Friday 5ive- November 10, 2023

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

1)  Manhattan has its first Wegmans grocery store  (there is a Wegmans in Brooklyn) and it is a stunner! The 6 train lets you out right across the street from the store so it is convienent for me to get there, although carrying groceries back can be a bit tricky. The layout is beautifully done, and they have so much product in the store. The prepared foods section has something for everyone in packaging for one, two, or more people. I picked up a chicken francese, potato au gratin, and broccoli for my dinner and it was delicious. They have a wing bar, a huge charcuterie section with packages of sliced meats of all kinds, and an amazing cheese section stocked with products from their own cheese cave, overseen by their own Cheese Cave Affineur (that is a new term for me). The edible Chocolate Tea Cup in the bakery is adorable. I will be making many more trips to Astor Place to visit Wegmans.

Chocolate Tea Cup

Charcuterie as far as the eye can see

2) The NYC Marathon was this past Sunday and it's always fun to go cheer on the runners. It's a real team building exercise for New Yorkers and something we sorely needed this year, everyone on the same side, encouraging the brave souls running through all five boroughs. I love all the clever signs, like this one below.

3) I went to a live taping of Hillary Clinton's podcast You and Me Both at Symphony Space. Her guest was Broadway legend Patti LuPone and the conversation between this two iconic women was enlightening and intelligent. Amber Ruffin- comedian, author, actress, Broadway creative (she wrote the book for Some Like It Hot and the upcoming revival of The Wiz)-hosted and joined the ladies for a funny and interesting Q&A at the end. (Who knew Amber Ruffin and Hillary Clinton were such good friends?  It makes sense though, they are both accomplished and funny people. They should auction off dinner with these two ladies for charity,) Once again it was great to be among a community of people joined together for an activity. We even got to hear Patti sing Make Someone Happy. They did. (And Patti's red shoes were to die for!)

Hillary Clinton, Patti LuPone, Amber Ruffin

4) I watched all four episodes of Netflix's All The Light We Cannot See, based on Anthony Doerr's novel of the same name. I read the book when it published in 2014, and I think they did a good job with the miniseries. It tells the story of Marie-Laure, a blind French girl in WWII who, along with her uncle and aunt, work for the French resistance using her uncle's radio to send secret coded messages to the Allies to help them defeat the Nazis. Even though I knew how the story ends, I was on the edge of my seat as director Shawn Levy rachets up the tension, especially as Marie is being stalked by a Nazi who wants something he believes she possesses. Aria Maria Loberti does a good job as Marie, as does Louis Hoffman as Werner, a reluctant Nazi soldier who has an unknowing connection to Marie. Hugh Laurie is fantastic as Uncle Etienne as well. 

5) I finally read Toni Morrison's Pulitzer prize-winning novel, Beloved. I can't believe I never read this incredible novel. It was my October Banned Book read gifted to me by my daughter-in-law, and it is a novel that everyone should read. Taking place shortly after the Civil War, former slave Sethe and her daughter Denver live in Ohio and are haunted by spirit of Sethe's dead baby Beloved. No one in town will associate with them for reasons that become apparent. Another former slave Paul shows up to stay with Sethe and Denver, and soon a young woman appears who shakes up things in the household. Sethe is traumatized by her life as a slave, and Morrison shows the reader the horrors and dangers of treating people as less than human. It is brutal and eye-opening, and heartbreaking. This book should not be banned, it should be required reading. 

Stay safe and healthy all, and we wish all of our veterans who sacrificed for our country a Happy Vaterans' Day tomorrow.

Friday 5ive- November 5, 2021

Welcome to the Friday 5ive, a weekly(-ish) blog post about five things that caught my eye this week.

It's been a busy time, with a lot of things happening this first week of November.

1) We attended the ArchCare Gala on October 28th. My husband is the CEO and President of ArchCare, and each year a gala fundraiser is held at Gotham Hall in Manhattan. This year, $1.5 million was raised at an event that featured author/director/filmmaker/playwright Adriana Trigiani as the event's emcee, Broadway star Mary Testa performing four songs, and Dr. Deborah Birx as the featured speaker. The evening was a great success, and the crowd of 350 people adored all three of the incredible ladies. 

2) I found this Little Free Library on my walk in Longboat Key, the first one I have seen in our neighborhood. 

3) Our older son has been an Atlanta Braves fan since he was seven years old and they won the 1995 World Series. This week, the Braves won the World Series and so many of our family and friends were very happy for him. Nobody thought they had a chance since they had a losing percentage at the All-Star break. Way to go Atlanta!

4) I watched the 92Y event with Samantha Barry interviewing Hillary Clinton and Huma Abdedin about Abedin's memoir Both/And . Abedin, born to Indian parents, spoke of traveling all over the world as a child with her family, and she spoke very lovingly of her father who passed away. She and Secretary Clinton shared stories of Abedin's rise from White House intern during the Clinton administration to her working as Hillary Clinton's chief aide while Clinton was a Senator, Secretary of State, and Presidential candidate. Adebin has led a fascinating life, and she is an excellent role model for young women. (The stories she told were quite amusing too.) I can't wait to read her book. 

5) I read two books this week. Indian author Thrity Unrigar's new novel, Honor, (which publishes in January) was suggested to me by someone who knows good books. It tells the tale of a young Indian reporter who has lived in the US since she was a teen. She returns to India to cover the story of a young woman whose Muslim husband was killed by the woman's brothers as revenge for marrying their Hindu sister. The brothers then burned and severely disfigured their sister. It's a stunning novel about revenge, honor, courage and the dangers of tribalism which unfortunately resonates in our society today as well, and Umrigar's best book yet.

I also read Jenna Blum's Woodrow on the Bench, a memoir about the last year in the life of Blum's beloved 15 year-old dog Woodrow. Woodrow was Blum's faithful companion, popular with all those who met him and his fans on Instagram. (He had his own account.) Anyone who has ever had and lost a dog will relate to this touching book, and Blum does not shy away from the bad things that happened to Woodrow as he became more and more infirm and ill. It's a true love story, and you will cry. 

Stay safe and healthy everyone.

Friday 5ive- October 15, 2021

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

1)  We went to Florida for the weekend with two other couples. While the guys golfed, the gals walked to the beach. We came upon this set up on the beach, not sure what kind of celebration it was- a birthday or engagement maybe? It certainly was lovely, and not something I have seen before on the that beach.

2)  After an early dinner one evening, we came home, sat around the fire pit, put on the local oldies (sorry Jim) radio station and had a sing-along. One of the gentlemen gave me a run for my money, knowing the words to just as many (maybe more?) songs as I did. I hope the neighbors weren't too upset as it went on until nearly 11pm.

3)  This week I watched a Zoom with Hillary Clinton and author Louise Penny as they spoke about their collaboration on a novel titled State of Terror. The thriller is about a Secretary of State and her closest friend and advisor who team up to discover who is behind a series of terrorist attacks. Listening to the two friends talk about their writing process (Clinton writes in longhand, scans pages, and sends to Penny who is not used to working like that), how they became friends because of Clinton's childhood friend who befriended Penny, and writing a book for the first time with someone during a pandemic. It was a fascinating discussion led by author Will Schwalbe, and the fact that the main characters in this  thriller are "women of a certain age" definitely appealed to me.

4) With everyone watching streaming services, one of the best things I have seen in a long time is on broadcast TV. The new version of The Wonder Years on Wednesdays on ABC is such a fantastic show. Like the original, it's the story of a 12 year-old boy (Dean) and his family in 1968. Don Cheadle narrates the story as the adult Dean, and he is perfect for this. Elisha "EJ" Williams is amazing as Dean, and Dulé Hill as his dad and Saycon Sengbloh as his mom are wonderful. The older brother is serving in Vietnam, the older sister is dating, and I like that we see how the family deals with the things every family faces as well as with issues facing the Black community at that time. Watch this one, it's heartwarming. 

5) I read three books this week. Christine Pride and Jo Piazza teamed up for We Are Not Like Them, a novel about two lifelong friends- one a young Black TV news reporter, the other a white woman married to a Philadelphia policeman. We see how the aftermath of a police shooting threatens to upend their friendship as the story is told from both women's perspectives. Pride is Black, and Piazza is white and that adds an extra layer of authenticity to this thought-provoking and timely story. It's about friendship, race, and what justice looks like. I find myself still thinking about it a week after I finished it. It was a Good Morning America Book Club pick.

Jennifer Haigh is one of my all-time favorite authors, so I was excited to hear that she has a book publishing in February of next year, and I read an early egalley. Mercy Street is about Claudia who works at a women's health clinic in Boston. Claudia is a social worker who counsels women who find themselves pregnant. The clinic has to deal with protesters outside their clinic on a daily basis, some of whom are becoming increasingly emboldened. To deal with the stress, Claudia buys pot from Timmy, a popular dealer whose other client has a connection to Claudia (unbeknownst to her). Haigh's writing is superb, the way she crafts sentences and her descriptions of her characters just stun me. It's a timely book, like We Are Not Like Them. 

Jane Ward's The Aftermath deals with the fallout of the suicide of David, who owns a bakery with his wife Jules. David is heavily overleveraged financially, which Jules does not know. When he can't see a way out, he drowns himself. The book moves forward two years to deal with how the aftermath affects several people- Jules and her 14 year-old daughter Rennie, David's best friend Charlie, Denise, the cop who investigated David's death, and Daniel, the young banker who called in David's loans. They feel guilt, anger, sadness, and grief and struggle to move forward. It's a real heartbreaker. 

Stay safe everyone, continue to wash your hands, stay socially distant, wear a mask in public, and get a vaccine if you can. We're so close to beating this, we can do it if we work together.

Hillary Clinton at the Book Expo

I was very excited to hear that Hillary Clinton was going to be the keynote speaker at the 2017 Book Expo. I was looking at my email when the announcement came through and I was able to snag a much-coveted ticket to the event.

There was a huge crowd lined up an hour and a half early to get into the venue. The program began right on time (probably because CSpan 2 was carrying it live), and author Cheryl Strayed, author of the mega-smash, Wild, was in conversation with Ms. Clinton.

Carolyn Reidy, the CEO of Simon & Schuster, publisher of the upcoming Hillary Clinton memoir, introduced her, joking that introducing is a relative term when talking about the first female presidential candidate of a major party, former Secretary of State, Senator and First Lady, since we all know her. She also got a laugh when she said that if only a small portion of the 65 million people who voted for Clinton buy her upcoming book, it will be a massive bestseller.

Clinton received a long standing ovation as she entered, waving to the crowd. Strayed began by asking if Clinton "knows how much we love you, how much you mean to us?" Clinton replied "I hope you know how much you mean to me." Her love and respect for booksellers, librarians and readers choked her up and brought tears to many eyes in the room.

Strayed asked Clinton what her upcoming book would be about, and Clinton replied that it would be about "resilience, where you find the courage to get back up after a painful, really painful experience."

She said that on the campaign trail so many people shared their stories with her. She's learned that "resilience is one of the great gifts to be given in the form of family, friends and faith." She spoke of two people she has been in contact with for years, victims of the 9/11 attack.

One woman was burned so badly, she has had a decade of painful surgeries. Another man was hit by the landing gear of one of the planes. She has kept in close touch with both of these remarkable people, and she said she is "honored and humbled to see how they handle it." That is true resilience in her opinion.

Since this occured at the Book Expo, there was a lot of talk about books. Clinton has always loved reading, and she read every Nancy Drew book as a girl. She liked that Nancy Drew was "such a go-getter- smart, brave, a real role model for me and my friends. She took care of the house, went to school, and solved mysteries."

Clinton also mentioned that she keeps a book log, which contains "every book I ever read as an adult." She read a lot of mysteries after the election- Jacqueline Winspear's Maisie Dobbs series, Donna Leon's books and Louise Penny's mysteries set in Three Pines. Clinton gushed about meeting Penny, just like all us book nerds do when we meet a favorite author.

Clinton's talk was captivating and the rapt audience was sad to see it end, but we all look forward to reading her book when it publishes this fall. She even left us a gift on the way out- a signed notecard that now graces my refrigerator.

You can view the entire interview here.

Some Great Summer Beach Reads

Every year I devote my June Book Report column in the Citizen to summer beach reads. Here is this year's edition.
 Reprinted from auburnpub.com.

June has arrived and that means it’s time to plan our summer beach reads. Whether you read on vacation, by the pool, or on your front porch, here are some suggestions for great summer reads.

If you are looking for a traditional juicy summer novel, Stephanie Evanovich follows up last year’s big beach read “Big Girl Panties”, with a sassy, sexy prequel “The Sweet Spot” about a Derek Jeter-like baseball star who pursues a restaurateur wary of his reputation. It’s perfect for the baseball lover, and it publishes July 8th. 

The Sweet Spot

South Carolina native Dorothea Benton Frank returns with another Southern family novel about a four women: 80 year-old feisty Maisie, her middle-aged daughter Liz, Liz’s artist daughter Ashley and Ashley’s roommate Mary Beth, all trying to come to grips what life has in store for them- oh yeah, and there is a hurricane heading their way. I love the humor and humanity in Frank’s novels. 

The Hurricane Sisters

If you like your summer reading to have a little more meat, Patry Francis’ 500 page “The Orphans of Race Point” takes place over thirty years in the lives of three friends who grew up together on Cape Cod. It’s a big, wonderful story with heartbreak, love, and family- those who are related by blood and those you choose to be your family. This is my favorite book so far this year. 

The Orphans of Race Point

Another big book is Greg Iles’ “Natchez Burning”, the first in a trilogy. This one tells the story of a son out to save his father, a beloved doctor accused of murdering an African-American nurse he worked with years ago. This one has been getting rave reviews, including one from Stephen King. 

Natchez Burning

Those of you who were addicted to HBO’s “True Detective” should check out Laura McHugh’s “The Weight of Blood”. When a teenage girl is found brutally murdered and left under a tree, her friend tries to find out what happened, and wonders if it could be tied to her mother’s disappearance when she was a just a baby. The story is told from the mother’s perspective and the daughter’s perspective, and has lots of scary, creepy atmosphere.  

The Weight of Blood

If historical fiction is your pleasure, Jacqueline Winspear, author of the WWI private investigator Maisie Dobbs series, checks in with a stand alone WWI novel, “The Care and Management of Lies” about Tom, a farmer in England, his sister who protests for peace, and his wife, a teacher-turned-farmer’s wife who must keep the farm going when Tom goes to war in France. I loved the look at what being a farmer’s wife at that time entailed. 

The Care and Mangement of Lies

If the Civil War interests you, Jennifer Chiaverini’s “The Spy Mistress” fictionalizes the true story of Richmond, Virginia aristocrat Elizabeth Van Lew who spied for the Union, putting herself and her family at great personal risk to help Lincoln’s generals win the war. It was a story I didn’t know and found so interesting. 

The Spy Mistress

Maggie Shipstead’s second novel, “Astonish Me” is very different from her first novel, “Seating Arrangements”, but just as good. Joan studies to be a ballerina and becomes involved with a Russian dancer who defects to the US in the 1970s. She marries a childhood friend, has a son, and moves to California. Her son becomes a ballet dancer and his idol is the Russian whom Joan was in love with years ago. The writing is gorgeous and if you love ballet, this insider’s look is fascinating.

Astonish Me

For non-fiction readers, Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner follow-up their hugely successful book “Freakanomics” with “Think Like A Freak”. They combine terrific storytelling with their unique analysis to help people be more creative and productive. They show us how a hot dog eating champion came upon his winning strategy (it involves soaking the bun in water), why an Australian doctor ingested dangerous bacteria, and why e-mail scammers say they are from Nigeria. If you didn’t get Dad a Father’s Day gift yet (and if you didn’t, shame on you!), go get this. 

Think Like A Freak

Everyone is talking about Hillary Clinton’s book, “Hard Choices”, which published this week. She talks about the difficult decisions she has faced in her life and how she came to them. It covers much of her time as Secretary of State in the Obama administration and people will no doubt be parsing the sentences for clues as to whether she will run for president in 2016.

Hard Choices

Whatever you read this summer, I hope you enjoy it and that the weather is good wherever you go.

Meeting Hillary Rodham Clinton

Unless you haven't been paying attention to the news, you probably know that Hillary Rodham Clinton, former First Lady and Secretary of State, wrote a book titled Hard Choices that published this week. It covers mostly her time as Secretary of State, and the choices both she and the Obama administration had to make during difficult times.

The first stop on her book tour was this past Tuesday at the Barnes & Noble Union Square store. The store was scheduled to hand out wrist bands at 8am, and I felt comfortable getting to the store at 6:30am. When the taxi pulled up, I saw a huge line of people who had obviously slept overnight outside the store. It looked like the line outside the Today Show when One Direction is playing a concert on the plaza. By the time 8am rolled around, there was close to 1000 people in line.

The line snaked down 17th Street, up Park Ave. South and headed up 18th Street where I ended up, about 250th in line in my estimation. Luckily, I had a book with me to keep me company, although watching the people turn the corner hoping we were the end of the line, only to see the look of dismay cross their faces as they realized the line went all the way down another block, kept us amused.

At 8am, they opened the store to let us in, 20 at a time. We went to the cash register, paid for our book (limit one) and then formed a new line to go to the second floor where we checked our bags. We were told verbally and in writing (they gave us all an instruction sheet) that we could take our cell phone and wallet ONLY with us. But security told us if it didn't fit in our pocket, we had to check it. (If you had no pockets, like me, you were out of luck.)

This was the one glitch in an otherwise well-oiled machine; they could have given us that information online and we all would have been better prepared. I have been to many, many big book signings (including Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter), and never have I had to check my purse.

We waited in line again to get up to the third floor where we got wanded before heading up to the fourth floor, the events floor. This store process took about an hour, so we waited in line again for another two hours or so. At least my group was in the actual event space, but we couldn't sit down. Normally, we sit in chairs, but the setup was all the press in front of the signing table, all of us behind them.

I didn't have a book with me, but just my luck I ended up standing next to table that had Colm Toibin's book of short stories, The Empty Family. I finished four of the stories while I waited. We all watched for signs, and when we saw Huma Abedin, Clinton's top aide, we knew Ms. Clinton would be there soon.

She walked in to thunderous applause and cheers, and she looked lovely in her bright pink jacket. The press took photos, she spoke a few words, and the signing began. It took another hour for me to get to the front of the line. She shook hands with all of us, and responded to our words.

I congratulated her on the upcoming grandbaby and then, like everyone else, told her that I hope she runs; our country needs her. She thanked me for coming and buying her book. She signed the book, and then we were handed the signed book. And like that it was over.

It was a six-hour process, but well worth the wait. I admire Ms. Clinton a great deal. The thing that struck me most about the crowd was the diversity of it; it looked like all of America. We were old and young, men and women, black, white, Asian, East Asian, Latino. The most surprising group there were young men, many of them about my sons' ages, early twenties. If these people were willing to wait 4-6 hours to meet Mrs. Clinton, I'd say she has a large, diverse group ready to vote for her if she runs.

GAME CHANGE plays for keeps

I have been drawn back into old episodes of The West Wing on Bravo TV weekdays mornings at 8am. It's a great way to pass time while on the treadmill, I get so engrossed that before I know it, an hour has disappeared.

Anyone who loved The West Wing will want to read Game Change- Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin and the Race of a Lifetime by political reporters John Heilemann and Mark Halperin.

Now that some time has passed and election fatigue is over, (and with all of the stunning events that have plagued this country in the past year, it seems like the election was years ago) it is time for an analysis of that historic election.

The authors spoke to many people on the inside of the presidential campaigns, and their insights are fascinating. This book is written in such a compelling manner, it reads more like a page-turning fiction book. And honestly, how many people just ten years ago could have predicted an African-American candidate would come out of nowhere to defeat a controversial former First Lady for the Democratic nomination and then win the Presidency?

One of the main themes of the book is that people who run for president have big egos. Obviously, you would have to have a big ego to believe that you should be the leader of the free world. Barack Obama's ego is on display when he whines that John Grisham's non-fiction book, An Innocent Man publishes on the same days as his, thus bumping him to second on the best seller list. "But I want to be number one" he whines.

When Hillary Clinton is deciding whether she should run for president, it is her husband Bill who clarifies for her, asking her a question that, reading this book, I had to wonder whether the other candidates asked themselves

You have to ask yourself one question, he replied. Of all the people running, would I be the best president? If you can answer yes, then you need to run. If you're not sure, then you need to think more about it, and if the answer is no, then don't do it.

Reading this book, I got the impression that some of the people working on these campaigns asked a different question: Can I get this person elected? Not whether this person is the most qualified, but the most electable; an important distinction in my mind.

John Edwards and his wife Elizabeth fare poorly in this book. Edwards' behavior is most appalling. When Edwards' affair with Rielle Hunter begins to become common knowledge in his inner circle, he rips into a young, idealistic staffer, blaming the 27-year-old man for leaking the information. Edwards has the utter gall to scream at the young man "Why didn't you come to me like a (expletive deleted) man and tell me to stop (expletive deleted) her?" He actually blames this aide for not stopping him from committing adultery! That one incident alone tells more about Edwards lack of character than any other.

This book's account of Sarah Palin's rise to national prominence differs greatly from her Going Rogue. She is depicted as being in way over her head as a Vice-Presidential candidate. The campaign's attempts to bring her up to speed on subjects she needed to know for interviews and her debate with Joe Biden are disturbing. She wrote out flash cards to help her learn, and the stack was so big, it was overwhelming her. It reminds me of a college student cramming for a final when she never attended the class during the year.

There is so much crammed into this book, political junkies will be in heaven. It is also must-reading for anyone who is engaged in current events, and it puts into question whether the complicated primary process in its current form is the best way to elect the most important office in the land.

Rating 4.5 of 5 stars