REVIEW: Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk by Ben Fountain

Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk
Ben Fountain
Kindle edition (borrowed from library)

Click the image to go to the Goodreads page for the synopsis. It’s kind of hard for me to summarize this without being too trivial or too in-depth.

This is another book toward the Tournament of Books.

The entire book takes place during the Dallas Cowboys/Chicago Bears Thanksgiving day football game but Billy has flashbacks so the reader sees more than just the one day.

It was a good story but I’m not sure I feel about the writing and the book in general.  The style of it made me think of the “free writing” exercises I used to do in a creative writing class in high school, where we would just write the first things that came into our heads, no matter if they made sense or not.  Not that the book didn’t make sense, it made perfect sense, but I guess I mean more of the flow of the story. I’m still processing it.

There were some parts that I felt so bad for the Bravo Squad; like seriously? Do you not realize that a halftime show with fireworks and smoke and pyrotechnics and loud bangs might have a negative effect on these young guys fresh back from war who are on their way back??  Talk about early onset PTSD. As the Goodreads synopsis says, it is definitely a heartbreaking story.  I think this may be one of those stories that I’ll randomly find myself thinking of weeks or months from now.

The narrator’s voice is one I’ve never really read before; one that grew up quickly on the battlefield and is learning life’s hard truths; the voice of a young guy quite literally forced into the situation.

Sorry for the half-assed “review”; I definitely need more time to process.

Pet Bed Cover

We’ve had the same pet bed cover for quite a while now on Sonny’s nighttime bed (he has a second bed in our living room in the window sill) so during our travels yesterday, I stopped at Joann’s to grab some fabric and a zipper to make a new cover.

We had seen a cute pawprint fabric the last time we were at Joann’s, so I decided to use that.  I was a little nervous to work with it since it was fleece and I know knit materials can be tricky for sewing newbies (and I definitely still consider myself one!)  But I tried it anyway.  (Worst case scenario, the pillow case doesn’t work, but the material could be used  as a blanket, right?)

I used a nylon plastic zipper instead of the polyester zipper I’ve used a couple of times before (recommended by one of the employees in Joann’s) so it was bigger than I’m used to using, and I ended up breaking one of my machine needles (yikes!), so I just hand stitched one end of the zipper.  Altogether, the zipper came out a little wonky, but it is definitely functional, so I’ll let it go.

I followed the zippered pillow instructions from my sewing class last year, which were helpful. It took me a couple of hours to do, from measuring and cutting to stuffing the pillow in.  The size is slightly smaller than the one that came with the pillow, but that’s better because it made the bed a bit more fluffed up (it was getting a bit flat).  I’m pleased with the overall outcome (and I think Sonny likes it, too!).

Monthly Wrap Up: January 2013

I’ve decided to do my monthly wrap up a little differently than I did last year.  Very basic, so it won’t take up as much time to write.  My goal is to post it the last day of every month.

Number of books read: 6
Favorite book of the month: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrow

Number of reading challenges completed: 0
(To be expected since it’s only January!)

Number of sewing projects completed: 2
Favorite sewing project of the month: Colette Sorbetto Tank Top

REVIEW: Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace With Marriage by Elizabeth Gilbert

Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace With Marriage
Elizabeth Gilbert
Kindle edition (borrowed from library)

I was expecting this to be more like Eat, Pray, Love but right from the get-go Gilbert tells us it won’t be the same.  Where EPL was more about her inward journey (even though she was literally traveling), Committed was more focused on her research about marriage and her particular situation.

I first started reading this book in November 2012, and got 25% through it before my Kindle (keyboard edition) crapped out on me.  I borrowed this from the library, so I had to return it via Amazon and didn’t get a new Kindle until the Paperwhite as a Christmas gift (I love it!).  Fortunately, I was able to pick up around the 25% mark with a fairly decent memory of the beginning.

There were some interesting facts in there and you can tell that when she researches something she really goes all out.  She discusses the history of marriage, all of its incarnations, all of its ups and downs, the fights, the need for it, the reason for it, the social perceptions, and everything in between.  She does talk about her fear of marriage and perhaps she was either hoping to confirm her fears or expel them.

One thing I like about her is that she really wants and likes to learn.  She’ll seek out information anywhere and in any way she can; I admire that.

If you want a general history of marriage, go ahead and read it.  If you’re looking for something similar to EPL, you won’t find it here.

WWW Wednesday (14)

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading.  Click the image to be taken to MizB’s WWW post for today.  To play along, answer the following three questions and share a link to your post in the comments on her page. If you don’t have a blog, feel free to leave your WWW right in the comments.

What are you currently reading?
Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk by Ben Fountain

What did you recently finish reading?
Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace With Marriage by Elizabeth Gilbert (author of Eat, Pray Love) – review to be posted later this week.

What do you think you’ll read next?
Another of the Tournament books became available at the library, The Orphan Master’s Son by Adam Johnson, so I’ll read that next.

With My Reading Buddy #9

So today did not pan out for reading.  I alerted the program coordinator that I might be a few minutes late due to a meeting set up.  (As an admin, I sometimes have to help set up a meeting, making sure all the technology is good to go).  So we go to the room and there’s no projector. Oh, by the way, the meeting was in a different building from where I sit.  So I had to go back to my building to grab a projector, then go back to the meeting room and set up the projector, which had a minor difficulty but was sorted out.  Then I trucked on over to the school (a little more than a 10 minute walk).  As I walked in the door the program coordinator approached me and told me he wasn’t in school today.  She didn’t find out until the last minute because the teacher hadn’t turned in the attendance sheet.  So I walked on back to work.

I was so looking forward to saying that we finally finished the scary stories book. (I even had a draft of this post that opened up with: We FINALLY finished that scary stories book! Huzzah! - Imagine my disappointment when I had to delete it!)

A few weeks ago I went through the book bin at the school and picked out about a half dozen other books that we could read, and we talked about them last week and decided to keep them all in our folder.  So, now I’ll look forward to finishing the scary book next week and start something more entertaining.

Earlier in the month we had a session to meet with the teachers to learn a bit more about our student and if there were any specific we should focus on during our sessions.  Unfortunately, my student’s teacher was out that day, so I got to sit in with a different teacher.  I learned that they’re studying medieval history (You’re probably thinking What? In 3rd grade? I was thinking the same thing).  And I also learned that the 3rd and 4th graders have reading buddies in the kindergarten class…how cute is that?  I never knew that, so I talked to A about it the next time I saw him and he didn’t seem to be too excited about it, but I’m not sure why.

Also, January was reading mentor appreciation month.

Onward to February! —>

Colette Sorbetto Tank Top

I saw the Colette Sorbetto Tank Top pattern over at beautifully sewn a couple of weeks ago. I thought it was cute and when I saw it was free, I went ahead and printed it out.  When I went to Joann’s to buy the fabric for my dress a couple of weeks ago, I also bought some fun fabric for this tank:

Keepsake Calico

I thought doing this before diving into the more complicated dress would be a good idea.  Get some practice with darts and whatnot.

My measurements spread over a few different sizes based on the Colette sizing charts so I chose the middle size. Last weekend, I started by making a mock first, using leftover fabric from my small (but growing) stash.  Because I had to put both pieces of the pattern on the fold, I ended up having to use two different colors, so don’t mind that funny bit. When I put it on, I noticed that one dart was about 1/2″ longer than the other, so I made a note and planned to be extra careful when making the real thing.  The mock-up fit well, just seemed a bit short, so I added the line for three sizes up on the bottom back to the pattern (since that one was more appropriate for my hip size anyway!)

Then this weekend, I finally dove into the real thing with the real fabric.  I worked slowly to make sure that I didn’t screw anything up. This probably took me about 6-7 hours to complete over 2 days.  The first day I did all the pattern cutting, and went all the way up to attaching the front and back together.  The next day I did the bias tape at the neck and arm holes and then the hemming.

I feel like this one looks more yellow than it really is (maybe it’s because the walls in the room are yellow? Or maybe there are more yellow dots than grey ones).

Ta da!

So here’s a shot against a white door. A bit less yellow, but I feel like the image isn’t all that clear.  I’ll figure out better ways to take pictures….

I ended up re-doing one of the darts 4 times because the first time I went completely off the line, the second time the dart was too long, the third time the thread got all bunched, but the fourth time worked!

This was the second time I worked with bias tape.  I followed the directions on how to attach and I must say, though it was more time-consuming, it was definitely better than when I did it on the changing pads.

My edgestiching needs some practice, but overall I’m pretty happy with the turnout. The material still seems a little stiff (it’s 100% cotton).  But the pajama pants I made in my sewing class last summer were made of the same type of fabric and after a few washings they softened up, so I’m hoping it’s the same for this shirt.

By the way: I LOVE MY ROTARY CUTTER!  Mark got me one for Christmas and I absolutely love it. It works so well.  It takes less time to cut the fabric and the edges are straighter and there’s less fraying (at least first…)

Anywho, hooray for me for finishing my first top without an instructor!  I feel more confident in my abilities but I understand that I have a long way to go. I still have TONS to learn, especially about fabrics, but I know I’ll get there

REVIEW: The Many Lives of Lilith Lane – Episode V

Related Posts
Episode I
Episode II
Episode III
Episode IV

This is a review of the fifth installment of E. V. Anderson’s The Many Lives of Lilith Lane.

A bit more than a month passed between my reading of the 4th and 5th installments and that was my fault.  I thought I let Jenny (from Plympton) know that I was ready for the last installment and discovered the other day that I never sent her an email!  So she was very quick to respond once I emailed her (thanks Jenny!). I had to re-read the last couple of pages of the 4th installment to re-orient myself (luckily, I remembered well enough afer that brief recap).

My questions noted in the other reviews were answered; whew!

However, I was left with a few questions at the end of the last installment; it ends on a cliffhanger-like ending!  Dun dun dun! This series could definitely continue and I wonder if there is any plan for more; I would be interested in reading more about Lilith and her adventures. I’ll have to ask Jenny.

I believe this was the shortest installment of the bunch (or else it just seemed that way), but it was action packed.  There were a few things that tied in together that I would not have guessed, and they worked; at least the story was neater and not as far-fetched as it could have been (that is, if you can call a book that talks about literally jumping into alternate realities not far-fetched).  It’s confusing for Lilith (and perhaps the reader) to keep track of how the people act and the different relationships in each reality, so I guess we’re lucky to have only seen 2 different realities (I’d like to say “for now” because I think if this series continued we should definitely see other realities!)

Would you be interested in reading a serialized novel?  What if that novel was “never-ending”? (By never-ending I mean, there is no set number of installments and they could continue for as long as the author(s) wanted to write.)

WWW Wednesday (13)

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading.  Click the image to be taken to MizB’s WWW post for today.  To play along, answer the following three questions and share a link to your post in the comments on her page. If you don’t have a blog, feel free to leave your WWW right in the comments.

What are you currently reading?
Alternating between Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace with Marriage by Elizabeth Gilbert & Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card

What did you recently finish reading?
11/22/63 by Stephen King

What do you think you’ll read next?
I’m hoping that some of the books for the Tournament of Books that I’m waiting for from the library will be available soon.  From the looks of the waitlist at the library, Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk by Ben Fountain should be next!  We’ll see.

REVIEW: 11/22/63 by Stephen King

 11/22/63
Stephen King
Hardcover edition

Synopsis: Jake Epping is a Maine high school teacher in 2011.  A friend of his shows him a “rabbit hole” to 1958 and encourages him to jump into 1958 in order to prevent the assassination of JFK in 1963.  Jake would have to stay in the past (“The Land of Ago” as he calls it) as George Amberson for 5 years to complete that task, but when he returns to 2011, only 2 minutes will have passed but he will have aged 5 years (a quirk of the rabbit hole). Every time he comes back through the rabbit hole and goes through again, a “reset” happens and he goes back to the same day in 1958. 11/22/63 covers Jake’s 5 years in the past, with all the obstacles he needs to overcome in order to succeed in his mission.  But when that mission is over, what will the future look like?

This is a loong book, clocking in at 849 pages.  But of course, we all know King is extremely well-known for the length of his books and the attention to detail he includes in them.  There were a LOT of details in this book and so much happened over the course of the 5 years, that when Jake/George mentions/notices a similarity to an occurance much earlier in the book, I didn’t always remember it right away.  Or the names seemed vaguely familiar, but until Jake/George specifically mentioned it, I wouldn’t remember exactly what part of the story I had heard that name before.  Overall, this was a good story and I read the book in about a week. I thought the premise of the story was a good one, having been intrigued by time travel and how it would affect the traveler’s present day/future for a long time now.

During my reading, a number of questions were raised: If Jake decided to stay in the past, what would happen when it was time for him to be born?  Would he still be born and then there would be two Jake Eppings in the world?  Did everything Jake do have a direct effect on how the future changes?  Obviously, he meets a bunch of people, so does meeting those people change the course of history? (nevermind his objective, because clearly saving the president’s life is a huge game changer).  Can one person, making even a small change (like buying a car for example), have a significant effect on history and thus the future?

Some of these questions are answered by the end of the book.

I thought the ending was kind of disappointing, but it made sense. I thought it could have gotten a little too sci-fi towards the end with the explanation of the rabbit hole (I know, I know: how can I complain about “too sci-fi” when the book is about time travel?), but it made sense, too.

One thing I hope never to hear again though, is that “the past is obdurate” or that “the past harmonizes”.  I wish I had read this on my Kindle just so I could see how many times both of those sentences were said, it was seriously getting on my nerves.

I definitely liked this book more than Under the Dome, but not as much as IT or The Eyes of the Dragon (two of my favorite SK – and all-time – books).

And Sew Begins the Dress…

In a recent post I told you all about the dress pattern that I wanted to use.  Well, today I did step 2 of the process (and what some people consider one of the more difficult steps): I picked out and purchased my fabric! (and of course, I bought the rest of the things I needed too!)

a fun summery dress print
Keepsake Calico – Jovial Azure

I’m very excited and a bit nervous to start.  I think I’m going to start by practicing darts on some scrap fabric to make sure I do it right.  And I’m going to make a mock-up of the bust first using some plain white cotton I have as well (thanks to everyone who posted suggestions in my other post).

I washed the fabric this afternoon, so I’ll be good to go.   I have one question though, for anyone who has worked with a liner (or even with just this particular pattern):  do you have to wash the liner too?  I know we wash the fabric first just in case of shrinkage, but does that happen to the liner too?

REVIEW: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows

 The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows
Kindle edition (borrowed from library)

Brief synopsis: It’s 1946 and World War II has just ended.  Juliet Ashton wrote a column for a local newspaper to help people get through the War; making them chuckle (or even outright laugh) during a time that no one thought any happy emotions would survive. When Juliet is offered a 3-installment “article” for the paper about the effect reading has on people, she is stumped what to write about.  Then she receives a letter in the mail from Dawsey Adams, a man from Guernsey who reached out to her when he found her name and address in a book he bought.  From there they begin a correspondence and she learns much about him and his friends on the island.  Moreover, she learns about their “literary society” and  she discovers a strong and close-knit group of people who survived the Occupation.  She travels to Guernsey to meet these people, wanting to learn more about them, and along the way learns more about herself.

What a charming and delightful cast of characters!  All were so well written and full realized.  I didn’t think any of them were flat.  Witty and smart Juliet, shy and caring Dawsey, loopy and eccentric Isola, sweet and sincere little Kit, lovely Amelia and the rest of the cast were just terrific characters.

The book is written through letters, which can be difficult, but it works here. After reading this, I want a pen pal again! (I had one around the time I started high school.  She was from Zimbabwe and we wrote back and forth for almost 5 years, sending each other little trinkets: pictures, puzzles, etc. I bet I still have all of her letters somewhere…

These people are so sincere and care a great deal for each other.  The story can be quite humorous (I almost always had a little smile on my face when I read a letter from Isola, or a scene in which she appeared.  For example, she got a book on phrenology and started “reading” the lumps and bumps on people’s heads. After reading Juliet’s head, she wrote a letter to Juliet’s dear friend – and publisher - and told him: “I told her it was a wonder she wasn’t married, with such great mounds.” – I don’t think she even realized what she was saying..)  But there were also some very serious, and very sad parts (I won’t lie, I may have teared up in a few places), when talking about the Occupation and how it affected people: parents sending their children to England and being separated for 5 years, deaths, concentration camps, starving, being kicked out of their homes by the German soldiers.. the list could go on.  Despite all of that against them, the members of the Literary Society persevered, stayed together and helped each other through this tough time when they had absolutely no contact with the world beyond their island.

Their Society introduced reading to an audience who hadn’t read books beyond school, or rarely did so.  It brought them distraction in the best sense of the word. They learned to love certain stories, authors, genres and loved to talk and argue and discuss things with each other.  People who had been merely neighbors became good, lifelong friends.

I wholeheartedly enjoyed this book and definitely recommend it.  It’s a quick read (I think that’s due in part to the letter format but also because of the story).  The ending is a bit predictable (maybe not how it gets there, though), but that didn’t take away from the story for me.

 

REVIEW: The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

The Song of Achilles
Madeline Miller
Kindle edition (borrowed from library)

Goodreads Synopsis: click the picture for the synopsis.  It’s really long and I didn’t want to take up a lot of space on here.

Having been a student of Latin for 5 years, I’ve heard, read, and/or translated a lot of the Greek/Roman myths and legends.  I learned about many of the gods and goddesses and the epic tales.  However, Achilles was never one that I learned a whole lot about.  I knew the gist of his story, and that he was one of the “bad guys” in the Trojan War (of course, it all depends on which side you were on!).  Maybe I would have learned more about him if I had taken Greek in my last year of high school (instead of not taking any language…but I digress.)

Miller says she was influenced by Homer’s Iliad rather than other versions of Achilles’ myth (for example, we are probably most familiar with the “Achilles heel” and that only his heels were vulnerable and thus his downfall; this was not how Homer wrote him, so this was not how he was portrayed in this novel).

Patroclus narrates the novel and it’s a very interesting voice.  I never really knew anything about this character, so I was glad this was from his point of view. In that time, he would have been considered a coward, and in some instances, perhaps he was.  Maybe having Achilles’ strength and lack of fear around him made him a stronger person in other aspects of his life.  But he was a good man, even if he wasn’t a fighter.  He was smart and caring. While Homer barely hints at the whisper of a romantic relationship between the Patroclus and Achilles, Miller leaves no room for doubt.  It was a touching relationship.  This story, their story, was one of love, strength, death and most importantly Fate.  Can Fate be thwarted? (or I guess in this case, can the Fates?)

I really enjoyed this book and definitely recommend it.  It was a quick read and there weren’t really any dull parts that I just wanted to get through. Many of the names were familiar (like Menelaus, Agamemnon, Hector, Paris, Helen, Priam, etc.) but it was interesting to see them from the Greek side instead of the Trojan side of things.  (However, in the Trojan war battle scenes, I kept picturing Brad Pitt from the terrible movie adaptation, Troy, as he was leaping through the air to attack his enemies…gosh that was an awful movie, I can’t believe I saw that in the movie theatre… nerd problems?).

I think it’s safe to say my reading of the finalists in the Tournament of Books is off to a good start!

WWW Wednesday (12)

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading.  Click the image to be taken to MizB’s WWW post for today.  To play along, answer the following three questions and share your post in the comments on her page.

What are you currently reading?
11/22/63 by Stephen King

What did you recently finish reading?
The Song of Achilles, by Madeline Miller  I enjoyed this book.  I’ll be posting my review of it tomorrow.

What do you think you’ll read next?
Hmmm. I’m on the waiting list for half a dozen digital books from the library, so I’m hoping one of those will come up soon.  I’m thinking it’s probably going to be The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society – Mary Ann Shaffer.  (Hey, isn’t that the name of Mary Ann in the Baby-Sitters Club books?  Oh wait, was that Dawn Shaffer?…oh, it’s spelled different – Schafer…it’s Mary Ann Spier, btw — and the BSC has absolutely nothing to do with this book.)

It’s here!

The other day I purchased my first dress pattern, which is my sewlution for this year.  The pattern arrived in the mail today.  Hooray!

pretty dress!

I’m excited to start, but super intimidated.  I’ll just have to take this one slowly, and you can be sure I’ll be posting questions!  And here’s my first one: do you do “mock ups” using muslin first? (Are they called mock-ups?)

I’m thinking of making View A and in a solid color, maybe navy or a dark purple?