Sherlock & Mary at it again

I have very happily completed the newest Mary Russell stor, The Language of Bees by Laurie R, King. This one kept me drawn in and wondering what was going to happen, when & by whom! There's nothing worse than a mystery that I figure out too soon. Sherlock's son gets himself into a bad way & calls for his estranged father's help. You know it can't be that simple but I don't want to write much else so I don't give anything away.

This read took me back to the earlier Mary Russell novels, when I was first introduced to her & was instantly drawn into her world. If you love a good mystery, start with The Beekeeper's Apprentice just in case you want to read them all like I did.

To be "in the business" again.

I also finished Waiter Rant by Steve Dublanica on my trip. This totally reminded me of the days when I worked in the restaurant business. It brought back so many memories, the fun times, the not so fun times, the really weird times... There is so much truth in this book I recommend it to everyone that reads my blog (that means you, Tahnia!). It's an easy, light read & I guarantee that you will learn something. When I was in the business my crew swore that everyone, and we meant everyone, should be required to work in food service for at least six months of their lives. Everyone.

I love the explanations of why some people work in this business, especially when they are well educated, there does seem to be a smear on the idea that there's something temporary about working in this business. I felt it after I graduated with my BA & still worked at the restaurant I had been in for 5 years. A certain amount of shame at still working there, waiting tables, for tips, not for a "real" salary like others my age. When I did leave and got a "real job" I took a $10,000 pay cut & worked more hours. Think about that for a minute.

I also really liked what Mr. Dublanica wrote about how people let their guard down when they eat, how you can really get to know someone's true self just by watching them in a restaurant. This is very true. I learned so much about human nature when I worked in the business. Much of my job required that I watch my tables at all times so I could be there when the diners needed me. With this watching I couldn't help but see things that I normally woudl miss. Like the little nuances between partners, how they really treat each other & how they treat strangers, or help (like me).

One of the most important lessons that I learned was that you can't please everyone all the time. This may be the most important lesson learned, this has helped me in my current life and career & helped me with my own trouble with perfectionism. Some people may never learn this lesson which could cause them unending duress in their lives. Work in a restaurant for six months, you will learn to let go & relax a little more, life is just too damn short!

I'm back in Love Again

This summer I was able to read Kanga and Baby Roo Come to the Forest & Piglet is Entirely Surrounded by Water by A. A. Milne. I'm back in love with Pooh! I don't know what was in my corn flakes before but Edward Bear & crew are delightfully entertaining. I took more to our trip to CR but I wasn't able to read them much & sure didn't take them in. I will write more about my travels with Winnie the Pooh later.

The Graveyard Book

I JUST finished The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaimen! I have two other reviews to write, books I finished on my trip but since I just finished this one and have the time I thought I'd write this one first.

Neil Gaimen is a master storyteller. This one is the story of a baby that ends up without a family & raised in a Graveyard. It's more than that, too. It's a mystery and a coming of age story. A story of longing and maturity. I love how Neil Gaimen can create these magical, extremely creative environments that surround his stories so completely, engolfing the reader in the surreal.

Lovely, wonderful, moving...

I finished this on my trip, sorry it's taken soooo long to post but this is my life, now!

Someone Knows my Name by Lawrence Hill was a wonderful read, so moving and delicious. I could not get enough of it and even neglected my 6 month old child to get to the book. Okay, not really, but I tried. To follow the narrators story was like living in someone's else's shoes. Her spirit was so strong in times that weren't meant for strong women of color, it's surprising that a man wrote this novel.

Read it, and weap.

It really didn't suck.

I have finished book two of three on my bedside table. This one was It Sucked and Then I Cried by Heather Armstrong. OMG it was terrific! It was witty and heartbreaking and so, so sweet and revealing. I could relate to many of the situations Heather went through and sympathize with her struggles so very deeply. I LOVE the monthly letters she wrote to her daughter and this has insired me to write a few to my son. Since he's five months old I think I'll do letters every six months. This so fits my personality & I'm surprised I forgot this about myself. Every once in a while one of my closest girlfriends reminds me, with love in her voice, that she still has the letter I wrote her daughter several years ago...shoot, Miss Loo Hoo is 12 or 14 now, I wrote the letter back when she was a wee one.

I strongly recommend this book to edgy new mothers. It's so funny and heartwarming that it's easy to forget the harder things Heather suffered through. It makes me feel sooo much better about myself and life as a new mother.

I will read Heather's other book, Things I Learned about my Dad in Therapy: Humorous and Heartfelt Essays, at some point when I get through my stack. Hmmm, maybe I chould create a reading wish list on this blog to keep me on track & my "followers"in the know. ;) T

Finally, I can have that cup of coffee!

I finally finished one of the many books in my pile. The Various Flavors of Coffee by Anthony Capella. This one took a while, I'm not entirely sure it wasn't my own fault that it took so long since my time for reading is less than it used to be before my life changed COMPLETELY when the boy was born.

I picked this book up mostly because of the cover & because I like coffee. Not my most thoughtful choice but it was lunch & I had to pick something fast so I could eat.

I love the descriptives in this book. Reading all of the flavors that can be found in coffee makes me want to explore being a connoisseur but then I am reminded that I hardly have time to shower, where will I get time to drink coffee all day and what will that do to the baby when I nurse him? Yikes!

Honestly I found this story a little frustrating & a little slow. I often wondered where it was going & it wasn't until the very end that I got it. I like how the ending tied it all together a lot. It added an additional layer that helped me understand. There was a sub story in the plot that I found frustrating & unbelieveable. The narrator is seduced by a slave & her master & the way it was played out was hard to believe. The concept of a virgin slave disobeying her master from the first moment she meets this gentleman is so hard to believe I was never far from wondering where it was going & not at all surprised when it turns out to be a plan between she & her master to rob the narrator.

I guess if I had to rate this out of 10 I'd give it a 6, because I really did enjoy the discriptives of coffee etc.

So can you tell I'm a new mother?

Yet another book read, I'm doing pretty well for myself. The year before The Man was born I was reading about a book a week, not so anymore.

The most recent book completed was Pooh Goes Visiting and Pooh and Piglet Nearly Catch a Woozle by A. A. Milne.

First let me tell you that I had forgotten that Pooh's given name was Edward Bear.

Second, after not reading Pooh for many, many years I am surprised at how Pooh gets into the situations that he does. In my memory Pooh is a hero, not a "Silly old bear" as Christopher Robin likes to call him. Where did my superbear come from?
I read this aloud to The Man & I would recommend reading aloud to your listeners. I'm not sure how much he paid attention but that should change in the future.

Dead as a Doornail

That's not the title of the book.

I just finished reading Club Dead by Charlaine Harris, it's one of the Sookie Stackhouse (think True Blood) books. While I will probably finish this series I am not thrilled by this work. The references to the previous books are very tiring. There seems to be this constant reference to information previously mentioned, sometimes in the same book. I find this BORING.

Some things that are out of place for me are how Sookie has gone from a back country, innocent virgin to this highly spirited, afraid of nuthin', horny assed woman...all in the first book. I also wonder why in the world all of the handsome, hunky male characters that come into Sookie's life have the serious hots for her. How does she have these super-powers? What the hell is up with that?

I think my reasons for continuing are because I am curious about the future relationship between Sookie & Eric...what is it going to be, how will the author get rid of Bill, how is it that Eric knows it will happen?

They are easy reads so they aren't that painful, I'll enjoy them more than they annoy me so I'll carry on.