January Book: The Gold Finch by Donna Tartt

First, I really, really wanted to love this book because so many people I know absolutely loved it. Unfortunately, I did not. I loved parts of it. Some of the writing was exceptional, but I don't think the writing and the story went together. There were 2 different things going on in this long, long novel.

This book felt like Great Expectations" the modern, New York version. Hobie reminded me of Hagrid in the Harry Potter books. These were two of the problems for me.

I was debating on 2 or 3 stars for the book. I only gave it 3 because Donna Tartt writes really well.

Maybe it is because I don't have as much time to read any more, that I am more critical of books. But if I invest the amount of time that I did in this book, I expect to at least enjoy that time. Not to take anything away from Donna Tartt. She is a good author and wrote some amazing prose. The problem was, there was way too much of it in this long, long novel. This should have been edited down to 400 pages. I can't believe this book was released as is.

I was vested in the character of Theo immediately. Some of the best writing in this book were the isolation and sadness Theo felt after he lost his mother. Theo grew up a very flawed adult and yet, he was still sympathetic even with his drug addiction and shady dealings. I wanted him to have a happy ending.

One of the main problems of this book for me were all the unnecessary characters thrown in. I didn't care about their back stories, and I had to try and remember who they were. When Boris and and Theo went to Amsterdam, I was very frustrated by all the new named characters and their back stories. I really didn't care. It felt very forced.

The whole episode with Horst and the cast of characters seemed forced just so Tartt could discuss art and her impressions of famous works of art. It all felt forced and unreal.

The continual description of drug abuse and its after effects got tedious to read about.

Then the contrived, neatly wrapped up package after the debacle in Amsterdam did me in. I was waiting for an end to the book and got a 100 more pages of philosophy. Good and bad; fate and destiny, God and death, right and wrong, art and beauty, and the most convoluted: what is the meaning of life!, ugh! I was screaming in my head, "Just stop writing!" None of that had anything to do with the story. It was way over the top.

I would not recommend this book unless you enjoy plodding through prose.

The only plot line I enjoyed was Popper the Maltese. I wonder if Donna Tartt has a Maltese because she wrote his character so well.

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January Family Outing

The Joslyn Art Museum received a grant which has enabled them to allow patrons into the museum without charging an entrance fee. Prior to this, the only free entrance time were on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 12:00. I decided this would be a bargain family outing, and I hadn't been to the museum for quite awhile. Unfortunately the day we went it was freezing outside. That should be expected in Nebraska in January but prior to this day, we had been having unseasonably warm weather.

We went on Monday, January 6. We should have known it would be freezing because we didn't have to go back to school that day due to the cold weather.

We went through the whole museum. I have seen the permanent collection several times. I always enjoy the temporary collection. Several artists in different mediums were on display. I think the children enjoyed that part of the museum the most. Although Dakota and I love the Renaissance works.

The Joslyn also has a fabulous gallery with Native American and Western United States works.

My favorites were two landscape paintings by Keith Jacobshagen. Having lived in the Midwest my entire life, I loved seeing the dominant sky with the amazingly detailed landscape beneath it. Both the sky and landscape appeared to go on forever. The details of the small landscape were amazing. I wanted to get really close to the paintings so I could see the detail, but the guards at the museum frown upon that.

This is one of the landscapes that is currently on display at the Joslyn. I would love to get prints to hang in my house. "Spreading Evening Sky with Crows" is an amazing work.

Dakota's favorite work was "Fallen Angels" by Francois B.-M.-E. Cibot. I also love this one. I bought a postcard with the image on it the first time I saw it at the museum.

Savana and Alexsei both liked the contemporary works the best. They both loved the upside down trees. I could not find an image to share.

Glen never game much feedback and Alaric was just happy when it was time to leave.

January Plated Dinner

This year, I am not focusing on necessarily all new recipes. I would like to just practice plating. I am also hoping I can get my children involved and have them take turns planning, shopping and cooking a meal for the whole family. I don't want them leaving my house only knowing how to make frozen pizza, Kraft macaroni and cheese and Ramen noodles. Somewhere along the way, they need to be able to cook something.

Thinking back, I started cooking at the age of 15. My mom's food was very bland so I started making spaghetti, chili, and some other foods just to add seasoning. I never did meat and potato meals. I learned that much later.

The January meal was a simple boneless pork chop with a red wine sauce, pureed peas, and garlic mashed potatoes. Pureed peas are a bit off-putting because they are such a bright green. However, they tasted delicious.

Review:

Glen loved the pork chop and the sauce and, of course, the garlic mashed potatoes. He ate the puree but didn't love it.

I loved everything. The pork chop was tender. The garlic mashed potatoes were amazing. I love lumpy mashed potatoes with skin still on the potatoes. There is actually texture to the dish. I loved the pureed peas. Peas, cream, garlic and parmesan cheese. All good.

Dakota passed on the peas. He ate the regular whipped potatoes. He loved the pork chop. He is a meat lover!

Alexsei ate the pork chop. She liked the sauce. The potatoes were her favorite and she did like the peas.

Savana is trying to go vegetarian. She passed on the pork chop. She loved the potatoes and the peas.

Alaric ate the pork chop without sauce. He likes pork so he actually liked the chop. He ate the whipped potatoes and passed on the peas. I don't think he eats anything green.

December Book

I read the latest Stephanie Plum book. Mercifully, I can read the book in 3 hours. This latest was called "Takedown Twenty". As I have said before, it is time Evanovich ends the series. Her faithful fans and readers are getting tired of the formula. Stephanie can't alway be in life and death situations. She can't continue to go back and forth between Ranger and Morelli.

If Ranger says, "Babe" one more time, I will start tearing pages out of the book! It was cute at first. Then it got boring. Now it annoys the holy crap out of me.

The charm is wearing off. The interest is waning. I keep swearing I will stop reading and yet, I keep coming back. It is only because they are quick reads. I don't even know if I care any more who she chooses or if Stephanie ever becomes a real bounty hunter. Or how many more cars will get destroyed while in her possession.

It is time to let this one go.

I went  back and looked at my Good Reads review of this book. I didn't give it a review, but I gave it 4 stars. I don't know why I gave it 4 stars. Maybe I was just that happy that I actually finished one more book before the year ended.

October Meal

I made my October meal on October 30. I squeaked it in. We did have a guest for dinner that night. Alexsei's best friend Rachel Schollaert happened to be at the house on that night so she stayed for dinner night. Dakota was not home.

I went with a total autumn theme. I had roasted pork with a sauce made with wine and apple cider. I served it with creamy polenta and roasted vegetables with apples. I made carrots, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and onion.

The loin was very tender. The vegetables were delicious. I could have doubled the amount I made. The potatoes and carrots were especially popular.

Glen liked everything. The creamy polenta was not his favorite, but he ate it anyway.

Me: I liked all of it including the polenta.

Alexsei: She thought the pork was fine. She was not a fan of the sauce. It was sweet. She also likes polenta the way I usually make it. She ate some, but did not love it. She did love the vegetables.

Rachel: Rachel passed on the pork. She loved the vegetables and ate some polenta.

Savana: Savana also passed on the pork. She loved the vegetables and wanted more potatoes. She also was lukewarm on the polenta.

Alaric: I believe he ate the pork.

October Book

So the blog fell by the way side for the months of October-December. I did read a book in October. The book was "One Word that Will Change Your Life" by Dan Britton, Jimmy Page and Jon Gordon. We were given this book to read by our Principal. I read it on a drive through Iowa. It only took a couple hours.

The premise of the book is to select a word that will guide your year. The one thing the authors challenged is that you do not think about your word. The word should come to you. Of course, after I finished reading the book, I thought about words. As we were driving along, we passed a cell tower. All of a sudden, the word "Escape" jumped into my head. So that is my word.

I have been exploring the many meanings of escape. One of the strongest themes for me is that I am ready to find a new teaching position. That is the top escape for me. I am also trying to escape things that I feel waste my time. I am trying to cut down on my internet life and spend more time with my "real life" people. I also want to escape my unhealthy habits. These seem to all be worthy goals for the word escape.

This was a very easy read. It is very religious-based. I was surprised our principal has us read it based upon the religious angle. I am eager to see my progress come October 2014.

I would recommend this for anyone interested in Self Help books. It is a quick and simple read. The idea is very simple. It is not a time consuming, life change. I just need to continue my focus on my One Word.

One Word that Will Change Your Life

September Book: Joyland by Stephen King

Once August hits, the New Years Resolution gets harder and harder to try and complete. I failed to complete any in August. With school starting for me and the kids, band for Dakota and football for Alaric, it was really hard to get everyone together. The only goal met for September was a book. Today is the last day of the month so I figured I better get my blog entry to complete. I am hoping to at least get books read through the rest of the year.

Joyland was a perfect end of summer book. I was delighted to find a Stephen King novel that was fewer than 300 pages long. Printed under the Hard Case Logo and having a cover like a pulp fiction novel, I wasn't sure what to expect. The story is about 20 year old Devin Jones, a college student whose girlfriend dumps him. He takes a job working at an amusement park, Joyland, in North Carolina. That's when the story begins.

The amusement park has a cast of 1000 interesting characters including other summer workers who become lifelong friends with Devin. King introduces carny lingo, and a great behind the scenes of how an amusement park runs.

Once again King proves he is a master of characterization. A few pages into the book and the reader "knows" Devin. And like his other book, his characters are multi-dimensional. There is no clear black and white. The book gets interesting when Devin looks into a murder that happened years ago in the parks' haunted house ride. 

A bit of a ghost story, a bit of a coming of age story. No real horror. Anyone can read this book. I couldn't put it down.