As You Wish

When I was your age, television was called books.

I find it inconceivable (yeah, I went there) that we'd never heard anything about this book until last week. To quote Tray, because she's one of my favorite people to quote...and just one of my favorite people period:

I read [the] review [of The Princess Bride] and found it astonishingly hard to believe: “Whether you liked the film adaptation or hated it, read this book! It’s the the Spinal Tap of fairy tales, and it’s much funnier on paper.” I L.O.V.E the film adaptation, so this comment felt like a challenge, and well, I’m up for one. Gotta see if it’s true.

How 'bout we all find out together? With tax day looming, April seems like the perfect month for a lighter book club selection, so The Princess Bride it is. This may be a bit of a quirky pick.  What can I say?  We're versatile girls.  I'm pretty sure this charmer has got something for everyone--Fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love, and miracles. 

*Oh, and don't fret, next week we'll review Girl at War. 

Posted by Rachel

For The Love Of Words

Dictionary: The universe in alphabetical order. —Anatole France

By Noah Webster; engraved by H. B. Hall and Sons, 62 Fulton Street, New York, New York - Yale University Manuscripts & Archives Digital Images Database

Our new intern informed us that on this day in 1848, Noah Webster published his first dictionary. Such a good intern—he's worth way more than we're paying him...which is nothing...unless you count keeping him in Dr. J's salsa and promises of burgers and Coke Zero. Without him, this day would have slipped right past without us giving Noah his due.

Like most successful men, the Webster owes it all to his mom. Well maybe not all, but she did spend long hours educating him, making up for what he called "the dregs of society," or in other words, his teachers in the one-room primary school he attended. Throw in the church pastor who tutored him in Latin and Greek and his dad who mortgaged the farm to pay for college, and we begin to see how a small farm boy like Webster ended up at Yale. He graduated with a degree in liberal arts—later writing that such a degree "disqualifies a man for business." (Hmm...that may explain my inability to balance a checkbook, let alone run a business...)

It took Webster twenty-six years to complete his first comprehensive dictionary—he was 70 years-old on publication day. His book contained seventy thousand words, twelve thousand of them having never appeared in a dictionary before. His hope: to standardize the American language and set us apart from the Brits. (He complained that the British Aristocracy was ruining the English language by setting its own standard for spelling and punctuation.) His first book only sold 2,500 copies, forcing him to mortgage his home in order to produce a second edition. He never recovered financially and died just three days after finishing an appendix to his second edition, not knowing the tremendous influence his book would eventually come to have on the English language. Being the wordsmith he was, I think he was okay with that.

Posted by Rachel

91 Million Sold, 100 Years Old!

Children should learn that reading is pleasure, not just something that teachers make you do in school. —Beverly Cleary

We want to give a quick shout out to Beverly Cleary. Today she’s 100 years old! While we agree with Ramona that exaggerating feels good, that century mark is accurate. Cleary was born when Woodrow Wilson was president, in a year when Norman Rockwell first blessed the cover of The Saturday Evening Post.  It was the same year The Boy Scouts of America was born. We think it’s just as important to read about Ramona, Henry Huggins, and Ralph the Mouse as it is to Be Prepared.  

In the 1940’s, Cleary worked in a children’s bookstore.  She read this line in a children’s book: “Bow-wow.  I like the green grass.”  Since she’d never known a dog who could talk like that, she couldn’t help but ask, “ What is the matter with authors?” Forty-two books and countless honors and awards later, Cleary can feel good about writing pages that “entertain children and give them courage and insight into what to expect from their lives.”  Well done Beverly.  Bravo!

If you haven’t read Beverly Cleary yet, I would start with The Mouse and the Motorcycle. Rachel loves Ralph but the second grader in her remains loyal to Ramona, so she recommends Beezus and Ramona as well.

Posted by Tracy

LOL

Among those whom I like or admire, I can find no common denominator, but among those whom I love, I can: all of them make me laugh. —W.H.Auden

Got the better of calamity—for now. I rolled into Vegas at 1:47 a.m. Rachel left the door unlocked with the lights on. (She’s welcoming even as she sleeps.) Despite being tired, I felt instantly better when I crossed the threshold. I left real life at the door and headed upstairs for much needed rest.  

There has been rest, and what’s more…we’ve had a lot of laughs.  You know, giving-your-gut-muscles-a-workout kind of laughs.  It happens naturally when I’m with Rachel.  All of us could fill our days with a little more sidesplitting, couldn’t we? Cliché but true, laughter is good medicine—for the mind and body. Not to mention it lifts our spirits. So here are a few books on my list to read that may make you double over when you need it most.

The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion

I bought one for me and one for Rachel before our once-a-year-get-out-of-town weekend at the beach only to find she’d already picked up and read this funny book.  She gives it two thumbs up.  Here’s what one happy reviewer said: “Full of heart and humor, Simsion’s debut novel about a fussy, socially-challenged man’s search for the perfect wife is smart, breezy, quirky, and fun.”  I’m looking forward to this one!

Dear Committee Members by Julie Schumacher

Never mind the fact that this book won the Thurber Prize for American Humor. One of my closest, smartest friends told me I’d love it, in part because it takes you back to the classroom.  I trust her choices completely—she’s given me plenty of winners.  “If you love academic satires, you’ll love this novel.”

The Princess Bride by William Goldman

I read this review and found it astonishingly hard to believe: “Whether you liked the film adaptation or hated it, read this book! It’s the the Spinal Tap of fairy tales, and it’s much funnier on paper.” I L.O.V.E the film adaptation, so this comment felt like a challenge, and well, I’m up for one. Gotta see if it’s true.  

That’s just for starters.  I haven’t even spoken of comedian reads: Tina Fey’s Bossy Pants, Amy Poehler’s Yes Please, or Mindy Kaling’s Why Not Me?  But I don’t want to get ahead of myself.  To be honest, I’m surprised I’m still typing this post when Rachel’s in the house—I’ve got guaranteed laughs for the rest of the day.

Posted by Tracy

Throwback Thursday

How I wish I lived in a Jane Austen novel!

It's high time we had a throwback around here, don't you think? You'd never know it by the paltry sum of Throwback Thursday posts, but it's one of our favorite features. Time to pull ourselves together and I can't think of a better book to get us back on track than I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith.

I don't triple-dog-dare often because it's been known to get me in trouble (Ove), but I'm pulling out the triple here and I don't even feel bad about it. I am adding a qualifier though: I triple-dog-dare you not to fall in love with Cassandra, if you're a Jane Austen fan. Or just an overall lover of Brit lit and witty narrators. She had me at "I write this sitting in the kitchen sink." J.K. Rowling's got my back on this one, calling Cassandra "one of the most charismatic narrators [she's] ever met." Oh, J.K., we really are destined to be friends.

Cassandra's not the only star here—this book is a treasure trove of quirky and lovable characters. A recluse father who's failed to write another book after publishing a best seller, a step-mother named Topaz (enough said), a sister bent on escaping the family's dilapidated castle by marrying for money, and new neighbors that change everything. If you haven't read this classic yet, run, don't walk, to your nearest bookstore or library (see qualifier above). Who knows, it just might change your life.

Posted by Rachel

We Need An Intern

This past week we missed National Children's Book Day and Maya Angelou's birthday. And we call ourselves book bloggers. Sheesh. Clearly, we need an intern. We're not asking for much, just someone to research important literary dates and stay on top of social media. Oh, and clean our houses, make dinner on a moment's notice, run errands, taxi our kids around...and did we mention laundry? Loads of it. And somehow manage to be in Nevada and Utah at the same time. Maybe Darren is available. We hear he's a real go-getter.

Posted by Rachel

Oh, Calamity!

She’d once been appalled to hear of women claiming PMS as a defense for murder. Now she understood. She could happily murder someone today! In fact, she felt like there should be some sort of recognition for her remarkable strength of character that she didn’t.

"Oh, calamity!" is right. Our fabulous weekend has been foiled. Ransacked. Thwarted. Smashed to smithereens. Pardon my bitterness—instead of a day at the spa with Tray, I'm cleaning my house (dreary) and she's working in Provo (blasted work).  But alas, we're silver-lining-kind-of-girls, and thankfully there's one here: she's Vegas bound next weekend! Heaven help the soul who tries to derail this one.

I always say, "When life hands you lemons, pick up a great escape read." Okay, maybe I've never said that before, but it seems like sound advice to me. Some days just call for a page-turner. The hands-down best page-turning escape read I've come across in years is Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty. This one has it all: suspense, drama, witty dialogue, laugh-out-loud humor, and an ending that not even my Nancy-Drew-trained eyes saw coming.

The book centers around three women whose kids attend the same elementary school in an Australian beachside town—where we learn from the outset is the scene of a tragedy. Something's gone terribly wrong at the school's annual Trivia Night, leaving someone dead: in the words of my favorite character, Madeline, "Oh, calamity!" The who, how, and why of it will keep you guessing to the end. It's more than a mystery though. To steal Amazon's description (I've got a house to clean, people), "Big Little Lies is a brilliant take on ex-husbands and second wives, mothers and daughters, schoolyard scandal, and the dangerous little lies we tell ourselves just to survive."

*If you're a book listener, Caroline Lee's narration is spot on. This is one of those books made for listening. Even more fantastic? Word has it that Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon will be starring in an upcoming Big Little Lies miniseries on HBO.

**This is not your mother's beach read (language is quite salty). 

Posted by Rachel

Weekend Outlook: Fabulous

We cannot tell the precise moment when friendship is formed. As in filling a vessel drop by drop, there is at last a drop which makes it run over; so in a series of kindnesses there is at last one which makes the heart run over. —Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451

Don't be jealous, but I get to see this fabulous face in person tonight. Tray is comin' to Viva! Las Vegas, that is. We have a glorious weekend planned that includes a spa day, good books, good food, good movies, and more. Honestly, I'm thrilled just knowing we'll be sharing the same space for three days—the rest is icing on the triple layer cake. We'll also be brainstorming ways to be better bloggers—mainly, how to work more posts into our overloaded schedules. We want to do more to keep you all in good books! In the meantime, here's a peak at what we're reading and listening to now.

MY CURRENT LISTEN

The Summer Before the War by the same author of Major Pettigrew's Last Stand. I'm a sucker for a good British read. Hoping to be as charmed by this one as I was by Major Pettigrew. You'll be the first to know!

OUR CURRENT READ

We'll both be finishing up Girl at War poolside, while sipping Coke and Coke Zero and consuming juicy burgers. We're loving this month's book club selection so far and have heard nothing but raving reviews from some of you. April's selection coming soon!

Posted by Rachel