LOST IN YONKERS

Lost In Yonkers - I love our Northlight Theatre!  Lost In Yonkers is the Neil Simon play about two brothers who go to live with their stern grandmother after their mother dies and their father has to go to work as a traveling salesman in order to make enough money to pay off the debt he incurred for his wife's illness.  The action takes place during the 1940s in the grandmother's apartment in Yonkers, and involves not only the unpleasant grandmother, but the father's nutty siblings.  It's funny and poignant, and the acting was great.  Northlight is a small house, so no matter where you sit, you're close to the action, and it's easy to get lost in the play.  As soon as I have a chance, I'm going to watch the 1993 movie, and maybe go back to some more of Neil Simon's work.Saling - I sold and gave away stuff this week and it felt good to purge.  My next challenge is whether to have a yard sale this summer.  I love doing it, and have a fair amount to sell.  I was thinking I wouldn't have the sale, but I think I might just go for it.  Two days, short hours.  Less stuff than usual, but stuff that people want, priced to sell.  Hmmm.  Don't know what to do.     

THE GIRL YOU LEFT BEHIND * THE TIME OF MY LIFE

The Girl You Left Behind by Jo Jo Moyes - A really good book in that genre where a parallel  story takes place in two separate decades.  In this case, it's both present day and 1916 during World War I.  It's also a story about what happens to possessions as the years go by, and how to trace such things many years after the fact if there are no records.  We speculate about what the people were thinking and doing all those many years ago, but since we weren't there, we don't really know.  Unique love stories round out the tale with female heroines who are motivated by love.  It's very different from the other Jo Jo Moyes book, but the story is every bit as enticing. 

The Time of My Life by Cecelia Ahern - Irish chick lit packed with wisdom and events to make one think about life.  It's written rather informally and with a cheery flavor, but at the core of this book is a serious theme.  Lucy, the main character and narrator is at a crossroads but doesn't know it although everyone around her is well aware that she is not being her best self or living her best life.  It's a breezy book, perfect for a day at the beach, about Lucy Silchester and her life.  I couldn't help but imagine all the great looking guys in this book, and thinking about which actors could play them in the movie where I see Lucy played by Renee Zellweger. 

THE CUCKOO'S CALLING * TIES THAT BIND TIES THAT BREAK

The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith - This is the who done it mystery written by J. K. Rowling under a male pseudonym.  It's long, but readable. The main characters are a private detective named Cormoran Strike and his trusty assistant, Robin.  Their stories are as much a part of the plot as the mystery of how a beautiful model really died.  Cormoran and Robin battle against the prevailing wisdom of Scotland Yard to find not only the truth, but to prove the truth completely. This is so much better than the vacant The Casual Vacancy.  There is action, and the characters, locations and events are so much more interesting.  I'd read another Cormoran Strike mystery! 

Ties That Bind, Ties That Break by Lensey Namioka - Thanks to my niece, Lucy, for this recommendation!  I devoured it in two readings.  It's the story of a plucky Chinese girl in the 1920s, a third daughter with very few options growing up in the closed world of her family's compound.  Ailin is willful, but her father is indulgent, so she grows up with a strength of character not very often observed in young women of her era and circumstances.  Although her choices are limited, each one furthers her in a new way, and her life opens up to new possibilities that she never dreamed could occur.