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Miss Bennett: Christmas at Pemberly - Since I won't be home for Christmas this year, I hoped to get into the spirit of the season by going to see this charming play. It was quite fun, although I'm sure that the serious Miss Bennett and the equally serious Mr. de Bourgh mighn't think so. They meet by chance in the library at Pemberly where Elizabeth Darcy, Mary Bennett's sister, has set up a live tree, which no one can understand. Delightful!
Detroit Hustle A Memoir of Love, Life & Home by Amy Haimerl - My hometown has changed so much over the years. Detroit Hustle is the author's story of choosing to move to a new city with her husband as a young pioneers of sorts. Their new city has a troubled past, but young people from all over the country are going there to forge their lives on difficult streets. As the story develops, Detroit becomes home.
Hamilton - What a lovely treat! I was fortunate to see Hamilton with my best friends and my goddaughter. I knew I would love it; the music and lyrics are so compelling and modern in the telling of the life of Alexander Hamilton, one of America's first revolutionaries and patriots. I think he may be rolling over in his grave to see what has happened in his America this past year. He backed the Electoral College based on principles that are no longer in effect, and the same goes for the second amendment. Were he alive today, analyzing and writing about current issues, he would be so pleased to see that his nationalist policies are in place, but he'd be distraught to see how many of those policies have been used to put our country in great debt. This musical biography was fabulous.
Hershey Felder As Irving Berlin - We saw the best play last night! Nancy L. put together a little party and off we went to the Royal George Theater to see a marvelous one man show. Hershey Felder was captivating as Irving Berlin, the "singing waiter" who made good with his musical talent and big heart. From the time he left Russia as a boy to his 102nd year, Irving Berlin was brought to life narrating his inspirations and the resulting music and resounding success he enjoyed in his adoptive country. Irving Berlin was a true American. Hershey Felder and the timeless music of Irving Berlin (did you know he wrote Blue Skies?) are a don't miss experience.
Funnyman - This world premier by playwright Bruce Graham was excellent and I'm so happy that the run was extended and that I got to see it on Saturday with Nancy L at our local Northlight theater. The play is art imitating life, while it's about life imitating art. It takes place in New York around 1960; George Wendt plays Chick Sherman, a vaudeville comic whose recent jobs have been tv commercials where he plays a caricature of himself. He's a curmudgeon with a grown daughter who doesn't realize how much her dad loves her. Chick's agent, Junior, is played by Tim Kazurinsky with with sweetness and wisdom. There is an opportunity for Chick to star in an off Broadway play written by a flamboyant southern playwright and directed by a snarky young director. And from there the story flows in the hands of these well-known talented actors. See it if you get the chance. 
A Natural Woman a memoir by Carole King - When I first heard Tapestry in 1970 at my new friend Paula's house, the album was so good that we played it over and over and over the entire weekend. There was room for no other music, and when I came home, I went straight to Korvette on Telegraph Road and bought it. Korvette's price at $3.74 was the best for almost any album, and Korvette was where I'd pick up my Keener 13 numerical hit list of the latest songs on the music charts. But I digress. Carole's songs are so simple and beautiful and Tapestry is still one of my all time favorites. Her life story is full of joy and success, but as with all of us, there were bumps along the way. She's super intelligent and thoughtful in addition to being a musical prodigy and songwriter and amazing collaborator. She is generous with her praise and with crediting others for the roles they played in her life. I loved reading this book, and couldn't put it down. It's as beautiful as she is. 
the life-changing magic of tidying up the Japanese art of decluttering and organizing by Marie Kondo - I read this last spring and immediately got down to Kondo-ing my closet. This consisted of putting all of my clothes (including shoes, purses and other accessories) from every dresser drawer, every closet and every room on Peter's bed and all over every surface in that room. Then I proceeded through the daunting task of going through it item by item and asking myself whether that item sparks joy to me. (You've got to read the book in order to understand the concept of sparking joy, but I caught on right away). I decided what to keep and returned only those items to my closet, arranged by season, type and color. The giveaway pile was huge, and much went right out the door. Then there were the items that I was able to sell at a yard sale. Now, sadly, I must report that there are a few piles left, consisting of clothes I want to sell and use to upcycle into interesting projects. My closet, however, is pure joy. I can see all that I have, and am pretty happy with what I wear every day.
Shining Lives - I had no idea that the numbers on clocks, pocket watches and wrist watches were hand painted in the 1920s. In the case of the Westclox Company, they used dials that were painted by young women who worked for the Radium Dial Company in Illinois. The job was to use a small paint brush, smooth it to a point between their lips, dip it into the radium powder and carefully paint perfect numbers on the dial. At the time, radium was thought to be medicinal or curative, so even though it was making many of the women sick, the company told the women that the radium was safe. Shining Lives is a musical stage play about four of those women and their experiences. The larger themes were of discrimination against women and workers, and of the power that men wielded over them in the early part of the 20th century. Seeing the play last night took the audience from entertaining to thought provoking to sadly emotional in 90 minutes. Bravo Northlight Theater for staging this world premier during your 40th anniversary year. Wherever I end up in the future, I hope that my life will be enriched by similar theater experiences to those I so often have at Northlight.
Like No Other by Una LaMarche - This love story about a chance meeting between Devorah and Jaxon and the relationship that follows is thought provoking and maddening all at the same time. It's technically middle school reading, but I found it to be a pleasure because the characters and their families were both sweet and realistic.
The Prince of Los Cocuyos by Richard Blanco - Read this next. Richard is the fifth inaugural poet of the United States, and this memoir is about growing up in a big Cuban family in Miami, Florida. The writing is conversational and approachable, and I loved reading every page of this book. Richard's descriptions bring the characters and places to life, whether happy or sad, easy or difficult. I'm smiling just writing this because the book was that good.
The Liar's Wife by Mary Gordon - This is four "novellas" that the critics loved. Not so this critic. The first one is overwritten and pretentious.
The second one is curious and weird in a 1940s kind of way. The third
and fourth ones are small town so not as pretentious, but
still annoying. That's the best I can do, and don't ask why I continued to read. I don't know.
(Well, maybe because I was still thinking about Los Cocuyos and wanted to keep the beauty of that book in my mind before it was replaced by the next beautiful book which is why I kept on reading the non beautiful one.)
Little Women The Broadway Musical - Nancy L. and met on a freezing cold night to see this play at Northwestern and we loved it. Some of the details in the story were different from what I remembered of all the times I read it when I was younger, but it was a lovely musical and totally engaging. The March sisters and their home are brought to life in all their American simplicity and complication.
22 Jump Street - It was as fun and funny to watch as the first one. This time our heroes go to college to unearth a drug ring. It was filmed on the Tulane campus, so we actually had fun looking for our friend George T, who was an extra in the movie and appeared in one of the over the top fraternity scenes. Once again, if you like juvenile humor with heart, then Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum will be highly entertaining.
