The Time Traveler's Wife -- Audrey Niffenegger

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

My review

rating: 2 of 5 stars
The Time Traveler's Wife is a story about a man who travels back and forth in time and creates an enduring relationship with his future wife.



I loved Audrey Niffenegger's concept but the book fell far short of my expectations. Her characters were inconsistent and because of the inconsistencies it was difficult to become involved in their lives and care about their futures.



The biggest problem in the book is with Niffenegger's endless attempts to make her characters hip with long lists of subculture bands and the arts not to mention her use of obscene language. She tries much too hard to add hipster credibility and, frankly, it is forced and boring--the opposite of what she was trying to do with these characters.



The second problem with the story is the writing itself. While there are moments of greatness in the writing, most of the content is wordy and tiring yet somehow through all those words, wonderful minute details were lost leaving the characters lacking depth. There was an entire paragraph devoted to the contents of a shopping list but the anger Clare feels at always being left behind is only briefly mentioned at various points through the story.



I appreciate the general idea of the story. That story would have been a great story to tell. Unfortunately, it ended up hidden behind Niffenegger's idea of a hipster, wordy language and flat characters.


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The Time Traveler's Wife -- Audrey Niffenegger

Smoked Paprika Roasted Salmon with Wilted Spinach

Serves 8

1/4 cup orange juice
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon olive oil, divided
2 teaspoons thyme leaves, divided
2 pounds salmon fillets
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon orange zest
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 bag (10 ounces) spinach leaves

Mix orange juice, 2 tablespoons of the oil and 1 teaspoon of the thyme in small bowl. Place salmon in a large glass dish. Add marinate; turn to coat well. Cover and refrigerate at least 30 minutes, longer for extra flavor.

Mix sugar, smoked paprika, cinnamon, orange zest, remaining 1 teaspoon thyme and sea salt in small bowl. Remove salmon from marinade. Place in a greased foil-lined baking pan. Discard any remaining marinade. Rub top of salmon evenly with smoked paprika mixture.

Roast salmon in preheated 400 degree F oven 10 to 15 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork.

Meanwhile, heat remaining 1 teaspoon oil in large skillet on medium heat. Add spinach; cook and stir 2 minutes or until wilted. Serve salmon over spinach.

Smoked Paprika Roasted Salmon with Wilted Spinach

Trunk Music

Trunk Music by Michael Connelly

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
Trunk Music is a good crime novel. The story flows nicely and the characters are interesting to read. It is exactly the novel you would expect in this genre.


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Trunk Music

Atticus Cafe' Scones

2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
6 tablespoons cold butter
1/2 cup chopped walnuts, currants or blueberries
2 eggs with milk added to total 1/2 cup

Preheat oven to 375 and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Mix dry ingredients in bowl. Cut butter into dry ingredients until gravel-sized. Then rub the lumps of butter between palms--imagine flattening the butter into leaves. Work quickly so the butter doesn't soften. When the mixture resembles cornmeal stir in nuts or fruit.

Beat the eggs and milk together into measuring cup then pour over dry ingredients and toss. Gather mixture like a snowball and flatten it on the counter into a disk about 3/4-inch thick. Cut the disk into pie-shaped wedges and lay them on the prepared cookie sheet. Bake until golden brown, 25-30 minutes.

Atticus Cafe' Scones

The Funhouse--Dean Koontz

The Funhouse by Dean Koontz

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
The Funhouse is a little predictable and exactly what you would expect from Dean Koontz. I liked the gore and the quick pace of the story. However, I felt there was some unfinished business at the end.


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The Funhouse--Dean Koontz

The Silly Gooses -- Dav Pilkey

The Silly Gooses by Dav Pilkey

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
The Silly Gooses A Very Silly Book is just that! An exciting silly story of a goose who meets his soul mate who get married and hatch eggs...of course all in the silliest way possible! This is a fun story that my four year old daughter loved. She cracks up every time she retells the story!


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The Silly Gooses -- Dav Pilkey

The First Patient -- Michael Palmer

The First Patient by Michael Palmer

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
The First Patient is a quick paced drama set in D.C. I picked this one up to have as a quick read that offered drama, action and a bit of suspense but did not require much thought. Michael Palmer delivered. The story was a bit predictable; I had it figured out pretty early. But the action was good, the writing was quick and to the point. The dialogue was a bit forced in some areas and a little weak in others but overall The First Patient matched my expectations.


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The First Patient -- Michael Palmer

The Help -- Kathryn Stockett

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
The Help is a phenomenal story of the relationship between southern white women and their black maids during the Civil Rights Movement. Kathryn Stockett created rich characters that readers want to get to know. The Help deals with tough subjects with love, humor and frankness leaving readers feeling as if they were transported back to 1960s Mississippi.


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The Help -- Kathryn Stockett

New Chapter this Fall

Fall 2009 marks an interesting new chapter: All of my children will be in school!

Wow! All of them!

I won't get into how bittersweet that will be...that is another entry for another day.

But having all of my kids in school leaves me with an interesting new phenomena...TIME.

Time for myself, by myself doing what makes me happy. It will mean a clean house--at least between the hours of 8 and 3:30!

So in the interest of enjoying my new time I decided to do another semester of online classes. Thankfully, I still have plenty of options--I only need to be on campus for Biology and Math.

Jeff was telling me to take the semester off and just enjoy myself after 11 years of being a stay-at-home-mom, but that seems...well, not something I'm interested in doing. I fear that if I take a semester off, I will not want to go back.

School is hard work, doubly so online as deadlines are firm (no exceptions), there is no professor to bounce questions and ideas off of (though they are always available by phone, email and office meetings) and frankly, you have to be freakishly disciplined to get through each course. I spend a lot of time with my face in my books and computer reading lectures, watching video lectures, listening to taped lectures. And while it is difficult, I like using my brain.

So next semester I will continue with online classes for one more semester!

Cross your fingers that I am able to secure:
Philosophy
Cultural Anthropology
Economics I
Interpersonal Communication

I can study with my new-found time...

Studying without interruption? Sounds like heaven!

New Chapter this Fall

Too Violent?

Amazingly people are fuming over this domestic violence PSA. Apparently, the violence depicted is too over the top for the average viewer. Unfortunately, the violence depicted is real, usually far, far worse. (Imagine a child watching this happen between her parents from a hiding spot!) This happens in many, many households. But, I guess we are not supposed to talk about it...still.

Too Violent?

Read This 4/17/09

Priscilla and the Pink Planet by Nathaniel Hobbie

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
Priscilla and the Pink Planet is a cute little story of a Priscilla's search for some color. The story is filled with sweet illustrations and rhymes.


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Read This 4/17/09

A-isms

A, my fabulously funny four year old, comes up with some hilarious snippets of wisdom. My Facebook friends may remember most of these little gems.

While discussing fun things she could do alone while I work on my homework, A announced, "I am too young to have an imagination."

This morning she was working a word search but instead of finding the words in the word list (the letters next to each other) she goes through each word and finds and circles each individual letter randomly, only crossing off the word after she's found all of the letters.

The other day she announced she is "bald without her glasses". (She does not wear glasses and was talking about her sunglasses.)

She loves to play fetch with one of our cats. (Yes our cats like to play fetch.) Except for A's method is to pick the cat up and toss her at the toy...oddly enough the cat enjoys this game. (I swear!)

That's just a very, very small look into her little mind. She is a hoot!

A-isms

Read This 4/12/09

Killer Heat by Linda Fairstein

My review

rating: 1 of 5 stars
Killer Heat had such potential but it just never produced the nail-biting drama promised on the cover. The dialogue in the story was weak, choppy and confusing at times. And worse than bad dialogue, rather than writing complex characters the author relied on stereotypes and put-downs to elevate her heroine. The main character, of course, was startlingly beautiful while all of the other characters were tubby and round and waddled...so full of faults that the main character was perfect in comparison. There was no character development, aside from everyone else being fat and ugly. The only bright spot about this book was the historical aspects from the City of New York.



It was difficult to finish.


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Read This 4/12/09

Read This 4/12/09

Flotsam by David Wiesner

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is a fantastic story told with vibrant illustrations!


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Read This 4/12/09

A Buddhist Service at the Rime Tibetan Buddhist Center 3

Part 3 of 3

The most moving portion of the service was when the sangha chanted “Om Vahrasattva hum” one hundred eight times in rapid succession. The chanting began after everyone spoke the Vajrasattva mantra and we noticed the members discreetly removing mala beads from their pockets or the seats beside them. The chanting began quickly and, at first, the sangha was out of step but by the tenth repetition suddenly the entire sangha fell perfectly in tune with one another leaving the room ringing with their combined voices. I was moved as I heard and felt the unity grow and surround the shrine room.

Another ten minute meditation was followed by a special guest speaker, Dr. Terry Brody. Dr. Brody spoke about the way the Buddhist handles times of crisis and how to learn from those times of struggle. Personally, this was a welcome lesson after having a particularly difficult start to this year. I listened to her speak saying the things that I knew to be true—that bad times do not define us, that we should not let ourselves become paralyzed with inaction but fight against the urge to close off to the world and find the middle path. She recited some of her favorite quotes from the Dalai Lama and other spiritual leaders and the service concluded with a prayer to the Dalai Lama for a long life and a dedication of merit to the sangha. The horns, drums and cymbals began again as the preceptors extinguished the candles, bowed once again to the Buddha and exited in the same manner as their entrance.


While the Tibetan Buddhist service was a lot to take in, it left us an overall sense of peace and contentment. Our only disappointment was Lama Stanford was in India so we were unable to meet him in person and the center preceptor filling in for him skipped the guided meditation. We were hoping for the guided meditation to help us understand meditation through his teaching. My husband and I walked from the shrine room to the gift shop to take a brief look at the ritual items and books. Our children quickly found us in the gift shop and upon greeting us confirmed they enjoyed the dharma school as much as we enjoyed the meditation service by asking, “Can we come back next Sunday?” They excitedly explained they got to sit and meditate. They did yoga poses and walked like a crab. They were taught about the offering bowls and the importance of the offering. We gathered our crew, left a small donation for their time, resources and the experience and left the Rime Center pleasantly surprised by and thankful for our positive and peaceful experience.

A Buddhist Service at the Rime Tibetan Buddhist Center 3