Here we are, right from the horse's (as the saying goes) mouth:

Vacationing in state always seems to get short shrift on the glamour scale but Northern Michigan has lots to offer.  Our Bed and Breakfast, The Grand Victorian, was great.  Our room was great, our breakfast was excellent,

[Rachel interjects - the fruit cup of fresh blueberries, fresh strawberries, whipped cream and granola was TO DIE FOR and the rest was very tasty too.]

and during the meal, our host treated us to an interesting lecture about the history of the house and the area.   Small touches like this can make a getaway far more interesting than simple tourist shopping (which I've never been able to comprehend).

 Cruising along the woodsy state highway near Torch Lake and through Elk Rapids made me ponder retiring to this area (if it doesn't change too much).  The beautiful lakes have given me pause to wonder how I can get a powerboat for myself.  There are plenty of beaches as well:

The roadside parks lining Lake Michigan were worthwhile.  Several couples we saw retrieved lawnchairs from their cars and placed them at an attractive vantage point before cracking open their books.  As librarians, Rachel and I had to approve.    

Perhaps the best experience was going to a Pearl's , a New Orleans style restaurant with, of course, New Orleans style soul food (I had southern-fried chicken, though cajun catfish is in my sights for next time).  A row of tabasco sauces lined shelves placed high on the walls all around the restaurant.  The rest of the decor was even more lively.  

[Rachel interjects - the ladies' room mural of cross-dressing tattooed bruisers freshening up their makeup during Mardi Gras was hysterical.  J. waxed eloquent about this restaurant ALL DAY.] 

There is plenty to see and visit in this part of the country, and summer is the best time of the year to do it.  

Sincerely,

 J.

J. and I are having an overnight getaway.  Here at the Grand Victorian in surprisingly lovely (and a bit touristy) Bellaire, Michigan. 

It's weird not to have a little kidlet running about and I miss my poochies.  But this B&B is very nice, and the town is really quite prosperous and bustling for this part of Northern Michigan.  We got here in time for the town's Rubber Ducky Festival, and - guess what? - there's a library booksale tomorrow morning.  (!)

Timing.  It's all about timing.    

Two strange things about Bellaire:  

• There have been three restaurant fires in the area this summer.  Is there someone here who doesn't want people to dine out?  Just who is the restaurant arsonist?
• There's nothing about the history of Bellaire online.  At least that I can find.  But the town had some serious infusions of money in the distant and not so distant past.  Why is this?  And what is supporting the local economy?   The area is farmland and forest in every direction except for the Shanty Creek resort.  Northern Michigan does get significant money from hunters and winter sportsmen, but they wouldn't be the kind of people to keep places like Bellaire alive.  So where's the money trail?  I may ask our hosts tomorrow morning and report back.

The Dream Hunter  Laura Kinsale  Romance novel  1994 Rating: B+

I picked this one up again because I ran across a free copy and somehow I couldn't pass it by. Reading a discussion of this book elsewhere on the web, I wondered if perhaps I should give it another try. I'm so glad I did. This book has many things going for it: a unique setting, lovely, seamless Kinsale prose, and as fully-fleshed a cast of characters as you'll find anywhere. Everyone in this book has depth.

Zenobia (Zenia) Stanhope has been at the mercy of her brilliant, charismatic, tyrannical mother all her life. Her one wish, to go to England to meet her father, Michael Bruce, is repeatedly denied her. Instead Lady Hester sends her to live in the desert with the Bedouins. After Hester's funeral, Zenia is desolated, completely unsure of what the future holds for her. Luckily, or unluckily, also present at the funeral is Arden Mansfield, Lord Winter, one of Hester's long-time admirers. When violence breaks out in the Stanhope compound, the two of them escape. And Zenia finds herself in a very dangerous situation with a man who is afraid of nothing.

Arden isn't precisely fearless, but he is battle brave beyond belief and a fantastic bluffer. He is in search of the famed horse, String of Pearls. He drags Zenia into his scheme not knowing Zenia is a she. He promises her that if she helps him get to his destination, he'll arrange for her to travel to England. Since she has no choice, she agrees. But things go horribly awry before Arden's goal is met, and Zenia finds herself alone, pregnant and using Arden's name to get to London.

Three years later they meet again when Arden returns from the dead to find that he has a wife and daughter and the two of them have been happily ensconced at Swanmere, his family's estate, for some time. His feelings for Zenia are still very strong. The only problem is, he can't find a trace of the daring desert companion he loved in the entirely proper English lady before him.

My own personal preference is for the last two-thirds of this book. I wasn't terribly interested in Arden and Zenia's desert adventure. Kinsale's description of the desert and Arab culture was well done, however, and, to my knowledge, authentic. The best, brashest, and bravest parts of our two leads are also showcased here. It's easier to like Zenia when she's in her own element and not constrained by a culture she barely understands.

That said, the book really perks up when Zenia arrives in England. It's then that she is presented with a set of choices about her future and that of her child. And when Arden arrives on the scene, all the precarious relationship constructs Zenia has only just established get shaken to their foundations. It was fascinating to watch how Arden and his loving but chilly parents danced around Zenia's personal fears and dysfunctions.

The Dream Hunter's biggest strength is Kinsale's amazing ability to create living, breathing characters. The nanny, Michael Bruce, Zenia's lawyer, heck, even walk-on, one-scene characters have real personality. Zenia herself is complicated and not always very likable. Her childhood insecurities often get the better of her, and she makes poor choices often because she trusts no one and is severely risk averse. She is always consistent, however, and her actions, however aggravating, ring true.

Arden is terribly appealing with his contrasting boldness and vulnerability. He is ardent and fierce, and yet there is a playful, gentle, shy side to him as well. It was both touching and amusing when, failing to communicate with Zenia in every other way, Arden purchases a book on etiquette and awkwardly follows its stilted, unoriginal suggestions because he is that determined not to lose Zenia. The emotional payoff of this book comes late, but when it comes it's well worth the wait.

Kinsale's prose, as usual, is beautiful, evocative, and insightful. She never violates the Show-Not-Tell rule. It's amazing how much information she is able to convey about Arden's childhood and his parents without ever spelling it out. She deftly includes the smaller details of living in England and Arabia, fleshing out the setting and showing the rhythm, sparkle, and mundane aspects of real life."

Click here for the rest of the review. 

This book is out of print, but available cheap at half.com or at bookmooch.

A Fountain Filled with Blood Julia Spencer-Fleming  Mystery    2003 Rating: B

I've been busy ripping my way through the Rev. Clare Fergusson/Russ Van Alstyne mystery series - three books books in four days.  At this rate, Spencer-Fleming may be my vote for most glommed author in AAR's 2008 reader poll.  We will see.

As A Fountain Filled with Blood begins, Clare and Russ are both in repress/deny/avoid mode about their feelings for each other, expressed in a moment of peace following a very tense and dangerous confrontation.  They've hardly spoken in six months.  Things change, though, when a series of what looks like gay hate crimes begins in Millers Kill.  Russ, though repulsed and disturbed by the crimes, still wants to treat them in the regular way, while Clare would prefer to  go to the media and publicize them in order to both warn gays at risk and make a statement about inclusion and tolerance.   Once again, though Russ objects, Clare can't seem to keep herself out of it...until she finds herself deeper in than she ever expected when she finds the corpse of a local developer - beaten and garroted. 

In terms of the relationship between Russ and Clare, little more develops here, although the chemistry between them is once again strong.  Russ is still married, however, and determined to do the right thing, as is Clare.  The mystery is well plotted, although one of the deviant minds behind the violence was a give-away to me due to the name Spencer-Fleming chose for him.  Readers who like a bit of action-adventure with their mysteries will not be disappointed, although, once again, as in the first book, much of this suspense could have been avoided had Clare been less impetuous and sure that she was doing the only right and just thing.

Politically, this book is sure to irritate anyone with an active aversion to homosexuality or gay rights issues such as gay marriage or hate crime status for crimes committed against gays.  Clare and many other characters are more than tolerant, though Spencer-Fleming does give lip-service to a more old-fashioned view by making discomfort around gays something Russ has naturally and fights against.  Since I am on the tolerant side of the issue, none of this bothered me.  There are a number of violent episodes that I found considerably more disturbing than the political content.

This series is compulsively readable.  When I finished A Fountain Filled with Blood, I went out the next day and got the sequel, Out of the Deep I Cry.   And that book managed to exceed my expectations and get me further excited about the future adventures of Clare and Russ.  Hurray for new series to glom!

Today is J.'s and my 10th anniversary!  10 years!   In honor of our love, Tunie and her little cousin, Glea, had a reenactment of that fateful moment:

I took numerous pics of their effort, and decided to use the one with flash because I think it mimics the deer-in-the-headlights feeling anyone getting married has to feel at some time during the ceremony/reception/aftermath. 

For a limited time, I'm also linking to the Facebook album I made of our wedding pictures.  Click here to go there and see J. and I in our younger incarnations. 

O Frabjous Day!

I have a new review up at All About Romance for Delicious by Sherry Thomas.  Check it out !

I wrote this review at least a week and a half ago and have been holding my copy of my ARC to offer to the first reader who comments here.  In the intervening time, while it was sitting on my night table, Max put his ice cream bowl on top of it and, before I could yank it off, a small dribble of chocolate ice cream managed to land on the side opposite the binding (where the pages fan out if you open it).  So only comment if you don't mind a dribble of chocolate on your ARC.  And if I can ship it to somewhere in the US or Canada.

I found this book very hard to review.  It started off well, and then two-thirds of the way through I abandoned it because I began to be afraid I wasn't going to like it nearly as much as I enjoyed as Thomas's debut, Private Arrangements.   Which turned out, unfortunately, to be true.  I procrastinated finishing it and then I procrastinated reviewing it, and then I just finally did both and turned it in.  I think a lot of readers will like this one more than I did which I wanted to state very emphatically in my review, but that, unfortunately, is a librarian's voice and not a reviewer's so I was left with nothing to say but what I said.  So I said it.  Or wrote it, if you will.

In the Bleak Midwinter Julia Spencer-Fleming  Mystery    2002 Rating: B

In the Bleak Midwinter, the first installment of the Rev. Clare Fergusson/Russ Van Alstyne mysteries is a solid beginning to a series that looks like it may be quite enjoyable.  Clare, our heroine, is a priest in the Episcopal Church, and Russ, our hero, is a cop in small town Millers Kill, in upstate New York.  The two of them would seemingly have little in common, yet they find themselves drawn to the other's perspective and company.

Here the mystery concerns a baby who is left abandoned on Clare's doorstep and the child's mother who is, eventually, found murdered.  Clare, since she found the infant, feels personally responsible for it and tries to make sure that one of the families in her parish will get custody (as was specified in the note left with the child).  However, when the girl is found and the violence unexpectedly escalates and points an accusing finger at the would-be adoptive parents, Clare can't help but question her judgment...and get involved in solving the mystery. 

Clare is a priest, and she lends the series a number of homey, liturgical, and theological touches.  Russ's line of work ensures that there will be some suspense (as well as a more hard-bitten perspective on humanity).  Given this combination, this book should please all but the most blood-and-gore mystery fans.  Spencer-Fleming writes deftly and includes a number of details about Millers Kill which flesh out the setting and add ambiance.  The book is set in December and Clare is a wuss about cold; as Spencer-Fleming described her reaction and the consistently frigid temperature, I almost dragged out the blankets, even though I was reading this in August.  It seemed that cold.

While the mystery here is solid, the real draw for me is the developing relationship between Clare and Russ.  The sexual tension between them is subtle at first but continually grows as they grow to like and respect each other and realize they have more in common than they think.  Since Russ is married and Clare has a vocational duty to remain celibate, their growing attraction causes them both difficulty.  It will be interesting to see how Spencer-Fleming ultimately resolves this. 

Of the two of them, I definitely preferred Russ who is down to earth, tolerant, grounded, and protective.  Clare is a good person living out her religious vocation with fervor, but she's such an emotional thinker, and her perspective occasionally gets tiresome.  She is also both curious and impulsive, a combination that frequently gets both her parishioners and herself in trouble.  Several times over the course of the story she did the equivalent of entering the serial killer's basement with a candle.  This was, needless to say, frustrating.  Because of her past experience as a pilot in the military, she is capable of thinking on her feet and acting decisively in an emergency, but she wouldn't have to if she would just think before acting in the first place.  In particular, at a certain point about two-thirds of the way through, the identity of the murderer fairly screams itself to the heavens.  Had she only been listening, she could have avoided much trauma.  

One more element of frustration was the way that many characters referred derisively to the infertile would-be adoptors as seekers of the "Great White Baby."  While this pair weren't the most sympathetic of characters, infertility and adoption are bigger and more complicated than anyone here seems to realize, and trans-racial adoption is still a hotly debated topic in the adoptive community, not so much among adoptive parents as among social workers and trans-racial adoptees.  Cut them a little slack, please, before you negate their natural desire to have a family with your dismissive commentary. 

Rather than finish on the negative, I'll end this review by saying that the pages here fairly turned by themselves and as soon as I finished In the Bleak Midwinter I picked up the next book in the series, A Fountain Filled with Blood, which I had in a moment of prescient wisdom, checked out at the same time.  I think that says it all.  

This was Max's second year of VBS, and this time we picked a church that had a daytime program.   It's been two months since he had any kind of schoolish program, and I felt it was time.  He's bored.  I'm tired of him being bored.  We needed a mini-break.  Max doesn't generally go for new experiences enthusiastically, but he needs to keep the social skills he learned last year in preschool sharpened for the fall.  We went to a local Congregational church and his friend Tyler was there too, in the same group as Max.  I was hoping that would help him feel comfortable, and I also stayed with him the first day so that he wouldn't freak out.  I don't want to be a helicopter mommy, but I also don't think a VBS teacher should have to deal with a full-on meltdown.  Not that I really thought he'd have one, but it's always a possibility.  He just doesn't have that much classroom/daycare experience.  

On the whole, I think he liked it.  He got to do a lot of age appropriate stuff - playing with a parachute, doing crafts, coloring, having snacks, hearing stories, etc., etc.  He liked his teacher and he liked being busy.  Every morning he'd say he didn't want to go, but every time I picked him up he said he had fun.  He was good for his teacher and never cried or got emotional.  He didn't get groovy like some of the other kids did during music time - he put on his "solemn" school demeanor, instead - but overall, it was a success, I think.

I have to give the VBS people credit.  This is a lot of work, and they do it for love.  The program was well organized, and the teachers and other volunteers were friendly and good with kids.  And not only did they have the VBS program, but there was an ice cream social Thursday night which was served by many church volunteers.  I'm going to have Max write a thank you note and we'll send it next week.  Every time I go to one of these things I'm reminded once again of the staggering amount of work that goes into one of these programs.  

As far as the program itself went, this year's theme was "Beach Party: Surfin' the Scriptures."   That kind of sums it up.  While I don't expect a comprehensive religion course from a 4-day deal, anything that advertises itself as "Surfin' the Scriptures" can best be termed religion lite.  The day I observed Max's class got a very pared-down version of the story of Gideon [Judges 6-7] phrased in language I can only describe as deceptive.  Gideon didn't have an army of soldiers, he had a "team."  And they weren't going out to meet and hopefully annihilate their mortal enemies, the Midianites and Amalekites, they were, essentially, scrimmaging.  The interesting details of the story - the paring down of the army, the choice of jars, torches, and shofarot as weapons instead of swords and arrows  - was glossed over.  Gideon was a winner because he obeyed God and he and his team didn't even have fight - that's what these 4-year-olds got.  Plus the wet wool bit.  

Look, I know these are little kids and their attention spans are short.  The story in its original language is a bit much for them to handle, and there's perhaps too much going on for a ten minute lesson.  And maybe the violent intent isn't age appropriate, although Max certainly could handle this.  He loves military stuff right now.  Given these constraints, I'd say scrap the story and pick another for the preschool set.  I wouldn't compare what was going on to a soccer match and downplay how frightening it must have been for these Israelites to go out and meet peoples who have routinely been oppressing them without weapons.   Gideon is probably not the poster child for the day's virtue, Obedience, anyway.  In this story, before he agrees to anything, he puts God to the test twice.  Two miracles he requires before any army assemblage is done.  I'm not sure what the good folks at Cokesbury VBS were thinking when they selected him as the exemplar of this virtue.  And I really don't agree with the watered down version of events they included for this lesson.  Max's teacher was prepared and enthusiastic.  Her materials were not in any way on par with her enthusiasm.  

And is it just me or is the beach a rather incongruous image for a religious training exercise?   Jesus was no stranger to beaches.  Throughout the gospels he fishes, walks on water, and talks to the crowds from boats, but those boats were working vessels and not recreational vehicles or surf boards.  Does everything have to dressed up as "fun" to be interesting?

The program's music was just as light as the instruction.  Again I had to sit through some excruciating praise choruses.  [Again I hate the synthesis of pop culture and Christianity. I'll just link here to last year's rant so I don't have to re-type.]  I will say that the kids, especially the older volunteers seemed to be having a lot of fun with the music, and that this was good, clean fun.  It just wasn't reverent or especially enlightening.  

Overall, I would give the church an A for effort and for providing a great free social opportunity for the neighborhood's kids.   To Cokesbury, I'd say, "Is this the best you can do?  Is this the most you think kids can absorb about God, Jesus, and the Bible?"  

Beloved Stranger Joan Wolf Rapture Romance #58  3/1984 Rating:A-

On her way home from vacation, Susan Morgan plows her car into a snowdrift and must brave a blizzard to find help. She winds up on the doorstep of Ricardo Montoya, New York Yankees superstar, and, after she thaws out, they enjoy a night of passion. It is entirely out of character for her, and when it’s over, she can hardly believe that it even happened. Except that one thing prevents her from ever forgetting: she’s pregnant.

Though Ricardo is a gentleman and leaves her his name and address, Susan doesn’t feel like she can ask him for help. What would he do? He’s a baseball celebrity, and she’s a college senior. She decides to give her baby up for adoption. But fate intervenes, and when she’s seven months pregnant, she runs into him again. And against all of her predictions, Ricardo does want to get involved in her problem. He wants to become extremely involved. He wants to marry her. Because Susan wants to keep the baby and give it a father, she agrees. But marriage to Ricardo is harder and easier than she ever expected it would be. Will their convenient arrangement ever turn into anything more?

Wolf writes in a spare, lovely prose style that is marred only by occasional errors in point of view. It’s difficult to explain how Wolf manages to pack in so much emotion and sexual tension into just a few paragraphs, but, over and over she does. The sensuality is warm bordering on the subtle, but it’s still very nicely done.

One of the things I liked about this book was its innate traditionalism. While romance novels are often bashed for being too conservative, I find that many romance heroines are uber-emancipated, even when it's anachronistic. But not every woman was a Wollstonecraft or Friedan enthusiast. Wolf is almost always conservative about everything except sex. Susan is smart and Susan has her own goals, but Susan is not a career woman, and she values her family and her role in it. She is more than just her work. She is a writer, a wife, a mother, a daughter. She has multiple dimensions.

It’s quite amazing the feat Wolf pulls off here in characterization. This is a short category romance, only 182 pages, but both Ricardo and Susan have unusual depth. Susan is my favorite Wolf heroine, and not just because I so strongly identify with her. The majority of Wolf’s females are poised, unruffled, graceful, and horse-mad. Susan is none of these. She’s quiet, introspective, occasionally impatient, slightly reclusive, and sometimes quite insecure. She reacts to Ricardo the way most women would react if they found themselves in a relationship with a celebrity of almost mythical proportions. She worries about her appeal; she questions his feelings for her. But though she is not an especially assertive woman, she does manage to stand up to Ricardo when it’s necessary, as it often is.

For Ricardo is a chauvinist. He’s gorgeous, multi-talented, thoughtful, generous, charismatic, and brilliant, but he’s also pretty sexist. Born to wealthy Colombian parents, he absorbed their worldview, and looks at gender roles in a most traditional way. To him, women are “for sex, for motherhood, for ministering to a man’s other appetites and needs.” He marries Susan because he feels it is the honorable thing to do and because he doesn’t want his son to be raised by strangers. And clearly he feels a responsibility to her - to protect her and to provide for her financially. But Susan wonders constantly if he feels anything but duty for her. She is left to wonder because he never shares his deeper feelings with her.

I found Ricardo to be most interesting. He is admirable in so many ways, but his attitude towards women and its resulting behavior to Susan left something to be desired. He would be difficult for most modern American women to tolerate. It would have been easy for Wolf to condemn him, to force him to change in order for the romance to work. But she doesn’t. Instead she paints a portrait of a very complex individual; a person with obvious, permanent flaws. His relationship with Susan was fascinating. In so many ways they are opposites, but their chemistry is so profound. For all his reticence, clearly Ricardo feels possessive about Susan. And despite what Susan thinks she should feel, she likes being possessed by him. When the book reaches its happy ending, it’s all that much more effective because Ricardo has been difficult to know and understand. The changes he makes may seem small, but they are, in fact, profound. He learns to value Susan not for what she is – his wife – but for who she is.

The first time I read Beloved Stranger I liked it, but I didn’t love it. Still, something about it really stayed with me. About a year later, I picked it up again and liked it even more. I’ve just finished reading it for the third time in three years, and every time I read it, I find something new to savor. The emotional intensity and the rich characterization make this book a definite keeper. Though it is long out of print, Beloved Stranger is one of the more reasonably priced of Wolf’s backlist. If you’re tired of perfect heroes or books in which the action or suspense overshadows the romance, be sure and track this one down. This is vintage Wolf and something a bit different from the norm."

Click here for the rest of the review. 

[Addendum, 7/2008: Having now read this as a mom with a small child, Ricardo doesn't seem quite as charming.  I wonder if my opinion of him will fluxuate over time, given how close in time I am to being in the trenches with a toddler.]

This book is out of print, but available cheap at half.com.

I read somewhere that the 4-year-old boy has a testosterone surge and will begin to act more loudly and agressively at this age.  Boy, is this true for Max.  His new thing is jumping off high places and yelling.  I caught him jumping off of the car the other day onto this rug I'd put out on the driveway to dry.  He's also highly militaristic.  He wants to be a soldier, wear armor, carry a sword and smack things with it.  It doesn't have to be a real sword - a stick, a bread knife, a curtain rod - I've caught him stalking Ro-Ro and Milo with all of these.  Fortunately, they for the most part either ignore him or get out of the way.  

"Bang, crash, smash, whack, stack, smack" appears to be his motto these days.  And it's not just action - even in his pictures there's considerable violence.  Stephen being stoned, Saul persecuting the Christians, David killing Goliath - these are all favorite subjects for his crayon.  He even has a new favorite game called, "I heard..."  I started this the other day when we were taking a walk.  He was rushing ahead with his stick looking for "bad men."  So, to keep him moving instead of dawdling, I said "Watch for bandits, Max.  I heard this place is full of them.  I heard Jimmy Longlegs is the worst of them."  

So then, of course, he wanted to know what Jimmy Longlegs does that makes him the worst.  So I made something up..."Well, first he grabs you and then he kills you." Well, color him enthralled.  Pretty soon he's making up all kinds of horrible scenarios involving treacherous banditos all of whom relish the kill.  And I am expected to keep up.  So...I heard:

Polly Peg Leg is the worst...first she kisses you, and then she kills you.   

Big Johnny Stink Eye is the worst...first he ties you up and then he sticks you into the freezer and makes a popsicle of you.

Blue Beard is the worst...first he dyes your hair blue, and then he kills you.

Black-eyed Bart is the worst...first he smacks you in the eyes, then he whacks you on the head, and then you're dead!

Three-fingered Thor is the worst...first he cuts off your fingers and then he eats them and then he kills you.

Max just lives for this game.  The bloodier the scenario, the better.  And he gets to skewer these waiting bandits with his stick sword after he identifies their particular horrors.  You'd think this kind of thing would give him nightmares, but no.  He's not freaked out at all by this blood and gore.   There have been many times when I wonder what I could have possible done to put him in this zone.  I'm anti-violence, I hate guns, and I can't count the number of times I've told him to be gentle with others.  I don't know.  It's just got to be the testosterone.  

[Addendum, 7/29/08: Just heard the squeaky, placating voice of said same small son say, "Come here, poochie, I'm not going to hurt you.  I'm just going to chop off your whiskers."   See what I mean?]

My second item of concern is socialization.   I'm a little concerned Max isn't getting enough.  He has very positive relationships with many other people of various ages and is able to socialize correctly and appropriately with them, but almost all of these people he enjoys are relatives.  He's very slow to warm up to people he doesn't know, taking upwards of an hour to be able to relax and play with a new person.  Preschool was a challenge for him on this level.  I don't think he truly started to enjoy it until the spring, and then, just as he started to, it was over.  I'm hoping the more regular 3-day a week schedule this fall will get him more comfortable with kids he doesn't know, but I don't know.  On one level, I wanted to sign him up for Young 5's and send him half days 5 days a week, my rationale being that this is what he really needs - immersion in a more challenging social environment than home with Mom.  But his teacher recommended he go a second year of regular 3-day preschool, so that's what I signed him up for.  We'll see.  It concerns me that he doesn't have a Sunday School or extracurricular activity to go to with other children, but our church doesn't offer this, and he's so resistant to the idea of playing a sport or having lessons in something.  This morning I practically had to pry him out of the house to go to Vacation Bible School.  The sturm und drang!  Tears!  Tantrums!  Mom, I don't want to go!  Well, too bad, I said.  You have to go.  And then when he did go, he was fine.  Quiet and a little withdrawn for awhile, and rather serious and task-oriented at the various stations - this was his demeanor in preschool as well; all the pictures on the camera his teacher sent home with him on the last day show an unsmiling, serious Max, one I'm not acquainted with - but, he was fine.  Fine.  And by end of the week, I think he'll be enjoying himself and those socialization skills will have been exercised a bit and kept ready for the fall.

Of course one way to provide him with more socialization would be to give him a sibling, but I don't seem to be able to produce one from scratch, and our plans for that second adoption don't seem to be moving forward.  Our profile continues to languish at Bethany. 

I suspect in the end, these little concerns of mine will turn out to be phases or developmental stutters, but this is the kind of thing that occupies the mind of a mom not very acquainted with little boy behavior and anxious for her son.  

So this month my stats are through the roof, despite my lazy blogging.  The funny thing?  Half my hits are from Russia.  Apparently Yandex, one of Russia's largest web portals, has found my blog.  I have to wonder why now?  Is it because I blogged about Putin?  Or about Kaliningrad?  Or have they finally caught up with the dozens of posts I made about Russian adoption?  Hmmmm?

So I looked up Yandex, and it appears to be rather monolithic, like Google.  They even have a Linked In-like section that appears to be used for both social and business networking.  Being on a Facebook kick (I found several old friends there this week!) I had to sign up.  So now I'm on Facebook and Moikrug.com.  Perhaps my Russian friends will find me there and I will be able to repeat the same sort of Squeeee! moments I had this week on Facebook.  I, of course, don't care at all about finding work opportunities in Russia.  It's kind of neat, though, to do the whole sign up thing in Russian.

Get Lucky Suzanne Brockmann Category Romance  Silhouette Intimate Moments #991  3/2000 Rating: A-

"OK, what's the Number 1 Female Fantasy? Forget sex for now. Let's concentrate on the more imaginative stuff. In my opinion, it's got to be one of two things: it's either Healing the Tortured Soul or Taming the Rake. Both are delicious fantasies, and I'd say they regularly tangle with each other for the top spot. In Get Lucky, Suzanne Brockmann gives us a wonderfully fun example of the Taming the Rake scenario. It's absolute entertainment in the guise of ink and pressed wood pulp.

To do this type of plot justice, the author has got to get both contenders just right. The rake has got to be naughty without being nasty, and elevated enough that the fall will be worth watching. Your neck has to actually crane. And the heroine? Well, she's got to be pretty special, worthy of the reformed rake in every way. You've got to like her, and you have to respect her. She's got to be able to kick some rake butt and bat her eyelashes at the same time. This is hard to do, but Brockmann pulls it off beautifully here.

In the one corner we have Luke "Lucky" O'Donlon, gorgeous, multitalented, Navy SEAL womanizer who has enough charm to give Bobby Tom Denton (of Susan Elizabeth Phillips' Heaven, Texas) a run for his money. Luke has never wanted for female company, but his girlfriends tend to be decorative rather than contemplative. And this suits him just fine. He figures it would be selfish of him to limit all his good lovin' to just one woman, and he's inclined to be more generous than that.

In the opposite corner we have Sydney Jameson, everywoman journalist. Not beautiful, not gorgeous, a much better candidate for Mensa than Miss America. She's flat chested, wide hipped, and sassy as all get out. And she sees through Lucky at first glance.

The book begins with serious premise. A serial rapist who may or may not be a SEAL has been terrorizing the Coronado/San Felipe area. When Sydney's young neighbor becomes a victim Sydney confronts the police with an article she has written, threatening to generate publicity unless they get serious about finding the rapist. That's when the SEALs get involved. Since they do not believe the rapist to be one of their own, they have a vested interest in catching the guy. Lucky gets assigned to a task force consisting of SEALs, FInCOM agents, the local police force, and Sydney.

Problem is, Lucky's not too convinced that the task force is that good an idea. He thinks the SEALs could take care of business faster and with less fuss. And he has no use at all for a smart-mouthed reporter. But Sydney's not budging. This creates a bit of a conflict. In the background of their first meeting, you can almost hear the bell ding and the hush of the crowd as the opponents square off. The resulting verbal sparring is most enjoyable. From the first time Sydney accidentally calls Lucky "Ken" (as in Ken doll) to Lucky's eventual sad realization that he's been taken out of action, this is a complete romp. And the plot ain't bad either."

Click here for the rest of the review.  

This book is, unfortunately, right now, out of print, although they have reissued a number of books from this series, so it should get reprinted fairly soon.  If you want to part with your money, however, you can here .

Is it just me or does a garden seem a little bit magic?

You stick seeds in a hole in the ground, add water, and then - quick as a wink - you've got stuff you can eat.  LOTS of stuff you can eat.  I've been fighting the biological imperative of the weeds and little trees in my yard all spring and summer, but all I've got to say for the biological imperative of the tiny seeds I planted seven, only seven, weeks ago is: Thank you.  

Here's the before and (sort of) after.  During, at least:

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Clouds of Witness Dorothy L. Sayers Mystery    1926 Rating: B

Clouds of Witness is the second book in the Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries by Dorothy L. Sayers.  It is much tighter and more amusing than the series' first book: Whose Body?

In Clouds of Witness, Peter is called to the aid of his brother Gerald, the Duke of Denver, who finds himself accused of murdering their sister's fiancé, Denis Cathcart.  Denis was found lying outside of the conservatory with a bullet from Gerald's gun inside him and there is other circumstantial evidence that seems to point Gerald's way.  Gerald does not approve of Peter's little sleuthing hobby and does not want him involved in or amplifying the scandal, but Peter thinks that his brother underestimates the real danger he is in and wades in anyway.  It is obvious to anyone from the transcript of the inquest that both Gerald and his sister, Mary, are lying their heads off about events that happened that night, and he is determined to avert shame away from the Wimsey family and get to the bottom of things

On parade here are the humorous weaknesses of the various Wimseys and the somewhat dysfunctional way the family operates making it one of the funnier Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries.   Gerald is an ass, his wife, Helen, is a bloodless snob, and his sister Mary , by way of differentiating herself from the others, has become involved with the Communist Party in England.  Sayers manages to send up class, entitlement, political fanaticism, and communism while never sacrificing the humanity of any of her characters.  What a gift she has for humor.  I particularly loved the Communist Party stuff; it was interesting juxtaposing this crowd of bumblers with what was happening in the Soviet Communist Party in the late 1920's.  The contemporary historical view was fascinating, vaguely reminiscent of some of the Soviet satire later in the century, but without the bitterness of experience.

Bunter is magnificent as per usual here and manages to save Lord Peter's life when he makes a foolish mistake.   I liked that Sayers showed Lord Peter not at his best - it showed that he is not always in command of the situation and has other weaknesses besides a tendency to run off at the mouth.  His interactions with his siblings also add a bit of personal dimension to his character.  The Dowager Duchess of Denver is her usual delightful self. 

The mystery was an interesting one with an unexpected twist that I did not see coming.  Peter manages to ferret out what Gerald, Mary, and the ill-fated Denis were up to and (literally) fly in at the last moment in the trial with critical evidence to prove his theories.  

A solid entry in this series.  Very enjoyable.   

Good:

• The garden is doing well, and soon we should have some nice fresh tomatoes.  Love fresh tomatoes.
  
• The summer has been really quite mild - not too hot and not too dry.  Lots of sun.
  
• My yard work is getting close to accomplishing something besides just cleaning out the chaos the nature out there reverts to whenever my eyes are closed.  I have finally finished (or a reasonable facsimile to finishing) weeding out the thousands (literally thousands) of little maple trees my neighbor's tree scattered everywhere.  The gutters have been cleaned of little trees too and all the weeds have been picked out from the crevices in the brick patio.  The wild rosebush on the side is now gone, thank God, dug out and sent away to yard waste hell. 
  
• All of the kid clothes in my basement that got wet when the basement flooded and started to smell have been washed and dried.  All 7 loads or 10 boxes of them.
• Milo is slightly, ever so slightly, calming down and biting less.  My arms now look like those of a heroin addict instead of being one continuous bruise. 
  
• We are halfway through the time of no school for Max, and I'm not insane yet.  Not quite yet.
• I've broken my addiction to Packrat.
  
• At least 2 days this week I was back down to my pre-vacation weight.

Bad:

• I can't decide how Rosie is doing.  She's been vacillating between being constipated and having diarrhea.  She's also doing a remarkable impression of incontinence and prefers to dribble in the house rather than do her business outside.  And she's licked her stump down to an open sore.  A largish, getting larger open sore.  She's not getting any more social, either.  But I can't say she seems unhappy, exactly.  Just not terribly excited about anything and no enthusiastic about being or going anyplace other than under the table or next to the bed on a cushion.   And walking her is a pain because she wants to poo on every little spot but it takes her forever to accomplish this and when she doesn't want to stop to poo, she wants to stop to take a grass bath. 
  
• I'm grappling with making an important decision, and I'm not very happy about what my natural instinct says about me or my character.  I wish I were naturally more generous and go-with-the-flow.  But I'm not.  I like stability and order.  I like quiet.  I like alone time.  Lots of alone time.  All the alone time I currently don't get.  And I wish I were different.  Different.
• J. is totally overbooked this summer with classes, classes, and more classes.

Prospect Street Emilie Richards Women's Fiction  2002 Rating: A-

"Faith Bronson's happy, prosperous life goes up in smoke one evening when she discovers her husband making love to another man. David Bronson is a conservative Christian and a lobbyist who works for Promise the Children, a family-values oriented organization. Unfortunately for Faith and David, she is not the only one who discovers him with his lover. The news media does as well, and they pound the story into the ground until David is catapulted from the closet. Suddenly, David has no job, Faith has no marriage, and neither one of them has any money. They also have two messed up kids.

Faith's refuge turns out to be a row house on Prospect Street that has been in her mother's family for four, now five, generations. She can't abide the idea of living with her rigid, demanding parents, so when her mother offers her the house, she is overjoyed at the idea of living in Georgetown, despite the fact that the house is horribly dilapidated. Faith's son, Alex, is happy with the move, but her daughter, Remy, makes her disapproval heard loud and long. Remy also has major issues with her father and chooses not to see him at all. Instead Faith's ever-perfect daughter becomes the rebellious teenager from Hell. Faith has her hands full juggling all the disasters.

But while she is renovating her house, Faith makes two important discoveries. The first is that the house itself is endlessly fascinating. It is her family history, a history she's not known much about until now. It also contains some answers to the question of her parents' marriage. Almost forty years ago Faith's older sister, Hope, was abducted from the house as a newborn, and this tragedy has cast a long shadow over the entire family. Her other discovery is that she has an intriguing neighbor in Pavel Quinn, another Georgetown renovator. He is obviously attracted to Faith. Can she learn to trust another man with her heart?

Faith is a wonderful character. She is perhaps a bit staid and predictable at first, but her trials seem to bring out the best in her. She's hard working, creative, intelligent, and, despite her diminished self-confidence, she manages to be quite assertive when she has to be. The best parts of the book are when she's sticking it to David and refusing to be blamed for his mistakes. She's also pretty good with Remy, who grows more and more sullen and uncooperative over time.

Prospect Street is women's fiction in its truest form. The story is primarily Faith's, but all of her relationships are explored. We get into the heads of her mother, her daughter, her husband, and her new love interest. All of them have things to resolve with Faith before the story can have a true happy ending. The use of so many points of view can muddle a story, but Richards carefully keeps the whole thing on track by focusing on how all of these characters interact with Faith. Other things, such as David's new relationship, or her mother's rocky marriage, do not take up excessive page space.

All of the characters go through a similar character arc as they learn to live honestly by their own standards and try to forgive themselves and others when they fail. This is a profoundly empathetic and compassionate book, and other than the message of forgiveness, Richards does not use her book platform to preach. She shows all the ways that Faith and David's situation can be devastating to a family and lets all of her characters feel their natural emotions. There is no pro-gay or anti-gay message. David, for all of his betrayal and cowardice, is a ultimatly a sympathetic character. These are simply real people with real problems muddling through as best they can.

Richards' exploration of the Christian church's conflict with homosexuality is well written. David spent years trying to convince himself and his children that homosexuality was a sin, and now he must face his own beliefs and convictions as well as the consequences of his preaching. Richards doesn't waste time vilifying religious people, though, and may I say how much I appreciated this? So often Christians are portrayed as narrow-minded, fanatical, bigoted idiots, and Richards does not stereotype this way.

The mystery of the house was intriguing, and Richards reveals the clues to the mystery of Hope's kidnapping slowly, a bit at a time, to hold the interest of the reader. The flashbacks to Faith's mother's life in the early years of her marriage are well done and reinforce the book's theme and message. Even the parts about the house's restoration are interesting. It's such a nice metaphor for the restoration of Faith's life. As the house is stripped bare and lovingly restored to highlight the character of what's beneath, so is Faith. She and the house go through the same process."

Click here for the rest of the review.  

This book is available cheap at half.com or at bookmooch.

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City of Thieves David Benioff Fiction    2008 Rating: B-

City of Thieves was sort of a given for me.  How could I not read it once I'd heard about it?  Leningrad, Nazis, World War II - right up my alley.   Readers who are looking for another The Bronze Horseman  might be a bit disappointed, however.  This is a much more masculine read.

Lev Beniov is not living at the right time to achieve any sort of self-actualization.  Young, Jewish, Leningrader - 1942 was a bad year to be any of these.  At seventeen he finds himself all alone in his freezing cold apartment.  His mother and sister were evacuated earlier, but Lev stayed on for the excitement.   He spends his nights guarding the rooftops of Kirov, his apartment building.  He spends his days trying to survive.  One night on the roofs, he and his young fellow firemen spy a German pilot parachuting down into Leningrad, right into their section of the city.  The novelty of this discovery overwhelms their common sense, and they abandon their post to locate the (dead) man and loot his provisions.  Unfortunately, they are caught by the city police, and Lev is taken to prison for this misadventure.  There he meets Kolya, a gorgeous young specimen of Russian soldier, who is accused of deserting his battalion.  Neither the darkness of their shared cell nor the unhappy outlook for their future stops Kolya from scribbling in his notebook, quoting literature, or talking about sex.  Lev frankly does not know what to make of him, but he has other things on his mind.

The next day Kolya and Lev get an fantastical reprieve: instead of a firing squad, they are assigned to find a dozen eggs for a certain Colonel Grechko's daughter's wedding cake.   If they can locate them before the wedding, they will live.  If not, they can expect to live on the run with no ration cards until they starve to death or are hunted down.  Given this dubious set of choices, the pair sets out to find some eggs.  The problem, of course, is there are no eggs to be found in Leningrad of 1942.  Their quest will take them through the city and eventually behind enemy lines.  

The way Benioff sets up the plot here allows him to explore via Lev and Kolya what horrors were occurring in mid-winter 1942.  They were many and varied.  The city, of course, is starving and frozen.  Its citizens are down to unsustainable rations and are dropping like flies. Outside the city the Germans are committing a creative subset of atrocities on the rural population.  Benioff draws the villains - Russian and German - realistically and humanly, although many of them act inhumanly.  Unsurprisingly the novel has a rather high body count which is graphically described.  

Lev, the main protagonist, is not incredibly likable.  He has little confidence and few abilities that translate well into a war setting.  He is grudging and grouchy and focused on his own weaknesses.  His everyman qualities should have made him accessible, but instead he's just hard to like.  Kolya is easier.  Brimming with self-confidence, he addresses every person and situation as he would a prim lover, someone to be wooed.  He is funny, charismatic, brave, and accepting.  He is also obsessed with sex and his own bodily functions.  Repeatedly he bemoans the fact that he hasn't had a shit in over a week.  He has a willing female on every block of Leningrad and Lev gets a ringside seat to watch his technique.  While this is believable behavior for an adolescent male living through a war, it was less than charming for me to read about.  

Readers interested in the Leningrad setting will find a fair bit of history embedded in the novel, most of which seemed accurate.  Lev and Kolya did seem to have more energy than most of the citizenry had at that point in the winter.  They were able to walk the length of the city without too much difficulty.  This was a bit more believable for Kolya who, being a soldier, would have had better rations than Lev.  During their search they luck into several decent meals which, while necessary for the plot, also seems unlikely.  There is also some running down stairs which, given that water was being carried and spilled from buckets over stairs daily, wouldn't have been possible.  There weren't stairs in Leningrad of February, 1942.  There were bumpy sheets of ice.  

On the whole, though, this is an entertaining tale, insomuch as a string of wartime horrors can be entertaining.  Lev and Kolya find themselves in a series of impossible situations and Benioff imbues them with humor, humanity, and suspense.  There are few winners and many losers, but it is interesting to speculate on which side of the tablet Lev and Kolya will fall by story's end.  City of Thieves is worth a read, a good way to spend an evening.  Just don't pick it up when you need a pick-me-up because you will not find that here.

Lock and Key Sarah Dessen Young Adult Fiction    2008 Rating: B-/C+

Lock and Key was an experience in procrastination.  Way back last October I put it on my I want list and as soon as I could I put a hold on it at the library.  However, due to a problem with their supplier, my hold copy was delayed...by months.  Which gave me plenty of time to read other reactions to it, some of which were rather tepid - even from Sarah Dessen fans.  This meant that by the time my hold copy finally arrived, I felt much more ambiguous about reading it.  So I held off and it sat on my dresser until a week before it was due.  For the record, I paid my first library fine ever (since becoming a librarian) for Lock and Key.  I just couldn't seem to stay interested in it long enough to get 'er done and back on time.  There's some good writing here, but the plotting, such as it is, is overfull and a bit repetitive.

I'm quite sad to have to write that.  I've given Dessen many enthusiastic finger snaps in the past for This Lullaby, Just Listen, The Truth about Forever, and Keeping the Moon.

Ruby Cooper has had a chaotic life with her dysfunctional mother.  Many jobs, many apartments, many men have passed in and out of their lives, and then one day Ruby's mother passes out too.  Without saying good-bye.  Ruby is a senior in high school and figures if she can make it to her eighteenth birthday, it'll all be okay and The System won't be able to touch her, but then her landlords unexpectedly drop by and see that she's living without heat, without running water in the kitchen, and without the supervision of an adult.  They report this, and in swoops Ruby's sister, Cora, to set things right.

Ruby hasn't seen Cora in ten years when Cora went off to college and never looked back.  Now Cora has the perfect life with a great job, a successful and enthusiastically friendly husband, Jamie, and a big house in the suburbs (as well as a slightly less-than-perfect neurotic little dog).  Ruby figures that if she wasn't good enough for Cora to see before, she won't be a burden on her now, and she decides to make tracks.  But the dog and the too nice neighbor boy, Nate, catch her and, feeling guilty and without options, Ruby grudgingly gives this new situation a chance. 

Unlike several of Dessen's last books, Lock and Key can't really pass for a teen romance.  While Dessen's focus as an author is always on the main girl protagonist and the point of view she uses (first person) ensures that focus, the upbeat nature of her stories and the well-drawn, very appealing guy characters she develops make her, in my humble opinion, very accessible to a romance reading audience.  This book will probably not appeal to that same audience.  Although there are a few romantic touches, the problems Ruby and Nate and the rest of Ruby's friends face are more serious, less internal, and less easily resolved than those faced by other characters.  All of which lend this book a grimmer tone.  

Ruby, of course, has to deal with her mother's abandonment and, more immediately, how she will fit in at the expensive private school Cora and Jamie have enrolled her in.  Her initial reaction is not to react.  She determines that she won't make friends and won't bother connecting on any level with any of these strangely perfect people surrounding her.  But sooner or later she has to acknowledge that her mother's cut-and-burn strategy with people hasn't worked very well for either of them and has left as she is today: lonely and untrusting.  

Dessen uses the lock and key metaphor repeatedly to show Ruby's character development.  Ruby keeps the key to her mom's house (the place of her gradual abandonment) around her neck on a chain, always close to her.  In the beginning she is like this key  and doesn't fit anywhere.  Eventually, though, she realizes the key is pointless - it fits nothing in the new life she's making for herself - and it becomes less and less important to her.  Eventually, too, she realizes as she begins to let people in that these people (literally and figuratively) carry their own keys as well.  Hers is unique, because it is hers, but she is not the only one clutching past miseries, merely because they are familiar.  

What was perplexing to me as a reader was that so many of the secondary characters in Lock and Key are dealing or have dealt with similar issues to Ruby's, but there is no discernible rage about the mistreatment they have received at the hands of people who should have loved and cared for them.  Ruby is, in fact, never really angry at her mother.  She's angry she has to go to a new school and she's angry at her sister's defection (sort of), but her mother's abandonment seems to be not as important to her as the practical problems said abandonment creates in her life.  She is remarkably resilient.  I wondered if perhaps Ruby's adjustment goes so smoothly because Dessen wanted to move on to the problems of other secondary characters.  Unfortunately, the book is in first person, so the emotional hurdles the reader makes should be the most jarring and exhilarating when they are Ruby's, not another character's.  

Also, Dessen frequently resorts to flashback to fill in the reader on information that explains what is currently going on.  But the flashbacks aren't very far back - only to that morning or the day before - and so the flow of the book is often disjointed, zigging and zagging between then and now when with just a little rearrangement it could have all been in the now, making everything less confusing and easier to follow.   

I do have to give kudos to Dessen for her treatment of two issues: teen rebellion and infertility.  During her initial days with Cora, Ruby makes some poorer choices, especially when she feels vulnerable.  There is some subtle drug use and even more subtle sex (if you're not paying close attention, you could easily miss the latter).  Neither seems out of character for a girl with Ruby's upbringing and experiences, but they are not over dramatized and Dessen doesn't moralize.   The issue of infertility arises in Cora's marriage, and Ruby is merely a bystander to it.  Still, the emotional pitfalls of wanting to conceive and failing are very sensitively dealt with and Cora's feelings are spot on.  The dialogue included could be in a manual on what to say to anyone dealing with this and how not to make stupid, dismissive remarks.  

Ultimately, I was a bit disappointed in Lock and Key and was glad to have waited for the library copy.   The writing was good, and the characters were flawed, but Ruby's problems smoothed themselves out a bit too easily, leaving room for quite a bit of extraneous plotting that was less interesting.  Unless you've got hardcover money burning a hole in your pocket, I'd reserve this at the library too, or read one of Dessen's other, better, books.

Quick summary of yesterday afternoon and evening:

RAIN!  LIGHTNING!  THUNDER!  HAIL!  DARKNESS LIKE THE BLACK OF NIGHT!  RAIN, RAIN, RAIN!

Then:

Water in the basement.  No electricity.  Darkness.  Bored and slightly frightened preschooler.  Harassed mommy.  Early bedtime.  For all.

We still have no electricity and it's not expected to return until tomorrow evening.  So that review I promised as well as any other blogging?  Well, it'll be delayed.  I'm at the library right now juicing up my laptop so I can write that review and another one tonight.  Yay for libraries! 

...but I've sort of gotten addicted to my son's Webkinz world.  It started off very innocuously.  Nana got him a Webkinz account, and as the site requires reading and Max is pre-literate, I set it up for him.  We chose a name, he chose a gender, then when it was too late waffled.  So Meowser, his little black cat is transgendered now, since once you've picked you can't unpick, but Max insists that "he" is a girl. 

He's got a pretty pink outfit, with little pink sunglasses and pink shoes, and a pink hat, anyway.  

When you start off Webkinz gives you a few trifling things for your room and about 2000 credits.  This gets you sort of nowhere.  You can buy a bed and some food and a couple more pieces of furniture, but none of the cool furniture sets or more than one interactive feature.  So before I knew it, I was playing the games in order to get Max more stuff for his room.   Then I got him another room, since having a toilet and a refrigerator in the bedroom was too college-dorm-roomish for my taste.  Then I got him a yard.  Then another room.  Then a pool for his yard.  Then little garden patches you can water every day and watch grow.  Pretty soon it had gotten out of hand, and I had a Second Life as a kitten.  All of the appliances in the kitchen matched the tile and wallpaper.  The bathroom fixtures of Meowser's WC quaintly accessorized the paint and flooring.  Meowser can now cook on "her" little stove and take a bath in "her" little bathtub.  She can brush her hair and teeth.  Her garden is flourishing.  

Ack.  

Two days ago, I confronted the madness.  Yes, it was fun to play the trivia games, esp. given that I can pretty much stomp questions for 4th graders.  (Go me.  In most cases, I am "smarter than a fifth grader.")  Yes, Max likes playing with his Webkinz pet and also answering age-appropriate trivia questions.  Yes, it is sort of soothing for me to be able to decorate a little home the way I want it and return to find it still neat and tidy - Meowser doesn't leave dishes on the counter or underwear on the floor; and "she" doesn't track dirt all over the bathroom tile like my real dogs do.   But this is a kid's game.  And I was spending way too much of the little time I have to myself on it.  So for two days I left it alone.  Then I made the mistake of showing "Max's" little Webkinz world to my niece who thought his three-room spread with backyard was too cool, and could I fix up a little something for her Little Kinz too?  

Can you see where this is going?  I know you can.  Tonight I was sucked back in to playing faux Boggle, checkers, and answering those same trivia questions I answered for Meowser again.  But now Nannie's Little Kinz has his own oven and his own garden and his own bathroom (with purple walls and tile).  

And everyone is happy.  I think.  

(For anyone waiting on that Dessen review, I promise, I promise, I'll try to get to it tomorrow.  Have patience with me, a poor addicted Webkinz mom.) 

I have a new review up at All About Romance for Hidden by Eve Kenin.  Check it out!

Kenin's first book in this post-Apocalyse series, Driven, got a lot of buzz last year, but I had an only slightly better than "Eh." reaction to it.  The world building was very good.  The romance - not so much.  

In other news, I have almost finished a book.  Wow, huh?   I'm going to try and get a review for Sarah Dessen's new one, Lock and Key up in the next few days.   It's taken me ages to get through it, much longer than her other ones have.  It's a pretty good read, but IMHO, not up to her usual standards.  

Summers at Castle Auburn Sharon Shinn Fantasy  Rating: A

"Coriel Halsing is the illegitimate daughter of Lord Halsing, one of the highest nobles in the kingdom. When Lord Halsing dies, his brother Jaxon honors his dying wish to find Corie and bring her to Castle Auburn. This visit establishes a pattern for her life. She spends every summer with Jaxon and her half-sister Elisandra at Castle Auburn learning the important skills of a lady. The rest of the year she lives in a small village with her grandmother, learning to be an herbalist and wise woman. Over time she becomes fully acquainted with her two worlds, but less and less a true member of either.

The story begins in the summer of her fourteenth year. Jaxon is a great hunter of aliora, a fairy like folk who live deep in the forests. He catches them and sells them as slaves to the aristocracy. This year he takes Corie hunting with him. He also takes along Prince Bryan, with whom Corie is madly in love, and Bryan's cousin Kent, a much kinder, more considerate young man. Corie has a wonderful time with all of them but this summer marks the end of Corie's childhood, because at the end of it she begins to realize that the people and things she has loved and valued are not really what she has perceived them to be. She begins to be aware of the plots and intrigues that spin at Castle Auburn, including those involving the fates of herself and her beloved sister. As the years pass and her strange position at court solidifies, Corie must decide who she is and what she will be.

The Fantasy genre is a natural extension of the fairy tales many of us loved as children. And this story reads just like a lovely long fairy tale. The magical creatures here are the aliora. They are fey and friendly and healing just to be around. Corie loves the aliora, she loves to be with them, but as she grows older, she becomes more and more horrified at their state of enslavement. Interestingly paralleled with the alioras' plight is that of Corie, her sister and all the women at court. How they all seek freedom from their bondage is touching and sad and, occasionally, horrifying. Shinn expertly weaves all their stories together in a fascinating way.

And, as in all of her books, Shinn includes touches of romance. There are three romantic sub-plots here, and the sweetest and most developed is Corie's. She starts off young and quite infatuated with the unattainable (and, in many ways, undesirable) Prince Bryan. But as she ages, matures, and decides most emphatically who she is, she comes to better understand her heart and chooses more wisely whom to love. And like any fairy tale heroine, she gets a full and glorious Happily Ever After for her efforts.

Summers at Castle Auburn is a fully satisfying read. It has wonderful characters, mythical creatures and places, and a dash of court intrigue and scheming to make things even more interesting. Sharon Shinn is a fine author, and I very much look forward to any future offerings. For those of you who like fairy tales or wonderful stories in general, do pick up a copy of this book."

Click here for the rest of the review.  

This book is available cheap at half.com.

J. sent me a link to this article in the Telegraph.  

"Vladimir Putin has enhanced his image as Russia's leading sex symbol after a commemorative magazine wholly dedicated to his virility and reputation as a "vampire" rapidly sold out in the kiosks of Moscow."

Among the highlights:

"This time the magazine has outdone itself, carrying numerous photos of the prime minister in heroic poses, kayaking, swimming with dolphins and arm wrestling, under the headline: "Sometimes He's Just So Cool".  "There's not a single woman who would not dream of embracing and kissing Vladimir Vladimirovich and hearing his declaration of love," the article opined.

While this "commemorative magazine" can be dismissed as a government controlled media's pandering to its puppeteer, I had to chortle at the idea of Putin as a sex god.  Yes, he seems to be in decent shape for a man his age, but he's also gray as a zombie in 99% of the pictures taken of him, as well as being thin lipped, weak chinned, narrow eyed, and balding.  None of which would really matter, if he were a nice guy on the up an up instead of a controlling powermonger intent on squelching freedom and democracy in Russia while simultaneously playing a chess game with Russia's oligarchs.

Compare him to Mikhail Khodorkovsky, another 90's ruthless  manipulator who was singled out as dangerous by Putin and now resides in a Siberian prison thanks to Mr. Sexy.  Khodorkovsky manages to look good even in jail.  Well, at his trial, at least.  Who knows what he looks like now, nestled as he currently is, in the heart of Krasnokamensk's uranium mines.  

Here are my favorite pictures.  This first on was taken at the sand dunes on Silver Lake.  We walked up and down them for awhile (go, Mom!), the kids and my BIL jumped off them.  Finally, after snapping a bunch of other pics, I jumped down a dune, and looking back up, I saw this (more or less).  It seemed very Holes so I asked everyone to line up.  I love the way the kids are all posing SuperHero style.  

The weather at the cottage this year was fairly cool and somewhat overcast.  We all bundled up in sweatshirts and blankets at times, but it was perfect for walking the dunes.  We had a picnic, went to the Little Sable Point lighthouse, dipped our toes into Silver Lake, and went home for pizza and ice cream.  

Otherwise, I just loafed around, let Mom and Dad entertain Max when he woke up super early as is his summertime wont, read a few books, took some walks with my sister, and tried not to eat too much.  It was too cold to swim.  Oh, and I played with the frolicking white dog three cottages down.  I really missed Milo and Rosie, but I was glad that, if I had to kennel Rosie, Milo was there with her so she wouldn't be lonely.   When I got too homesick for the poochies, I sought out the white dog, D.D., and play with her for awhile.  

Here's one more great photo from this week: my mom and dad.  Forty years together and still holding hands!  I'm not one for too much sentiment, but it's kind of sweet the way their connected bodies form a heart shape.