Books I've Read This Week (Vol. I, Issue 4)

When we parted at the end of last week's BIRTW, I was in the middle of The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory, told from the perspective of Anne's sister Mary. I really liked the book, especially the description of the role of women during that time. How did it end? Well, let's just say one Boleyn girl had a happy ending, the other not so much.

Another Philippa Gregory book that I highly recommend is Earthly Joys. John Tradescant is a master gardener, explorer, and collector of rare plants struggling between responsibility to family and loyalty to lord and king in the early 1600s. I fell in love with this book but it was almost painful sometimes to follow John and the seemingly foolish decisions he sometimes makes. The adventures of the Tradescants continue in Virgin Earth coming soon to a hold shelf near me (I hope).

Marne Davis Kellogg: Nothing But Gossip & Birthday Party
I finished off the Lilly Bennett, U.S. Marshall, series with two fun, quick reads about the adventures of Lilly and her friends and family in Roundup, Wyoming, with visits to Las Vegas and Italy, complete with celebrity cameos. Next on my list of MDK books is her stand-alone suspense novel, Insatiable. I'll be picking that up on Saturday.

Arthur & George by Julian Barnes follows the stories of an ophthalmologist turned famous detective mystery novelist and a persecuted and falsely accused half-Indian solicitor in early 20th century Britain. The book is divided into four sections, three of which are pretty good. I think the author wrote the last section to fill up empty pages when he realized that his deadline was further away than he had thought. Granted I lost interest when Arthur died. What? You didn't know that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle had died? Well, sorry!

In my continuing study of things British, leading up to my trip there this fall, I've started Stonehenge Complete by Christopher Chippindale and The Intelligent Traveller's Guide to Historic Britain by Philip A. Crowl. I'm sure it will take me many days to read these books as they are dry and full of detail. I don't plan on reading many guidebooks from the library since they're mostly from several years ago but I liked the sound of these two.

Currently in my bag is An Imperfect Lens by Anne Roiphe, a story of science and love in 19th century Alexandria during a cholera outbreak. A French scientist working in Pasteur's lab is sent with a team to Egypt to study the cholera microbe and try to discover a cause. He encounters the affianced daughter of a Jewish doctor who helps out in the lab. I wasn't sure I liked this book at first because I tend to like dialogue-driven stories and this author is all about describing situations where the microbe is hanging around and being passed on, but it's growing on me.

That's all for now, but catch me next time on Books I've Read This Week.

Movie of the Week

Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle
I enjoyed this adventure of high camp and implausible action. I recommend it for a fun time.

Favorite Role: Crispin Glover as the Thin Man. What a great freaky portrayal of a seriously twisted character. Is he a good guy? Is he a bad guy? Who is this hair-obsessed orphan?

Biggest Disappointment: The early demise of the Scarred Surfer. He was hot! They sure didn't need a very good actor for this role. He had no lines. He only needed to look good.

Favorite Angel Look: The make-up on Natalie (Cameron Diaz) during the motocross scenes. I loved the silver streak across her eyes.

Favorite Cameo: Pink.

Honorable Mention: Demi Moore was perfect as the Fallen Angel. She looked great, had great lines, and sure kicked some butt.

DVD Oops: The English subtitles didn't work. You know I love closed captioning.

DL Update

Now that I have Netflix I'm checking my mailbox at home so much more often. I checked the box on Friday after work and I found my new driver's license! (see Adventures at the DMV) It's so nice to have one with my current address. Now I can get a library card at the SF library (they wouldn't accept my address on the back of my DL, damn them).

The picture, you're wondering? Well, let's just say that I look as if I just got out of a sauna. Bright red and shiny. So shiny my neck looks almost white from the glare. I don't remember it being so warm at the DMV that I'd be sweaty. It must just be my warm personality.

Banana Nut Muffins

I made muffins last night. Here's the recipe that I adapted from one I got off the South Beach Diet Forum. If you recognize it, thanks for sharing!

Brenda's Banana Nut Muffins
Makes: 12 (or so)

Ingredients:
1/2 cup Whey Low (or Splenda)
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 beaten egg
1/8 cup canola or olive oil
1 cup fat free milk
1 cup mashed overripe banana
1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Preparation:
Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add wet ingredients. Mix just enough to moisten (don't over mix). Add nuts. Spoon into greased muffin tins or muffin papers. Bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 min.

Sometimes I will chop up a ripe banana and add it with the nuts. You get large bits of banana in the muffins when they're cooked. Yummy.

TP Update

So I don't know if that was trial toilet paper that we had a couple weeks ago or what (see Toilet Paper) but all of a sudden the quality of the bathroom tissue in the office took a mighty upward turn for the better. No more crumbling, soggy mess. Happy Day!

Books I've Read This Week (Vol. I, Issue 3)

In my last BIRTW column, I promised to let you know how Dead Aim by Thomas Perry ended. Well, it ended oddly. The main character was left not really knowing if he did the right thing or if he could live with it. Well, I don't know about him, but I wasn't too sure.

Marne David Kellogg: Priceless and Perfect (Kick Keswick, jewel thief);
Bad Manners, Curtsey and Tramp (Lilly Bennett, U.S. Marshal)
As you can see by the number of MDK books I read this week, I found them fun and quick reads. I love discovering a new author or character or series that I can really get into. I definitely found all three in both series by MDK. I think I like the Kick Keswick ones better, but the Lilly Bennett series is great too.

They take place in a small ficticious city in Wyoming where the Bennetts are the cream of high society. Lilly decided early on she didn't want to just be a wife and mother so she left for California to become a police officer. After being caught literally with her pants down in an affair with a local judge, she fled back to Wyoming to start her own security firm. You'll just have to read Bad Manners to see how she became a U.S. Marshal. Enjoy!

Cynthia Harrod-Eagle: Death to Go (Inspector Bill Slider)
I thought I'd try this English mystery series when I found one of the books on the new books shelf, but again I fell into the trap of trying to read a book out of order (the first book wasn't on the shelf at my library). I got about four chapters in and decided that between the references to what happened in the past and the body parts found in a local fish and chip shop, I just couldn't stomach this book. If I'm looking for a new series in the future, maybe I'll take the time to go back to this one and start at the beginning. But right now I have too many other books to read!

Phillipa Gregory: The Other Boleyn Girl
This is the book that was recommended to a friend. I can see why. It's nothing at all like The Wise Woman (which I detested). I'm glad a few weeks had passed between reading Robin Maxwell's The Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn and starting this one because some of the same material is covered in both, though in very different voices. Boleyn Girl is told by Anne's sister Mary who was at the English court as the queen's lady-in-waiting while Anne was still living in France.

Mary barely had time to get used to being married before being pushed by her family (father, uncle) to curry the king's favor and become his mistress. She struggles constantly with her loyalty to family and to the queen during the tumulteous years that follow as Anne rises in power. I'll let you know it all turns out for Mary in next week's Books I've Read This Week.

Breakfast in My Tummy

I love Grape-Nuts. I love them even more now that they're made with whole grains. But by being made with whole grains it means they stay in your tummy longer. So when you eat a bowl of them—like I did this morning—you feel full for a long time. That's good. Usually.

Today I only had one bowl left clean and it was a big bowl. So when I was pouring the milk over my 'Nuts and the level had just reached the top of the cereal there was only a little bit of milk left, so I just poured it all in the big bowl. And then, naturally, I had to put more cereal in. You can't have your Grape-Nuts be too liquidy, right? So I ended up with a much larger serving of cereal than I had planned. But I ate it all. You can't keep soggy Grape-Nuts for leftovers. Yuck.

So now I think I will not need my morning snack. I have a feeling the 'Nuts are still expanding in my tummy and will keep me full for many hours to come.

Still Safe

So far all my Idol picks have been safe each week.

I thought Chris did an awesome rendition of Walk the Line on Tuesday night. I'd buy his album tomorrow. And I think it was a brave pick to make with the movie so recently in people's minds.

Elliott's voice is just so amazing. Everything sounds so smooth and easy. He did a great job. I just hope he isn't growing that beard for good. Shave it off, El!

I do have McPhever. Katherine poses a little too much for my liking but she sure is an awesome singer.

Taylor disappointed me this week. He just went a little too crazy.

I can't believe Bucky's around for another week, Good thing I can DVR it and fast-forward right through it. Man, is he bad!

Movies I've Watched This Week

Last night I finally finished watching the documentary on Elizabeth I. It was kind of disappointing. I was hoping for more I guess. They ended with the English win over the Spanish Armada and didn't even tell us about the last years of her reign or who was king after she died leaving no natural heir. I guess I'll have to read a book about it.

I also watched Finding Neverland, the story of JM Barrie, the playwright who wrote Peter Pan. It was excellent. I highly recommend it for all ages. Johnny Depp has to be the most beautiful man in the entire world. I laughed, I cried and then cried some more. So make sure you have tissues on hand before hitting play on your DVD player. Kate Winslet was very good as were all the little boys who played her sons. The imaginary scenes merged so well with the real scenes that I often didn't notice when they left one for the other.

So I mailed those two back this morning. I still have Elizabeth with Cate Blanchett. I may watch that tonight seeing as there's still no Survivor. Next on my Netflix queue are: Birth (with Nicole Kidman) and the first disc of The History of Britain.

The New Office Pet

We have a small mouse problem here in the office. And I mean they're tiny. They leave biggish droppings and seem to eat a lot of people's food, but the mice themselves are very small. How do I know this, you ask?

Well, last night I saw a little itty bitty one climbing out of my officemate's trash can. It kinda freaked me out. I had to work late cuz I'm working on a project I can't work on during the day. But I sure was ready to head home once I saw that I had a late night companion.

Then this morning while working quietly at my computer, I heard a noise over by my desk. I thought maybe the noise was coming from the hallway but no, there was a tiny mouse caught inside the hurricane lamp on my desk. It must've fallen in and couldn't climb out the smooth glass sides. I quickly enlisted the aid of my friends. They placed the lid of a spindle of CD-Rs at the top of the lamp and slid the mouse out into the upside-down lid and put a shoebox lid on top of it, cuz those suckers can really jump!

So now they have a new office pet next door. I don't know what they're going to do with it but they've punched holes in the shoebox lid and I heard talk of feeding it and releasing it in the park. I was just going to toss it out the window.

Books I've Read This Week

So in my last BIRTW column I was in the middle of reading Jenna Starborn by Sharon Shinn, the story of an artificially created human woman who finds, loses and then finds love again, and inherits a fortune in the process. It was a light fun sci-fi read.

I also read Brilliant by Marne Davis Kellogg about Kick Keswick, jewel thief (see More Good Bad People). I really liked that one and look forward to the others in that series.

The Masque of the Black Tulip is the second in a historical romance series by Lauren Willig about the Scarlet Pimpernel and other English spies during the Napoleonic Wars. I wish I would've known it was the second book because you know how I hate to read things out of turn. I felt the whole time I should know more than I did. The book was a bit bipolar because part of it is told by the historian investigating the spies in the current day and part is the story of the spies themselves back in the eighteenth century. There are definitely ends left untied at the end of Black Tulip that I hope will be resolved in the third book. Of course, I won't be reading that until I read the first book, The Secret History of the Pink Carnation.

I also read (or rather skimmed) The Wise Woman by Philppa Gregory (see A Nightmare of a Book). I would heartily not recommend it unless you're a fan of horror (which I am not).

On Saturday I had checked out a mystery by a new author, Susan Conant. I had high hopes for Scratch the Surface: A Cat Lover's Mystery because I love cats and I love mysteries so what could be better, right? Wrong. I got about 10 pages in and had to put it back in my library bag. It was horrible.

I can't remember if I read it this week or last, but I finally picked up the first book in the Susan Wittig Albert mystery series featuring herb shop owner China Bayles (Susan's Texas hill country blog). Thyme of Death was all I had hoped for in introducing a character I love so much. If you like plants and mysteries or even if you only like mysteries, please check out Susan's series. She and her husband, Bill, also write a very enjoyable mystery series under the name Robin Paige that takes place in England in Victorian, and then Edwardian, times.

Yesterday I bought and read Britain by BritRail, by the people who sell BritRail passes (so in a way it's mostly an ad for train travel). One of my sisters and I are planning to go by train around England and Wales in November (see Jolly Olde England). I'm looking forward to it because I never travel by train. I've pretty much only gone on car trips. This book is set up to have a base city and make day trips out on trains to other places. It's a good idea but I like my circle tour plan a lot too (London, York, Keswick, the wedding, Cardiff, Bath, Salisbury, London).

Right now I'm almost done with Dead Aim by Thomas Perry. It's not about good bad people (see A Friday Evening). It's about bad bad people and a guy who gets caught up in their madness. I'm getting to the part now where Bob is starting to sound like a crazy person to the cops and to anyone who will listen to him cuz no one believes the bad guys are out to get him. I'll let you know how it ends next time in the next installment of Books I've Read This Week.

Adventures at the DMV

My driver's license had to be renewed in person this year. After years of having my original California photo on my DL, I'm finally getting a new one. I've just been renewing by mail forever.

So I logged on to the DMV website and set an appointment for 9 this morning. I printed out the confirmation page they provided which included the address. My thought was to program it into my car's navigational system. I've been to this particular DMV office before, but it was years ago.

So this morning I was all set to go. I left the house at 8:30, leaving me plenty of time to maneuver my way through the morning traffic. My car was happily telling me where to go and I was blindly following her directions. I even made a legal U turn when she said to. But when she ended her spiel with "You have arrived at your destination" I looked around and all I saw was a McDonald's.

I pulled over and checked the address on the printout against what I had programmed: it was the same. So either the DMV moved in the time it took for me to print out my confirmation and drive over there, or they had their own address incorrect.

I knew from going to the DMV before that it was around that area so I drove around a little bit. I made the mistake of going down the street that has the entrance to the freeway so sat in line for awhile. The clock was inching closer and closer to 9. I hoped they didn't give my appointment away.

So just as I was driving by the place I had previously made that U turn, I decided to continue down that street a bit further and, of course, right there it was, on the other side of the street: the DMV. It was 9:10. And yes, they had their own address wrong on the website.

When I got inside I was surprised to see the line to check in if you had an appointment was longer than the other line. That didn't seem to make a lot of sense. But they must have some system because once I had my number, it only took a few minutes before I was called to a window, paid my $26, corrected my address, took my vision test and got my receipt. Then it was on to the photo line.

I was fourth in line, but two of the people were together so that line was fast as well. I signed my name on the little electronic pad, press my thumb on the littler electronic pad and put my feet behind the back line and smiled. All done. It only took 25 minutes inside. Took longer for me to find the damn place.

I should get my new license in four to six week. I'll let you know how the photo turned out. Should be fun.

Afternoon Outing

Elizabeth was going over to the bridal shop today to try on the dress she's been thinking about and invited Katherine and me along. The owners of the shop were with another client when we arrived so we hung out for awhile in the bridesmaid's section. There were some pretty dresses and some really questionable ones. Katherine found one that was the same design she'll be wearing in a wedding this summer but in a different color combination.

Finally, Elizabeth was able to try on her dress. It was so pretty! It's ivory and made of a rather stiff fabric that is pulled across the front to one side so it hugs her shape. It's really flattering. It has a plunging neckline with thick straps in the front that taper to tiny ones in the back so her back is almost bare. The skirt is full (with crinoline) and has a couple gathers on the side to give a sense of movement so it doesn't just hang straight. I can't wait to see her in her actual dress in her actual size. I'm sure it will be amazing.

Movies, Movies, Movies

So I joined Netflix last Friday and soon had a queue of over 60 titles. That was overdoing it a bit, I know, but whenever you add one to your queue they show you movies you might also be interested in, so it's hard to stop. When I thought I had too many, I printed out my list and then eliminated over half. Now I have 25 or so. That's enough.

For the free two week trial, they set you up with three movies at a time. My first three were Beauty Shop, and a 2-disc set of an A&E show on Elizabeth I. Beauty Shop was a'ight. I like Queen Latifah but the rest of the cast was uninteresting to me. The plot was kinda boring, saved only by the excellent revenge on Jorge. All in all it was cute.

I watched the first disc on Elizabeth I last night. The information was good but they presented it with actors who basically had to look either stern, happy, sad, concerned, troubled, satisfied, etc. but hardly said a word. Once in a while they let the actor present some quote in a stiff formal tone. A couple times they even had the narrator speaking the words that the actor was mouthing. It wasn't entirely pleasant but it won't stop me from watching the second disc.

Finding Neverland should be arriving tomorrow! Gotta love that Johnny Depp.

On Blogging

Blogging has now taken over my life. Kinda like when I first got my DVR and I expected to be able to go back 15 seconds in any conversation or while listening to the radio. You know, if I happened to miss something.

Now it's not that I'm writing that much, it's just whenever anything happens I immediately think, now how would I write that up, creating little posts in my head. I'm thinking seriously about needing internet access at home. And a computer. Maybe I can "borrow" one from work.

Five Things I Loved About 24

1. Jack's chokehold on Barry
2. Kim leaving 24 forever (hopefully)
3. Me being right about Lynn's chance at redemption
4. Chloe could flush the whole building of gas but couldn't quit a program on a remote computer
5. The Homeland Security bitch from hell
   

Five Things I Hated About 24

1. Tony died
2. Tony died
3. Tony died
4. Tony died
5. Tony died
   

More Good Bad People

I mentioned previously the books by Thomas Perry about good people who live outside the law. Well, on Saturday at the library I discovered another series about a good (at least likeable) woman who just happens to also be a jewel thief.

When I go to the library I like to browse the new books shelf. I try to check out at least one by an author I haven't read to expand my list of favorite authors. This week's new author is Marne David Kellogg, who has written two series: mysteries featuring Lily Bennett and the adventures of Kick Keswick, jewel thief. The new book, Perfect, is the third in the series. Luckily for me, the first book, Brilliant, was on the shelves.

Brilliant introduces us to Kick and her made-up past in Oklahoma, her new life in an auction house in London, her quiet life on her get-away farm in Provence and her burgling of those who deserve it. It ends quite tidily with no loose ends so it should be interesting to see how her adventures continue in Priceless (which I should be receiving on the hold shelf any day now. Thanks, J) and then Perfect.

Top Chef: Spoiler Alert!

The new Bravo series Top Chef started last week after the Project Runway finale. I just got around to watching it last night. It was great! They filmed it here in SF so already they had a winner in my book. The host (Billy Joel's wife) is a bit stiff but the chief chef judge, Tom, has enough personality to cover for her.

**!!!SPOILER ALERT!!!**
The best character, Ken, was eliminated first though. The only guy who was at all hot and who had balls enough to talk back to the guest chef. And he had a cute Irish accent.
**!!!END SPOILER ALERT!!!**

I think my favorite is going to be Tiffani, the redhead. She talks a big talk but seems to be able to walk the walk too. Her pumpkin lasagna was very creative. The second word in her bio is "bisexual". Only on Bravo!

The funniest thing was one of the those pop-up ads that come up onscreen. It was for the website where you can go vote on which dish you thing was the tastiest. I guess they have free samples on the website that you can taste. Otherwise, how the hell are we supposed to know!!

A Nightmare of a Book

Lately I've been enjoying historical fiction (as I've written about before in this space) so when someone recommended to a friend a book by Philippa Gregory called The Other Boleyn Girl (about Anne's older sister Mary, a mistress of Henry VIII), I thought I would try a book by her as well.

So I checked out a book called The Wise Woman that also takes place in Tudor times. I was looking forward to viewing a window into a northern English village and castle and a woman who finds herself on hard times after the abbey she was living in was burnt down. Little did I know it would soon turn into a horror story of the "dark arts" and animated waxen dolls! It wasn't a very pleasant story. The main character was not very likable and she ended up betraying everyone she came into contact with including the two women who raised her. I was about half-way through the book when I realized that I just couldn't handle it but I couldn't leave the story half-read so I skimmed my way through the rest.

I wish that I had started another book or watched some TV before going to bed because I couldn't stop thinking about the horrible things that woman had done. I don't remember any but I'm sure it gave me nightmares.