• 2021

    My top 10 favs of 2021: A year spent reading, watching and listening to stories

    December 5, 2021 / No Comments

    During 2021, I consumed 61 books, 48 TV programs, 60 movies and many podcasts. These were my favorites:

    (Note: Not all were released during the past 365 days.)

     

    MY FAVORITE BOOKS – FICTION
     

    Blacktop Wasteland1. “Blacktop Wasteland” by S.A. Cosby

    2. “Bella Bella” by Harvey Fierstein

    3. “The Last Flight” by Julie Clark

    4. “The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue” by V.E. Schwab

    5. “Bottle Demon” by Stephen Blackmoore

    6. “Fire Season” by Stephen Blackmoore

    7. “Later” by Stephen King

    8. “Billy Summers” by Stephen King

    9. “The Last Bookshop in London” by Madeline Martin

    10. “Unclean Spirits” by Chuck Wendig

    (Honorable mentions: “Project Hail Mary” by Andy Weir, “Falling” by T.J. Newman, “The Midnight Library” by Matt Haig and “Marigolds, Myrtle and Moles: A Gardener’s Bedside Book” by Alan Titchmarsh.)

     

    MY FAVORITE BOOKS – NONFICTION
     

    1. Fuzz“Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law” by Mary Roach

    2. “The Detective in the Dooryard: Reflections of a Maine Cop” by Timothy A. Cotton

    3. “Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President” by Candice Millard

    4. “The Hotel: A Week In The Life Of The Plaza” by Sonny Kleinfield

    5. “Mortuary Confidential: Undertakers Spill the Dirt” by Todd Harra and Ken McKenzie

    6. “You’re Lucky You’re Funny: How Life Becomes a Sitcom” by Phil Rosenthal

    7. “The Rural Diaries: Love, Livestock, and Big Life Lessons Down on Mischief Farm” by Hilarie Burton Morgan

    8. “When Women Invented Television: The Untold Story of the Female Powerhouses Who Pioneered the Way We Watch Today” by Jennifer Keishin Armstrong

    9. “Books” by Larry McMurtry

    10. “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” by Rebecca Skloot

    (Honorable mentions: “Spying on Whales: The Past, Present, and Future of Earth’s Most Awesome Creatures” by Nick Pyenson, “Part of Our Lives: A People’s History of the American Public Library” by Wayne A. Wiegand, “Haunted Hillsborough County” by Eric Stanway, “What Fresh Hell Is This?: Perimenopause, Menopause, Other Indignities, and You” by Heather Corinna, “The Experts’ Guide to 100 Things Everyone Should Know How to Do” by Samantha Ettus, “American Sherlock: Murder, Forensics, and the Birth of American CSI” by Kate Winkler Dawson and “The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements” by Sam Kean)

    Overall reading ratio: I read 18,452 pages — 65% fiction, 35% nonfiction; 53% male authors, 47% female authors.

     

     

    MY FAVORITE TV SHOWS
    GBBO

    1. The Great British Baking Show

    2. Gardeners’ World

    3. Love Your Garden

    4. Ted Lasso

    5. The Repair Shop

    6. Escape to the Country

    7. America’s Test Kitchen — At Home

    8. The Morning Show

    9. Evil

    10. Grow Your Own At Home With Alan Titchmarsh

    (Honorable mentions: I’ll Be Gone In The Dark, Staged, Grand Designs, Active Shooter: America Under Fire, For All Mankind, Lovecraft Country, WandaVision, Travelers, Nadiya Bakes, Bridgerton, The Hot Zone, Punisher, Ghosts, Ghosts (UK version), Falcon and the Winter Soldier, The Outsider, The Witcher, Altered Carbon, Chicago Med and Alpha Dogs.)

     

    MY FAVORITE MOVIES
     

    1. Nomadland

    2. One Night In Miami

    3. Love, Gilda

    4. Gunpowder Milkshake

    5. Four Hours at the Capitol

    6. Studs Terkel: Listening to America

    7. The Last Cruise

    8. The Phone Call

    9. The Aeronauts

    10. Soul

    (Honorable mentions: Dune, A Quiet Place Part II, Red Notice, Black Widow, Jungle Cruise, 76 Days, Shang Chi and the Legend of the 10 Rings, Fear Street Part 3: 1666, Greenland, Luca, Fear Street: Part 2 – 1978, Fear Street: Part 1 – 1994, Verify Road Trip: Climate Skeptic Examines What Scientists Know And How They Know It.)

     

    MY FAVORITE PODCASTS
     

    Vinyl Cafe1. The Vinyl Cafe

    2. Small Town Dicks

    3. Against the Rules

    4. BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine Podcast

    5. Lost At the Smithsonian with Aasif Mandvi

    6. Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me!

    7. Backstory

    8. Awards Chatter

    9. Sidedoor

    10. The Anthropocene Reviewed

    (Honorable mentions: 99% Invisible, Radiolab, Christmas Past, Sue Perkins: An Hour Or So With…., David Tennant Does a Podcast With…, The Christmas Stocking, Fresh Air, Clear + Vivid With Alan Alda, The Daily, Beautiful/Anonymous, Dear Hank & John and Mobituaries With Mo Rocca.)

  • “We read to know we’re not alone.”

    September 13, 2021 / 1 Comment

    One night, I sat in a bookstore and cried.

    I was reading Jim DeFede’s wonderful book, “The Day the World Came to Town: 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland,” and thinking about all of the people who wouldn’t make it home on September 11, 2001. I remembered attending the vigils for NYC firefighters in the years following the terrorist attacks. The sound of a bell tolling for the lost will always remind me of first responders and the dangers they faced. Then, I thought about the kind Canadians featured in the book, the ones who welcomed people from all over the world — scared and worried people, but still strangers — into their homes and schools. In the most trying of times, they offered food, clothing and showers.

    That’s when I started to cry.

    I could’ve felt ashamed or embarrassed to experience such emotion in public, but I did not. For I was in the company of my Silent Book Club chapter. My family of readers sat around a large table inside the cafe of our local Barnes & Noble, together yet lost in our own books. None of them would ever judge a fellow reader for having such a genuine response to a story. They understood.

    For those who are unfamiliar with the concept, a Silent Book Club is an assembly of people who love books. They meet in person or online and discuss their latest reads. They chat about authors. They recommend novels and nonfiction tomes. They eat and drink and make merry. Eventually, the club’s members will settle down with a book of their choosing and simply read, together, in silence. Think of it as the adult version of quiet reading time from school.

    Prior to the pandemic, these meetings required advanced reservations as well as the effort of blocking off time in the calendar. M and I would drive across town to attend and then return home as quickly as possible so that I could eat something before rushing to work. Now, due to the coronavirus pandemic, our group meets via Zoom.

    I love how effortlessly our Silent Book Club chapter transitioned during such difficult times. Oh sure, we’ve encountered the odd technical glitch now and then. Instead of getting frustrated or mad, though, we laugh when someone’s screen freezes and adopt their strange and halted position so they can also enjoy the silliness of the moment when their connection clears. Book recommendations continue to fly fast and free at the beginning of each meeting and we always spend an hour reading together. Our individual rooms, separated by miles, joined by technology, are silent. Even the sounds of turning pages are muted. However, the connection to each other is tangible. We are still there for each other.

    Our book club has been meeting for several years. When we first gathered, it was predictably awkward getting to know each other. Having a shared love of books and reading was a great unifier and always offered us a topic to discuss. Now, we also use these meetings to check in with each other. How’s the pregnancy going? Are you enjoying your art class? Have your migraines subsided? How is your new job? How are you holding up?

    How are you holding up? This is a question asked with curiosity and without judgment. These men and women genuinely want to know. They care.

    Over the last year and a half, I turned to gardening for a challenge and a way to create beauty in dark times. But it was in books — and with my Silent Book Club — that I truly found comfort.

    –Title quote from William Nicholson.

  • Star-gazing

    Facts are your brain. Beliefs are your heart.

    July 28, 2021 / No Comments

    Here are some of the things that I wholeheartedly believe. I’m not saying they’re based on facts or even rationality. They’re just my beliefs and, of course, some of them can/will change over time.

    I believe:

    * Everyone should look up at the sky, often, and marvel at its beauty.

    * Pie is one of the best comfort foods. See also: Tea, chocolate.

    * One should read widely. We all have our favorite types of books — I tend to favor the genres — but it’s also a good idea to read stories that are utterly unfamiliar. Doing so will broaden your horizons, allow you to feel empathy for strangers and perhaps even teach you a thing or two. Reading from a wide variety of authors and subjects may also open new pathways for you to follow so dive down those rabbit holes and see where they lead.

    * It’s better to have a house with lots of storage (closets, shelves, pantries) than wide, open-concept spaces. Unless you have kids.

    * Storage units are good for times of transition. But, if you have to buy a storage unit because your home isn’t big enough to hold all your stuff, it’s time to either donate some stuff or buy/rent a bigger/better-designed house.

    * You can never leave too large a tip for a person who has served you well.

    * Everyone should have free access to a home, good food, education, a local library, a clean environment and health care.

    * The moment a car starts, all phones should automatically disable texting options. And if a driver has become impaired by drugs or alcohol, the steering wheel should lock in place.

    * We, as a society, should come up with alternative responses to sneezes. “You are so good looking!” from “Seinfeld” is fun. When I sneeze while cooking with spices/peppers, I generally go with “Chipotle!”

    * Every nation on the planet should have a 100% literacy rate.

    * Four-day workweeks are vastly superior to five-day workweeks. You need that extra day to decompress/run errands/etc., before “the weekend” actually starts.

    * Growing older is a privilege and we should relish it. (Okay, not the weird pains or the one-day-closer-to-death part, but the rest of it is cool with me.) This is just another way of saying, I love my wisdom tinsel (a.k.a. gray hairs).

    * Kindness is my ideal default position. I aim for it and often attain it, but sometimes it’s a struggle!

    * Time should stop whenever a pet snuggles against you. This is a precious form of trust and love and it should be enjoyed without guilt or limited by other obligations.

    * Time should also stop when I’m reading. Or sleeping. I guess what I’m trying to say is… I want more time!

  • Quote of the day

    April 10, 2021 / No Comments

    “I opened a book and in I strode. Now nobody can find me. I’ve left my chair, my house, my road, my town and my world behind me. I’m wearing the cloak, I’ve slipped on the ring, I’ve swallowed the magic potion. I’ve fought with a dragon, dined with a king and dived in a bottomless ocean. I opened a book and made some friends. I shared their tears and laughter and followed their road with its bumps and bends to the happily ever after. I finished my book and out I came. The cloak can no longer hide me. My chair and my house are just the same, but I have a book inside me.” –Julia Donaldson