It's Time to Get Real

HELLO!!!!!!!!!!

Oh, how I have missed blogging! I am so happy to be back, but this time with the same but improved site. A Novel Suggestion, was all about my first love: BOOKS. I am a bibliophile at heart and reading is one of my main passions. My obsession goes wide and deep, but my extra special loves are Charlotte Bronte, Jane Austen, and my boyfriend, Bill Shakespeare. However, What A Novel Suggestion was missing was ME. It was not sustainable for me to write about books and how I felt about them without discussing my life and why that particular novel spoke to me at that particular time in my life. I could not write freely without sharing my life and my struggles and my happiness. I was hiding behind a blog and a photo of my sweet Jane Austen. So, I have put on my big girl 2017 pants. It is time for me to take a deep breath and leap into this technological world of sharing.

So, here I am in all my glory:

Hi, my name is Liz!

I am first and foremost a mom of two boys, ages three and five. I am a mom who tries very hard to be the amazing mom that I have always been in my head, but can’t always quite seem to get it together. I am ALWAYS the last mom to send in the field trip forms. I am ALWAYS the last mom to pick up in car line, when I can actually make it to car line myself, which is a rarity. Sometimes, and I hate to admit this but I have to because it is true, I yell at my sons and I am not 100% sure they deserved it. Ugh. There it is.

I am a wife. My husband is the total best. He is funny and smart and a hard worker. He is a great dad. He snow blows the driveway and doesn’t even ask me to come out to shovel. But. sometimes I feel like we don’t have enough time together to talk about the stuff that we care about as adults. Sometimes I feel like our lives are spent pouring milk into Lego cups, figuring out the easiest way to make a dinner that all four of us will actually eat, and trying to have just one single conversation without being interrupted.

Here we are:

I am a homeowner. Actually, to be clear, I am home project obsessed. I LOVE A GOOD DIY PROJECT. We bought our house from my husband’s parents. And although they made lots of improvements to the house, we still had a lot to do after we moved in. But, the next month I found out I was pregnant with our first born, and so projects were put on the back burner. Hence why we are still working on it six years later. Plus, like everyone else I have an affinity for HGTV and Pinterest. Enough said about THAT. For now.

I am an English teacher. I have heard more than once that many people think this might be the worst career choice on earth, but for me - it’s perfection. I love teaching. It is an innate need I have and although not every day is Nirvana, it is pretty close. I have loved to read since I learned how, and since I don’t have as much time in my life to read for pleasure anymore, teaching literature fills that void for me. The only downside of teaching for me is that my school is twenty miles away, and recently, with both boys in school, this has become a massive obstacle for me to overcome. Especially on days like last Monday when the school nurse called me to tell that my three year old had just thrown up in his hat. Yes, you read that right. Directly into his super cute winter hat.

I am an exerciser. I can’t believe I just wrote that because this is a major milestone in my life. All my life I wanted to be someone who cared about working out, and...now I do! And it only took 37.5 years!

So, this same but different blog, my newest adventure, is going to include all aspects of my life, hoping that I resonate with and hear from people who accept and get what I’m saying. And I PROMISE to keep talking about what I am reading. Reading is one of the pieces of my life that makes me - ME. I have to talk about books. If I don’t get it out during the day, at school, or in this blog, I will shout about it in my sleep, annoying my family who really needs a good night’s rest. This blog is about trying to fit it all in, about creating time in my life to do all the “stuff”, but still enjoying my life. My hero, Charlotte Bronte, once said: ‘I try to avoid looking forward or backward, and try to keep looking upward.’

Hence, the title of this same but different blog: LOOKING UPWARD - A Novel Suggestion

Review: Home Front, by Kristin Hannah

 Home Front, by Kristin Hannah

Summary (from www.bn.com):

All marriages have a breaking point. All families have wounds. All wars have a cost. . . .

Like many couples, Michael and Jolene Zarkades have to face the pressures of everyday life—-children, careers, bills, chores—-even as their twelve-year marriage is falling apart. Then an unexpected deployment sends Jolene deep into harm’s way and leaves defense attorney Michael at home, unaccustomed to being a single parent to their two girls. As a mother, it agonizes Jolene to leave her family, but as a solider she has always understood the true meaning of duty. In her letters home, she paints a rose-colored version of her life on the front lines, shielding her family from the truth. But war will change Jolene in ways that none of them could have foreseen. When tragedy strikes, Michael must face his darkest fear and fight a battle of his own—-for everything that matters to his family.

At once a profoundly honest look at modern marriage and a dramatic exploration of the toll war takes on an ordinary American family, Home Front is a story of love, loss, heroism, honor, and ultimately, hope. 

Thoughts:

I literally just finished this book five minutes ago and I have to say Kristin Hannah NEVER disappoints me. As usual, I feel close to the characters, I learn a lot, and I cry. I always cry. During Home Front -- which I read in three days with an infant in my house -- I cried at least three times. Maybe more. Sometimes I was so engrossed with the story that I would realize that I had been crying and didn't know when the tears started.

Kristin Hannah delves deep. She gets people. She gets human emotions. She is not afraid to show a character's ugly side in a very real way. Not only does she expertly show these faults, but she is able to embrace them and to makes these downfalls and dark thoughts normal. I love that. In Home Front she faces the less talked about part of marriage head on. It isn't uncommon for people who have been married for years to become strangers that share children and a home.She shows how married couples with children, can, over the years, lose their "couple-ness" and take one another for granted, and in the process lose their passion that was the reason they got married in the first place.


I also was riveted by the children in this story. Ms. Hannah does an extraordinary job of seeing the war from the children's point of view. Their reactions made this story real to me. I am a teacher by trade and am always interested in the difference between what emotion a child portrays and how they really feel. Sometimes it is hard to see past the surface. Now, as a new mother, I am obsessed with making sure I know my child and how he is feeling regardless of the front he may put on for me. I have to see past the surface. Ms. Hannah showed these children as children sometimes are, warts and all. Betsy, a twelve year old middle schooler, is more interested in what other kids think of her than how she treats the people who love her. She is easily embarrassed by her parents and can be pretty rotten to both of them. Lulu is four and doesn't quite understand what is happening in her family. She is adorable, asks a million questions, sometimes the same one over and over, probably hoping for a more agreeable answer.


Michael, Jolene's husband, has lost his father before the story started, and has thrown himself into his work to try to handle his grief. I really did not like this man when I first read about him. I thought Jolene and the kids would be better off without him as he was barely present and available to them anyway. However, he grew on me as the story continued and I thought better of my original instinct to vote him off the island.

I have never been in the military or to war. I have never flown a Black Hawk helicopter, but I feel like I just spent the last three days with someone that did. I couldn't tell you how factual it was, but it sure felt real to me. I have a new found pride of our men and women in the military and a compassion for their transitions back home after war. I am also in awe of women, mothers specifically, in the military. Leaving one's children to defend this country is THE greatest sacrifice. Jolene, the book's protagonist, is a true hero. She tries to do right by her country, her fellow soldiers, her children, and her husband. I really fell in love with her and, with all her faults, was a little jealous of her outlook on life and her focus.


I highly recommend Home Front to readers who love strong, well-developed character drama set in real life situations. Loved this book.


Link to Home Front through Barnes and Noble

Review: Death Comes to Pemberley, by P.D. James

Death Comes to Pemberley, by P.D. James

I am so very embarrassed at the amount of time it took me to read this book! My family was struck down by the aforementioned virus, I went back to work full time, and my son began to teethe, leaving my husband and I with many sleepless nights. It is tough trying to finish a book when at some points I was falling asleep after ten pages. Life seems to have calmed down some now and I am ready to get back into the swing of reading, reviewing, and reading again.

Summary (from the publisher):

It is 1803, six years since Elizabeth and Darcy embarked on their life together at Pemberley, Darcy’s magnificent estate. Their peaceful, orderly world seems almost unassailable. Elizabeth has found her footing as the chatelaine of the great house. They have two fine sons, Fitzwilliam and Charles. Elizabeth’s sister Jane and her husband, Bingley, live nearby; her father visits often; there is optimistic talk about the prospects of marriage for Darcy’s sister Georgiana. And preparations are under way for their much-anticipated annual autumn ball.

Then, on the eve of the ball, the patrician idyll is shattered. A coach careens up the drive carrying Lydia, Elizabeth’s disgraced sister, who with her husband, the very dubious Wickham, has been banned from Pemberley. She stumbles out of the carriage, hysterical, shrieking that Wickham has been murdered. With shocking suddenness, Pemberley is plunged into a frightening mystery.

Thoughts:

I think my sights were set too high. I love Jane Austen, I love Lizzie and Darcy and Jane and Bingley, and I love Pemberley. All of these took a back seat to a murder mystery in this book. I knew that going in. The title tells us that is what is within the pages of this book. Still, I was disappointed.

My disappointment is by all means more my fault than the author's. P.D. James writes in the style of the times. She is true to the characters of the original story. Wickham is still a jerk, Lydia is still a loudmouth, Mr. Bennett is still a calming presence among chaos. Darcy and Lizzie are still in love and Jane and Bingley are as sweet as can be.

New characters are introduced, and James did a lovely job of making it seem like they should have been there all along. Honestly, the book is authentic and Austen may have enjoyed it herself. I would have loved it more if I did not love Pride and Prejudice the way that I do. I wanted more of the sexual tension between Lizzie and Darcy, which, of course, after six years of marriage will have waned or disappeared all together. I wanted them to still be as special to me six years after their wedding, but they weren't. They were...normal.

I have made a promise to myself to no longer read sequels written by a different author to the original. I am always disappointed and I feel that I cannot review properly without bias. However, I have promised the readers of this blog that I would review honestly and from the heart, and so I have done.

Please read and enjoy this murder mystery. It is enjoyable. It is a fun read. It was lovely to see my friends again. I just wish it had been different this time around.


Link to Death Comes to Pemberley through Barnes & Noble

I swear, I will get my act together!

I am so close to finishing Death Comes to Pemberley and writing my honest review. I am embarrassed that reading this book has taken me so long. Before children and working motherhood, I would have polished this bad boy off in a weekend. Anyway, it is what it is and I am on it. New blog review up by the weekend. I PROMISE.

Hello Virus, Goodbye Sanity

My reading of Death Comes to Pemberley is temporarily halted, as I wash every towel, sheet, and pair of pajamas in this house.

We have been invaded by the virus and it is one big, fat, huge, enormous, monstrosity of a nightmare.

I hope to have the book finished by the weekend. Pray for us!


P.S. Have I mentioned my germ-phobia?

Super Excited About My Next Book Blog

As you can see from my profile photo, I love Austen. Really, I love any classic female British authors. I love the characters' orderly lives, the manners, and the class system (which clearly was not too popular, since almost every book has the protagonist breaking through societal barriers). It amazes me to think about basic human emotions and thoughts and feelings being squashed down inside to follow the rules of etiquette and polite society.

It is fascinating.

Since I love Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennett with all of my heart, I generally try to stay away from sequels, prequels, any 'uels, really. I did read Mr. Darcy's Diary by Amanda Grange one day because it was free on my Kindle, and I enjoyed it. But, when I heard about Death Comes to Pemberley I was apprehensive. But, then the thought of being back at Pemberley started toying with me and here I am -- meeting back up with my old friends Lizzy and Darcy, still annoyed with Mrs. Bennet, still furious with Lydia and Wickham, and still smiling at Mr. Bingley and Jane's happiness.

I'm opening this book with great expectations. I will let you know how we all get on.

My First Book Review! -The American Heiress, by Daisy Goodwin

The American Heiress, by Daisy Goodwin

Summary:

Be careful what you wish for. Traveling abroad with her mother at the turn of the twentieth century to seek a titled husband, beautiful, vivacious Cora Cash, whose family mansion in Newport dwarfs the Vanderbilts’, suddenly finds herself Duchess of Wareham, married to Ivo, the most eligible bachelor in England. Nothing is quite as it seems, however: Ivo is withdrawn and secretive, and the English social scene is full of traps and betrayals. Money, Cora soon learns, cannot buy everything, as she must decide what is truly worth the price in her life and her marriage.

Thoughts:

This book really held my attention. I read it in just a few days, even with a five month old baby taking up the majority of my time. Instead of cleaning and doing what I normally do when my son takes a nap, I was curling up on the couch, diving back into Cora and Ivo’s lives. I wasn’t devastated when the book ended, which sometimes happens to me (my husband can easily tell by my mood if I have had to say goodbye to my “book friends”, as he calls them), but I didn’t want it to finish. I wanted to see what happened next.

Originally, I picked up this book because someone told me it was similar to the PBS series, Downton Abbey, which I am psychotically and fanatically obsessed with. And there is a similarity in that an American girl marries a British royal, she for the title and he for the money to fix up his old, run down castle. However, in Downton, the Granthams are already married and the viewer finds out that this deal occurred many years before and that, despite the negotiations, the two are very much in love.  In The American Heiress, we get a front row seat to the ugliness of these marital arrangements, which were apparently commonplace around this time. 

The setting is beautiful, an old, musty English castle (Yesssssssssssssssssssssssssss!), with the gossiping servants downstairs and the gossiping royals upstairs.  I found myself wanting more to happen with the house and the quaint little town. I do love me an old castle and some polite English society!

Cora, the main character, is a privileged socialite who is desperate to get away from her scheming, showy mother. Cora wants to marry for love and her mother wants her to marry for a title. Cora is arrogant, bossy, and emotional, but has an innocence that made me really enjoy her. I felt for her, being so naïve in this foreign society with all of its strange social niceties. In places it is tough to read on, knowing that she is about to embarrass herself and she doesn’t have the faintest clue. I found myself angry at the characters who allowed this to happen to her and feeling her humiliation along with her.

The Duke of Wareham is a puzzling character. He is extremely moody and secretive and I never really knew what he was thinking. I felt as though I couldn’t get a handle on him, couldn’t read him well at all, which was the author’s motive, I’m sure, but still entirely frustrating. He reminded me a little (and I stress a LITTLE) of Austen’s Mr. Darcy, who, like every other female lover of British literature, I love dearly, with all of my heart, and if I wasn’t in love with my husband I would be off stalking Colin Firth. I found Wareham sexy and detached at the same time, but also somewhat two dimensional.  

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed The American Heiress and will look forward to another book by Goodwin, especially if it is set a couple hundred years ago in England. Yes, please.

Link to The American Heiress through www.bn.com