“Letter 1
To:Mrs. Saville, England
St. Petersburg, Dec. 11th 17__
You will rejoice to hear that no disaster has accompanied the commencement of an enterprise which you have regarded with such evil forebodings. I arrived here yesterday, and my first task is to assure my dear sister of my welfare and increasing confidence in the success of my undertaking.”
I am about to reread Mary Shelley’s classic Frankenstein, and the above are its opening lines. Join me (if you dare).
Today’s post is a mishmash of many memes.
I want to tell you first why I ordered a copy of this particular book. First, one of my students read it for her Memoir Assignment, and her review made me want to read it. Second, in April I’m going to start a meme, “All Things Autistic” for the month, participating in National Autism Awareness Month; and third, because the author’s name begins with an “H.”
It is an easy read, done in the form of Questions and Answers, and it is written by a thirteen-year-old, autistic author. So far it is a great read.
WWWWednesdays
What are you reading? 
What did you finish lately?
What will you read next?
I will finish City Of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert .
Wednesday Word of the Day
audacious
Audacious is my word for 2020, and it means “bold” / ” courageous” / “outspoken. This is something I want to learn–to speak up for myself, to speak up when something is not right (I just finished watching the movie, The Hate U Give on Amazon. I highly recommend it.), to try new things: foods, techie skills, teaching on line; maybe you CAN teach an old dog/woman/professor new tricks! LOL
Let me know YOUR word for 2020. Write a comment in the reply box below.
AND…AS ALWAYS…KEEP ON READING. Books are cheap in a time when libraries are forced to close.
I made it through Friday, the 13th ok. Whew! But today is the Ides of March, bad luck day (well for Julius Caesar anyway).
So far today:
Two “presumed” cases of Corona have turned up in my tiny town of Alvin, TX. It seems two individuals went to the Chili Cookoff at the Livestock Show and Rodeo in Houston (before it was abruptly closed down) at the same time a girl visiting the rodeo from NY and later tested positive for the virus did, and they MAY have touched something she touched. Who knows? Hopefully, the symptoms these two individuals (same family same house, now self -quarantined at home) will be tested soon, and it will turn out to be seasonal allergies. Pine and oak pollen are at high levels today, and we are self-quarantined already to avoid the pollen in the air. Yes, we have runny eyes, sneezing, coughing, but it happens when we go out to get the paper (which is full of awful news) or put a book or toy in my Little Free Library at the end of the driveway.
Here is what I’m reading today as I wait for the Support Center at my university to offer me tutorials to learn to teach on line.
In the meantime I am in touch with a few of my students through good, old-fashioned texting. I am soooo glad I gave them my phone number. And, yes, students, those three assignments due March 17th are still due then. Submit them through email. LOL
Song recommendation: Living in the Moment on iTunes.
I have read several novels by Sue Monk Kidd and enjoyed them all. While browsing at a Harris County Library, I found a travel book co-written by Kidd and her daughter, which was published in 2009, and since it was in Large Print to boot, I checked it out.
The cover describes it as ” a mother-daughter story” and has a picture of Demeter (Earth goddess, the mother) holding pomegranates, which Persophone, godess of Spring (Demeter’s daughter) ate, condemning her to life in the Underworld for six months each year (thus the reason for winter). In the first of their travels together, the two women bought tiny glass pomegranates at an out-of-the-way jewelers shop, and thus the symbolism is set for this series of travel adventures.
Describing their travels in France, Greece, Turkey, and back home in South Carolina, USA, these women alternate chapters, often remembering travels they’d taken previously individually, as they wrote about what they were seeing together. The traveling described took place during the years 1998-2008 which chronicles the growth of their mother-daughter relationship. There are musings and thoughts triggered by sights and reactions to artifacts and art of the various cultures they encountered. Their personal growth, as well as the growth of their relationship is closely connected their musings on feminism, the Divine She, feelings about art, motherhood, and life’s eventful moments.
The book is simply lovely and causes the reader to think about and muse upon one’s own travels and one’s own life. It is a very pleasant read.
Thank you Dollycas for such a great challenge. Here are books “E” and “F”
BOOK “E”– Tony Evans, author of The Last Promise, set this 2002 romance at a Tuscan vineyard complete with Italian villa, resident artist, and asthmatic son. I had read Evan’s The Christmas Box years ago as a Third Tuesday December book club selection. When Promise showed up as a donation for my Little Free Library,
I set it aside where it sat on my TBR shelf for over a year.
The author is a great storyteller who makes the reader care about the characters. Eliana, an artist married to a womanizing, rich husband lives in one part of the villa. She meets another resident of the huge villa, Ross, an American turned tour guide at the Uffizi (an art museum) who is harboring a secret. The two fall in love, of course, but the path of true love is often rocky. What results is beautiful descriptions of Italy, intrigue and mystery, and heart-tugs galore. It is a darned good read.
BOOK “F”–This 2012 adventure novel by the mysterious author, Magnus Flyte (What a pseudonym!) is also a blog recommendation from a fellow blogger, thus killing two book objectives with one read: The Alphabet Challenge and to read 20 books recommended by blogging friends in 2020. The novel includes science, magic, history, and art in all of its forms.
Sarah Watson (a play on Sherlock Holmes’ assistant) is the strong, female protagonist. She has been invited to Prague, City of Dark Magic, by her old professor Dr. Sherbatsky, offering her a job as a musicologist specializing in Beethoven at the Lobkowicz Palace there. When she arrives, she is shocked that Professor Sherbatsky had died under mysterious circumstances that has been classified as a suicide. Sarah knows in her heart this is impossible and sets out to find out the truth of his demise.
“This deliciously madcap novel has it all: murder in Prague, time travel [in the most original, unique way I’ve ever seen it done] a misanthropic Beethoven, tantric sex [plenty of it–all in good fun] and a dwarf with an attitude” Connan O’ Brien.
This novel is a hilarious, page-turning romp with an especially exciting ending.
These two have me ready to go back to Gilbert’s City of Girls next for the “G” novel of The 2020 Alphabet Challenge.
Several bloggers participate in First Line Fridays. The goal is to copy the first line (or couple of lines) from your current read and see if anyone has read/would like to read the same book. More than once I have found a Book Buddy to read and discuss a book with me.
Here is my First Line for March 13, 2020 from Erik Larson’s The Splendid and the Vile:
” No one had any doubt that the bombers would come.”
This is my latest library borrow. It has 101 chapters and 585 pages if you count notes, bibliography and index. Do I think I can finish it in two weeks? Who knows? LOL
My back procedure was a success. Thank you for your prayers and positive thoughts. Of course, the primary reason I had it done was so I could do the required walking on my 4 day girlfriends’ visit to The Big Apple. Of course, we have cancelled the trip. I can just imagine the four of us (ages 56-82) stranded in two hotel rooms with all of NYC shut down–we’d probably kill each other!
I have done a great deal of reading done (when you’re on bed rest, it’s the perfect opportunity to read) and will be reporting in soon.
Thanks for the break. I m missed my blogging friends and “followers.” GOOD TO BE BACK!
I need a break. I will not be reading blogs or posting for awhile. I need to catch up with school, have a procedure done on my back (not much more complicated than getting shots, but more effective), and prepare for my four day trip to NYC. Every time I type those three letters, I remind myself that this is a dream come true. As McArthur reassured us, “I [too] shall return.” Thanks for your patience and your support.
Signing off for awhile,
Rae
powerfulwomenreaders 