Book Pick: Unsheltered

Continuing my long love affair of Barbara Kingsolver is almost too easy for me. Especially when my husband bought this book for me as a surprise! (What a dude! Seriously. Forget flowers & candy. Get you a man that buys you books!)

This novel is weighted with heavy subject matter of our time: suicide, income insecurity, housing instability, climate change, elder parent care.......basically, think of a modern-day stressor and you'll find it here. But Kingsolver, as always, ties it together in a nifty package that manages to give you some hope at the end. And some girl power.....just tell me how to not love that Tig!

I loved the way this book challenged my long-held beliefs as a Gen Xer and made me consider that the younger generation may be onto something with their lesser consumption. Well, I hope so anyway. If kids today have some better ideas, I'm all ears because I think we could all agree that we're on the wrong path.

I can't lie......this book brought me down at times. But it wouldn't be BK if she sugar-coated things. But the truthfulness that comes out of it all was so worth it....especially between the mother and daughter.

One of these days, I swear, I'm going to meet Barbara and tell her what her books have meant to me. And when that moment occurs, I hope I can do it without inciting a big, blubbery mess of a scene. I'll keep you posted!

Reclaiming Your Childhood: Priceless

This story might take a minute to tell. Bear with me. When my sister and I were little girls, my mother took us to a large baptist church in town. Even as a child, I never remember feeling welcome there. But I do remember the lovely older couple that kept my Sunday School class. They gave us saltines and kool-aid, and I remember thinking they would be nice grandparents to have. At Christmastime, the Sunday School class was set to have a random gift exchange. Every child was supposed to bring a gift that could be exchanged with any other child.....no specific gift designations. I received the gift of an Avon 7 bead necklace which was very popular at the time. I loved it so much and was thrilled to have it! I was somewhere between 5 and 7 at the time. (Back in the 1970's and 80's, Avon was a cosmetic company that was also known for it's inexpensive jewelry. I couldn't find a price on what this necklace would have cost back then, but apparently there is ...

My Week with Rumor

My dog Rumor was an experiment. A trial offer. And all parties knew that going in. Except for maybe Rumor. Rumor was an outdoor country dog. His given name was Ruger (named after a firearm if you don't know, I didn't) which made sense for a dog raised in hunting country. He was a stray that came to live with a loving family at about the age of 1. He lived outdoors, slept in a garage crate at night, frolicked with an older dog pack and had a lovely life. We think he was about 4 years old. He had been neutered, had vet care and was by no means a "rescue". His dad offered Ruger to me on a give-it-a-try basis. He knew I wanted a dog. He told me Ruger would be sweet to me and also be my protector. He was right on both counts. He told me if it didn't work out, I could bring Ruger back to him and his wife. I could tell they were a little sad when they dropped him off. It made me glad to see that Ruger came from such ...

NYE for $200, Alex

Can we all just agree that New Year's Eve is the worst of the string of winter holidays? I would even go so far as saying it's THE WORST of all the holidays. I loved when Stanford Blatch defined a party as feeling very "forced festive". To me, most NYE parties feel that way. The idea that this is a big year-end blow-out and we'd all damn well better make it awesome! The reason I hate NYE is because it combines two of things I most hate about celebrations: cold weather and crowds. Plus it's during a time of year when everyone has already spent all their money. AND you usually have to the leave the house. ADDITIONALLY, you have to stay up late. It's a big F.U. from me on all this. I would dare say that some of my happiest New Year's memories have been spent at home in my pajamas with either my child, an S.O. or happily alone. I remember one unforgettable year of moving into a 3rd floor apartment on NYE. I rememb...

Becky's Greatest Hits Vol. II

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