MY (MUCH) YOUNGER BLOGGING FRIENDS

For the past year or more I have been following some teen blogging young ladies from various parts of the U.S., and even other countries, with interest. Their experiences at school, music tastes, photos, etc. differ greatly from my own. However, they are such a creative group that I have learned a great deal from them , and not only ideas for blogging.

Last Christmas, I joined them for Blogmas, posting some Christmassy thing daily for the whole month of December through January 6th, Old Christmas, and reading many, many of the posts on their blogs. This year I plan to do Blogmas again, with the moderation of just doing it twelve days. Some exceptions must be made for my advanced age. LOL

Today, after reading Sateja’s recent post on “The Last Book I…”

Thanks Sateja for the loan of your image.

I decided to accept the open tag because it looked like so much fun. All of the prompts are from a young, fresh, creative mind. The answers are strictly mine.

THE LAST BOOK I BOUGHT

An interesting novel recently reviewed on PWR

THE LAST BOOK I BORROWED

Borrowed from the library and one I am reading now

THE LAST BOOK I GAVE TO SOMEONE ELSE

Sending this book to Australia to help a friend, I hope it is as helpful to her as it was to me.

THE LAST BOOK I STARTED

I LOVE essays! This is my current favorite genre.

THE LAST BOOK I FINISHED

More essays Reviewed recently on PWR

THE LAST BOOK I RATED FIVE STARS

A Sci-fi favorite read earlier this year

THE LAST BOOK I DNF (DID NOT FINISH)

A Children’s book which was part of a series I did not look further into

THE LAST BOOK I LISTENED TO

Good, but I like print better

(I believe Diamond, one of the girls who follow each other’s blogs and whose blogs I follow was the creator of this topic. I just happened to catch it on Satjea’s post.)

Now, wasn’t that fun!

This little exercise provided by my young blogging friends provided joy in my life!

Wouldn’t you like to join in on this tag? Carla? Deb? Are you up to the challenge?

Thanks to my young blogging friend Evin for this sign off!

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Tuesday Teaser//Attn. PWR

I first heard of the Tuesday Teaser meme from Sarah of “Brainfluff.” It is a post hosted by “The Purple Booker.”  Here is my first Tuesday Teaser from May 1, 2018:

[The idea is]”… to tempt others to read the book participants are reading.  The instructions are to randomly open a book to a page, run a finger down the page and copy a couple  of sentences from where you are reading, being careful of spoiler alerts.  The reader must also give the title and author, and sometimes I include whether the book is from the library, a book I own (and might be willing to loan out when I finish) etc.

If you write a blog, please include the address of your blog for us to find your Tuesday Teaser on.  THIS IS SOMETHING I WOULD LIKE TO SEE YOU (PWR on-line member, friend, first-time commenter) PARTICIPATE IN.  Just scroll down until you see the open [reply] box or click on comments on the left-hand side, read others’ comments, and scroll down until you find an open comment/reply box that you can type in.  After you have copied your Tuesday Teaser into the box, hit post comment. And, voila! You are either there, published or awaiting me to moderate which I will do asap, so your Teaser will be published for all to see.  Perhaps someone will be tempted to read your book! Who will be first to put down her/his Tuesday Teaser?

Here is my Tuesday Teaser from The Thoughtful Dresser by Linda Grant.

“There are nostalgic items I do not want but do not want to throw away, and there are things that don’t fit, and things that don’t suit me, and things that were always a mistake, and things I meant to wear but didn’t, and the workhorses of my collection…”  Then she gives some examples of these.  Has she been peeking into my closet?  Who knew there was a book about clothes and shopping for them?  It is at the Alvin Library (after me, please, I’m only halfway through.

I have a wonderful idea PWR members! Let’s have a clothes exchange like the book exchange we do every so often when we get together. Anybody interested?”

I still think a clothing exchange would be fun in summer,2019.

Sunday (Evening) Post

Sunday afternoon brought a meeting of the Powerful Women Readers book group to Rae’s for white chili and a lovely afternoon. Eleven women were present, and the book discussion was perhaps the best we have had so far.  Nancy was the only one who had read Fannie Flagg’s The Whole Town is Talking which became a lot more appealing when she informed us the townspeople were talking in the town’s cemetery, reminiscent of Thornton Wilder’s Our Town.  Several Women were interested in ordering the book from the library. Rae discussed Leon Hale’s Paper Hero with Janet’s help.  Both had read the book as a selection for the library’s Third Tuesday Book Club. Ann finished the discussion with a lecture on Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, including general comments on 1984 by George Orwell and other books that warned what could happen in the future–which is now! Several women had read the book and agreed that the story was basically a tragedy, one which we, as the “future” inhabitants of this planet had better heed. Ann and several of us, however, who have grandchildren or are around young people, pointed out that today’s youth transmit a ray of hope for the future, for they are entering today’s  Brave New World with confidence and compassion.

Finished this past week:  One Damned Thing After Another and Just Like Jesus, which I’ll review soon.

Continuing to Read: Racing in the Rain (I’ve laid this aside for a while and want to get back to it.)

Started: Small Admissions which is a light, very amusing read.

Today will be clean up and catch up day. Later this afternoon, I’ll post Monday Musings instead of Monday Morning Musings.  That first cup of coffee is calling me.

SUNDAY (EVENING) POST

I can’t believe it’s Sunday again! And January is almost gone as well.  My how time does fly.

What I finished this past week: The Jealous Kind by James Lee Burke (reviewed in post preceding this one) and Textbook by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, described as “not exactly a memoir”(will be reviewed this week)

Continuing to read:  Freeks by Amanda Hocking

Peeked into and read a chapter or two: Just One Damned Thing After Another, the first book in the “Chronicles of St. Mary’s” series by Jodi Taylor, The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahri, and Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein, all of which I want to finish, for sure.

What I watched: One episode of “Bull,” Two new season episodes of “This is Us” and a couple of “To Tell the Truths”.

School is well underway and clicking right along. The Reading Improvement class for kids will be at it’s midway point this coming Wednesday, and I will have to decide whether to offer it again in March and April or to wait and offer it this summer, which I’m sure will happen.  Decisions, decisions, decisions.

PWR (Powerful Women Readers, our on-line book group) meets here  a week from today, and we will discuss the three assigned books (Members are asked to read one of the three.), Fannie Flagg’s The Whole Town’s Talking, Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, or local writer, Leon Hale’s Paper Hero.  I have read two of the three and am hoping someone will bring a copy of Fannie Flagg to loan Sunday. There will be a door prize from a local boutique. Contact Rae if you can help with the refreshments.

And, as Porky Pig always said, “That’s All Folks!”

TUESDAY TEASER

You, too, can participate. Simply open a book you’re currently reading, copy a couple of sentences from a random page, and we’ll see if we’re tempted to add the book to our TBR (To Be Read) list.  Be sure to give us the title and author, and please avoid spoilers.

Here’s mine from Freeks by Amanda Hocking:

“Since we’d gotten to Caudry, I’d had these weird flashes of cold, especially in my chest, but that was all.  There I was , mere feet away from this super-powerful water, and everybody else’s senses were going wacko.” (The characters are called “freeks” because they have super-powers.) “That was all the proof I needed that I didn’t have the same ‘gift’ as my mother.”

Tuesday Teaser

Grab a book you’re currently reading, turn to a random page and type two or so sentences.  Try to avoid spoilers. The idea is we will be tempted to add what you are reading to our TBR list/stack. Be sure to include the title and author.

Here’s mine for today: “Behind me the branches and trees crunched and snapped as the creature tore through them. I didn’t scream–there was no one who could come to help me, nothing that could stop the monster that lurched behind me.  The only thing I could do was run faster.”

This is from Freeks by Amanda Hocking–and this is just the Prologue!

TUESDAY TEASER

Ok, PWR members and friends thereof, it’s time for your Tuesday Teaser.  Let us know what you’re currently reading by randomly opening your book and copying two or so lines to tease us into adding your current read into our TBR (To Be Read) List. Be careful not to include any spoilers.   Here’s mine from The Cat, The Quilt, and The Corpse, a cozy mystery by Leann Sweeney from her “Cats in Trouble” series:

Several crates of cats which had been rescued from the dead cat-stealer’s house have just arrived at the cat-quilter’s home for temporary fostering.  “The Siamese  began wailing its head off, and my three [cats] ventured into the foyer to check out the noise.  Merlot (one of her cats) took one look at those crates (full of rescued cats), hissed and hightailed it back to wherever he’d been hiding.  But apparently Syrah (her second cat) wasn’t bothered, and Chablis (her third cat) was too drugged to care about possible unwelcome visitors.”

Who was this derelict dead man who had stolen her precious cat? And more important, who had stabbed him to death?  If only the cat could talk.

 

Monday Morning Musings

Every so often I’ll get a call from a former student who is originally from Bejing.  It has been years since she was in my Intermediate Writing class, mostly filled with international students, but she still considers me her teacher–a fact which pleases me a great deal. Sometimes she wants to know what an American expression or idiom means.  Recently I made a list of commonly used idioms and am going to share them this rainy morning:

“Let the cat out of the bag” or “spill the beans” means to tell a secret unintentionally.  Ex. I thought your daughter knew you were thinking about moving.  I didn’t mean to let the cat out of the bag.

“Bite the dust” means to die.  In the Wild West, a cowboy who was shot “bit the dust.”

“When pigs fly” means it (whatever you’re talking about) isn’t ever going to happen.  Ex. I will let my son go to see that trashy movie when pigs fly.

“Heard it through the grapevine” means one heard something from gossip exchanged person to person.  Ex. Mrs, Jones is getting a divorce.  I heard it through the grapevine.

“Go cold turkey” means to quit something suddenly and completely. Ex. I gave up cigarettes cold turkey.

A “wet blanket” is someone who ruins all the fun.  Ex. Don’t invite Mary to the party; she’s a wet blanket.

When one is “talking up a blue streak,” he/she is talking very fast.  Ex. The two ladies seated at the corner table were talking up a blue streak.

“Sit tight” means do not do anything until you are told what to do next. Ex. Until you hear from me about applying for the loan, sit tight.

These are just a few of the hundreds, maybe thousands of idioms used in daily American speech.

Which ones do you hear all the time?  Scroll way down and leave a reply.  The box will open up for you. List an idiom you have heard, or if there is an expression/idiom that is not clear, use “reply” to ask what it means.

“Be seeing you” means goodbye for now.

SUNDAY (EVENING) POST

This will be brief because I have spent the day finishing grading final papers and starting averaging grades for the semester.  Wednesday of this week will be the last time I see this particular group/class of students.  I have become very attached to them and am glad to report that all are doing well.

What I Am Reading:  Wayfaring Stranger by James Lee Burke, which is the first book in his trilogy about the Holland family.  This first book starts during WWII and I am currently in River Oaks, Houston, in the 50’s.  Two buddies from the war have gone into the oil business, one’s wife is a big Hollywood actress and the other’s is being investigated as a Communist during the 50’s Red Scare/Witch Hunts that took place.  Life isn’t easy.

Conor Kelly and the Four Treasures of Eirean which takes place 4,000 years ago and is my first step into studying/reading Irish/Gaelic mythology.  It is also the first book I am reading on my new Kindle app on my laptop.

Ali Smith’s How to Be Both, which I don’t fully understand but am enjoying a great deal for the wonderful writing, and I’m already planning to read it again when I finish, maybe during Spring Break when it will seem like a brand new book.

The Arthritis Cure by Theodoakis, Adderly, and Fox, which was a totally new concept when published in 1997 (treatment via Glucosamine and Chondroitin Sulfate) which I intend to discuss with my family doctor next week when I see her.  I am in need of relief from osteoarthritis.  (It could be much worse, rheumatoid arthritis, so I feel blessed in spite of the constant pain.)

What I Watched Last week:  Lots of mindless TV for frequent breaks from paper grading and to rest up–My favorites so far are the following: “Timeless,” where I went to the Alamo and was involved in Watergate in two different episodes; “Gray’s Anatomy”, the medical soap opera I think I’ll never give up on; “This Is Us”–It looked good so I taped it.  I have watched three episodes and am so glad I have followed it, excellent acting; “Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries” which can be summed up in one word–delightful!

I have also started Christmas baking and decorating the house just for the two of us.  Pretty soon I will start in on Christmas cards and letters, for some early birds of our acquaintance send theirs out Thanksgiving weekend–no kidding. I refuse to send ANY until December first. I will probably be sending the last around December 23rd.

I am opening my unfinished, in-progress- house to any PWR members who want to get in out of the shopping hustle and bustle for a few minutes, put their feet up on my sea chest (coffee table substitute) and drink coffee and take a few deep breaths. Mi casa est su casa!

Monday Morning Musings

Instead of doing escape reading this past week, I have been watching escape (or “mindless”, as I refer to it) TV.  And, you know, it’s not so bad.  I gave up on The Good Life when the plot became rather outrageous and the jokes a bit offensive, but several other series have caught my fancy, and fortunately, when they first premiered this season, I had the foresight to set them to “record series.”

Timeless, a time travel series, is one I really like.  My Cultural Historian friend would be appalled and spend the whole viewing time picking out inaccuracies, but I find the adventures suspenseful and the subplots that carry over from episode to episode engaging. What WOULD happen if we travelled back in time and changed some tiny detail?

Designated Survivor is also turning out to be a “bring you back next week” experience and has some of the best acting so far. Also, Speechless, a timely show about a family dealing with a severely disabled member, has some fine comedy actors as well.

Series I have followed since their inception include The big Bang Theory, Gray’s Anatomy and Scorpion.  The Big Bang always makes me laugh, and I have followed those lovable geniuses/nerds from high schoolers to responsible (?) adults.   Gray’s Anatomy has seen many changes over the thirteen or so years I have faithfully watched it, but new, interesting characters and new, interesting plots keep arriving.  The medical cases and miracles are not of as much interest to me as the interactions and relationships of the characters.  The writer is a genius and writes herself into corners only to get out of them in ways that have you saying, “I never saw that one coming!”   Scorpion is guaranteed to keep you on the edge of your seat all hour, shouting, “Oh no!” at the TV, and “action packed”? The show invented the term.

Obviously, I have done very little reading this past week, except for the lovely Gentleman in Moscow, which I am drawing out to make it “last longer.” I did get about 2/3 into an insipid romance novel (Why I ever started it is a valid question) that showed up in my LFL which I thought I would like, and I finally put it back in the LFL for someone who will like it more.

Since I will be grading final papers starting Wednesday, I doubt I’ll do much other reading, so maybe I’ll watch more episodes of mindless TV until being ready to make a big stab at my TBR stack of books over Thanksgiving Holiday.

Happy reading (or watching, as the case may be).