Louis L'Amour, Kilkenny. This man could have taught a master class on how to have a long career as a writer with a highly individual style and yet still have each book feel different from the others. I think I might have enjoyed this one even more if I remembered the first book with the same characters, but even as it was, I found the plot and characters vivid and interesting.
Burt Hirschfeld, The Ewings of Dallas. Okay, okay, I know. But I used to have the book a long time ago, it's true escapist literature (never mind the massive numbers of plot holes and breaks in the time line you could drive a herd of longhorns through), and I admit I enjoyed rereading it.
Hugh Pentecost, Nightmare Time. This one has the distinction of being not only the last in the series, but also the first one I ever read and the one I enjoy the most. Possibly that's from familiarity. But it's also a good plot, uses the secondary characters better than usual, and has less repetitiveness than many of the installments. Overall, though, I'm glad to have come to the end and will not be rereading the series in publication order again (at least, not this close to each other).
Sue Monk Kidd, The Secret Life of Bees. This is one that was given to me as a gift (can't remember from whom, though), and is part of the class of 21st-century fiction that I generally don't enjoy. And, to tell the truth, I'm still a bit weirded out by the fact that I did enjoy it. It definitely has some of the same failings that I have noted about other books of similar type - the strange, almost fantastic bits that threaten to ruin the illusion of reality, the almost painful self-awareness of the book that it is "Literature" - I also felt it had good characters, an interesting story, and failed to be pretentious. (The difference between pretentiousness and painful self-awareness is hard to describe, but it's there.) Overall, I quite liked it, and am a bit disturbed by that.
Friday, September 25, 2009
Thursday, September 24, 2009
ahh, preschool
Third child, third preschool. Lots of people really gung-ho about this one (it's a partial co-op, so I guess you have to be) ... and me, I'm feeling like I'm doing everything all wrong, can't get the hang of it, and am annoying folks at every turn.
(Now, I recognize that my social paranoia is coming out, and I'm overreacting. Nevertheless, I was really bothered by it, until I realized a couple of things.)
The first thing I realized is that of course I can't get the hang of this one. It is, as I say, my third preschool. Been there, done that, spent the enthusiasm already. I'm looking at this more as a place that we're drifting through for a couple of years than as a pivotal place in our lives ... which, I realize, shortchanges Veronica's experience a bit. So a bit of an attitude adjustment needed there.
The second thing I realized, though, occurred to me as I was mentally reviewing my previous experiences. Greyson's preschool teachers seemed daunting to me - they seemed great with the kids, not so great with the parents. (Same with Veronica's.) Charles's teachers seemed overly jolly, as if we were all preschoolers, and the one who did the most dealing with the parents was timid and a bit reactionary, putting my back up more than once. I never enjoyed all the paperwork, and never was a big fan of all the little rules and things, of which this newest one has many. Many.
(It's also quite possible that I'm spoiled now that I've been exposed to the High Plain atmosphere, where by and large teachers and parents seem to be on an equal footing, speaking to each other as peers and colleagues more than as teacher and subordinate. Which is generally how I feel looked upon by the preschool teachers - like I'm some kind of inadequate new parent.)
So I think it boils down to that I like older kids better than younger ones, older kids' schools better than older ones, never did get the hang of being a preschool parent, but I have two years left and an expectation (requirement, even) to be an active preschool parent so I'd better suck it up and stop taking it all so personally. After all, it's about Veronica, and she deserves a great experience.
(Now, I recognize that my social paranoia is coming out, and I'm overreacting. Nevertheless, I was really bothered by it, until I realized a couple of things.)
The first thing I realized is that of course I can't get the hang of this one. It is, as I say, my third preschool. Been there, done that, spent the enthusiasm already. I'm looking at this more as a place that we're drifting through for a couple of years than as a pivotal place in our lives ... which, I realize, shortchanges Veronica's experience a bit. So a bit of an attitude adjustment needed there.
The second thing I realized, though, occurred to me as I was mentally reviewing my previous experiences. Greyson's preschool teachers seemed daunting to me - they seemed great with the kids, not so great with the parents. (Same with Veronica's.) Charles's teachers seemed overly jolly, as if we were all preschoolers, and the one who did the most dealing with the parents was timid and a bit reactionary, putting my back up more than once. I never enjoyed all the paperwork, and never was a big fan of all the little rules and things, of which this newest one has many. Many.
(It's also quite possible that I'm spoiled now that I've been exposed to the High Plain atmosphere, where by and large teachers and parents seem to be on an equal footing, speaking to each other as peers and colleagues more than as teacher and subordinate. Which is generally how I feel looked upon by the preschool teachers - like I'm some kind of inadequate new parent.)
So I think it boils down to that I like older kids better than younger ones, older kids' schools better than older ones, never did get the hang of being a preschool parent, but I have two years left and an expectation (requirement, even) to be an active preschool parent so I'd better suck it up and stop taking it all so personally. After all, it's about Veronica, and she deserves a great experience.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
5 things that make me happy today
On a day filled with minor annoyances, it's a good time for a happiness reminder.
1. Plymouth in two days! Woohoo, the bliss!
2. Veronica starting preschool. She's happy, I'm happy, we both get some much-needed space and independence.
3. Happy kindergartener making friends. Sure, his school day wears him out, but it's so nice to watch him play on the playground while all the boys call his name and want him to come play.
4. Burning through my book backlog. I've been making some good progress recently, which makes me very happy!
5. The return of the fall TV schedule. The Amazing Race, Cold Case, Project Runway, CSI, Law & Order, Numb3rs, How I Met Your Mother ... happy to have them all coming back to my TV!
1. Plymouth in two days! Woohoo, the bliss!
2. Veronica starting preschool. She's happy, I'm happy, we both get some much-needed space and independence.
3. Happy kindergartener making friends. Sure, his school day wears him out, but it's so nice to watch him play on the playground while all the boys call his name and want him to come play.
4. Burning through my book backlog. I've been making some good progress recently, which makes me very happy!
5. The return of the fall TV schedule. The Amazing Race, Cold Case, Project Runway, CSI, Law & Order, Numb3rs, How I Met Your Mother ... happy to have them all coming back to my TV!
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
a banner day!
This morning, I took the boys to the bus, sent them off to school, then loaded the little girl into the car and drove her off to her school.
(Here I will confess that when I gave her a kiss and left the room, I did wonder if she would be scared when she figured out I wasn't there, and I did hesitate to leave.)
But leave I did, and with confidence in my little girl's excitement to be in school, I came home to two blissful hours in a completely quiet house all by myself! This is an excitement I've been anticipating for a long time. I admit, I didn't do too much with it - other than cracking open the peppermint ice cream and having it for breakfast - but it was most very enjoyable. Looking forward to twice a week for the rest of the fall semester! (Starting next week, they'll be working mornings, but they'll be working mornings in total privacy. Luxury, I tell you!)
And for the curious - yes, when she figured out I wasn't there, she was afraid I'd gotten lost and started to cry. When was that? At pick-up time, after three hours of school. :) She did just fine.
(Here I will confess that when I gave her a kiss and left the room, I did wonder if she would be scared when she figured out I wasn't there, and I did hesitate to leave.)
But leave I did, and with confidence in my little girl's excitement to be in school, I came home to two blissful hours in a completely quiet house all by myself! This is an excitement I've been anticipating for a long time. I admit, I didn't do too much with it - other than cracking open the peppermint ice cream and having it for breakfast - but it was most very enjoyable. Looking forward to twice a week for the rest of the fall semester! (Starting next week, they'll be working mornings, but they'll be working mornings in total privacy. Luxury, I tell you!)
And for the curious - yes, when she figured out I wasn't there, she was afraid I'd gotten lost and started to cry. When was that? At pick-up time, after three hours of school. :) She did just fine.
Monday, September 21, 2009
book reviews
David McCullough, The Great Bridge. I'm a big fan of McCullough, and found this history of the design and building of the Brooklyn Bridge both informative and entertaining. If I had any complaints, they're with the gaps in the historical record that wouldn't allow McCullough to explain all events and complexities fully - but he did the most he could with what he had to work with. He did more than justice to the scope of the project and the obstacles faced by those who built it.
Hugh Pentecost, Remember to Kill Me. Despite my nitpicking at various repetitive elements in the series, it continues to be enjoyable escapist literature, and as such, this installment did not fail in its purpose.
Kathryn Kenny, Trixie Belden and the Mystery of the Midnight Marauder. Trixie's cases are usually a bit more weighty than the rash of petty thefts and vandalizations that characterize this one, but the book allowed for a little more character development than usual and was a good mystery. I continue to slowly make my way up the higher-numbered and lesser-known Trixies - they rarely disappoint!
Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard's Almanac. I tried. I really did. But this one was too much for me. The homilies were interesting, but the essays and poems dreadfully boring. And the lack of the almanac part (this edition was selected writings only) truncated them so much as to be basically worthless from lack of context. In the end, it just wasn't worth the time.
Hugh Pentecost, Remember to Kill Me. Despite my nitpicking at various repetitive elements in the series, it continues to be enjoyable escapist literature, and as such, this installment did not fail in its purpose.
Kathryn Kenny, Trixie Belden and the Mystery of the Midnight Marauder. Trixie's cases are usually a bit more weighty than the rash of petty thefts and vandalizations that characterize this one, but the book allowed for a little more character development than usual and was a good mystery. I continue to slowly make my way up the higher-numbered and lesser-known Trixies - they rarely disappoint!
Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard's Almanac. I tried. I really did. But this one was too much for me. The homilies were interesting, but the essays and poems dreadfully boring. And the lack of the almanac part (this edition was selected writings only) truncated them so much as to be basically worthless from lack of context. In the end, it just wasn't worth the time.
Friday, September 18, 2009
insidious
Today, I took my youngest two children to McD's, as a celebration of Veronica's first week of preschool. She was very excited about the Barbie bracelets in the girls' Happy Meal toys, so though I would have preferred to get her a Hot Wheels car, I gave in, hoping she would, indeed, get a bracelet.
No such luck. No, instead it was a toy compact. Within 10 minutes of having opened this toy, she was asking me to change her into a dress and making motions as though she wanted to put on lipstick.
Now, here's the thing: I don't wear makeup. I have not worn makeup a single time since she was born. My mother-in-law, the only other woman she sees getting dressed on a regular basis, doesn't wear makeup around here. So to the best of my knowledge, Veronica has never seen a real woman wearing makeup. In addition, I have never bought her dress-up clothes, toy purses, toy makeup, toy (or real) high heels.
So where did she get it? How did she know that was a compact for makeup, or how to put on lipstick?
Apparently keeping little girls from makeup is as futile as keeping little boys from guns.
No such luck. No, instead it was a toy compact. Within 10 minutes of having opened this toy, she was asking me to change her into a dress and making motions as though she wanted to put on lipstick.
Now, here's the thing: I don't wear makeup. I have not worn makeup a single time since she was born. My mother-in-law, the only other woman she sees getting dressed on a regular basis, doesn't wear makeup around here. So to the best of my knowledge, Veronica has never seen a real woman wearing makeup. In addition, I have never bought her dress-up clothes, toy purses, toy makeup, toy (or real) high heels.
So where did she get it? How did she know that was a compact for makeup, or how to put on lipstick?
Apparently keeping little girls from makeup is as futile as keeping little boys from guns.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
the bad girl books
On top of my recent deep thoughts regarding the Little House series, I just reread Little Women, and was struck by the similarities between the heroines, and the families, for that matter. Both Laura and Jo are the second daughter of 4. Both of them are the harum-scarum tomboy of the house, and feel like the cares of the household fall most strongly on their shoulders. Both have quiet, serene, "good" older sisters, and both struggle with their own feelings of inadequacy/jealousy/anger over not being able to calm their turbulent emotions. Both have two younger sisters who are also much calmer and quieter. Now, the characters of Beth and Amy are far more fleshed out than the characters of Carrie and Grace, but in both cases the younger sisters also tend to be portrayed as more quiet, peaceful, and dutiful than the main characters of Jo and Laura.
Since both series are semi-autobiographical, the comparison leads me to the question: were Laura Ingalls and Louisa Alcott really such unusually out-of-the-box characters as they would lead us to believe? If Mary Ingalls and Anna Alcott had been the writers instead, how would their views of themselves have differed from the way their sisters portrayed them?
I have always identified strongly with Laura Ingalls, and to a lesser extent with Jo March ... but then again, you're supposed to. They're the main focus of their books. Do most girls reading these books identify with the main characters, or are there actually women out there who see themselves being more like Mary/Meg or the younger siblings?
Do we all think of ourselves as fish out of water, that much more awkward and rebellious than everyone else around us?
Since both series are semi-autobiographical, the comparison leads me to the question: were Laura Ingalls and Louisa Alcott really such unusually out-of-the-box characters as they would lead us to believe? If Mary Ingalls and Anna Alcott had been the writers instead, how would their views of themselves have differed from the way their sisters portrayed them?
I have always identified strongly with Laura Ingalls, and to a lesser extent with Jo March ... but then again, you're supposed to. They're the main focus of their books. Do most girls reading these books identify with the main characters, or are there actually women out there who see themselves being more like Mary/Meg or the younger siblings?
Do we all think of ourselves as fish out of water, that much more awkward and rebellious than everyone else around us?
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
overextended
So here we are, a couple of weeks into the school year, and I'm a bit overwhelmed. Room parenting, volunteering, the amount of time needed to spend schmoozing with the other moms - it all requires a lot of energy and being "on". Frankly, it's not my natural state and it gets quite tiring. Leading to the inevitable moment (not here yet, but I feel it coming) when I stop in my tracks and wonder what the heck I was thinking getting into all of this.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
learning to fly
Big day tomorrow! I'll be escorting my youngest fledgling to school, where she'll begin to grow her feathers. It's a day she and I have been counting down to for days ... weeks ... months, even. And while I make the big talk about how I just can't wait to have them all off my hands (and that's indisputably true, as I long for freedom and autonomy like my next breath of air), I have to admit that there are likely to be tears. Maybe not tomorrow, or the next day, as those are mutual expeditions, but next week, as I leave her to begin the part of her life that requires her independence, I suspect there might be a few drops - nothing fills me with pride and delight as much as watching my children move forward into their lives. I can just see her with her little "packpack", saying hello to her friends, painting little pictures, and generally starting to learn about the world outside our house and our little circle of family. And tomorrow, I really will begin to see all of that, and her delight in it as well. And I will savor it.
Monday, September 14, 2009
5 things that make me happy today
It's Monday morning ... always a good time to be reminded of happiness!
1. Veronica starts preschool this week! I can't tell you how happy both she and I will be when that happens - we're both very ready!
2. The quiet time after the boys are on the bus. It's so nice - Veronica's quietly watching her show, and I can get a jump-start on my day while also getting some peace and quiet to gear myself up for the day to come.
3. Less than two weeks to Plymouth! I admit, half my brain has gone on ahead of me and is already reveling in the privacy, the autonomy, the colonial smell of wood-ashes!
4. Fall in New England. While everyone else is bemoaning the loss of summer, I'm quite happy to see the cooler weather arrive and would like it if the whole fall is one long 65-degree day.
5. Routines. I'm developing my night-time and morning routines, and they're definitely helping so far to keep the back-to-school schedule both manageable and enjoyable.
1. Veronica starts preschool this week! I can't tell you how happy both she and I will be when that happens - we're both very ready!
2. The quiet time after the boys are on the bus. It's so nice - Veronica's quietly watching her show, and I can get a jump-start on my day while also getting some peace and quiet to gear myself up for the day to come.
3. Less than two weeks to Plymouth! I admit, half my brain has gone on ahead of me and is already reveling in the privacy, the autonomy, the colonial smell of wood-ashes!
4. Fall in New England. While everyone else is bemoaning the loss of summer, I'm quite happy to see the cooler weather arrive and would like it if the whole fall is one long 65-degree day.
5. Routines. I'm developing my night-time and morning routines, and they're definitely helping so far to keep the back-to-school schedule both manageable and enjoyable.
Friday, September 11, 2009
morning has broken
School's been back in session for a week now, and mornings have been ... interesting. At this early stage, I don't think it's an accomplishment to say that I've been on top of backpack mail, lunches, shoes, and general prep for the kids to be ready for the bus. (And, actually, given that Charles's bus tag was misplaced and I didn't even think about it for his second and third days of school, and that Greyson's birthday page is still sitting there waiting for us to choose and print a picture, I can't really make that claim anyway.) I haven't even made it through the week without snoozing the alarm.
But the boys are enjoying it even less than I am. Charles apparently hadn't realized that he now goes to school every day (a fact that makes me even more glad he's in half-day ... he'd be impossible to live with in full day), Greyson doesn't like to have me wake him up. They've been okay demeanor-wise (in the morning, anyway), but clearly none of us were quite prepared for the routine to start again.
I think I need to get them some kind of way to wake themselves up in the morning, as having me do it bothers them. And we all need to be better about bedtime and to get used to the routine. It's just a constant reminder that none of us are morning people.
But the boys are enjoying it even less than I am. Charles apparently hadn't realized that he now goes to school every day (a fact that makes me even more glad he's in half-day ... he'd be impossible to live with in full day), Greyson doesn't like to have me wake him up. They've been okay demeanor-wise (in the morning, anyway), but clearly none of us were quite prepared for the routine to start again.
I think I need to get them some kind of way to wake themselves up in the morning, as having me do it bothers them. And we all need to be better about bedtime and to get used to the routine. It's just a constant reminder that none of us are morning people.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
book reviews
Moving right along! I feel like I'm making real progress toward shrinking the stack this year.
Henry James, The Turn of the Screw. Otherwise known as a tempest in a teapot. Such a dated novel - all this dramatic tension, all sorts of shadowy things suggested but never fully explained ... all leading to really just nothing. Way too overblown in tone, completely underwhelming in plot and denouement.
Hugh Pentecost, Murder in High Places. Back to the international terrorism plots, and filled with further cantankerous commentary on modern life. I appreciate that Pentecost is willing to have his narrator look like a shallow cad on occasion, and I liked the departure from established routine ... but I am very tired of having Chambrun's poor secretary have to be tied up and in peril all the time.
Jim Kjelgaard, Stormy. A nice little book about a dog and a boy (well, late teens, I would say). A little more filled with commentary than his usual, and more details on the arts of hunting and fishing, but still a good tale with a lot of action and a pair of heroes to root for.
Hugh Pentecost, Murder Goes Round and Round. Weird but interesting plot to this one, lots of action. Again with the kidnapping, though, which I grant makes a nice change of pace from all the times the poor narrator has gotten stuck escorting a killer through the hotel, waiting for someone to save him, but it does bug me that Chambrun and his secretary continue to prove in each book that they have an intimate relationship, but by the next book that's all just speculation again.
Henry James, The Turn of the Screw. Otherwise known as a tempest in a teapot. Such a dated novel - all this dramatic tension, all sorts of shadowy things suggested but never fully explained ... all leading to really just nothing. Way too overblown in tone, completely underwhelming in plot and denouement.
Hugh Pentecost, Murder in High Places. Back to the international terrorism plots, and filled with further cantankerous commentary on modern life. I appreciate that Pentecost is willing to have his narrator look like a shallow cad on occasion, and I liked the departure from established routine ... but I am very tired of having Chambrun's poor secretary have to be tied up and in peril all the time.
Jim Kjelgaard, Stormy. A nice little book about a dog and a boy (well, late teens, I would say). A little more filled with commentary than his usual, and more details on the arts of hunting and fishing, but still a good tale with a lot of action and a pair of heroes to root for.
Hugh Pentecost, Murder Goes Round and Round. Weird but interesting plot to this one, lots of action. Again with the kidnapping, though, which I grant makes a nice change of pace from all the times the poor narrator has gotten stuck escorting a killer through the hotel, waiting for someone to save him, but it does bug me that Chambrun and his secretary continue to prove in each book that they have an intimate relationship, but by the next book that's all just speculation again.
Wednesday, September 09, 2009
sweetness overdone
Yesterday, I spent half an hour walking the aisles of Walmart doing some shopping. In the cart with me, the 3-year-old, who barely paused to take a breath in the running monologue she carried on. And I mean it - every second we were in the store, her voice was going, going, going ...
As we were rolling through the parking lot, I leaned over the cart to kiss her, out of sheer desperation to try and get her to stop talking. Afterward, she beamed at me, and said, "Oh, Mommy, that makes my heart feel good!"
My first reaction? To wonder where she gets this kind of saccharine manipulation. I'm certainly not someone who gets her way by deploying cuteness and over-sugared wiles. (Well, baked goods, I grant you ... ) Is this something little girls learn from TV and society, or is it hard-wired in certain personalities, that sweetness and light get you farther?
My second reaction was to imagine either of her brothers having the same reaction to being kissed (in public, no less!) - and I realized that if they ever did, I would melt into a puddle of goo right there in the parking lot, and immediately do their bidding. Interesting double standard, no? But as I pointed out to the kindergartener yesterday, if you expect something all the time, once it happens it has ceased to be special. Veronica's overuse of otherwise delightful comments such as "Oh, Mommy, you're so beautiful" has robbed them of the meaning they would have if they came from the other two, who aren't given to constant bombardments of extravagant compliments.
(And before you call me on it, yes, in 10 years when she can't stand me and the insults fly in the same frequency, I will be missing this stage!)
As we were rolling through the parking lot, I leaned over the cart to kiss her, out of sheer desperation to try and get her to stop talking. Afterward, she beamed at me, and said, "Oh, Mommy, that makes my heart feel good!"
My first reaction? To wonder where she gets this kind of saccharine manipulation. I'm certainly not someone who gets her way by deploying cuteness and over-sugared wiles. (Well, baked goods, I grant you ... ) Is this something little girls learn from TV and society, or is it hard-wired in certain personalities, that sweetness and light get you farther?
My second reaction was to imagine either of her brothers having the same reaction to being kissed (in public, no less!) - and I realized that if they ever did, I would melt into a puddle of goo right there in the parking lot, and immediately do their bidding. Interesting double standard, no? But as I pointed out to the kindergartener yesterday, if you expect something all the time, once it happens it has ceased to be special. Veronica's overuse of otherwise delightful comments such as "Oh, Mommy, you're so beautiful" has robbed them of the meaning they would have if they came from the other two, who aren't given to constant bombardments of extravagant compliments.
(And before you call me on it, yes, in 10 years when she can't stand me and the insults fly in the same frequency, I will be missing this stage!)
Tuesday, September 08, 2009
book reviews
And we're back! Normal school routine back today, went well, everyone happy but tired. :)
Hugh Pentecost, With Intent to Kill. This one had a decent, if convoluted, plot and didn't deal with international terrorism, which was a relief. It was more basic human desires twisted, which I think makes for a more interesting story. I do find in his later books that I get annoyed by the 1980s conversational habit of all the characters referring to one another as "luv". Additionally, I think in the later books that the author's age begins to show - he's too quick to dismiss people in their 20s as "the younger generation", too dismissive of new music, and too obsessed with the new morality, always needing to explain why it's ok that his narrator sleeps around. The narrator himself is only supposed to be in his early 40s by this point, and with a job as public relations director of a major hotel would not be able to afford that level of ageism. Still, they remain interesting reads. It's just that I think they're better when you're not reading one on top of the other.
Peter Lovesey, The Reaper. Very weird little book. Agatha Christie meets Charles Addams weird. It's a British mystery, but one where you know the identity of the killer from the 10th page ... and in which the killer is the protagonist. It's very bucolic in nature (hence the Christie), but the overarching premise - that you're to root for this pleasant clergyman despite his misdeeds - strikes an odd tone. I enjoyed reading it, but don't think I'd want to read it again.
Jennifer Rabin, Spell Bound. This is the 5th book in the cheesy 1980s "Swept Away" series of teen romance novels. They're tremendously dated, the characters are so cool and completely individual as to be unbelievable ... and I enjoy them for their history-based plots, their cool characters, and the sense of nostalgia that I get to dip into with them.
Time Life, Confederate Ordeal: The Southern Home Front. I've had this whole series of Time Life books on the Civil War since I was 11 or 12, probably, but I've never read most of them, so I'm slowly working my way through the series. I admit that this one was a bit of a disappointment - I expected more about the people of the South and less about the politicians. There was a decent overview of the reasons why people kept going despite the hardships, and a lot of discussion on the economics of the situation, but it was lacking in personal detail. I suppose that's to be expected, given the scope of the topic ... but the other books have been better.
Hugh Pentecost, With Intent to Kill. This one had a decent, if convoluted, plot and didn't deal with international terrorism, which was a relief. It was more basic human desires twisted, which I think makes for a more interesting story. I do find in his later books that I get annoyed by the 1980s conversational habit of all the characters referring to one another as "luv". Additionally, I think in the later books that the author's age begins to show - he's too quick to dismiss people in their 20s as "the younger generation", too dismissive of new music, and too obsessed with the new morality, always needing to explain why it's ok that his narrator sleeps around. The narrator himself is only supposed to be in his early 40s by this point, and with a job as public relations director of a major hotel would not be able to afford that level of ageism. Still, they remain interesting reads. It's just that I think they're better when you're not reading one on top of the other.
Peter Lovesey, The Reaper. Very weird little book. Agatha Christie meets Charles Addams weird. It's a British mystery, but one where you know the identity of the killer from the 10th page ... and in which the killer is the protagonist. It's very bucolic in nature (hence the Christie), but the overarching premise - that you're to root for this pleasant clergyman despite his misdeeds - strikes an odd tone. I enjoyed reading it, but don't think I'd want to read it again.
Jennifer Rabin, Spell Bound. This is the 5th book in the cheesy 1980s "Swept Away" series of teen romance novels. They're tremendously dated, the characters are so cool and completely individual as to be unbelievable ... and I enjoy them for their history-based plots, their cool characters, and the sense of nostalgia that I get to dip into with them.
Time Life, Confederate Ordeal: The Southern Home Front. I've had this whole series of Time Life books on the Civil War since I was 11 or 12, probably, but I've never read most of them, so I'm slowly working my way through the series. I admit that this one was a bit of a disappointment - I expected more about the people of the South and less about the politicians. There was a decent overview of the reasons why people kept going despite the hardships, and a lot of discussion on the economics of the situation, but it was lacking in personal detail. I suppose that's to be expected, given the scope of the topic ... but the other books have been better.
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