Friday 5ive- September 23, 2022

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

It's hard to believe that summer is over and fall has begun. I know my youngest sister is so happy about that.

1) Fall is here, so it's time to change my seasonal/holiday book display from summer to fall.

2) I went with my cousin to a taping of the Rachael Ray Show last Friday. Rachael's set is one of the loveliest ones I've seen, it's very much in keeping with her Adirondack home style. The crowd is much smaller than it was pre-pandemic and I felt sympathy for Tom Kelly, the substitute warm-up comedian. He really had to work hard to keep the audience energy up with fewer people in the audience. Following the taping, we went to Eataly for a birthday lunch for my cousin. I had my favorite pasta dish, Quadrati , a spinach and ricotta filled ravioli in a butter-lemon sauce topped with pistachios. It was tasty and I liked their two course lunch for $22. 

Photo courtesy of my cousin Mary Beth

Tasty Quadrati ravioli

3) It's Banned Books Week, and this takes on more urgent meaning this year as more people are pushing to ban books they don't like in school and public libraries. Most bookstores (including the Book Cellar where I volunteer) and libraries have dedicated displays of Banned Books. You might be surprised at some of the titles- many of them are considered classic literature. I bought two new t-shirts to wear to work, the #FReadom one benefits a project to highlight the positive work being done by school librarians.

Book Cellar Banned Books

4)  I was happy to see that season six of The Good Fight began on Paramount+. The cast this season is phenomenal, led by Christine Baranski and Audra McDonald. Andre Braugher joins as a new partner, and Alan Cumming returns as attorney Eli Gold, father to Sarah Steele's Marissa. I especially enjoyed seeing Mary Testa as an opposing attorney in episode two, she performed at the ArchCare gala last October and she is wonderful. 

5)  The book I read this week is appropriate for Hispanic Heritage Month. Bárbara Mujica's historical novel Miss del Río is a fictionalized account of the life of Mexican actress Dolores del Río. Del Río escaped with her family from Durango in Mexico, fleeing the revolution led by Pancho Villa. Delores met a director and became an successful actress, but her personal life was less successful. She had a series of marriages that didn't work out, she didn't always choose wisely. Delores' story is told by her childhood friend who becomes her hairdresser, and their lives couldn't be more different. I love reading fictional accounts of real people, and Dolores befriends Frida Kahlo and Marlene Dietrich, and becomes romantically involved with Orson Welles. A good historical fiction always has me wanting more, and I immediately began to search out more information on Dolores del Rio. If you liked Taylor Jenkins Reid's The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, (as I did) you'll want to read Miss del Río. My full review posts October 4th.

Have a safe, healthy week. Happy Fall!

Friday 5ive- November 13, 2020

Welcome to the Friday 5ive, a weekly blog post featuring five things that caught my attention this week. Happy Friday the 13th, just what we needed in 2020, a Friday the 13th.

1)  Last Friday night, my husband and I had date night- at home version. Every week I get an email from GetTaste, which gives me the opportunity to purchase a four course set meal from a Michelin-starred restaurant. Last week, the choice was from 4 Charles Prime Rib, and they had a five course meal- Little Gem Salad, Baked Crab Cake appetizer, Chicago Cut of Prime Rib, Creamed Spinach, and Chocolate Cream Pie for dessert. The price for two people was a (NYC) reasonable $154, and we added on a bottle of Grgich Hills Estate Cabernet Sauvignon. The meal arrived hot and well packaged, and it was delicious. The crab cake and creamed spinach were the best we have ever tasted. The beef was good, my only complaint was that it was a small portion for two people. We started with a Happy Hour cocktail of Chocolate Martini and Chocolate Espresso Martini. It was a wonderful way to end the week.

2)  On Saturday, I decided to try Anita La Mamma del Gelato, a new gelato place in the neighborhood. I'd heard that the Milk Chocolate Pretzel was a winner, so I gave it a try and the people were not wrong. It was creamy, crunchy, and very tasty. I will be making a return trip to try more flavors. 

So many choices!

3)  Today I took part in BookReporter.com's "9 1/2 Annual Book Group Speed Dating" presentation. Every year at the Book Expo at the Javits Center, my favorite activity is Speed Dating with Publishers. The attendees sit at tables and publishers go from table to table sharing upcoming books they are excited about. Since there was no Book Expo this year, Book Reporter held Speed Dating virtually for the second time this year, which is good in that you get to hear from every publisher instead of just a few, but I do miss the personal contact with the publicists and the books that we get to bring home. We do get access to egalleys, so there is that. It's a well-done, professional production, and I'm grateful that Carol and Austin from Book Reporter share this with us. Visit their website for all kinds of great bookish content.

4)  We started watching season two of The Good Fight on CBS All Access. The casting is fabulous- Christine Baranski,  Delroy Lindo, Audra McDonald, Sarah Steele, Cush Jumbo-  many great Broadway performers and guest stars. I can see why so many people call it the best drama on TV.

5) It's Nonfiction November so I'm trying to read one nonfiction book per week. This week I'm in the middle of Guy Raz's How I Built This, stories of entrpreneurs and how they made it. The founders of Away luggage, AirB&B, and AllBirds shoes are among the many people profiled in this interesting book, which came out of Raz's podcast of the same name. It would make a good holiday gift.

I also read two novels. The first- Kristin Fields' A Frenzy of Sparks- set in 1965 Howard Beach, is about thirteen year-old Gia and her family dealing with a changing country and drugs coming into their neighborhood. Gia is interested in nature and science, so fans of Where the Crawdads Sing may like this intense family story. It's an emotionally powerful look at addiction. My full review is here.

Hazel Gaynor's historical novel, When We Were Young & Brave is about a group of teachers and Western students in China who end up living for years in a Japanese internment camp during WWII. It's a fascinating story, based in truth, and while I had heard about nurses living in internment camps during the war, I had never heard about teachers and students. If you liked Kristin Hannah's The Nightingale, pick this one up. It's stunning. 

Have a great week all- stay safe, socially distant, wear a mask and wash your hands. It's more important than ever.

Friday 5ive- Catching Up

Welcome to this week's edition of the Friday 5ive, five things that caught my attention this week. This post is a catch-up of sorts, with two things that I did a few weeks ago and didn't have a chance to tell you all about.

1) On June 29th I went to see Hugh Jackman at Madison Square Garden in his "Hugh Jackman- The Man. The Music. The Show" tour. I saw Jackman when he did his one man Back on Broadway show a few years back. This show had a few elements from that one, he sang songs from his Tony-winning performance as Peter Allen, he told stories about his life. The big difference here was that he included songs from the movies The Greatest Showman and Les Miserables. He had Keala Settle come on and blow the roof off Madison Square Garden with her rendition of "This Is Me" from The Greatest Showman. The Harlem Village Academy school choir joined him for a few songs too, including "You Will Be Found" from Dear Even Hansen. I most enjoyed his medley of classic movie songs, including "Luck Be a Lady", "Singin' in the Rain" , "I Got Rythym", "Stepping Out With My Baby" and "Sing Sing Sing". He really knows how to rock a tuexdo and top hat too. Jackman is a versatile entertainer who just wants people to have a good time, and we all did. Catch his tour if you can, you'll leave with a big smile on your face.

2) I also went to see The Cher Show on Broadway, starring Stephanie J. Block as Star Cher in her Tony-award winning performance. You would swear you were seeing the actual Cher up there, Block is that good. I've seen her in 9 to 5 on Broadway (in the Jane Fonda role), in Falsettos and in The Mystery of Edwin Drood, and she is a fantastic actress. I'm so happy she won the Tony. The show features three actresses in the role of Cher- "Babe", young Cher played by just-out-of-high school Micaela Diamond, (who is terrific and we'll be seeing her on Broadway for a long time) "Lady", (Cher of the Sonny and Cher Show years) played by Teal Wicks, and Block as "Star". Jarrod Spector brilliantly plays Sonny Bono, and he sounds exactly like him when he sings. The three actresses interact with each other as Cher, which some people found confusing, but I thought it worked well. The biggest problem is that it's too difficult to tell Cher's 50-years-in-the-spotlight story in two hours and fifteen minutes on stage. Netflix or HBO should do a miniseries on her life. Go see The Cher Show before it closes August 18th.

3) We went to our annual NY Yankees game this week with my brother, who was visiting. It was the perfect night for a game, a warm, sunny evening. The first place Yanks were playing second place Tampa Bay, and the first batter of the game, Travis D'Arnaud hit a home run to right field. He went on to hit two more home runs, including the game winning three-run homer in the 9th inning to beat the Yankees 5-4. At least we had good seats and my soft pretzel was tasty.

Brett Garner and Aaron Hicks in the outfield

4) My husband and I have been totally absorbed by The Good Fight on CBS on Sunday night. We watched The Good Wife when it was on, and we are loving The Good Fight. Christine Baranksi was always the best part of The Good Wife, so I'm happy to see her in the starring role. Cush Jumbo and Sarah Steele are also back from the first series, and their expanded roles here give them room to shine. I don't know why CBS relegated The Good Fight to their CBS All Access streaming network, it's better than any drama they currently have on their broadcast network.

The cast of The Good Fight

5) I'm reading two nonfiction books now- Say Nothing- The True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe and Three Women by Lisa Taddeo. Say Nothing tells the story of a widowed mother of ten children who is taken away from her home in Belfast by masked men and never seen again. Through her story, we find out about "the Troubles" in Northern Ireland, as the I.R.A., a militia of mostly Catholic men and women, battle the British soldiers who are there to maintain the status quo for the ruling Protestant minority by any means possible, including brutal violence against the citizens of Northern Ireland. It is essential reading for anyone who wants to know more about that time in recent history.

Say Nothing

Three Women has been a very buzzed-about book for many months. Author Lisa Taddeo talks about the sexual desires of women through the stories of three women. The first is a young woman who had a sexual relationship with her teacher while in high school, and when she reports it a few years later is met with scorn from her community. The second woman is a successful restaurant owner whose husband likes to watch her having sex with other men. Rumors fly in her community about her as well. The third woman is a thirty-something housewife whose husband refuses to kiss her or have sex with her. She reconnects with a high school love and has an affair. This is riveting nonfiction that reads like fiction.

Three Women

I hope you have a great weekend and that you stay cool in this heat.