Interesting Read: The Wilder Life

A few weeks back while I was browsing my libraries selection of books available for Kindle I stumbled across The Wilder Life: My Adventures in the Lost World of Little House on the Prairie. It follows the author, Wendy McClure's quest to learn all she can about her favorite childhood book series, the Little House books. These books were a standard read growing up in America and portrayed the life and times of Laura Ingalls Wilder and her family. Somehow I missed reading these books growing up and did not get the chance to read them until I was a little bit older than the standard reader, being about 14. I feel that because of my age they did not appeal to me as much as they would have had I been a bit younger. None the less, McClure's book appealed to me because it looked at her love of a childhood classic and what made her enjoy it, then and now.

McClure's quest leads her to try some interesting things, such as butter churning in her Chicago apartment and making bread from scratch (including making her own starter). It also led her to compare the actual life of Laura vs the Laura of the books and to understand why there are differences. To me this was one of the most interesting parts. I knew that the books were based on Laura's life but I did not realize how far they really strayed from what happened. 

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In this book it was interesting to follow the journey of a grown women reconnect with her childhood passion and still remain in love with it. A lot of her experiences reminded me of visiting Prince Edward Island and seeing the places that Anne of Green Gables was written about and where L.M. Montgomery lived. It is a surreal experience and it can be hard to rectify what you have always thought about a place and people with the actual place and the actual history. This is was the appeal of the book that kept me reading. I wanted to know how McClure felt about the book series and its author at the very end. How does she feel after spending the better part of a year traveling to different places to see the real location of the Little House on the Prairie, in the Big Woods, the Little Town on the Prairie, and many other locations that Laura lived. 

Over all I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to take a trip down memory lane and to learn a little about what it means to love something as a child and to love it (in a different way) as an adult. 

Happy Travels!

-B

What was your favorite childhood book? Do you still feel the same way about it?

Interesting Reads: Night Road

This book came as a slight surprise to me. My mom had borrowed the book from one of her friends and devoured it. I was lacking a book to take to work one day and my mom handed me Night Road. It was brilliant. It read like a young adult novel but dealt with adult feelings and decisions. 

For eighteen years, Jude Farraday has put her children’s needs above her own, and it shows—her twins, Mia and Zach—are bright and happy teenagers. When Lexi Baill moves into their small, close knit community, no one is more welcoming than Jude. Lexi, a former foster child with a dark past, quickly becomes Mia’s best friend. Then Zach falls in love with Lexi and the three become inseparable.
Jude does everything to keep her kids on track for college and out of harm’s way. It has always been easy-- until senior year of high school. Suddenly she is at a loss. Nothing feels safe anymore; every time her kids leave the house, she worries about them.
On a hot summer’s night her worst fears come true. One decision will change the course of their lives. In the blink of an eye, the Farraday family will be torn apart and Lexi will lose everything. In the years that follow, each must face the consequences of that single night and find a way to forget…or the courage to forgive.
Vivid, universal, and emotionally complex, Night Road raises profound questions about motherhood, identity, love, and forgiveness. It is a luminous, heartbreaking novel that captures both the exquisite pain of loss and the stunning power of hope. This is Kristin Hannah at her very best, telling an unforgettable story about the longing for family, the resilience of the human heart, and the courage it takes to forgive the people we love.

- Book Description

I enjoyed the writing style of this author and plan to read some of her other books in the future. I also enjoyed that it was set in Washington state. This made it very easy to identify with the setting and even, to some extent, with the characters themselves. The fact that the story spanned such a long period of time also made it easy to grow with the characters and their m8tivation behind some of their decisions. There were a few plot points towards the middle/end that I did not agree with but the author made them work with her storytelling.

Any new books you recommend? I'm always looking for an interesting read. 

Happy Travels!
-B 

Blogger Book Club: Me Before You

I had never heard of Me Before You by before Kay at The Best of Intentions named it the first read of the Blogger Book Club (BBC) read.  I am really glad I came across this when I did because it enabled me enough time to read the book as well as digest what had happened in it and think it through before writing out my thoughts. 

This was not a book I would have usually picked out to read but I was pleasantly surprised. I really enjoyed the dialogue that Moyes wrote and the depth that the characters had. The story was a little slow to start but it was beautiful. It showed just how much one decision and knowing one person can change our lives for the better or for the worse. 

I identified the most with the main character Louisa or Lou. She had become comfortable with her life and then was given a life change that she did not expect when the business she worked for closed. This left her floundering to find her calling in life. This was really the part of Lou that I liked most. She took what life gave her and made the most of it. 

The end of this book was slightly unexpected and throughout the story I required an occasional tissue. I am glad that I read this book which is out of my usual reading box. 

Bottom line: I recommend this book to everyone who wants a good read that requires them to think. What would you do in this situation?

 

As always... Happy Travels!

-Becca 

Interesting Reads: Paris in Love: A Memoir

Eloisa James is a favorite author of mine. Every time she has a new book come out I'm usually at the store that day (or a day or so after) in order to buy it and gobble it up. This pattern has changed in the last few years as I have gotten busier and graduated college. That is why it has taken me this long to read Eloisa James' memoir Paris in Love.

Unlike other things she writes this book was not a novel. It is a compilation of stories in more or less chronological order of occurrences and happenings when her and her husband moved themselves and their two children (Luca and Anna) to Paris for a time. I found just the idea of dropping everything and moving to Paris for a year to be truly exciting. I did similar things in college where I went to new places not knowing anyone but this was a true adult version of my dream.

One of my favorite sections of the book was entitled "Of Rice and Men." James tells about how love and rissoto will always be linked together in her mind. She first learned to make the Italian deliciousness of risotto after her boyfriend of 10 years broke up with her. The recipe that she used came from Paul Bertolli's Chez Panisse Cooking. Her art of cooking involved cooking, reading romance novels, and "crying every now and then when it seemed the heroines had a better life" than her while stiring the risotto to perfection. She tells how the risotto helped to heal her from her breakup and help her secure her Italian husband's family. This section along makes me want to learn how to make risotto in the true Italian form. 

Throughout the book James is reading a Paris memoir by her relative Claude, that had been written almost 100 years prior. In a particular section James draws a comparison between herself and Claude. They both went to Harvard, both moved to Paris at a point in their lives, both wrote memoirs, and both wrote novels that were not admired by the literary establishment. They both also had opinion pieces in the The New York Times. One on Italian Politics and the other on the use of the term "bodice-ripper."

She also used a marvelous quote from Miuccia Prada to describe the French's take on fashion; "Being elegant isn't easy. You have to study it, like cuisine and art." This quote really inspired me. It is really true. Fashion is an art form. You have to study it and learn how to do it. 

One of my favorite lines was towards the end of the book. She describes Paris in the rain. 

"Today is rainy, cool, and windy. The sky is silvery gray, like 

the watered silk skirts of a 

Victorian lady, long widowed, and still regretful."

Her conclusion to her book and to that of her year in Paris really moves the point of why her and her husband uprooted their lives and their children's lives for a year in Paris. They, as a family, learned to talk to each other, eat and squabble together, and play together. They "learned to waste our moments - together. And then we brought that lesson home with us."

Interesting Reads: Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail

Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed is her tale of self-discovery on a 1,100-mile hike along the Pacific Crest Trail from the Mojave Desert through California and Oregon to the Bridge of the Gods at the Oregon/Washington boarder. This told the interwoven story of Strayed's time along the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) and stories of her earlier life. She used her time on the PCT to take account of her life and the direction it was going. 

This book was a journey of self-discovery for me as well. It re-inspired me to enjoy my love of the outdoors this summer and especially hiking. It also brought home to me to not take anything for granted. Enjoy every moment as much as possible and never undervalue the people who mean the most to you. However, it also told me that at some points in your life bad, horrible things can happen in your life and their is little you can do but pick up the pieces and try to move forward. 

I really enjoyed the Times article on the book. I felt it described the good parts and gave insight into what the book was truly about. 

Happy exploring!
-B

Any books to recommend?

Interesting Read: Bitter is the New Black

Bitter is the New Black: Confessions of a Condescending, Egomanical, Self-Centered, Smartass, or Why You Should Never Carry a Prada Bag to the Unemployment Office

"This is the story of how a haughty former sorority gal went from having a household income of almost a quarter-million dollars to being evicted from a ghetto apartment in less than two years.  It's a modern Greek tragedy, as defined by Roger Dunkle in The Classical Origins of Western Culture: a story in which "the central character, called a tragic protagonist or hero, suffers some serious misfortune which is not accidental and therefore meaningless, but is significant in that the misfortune is logically connected."

In other words?

The bitch had it coming."

- Bitter is the New Black

This memoir of a "condescending, egomanical, self-centered, smart-ass" was recommended to me by one of my good friends Nicole while we were wondering around the bookstore the other day seeking retail therapy in the form of books. At first I was a little bit doubtful that I would enjoy this book though the summary on the back sounded alright and it came highly recommended to me. I am extremely glad that I ignored that bit of doubt because this book was fabulous. It was very inspiring and moving to hear about one women's experience during the economic downturn and how she was able to keep moving forward despite many drawbacks. Jennifer Lancaster has become rather successful through her blog and more memoir style books concerning different life events. 

Her details about how she handled rejection and kept positive (some times) about getting laid off and continuously job hunting have helped me in my current job search. I could not be more grateful for the timing that this book had in my life. I wait with baited breathe for my email to ding saying I can check her next book out at my local library!

Have a wonderful day!
-B

Do you have a favorite memoir? If so what is it and why?

Interesting Reads: Born to Run

I know I haven't talked about my running in awhile but believe me it's coming along....barely. I'm really not sure what I was thinking registering for such a crazy challenge but it is now my goal in life to finish it in an upright position. In preparation for this undertaking I have begun compiling a list of books to read that will (hopefully) make me more motivated. The first book on this list was recommended to me by one of my good friends. It was Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen by Christopher McDougall. This book was more than I expected it to be. 

I went into it expecting a book about a group of people who were born to run, who naturally have a better ability to run faster and longer than I can. This book, though it did discuss that sort of information, talked about how we have evolved and how our running evolved with us. It talks about the ultra and how people fuel for it and push through it despite multiple things that can go wrong. McDougall encased all this information in the story of his journey to run pain free through the traditions of the Tarahumara Indians of Mexico's Copper Canyons. The idea of barefoot running is also addressed as well as the evolution of the modern athletic shoe.

It was a very interesting read that I cannot recommend enough to anyone interested in running or learning more about running. I had originally rented it from the library for my Kindle and I have since bought it in paperback form. 

Hope you have a wonderful day dear readers. 

-B