Author Walkie Talkie Book Club

A Little Bookish Post

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I haven’t written about books for a while, mostly because I haven’t been a rock star in the book-reading department lately!  I spent a lot of my August reading time catching up on my magazine reading.  There is no way I will meet my already-modified reading goal for 2012, but I’m ok with that.  I’ve enjoyed the books that I’ve read this summer, choosing fluff, classics, and good old recommended fiction.

The Shoemaker's Wife

The Shoemaker’s Wife by Adriana Trigiani

Isn’t that a beautiful cover?  I wouldn’t mind a poster of it in my “library” upstairs.  The orange would totally clash with my cherry-colored walls, but that would be cool, too.  I love books by Trigiani.  I am looking forward to a walking food tour of Greenwich Village with her tour group!  I’m going to TRY to re-read one of her books before I go!
Pillow Talk

Pillow Talk by Freya North

This was one of those little fluffy books that I read for some mindlessness.  It was “meh,” according to my Goodreads review. 🙂  Just a little too long.

 

Thanks For The Memories

Thanks For The Memories by Cecelia Ahern

Another mindless book which I picked up cheaply at B&N a while ago.  It had an “intriguing premise and surreal plot,” according to my Goodreads review.  Deja Vu 🙂

 

The Importance of Being ErnestView the full version of this book online

The Importance of Being Ernest by Oscar Wilde

I listened to this on audio (soooooooo delightful!) and read it free on Kindle (sooooooooooooo witty!) and participated meagerly in Wallace’s 3 week readalong.  And then I watched the movie.  Such good stuff!  Why did I wait so long to read some Wilde?

The Art of Mindful Living

Mindfulness for Beginners

Mindfulness for Beginners by Jon Kabat-Zinn

Two audio books read by their authors who are “gurus” in this area.  I am feeling a little scattered this summer, so it was good to listen to these and I hope that I can continue to think about them and put mindfulness into practice!

The Sweet Life in Paris: Delicious Adventures in the World's Most Glorious - and Perplexing - CityView a preview of this book online

The Sweet Life in Paris: Delicious Adventures in the World’s Most Glorious – and Perplexing – City by David Lebovitz

How fun! This was a fast read, because it was filled with recipes that I’ll never make or already have a good enough recipe for thanks to other great books filled with recipes.  But he is a hoot.  I think that if I go to Paris, I will try to look him up and make him buy me lunch.  I would have to prove myself a worthy dinner companion, but I think he would do it!

Beautiful Ruins

Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter

And then I bought this for Ferragosto.  Set in a small village in Italy in the 60s and jumping forward to Hollywood today, it was a gem of a story – “Beautiful and unpredictable – just how I like ’em” is how I put it on Goodreads.

And now… The Chaperone

The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty

I am enjoying this a lot!  Only about 1/3 through (I think – dang iPad), but a nice and engaging story.

FC book club is setting up a date, and we are supposed to have read “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks,” which I’ve heard is not too engaging.  I’ll skim it and then we’ll move on.  Book club is mostly about connecting with those women, right?  🙂

I think I’ll try to participate in the Book Club that the Emergency Department has going.  I’ve read almost all of the books they’re reading, but that’s ok.  Again, it’s about connecting, right?

And speaking of connecting, very excited to start Year Three of the Cosmo Girls tomorrow night!  Ready to dive in and organize the year!  Yay!

Well, off to read!  Haven’t said that for a while, but I mean it!  🙂

If you’ve made it to the end and have any ideas for other BOOKISH things to do while I’m in NYC, please let me know!  I plan to do that book/walking/food tour in Greenwich Village and to find The Strand bookstore.  Anything else that will be easy and fun?

Yay!

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Another thing on my list!

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Goals for 2012

Towards the bottom of my list is “write – letters.”  So when I read about the website moreloveletters.com, I signed up for their email updates right away.  Their premise is that the world needs more love letters – handwritten letters written to encourage or lift up people who need them.  They collect the handwritten missives and then mail bundles of letters to new college students, people who give and give to others and then find themselves to be in need of support or anyone who is nominated to be a recipient of a bundle.

I’m planning to participate by simply writing brief and uplifting notes including favorite quotes.  I’m not too artsy so I won’t be getting out the glitter guns or making paper origami to mail to a lucky recipient, but I love getting personal mail so  I figure the beauty of the writing won’t matter.

My first quote, a favorite today, is from Ralph Waldo Emerson:

Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.

What would you include in an uplifting handwritten love letter to a stranger?

A perforated Penny Red with letters in four co...

A perforated Penny Red with letters in four corners and plate 148, therefore printed 1871 or later. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

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Ferragosto Food Memories

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Delicious Italian Moscato for Drinks on the Dock!

Ferragosto 2012 is a beautiful memory!  It was hard to leave on Friday, as the sky was blue, that sun was warm and the air was cool… perfect for basking!  So bask I did… and when I got home I was exhausted!  All that sunshine wears a person out!

I mostly took pictures of the deliciousness that we all prepared… from the first bottle of bubbly (pictured above, which will definitely be purchased again! So delicious!), to …

Chunks of chicken with pesto pasta salad – oh my! Grilled peaches and homemade lemon sorbet not pictured (we ate them too fast to photograph!).

Antipasto platter for supper

Build-your-own-breakfast – always add chocolate (in the form of zucchini bread!)

 

Eggs in pepper shells – delicious!

 

Creamy cheesy and cucumber sandwiches on the softest pumpernickel!

Margaritas with beautiful garnishes!

More bubbly before the day ends…

I know I took pictures of people, too, but the food and drink were so delicious that we had to capture every bit!

But the most priceless thing about Ferragosto is the quiet time and the laugh out loud  moments, the serious talks and the silliness.  It was great to have people there all week – it just meant that I didn’t get as much reading done as I did last year when I was there alone!

Life is good.

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It also was National Day of Relaxation and Julia Child’s birthday.

We celebrated with lots of relaxation and good food, good drinks, and good laughs!

Life is good!!

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Ferragosto 2012 – August 15 was a perfect day.

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Ready for Ferragosto!

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Close to what I’ll be doing!

From my first Ferragosto invitation:

What is Ferragosto, you ask?  Ferragosto is an Italian holiday celebrated on August 15.  Originally, it was related to a celebration of the middle of the summer and the end of hard labor in the fields.  In later times, the Roman Catholics adopted this date as the Holy Day of Obligation to commemorate the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  Before the Catholics, however, this holiday was celebrated in the Roman Empire to honor the gods – in particular Diana – and the cycle of fertility and ripening.  And that’s where it gets its name – “Feriae Augusti” = Festival of Augustus. 

In present days, Ferragosto is mainly a short holiday when Italians take brief vacations.  The holiday often coincides with the Perseid meteor showers which must be viewed in the pre-dawn hours.  

I am not Italian, going to Italy, or wanting to celebrate my fertility and ripeness!  But I do want to have a “holiday” time with friends and family! 

Monday night I am heading out for my 3rd annual Ferragosto vacation.  My suitcase is filled with sweats and swimming suits.  One decent outfit in case I want to be seen in public.  And cute pajamas.

Groceries include Italian wine and moscato, cheeses and crackers, fruit and cookies and bread.  Italian grapefruit soda and salami.  Others will bring tomatoes, peppers and salad.  We’ll see if we get around to grilling chicken or if it will just be tomatoes and zucchini and peaches on the grill.  🙂

Also packing magazines, books, and movies (Italian and non-Italian chick-flicks); the iPad is loaded with Italian music and my favorite Italian movie. The sunscreen and nail polish will be tossed in for discretionary use.

Looking forward to being at the end of the dock, hanging with beautiful friends and family, and being lazy on the water.  Good talks, good food and drinks, good times…

Come and join!

Maybe you’ll want to join me next year – put it on your calendars!  August 14-19, 2013!  I already put in for vacation!

Wherever you are, have a Buon Ferragosto!

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Happiness is… my own domain name?

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According to the Secret Society of Happy People today is the 13th Annual Happiness Happens Day.  August is Happiness Happens Month.  Or something.  But I’m all about Happiness, so I’ll buy in to anything that may make others think about happiness and what makes them happy and how to make others happy.  🙂

So for today, here’s what’s making me happy:

  • My own domain name.  Yes, I dropped the .wordpress.com and am now simply walkietalkiebookclub.com.  For $18 per year, why not?  Makes me feel legitimate or something.  I’ll check with my email subscribers to see if they still receive the email, but otherwise you’ll have to bookmark the very first website that I ever owned!
  • I got 7 hours of sleep today!  I worked overnight and was sooooooo tired this morning. I almost dozed off TWICE at work.  I fell asleep shortly after 7 and woke up at 10 and was worried… but next thing I knew it was after 2!  Yay! Bring on night two!
  • Planning and preparing for Ferragosto!  I’ll blog more about Ferragosto later this week…
  • Planning things, in general, makes me happy.  Right now I’m planning events for Cosmo Girls and my townhome community, another trip to NYC for my birthday, concerts (Jeremy Messersmith and Glen Hansard in September and Bruce Springsteen in November!), a Door County B&B stay with my fellow trivia contest winner in October, and maybe a spring adventure!  I seriously have a piece of paper by my computer with my upcoming days off listed and possible events to check into.  (I want to get to 4Daughters Winery!)

    He doesn’t look so happy!

  • The UPS brought my latest purchases from B&N yesterday, including a frame with the quote by Victor Borga, ” Laughter is the shortest distance between two people.” I can’t wait to put a fun picture in there! Other purchases included the When Harry Met Sally DVD (where did mine go???) and the book “Wild” by Cheryl Strayed for Marissa (I’m sure I’ll read it sometime, too!).

Well, that’s a snippet.  I’m sure I’ll think of more.  I love the Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast and they end every show with “What’s Making You Happy this Week.”  I’ll try to do more of that!  SO much to be happy about…

What’s making you happy this week?

Off to get ready for work!

 

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Another great read-along hosted by Wallace at Unputdownables! Glad I can “play along”!

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Welcome to the The Importance of Being Earnest read-a-long! We’re reading this book through August. You can see the reading schedule and guidelines on the Starting Post Page.

Week One: Read Act One

Discussion:

How do I start? I put a sticky note or two (or three) on almost every page, so apparently that method of keeping track of what I like isn’t going to work for this book. Can I just say that so far — I LOVE Oscar Wilde? I’ve seen two of his plays acted out, but never read anything by him. I already knew he made funny stories, but I wasn’t sure how much was the actors’ performances and how much was the writing. Now I’m tempted to say that it would take a pretty terrible actor to make Wilde’s work unamusing.

Favorite character: Algernon (aka Algy). Brilliant. So funny, just the kind of biting…

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I got a text this evening from a friend who said she thought of me when she heard the news of Maeve Binchy’s death today.  I hadn’t heard the news yet, so I was thankful to hear it from a friend!  I’ve written before on my blog about how Binchy’s books make me feel and even chose one of her books as my favorite read of 2011.

I have vivid memories of discovering her books in the Rushford Public Library and devouring all that were on the shelf, and years later finding comfort in their presence in the corner where we sat for library board meetings.  When I’m asked for a book recommendation, I always ask if they’ve read her books.  If I’m asked to pick out a book from the library for someone, her books are top on my list.  I know that her books have greatly influenced my…

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Ah, Maeve. *sigh*

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Maeve Binchy 1940-2012

I got a text this evening from a friend who said she thought of me when she heard the news of Maeve Binchy’s death today.  I hadn’t heard the news yet, so I was thankful to hear it from a friend!  I’ve written before on my blog about how Binchy’s books make me feel and even chose one of her books as my favorite read of 2011.

I have vivid memories of discovering her books in the Rushford Public Library and devouring all that were on the shelf, and years later finding comfort in their presence in the corner where we sat for library board meetings.  When I’m asked for a book recommendation, I always ask if they’ve read her books.  If I’m asked to pick out a book from the library for someone, her books are top on my list.  I know that her books have greatly influenced my love of Ireland and all things Irish.

In 2011 I read her most recent book, Minding Frankie, and I was worried before I started reading that maybe it had been so long since I’d read a Binchy book that I had glorified them too much and I wouldn’t love it as much as I remembered loving her books.  But it felt like coming home and ended up being my favorite book I read in 2011. Her books are so comfortable and the characters and communities are beautifully and vividly and simply described.

I am thankful that I discovered her years ago and have had her books and characters in my life for probably more than 20 years.  I checked amazon.com tonight and found a short story she published in 2011 (A Week in Summer) and I immediately downloaded it.  I can’t wait to curl up to another new Binchy book and I’m sad that there won’t be any more.

Off to read a little Binchy before bed.  🙂

Do you have a favorite Binchy book? Who is the author you always find yourself recommending to people?

Binchy Bibliography, compliments of Wikipedia:

Novels[9]

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TGI… what day is it?

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I love Pooh

I still feel fortunate every day that I have a new job that I love.  I love the crazy hours, I love the crazy situations I get to try to problem solve, I love the people I’m learning from.  It’s been a full six months that I’ve worked this job of switchy shifts!

I love the crazy hours but I am still having a little bit of an “adjustment disorder” to my first summer (practically since forever) of working like a normal person.

No fun!

I’ve had ‘personal pity parties’ a few times this summer, as I feel pretty isolated from my typical social life with friends and family.  It seems that when my family and friends are available or doing fun things, I am working, and when I have time off or want to plan something fun with friends, everyone has plans.  I hate spending my time off alone!

Half-Full!

I do pride myself on a positive outlook and I remind myself often that there are so many great things about my job and my life and that it won’t always be this crazy – or if it is, I will get used to it!  I am confident that next summer will be better, as I am better able to plan time off – at least that’s what I keep telling myself!

Have you had a big lifestyle change that impacted your time with family and friends?  How did you cope?

 

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