Thursday, August 13, 2009

A Few New Books, From Some Old Favorites





When high school teacher Caelum Quirk and his wife, Maureen, a school nurse, move to Littleton, Colorado, they both get jobs at Columbine High School. In April 1999, while Caelum is away, Maureen finds herself in the library at Columbine, cowering in a cabinet and expecting to be killed. Miraculously, she survives, but at a cost: she is unable to recover from the trauma. When Caelum and Maureen flee to an illusion of safety on the Quirk family's Connecticut farm, they discover that the effects of chaos are not easily put right, and further tragedy ensues.


(Looks like another light novel from our friend Wally. Don't know what to tell you about this one, as I have not read it, but you know my history with Mr. Lamb. To borrow a phrase from Deb, "I mourned the loss of the tree that gave it's life to print She's Come Undone," but sucked it up and read This Much I Know for Sure which I thoroughly enjoyed.)



Next...

The Crowning Glory of Calla Lily Ponder is the sweet, sexy, funny journey of Calla Lily's life set in Wells's expanding fictional Louisiana landscape. In the small river town of La Luna, Calla bursts into being, a force of nature as luminous as the flower she is named for. Under the loving light of the Moon Lady, the feminine force that will guide and protect her throughout her life, Calla enjoys a blissful childhood—until it is cut short. Her mother, M'Dear, a woman of rapture and love, teaches Calla compassion, and passes on to her the art of healing through the humble womanly art of "fixing hair." At her mother's side, Calla further learns that this same touch of hands on the human body can quiet her own soul. It is also on the banks of the La Luna River that Calla encounters sweet, succulent first love, with a boy named Tuck.
But when Tuck leaves Calla with a broken heart, she transforms hurt into inspiration and heads for the wild and colorful city of New Orleans to study at L'Académie de Beauté de Crescent. In that extravagant big river city, she finds her destiny—and comes to understand fully the power of her "healing hands" to change lives and soothe pain, including her own. When Tuck reappears years later, he presents her with an offer that is colored by the memories of lost love. But who knows how Calla Lily, a "daughter of the Moon Lady," will respond?
A tale of family and friendship, tragedy and triumph, loss and love, The Crowning Glory of Calla Lily Ponder features the warmth, humor, soul, and wonder that have made Wells one of today's most cherished writers, and gives us an unforgettable new heroine to treasure.
( I LOVE Rebecca Wells, and loved the Ya-yas....I'm sure Calla Lily will be a delightful read!)

Monday, July 13, 2009

francessco

Thursday, July 9, 2009

A Beautiful Summer Night

What a great night! Beautiful ride on White Bear Lake, only a little rain, great food, great company, great sound track, great Crissy doll, and then an amazing treat at Admirals after the tour. After running into TJ and Billy Mac we were treated to a world class, classical guitar concert, by Francesco Buzzurro. (His tickets typically range from $60- $400 and sell out almost immediately, we got in on our good looks!) Every once in awhile you luck out and stumble into the presence of greatness, and that was our fortune tonight. He has played at the Metropolitan Opera, and Classical Music Halls all over the world, and tonight he was under an oak, overlooking beautiful (well okay nearly dry and swampy) White Bear Lake, with a fiberglass parrot holding a Corona, swinging over his head! Poetry! But Oh man could he play! Francessco Buzzurro Born in Taormina in 1969, Francesco Buzzurro started to play guitar at the age of 6. He graduated at the Conservatory of Trapani. As a classical guitarist he won three national competitions. At the moment he is the leader of a quartet and plays at the most important Italian festivals. Checkout the link below! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaBb1GLJiVo

Monday, July 6, 2009

An Interview With Zippy




Have your family and friends from Mooreland read the book? What do they think?

I think that most of the people who appear as characters in the book couldn't love it more. My sister owns a diner called The Blue Moon just outside of Mooreland, and she has the book cover framed and hanging on the wall there. I feel certain that as the book produces more artifacts Melinda will eventually put together a little shrine. My mom is the same: just unabashedly supportive and delighted. My favorite reaction, though, came from my old friend Andy Hicks, who is featured in the essay, "Favors For Friends." I gave him the book in manuscript, and he and most of his family read it. He sent me a letter and said they all wept when they finished it, because they realized that someone had actually seen them; their family had meant something to someone else. That feeling of having been seen is so important to us all, I think, but consistently a surprise.

The rest of the interview...http://www.randomhouse.com/boldtype/0301/kimmel/interview.html

Also another wonderful interview in a Blog by two fascinating women who read called "Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast; Why Stop at Six" A reference of course to Lewis Carrol's "Through the Looking Glass" and a conversation between Alice and the White Queen. http://blaine.org/sevenimpossiblethings/?p=522#comment-84106



And as always, I want to know who they love to read and here is what Haven says...

South of the Big Four by Don Kurtz.

It's become part of my life's work to mention that book and promote that writer.

{Kimmel's essay on the book, "The Most Familiar Book I Ever Read," is included in Remarkable Reads: 34 Writers and Their Adventures in Reading (edited by J. Peder Zane and available in paper from Norton in February). She also has an essay included in the forthcoming, Killing the Buddha; The Hunter's Bible. In the anthology, thirteen novelists were asked to rewrite a book of the Bible. Kimmel wrote the chapter on Revelations.)}

Little, Big by John Crowley. Harper Perennial brought out his back list. The large format trade paper is breathtakingly beautiful. The book is gorgeous, strange, and deep.

The funniest book I ever read is Adrian Mole by Sue Townsend. I was rereading that book when I was pregnant with my son. I laughed so hard I went into labor.

I would recommend almost everything by Anne Tyler.



Enjoy!

Saturday, July 4, 2009

At Last...Pope Joan the Movie!


Director: Sönke Wortmann
Writers: Donna Woolfolk Cross (novel) Heinrich Hadding (screenplay)
Contact: View company contact information for Pope Joan on IMDbPro.
Release Date: 29 October 2009 (Germany)
Status: Post-production
Genre: Drama | History more
Plot: A 9th century woman of English extraction born in the German city of Ingelheim disguises herself as a man and rises through the Vatican ranks.
After a couple of problems and some cast changes, it seems that Pope Joan, the movie adaptation of Donna Woolfolk Cross’ bestseller about a female pope in the middle ages, is finally reaching its filming stage with the first scenes being shot next month in Morocco and Germany. Among its stars, are John Goodman, who was originally attached to the project just to drop out to do something else and finally coming back again; Johanna Wokalek, who replaced Franke Potente in the lead role; and David Wenham. The original director, Volker Schlondorff, was also replaced by Sonke Wortmann, but it seems that now those troubles are over and everything is in place to make a good period movie. At least we’re hopeful!

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Chocolate Cake that you couldn't guess what was in it

1 1/2 cup chocolate chips melted in microwave
2 cups drained and rinsed garbonzo beans (chick peas)
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
4 eggs

Place eggs in a blender. Add chick peas and puree til smooth. Add sugar, melted chocolate chips and baking powder. Pour into 8 or 9 inch greased pan. Bake for 35-40 min.

Yes, it's this easy.

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Favorite Reads of 2008 (Reading Group Guides)

1. Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen (Algonquin)

2. Loving Frank by Nancy Horan (Ballantine Books)

3. Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin (Penguin Books)

4. The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls (Scribner)

5. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini (Riverhead Trade)

6. The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak (Knopf Books for Young Readers)

7. Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert (Penguin Books)

8. The Shack by William P. Young (Windblown Media)

9. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See (Random House Trade)

10. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows (The Dial Press)