Book Reviews

I recently realized that I’ve been totally slacking on my BBC Best Loved Books and so I went to both the C of I Library and the Caldwell Public Library to pick up a bunch of books to get back on track. With the weekend on the farm, I had a bunch of time to read and made my way through a few and am now 12 books away from being finished. So here are some of my reviews.

A Town Like Alice- Nevile Shute

I really liked this book a lot. I’m not sure how much I liked the narration from the attorney telling the story about Jean and Joe but the love story between the two Js was beautiful. The story about Jean going through WWII was a bit rough but I loved how Jean and Joe chased after each other after the war and how Jean worked really hard to make things work out. I read a review about how someone didn’t like the Aboriginal racism but it’s important to remember when this book was written and how it really encapsulates the post-war life in the Australian outback. Definitely recommend it but be warned that it’s not a story that, other than relationally, stands the test of time.

Artemis Fowl-  Eion Colfer

I really wanted to like this book. I thought that it would be along the lines of Harry Potter and The Chronicles of Kazam but I just didn’t like Artemis at all. He was portrayed as this genius, Sherlock Holmesian character but as insufferable as Holmes can be, he still has loveable side. I didn’t fell like that about Artemis at all. I didn’t care about him and I had a hard time getting into all the fairy mythology. Just an example of a book that I really thought I would like but ended up really not liking at all.

Noughts and Crosses- Marjorie Blackman

This was like reverse racism plus Romeo and Juliet plus dystopian world. I really liked it, even though I thought it maybe dragged on a bit to much. I also found out later that there are a bunch of sequels but honestly, I don’t really feel like reading any others, which is rare. The concept was not necessarily unique but it was different enough to keep me interested and I blew my was through the book, even though it was in itself a pretty easy read. I would definitely recommend it.

One Hundred Years of Solitude- Gabriel Garcia Marquez

 Ugh. Ugh. Ugh. Ugh. This was worse than Wuthering Heights. And that is big, coming from me. Everyone had the same name. Everyone made poor light choices. Everyone slept with people they shouldn’t have slept with. It was just the worst. And that’s all I have to say about it. 

#134doCO

The Yadlin girls (minus one) met in Denver to celebrate Youval's birthday and to enjoy a long weekend. Shiri arrived first and then I arrived later, stopping to pick up the rental car for the weekend and get some cupcakes for the birthday girl the next day. We got Noodles for dinner and then watched this BIZARRE movie called "It's a Disaster." Look it up. Watch it. Then call me to commiserate.

Here's a rundown of the weekend. 

Saturday- Youval's birthday!

We went to Ross and found our Christmas outfits. These cost over $40 each. Unreal.

After getting Panera, we drove up to Red Rocks. I made sure not to fall this time. We did some hiking, posed on stage, read about the amazing musicians who have performed in these hallowed stones and wandered up and down the steps.

We went to dinosaur ridge and looked at what they claim are legitimate dinosaur prints. Which I'm fine with. I love anything related to dinosaurs. We walked a ton and enjoyed some amazing views. 

Went to Alamo Brewhouse for dinner, ordered food at our seats and watched "Book of Life." It was INCREDIBLE. Watch it immediately. Or when it comes out of DVD. Or something. It was so great. I laughed, I cried, it moved me, Bob.

Sunday: We drove down to Colorado Springs and met up with the Simons to hike through the Garden of the Gods. Lots of catching up, laughing, taking pictures, taking pictures of other families who needed us to make sure their shoes were in the picture, eating lunch under the large rocks, watching rock climbers, and enjoying some lovely company.

After a Starbucks break, we met up with Matt Simpson, Shiri's W&L friend and he took us to the Olympic Training Center in C Springs. We sat in a bobsled, learned about famous Olympians and toured the various training areas, including Men's Gymnastics, swimming, and the cafeteria.

We were supposed to go to a celebratory birthday dinner that night. It got postponed when there was mad awful traffic back to Denver so instead we got dinner and went home to watch the Galaxy game. It was Landon's last regular season home game and there were much festivities, including Five for Fighting serenading Landon and Shiri losing it while watching.

Monday: Walked to coffee and then headed down (up?) to Boulder for some hiking in the Flatirons. Once again, we got lost numerous times but it was just gorgeous, we had some good conversations, and couldn't stop looking at the views. Oh, and we saw a bear.

Lastly, we had the celebratory birthday dinner at Park Burger before I had to take myself back to the airport for my flight home. 

And that's how #143doCO.

30B430 #19

For a few weeks, Bailie and I had been planning on heading up ti Idaho City but when she spent too much time with friends one weekend, I called Niki up to see if, last minute, she was interested in coming with me instead. In exchange for some coffee, she agreed and we drove away from Boise towards Idaho City, driving along some beautiful scenery, deep valleys, increasingly wooded hills, and evening arrived at Idaho City. Idaho City is an old mining town that still has many of the original buildings, and is also home to a remarkable cemetery about a mile and a half outside of town. We didn’t really have an agenda, so we just wandered the town, looking at the old building fronts, the old courthouse, the municipal building, and lots of little stores. Everyone was incredibly friendly- and sometimes a little too friendly. The museum was small but had some great hings, including an old phonograph, some old guns, old school equipment, and the most fantastically awful little video about the town. And when I saw fantastically awful, think the video at the beginning of the Museum of Oxford. Katie and Marsaili know exactly what I’m talking about. We were also able to wander inside the old penitentiary, which was much smaller than the Old Pen in Boise, and peek into what will one day, with enough funds, be the Chinese Museum, as apparently there was a large Chinese population that were integral in keeping the mining town afloat during the late 19^th and early 20^th century. 

 As we were in one of the old little general stores getting some ice cream, two people ran in, dressed in old-timey garb, and stole  some money from the cashier. I was personally worried about my ice cream melting. We headed back outside to find a little show in progress- think Williams, AZ, or Knott’s Berry Farm, when you’re on the train and you get robbed. It was pretty adorable but certainly not high brow theatre.

Before heading home, we stopped in at the old cemetery. There usually is a brochure with details about who was buried there but the cemetery was popular at the time and there weren’t any brochures to be had. So we just wandered throughout the paths, looking at the different plots and headstones, enjoying the interested epithets and the funny names,  my favorite being “Umphrey.” Not Humphrey, just Umphrey.

The last time I had been in the Idaho City area, we stopped just before the city and went ot the Hot Springs. The weather we went was just beautiful and I’m glad that we had the opportunity to wander and explore before things got busy.