The Agatha Christie Book Club

My latest read is C.A. Larmer's The Agatha Christie Book Club

Bored with her current book club, Alicia Finlay decides to start her own book club dedicated to the works of Agatha Christie. She places an advertisement in the paper asking interested parties to write and seek membership in the club. From the letter she receives, Alicia selects six members: her sister Lynette; Dr. Anders, an expert on poisons; Claire a retro fashionista; Missy the ditzy yet observant librarian whose insight into human nature rivals that of Miss Marple; Perry the paleontologist, and socialite Barbara Parlour.
The first book they discuss is Evil Under the Sun. At their next meeting to discuss The Mysterious Affair at Styles, Barbara doesn't show up. Concerned for her well-being, the ACBC looks into her disappearance. They become more concerned when her husband is murdered several days later. Alicia and her friends delve into Agatha Christie's own life and her novels to solve the case of the missing book club member.

This is the first book in a three-book series: Murder on the Orient (SS) and Evil Under the Stars are the other two books.

Mariage Freres: The French Art of Tea

Mariage Frères : The French Art of Tea is part history of the Mariage Frères Tea Company and part catalogue of their teas.

Tea first became popular in France during the reign of Louis XIV. In the 1660s, Nicolas Mariage embarked on several voyages to Persia, the East Indies and the Moghul Empire as part of an envoy sent by Louis XIV and the French East India Company. Nicolas’ brother travelled to Madagascar with the same company. In the 18^th century, Jean-Francois Mariage was still trading in tea. In 1854, Henri and Edouard, grandsons of Jean-Francois, founded the Mariage Frères Tea Company on June 1^st. The name has been and still is synonymous with the highest quality teas.

The descriptions of various teas from around the world and the teas sold by Mariage Frères is a catalogue of superlatives, some of them exaggeratingly hilarious. Teas are described as “precious”, “charismatic”, “most civilized”, “paradise”, or even “evidence of a peerless marriage.”

I do love the fact that there are teas for every taste and occasion. These are teas I want to try:

T221 Lung Ching or Dragon’s Well “Produced on the summits of the Tieh Mu Mountain chain near the western lake of Hangzhow in Zheigang. The garden boasts white sandy soil and a perfect climate for growing tea. Lunch Ching’s liquor resembles liquid jade, and has a delicious aroma that fills the palate with a delicate fragrance. An ideal tea while reading” (41).

T227 Long Zhong Cui Lu “A tea of fine pedigree, with an orange-yellow liquor and highly pronounced aroma. A subtle tea, appropriate when curling up with a book” (42).

 A white Darjeeling tea with a description too great to miss

T144 Neige de jade “‘Jade Snow’ was conceived like a precious work of art on the Arya estate in Darjeeling. It is a unique white tea from the land of the finest black teas—the leaves, plucked as dawn, are carefully spread in the sweet morning air, then each leaf is wrapped in silk cloth and rolled by hand, and finally placed in gentle sunlight. The crystalline liquor yields a refined taste of young growth with overtones of white flowers. The subtle fragrances of this grand tea last long in the mouth, whispering of rare pleasures” (63).

The name of this next tea immediately called to mind Agatha Christie and Poirot

T955 Thé sur le Nil « A whiff of adventure: this blend will take you to the ends of the world, where the thoughts of enchanted voyagers dwell. Citrus fruit from forgotten lands and refined spices wonderfully scent this fine green tea. A flight of fancy—a timeless tea” (102).

And lastly,

T962 Thé des Impressionnistes “In the wild, rocky, maritime region of Provence in southern France, nature’s shimmering colours create rare and intense harmonies that delighted Impressionist artists. This green tea, scented with mild spices and white flowers, is also dotted with mauve flowers as a visual echo of the sizzling and powerful; fragrance that fills the mouth. A colorful tea” (103).

The Poetry of Us

The Poetry of Us is another great book published by National Geographic. I found it in the children's section at the library. I think it would be ideal for ages 6 and up, but I enjoyed reading it. The Poetry of Us is a collection of 200+ poems that celebrate the history, regions, passions, and people of the United States. Some of the poems are well known such as America the Beautiful or by famous authors such as Maya Angelou, Walt Whitman, and Langston Hughes. Other authors are probably famous in their own right.

The collection is divided into regions and I found that the poems for each region had a particular flavor and thematic elements running through them. It was fun to read poems about places I have lived or have visited such as Chicago or Iowa.

A Very Vintage Christmas

A Very Vintage Christmas by Bob Richter

Bob Richter is a flea market guru and star of the PBS show Market Warriors. In A Very Vintage Christmas, Richter shares his love of Christmas and how to find, collect, and display vintage Christmas items. He also provides an overview of how different decorations changed over time: trees, lights, yard displays, ephemera, and ornaments.

I remember decorating my bedroom for Christmas growing up. I still have some of the wooden ornaments from my childhood tree. My three favorites are a wooden lion-rocking horse, a wooden sleigh, and a walrus with a wreath around it's neck. This year my mom gave me a polar bear ornament that I have long-admired from the family tree.

Woman in the Shadows

Woman in the Shadows by Jane Thynne

I finished this book early in December, but haven't had time to write about it until now.

The scene is set in 1937 Berlin for rising star Clara Vine. Clara is a British-born, half-German film actress who is about to star in her first leading role in a Nazi-produced film. On screen and off, Clara never stops acting. She maintains a front of Nazi loyalty while on set and while hobnobbing with the Goebbels, the Goerings, and other Nazi elite. Her acting career provides the perfect cover for her role as a British spy.

Soon though, the death of another actress and brief acquaintance of Clara attracts her attention. Anna Hansen used to be a cabaret dancer before meeting her SS Officer fiance. All brides of SS officers were required to attend a bride school where they were groomed to be the perfect Nazi wife...learning how to sew, entertain, shop, be a mother. Anna Hansen was found murdered on the school's grounds and the school officials want her death kept quiet.

Clara sets out to find Anna's killer and figure out who put the Gestapo on her own tail.

Freedom Hospital--A Syrian Story

Hamid Sulaiman's Freedom Hospital--A Syrian Story was published in 2016 (translated by Francesca Barrie).

Following the Syrian Arab Spring in 2011, Sulaiman fled Syria on August 17, 2011 and first settled in Egypt and in France in 2012. In both Egypt and France, Sulaiman found that many foreigners had little or no idea what was happening in Syria. He writes, "I realised that the absence of a free press in Syria had led to a massive lack of understanding, and while official Syrian media outfits were transmitting nothing but pro-Assad propaganda, pro-rebel media were no less guilty of churning out propaganda of their own." Perhaps no one can capture exactly what is happening in Syria, but Freedom Hospital is how Sulaiman sees it. He doesn't try to explain the situation, justify it, or be neutral. Rather he bears witness and gives a voice to the events he has seen.

Freedom Hospital is a graphic novel about a clandestine hospital in the fictional town of Houria, near the Syrian-Turkish border. Though Houria is made-up, its layout and buildings are representative of many small Syrian towns. Sulaiman based Yasmin and the other protagonists' stories on events that he witnessed before leaving Syria. Some of the images were taken from YouTube footage, and Sulaiman incorporates slogans and excerpts from speeches.

The novel begins in spring of 2012; 40,000 people have died since the Syrian Arab Spring. Yasmin has set up a secret hospital in the northern part of Syria. Her town is controlled by pro-Assad forces, but is relatively stable. Over the course of the ensuing months, the situation becomes more violent and unpredictable.

I liked this graphic novel. I found that although the protagonists have names and faces, the style of drawing at times renders them faceless, blurry, or anonymous. Yasmin and her friends could be any number of actual people; Houria could be various small towns in Syria. The images and events depicted in Freedom Hospital are neither true nor false; they just are.

The Five Love Languages of Children

The Five Love Languages of Children by Gary Chapman, PhD and Ross Campbell, M.D.

You may be familiar with Chapman and Campbell's workshops or other book about the five love languages in marriage. I had heard about them, but didn't know what these 5 love languages were. In this book, Chapman and Campbell explain how to identify your child's primary love language, how to speak your child's primary love language, and the emotional, social, and behavioral benefits of doing so for you and your child. Every child needs to hear the words, "I love you." But, beyond saying "I love you", love is translated and expressed in one or more love languages. The five languages are: physical touch, words of affirmation, quality time, gifts, and acts of service. All children speak all of the love languages, but they tend to favor or respond best to one of them. For example, I suspect my daughter's primary love language is physical touch, but quality time is a close second. Speaking your child's love language fills his or her emotional tank, leading to a happy, responsive child.
 I found this book helpful for communicating with my child and the chapters about discipline and using the love languages to discipline in a positive manner were informative.

The Other Einstein

In 1896, Mileva (Mitza) Maric arrives in Zurich to attend the Polytechnic Institute. Female students are uncommon at the University, female students of physics are even more unusual. As she entered the classroom for the first time, she heard her father's words echoing in her head, the familiar Serbian tongue a comfort, "You are a mudra glava. A wise one. In your heart beats the blood of bandits, our brigand Slavic ancestors who used any means to get their due. Go get your due" (Benedict 3-4).

The Other Einstein is the story of Mileva Marić, Albert Einstein's first wife. Mileva was a brilliant physics scholar in her own right. Her role in Albert's theories is a debate in the physics community. Marie Benedict  writes, "the question of what role she truly played in Albert's 'miracle year' of 1905 became an examination of how Mileva was forced to subsume her academic ambitions and intellect to Albert's ascent and how she had to disguise her own discoveries as his. Her story was, in many was, the story of many intelligent, educated women whose own aspirations and contributions were marginalized in favor of their spouses." (Introduction). Unfortunately, this gender inequality still transpires in academia. It is only by seeking, defending, and fighting for one's due that such inequalities can become a thing of the past.

The events of the book take place between 1896 and the Einstein's divorce in 1914. Mileva narrates the entire story. Early chapters present a vivid portrait of a lively young woman arriving at university and struggling to find her footing in the male-dominated world of physics. Upon meeting fellow student Albert, Mileva felt lost, "Lost as in directions. Lost to myself. Lost to him." As their research and romance progress, Mileva becomes a shadow of herself. Einstein pushes her aside and relegates her to traditional woman's roles of child-rearing and housekeeping. The Other Einstein becomes a bleak portrait of life in the shadow of a genius. One example of Einstein's dominance is his erasure of Mileva's name on their published theory; his reasoning is that they are one--one stone, Ein stein. As one can guess, Mileva did not get her due, at least not from Albert.


Go get your due!

In The Woods

In The Woods by Tana French is a psychological thriller published in 2007. It is the first in the Dublin Murder Squad series. French's writing is different from what I usually read and it took me a while to become accustomed to her style, but I loved this novel.

Three children,  Germaine (Jaime) Rowan, Adam Robert Ryan, and Peter Savage go missing on the afternoon of August 14, 1984 in the woods of Knocknaree (outside of Dublin). When the police are called, they are only able to find one of the children--with his shirt torn, shoes bloody, and no recollection of what happened to him or to his friends in the woods. Twenty year"s later, Detective Rob Ryan (the boy who was rescued) and his partner Cassie Maddox investigate the murder of a twelve year old girl in the same woods. This investigation is Ryan's best chance of solving the mystery of his own past.

The wood of Knocknaree is a character in its own right, living, breathing, and driving much of the novel. "The wood is all flicker and murmur and illusion. Its silence is a pointillist conspiracy of a million tine noises--rustles, flurries, nameless truncated shrieks; its emptiness teems with secret life, scurrying just beyond the corner of your eye....These three children own the summer. They know the wood as surely as they know the microlandscapes of their own grazed knees; put them down blindfolded in any dell or clearing an t they could find their way out without putting a food wrong. This is their territory, and they rule it wild and lordly as young animals; they scramble through its trees and hide-and-seek in its hollows all the endless day long, and all night in their dreams....These children will not be coming of age, this or any other summer. This August will not ask them to find hidden reserves of strength and courage as they confront the complexity of the adult world and come away sadder and wiser and bonded for life. This summer has other requirements for them" (French 2).

French writes a complex and multi-layered tale. At the end, what happened in the woods is clearer, but the truth remains elusive. Our narrator, Detective Ryan, cautions readers of this. "What I warn you to remember is that I am a detective. Our relationship with truth is fundamental but cracked, refracting confusingly like fragmented glass. It is the core of our careers, the endgame of every move we make, and we pursue it with strategies painstakingly constructed of lies and concealment and every variation on deception" (French 3).

Little Women

I love the movie Little Women featuring Susan Sarandon, Winona Ryder, Claire Danes, and Christian Bale. I recently tried to watch the latest adaptation on PBS. It was terrible. I decided to actually read the novel. I enjoyed it and discovered new parts to the story of the four March sisters. My favorite sister is Amy or Jo. I like Meg in the movie version, but not as much in the novel. And truth be told there is nothing wrong with Beth.

cover illustration by Jessie Willcox Smith

So often people prefer the print or screen version of a story. For me, I usually prefer the version I encounter first. I prefer to read Agatha Christie and the only Poirot I will watch is David Suchet. I prefer to watch Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, but I might give the novels another chance. Little Women has its merits in both print and screen forms.

Because of Miss Bridgerton

Book #112 Because of Ms Bridgerton by Julia Quinn

The Bridgertons are back! I love the Bridgerton series of romance novels by Julia Quinn and finished this latest in one day. The Bridgerton series revolves around Violet and Edmund Bridgerton's 8 children: Anthony, Benedict, Colin, Daphne, Eloise, Francesca, Gregory, and Hyacinth and how they meet and fall in love with their respective spouses.

The Miss Bridgerton in question is Billie (Sybilla) Bridgerton; her brother Edmund is the patriarch of the Bridgerton clan in the original series. Julia Quinn decided to go backwards to the Georgian times and write about an earlier generation of Bridgertons. This is Book 1 of the Rokesby series.

Billie Bridgerton cannot stand  George Rokesby, although the Bridgertons and Rokesbys are good family friends and neighbors in Kent. In true Julia Quinn fashion, Billie and George are thrown together (a cat was involved) and slowly begin to realize that the other is not quite as horrible as once thought. As usual, there is tons of witty and hilarious banter, a rather cutthroat game of croquet (but what other kind is there?), the aforementioned cat, and much more.

The Dressmaker

The Dressmaker by Elizabeth Birkelund Oberbeck

The Dressmaker is a love story set in the fashion world of France and New York. Claude Reynaud is a tailor in the town of Senlis, forty minutes outside of Paris. Claude does everyday mending and sewing jobs for the townspeople of Senlis, but his skill has attracted Parisiennes. The Parisiennes come to be fitted by Claude, especially for wedding dresses. A new client, Valentine de Verlay, gives Claude complete control over the design of her wedding gown. Despite her engagement, Claude is attracted to Valentine and she to him. The quiet, calm, orderly life Claude is used to is thrown into disarray by Valentine.

The Silk Roads

The Silk Roads: A New History of the World by Peter Frankopan

Frankopan was fascinated with maps as a child and later as an adolescent.

He writes, Many stories set me on the path to looking at the world's past in a different way. But one stood out in particular. Greek mythology had it that Zeus, father of the gods, released two eagles, one at each end of the earth, and commanded them to fly towards each other. A sacred stone, the omphalos--the navel of the world--was placed where they met, to enable communication with the divine. ... I remember gazing at my map when I first heard this tale, wondering where the eagles would have met. i imagined them taking off from the shores of the western Atlantic and the Pacific coast of China and heading inland. The precise position changed, depending where i placed my finger to start measuring equal distances from east and west. But I always ended up somewhere between the Black Sea and the Himalayas" (xix).

Frankopan explains further that, European history divides Asia into three zones: the Near, Middle, and Far East. Often, the Middle East seems to be the locus of ancient and modern civilization. For Westerners, this idea seems strange when we are taught that the Mediterranean is the heart of civilization. However, looking at the word "Mediterranean" literally "the centre of the world", this fixation on locations in the heart of Asia makes sense.

Frankopan traces the history of the center of world from the ancient, 400 B.C., to the present day. The  Silk Road or Roads were created in 119 B.C. when China opened the Gansu corridor after decades of military campaigns: beyond the Pamir Mountains lay a new world. In the Han dynasty, Silk was an important commodity and eventually became international currency.

Although we might refer to the Silk Road, this transcontinental highway was many highways. Silk, grains, jewels, spices, tea, oil, even slaves, and other goods were bought and sold. Ideas, religions, cultures were exchanged and shared. Frankopan's book is a study of the world in transition and in transformation. The Twenty-First Century has seen the emergence of The New Silk Road in the various -stans of the former USSR, in Afganistan, Iraq, Iran, in western China, and elsewhere. The threads of the Silk Roads are being re-knotted, rewoven, and restored.

The Room on Rue Amelie

The Room on Rue Amelie by Kristin Harmel

"The smallest acts of courage are the ones that change the world."

In 1939, American and newlywed Ruby Henderson Benoit moves to Paris with her French husband Marcel. Her dreams of a romantic life in Paris are shattered as war breaks out and France falls to the Nazis. Her marriage collapses as well, but not before Ruby learns a secret about her husband Marcel.

Ruby's neighbors, the Dacher's are affected by the anti-Semitic laws passed in France. Charlotte is eleven when French Jews are forced to wear the yellow star and she can no longer attend school. When the government begins rounding up and deporting Jews, Charlotte's life changes forever.

RAF pilot Thomas Clarke joined the army to protect his country. After his only surviving family member is killed in the Blitz, he questions his efforts and his desire to defend his country. However, he continues to fly and his plane is shot down in France and he makes his way to Paris.

War brings Ruby, Charlotte, and Thomas together. The bonds they form in the room on the Rue Amelie keep them together, and renew their hope and sense of purpose.

The Rue Amelie sits between the Eiffel Tower and the Hotel des Invalides. I've circled it on the map. This map I have was published in Germany sometime before 1979 (The Gare d'Orsay still exists on the map).

Rue Amelie is circled.

 Paris

I really enjoyed this novel and cried at the end.

***Spoiler Alert***

Author Kristin Harmel was researching WWII connections to Florida for her novel When We Meet Again when she came across the story of Virginia d'Albert-Lake, an American who married a Frenchman and moved to Paris in 1937. Virginia became a member of the Resistance and worked on the Comet escape line before her capture in 1944. She was imprisoned at Ravensbruck. Ruby's story is inspired by Virginia. Harmel was inspired by Virginia's choice to remain in Paris during the war even though as an American, she had been given the option to return home.

Virginia's diary survived the war and was published in 2006 An American Heroine in the French Resistance. 

Murder Between the Lines

Murder Between the Lines is the second book in the Kitty Week's series by Radha Vatsal.

Murder Between the Lines takes place in 1915 amid the mounting tensions of World War One. Kitty (full name Capability) Weeks is a reporter for the New York Sentinel's Ladies' Page. For her latest assignment, she is sent to interview the headmistress of Westfielf Hall, an elite all-girls boarding school. Though not featured in her article, Kitty is drawn to student Elspeth Bright and her scientific research. On Christmas Day, Elspeth is found dead and Kitty believes she has been murdered. Kitty begins to dig into Elspeth's death and her research about batteries. Her investigations lead her to the Women's Suffrage Movement, President Wilson's policies, submarine warfare and the United States Navy, and again to Westfield Hall where all is not as it seems.


I enjoyed this story and liked the character of Kitty. I was not completely satisfied with the novel's ending and the resolution to Kitty's investigations.

The Lilac Bus

I finished this on June 30th, but didn't have a chance until now to blog.

The Lilac Bus by Maeve Binchy features two novellas The Lilac Bus and Dublin 4. In The Lilac Bus, Binchy tells the interwoven and  stories of 8 people who take the Lilac Bus from Dublin home to  the town of Rathdoon every Friday night. Nancy, Kev, Mikey, Celia, Dee, Judy, Rupert, and Tom have very different lives and personalities, but for several hours they come together on the bus, which is indeed lilac-colored.  I liked Celia and Tom's stories the best.

Dublin 4 features four short stories about the quotidien desperation and bravery of Dubliners.

Grave Mistake

#106 Grave Mistake by Ngaio Marsh

New Zealand crime writer and theater director is often compared to her contemporaries Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers. I've read two or three of Marsh's Inspector Alleyn mysteries and I like them, but still favor Christie.

In Grave Mistake, a rest cure at the local spa turns deadly for Sybil Foster. Sybil is the snobby and nervy owner of the grandest estate in Upper Quintern. Sybil escapes to the spa to avoid a visit from her stepson, "Charmless" Claude. Her death is ruled a suicide, but the autopsy findings change that. Suspects include: Claude who was searching for a family legacy; daughter Prunella and her undesirable fiance, Gideon; the rather attentive new gardener whose name is Gardener; Dr. Basil Schramm, Sybil's latest flame; Verity Sybil's dear friend who had a dark past with Dr. Schramm.

Julia's Cats

Julia's Cats: Julia Child's Life in The Company of Cats by Patricia Barey and Therese Burson

In 1948, the newly-wedded Julia Child settled into married life with Paul in Paris. She loved the sights, sounds, smells, and of course the food. But her life wasn't complete until an adorable little feline joined their household. Minette was supposed to be a mouser, but as Julia's culinary skills took off, the cat enjoyed far better fare.

Minette helped Julia's French skills take off. One day she stopped at the local market to buy fish and stumbling over the words, asked if there were any fish heads. The fishmonger gave her one and the following week, asked Julia about her cat. The two became friends and often exchanged stories about their cats (34).

Minette

Julia's Cats follows Julia's career across France, in the United States, and elsewhere in Europe, almost always accompanied by a minou. A cat-lady through and through, Julia listened for the "minouminouminouminou" (here kitty kitty kitty) of French housewives wherever she went, and more often than not, stumbled upon a feline friend. So enamored with cats, she created a new word for them, "poussiequette".

I am a cat-lady as well and love to look for cats in the neighborhood. Our honeymoon in France was peppered with cats, included "Minou" the local village cat, and we still talk about the feral/mangy street cat that I wasn't allowed to pet, but did take a picture of.

Julia's Cats is filled with anecdotes and stories from Julia and Paul's letters, friends, and family. Julia's Cats is an ode to the felines (and other furry friends) who enrich our lives.

The Tea Book

The Tea Book: Experience the World's Finest Teas, Qualities, Infusions, Rituals, Recipes by Linda Gaylard

Linda Gaylard is a tea sommelier; a profession most people probably don't know exists. She writes, "The tea sommelier has the challenging task of convincing tea drinkers that there is much more to tea than a mug and a tea bag. Beyond the bag there is mystery, history, travel, industry, culture, and ceremony: a whole new world to explore."

Gaylard's book reveals the history, mystery, culture, and ceremony of tea. First is an overview of what tea is: the plant, its varieties, and colors. Gaylard explains the anatomy of the tea plant, its growth cycle, harvest, and terroir.  A full page is devoted to each major tea-producing country: information is provided about that country's contribution to world tea production, harvest times, what tea varieties are grown, and more.

The book then turns to culture and ceremony. Gaylard walks readers through tea ceremonies of China, Japan, Korea, Russia, and Morocco. I loved seeing pictures of tea cups and pots from around the world.


The final section of the book is devoted to recipes. The recipes are divided up by type of tea: black, green, white... And they include cool, hot, non-alcoholic, and alcoholic brews. I liked the section on tisanes and herbal infusions useful. I want to expand my garden and grow herbs and spices to infuse in teas.

I can't wait to try new teas with friends. For young tea enthusiasts, I reccomend Fancy Nancy Tea Parties

Do Your Laundry or You'll Die Alone

Do Your Laundry or You'll Die Alone: Advice your mom would give you if she thought you were listening by Becky Blades

I guess I don't have to worry about dying alone since laundry seems to have taken over my life. Said laundry might kill me though. The advice in this book ranges from light-hearted to serious and was written when Blades' elder daughter left for college.


#76: Plan a trip to Paris. Thought it may be a faraway fantasy, setting your sights on a trip to Paris releases your inner French girl and makes every day more chic. Studying Paris--or any place you long to visit--is a luscious way to spend your web-surfing time. By the time you get there, it will feel like a long-lost friend.

I dream of my next trip to France. I prefer real travelling, but arm-chair travelling is far less expensive. 

#83: Own a tutu and a boa. Because you just never know.

#91 Black is the new black. Black is not back because black was never gone.

I own several black dresses. Now I just need a tutu and a boa to go with them.

# 145 Use Titles of Respect. Call your friend's dad "Mr." even if he says you don't have to. If you know someone is a doctor, call her "Dr." She worked hard for it.

My best friend still calls my dad "Mr." and he appreciates it. My title is Dr. 
 Also, your professor is not your best friend; address emails to your professor or TA using his/her appropriate title. And READ THE SYLLABUS.

#216: You're never too old for crayons.

Hungry Planet

I'm finally getting back into reading more regularly. My latest read was Hungry Planet: What the World Eats by Peter Menzel and Faith d'Aluisio. Peter and Faith photographed families around the world with one week's worth of food, either food purchased or grown. For each entry, the food is divided into categories such as dairy, fruits and vegetables, grains, drinks, and other. A total price is given and converted to U.S. dollars (published in 2005)

. There is also a story about the family and some of the foods pictured. A country profile tells how many calories are available per person per day, what percentage of the population lives in rural or urban areas, what percentage of the population is overweight or obese, and how many McDonald's restaurants are in each country. The families food purchases are placed in the contexts of fast-food, globalization of food, food with a face, diabesity, and ethical food choices.

I enjoyed seeing how much packaged versus unpackaged foods were pictured. In Okinawa, 96 year-old Matsu doesn't shop in a supermarket because there isn't one. She grows her own vegetables or purchases them from a local cooperative. She cannot fathom that some people don't grow any of their food and have no agricultural knowledge. She also has no idea was fast food is. I've expanded my own garden this year.

The authors also have a book that shows what people around the world eat in a day. I did a mental tally of what I've eaten so far today: 1 bagel with cream cheese, a peach, some raspberries, a Frappucino, chicken fries, 160z of loose leaf tea, and some water. I think I would be slightly appalled to photograph what my family eats for a week, but reading this book and looking at the pictures was a bit of a wake-up call. We eat a lot of packaged food and more sugar and fat than we should.

France

Chad

Contents

100 Places That Can Change Your Child's Life

100 Places That Can Change Your Child's Life: From Your Backyard to the Ends of the Earth by Keith Bellows, writer and editor of "National Geographic Traveler Magazine"

The premise of this book is simple, give your children the gift of travel. Teach them how to travel in order for them to travel to learn. The world is the greatest classroom for children. Sadly, a 2006 National Geographic poll found that American children are not very culturally literate. Only 37% could find Iraq on a map, 20% thought Sudan was in Asia, and half couldn't identify New York on a map (7). I am guilty of a lack of geographic knowledge; my world geography and even U.S. geography is terrible. Although I do try to read about other places and travel when I can.

As a parent, I want to travel with my children and take across the country and even around the world. As a National Geographic publication, this book doesn't fail to deliver and is highly informative. The book is divided into regions: United States/Canada, Caribbean/Mexico/South America, Europe, Africa/Middle East, Asia, and Oceania/Antarctica. Each entry includes a page or two about the chosen place with historical highlights and itinerary suggestions from locals or local guides. I particularly liked the recommended reading/media section at the bottom of each page. There were two or three books, CDs, or movies for each place either for children or for children and adults. I also found it interesting that there were no pictures in this book, rather unusual for a travel book.

I did find a few limitations with the scope of this book. Although the title mentions "your backyard" none of the places mentioned quite fit this bill. All of them are large cities, famous landmarks, or well-known places. For example, Mount Rushmore, Manhattan, Gettysburg, Paris, London, Vatican City, Pyramids of Giza, Jerusalem, the Serengeti, Taj Mahal, The Great Wall of China, and the Great Barrier Reef. Some of these places may indeed be local, but I also feel many of them are cost prohibitive. I think the book could have been improved by making cheaper suggestions; instead of bird-watching in the Serengeti, go to your local State Park and bird-watch or identify fish in a local lake.

Book 100

I've finished my 100th book today! That means I have completed 10% of my goal to read 1,000 books. I started this project in July of 2016, so about a year and a half ago.

Book 100 was Theft by Finding: Diaries 1977-2002 by David Sedaris. My first exposure to Sedaris was listening to the audio version of When You Are Engulfed in Flames. Like many people, I thought I was listening to a woman [read his stories], but I later realized that this unique voice was David's. Theft by Finding is not all of his diary entries for 30-odd years, but at 514 pages the entries are significant. Incidentally, this blog is the most successful "diary" I've ever kept.

My favorite entries are about his adventures learning French and the time he spends in Paris and Normandy.

There's this gem about waiting for a taxi in Paris. You are supposed to wait in line and disabled people are given priority. "This seems fair, seeing as the buses and subways are inaccessible, but then it got out of hand, and a dozen more people headed to the front. Either the train from Lourdes had just pulled up or owning a cell phone and a little to much gold jewelry are now considered handicaps by the French government" (359).

Sedaris is the type of French student teachers dream of. First, he types his homework and he fastened the pages together with a paperclip (a staple would be better, but still). "She told us to keep our sentences simple, and I didn't quite obey. But why write 'I went to the store with a friend' when, without relying on the dictionary, I can say, 'I visited the slaughterhouse with my godfather and a small monkey'? " (361). In high school English, I made my vocabulary sentences have a them, but nothing quite like Sedaris' creativity.

Here is a link for my favorite David Sedaris clip.

Lady Killers

My last book for March and book 99 on my book list is Lady Killers: Deadly Women Throughout History by Tori Tefler.

Tefler writes about female serial killers throughout history including: Erzebet Bathory: The Blood Countess Lizzie Halliday: The Worst Woman On Earth, Tillie Klimek: High Priestess of the Bluebeard Clique, Raya and Sakina: Vipers and more.

Tefler avoids the sensationalism that is often associated with serial killers, but especially with female serial killers. Serial killers are anomalies and female ones even more so. In order to explain their monstrosity, perversion, inhuman, and un-womanly behavior, female serial killers' crimes are often attributed to over-sexualization, abuse, mental deficiencies, or hysteria. Tefler presents these women as women and human, however flawed they may have been. Tefler avoids exoticising and objectifying these female serial killers and instead tries to understand the motivations behind their crimes.

The Butterfly Mosque

The Butterfly Mosque by G. Willow Wilson

Willow was raised as an atheist in Colorado, but was attracted to Islam and Arabic in college. Post 9/11, Willow went to Cairo, Egypt for a semester to teach English. She stayed and immersed herself fully in Cairene culture. Willow fell in love with Omar and the two began a relationship and later married. The Butterfly Mosque is Willow's memoir of her physical and spiritual journey in Cairo. I was particularly struck by her conversion to Islam; a choice she made before meeting Omar and one that was expressed personally and internally more so than externally.

Here are a few quotes I liked:

Prior to announcing their intended married to her mother-in-law: "I don't like just showing up like this. 'Hi, I'm your white American in-the-closet-convert future daughter-in-law. I've brought you some flowers and a catastrophe.'" (50)

On her conversion: "Looking back, the way I chose to "come out" taught me something vital: anything undertaken with honest intentions can be justly defended. I never by word or action claimed to possess a higher or a universal truth, only a very personal one; i think this was one of the main reasons I was able to slip quietly into "ordinary" Islam, without the fanfare that accompanies conversion. I never tried to become a mascot; I was just a person, with the usual quirks and faults, who was now Muslim" (107).

On engaging with native and other cultures: "The reason I had stayed in Egypt and invested myself in it so thoroughly was simple: this was the place I found myself in and the people I found myself among, and I wanted to do right by them. I had gone to Egypt to see what Islam was like as a practice and to find out whether the Arab world resembled the one portrayed in the media; I had stayed not to see, but to participate. I had discovered that both Islam and the Arab world were far from ideal--that the religion I loved was becoming steadily warped and was the source of many excuses for violence and ignorance and misanthropy. Yet I was not disappointed. This was what was so impossible to explain to the satisfaction of the people back home: I was not disappointed"  (230).

The Woman in the Photograph

The Woman in the Photograph by Dana Gynther

In 1929, Lee Miller heads to France. After seeing a photograph that Man Ray took of Kiki de Montparnasse, Lee decides that she MUST work for Man Ray and study his technique. Lee tracks him down and the two quickly begin a personal and professional relationship. Man declares that Lee is his muse, but as she works for him and alongside him, Lee's talents as a photographer develop. Lee seeks out her own jobs as a photographer, for Vogue, at the Sorbonne, and even stars in a Surrealist movie. Lee's independence angers the possessive Man Ray and drives a wedge between them. Lee is no longer content to simply be a muse, her artistic vision is paramount to her.

As far as the identity of the woman in the photograph, I think there are a few possibilities. I'm not referring to a specific photograph mentioned in the novel; in fact any of them will work. The woman could refer to Kiki, whose photograph by Man Ray first caught Lee's interest in his work. The woman could be Lee herself in the portraits of her taken by Man Ray. Or, the woman is the anonymous woman or muse captured on film, often cropped, edited, or "photoshopped" to bits and no longer recognizable as any specific woman, but merely an assemblage of body parts.

Based on actual events and people, I enjoyed learning about two photographers I knew nothing about.

The Radium Girls

The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women by Kate Moon

Lip...dip...paint...

Following the Curies' discovery of radium in 1898,  radium was everywhere in the early 1900s. Radium's harmful effects were hidden from the public and radium powder was put in tonic water, body lotion, everything.

Radium's glowing property made it essential to the war effort. Women were hired to paint watch dials with radium powder that would glow in the dark. The United States' entry into WWI in 1917 skyrocketed the need for women dial painters.

The Radium Girls tells the story of dial painters in New Jersey at the Radium Luminous Materials Corporation, later the United States Radium Corporation, and in Ottawa, Illinois at the Radium Dial Company.

So harmless was radium powder declared to be that the dial painters fairly bathed in it. They sometimes used extra powder like makeup, and the powder inevitably settled into their clothes and hair. "When I went home and washed my hands in a dark bathroom, they would appear luminous and ghostly. My clothes, hanging in a dark closet, gave off a phosphorescent glare. When I walked along the street, I was aglow from the radium powder" (44). The dial painters were laughingly called "ghost girls".

Unfortunately, the harmful radium powder entered their bodies. The technique of lip...dip...paint meant that the girls ingested small quantities of radium each day. The radium powder settled in their bodies and remained their for years, haunting them.


As we know today, and indeed scientists knew it then, exposure to radium is harmful. The "ghost girls" became the walking dead. Many dial painters became ill and died from their work...losing teeth, jawbones, developing cancers or sarcomas...

Many of the women believed that their employers were responsible for their ill-health. Together they filed several lawsuits. The mistreatment of the dial workers ultimately led to the creation of OSHA.

"United they triumphed. Through their friendship, through their refusal to give up and through their sheer spirit, the radium girls left us all an extraordinary legacy. They did not die in vain. They made every second count" (396).

Newspaper coverage of Catherine Donahue's trial

Memorial Statue in Ottawa, Illinois

Winter Solstice

#95
Winter Solstice by Rosamunde Pilcher

This pleasant story about the families we have and those that we make, takes place around Christmas.
Elfrida, aged 62, is a retired actress. After her lover dies, she moves from London to a small English village (the type of village featured on "Escape to the Country") and befriends the Blundells--Oscar, Gloria, and their daughter Francesca. Following a tragedy, Elfrida and Oscar move to Scotland, to Oscar's family home. Oscar and Elfrida seem to attract other strays, people down and out on their luck or simply at a crossroads in life.

I enjoyed this cosy story and the patchwork of friends and family Pilcher created. This was the first novel by Pilcher that I have read and I think I'll read some more.

Talk to the Paw

What is the cure for human loneliness?

According to MacGyver the cat, stealing your neighbor's jockstrap, socks, and underwear and leaving them on your human's doorstep.

Jamie Snyder is using an inheritance to have "the year of me", figuring out who she is and what her passions are. She has no intention of dating after a series of disastrous relationships. But, her tabby Mac can smell the loneliness on her. So Mac fixes Jamie up...

David, Jamie's handsome neighbor, is also lonely. David is tired of friends fixing him up and doesn't like the online dating scene.

First, Mac steals things from David and leaves them for Jamie to find. Then he steals things of Jamie's and leaves them for David to find. Eventually, Jamie and David swap their things, and dating horror stories. They try not to fall in love with each other, but they are no match for MacGyver's plans.

MacGyver the cat burglar will steal your heart.

I loved this book that my best friend bought for me. I loved the relationship between Mac and Jamie, those little quarks that make a pet-human relationship. Mac's interactions with Diogee a.k.a Bonehead, David's dog are priceless.

Our Syria: Recipes from Home

Our Syria: Recipes from Home by Itab Azzam and Dina Mousawi

A cookbook may seem a bit unconventional to include in a list of "books I have read". But, Our Syria is too beautiful not to share. Dina and Itab met in London in 2014 and bonded over their love of food, cooking, and eating. Later they traveled to Beirut to work with a group of Syrian women for a theater project. They realized that this group of women, who had only recently escaped the war in Syria, all shared a love of food. Itab and Dina were invited daily to the women's homes to eat, swap recipes, and learn family recipes.

"That's when we hit upon the idea for this book--to bring to the world the glories of Syrian food and in the process honor these brave women who are fighting back against the destruction of their home with the only weapons they have: pots and pans" (11).
Interspersed with the recipes are stories about some of the contributors. Tahani's story stood out for me. Tahani had given birth to her son Ahmed under seige. A neighbor with a newborn girl found out and asked Tahani to breastfeed her daughter as well. Tahani managed to feed both babies and survive herself. Eventually, Tahani and her son escaped and joined her mother near the Jordanian border. Mona's son Bader died of leukemia and the only obituary they could manage was a text message sent from her husband's phone. Mona continues to make Maqloubeh or stuffed zucchini, her son's favorite dish, as a way to honor and remember him. The authors say that these recipes are the beating heart of Syrian culture and for these women, nothing is more apparent.


For each recipe the authors include the name of the dish in Arabic and a brief history or story about the dish.

Eggplant Fetteh

I plan to purchase this book and try some of the recipes. 

Fall of Poppies

I finished Fall of Poppies a week ago, but haven't had a chance to blog until now.

Fall of Poppies: Stories of Love and The Great War is a collection of stories most of which take place shortly before or right after the Armistice on November 11, 1918. Fall of Poppies was mentioned in the book notes for Last Christmas in Paris.

I enjoyed:
"The Record Set Right" by Lauren Willig
"All for the Love of You" by Jennifer Robson
"Something Worth Landing For" by Jessica Brockmole

In my France Today magazine there was this ad for visiting WWI battlefields.

Reading Resolutions

In Sunday's paper, The Gazette, there was an article about how to read more books in 2018. Reading more is a great resolution. Some suggestions for reading more:

1. 1. buy an e-reader: I personally hate reading long articles (for school) or books online. For me, holding books, feeling them, and smelling them is part of the reading experience. But, if you like reading electronically, an e-reader is a great way to do so. E-readers are also less bulky to take on trips. Although, I did once bring back 28 books from France and did not have to pay for heavy bags. 
2. Use the library: I love the library. As long as you don't accrue fines (like me) borrowing from the library is a free way to access books. I also like checking out library books because if I don't like a book or don't have time to finish it before it's due, I haven't wasted money. 
3. Join a book club
4. Join Goodreads or follow reading blogs, like this one for recommendations. 
5. Set aside time to read each day. It could be 10, 20,  or 30 minutes, or if you are truly lucky, an hour or more. I think it's helpful to set aside time to read at the same time each day: before bed, during your commute, on your lunch break, when your child/children are napping.
6. Have a reading spot: A comfy chair or sofa, a blanket, a table to put a drink and a snack on help set a good atmosphere for reading. And of course a cat (or other pet) is a nice addition.