Ten of the Best #149

Morning everyone. It's just a "normal" weekend. how simply lovely. That means lots of time to do the things we love - including catching up on everything that we didn't see during the week. The funny stuff on our timelines, and the things that made us smile, and think, and be better humans.

Here's the first. Oh, the irony! The hipster objects, because of a photo used in an article pointing out that counterculture "revolutions" sometimes land up looking fairly, well, heterogeneous. The article-writer couldn't have invented a better true-life example. 

And in other ironies, here's the Trump twin deficit story....

Reading this article, you can almost smell the bread baking. Loved it.

How interesting is this? The need for grace in politics and leadership - from Cass Sunstein, a Harvard Law professor, amongst many other academic qualifications.

Beautiful birds... if you can skip over all the ads.

While we are on the topic of pictures - funniest girlfriend pics - this one in response to "send pics of underwear" 😂

Wait, they told the woman who was winning the cycling race - in front of the men. Whaaaaat?

How workism is making us miserable. 

But wait, there's a new fix for that - a nasal spray... we'll  see.

And we'll sing out with the Jonas Brothers - slow to start, but quite sweet.

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone.

Ten of the Best #148

Time for a quick Ten? 

Why yes, I think I do.

Here are the things I loved, but didn't have time to read/watch this week - from your timelines. Thank you, one and all.

Grab your tea, let's do this.



Nike, showing them what crazy can do.

This twitter feed, on printers... 😂 so much of truth here.

Ten of the Best #147

Good morning, and welcome to the Ten that's hardly ever Ten, it's usually more, because I find such interesting stuff to read and watch on your timelines, that when I finally settle in to do so, this post is the result. And even though it was the SOTU in the US and the SONA here in SA, don't worry, you won't find that here today.

Grab your brew, settle down, and click on the links, or keep scrolling if you're not interested.

Abortion was all over our timelines this week - with a bill passed that allowed late-term abortions setting fires alight across the world. This was my favourite article.

A Grammy Host is born... Love it.

I love this woman - Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Click the meme of my other favourite woman this week - Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the woman who invented the sarcastic clap at Trump's SOTU address.

Sea Glass by Anita Shreve

Anita Shreve has written some books I've loved -  Fortune's Rocks, for instance. And who could forget The Pilot's Wife? Well blow me down with a feather if those aren't book one and book three of the Fortune's Rocks series, and here I stand with book two in my clingy little hands, and a long reading holiday ahead of me (with plenty to read already, mind you) and think this must be a sign.

It's early 1929 in New Hampshire, and Honora has just married Sexton Beecher. They've also purchased a house on the beach that needs a lot of attention. As does a newly married husband, Honora soon discovers. As the textile industry around them crumbles and falls, Sexton's previous errors of judgment in his job selling typewriters are uncovered, and the little community deals with the Great Depression, early labour uprisings, poverty, need and sickness and death.

The book is beautifully written, has a gorgeous setting, and some unforgettable characters. Here are some quotes:-

"Honora laid these flaws aside as one might overlook a small stain on a beautifully embroidered tablecloth one wanted to buy, only later to discover, when it was on the table and all the guests were seated around it, that the stain had become a beacon, while the beautiful embroidery lay hidden in everybody's laps."

"The only problem with looking for sea glass", Sexton says one day when he and Honora are walking along the beach, "is that you never look up. You never see the view. You never see the houses or the ocean because you're afraid you'll miss something in the sand."

Yay for well-stocked second-hand bookshops. They can brighten up the dreariest of mornings, and in this case, add an enormous pile of books to the luggage we carried about on a road trip, but also gave us many many more hours of reading pleasure. What's not to love?

4 stars

ISBN: 9780316859103

Waiting waiting waiting

Getting up early to walk or run on a Monday morning, needing inspiration. Looking for music that speaks to me in some way, today I stumbled upon Majozi's Waiting, and I think I found that perfect song for today.

Sometimes it feels like I do nothing right

I just walk, and walk without the end in sight

This morning this was apt. We got a little lost, you see. And we landed up far off the beaten track, with every attempt to get back on taking us in a new direction. Wanting to end our walk now, we upped the pace, but it was only when we found ourselves back on the main path that we could confidently stride, knowing we'd reach our destination.

And today, I'm doing some waiting. Waiting for people. Waiting for outcomes. Waiting for inspiration and direction. I know it'll come, but some already would be good.

I've been waiting, for you all my life

You've been running, through my dreams at night

I've been searching, for the longest time

How about you? What are you waiting for? Are you patient while the time passes? Or do you want to run ahead of yourself, off the path, and take even longer to reach your destination.

However you're doing it, I hope you find it within yourself to slow down, think it through and enjoy the journey.

Enjoy the run/walk/workout. And the music.

More Motivations.

Ten of the best #146

I know, I know. I've been a little distracted... But there's nothing like a few hours of watching your sister undergo plasma treatment and great hospital wi-fi to inspire you to recap the best from your timelines and enjoy the experience... (If you don't know what I'm talking about, here's the story.)

Clearly, I've been living under a rock - I hadn't seen this..."You should've asked" - my least favourite husbanding term. It is, in fact, banned from our house.

And guess what? It makes us feel empty, all this invisible labour.

This has inspired the following message to men - since they will say we should have told THEM.

Friday Books - The Clockmaker's Daughter

Welcome to BookBeginnings and Friday56 - where we share books on Fridays. It's a great way to start the weekend.

Book Beginnings is hosted by Rose City Reader.

 Here's the beginning of the book I'm featuring today.

Such beautiful writing from one of my favourite authors, on the very first page.

At Freda's Voice, you'll find the Friday56, where the excerpt comes from page 56 or 56% in your Kindle.

Here's page 56 of .The Clockmaker's Daughter by Kate Morton.

 I'm not sure nostalgia's ever in vogue, but I like the notion. Isn't this the way prettier cover?

I have done a review, for those of you who're interested to read further.

What are you reading this weekend? I'd love to visit your blog and check it out.

The White Room by Craig Higginson

The last review of a 2018 book - and it's (not quite) the end of January yet. Wow, that shows how far behind I am in my reviews, that I can be happy at that fact.

However, since I aim to read about 2 books a week, and write 2-3 reviews, I know I'll catch up. It's just a matter of time.

The White Room starts with Hannah Meade's play's opening night in London. She's nervous, but also excited. The play is about a relationship she had years ago with Pierre, whom she plans to meet tonight too. Is she really all that nervous about the play? Or is it about meeting Pierre, who she has invited but hasn't seen since those days?

The book flips between the play and current events, and the past.  It layers truths with lies, theatre and drama with reality and pain. It's beautifully written - artful and clever, and it doesn't try to be more than it is - a story about a relationship, how that impacts everything, and the memories left behind can hover in the shadows, not intruding, but affecting what we do, what we say and who we are.

If I were an author, the thing that would irritate me the most about Craig Higginson is how effortless he makes it seem. And I'm sure it isn't. Writing is always hard work. It just feels, in this book certainly, that it's such a joy, a delight to find the right words for things, the right way to set up scenes, to work out the plot, that it's hardly hard at all.

I need a re-read. And that's the best kind of book.

5 stars

ISBN: 9781770106123

You may also enjoy Love is Blind by William Boyd.

More books.

Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty

"Could ten days at a health resort really change you forever? In Liane Moriarty’s latest page-turner, nine perfect strangers are about to find out.."

There's Frances Welty - a romantic novelist (formerly best-selling), who is angry at life (and her publisher), in constant pain and suspicious of most things, including men who stop to help you fix your life problems.

And over there are the remaining part of the Marconi family - hurt, lost and trying so hard to recover.

Dont forget Ben (the one with the car, the Lamborghini) and his wife, Jessica (the one with the body from Dr Plastic Surgeon), who said "I do" but don't know if they still do.

And others, all submitting themselves to the magic and the mystery of Tranquilium House, run by Masha Dmitrichenko and her two trusty sidekicks.

Liane Moriarty has created a perfect storm of the right blend of narcissism, belief in self-improvement and miracle cures, all the trappings of a wealthy and materialistic society and mixed it all up on a retreat - where meditation, deprivation and total relinquishment of control should result in a new you by Friday.

The trouble is, none of those ingredients are very nice on their own, so mixed together with no escape is a bit of a toxic mess. This is a great snapshot of society as it is these days, and the author is a detailed, witty and astute observer. The only trouble is, holding a mirror to our messy lives isn't always sunshine and roses.

I loved the characters, their interactions and the antics and escapades. I didn't enjoy the plot development around the resort and its owner - it was a little over-dramatic and therefore unrealistic, although not beyond the realms of possibility.

Overall, a very enjoyable way to pass the time.

4 stars

ISBN: 

You may also enjoy Big Little Lies by the same author, or Truly Madly Guilty?

More books.

Ten of the Best #145

How lovely to wake up on a Saturday and see the trend on Twitter is #TrumpCaves? This was my favourite GIF...

And you can click the cartoon for the story.

Now this is the kind of story we need right now. Thank you Seth Myers.