The Cheapskate Next Door – Book Review

Title: The Cheapskate Next Door: The Surprising Secrets of Americans Living Happily Below Their Means

Author: Jeff Yeager

Genre: Nonfiction, financial, self help

Published: Crown Publishing, 2010

Recommended by: The Today Show

Review: Booklist. Starred review.  Ah, yes, belt-tightening is the procedure of the day, from how giant businesses conduct themselves to managing one’s own personal finances. It is the latter aspect of conservative spending that the author of the popular Ultimate Cheapskate’s Road Map to True Riches (2007) and of the blog Green Cheapskate addresses in this delightful—yes, delightful—guide for me, you, and everyone else. Personal finance is a universal concern, particularly in these tight economic times. It is a topic that people need to know about but still shy away from. Yeager is here to draw you in and does so easily. He does not use the term “cheapskate” in a pejorative fashion; after all, he lists himself as one and wishes that all his readers would aspire to cheapskateness. A cheapskate to him is someone who lives below his or her means and does so happily. How to spend less than you are spending now is the program he details; the amazing fact about this book is that in addition to his instructions making perfect sense, like no other book of its kind, this one
can be read simply for the humor of the author’s prose.

Notes: This was an excellent financial guide that I related to in nearly every chapter.  The book included tips and tricks that I’d not thought of, and gave a bolster of support to our already “cheapskate” tendencies.  We’re the most frugal of our group of friends, so it was a relief to know we’re not the only ones out there pinching our pennies and enjoying it in the meantime!

Rating (out of four stars): four stars

Date Finished: 8/30/10

Exercise Will Improve Our Marriage

There are dozens upon dozens upon dozens of reasons to exercise.  Yet I still have a difficult time hauling myself to the gym.  When the school year begins in full force, my plan is to stick to a Monday Zumba class, Tuesday workout in the fitness center at the Y, and a Wednesday weights class.  (Also, a Thursday night happy hour, but who’s keeping track?)  Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays will be for walks and bike rides, with a few sessions of YMCA workouts or an exercise DVD if the weather is disagreeable.

Even with a schedule set in stone, I find myself tempted to skip exercise, so I thought I’d put a new spin on the reasons why working up a sweat is something that’s worth my time and effort: exercise will improve our marriage.  Inspired by the Chicago Tribune and Engaged Marriage, I’ve compiled ways that exercise will benefit our relationship.  All of the facts in bold are from reputable sources,* but the commentary is mine.  Feel free to add more benefits in the comments section!

Exercise improves your mood. The phrase “If Mama ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy,” comes to mind.  Rotten moods are contagious, but luckily, so are happy moods.  Exercise can stop a bad mood before it starts.

Exercise boosts your energy level. Getting in better shape can improve your relationship – you can both go on a long walk without getting winded, or spend a morning in the garden together without stopping to rest.

Exercise helps manage your weight. Just as importantly as a physical benefit, your mental health will get a boost.  Feeling confident about your appearance can go a long way.

Exercise promotes better sleep. Who’s in a great mood after a terrible sleep?  Certainly not me.  I know that it’s easier for me to be in a positive mood all day if I can wake up on the right side of the bed, which usually happens after a peaceful night’s sleep.

Exercise can put the spark back in your sex life. Beyond the good mood and increased endurance, exercise has the power to increase arousal in women and decrease erectile dysfunction in men.

Exercise improves your health. From cancer to diabetes to the common cold, regular exercisers have resistance to disease.  A serious illness can put excessive strain on a marriage, but even something as small as the sniffles makes me cranky.  And, as the theme seems to be, a happy wife=a happy husband (and vice versa!).

Exercise can be fun. A hike at a state park trail, a YMCA class, a walk downtown, basketball at the local elementary school.  All of these things count as exercise, and can be turned into a date… two in one!  Quality time and exercise together… count me in.

Exercise improves learning. Maybe I’ll finally remember to fill the gas tank before it hits the Empty marker… or perhaps we’ll start doing more sodoku puzzles together.  Though this might not fit hand in hand with marriage as well as the other benefits, I certainly think it’s worth noting!

* Sources include Mayo Clinic, Center for Disease Control, US News

Cheesy Wild Rice Soup – Recipe

Nothing says autumn like a hearty soup.  This one certainly fits the bill – it all but screams turtlenecks, new notebooks, and pots of chrysanthemums on the front porch.  While leaves aren’t falling yet, school starts this week, and it seemed fitting to make.

This recipe makes my all time favorite soup, ever.  I’m starting to tweak it to make it a bit more natural – the original recipe calls for both Velveeta and condensed cream of potato soup.  I replaced the processed cheese with colby jack with much success, and am working on a substitution for the condensed soup.  I don’t know where to start.  Possibly with a roux, and add flour/milk/potato cubes?  That’ll be an experiment for another afternoon!

And just to note… you’ll need a stock pot for this recipe – it makes quite a bit.  We freeze about half of it for nights we’d like comfort food in a hurry.

Cheesy Wild Rice Soup
adapted from Leanne’s recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 cup long grain/wild rice mix
• 3 cups low sodium chicken broth
• 1-2 cups chopped celery
• 1-2 cups thinly chopped carrots
• 1-2 cups chopped onion
• 3 cans condensed cream of potato soup*
• 4 cups milk
• 2 cups half and half
• 1 lb shredded cheese

Directions:

1. Prepare rice with broth.  Meanwhile, steam vegetables on the stovetop until crisp-tender.
2. In a large pot, combine rice, vegetables, condensed soup, milk, half and half, and cheese.
3. Heat, but do not boil.

The Secret Life of CeeCee Wilkes – Book Review

Title: The Secret Life of CeeCee Wilkes

Author: Diane Chamberlain

Genre: Suspense, Romance, Realistic Fiction

Publisher: Mira, 2006

Recommended by: Erin at Blue-Eyed Bride

Synopsis: (from the publisher) In 1977, pregnant Genevieve Russell disappeared. Twenty years later, her remains are discovered and Timothy Gleason is charged with murder. But there is no sign of the unborn child.  CeeCee Wilkes knows how Genevieve Russell died, because she was there. And she knows what happened to her missing infant, because two decades ago she made the devastating choice to raise the baby as her own. Now Timothy Gleason is facing the death penalty, and she has another choice to make. Tell the truth and destroy her family. Or let an innocent man die in order to protect a lifetime of lies.

Notes: Again, couldn’t put it down.  I actually had to ask Paul to hide it from me so I could get some work done!  I’m not used to reading suspenseful books – around the middle of the book, I had to read the last three chapters so I could fall asleep.  While I enjoyed reading it at the time, though, I don’t think it’ll be a lasting favorite.  It was very plot-driven – not necessarily a bad thing, but not my favorite type of book.

Rating (out of four stars): three stars

Date Finished: 8/18/10

Before Baby

In no way, shape or form am I pregnant.  Or even trying to get pregnant.  (Though I must admit, if a little one came along I wouldn’t be the least bit disappointed.)  Inspired by a post by Kathleen over at Project M, I’m trying to enjoy our childless days to the fullest.  I’m not making a list of all the things I’d like to do before baby comes along, but rather I’m consciously enjoying the moments that may become less frequent in the future:

• Having the house stay clean after I pick up.  Or, if it doesn’t, I know there’s no one to blame but myself.
• Leaving out nick knacks, keeping small objects lying about, and generally not worrying about anything in our household being swallowed.
• Cooking meals based on adult tastes that I really enjoy.
• Waiting until the last minute to do… well… anything.  Leave for the dentist, grocery shop, go on a date.
• Meeting up with friends whenever, wherever we’d like.  No babysitters to rely on, no sick child to stay home for.
• Sleeping  on a very regular schedule – going to bed at the same time, having an uninterrupted rest, and waking up at the same time every day.
• Reading books for an hour at a time.
• Listening to my Playaway while I clean.
• Eating dinner late in the evening.
• Staying at work until I’m finished, or at least until I’m ready to stop for the day, even if it’s hours after the school day ends.
• Focusing on my Happiness Project.
• Taking the opportunity to be selfish once in a while.  (What an awful thing to enjoy, right?)
• Shopping at a leisurely pace.
• Blogging uninterrupted whenever I please.

I could make a list about about twenty times as long about all of the wonderful reasons I’d love to have a child, but I think if I focus on enjoying the era that I’m living in, I’ll be happier (and so will my husband!).    I really do need to focus on my happiness project, as I mentioned above, since I do have the time.  I’m getting a bit lax on it, particularly this month.  So here I go to get my tush in gear for a walk, as I’m supposed to focus on staying fit.  Not a stellar workout, but certainly a start!

On the Menu…

Now that summer’s over and our days are much busier, I’ve started meal planning once again.  I’m starting out by planning about four meals to get to sometime in a week.  We’ll see if I go back to planning day by day, but for now I think I’d like a little more flexibility.  If I can remember to dethaw the meat with time to spare, I think it’ll be a success.

Meal 1:

• Chicken casserole
• Rice
• Cooked carrots

Meal 2:

• California turkey burgers
• Salad
• Sweet potato fries

Meal 3:

• Sloppy Joes
• Cheesy broccoli
• Corn

Meal 4:

• Shepherd’s pie

Seven Link Challenge

One of my favorite blogs is Penelope Loves Lists.  A few weeks ago, she completed a Seven Link Challenge to expose new readers to some of her previous posts.  Because my readers number in the tens on a good day, I can’t really justify this as new-reader-exposure.  Instead, I’ll admit, it’s purely for the fun of looking back on past links.  I’ve been blogging for less than a year, and it’s amazing how much I’ve recorded in that short amount of time.

My First Post: Ongoing Goals.  Catchy title, I know.  This was the start of my happiness project before I knew what a happiness project was.

A Post I Enjoyed Writing Most: It really had a good time with my About page.  I think this is because I posted it and then kept coming back to review and revise.  It’s always a work in progress, whereas my posts are published and that’s that.

A Post Which Had Great Discussion: My posts don’t typically generate a lot of conversation, but I found a comment in Know the Low to be extremely helpful.  It led me to the Grocery Hop website, which I use frequently (but have yet to blog about).

My Most Helpful Post: Homemade Pancake Mix Recipe and Famous Amos Cookie Recipe.  Nearly all hits I get from Google come from these two recipes.  I’d recommend trying both recipes!

A Post with a Title I Am Proud Of: An Unfortunate Case of Granola.  This proves that I stink at coming up with titles.

A Post I Wish More People Had Read: How about every post I’ve ever written?  I can’t complain, though – I have to comment on other people’s blogs if I’d like a little more traffic on my site.

A Post on Someone Else’s Blog I Wish I’d Written: Christmas in July – Family Cookbook on Beantown Baker, mainly because her cookbook is not only genius, but also the best Christmas gift idea ever.  I wish I’d thought of it… but I’ll have to just be satisfied with copying the idea and claiming it as my own.  (Just kidding… I always give credit where credit is due.)

Health Goals for August and September

I tossed around a few ideas for health goals, and after a several days of trying them out, I’m ready to commit.  I’ve heard it takes six weeks (or eight, or three, depending on who you listen to) to develop a habit.  If I start these habits today, I should be a fitness machine by the time the end of September rolls around.  Here are the final five:

• Sign up for the fall session of Zumba classes.  GO TO THE CLASSES.
• Never skip more than one day of exercise in a row.
• Wake up between 5:30 and 6:30 and go to sleep between 9:30 and 10:30 daily, including weekends.
• Make sure to get in veggies with two meals or snacks per day.
• Take a multivitamin daily.

Beer Cheese Dip Recipe

You’ll never find an easier, more coveted recipe than this.  Mix four ingredients together, add a bag of pretzels, and wait for the compliments.

Beer Cheese Dip
from Hidden Valley Ranch

Ingredients:

• 16 ounces (2 packages) cream cheese
• 1 ounce ranch dip mix
• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• ¼- ½ cup beer
• Pretzels, bread cubes, or fresh vegetables

Directions:

1. Blend cream cheese, cheddar cheese and ranch dip mix.  Mix in enough beer to reach desired consistency.
2. Serve with pretzels, bread cubes, or fresh veggies.

Surround Yourself with Success

About five years ago, I found the America on the Move website.  I printed out a few pages, used them for a few weeks, and filed them away.  Looking through my files yesterday, though, I was delighted to come across them once again.  I quickly jumped online to see what they’d added in five years, and it appears to be quite a bit!  Unfortunately, my computer isn’t allowing me to download any of their resources, so for now I’ll have to suffice with my printouts.

There are literally hundreds of manageable diet and exercise tips within the pages of the two documents I have at my side.  I’ve chosen some of my favorites, adapted them to fit my life, and have shared them below.  As always, add to the list if you have an idea for me.

Tips to Get Moving

1. Run errands without using the car – go to the bank, pharmacy, library, and convenience store on bike or foot.
2. Leave the room during television commercials.  Use the break to put away dishes and laundry, or to accomplish other tasks that add movement.
3. Walk while talking on the phone.  Take your cell phone with you on a walk around the neighborhood.
4. Choose a Playaway (similar to a book on tape) that you’re only allowed to listen to while exercising or on a walk.  You’ll find yourself walking farther than normal when you’re engrossed in a great story.
5. Store a pair of comfortable shoes in the car and at school so you’ll be ready for a walk after work or on the run.
6. Hold classes outside.  Fresh air boosts creativity and the extra steps add up.
7. Be a role model!  Encourage students to be more active and eat more healthfully by doing these things yourself.
8. Circle around the block once when you take out the trash.
9. Make several trips up and down the stairs to do laundry or other household chores.
10. Invite friends or family to join you for a walk.
11. Benefit a good cause by joining a charity walk.
12. Sign up for a community 5k or 10k walk.
13. Park in the far reaches of the parking lot.
14. Dance the night away at a club.
15. Take a walk around a local university, hike on a wilderness trail, or drive to a new walking trail – anything to change the scenery.
16. Meet a friend for lunch or coffee at a restaurant you can walk to.
17. Look on Craigslist or the newspaper for garage sales.  Walk to those in your neighborhood.
18. Drive to a neighboring community and tour it’s main street on foot.
19. Sign up for an exercise class.
20. Spend a day at the beach and walk the shoreline.
21. Take care of household chores and get moving at the same time – scrub the floors, vacuum, or mow the lawn.
22. Tour a local trail by bike.
23. Paddle away calories on a raft, kayak, or canoe.

Tips to Eat Right

1. Pre-wash baby carrots, celery, grapes, and apples for a quick snack.
2. Have dairy products on hand like low-fat milk, yogurt, and cheese.
3. Make a “healthy snack” shelf at eye level in the cupboard.  Place unhealthy foods in an inconvenient location.
4. Place a bowl of fresh fruit in the center of your kitchen for easy access to a delicious, low-calorie, low-fat snack.
5. Plan your meals for the week.  Take a few minutes to write a list before going to the grocery store.  This will keep you from forgetting items you need, and prompt you to think of ingredients for your favorite quick and healthy recipes.
6. Make fresh fruit salads for dessert instead of baked goods or other sweets.
7. Make sure you have applesauce on hand.  You can use it for a quick snack or as a substitute for butter in baking recipes.
8. Steam vegetables to preserve nutrients and avoid added fat.  Season with lemon juice, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, or fresh herbs.
9. Serve dinner on appetizer plates to control portions.
10. Freeze individual serving sizes of meals so you have a backup on busy days.
11. Slow down!  Put your utensils down between bites to slow your eating place.
12. Listen to relaxing music while eating instead of sitting in front of the TV.
13. Pack your lunch – homemade soups, sandwiches, and salads can be more healthful because you control the ingredients.
14. Grabbing breakfast on the run?  Reach for healthy options – low fat muffins, fresh fruit, smoothies, and water – instead of a doughnut and coffee.
15. Keep foods away from your desk and eat them at planned times to avoid unmindful snacking.
16. Bring a fun water bottle to school and make an effort to drink several glasses of water.  Staying hydrated perks up your energy and curbs your hunger.
17. Bring a healthy mid-afternoon snack to school, like low-fat yogurt or a piece of fruit, so you won’t be tempted to overeat junk food.

A Slight Change in Plans

I’ve come to a realization that slightly alters my Happiness Project this month.  My August focus – work – is actually my focus for August, September, October, November, December, January, February, March, April, and May.  I spent over 40 hours per week working, preparing to work, thinking about work, researching work… I think I’ve got work covered.  I’ve found that while I love love love teaching, I do want to continue putting a special emphasis on a goal not related to work.

The beginning of the school year is a wonderful time to make a resolution, and in typical New Year’s resolution fashion, I’m going to get fit and healthy this month.  (By this month, I mean the rest of August and September, as somehow the first two weeks of August passed without my realization.)  My husband is along for the ride.  Actually, I’m the one going along for the ride – it was his idea to step up our game in the realm of eating and exercise.  I already have several ideas for August/September goals.  I may add, delete, or alter the list after I review it with Paul.

Possible Health-related goals

• Sign up for the fall session of Zumba classes.  GO TO THE CLASSES.
• Sign up for a weight training program at the YMCA.
• From Gretchen Rubin at happiness-project.com: “Never skip exercising for two days in a row.  You can skip a day, but the next day, you must exercise, no matter how inconvenient.”
• Savor one (and only one) treat per day.
• Wake up between 5:30 and 6:30 and go to sleep within 9:30 and 10:30 daily, including weekends.
• Serve vegetables for lunch, snack, and dinner.  (And perhaps find a way to make them taste a bit better… any suggestions?)
• Take a multivitamin daily.
• Choose one extra goal daily from America on the Move.
• Clean up my “100 Things to Make” list so it has more vegetables, less treats.

I’m open to new ideas, so feel free to send tips or ideas my way!

Lazy Daisy Cake Recipe

This recipe was my great-grandmother’s.  I know it’s not an original – I saw an updated but very similar version in a “Lost Recipes” edition of Cook’s Country magazine – but it brought back lots of memories for the oldest two generations of the family during our latest reunion.  The original recipe is shown below, though I must admit, I took a bit of advice from Cook’s Country (noted in italics).

Lazy Daisy Cake

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup milk
• 2 tablespoons butter (cake) plus 5 tablespoons butter (frosting)
• 1 cup brown sugar (or 3/8 cup brown sugar)
• ¼ cup cream (or 3 tablespoons evaporated milk)
• 1 cup coconut

Directions:

1. (In a saucepan over medium heat,) beat milk and 2 tablespoons butter.  Add eggs, sugar (beat eggs and sugar until thick before adding dry ingredients), flour, baking soda, and salt.
2. In an 8 by 8 inch greased pan, bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.
3. Mix brown sugar, 5 tablespoons butter, cream, and coconut to make frosting.
4. Frost cake and put under broiler until browned.

Travel Month in Review

I’d say that out of all the months I’ve been doing my Happiness Project, I’ve learned the most in July, in which I focused on travel.  Not only did I learn about the countries, cultures, and people that we were exposed to, but I also learned how to travel.  Here are a few of the do’s and don’t's that I found on our journey.  As this is my blog, they’re my lessons learned – they might not apply to everyone!  We were on a Mediterranean cruise, so if you backpacked in Chile or stayed in Tokyo for two weeks, you may have a totally different take on things.  If you have a tip to add or disagree with one of mine, by all means add a comment to the list.

Traveling Tips

• Research, research, research the places you’ll be going.  Bring along maps, a list of sights to see and the stories behind those sights, currency conversions, the names of popular local foods, and general info you’ve learned about the place you’ll be traveling to.  Even if you don’t pull these items out of your bag on a regular basis, there’ll be times when you’re glad you have them.
• Take plenty of pictures, but make sure to come out from behind the camera lens to enjoy the moment.
• Make sure there are people in your pictures from time to time – they’re more fun to look at than landscapes (most of the time).
• Pack lightly. Look at each item and decide if it’s something you want to bring or need to bring.  You’ll be lugging it every place you go, and even light items add up to a heavy suitcase.  As we found out, wheels on suitcases can and do break, so a rolling suitcase is no exception to the pack light rule!  You can always hand wash items to wear again – just give them plenty of time to dry!
• On a day trip, bring as little as possible and instead buy what you need (food, drinks, etc).  It might be cheaper to bring four water bottles along with you, but they’re heavy to carry across town.  Pare down to the absolute essentials.
• Find the ATM as soon as possible.  Many places overseas, especially restaurants, don’t take credit cards.  Both of our credit cards and debit cards charged for currency conversion, so you don’t really save any money by using credit cards.  Don’t take out so much that you’ll have to find a place to exchange the local currency back to dollars, though.
• Practice your multiplication before going to another country.  It sounds simple, but trying to multiply 47 by 1.3 is easier if you know what you’re doing before you go.  Practice converting back and forth between dollars and the local currency before you leave.
• Set an alarm clock. Then, set a backup alarm clock.  Then, arrange for a wake-up call.
• Start preparing for a large time change a week or two before your trip.  You don’t want to miss out on something because you’re too tired from jet lag.
• Don’t wear a security pouch around your waist. It makes you look like you have a huge gut in every picture.  Find a secure purse or another way to wear your passport.  (Does anyone have any ideas about this?)
• Eat something every place you travel.  If possible, find out the local specialties before you arrive.
• Get a really good house and pet sitter so you don’t need to worry while you’re away.  Ask them to e-mail an update or two during the trip in case it’s possible to check your e-mail.
• Unless you are sure that your hotel room has an iron, invest in wrinkle releaser.
• Call your credit card company to let them know you’ll be going overseas.  If you don’t, they might put a freeze on your card for suspicious activity.
• Make a list of everything you’d like to do in a city, on the cruise ship, at your resort, or wherever you are.  That way, you won’t end the trip with regrets of things left undone.
• Always ask if you’re on the right track – at the airport terminal, walking to the beach, trying to find a museum.  It might be embarrassing, but it’s better than missing a flight or wasting time being lost.
• Travel with a partner (preferably the love of your life) – it’s just more fun.  Before the trip and at the beginning of each day of vacation, talk about your goals for the day.  It’ll go more smoothly if you make time for activities that you each enjoy.
• Bring multiple cameras to each location you go.  If one dies or the memory card is erased, you’ll have photos of everything on both cameras.
• Function trumps fashion. You’ll be able to enjoy your trip if you’re comfortable.  Don’t let a cute pair of shoes prevent you from walking to the beach.

We’re back from the honeymoon… and yes, it was amazing

Remarkable, exceptional, fabulous, eye-opening, romantic, and on and on and on – our honeymoon was PERFECT.  We took a Mediterranean cruise, and I’d do it again in a heartbeat.  Here are the cities we visited, with (very) short description of our stay there:

• Venice, Italy.  Stayed overnight in Hotel Arcadia; wandered around before the rest of the city woke up; ate an Italian breakfast at our hotel.
• Dubrovnik, Croatia.  Walked the city walls; ate gelato; went shopping for souvenirs.
• Kusadasi, Turkey and Ephesus.  Took a full day tour of the ruins of Ephesus; visited the House of the Virgin Mary and the ruins of St. John’s Basilica; ate traditional Turkish foods in a buffet; watched a rug-weaving demonstration; tried to avoid street vendors and pushy salesmen.
• Santorini, Greece.  Rode donkeys up the cliff; wandered around Fira; took a bus to explore the city of Oia; lounged and swam at the black-sanded Ammoudi Beach.
• Corfu, Greece.  Walked to Corfu Town; shopped for souvenirs; ate ice cream and a gyro; swam at the beach.
• Padua, Italy.  Toured the Basilica of St. Anthony; went on a guided tour of the city.
• Manchester, England.  Took the train into the city; sat in a cafe and people-watched Sky Ride (bicycle event); went to the art museum; walked around the city.

We had all of the fun we planned and then some – visiting Manchester wasn’t originally in our plans.  We were originally scheduled to have a long layover there, but there wasn’t quite enough time to actually do anything (aside from sleep in our hotel room).  As we prepared to check in for the long flight to Chicago, we were approached by an American Airlines employee – the airline needed someone to volunteer to wait to fly another day, as the flight was overbooked.  Both being educators with a lengthy summer holiday, we weren’t racing home to get back to work, so we agreed.  American Airlines paid for our hotel room, meals, bumped us up to first class the following day (absolutely incredible experience, by the way), and gave us each a $500 voucher for a future flight.  Our honeymoon was extended by a day, so we got to go into the city of Manchester.  What a great surprise ending to a fantastic trip!

If you want the details of the rest of the vacation, check out any of my planning posts in July – I’ve opened them all up to the public.

It was a marvelous honeymoon, but it’s good to be home!

The Diary of Mattie Spenser – Book Review

Title: The Diary of Mattie Spenser

Author: Sandra Dallas

Genre: Historical Fiction, Pioneer

Year Published: Griffin, 1998

Recommended by: Aunt Joey

Review: Kirkus Reviews. The buoyancy and simple, uncloying sweetness of spirit of Dallas’s appealing protagonist–the young wife of a homesteader in Colorado Territory–give a bright, fresh shading to the tragedies and small sharp joys of 19th-century frontier life. Again, as in The Persian Pickle Club (1995), Dallas has caught the lilt and drift of regional speech. At 22, plain Mattie is astounded that handsome Luke Spenser desires to marry her–he has been keeping company with pretty Persia. Nonetheless, he chooses her, and they head out from Iowa in May 1865 to the homestead Luke has already planted in Colorado Territory. There are pleasures along the way: nice folks, and quiet days spent with Luke, her “Darling Boy.” But Luke, who doesn’t smile at her jokes, works very hard and doesn’t like her to flirt with him. As for the marital act: “I still think it’s overrated.” Danger comes soon enough, and it’s Mattie’s quick shooting that saves two lives, although she doesn’t seriously contradict Luke’s dismissive observation that it was a “lucky shot.” Once they arrive in Colorado, though, Mattie is disappointed by the homestead (out on the plains, she finds, there is “too much sky”). Her education in the real travails of people, particularly women, separated from the cushioning platitudes and quick-step judgments of home, begins immediately. A despised “slattern” proves herself a true friend; Mattie witnesses women weakened by too many births, another abused and horribly killed, and murder and torture by both whites and Indians. She also experiences wild joy and then tragedy, suffers many dangers, and is rocked by Luke’s sudden betrayal. (“How could he ever again be my Darling Boy?”) Yet torment yields to endurance and a kind of compassion. Tragedies and sad little domestic dramas are muffled within the decency and humanity of a character whose understanding–but not essence–changes with events. A modest, appealing novel with a convincing reach into Colorado’s plains and skies.

Notes: I could not put this book down!  A quick, fun read.  It would be worth reading more by this author.

Rating (out of four stars): four stars

Date Finished: 7/15/10

The Help – Book Review

Title: The Help

Author: Kathryn Stockett

Genre: Historical Fiction

Year Published: Putnam, 2009

Recommended by: Aunt Joey

Review: The Washington Post. Southern whites’ guilt for not expressing gratitude to the black maids who raised them threatens to become a familiar refrain. But don’t tell Kathryn Stockett because her first novel is a nuanced variation on the theme that strikes every note with authenticity. In a page-turner that brings new resonance to the moral issues involved, she spins a story of social awakening as seen from both sides of the American racial divide.

Newly graduated from Ole Miss with a degree in English but neither an engagement ring nor a steady boyfriend, Eugenia “Skeeter” Phelan returns to her parents’ cotton farm in Jackson. Although it’s 1962, during the early years of the civil rights movement, she is largely unaware of the tensions gathering around her town.

Skeeter is in some ways an outsider. Her friends, bridge partners and fellow members of the Junior League are married. Most subscribe to the racist attitudes of the era, mistreating and despising the black maids whom they count on to raise their children. Skeeter is not racist, but she is naive and unwittingly patronizing. When her best friend makes a political issue of not allowing the “help” to use the toilets in their employers’ houses, she decides to write a book in which the community’s maids — their names disguised — talk about their experiences.

Fear of discovery and retribution at first keep the maids from complying, but a stalwart woman named Aibileen, who has raised and nurtured 17 white children, and her friend Minny, who keeps losing jobs because she talks back when insulted and abused, sign on with Skeeter’s risky project, and eventually 10 others follow.

Aibileen and Minny share the narration with Skeeter, and one of Stockett’s accomplishments is reproducing African American vernacular and racy humor without resorting to stilted dialogue. She unsparingly delineates the conditions of black servitude a century after the Civil War.

The murders of Medgar Evers and Martin Luther King Jr. are seen through African American eyes, but go largely unobserved by the white community. Meanwhile, a room “full of cake-eating, Tab-drinking, cigarette-smoking women” pretentiously plan a fundraiser for the “Poor Starving Children of Africa.” In general, Stockett doesn’t sledgehammer her ironies, though she skirts caricature with a “white trash” woman who has married into an old Jackson family. Yet even this character is portrayed with the compassion and humor that keep the novel levitating above its serious theme.

Notes: An engaging book – I read it while on our cruise.  I loved the storyline, but didn’t feel like I had to be reading it every moment of our trip.  One of the best books I’ve read in a long time.

Rating (out of four stars): four stars

Date Finished: 7/30/10