#32

Thrilled to get my latest book! Elizabeth Berg is my favorite and she didn't disappoint with "One Upon a Time, There Was You." Three characters: John, the ex-husband; Irene, the ex-wife; Sadie the 18 year old daughter. John lives in Minnesota, Irene and Sadie in California. John and Irene got married late in life and both came from very dysfunctional families and they were doomed from the start. Too much baggage. Sadie is just starting out and a trauma causes the reuniting of her family, temporarily, and also causes her to make a sudden decision that makes the tensions rise. Love this author so much.

My fav

Zipped right through Elizabeth Berg's "The Last Time I Saw You." Once again, an excellent story. Her characters are all my age and therefore can relate to. When she flashes back to their earlier life, I'm right there, too. This time she took us to a class reunion. She centered on several characters and gave a look at what they were living now and what they'd been like 40 years ago. Love this woman! Sure hope she keeps writing because I've officially read them all and have to wait patiently for her next book.

Enjoying my day off and I know I need to start a piece of stained glass I promised to a co-worker but I'm so lacking in motivation. I donated a piece to my daughter-in-law for a charity and it sold for $200 which is great! I doubt I'll be able to do much more since I'm already suffering from arthritis of the thumbs and one little finger. Age sucks!

A discovery

When going through my stack of books to read, I happened upon another Elizabeth Berg book which I can't for the life of me figure out how I missed reading. What a find since this has been such a slow period for my favorite authors and their lack of being published. March is looking up with some new ones on the horizon.

This Berg book is "Say When" and once again, I love her! She makes the main character a contented husband and father who all of the sudden has his life pulled out from under him when his wife announces she wants a divorce. She's found someone new and he just doesn't do it for her. In fact, he never has. The ups and downs the author puts him through are.......well what can I say.......typical Elizabeth Berg. I wish she wrote more because now I'm truly saddened. I have no more of her books.

We were to have another blast of winter but other than a dusting and some severe winds, it was a disappointment. The farmer's almanac is forecasting the worst storm yet for the 7th of March so here's hoping!

After some miserable days at work I'm so regretting not getting the new job just so I would have had a chance to get away from the drama that I have to live with while working with other "women." I've always hated it! Dueling drama queens! That's what I'm surrounded by. A new assistant manager has come to replace the one that went bipolar on us. He's in his nesting phase so he is trying to make everything his "own." New way of doing everything. He sure is shaking up our area and spurring on the drama queens. One is my department head so she's determined to make all our lives miserable in the process. Oh well! I can retire in just over 19 years so surely I can hang in there for that.

Comfort Food

That's what it's like to read an Elizabeth Berg novel. Like having a big old plate of something that warms you up inside and makes you feel so good. Her latest is "Home Safe" and it was superb. Have I mentioned that I just love this woman? This time she gives us Helen Ames.......author of some renown but who is recently widowed and is now suffering from "writer's block." She went from parents who did everything for her to a husband who did the same. She's trying hard not to make her daughter her next victim. She's mathematically challenged so her husband took care of the finances and to her surprise she gets a call from her accountant informing her that there was a rather large unexplained withdrawal from she and her husband's retirement account prior to his sudden death. With this news and the now lack of income from writing she takes a job teaching a writing course at night to supplement her income. Her students are amazing. In addition she gets a mysterious call from a man in California that will change her life. Loved it!

Now for the latest James Patterson. Great to have the day off and with the blinds closed I can pretend it's miserable out and that I have to stay in and read. No wonder I'm Vitamin D deprived!

Short Stories

I've never enjoyed reading a book of short stories. I like a nice story with substance and not just a chapter's worth. I didn't realize when I bought "Ordinary Life" by Elizabeth Berg that it was a book of short stories or I would have probably not bothered. In this case it was rather enjoyable. One of the stories was a follow up of "The Pull of the Moon." Gave the husband's reply to that novel about a woman leaving home to "find herself" and sending letters back to her husband about what she was experiencing. Anyway, I enjoyed most of them but am anxious to read a real book now. Looking forward to the new Dean Koontz book but I have to wait for the free shipping from Amazon to kick in and get it here. Anyway, if you're into short stories then click the above link.

Off to a 5 hour shift in retail!

Running out of Berg

I'm down to my last two Elizabeth Berg novels. Her new one isn't due out till Spring of next year. "Durable Goods" is the first of three novels about Katie, a young girl on the cusp of womanhood. I've read and reviewed the other two and finally found the first one. It was good to have the information held within this first novel and now the puzzle pieces all fit together. Katie is an Army brat and her Mother has died of cancer leaving her with her 18 year old sister and her abusive Army Father. Time frame is the early 60's in Texas. It's hard to make friends when you move as often as they do. She's been waiting for the events her body needs to go through to make her a woman and she finally wakes to the big day. It's almost the end of the school year when her father announces another move and this time to Missouri. Her older sister refuses to leave and disappears in the night with her boy friend. Now she's alone with just her father and headed for a new life in a new state. I'm sad to have to say goodbye to Katie's life. Having grown up in that time frame so much of what she experienced were things that I did too.

Another year without trick or treaters. This makes about 22 years. It's kind of sad to not see those little faces in their scary little costumes. We live rather remote and there aren't any little ones in the area. I was going to wear my witch's hat to work today but couldn't find it. I'd like to have the power to put a curse on at least one member of management. She smacked me across the back the other night to get my attention instead of using my name and calling to me. Something like that is totally unacceptable and I could have probably gotten her fired. Of course I would have had to have the witnesses admit that they saw it happen but they are other employees that probably don't want to rock the boat. When I told Hubby about it he was so furious I thought he was going to burst a vessel. He was demanding I quit but that wouldn't be smart right now. I'll just stay as far away from her as possible and hope that we don't have another incident.

On the money

I zipped through Elizabeth Berg's "The Pull of the Moon" in a matter of hours. Now this is my favorite! She explains exactly what I feel yet so eloquently. The character, Nan, leaves home. Just packs a bag and gets in her car and heads west. Leaves her husband (she loves him dearly) and her home and heads on her adventure. Her first purchase is a journal. The book is what she writes in the journal and the letters she sends home to her husband. She's driving off the beaten track. I love that.....I hate interstates and my hubby thinks that's insane. I want to experience every curve in the road and what there is to see. "When you take the small roads you see the life that goes on there, and this makes your own life larger." The fact that Nan has long hair at 50 and even though at that age it looked sort of silly, but she always had long hair, and didn't feel herself without it. Or someone asking your age and you say 64 so you'll look young for your age. That's me! Nan stops in a trailer park and meets a woman there and they chat and have lunch. Totally different personalities but they find a common thread. One stop is at a farmhouse where an 86 year old woman is shelling peas and Nan asks if she can just sit on the porch step and listen to the peas drop in the bowl. Their conversation leads to the woman disclosing the beautiful poems her husband had written to her over the years but never showed her. She found them after he passed away. Or the conversations she used to have on that porch with all her friends as they shelled peas or husked corn. She was the last of them to still live in her own home. The rest were gone or in nursing homes. The last stop was a lemonade stand with a young girl manning the stand. She sold her lemonade for 50 cents. She also sold her poems for 50 cents. She was fresh out of poems but said she would go write her one if she would watch the stand for her. The poem had a bridge over a river full of monsters with a land of purple fields and yellow clouds. She became Empress Nana Exsanna Popana. With that she turned and headed home ready to face what was yet to come.

Berg Lover

I picked up another Elizabeth Berg and I think this is one of my favorites so far. I'll say it again.....she's the best! "Never Change" was written in early 2000 and the character (Myra) is a well trained nurse who used to work in the ER and is now in her 50's doing home visitations. Never married and never dated much. She never had close friends but classmates would go to her for advise. She always remained aloof because she didn't think she was wanted. Her clientele vary from drug users to the elite in the community. She gets a call to add another patient to her clientele list and its a former high school classmate. He is dying of a brain tumor and refuses all treatment. He knows time is limited and that there is no hope for a cure just an extension of time through chemicals and suffering and he's not having that. He's thrilled to have Myra as his nurse and through his struggles she is changed. Couldn't put the book down! Even read it on our road trip to a special aunt's 75 birthday party. I think there are a few Berg novels I haven't tracked down yet but I'm on a quest. Of course, what will I do when I've read them all. She was threatening retirement!

I can't believe that it's time to be planning the holidays already. I think we're having a small gathering at Thanksgiving. We know the Hawaii gang won't be here and I haven't heard from some of the Maryland gang. Might just be a dining room group around one table.

What can I say....

Elizabeth Berg just writes the best books. I breezed through "Open House." Samantha is living the perfect life. Husband, son and home. Suddenly her husband leaves her and she's got to make it on her own. She doesn't want to lose her house so she takes in boarders. One in the basement and one upstairs. First is an elderly woman. The moving man that helps her carry in the furniture becomes a friend to Samatha. He's not always a moving man. Somedays he walks dogs, some times he's a telemarketer, etc. A graduate of MIT and an astrophysist that just happens to enjoy a simple life. The elderly woman stays a couple months and then marries her gentleman friend. The tenant in the basement is a weird girl named Lavender Blue. Bad attitude about life. The next tenant for upstairs is a gay man who owns a beauty shop. Samantha goes through all the emotions that are expected of a 42 year old woman who's husband leaves. How she handles it is well worth the read.

Blah day....

Finished another wonderful novel by Elizabeth Berg. This one was "Joy School." It was a prequel to another of her novels and I wasn't aware of it until I recognized the main character. Katie is a newly turned 13 year old whose mother has died and she's an Army brat and dragged to a new school by her father. They've left Texas and her friends there. Now she has to find new friends. Not an easy thing for her. There's Cynthia who is intimidated by a domineering mother and Taylor who is a model and also a shop lifter. She's befriended by a Catholic priest even though she isn't Catholic and a 23 year old gas station attendant. The time frame is the early 60's. I can so relate to the events of the day since that is my time frame, too. Such a wonderful author and a wonderful story.

Still waiting on that second interview! Feel like I'm swimming in a fog.

Foot tapping

I spent last evening listening to my son play and sing in his new band. It was a very enjoyable. It's wonderful to sit back and take all the credit for your child's successes. I'm selfish that way. After all, my family was filled with singers and there were some talented musicians along the way, so why not take credit. Their good looks and intelligent............MINE! If they do something less than perfect than I give credit to their "biological mistake." Needless to say, he gets no credit!

I finished a wonderful novel by Elizabeth Berg. "True to Form" is so charming. The life a 13 year old girl in the early 1960's. Friendships, mistakes, and parental influences. Just a lovely story by one of my favorite authors.

A morning of tennis..........the French Open finals are this weekend. I'm not familiar with the women who are playing this morning but tomorrow is the Federer/Nadal match. Here's hoping that Federer can finally break Nadal's winning streak on clay. Nadal just creeps me out! I love tennis! Don't play it; just like to watch it. I've tried it but it involves exercise and that's like signing up for the plague. Doing something outside in the heat (unless it's fishing) is just not my cup of tea. It wouldn't be so bad if I had what the professionals have.....someone to chase the balls that go all over the place. I'm much better at watching!

Wonderful Story

I quickly finished Elizabeth Berg's "Dream When You're Feeling Blue." A story of a large family set in Chicago during WWII. It was about their lives while the war was going on and what they did while their loved ones were away in Europe or the Pacific. About their sacrifices for the war effort and the job the oldest daughter took in the factory to feel she was doing her part in some way. How the sisters spent their evenings at the servicemen's club helping keep up the morale of the soldiers passing through or simply writing to many of them while they did their duty for their country. Also, what those years did to change their lives and make them so very different. Hated to see the book end. Beautifully written as all Elizabeth Berg's novels are.

I haven't read Stephen King novels in quite a few years. He was hurt in an accident back in 1999 and after that I just couldn't enjoy his books any longer. His writing seemed to suffer just like he did. I started two of the books he wrote back then and just couldn't finish them. I saw an interview this morning on the TODAY Show and I understand his latest one is getting rave reviews. Compared it to his novel, "It", from 20 years ago, which I loved. I might have to give Stephen another chance. He promised to scare the reader especially if it's read late at night. I'm not rushing out to buy it but if I see it along the way I'll give it a try. I have plenty of books stockpiled now to see me through a few months. Not to mention the ones that are coming out soon that I'll just have to have.

Elizabeth Berg, again!

I picked up a copy of an older novel by Elizabeth Berg entitled "Range of Motion" and as I was reading it I felt I had just read something very similar. Since her book was written in 1995 and the similar novel was written in 2007 than I was suspicious of the most current author. Nicholas Sparks' "The Choice" is too much like this novel to my liking. Yes, the sex of the characters was reversed but otherwise it was very much the same story line. Instead of Sparks' female character lying in a nursing home in a car accident induced coma, Berg's male character ended up in a nursing home in a coma from a chunk of ice hitting him on the head. The spouses of both coma victims did the exact same things to try to bring their spouses out of the deep sleep. I really like both authors. I felt this once before when I read Jodi Picoult's "My Sister's Keeper" and then sometime later was watching an episode of CSI and other than a switch in sexes, the story was basically the same. It will be interesting when the movie of "My Sister's Keeper" comes out and whether they follow the book as well as the CSI show did.

Still not sure when I'll have my settlement. The Buyer is hanging in Michigan and I guess everyone is hoping for a Power of Attorney to miraculously appear. I don't have that much faith in Fed Ex and their overnight deliveries. I can't totally wrap up with other company until I get this out of the way.