Brief Hiatus

I'm heading out to San Diego for a few days. My brother is scheduled for brain surgery on Tuesday. Last November, he was diagnosed with an acoustic neuroma. We've been told this is a fairly common tumor, many times never even detected. His was discovered after some testing for a hearing problem. No matter what the doctors say, this is brain surgery and I plan to be there for Mark and my sister-in-law and their children. Please keep my family in your thoughts and prayers.

Summer, 2005

It was nice growing up with someone like you
- someone to lean on,
someone to count on...
someone to tell on!
~Author Unknown

To the outside world we all grow old.

But not to brothers and sisters.
We know each other as we always were.
We know each other's hearts.
We share private family jokes.
We remember family feuds and secrets,
family griefs and joys.
We live outside the touch of time.
~Carla Ortega

Help your brother's boat across,
and your own will reach the shore.
~Hindu Proverb

If you want to know
how your girl will treat you after marriage,
just listen to her talking to her little brother.
~Sam Levenson

The Space Between Before and After

The Space Between Before and After by Jean Reynolds Page
Contemporary Fiction
2008 Avon (HarperCollins)
Quit on 5/12/08
Rating: DNF




Product Description

Forty-two and divorced, Holli Templeton has just begun to realize the pleasures of owning her life for the first time. But the experience is short-lived. Her son Conner has unexpectedly fled college in Rhode Island and moved to Texas with his troubled girlfriend, Kilian. This alone is difficult to handle, but as Holli begins to understand the depth of the girl's problems, concern turns to crisis.

Conner's situation is worsening, and as if that's not enough, Holli notices signs of serious decline in the beloved Texas grandmother who raised her. She has no choice but to leave the comfort zone of life in New York and return to her hometown in Texas to care for the people she loves.

In the tight space between these two generations, Holli initially feels lost. The journey back stirs so many unresolved hurts from her childhood. But something else happens in this uneasy homecoming. Comfort arrives in the ethereal presence of the mother long lost to her, and Holli is surprised to find that as she struggles to help her son and grandmother, the wounds of her own past begin to heal.

The space between before and after—easily the most challenging place she has ever known—begins to reveal an unanticipated hope for what the future might hold.

After 134 pages, I decided to call it quits on this novel. I found I simply wasn't interested in any of the characters and couldn't stay focused on the plot. But not to worry. I'm not in a slump. My current read is fabulous and I can't wait to get back to it. It's a lovely day and I'm heading out to the deck with my book, dog and a cocktail. It's five-o'clock somewhere! :)

Compulsion

Compulsion by Jonathan Kellerman
Mystery/Thriller
2008 Ballantine Books
Finished on 5/7/08
Rating: 3.5/5 (Good)




Product Description

Once again, the depths of the criminal mind and the darkest side of a glittering city fuel #1 New York Times bestselling author Jonathan Kellerman’s brilliant storytelling. And no one conducts a more harrowing and suspenseful manhunt than the modern Sherlock Holmes of the psyche, Dr. Alex Delaware.

A tipsy young woman seeking aid on a desolate highway disappears into the inky black night. A retired schoolteacher is stabbed to death in broad daylight. Two women are butchered after closing time in a small-town beauty parlor. These and other bizarre acts of cruelty and psychopathology are linked only by the killer’s use of luxury vehicles and a baffling lack of motive. The ultimate whodunits, these crimes demand the attention of LAPD detective Milo Sturgis and his collaborator on the crime beat, psychologist Alex Delaware.

What begins with a solitary bloodstain in a stolen sedan quickly spirals outward in odd and unexpected directions, leading Delaware and Sturgis from the well-heeled center of L.A. society to its desperate edges; across the paths of commodities brokers and transvestite hookers; and as far away as New York City, where the search thaws out a long-cold case and exposes a grotesque homicidal crusade. The killer proves to be a fleeting shape-shifter, defying identification, leaving behind dazed witnesses and death–and compelling Alex and Milo to confront the true face of murderous madness.

Brilliant storytelling? I'm not sure I'd go that far, but it was a good read. Maybe I would've been more impressed if I knew more about Delaware and Sturgis. Kellerman does a tidy job of filling in the backstory details, but I still felt as if I had walked into a party that'd been going on for several hours.

My husband's read most (if not all) of this series and thought I might enjoy this new release. I liked it, but I prefer Parker, Sandford, and Lehane (particularly Parker and Sandford's dry humor). However, this was an entertaining mystery that kept me guessing, so I guess I'm hooked. I'm looking forward to the backlist -- all 21 titles!

Summer Blowout

Summer Blowout by Claire Cook
Contemporary Fiction
2008 Voice (Hyperion)
Finished on 5/2/08
Rating: 4/5 (Very Good)
ARC - Due out on June 3rd



Book Description

Bella Shaughnessy is addicted to lipstick with names like My Chihuahua Bites and Kiss My Lips, an occupational hazard, since she works as a stylist and makeup artist for her family's small chain of beauty salons in Marshbury, Massachusetts, along with her four half-brothers and -sisters. The owner is her father, Lucky Shaughnessy, a gregarious, three-times-divorced charmer with Donald Trump hair, who is obsessed with all things Italian and still carries a torch for his first wife, Bella's mother. After Bella's own marriage flames out spectacularly when her half-sister runs off with her husband, Bella decides she has seen enough of the damage love can do. She makes a vow: no more men.

Then Bella meets a cute entrepreneur at a college fair, and despite their bickering, they can't seem to stay away from each other. He also gives her a brilliant business idea, one that just might allow her to share her makeup expertise with the world. A small, well-tressed dog finds her way into her life, and her heart, and she decides to chance that, too. When the whole clan heads to Atlanta for a big Southern wedding, sparks fly--in a summer blowout no one will ever forget.

This hilarious, rambunctious novel is pure Claire Cook: full of juicy conflict and unconditional love.


One of my co-workers just got back from a week in Cabo. She and her husband had a great time and she looks well-rested, in spite of her sunburn! I asked what all they did while there and she said they pretty much just soaked up the rays, reading by the pool. Actually, she read every day. Her husband, on the other hand, finished his book (The Ruins) the first day they were there. She said he didn't want to get another book and was perfectly content to just relax in the sun. Boy, not me! I'd find the nearest store and buy at least two more books (not that I'd ever go on vacation without a wide assortment of potential reads).

Anyhow, talking to my friend about her trip brought back memories of a vacation my husband and I took back before we were married. We spent 9 days at a lovely resort in Puerto Vallarta. 9 days was probably a bit too long, as there wasn't a whole lot to do once we'd toured the town and surrounding areas. But this was 1987 and we got a great deal on a hotel/air package as long as we stayed for two weekends. The dollar was certainly worth a lot more than it is twenty years later! (I think the exchange rate was 2,000 pesos to the dollar!) We stayed in a very nice hotel right on the beach, ate lots of lobster, soaked up the rays by the pool, and read lots of books. Looking through my photos, I see that I was in my Danielle Steel phase. (I was young. What can I say?) My husband finished The Tommyknockers (Stephen King), passed it on to me, and headed to the hotel gift shop for something else to read. He settled on Gary Jennings' tome, Aztec. Weighing in at over a thousand pages, it was certain to keep him happy for the remainder of the vacation! (Great book, by the way. I read it at a later date and loved it!)

I've been thinking about vacations and reading. It takes a certain type of trip that allows me the time and setting to read as much as I anticipate. Last summer, I packed far too many books for our cruise through the San Juan Islands. As it happened, I didn't even read an entire book in the two weeks we were gone! I was having far too good of a time snapping pictures of the scenery and wildlife to be bothered with reading. Even when it was too rainy or foggy to head out for our next location, I simply sat in the pilot house gazing out at the water or watching the other boaters in the marina. I didn't want to miss a thing and knew I could always read at home.

The same thing happens when we're visiting family. When we were in Depoe Bay this past fall, I did manage to get a bit more reading in, but for the most part, we played tourists while visiting with my parents. I fell into my normal routine of reading in bed just like I do at home. I certainly didn't need all the books I packed for that visit, either!

Yet summer and reading seem to go hand-in-hand. We have several "Summer Reading" displays at work, and Bookreporter.com is getting reading to kick off their summer-long Summer Beach Bag of Books promotion. Personally, I think I read more in the winter. I love the long, hot days of summer and find that I spend far more time outside (kayaking, gardening, walking, entertaining friends on our deck) than I do during the winter. Even floating at our favorite pool is too distracting for a good read.

Having said that, I know many of you (especially students and teachers) look forward to three months of reading and relaxation. Do you prefer to use this time to catch-up on some of the heavier tomes such as Moby Dick, War and Peace, or Les Miserables, or is this a time for fluffy brain-candy? If you choose the latter, I've got just the book. Summer Blowout is light & fluffy and thoroughly enjoyable. I laughed out loud just as I did when I read Cook's hugely successful, Must Love Dogs. Throw in a few cute dog antics and you're guaranteed several chortles and snorts.

I won't spoil the book for those of you who want to read it, but here are a couple of amusing passages:

The door to the Olde Marshbury Taverne opened, and the father of the bride emerged. He was holding Precious straight out in front of him, and he had a pile of money tucked between one hand and the dog. He walked right over to me and said something about the Board of Health. Or possibly it was the Whore of Wealth.

And then he gave me Precious, still in her cornflower blue taffeta dress with the broach. "Sleep it," he said.

Or maybe it was, "Keep it."

and

After that, we just checked each other out for a while. I had no idea what kind of dog she was, since I knew nothing about dogs. She looked kind of like a flying squirrel, except for the ears. She had the ears of a fruit bat. I wonder what she was thinking about me. Maybe she thought I had ears like a fruit bat, too.

and

I rifled through my lipstick drawer, looking for something strong, confident, and hydrating. Beeswax, shea butter, jojoba, and almond oil are all great moisturizing ingredients. I found a tube of Tarte Inside Out Vitamin Lipstick in a deep rose called Revive. It had jojoba, vitamins A, C, E, and K, plus acai, green tea, and lychee extract, so I figured I was covering pretty much all the bases. Maybe if I ate the whole thing like a Popsicle, I wouldn't have to take my vitamins for a couple of months.

This is a fun read that sucked me in from the first page. I'd say it's perfect airplane material or a good one for a few hours out by the pool. Even the cover's cute. How can you possibly resist that adorable little face?

I'm heading to the beach later this summer (Hampton, VA) and plan to pack Cook's Life's a Beach in my bag. Maybe this trip I'll actually read a book!

A Month in Review - April ('08)

I had a pretty decent month. One great read, a couple of winners, one just so-so and one I couldn't finish (although several friends in my book club are trying to convince me to pick it back up and give it another try!). I think it's especially nice that this month's favorite is by the same author as last month's favorite.

Click on the titles to read my reviews.

Love Walked In by Marisa de los Santos (4.75/5)

Valentines by Ted Kooser (3.5/5)

The Girl With No Shadow by Joanne Harris (4.5/5)

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (DNF)

Keeper and Kid by Edward Hardy (4/5)


Favorite of the month: Love Walked In by Marisa de los Santos

Books Read 4
DNF 1
Male Authors 2
Female Authors 2
New-To-Me Authors 1
Audio 0
Fiction 3
Nonfiction 1
Historical Fiction 0
Classic 0
Poetry 1
Teen 0
Children's 0
Sci-Fi 0
Fantasy 0
Horror 0
Romance 0
Humor 0
Travel 0
Memoir 0
Culinary 0
Mystery/Thriller 0
Series 0
Re-read 0
Challenge 0
Mine 4
Borrowed 0
ARC 1
Gift 1

Note: Only books completed are counted in the above totals with, of course, the exception of the DNF category.

In addition to these book recommendations, I wanted to share some of the new recipes I've added to my food blog. Feel free to check them out and let me know if you have questions.

Seafood Pasta

Roasted Shrimp & Orzo

Artichoke Dip

Navy Bean and Ham Soup

Roasted Lime-Cilantro Eye of Round Roast Tacos

Grilled Rosemary Chicken in Herb Vinaigrette

Keeper and Kid

Keeper and Kid by Edward Hardy
Contemporary Fiction
2008 Thomas Dunne Books (St. Martin's Press)
Finished on 4/29/08
Rating: 4/5 (Very Good)




Publisher's Blurb

Eight years ago, James Keeper fell in love with his upstairs neighbor in Boston, a sassy pastry chef with gray eyes and a fierce attitude. They got married, found a dog, and shopped for cilantro. But conflicting schedules and a real estate deal gone bad took its toll on the twenty-somethings in love. One divorce later, the hand-me-down chairs were separated, the potato masher custody settled, and Keeper moved to Providence to work with his best friend selling antiques at a quirky shop called Love and Death.

A new job, a new love, and a new life now in place, Keeper is in a comfortable situation. Business is steady, Leah (the new love) is intriguing and passionate, and Keeper's friends always turn up for Sunday evening Card Night.

But one phone call from his former mother-in-law changes everything. And so days later, Keeper comes away with a son he never knew he had, and life all of a sudden takes on a new meaning.

Leo, the precocious three-year-old who sports Keeper's square chin, is more than a handful---he eats only round foods, refuses to bathe, thinks he's a bear, and refers to Leah as 'that man.' For a guy who never thought he'd be a parent, Keeper is thrown headfirst into fatherhood---and has no idea what to do. As Keeper and Leo adjust to the shock of each other and their suddenly very different lives, Keeper begins to let the people in his life in, in turns strange and heartwarming, funny and painful. But some, like Leah, aren't so eager for change.

In this humorous and poignant novel, Edward Hardy explores the depths of modern love, parenthood, and compromise. Keeper and Kid is the story of how a normal guy receives an unexpected gift and in turn must learn to ask more of others and himself. A coming-of-age story for the guy who thought he had already grown up, Keeper and Kid is a sharp and witty account of what we do for love.

I'm always a bit hesitant to say yes when I get an email from an author, asking if I'd like to review his book. Forget Google alerts. It's pretty much a given in this situation that they're going to read my review (and hope that those who read my blog will go out and buy their book), so I want to be fair, yet I also don't want to hurt anyone's feelings with negative comments. Edward Hardy need not worry. Keeper and Kid is a wonderful book. Anyone who's raised a child (or taken care of a toddler for any length of time) will appreciate the humor in this story. Reading the book outside on our deck, I found myself laughing out loud so many times, I began to worry the neighbors would wonder what was really in my coffee mug!

I'm not sure how I missed this book; the cover is bright and cheery and one that would normally entice me to give it more than a passing glance. Yet, I don't even remember seeing it in the store! This will definitely go on my list of books to use on my summer picks display at work next month. (This month's end cap is set with my favorite coming of age books.)

My daughter is in her twenties and it's been over a year since I was "nanny" to my two nieces, but I still remember the joys and frustrations of taking care of a three-year-old. Vividly! You know. A three-year-old who knows exactly how she likes her sandwich cut (with the crusts cut off and sliced on a diagonal. But not if it's a tuna sandwich! Then you leave the crusts on and cut it in quarters. Duh!), or why she has to wear her tutu with her snow boots at nap time, or why she simply must get in the car on the right hand side and heaven forbid, NOT the left side. Three-year-olds can be quite stubborn particular. I've glanced through the book, checking out all the passages I marked with Post-It flags. There are quite a few, but they only make sense in the context of several paragraphs. You'll just have to trust me on this. Keeper and Kid is one funny, moving book.

My only quibble is that I found the romantic drama between Keeper and Leah a bit tedious. Quite frankly, I would've liked to have read more about Leo's antics and the hilarious dialogue between Keeper and Leo and a little bit less about Keeper's self-pity and juvenile attempts to win back Leah. But never once did I feel like tossing the book against the wall or calling it quits. Of course, now I'm anxious to check out Hardy's debut novel (Geyser Life). That one slipped under my radar, too!

I guess it's lucky for me that I missed Keeper and Kid when it first came out. Now I own a signed first edition. Thanks, Edward. You've got a keeper!

The Shadow of the Wind

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Contemporary Fiction
2001 Penguin Press
Quit on 4/19/08
Rating: DNF




Book Description

Barcelona, 1945—A great world city lies shrouded in secrets after the war, and a boy mourning the loss of his mother finds solace in his love for an extraordinary book called The Shadow of the Wind, by an author named Julian Carax. When the boy searches for Carax’s other books, it begins to dawn on him, to his horror, that someone has been systematically destroying every copy of every book the man has ever written. Soon the boy realizes that The Shadow of the Wind is as dangerous to own as it is impossible to forget, for the mystery of its author’s identity holds the key to an epic story of murder, madness, and doomed love that someone will go to any lengths to keep secret.

This is my book club's choice for May. I'd heard great things about the novel and was very excited to finally have a reason to read it. The first hundred pages or so started out very well, but after that my interest began to wane. I kept plugging along, hoping to get more interested the further along I read. No such luck. But as it happens, I need to fly to San Diego the day of book club anyway, and will miss The Shadow of the Wind discussion. Actually, I'm disappointed that I won't be here to hear all the comments from those in the group who have told me they're enjoying the book. I have a feeling I'm going to miss out on a lively gathering!

This is a tricky narrative. The reader is constantly introduced to new characters. There's a story within a story, peopled with characters similar to those in the real book. If I had to read it again, I'd want to make some sort of an organizational chart, showing who belonged to which story.

In spite of my lack of enthusiasm for the novel, I did mark a few passages:

That afternoon, back in the apartment on Calle Santa Ana, I barricaded myself in my room to read the first few lines. Before I knew what was happening, I had fallen right into it... The minutes and hours glided by as in a dream. When the cathedral bells tolled midnight, I barely heard them. Under the warm light cast by the reading lamp, I was plunged into a new world of images and sensations, peopled by characters who seemed as real to me as my room. Page after page I let the spell of the story and its world take me over, until the breath of dawn touched my window and my tired eyes slid over the last page. I lay in the bluish half-light with the book on my chest and listened to the murmur of the sleeping city. My eyes began to close, but I resisted. I did not want to lose the story's spell or bid farewell to its characters yet.

Once, in my father's bookshop, I heard a regular customer say that few things leave a deeper mark on a reader than the first book that finds its way into his heart. Those first images, the echo of words we think we have left behind, accompany us throughout our lives and sculpt a place in our memory to which, sooner or later—no matter how many books we read, how many worlds we discover, or how much we learn or forget—we will return. For me those enchanted pages will always be the ones I found among the passageways of the Cemetery of Forgotten Books.

and

In my school boy reveries, we were always two fugitives riding on the spine of a book, eager to escape into worlds of fiction and secondhand dreams.

I'd love to hear your thoughts if you loved (or hated) this book.

The Girl With No Shadow

The Girl With No Shadow by Joanne Harris
Contemporary Fiction
2008 William Morrow (Harper Collins)
Finished on 4/15/08
Rating: 4.5/5 (Terrific!)



Book Description

Since she was a little girl, the wind has dictated every move Vianne Rocher has made, buffeting her from place to place, from the small French village of Lansquenet-sous-Tannes to the crowded streets of Paris. Cloaked in a new identity, that of widow Yanne Charbonneau, she opens a chocolaterie on a small Montmartre street, determined to still the wind at last and keep her daughters, Anouk and the baby, Rosette, safe.

Her new home above the chocolate shop offers calm and quiet: no red sachets hang by the door; no sparks of magic fill the air; no Indian skirts with bells hang in her closet. Conformity brings with it anonymity—and peace. There is even Thierry, the stolid businessman who wants to take care of Yanne and the children. On the cusp of adolescence, an increasingly rebellious and restless Anouk does not understand. But soon the weathervane turns . . . and into their lives blows the charming and enigmatic Zozie de l'Alba. And everything begins to change.

Zozie offers the brightness Yanne's life needs. Anouk, too, is dazzled by this vivacious woman with the lollipop-red shoes who seems to understand her better than anyone—especially her mother. Yet this friendship is not what it seems. Ruthless, devious, and seductive, Zozie has plans that will shake their world to pieces. And with everything she loves at stake, Yanne must face a difficult choice: Run, as she has done so many times before, or stand and confront this most dangerous enemy. . . .


It's been almost eight years since I first read Joanne Harris' Chocolat. I enjoyed that novel very much and went on to try a few more by Harris. I gave up on Blackberry Wine in 2005, but last April I read Five Quarters of the Orange and liked it probably as much as Chocolat. When I got an Advance Reader's Copy of The Girl With No Shadow (entitled The Lollipop Shoes in the UK), I was excited about giving it a read, but had some reservations. Harris seems to be a hit-or-miss with me. Well, I shouldn't have doubted her ability to write a winning sequel. This was just fabulous! I liked it even better than Chocolat. I was a little concerned that too much time has passed since reading the first book and wondered if I should go back and re-read Chocolat. But with so many other books to read, I really didn't want to take the additional time. I did consider renting the movie again, though, as it follows the book so closely. But after a chapter or two, I really didn't think it was necessary (unless, of course, you want to drool over Johnny Depp!) -- Harris does a fine job with the back-story.

Let's see if I can tempt you to read this wonderful book.

It's not easy being the daughter of a witch. Harder still being the mother of one. And after what happened at Les Laveuses I was faced with a choice. To tell the truth and condemn my children to the kind of life I'd always had: moving constantly from place to place; never stable; never secure; living out of suitcases; always running to beat the wind--

Or to lie, and to be like everyone else.

and

How to explain this to Roux, who fears nothing and cares for no one? To be a mother is to live in fear. Fear of death, of sickness, of loss, of accidents, of strangers, of the Black Man, or simply those small everyday things that somehow manage to hurt us most: the look of impatience, the angry word, the missed bedtime story, the forgotten kiss, the terrible moment when a mother ceases to be the center of her daughter's world and becomes just another satellite orbiting some less significant sun.

It has not happened—at least, not yet. But I see it in the other children; in the teenage girls with their sullen mouths and their mobile phones and their look of contempt at the world in general. I have disappointed her, I know that. I am not the mother she wants me to be. And at eleven, though bright, she is still too young to understand what I have sacrificed, and why.

Harris' mouthwatering descriptions made me reach for a mug of hot cocoa (Ghirardelli) and long for a trip to France:

But there's always time for hot chocolate, made with milk and grated nutmeg, vanilla, chilli, brown sugar, cardamom, and 70 percent couverture chocolate—the only chocolate worth buying, she says—and it tastes rich and just slightly bitter on the back of the tongue, like caramel as it begins to turn. The chilli gives it a touch of heat—never too much, just a taste—and the spices give it that churchy smell that reminds me of Lansquenet somehow, and of nights above the chocolate shop, just Maman and me, with Pantoufle sitting to one side and candles burning on the orange-box table.

As with Chocolat, I loved the setting in this book:

Montmartre is a village within the city—and remains deeply if dubiously nostalgic, with its narrow streets and old cafes and country-style cottages, complete with summer whitewash and fake shutters at the windows and bright geraniums in their terra-cotta pots. To the folk of Montmartre, marooned above a Paris simmering with change, it sometimes feels like the last village; a fleeting fragment of a time when things were sweeter and simpler; when doors were always left unlocked and any ills and injuries could be cured with a square of chocolate--

I also love the details that made it so easy to envision a room or character:

First, I see her catch the scent. It's a combination of many things; the Christmas tree in the corner; the musty aroma of old house; orange and clove; ground coffee; hot milk; patchouli; cinnamon—and chocolate of course; intoxicating, rich as Croesus, dark as death.

She looks around, sees wall hangings, pictures, bells, ornaments, a doll-house in the window, rugs on the floor—all in chrome yellow and fuchsia-pink and scarlet and gold and green and white. It's like an opium den in here, she almost says, then wonders herself for being so fanciful. In fact she has never seen an opium den—unless it was in the pages of the Arabian Nights—but there's something about the place, she thinks. Something almost—magical.

This sequel doesn't have quite as many tantalizing descriptions as Chocolat and it has a much more sinister feel to it, but it's certainly a winner in my book. I couldn't put it down and when I wasn't reading it, I was constantly thinking about the characters, curious to see how it'd all play out. Harris is definitely not the hit-or-miss author I thought she was!

Valentines

Valentines by Ted Kooser
Poetry
2008 University of Nebraska Press
Finished on 4/1/08
Rating: 3.5/5 (Good)



For Valentine's Day 1986, Ted Kooser wrote "Pocket Poem" and sent the tender, thoughtful composition to fifty women friends, starting an annual tradition that would persist for the next twenty-one years. Printed on postcards, the poems were mailed to a list of recipients that eventually grew to more than 2,500 women all over the United States. Valentines collects Kooser's twenty-two years of Valentine's Day Poems, complemented with illustrations by Robert Hanna and a new poem appearing for the first time.

Kooser's Valentine poems encompass all the facets of the holiday: the traditional hearts and candy, the brilliance and purity of love, the quiet beauty of friendship, and the bittersweetness of longing. Some of the poems use the word valentine, others do not, but there is never any doubt as to the purpose of Kooser's creations.

Ted Kooser knows my husband's boss and stopped by the office one day to sign copies of his book for the employees. Two years ago, Rod wrote a poem for me for Valentine's Day. This year he surprised me with a signed copy of Kooser's book! Here are a couple of my favorites:

The Bluet

Of all the flowers, the bluet has
the sweetest name, two syllables
that form on the lips, then fall
with a tiny, raindrop splash
into a suddenly bluer morning.

I offer you mornings like that,
fragrant with tiny blue blossoms--
each with four petals, each with a star
at its heart. I would give you whole fields
of wild perfume if only

you could be mine, if you were not--
like the foolish bluet (also called
innocence) -- always holding your face
to the fickle, careless, fly-by kiss
of the Clouded Sulpher Butterfly.

and

Splitting An Order

I like to watch an old man cutting a sandwich in half,
maybe an ordinary cold roast beef on whole wheat bread,
no pickles or onion, keeping his shaky hands steady
by placing his forearms firm on the edge of the table
and using both hands, the left to hold the sandwich in place,
and the right to cut it surely, corner to corner,
observing his progress through glasses that moments before
he wiped with his napkin, and then to see him lift half
onto the extra plate that he had asked the server to bring,
and then to slowly unroll her napkin and places her spoon,
her knife and her fork in their proper places,
then smoothes the starched white napkin over her knees
and meets his eyes and holds out both old hands to him.

This is a small collection that can easily be read in one sitting. I enjoyed some, but not all of the poems. I've read a few of Kooser's collections and there's usually just one or two poems that speak to me. Maybe I'm just not a big fan of poetry. I want to appreciate each and every one, but so many leave me wondering what the heck they were supposed to mean!

So, maybe I didn't love this book. But I love the idea that my husband wanted to give it to me for Valentine's Day. And, the funny thing is that Kooser came to my work for a book signing right around the same time he went to my husband's office. I missed the signing, but a couple of days before Valentine's Day, I picked up a copy and started to buy it for Rod, but then put it back, thinking he'd probably prefer a book about Winston Churchill. Wouldn't that have been a hoot if we'd both given each other the same autographed book? I can just imagine the look on both of our faces as the first gift was unwrapped!

Oh, one final comment. In addition to Kooser's poetry, the book is filled with wonderful line drawings by Robert Hanna. Check them out, if you get a chance.

Here Comes The Sun