Bags Out at Seven

Anyone who has traveled on a tour bus recognizes that statement.

This is a book that was given to me by Uncle Marcel, when he read it, he said, he thought of mom.  So did I.

It is a book containing vignettes by a tour operator covering her travels throughout a 20 year span.

Some are happy some are very sad, but all are memories.  Some of my happiest memories have been traveling with mom.  From singing Girl Scout songs in the car, to camping with a great campfire (and more songs of course), to later in life taking cruises, our last together was to Northern Europe.  Through rain and cold Erika and I pushed her wheelchair around Norway laughing the whole time.

I will be passing this book on to Erika next, I hope it too brings her good memories of mom.

Thanks Uncle Marcel.

Surprised?  I know some who first found out I would be reading and reviewing this book were.  But why are they surprised?  I enjoy biographies, especially auto-biographies.  Why should I not read this one?  Because we differ in most of our political views?  Sorry, my life does not revolve around my political views.  Heck one of my favorite books ever is The Reagan Diaries (also one of the biggest, which I mistakenly travelled around Europe carrying with me).

While I think Sarah Palin is an interesting person, you can’t actually get a feel for that through her writing.  And yes, you can tell she wrote it and it isn’t just ghosted.  Not just because of the vernacular but because of the style and because of my main problem with it.

The entire book all the way up until the actual VP announcement by John Mc Cain seems to be riddled with justifications.  Some stories are quite interesting until you get the words, and that’s why “during the VP campaign” so and so said this or that.

My definition of an auto-biography is a way to tell the story of your life, not to justify yourself to others.  Most people who will read this book are either her supporters or people intelligent enough to make up there own minds without punditry interfering.  Those who “need” the justifications more than likely will not be reading this book and if they did they probably wouldn’t believe or care to believe the justifications anyways.

Perhaps an unofficial biography would have been a better read; perhaps it would have stuck more to just her life and not her reasons.  I would have enjoyed more anecdotes about her and her family, her time growing up in Alaska, her college years went by in the book in just a page or two.  I would have enjoyed more information on raising her kids and her “hockey mom” experiences.

Be that as it may, I hope one day her “life” story is published.  Heck she still has a lot more living to do yet.

FULL DISCLOSURE: I was not asked to review this book by anyone.  So there!

I was asked to host a preview party for this adorable new Christmas cartoon.  I jumped at the chance if for no other reason than to get Erika and Jackson to come up a day early to Detroit, lol.

I put out the invites on Facebook but we had some last minute cancellations.  The movie premieres TODAY on PBS KIDS, and finds George and The Man with the Yellow Hat having a very merry time counting down the days until Christmas. There’s only one puzzle: neither of them can figure out what to give the other for a present. The Man is having trouble reading George’s wish list and George doesn’t have a clue about what to get for The Man who has everything.  Maybe you can help!

Below is a Whrrl story of all the fun that was had. Make sure you watch the whole thing for a giveaway at the end!

Contest deadline December 6, 2009. TO win leave a comment telling me what you want for Christmas or Hannukah or Solsitce or just for the heck of it.

For extra entries you can do any of the below choices but be sure to leave a comment letting me know which ones you did.
Become a subscriber to Adrienne’s House
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Full disclosure: I was provided a preview copy of the DVD along with popcorn and a cd soundtrack. The prize is also being provided by the PR agency.

Full Disclosure: I received a free copy of this book and was asked to review it.

Lakeshore Christmas is the next installment of The Lakeshore Chronicles and unfortunately, I have been too sick to read it properly.  It stays true to the previous books in the series and allows you to see glimpses of previous characters and storylines, but doesn’t make you feel lost if you have not read the previous books.

I need to go back and read it again because I know this doesn’t do it justice.

Once in a Blue Moon a new book by Eileen Goudge.  Two sisters separated at a young age, put through the foster care system and reunited later in life.

The fact that they don’t necessary fall into “sisterhood” right away again, but eventually stand together as sisters do is a story well told by Ms. Goudge.

Although I did not enjoy her writing style, too much uneccessary prose (as if the writer had a word count to fulfill) for my liking.  But by skipping paragraphs here and there, the story still held together.

Reality?  Fiction?  Boring?

Probably.  More than likely.  Definately.

The premise of the story is good, a young wife and her family move to NY from SF.  She is flabbergasted by the cultural differences.  There is a whole mean girls kind of vibe. 

However, there is also a sub story about her and her old art history (or some other boring subject) professor.  There were a handfull of pages that I skipped because they droned on and on about some of the art exhibits they went to see.

Sorry, but I would skip this one if I were you.  Wish I were you and had skipped it.

I didn’t get an invitation, and there wasn’t one pending for me when I went in to set myself up. But I did it myself, and now have Amazon Readers listed on my dashboard. But I am not listed as a contributor. Hopefully since I am contributing that will change.

Thanks to my Amazing daughters I am set up on the AmRead blog. I picked up a Laurence Sanders hardcover book at the clubhouse before dominos and when I got ready to go home someone else had taken it. So I got another Anne Rivers Siddons book called Fault Lines (paperback). I have only read a couple of pages because the print is so tiny that I have to take my glasses off and I’m reading while watching the US Open so its a nuisence.

Well, I decided it is never going to get easier to find time to do this so I will just jump in. I have finished just a few books since having Jackson. The first was Amy Tan’s The Opposite of Fate. This was a series of essays so it was perfect for reading while taking care of a baby. I have also read Running With Scissors and another one that I can’t remember right now. By far the best book I have read recently is Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Demin by David Sedaris. Very funny.

Right now I am tackling a hard (non-fiction) book by Christopher Hedges, a writer with the New York Times. The book is War is a Force that Gives Us Meaning. It is part of a campus-wide effort to have everyone read the same book and to hold discussion groups, etc. We just got a grant to bring the author here in the spring. It is actually a cool idea but I have been reading for a week and I am not out of the introduction yet. I think I may have to read the Albom book first to get me warmed up.

I finished Thin Air yesterday and then read A Catskill Eagle also one of the Spenser Series, it was an earlier one that was checked out of the library when I got to it on the list. Again very easy PI read. I started that series this year and am going through them pretty quickly I usually get two every time I go to the library. I went to the library yesterday (before finishing Thin Air) so when I go to read today I will just reach in the bag and grab a new one. Some of the best I’ve read so far this year: Bean Trees and Pigs in Heaven by Barbara Kingsolver, I can’t get into Poisonwood Bible I pick it up every time I finish all my books before I get back to the library. Bet Me by Jennifer Cruisie was a cute fun read and along the same line was Lucky Stars by Jane Heller and Can You Keep A Secret by Sophie Kinsella. White Oleander by Janet Fitch was much better than the movie, and the movie was okay.

Gretchen