I am the Time Traveler's Wife

He loves to flyfish and if he didn't travel so much he could fish more!
If you click on the picture you can see that I used my sweet photography skills to capture the fishing line in the sunset.

First of all - I read the book way before it was considered for a movie. Back when you could only get the hard back copy. ( Same with Harry Potter. I read it before it even made it to the US. My SIL brought it home from London and let me borrow it. My book club was one of the first in the nation to read Harry Potter. I am still proud of that. )

No big surprise that the book is much better than the movie. If you haven't experienced either one, I suggest you read the book and then see the movie. Or just read the book. Although, the book is much more sexy than the movie, so, you've been warned, or encouraged, depending on your attitude towards monogamous marital sex.

I realized that I am the Time Traveler's Wife half way through the movie when the time traveler disappeared for 2 weeks and his wife gets all bent out of shape. I was sitting in the theater with Roland (he didn't care for the show but was patient) who had just returned from a 2 week business trip. He missed the first day of school. He missed the father/son campout. He missed helping me in nursery. He missed back to school night. He missed the seminary open house. He missed Noah's driver's test and subsiquent license.

And I missed him.

In this picture he is saying through his teeth:
"If you don't hurry and take the picture this fish will die!"

He doesn't like to travel. He agrees that he travels too much. So I am starting a "Stay at Home!" campaign. Here are some possible slogans for the "Stay At Home!" campaign:

Home: Where everybody knows your name
Be a Locavore!
Home: the happiest place on earth!
You're in good hands at home.
Home: We're looking for a few good men.
Behold the power of home.
Home: It's not just for weekends anymore.
Stay home all week, that's all we ask.
The few, the proud, the homebodies.
Home: Lifts and separates!

I am glad that he has a good job. I just want to have less in common with the time traveler's wife.
...........................

Note: Read the comments. Apparently the book was a lot more nasty than I remember.

Bookity Book Book

I found my library card in a drawer purge last week and checked out this book:Sally recommended it and I look forward to reading it because it is about a small town that quarantines itself during the flu outbreak in 1918 (like 100 million people world wide died from that flu). With the swine flu scare it feels very current and exciting to read. The author put notes in the end pages about what was happening politically during 1918 and have to say it could be set today. I have only read the end pages and the first page of the book and I can't wait to read more!

I finished reading The Namesake a few weeks ago. I like books that take me to a different culture, a new world view, a unique way of thinking and this book did that. The story is about a boy, Gogol, who is named after a famous Russian author. Gogol hates his name. The story starts with his parents immigrating to the US. His mother tries to find ways to feel comfortable in a country that is so vastly different than India. Gogol grows up, changes his name, is annoyed by the Indian culture and then...well, I don't want to ruin the story for you.

I loved how this book described living in a strict culture with parents who expect much but don't force. I loved the parents in this book - they were gentle, patient, and long suffering. The author does a wonderful job of showing a child growing up and the changes he goes through.

A movie of the book is playing on HBO right now and it is a pretty good review of the book. But I encourage you to read the book first, as usual, you will miss so much if you only see the movie.

Beach Reading

One of my favorite times is when we are all on a beach (any beach will do, really) and everyone is reading a book. Hours will pass quietly as birds call, rapids swish, pages turn. We stop to jump in the river, lake, ocean and then reapply sunscreen. It really is heaven on earth.

I have been worried about Ike. My kids are readers, stay-up-all-night-and-read kind of readers. But Ike was happier with a basketball or Gameboy. Those peaceful beach reading times were always annoyingly interrupted by Ike wanting to visit, play, splash, eat.

I kept leaving great books around, placed helpfully on his bed, the couch, the coffee table, hoping he would pick up a book and something would click. I took him to book stores. I took him to libraries. Libraries in Colorado and Idaho. Nothin'. We mostly checked out comic books.

It happened during spring break. I couldn't get him to go on a walk with me because he was into a book! He read for 2 days straight, only stopping to eat and sleep, and it was all he could talk about. Then we rushed to the library to get more.

This morning he complained about a teacher that didn't give enough free-time for reading in class. I sighed a contented sigh and enjoyed a moment of satisfaction.

It's gonna be a great summer!

Potato Peel Pie Recommendation

My latest, most favorite, book:
I have loved every single page of this book and you can tell because I bent so many corners to go back and read again. It is set at the end of WWII and written as a series of letters. Letter correspondence is my least favorite writing style - and still - I loved the book.

Here is a quote from this web page:

January 1946: London is emerging from the shadow of the Second World War, and writer Juliet Ashton is looking for her next book subject. Who could imagine that she would find it in a letter from a man she's never met, a native of the island of Guernsey, who has come across her name written inside a book by Charles Lamb.

As Juliet and her new correspondent exchange letters, Juliet is drawn into the world of this man and his friends—and what a wonderfully eccentric world it is. Born as a spur-of-the-moment alibi when its members were discovered breaking curfew by the Germans occupying their island, the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society boasts a charming, funny, deeply human cast of characters, from pig farmers to phrenologists, literature lovers all.

Juliet begins a remarkable correspondence with the society's members, learning about their island, their taste in books, and the impact the recent German occupation has had on their lives. Captivated by their stories, she sets sail for Guernsey, and what she finds will change her forever.

Written with warmth and humor as a series of letters, this novel is a celebration of the written word in all its guises, and of finding connection in the most surprising ways.

I finished the book today and miss the characters already! One page made cry and the next made me laugh out loud. Such a charming book and I learned so many new things about WWII as well.

Please, do yourself a favor and rush out and buy it now.

Book List

Over on the Bossy! blog I posted a huge list of books that I read with a book club over 14 years. It is a great list.

Go to the bossy blog.
Read the list.
Leave a comment telling me what your favorite book is.

Is this bossy enough?

GoodReads

Reasons School Needs to Start in 36 hours:

1. I can't take it another day. I have reached my limit of nice mothering 24 hours a day.
2. Structure, structure, structure.
3. I can eat my favorite Oreos without sharing with the neighborhood.
4. No more late night Rock Band Parties at my house (sigh, except the weekends).
5. I can turn up my music and sing loud without Noah complaining about it.
6. Cold cereal for lunch.
7. I can read without being interrupted. Unless I am reading at the pool and you see me (All the kids are in school and it is quiet and peaceful there. Call me and I will take you as my guest.) . Go ahead and interrupt. If the book is real good I might be polite for a moment and then ignore you. If the book is a bore I will listen to all your fascinating stories.

Austin, Brody and Ike right after they interrupted me reading "Breaking Dawn" page 274.

Which brings me to my next topic. There is no reason to ever read a boring book again. I just joined Goodreads.com. It is a pretty cool sight.

Some people use the site to create an image of themselves as being real smart or edgy. I don't do that...well, maybe I did just a bit. I acted like I liked Walt Whitman's poetry...but really, I am not much of a poetry person.

You rate the books you have read so I can get on your booklist and see what your favorite books are, then I can read them. I will know if I like you if I like your book choices. OR, I might just appreciate how wonderfully different you are from me.

But this is my problem: I only have 4 friends, and dear ones they are, on the site. The more friends I have the more I can find good stuff to read. So if you are a member let me know. If you are not a member, Join Up For Crying Out Loud!

Click Here to see my Goodreads page.