Hi! My name is Margot. My blog is about the things I love to do. That could be what I'm reading, places we visit, my family, food, or whatever else is happening. I hope you'll stay and visit a while.
Contact me by email: margot (DOT) peck (AT) gmail (DOT) com.
Currently Reading
An Old Fashioned Girl
Saving Cee Cee Honeycutt
The Help
My Book Rating System
A = Exellent Book . . . .
B = Very good story . . .
C = Good/Average. . . . .
D = Poor . . . . . . . . . . .
F = So poor I couldn’t finish it
In the first Persepolis (I reviewed it last week) the author told us about her childhood in Iran during that country’s Islamic Revolution. Persepolis 2 is the continuation of her story. This second book covers a ten year period, from age 14 to 24.
When we left her in the first Persepolis she was leaving Iran for Austria. Her parents feared the Islamic government would hurt Marjane’s chances for a good education so they sent her to Austria to attend a private school.
During the next four years Marjane encountered many of the same problems most adolescents experience, no matter what their nationality. But Marjane had no support and found she could only make friends with fellow outsiders. There were incidents in which strangers yelled at her to go home to her own country. The four years were very difficult for this intelligent and sensitive young woman.
But once back home in Iran she had a hard time readjusting to the changes in the country, changes among her friends, as well as the changes within herself. It took her quite a long time before she could “take herself in hand” and make herself a “sophisticated woman.”
Marjane found life in Tehran both laughable and intolerable. The repressive regime had guards everywhere. A woman could be arrested for having wisps of hair showing out from under her veil or for wearing lipstick. If the guards saw a party going on through a window of a residence, the hosts and guests were arrested.
Ludicrous was an art class Marjane attended. This was a class to learn to draw the human body but the models were completely covered. Not even an arm was showing. The girls worked around the system and managed to draw each other at someone’s home.
Both of these novels helped me see a different picture of Iran. By looking at life for a girl/young woman in Iran, I became aware of a country filled with ordinary people, not terrorists. These are simple graphic novels with a powerful message.
I want you to see the simple black and white drawings that make up the books. The two novels have been turned into a animated film with the drawings of Marjane Satrapi. It’s a very short video trailer but you’ll get a good look at her graphic style.
Wondrous Words Wednesday is a game I love to play whenever I’m reading. My eyes are always on the look-out for new-to-me words. The following words are all from The Mysterious Mr. Quin by Agatha Christie reviewed here yesterday.
1. inexplicable
“A very inexplicable business,” said Mr. Quin, slowly and deliberately, and he paused with the air of an actor who has just spoken an important cue.
“You may well say inexplicable,” burst in Conway. “The thing’s a black mystery — always will be.”
Inexplicable means something that is unable to be explained or accounted for.
Here’s a sentence with two words I had to look up:
In a few minutes, the headwaiter, a slight smile of approbation on his lips, retired, and a young satellite began his ministrations.
2. Approbation means approval or praise.
3. Satellite – I thought satellite was something that orbited the earth. It is, but in this sentence it’s refering to the original mid-16th century meaning — obedient underling or attendant.
Mr. Satterthwaite and Mr. Quin are two men featured in the twelve stories compiled into The Mysterious Mr. Quin. The stories were originally published in magazines in England the 1920′s.
Each one of the stories is subtle detective work for Mr. Satterthwaite. Not a lot of sleuthing. It’s more mental detective work and lots of observation. Mr. Quin’s role is more complex. Here is a clue, as noted by Mr. Satterthwaite, to his role in the first story, The Coming of Mr. Quin.
And, again suddenly, a new illumination came to [Mr. Satterthwaite]. This was Mr. Quin’s doing. It was he who was staging the play — was giving the actors their cues. He was at the heart of the mystery pulling the strings, making the puppets work. He knew everything, even to the presence of the woman crouched against the woodwork upstairs. Yes, he knew.
Mr. Quin seems to appear at just the right time in just the right place. He doesn’t say much; primarily he asks questions. It’s Mr. Satterthwaite who does all the work. He is a seasoned observer of human nature – a champion people-watcher. His senses have been fine-tuned to the drama of human interaction.
Mr. Quin’s role is to show up at the oddest places, knowing that Mr. Satterthwaite will be there and knowing that somewhere within Mr. Satterthwaite will be the solution to the mystery, even though Mr. Satterthwaite doesn’t know he has the solution.
I won’t tell you about all twelve stories but let me share the basic set up for a couple of the stories so you’ll get the flavor of them.
The Coming of Mr. Quin: Friends, including Mr. Satterthwaite, are gathered at an old countryhome on New Year’s Eve. Ten years earlier the owner of the home had mysteriously committed suicide. Most of the guests had been there that night but no one could understand the reason for the suicide. Mr. Quin’s car breaks down on the road outside this countryhome and he quietly visits while his car is repaired. He orchestrates an informal inquest of the facts that helps Mr. Satterthwaite deduce the mystery.
The Voice In the Dark involves a drawn out story of a mother-daughter and a deceased aunt and voices in the night, even a seance. The interesting aspect of this tale is that Mr. Quin knows ahead of time that there will be a mysterious death. He waits at a nearby inn, ready for Mr. Satterthwaite to visit.
The Dead Harlequin is the name of the story and also the name of a picture by an up and coming artist. Mr. Satterthwaite discovered the painting in the gallery but it made him gasp when he saw it. The painting depicts a dead man on the floor and the same man looking in at the window. The man in the picture looks just like his friend Mr. Quin. Mr. Satterthwaite knew that “every appearance of Mr. Quin had some distinct significance attaching to it.” Mr. Satterthwaite also recognizes the room in the picture. Intrigued, he buys the picture and sets about solving an even bigger mystery than the painting. Of course, Mr. Quin is involved.
This was a fun experience for me. I could see these stories set in the 1920′s. They were fun and felt more like a detective game. All the clues were there for the reader to figure out. Most of them were rather easy. I did find myself becoming cynical about the contrived appearance of Mr. Quin but not enough to spoil it for me.
I especially loved the character of Mr. Satterthwaite. (I also love saying his name.) In her autobiography Agatha Christie revealed that these two characters were two of her favorites. I wished she had featured them more often.
Over the past few weeks I’ve been forcing myself to read the stories one at a time and waiting at least a day or two before reading the next one. That way the anticipation could build the way it did waiting for the magazine to publish the next story. I recommend doing the same.
I am honored to be the recipient of a brand new short story. Yes, you and I are the first ones to read this story. You may recall that a month ago I read and reviewed a short story by James Ross, It’s Just the Sun Rising. I didn’t quite get that story and the author was nice enough to help me out.
Now, this very generous gentleman has sent me, and you, his latest effort. Let me tell you a little bit about the story and then you can go read it.
The Flower Seller
by James Ross
The Flower Seller is a look at one day in the life of Helen. Helen is married with three grown children. Her husband sounds wonderful and they seem to have a good marriage. He’s successful and she owns her own flower shop.
It sounds as if Helen has an enviable life. Right? So why is she texting back and forth to Peter? He wants her to meet him tomorrow night wearing silk. She’s tied up inside about the prospect of meeting this man. Is she really interested in meeting this guy and, if so, why? If she doesn’t want to meet him, why does she keep texting him?
I’m not going to tell you more. I want you to read the story for yourself. It’s only three pages – a real short, short story. Come back and tell me and the author what you think.
This story is available right now only on my blog. You can find it here: The Flower Seller.
Short Story Monday is sponsored by John at Book Mind Set.
*The image at the top is also called The Flower Seller. I found it at the blog of the unnamed artist here: Amused Creations
It’s time for fresh peaches. This seems to be a wonderful year for them. Both the white and the yellow peaches are extremely juicy. There have been so many different varieties at the Farmer’s Market that I’ve been curious about them. I discovered a great website featuring the various varieties here in California. The website is that of the California Tree Fruit Growers. This group is concentrates on peaches, plums and nectarines.
The bonus connected with this website is it’s wealth of recipes for these specific fruits. My favorite ways to eat peaches, besides just chomping into them, is in cobblers, pies and jams. I was looking for something new. This website has a good selection of recipes – everything from beverages, salads, entrees, and deserts. What caught my eye was a recipe for a peach muffin. This muffin is called healthy but it didn’t taste like most things described as healthy. This was moist and delicious. Here’s the original recipe. (The picture is from the website.)
Healthy Oat Peaches and Cream Muffins
Ingredients:
1 cup flour
3/4 cup quick oats
2/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon firmly packed brown sugar, divided (I only used 1/2 cup plus the 1 tablespoon. My peaches were sweet.)
1/3 cup oat bran
2 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup low-fat cream cheese
1 cup peeled, chopped peaches, divided
1 cup skim milk
3 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1/3 cup toasted, chopped walnuts
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°F and spray 12 muffin tins with non-stick cooking spray. Combine dry ingredients in a medium bowl, reserving 1 tablespoon brown sugar; mix well and set aside. Stir together cream cheese and the reserved 1 tablespoon brown sugar. When well blended, fold in 1/4 cup peaches. Add milk, oil, vanilla and egg to dry ingredients, mixing just until dry ingredients are moistened. Lightly stir in remaining peaches and walnuts. Spoon 3/4 of the mixture into prepared muffin tins. Place a teaspoonful of the cream cheese mixture in the center of each then spoon remaining batter over the top. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Makes 12 Servings
How about you? What’s your favorite way to eat peaches?
Talking about food is a regular feature on my blog and others as well. Visit Beth Fish Reads for other bloggers who are participating in Weekend Cooking.
I first met Morrie Morgan in The Whistling Season. In that book he was the gifted teacher in a one-room schoolhouse. Now, ten years later (1919), Morgan is the main character/narrator of his own story, Work Song. He has just arrived in Butte, Montana to begin a new chapter in his life.
Butte is a town sitting on the richest hill in America. It’s full of copper and the mine is right underneath the buildings and the streets. You can see a good drawing of Butte on the cover of the book.
Morgan is not necessarily interested in striking it rich in mining but he believes there may be other ways to earn good money. Within days of arriving in town he finds a good boardinghouse, makes new friends and even finds a job as a Cryer at wakes.
Working at wakes causes Morgan to drink a bit too much so he decides to find some other form of work. He has lots of sklls. He presents himself at the public library so he can study the county directory for companies that may need bookkeepers.
Morgan also asked for Julius Caesar’s Gallic Wars in the original Latin. You see Morgan loves books, especially the classics. As he perused the library’s book collection he found himself in “a book lover’s paradise.” There were priceless editions along with the library’s standard books.
As he was admiring these treasures he was confronted by the head librarian and then hired on the spot. He soon became the indispensable assistant to the head librarian, Sandy Sandison. He gradually performs nearly all of Sandy’s duties, including the budgeting and managing the numerous groups who want to use the basement auditorium.
Morgan is delighted when he meets a former student who is now both a teacher and the fiancee of a union leader. He finds himself drawn into the dangerous world of labor relations in this town owned by the Anaconda Mining Company.
The people in this book are on the good side of quirky. Morgan is so intelligent and well read. Sandy Sandison, the head librarian and former rancher, is a larger than life character. A very large man with flowing white hair and beard, he’s known as the Earl of Hell and the Strangler. As a book and library lover I enjoyed all the library scenes in this book.
Charming and spunky is Rabrab, Morgan’s former student. I also liked Jared, the union leader, a young boy called Russian Famine, and the members of Morgan’s boardinghouse. I even liked Skinner, the local bookie.
I have to tell you that reading this book was like sitting at the kitchen table sixty-some years ago with my grandfather. My grandpa would have been a contemporary of Morgan’s. My grandpa also loved to tell stories of the old days. Many of the phrases used in this book were just like my grandpa’s. Phrases such as “Show me the color of your money” and “Feed that hollow leg of his” and “Are you home there between your ears?” For me, Work Song captured the spirit and flavor of this time period.
There is such a light-heartedness to this book in spite of the serious nature of some of the subjects. I smiled through most of it. And, the writing is rock solid storytelling. It’s definitely one of the best books I’ve read this year.
About the author: I already knew Ivan Doig was a Master Storyteller and he doesn’t disappoint in Work Song. He has an excellent website that includes his biography and reader’s discussion questions. Check it out here: Ivan Doig.com
I won this book on Shelf Awareness. Thanks to the marketing people at Riverhead Books.
Riverhead Books/Penguin Book Group, 2010 / My Rating: A+
Persepolis 2: The Story Of A Return
. (I am an Amazon Associate.)
NORTHERN CALLIFORNIA