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Sunday Matters

The Teen’s winter formal was this past Saturday. There was no last minute dash for clothing or anything this time around. He got a suit for Christmas and he wore that. They chose to make the corsage and boutonnière, which kept it all simple but nice. They had a family member take photos and they met up with friends for dinner before heading to the dance.

Winter Formal 2015

While he was out of the house, we kept The Girl entertained. She’s easy. She just needs buttery popcorn and a good comedy and she’s good to go. It’s funny, because she doesn’t talk to her brother all that much when he is around but she misses him when he’s gone so we have to keep her occupied. That’s the five-year gap in action.

Right Now:

Enjoying a cup of coffee before heading off to church. The Girl was invited to Six Flags by a friend so they will be attending an earlier service and then will spend a few hours at the park. That means The Hub and I are on our own for church today since The Teen attends a different church.

This Week:

Theater meeting this week for Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and rehearsals for Annie. Oh, and a hair appointment. That’s all I have right now. Oh yeah, work stuff but it will be the second week of school so hopefully things will settle down a little. Actually, the first week wasn’t all that bad except for some work drama that really should never have even happened.

On my to-do list. fixing our leaky faucet. You know how little things come up here and there around the house and it just takes forever and a day to fix them? Like that door painting thing I took care of months ago. It was on my list for ages and seriously, it took me 20 minutes to do. Well, the faucet is no longer just a drip-drip. It needs to be dealt with.

<Update> We took it apart, could not find a replaement part so we put it back together until we can find one and now it’s not dripping. Go figure.

Reading:

I finshed West of Sunset by Stewart O’Nan (review to come) and I am now trying to figure out what to read next. As far as ARCs, I have some good ones to dip into. Her by Harriet Lane, Dead Wake by Erik Larson, The Children’s Crusade by Ann Packer, Nesbo’s Blood on Snow and Five Nights in Paris by John Baxter. And really, that’s just a drop in the ARC bucket but those are the ones that are the most recent.

But, I also have soooo many awesome library books like I’ll Give You the Sun, All the Light We Cannot See, and Us.

See my problem? How does one choose? Plus, there is a Murakami that I have not read, South of the Border, West of the Sun. Decisions, decisions.

Watching:

Halfway through season two of Orange is the New Black. Not as fun as season one but still very enjoyable.

I am also on a classic movie kick and have been recording a lot of movies lately. Ones I’ve never seen like Singin’ in The Rain. How is that possible?

Making:

At the moment I am making nothing but I have been craving Chicken Scaloppine (lightly pan seared with butter, wine, capers and lemon sauce). Mmmmm.

Grateful for:

Artsy kids. Both of my kids have a love for the arts and that makes me very happy.

Happy Thought For the Week:

The nice weather has really cheered me up. I’ve been a little down with being sick but this warm, sunny weather has made me happy and I believe it’s continuing all this week. It’s easier to tackle the work week when it’s like a spring day outside.

TransAtlantic
By Colum McCann
(Random House Trade Paperbacks, Paperback, 9780812981926, May 2014, 336pp.)

The Short of It:

Non-fiction elements mingle with fiction in this Irish-American tale which begins in 1919 with the first nonstop transatlantic flight.

The Rest of It:

If you’ve read McCann’s work before, you may recognize the format of this novel, which feels like a collection of interconnected stories. The story opens with Alcock and Brown’s first transatlantic flight from Newfoundland to County Galway. Their mission is riddled with challenges, of which, eventually lead to a crash landing. From the title, you’d think that the book is about this trip alone but no, after just a short section on the flight itself, McCann moves on with his story which focuses on Frederick Douglass’s visit to Ireland just as the Great Famine begins to fully take its hold. From there, we meet Lily Duggan, a maid who is inspired to create a new life for herself in America.

This story spans many years and goes back and forth as it’s told and I know for some, including myself, this doesn’t always work for me. In fact, as soon as I realized I’d be jumping back and forth in time, I audibly groaned. But honestly, McCann’s handles it so well, that it never seemed to bother me at all and his style of writing, which consists of short, clipped, sentences made the reading experience quite a pleasant one. His writing creates a sense of urgency which gives the story that “unputdownable” quality that so many of us look for in a book.

There’s a little bit of history, which prompted many in my book club to look up additional information and the fictional parts were well-done and engaging. I read it in just one sitting, which is not something I often do but the story is constructed in such a way that it’s hard to find a good place to set the book down. A good problem to have, if you ask me.

Have you read Transatlantic? It came out some time ago and I immediately added it to my Kindle after reading Let The Great World Spin, but for some reason it just sat there, unread. Such a shame because I really enjoyed it.

Source: Borrowed
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

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