"March is a month without mercy for rabid basketball fans. There is no such thing as a "gentleman gambler" when the Big Dance rolls around. All sheep will be fleeced, all fools will be punished severely...There are no Rules when the deal goes down in the final weeks of March. Even your good friends turn into monsters." Hunter S. Thompson, BrainyQuote
This week I thought I would begin my post with my reflections on March Madness yet again, namely, THE FINAL FOUR IN INDIANAPOLIS this coming weekend. Both of my men's teams made it to the Final Four, Kentucky and Duke, so I may be forced to choose just one. For now, each team must win one more game to make it to the championship. I think it's safe to say that Kentucky and Duke despise each other, so they will really get worked up if they meet in the championship game next week. I'm not sure when all of the hate talk began, but it may have started when Christian Laettner of Duke hit that half-court shot in the championship game many years ago, that unbelievable shot that got Duke the big win against UK. I've been listening to trash talk on both sides this week, thanks to facebook and one-on-one discussions, and it's been very humorous. I find it funny that fans refer to their teams as "MY Cats" and "MY Devils." I just don't get it, but it's funny. When they say that they are really pledging their allegiance and support to their team, I get it, but it's not as if they are out there on the court too. But I don't blame them for feeling a sense of pride for their team, a team that might be close to where they live. If you live in Kentucky you are either a Louisville fan or a Kentucky fan, but in North Carolina you might choose from among at least three teams: NC State, UNC, or Duke. So, it's a little more complicated in NC. In the last three games, I will yell, I will have snacks, and I will celebrate for either Kentucky OR Duke, as long as at least one of them makes it to the championship. I'm sure that MY Cats and MY Blue Devils will not let me down. I sure hope that none of my friends turn into monsters!
Since this is a blog about books, I will get on to the topic at hand. I'm not officially reading anything right now, but I'm thinking about re-reading To Kill a Mockingbird. What do you think? Do you have any other suggestions? I discussed Some Luck by Jane Smiley last week a book about life on a farm during the depression. Yesterday I finished listening to a book on CD in the car, V is for Vengeance, by Sue Grafton. The main character is the same one that Grafton uses in many of her mystery books, Kenzie Millhone. She is a young single woman who always seems to have a good sense for solving crimes in her job as a private investigator. This story begins when Millhone sees a woman stealing lingerie from a department store. She pursues the thief and follows her into the parking garage. There is also the other part of the story about a young man who loses everything due to his gambling addiction. He ends up giving his expensive sports car to settle a debt, and he soon loses his life in the transaction. This is a typical Grafton murder-mystery with its colorful characters such as Dante (a gangster), Nora, Lorenzo, and others.It's not my favorite genre - I rarely read a mystery - but it was fun to listen to in the car.
One of the most enjoyable books that I've ever read is the memoir by Terry Ryan, The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio: How My Mother Raised 10 Kids on 25 Words or Less. Evelyn Ryan, the mother of the family, helped her family survive by entering contests and by writing slogans, ditties, and poems. During the 1950s there were a lot of contests for people to send in their best jingle, essay, or poem accompanied by a box-top or other product identification. Evelyn's husband was an alcoholic who often spent his paycheck on alcohol, so it was often up to Evelyn to provide food and other things that her family needed. And with ten children, she was desperate. She wrote many witty slogans and won many contests. She won things such as a year's supply of laundry detergent, household appliances, bikes, watches, clocks, and occasionally cash. She even won a car and an international vacation. Sometimes she would sell the prize so that she could use the money for something that they desperately needed at the time, such as rent money. This book was published in 2002, so it has been around for a while, but I've never met anyone else who has read it. You will love this inspiring and humorous book. I can see Evelyn right now as she's ironing clothes for her large family while trying to write a jingle for a contest. Thank goodness that most of my clothes are permanent press!
Here are the next ten books from my catalog:
1. Gods in Alabama by Joshilyn Jackson
2. Does This Church Make Me Look Fat? by Rhoda Janzen (very funny!)
3. Mennonite in a Little Black Dress by Rhoda Janzen (also very funny)
4. Toward Old Testament Ethics by C. Walter Kaiser
5. Little Heathens by Mildred Kalish (very funny and inspiring)
6. A Common Life: The Wedding Story by Jan Karon
7. At Home in Mitford by Jan Karon
8. Home to Holly Springs by Jan Karon
9. In This Mountain by Jan Karon
10. A Light in the Window by Jan Karon
Writing from "My Old Kentucky Home,"
Melissa
Book Blogger
You are well-situated, Melissa -- you have double the odds that most people have of having a favorite team win! And you cannot go wrong revisiting To Kill A Mockingbird. Here's another I thought of: Northwest Passage by Kenneth Roberts. I was completely absorbed in it, and I remember discovering with delight that my aunt Naomi had also enjoyed it.
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