Beauty and the Beast Retold and Ancient Roman Crime Fiction

  I'm excited to read A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer because I like a retelling of fairy tales, and she lives close to me. A friend of mine goes to the same gym as Brigid as is her friend. It's like we're athletic best friends. 😉

Also exciting is this is a terrific adaption of Beauty and the Beast. There is a time travel element. A girl from now is inadvertently captured and taken to a magical land called Emberfall with a castle and a handsome, arrogant prince with a dark secret. Kemmerer writes lots of action and twists, but also explores themes like disabilities, true love, and doing good: harmful or helpful. Her characters are vivid and believable. A downside of the book is that it is part of a trilogy, Cursebreaker, so only some things are resolved. Fortunately, all three books are out. I only have to wait for my library holds to arrive. Why does the third trilogy book always become available before the second? Not fair. 

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  Lindsey Davis is one of my favorite mystery writers. Her stories take place in Ancient Rome. She has about twenty novels with informer (think private detective) Didius Falco and a newer series where Falco's adopted daughter, Flavia Albia, has become an informer herself after her dad retires. Davis has won scads of awards for her historical mysteries, which are amazingly fun to read. After many, many years of reading them, I sometimes get lost in the reoccurring characters, but she has a list at the start of each book with brief descriptions. The Third Nero is book #5 in the Flavia Albia series. I have always been satisfied by a Linsey Davis book. She's humorous and engaging, with lots of red herrings and goofy characters. Davis knows her craft and makes Roman history come alive. If you're ever in a place where you need to lay around and read all day, she's a good choice.

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Seeking Human Connection 🫶 ❣️

 

    Wired for Love: A Neuroscientist's Journey Through Romance, Loss, and the Essence of Human Connection was a strange blend of neuroscience, self-help, and memoir. I heard it recommended on a favorite podcast--Marriage Therapy Radio--and picked it up. The author, Stephanie Cacioppo studied romantic connection and what happens to and in the brain when we are in love. Mirror neurons are important.

    The book is engaging and readable, but also challenging. Cacioppo's own love story feels unexplored. She doesn't include conflicts or problems, and says several times that everyone envied her and husband's relationship. She may be correct, but I'm sceptical. 

I'm glad to have read the book and I am challenged to love well and seek connection. I like that she gives practical steps of care. I give it four hearts out of five.

❤️🧠❤️🧠❤️🧠❤️

Here is a video of Stephanie Cacioppo discussing her work: watch

Here is a quote from the book summarizing her recommendations:

“G-R-A-C-E, GRACE, is an acronym for how an individual can take care of their social b"dy, even during periods of isolation, when the love network is powered down and we are particularly susceptible to the dangers of loneliness. GRACE stands for gratitude, reciprocity, altruism, choice, and enjoyment.” 
― Stephanie Cacioppo, Wired for Love: A Neuroscientist's Journey Through Romance, L"ss, and the Essence of Human Connection

  Undefended Love by Jett Psaris, PH.D. and Marlena S. Lyons, PH.D. was recommended to me by a therapist. We had often talked about how do people effect change within themselves and as a couple. This book fits well with Brené Brown's advocacy of embracing vulnerability. It draws from actual couple interactions. This makes change feel possible. I read this book over several months a bit at a time. It gives much information, examples, and exercise. I think it will have a lasting impact on how I interact with others and the story I tell myself about relationships. 

    The book has a Bhuddist view of the world that I don't share, but it contained well thought out, helpful information. It is hard to find, but worth reading.

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    After reading two books on connecting, I would like to feel I've solved THAT problem, but because I'm ever changing and so are the people I love, I constantly need to update my skills. My internal relationship GPS will never coo, "You have arrived." I find it helpful to keep trying to love better and with more understanding because people, especially Dear Husband, are worth the effort and struggle. We fight on!

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A Mystery Week! Win!

 

    Heaven, My Home by Attica Locke is the recently released sequel to Bluebird, Bluebird. It is excellent. The situation is critical. A child is missing. This child is the son of an inmate from the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas (ABT). The ABT leader begs Darren to find his son, Levi. In the last six months, Darren Matthews has worked to get his life under control--marriage counseling, avoiding alcohol, working a desk--and life is going better, but then (surprise!) events take a turn for the worst. Locke knows how to create a flawed character that I root for and groan in pain when Darren mudslides down into a slough of poor choices. He is not only fighting himself, but also others who want to exploit him. Texas history creates a dilemma for a small Texas town where former Confederates and former slaves live side by side and where Levi is missing.

    As a mystery, this book, and series, is dark, complex, and brooding. It reminds me of the gritty, can't-catch-a-break detectives of the 40s, but with more depth. 

    How many books does Locke have planned? I don't know how much more Darren and I can take!

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    I am rereading Murder on the Orient Express, by Agatha Christie for Book Club. So shout out to the Bookies! Agatha Christie wrote sixty-six crime novels plus several romance books under a pseudynm, and the longest ever running play, Mousetrap. This book was originally published in 1934, so Christie books have staying power. 

    I've been researching to sound smart at book club. Can you tell?

    Christie is a genius at crime novels and this is probably the best of the best. I have read it several times, but I'm never bored. It has great characters, if a little stereo-typed in their European nationalities. A fast-paced plot that utilizes its train setting excellently.

    Before we were married, my future husband and I watched the 1974 movie. I had already seen it and been blown away by the ending. I wasn't even close to solving it and wanted to test my future spouse's intelligence. My husband-to-be figured it out! Keeper.

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Moms and Food

 

    I am late to the party with Kitchens of the Great Midwest by J. Ryan Stradal. This book is stellar. It is the fictional story of famous chef Eva Thorvald. Each chapter is narrated by a different person, and each chapter circles a food, specifically a midwestern food like Lutefisk and Venison. Everyone's story contains tragedies and triumphs. Stradal captures the voice of the different narrators by revealing a sliver of their life as it intersects with Eva's. She does narrate one chapter but is seen through others' eyes. It made me curious to know more about her. There is a strong theme of the relationship between mothers and children shown from different angles, giving the book gravitas in the face of foodie culture. 

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Teenagers in Love ❤️💔❣️

 

Spoilers Ahead!

    Of the Simon Snow series by Rainbow Rowell, Anyway the Wind Blows felt the weakest. The two romantic leads are together and working out their relationship without having good tools or models. This is a common theme throughout the series. How do I vampire? How do I adult? How do I be gay? I like how Rowell wrestles with these issues all through the series. As Simon and Baz's relationship levels up, their issue is intimacy expressed through the sexual piece of their relationship. It didn't feel credible. These two isolated, damaged young men who lost their mothers at a young age need more than good sex to heal emotionally and mentally. For a modern novel aimed at young adults, I think it needed more emphasis on self-acceptance, not as a homosexual or vampire or non-magical, but as authentic, worthy of honor and love as a person, not a category. 

🧛🏻‍♂️🧛🏻‍♂️👹🐉🐉

    I was on a plane this week trying to sleep, and that's why I was listening to Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility. Not because it's boring, but because it is so familiar and comforting. The main characters grow up and take responsibility for their actions. Hubba, hubba! Austen has a plot line with insurmountable roadblocks: the guy who is interested in me is secretly engaged, we have no income, and people are silly and selfish. Her storyline isn't Save the Universe, but in Elinor and Marianne (teenagers!), who, even though they're treated less than honorablily by their male love interests, respond with resilience and tenacity. It feels genuine. The snarky observations by Elinor crack me up. A remark over a hundred years old that makes me snort is a witty remark. Elinor is a sharp observer of life around her and navigates adversity in drawing rooms and ballrooms with aplomb. I get caught up in the story and wonder will Marianee grow up? Will Elinor rise above the pettiness of her brother and sister-in-law? I'm captivated till the end once again.

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