The King of Torts

The King of Torts by John Grisham
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

There's nothing like a Grisham to grab your attention from the first page, and keep you turning them. This one is about Clay Carter, a young public defender in Washington DC who becomes the King of Torts and extremely wealthy in a very short period of time. I learned a lot about Tort law(I didn't even know what that was) and human nature. This book is a study of the power of greed and it's destructive force. Though not my favorite of Grisham's books (I didn't really connect with the main character,) it was an enjoyable read.

View all my reviews

I Capture the Castle

I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I can't imagine why this book isn't wildly popular. My niece, Melanie found it on a list of books with great opening lines: "I write this, sitting in the kitchen sink." It is the journal of Cassandra, a seventeen- year-old girl in the 1930's, who lives with her destitute family in an ancient, dilapidated castle in England. Her relentless ambition is to "capture" the castle in which they live and her family members in her writing. As it turns out, she does a pretty good job of that, but mostly, she captures herself and allows the reader to know her intimately and watch her grow up in the course of her year-long journal writing. Though her circumstances are anything but delightful (she's hungry, cold, has a dysfunctional family), Cassandra is a delightful, funny, and believable child who we watch evolve into a woman.
This book is a lot more than just description and character analysis, though. It comes complete with adventure, romance, joy, sorrow, and even a "made-for-movies" chase scene.
And now, here I find myself trying to "capture" this book in writing this review (though I'm in a soft computer chair- not with my feet in a kitchen sink!) I see your struggle, Cassandra. This is hard! Okay, here's my attempt at "capturing" this book: It's "Jane Eyre" meets "Little Women" meets "Pride and Prejudice"(which, in all honesty, I haven't actually read, but I've seen both versions of the movie more than once. I know- I need to READ it!) meets "The Glass Castle." If you liked those books, you'll probably like this one.

View all my reviews

What We Did Today . . .

What I Need to do Next . . .

August

Since our last vacation, Ken's entered his audit busy season at work, and I've entered my music busy season at home. I lead the ward choir, a women's group called Keynotes, and I teach voice lessons. We take a summer break for choir and started back up on August 15th. Keynotes start next week. With both groups, I have to listen to, choose, study, order and prepare lots of music for the "season"- through Christmas. I started voice lessons this week. So, I had to ban myself from blogging to get that all done. Well, and we haven't done anything too exciting. We did go to the Shakespeare Festival twice. First, we saw "The 39 Steps," an Alfred Hitchcock spoof which was hilarious and so well done. Then, for our anniversary we ended the evening back there at the festival and saw the musical "Great Expectations." It was SO good. We spent that day in the mountains, and had dinner at our favorite place at the mouth of Cedar Canyon, Rusty's. The Coconut Shrimp there is worth the drive.

Last weekend, Pam and I traveled to Patty's to have a short sister retreat. Joan came from Boise. Patty prepared a nice lunch for us on Friday, then we went shopping in Salt Lake- my first IKEA experience. We had a delicious Thai dinner, then Red Mango which IS practically health food. On Saturday, we had a delightful ancestor tea party with all the girls in the family who could come. They all brought delicious goodies. It was so fun to see everyone. I love those girls- big and small. Us old sisters (sorry!) shared memories of Grandma and Grandma Gabrielsen after the tea party. . . lest we forget!

It was such a fun, little trip. As we left town on Saturday (I told you it was short,) Pam and I bought corn and tomatoes that have been SO good all week. We've had corn every night and I made Summer Tomatoes with those delicious tomatoes. I should post that recipe. Those are my favorite summer treat. We've enjoyed peaches from our own tree, and our second one is just coming on. Time to bottle!

While I was gone, Ken gathered a group for a day hike on his favorite Whipple Trail on Pine Valley Mountain. They had a great time. Ken's brother, Don went and our niece, Melanie along with friends from the ward, Kurtis and Steve . They had a great time and even found where one of the aforementioned carved their name in a tree up there years ago. We won't say who!

So there you have it, August in a nutshell or a peachskin or something.

Cedar Mountain

We stopped to look at this little cabin that was for sale. It was a no.

Grouse on our property on Cedar Mountain

We stopped at our mountain property to dream about having a cabin there. This would be our view!

At the Shakespeare Festival (though we didn't actually see any Shakespeare plays) That's us with Will.

Sisters at Patty's ( I know! Look at that lunch!)

Sister Thai Dinner

Red Mango

Tea Party!

Princess Lucy

Princess shoes

Patty, Pam, Kay, and Joan

The girl cousins

Their mommy's: Tricia, Sara, Kelly, Allison

Allison, Eleanor, Joan, Sara, and Zachy (he was the only boy there)

Precious Penny in the Envelope

I was doing some cleaning and straightening today and found the envelope Brielle and Nathan sent with a thank you note from Nathan for his birthday gifts and a cute note and picture from Brielle. We so enjoyed those pictures and notes when they came a month or so ago. I don't know why I even kept the envelope. It should have been thrown away. As I went to do so today, I felt something heavy and hard in there. Upon investigation I found a penny nestled down in the corner. I burst into tears. Something about knowing that Brielle or Nathan (I don't know which) was thinking of us and wanted to give us what they had to give really touched me. That little penny is worth far more than that to me. It's precious!

Tea Time For the Traditionally Built

Tea Time for the Traditionally Built by Alexander McCall Smith
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Need a break from real life, but can't go on a vacation right now? Then do the next best thing and pick up "The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency" (book 1 in the series) or which ever one is "next" for you. This one is #10 in the series. I think I've read eight of them. If you love action adventure thrillers, then these books are NOT for you. But if you love quiet, character-driven, subtly humorous books, then this delightful series set in Botswana, South Africa are the perfect "vacation" for you. Much like the Ramona Quimby series for children (I've said for years these are among my favorite books), or Jan Karon's Mitford series, these books are modern fiction about day to day life. Their focus is on their delightful characters (who before long become the reader's dear friends) and their day to day adventures, challenges, interactions, and dreams. Being "traditionally built" myself, I especially love the leading lady of the series, Mma Ramotswa. I can't wait to read #11. The television series based on these books, season one now available on DVD, is also wonderful. The casting is fabulous and the setting, authentic.

View all my reviews