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thorsday has come
Jul. 22nd, 2021 07:38 am1. Everyone is posting about their antiques, so I lemming. We inherited Josh's maternal grandparents' bedroom suite, a Shaker-inspired set, and that is possibly antique although I'm not sure of the age. I've got lots of antique dishes (mostly tea cups, demitasse cups, little plates, and silverware). I've got an antique volume of one of Ouida's novels. And I've got some antique costume jewelry, mostly pins and clip-on earrings from various grandmothers and great-grandmothers with some necklaces thrown in. I have an enormous collection of pins that I started as a teen when my paternal grandmother gave me a bunch of my great-grandmother's jewelry that I've added to over the years with some purchases from antique shops along with newly made pins. I don't think any of these items are particularly valuable outside of their inherent functional worth as furniture or whatever (except obviously for the worth of the silver).
2. Today is more shopping for Emma to go to college, brassiere edition! And other stuff, too. LOL So as not to sully the glory of yesterday's post, I neglected to mention that she made a 2 on the AP Environmental Science test. She totally expected to do poorly on that one as her teacher was awful and taught them nothing; also, even if by some miracle she had done well enough on it to have it replace a class, it would have replaced the first biology class/lab, and since she is majoring in biology, we both agreed that probably was a bad idea and she would have taken the college class anyway. So nothing lost there.
3.
A Candle for St. Jude by Rumer Godden
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I wish I could give this seven stars. I love Rumer Godden so much. She is such a good writer.
This book is about an aging ballerina who now runs a ballet school and takes place over the course of the couple of days before the performance of the new ballet of the season.
It's so funny in places; all the characters are sharply observed. So much meaty introspection about aging and art and the nature of creative talent.
Godden has this gift for making her novels seem as if they are genuinely a curtain drawn back on real people's lives and we are being given the opportunity to peek in. Which means that there are no easy morals to the story or life lessons to be learned, and characters don't always make the choices the reader roots for them to make. And I love that.
This is a quick and easy read; it's simply written, but that simplicity of pose should not be mistaken for simplicity of plot/theme. This book is quite complex, I think, in what it has to say about human nature. Highly recommended.
View all my reviews
2. Today is more shopping for Emma to go to college, brassiere edition! And other stuff, too. LOL So as not to sully the glory of yesterday's post, I neglected to mention that she made a 2 on the AP Environmental Science test. She totally expected to do poorly on that one as her teacher was awful and taught them nothing; also, even if by some miracle she had done well enough on it to have it replace a class, it would have replaced the first biology class/lab, and since she is majoring in biology, we both agreed that probably was a bad idea and she would have taken the college class anyway. So nothing lost there.
3.
A Candle for St. Jude by Rumer GoddenMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
I wish I could give this seven stars. I love Rumer Godden so much. She is such a good writer.
This book is about an aging ballerina who now runs a ballet school and takes place over the course of the couple of days before the performance of the new ballet of the season.
It's so funny in places; all the characters are sharply observed. So much meaty introspection about aging and art and the nature of creative talent.
Godden has this gift for making her novels seem as if they are genuinely a curtain drawn back on real people's lives and we are being given the opportunity to peek in. Which means that there are no easy morals to the story or life lessons to be learned, and characters don't always make the choices the reader roots for them to make. And I love that.
This is a quick and easy read; it's simply written, but that simplicity of pose should not be mistaken for simplicity of plot/theme. This book is quite complex, I think, in what it has to say about human nature. Highly recommended.
View all my reviews
