Book Reviews

The Summer Getaway by Susan Mallery, adult fiction, 2022

Although I'm not going to the beach this summer, I thought I would try a beach read. 

The Summer Getaway is a relationship-driven story about Robyn and the family that revolves around her. They all have their issues and decisions to make about what's next for their lives. Eventually, everyone ends up in a mansion on the California coast to work things out.

This is an easy read, and perfect if you don't want to read about anything serious. Nothing horrible happens, but there are definitely problems. 

While the book was very readable, I grew tired of the constant yearning Robyn and her new friend, Mason, had for each other. The story would have been just as compelling without focusing so much on that. 

Also, there is explicit sex in the book--a little more than I think was necessary. However, I recall a talk by a romance author where she said that her editors always told her to add more sex. I guess they knew what sells.

Even though Susan Mallery has written well over 100 books, this is the first one of hers I've read. I will probably read another one, but not anytime soon. 

The Superteacher Project by Gordon Korman, children's fiction (ages 9-12), 2023

Gordon Korman is one of my favorite children's authors, so when I was looking for some not-too-serious reading at bedtime, I picked up this book. 

The Superteacher Project follows the same formula as many of his other books. It takes place in middle school, with the story told from the different perspectives of the various characters, including an oddball teacher. Sometimes when chapters alternate among characters, they can be hard to follow, but not this time.

The story begins with a new 7th-grade teacher at Brightling Middle School, Mr. Aidact, who happens to be a robot. He is part of an experiment from the Department of Education. The other teachers know about "him", but the students and parents do not. Mr. Aidact is very realistic, and no one suspects that he's different for a while. Eventually, the secret is out, and things don't go well.

The book starts out slowly, but it is building the foundation for the later parts of the book. I didn't like some of the characters, but they were important to the story. (And let's face it. Middle school is not the most likable age, in general.) I found it very interesting to see how Mr. Aidact was learning and adapting from the circumstances around him. The last third of the book is a compelling read as the story culminates in a very satisfying ending.

The book raises some important questions about how fine the line between humans and robots can be.

I recommend this book. It was the perfect bedtime reading for me.

The Case of the Missing Marquess by Nancy Springer, children's mystery (middle grades), 2006

During our vacation, we watched two Netflix movies about Enola Holmes with one of our hosts. When we got home, I picked up the book they were based on since I'm always curious about how the two compare. 

The Case of the Missing Marquess is the first in a nine-book series about Enola Holmes, the much younger sister of Sherlock Holmes. In this first book, Enola's mother goes missing, and she contacts her older brothers, Mycroft and Sherlock, for help. They are much older, and she has not seen them for 10 years. The last time was when she was four years old, after their father died. 

When it becomes evident that Enola has been raised without the proper graces of the upper class, her brothers decide that she will be sent to boarding school. Enola does not want to go, so she runs away to look for her mother. Along the way, she encounters a marquess who is assumed to be kidnapped. 

The book takes place in London during Victorian times and fully describes the deplorable conditions that existed in the East End at the time. These might be too much to read about for a sensitive, younger reader. It also points out the difficulties that women had then, which Enola and her mother are rebelling against.

It turns out that Enola has excellent deduction skills like her brother, Sherlock, and uses them to look for her mother and maneuver her way through the various situations she finds herself in. There are ciphers to solve, flower meanings, and logical lists that the reader is a part of.

In both the movie and the book, Enola is a clever, independent, sensible girl and a very likable character. The book got very good reviews and won several awards. Ward, who wanted a break from the grittier adult mysteries he was reading, liked the book and has read four in the series so far. We both recommend this book.

BTW, the movies deviate from the book about 1/3 of the time, but the essence of the characters remains the same. I also recommend the movies.

The Backyard Bird Chronicles by Amy Tan, adult nonfiction, autobiography, 2024

Tan did all the illustrations for
the book, including the cover art.

A friend got me this book for my birthday, coincidentally just after someone told me that their book club was reading it. The Backyard Bird Chronicles was a New York Times #1 bestseller with rave reviews. However, it was somehow not on my radar. I'm so glad that I received it as a gift and got to read it.

Amy Tan is a very successful fiction writer, most notably for The Joy Luck Club. However, this book was a departure from her usual fiction fare. In 2016, Tan was upset with the direction of things in our country and turned to her backyard for solace. She has always liked nature from early on, so this seemed like a natural thing to do. She became obsessed (her words) with the birds there and started nature journaling. The book is based on entries from her journals. As part of her nature journaling, she drew pencil sketches of what she was seeing and also became an accomplished bird artist.

Her observations are detailed, curious, and at times sad. As she puzzles out what she is seeing, her storytelling gifts come out. I learned alongside her as she discovered new things about the birds and found this excellent book fascinating, funny, and moving. I highly recommend it even if you are not a bird or nature lover.

Until next time...

Backyard Look, Part 2

This is Part 2 of some things I saw in our backyard. Part 1 was about plants, and Part 2 is about things with multiple legs.

Every few years, after spending years underground, a major emergence of cicadas occurs somewhere. I have experienced these hordes of cicadas, and they are deafening, among other things. These cicada appearances get a lot of publicity.

However, there never seems to be a mention of the yearly cicadas like we have. And, quite frankly, I'm getting irritated with them. Their song is loud and annoying. I know the birds are still around, but I can't hear them over the cicadas. 

Complaining is done, so here is the rest of the story. Cicadas don't cause major plant damage and serve as food for many birds I struggle to hear. (I admit all of this grudgingly, because I'm still annoyed, so maybe I'm not done complaining. 😀)

Anyway, now for a few pictures of some more things in my backyard. 

A cicada hole that was made so it could emerge from the ground. It's about the diameter of a pencil.

Molted cicada exoskeletons. This happens as the nymphs change into adults.

Adult Linne's cicada. These are native to the eastern US and emerge every year.

Moving on to other insects, this caterpillar was still wiggling, but the ants were able to drag it across the driveway.

We've seen a few swallowtails on the butterfly bush, and yesterday I saw a monarch. However, not as many butterflies visit as I had hoped. This volunteer plant came from Aunt Martha's yard. I was excited to plant it because her bush was usually covered with butterflies. Ours has never looked like that.

A yellow garden spider has taken up residence in one of our bushes. They are quite common, although I don't remember seeing one before. This is a female, and she is still constructing her web in this picture. Notice the characteristic zig-zag in the web.

Now see how much better the zig-zag has developed. If you look very carefully, you will see little dots on the web. Those are egg sacks. The male spider builds a small web in the area of the female's and, after fertilizing her eggs, he dies. The yellow garden spider usually stays in place for the entire summer. This one has been here for about a week and a half. I hope it stays for the rest of the summer.

Transverse banded drone fly. These flies like nectar, much like the bees they are mimicking.

These surprise lilies don't have a bug on them for you to see. I forgot to include them in Part 1, so I'm including them here because they will be gone before I do my next backyard post. 

Until next time...

A Backyard Walk, Part 1

 These days, my vegetables don't look great, but there are some flowers in the yard that are thriving. Here are a few of them. 

Wild snapdragon

I picked pears yesterday and found a few that weren't rotten or eaten by the deer.

Lantana

Tea Rose

Vinca

There are only a few hydrangea blooms left.

Black-eyed Susans, Maryland's State Flower

Behind the black-eyed susans are conflowers. Something eats the petals consistently. I never see anything that would explain it, but apparently, there's a beetle that comes out at night and eats petals.

Balloon flowers. These originally came from Ward's grandmother's yard.

Tune in next time for Part 2 of a Backyard Walk when I show you a few creepy-crawlies.

Walking Is the New Running

 Saturday, Ward, Wally, Theo, and I had an enjoyable morning at a local fun run. The event was sponsored by the Rotary Club to raise money for the community food bank. Wally has participated in the race for a few years now, but this is the first time I haven't had to work on the day of the race. (Yay retirement!) Here are a few pictures from our morning. 

People gathering for the race. It was a very friendly atmosphere, and
there were people of all ages and several dogs.

Many local businesses were represented.

Boy Scouts were getting ready for an opening flag ceremony. We said the Pledge of Allegiance and sang the Star Spangled Banner before the race. It's been a while since I have done that, and I found it moving.

Lining up for the start. Since we planned on walking the entire way,
we all went to the back of the crowd, so as not to be in the way of the runners.
Wally changed his mind as soon as the race started and ran the whole way.

The chase truck. The Rotary Club also sponsors a community duck race in September. The duck has become a mascot of sorts.

The race went along Main Street past big trees and Victorian houses. It was quite a pleasant walk. At the end of the race, we enjoyed watermelon and sandwiches. It was a fun event for a good cause, and I plan to do it again next year.

The course was only a mile with some long but gentle hills. It was really a two-mile walk by the time we got back to the cars. We walked at a good pace, but it was not speed walking. But here's the thing. The next day, the muscles in my shins were sore. I was surprised and a little disappointed with that. But it was what it was.

And speaking of exercise, I haven't posted about it in a month, although I recorded one week that I didn't publish. I am successfully continuing with my commitment to regular exercise, so I don't feel the need to do a detailed accounting at this point. Occasionally, I will do some summary updates for motivation, because, to be honest, about half the time, I don't want to go to class. But I go.

At the gym, I am slowly increasing my weights and trying some more challenging classes. It's been 6 months since I started this effort, and I know I've improved in most areas, but I still find the classes hard. So, I try to remember what Theo said to me while we were walking during the race. He said, "Exercise is never easy. You just get so you can do more of it." 

Until next time...

This and That

 

We have nice blue skies today.

We have a glorious break in the weather this week with temperatures in the 70°Fs and 80°Fs. Such a welcome break from the feels-like 100-degree heat we were having. But the cold front that brought the nicer weather brought a lot of rain with it. We had 5" at our house in under 2 hours. Unfortunately, that caused water in the basement. But fortunately, the waterproof flooring we had installed a few months ago held up well. An area rug, not so much. Everything has finally dried out, and we're good to go. This was a minor inconvenience compared to the devastation that can come with floods caused by heavy rains. We know we are lucky.

Do you ever have those moments when you learn something that the rest of the world has known forever and wonder how you missed the information? Well, I had a couple of those this week. First up, I was baking a cake, and my baking powder was a couple of years past its best-by date. I didn't want to ruin the whole recipe, so with a little Googling, I learned that you can put baking powder into hot water to test it. Bubbles=good. No bubbles=bad. Fortunately, mine was good.

The other thing I learned about was that my vegetable brush has two sets of bristles--a stiff set and a soft set. I had never noticed that until I tried to brush silk off corn on the cob, which was another new thing I learned from a friend. 

I don't know if you remember, but after last Christmas, when I was putting my mantle back together, I couldn't find the two framed X-stitch pieces I had displayed there. I usually stand them upright next to a shelf or dresser in an out-of-the-way place while the Christmas decorations are up. 

However, this year, I couldn't find them. I looked and looked at various times and in a lot of extra places where I was pretty sure that they weren't there. Wally looked. Ward looked. No luck. Well, I finally found them this week. They were hidden in plain sight, hanging on the wall in the extra bedroom, also known as the drop-it-here until you have time to put it away room. I went into the room regularly, but never noticed them, which made me feel silly. I am relieved that they are back where they belong. 

That's all for now. Time to go outside and enjoy the weather.

Until next time...