Friday 5ive- June 2, 2023

Welcome to the Friday 5ive, a weekly post featuring five things that caught my attention this week. It's June already, that is simply not possible.

1)  I finally finished a virtual bike challenge ride that I started in September- the Applachian Trail Conqueror Virtual Challenge, which is a 1968 mile journey. Luckily for me, I virtually rode the trail from my Peloton at home because if it was doing this outside on the actual trail, I would have been gone from home a very long time. 

2)  I attended a wonderful event at the Long Island Lit Fest on Wednesday featuring Adriana Trigiani in discussion with Helen Ellis about Adriana's wonderful moving epic family story The Good Left Undone at the Mahasset Cinemas. Adriana and Helen are two of my go-to authors, I always look forward to the publication of their books. The discussion was a lively and often hilarious one, covering a variety of topics including:

• The first time they met for dinner, which Helen called "one of the greatest nights in NYC" as they drank martinis and ate dinner at an outdoor restaurant or "dinner in the gutter" as Helen joked. (Anyone who has been to NYC will totally understand that.)
• Adriana's obsession with the Plexiderm commercials
• When Helen went home to Alabama from college in Colorado, she was wearing Birkenstocks, a flowing prairie skirt, and stick straight hair. Her mother greeted her with "Helen Michelle, we are in the South. We roll our hair and wear lipstick."
• Adriana's reasons why Italy is "the Florida of the United Kingdom"
• Who you will ask to do your funeral makeup when the time comes
• Finding a bird in your house is bad, seeing one looking inside at you from the outside is very bad
• If Adriana goes before her husband, she has instructed a friend to "go in and get my shoes. The new one will NOT be wearing my shoes. And you know I'll be replaced in three months." Women will swoop in on the widower.

The Good Left Undone was discussed, as was Helen's upcoming book Kiss Me in the Coral Lounge. I read an early copy and it is funny, sweet, and sassy. It's filled with essays about life with Helen and her husband during the pandemic, and the one titled "Email to the Cat Sitter" had me laughing out loud. It's maybe her best book yet, and a perfect anniversary gift for your favorite couple.

Adriana described the evening as "a little bit like back in time and you are in your aunt's kitchen and I'm your aunt." That is such an apt description, it was one of the best bookish evenings I've had in a very long time. Do yourself a favor and read The Good Left Undone (about how families are only as strong as their stories and women are the keepers of those family stories) and Kiss Me in the Coral Lounge. 

Hellen Ellis, me, Adriana Trigiani

3)  I attended the White Mass for healthcare workers and caregivers at St. Patrick's Cathedral this week. It was a lovely mass, and Cardinal Dolan gave a wonderful homily. I looked at the pew across the aisle and noticed that the nameplate honors Mary Higgins Clark, who was a lovely lady and a teriffic mystery writer. She was a big supporter of Catholic causes, including ArchCare, the organization that organized the White Mass.

4)  I went to Boston over the Memorial Day weekend to visit my son and he took me this very cool place for breakfast called Steel & Rye in Milton. As you walk inside, there is bakery case filled with scrumptious baked goods. In the back is the open kitchen, and to the right is a bar that runs nearly the length of the restaurant. They have plenty of seating inside and we ordered our breakfast and took a seat at the outdoor tables, alongside the families and people with their dogs. Once I saw the Cranberry Orange Loaf, I knew I would choose that and it was an excellent choice, although my son's Breakfast Sandwich with egg, bacon, tomato and lettuce looked very tempting. If I lived there, Steel & Rye would be a regular hang out for me. 

5) We watched the last two episodes of Succession this week, and all I can say is wow. The writers, actors, and directors knocked this one out of the park. The funeral episode was so fantastic, with an amazing performance from Kieran Culkin as youngest son Roman, and a eulogy given by Logan's brother (played so well by James Cromwell) that will go down as one of the best monologues ever. I wasn't sure the final episode could top that, but it sure did. The Roy siblings jockeying for the power seat of CEO was something Shakespearean, and that scene just outside of the boardroom was incredibly tense. And the scene in the car at the end, oh that was that crazy. All I can say is well done all, and anyone who thinks they will be in contention for Emmys against Succession, well,  I wish you luck. 

Have a safe, healthy, happy week and use sunscreen. Until next time.

Friday 5ive- December 16, 2022

Welcome to the Friday 5ive, a weekly-ish post featuring five things that caught my attention this week. Can you believe that Christmas is next week? The older I get, the faster time flies.

1) I finished my final virtual bike ride of the year through the Conqueror Challenge app. You set your own goal for this one, and I set a goal of 2700 miles for 2022. It's very satisfying to log my progress and it keeps me on track riding every day on my Peloton bike. I already signed up for my first ride of 2023- 1968 miles on the Appalachian Trail. This one will take awhile.

 2) When I was in high school, I worked at the Fingerlakes Cinema 4 in the Fingerlakes Mall in Auburn NY. One of my many tasks was to make the popcorn, and we used a flavoring salt called Flavacol. I was online somewhere (maybe The Today Show website?) and I saw that Flavacol was listed as a great gift under $25. I immediately ordered one, and then I had to order a popcorn maker to make the popcorn to use the Flavacol. I hope it tastes as good as I remember. 

3) In our continuing quest to eat healthier I made a recipe from Marlene Koch's Eat What You Love- Restaurant Favorites. I made her Burrito Bowl with Cilantro-Lime Fiesta Rice. It was delicious! I used the leftover shredded pork I made in the slow cooker the day before, and we both decided that this recipe was definitely going into the rotation. My husband isn't a cilantro fan, so I left that out, but it was still very tasty. He even brought the leftovers to work for lunch. I have two of Marlene's other books- Eat What You Love Everyday and Eat More of What You Love Every Day- and I use them frequently, but Restaurant Favorites looks like it has more recipes I we would enjoy. I highly recommend. 

4) Like the rest of the world, I watched the Netflix documentary Harry & Meghan. It gave you an eye-opening look at how awful the tabloid culture is in England. The lengths the paparazzi go to get a photo or destroy someone's mental health in the name of greed is disgraceful. I'm not sure why anyone would put themselves through that, and after seeing his mother Diana literally hounded to her death by them, it's no wonder that Harry took his family away from that poisonous atmosphere. 

5) Things are busy at work and Christmas stuff, but I did manage to read my Book of the Month selection, Matthew Quick's novel We Are the Light. It tells the story of the aftermath of a tragedy at a deadly shooting at a movie theater in a small town that left 18 people dead. The narrator Lucas is writing letters to his therapist describing how he is handling the loss of his wife in the shooting by a young man he counseled in school. He sees his wife in the form of an angel who visits him every night, and when a young man puts up his tent in the Lucas' backyard, Lucas decides he must help this young man, and his wife tells Lucas that this young man is the way forward. It can be a tough story to read, with a lot of sadness, but the town wants to come together to heal and how they do that is beautiful. 

Stay safe and healthy everyone and have a very happy holiday season. See you in 2023.

Friday 5ive- October 7, 2022

Welcome to the Friday 5ive, a weekly-ish post featuring five things that caught my attention this week. Like everyone else last week we were glued to out TV sets watching Hurricane Ian as it headed for south Florida. We have been thinking about everyone who lost so much, it was just devastating.

1) After reading Madeline Martin's fascinating novel, The Librarian Spy, set in WWII Lisbon, Portugal, I felt it necessary to look for a local Portuguese restaurant that makes Pastéis de Nata. I walked by Le Réveil Coffee & Bakery, and ordered a few of the tasty custard-filled breakfast pastries. They were everything I expected after reading (drooling) about them in the book. I will be back.

2)  I completed two virtual bike rides on Conqueror Challenges in the last few weeks. The first one was a long one- 828 miles along the Ring Road in Iceland. It took me 107 days from start to finish on my daily Peloton bike rides, only missing a week or two due to vacation and illness. The second one was a short one, the 125 mile Florida Keys ride, which only took me two weeks. Next up are two England rides.

3)  Speaking of Peloton, I took a hugely entertaining spin class featuring music from the Broadway show Moulin Rouge. Bradley Rose and Sam Yo teamed up to lead the class, which I have taken three times so far. For me, the best classes feature music I can sing along to. The music from that class has been on repeat on my Apple library while I work on my computer. (It's on now as I type and yes, I am singing.)

4)  I started watching Reboot, a sitcom on Hulu. The co-creator of Modern Family Steve Levitan's new project is about the reboot of sitcom from the 1980s. Rachel Bloom  (My Crazy Ex-Girlfriend) stars as the new showrunner and leads a brilliant cast consisting of Paul Reiser as the executive producer from the 1980's version who wants back in, and Keegan-Michael Key,  Judy Greer, and Johnny Knoxville as the original cast members who reunite after some tough years. I laugh from beginning to end of each episode, and whenever there is a scene set in the writer's room featuring the original writers from the 1980s version and the new generation of young writers, I laugh even harder. Those scenes are so inappropriate and hilarious. Don't miss this one. 

5) I've tried to be better about reading every night, but sometimes I'm just too tired. I finished three good books in the last few weeks. Carter Bays, co-creator of How I Met Your Mother has written a creative novel titled The Mutual Friend. I bought this one off the Staff Recommends shelf at Bookstore1 in Sarasota, Florida. A group of people living in New York City are interconnected through various relationships, and the book is narrated by a narrator not revealed to the reader until the end. There is a lot here about the dangers of social media and our obsession with the constant presence of our phones. It took me awhile to get into this one with its multiple characters, but once I did I was hooked, and the end will make you smile.

 Moving from the big city to a small town in Texas, I read Bobby Finger's delightful 

The Old Place because it has garnered so many rave reviews. Mary Alice is a teacher forced into retirement who lives for her morning coffee sessions with her neighbor, Ellie. Ellie and Mary Alice have a special connection as they both lost their teenage sons. Mary Alice is determined to make life miserable for Josie, her replacement at school, a young woman from New York City who married the scion of the town's wealthy family. Anyone from a small town will enjoy the setting and relate to the characters living there. The preparations for the big town festival fundraiser had me laughing and nodding my head in recognition. Although billed as a humorous story, there is some sadness here, just like in real life.  

I never miss a book from author Anne Leigh Parrish. Her previous novels  (Our Love Could Light the World, The Amendment, A Winter Night) have dealt with families living in the Finger Lakes region where I'm from, and have contemporary settings. Her latest novel, An Open Door, is an historical novel set in the aftermath of WWII. The main character is Edith, a young woman working at the UN in New York City and married to a man studying to be a lawyer and living in Boston. Edith enjoys her freedom in New York living with her husband's widowed aunt, so her decision to return to her husband in Boston is fraught with complications. She feels stifled with her life as a housewife, and when an opportunity to buy the neighborhood bookstore along with two other people comes along she sees this as a chance to do more with her life. No one writes characters better than Anne Leigh Parrish, and Edith is no exception. Parrish takes the reader into the heart and head of her characters so brilliantly that we relate and understand them, even when they do things with which we disagree. My full review posts here on October 18th. 

Have a safe, healthy week, and don't forget to get your flu shot. 

Friday 5ive- May 20, 2022

Welcome to the Friday 5ive, a weekly-ish blog post featuring five things that caught my attention this week.

1) I finished another virtual bike ride through The Conqueror Virtual Challenges. This one was a 500 mile ride along the coast of Scotland. It took me 84 days to complete on my Peloton bike. We are going to visit Scotland and Ireland in August, so this one had an extra level of enjoyment for me.

2) Speaking of Peloton, I took a fantastic ride this week- Emma Lovewell's 30 Minute Fleetwood Mac Ride. I am a huge Fleetwood Mac fan, and every song Emma chose was a favorite. I actually took it three days in a row, I enjoyed it that much. 

3) I'm so happy that the Book of the Month Club started a podcast, Virtual Book Tour, and they chose a wonderful author to kickoff the initial episode- Adriana Trigiani, author of one of their May selections, The Good Left Undone (which I adored!). BOTM Editorial Director Brianna Goodman and Editorial Associate Jerrod MacFarlane spoke with Adriana about her inspiration for the novel, the importance of telling family stories, and how women's voices have traditionally been ignored in history. (And I can't wait to hear more about Adriana's Uncle Ralph, he has a great story.) I will be looking every other Tuesday for this terrific podcast, and if you a BOTM club member, this is a must-listen. 

4) This week's episode of This Is Us was just stunning. After following the story of the Pearson family for six years, we come to the end of matriarch Rebecca's story. Beautifully written, the episode titled 

The Train takes us through the last day of Rebecca's life. Mandy Moore's portrayal of Rebecca this season has been nothing short of amazing, and if she doesn't win the Emmy this year, there is no justice. 

5) I spent four days waiting for various repair people to install a new refrigerator, install a new security camera, and most importantly, fix our broken internet connection. What to do with no internet or cable- why, read books of course! I read five books in four days, which was good because four of them are books I signed up to do on book tours.

First was Seraphina Nova Glass' On A Quiet Street (my review here), which gave me a Desperate Housewives vibe. (Remember that show?). It a mystery/thriller about three women who live in a wealthy Oregon coast enclave- Paige, whose 22 year-old son was killed near their home in a hit-and-run, Cora, whose believes her husband is cheating, and Georgia, mother to an infant, who never leaves her home. How these lives intersect made for page-turning reading. I couldn't put it down. 

Next was Hannah Mary McKinnon's Never Coming Home (my review will post Monday, May 23rd), about a Lucas, sociopathic man who plans the perfect way to get a hold of his wife's money- he will hire a hitman on the Dark Web and have her kidnapped and killed. What could go wrong? McKinnon takes the reader through Lucas' meticulous planning, but when Lucas receives incriminating photos, his plan could go astray. 

I always look forward to Susan Mallery's summer beach reads, and her latest, The Boardwalk Bookshop, holds special attention for me as it's set in a bookshop and I work in a bookshop, The Book Cellar, in NYC. (I wouldn't mind working in a bookshop at the beach though.) Bree owns the bookshop, and two other women share the space- Mikki, who owns the gift shop, and Ashley, who owns a bakery. Bree is closed off emotionally, Mikki is divorced and looking to start dating again, and Ashley has the perfect boyfriend. I loved all of them, and I'm always up for stories about women entrepreneurs. This has just the right blend of romance, friendship and career. My full review publishes May 31st. 

Natalie Caña's first volume in her Vega Family romance series, A Proposal They Can't Refuse, also features entrepreneurs. Kamilah Vega's family owns a Puerto Rican restaurant in their gentrifying Chicago neighborhood. Sharing the building is Kane's Distillery, run by Kamilah's childhood friend-turned-nemesis Liam Kane. Kamilah and Liam's grandfathers, best friends who each founded their family businesses, come up with a scheme to bring their granchildren together and possibly save their family businesses at the same time. Again, I loved this story because of the emphasis on building a business, and I learned a lot about distilleries that I didn't know. The romance scenes are steamy, and there are familiar romance novels tropes of enemies-to-lovers, secrets, friends, and misunderstandings to overcome. You'll also get to practice your Spanish. I really liked this one, I'm looking forward to the next books in the series. My full review publishes May 26th.

The fifth book was one that has been out for awhile, and so many people have raved about it, I decided to read it. Robert Dugoni's novel, The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell, tells the story of a boy born with  ocular albinism or "red eyes". The kids call him 'the Devil's son'. Sam Hill is the only son of a very devout Catholic mother who is determined that her son will lead an extraordinary life. His father owns a pharmacy in their town, and works long, hard hours trying to stave off the threat of chain pharmacies beginning to take hold in the 1970s. Sam is bullied at his Catholic school, but his friendships with Ernie, the only Black child at school, and Mickie, a tough girl who takes no guff from anyone, save him. Dugoni wrote this lovely story inspired by his younger brother who was born with Down's Syndrome. It is inspirational and uplifting. 

Have a great week, stay safe and healthy.

Friday 5ive- March 25, 2022

Welcome to the Friday 5ive, a weekly-ish blog post about five things that caught my attention this week. You know it's spring when the weather whipsaws from 72 one day to 42 the next.

1) I attended my first in-person book event since February of 2020 at the book launch for John Searles' fantastic novel, Her Last Affair. (My review is here.) Held at Symphony Space in NYC, the evening began with actress Amy Ryan reading from the first chapter of the book. Can I just say that I would like to request that Amy Ryan read to me every night before I go to sleep? She and John then had a fantastic discussion that included stories about the summer he traveled with his Dad (who was a cross-country trucker), the year he and his husband lived out of hotel rooms and in friends' guest bedrooms after their apartment was destroyed in a fire caused by the couple next door who constantly fought, and the importance of making sure your Skype app is turned off before your book club starts talking about the author after the session ends, among other topics. Oh yeah, and the book was discussed too, which I highly recommend. It's the story of three people who try to connect with old loves, secrets, and how Searles connects these three people is a twist that left me gasping. The setting is an abandoned drive-in movie theater which adds to the creepiness factor. We even got popcorn to take home!

John Searles and Amy Ryan

2) I finally finished my virtual Route 66 ride through Conqueror Virtual Challenge. It took me 244 days to  ride the 2280.3 miles. This one was my longest journey yet and it felt great to complete it. Doing these virtual challenges keeps me on track on my Peloton rides. My next ride is a short 500 miles along the North Coast of Scotland.

3) We had a birthday party at the Book Cellar, the used book store located in the Webster branch of the New York Public Library where I volunteer, this week. We had a lovely luncheon, with flowers, balloons and a birthday cake made by one of the volunteers. It was a delicious vanilla cake made with mandarin oranges. The festive sprinkles on top actually matched the cake plates. It feels good to celebrate birthdays once again as a group.  Here is a classic recipe for the cake.

4) I've been watching a lot of old sitcoms as you know, and I just stumbled upon one I haven't ever seen before- Reba, starring country superstar Reba McEntire. She stars in this 2001-2007 sitcom where she plays a divorced mom who lives with her three children. Her oldest daughter (played by Joanna Garcia Swisher) is 17 and finds herself pregnant by her high school boyfriend (played by Steve Howey from Shameless). They marry, have the baby, and live with Reba and her 13 year-old daughter and 8 year-old son. Reba's ex-husband (Christopher Rich) married his ditzy dental assistant (Melissa Peterman) and they all try to live and let live. Reba McEntire is a fantastic comedic actress, I had no idea! I'm really enjoying watching the early morning reruns of the show on the Hallmark Channel. 

5) I read three books, including Susan Mallery's The Summer Getaway (my full review here) about a forty-ish divorced mom who leaves her Florida home, her ex-husband, ex-boyfriend, adult children and all their issues behind to help her great-aunt in California. She meets a handsome ex-Marine and begins a hot affair only to have her entire family bring their problems to her in California. 

 

Annie Ward's The Lying Club (my review is here) is for fans of Liane Moriarty's Big Little Lies. The book begins with a dead body lying on a high school gym floor, and a woman who blacked out and can't remember what happened. Throw in a wealthy community with a mom who will stop at nothing to make sure her lacrosse star daughter gets into a good college, teens running amok, a high school coach who wields too much power in the community, and you've got a suspenseful story.

 

I also read an amazing novel by Melissa Fu titled Peach Blossom Spring. The story begins in 1938 China, with Meilin and her young son Renshu on the run from Japanese bombers who are destroying their town. Meilin and Renshu do what they can to survive, and finally settle in Taiwan as refugees. (Reading this resonates so much with what is happening in the Ukraine now.)  As Renshu grows up, he is an excellent student and gets the opportunity to study in America. Here his life diverges from his mother's and we see the difficult life of an immigrant in the United States contrasted with Meilin's life working as a maid and seamstress in Taiwan. It's a heartrending story about mothers and sons, written with such empathy for the characters.  Peach Blossom Spring will be one of my top books of the year.  

Have a safe week everyone.

Friday 5ive- March 12, 2021

Welcome to the Friday 5ive, a weekly blog post about five things that caught my attention this week. This week marks the one year anniversary of the pandemic lockdown here in NYC. Last year on March 12th when Dorothy and I locked the door to the Book Cellar, the nonprofit used bookstore where we work that supports New York Public Library branches, we had no idea what would happen in a year. But hope is on the horizon if we stay vigilant, and everyone gets their vaccine when it's their turn.

1)  St. Patrick's Day is next week, and we always celebrate with corned beef and cabbage, a favorite meal of my sons. I decorated a bookshelf with some green books and books by favorite Irish authors.  It makes a good March Zoom background.

2)  I received my 8th medal for my virtual Camino de Santiago (Way of St. James) ride on the Conqueror Challenge. It was a 481 mile ride from France to Spain, and the postcards highlighting sights of interest I received for this one were fascinating. Next up is a 750 mile Boston to Bar Harbor ride, a three month ride.

3)  It was a week of Zooms. We had a family Zoom for my mother-in-law's birthday, filled with lovely flowers, festive balloons, pretty cupcakes decorated like flowers, and gifts galore for the beautiful birthday lady. It was nice to have so many grandchildren participate.

After the birthday Zoom, we had a family wine Zoom with a very informative and entertaining person from Stag's Leap Cellars Winery in Napa Valley. Terri gave us background on the winery and the wines we tasted were excellent, a good time was had by all. The Fay Cabernet Sauvignon was my favorite.

On Monday, the Facebook group Peloton Moms Book Group hosted a talk with author Kristin Hannah, whose new novel, The Four Winds, which debuted at number one on the New York Times fiction bestseller list. The book tells the story of Elsa, who with her teenage daughter Loreda and young son leave their family farm on the Texas panhandle when the Dust Bowl storms and Great Depression decimate their farm. They flee to California only to fight horrible living conditions, discrimination, and farm owners who take advantage of the refugees, to try and make a life. It was a fascinating discussion, and we learned all about Hannah's research and writing process. My full review of her best book yet publishes Sunday in the Auburn Citizen and online at auburnpub.com. (Hint- I gave it a rave review.)

Our wines from Stag's Leap Cellars

4) We watched a terrifc documentary on Apple TV+ this week- Boys State. The documentary, about a program where 1,100 young men from all over Texas come together to create a democratic government of their own. They split into two groups- Nationalists and Federalists, decide on party platforms, and elect representatives. The film focuses heavily on the race for Governor, and the candidates they highlight are such interesting young men, after watching this documentary you know that you will be seeing them as future leaders. The film won the Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize. 

5) On the book front, I finished Kate Quinn's WWII novel The Rose Code,  a 626 page book that flew by.  Three women who work at Bletchley Park outside London are trying to break the German communication codes and one stumbles upon a spy. It continues Quinn's WWII brilliant novels (The Alice Network and The Huntress) about women who did more than their part for the war effort.

 

Speaking of WWII, I started Jacqueline Winspear's newest Maisie Dobbs novel, The Consequences of Fear. We're up to 1941 in this popular mystery series, and private investigator and psychologist Maisie is now assisting the SOE (Special Operations Executive) British spy agency by assessing candidates psychological state of mind before they can work with the French resistance. Maisie and her able investigator Billy are also working on the case of young boy who witnessed a murder. I'm halfway through and as always, it's great to visit Maisie's world and the friends and family we've come to know over 16 novels. It publishes on March 23rd.

Stay safe and socially distant, wash your hands, wear a mask, and get a vaccine when it's your turn. We're getting so close to beating this, I can feel it. I hope you do too.

This post was shared with The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader's Weekend Cooking posts.