A Different Way of Reading...

Almost finished with Hemingway's Farewell to Arms... "reading" an audio book has been my salvation to continuing walking as my daily exercise routine. After 20+ years of walking the same streets, roads, paths, etc-- I've run out of new and different places to walk. Last year I began to understand what those poor little experimental rodents walking in their circular wire cages must have felt like! I quit walking and how quickly a few pounds crept into this body!!! I needed enthusiasm, and I required support because my will was lacking. Not that I have much more of those right now, but at least looking forward to the next chapter provides some incentive! This old classic book, (the version read by John Slattery) has made walking worthwhile-- as the story is set in a simpler time-- WWI. It's a classic story line-- soldier gets injured, meets English nurse, falls in love, and they run away together. Even though the story line is not unusual (after all, wasn't it Aristotle who said there were really only 7 storylines in the human condition?)it's the details in the descriptions of scenes and characters that carry the reader along. There is no such thing as rushing through this book to get to the bottom line-- it's one to be savored and reflected upon.

Tales of A Female Nomad

This is one I read just a few weeks ago-- accidentally came across this book (and opened up a whole new genre of book reading-- travel books!) while spending some quality time with my daughter in a Barnes and Noble sipping cappuchino. Tales of a Female Nomad by Rita Golden Gelman was a wonderful respite from my own busy life. The book chronicles a real-life story of a 48 year old woman who decided to embark on an adventure and wound up backpacking through Mexico and Central America. She originally intended this adventure to be only several months long; instead this became an 8 year lifestyle in which she lived in Bali, Indonesia, New Guinea, etc. Oh- and no surpise here-- she also wound up divorced in the process. Her descriptions of learning to adapt to life in other cultures are priceless. At one point she became the advisor and confidante of a king (real life- no kidding!!!) of a small tribe in Bali. However, be forewarned-- for anyone contemplating this lifestyle just know that she had plenty of money from both her previous lifestyle and her income from the children's books she has been writing over the years. Alas, those of us who must duke it out on a day to day basis must enjoy exploring the world vicariously (with a nice cool glass of chardonnay!)...

Just Finished Reading...

Lunch+in+Paris.jpg">Lunch in Paris by Elizabeth Bard. OK- honesty check here-- this was really my daughter's find and I stole it from her long enough to read it. Who doesn't love Paris? Even if you've never been there it's fun to imagine being in Paris. This book was a lovely trip to Paris through the eyes of an American who fell in love with a Frenchman and French food. This book is a combination love story and recipe book. It's an easy read and a fun escape-- now I'm ready to try my hand at a few of those recipes... which inspired me to make brownies out of a box (oh sacre blue!) but it's all I had in the cabinet. Besides, in an effort to clean out the pantry (the youngest child moved back home after graduating from college with more food staples than I moved half-way across the country after she was born!!) I made brownies last night but the husband thought they were too "chocolatty." Those were Ghiradello. Tonight I made the Hershey triple chocolate brownies. The verdict? Husband likes Hershey's brownies better. And me? I've concluded that don't even like brownies!