The Actor and the Housewife, by Shannon Hale

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The Actor and the HousewifeThe Actor and the Housewife, Finished 5-9-12, rating 3.75/5, 339 pages, pub. 2009

Becky is a happily married mother of four who flies from her home in Utah to Los Angles to sell her screenplay.  That fact alone is very fortuitous, so imagine her feeling of good luck that she should meet her celebrity crush while there.  Felix Callahan, he of the romantic comedy that Becky watches over and over.  Sparkly conversation ensues and the two find themselves drawn to each other, even though both are happily married.  They each recognize an understanding in the other and suddenly it doesn’t seem all that strange that a stay-at-home mom and an A-list actor are the best of friends.

Their story encompassed almost a dozen years as their relationship goes through highs and lows, working together for months at a time to long absences where they are not speaking.  The book aims to cover the oft asked question of whether men and women can just be friends.  Becky’s initial waffling on the issue went on too long for me.  As much as I loved the dialogue between Becky and Felix, the actual story and the going back and forth started to bore me.  I loved the friendship itself and when Becky was on the page with Felix it was fun.  The rest of the time seemed to be almost filler.  As much as I liked her family, not one person was as interesting as Felix so they sort of blended into the landscape of the story.

This is ultimately Becky’s story and I had mixed reactions to her.  I liked her quick wit and committment to family.  She did not take her friendship with Felix lightly and with a heavy heart walked away from it when her saintly husband had a problem.  I guess my problem with Becky is that I just didn’t believe her.

The story was pure fantasy, except for the chapter that made me cry-that was just wrong.  If you look at it like a fantasy you might not be bothered by the improbability of it all.  Oh, I did like the Mormon aspects to the story.  I thought it was well done and wish more stories could incorporate religion this well without becoming a religious story.  It was refreshing.

I feel like I’m vacillating as much as Becky!  I liked it, but was put off by the back and forth and the complete ridiculousness of some of the plot.  This book from from my own shelves.

So, fess up.  Who is YOUR celebrity crush? Over the years mine have ranged from Joe Montana to Johnny Depp.

Big Boggle Quiz

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Here’s how to play…Words are formed from adjoining letters.  (You may not skip over letters) Letters must be in the proper sequence to spell a word.  They may join horizontally, vertically, or diagonally to the left, right or up-and-down.  No letter cube may be used more than once in a single word.

No proper nouns, abbreviations, contradictions, hyphenated or foreign words.

Scoring-Make up to 20 words with at least 3 letters.  If someone else makes the same word you will still get one point.  If you are the only one to find a word you will score how many letters are in that word (3 letters=3 pts, 4 letters=4 pts, etc)

Bonus-There is an author’s name (first and last name connected).  Find it for 2o points.

I love Boggle and have already made my list of 20 words.  The more people who play the more fun it is.  Spread the word :)

See how that last round played out here.  Current leaderboard here.  Last week’s Frenchy quiz here.

Tantrums with Gage

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I like to keep Sundays with Gage on the light side, at least for Gage, but we have reached the all important milestone of tantrums.  Did I say no?  Tantrum.  Do we have to leave the swings after 40 minutes? Big-time tantrum.  My favorite is the I’m going to hang out between your legs until you pick me up move that he’s perfecting.  Picking him up usually does the trick.  Unless it’s the swings, there’s nothing to be done for that.

Gage was having a grumpy morning so we took him out to the park and then outlet mall where they have lots of ducks and kiddy rides.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This seemed like a great idea until after each thing was done.  It was like we flipped a switch and ended up with this…

I thought it was a bit early for tantrums, but from looking around at other mom sites I see that I am not alone in this 18 month old clingy/tantrum period.  That helps, but seeing that it might last for awhile has me calling in reinforcements.

I’m asking all you moms or kid lovers out there for some good tantrum advice.  What worked for you?

 

Weekend Cooking: Ten Healthy Teas by Valerie B. Lull

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Ten Healthy TeasFinished 5-4-12, rating 2.5/5, health/food, 41 pages, pub. 2012

I like tea.  Jason and I both like to drink tea at night (sometimes wine wins out for me, but on a good night it’s tea!).  I like the act of brewing it and sipping it in pretty tea cups.  I’ve been known to buy the loose leaf tea and try to blend depending on my mood.  So, it was a no brainer when this book was offered to me.

This is my first book about tea, but am confident in saying that this is not a definitive one.  However, it does have interesting information on 10 big teas-ginger, garlic, green/black, chamomile, cranberry, peppermint, raspberry, goldenseal, echinacea, & lemon.  My favorite versatile tea is peppermint; I blend it with lots of other flavors. But I was surprised to know that it affects male fertility.  On a related note, Jason’s favorite raspberry, can affect women’s uterine area and should possibly be avoided while pregnant.

The book is very short, but it does include recipes for each tea.  I was thinking about giving it away, but think I’ll hang on to it for a bit longer as I try a few of the combinations.  I like that the recipes are for tea bags and not loose leaf since that’s how most people drink their tea.

Valerie Lull is currently studying herbalism and I thank her for sending me her book.  I hope the tea drinkers out there will take a look.  The only reason I didn’t rate this higher is because it was so short.  Fine for the what’s in there, but it felt incomplete.

Do you have a favorite tea?  My go-to tea the past few years has been Asian Jasmine White Tea.

Beth Fish Reads hosts.  Weekend Cooking  is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book  (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes,  random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs.

FREE BOOKS (& a few notes from the month that I don’t much remember)

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April just flew by and I have a hard time pinpointing exactly when all of my personal goals got put aside.  So, April was a wash and the same goals will re-apply for May. My Recent Favorite Books on my Zagat Restaurant Guide from last month.  Congrats 🙂

The good news is that I did a little cleaning, stress on the little part, and I found a few repeats on my shelves and I’m going to share them with YOU!  Just leave a comment and tell me which one or ones you want (you can win more than one) and I’ll draw winners at noon on MAY 14th.

1. Collision Bend by Les Roberts.  Part of a mystery series set in Cleveland.  I haven’t gotten to this one yet, but I love the series.

2. Skylight Confessions by Alice Hoffman.  Love Hoffman! Brand new.

3. Little Children by Tom Perrotta.  I think I picked this up (twice!) because Jenners raved about him. Brand new.

Good luck and happy reading.

 

Frenchy Quiz – guessing closed

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Two years ago this month Jason and I were enjoying France for the first time (but hopefully not the last).  See if you can figure out these books set in France.

You have until noon Sunday to submit your answers as a comment.  Comment will be hidden until I post the answers.  No Googling!

This round will last til August.  The person with the most points will win a B&N gift card (total $ based on # of total participants, so please play) and a randomly selected participant will win a fun prize from me.

Have fun and Good Luck!  Last week’s Grisham quiz here.  Leaderboard and rules here.

1. A concierge and a school girl form an unlikely friendship in this book set in a posh apartment building in Paris. The Elegance of the Hedgehog

2. Jean-Baptiste was born without a body scent, and his search for the perfect scent leads to murder.  Perfume: The Story of a Murderer

3. This novel that alternates between 1942 Vel’ d Hiv’ and 2002 Paris, illuminating the horrors of the French Jews imprisoned on behalf of the Nazis. Sarah’s Key

(I have some old editions of a few of these that should make it fun)

4. Corked  5. Chocolat  6. Anything Considered  7. A Tale of Two Cities  8. French Lessons  9. The DaVinci Code  10. The Diving Bell & the Butterfly

April’s 5 Word Movie Reviews – Join in and win $ for charity

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Every time you add 5 words of your own to one of my reviews then you donate $1 to charity.  What charity, you ask?  The charity is chosen by the person who has the most reviews once we reach 100. (Last charity here)  PLEASE leave a clear 5 word comment so I can give credit for it.

You can add reviews to any of my past movie posts AND see who is in the contributing lead here.

Act of Valor, 2012 (Cast-U.S. Navy Seals, Roselyn Sanchez, Nester Serrano, Emilio Rivera)    Grade B

Raw, Violent, Powerful Recruitment Film

 

A girl and two boys, running through a dark forest.Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows, Part 1, 2010 (Cast-Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint)      Grade B

Waited too long, Needed refresher.

Fast-paced first half of movie. (Heather)

Best one of the bunch! (Stephanie)

Good, but a little long. (Kathy)

Time to Grow Up Kids (Beth)

Saw at theater, exciting experience! (Debbie)

It’s hard to grow up.  (Kay)

Emma Watson, audio book reader.  (Tony)

 

Carrie, 1976 (Cast-Sissy Spacek, Piper Laurie, Amy Irving, John Travolta)  Grade C+

Getting period never so traumatic!

I can’t top yours, Stacy :)  (Stephanie)

Sissy Spacek was perfect lead. (Kathy)

King Of Horror Movies Classic (Beth)

Traumatized teen, pig blood, still scared! (Debbie) – I’m pretending not to notice the 6th word

Ick factor when first seen.  (Kay)

 

Man holding up a card labelled hall pass, his friends standing behind himHall Pass, 2011 (Cast-Owen Wilson, Jason Sudeikis) Grade C

Funny first half, iffy second.

Great cast, hoped for more. (Debbie)

Sundays with Gage – Family

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I asked my mom if she’d come up and Gage-sit while I went to the British Tea, an annual charity fundraiser put on by New Clevelanders.  This is the newcomers club I’ve belonged to for 10 years and I’m currently the club’s historian, aka photographer.

My mom decided to invite my aunt Judy, my aunt Betty and cousin Kelly too.  So, the foursome arrived on Wednesday and left on Friday and, of course, I wait until they are getting ready to leave before snapping a photo.  Seems like Gage is always getting photographed in his high chair, but I guess that’s the only place he’s still enough.

Gage is going to be an only kid and I wish we lived just a little closer to my family.  It’s a little less than 2 1/2 hours and that’s great for weekend trips, but not as easy for stop-ins.  I want Gage to be surrounded by his extended family and I am always so thankful when they visit.  Gage always loves an appreciative audience and they were definitely that 🙂

Delirious, by Daniel Palmer

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DeliriousFinished 4-22-12, rating 4/5, thriller, pub. 2011

I started this on audio, read by Peter Berkrot (12 hours 39 minutes) and finished with the print version after the discs turned faulty halfway through.

Charles Giles is successful, arrogant, and trying to distance himself from his family when he is fired from his job due to some questionable actions that Charlie cannot explain.  He is accused on espionage, an absurd thought to a company man like Charlie.  When co-workers and medical personnel tell him he’s going crazy, Charlie thinks he may believe them.  After all, his brother Joe is schizophrenic and his dad had his own mental health issues.  Locked up with crazy people will make even a sane man nuts and Charlie isn’t sure he’s a sane man, he did write that Kill List and one person on it had already died.

I liked this fast paced thriller.  Was Charlie crazy or could the circumstances of his firing have been manipulated?  His mother was in a coma and this led to a reconnection with the brother who he was trying to forget.  I liked the very real relationship between the two.  Charlie harbored a lot of bad feelings toward his brother that stole most of their mother’s attention.  Add into the mix that Charlie really felt like he was going crazy and could identify with his brother and the typical thriller becomes laced with a reality that leaves the reader satisfied.

Is Charlie paranoid or is he being set up?  Both choices are plausible and the book had me guessing til the reveal.  One minute I’d think Charlie was mentally unstable and the next I was sure he was bring set up.  This is an excellent debut and I look forward to more by Palmer!

I checked the audio out of the library and had an autographed book on my shelf.  Both were very good.