March 1 @7pm; March 2 @ 2pm
Visit OHSMusical.com for tickets.
This morning I'm once again joining with Caffeinated Reviewer's Sunday Post, and Readerbuzz's Sunday Salon. Random aside, these ladies are on point. I come and go, but they're both here, posted every week (and plenty in between!). While I've been blogging quite a long time, they're here regularly for these weekly posts and much, much more. Kudos on a job well done!
What I'm reading this week:
I'm almost up to the last quarter of Little Women - and LOVING it! On my kindle, I'm on the second half of Better Left Unsent by Lia Louis. I love their casual writing style with unique, contemporary stories. This one is a possible 'glitch' (or potential intentional sabotage?) that sends all of the emails from Millie's drafts folder. See, Millie has been writing honest and emotional emails - without ever meaning to send them - and leaving them in her drafts folder. Overnight, during a server malfunction, they all get sent. To the whole company, to her family, to her friends....everywhere! Ugh! Four stars so far, but I mostly want to find out if it was really a glitch...
Three Good Things:
I'm at home with the kids, and posting with Sunday Salon/Readerbuzz and Sunday Post/Caffeinated Reviewer.
What I'm reading this week:
I finished reading and reviewing the Sylvia Plath biography - Rough Magic - and gave it 4 out of 5 stars. I'm glad I read it as it was an astounding detailed history of Sylvia Plath's life, publications, and achievements. I finished Conditions of a Heart (4 stars) and Beneath the Poet's House (5 stars) on my kindle - reviews for both to follow on BooksIThinkYouShouldRead.
I've finally gotten back to reading my print copy of Little Women (in preparation for The Other March Sisters, which I have a review copy of since it's publishing soon). On my kindle right now is a pdf of An Inconvenient Wife (a Tudor Mystery about Hank Tudor's previous five wives, told mostly by his sixth wife).
Three Good Things:
These are so easy this week!! I have Monday and Tuesday off this week to match the kids' mid-winter break...
This was a book from my Amazon wish list, before I populated Goodreads with what I wanted to read. So around the holidays, someone purchased it from my wish list, and I finally had a little time to read something that I had sitting around, instead of the books I'm trying to read and review closer to their publication dates. Anyway.
When I first found that this was the biography that was not authorized by Sylvia Plath's estate (which is her nearly ex-husband Ted Hughes and his sister, Olwyn, who disliked Plath), I expected a little more Hughes-bashing. But really, what I read was an amazingly well-researched book about Sylvia Plath, with just a few non-flattering facts about her marriage to Hughes. This only led me to think even less of Ted Hughes, since I'm not sure what he would have found unacceptable to publish about this book. That he had a history with young co-eds early in their relationship and marriage, or that he was living with his mistress when they finally separated? Neither one really colored my opinion of Hughes, other than how his actions affected Plath's life.But for now, welcome to my sharing space! I'm joining along for the Sunday Post with Caffeinated Reviewer, and Sunday Salon with Readerbuzz. This is my space, and I say what I want to! It's been a solid two weeks since I announced my plan to re-cap 2024 and set some big picture plans for 2025, but it's still on my list.
What I'm reading this week:
I just finished Let's Call Her Barbie (5 stars with a review posted yesterday), and I'm more than half way through Rough Magic: A Sylvia Plath Biography. Last night I started Conditions of a Heart by Bethany Mangle.
Three Good Things:
The book was so engaging and fun to read, and the author's notes at the end only made it better. The novel was intended as fiction, but Rosen had fully researched the characters who were based in fact. It was easy to be unsure if the story was fact or fiction in the compelling events described in the novel. Actually four or five of the main characters were solidly based on real people and potentially read events. Rosen's realistic filling in of the details classified the story as "a fictional retelling of Barbie's origin story."
Ruth Handler was a determined and inspirational woman. In fact and fiction, she refused to accept the boundaries set for women, and luckily her husband, Elliott, supported her in this. Together, they built an amazing toy company in Mattel, and when the two of them were at the helm (along with key creator Jack Ryan), the company sounded like a pleasant place for the majority of its employees.
Overall, a better ending for all of them would have been great, but reality is a limiting factor when retelling an existing story. The writing was fabulous, and the book earned 5 out of 5 stars. Surprisingly, the book was conceived and started before the Barbie hit movie. Reading the book makes me want to enjoy the movie again. The book is easily recommended to those readers who like learning more about Barbie's history, and the stories of those who contributed and participated in her creation.
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for my electronic copy of this book. Receiving the book for free did not influence my opinions.
While I could probably have made it and worked fine, being home yesterday was for the best. The kids ended up calling for assistance on their way to the ski hill (hubs was also going to the ski hill, but needed to pick up a rental car on the way). I was here to help the kids, and then got laundry and dishes done, and got to eat an artichoke I forgot I'd bought earlier in the week. Happy-ish morning for me! I would have been home from work shortly after noon, so my afternoon was still as expected. I took my son to his euphonium lesson and then to Hot Topic to get a new t-shirt he wanted, then started getting dinner ready. Oh! Another great highlight was running into a favorite former co-worker at the grocery store. YAY!! After all that, ended up saving last night's planned dinner for tonight, as daughter got home not feeling well. So we took care of some things she needed done and grabbed pizza. All in all, a very full weekend so far, and only half done!
But it's been in my plans all weekend to post for my favorite weekly link-ups! Join me and some other cool peeps by posting and visiting Sunday Salon (hosted by Readerbuzz) and Sunday Post (hosted by Caffeinated Reviewer). Do you have or know another great linky? Most of what I post are clearly these, or book reviewers. Hoping to get to a 2024 review/2025 planning list in the next week or so....
What I'm reading this week:
Last week was apparently busy for reading! I finished up and reviewed Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix (5 stars - though others say it isn't like other Grady Hendrix books? I believe this was my first by him...). Also enjoyed Damaged Beauty: Joey Superstar by Margaret Gardiner (4 stars - review to follow on Books I Think You Should Read).
I'm getting started on a print copy of Rough Magic: A Biography of Sylvia Plath by Paul Alexander, and a kindle review copy of The Magic Maker by Mickey Dubrow.
Three Good Things: