The Rhythm of Family

This is one of those books that I would love to have on my shelves to be able to flip through and savor throughout the year, reading bit by bit, as the months and seasons turn.  I currently have a copy on loan from the library which is in high demand, so I've had to be a little quicker with my reading, but I have enjoyed my way through it regardless!  I started off by just looking at the gorgeous photos of natural surroundings. There are also many artistic shots of suggested crafts and activities that really inspire you to create!   After my visual tour I read through all the projects, mentally bookmarking things I'd like to try.  Finally I started reading the writings of the authors and they are very nurturing and inspiring...especially for young families I would think.  


The format of the book follows the months of the year.  There is a chapter for each month, and each follows the same pattern.  The chapters start  out with beautiful and tender writings from Amanda and Stephen Soule, on family traditions and experiences in their rhythm of the year.  This is followed  by suggestions for things to "Make" and "Do".  "Make" might include a recipe for a warming potato soup* or directions to make felted bowls.  "Do" sections include instructions for growing herbs in January or having a preserving (canning) party in September.  All very cozy and do-able suggestions, and great for sparking your own ideas for seasonal traditions.  At the end of each chapter there are short lists of the Soule family's favorite books relating to the theme of the chapter, always nice for extending a favorite new-found interest!


 Amanda Blake Soule has two additional crafting books, and a pretty little blog called Soule Mama as well.  All worth checking out.




* And my whole family will vouch that this was indeed warming and delicious on a cold January evening!

Very Witty, Wilde

Funny Guy.

For as long as I can remember, I have been a sucker for farcical, mistaken identity, "who's on first?" sort of stories.  I have sat in the audience at a number of such plays as well, laughing myself to tears.  What I want to know is, how did I ever overlook Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest?!  Thank goodness for the purchase of a new kindle and all those exciting free classics, or I might never have picked it up! 


In a nutshell of 3 acts, The Importance of Being Earnest presents main characters who invent fictitious personae in order to avoid burdensome and mundane social obligations.  Hilarity ensues. Exeunt. All bow.


Here is one of my favorite lines from a pivotal scene:

Algernon: "Well, I can't eat muffins in an agitated manner. The butter would probably get on my cuffs. One should always eat muffins quite calmly.  It is the only way to eat them."

I loved reading the text of this play, but I imagine that seeing a live production would split my sides completely.  I'll have to keep my eyes peeled for such an opportunity.  Makes me want to invent one of these fake friends for myself as well.  Could come in handy, certainly would be amusing.  


Very witty, Wilde.  Very witty.

Interpreter of Maladies

When I saw Interpreter of Maladies on my library's sale cart, I was immediately intrigued...  International Bestseller! Pulitzer Prize Winner! Short Stories! Pretty Indian-influenced Cover Art!  What more could you ask for?  I plunked down my .50 cents and went home with a real treasure.  

Jhumpa Lahiri's elegant writing style made me feel completely comfortable, and I was able to immediately become lost in each of her stories.  Her descriptions of places and people were rich yet succinct. Some of the stories are set in India, while others focus on the immigrant experience in America, and they all leave you with the thought that the human experience is universal. 


I absolutely loved this collection and I will definitely seek out more of her writings soon.  Excellent and satisfying!

Dark Tide-Molasses and So Much More

Dark Tide: The Great Boston Molasses Flood of 1919 

by Stephen Puleo

What an enlightening read!  I must confess that the reason I decided to read Dark Tide in the first place was because of the sheer comic image I had in my head when I first heard about the event.  I mean, it was a Flood of Molasses.  How could cold, "slow as molasses" molasses devastate anything?  Well folks, it did.  

On a cold January afternoon in 1919, a 50 foot steel tank filled with 2.3 million gallons of molasses burst on Boston's waterfront travelling at an initial speed of 35 miles per hour, destroying homes and businesses in its wake.  Acting like quicksand, it pulled its victims under, drowning them in thick darkness.  Unthinkable.  

The initial events all happened quickly, and would perhaps have been lost to history were it not for this book by Stephen Puleo.  Uncovering transcripts from the ensuing trial to determine fault, Puleo is able to provide the reader with heart wrenching testimonies of eye-witnesses, surviving victims, and experts of the time in engineering and architecture.  There are even letters in the afterward from descendants of those affected by the tragedy.

Beyond the fascinating telling of the story of the tank and its contents (I learned a lot about the uses for molasses aside from sweetening ), Puleo has made this book into a history of the times in the Boston community, and the U.S. in general.  He covers issues pertaining to U.S. involvement and military entrance into World War I, prejudices against Italian immigrants (especially southern Italians and Sicilians),  molasses' role in munitions-and later in prohibition, northern slave trade, the influenza epidemic, anarchists of the time and so, so much more.  

Though my motivation in reading this book was quite flippant, I have learned so much from it, and I'm glad it came my way.  I highly recommend it to any history buff, or anyone interested in an unusual, heartbreaking story.