Ramblings on a Saturday evening

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Read Salvation City by Sigrid Nunez today.  Good stuff.

Worked on divorce paperwork today.  Complicated stuff.

Been thinking about how, in some ways, I feel like the essence of who I am is exactly the same as it was 20 years ago.  I think I'm mostly okay with that and also aware of some things to continue tweaking.

Halloween party at Fiona's school last night.  Lots of people.  Got there late because I forgot her costume at home -- sorry to miss getting to talk to more people.  Good to have some more time in public with Jeremy (my husband from whom I'm separated) -- I feel like each time we do that, the easier it becomes.  We've spent the last 10 years together and so in some ways it still feels very easy and normal to talk to each other, while in others it feels forced and excruciating.  I'm concentrating on the goodness and thankful for the effort we are both putting in.

I need to contact my lawyer and see what he is thinking about the accident settlement.  Perhaps I'll know more after I see the doctor on Wednesday afternoon.

Hopefully Jeremy and I will be meeting with a mediator on Friday afternoon,  I believe we will try to complete the two initial forms for beginning the divorce process, after which, if I'm understanding it correctly, 90 days need to pass before turning in the rest of the paperwork (which is a ton).

So tired.  Will try to sleep soon.
 

Friday 56 -- Room by Emma Donoghue

Welcome to The Friday 56, hosted by Storytime with Tonya.
Here’s how it works:
Rules:
* Grab the book nearest you. Right now.
* Turn to page 56.
* Find the fifth sentence.
* Post that sentence (plus one or two others if you like) along with these instructions on your blog or (if you do not have your own blog) in the comments section of this blog.
*Post a link along with your post back to this blog.
* Don’t dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

"You could read it yourself," she says.

That's silly, I could read all them myself, even Alice with her old-fashioned words.  "I prefer when you read them."

~ from Room by Emma Donoghue

This is one intense book.  Jack has just turned five and he has spent all five of those years in a single room with his mother.  As the book progresses, the reader learns more about the circumstances of Jack and Ma's captivity and the way that it has affected them.  Donoghue tells the entire story from Jack's point-of-view and does an amazing job of consistently portraying what it might be like for a young boy to have a single room (and human being) as his entire world.   Made me want to hold my daughter close and be a patient and loving mother. 
 

Finished product coming soon!

A-Z Wednesday -- A Lily of the Field by John Lawton

Welcome to A-Z Wednesday!! Hosted by to Reading At The Beach

To join, here's all you have to do:

Go to your stack of books

Find an author whose first or last name starts with the letter of the week

Post:

1~ a photo of the book

2~ title and synopsis

3~ link(amazon, barnes and noble etc.)

4~ Come back and leave your link in the comments.

If you've already reviewed the book, add it or the link to your post.

This week's letter is: "L"

 

 

The Lily of the Field by John Lawton

Hardcover:  381 pages

From the bookflap:  

Vienna 1934.  Ten-year-old cello prodigy Meret Voytek becomes a pupil of concert pianist Viktor Rosen, a Jew in exile from Germany.  Three years later, aware that the Nazis are advancing, Rosen packs for London and leaves behind a baffled teenager with neither religion nor politics to guide or harm her.  When Vienna welcomes Nazi rule, Meret witnesses the repercussions for the city's Jews, and when her orchestra becomes an arm of the Hitler Youth, she complies and wears the uniform.  Meanwhile, in Great Britain, Karel Szabo, a Hungarian physicist, has been interned in a camp on the Isle of Man.  Soon, Szabo is transported to Canada, where he is rescued by the Americans who recruit him for the Manhattan Project, building the atom bomb in New Mexico.

Five years of raging war pass.  Caught up in an SS sweep, protesting that she is innocent, shouting that she is not Jewish, Meret is sent to Auschwitz, but saved to fill the cello spot of the KZ Ladies' Orchestra of Auschwitz.  As the Russians advance Auschwitz is abandoned, and Meret find herself on the death march to nowhere.  As the war ends, Szabo finds his way back to Europe, nursing valuable secrets that threaten the balance of power across Europe.

 

 

I'm just starting this one and have never read anything by this author before. After I checked it out I realized that it is part of a series.  I seldom read series out of order -- Anyone read the Inspector Troy series?  Think I should send it back and start wtih the first one? 

 

 

Teaser Tuesdays -- October 26, 2010 -- Museum of Thieves by Lian Tanner

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR lists if they like your teasers! 

"I'll have to go back," she whispered, feeling sick at the thought.  "Back where?" said the boy.  ~page 75, Museum of Thieves by Lian Tanner

I'm reading this one with my 6 1/2 year-old daughter.  We just started it Sunday night.  It's been slow-going for me but I'm starting to get more into it.  The story opens on Separation Day in the city of Jewel.  Every child in Jewel wears a silver guardchain from the time they can walk until their Separation Day.  The Grand Protector, for the first time ever, has lowered the Age of Separation from 16 to 12.  While some are concerned about the safety of this decision, twelve-year-old Goldie Roth is thrilled that her Separation Day has come.  When a crisis arrives and Separation Day is canceled, what will Goldie's next move be? 

A visit to the Children's Museum with Mark, Lilly, and Amy

A visit to Highline Crossing Co-Housing Community

My housemates are very interested in a co-housing/intentional community only about 5 minutes from where we currently live.  Last week we all went to visit it and had a nice time walking around, meeting people, and playing at the community playground.  Two of the families from Fiona's school live at Highline Crossing and it was nice to chat with them a bit as well.  The very last picture is Fiona, Mark (our three-year-old housemate), and Eleanor, who lives at Highline Crossing and with whom Fiona became fast friends.