Scotland is the Place for Me

"In Scotland, beautiful as it is, it was always raining. Even when it wasn't raining, it was about to rain, or had just rained. It's a very angry sky."

-Colin Hay (as quoted on Brainyquote.com)

Today as I think about the book that I just finished listening to, I'm also thinking about everything that has transpired in our family during the past couple of months. I made three trips to Kentucky for my mother's surgeries, attended our daughter's thesis presentation, senior pinning,  and college graduation, and helped to plan and host our daughter's outdoor wedding. So if you've missed my posts, don't worry...I'M BACK! I'm looking forward to getting back into routine and sharing some of the great books that I'm reading.

Last time I wrote about a fun book that I read by Corine Gantz, Hidden in Paris. I enjoyed the stories of characters who overcame hurdles in their roads to find peace and happiness. I might add that I'm thrilled that Corine is one of my readers now, and I appreciate her desire to read my thoughts about reading. So, thank you, Corine!

Right now I'm listening to a book by Khaled Hosseini, And the Mountains Echoed. Hosseini is also the author of A Thousand Splendid Suns that you have probably heard of. He's an amazing storyteller so I'm enjoying his stories. So far the stories are set in Afghanistan so as readers we can learn about the culture of that region of the world. I'm just getting started on this book, but I look forward to commenting on it in the near future.

Meanwhile, the hardcover book that I'm reading is The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah. I'm just starting this one as well, but I can already tell that this is going to be a great book that I won't want to put down. I'll be sharing my thoughts on this book soon.

Today's book review is based on 44 Scotland Street by Alexander McCall Smith. I've read another book by Smith, Love Over Scotland, and I enjoyed that one as well. The books are very similar as they describe the lives of Scots who live in Edinburgh, Scotland. 44 Scotland Street is about people who live in the same building in Edinburgh. They meet each other as they come and go to their flats, and sometimes they develop friendships as they come and go. I enjoyed reading about a five year-old boy named Bertie whose mother is determined to treat him as if he were a gifted adult instead of a little boy. She is obsessed with getting the very best for Bertie, but all of the lessons and books don't make him happy because he just wants to be a little boy. More than anything, Bertie wants a friend. He ends up being expelled from nursery school and so the story continues. Pat and Bruce are flatmates and soon Pat becomes infatuated with Bruce, not for his personality, but for his good looks. In the end she sees that he is a boastful egotistical jerk and she is able to get past her crush on Bruce. Meanwhile, Pat works at an at gallery and seems to like Matthew, her boss, even though at first she was turned off by him and obsessed with Bruce instead. There are several other characters in this book and as their lives intertwine, they develop relationships as they live out their lives in their beautiful city.

Two years ago we had the opportunity to go on a guided tour of the UK. We enjoyed England, Wales, and Scotland in ten days of touring with a Trafalgar group.  I admit that my favorite country was Scotland with its foggy Highlands and sheep. I was intrigued by all of the very, very old history that we were able to see, and I'll never forget that adventure. From London to Grasmere (home of Wordsworth and Beatrix Potter) to Bath to Loch Lomond to St. Andrews, we enjoyed every bit of it. Although it does rain a lot in Scotland, we were blessed with mostly sunny skies most of the time. I definitely can see how poets and other writers like J.K. Rowling get their inspiration from this beautiful land.

I'm looking forward to writing more regularly this summer so stay tuned. My school year as an E.S.L. teacher ends on June 14, and I'm looking forward to lots of reading and rest, my "GO TO" R and R. Have a great holiday weekend!

Melissa Hill

Book Blogger

www.onegoodbookblog.blogspot.com

All Things Paris

"Books are mirrors: you only see in them what you already have inside you."

-Carlos Ruiz Zafn, 2013 (quotesgram.com)

 

Today is Friday, the 13th of May, but so far it hasn't been disastrous for me and mine. It's hard to believe that the month of May is halfway over, but with it's quick passing it means that teachers like myself will soon go on summer break. I'm looking forward to hanging out at a slower pace and spending more time with Nilla, our incredible beagle-mix who is almost 9 years old. Summer break also means, of course, more time for reading, so that in itself is reason to look forward to some time off. I do miss my E.S.L. students though, and I have been known to take a few of them on a "fun day" somewhere in the middle of the summer. We have visited the state zoo in Asheboro, NC, visited the local N.C. Museum of Life and Science, and gone to the movies. I always enjoy spoiling these kids even if it's just for one day. During the month of April I was unable to write a post due to my mom's health but I'm hoping to write consistently from now on. 

I am currently listening to a good book from the library called 44 Scotland Street. The author is Alexander McCall Smith, and when I began I immediately recognized one of the characters, Bertie, from another book by McCall Smith that I listened to a couple of years ago, Love Over Scotland. I'm enjoying the Scotland Street novel and the colorful characters who live in the same apartment building in Edinburgh, Scotland. I'll write more about this novel after I finish listening to it, but for now, let's go to the book that I finished most recently, Hidden in Paris, by Corine Gantz. I was pleased to receive a reply from Gantz after I sent her a note to tell her that I enjoyed her book. She was very gracious in her response and said she appreciated my note. I have written several letters to  authors in the past ten years, and many of them do respond, so I cherish this interaction. Without it, I think the authors and readers are BOTH in a bubble, not taking our relationships with the book to the next level. This sports metaphor does apply to the relationship between the author and a reader, meaning that if we reach out to each other with a personal note, we can get even more out of a book.

Hidden in Paris by Corine Gantz was published in 2011. I may have ordered it because it was one of those Amazon "suggestions".  It clearly goes along with the theme of the books that I've been reading, all things Paris or Europe. I've been reading both fiction and non-fiction lately. I guess right now I'm more of a non-fiction reader because I love to read books that teach me things such as history. For example, I loved Rutherfurd's book, Paris: The Novel, The Paris Wife by McLain,  The French House by Wallace, and We'll Always Have Paris by Coburn.  I learned so much about the history of Paris from these books, and I learned a lot about Hemingway as well. But I also enjoy novels such as Hidden in Paris, Paris Letters, A Paris Apartment, War Brides, and All the Light We Cannot See (set throughout Europe).

Hidden in Paris is a novel set in Paris. It's a book about the hardships of life, love, and relationships. The main character is Annie, an American woman living in Paris who must find the strength within herself to provide a living for herself and her children after her husband, Johnny, dies in a car accident. She had sort of lost her self-confidence while taking care of her family, but the money runs out and she must find a way to pay the bills. She decides to open her home as a sort of bed-and-breakfast and begins to get to know her boarders who come from all over. Lola and her two children flee the U.S. and settle in to the old, crumbling house that Annie calls home, and during this time she learns a lot about herself and her marriage. Althea and Jared also move in at different times as well, and they begin to have feelings for each other. At first Annie's children rebel against having to live with these "strangers," but in due time this mixed-up line-up of people seem to unite and form a different kind of family unit, a family that is not necessarily together through DNA, but a family unit in the sense that they support and encourage each other. While Annie is busy taking care of all of these people, her relationship with her friend, Lucas, begins to change and she begins to feel whole again. I think you'll enjoy this novel as a study of people with complicated relationships, people who desperately want to feel loved and appreciated. As the quote by Zafn above suggests, we all bring different things to a book, so you may not see it exactly as I did but I think you'll enjoy it. I doubt that any two people see a story line the exact same way because we bring different things to the table.  Gantz, the author,  spent the first 20 years of her life in France, so you will be exposed to beautiful places in Paris that are very well-known to her.

I'm not sure what I will read next, but the novel set in Scotland will continue to "air" in my car when I go places. Have a good weekend, and let me know your thoughts!

-Melissa Hill, Book Blogger
www.onegoodbookblog.blogspot.com