Itttttt’s Friday!
Hunh. I thought just saying that would make streamers and balloons fly up everyone’s screens like on Facebook when you get a little reaction tornado.
Oh, well. Just being Friday is good enough. So what do we have going on today? Let’s see.
1. We had another incredibly fun week at Casa de Katie! Last weekend we went to the pool with one of Bee’s friends and Gracie and I sat and played Magic: The Gathering for a few hours, then we went swimming for an hour, and then the four of us cleaned out The Snack Shack of all the food. ALL of it. (Swimming is hungry work!) We were there probably half the day. It’s always fun being able to grab friends last minute and go do fun things!
2. Gracie and I have been Magicking up a storm. I ordered about 6,000 (not really) basic lands for only $10 so we can have actual multiple decks going. And Bee has started showing an interest, too, so we can all play. It’s funny – it went from Bee not-watching as we played and watched West Wing to Bee asking questions about what and why we were doing, and then Bee asking if she could be on my “team”, to holding my hand and helping me make decisions, to me being totally superfluous! And because she’s Bee, I let her.
3. I also ordered a box of baseball card sleeves so I could organize our Magic cards in binders, by color, and then by spell type. (Just like the old days!) While I was organizing them, I sat and watching the documentary “Tower”, directed by Keith Maitland, on Netflix. It’s based on the Pamela Colloff article “96 Minutes” about the 1966 shootings on the University of Texas campus, where a lunatic sniped at people from the clock tower. The film was mesmerizing and terrible, and I’ve never consciously felt so pulled in by direction choices as I sat and watched a movie – Maitland chose to tell the story in an animated format (think the kind of animation style they used to tell the story of the three brothers in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows). He said animation allowed him to tell the story with so much more intimacy, and he was successful – I used the terms “mesmerizing” and “terrible” for a reason! In any case, it was very well done and I recommend it if you have an interest in true crime. The film is short, just 82 minutes, but it will feel much shorter.
4. On a much less morose note, I get to introduce Gracie’s friend Em to Bahama Mama Bucks today! Em got to come over and spend the night last night (and we had a wonderful conversation, the three of us, about boys and growing up and drinking and drugs and what junior high is like – I have great confidence that our girls are making good choices and growing up the way we want them to) and we watched Twister and somehow got on the topic of Bahama Mama’s. I think because we got Em from her dad’s house, which is almost all the way over by my work. And I told the girls that to get everyone back where they belong today – it’s everyone’s weekends at their dads’ – I would bring Em back to her dad’s house after work and then drop Gracie and Bee off at their dad’s house on the way back. And I was thinking about stopping at Bahama Mama’s and Em casually mentioned she hadn’t ever been. Well! Gracie and I maybe lost our shit and screeched and screamed and shouted and were generally ecstatic because we get to introduce Em to the deliciousness that is Bahama Mama’s. So! for the rest of today I will be drooling over their menu, changing the flavor of my snow cone from one kind of red to another!
5. The week hasn’t been without drama. (That would be too much to ask for, wouldn’t it?) On Wednesday night – late Wednesday night – Bee’s friend Tammy invited Bee to spend Thursday with her. Her mama had the day off and was going to take Tammy and her cousins and her aunt out and about and have a fun day, and Tammy got to pick a friend to come along. I talked to Tammy’s mom (who is a dear heart – I got a giant hug at Bee’s party when she dropped T off and she just seemed like our kind of people) and it all sounded good. They were going to the Mint, and then to the arcades, and maybe to Tammy’s aunt’s apartment to go swimming in their pool. All Bee would need was money for the gift shop at the Mint, and a bathing suit in case they went swimming. I loaded Bee up and off they went! Tammy’s mom asked what time she needed to be back, and I said 8:30. I know they were planning on stuffing a lot into the day, but that would give me time to get Bee wound back down before bed, and hey – I still had work the next morning! I couldn’t sleep in like the kids! Keep in mind I had this conversation at lunch time when she was picking the kids up. So Bee went off with her friend, Gracie went to Top Golf with her step-sister and niece, and I was monitoring everything from work. Gracie missed curfew coming home and I was annoyed about that (see: teaching lessons about time management), but that kind of got lost in the shuffle of the drama around Bee. Tammy’s mom called to ask (and Bee texted to ask too) if Bee could stay out until 9 because they were headed to go swim and they wanted to stay at least an hour. It was against my judgement because I knew they were going to be late if they hadn’t even hit the pool yet, but I said yes. I don’t do well with peer pressure when it comes to Bee and her friends. She didn’t make her group of really good friends until much later in elementary school and so I feel like the kid is playing catch up and I need to do my part. So I said yes. And sure enough, ten minutes before she was supposed to be home, she texted to say she was leaving. And then Tammy’s mom called to say she knew they were going to be late, but could they stop for a pizza on the way to put some food in the kids bellies after swimming. Uh – no!!!!! I told her again that I really had to get into bed, because I had to go into work early, and she could stop for pizza after she dropped off Bee. Bee would live with cereal or a sandwich from home. I know Tammy’s mom was taken aback by my answer, but I was taken aback by how cavalier she was with my curfew, especially since it was the first time she took my kid out. Bee walked in the door 30+ minutes late. She had a blast and kept telling me about all the fun things, but she knew that she wasn’t gonna get to do them again. Tammy is more than welcome to come with us anywhere we go – but no more weekday wanderings for Bee and Tammy’s mama. That’s an important lesson to learn too.
Wow, that was a lot longer than I meant for it to be! Sometimes a story just spills out, once you start writing the words on the page. I hope you all have fun stories to live out this weekend! I can’t wait to hear all about them, come Monday!
When Dimple Met Rishi, by Sandhya Menon (2017, Simon Pulse, 380 pages, ebook). This book is the book to read this summer and believe me when I say Sandhya Menon is the new John Green – YA Whisperer Extraordinaire! I hope she’s half as prolific because I can’t wait to get my hands on her next story…and I just finished her first! The story is about two American teens whose (uh, somewhat) traditionalist Indian parents have arranged for them to be married – if all goes well when they meet. Dimple kicked herself for not realizing why her parents suddenly caved and allowed her to go to computer programming camp, and Rishi just about wants to kill himself for blurting out his intentions to spend the rest of his life with Dimple the second he meets her. Turns out Dimple wasn’t aware of the deal-io. And on it goes. It’s the meet-cutest, even if it does feel annoyingly teenagery at times, and a little heavy-handed on the foreshadowing. It all balances out, though, because Dimple and Rishi click from (almost) the first moment, and its in the funny, laugh-out-loud moments that Menon’s writing really shines. That, and she really knows how to write secondary characters – not a skill you really hear talked about, partly because not a lot of people really know how to excel at it. All in all, it’s wonderful debut novel and I will definitely be following Menon’s career with interest. 3 1/2 of 5 stars. (That cover, though! 5 of 5 stars for cover art!)
History of Wolves, by Emily Fridlund (2017, Grove Atlantic, 288 pages, used hardcover). Trigger warning for sketchy-as-hell student/teacher relationships, and child abuse. In small town Minnesota (the book flap describes it further as being part of the lakes region of Minnesota, but is there part of Minnesota that isn’t the lakes region? Seriously?), Linda/Maddie lives with questionable parents in a hut that is part of a counter-culture left over from her maybe-parents commune days. History was so hard to read because relationships were never clearly defined – between characters, places, causes, nothing! It wasn’t even clear whether this was by design. So I wasn’t sure if Linda’s blurry AF relationship with her parents and miserable home life was responsible for why she kissed her teacher, or was jealous when a fellow student started rumors that she had gone all the way with their history teacher – an awkward man who later fled because they found out he was fired from his last job in California for pedophilia. As that story line was falling apart, Linda is hired by the weirdo neighbors across the lake to babysit for their toddler, Paul. You know from the beginning that something horrible is going to happen to Paulie – and I thought from the teacher story line that it was going to be sexual abuse – but it wasn’t, and the No Good, Terrible, Horrible Thing was a bit of a let down when I finally found out what happened. I mean, it was awful, sure; it just wasn’t the shock it was built up to be. Yeah, this novel was a hot mess, through and through, in need of a much stronger editor. Solid ideas, they just all fell to the earth and fizzled. 2 of 5 stars.
You Can’t Touch my Hair, by Phoebe Robinson (2016, Plume Books, 285 pages, library paperback). This was nominated as a Goodreads Choice for Humor last year, and YOU GUYS! I am both bummed it didn’t win, and horrified it had to go up as humor! Yes, Robinson is a comedian, and yes, she glossed all her essays with humor, but I think that’s all mostly because there isn’t anything close to “I’m Laughing Because It’s All Funny Because It’s So True It Hurts” – in either an awards category or life profession. There were essays about hair and beauty as the title suggests, but also how Robinson is too black to be white, and too white to be black. She’s the post-Soul aesthetic defined, and I LOVE it. I love her! I can’t believe I hadn’t run across so much as her name before. Bottom line: you should all read her book, see her in person if you can, and help me track down any- every- thing else she has done. 4 of 5 stars.
The Invisible Life of Ivan Isaenko, by Scott Stambach (2016, St. Martin’s Press, 326 pages). Lauded as the next coming of The Fault in Our Stars, I was so excited to sit down and read Ivan! I knew it was going to be sad, but Holy Moses. Ivan is beset by every mean trick the universe could bestow. He was born without both legs, without his right arm, and with only a thumb and the first two fingers on his left hand. He has a connective tissue disorder, making it hard to talk, and leaving his features flat, making him not only hard to look at, but like he’s even more handicapped than he is. Oh, and when another person at Mazyr’s Hospital for Gravely Ill Children (in the Ukraine that cares for 30 children crippled by the Chernobyl nuclear disaster) dares to fall in love with Ivan, SHE DIES TOO. We know this from the first page – a choice that rankled with me every step of the way. I wanted to hold out hope, no matter how foolish. I needed to believe. Without that bit, even with Nurse Natalya who is the only friggin ray of sunshine in a thousand mile radius, everything was so. unflinchingly. bleak. I’ve read a lot of bleak stories, you guys. I can handle a lot. If I have hope. This…it was interesting. I wanted to change the outcome. So even though it was bleak, there was an undeniable intrigue and sneakery and brilliance that crackled throughout and drew me to the story. I couldn’t put it down because of it, and, honestly, it’s what kept me turning page after page. Without it, I’d have ditched. So…I guess brilliance trumps hope. Who knew? 3 of 5 stars.
Jaguars Ripped my Flesh, by Tim Cahill. (1987, Vintage, 320 pages, eloan). It’s a catchy title, I have to admit. And a jaunty little adventure book, if you’re looking for very short stories into the wild. But don’t expect high-faluting, serious-minded forays into the jungles. The title is meant to be funny and ironic; a nod to when men’s magazines all went overboard with their tabloidy stories. Cahill argued then (and then demonstrated via his books) that what men really wanted to read were honest-to-god travel stories. No fanfare needed. Okay, so I’m not the intended audience, but still – meh. 2 of 5 stars. And that’s generous.
The Girl from Everywhere, by Heidi Helig. (2016, Greenwillow Books, 464 pages, ebook). This was a deal of the day, and I’d been hearing good things from reliable YA crowds – the ones who read what I read. So I gave it a whirl. And it was decent – not phenomenal like the Daughters of Bone series I had just finished, and that probably didn’t help much – nothing was going to be “good” after finishing that. I can see how the voice here would draw people in and plenty would like Helig’s writing style and the flow of the story. The characters were interesting and well developed. The plot – a ship that can sail anywhere, anywhen if it can follow a map it’s never used before – is brilliant. For me, it was just lacking that oomph to make it special. 3 of 5 stars.
Seriously, I’m Kidding, by Ellen DeGeneres (2011, Grand Central Publishing, 241 pages, used hardcover). I’m glad I read it – I love seeing how celebrity’s books translate from their physical world of acting to the medium where your ability to communicate in words (and negative spaces) rules the day. It’s an interesting shift. Ellen managed quite beautifully, as I’d suspected and hoped, but…her stories, while amusing, seemed surface-y to me, and were on the extremely short side. Each story took me about two minutes to read. Not exactly the in depth memoir I’d wanted. So I’m glad I tore through this one, but mostly for the experience of having done so. 2 of 5 stars. 
The Foundling, by Paul Joseph Fronczak (2017, Howard Books, 368 pages, ebook). I bought this ebook on a whim after seeing it advertised and recognizing it from my TBR. It’s the story of a couple whose newborn was stolen from the hospital, and of another little boy who was abandoned half a country away, on the sidewalk in front of some stores. The FBI decides the toddler was that newborn, the family is reunited and all was well. Except all was not well, because that boy grows up and discovers not only his story, but that he was not the baby they thought he was. Genealogical mystery unraveling ensues. And you know me – I’m a huge genealogy nut! This book was so my jam. It was written well; well-paced, interesting, yes – a little whiny at times, but I thought Fronczak had good cause. I tore through it, wanting to know how it played out. Definitely worth the money I shelled out. If you’re into true crime, this is definitely worth your time and your dollars. I highly recommend. 4 of 5 stars.
Amiable with Big Teeth, by Claude McKay (2017, Penguin, 352, hardcover). I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for a fair review. One of my two bachelor degrees is in African American Studies, so I was beyond pleased when I found out I was selected to win the new novel based on the manuscript by Claude McKay found in 2012. McKay was instrumental in the Harlem Renaissance, one of the greatest periods of creativity this country has ever had the joy to behold. That’s not to say a lot of the pieces produced during that time were joyful in nature; many focused on the need for African Americans to rise up, become financially mobile, break free from the tyranny of social injustice, both here and abroad. Amiable is the story of the Harlemites in-the-know working to help liberate Ethiopia, after Mussolini has invaded. The book is a satire and fun is poked at the political machinations of the different factions, fighting over a piece of the pie, and arguing loudly over the “right” way to fight for it. If you like The Sellout by Paul Beatty, or pieces from the post-Reconstruction era, this is what you want. 3 of 5. 
Gwendy’s Button Box, by Stephen King and Richard Chizmar (Cemetery Dance Publications, 175 pages, hardcover). I was a little wary as I started; I wasn’t a big fan of Stephen King’s Bill Hodges trilogy, and I haven’t read anything else by Richard Chizmar. But this, a Castle Rock novella, ended up being…well, if not exactly classic Stephen King, pretty close. From a world next door, if you like. It’s a quiet story, one filled with dread and a slow build to the finale. I’ll tell you how quiet it was – I could have read this at full dark and not been afraid. It’s the horror of what the human race will do to each other…with a little bit of magic thrown in. The ending was a bit anticlimatic – given events that happened at the start of the novel, I was expecting something a bit grander. But, I suppose it will do. I’m glad I read it. I’m not sorry I spent both my money and my time on it. But I can’t say the story changed me one way or another. 3 of 5 stars.
