see that, this is where my mind goes - what am I doing that is not being corrected/helped either?

So, in the process of wanting more specific help in poses (not necessarily to do harder poses, but to have better positioning in all poses) and thinking that I needed to learn sanskrit, I considered signing up for a 200 level yoga certification class. I was not considering teaching, I was considering the knowledge I would gain. (These classes last many, many months and cost $2000-$3000 for the series.)



If you have been around for a VERY long time, you might remember I signed up for a Master Gardner's Class through the county extension office. And that did not work for me. It turned out that the class did not teach what I wanted to learn. I dropped out (which is very unlike me). And dropping out was the right decision. I signed up with a friend, and she dropped out too (before I did) for the same reason. I remember people in blog land saying they had friends who had done the same thing (when it was not at all what they wanted/thought).

So, as I was thinking about the 200 hour yoga certification class, my Master Gardener Class experience was very much on my mind.



One thing I thought to do was get a leg up on sanskrit. Because part of the 200 hour class requires learning sanskrit. So, I thought - since I know I am not good at it (does not come easily or quickly), I would be smart to get a head start.

I asked around and found The Language of Yoga book which comes with 2 CD's.

I was sorely disappointed. 

The sanskrit I wanted to learn WAS in there/on the CD's. But so was a whole lot of stuff I did not want to know.  A whole lot. And there is no easy way of getting to the parts of the CD with the words I want to learn.  And I realized the class was going to be the same way - I was going to have to learn a whole lot of sanskrit. I was going to have a deadline and a format and I was going to be tested in some way.

And then I realized that the people I was seeing, coming out of 200 level classes, were not so different than anyone else. There were some wadded up tissues in there. And I also realized that there are a lot of different styles of the 500 level instructors who teach the 200 level wanna be's.

By this point, I was pretty sure it was going to be a Master Gardener Class repeat.


I realized two things:
I am an Iyengar girl at heart. I would have to find a program that had that (type of) approach to positioning to really feel like it was a good fit. And it would not need to be a 200 hour certification. It could just be a really good class. (Like my beloved Yoga Lisa who moved to the east coast many years ago).

I might love a 200 hour class, but I would really have to shop around to find the right program (and I am not in a large enough town to do that, would need to be in Chicago or New York or the like for that to work).

I can buy a LOT of private instructor or take a whole lot of workshops for way less than $2000-$3000.


AND


I want to be able to learn things (like sanskrit) at my own pace, not under pressure. And I only want to learn what applies to my own practice, not animals and other sanskrit words. I can do that on my own. It would be better for me to do that on my own.



So, at the end of the day, a $22 book, with CD's included, saved me a lot of time and trouble and expense. I know that was probably not the author's intention, but in the end, that is exactly what happened.

My books - Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937) by Zora Neale Hurston

This is the second selection in my quest to read a couple Black History books this month.

Zora Neale Hurston was an African American writer.

Wiki wrote:
The novel narrates main character Janie Crawford's "ripening from a vibrant, but voiceless, teenage girl into a woman with her finger on the trigger of her own destiny". Set in central and southern Florida in the early 20th century, the novel was initially poorly received for its rejection of racial uplift literary prescriptions. Today, it has come to be regarded as a seminal work in both African-American literature and women's literature. Time included the novel in its 2005 list of the 100 best English-language novels published since 1923.

Here is the context section from Sparknotes on Their Eyes Were Watching God. Even if you have no interest in the book, you might consider reading this section as it is very unusual and interesting.

I also listened to a The Big Read discussion at the National Endowment for the Arts. I am always thrilled when one of the books I am reading pops up on their list. These commentaries are most excellent. (This was also available in CD form from my library.)

Here is a list of the contributors to this Big Read discussion. You will see some familiar names including Azar Nafisi who wrote Reading Lolita in Tehran.

These sources helped me to better appreciate Hurston's book. I am not saying the book was difficult. It was not. It was easy to understand. Those context resources just helped me to understand the history/placement of the book.

I read as if I am taking a literature class (most of the time).  It stimulates my intellect to read this way. I no longer read for avoidance. I no longer link reading and eating. This (intellectual viewpoint in reading) helps me to handle anything (upsetting) in the book. I can tell where the boundaries are between the story and me/mine. There was nothing upsetting in this (Their Eyes Were Watching God) book. I am just talking about reading in general. Yes, I still skip some books. I skipped Sophie's Choice in 2012. I had read that book long ago and it was the source of nightmares for me for many years (that and the Trail of Tears).  The latest (skip) was Unbroken. It came up on one of my lists. My husband saw me start to download CD's in the computer. He said - I don't think you want to read that. I asked my therapist (she had read it and her grandson was reading it right when I asked) and she said to skip it also. 

Here are things I thought about as I read Their Eyes Were Watching God:

A while back, I watched a sociological documentary talking about the fact that about 20% of African American men live with and/or take care of their families. I had seen that percentage (80% who do not) in other studies. Hopefully that number is improving. The documentary was done from the point of view of the 20%. One of the participants described (themselves) as the silent 20% who are quietly living their lives, taking care of their families and staying out of the news.

I have read (and blogged) about Anna Quindlen and her marrying a boy friend or marrying a husband concept.

I also, after having been around a fair number of women from different cultures, I have the (personal) viewpoint that women will continue to raise their sons in the same cultural/historical way, even though they (these same women) do not like how the adult men of their same culture act. This is how I summarize my  (personal) thinking - you can take the boy out of X, but you can't take X out of the boy,  even if the boy was born and raised in totally different, more advanced country.  I would put my own grandmother in that category. As much as she loved her girls, she would have sold the whole lot of us if she thought it would advance her only son. And she really had no respect for him, or for her husband, but considered them more important than her daughters or granddaughters. She would argue to hear me say that. And during her life her daughters would have argued with me also, saying I did not understand. But after her death and my grandfathers death, they would agree.

Someone might read all that and think I can be racist and sexist in the same three paragraphs, but it is sociology to me. It is cultural. And that is (part of) what I thought as I read.

 Their Eyes Were Watching God was short. It was 6 CD's and 7.25 audible hours.

The dialectic and stories were extremely well done. The version I listened to was narrated by Michele-Denise Woods. She even sang in it. Truly great reading. There is also an audio version by Ruby Dee.

Somewhere I read an article comparing Their Eyes Were watching God to Huckleberry Finn. In my opinion that is fair if you take the ridiculous Tom Sawyer (who I cannot stand) out of it. I mention the idea because it gives a very general comparison. Part of what brings that to mind is that they are both southern books. And the story telling and dialect in each. However, Their Eyes Were watching God was a richer book with more depth, in my opinion.

If there is anyone out there who has read this book, Their Eyes Were watching God, I have a question about the ending for you. Did anyone ever get her the shot series? Did I miss it? Is it an oversight? Or a statement about what happens at the end of the book?

my books - Cutting for Stone (2009) by Abraham Verghese

It is February and I (now) try to read at least a couple Black History books each February.

The majority of this story takes place in Africa and was written by an Ethiopian born, of Indian parents, medical doctor.

So, I knew that (Africa, Ethiopia) as I was considering reading this book.

And I was a little nervous about the title. I wondered what the title might be saying about the book's content. And Ethiopia worried me a bit too. All I could picture was children starving in make shift camps.

This might be a common concern, because I over heard two women talking about this book and one reassured the other that they were not doing surgery with a stone nor with the patient lying on a stone.

She went on to explain that she thought the word stone (in the title) comes from one of the doctors whose last name is Stone.  And he happens to be a surgeon, hence the word cutting.

That is true, there are doctors with the name of Stone in the book.  But I think the line actually comes from the Hippocratic Oath.

English translation, version 2 of The Hippocratic Oath
I swear by Apollo, the healer, Asclepius, Hygieia, and Panacea, and I take to witness all the gods, all the goddesses, to keep according to my ability and my judgment, the following Oath and agreement: To consider dear to me, as my parents, him who taught me this art; to live in common with him and, if necessary, to share my goods with him; To look upon his children as my own brothers, to teach them this art; and that by my teaching, I will impart a knowledge of this art to my own sons, and to my teacher's sons, and to disciples bound by an indenture and oath according to the medical laws, and no others. I will prescribe regimens for the good of my patients according to my ability and my judgment and never do harm to anyone. I will give no deadly medicine to any one if asked, nor suggest any such counsel; and similarly I will not give a woman a pessary to cause an abortion. But I will preserve the purity of my life and my arts. I will not cut for stone, even for patients in whom the disease is manifest; I will leave this operation to be performed by practitioners, specialists in this art. In every house where I come I will enter only for the good of my patients, keeping myself far from all intentional ill-doing and all seduction and especially from the pleasures of love with women or men, be they free or slaves. All that may come to my knowledge in the exercise of my profession or in daily commerce with men, which ought not to be spread abroad, I will keep secret and will never reveal. If I keep this oath faithfully, may I enjoy my life and practice my art, respected by all humanity and in all times; but if I swerve from it or violate it, may the reverse be my life.

Back to the two ladies I overheard discussing this book:
She went on to explain that the book is about the people who work at a mission hospital. (The doctors and nurses and nuns are mostly from England and India.)

She said - So yes, there is a lot of medical stuff and there is political upheavel and all kinds of stuff you would associate with that part of Africa. The book is about what they do. It talks about the people/families who are part of the hospital staff.

So that was my expectation, from my little eavesdropping adventure, the book was about what they do.

And from having been involved with girls from the Middle East, I know family stories can read like a novel, like one can't quite believe ALL THAT can happen to one person or one family, but I know it can.




This book was 19 CD's and 24 audible hours, so it took me a while to finish. Each day youngest would get in the car returning from her after school activities and I would (contentedly) sigh - this book is sooooo good.

It is not a book for the VERY squeamish as there are a lot of medical procedures and conditions described. I would have guessed that would have bothered me, but it did not (back to that - it's what they do concept).  Youngest would never have been able to read it. She is that level of squeamish. However she can read/watch Les Mis, and I cannot.

When I read the New York Times' review (I waited until after I read the book, as it does give away some of the plot), the reviewer complained about all the medical details.  I thought - come on lady it is about doctors where medicine (and missionary health care) is these people's whole life.

The NYT review also complained about the detail and order the author used in presenting the characters' back stories. That did not bother me either. I think most of us figure out the stories of our lives later rather than earlier.

In case you hadn't noticed, I LOVED THIS BOOK.






In many of the books I read, classic books are referenced.

As I mentioned two weeks ago with Reading Lolita in Tehran, I was thrilled to discover an actual list of the books referenced in the novel.

So, when I started Cutting for Stone and in Chapter 15 other novels were referenced, I took notes.

I listen to audible editions. I had to try to remember titles until I was stopped in traffic and could jot a note. So if you are reading this book later and notice any titles I missed, please leave a note for me in comments. I will see it, no matter how far in the future.

Middlemarch: A Study of Provincial Life (1874) by George Eliot (the pen name of Mary Anne Evans, later Marian Evans).

Les Trois Villes (1894–98; The Three Cities) by Émile Zola

The Man-Eater of Malgudi (1961) by R. K. Narayan

The Hornblower series by C. S. Forester consists of eleven novels (one unfinished) and five short stories (written between 1937 and 1967, the stories take place between 1808 and 1848)).

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865) by Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (pseudonym Lewis Carroll).

my books - Oliver Twist (1838) by Charles Dickens

I thought I was going to be able to say no one at my house read Oliver Twist, but when I inquired, youngest started it one year, got assigned another book for school, and never finished Oliver. She said she enjoyed what she read and was able to understand it.


Here is the Context section by SparkNotes.

It gives background information on Dickens as well as explaining the social commentary of Oliver Twist. These sections do not give away the plot of the book.


I did enjoy Oliver Twist.

I have mentioned in previous posts:  I love Dickens. He is a recent find for me. I never read any of his books in school.

However, Oliver is my least favorite of the Dickens I have read so far.

So, I liked it; I just liked Bleak House, Great Expectations, A Tale of Two Cities better.

I did not find any of these books, including Oliver, predictable. I was never sure where the story might take me. I do not find the length of Dickens books to be daunting, because the stories keep me captivated.

However, I will say, my first Dickens was Bleak House. And truthfully, I had a hard time with all the characters. But I think that was because I happened to read one of his more complicated plots first.  Great Expectations is a simple book, not as many characters, more straight forward plot. That is the place to start (in my opinion).  Bleak House is 33 audible hours, Great Expectations/18 hours,  A Tale of Two Cities/14 hours, Oliver Twist/16 hours, so you can see that Bleak House was a daunting start. 

I found I caught/understood Dickens subtext better in Oliver than any of the titles. After reading the SparkNotes Context section (link above) it might be there is more subtext in Oliver than any of the other books. Many lines in Oliver were very funny, even in the midst of the extreme poverty, in an ironic humor kind of way. I am sure I did not catch all of it, but I noticed a lot.

I also think that Oliver might be the most important of Dickens' books based on the Context section (link above) of those I have read so far. Most important at the time, most important in capturing history for the ages.

If you ever have a chance to see Oliver! (the musical) it is very good. The play does not follow the book in full, there are whole sections missing, but does a good job of the essence of the novel. (What is in the musical is in the book, but not everything in the book is in the musical.) The music is very good.

my books - Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books (2003) by Azar Nafisi

I loved this book.

It is warm and rich and very well done.

It can be read on many, many levels.



I would have loved this book even more if I had known a few things before reading it. So, this post is mostly talking about those hints.


Wiki's Plot Outline:

The book is a memoir of the experience of the author who returned to Iran during the revolution (1978-1981) and lived and taught in the Islamic Republic of Iran until her departure in 1997. It narrates her teaching at the University of Tehran after 1979, her refusal to submit to the rule to wear the veil and her subsequent expulsion from the university, life during the Iran-Iraq war, her return to teaching at the University of Allameh Tabatabei (1981), her resignation (1987), the formation of her book club (1995–97), and her decision to emigrate. Events are interlaced with the stories of book club members consisting of seven of her female students, who met weekly at Nafisi's house to discuss works of Western literatureincluding the controversial 'Lolita' and the texts are interpreted through the books they read.

I mentioned last week, I re-read Lolita in preparation for Reading Lolita in Tehran.

If my reading group facilitator had read Reading Lolita in Tehran before making the assignments, I think he would actually have had us read at least six books in advance of Professor Nafisi's work:

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Daisy Miller and Washington Square by Henry James
Lolita, Invitation to a Beheading by Vladimir Nabokov
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Those six books are discussed at length in the novel.


I had read Lolita and The Great Gatsby and Pride and Prejudice. I do not think I have read anything by Henry James, but have added him to one of my other group's potential/future books list.

Any comments on Henry James? I am trying to figure out how I have not read anything by him - ?

There are a great many other novels referenced in Reading Lolita in Tehran, but not in as much detail. The six I listed above are discussed in enough detail that I really think having read them adds to Nafisi's book.

There is a complete listing at the bottom of the Wiki article (under Cited Books) of all the books. If you happen to be looking for a worthwhile classics reading list, that would be a very good place to start (in my opinion). A reading group could even take this on as a (really great) long project.


Other hints for Reading Lolita in Tehran:
Look at the time line included in the Wiki paragraph at the top of my post. The books skips around a bit. The book starts with the Reading Group (Part 1). Her teaching years and the Iran/Iraq war are in Part 2. Part 3 is the Reading Group and them moving to the USA.  So the book is not in chronological order.

If you have a hard time keeping track of the girls in Nafisi's reading group, or her students in general, I suggest making a list. Because these girls are in Part 1 of the book and then resurface in the rest of the book.  I did not keep a list, but I wish I had! Just the name and a note (X - boy friend in turkey/difficult brother, Y - find a prostitute and stop looking at my sister, etc). The names are a bit confusing if you are not used to middle eastern names. I know about 8 middle eastern women, know those names well, but none of these names were the same and honestly they sort of all sounded alike to me.  If you read the book and do keep a list of names/notes, I would be so appreciate of a copy pasted in comments attached to this post. No matter how far in the future, no matter how simple the format, I will see it and be glad.


Here is the Yale Review of Reading Lolita in Tehran.

The New York Times review is here.


Here is a 3+ minute video of Azar Nafisi speaking on the topic of her book. If you look on the right side bar of that link, there are a variety of other Nafisi videos available.

If you are wondering if Nafisi is still in contact with any of her students, there is a video.

If you are wondering where Nafisi is now:

"The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), a division of Johns Hopkins University based in Washington, D.C., United States, is one of the world's leading graduate schools devoted to the study of international affairs, economics, diplomacy, and policy research and education." (She is listed as faculty at the bottom of that Wiki page).

I honestly thought the audio version of this book was read by the author until I finished and looked. It was not. But they chose well. Very good accent. Very good audio voice. It is Lisette Lecat who is actually from South Africa. How typically American, to think a South African Accent might be from the Middle East. If ME had been here, she would have known it was not a Persian accent. She could tell in a glance by clothes and stance where in the Middle East most people (here) originated. And South African explains why I loved the accent. One of my yoga instructors is from South Africa and I am very use to listening to her. She even sings and chants to us.

My books - Lolita (1955) by Vladamir Nabokov

My reading assignment was actually Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books  (2003) by Iranian author and professor Azar Nafisi. I believe it was on the best seller list for many weeks (over 100) and translated into thirty-two languages. I will write about that book next Wednesday. But I mention it so you will understand I read Lolita in preparation for reading Azar Nafisi's discussion of it.

As it turns out, there are actually a whole series of novels that should be read in preparation for Reading Lolita in Tehran. I will talk more about that next week.

Yes, the reading assignment for one of my book groups was to read both books for discussion. This is the group facilitator who is often very ambitious in his assignments (4 plays by Chekhov one month last fall and I had to watch BBC versions to understand them).

And yes, the Lolita/Reading Lolita in Tehran dual assignment, the fact they were assigned, made a great deal of difference in my reading.

I was reading Lolita even more intellectually than normal. No, it did not bother me. Yes, it might bother others. I was actually (more) worried (about being worried) before I started Reading Lolita in Tehran.

If you remember, I have experience with girls from the middle east. One lived with us for over a year. We helped with another one for over another year. And we have hosted several for a day or two here and there. And I have an acquaintance who is from Iran; we speak of the middle east often. She has been here since she fled with her very small children during the Iran-Iraq war (1980-1988). She is college educated (was working on her masters when she fled) and very bright.

The middle east element did not bother me either.





This week, I am writing about Lolita.

Wiki notes:

Lolita is a novel by Vladimir Nabokov, written in English and published in 1955 in Paris and 1958 in New York. It was later translated by its Russian-native author into Russian. The novel is notable for its controversial subject: the protagonist and unreliable narrator, middle-aged literature professor Humbert Humbert, is obsessed with the 12-year-old Dolores Haze . . .His private nickname for Dolores is Lolita.

Here is the SparkNotes Context Section. It does not give away the plot of the book other than to reference the main character as a pedophile.




The first thing I would like to say about Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov is that every unmarried mother, considering dating, should read it.

Especially the online dating moms who reference their children in any way on their profile or on their first dozen dates with a man.

I know there are women who will read that and think - but I am a packaged deal with my children and a man dating me should know that up front. I understand that gut reaction.

But the truth is pedophiles and controlling men use the internet to sort out their targets.

Pedophiles and controlling men are very good at what they do, you will not be able to pick them out of a crowd. They will seem nice. They will seem genuinely caring and concerned and interested in the kids. They are VERY GOOD at what they do. And they zoom right in on a target.

If you are in a room of women and ask who knows of at least one child who was sexually, psychologically, or physically abused by a mother's boyfriend/husband, nearly every hand will go up. Many women will know of many different cases among their friends and relatives. If you ask how many of these men are now in jail, there will be some. And I am here to say it is very hard to convict men for these offenses. There are a great number still walking around free. A great number.




This book is extremely well written. The use of language, style, grace is beautiful. Nabokov was brilliant. The subtext is smart, clever.

I am sure an annotated version of this book would be very rich (in Azar Nafisi's Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books they read annotated copies.).  I am sure many of Lolita's references went over my head. That was okay, I understood enough. I stuck to my audible version. I did not stop to look up the French lines nor all the things that were obvious references, and I still caught a fair amount and enjoyed it.

Yes, I enjoyed the book, subject matter and all. I did not take it personally, on any level, I could tell the difference between me and mine and words written in a book.

I read looking for clues about Humbert Humbert. I read to see what made him tick and what he thought and did. He was very focused and driven and cunning. I read to understand the book so that I could move on to the second part of the assignment - Reading Lolita in Tehran.




I do not seek out upsetting or sad books. But so far, I have been able to handle, with no issues, whatever is assigned in my various reading groups and be absolutely fine with them. (I did skip Sophie's Choice last year; this year I think I could handle it just fine).

My therapist said this is boundary work. I know where I start and stop. And where the rest of the world starts and stops.

My boundary work has been my most recent effort (the last two years) and was really necessary for the well being of my whole life.

Gretchen's Relationship/Socialization/Family Improvement posts

If you missed them, they were very good. Very good.
This link will take you to the whole collection.

My books - The Scarlet Letter (1850) Nathaniel Hawthorne

Wiki writes:

The Scarlet Letter is an 1850 romantic work of fiction in a historical setting, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. It is considered to be his magnum opus. Set in 17th-century Puritan Boston, Massachusetts during the years 1642 to 1649, it tells the story of Hester Prynne, who conceives a daughter through an adulterous affair and struggles to create a new life of repentance and dignity. Throughout the book, Hawthorne explores themes of legalism, sin, and guilt.

If you like Context sections, you will enjoy the SparkNotes section on Nathaniel Hawthorne. It is very unusual and interesting. It does not give away the plot of the book.



Oldest had read this book, years ago, but did not remember it.

Middle had read it and remembered liking it.



At what I thought was about half way through The Scarlet Letter, I called middle to ask if I needed to be prepared for Tess of the d’Urbervilles part two (tragedy through and through). And middle said no - it is not another Tess.

As it turns out, I was actually at the end of the book. (It was a quick read at about 9 hours.) Middle was right. It is not a tragedy; but it has a firm message.

That is the thing with listening to downloaded audible books, I just start them, and don't actually have any sense of how long they are or where I am in the book. I am truly in the moment, all the way through each book.

Some books, like The Grapes of Wrath, I have a moment of - seriously, there isn't any more? THAT'S IT? - when the reader suddenly announces THE END. 

I enjoyed The Scarlet Letter very much.

I have no idea how I had never read it before now. I think it is a standard read in many high schools. That is where middle and oldest both read it. I think youngest will read it next year.

In audible form, I had no trouble understanding the language.

Most of the people in my reading groups, now firmly believe that it is easier for me (listening) and that I get a lot more out of the books in audible format. There are only a couple other people who listen. Frequently, at meetings, the bound book readers will ask how the audible book came across to me. Most of the time when they are talking about getting into the flow of the language (old books, translations, etc) I have to take a step back to even understand WHY they had troubles adjusting/settling in to the books. 

I truly love having a book read to me. I am quite attached to some of the prolific, audible readers.

My kids did not like to go to story hour at the libraries as they wanted me to read. I read a lot to all three kids over the years. I can understand why they have that attachment.

The only time my kids listen to an audio books (now) is if we are on the road (like when oldest is driving by himself or youngest who gets car sickness from reading). Or middle sometimes listens if she is having trouble with the writing style. I think Great Expectations might have been her first Dickens book. And while that is probably his easiest book, the style was new to her. I think she listened and followed along in the book for school homework.  I think youngest starts Great Expectations next week.

Books - Black History Month/Classics

February is Black History month in the United States and Canada.

It is observed in October for the United Kingdom.

Just by the luck of the draw, I read
Uncle Tom's Cabin,
Cry, the Beloved Country,
The Tales of Huckleberry Finn, and
Out of Africa 
all in the first few months of 2012.

I commented it felt like it was a personal Black History month, except those books were stretched out over a couple months,  not just February.

I have saved classic titles from my reading list for future Black History Months:
Native Son (1940) by Richard Wright.
The Jungle (1906) by Upton Sinclair.
Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937) by Zora Neal Hurston.
The Color Purple (1982) by Alice Walker
Beloved (1987) by Toni Morrison.

I do not plan another marathon of Black History Books for 2013.

I plan to read Their Eyes Were Watching God.

I will forward the rest of this list of books and any others that come my way, to another reminder post for late January 2014.

my books - The Woman in White (1860) by Wilkie Collins

Wilkie Collins’s tombstone in Kensal Green Cemetary / photo by Ian Mole

Wiki notes:

The Woman in White is an epistolary novel written by Wilkie Collins in 1859, serialized in 1859–1860, and first published in book form in 1860. It is considered to be among the first mystery novels and is widely regarded as one of the first (and finest) in the genre of 'sensation novels'.

The story is considered an early example of detective fiction with the hero, Walter Hartright, employing many of the sleuthing techniques of later private detectives. The use of multiple narratives draws on Collins's legal training, and as he points out in his Preamble: 'the story here presented will be told by more than one pen, as the story of an offence against the laws is told in Court by more than one witness'. In 2003, Robert McCrum writing for The Observer listed The Woman in White number 23 in "the top 100 greatest novels of all time", and the novel was listed at number 77 on the BBC's survey The Big Read.

In paperback (book) form it is 764 pages. In audible format it is just under 25 hours.   I listened to an audible copy made by USF Lit2Go (free downloads).  

I happened to listen to this book over the Christmas/New Years holidays, the full month that oldest was home. It was a very good book to listen to in odd moments and bits, because it was easy to understand/follow. I kept track of all the characters easily. I knew what was going on as I jumped back into it each time. I did not feel that I needed to keep notes.

There was no Sparknotes listing for The Woman in White, but Wiki did a good job with their Wilkie Collins entry, so I read that as context for this book.

The style of this book reminded me of Dracula, 1897 Gothic horror novel by Irish author Bram Stoker, minus the vampires. Part of it was the style of the language (books were written 38 years apart in the same general part of the world), but the main reason was both of the books were written as if taken from different excerpts of various people's diaries/journals. (The term for this is an epistolary novel.)

I really enjoyed Dracula.  But there were people in my book group that month who could not keep track of all the points of view. I liked that concept in Dracula and therefore was comfortable with it in The Woman in White.


This book was first brought to my attention by Ali (over a year ago I think). The Woman in White is Ali's all time favorite book. I thought it was very good also.

One of my book review groups just read this book. Ali had mentioned it, I researched it, I suggested it when we did our planning last fall. No one (in the group) was familiar with the book before I mentioned it. I had to push the group facilitator (a bit) to add it to the list. The size was daunting. We do not meet in December, we pick a long book for January, The Woman in White was our selection for this year.

The facilitator (who I had to talk into it) loved it. In fact everyone in the group loved it with the exception of one woman. She did finish it, but was not a fan. She did not like the fact that the characters were not more fully developed.

We are reading Oliver Twist for this same group next month. It will be interesting to see what she thinks of that book. The two titles are similar in a lot of ways. Both were written in serial format with monthly installments. Both are heavy on plot and have a lot of characters. And the characters are not very fully develped. both could be considered sesationalized novels. I believe Collins and Dickens were contemporaries and friends.

There were sections near the middle of The Woman in White where I thought Wilkie's foreshadowing was a bit too obvious. We talked about the foreshadowing a bit at my group. Things that I thought were very obvious, almost no one else caught. So it might have just been my brain. The oldest has said I do tend to pick up on things more than most people. Walter (the artist's) narratives were my favorites. (This happened with Dracula too, for everyone in my reading group in fact, we all loved the same narrator).

We also spent a lot of time talking about gender roles and sexual orientation and genetics and the law (in England at that time) as it relates to the characters in The Woman in White.




Here are four popular culture random facts about Wilkie Collins (according to Wiki):

Wilkie Collins is the fictional narrator of the 2009 historical novel Drood by Dan Simmons. The book is based in part on Charles Dickens's The Mystery of Edwin Drood. He also appears as a fictional character in Wanting, a 2008 historical novel by Richard Flanagan.

Actress Sarah Jessica Parker and husband Matthew Broderick named their son James Wilkie Broderick after Matthew's father and Collins.

There are Hidden Object Games based on the Moonstone and The Woman in White.

A biography of Wilkie Collins by Peter Ackroyd was featured in the radio programme Book of the Week on BBC Radio 4 in February 2012.