THE 19th WIFE * THE CLASS * AWAY WE GO * LOITERING WITH INTENT

If you're familiar with any of the above titles, then you know why I haven't been very inspired lately! Reading has been less than so-so, and movies have been somewhat blah as well. It's a good thing TV is great this season. Curb Your Enthusiasm is at a whole new level, and the others are keeping me engaged as well. I'm reading Oprah's latest recommendation which is a collection of short stories about life in Africa, so things are looking up.
The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff is a story and a history about two 19th wives. You've guessed now that this is about plural marriage and fundamental mormanism. The modern day story is a murder mystery, narrated by the son of a 19th wife. He was left by the side of the road outside his compound when he was 12 years old. The elders in charge didn't need any boys to compete for the girls. In plural marriage, it's necessary for the women to outnumber the men. Every other chapter is a history chapter, outlining the origins of mormonism and the visions that became the doctrines that encouraged plural marriage. They evolve into the story of Ann Eliza Young, 19th wife of Brigham Young, (who may have had more than 50 "wives"). I wish I had read this book before watching Big Love, because it's all so clear now. Read it or not. It's much better than Under the Banner of Heaven which I reviewed a few weeks ago.
The Class - This was a subtitled French Movie which had the best reviews of a group of DVDs that no one in the movie group had seen. It's about a middle school on the outskirts of Paris, in particular a French Class with a group of average students and a teacher who respects them. Many of them are children of immigrants who have escaped their native countries' political regimes. It's tough out there for the first generation. A good classroom drama.
Away We Go - I liked this quirky movie about a couple who are expecting a baby. They travel to different cities to decide where they want to settle down to raise their child. It's sweet and thoughtful, and their parents and friends are all very nutty and funny and deep. There are many recognizable faces giving wonderful performances. See it as a surprise to yourself. It's a treat.
Loitering With Intent by Muriel Spark - I was halfway through this book when I realized that I wasn't enjoying it, hadn't cared to read it in the mornings, and only kept reading because the author knows how to turn a phrase. It takes place in England and is about a poor but happy writer living in a bedsit after the war. She goes to work for an eccentric older man and then she writes a book fictionalizing the man and his friends who gather to write their autobiographies. I skipped to the end, and skipped through the chapters to figure out whether said older man was blackmailing the friends, but it was difficult because of the funny colorful prose. Love the title, though.

FINDING STUFF * THE POWER OF ONE

I just went to find the book I was going to review, and it was nowhere to be seen on my now-messy-again desktop. Where could it be? It was just there yesterday, and it's due back to the library in a day or so. I started putting things away, opened the file drawer to put away my address book, and there was the library book neatly in the spot for the address book. How did that happen? And when would I have discovered it? This recurring theme in my life lately is the most annoying thing about not being organized and perfect to within an inch of my life. I miss being that person! It's important and I'm going to work with intent to get back there. It's important and worth the battle.

The Power of One - by Jane A. Adams is a murder mystery set in a sweet town in Dorset in the UK; Rina Martin is a widow who owns a little boarding house and solves mysteries much to the annoyance and appreciation of the local constabulary. The picture on the cover is nothing like I pictured the setting in my imagination. If you like mysteries where even the bad guys are not so bad, then this book is for you. I probably won't be reading any more Rina Martin mysteries. It has short chapters.
The title has a little something to do with the story, but it's nowhere near as powerful as it sounds.

BEFORE SUNRISE * JIGSAW PUZZLES * SALING

First of all, click on this link for some background music to your blog reading today: Background Music
It's Julie Delpy singing this beautiful song in the movie
Before Sunset - that we watched last night. It was a lovely little movie set in Paris 9 years after Before Sunrise. I remember watching Before Sunrise years ago, and just reserved it at the library so that I could see it again. It's one long conversation between the characters who met 9 years before, and had plans to meet again 6 months later. Here's where we find out what happened. Ethan Hawke is still boyish, and Julie Delpy is beautiful. Basically I could listen to the song over and over again, and as I'm writing I'm doing just that.

What do I do in my spare time? You know, that spare time I don't ever have? It's taken me a couple of weeks of minutes here and there, but one of my dirty little secrets is that I love to do jigsaw puzzles. The only requirement is that I like the picture. My favorites are good old fashioned Big Ben puzzles, although the pictures are never as alluring. Big Bens consist of 4 sided interlocking pieces with a set number of variations. This picture is one of those puzzles with funny shapes that take a while to get used to, including some really huge funny curvy pieces. Once you get used to the funny shapes, it's fairly straight forward. How pretty is this?

And now for the big news of the weekend. I found a Yellow Bowl! You never know where your most precious treasures will be found. At a little garage sale in Wilmette, where things were overpriced (it turns out that the person used to own a retail store, and was pricing based on a great sale at a store rather than garage sale prices. It also turned out that she doesn't go to garage sales, and doesn't know garage sale pricing). Anyway, I'm looking at all this nice and very clean new looking stuff, and on the last table, I spot it.
The Yellow Bowl. If you recall, last year I'd broken the yellow bowl from my Pyrex nesting bowl set, and was very upset. I hoped that I'd find one at a sale someday. You can buy them on ebay, but I wanted to discover one on my own. And I did. Priced at $4.00, and I got it for 3. It's in similar condition and color to the one I had. I couldn't be happier.To add icing to the cake of this little story, later that afternoon, after going to Peter's cross country meet, I had a decision to make: bounce around Lincolnwood and Skoke with Nancy L. to some garage sales and a house sale for what Nancy S. calls sloppy seconds, or go with Nancy S. to a small exclusive sounding Condo Sale in Highland Park. I chose exclusivity, figuring that I'd also get home sooner and maybe get something done. (I did, too. I got the puzzle done). In a kitchen cupboard of the condo sale were guess what? Not one, but two yellow bowls. Yup. And priced at $4.00 each (basically the cheapest things in that condo) but not in as nice condition as the one I'd already bought.
Here are my Pyrex Bowls....All's well in the cupboard.
Are you enjoying the Julie Delpy background music?

THE GIFT OF AN ORDINARY DAY * THE GOOD EARTH

The Gift of an Ordinary Day - by Katrina Kenison is a sweet memoir about a family who encounter changes in their lives as their two sons grow up and prepare for college. The author craved a simple life for she and her family, and achieved it with a seeming amount of grace and courage. It's difficult to raise your children then watch them spread their wings for places far away, and this is a great book to read for anyone who is on that journey. For me it was a bit slow going, but I stuck with it for the good message and to see what happened, since there is a bit of suspense toward the end of the book.

The Good Earth - by Pearl S. Buck won the Pulitzer Prize in 1935. I read this book as an avid grade school reader, and I now see that the whole story was quite over my head. Reading it as an adult was a treat. It started a bit slow for me, as did the lives of the characters; as their lives progress, so does the story. It's an amazing story of a poor chinese farmer, Wang Lung, and all that befalls him in his life. The writing is almost biblical, but it is written with great beauty and sensitivity. I'm so happy that my sister in law gave this book to my son some years ago, and that I discovered it on our shelf and decided to read it once again. I can't wait to see the movie, and just reserved a copy of the DVD at the library.