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Griffith Observatory

This picture does not go with the post heading does it? Well, that’s because Saturday was absolutely gorgeous. Actually, the entire week has been gorgeous and made for a very nice Spring Break but today, it’s windy, rainy and cold and I am sluggish from a touch of food poisoning or maybe a stomach bug. Not sure which but it’s a real downer.

First, let me share a few more photos with you. On Saturday we visited the Griffith Observatory, which I hadn’t been to since the $94 million re-model.

The Girl. Griffith Observatory.

The view was gorgeous. The hike up the hill to get there, not too bad. The parking is still a nightmare and we got there right when they opened. I suggest getting there an hour early, eating a picnic lunch, and then making your way to the displays.

The Girl. Observatory.

She’s a little camera shy. Yeah.

Observatory.

The top deck is almost exactly the same as it was before the re-model, but there is a downstairs now! Yes, they carved into the hillside to create this new floor and it’s all shiny and new and very impressive. We had a great time.

Sunday Salon

Today though, The Hub took the kids to visit their uncle and I am about to cuddle up with a book to shake-off whatever is left of this food poisoning/bug. In case you are wondering, we didn’t eat at the Observatory so the food there was not the cause 😉 I think I may read a bit more of The Book Thief as it is taking me forever to read it, but what I really want to read is The World We Live In which was sent to me by Jill.

It may be a slow review week as I read a bunch of books and then realized that they probably shouldn’t be reviewed until it’s closer to their release date. Do you ever do that? I could have sworn some were coming out this week but they aren’t coming out until May.

Anyway, off to my chair, or bed depending on my mood. Hope you are enjoying a nice day and that those that participated in the read-a-thon are recovering nicely.

The Queen of Palmyra by Minrose Gwin

Here’s the blurb from the publisher:

In the turbulent southern summer of 1963, Millwood’s white population steers clear of “Shake Rag,” the black section of town. Young Florence Forrest is one of the few who crosses the line. The daughter of a burial insurance salesman with dark secrets and the town’s “cake lady,” whose backcountry bootleg runs lead further and further away from a brutal marriage, Florence attaches herself to her grandparents’ longtime maid, Zenie Johnson. Named for Zenobia, Queen of Palmyra, Zenie treats the unwanted girl as just another chore, while telling her stories of the legendary queen’s courage and cunning.

The more time Florence spends in Shake Rag, the more she recognizes how completely race divides her town, and her story, far from ordinary, bears witness to the truth and brutality of her times—a truth brought to a shattering conclusion when Zenie’s vibrant college-student niece, Eva Greene, arrives that fateful Mississippi summer.

Minrose Gwin’s The Queen of Palmyra is an unforgettable evocation of a time and a place in America—a nuanced, gripping story of race and identity.

I plan to review this one closer to its release date (April 27, 2010) but I just finished it and I just had to post something about it…right now. A lot of you have heard about this book already but if you haven’t, I wanted to make sure you knew something about it because you’ll want to run out and get a copy of it as soon as it comes out.

I am enjoying Spring Break with my family and have spent the week with some wonderful books, this being one of them. I love it when a book leaves you with a good feeling inside. Anyway, I’ll post the review in a couple of weeks but for now, put it on your list. Yes, the list that is about a mile long already.

Chatting with friends about books and life…