Friday 5ive - August 21, 2020

Welcome to the Friday 5ive, a weekly blog post about five things that caught my attention this week. It was a lovely week, weather-wise, with temperatures perfect for sitting outside and reading.

1) We found a new tasty cheese to add to our charcuterie platter- Yancey's Fancy Steakhouse Onion Aged Cheddar Cheese. Every person who tried it immediately asked me what flavor it was. If you like French Onion Dip and cheese, this is your new snack.

2) I watched a delightful Facebook Live with Adriana Trigiani interviewing two authors whose books I enjoy- J. Courtney Sullivan and Eloisa James. J. Courtney Sullivan's new novel, Friends and Strangers, captures the story of a young mother who befriends the college student she hires as her nanny. She is so good at getting you to empathize with her characters. I met Eloisa James at a book launch party for Beatriz Williams a few years ago and she was so lovely. Her historical romance novels are very steamy, with touches of unexpected humor. Both conversations were lively and interesting. You can watch it here.

3) The Democratic National Convention was held virtually this week and there were some terrific moments. For the roll call of states, we took a tour of the United States as people from each state were videoed from their home state to share their delegate vote. The Chicks performance of the National Anthem on Thursday was thrilling, with their harmonies blending so beautifully. But the moment that touched everyone was a 13 year old boy from New Hampshire, Brayden Harrington, who met Joe Biden on the campaign trail. Brayden has a stutter, and Biden took him aside and gave  him some advice that helped Biden overcome his own childhood stuttering problem. You could almost feel everyone cheering on Brayden through their TV screens as he told his story. What a brave young man! 

4) If you are looking for a good belly laugh, download the Quibi app and watch Mapleworth Murders. It's a takeoff on Murder, She Wrote, starring the hilarious Paula Pell in the Angela Lansbury role. Each episode is 10 minutes long, and they release three episodes every Monday. Fans of 30 Rock and Saturday Night Live will love it.

5) I read five books this week. Jacqueline Woodson's Red At The Bone is a slim novel that tells the entire story of three generations in a black family. It is a stunner.

R. Eric Thomas ' Here For It is a funny and touching memoir about growing up black, gay and Christian.

Sue Monk Kidd's The Book of Longings is a historical fiction about the wife of Jesus. It is a brilliant piece of work, and fans of The Red Tent will love it.

Foodie and romance fans should pick up Yaffa S. Santos' A Taste of Sage, which has lots of recipes inside for Dominican dishes. It's the tale of a female Dominican chef who loses her NYC restaurant and has to go to work for an arrogant chef.

Byron Lane's novel, A Star Is Bored, is a fictional account of a Hollywood star's assistant that was based in part on his real life role as Carrie Fisher's assistant. 

Stay safe, socially distant and well.

Friday 5ive- April 24, 2020

Welcome to the Friday 5ive, a weekly blog post about five things that caught my attention during the week. In my quest to work on a small project a day, today's task was finding a place for a set of golf clubs and a new golf push cart. In a small NYC apartment that was a challenge, but hey, I have a lot of time on my hands, right?


1)  Even though the weather has been colder than usual for April, we do have signs of spring. We took a walk on Sunday and found some welcome sights of lovely flowers to brighten our day.

2)  The only place I go to on a regular basis is the laundry room in our building. I go at 6:45am and I'm the only there. Items that have been found in the machines are tacked up on a bulletin board. This week I saw this tacked up on there and have to wonder if the person who lost their "Here Comes The Madness" underwear will ever claim it. It's been a week and so far no takers. At least it give us all a well-needed chuckle.  

3) We are all starved for live musical entertainment so it was great to watch a concert that was filmed in January before we all had to social distance from each other. CBS televised Let's Go Grazy: A Grammy Salute to Prince and it was fantastic. They had great performances from  H.E.R and Gary Clark Jr. (Let's Go Crazy), Sheila E (The Glamorous Life), Beck (Raspberry Beret), Princess, featuring Maya Rudolph, (Delirious) and the great Mavis Staples with the Revolution (Purple Rain). The best concert I ever saw was Prince during his Purple Rain tour, and who can forget his Super Bowl concert when he played in the pouring rain? If you missed it, the link is here. Be prepared to dance. 

4) I'm missing getting to attend book signings and hearing authors talk about their books, and this week I watched two Facebook Lives with Adriana Trigiani talking to Erik Larson about his Winston Churchill book, The Splendid and the Vile, and Colum McCann speaking about his novel Apeirogon, about two fathers, one Israeli and one Palestinian, who each lost a daughter. Both discussions were so fascinating and made me immediately go online to a local indie bookseller to order both books. If you like smart, interesting conversations about a wide range of topics, go to Adriana Trigiani's Facebook page here and watch them. Erik Larson here, and Colum McCann here. 

5) I read three books this week. Melissa Hill's The Summer Villa, about three young women who meet when they share a vacation villa in Positano, Italy. It will take you away and there were a few interesting twists that I didn't see coming. I enjoy being surprised. My full review posts Monday. 

The Secrets of Love Story Bridge is a wonderful novel by Phaedra Patrick about a lonely young widower with a 10 year-old daughter who rescues a woman who fell off a bridge. When the woman disappears after that, he becomes involved with the family in trying to help find her. I enjoyed Patrick's The Library of Lost and Found, and this one was just as good. She writes lonely people so well. My full review publishes next Wednesday. 

I also read an early review copy of Curtis Sittenfeld's novel Rodham, which poses the question what if Hillary Rodham never married Bill Clinton? It's an intriguing concept, and I liked the last half of the story better than the first. Sittenfeld also wrote American Wife, which was a fictionalized account of the life of a woman very similiar to Laura Bush. I'm curious to know why Sittenfeld didn't use a fictional character to represent Hillary Clinton, as she did with Laura Bush. You have to remember that this is fiction, not nonfiction, although she weaves in many factual events into the book in a clever manner. My full review will post soon.

I hope you all stay safe, stay healthy and stay home.

Friday 5ive- March 6, 2020

Welcome to the Friday 5ive, a weekly blog post about five things that caught my attention during the week. It's been a crazy week, with Super Tuesday surprises and Covid-19 taking over the news. My Friday 5ive has none of that.

1)  Last week it was a six-pack of dogs, this week the ducks are back in the fountain of the apartment building next door. This is the earliest we have seen them back, I think the crazy bounces in temperature have them (and us) all confused. Do I wear a winter coat or a spring coat, boots or shoes?

2)  We attended my nephew's wedding in Auburn, NY Saturday, and I got to be the officiant (thank you Universal Life Church, I am available now for weddings). It was a lovely ceremony, the bride was beautiful and the reception was so much fun, with Goodtime Charlie DJ Jane Stebbins playing all the best dance music. We all boogied to Whitney, Journey, "Shout" and Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline", and I even managed to hold my own during the Cupid Shuffle by following the younger folks. Their cake was so pretty too- congratulations to Mr. & Mrs. Short! 

3)  My friend Kelly suggested that I try a new Wegman's product- Sweet Potato Tortilla Style Chips, so when we were in Auburn we stopped at Wegman's, and I picked up a bag. They are my new obsession- so delicious and crispy, and gluten free and vegan too. They remind me of Black Bean Tortilla Chips that I like and can never find. Thanks Kelly!

4)  I got some exciting book mail this week- I won a copy of She Said, the book about the Harvey Weinstein case and written by New York Times reporters Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey, from Adriana Trigiani's Facebook Live. I have been wanting to read this one, especially after reading Ronan Farrow's Catch and Kill. Book lovers should head over to Adriana Trigiani's Facebook page (here) on Tuesdays at 6pm to hear smart conversations about books with such authors as Ann Napolitano (Dear Edward), Kate Walbert (She Was Like That) and funny man Mario Cantone. Adriana also gives away lots of books during the show and it's always an enlightening and entertaining hour. Warning- it will add significantly to your To-Be-Read pile.

She Said and a bonus book win- Tender at the Bone 

5)  I'm in the middle of a new book- Chris Bohjalian's upcoming thriller The Red Lotus. Emergency room doctor Alexis travels to Vietnam with her boyfriend Austin while he does a bike tour. While out on a solo ride to visit the place where his uncle was killed in the Vietnam War and his father wounded, Austin disappears. While trying to discover what happened to him, Alexis discovers that Austin was not telling her the truth about some important things. It's such a tense, fast-paced book, I should not have started reading this at 9pm at night because I could stop reading when my eyes couldn't stay open past 12midnight. I have to get back to the story to find out what Austin was up to. The book publishes March 17th. (Warning- I do NOT like rats at all, and they play a part in this story, but I am overcoming that to finish this propulsive book.)

The Red Lotus

Have a good week, whether the temperature is 17 degrees (like it was Saturday in Auburn) or 60 degrees (like it was Wednesday in NYC).