30 Books Before I'm 30: Anne of Green Gables

Anne of Green Gables by Lucy M. Montgomery

"There's such a lot of different Annes in me. I sometimes think that is why I'm such a troublesome person. If I were just the one Anne it would be ever so much more comfortable, but then it wouldn't be half so interesting."

I loved this story about an orphan who is mistakenly sent to an elderly brother and sister who wanted a boy to help with the farm. Of course from seeing the movie I loved it for the romantic aspects (Gilbert Blythe! Swoon!), but reading the book made me appreciate this beautiful world Montgomery created where the worst thing that can happen is that a girl can get accidentally drunk on what she thought was raspberry cordial. 

What I Liked: Of course I loved that the main character is a dreamer who wins over the hearts of the surly people in her town. I actually really like that she has a major flaw (red hair and a red-hot anger when people make fun of her for it) and that she is beautiful in her own way. I love that she's smart and that people love her for who she is. 

I like that, though there is a hint of romance between Anne and Gilbert, the first book isn't really about that. Instead, it's about Anne's relationships with other people and their relationships with her. It's about stubbornness and compromise, friendship and redefining family.

No wonder this book is such a comforting read! It transported me back to an earlier time in my development where I didn't worry about things the way I do now. 

What I Didn't Like: I have to admit that I cried. And it was in public, which was embarrassing. If you know the story then you'll know when during the story it was, but I'm not going to spoil anything. I even knew it was coming and I still cried. So, beware.

Gems of Wisdom: Kindle books highlight things for you sometimes, and this particular book had a lot of highlights. So I thought I'd share some of these gems of wisdom.

"Isn't is splendid to think of all the things there are to find out about? It just makes me feel glad to be alive-- it's such an interesting world. It wouldn't be half so interesting if we know all about everything would it? THere's be no scope for imagination then, would there?"

"Kindred spirits are not so scarce as I used to think. It's splendid to find out there ae so many of them in the world."

"Isn't it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet?"

"I get tired od other girls-- there is such a provoking and eternal sameness about them. Anne has as any shades as a rainbow and every shade is the prettiest while it lasts. I don't know that she is as amusing as she was when she was a child, but she makes me love her, and I like people who make me love them. It saves me so much more trouble in making myself love them."

"Next to trying and winning, the best thing is trying and failing."

"We resent the thought that anything can please us when someone we love is no longer here to share the pleasure with us, and we almost feel as if we were unfaithful to our sorrow when we find our interest in life returning to us."

This Book Would be Best if Read: Before bed. The chapters are short and they usually leave a good feeling in the gut. I read this book almost entirely on my plane ride from Portland to Austin. It's really short and really easy to read.

I Would Recommend This Book To: Pre-pubescent girls (younger than 13 because my niece is 13 and would probably think this book was way corny).

If You Like This Book, You Might Also Like: The films, of course, Anne of Avonlea (which I immediately began after finishing the first one) and other books in the series, Road to Avonlea (the television series)

Up Next: I've given up on Women of Covenant for the time being, so next (after finishing Anne of Avonlea) I'll be moving on to either The Dante Club, The House of the Spirits, or The Poisonwood Bible. Just keeping my options open.

30 Books Before I'm 30: Balancing Act

Balancing Act: The Authorized Biography of Angela Lansbury by Martin Gottfried

"As to her self-editing and reserved nature, it does not qualify the genuineness of her warmth. Angela Lansbury is as concerned, as sensitive, and as sympathetic as anyone might want in a friend. It is just that while she can offer compassion, she cannot readily give of herself. 'I don't have a best friend,' she says. 'I never did,' and she adds, genuinely puzzled, 'Why would I?'"

All right, so I know I said I was reading this next, but it was really dry. So I started reading Balancing Act instead (concurrently, really, though I pretty much stopped reading the other one for awhile).

This book was written by a good friend of Lansbury's (a stage critic, apparently, who never wrote her a bad review), so of course the book is (mostly) complimentary. It's a general biography, and unless you're interested in her, this book probably won't be your cup of tea. Also, because this is an "authorized" biography, there are zero juicy details (and considering I've become addicted to this, it was kind of a let-down).

What I Liked: I like Angela Lansbury, so all of this book was interesting since I knew practically zero about her private life. I liked that there were details about her theater career that I wouldn't otherwise know (since I've only seen her on Broadway once and wasn't around for the Mame-era Lansbury).

What I Didn't Like: The problem with this author is that he is a friend of Lansbury's so he only wrote what she allowed him to write (not that she was standing over him at the computer, but I wouldn't write nasty things about my friends either). He was also a theater critic, so he wrote predominantly about her theater life. He wrote off Bedknobs and Broomsticks as a piece of fluff (which made me sad, since that movie was such a positive part of my childhood-- I mean, how can you be sad when people are dancing around with clothing and cartoon fish?) He also devoted less than 30 pages on Murder, She Wrote, and most of that was about how Lansbury resented being compared to Jessica Fletcher (though, in fairness to her, she took that comparison seriously and made sure to choose future projects that would be in keeping with her Jessica Fletcher persona). 


I'm glad I read this book, but I think sometimes the less you know about a person, the better. The Angela Lansbury that exists in my head is much more comforting than the one that exists in real life. And I know the two aren't comparable, I'm not an idiot, but I wish I didn't read in print that Lansbury resents people for idealizing her. 

This Book Would be Best if Read: During a long weekend, while cuddling with cats and listening to the original Broadway cast recording of Sweeney Todd.

I Would Recommend This Book To: Someone who knows who Angela Lansbury is. I mean, that's helpful.

If You Like This Book, You May Also Like: The Manchurian Candidate (1962), Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971), Sweeney Todd

Up Next: Anne of Green Gables (I kind of need a comfort read).

Thanksgiving 2010

This year Josh and I spent Thanksgiving with my family (unlike last year). Josh really wanted to run in the Turkey Stuffer 5K, since we had done it a few times previously and Josh wanted to prove to himself that he could do better than his past time.

I did a lot of waffling about whether I was going to join him. I go to the gym, but I don't run, and I really wanted to not embarrass myself. The other people who run in this 5K are generally high school kids on the track team, though there are some families and younger kids too. Have you even been passed by a ten year old who isn't even breaking a sweat? Embarrassing.

But then my parents said they were going to join us. In the past, the Turkey Stuffer has been something fun for my family (when we're in town) to do together before the eating. So I promised Josh I'd come too.

Here we are before the race:

I'll spare you the after picture because it is not flattering, but here are my parents after they finished walking:

The moment I hate most about being slow in a 5K is that by the time I was nearing the second mile point, people were already heading back to their cars or running the race from the end to find their family members. Pretty discouraging. 

I did meet some of my goals (to finish before my parents, who were walking, to finish before the end of my 41 1/2 minute ipod playlist) but didn't quite meet my other goals (to run the entire time, to finish at a time I wouldn't be embarrassed to tell people). I did run/jog for the first two miles, and I did pass a lot of people who had to walk because they weren't pacing themselves well. When people passed me, I just told myself "I'll pass them later when they get too tired to keep running." It was just sad to remember past Turkey Stuffers where I did run the entire time and realize how terrible I am now by comparison.

Ultimately, Josh beat me by about 9 minutes, but I beat my parents by about 15 minutes. At least I didn't come in last!

Later that day, for the Thanksgiving meal, my nephew Brad made place cards for us:

If you're having trouble reading it, is says "Best Person Ever"

Apparently I don't make this a secret.

He also made Josh a place card:

Josh says Brad should just call him Captain N

The next day, we went to the Ducks vs. Arizona game, where we premiered our yarn beards:

I don't understand

I got a new laptop a few weeks ago. A Mac. It's been 20 years since I've had a Mac, but I started using one at Lewis and Clark and I liked it. I wanted something that I could carry around in my purse.

And I like it. I like the "Dashboard" thing. I like the toolbar at the bottom of the screen.

But now my blog looks weird. And some of the pictures don't show up. And other peoples' blogs look strange, too, and hard to read. Maybe that's good because I spend less time on my computer.

But shouldn't a new computer make you want to spend more time on the computer?

Oh well. The ability to carry my laptop around without destroying my back is worth it (though my chiropractor will see me less often). And I might actually get some reading done.

But it made me wonder whether my two readers have a hard time seeing my pictures, and if so then I apologize. I love pictures, so one of my biggest peeves is when they don't show up on websites.

Halloween House Party

We had a Halloween party at our house back in October. As per usual, Heather Noakes planned the whole thing and we just made sure our house was presentable (free of cat hair) and unlocked. Heather did all of the decorations, though Mark can be credited with putting most of them up (and apparently making the pomegranate juice).

Because neither Josh nor I thought to get the camera out, all of these shots can be credited to Mark Noakes (except the one in which he appears, I suppose). So this was our party:

Heather had these really cute tea light holders in the shapes of jack-o-lanterns, but it rained so much they flooded! Fun fact: when I cleaned up these gravestones, they were covered in slugs. Apparently slugs love wet Styrofoam.

Our spooky front door. I've been cultivating the spiderwebs for the purposes of this party, I swear!

Thankfully our bookcases were messy enough to already look like they belong in a haunted house 

No Halloween party is complete without a picture of the real Haunted Mansion

All of the food was Halloween-themed, like:

Eyeballs!

Worms!

And food from the devil himself!

 

Heather set up a specimen lab in the dining room

Heather has such an eye for detail, she even thought to put mice running along the baseboards!

My phrenology bust made a surprise appearance

Unfortunately, I don't have pictures of all the costumes, but here are some of them:

 Sean and Kim Janeway as Jack and Jill

 Dave and Michelle Christianson as Darth Vader and Queen Amidala

 Me and Josh as Fidel Castro and Che Guevara. Remember these costumes? There were a couple people who couldn't figure out who we were supposed to be (though I thought the guess of Josh as Sayid from LOST was a good one).

Matt and Tonya Gold as '70s Disco Dominators

Christine and Kevin Morton as a witch and Spiderman (he had a mask too!)

And Mark and Heather Noakes as a wizard and a witch

This is my favorite picture of the night because 1. Josh looks so happy, and 2. Even though we were having a Halloween party, we couldn't bear to take down our Ducks' season poster:

Mostly we spent our time eating and talking, though we did try to do some spooky things like watch The Twilight Zone. I don't know what Josh and I are going to do when Heather and Mark move this summer, but I can guarantee we're going to be a lot less popular! 

30 Books Before I'm 30: Jane Eyre

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

"Ill or well, she would always be plain. The grace and harmony of beauty are quite wanting in those features."

I am surprised that I never previously read Jane Eyre because it, at first, seems like a book I would love; the main character is a plain-looking (and, yes, it is mentioned quite often how unremarkable Jane is), loves reading, and eschews marrying young (she held out until the ripe-old-age of 20). Jane is brought up in unfortunate circumstances-- an orphan, adopted by her evil aunt, forced to live with her equally evil cousins, and sent off to a boarding school where the girls are starved until they die from a tuberculosis epidemic. Then Jane, using a healthy helping of spit and gumption, makes her place in the world by hiring on as a governess for the ward (illegitimate daughter) of a (surprise, surprise) dashingly unhandsome (but disgustingly rich and noble) middle-aged gentleman who (spoiler alert) immediately falls in love with her, despite that she is 18, ugly, and his employee.

This review is going to be big on spoilers because, quite frankly, I don't think you should bother reading this book. Also, I have to complain about the ending. So stop reading this now if you want to be shocked and awed when you read Jane Eyre on your own

What I Liked: This book was easy to read, though the Kindle still makes me antsy. It took me about two weeks to finish, but I didn't read every day or for very long. I liked that Jane was (somewhat) realistic. I would have loved this book in middle school or high school, back when I thought novels about love at first sight weren't irresponsible. I liked that Bronte referred to her audience as "dear reader." At first it bothered me, but then it kind of made me feel like a confidant. I liked that Bronte was able to define her characters, set up the love story, then separate the lovers. I liked that the bad guys (and gals) were bad and the good guys were good. I never felt bad, for instance, about Mr. Rochester's wife (though Bronte had to go to huge lengths to make him sympathetic after he tried to commit bigamy) or St. John the Jerk. 

What I Didn't Like: It bothered me how much of an emphasis there was put on Jane's plainness, though it was nice that Mr. Rochester was described as similarly ugly. I got the impression that Jane wasn't expected to do any better than Mr. Rochester. It bothered me that Mr. Rochester was such a cad and yet was supposed to be this excellent catch. He had a child out of wedlock that he claimed wasn't his, he locked up his wife in the attic rather than seek proper mental health care (did they have sanitariums in those days?), tried to marry Jane even though he was already married (to a woman living UNDER THE SAME ROOF!), and refused to pay Jane a proper wage when she was going to travel see her dying aunt (yes, I know that this was supposed to be "romantic" because he was trying to ensure she came back, but I also found it creepy). Bronte had to redeem him by: having his current wife be a homicidal maniac who later commits suicide by jumping from the roof of the house as it burns from a fire she set, having him lose sight in both eyes after they were destroyed/infected during the same fire, having him lose his hand, and describing him as near-suicidal with depression following Jane's departure.

So, after she was treated so poorly by Mr. Rochester, Jane comes back to find him crippled and depressed, so she gets to BE HIS CONSTANT NURSEMAID! She gets to take such good care of him, in fact, that she doesn't even have time to take care of Adele, his illegitimate child (so she gets sent to boarding school at age 8-- though not to the crummy place Mr. Rochester originally sent her to where they starved her and were generally mean).

I know, I know. Different time, different place. How dare I impose by 21st century values on a book published 163 years ago, etc. I get it.  There was a time I would have swooned over this book, but it definitely isn't now.

Words I Learned From Reading this Book: (One of the best features of the Kindle is that it has a built-in dictionary, so I have made note of the words I had to look up)  captious (fault-finding, difficult to please), opprobrium (the disgrace or reproach incurred by conduct considered shameful), vassalage (dependence, subjection, or servitude), resurgam (Latin for "I shall rise again"), inditing (to compose or write, as with a poem), genii (plural of genius), contumacy (stubborn perverseness or rebelliousness), contumelious (humiliatingly insulting), girandoles (an ornate bracket for a candelabra, sometimes with a reflecting mirror at the back of the shelf), diablerie (reckless mischief, devilry), deglutition (to swallow down), philter (a magic potion for any purpose, most commonly a love potion), pertinaciously (holding firmly to an opinion or course of action), seraglio (the woman's apartments in a harem), suttee (a Hindu practice whereby a widow throws herself on the funeral pyre of her husband, now abolished by law), dudgeon (the feeling of offense or anger), and, my favorite, spoony (foolishly or sentimentally amorous). 

How many of those words did you know? Because even the spell-check recognized only about half of those as actual words.

This Book Would be Best if Read: In 1847. 

I Would Recommend this Book to: Overly sentimental grandmas and teenage girls who like to read rather than date. Also, perhaps, young, Mormon housewives with some time on their hands.

If you Like this Book, you May also Enjoy: Anything by Jane Austen, possibly Wuthering Heights (though I have yet to read it).

Up Next: Women of Covenant: The Story of Relief Society by Janath Russell Canon, Jill Mulvay Derr, and Maureen Ursenback Beecher.

6 Down, 24 to go!

P.S. I did most of my reading of this book while Josh was playing "Red Dead Redemption." I thought his look of determination in the above picture was funny.

My Favorite Things: TV Shows

These are the shows I make sure to watch within 24 hours of DVRing:

1. The Mentalist  This is my absolute favorite show, which is interesting since I only discovered it this summer. I look forward to it all week. (Which, now that I'm admitting it, is kind of depressing).


2. The Amazing Race  Josh and I watch this together on Sunday nights. It makes me happy. I never saw this show at all until we started dating, and in our first year of marriage we watched a bunch of re-runs. I began referring to this show all the time and it would make people laugh.

3. The Good Guys  Best. Intro. Ever. Most of the time I watch it on Saturday mornings while Josh is still asleep. I think more people should watch this show, but right now it's my all-by-myself tv show.

4. Community  Are you watching this? Well, you should be (because I am and I'm cool).


5. Mad Men  Only #5 because the season ended. Otherwise, it's also always and Josh and Emily Sunday Night Extravaganza show. (Maybe some day I'll sing my Mad Men song for you).


6. Psych  I love this show and I think it got even better last season. It just started again this past week. I also like to watch this show because we get the east coast feed of USA, so I can watch it when I get back from the counseling center while Josh is at Mutual.

7. Bones  This may be my last year for Bones, but I love it. I love David Boreanaz, I love Emily Deschanel (and not just because her parents named her so well), and I always look forward to watching it Friday mornings when I'm awake and Josh is still asleep (which is, obviously, when I do my most tv watching).

8. How I Met Your Mother  I started in on this show late and really didn't start watching it regularly until last season. It's starting to drag a little, but I watch it right before going to the gym on Monday nights.

Other shows I watch during the week when I have some time (mostly while I'm falling asleep-- I know you're not supposed to watch tv in bed, but Josh snores so loudly I have to have something on or else it's possible I will smother him with my pillow): Law & Order: SVU, Law & Order: LA, 30 Rock, The Office, Medium, CSI, and 90210 (it filled the hole left behind when I became too disgusted with Gossip Girl). Every once in awhile I'll watch Law & Order: UK, Lie to Me, and CSI: NY, but more often than not I've deleted them to make room for other things.

I don't know what prompted me to make this list. I think I watch more tv than most people, but I also: 1. Don't have kids, 2. Multi-task like crazy, and 3. Like watching tv.