“Answer Creek”

 

Having lived in the shadow of Truckee/Donner Lake for the past 30 years and now on the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada range, the Donner Party saga played out in my backyard. Sweeney’s reimagined westward journey is filled with history. She didn’t gloss over the hardships of the journey, but neither did she dwell on the sensationalism that followed the party’s rescue. Adding Ada Weeks to the cast gave the novel an intimacy, an insider's voice. At the end, the novel jumps to the present time, dotted with breadcrumbs left by Ada. What a great way to tie the history of her life to future generations. Our stories are worth telling...worth saving.

“What Unites Us”

 

This book caused me to read, pause, and reflect. A lot.

Empathy, Service, Audacity, Citizenship - these essays resonated with me.

As I think back over my life and understanding of history, the years I spent teaching US History to eighth graders has served me well. And still, there is so much more to learn and understand. So many questions. Looking forward, I worry about our democracy. Voting rights. Women’s rights. Immigrants. So much tied to my own history

I appreciate Rather grounding his thoughts in his history. His moral compass. His understanding of how our government works. I can only hope that as a teacher I laid the groundwork in my students to listen, think, reflect, and to be steady. 

“Dear Miss Kopp”

 

Please note: this work of historical fiction is written as a series of letters. I felt the need to construct my review in the same fashion.

Dear Miss Stewart,

I have recently laid my eyes upon your latest installment of the Kopp Sisters. I have to say that I was not disappointed with the time I spent with the sisters during WWI.

I was happy to see that Constance was able to continue to fuel her passion for law enforcement. Fluerette, well, that girl is destined for great things on stage, for sure. Norma. What can I say about Norma? Of the three, I wasn’t surprised to see that she went to France with her beloved pigeons. I found the girls’ letters intimate, in a way another literary vehicle would have lacked. The introduction of a “fourth sister” helped to round out the plot lines. (Will Aggie return?) As always, I was thrilled to see the sisters overcome obstacles and pave the way for other women to follow in their footsteps.

Mysteries being solved, the war having ended, new adventures await all - I look forward to reading your next installment in Miss Kopp Investigates.

“Night Moves”

 

There are only a handful of series that I have fallen into, Julie Mulhern’s Country Club Murders is one. It was great to visit with my old friends. There is always anticipation for the next new installment in the series...do I savor every word and slow my reading OR do I devour the whole thing at a lightning fast pace? 

Ellison and Anarchy. Engaged. Planning a future together. Yes, there was murder. Yes, there was suspense. Yes, there was the 70s couture. Yes, there were the breadcrumbs of social commentary. However, I couldn’t help feeling that this book was a bridge to what’s coming next.  Anticipation.

Cleo McDougal Regrets Nothing

 

“I figure if a girl wants to be a legend, she should go ahead and be one.”

 - Calamity Jane

Power. Glass ceilings. Determination. Rules. Equality. What I came to understand, or perhaps I already knew, the rules are sometimes different for women. The character, Cleo McDougal, had a set of very strict rules for her behavior as a U.S. Senator. Women should not be too feminine. Not too masculine. A hybrid of sorts. 

We all come to terms with the rules in our own way. How to be strong and caring. How to be a bulldog, yet sensitive. How to be a powerhouse and have empathy. How to get where you’re going and not be called a bitch for getting there. How to find balance in your life. Relationships. Love. No regrets.

What happened to my eyebrows?

 

Where the hell did my eyebrows go? I have photographic proof that during puberty, I was close to sporting a unibrow. But now? If patchy with a hint of gray were an eyebrow thing - I’d be totally in style. I know that I could just let them be - sparse in places - and just chalk it up to aging. However, I spent a good deal of time perfecting the dramatic one-eyebrow lift...I’m not going to waste all that hard work. So, for the time being I am happy to fill in the missing parts of my eyebrows. 

I wonder...could I transplant the hair on my chin to my eyebrows? I always thought the bearded lady was some kind of myth. An act straight out of Barnum and Bailey’s playbook. Now, in my 60s, I’m pretty sure it wasn’t a myth at all. Pluck those little buggers. Shave ‘em. Wax them off. Whatever the method, they always grow back. Why? When my estrogen dried up, my chin seems to have given up the good fight - leaving me thinking that turtlenecks may be a viable fashion option. At least they would hide a few of the longer hairs I can’t see.

Evaporating eyebrows. Chin hair. Ears. Whose bright idea was it to let our ears keep growing? Is it for better sound absorption as we age? What function could bigger ears perform?  At some point my “dangly” earrings will be hitting my shoulders. Will that look weird with the turtlenecks? If I look on the positive, the extra ear length will give me more geography for piercings. Just sayin’.

It’s kinda funny when I think about it. I had no problem letting my hair achieve its natural state and let it go gray about ten years ago. In fact I really like my gray locks. I guess this is all part of the aging process. Before you know it, I’ll be eating dinner at 4:30, calling perfect strangers “honey,” and never driving over the speed limit. Ahhh, something to look forward to.

Confessions of a Curious Bookseller

 

Oh come on, the main character is a “wack-a-doodle” - delusional, a liar, and completely mesmerizing. Elizabeth Green pulled me through the front doors of The Curious Cat Book Emporium, and I didn’t want to leave. The novel is written as emails, journal entries, hand written notes, and text messages. Broken and living with a chip on her shoulder from her childhood, Fawn fights to keep her business alive by any means possible. She is unquestionably out of her mind. BUT, I wanted to know just how this was all going to end. Was there going to be a twist? Was I going to be let down, or would there be an epiphany to save the storyline? I’ll be puzzling out Fawn’s erratic behavior for a long time.