Ordinary Life

MUSEUMS & WOMEN and Other Stories  by  JOHN UPDIKE I just love John Updike.  This collection held most of ' The Maples Stories ', one of my personal favorites. I had already read some of the other short stories in this collection. Other stories included were fun, new discoveries, like ' The Deacon '.  The copy I got from the library succeeded in scandalizing my children every time they spied the cover, so Bonus Points for Updike. (See?) Reading Updike on the beach,  Fourth of July.  THE AMATEUR MARRIAGE  by ANNE TYLER I just love Anne Tyler.  This was a re-read. I had read this story many years ago. In the spirit of full disclosure, I wasn't positive about that until I started to read. However... I just love Anne Tyler... so I kept reading...anyway,  a lot of 'old' books are becoming more and more like new books. Though, for me, the first thing I forget is not the author, rather the ending, still I have found forgetting happens... true...

BUTTER SAFE THAN SORRY by Tamar Myers This was my first time reading Tamar Myers. I loved the featured Amish and Mennonite characters, as well as Methodist, Baptists, good old fashioned pagans-(wait, is that redundit?) and nudist nuns to boot. Amish themes make me nostalgic for our time in Kentucky. I welcome writing that incites nostalgia. The story is full of word play, while the storyline itself is a little zany. This was the last title in a series of 18 and if I'm not mistaken, meant to be read in a particular order. Most of the characters were spoken of in familiar tones with little time spent re-introducing them. Many 'incidents' were referred to as if everyone had already heard the gossip (or read the previous books) I love interactive books, though I have yet to try the butter based recipes included between chapters. I am looking forward to trying at least a few of them and probably, every single one. Myers offers some other genres that I may check into. To me, the...

We stopped by the library for the first time in a long while the other day. While inside, rediscovering the joys of the library's "All You Can Read...and for FREE" buffet it began to rain... so we just took our time.  Books were read, magazines too.  Blocks were stacked. Puppets emerged.  Hours passed.  G.K. is one of my all time favorites... in the whole wide world. This is a children's title, but it is also a metaphor... check it out ;)  When we were at the Circulation Desk signing up for Summer Reading, a couple asked us if they could take our photo for some library promo materials. Though I usually put up a fuss about being in photos, I was put on the spot and agreed so as to be, well... agreeable.  So, we did what we could to help the library... these shots, we were informed, would go to make PSA Style posters to promote the library and her various reading programs (Great, I didn't even consult a mirror and they're going to make these photos poster siz...