Opens At Nightfall, Closes At Dawn

I recently finished reading Erin Morgenstern's novel The Night Circus. It is by far the best book I've read this year, and it is also HP's current book club selection.

The story centers around two illusionists, Celia and Marco, who are pitted against each other in a contest of sorts by their "fathers" when they are just small children. The rules of the contest are vague, but the fathers are determined that there will be a winner, at any cost.

When Celia and Marco are grown, through a series of events the competition becomes centered in the Night Circus where Celia performs and Marco works behind the scenes.

The circus is amazing, travelling from place to place all over the world. It is open only at night and is made up of multiple black and white tents where magical and fantastical things happen - things beyond anyone's imagination. (I can't wait for a movie of this book to be made. It has the potential to be really neat.)

Anyway, the story is too complex to explain more without giving key points away, so I'm going to stop here.

Definitely check this one out. 

Fall Afresh

Today is Pentecost Sunday. Here's one of my favorite worship songs - appropriate for the day.

The Land of Decoration ~ Grace McCleen

I finished reading The Land of Decoration by Grace McCleen about a week ago, and I'm still trying to figure out what it's all about. Is it a book about religion? Is it a book about mental illness? Is it a book about any number of things? I never did come to a strong conclusion about what point the author is trying to make. 

The story starts out strong, but then becomes strange and tedious to read. 

The book centers around a ten-year-old girl named Judith McPherson. She lives with her father (her mother died in childbirth) in a small village somewhere in England.

Judith and her father belong to a very outspoken fundamental religious group that is obsessed with Armageddon and the world as it will be after the Lord returns. They spend their evenings reading the Bible and their Saturdays going door to door warning people about their coming doom.

Judith is constantly bullied and threatened at school. At home, for solace, she builds a model of the town in her room, made of found objects, that she calls The Land of Decoration. Strangely, as Judith begins to manipulate things in her model world, the same things happen in the real world. Judith believes the coinciding events are miracles, but no one will listen to her when she wants to talk about it.

The book is interesting up to this point, but then Judith begins having conversations with "God," and decides that he is using her as his instrument. The spiritual aspect of the book from this point on is just weird. The author's portrayal of God is creepy - at one time Judith even says to him that he reminds her of the devil.

The book also becomes difficult to read because it is chapter after chapter of bullying and harassment of Judith and her father at school, at home, at her father's job - everywhere they go.

Thankfully, there is a resolution of sorts at the end, but I don't recommend reading the book to find out what it is. Skip this one.

Symphony!

I was lucky to get to go and hear the Colorado Symphony last Saturday - thanks again, Aunt Cathy!

The night's headliner, Olga Kern, dazzled us with her playing of Grieg's piano concerto and an encore piece by Moszkowski, but before she played, the orchestra started out with a short work: Glinka's overture from the opera Russlan and Ludmilla. It's such a delightful piece, and it seems to have stuck in my head more than anything else we heard that night. I've willingly added it to my list of favorite orchestral pieces. Here's the overture performed by the Berlin Philharmonic.

Reading Round-up

I've gotten a little behind on my book reviews, so here is a condensed version of what I've read the past month or so.

Crossed by Allie Condie. This is the second book in the Matched series. I didn't like it as well as the first - it's pretty bleak and much more violent. At times (like the first 2/3 of the book) I found it tedious to read because the plot moves very slowly. However, the story is compelling enough that I will be reading the third book, Reached, when it comes out in November.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Satran Foer. I really liked this book. It is the story of an extremely precocious 9-year-old named Oskar Schell. After his father is killed in 9/11, Oskar sets out on a quest which he believes will give him some answers to the reason for his father's death. Also, entwined with Oskar's chapters is the story of his grandparents - how they met, came together, were separated, and eventually reunited. Sad and funny at the same time. Check this one out. The movie is pretty good, too.

Ten Miles Past Normal by Frances O'roark Dowell. This one had been on my to be read list for a while, but after reading it, I'm not sure why. It is the story of a young girl, just starting high school, who lives on a small goat farm. Mild teen angst abounds: making new friends, getting made fun of, disagreements with the parents, discovering boys, but nothing too remarkable or memorable happens. 

Beauty Queens by Libba Bray. I read about this one on NPR's book page where they called it a "Lord of the Flies for girls." I hated that book when I was forced to read it in 9th grade English, so I don't know why I thought this one would be any better. It's the story of 12 or so contestants in the Miss Teen Dream beauty pageant who are the lone survivors of a plane crash carrying all 50 contestants, chaperones, and sponsors on a "desert" island somewhere in the tropical ocean. This one is definitely satirical and not for the easily offended. Also, it is way too long. Skip it.

The Goodbye Time by Celeste Conway. I picked this one up at the library because I liked the dress on the cover. Kind of like Ten Miles Past Normal, it's a cutesy young-people's book about growing up where nothing too remarkable happens.

Life on Mars by Tracy K. Smith. In effort to fill the void of the missing Pulitzer fiction winner, I read the book that won for poetry. I'm sorry to report that modern poetry is lost on me. I didn't like any of the poems in this collection. They are mostly dreary and futuristic with allusions to popular culture that I don't get. Meh.

What It Is Like To Go To War by Karl Marlantes. This was a pick for the Huffington Post book club. I plodded through about 2/3 of it and gave up. Not my style of book at all.



The Fingertips of Duncan Dorfman by Meg Wolitzer. This is a funny young people's book based around a national Scrabble tournament. It follows three players, all of whom have different reasons for being there, and of course there is lots of self-discovery along the way. And lots of fun scrabble tips, too. And the neatest thing I learned from this book is that the word maraschino is an anagram of harmonicas. Who knew?

Please don't go...we love you so

One of my favorite children's book authors, Maurice Sendak, passed away today. In his honor, I present his classic book Where the Wild Things Are, read by Christopher Walken (or really good Christopher Walken impersonator).

Lemon Zucchini Bread

This recipe is spreading like wildfire on Pinterest. I was anxious to try it, so I stopped by Sunflower to get lemons on my way home from church and baked a loaf this afternoon.

I love the idea of mixing lemon with zucchini bread, and kind of wish I had thought of it first. With the specks of green on a yellow background, the bread is visually appealing. The problem came with the taste, or rather lack of taste.

If I ever make this recipe again, I will tweak it. Something needs to be added to enhance the flavor. Cardamom might be nice, I'm not sure how it pairs with lemon, but I think it would fit. I also was thinking of adding cranberries or a savory herb like rosemary or thyme. It just needs something.

Anyway, here is the recipe, but I don't recommend this one.

Lemon Zucchini Bread
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup oil
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup buttermilk
juice of one lemon
zest of one lemon
1 cup grated zucchini

Mix the dry ingredients. Beat eggs and add the oil and sugar. Blend well. Add the buttermilk, lemon juice, and zest. Fold in zucchini. Add to the dry ingredients. Blend, but do not over mix. Pour into a greased 9x5 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until done.