Life: It Goes On - November 30

What a wonderful, long weekend! We had lovely Thanksgiving celebrations with both sides of our families. I even managed to not over eat either day - well, not to the point where I had to take a nap, anyway!

We're fundamentally opposed to shopping on Thanksgiving Day (and also, kind of over the whole idea of fighting the rush and standing in long lines), we waited to do our Black Friday shopping until Friday. But it just wouldn't be the same if we didn't get up early to go, so six of the ladies on my side of the family headed out about 7 a.m. to go grab up some bargains after a quick coffee stop. It's as much about being together as it is about the shopping and I wouldn't miss it for the world.

Yesterday temps here reached into the 70's and by the end of the day I think every man on the block had been out putting up Christmas lights, including The Big Guy. The city had kicked off the holiday season Thursday night so we went off to a couple of areas in town to see the lights, enjoy some seasonal music, and view some Christmas window displays and what a beautiful night to do it!

This Week I'm:

Listening To: I'll be pulling out the Christmas music shortly to listen to while I start the decorating today but will stick to some lesser played pieces. I'm sure I'll get all of the "Jingle Bells" and "Silent Night" I need before we get to Christmas so I can't quite start those yet.

Watching: Today's press conference by the University of Nebraska Athletic Director announcing the firing of our football coach. It's been a roller coaster ride with Bo Pelini these past five years. I think he's essentially a really good person and the players love him but our expectations in this state are higher than what he can deliver.

Reading: I'm planning to finish The Secret History, Sea of Poppies, and From The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler this week. Since I've already read this month's book club selection, I'm not sure what I'll pick up next. I'll have to see what's left to read for my challenges.

Making: Some chicken dishes - a version of stroganoff and a pot pie using a stuffing crust instead of pie crust (both new creations we'll do again), guacamole, and cinnamon rolls.

Planning: On putting the finishing touches on the guest room this week, finishing up the Christmas decorating, and continuing the work on "my" room. A few pieces left to be brought in and a fair amount of organizing to do and then I can begin really using it. Can't wait!

Grateful for: Family, family, and family!

Enjoying: The long weekend with time for celebrating and lots of productive work around the house. Wish we could have a four-day weekend every month.

Feeling: Still unmotivated to put up my holiday decorations. Even though I'm doing it.

Looking forward to: It's too early to say summer, isn't it? Gotta find a way to make myself look at the good as we head into the long months of winter. Ideas?

What are you looking forward to this week?

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to my U.S. readers! I hope that, no matter your circumstances and surroundings today, you are finding some time to give thanks for the blessings in your life. We will be blessed to be  surrounded by family, celebrating with an abundance of food and our own crazy holiday traditions.

The Paris Wife by Paula McClain

The Paris Wife by Paula McClain
Published February 2011 by Random House Publishing
Source: bought this one to read with my book club

Publisher's Summary:
Chicago, 1920: Hadley Richardson is a quiet twenty-eight-year-old who has all but given up on love and happiness—until she meets Ernest Hemingway. Following a whirlwind courtship and wedding, the pair set sail for Paris, where they become the golden couple in a lively and volatile group—the fabled “Lost Generation”—that includes Gertrude Stein, Ezra Pound, and F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Though deeply in love, the Hemingways are ill prepared for the hard-drinking, fast-living, and free-loving life of Jazz Age Paris. As Ernest struggles to find the voice that will earn him a place in history and pours himself into the novel that will become The Sun Also Rises, Hadley strives to hold on to her sense of self as her roles as wife, friend, and muse become more challenging. Eventually they find themselves facing the ultimate crisis of their marriage—a deception that will lead to the unraveling of everything they’ve fought so hard for.

My Thoughts:
Despite reading a lot of good reviews for this book, I've been put off by it for reasons that seem to have been largely judging a book by its cover...and its title. Even though I knew the book was about Ernest Hemingway's first wife, Hadley Richardson, I'd look at the title and that cover and my brain would say "this is a book about a 1950's wife, blah, blah, blah." But with so many bloggers touting it as a good book club choice, and having recently read Hemingway's A Moveable Feast, I decided to have our book club read The Paris Wife this month.

Thank you to all who encouraged me to make that choice! What an excellent book club selection, particularly when you have a group of ladies who have read some Hemingway (in fact, our group read The Sun Also Rises in 2013, which features prominently in this book) and when you have a member who is familiar with Hemingway's third wife, Martha Gelhorn. We had one of our best discussions ever about this book - we talked about the marriage of Ernest and Hadley, about what made Hemingway act the way he did, about the lives and morals of the people who ran with the Hemingways, and about the choices the Hemingways made.

Hadley Richardson would have made Tammy Wynette proud, standing by her man as she did for so long. When they married, Hadley made the decision that her role was to support Ernest and she spent most of their years together allowing him to make most of the decisions in their marriage. For reasons that were easier to understand after reading the book, Hemingway was a very difficult man to be married to, requiring, as he did, constant stroking of the ego and his need for the world to revolve around him. Hadley was not, by her own admission, a "modern" woman who never felt entirely at home in Paris where the fashions and the morals were changing rapidly. But she so loved Ernest that she put up with his moods, his selfishness, and his hypocrisy. Eventually Hemingway pushed away all of his old friends (including Ezra Pound and Gertrude Stein) and Hadley. At the end of his life, though, Hemingway admitted "I wished I had died before I ever loved anyone but her."

I'm sure my appreciation for this book was enhanced by the fact that as I was reading it I was thinking about how different aspects would make great discussion points. But I would have enjoyed it even without those thoughts; it's a well-researched book, McClain has done a fine job of channeling Hemingway's style in dialogue, and she's made her characters if not necessarily likable, at least understandable.

Top Ten Books I'm Looking Forward To In 2015

This week the lovely girls at The Broke and The Bookish have invited us to share the top ten books we're looking forward to in 2015. As I'm always playing catch up (and trying to work through the back log of books I already own), I never really have a list of books to be published in the upcoming months, let alone the next year. So my list will include books that will be published in 2015 so my list will surely change a month from now. But for today, and in no particular order, as usual, here are the top ten books I'm looking forward to reading in 2015.

1. River Of Smoke and Flood of Fire by Amitav Ghosh: books 2 and 3 in the trilogy that started with Sea of Poppies which I'm just finishing up on audio right now. River of Smoke is already out and Flood of Fire will come out in the spring of 2015. You may recall that I'm terrible about finishing up series so these may come as a surprise, but one of my goals in 2015 is actually to do just that.

2. The Snow Queen by Michael Cunningham, author of The Hours

3. Dancer by Colum McCann, author of Let The Great World Spin

4. The World Made Straight by Ron Rash, author of Serena and The Cove (this is a reissue)

5. Funny Girl by Nick Hornby, author of About A Boy and High Fidelity

6. West of Sunset by Stewart O'Nan, author of Songs For The Missing

7. Careless People: Murder, Mayhem and the Invention of The Great Gatsby by Sarah Churchill

8. The Lotus and The Storm by Lan Cao

9. Miss Emily by Nuala O'Connor

10. A World Elsewhere by Sigrid MacRae

Life: It Goes On - November 23

Yikes! How did this week pass by so quickly?? Between a cold, book club, time with my girl, and a lot of work on "my" room, we've worked our way back to Sunday.

The Omaha Bookworms met Tuesday and had a great discussion about The Paris Wife by Paula McClain. We'd definitely recommend it for other book clubs. You've gotta know a book's discussion worthy when we spent as much time talking about the book as we did talking about other things!

It finally warmed up enough this weekend that we were able to finish our outdoor work for the year. Just in time to put up the Christmas lights next weekend! Have any of you ever wintered a strawberry plant? I've brought in one in a small pot a month ago I'm going to try to keep alive with my herbs over the winter.

This Week I'm:

Listening To: I'll finish Sea of Poppies this week then I'll be listening to podcasts for a while since I've neglected to get over to the library to pick up some new reads. Have any of you started listening to "Serial," the podcast launched by This American Life? I think I'll download that to listen to next week.

Watching: We rewatched the final episode of season one of Benedict Cumberbatch's "Sherlock" on BBC America and caught up with "Manhattan" in addition to our usual rounds of football, "The Voice," "Person of Interest," and "Elementary."

Reading: I read both The Paris Wife and Jane Austen's First Love this week and now I'm back to The Secret History which is definitely starting to pick up. For some reason, though, it just doesn't call to me to pick it up and fall into it for a couple of ours at a time. Too many other things on my mind?

Making: Omelets, skillet barbecued chicken and mashed potatoes, chocolate chip cookies. I know we were more productive in the kitchen than that this week - we actually made a plan every night before we went to bed for dinner the next night.

Planning: On continuing work in my new space. The goal is to get everything in there and organized so I can start using it the next week. The books are largely in and organized; shelving and cupboards are almost all in place; and the sewing, crafting, and scrapbooking supplies are making their way up from the basement. Come spring I'll push it all back into the middle of the room so I can paint and then I can finally make curtains of fabric I've been holding on to for 20 years for just the right space.

Grateful for: A pantry full of food. This time of year I definitely become more away of how many people are not so fortunate. My sister has challenged me to do some grocery shopping for a worthy cause, take a picture of it and post it to Facebook. I'll be planning meet that challenge this week.

Moving photos mean I find things like this!

Enjoying: Time with all of my kids this week. Had a two-hour lunch with Miss H on Thursday then she spent the night Friday night and spent most of yesterday with me. Today Mini-me came out to spend the day. Mini-him was around a good chunk of the time so he was happy to get to spend time with his siblings as well. We are blessed that they are all such good friends.

Feeling: Content and confident. I'm getting used to Miss H being gone (heck, I've seen more of her since she moved than I did when she lived here!), my house and yard are mostly in order, and I've got a plan to survive the holidays. Although, I kind of hate that I think of it as "surviving" instead of "enjoying."

Looking forward to: Spending time with our families...and cranberries, sweet potatoes, pumpkin pie and Grandma's beans!

Jane Austen's First Love by Syrie James - Review and Giveaway Announcement

Jane Austen's First Love by Syrie James
Published August 2014 by Penguin Group
Source: my copy courtesy of the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Publisher's Summary:
In the summer of 1791, fifteen-year-old Miss Jane Austen is determined to accomplish three things: to do something useful, write something worthy, and fall madly in love. While visiting at Goodnestone Park in Kent for a month of festivities in honor of her brother's engagement to Miss Elizabeth Bridges, Jane meets the boy-next-door—the wealthy, worldly, and devilishly handsome Edward Taylor, heir to Bifrons Park, and hopefully her heart! Like many of Jane’s future heroes and heroines, she soon realizes that there are obstacles—social, financial, and otherwise—blocking her path to love and marriage, one of them personified by her beautiful and sweet tempered rival, Charlotte Payler.

Unsure of her own budding romance, but confident in her powers of observation, Jane distracts herself by attempting to maneuver the affections of three other young couples. But when her well-intentioned matchmaking efforts turn into blundering misalliance, Jane must choose between following her own happily-ever-after, or repairing those relationships which, based on erroneous first impressions, she has misaligned.

My Thoughts:
I'm a huge fan of Jane Austen (making my reservation soon for the annual tea to celebrate her birthday) but have I've had mixed results reading books based on her characters or her life. But I knew that this type of book is Syrie James forte so when I was offered this book for review, I didn't hesitate.

It did take me a bit to get into the book but I think that's as much because I jumped straight from an entirely different kind of writing and historical time period as because of anything that James had done. Soon I fell into the rhythm of the book and was carried along with James' vision of Jane Austen falling in love for the first time, the ways of the wealthy in the late 18th century, and the kinds of people who might have influenced her writing.

Edward Taylor was a real person, a man whom, Austen noted in a letter, she had once "doated" on. It's also a fact that Jane and her sister Cassandra traveled to Goodnestone Park to celebrate the marriage of their brother Edward to Miss Elizabeth Bridges. I'm a sucker for a book that blends real people into a fiction novel. James has taken the known facts about these characters and fleshed them out into characters who James imagines as the inspiration for characters who will later appear in Austen's novels. Jane herself, playing matchmaker among the couples present at Goodnestone Park, brings to mind the machinations of Emma Woodhouse, title character of her novel Emma.

Syrie James, hailed as “the queen of nineteenth century re-imaginings” by Los Angeles Magazine, is the bestselling author of nine critically acclaimed novels that have been translated into 18 languages. Her books have been awarded the Audio Book Association Audie, designated as Editor’s Picks by Library Journal, named a Discover Great New Writer’s Selection by Barnes and Noble, a Great Group Read by the Women’s National Book Association, and Best Book of the Year by The Romance Reviews and Suspense Magazine. Syrie is a member of the WGA and lives in Los Angeles. Please visit her at syriejames.com, Facebook or say hello on Twitter @SyrieJames.

Grand Giveaway Contest 

Win One of Five Fabulous Jane Austen-inspired Prize Packages 

To celebrate the holidays and the release of Jane Austen's First Love, Syrie is giving away five prize packages filled with an amazing selection of Jane Austen-inspired gifts and books!

To enter the giveaway contest, simply leave a comment on any of the blog stops on the Jane Austen's First Love Holiday Blog Tour.

Increase your chances of winning by visiting multiple stops along the tour! Syrie's unique guest posts will be featured on a variety of subjects, along with fun interviews, spotlights, excerpts, and reviews of the novel. Contest closes at 11:59pm PT, December 21, 2014. Five lucky winners will be drawn at random from all of the comments on the tour, and announced on Syrie’s website on December 22, 2014. The giveaway contest is open to everyone, including international residents. Good luck to all!

Jane Austen's First Love Holiday Blog Tour - Guest Post, Author Syrie James

The Challenges of Writing Jane Austen’s First Love

 By Syrie James

One of the greatest pleasures of being a novelist is that you get to climb into the minds and hearts of the characters you’re writing about, and bring them to life on the page. I enjoy writing many types of fiction, from contemporary love stories and romance to suspense and the paranormal, but one of my favorite genres (one I return to time and again) is historical fiction—and I particularly enjoy writing about real people. Choosing to tackle a famous historical figure, however, is full of challenges. I do an enormous amount of research, because I feel a great responsibility to portray them as accurately as possible. But novel readers aren’t looking for a biography or a simple recounting of facts; they want a narrative tale. They want active scenes, realistic dialogue, meaningful interior monologue, and a satisfying character arc. In short, they want the author to use his or her imagination to bring the person to life, while still honoring the truth of their known history. It’s a challenge I absolutely love!

Jane Austen is one of my favorite writers, and my desire to give her a romance of her own inspired my first Austen novel, The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen, in which a mature Jane has a passionate, life-changing romance with a dashing kindred spirit. My wish for a seventh Austen novel, and the speculation of how much fun it would be to find one, led me to write The Missing Manuscript of Jane Austen. My new novel, Jane Austen’s First Love, differs from the others in several ways: the object of the youthful Jane’s affection, Edward Taylor, was a very real (and truly remarkable) young man; in fact, nearly every single character in the book is a real person who Jane Austen knew; all the manor homes they live in and all the places Jane visits are completely real; and the story itself is inspired by actual events in Austen’s life.

Bifrons Park

Austen scholars didn’t know much about Edward Taylor, except that he was heir to Bifrons Park, an ancestral estate some five miles from Goodnestone Park in Kent, home of the Bridges family (Elizabeth Bridges married Jane’s brother Edward Austen in 1791.) They knew, from Jane’s mentions of Edward Taylor in her correspondence, that she was deeply enamoured of him as a teenager. But that was about it. Imagine how excited I was when, after extensive research, I uncovered the truth about Edward Taylor—a treasure trove of information which Austen biographers weren’t aware of! Knowing that Edward Taylor was a real person who Jane Austen adored, and that I had in my possession so many little-known facts about him, was thrilling. My research (and the existence of Jane’s short story, “The Three Sisters”) led me to believe that Jane visited Kent in the summer of 1791 to celebrate the engagement of her brother Edward to Elizabeth Bridges. In my novel, Jane not only meets the young ladies who inspired that short story, she also meets and falls in love with the irresistible Edward Taylor, a young man who challenges her to see the world differently.

Goodnestone Park

I spent a great deal of time researching every single person in Jane Austen’s First Love, from the Austen, Taylor, and Bridges families and their offspring (Sir Brook and Lady Bridges had eleven children!) to their neighbors, cousins, and suitors. I learned about the history of Bifrons Park and Goodnestone Park, where most of my novel is set. In order to depict Goodnestone Park accurately, I visited the estate and was fortunate to get a personal, guided tour of the manor home and its vast, beautiful grounds by a member of the FitzWalter family—a descendant of the Bridgeses who Jane Austen knew over two hundred years ago. Jane Austen’s First Love was a challenge to write, but it was also a labor of love. I’m thrilled when people tell me how much they love the novel, and I hope new readers will discover it and enjoy the tale of the extraordinary young man who first stole Jane Austen’s heart!

Thanks, Syrie! My review of the book will be posted tomorrow along with exciting details about a prize pack giveaway Ms. James is hosting!

GRAND GIVEAWAY CONTEST WIN ONE OF FIVE FABULOUS JANE AUSTEN-INSPIRED PRIZE PACKAGES 

 To celebrate the holidays and the release of Jane Austen's First Love, Syrie is giving away five prize packages filled with an amazing selection of Jane Austen-inspired gifts and books! To enter the giveaway contest, simply leave a comment on any of the blog stops on the Jane Austen's First Love Holiday Blog Tour.

Increase your chances of winning by visiting multiple stops along the tour! Syrie's unique guest posts will be featured on a variety of subjects, along with fun interviews, spotlights, excerpts, and reviews of the novel. Contest closes at 11:59pm PT, December 21, 2014. Five lucky winners will be drawn at random from all of the comments on the tour, and announced on this page on December 22, 2014. The giveaway contest is open to everyone, including international residents. Good luck to all!