My November Reads

 Okay, so I haven't exactly been as good about posting on here as I said I would, but I'm really trying to do a better job.  I'm hoping if I add blogging to my to-do list, I'll become better about it.  Let's hope that works.

Anyway, it's the end of November, and I wanted to do a quick recap of the books I read this month.  First of all, can you believe it's already the end of the month?  Seems like just yesterday I was celebrating Halloween, and now it's practically Christmas.  Anyway, I digress.  This month I finally got out of my dreaded reading slump that had consumed me since the beginning of the school year.  Even though I got out of my reading slump, I only managed to read six books.  I know, you might be saying to yourself, "Six books is a lot of books!", but in past months, I've read upwards of ten or so.  

Please note, there may be spoilers for some of the books below, so if you haven't read them or want to avoid spoilers, don't read the little blurbs I've written.  I usually mark spoilers with a big sign, but this time, I've done my best to black them out.  Simply highlight the ones you want to read.  I know you can still kind of see what's written underneath without highlighting, but this was the best solution I could come up with.

The first book I read this month was A Good Neighborhood by Therese Anne Fowler.  Taking place in North Carolina, this book follows two families: single mom Valerie Alston-Holt and her son Xavier and the blended family that lives next door: the Whitmans.  As owner of his own HVAC business, Brad Whitman is somewhat of a local celebrity, but not without his flaws.  Larger than life in more ways than one, he builds a McMansion right next to Valerie's home, which sets off a series of disastrous consequences.  While Valerie and Brad go toe to toe, Xavier and Brad's stepdaughter, Juniper, start a whirlwind high school romance that has even more devastating consequences.

Unfortunately, the problems outline in this book are becoming all too common nowadays.  Young black men with incredibly bright futures ahead of them are being turned into villains by those with racist biases.  There were so many times I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs at these characters, and I can't remember the last time I hated a character as much as I hated Brad.  He knew he was racist, he knew Xavier was completely innocent, and he didn't care.  I'm so glad he got at least some of what was coming to him at the end, but at what cost?

I have to say, I was also shocked by what happens to Xavier at the end of the book.  I had a feeling he was going to die, but I never imagined that he would take his own life and sacrifice himself pretty much for the Black Lives Matter movement.  It was so tragic.  All I wanted to do was hug him and tell him that it would be alright, but I also know that that wasn't necessarily true, as his world had spiraled so far out of control, and he lost pretty much everything that had been important to him, all because of an accusation Brad knew was completely false.  If anyone needs help understanding why the Black Lives Matter movement is important, this book will explain why.

In keeping with the pattern of books about oppressed populations, I decided to read Vox by Christina Dalcher.  I read another book by Dalcher, Master Class, over the summer, and I've been suggesting it to everyone I've come across.  Seriously, if you haven't read it, you need to get your hands on a copy immediately and start reading it.  For that reason, I was excited to read Vox.

Set in the not so distant future, an extreme right-wing, religious political party has taken control of America.  In attempt to align everyone with their beliefs, women are only allowed to speak a hundred words per day, are banned from reading or writing, cannot communicate via sign language, etc.  They are also forced to stay home and run the household while their husbands are in charge.  This book definitely gave off some Handmaid's Tale vibes, but it was also different in some ways.

Before losing basically all her rights, Jean was an accomplished neuroscientist and linguist.  Now, however, she's at home all day wondering what the effects of these new laws will have on her beloved daughter while also watching her oldest son buy into everything the government mandates without so much as a second thought.  All of that changes, however, when the president's brother has a debilitating accident and needs Jean's help.  Using her new freedom and influence, Jean hopes to make a better future not just for her daughter but for little girls all across the country.

I have to say, I figured out pretty quickly that the government was trying to create some sort of serum or something that would debilitate others and make them little more than mindless drones.  The fact that they wanted to use them on other countries, however, was a shock to me.  I figured they wanted to use them on American women to get them to fall into line and be even more subservient than they already were.  That part was definitely a surprise to me, but, then again, it did make sense that they wanted to spread their extremist ideologies all over the world.  

I have to say, one thing I liked about this book was that it acknowledged what other countries thought about what was going on.  Jean's parents lived in Italy, and they were obviously extremely distraught with how their daughter and granddaughter were being treated.  In many books like this, I've wondered if there are countries outside of where we're reading about, and what they think about what is going on (I'm looking at you Hunger Games and Handmaid's Tale).  This book talks about that, and it even becomes a somewhat important plot point later on down the line.  I wish more books would do that.

I think what's most terrifying about Christina Dalcher's books is that they're just plausible enough to make you worried.  With both Vox and Master Class, I know there are people out there who would agree with that is going on in those books, and that makes me both terrified and sad for the future (and for those misguided individuals).  I didn't think this book was as good as Master Class, though.  The ending was incredibly rushed, and I had a hard time imagining that everything happened as quickly and as neatly as it did.

After reading two pretty heavy books, I needed something nice and light, so I went with the second American Royals book: Majesty by Katharine McGee.  I read the first book, American Royals, over the summer, and I absolutely loved it.  It focuses around a simple premise: What if George Washington agreed to become King of the United States instead President.

Majesty picks up right where American Royals left off with the funeral of King George IV and Beatrice getting ready to not only get married but also assume the throne as the first Queen of the United States.  Just like American Royals, this book is full of courtly intrigue (very similar to Philippa Gregory books), drama and complex relationships.

Just like before, I absolutely cannot stand Daphne, although I do feel a little bad for her.  A lot of my sympathy comes from the fact that her mother is the one really pushing her to be a terrible person as she tries to socially climb to the top.  She really didn't stand much of a chance.  Still, she's an awful person.  I mean, she drugged her own friend to hide the fact that she was cheating on her boyfriend (aka: the Prince of the United States) with his best friend.  With that being said, I hope she gets what's coming to her, although the book ended with her getting everything handed to her on a silver platter.  That was definitely frustrating to me.  I was also upset to see a lot of the romantic relationships that had been fostered over the course of the novel fall apart at the end.  I mean, I know there's going to be another book (at least I hope there will be), and I have my fingers crossed that everything will work out in the end. 

Despite all my complaints, I absolutely loved Beatrice's growth throughout the book.  She went from a young woman who was used to being told what to do to a young woman who took her life by the reigns and stood up for herself.  I was so proud of her, and I hope to see even more of that in the next book, as it was absolutely perfect.

Overall, I loved this book.  It was a wonderful light read after several heavier books.  It's meant to be a young adult book, but I tend to think that it falls somewhere between young adult and adult fiction.  It doesn't read like a young adult book.  As a history teacher, I'm also completely fascinated by this alternate timeline McGee has created, and I want to know more.  I'd love to get my hands on some history books from this fictionalized history, as so much as changed.  It's a great example of cause and effect.

A little over a year ago, I started really getting into thriller books.  I found them fascinating and great, quick reads that kept me on the edge of my seat.  When She Returned definitely caught my attention in more ways than one.

The premise is fairly simple: eleven years ago, Kate Bennett mysteriously vanished from a Target parking lot, leaving behind her husband and young daughter.  Now, years later, Scott has remarried, and Abbi is a teenager when their world is turned completely upside down.  Kate has been found, alive, which gets Scott off the hook (even though he was ruled out as a suspect, many people still thought he was guilty).  Now, they have to try to figure out what happened to Kate and if her family is safe from whoever held her for all these years.

Part of the reason I enjoyed this book so much was the fact that it dealt with a cult and fringe religion.  Bryan always calls me weird, but I have this unusual obsession with cults.  Seeing Kate's condition when she returned, though, I had a hard time believing she was in a cult and had left her family willingly.  With the help of all the flashbacks, though, everything fell into line, and it all made sense.  The thing about suspense books, though, is that I've started jumping to the most ridiculous conclusions, because that tends to be what happens in these types of books.  With When She Returned, I swore it wasn't really Kate but some sort of imposter who wanted to get the police off the trail of the kidnappers, but that wasn't the case at all.  Oh well, I can admit when I'm wrong.  With that being said, I was completely surprised when Kate not only tried to return to the cult but bring her daughter with her.  I was starting to get suspicious of her actions, but that was not what I saw coming.

Overall, I found this a nice, quick suspense/thriller book, which is sometimes exactly what a person needs in their life to help them relax.

After finishing When She Returned, I decided to go back to my nice, emotionally heavy books.  I read the prequel to Lost Roses by Martha Hall Kelly last year, but both books also work wonderfully as stand alone books.  You can find my post about Lilac Girls here.

If you've read Lilac Girls, then Lost Roses focuses on Caroline Ferriday's mother, Eliza, during World War I and the Russian Revolution.  Just like Lilac Girls, Lost Roses focuses on three women whose lives are intertwined during major world events.  In addition to Eliza, you follow Sofya, a Russian aristocrat, and Varinka, a Russian peasant.  Unlike Lilac Girls, the relationship between the three women became apparent quite quickly, which I liked a lot more, because with Lilac Girls, I struggled to see how everything would come together and make sense.

One thing I enjoyed greatly about this book was the fact that part of it, especially Eliza's story, is based on true events.  Eliza Ferriday was a real person who used her influence to raise money for displaced Russian aristocrats by selling Russian goods.  It was a fascinating story and a wonderful idea, especially at a time where the United States was such an isolationist.  Something else I loved about this book (and it was the same with Lilac Girls) was the complexity of the characters.  In the beginning, I felt terrible for Varinka.  She was obviously being manipulated and sexually abused by her half-brother.  As time progresses, however, I found that Varinka became more of a villain, more like the aristocrats she had come to hate, as she found what it was like to have power and influence.  Varinka definitely had the most interesting story arch of the three women, and I found myself longing to know what happened to her after the end of the book, as I thought her story ended somewhat abruptly.

After reading both Lilac Girls and Lost Roses, one thing I've discovered about Martha Kelly Hall is the fact that she doesn't shy away from graphic information.  The description of what happened to Sofya's family left me feeling sick to my stomach, but I felt that that was appropriate, as this isn't exactly a warm and fuzzy book.  Part of me did hope that Sofya's entire family would find a way to escape Russia, but I also knew that that was a fool's dream and completely unrealistic.  I was definitely relieved to find out Luba was alright, that was a twist I didn't see coming!

Overall, I really enjoyed Lost Roses.  I didn't think it was as good as Lilac Girls, but it was still definitely worth reading.  Plus, it's hard to live up to such a wonderful book.

In keeping with my theme of graphic, heart-wrenching historical fiction novels, I decided to read The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult.  Just a fair warning, I used to not like Jodi Picoult books at all until I finally read Small Great Things by her back in August (it's an amazing book, I simply cannot recommend it enough).  In true Jodi Picoult fashion, this book leaves you questioning your decisions and morality while dealing with complex issues and characters.

In short, this book is about Sage Singer, a reclusive baker in her mid-twenties who befriends a man in his 90s, Josef Weber, at a grief support group.  A former Little League coach and German teacher at the local high school, Josef is a pillar of the community, which is why Sage is shocked when he comes to her with a startling confession and even more startling request.  If Sage follows through with what he wants, she'll be left with both moral and potentially legal ramifications.  If she doesn't, however, she could allow a dangerous man to walk freely amongst those around her.

I knew going into this book that Josef was a Nazi.  I did not, however, know that he was going to ask Sage to help him commit suicide.  That was definitely a curveball for me.  Once I got into the book, though, it definitely made a lot of sense.

One thing that really stood out to me about this book more than anything else was the graphic, honest way Picoult wrote about the Holocaust.  With the way she wrote, you would have thought that she wrote about that topic all the time.  I've read more Holocaust books than I can count over the years, and yet, I've never read anything like that.  It was more brutally honest than anything I've ever read before.  Even more so than Lost Roses, it made me feel uncomfortable at times, but I leaned into that discomfort, as I felt it was the least I could do for all those who had suffered and died in the Holocaust.

What I want to talk about most, however, is that ending.  I finished the book last night, and I'm still trying to process through the information and the surprise.  I swore up and down the entire time that Josef was Reiner.  I mean, it made so much sense.  Even when he had that chess board, I thought it was just a memento of his time with his brother.  Not once did I ever think that he was Franz.  To me, that just didn't make any sense.  Looking back, however, it made so much sense.  Reiner leaned into Nazism without any doubts and never showed the slightest hint of remorse for what he did.  Franz, however, was more scholarly, book oriented and emotional, so he would be the one living with the guilt.  I'm still having trouble understanding why Franz said he was Reiner, but I guess it was to make himself seem even worse than he really was so Sage would agree to kill him.  But once she found out the truth, she had to live with the guilt of knowing she killed a man who wasn't nearly as barbaric as he portrayed himself.

I also want to talk about Sage killing Franz.  I honestly didn't see that coming, but I should have, given the fact that I was nearing the end of the book, and things weren't wrapping up in a way that quite made sense to me.  I still didn't think she'd do it though, as I thought she was a better person than that.  Given what happened to her grandmother though, and the fact that Franz pretended to have committed all those terrible crimes that Reiner actually committed, I guess it makes sense.

This book was definitely a lot for me to process through.  I thoroughly enjoyed it though, and I cannot recommend it enough.  I do wish I had read this for a book club of some sort so I can talk through it with some people, so if you've recently read it and want to talk about it, please let me know!

I guess now would be a good time to rank the books I've read this month.  I'm ranking them from my least favorite to my favorite.  If you've been paying attention, the rankings shouldn't come as much of a surprise.

6. Vox

5. When She Returned

4. A Good Neighborhood

3. Majesty

2. Lost Roses

1. The Storyteller

I'm super excited about some of the books I have picked for this month.  I have some book club books, a buddy read and some holiday books.  Needless to say, it's going to be a good month for books for me!

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I'm Back!

 What is this madness!?  After being completely gone since April 1st (it's really been that long, trust me, I checked), I'm back and hoping to get this up and running again.  Needless to say, ending last school year virtually and starting up this school year virtually have definitely been exhausting for me.  I'm back though, and I'm really going to try and get this blog up and running again.  I'm not going to make a ton of excuses, but, in my defense, this first marking period, I barely did any of my usual hobbies.  I think I might have read most of one book, I barely colored, scrapbooked, etc.  It really was a lot of me doing work for school, work for grad school and planning my wedding.  "What's that?" you say.  "You went and got engaged and did blog about it!?"  Yeah, that happened.  Bryan proposed right before the school year started, and in true me fashion, I tried to get as much done as humanly possible in the shortest amount of time possible.  Needless to say, it's been a whirlwind.

I really do want to get this blog going again, not that I think a lot of people read it.  If you do, I'm so glad you're taking the time to read about my mundane life.  It has been pretty hard with quarantine, I'm definitely feeling a lot of pressure and trying to stay as busy as possible.  With how much is going on during the day, however, I'm usually so burned out by the time I'm done for the day that I just lay around and watch television.  Seriously, that's about all I've been doing the past few weeks.  Bryan and I spend our weekends playing a lot of board games (I know this is quite shocking to those who know us), and we've been doing a little bit of hiking too.  With the weather getting cooler, however, it is getting a bit harder to get out and do things.  As a result, I've definitely been trying to figure out some stuff we can do on our own inside.  I signed us up for DateBox Club, which is a date night subscription service.  It's been a lot of fun, and we've had some wonderful date nights right here.  Oh, did I forget to mention that Bryan came to stay with us for a few weeks in April, and now it's halfway through November and he's still here?  Yeah, that happened.  I love having him around all the time.  Anyway, I digress.  We also started a 1,000 piece jigsaw puzzle two nights ago, which has been absolutely exhausting.  I never knew you could actually work up a sweat doing a jigsaw puzzle, and yet, I did.  We spent an hour and a half on it yesterday and barely made a dent.  This is definitely going to be a long-term project of ours.

I'm proud to announce that I not only finished one book yesterday, but I immediately started another one shortly thereafter.  I'm quite proud of that, as, like I said, I've barely cracked any books lately.  Unfortunately, that means I've become one of those people who show up to book club and say, "Sorry guys, I didn't read the book."  I'm working on that though, if only I could find some of the books I know I own for book club, but I have no idea where in the world they are in my personal library.  I keep telling myself there are only so many places they can be, but those so many places seem to be a lot of places.

So, anyway, I'm back, I have some blogging ideas, and I'm ready to get this blog up and running again.  It's going to be a lot of different things, just like before: what's going on in my life, books I've read, my craft projects, etc.  So, keep coming back to see what we're up to!

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WIP Wednesday, Quarantine Edition 2

I can't believe it's Wednesday again!  I'd say time is flying by, but it isn't, especially given the fact that we now have a stay at home order in Maryland and can't really leave the house.  I have to run to the grocery store later, so that will be my big adventure for the day (yay!).  Rather than talk about my cross stitch project, I want to talk about the other large project I'm working on, my Disney World scrapbook.  This is quite a huge endeavor, it's about 150 pages spread across three albums.  I've been working on it for about a month now (probably closer to three and a half weeks if we want to be specific), and I've completed 36 pages, including one double page spread.  I have a preview below of all the pages I've done so far.  There's no talking or narration during the video.

As you can tell from the video, it's incredibly important for my album to be an explosion of color.  This was important to me because Disney as a place is an explosion of color.  Everywhere you look, there are exciting things to look at and excitement all over the place.  The only way I could properly convey that in an album was by making it as colorful as humanly possible.  Of course, some pages are a bit more subdued, but they're still colorful and gorgeous, and they give your eyes a break from all the color.

I want to take some time to talk about specific pages in my album that I'm particularly proud of and really embody what I want conveyed in my album in terms of theme and message.

I first want to talk about this incredibly pink Minnie Mouse page.  This page was so out of my comfort zone because I really don't like the color pink.  I use it in my scrapbooking and everything, but not to this extent, it's usually just sprinkled throughout a page.  With this page however, seeing Minnie's outfit and her little scene around her, it seemed like the logical thing to do.  I also don't do a lot of monochromatic pages like this.  There's no real reason behind that other than the fact that I can't figure out how to make them work and when to use them and when to not use them.  I may do one or two others in my album to make sure this page doesn't look out of place, but I'm not entirely sure which pages.  I have an idea or two in my head, we'll just have to wait and see how this plays out.  I do have to say, even though it's outside my comfort zone, doing a monochromatic page is a little easier than a regular page since you're only grabbing embellishments that are one color.  If you enjoy scrapbooking, I definitely encourage you to try out a monochromatic page at least once, what do you have to lose?

Another page I want to talk about is my Goofy page.  I love this page so much, I feel like it completely embodies everything I want in my album when it comes to explosion of color.  I wanted the striped paper on the bottom to be the entire background, but I only had a piece of it, so I had to improvise with the green on the top to finish off the page.  The purple was something I added after the fact to cover the seam and add a little bit more color.  I used a method from my favorite scrapbooker, Shimelle Laine, and that's a paper stack.  It's quite simple, you start stacking up papers behind the photo to create a wild, colorful background.  Usually you start with larger papers of varying sizes that you put behind the photo that's supposed to look like a haphazard stack of papers on your desk, then you add smaller papers as embellishment.  I, on the other hand, did it a little different.  While there are some larger papers, I mostly focused on smaller papers from my small scraps pile (I have two scrap piles, one full of smaller papers and one full of bigger papers).  This is the perfectly opportunity to get rid of some smaller scraps that are just sitting around.  Once done with building the paper stack, I added in all the embellishments, which, like the papers I picked, were meant to be all different colors.  The final product is one of my favorite pages that I've created so far with all the color and movement on the page.

While it might not look like it, this page really took me out of my comfort zone.  I don't do a lot of grid pages, but, once again, I was inspired by Shimelle Laine.  I had to modify her design a little, as she used squares that were over 3x3 inches, but I was using a 6x6 inch paper pad, so I couldn't make the squares bigger without using more paper.  I wanted to use this paper, as it's perfect for Toy Story, so I'm definitely going to use more of it in future Toy Story layouts.  I also used some less than conventional embellishments for this page, but I absolutely love how it came out.  First is the word "Howdy".  Those are actual Scrabble tiles I bought on Amazon for craft projects.  I haven't really used them for anything, but I've been meaning to.  I think they look great, and I want to include them on future Toy Story pages to draw them together.  I also used a bit of string, which I also bought for other craft projects.  Given the rope Woody's holding in the picture, I figured it would be the perfect addition to the embellishment group.  This is probably one of my favorite pages that I've made so far, everything just came together perfectly.

Finally, let's talk about a double page spread.  I very rarely do double pages, but I have a few planned out for this album.  I took a ton of pictures during the Festival of Fantasy parade, and I knew a double page was necessary, so I printed enough pictures from Amazon for a double page, but I never did anything with them.  Then I saw a video in Shimelle's Start with a Sketch class, and everything fell into place.  She used 3x4 inch photos across a double page in a grid layout, and I knew that's what I wanted to do.  It also gave me the opportunity to finally use my Instax printer (it's like an Instax polaroid camera but you print from your phone), which I've been dying to use for scrapbooking but haven't been able to figure out how.  Like I said, it all fell into place, and it was perfect.  My philosophy with this layout was "more is more".  It's a little hard to see, but I definitely went crazy with this layout.  Most photos have an embellishment with them, usually related to the Disney character in the photo  I also added little areas of embellishment scattered across both pages.  When it comes to actual embellishments, I used a little bit of everything: pearl hearts, enamel stars, rhinestones, puffy stickers, regular stickers, cut aparts, ephemera, washi tape.  Like I said, it was a little bit of everything.  I actually had to stop myself because I kept adding to the pages.  This isn't even the finished product; I added a bit more gold washi tape underneath the dragon (there's a little above the unicorn), to tie both pages together.  It was a lot, and I would add more if necessary, but I think it's good.  This is another one of my favorite layouts, I think everything came together perfectly.

My Disney album has been coming together wonderfully.  You may have noticed some blank spaces on cards on some pages.  That's where the journaling will go.  I have what I want to write planned out, I just haven't written them on the pages yet.  I may wait and do that all in the end.  We'll have to wait and see.

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WIP Wednesday, Quarantine Edition 1

Due to the Coronavirus, I've been out of school for the past week and a half.  I've been using this time to bounce between hobbies: reading, scrapbooking, cross stitching, etc.  Since I have all this time off, I also decided this would be a wonderful time to work on some of the larger projects that I've wanted to do for a while, but just haven't had the time for.  Of course, one of my biggest projects right now is my Disney World Scrapbook, but I'll save that for another post.  I also decided to embark on my largest cross stitching project to date as well.

Before getting into my project, I should not that I started a large, full coverage project in the past, but it just wasn't clicking with me.  I hope to go back to it one day.  The project I started is a stained glass version of Minnie Mouse (keeping with that all important Disney theme that seems to consume my life right now).  I bought the pattern on Etsy a long time ago, and I even bought all the supplies to make it, but I never actually got around to starting it.  From the fact that I had all the supplies and I had all this time at home, it seemed like the perfect opportunity.

What I like about this pattern is the fact that it's a little more complicated with many different colors, but, at the same time, the colors are all group together, which means I don't have to switch colors all the time to blend colors together (I hope that makes sense).  In short, it's a way to grow my cross stitching skills without doing something I'm totally not prepared to do yet.

So, where exactly am I in the cross stitching process?  I've only been working on this for about a week, and I feel like I've made a decent amount of progress.  While some cross stitchers may be horrified, I don't limit myself to the page I'm working on for the pattern.  What I mean but that is, Minnie's head, for example, was printed on multiple pages of the pattern (the pattern is 3 pages total).  Rather than stop and pick up again for just a few more stitches that happened to be on the next page, I kept going, thereby completing all of Minnie's head.  I know, I'm making it more complicated for myself, but, I actually don't think I am.  There are parts of the pattern that only have three or four stitches on a page, so I save those until I see the rest of the stitches in that color in that area, and I do them all at the same time.  It works in my mind.

When I first started this project, I struggled a lot with counting stitches and making it all work.  Now that I've been working on it for a week, it's definitely become easier, and I haven't been messing up nearly as much (although now I'm afraid that I've jinxed myself).

I know with the exception of Minnie's head, it's hard to see what it's supposed to be.  Trust me, I feel the same way; I keep having to check back with a picture of what the final product looks like to make sure I'm doing everything correctly.  I am.  I know that as long as I follow the pattern, everything will work out.

Like I said before, this project is quite big, at least for me.  It's going to be about 10 inches wide and 13 inches tall.  While that may not seem big, it's a full coverage project, which means all of that is going to be covered with stitches, you won't be able to see any of the aida fabric underneath.  It's a lot.  I've included a picture of what the project looks like on the full piece of aida fabric so you can see what I've done and how much work I have left to do.  It's a lot.  My goal is to finish this sometime this summer, get it framed and enter it in the county fair.  I've never entered anything in the fair before, and I know I haven't been cross stitching for very long, but I'm excited to see if it gets anything.  Even if I don't, it will be fun to know that something I worked incredibly hard on is on display at the county fair for everyone to see.

This project is definitely a labor of love, but I'm loving ever minute of it!  The person who made this pattern made a whole bunch of other stained glass style cross stitch patterns (some Disney, some not), and I really can't wait to start another one, once I get through this one.

Check back next week to hear a little bit more about my progress and see how much I've gotten done over the course of the week!

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My Thoughts on "Circe" and Discussion Questions

I have to admit, I was extremely excited to read this book.  Unfortunately, it simply didn't live up to the hype for me, and I thought it was mediocre.  Also, despite the fact that I've been stuck inside for a week, it still took me a long time to get through it.  Someone on Goodreads described it as Wicked, only with Greek mythology.  I have to agree with this comparison.

This book focuses on Circe, daughter of the god Helios.  At first, Circe lives a fairly unremarkable life.  No one in her family is particularly fond of her, they see her as plain and ordinary among the other immortals in her life.  All of that changes, however, when she discovers she's a witch.  Fearful of her power, and as a punishment for turning Scylla into a monster, Zeus banishes her to the island of Aiaia.

Once on Aiaia, Circe hones in on her witchcraft abilities.  This is probably where most people know her, especially if you read The Odyssey in high school.  Banished to her island, Circe amuses herself by turning men into pigs and keeping them prisoner on her island to keep her company with the other animals around her.

Throughout her life, Circe finds herself drawn back into the world of the immortals, including an encounter with the Minotaur, dealing with gods such as Hermes and Athena and meeting famous Greeks like Daedalus and Odysseus.

I always thought I had a pretty good understanding of Greek mythology, but, after reading this book, that's definitely not the case.  It's far more complicated.  Thankfully, Madeline Miller includes a list of characters, but, unfortunately, it's in the very back of the book, so I didn't realize it was there until I was done reading.  It definitely would have been nice to know about as I read the book.

I wish I could explain why I didn't like this book, but I can't.  I didn't think it was awful, but it wasn't as amazing as other people were saying either; I thought it was alright.  Miller definitely did her research, which was impressive, but the book just didn't grab my attention.  I have to admit that fantasy isn't really my thing, and I only dabble a little bit in ancient history books, so it was a little outside my comfort zone, but it's not the type of book I would normally bypass completely.  Other people absolutely love the book, and it definitely had some good moments, so if you like Greek mythology, you might enjoy it more than I did.

Now, I don't really have a lot to say about this book or anything that will really be spoilers.  Some of my discussion questions, however, definitely have spoilers, so if you haven't read the book or want to avoid spoilers, this is where you should probably stop reading.

Even though I wasn't particularly fond of the book, I did write some book club questions.  If you're looking for something unique to read for book club, this would be a good book to read.

1. How did Circe's treatment as an outcast shape her personality?
2. Did the fact that the gods are immortal cause their hedonistic lifestyle?
3. How did the fact that the gods didn't understand pain, suffering or death lead to problems?
4. Did Circe's neglect lead to her interest in mortals?
5. Do you agree with Circe's decision to turn Glaucus?
6. Do you agree with Aeetes that Circe's attempt to punish Scylla backfired?
7. Given how she was treated, was Circe's exile really a punishment?
8. Did witchcraft or exile have a bigger impact on Circe?
9. Daedalus says to Circe, "a golden cage is still a cage?" (143).  Was Circe in a golden cage?
10. Why didn't power go to Circe's head like it did her siblings?
11. Could Circe be considered a feminist?
12. How did the fact that she's a woman create problems for Circe?
13. Was Circe as ruthless as her siblings?
14. Did Circe not tell Odysseus about her past because she ashamed?
15. Do you blame Telegonus for wanting to leave?
16. Circe said endurance had always been her virtue.  Do you agree?
17. Circe tells Telemachus, "You are not your blood" (308).  Could she follow the same advice?
18. Circe equates the gods to children "clapping their hands and shouting for more" instead of the parents they pretend to be (328).  Is this an accurate observation?
19. Do you agree with Telemachus' decision to turn down Athena and choose a life of obscurity?
20. Why was it easier for Circe to tell Telemachus about her past than Telegonus?
21. Odysseus said to Penelope about Circe that "he had never met a god who enjoyed their divity less" (380).  Is this an accurate observation?
22. Does Circe's decision to become mortal surprise you?

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My Thoughts on "Daisy Jones and the Six" and Discussion Questions

What's this?  Two blog posts in two days and I finished a book for the first time in about a month?  I know, this is complete madness, but, like I said yesterday, I'm really trying to get back on track with things.

Daisy Jones and the Six was voted best historical fiction novel of 2019 on Goodreads, but it never really called out to me.  I thought the plot sounded somewhat interesting, but not enough to actually get me to read the book.  Then I read The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, which is by the same author, and I completely fell in love with the book.  I knew I had to read Daisy Jones, even if it takes place way before my time and deals with music that isn't really my style.

The book tells the story of the fictional band, Daisy Jones and the Six, and its rise to fame.  Then, at the peak of their stardom, they broke up, right in the middle of a world tour.  That was it, the band never performed together again.  Similar to Evelyn Hugo, this is the band's first time baring their souls and telling the rest of the world what happened between them.

What makes this book unique is its format.  It's written as an oral history.  That's right, the entire book is written as one big, long interview.  At first, that was a little off-putting to me; I get enough of reading stuff like that for grad school.  Once I started reading, however, I couldn't imagine the book written any other way.  The way Reid wrote the book, it felt organic, like you actually listening to an interview on VH1 or MTV.  I imagine that the book could have been written in a more traditional format, but it would have lost a little of its authenticity.  One thing I really enjoyed about the book were the inconsistencies that came with oral history and recounting events forty or so years after the fact.  At one point, one member of the band said, "We finished recording our album in May", then another said, "We finished our album in November."  That shows you the problems with memory and the fact that everyone remembers things a little bit differently.  There weren't a ton of inconsistencies like that in the book, but there were enough that you definitely noticed.

As much as I loved this book, there was something that bothered me immensely.  It's going to sound petty and weird, but just bear with me.  So this book is about a band, and Reid even goes so far as to include lyrics from their top selling album, Aurora, in the back of the book.  What I wanted was to be able to hear the songs performed.  It's one thing to read the lyrics (they're pretty much poems), but it's another thing to experience the songs with the instrumentals, the various voices, etc.  I wish they got together a band that had the same sound as Daisy Jones and the Six to record all the songs as an album.  I know the book is being made into a tv mini series, so maybe then we'll get a taste of what the music sounds like.

That's pretty much all I can talk about without giving away too many spoilers.  So, as always, if you haven't read the book or want to avoid spoilers, this is probably where you should stop reading.  If you're using this book for a book club and need discussion questions, those can be found at the very bottom of this post, but they might contain spoilers too.

There isn't a whole lot I want to talk about in relation to spoilers, just my thoughts on the end, and a little bit about Daisy's relationship with Billy.

First of all, at first I thought the ending was extremely abrupt; it just stopped without warning pretty much.  When I stepped back and thought about it, however, that's how the band ended.  They were in the middle of their tour, and they just stopped after one performance, that was it.  They had just released a record breaking album, they were in the middle of a world tour, and everything fell apart in the blink of an eye.  It was supposed to feel sudden because it was.  I imagine their fans were confused as to what happened, and so to help convey that in the book, Reid ended things pretty abruptly as well.  She did a great job of leaving the reader wanting more, just like the fans probably did as well.

What did bother me more than the abrupt ending was Daisy and Billy's relationship.  It felt very awkward, and I couldn't really get a good sense of it.  It was like, sometimes they hated each other and wouldn't even talk to each other, other times they were head over heels in love in this star-crossed type of way.  It was weird, and, honestly, it gave me whiplash.  It also left me feeling conflicted, because Billy obviously loved Camilla and his daughters more than anything, so I couldn't figure out what drew him to Daisy.  She really was like a lightning rod for him, and no matter how much he tried to stay away, he just couldn't.  I could never figure out why, although I feel like it had something to do with the fact that she reminded him of himself, and he wanted to fix her.  I don't know, I'm just speculating here.

Minus those tiny little issues, I really did enjoy this book.  I thought the format was unique and worked extremely well given the content.  I also thought that Taylor Jenkins Reid once again showed that she's a force to be reckoned with when it comes to writing strong women in history.  I can't wait to see what she comes up with next.  Whatever it is, you can rest assured that I'll buy it and blog about it after I read it.

I didn't say this before, but this is actually a book one of my book clubs picked.  Unfortunately, I have plans the day of that meeting, so I can't go.  Oh well, such is life.  This was still a book I wanted to read, so I started it a little early, but it took me a while to read.  I did create a list of book club questions, so if you're using this book for your book club, feel free to use some of my questions below.

1. How did Daisy's childhood allow her to become famous?
2. What impact did Camilla have on the band?
3. Why was this band able to make it big when so many others failed?
4. How did the inconsistencies throughout the band's memory add to the story?
5. Why did Billy struggle the most with drugs and the rock and roll lifestyle?
6. Daisy said she had no idea what it meant to truly suffer (page 80).  Is that true?
7. Daisy refers to herself as "the cool new jeans" while Billy is "the pair you've had for years" (page 88).  Is this an accurate description of them when they first started working together?
8. In what ways was the band more about Billy than Daisy?
9. What were the major turning points in the band's history that put them on the road to success?
10. How did miscommunication and misunderstandings lead to problems in the band?
11. How did Daisy change the dynamic of the band?
12. How did Billy and Daisy bring out the best and the worst in each other?
13. Why do you think Karen didn't want the band to know about her and Graham?
14. Did the drug use have a positive or negative effect on Daisy's song writing and singing?
15. At what point did Daisy lose control of her life?
16. Did Daisy care that her life was spiraling out of control?
17. How did the fact that Billy and Daisy were "the Chosen Ones" cause stress among members of the band?
18. Daisy said about her marriage to Niccolo, "I regret that marriage, but I do not regret that dress" (236).  How does this sum up her personality?
19. Did Eddie take things too personally?
20. Did the size of the band contribute to its problems?
21. Did Karen make the right choice having an abortion?
22. Was Daisy jealous of Camilla?  If so, why?
23. Was the band's break up caused by one event or a perfect storm of smaller events?
24. Did Daisy leave the band for herself or for Billy?
25. Were you surprised that Eddie stayed in the band as long as he did?
26. Why did Julia decide to write the story of the band?
27. Would this book work if written in a more traditional format?
28. This book is going to be made into a television mini series.  Do you think it will translate well into that format?
29. What drew Billy to Daisy in the first place?
30. What would their relationship have been like had Billy and Daisy gotten together?

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Date Night: "Onward" Edition

I know I haven't posted in a while, things got a little chaotic for me, but I'm trying to get back on track with things now.  So, that includes more blog posts.  Last night, Bryan and I saw Pixar's latest movie, Onward, and we both enjoyed it.

Let's start with our dinner beforehand.  I normally just gloss over this part, but we had to change up our routine a little bit (we're creatures of habit when it comes to certain things).  Normally when we go to the movies in Rockville we go to Gordon Biersch for dinner beforehand.  Unfortunately, Gordon Biersch closed down, so we're both pretty disappointed with that.  Instead, we opted to try World of Beer, which is right across the street from the movie theatre.  We'd been there before, and thought it was alright, so we decided to give it one more chance.  I'm glad we did, as it was much better this time around.  Since we got there at the tail end of happy hour, we opted for more mainstream beers for our first round.  I got Alagash White, which I love but don't drink too often.  For my second beer, I got Secret Llama Blueberry Wheat Ale.  Now, my mom gets this blueberry beer from Rhode Island, and she absolutely loves it, but whenever I drink it, I don't taste the blueberry.  That was not the case with Secret Llama.  It had this wonderful blueberry taste, and they even added some blueberries to the glass.  I would definitely drink it again.  In fact, I think I'm going to see if I can get my hands on it at home.  I highly recommend it, especially if you enjoy fruit-flavored beers.

One of the reasons we enjoyed going to Gordon Biersch so much was the giant pretzel, although they got rid of the bacon sauce and changed up the cheese sauce lately, so it wasn't as big of a hit with us.  World of Beer has a giant pretzel too, so we decided to get it.  I don't like mustard, but Bryan said the mustard was really good.  When he tried the cheese, however, he immediately fell in love.  It was beer cheese, which is always good in my book, but, this time, it had a little kick to it, a little like queso, but it was beer cheese.  The kick wasn't overwhelming, just every once in a while you'd get some of it, and it added something different to the sauce.  Needless to say, we've found a pretty good replacement for Gordon Biersch for when we go to the movies in Rockville.

After a delicious dinner, we headed to the movie theatre.  There were so many trailers.  I mean, I expected quite a few, just not half an hour's worth.  Oh, and a short with Maggie from The Simpsons (Bryan pointed out that there was no talking during the short, as the voice actors cost a ton of money).  It was a cute little short where Maggie meets a boy she has a crush on at the park, and, of course, nothing goes as planned, especially when Homer's suddenly put in charge of taking her to the park.  It was cute, although I found it interesting that they had a Simpson's short during a Disney movie, but that's not my decision to make.  It could be worse, it could be Family Guy.

Okay, enough rambling, now to talk about the movie.  For those of you who don't know what Onward's about, it follows two brothers, Barley and Ian, who are elves but live in a world where technology has replaced magic.  So, you have all the mystical creatures you'd expect in a fantasy movie, but they're doing day to day jobs just like us normal people.  On Ian's 16th birthday, they're given a gift from their father, who died from some illness before Ian was born; it's a magic wand and a spell that can bring their father back for twenty-four hours.  Of course, the boys are thrilled, especially Ian, who never actually met his father.  As can be expected, things don't go exactly as planned, and only half of their dad is brought back (from the waist down).  There's the possibility of getting another one of the gems needed to power the magic wand to bring their dad back, so they set off on a quest.  For Barley, this is his dream.  He's obsessed with role playing this game that's based on what life was like for his world before they stopped using magic.  Therefore, he sees himself as an expert on quests as magic, although he has a habit of acting like a fool, so no one takes him seriously.  His heart is always in the right place though.

When I first saw the teaser for this movie, without really knowing the plot, I thought it looked amazing.  I mean, you have fantasy creatures who have lost the ability to do magic, fly, etc., just living normal, boring lives.  When I saw the first full length trailer, I thought it looked alright, but I was definitely less excited about it, as I didn't really like the plot.  I still wanted to see it though, and I'm definitely glad we did.  I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would, and Bryan seemed to enjoy it a lot as well.

One thing I really liked about this movie was how these fantastical creatures have lost the ability to do magic as they became more reliant on technology.  It honestly reminded me a lot of the world today.  With technology, people have forgotten how to sew, cook, make things with their hands, etc.  At the end of the movie, however, there was a definite shift as characters wanted to get back to their roots and learn what had been forgotten over time.  This also reminds me of today.  Quite a few times in my 7th period especially, they get upset because they're not being taught how to sew, cook, build things, etc.  They tell me that they want to learn that.  One student even said, "I heard there used to be a class where they taught you that stuff.  Why did they get rid of it?"  I couldn't agree with them more.  Yes, we live in a society driven by technology, so those skills are important, but that doesn't mean we have to forgo learning how to do things with our hands as well.  Sorry, I'll get off my soapbox now.

When it comes to the movie, I also loved the focus on brotherly relationships.  Lately (meaning the past 20 years or so), Disney has really focused on sisterly relationships, with the only exception being Brother Bear, which is an amazing movie.  Onward focuses on the relationship between Barley and Ian as they try to navigate life together and even mourn their father's death together.  What I enjoyed most about that was the fact that both Barley and Ian weren't afraid to show their emotions; they cried, got angry and laughed with each other.  The focus of the movie wasn't really about getting their dad back for 24 hours but rather the growth and evolution of their relationship.

I want to talk more about this movie, but I'm worried it'll get into some spoilers, so if you haven't seen the movie or don't want to read spoilers, this is probably where you should stop reading.

That ending was rough for me, I'm not going to lie.  There were definitely some moments that hit close to home for me, and I think it's just the timing of it all.  Had I seen this movie a year ago, it would have been sad, but I would have been fine.  With my dad passing, however, it all hit very close to home.  I think Bryan sensed that, as he kept squeezing my hand during certain parts. 

The scene where Barley talks to Ian about how he didn't go say goodbye to their dad in the hospital was difficult for me.  I almost didn't go see my dad that last day in the hospital before he took a turn for the worse, but now I'm so glad I did (we didn't know that that was his last day at the time).  I can understand where Barley was coming from, though, as it can be incredibly difficult to see a loved one like that, but it can also be incredibly difficult to live with the guilt of not saying goodbye.  That's difficult enough for an adult, so imagine how difficult it must be for a child.

I do have to say, I'm glad Ian gave Barley that chance to say goodbye.  How they did it in the movie was perfect too.  I thought it was great that you didn't hear specifically what they talked about but instead had Barley recount it later, it gave him a chance to show what was important to him from that conversation.

The other part of the end that I loved was when Ian realized that while he didn't have his dad with him to grow up, he still had Barley, who stepped up and filled in that roll early on, despite the fact that he was young when his dad died.  It was a wonderful moment when Ian realized that he had a male figure to look up, and while it might not have been his dad, it was still someone who loved him and cared for him immensely. 

Overall, I thought that this was a fantastic Disney movie.  It captured the whimsicalness of Disney films and the importance of family in a way that hasn't been done before.  Even though it's not doing as well in the box office as people anticipated, I still hope this isn't the last we've heard from Ian and Barley.

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