Didn't see that coming...

I read a couple books a week - usually simultaneously. Yeah, now I'm just showing off (other people get stuff done - I read). This week I listened to a Thomas Perry book on CD. I like his Jane Whitefield series, which are about a woman of American Indian descent who helps people disappear. Usually they're running away from abusive marriages or the mob - that type of thing. Jane is an interesting character, very understated and thorough, and I like her Indian background and family lore.

The book I listened to on this week's trip was about different characters, though - "Night Life" starts with a beautiful young woman shooting a guy in the head. Tanya then adopts different names throughout the book, and "is" that person. Catherine - the cop chasing her is the Jane type character. We get background on both characters - I like that. How did they end up the way they are.

One thing I find interesting is that the author, a man, allows men to be portrayed as so shallow. He lets Tanya - the black widow - pick them up right and left. I began to wonder - is it really that easy for beautiful women to attract men? Can a hot chick show up at the bar and take a guy home any night she wants to? Do they buy her diamonds and fall into her web? Don't worry - Tonya got hers in the end.

The second book "Good as Gone" was by an author I'd not heard of before. It was about the kidnapping of a young child - a 5 year-old girl when her parents were visiting Paris. It reminded me of the story of the English family in Portugal or Spain that lost their daughter a few years ago. Usually kidnap stories freak me out. I have to read them quickly. This one was more like a "Taken" movie type scenario. The guy tracking her was like a younger Liam, and he winds up with a cute woman attorney helping him.

I thought I had the plot figured out...I'm pretty good at that. I started thinking the wife of the lost child had an affair and the real baby daddy had snatched the kid. But then there was a plot twist. They end up in Russia where Chernobyl fallout affected the health of everyone. It seems the pediatrician of the little kidnapped girl is there - it's a special clinic he's raised funds for to help the kids of this area. But wait, he's brought his own daughter because she's the same age as the stolen girl and - shock - she has what our son Patrick had hypoplastic left ventricle. She needs a heart transplant. The two girls have rare blood type. She needs to harvest the kidnapped girl's heart to put into his own daughter.

I break into tears! That was not expected. Did not see that coming. Just when you least expect it, your life ends up in an exciting novel.

Patrick

This novel (I know he's not real) doctor is willing to sacrifice the life of a healthy child to save his daughter who has what your baby died from. Our hero saves the day of course. He explains to the doc that it's not fair to cause Lindsay to die for the poor damaged heart girl. The doc dad kills himself. The book lost its intrigue for me. I just wanted to finish it.

With October just around the corner I've been thinking so much of my Brother-In-Law Bolder and my sis Cindo. I'm sure she'll be re-living events from a year ago. Being told Bolder's cancer was back. Learning there was no treatment, that it would be fatal.

Boldie

 

I remember sitting on a bench on Locust street during my lunch break in late October when Cindo texted to say Bolder had 10 days to live. Surreal. We gathered the troops to make the quick trip to Vail. I'm so glad we did! And the days keep passing and the seasons turn. Patrick and Bolder hanging, somehow, somewhere together.

Happy Book Lover's Day!

August 9th is when America celebrates Book Lover's Day - but that's really every day for me. And it has been ever since Miss Casey introduced me to my first Dick and Jane book in first grade at Washington Elementary in Atlantic, Iowa. I recall how delighted I was to take control of those letters - making them into words and finding meaning in them. Reading opened a whole new world for me!

The world was first - our little library of books at the Bullock house - some of the books gleaned from Momo and Bubba's attic, from the stash that had been Dads, and my Aunt Jean and Aunt Marty's.

• Happy Hollisters
• Bobbsey Twins
• Nancy Drew
• Oz Books - by Frank L. Baum
• and other assorted books - like the Grimm Fairy Tales - those were some dark stories!
• Black Beauty

After I exhausted our supply of reading material, I began to order paperbacks from the school program. They probably made a bit of money on each paperback they sold for $.45. Mom was generous - I'd get up to 10 books sometimes. I loved Encyclopedia Brown - were I got to try to solve the crime along with the boy detective.

 

Then it was on to the Atlantic Memorial Library. I'd go with Mom, who was also an avid reader, or during summer months, I enjoyed walking downtown. I'd stop at the various dime stores for candy - enough to get a big canker sore later! Pixie sticks, purple bubble gum, Lemonheads, Pez - I liked it all! Even Giant Sweet Tarts - the kind that made your tongue bleed. It's no wonder I didn't go into a diabetic coma.

Once I had my little paper sack full of sugary goodness, I'd walk a block over to the library and load up on books. They'd only let me get four, but that was about as many as I could carry! I'd plod up three blocks to 909 Poplar, where my grandparents lived. Momo would be watching her soap opera - sitting in her wingback chair. If I was lucky she'd get me an RC Cola (I'm not sure why they didn't like Coke or Pepsi), and some ice milk with Hersey Syrup from a can. Yum.

If Bubba wasn't home (he was often out putzing around the county), I might entertain myself by looking at books in the bookshelf that was built into the wall as you walked up to the scary attic. (It was scary because I was told the insulation could kill me - I thought if I stepped in it I would sink like quicksand...I know now I was probably asbestos-containing). When Bub got home, he'd drive me up Chestnut Street to our house, where I could lay on my twin bed with a reading light and eat my candy and read. Or I could sit in our formal living room that nobody used...except when Mom had bridge club. Oh, and Betsy used it for tumbling. Cindy practiced cheerleading there, and we put our Christmas tree there too. Don't get me wrong - I wasn't a total bookworm! I liked to get out and do stuff - but just like these days, I can pick up a book almost any time and be a happy girl!

My other book memories are -

• Mrs. Tibben (4th grade) and Mrs. Kluever (5th grade) reading to us after lunch - I fell in love with listening to stories thanks to them. The Secret Garden is one of my all time faves from that era.
• My Aunt Jean gave my Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (aka Willy Wonka) which also became a beloved book of mine.
• When I went to Junior High, the library there opened up my world to a new genre of book - the "Young Reader". Gwen Kluever was the librarian - she was a friend of mom's. I was a little embarrassed but still found a way to check out "My Darling My Hamburger" and other books that clued me in on what teens my age were doing and thinking (I was quite naive). Heady stuff!
• In High School, I took a course where I got points for the books I read - with more points for classics. This was when I read books like 1984.

Deb with Thea

I can't think about books without thinking of my friend Thea Applegate who passed away just over a year ago. I met her through book club more than ten years ago, and we grew to be close friends through the years. I've thought of her often this past year, and miss her laugh and her insight. She was a social worker, and was very good at reading situations and people. She also was great seeing humor in her own laugh. Here's to you booklover lady.

Want to shout out to my former book club mate (and St. Malachy mom and sports mom mate) Barb Coenen as well. Barb donated a kidney this week to a stranger, as part of a deal to allow someone she knows from Creston to get a new kidney. I've known Barb for over 20 years - she volunteers for Appalachia Service Project and makes people happy with scrapbooking. I'm proud to say she's a friend!

I went to the West DM library today to refill my supply. I get a little jittery when I'm out - books are like crack to me! I started reading a book tonight called "No Regrets Coyote". I noticed on the cover it says "A novel so good you will want to throw a party for it" - it's a quote from one of my other fave authors, Dennis Lahane (of Shutter Island fame). Liked that!

I'm going to read now...

Plagiarism

I just watched a story on plagiarism on the Sunday Morning Show. I thought I better fess up that my whole blog is plagiarized. Yep. I am stealing this stuff from some other chick who has a wierd life and thoughts...so don't blame me. Except for the stealing part. haha

Aww...I'm just teasing. You can't make this stuff up. It's my life and welcome to it. Sometimes it's funny when I start telling someone what I'm up to and they already know - because they read my blog! I'm an open book. Blog.

That happened just last night at church when my friend Cheri told me she knew we'd sold our Creston home. Before I told her in person. It will be a good way for people to keep up on what the Goldsmiths are up to...if they continue to care once we move to the big city. Now if I can just figure out a way to keep up on their lives...

Prior to moving, Paul and I are cleansing - our home of stuff we no longer want or need. I texted Amy yesterday to see if she still wants the 2 boxes of stuffed animals we had stored downstairs. She texted back, "Well I just saw Toy Story 3 so it's an even more sensitive subject than usual!" I'm sure she was half-serious. The kid loved her stuffed toys. In that movie, the little boy donates his toys to a daycare where they're doomed to the baby room and they get drooled on day after day...I split the difference and picked out a few faves and put the rest in the "give away" box.

Then it was time to go through books. Many memories there - the beloved ones I read the kids must stay. But there are others I have no emotional ties to. The back of my car is full of stuff destined for my buddy Deb to take to the staging area for the Planned Parenthood booksale. They accept videos puzzles and games too - so they're getting all our old VHS tapes. (I took some to Creston's Friends of the Library Booksale too) Disney to Adventures in Babysitting. There are many memories with the kids there too. I also bagged up all my leftover feminine hygiene products - pads/tampons to give to Deb for use at our local Planned Parenthood. Those products are expensive - no use tossing them out!

I'm keeping the Playmobiles, the Duplos and Legos and other toys that will be fun for little ones who come visit our home someday. Amy's old dolls will be there too - the American Girls and the Cabbage Patch - all well played with, complete with the little hair care kit she made. Jud's "guys" superhero plastic things and some metal vehicles will stay too. He saved the "important" to him stuff - electronic games. How sentimental!

My Sister's Keeper

Book club tonight - we read "My Sister's Keeper, " Jodi Picoult's bestselling book, that was made into a movie a couple years ago. I've not seen the movie, but I they really changed the book's ending for it.

I always have a hard time with medical stuff - ever since Patrick, our baby boy born with a heart defect. The pain from that time in my life has taken its toll on my outlook. When I watch TV, movies and even read about medical dramas I can't help but insert my feelings from my own medical drama.

The book is about a young girl who was born for the specific purpose of saving her sister's life - as her stem cells from the umbilical cord were supposed to cure her leukemia. Unfortunately it didn't work forever so ongoing sacrifices were necessary to keep her sister alive. In the book, she sues her parents for medical emancipation - so she won't have give her sister a kidney. It's a good book and the characters are believable and quite well-developed.

What a tough spot for parents to be in - one sick child, and would you want your other one to sacrifice for the one who is ill? We faced that dilema a bit with Patrick, when deciding on whether or not to pursue a heart transplant. To think of leaving our two healthy children for long periods to concentrate on Patrick and to rush to a hospital in Ohio, if he made it that long, for a heart. And we weren't sure if he had sustained brain damage from his initial crisis in Creston. And what quality of life would he have in the meantime - getting stuck with needles, on a respirator. We chose to let him go...

So after the drama of the discussion we did have some laughs at book club. The dogs (Thea has three - Peaches, Lucy and Hydrox (that's not really the 3rd one's name, but Oreo died and I never remember the new one's name...) I always like Hydrox better than Oreos anyway!

Diane told about when her son (who is now in his late 30s?) was young and saw Diane's friend breastfeeding (discreetly). He asked a series of questions so finally the friend, after asking permission showed Todd the baby and the breast. When he expressed doubt about milk coming out of there, the friend whipped the baby off the breast and shot him in the face. He walked out of the room and never discussed it! Traumatized I'm sure...

I told the story of the Mexican jumping beans that Dad got Betsy when she was with him on a Lorraine Lingerie sales trip to South Dakota. They were actually little worms inside of beans that would twitch making the beans "jump". Only they left the box in the sunny car window the next day - making them fry in the sun. Then they were Mexican resting beans.

Always there for me

I just finished listening to this book on CD. I read it a few years ago, and enjoyed hearing it read to me by an excellent reader. I love Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child books. Today I finished Preston's newest book. Funny, my sis Cindy loves these books as well. I have discovered all my sissies and I love many of the same authors.

My mother helped me gain my love for reading. She always had book nearby, and visited the library (or, as Cindo says she pronounced it - libary) often - taking me along. As children we were surrounded by beloved books - and as I blogged before, she bought us OZ books for special gifts.

So all through my life, books have been there for me. Through thick and thin! When I was a child, and got bored - I could read and re-read the books we had in the house. And then, when my parents began to be the Bickersons (that's what Cindo called them when they argued), I could retire to my room with a book - and lose track of time and the scary reality of them fighting.

In fact, even today I get a little panicky if I don't have a book around - and one to read after I'm done with that one. I take my book to work each day to read at lunch. That way when I don't even leave my cubicle, I get away! (I have a backup book, one I own in my file cabinet in case I forget my current book.) I read my current book at night too, in bed. Reading fictions relaxes me.

When I go to Jason's Deli, during my lonely weeknights in DM, I take my book in to read while I wait for my food and while I eat. I might not have any friends to eat with, but my book keeps me company.

Books - thanks for always being there for me. And thanks for paving my way to meet other book lovers like the Book Chicks!

My love affair

I confess I’ve had a lifelong love affair – with books. We had many books when I was growing up. Our house, which was built by my mom’s father, had built-in bookcases and they were filled with the things. Mom made a practice of giving us books she had loved in her childhood. Her special favorites were L. Frank Baum books, the most famous was The Wizard of Oz. Oz characters Dorothy, Toto, Button Bright, Tik Tok, Woozy, and the Wizard were good and loyal friends of mine. I read those books time and time again. The beautiful ink-drawing artwork helped me bond with my friends.

My mother and many other moms took advantage of “story time” at the Atlantic library. The librarian read or played LP recordings of books like Dr. Suess’s Yertle the Turtle and other classics. When I was a kid, my neighbor Laurie and I would walk downtown – some 7 blocks all downhill. We’d stop at Bonneson’s Five & Dime or Ben Franklin to select candy. For less than a dollar I’d get bag of purple gumballs, PixieStix, Lemonheads, little wax bottles of colored sugar water, Sweet Tarts - and canker sores.

Then we’d walk to the library where I’d get my limit of 4 books. (That was before backpacks were invented so I had to carry them stacked on my arm.) I’d often then walk to my grandparent’s house, just 3 blocks from the library. My grandma, who we called Momo, would make me ice milk (fewer calories than ice cream?) with Hershey’s syrup. Grandpa (Bubba) would deliver me home in his VW Beetle. I’d read my books and eat candy – talk about hog heaven!

Each week I’d scope out the Nancy Drew books - the ones with the yellow jackets – at Rex Pharmacy downtown. My grandparents had Dad’s sisters (my aunts’) old books at my grandparent’s house – stored in their scary attic. Bobbsey Twins, Hardy Boys and more. I wanted to be one of the Happy Hollisters.

Except for my college years, when I kept busy reading text books and drinking beer, I've had a novel or two to read at all times. Then a few years ago, Deb and I decided we wanted to start a reading discussion group. Not the kind of book club that reports to the newspaperlisting who gave book reports. The fun kind where you meet other people who also have an on-going love affair with books.

So I put a couple fliers up at Matilda Gibson. It's our library in Creston. I know - most people have a Carnegie. We have Matilda. A few people called and slowly we put together a fine group of ladies I have grown to love. Not one guy yet, but who knows~!

Thea has named herself permanent hostess, which is grand because she lives in a grand house with three grand dames - dogs who greet us like long lost friends each time we visit. Peaches is crotch high which makes greetings quite intimate. Thea's house has a pool, which is lovely to sit by, or even get in, during summer months. Sometimes we even talk about books!

We mostly get them through the library via inter-library loan. It costs each of us $1.25 each month. I try to find discussion questions to get us started on discussions at meetings. We all suggest books to get, and I keep a spreadsheet to get to the library ladies to order. There have been some gems through the years and some bombs. Nobody feels bad if they didn't read the book. They come anyway, just to hang out with the cool book ladies!

Gotta go - there are so many books, so little time!