2010 Book 21 - Murderous Urges of Ordinary Women - A Novel

I just picked up and inhaled this book. Murderous Urges of Ordinary Women - A Novel by Lois Meltzer is fantastic!! First, the back cover:

Meet: Best friends Sandi, Janet, Ellie, and Carole - four ordinary women confronting the ordinary angst of being middle-aged and female.

"All of a sudden," Ellie says, "it's as if we've become invisible."
It makes them angry.
And that isn't all that makes them angry.
More and more the routine irritations of modern life - the tailgating trucker, the parking-spot thief - seem to fill them with this fierce, impotent rage.
Then one day, at a trendy seafood restaurant, Sandi tosses an obnoxious jerk's cellphone in the lobster tank, and nobody notices. Invisibility, the friends realize, may have its uses: A middle-aged woman might be able to get away with anything, absolutely anything....
Soon they take up Vengeance as their mid-life hobby, the way other women might take up the auto harp or learn Portuguese...

Meet: The Book Group from Hell.....

I picked up this book partially because of the title and partially because of the cover (I'm a sucker for the cover of a book). The cover has a bastardized picture of Grant Wood's painting American Gothic. This is one of my mother's favorite artists and paintings and I am therefore very susceptible to the image and the many forms that it has taken over the years.

However, once I got past the title and the cover art and started reading, I could not put this book down. It isn't a lengthy tome by any stretch of the imagination, a short 200+ pages, and it isn't very complicated, but it is a fast read and actually has a bit of "hmm, maybe we should think on this more" flavor to it. I would highly recommend this book to anybody out there and intend to put it into the hands of my mother the next time I see her.

My only concern in giving this to my mom to read is that she may just decide to introduce these ideas to her Creative Crones quilting group and then there is no telling where things might end up.

And once you've read this you'll understand that I intend to some day start my own Book Group from Hell as I approach middle age.....

Work From Home = Lose My Mind

I've had the luxury of working from home for going on three weeks now and I have to admit that I do enjoy it. I enjoy rolling out of bed and getting right to work without the fuss of showering and getting all "did up" as I would if I were to go into the office. I also take advantage of the time at home and will throw in a load of clothes or wipe down the kitchen while taking a break from staring at the computer screen. I'm definitely saving gas since my car doesn't leave the garage. And I don't have the same qualms about running to the store mid-day to grab something as I would when I worked at the office (this is mostly because I know that I won't have to spend 30 minutes when I get back trying to find a parking spot since at home I'm pretty much guaranteed that my garage will still be empty).

There are, however, some down-sides from this self-imposed hermitting. I haven't put on makeup more than twice in this three week period. I dried my hair for the first time after my shower and that had more to do with the fact that I didn't want to sit around in the "cold" with a wet head. I will go days without speaking to another soul, so I've started talking to myself more than normal....and I'm talking out loud, not just in my head....and I'm speaking to myself in a British-My Fair Lady kinda of accent. Yesterday, I was singing "The Rain in Spain..." and rolling my R's like a mad woman (the rrrrrrrrain in Spain falls mainly on the pllllaaaaiinnn...). I also have started dancing a la the ballerina hippos from Fantasia (Disney movie, not wacky American Idol singer cum reality show star).

Luckily, The Queen and I have started making it a point to get together one night a week for dinner and television catching-up. And she has been given strict instructions to contact my family if she starts seeing any truly frightening behavior that could end me up on a Bravo show like Intervention or Hoarders - Buried Alive. We want to nip that in the bud....

2010 Book 20 - The Rose Labyrinth

I just finished Titania Hardie's book The Rose Labyrinth and have to say right off that I loved this book. It was hard putting it down!! Here is the back cover write up:

Nearly four hundred years ago, brilliant Elizabethan spy, astrologer, and mathematician John Dee hid evidence of his shocking ideas in three precious boxes, the only clue to their whereabouts locked in a series of intricate riddles passed down through his female descendants. Now, the ancient puzzle and a tiny silver key have unexpectedly landed in the hands of beautiful young London-based documentary producer Lucy King. Compelled by a strange connection to the mystery and to handsome doctor Alex Stafford - whose family is inextricably linked to the legacy - Lucy embarks on an international adventure to unlock the hidden treasure of the Rose Labyrinth. Each new secret she unearths from Alex's long-buried family history reveals a bizarre coincidence that draws them together. But a dangerous force is on her trail, and the closer she gets to the end of the maze, the deadlier her quest becomes.

This was reminiscent of The DaVinci Code, Foucault's Pendulum, and other books of that ilk where there is a mystery found in ancient texts, good guys who don't necessarily agree philosophically and bad guys that are crazy fanatics of some philosophy or belief system all racing to find the "truth". I read these books and wish that I was smarter to really grasp all the references to Shakespeare, Greek/Roman/Christian mythology, and so much more...luckily for me the author provides a conundrum and then provides the answers. I would highly recommend this book, even though the ending was a little predictable...getting there was fun.
Personally, I picked this book up because of the reference to the labyrinth. I am currently going through a fascination with labyrinths and walking them. In fact, they do refer to the labyrinth at Grace Cathedral as a way to enhance your reading group. I've been to Grace Cathedral when I lived out in San Francisco. So, I'm given two recommendations. 1. This book and 2. Grace Cathedral. Enjoy!!

2010 Book 19 - Mennonite in a Little Black Dress

I just finished Rhoda Janzen's book Mennonite in a Little Black Dress while hanging out in San Francisco this past weekend. Here is what is on the back of the book:

Not long after Rhoda Janzen turned forty, her world turned upside down. It was bad enough that her husband of fifteen years left her for Bob, a guy he met on Gay.com, but that same week a car accident left her seriously injured. Needing a place to rest and pick up the pieces of her life, Rhoda packed her bags, crossed the country; and returned to her quirky Mennonite family's home, where she was welcomed back with open arms and offbeat advice. (Rhoda's good-natured mother suggested she get over her heartbreak by dating her first cousin - he owned a tractor, see.)

Written with wry humor and huge personality - and tackling faith, love, family, and aging - Mennonite in a Little Black Dress is an immensely moving memoir of healing, certain to touch anyone who has ever had to look homeward in order to move ahead.

While I didn't find this as an "immensely moving memoir", I DID find it to be poignant in a couple of places and really funny throughout. Rhoda's relationship with her mother is truly funny and in a little way reminds me of my relationship with my own mom. I would highly recommend this book to any of the girls out there. It really is a fun book with a number of thought-provoking moments.