Category Archives: Books

The Snowbirds

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I saw this book cover on a blog I follow called Carla Loves to Read.

It immediately gave me a Palm Springs vibe. The pink wall, the palm trees, the pool. Plus Snowbirds. That’s what we called the influx of visitors or seasonal residents from the cold snowy north and east.

I read the review and yes, the story takes place in Palm Springs — where I lived for more than 30 years and raised my children.

I wanted to buy it in paperback, but no, it’s not out in paperback yet. I didn’t want to spend the money — or have the heavy lifting involved with reading a hardcover. I went to Audible and downloaded it. I’ve listened to it during the past couple days and finished it over the weekend.

What I liked best was not the story, but all the details about Palm Springs. The author captured many of my favorite haunts like the Indian Canyons, Smoke Tree Ranch, Melvyn’s and even Revivals thrift store. Although somewhat stereotyped, the author captured the gay community, elderly population and homeless. I also enjoyed how the spirit of Palm Springs was portrayed. Endless sunny days and everyone living as though they are on vacation.

Here’s the notes from Amazon:

INSTANT NATIONAL BESTSELLER! | “A riveting exploration of midlife yearning.” ―People

The Last Thing He Told Me meets Fleishman Is in Trouble in this page-turning story of a couple who flee winter in the Midwest for Palm Springs, where they find their relationship at a crossroads.

Kim and Grant are at a turning point. A couple for thirty years, their “separate but together” partnership is running up against the realities of late middle age: Grant’s mother has died, the college where he taught philosophy was shuttered, and their twin girls are grown and gone. Escaping the bitter cold of a Midwestern winter for the hot desert sun of Palm Springs seems as good a solution as any to the more intractable problems they face.

When they arrive at Le Desert, a quirky condo community where everyone knows everyone’s business, Kim immediately embraces the opportunity to make new friends and explore a more adventurous side of her personality. Meanwhile, Grant struggles to find his footing in this unfamiliar landscape, leaving Kim to wonder if their relationship can survive the snowbird season. But when Grant goes missing on a hike in the Palm Springs mountains, Kim is forced to consider two terrifying outcomes: either Grant is truly lost, or this time, he’s really left her.

Is it ever too late to become the person we wanted to be―and is there still time to change into someone better? The exhilarating, but often confusing transitions of midlife are pitched against the promise and glamour of Palm Springs in this tender, honest story of what it takes to commit to someone for a lifetime. With compassion and humor, Clancy explores the redemptive power of finding ourselves, and of being found.

The only thing I didn’t like about the Audible version was the pronunciation of Mt. San Jacinto. San Jacinto is the dramatic backdrop to Palm Springs. The “J” is pronounced as “H.” The readers on Audible used a hard “J.” I think they need to do a little homework before releasing a reading of a book.

San Jacinto Palm Springs
This is the view of Mt. San Jacinto from the park by my former home.

Do you like audio books, kindles, paperbacks or hardcovers best and why?

Book Review: “Daughters of Shandong”

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I’m on a roll of reading good books! Don’t you love that when it happens?

A few weeks ago I finished “Demon Copperhead” and I asked for book ideas HERE.

I got a good list, plus got more ideas from my friends who share books during our monthly lunch. Also, my dear friend from Santa Barbara calls me whenever she finishes a book she loves.

So why did I like “Daughter’s of Shandong?” I am a fan of books about China and the dramatic changes when Mao took over. It’s both frightening and fascinating how evil people can be to each other. “Red Scarf Girl” is one such book which is a YA autobiography by Ji-li Jiang. It’s about her life during the Cultural Revolution as a child. It’s another book I recommend as well as books by Lisa See.

It’s hard to fathom in our comfortable, easy lives how the characters in “Daughters of Shandong” survived so much hardship. Here’s the text from Amazon:

In 1948, civil war ravages the Chinese countryside, but in rural Shandong, the wealthy, landowning Angs are more concerned with their lack of an heir. Hai is the eldest of four girls and spends her days looking after her sisters. Headstrong Di, who is just a year younger, learns to hide in plain sight, and their mother—abused by the family for failing to birth a boy—finds her own small acts of rebellion in the kitchen. As the Communist army closes in on their town, the rest of the prosperous household flees, leaving behind the girls and their mother because they view them as useless mouths to feed.

Without an Ang male to punish, the land-seizing cadres choose Hai, as the eldest child, to stand trial for her family’s crimes. She barely survives their brutality. Realizing the worst is yet to come, the women plan their escape. Starving and penniless but resourceful, they forge travel permits and embark on a thousand-mile journey to confront the family that abandoned them.

From the countryside to the bustling city of Qingdao, and onward to British Hong Kong and eventually Taiwan, they witness the changing tide of a nation and the plight of multitudes caught in the wake of revolution. But with the loss of their home and the life they’ve known also comes new freedom—to take hold of their fate, to shake free of the bonds of their gender, and to claim their own story.

Told in assured, evocative prose, with impeccably drawn characters, Daughters of Shandong is a hopeful, powerful story about the resilience of women in war; the enduring love between mothers, daughters, and sisters; and the sacrifices made to lift up future generations.

At the end of the book is an author’s note that really touched me. It added so much depth to the entire novel. This is a debut novel and the author is so talented. Here’s bit about the author from Amazon:

About the author

Eve J. Chung is a Taiwanese American lawyer and women’s human rights specialist. She has worked on a range of issues, including torture, sexual violence, contemporary forms of slavery, and discriminatory legislation. Her writing is inspired by social justice movements, and the continued struggle for equality and fundamental freedoms worldwide. She currently lives in New York with her husband, two children, and two dogs.

Have you read “Daughter of Shandong? If so what was your opinion of it?

How about “Red Scarf Girl or books by Lisa See?

Here Comes the Sun!

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pool photo with fountain and fake alligator
My backyard pool view complete with fake gator.

After a cold few months — I guess that’s why it’s called Winter — a bit of warmth from the sun has returned.

It’s the first time I’ve been able to sit in the backyard by the pool in months. We were having highs in the 40s but now it’s in the 70s. It’s still cold at night, but what a treat to take a break in the sun.

I’m having a time with an upcoming fundraiser where I’m contacting magazines, newspaper, radio and TV to drum up coverage with the hope to sell tickets. I’ve started the dreaded tax prep. I have an HOA newsletter due. I have a board meeting to review our progress on the fundraiser…

Then there’s my photography class. Each Monday morning the professor posts a new module which includes reading what he’s posted, plus the textbook, and learning the basics of how my camera works. Then there are quizzes. We haven’t gotten into the fun stuff yet. But to be fair, it’s only week two.

I’m worried I won’t make my deadlines or be able to finish my tasks. Then I woke up in the middle of the night and stayed awake. I turned on Audible with “Travels with Charley” by John Steinbeck. It was somewhat calming, but the story and writing is so beautiful I wanted to listen rather than fall asleep! I’m not finished with this book, but I highly recommend it. Steinbeck travels across the country to discover America with his poodle Charley. His observations about different areas are intriguing.

I’m also reading the “Daughter’s of Shandong” that I heard about from one of my blogger friends. In any case, taking a few minutes to be warmed in the sun, reading, is saving me!

What is your go to to control stress when life gets too busy?

Who was your favorite Beatle? Hint: Mine wrote this song.

Don’t you love a good book?

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Thanks to fellow blogger and friend LA from Waking Up on the Wrong Side of 50 — for recommending Demon Copperhead. It’s one of the better books I’ve read lately.

I finished it in time to share it with my lunch bunch yesterday. My lunch bunch are two friends I worked with in PR and Advertising 30 years ago. We ended up moving to Arizona a few miles apart. We reconnected after years of not seeing each other. Now we go to lunch once a month together. We share books and talk about TV shows we like.

Here’s what Amazon has to say about Demon Copperhead:

Set in the mountains of southern Appalachia, Demon Copperhead is the story of a boy born to a teenaged single mother in a single-wide trailer, with no assets beyond his dead father’s good looks and copper-colored hair, a caustic wit, and a fierce talent for survival. Relayed in his own unsparing voice, Demon braves the modern perils of foster care, child labor, derelict schools, athletic success, addiction, disastrous loves, and crushing losses. Through all of it, he reckons with his own invisibility in a popular culture where even the superheroes have abandoned rural people in favor of cities.

Many generations ago, Charles Dickens wrote David Copperfield from his experience as a survivor of institutional poverty and its damages to children in his society. Those problems have yet to be solved in ours. Dickens is not a prerequisite for readers of this novel, but he provided its inspiration. In transposing a Victorian epic novel to the contemporary American South, Barbara Kingsolver enlists Dickens’ anger and compassion, and above all, his faith in the transformative powers of a good story. Demon Copperhead speaks for a new generation of lost boys, and all those born into beautiful, cursed places they can’t imagine leaving behind.

What books have you read lately that you really liked?

Please share, because I’m putting together a list of books to read this year.

Germinating New Year’s Ideas

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I took this photo the other morning as the sun began peaking over the horizon in our backyard. I don’t know why it took a blueish tint, but I kind of like it.

I’m not doing New Year’s Resolution this year. I have some ideas of what I’d like to do. They are closer to goals than resolutions, but more in the germination stage of seedlings.

I went for a walk the other morning with a neighbor. She said she and her husband are focusing on health for 2025. I told her that’s something my husband and I are doing, too. I’m sure it’s a reflection of what I wrote in What Would You Do? last Monday. (If you missed this post, please take a look.)

Another idea I thought of the other night, after waking up every two hours for some unknown reason, was putting together a list of classics. When I can’t sleep, I turn on podcasts. (I have headphones that rest around my neck. Connecting them to my laptop via bluetooth, I don’t wake up my husband.)

I thought it would be better for me to listen to classic literature, rather than current podcasts. I’m not giving up podcasts, just when I’m trying to sleep. The podcasts obviously aren’t working.

I looked online for lists of classics and discovered that I have read a lot of them through school and life. Ones like “To Kill a Mockingbird,” “East of Eden,” “Secret Garden,” “Pride and Prejudice” and “The Great Gatsby.” Also, “Jane Eyre,” “Brave New World,” “Nineteen Eighty-Four” and “The Iliad.” And the list goes on.

I discovered two that sparked my interest that I have never read. Well, more than two, but I decided to start with:

“In Cold Blood” by Truman Capote.

I’ve always wanted to read this because Dill in “To Kill a Mockingbird” is based on Capote.

The other book I chose is John Steinbeck’s “Travels with Charley in Search of America.”

Here’s the description from Amazon: “With Charley, his French poodle, Steinbeck drives the interstates and the country roads, dines with truckers, encounters bears at Yellowstone and old friends in San Francisco. Along the way he reflects on the American character, racial hostility, the particular form of American loneliness he finds almost everywhere, and the unexpected kindness of strangers.”

Who wouldn’t want to join Steinbeck and Charley on a road trip across America?

What are your favorite classic books?

What classics would you like to read that you haven’t yet?

An entertaining read

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I bought this book in Salt Lake City at a used book store for 75 cents. I was almost done with the book I was reading and wanted something fun to read on the plane. I ended up saving “Once Is Not Enough” for the beach. It was a perfect beach read.

After reading LA’s post Anatomy of a Story on Waking Up on the Wrong Side of 50, I instantly thought of my beach vacation book. In her post, she discussed four different categories of books and what makes some books good all the way to a classic.

Of course I read “Valley of the Dolls.” But that was the only Susann book I’ve read. I found this one a blast to the past with nostalgia from the late 60s and early 70s.

The characters were good, the story was faced paced. It was an entertaining read, and not a heavy book. Perfect beach book. The book was published in 1973 and I would have been in the sixth or seventh grade. Definitely not a book my parents would have allowed me to read at that age with all the drugs and sex.

It’s definitely dated, but I enjoyed looking back at the era in time. This book was Susann’s third best selling novel. I just discovered there was a movie made from the book. I’ll have to see if it’s available online or to stream on our TV.

What books do you remember from the 60s and 70s?

What Jacqueline Susann books have you read?

I’m so glad I joined!

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The Desert Foothills Library.

After living in Arizona for three years and buying books on Amazon, a few weeks ago I discovered our library in the foothills of Cave Creek. Hence the name — Desert Foothills Library.

I joined but didn’t check out any books until this week. I was reading a three-book series by Lisa See called the Red Princess Mysteries — that I bought from Amazon. The day I finished the third book, I packed them up and headed to the library. The library has a section called “Second Chapter” where you can buy books for 50 cents to a dollar. I donated the three Lisa See books, plus, went through my bookshelves to find a dozen other books I liked, but didn’t necessarily want to keep.

In Palm Springs, the local library was part of my weekly routine. We checked out VHS movies when the kids were little. I did research for my writing there. I got the kids’ library cards when they turned four years old. Every week we went to check out books. It was as essential to our daily lives as the grocery store.

I’ll never forget after watching a number of movies with my son including “Sound of Music,” “An American in Paris,” “Singing in the Rain,” and Meet Me in St. Louis.” One day he asked, “Mom, do they make any movies where they don’t sing and dance?”

At least he got a good dose of 1950s and ’60s culture.

It felt really good to walk inside the library. After donating my books, I walked up and down the aisles and read a variety of jacket covers and blurbs. I felt like I should celebrate after checking out my first book!

Do you belong to a library near you? What’s your favorite thing about libraries?

Inside the Desert Foothills Library.