Book Review: Here I Go Again

I love basically anything Jen Lancaster writes. Seriously. I find her memoirs to be (literally) laugh out loud funny and so spot on when it comes to her observations. And that didn't change when it comes to her novels, the second being Here I Go Again.

Here I Go Again is the story of a popular girl's reality 20 years later, and how her glory days of high school have affected her current not-so-glorious present. At her high school reunion, she is made aware of the success of everyone she used to look down on has had and is then given a chance to go back and change her decisions so she too will have the life that she wants. But changing the outcome of everyone's life won't be as easy as she thought.

What I love about this book is the character development, and how Lissy eventually realizes what truly matters to her and what kind of life she wants to lead. I thought that it was hilarious, yet also had serious undertones that tugged at my heartstrings, such as the relationships between parents and children, popular kids vs. not popular kids, and of course, Lissy and the men in her life.

I also love the high school reunion concept and even though I didn't go to high school in the '80s, I loved all of the pop culture references. I have always looked forward to my high school reunion, even when I was in high school, but now that it's a year away, it doesn't seem to be as exciting as it once was. I have often wondered what effect Facebook has had on reunions, in that it used to be you would learn all about people from your past every 10 years or so, but now, you know what everyone's up to every 10 minutes or so. But what's super fun about this book is that Lissy uses Facebook in her book, which I always love to see.

Chicago Book Reviews: Ernest Hemingway

I love Ernest Hemingway, as evidenced in this book review of The Sun Also Rises and The Paris Wife. And I have been lucky enough in my travels to see two of his (many) homes.

Oak Park is where Ernest Hemingway was born and raised, and back in 2010 my mom and I were able to tour his childhood home and the museum that is also in Oak Park.

Both were very enlightening for me in terms of learning about Ernest Hemingway and his early life and how that played into the person and the writer he became. Plus, I love touring any kind of historic house. Definitely worth checking out (with the Frank Lloyd Wright houses) should you ever find yourself in Chicago.

Chicago Book Reviews: Loving Frank

One of my favorite things about reading is all of the places you can go just by opening a book. But one of my other favorite things traveling and actually seeing some of the places in a book. And since Nathan and I spent Easter weekend in Chicago, I thought I dedicate a week to the city, featuring novels that take place in or around the city.

The first of these books is Loving Frank, by Nancy Horan. I read this several years ago after my mom and I took a trip to Chicago to celebrate my graduation. We actually spent the day in Oak Park outside of Chicago, which is not only a Frank Lloyd Wright destination but as we found out, an Ernest Hemingway destination. But more on Ernest tomorrow--today we're focusing on Frank.

Mom and I spent the afternoon on a walking tour checking out some of the masterpieces in the area, or as the web site calls it, the Frank Lloyd Wright Historic District. Here's one of my favorites. Wouldn't you love to live here?

But back to the book. Loving Frank is the story of the relationship of Mamah Borthwick Cheney and Frank Lloyd Wright, which starts when Mamah and her husband commission Frank Lloyd Wright to design a home for them. Both have spouses and children, but soon the relationship between the two quickly deepens into something deeper.

The story takes us through their affair, to Europe and back to Chicago, and we see this affair through their perspectives on how it changes their lives and the effect it has on their families, particularly their children. We see Frank and Mamah through each other's eyes and see them grow and change over the course of the relationship.

The characters in this book are real, in that I didn't necessarily love them all of the time. But it was easy to see the love they had for each other, which is most obvious in the end. And the end. So much to say about the end, but don't want to ruin it.

Friday Fancies: March 29

A bit short this week as I've been trying to catch up on blogging and working to (finally) check off some household projects plus writing and work. But it's an accurate picture of what I've been doing this week.

Browsing:
I loved Keds. And I love Kate Spade. Obviously this is a thing I really love. And the marketing of them is pretty great, too.

Another article on books about the wives of famous men (found via Twitter), this one particularly about Zelda Fitzgerald. I have Z requested at the library and can't wait for it and now I have a few other books to add to that list. There is also a brief mention of a book about the wife of Benedict Arnold, and I have to take the opportunity to recommend Finishing Becca by Ann Rinaldi, which is one of my favorite books, and it is also about Peggy Shippen Arnold. And on that note, read anything by Ann Rinaldi.

Watching:
Most of my time the past few weeks has been spent watching Netflix, because I've been trying to work through our instant queue as I work on other projects (to come in Apil!). Two birds, one stone, right? There have been some random movies that I've loved, including "Janie Jones" and "The Best & The Brightest" and some that I haven't really loved, like "Miss Nobody." And here I thought that I would love anything Leslie Bibb was in...

I've also started re-watching "Greek," which is one of my favorite shows of all times. While googling it, I found that they've added a two years later video to the Web site that shows everybody at Rusty's graduation. Check it out if you watched the show and loved it as much as I did.

Writing Update: March

I am very happy to announce that my book is now more than 30,000 words. It's not quite halfway, but moer than I've ever written for this book or any other book, which is very exciting.

I have to admit that I did think I would be further in word count after my initial momentum, but it definitely slowed down, which surprised me as I started incorporating some of what I had written back during NaNoWriMo in November.

I have learned that my story is still evolving, and the way I am writing it is evolving, too. Thanks to a suggestion from my friend Kaitlyn, I'm writing the two stories completely and then incorporating them together, which will then let me decide how to incorporate them better.

So, with about 50,000 words left to write by May 1, I will be participating in Camp NaNoWriMo again, hopefully more successfully than last year. The timing is much more ideal and with my goal to write that anyway, I feel like I'll be much more successful.

Book Review: The Aviator's Wife

I was at Barnes and Noble after Christmas and found The Aviator's Wife by Melanie Benjamin on the new releases table, and I couldn't resist buying it.

source

And I'm so glad I bought it, as it is one of the best books I've read in a long time. I read the book in record time because I couldn't put it down.

I didn't know very much about Anne Morrow Lindbergh before I started the book, but by the time I finished, I wanted to be best friends with her. The book told her story in a way that let us not only learn about her life but I also felt that Melanie Benjamin really let us get to know her imagining of Anne Morrow Lindbergh.

The Anne Morrow Lindbergh of this book was a strong woman, and we saw her overcome all of the obstacles that were thrown at her, including fame and all of the consequences that came with it, including the kidnapping of her child. We saw her through the eyes of the public, the eyes of her husband and children, and the eyes of who she thought herself to be.

So, I will say the the greatest strength of this book is the character development. The plot is interesting, as she led a very unique, interesting life, but more than that, it was the insight into Anne Morrow Lindbergh's character that really made the book a great read.

Think Spring!: Bulletin Board

Back in September, Nathan and I went to Nebraska City for Applejack, and one of our stops was a flea market where I picked up a frame that I planned to use for jewelry. Then I realized that I missed having something on my desk for photos, etc. so I decided to make it into a bulletin board for that.

As you can see, it needed a fresh coat of paint.

After the paint, which was silver, I cut the corkboard to fit inside the frame and hot glued it to the inside. It wasn't especially sturdy, so I then cut a piece of cardboard to fit and hot glued it to the back of the corkboard.

Here it is finished, though it still needs some momentos on it.