I’ve finished my second reading challenge of the year with a month to spare.
Themed Reading Challenge runs 1 Feb-31 July 2009
4 books with the same theme; from your TBR pile; my theme is books with a musical instrument as a major plot device
The Piano Tuner, by Daniel Mason: This novel was very slow-moving, but not in a negative way. It is a character development novel and just took its own sweet time unfolding the character. The story was intriguing: in 1886 an English piano tuner receives a commission from the War Office to tune a miltary officer’s piano in Burma. The novel shows how Edgar Drake, the tuner, is changed during his fascinating journey to Burma and his stay in the jungle. He is an Everyman thrust into an alien environment and how he reacts to his situation is the real thrust of the story. The author also includes some interesting history of the area and Anglo-Burmese relations, and technical descriptions of pianos and the art of tuning. The ending had some twists and turns and the novel did not end the way I expected. It is a good book, but the reader has to be willing to go along for the ride.
The Soloist, by Mark Salzman: I really liked this book. I was drawn to it originally at the thrift store because it had a musical title and a picture of a cello on the cover. The description sounded good, so I picked it up. It turned out to be a quiet book that was immensely touching. It has three strands that are all woven together to form the full picture of a man coming to grips with his past and present and weaving them together to face his future. It is written in first person and vignettes of Renne’s past as a child prodigy are interspersed with his present as a cello teacher of another prodigy and his involvement as a juror on a murder trial. All these stories combine to help him re-invent himself as a man and as a musician and it was an interesting journey. His descriptions of music and playing an instrument were deep and profound and I really enjoyed his wisdom and view of music.
Bel Canto, by Ann Patchett: This was a great book that explored the relationships between hostages and their captors. The plan goes wrong and the terrorists are faced with a house full of hostages and their experience together is the theme. It shows what people are willing to do and to forget in order to survive. It also shows the resiliency of the human soul. Gen, the Japanese linguist who becomes the translator, is the filter through which we see everyone else’s dreams and desires. I liked the way music and singing became the moving passion that unites them.
The Singing Stones, by Phyllis Whitney: Ah, Phyllis Whitney. Her novels are one of life’s simple pleasures: romantic mystery sans blood, gore, sex, and language. What better for some mind-candy fun? Yes, her novels are somewhat formulaic, but part of the fun is always the setting. Her novels are set in interesting locales that often become a character themselves. I like books with a strong setting; I guess that’s how I get to travel, so I’ve been all over the world with Phyllis. The stones that sing are an integral part of the story and since my theme is musical instruments, it fit right in for this challenge.
Brian and his friend, Becky Arnell, were selected to sing the National Anthem at their graduation. They sang in the Marriott Center at BYU in front of several thousand people for the 2009 Lone Peak HS graduation. He just stood up and sang and didn’t sound nervous at all. If you’d like to hear him sing, click on the video below.
On Friday, Scott and I attended the annual Hidden Garden Benefit tour in Utah Valley. We try to go every year, and it benefits the Newborn Intensive Care Unit at Utah Valley Regional Medical Center. Each day before the tour, they have workshops that are included in your ticket price and we’ve never managed to get to one, so this year we worked it so we could attend. They were taught by Joy Bossi , who is a local radio and TV personality and professional gardener. She taught about edible landscapes, and mentioned nasturtiums as edible and also an attractor for pollinators. But she said they don’t transplant well and are impossible to start from seed. Then she asked if anyone had been successful in growing them and I timidly raised my hand, along with a couple others. So she asked me to tell what I do to raise them. I explained that I rub the seeds with a nail file, plant them in flats under clear plastic domes, and put them under my lights. Then I harden them off outside and plant them in my gardens. (Just like I do with all the other annuals, perennials, and vegetables I grow from seed each year, except the sanding.)
Well, you would have thought I was some genius gardener! Scott and I looked at each other rather dumbstruck. We laughed about it in the car on the way to the first home. Later in the day, we were stopped at one of the homes by an older couple who said, “Here’s the nasturtium expert.” So we chatted with them and gave them my “secret” to growing them. So now you know-I am one of the few who can grow nasturtiums. But I’ve never tried eating them.
More about my gardens: Because Brian and I were home all week, we worked in the gardens every morning until it started raining and have made great progress. All the flower beds except one are cleaned up, edged with rock, and newly planted with this year’s new plants, and they look great! Perennials blooming today: roses, poppies, columbine, salvia, iris, penstemon, lamium, and catmint.
School is over because Brian graduated on Thursday, so this is the first day of summer. Brian left last night for his job at Maple Dell Scout Camp and won’t be home until Saturday afternoon. He will come home for 28 hours each weekend for the rest of the summer. So quiet here this morning as I got caught up on work on my computer. Now I’m off to represent PTA at some meetings in SLC, which is normal and doesn’t really have anything to do with summer. But here’s news: Scott and I are planning to get a membership tonight at Anytime Fitness and start our summer exercise regimen. We are changing our lifestyle as of today because we don’t have kids at home anymore. I’m hoping to get more gardening done later this week because it’s that time of year and I still have flower beds to clean out.