Night Film by Marisha Pessl

Jenny mentioned Night Film by Marisha Pessl on her blog and I was immediately intrigued. Mixed media? Disgraced journalist? Mystery? I'm in!

What a delightful book. A disgraced journalist starts investigating a suicide. Along the way, he buddies up with two young people and they solve puzzles and go on adventures. Most of the book is a traditional narrative, but there are pages that are recreations of websites, photos, and other documents. I loved that mixed media format and it made every page exciting to turn.

There are some legitimate criticisms of this book. The characters are super flat and don't develop at all, so if you're someone who likes character-driven books, this is not for you. The author's use of italics is confusing and erratic and doesn't make a lot of sense. 

But, oh, what a joy. I was so immersed in this that I stayed up too late reading it. I wanted to escape from the realities of *waves hands at the world* and this book accomplished it. Sure, it was silly and there are random magical/mystical elements that I could have done without, but I was all in on this. 5/5 stars

(Maybe I am becoming an easy grader in my current state. I don't care. I have really thought all the books I've read recently have been fabulous.)

Lines of note:

I'd never heard of Piano Row. It was a splinter of Fifty-eighth Street between Broadway and Seventh Avenue, where delicate piano stores had tucked themselves between hulking sixties apartment buildings like a few sparrows living among hippos. (page 194) - Awww...you guys, Piano Row was demolished in 2016. Sad news. 

"It sounds like something out of a night film." (page 384) - Title spotting!

Things I looked up:

Teboni (page 287) - an ancient Japanese form of tattooing that often yields large, colorful, and meaningful tattoos

Horimono (page 287) - another type of Japanese tattooing

Irezumi (page 287) - Japanese word for tattoo, is used in English to refer to a distinctive style of Japanese tattooing

Iruma Air Base (page 294) - Air Base is a Japan Air Self-Defense Force base located in the city of Sayama, Saitama Prefecture, north of western Tokyo, Japan

Best Director at the 1980 Oscars (page 308) - Robert Benton won for Kramer vs. Kramer

Tyrone Power (page 374) - an American actor. From the 1930s to the 1950s, Power appeared in dozens of films, often in swashbuckler roles or romantic leads. Had amazing eyebrows.

Tarantino's trunk shot (page 529) - Especially in Tarantino's early films,  at a critical moment in the film, Tarantino starts a shot in pure darkness before revealing our main characters looking down on us as they open a trunk. It should not surprise anyone to learn I've never watched a single Tarantino movie.

first step of a twelve-step program (page 552) - We admitted we were powerless over alcohol — that our lives had become unmanageable. What a blessing it is that I do not know the twelve steps.

Murad cigarettes (page 553) - It was a brand of cigarettes made of pure Turkish tobacco

Hat mentions (why hats?):

...Marlowe reclining poolside surrounded by palm trees, a wide-brimmed black hat on her head...(page 360)

Her hair was longer than I remembered, secured in a ponytail under a black velvet hat. (page 562)

"Drew, you left your hat on the prop table." (page 564)

Five for Friday Plus One, Edition #25

1) Summasummasummatime - This is the time of year I survive the rest of the year for. This morning I rolled out of bed and walked the dog in shorts and a t-shirt just wearing sandals. Blue skies! Happy dog! No one has to put on eighty bazillion layers of clothes to walk outside. I dream of these perfect June mornings in February and March and when Hannah stops to sniff the seventh tree in a row, I just stand there and watch her adoringly because I get it, my girl, this is a PERFECT day to sniff seven trees in a row. 

2) Chocolate donut, cinnamon scone, banana nut muffin, blueberry muffin - Of this list, which do you choose? My boss stopped at the local bakery (shout out to the Sweet Spot, which I am bound and determined to have survive even though Starbucks has invaded) to provide us with these delicacies before yet another first year orientation. What's your choice? 

3) Snail mail! Look at all the fun postcards people have sent me. Friends, I feel like we are starting a postcard revolution. 

4) Big girl pants - I have been struggling with my bad leg for a while now. 

(Long story short. I had a tib-fib fracture in December 2011. Screws and plates and many opioids. After about six months, I resumed normal activities and moved on with my life.)

Doing any sort of exercise with impact is a challenge. Running is off the table. By the time I'm done with an hour-long Zumba class, I'm limping. Every morning the first few steps I take are dangerous because it's hard to put weight on it. I have pins and needles in it way more than is normal. I honestly don't think there's anything that can be done about it, but with some prodding, I made an appointment with my doctor (just kidding - my doctor is on maternity leave, so this was really a substitute doctor) who took some xrays and sent me a referral to ortho.

My xrays came back with no abnormalities in the hardware, so that's good news, right? Meanwhile, next week I have the follow-up with ortho and I'm pretty sure they're going to tell me to suck it up, but at least I'll have that information, right? I took (some) control of my health and am moving on. 

5) Pop culture that takes you by surprise - What's some pop culture that you've engaged in that has changed your mind about something?

Full Swing - Full Swing is a Netflix documentary series that follows golfers around. I literally do not care one iota about golf (terrible for the environment, not action-packed enough for me, etc., etc.), but this show is really about the golfers, not really the sport. I ended up being the sort of person who can vaguely follow golf news! Very vaguely, but that's better than nothing, right?

Lonesome Dove - This book made me think westerns can be on okay read. I still think about it all the time. 

Serial - In a pre-Serial podcast world, I listened to radio shows - most NPR shows, to be fair - but I was not addicted to podcasts. This was the podcast that sucked me in. 

Lincoln in the Bardo - This book. I think about this book EVERY DAY. I can't stop thinking about it. It made me think that I should expand my horizons and not immediately make a face when someone uses the term "experimental fiction." 

6) Saying no - The new director of the community center recently reached out to me to join a committee. I sat on that email for two days before I sent an email declining and giving someone else's name who might be a good fit. I debated it because I do want to be a supporter of the community center, but my life is just not in a good volunteering spot right now. Maybe in another year or two I can reevaluate. 

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What is the pop culture that changed your mind? Chocolate donut, cinnamon scone, banana nut muffin, or blueberry muffin for you? 

The Favorites by Layne Fargo

Sarah from Sarah's Bookshelves recommended The Favorites by Layne Fargo. It was marketed as a sports romance about Olympic ice dancers. I am hit and miss on sports books (and romances at this point in my life, I guess - do we remember the days when any old romance novel was okay in world?), but ice dancing! That sounded perfect. 

This cover is misleading. It is clear what the cover is in this photo, but my library cover just looks like a Impressionist painting of a human woman. 

AND IT WAS PERFECT. This is not going to win a Pulitzer or anything, but I was riveted by every soap opera plot point. The secret pregnancy. The abusive parents. The closeted athlete. I wanted every juicy morsel. There was not too much sporting, which is a complaint I have about a lot of sports books. It was ice dancing and that's sort of important, but it could have been any sport with a male/female partnership, I guess. 

I found myself saying "that is such a red flag, girl" and "stop taking those pills" OUT LOUD when I was reading it and, honestly, that's good enough for me. I loved how there were occasional pages of an oral history about these people - that was really fun. I like an oral history, to be fair, so if that's not your jam, you should know that most of the book is told in a traditional narrative format. 

Things are NOT GREAT in my world right now, but my reading game is WONDERFUL. This is the third book in a row that I am going to say 5/5 stars. 

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Lines of note:

People talk about Great Lakes winters as though they're hell frozen over from Thanksgiving to Easter, but it's February that you've got to look out for. After weeks of bitter temperatures, several feet of snow fell overnight, and even in the Midwest, they have to cancel school for that. (page 139)

You know what? Things don't get bad until December usually. February/March is my low weather point. I love it when authors talk about Midwestern weather, although your mileage will vary on that. 

In the Midwest, we call the first warm spell of the year "Fool's Spring," because we know from bitter experience the lovely weather can't last. Another cold snap lurks right around the corner, ready to lunge as soon as we shed our winter coats. (page 230)

More weather talk! I'm all in. Also, I call it "False Spring," but there's no need to be pedantic about it. This is why I don't put away most winter gear until Memorial Day. 

Hat mentions (why hats?): 

My hat had come off somewhere in the struggle...(page 140)

Fischer and Chan did a country-western line dance, complete with cowboy hats and bedazzled gingham. (page 299)

Small Town Saturday Night*

It was a big day here in Next to Nowhere, Wisconsin on Saturday. 

First up, I'd like to say that it was Flag Day. For complicated reasons, I did not attend any No Kings protests, but I was there in spirit. And we are bound and determined in our household to reclaim the flag for the good guys. 

Then! I was off to the Farmer's Market. For a variety of reasons, I have not yet been to the Market since it has been outdoors this season. I rectified it by buying snap peas, honey, and delicious gluten-filled rolls.

Then, because I am the person I am, I took a selfie with a person in a cow costume. I'd also like to say that the person in the cow costume must have been SWELTERING because it was not a cool day.

We'll get to the reason for the cow in a second.

Up next, I saw there was a book sale at the library across the street. Unfortunately, I had spent every one of my $55 in cash at the Market, so I didn't stop by.

Then I took my Market goods back home and picked up Dr. BB to head to the museum because it was Dairy Day at the Mooseum again! There were cows, root beer floats, and children doing races on mini-ATVs? I'm not really sure what that last part was about. The cow at the Market was promoting this event.

I went home to clean the litter box and bathe the dog and then I collapsed on the couch reading a very good book while I dreamed about staying home for the rest of the day.

But after dinner Dr. BB and I headed over to the community center to go to their Cheese Louise event that was all about cheese? I don't know. There was a new art exhibit opening featuring paintings of cows and I desperately want one that has a price tag of $3800, so I think you know I'm not getting it. You can see some of the art in the below photo, although not my beloved $3800 one.  ANYWAY, there was a chef doing a cooking demo, so we watched that.

Then I went to water the plants for a friend who is out of town and then I went home and collapsed into bed. I mean, what a day in Small Town America.

*This is a reference to a beloved song by Hal Ketchum that has the immortal line "Lucy, you know the world must be flat/Cuz when people leave town, they never come back." 

Sunday we did laundry and I only left the house to walk the dog and have her do things like this when SHE JUST GOT A BATH YESTERDAY.

Those of you who want to know what Zelda's up to, I don't want to disappoint you. Let me just tell you, it's too hot for my precious girl. (The reason there aren't more Zelda photos on this blog is because she basically just does this all the time.)

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And that's that. What fun summertime event did you do this weekend?

How to Read a Book by Monica Wood

In How to Read a Book by Monica Wood, we follow the intersecting stories of three people: Harriet, a retired woman who runs a book club at a prison; Violet, a woman in that book club; and Frank, a retired machinist who has recently been widowed. As we read the book, we learn more about each one and so when their paths cross, we are not surprised by what happens next. 

There are cats, African gray parrots, and a woman obsessed with a dog in this book. I mean, what more could I ask for? The book is a bit sweet, so if a saccharine book turns you off, this isn't for you. It asks questions about forgiveness and second chances and what family looks like. I liked it a lot. 5/5 stars

Line of note:

"We'll have to get you something to read." Her own voice is a loveliness to me. A clarion whatever.
"Books won't solve my problems, Harriet."
"No, but they give your problems perspective. They allow your problems to breathe." (page 64)

Things I looked up:

Across from there, an art museum with an ugly sculpture out front. A squat, rusted seven. The number seven. It looks famous. (page 44)

Seven by Robert Indiana in front of the Charles Shipman Payson Building which is part of the Portland Museum of Arts in Portland, Maine.

flibbety (page 78) - I don't know. This is from "dressed in one of her crinkled, flibbety tops in a cloudburst of color." Flibbity (note that there are two of the letter i, not an e in the second vowel spot) is to produce from nothingness, but I can't find it with an i and an e. 

Spoon River Anthology by Edgar Lee Masters (page 19 and then a lot more) - This book is central to the plot of How to Read a Book and now I sort of want to read it. 

Hat mentions (why hats?):

...and a weird store that sells only hats. (page 104)

The weird store that sells only hats doesn't call. (page 106)

...the one in the hat. (page 185)

Wearing little Danish hats. (page 226)

Frank tipped an imaginary hat...(page 263)

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Have you read Spoon River Anthology? Seen the Seven sculpture? Do you know what flibbety means?

The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley

The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley was my book club's pick. I missed book club, unfortunately, because I really wanted to talk about it because I enjoyed it so very much. 

Our unnamed main character is a biracial woman, the daughter of a Cambodian refugee and a white man. She's having an unremarkable career in job translating in the Ministry of Defense when she's hired as a "bridge" to a time-traveling naval officer, Commander Graham Gore, who was pulled from a mission in the Arctic in 1847. What follows is a romance? A time travel escapade? A critique of modern life as seen through the lens of our ancestors? A workplace drama? Hmmm....it's a genre mishmash!

The first half of the book was hilarious. I laughed so much at our snarky main character and Gore's observations about modern life. I laughed at how the author decided that she would have people time travel and then just hole up in flats in London doing nothing. And then the action started towards the end of the book and it took a serious tone that was unexpected, but not unwelcomed. 

I don't know if I've sold you on this book, but I loved it a lot. 5/5 stars

Lines of note:

I slid quietly to the floor and leaned my head against the wall. I wasn't going to see a Ministry therapist. I knew I should, and I knew I wouldn't. (page 119)

I feel like this was a sign from the universe that I should talk to someone, but I know I'm not going to.

"He is a pizzle-headed doorknob," said Margaret. (page 122)

Pizzle-headed!! Lovely. Let's bring back old-time insults.

It was a moment among moments, but everyone was held in it, captured in a small and easy joy. I return again and again to this memory. It's proof, you see. Not everything I did was wrong. (page 186)

I have had this thought a lot in recent weeks. My life is what it is because of a series of choice, but surely I haven't done everything wrong.

I thought I might have the energy to perform every action required to make a cup of tea, but I was surprised to remember how many there were: kettle boiling, mug fetching, milk sniffing, tea bag choosing, teaspoon handling. (page 195)

Sometimes I wonder how I even make it to work, let alone actually do work. 

But the stars aren't eternal. Most were already dead, and I was looking at ghosts. At some point in our planet's future, the skyscape will change. There might not be people left by then...These stars were a temporary, beautiful gift of our era - the era that we all shared, a human era. I'd die one day, just like everyone else, so I had better try to live. (page 329)

I thought this was beautiful. The universe is fleeting.

Things I looked up (in which you learn that I know nothing about Cambodian life or culture):

Éclat (page 8) - Ostentatious display : publicity; dazzling; brilliance

Polonaise (page 13) -  a slow dance of Polish origin in triple time, consisting chiefly of an intricate march or procession

Voight - Kampff (page 54) - was a fictional test used by the LAPD's Blade Runners to assist in determining whether or not an individual was a replicant - a fictional interpretation of the Turing test

gelid (page 103, and then again and again) - icy; extremely cold

rhotacism (page 124) -  a speech disorder characterized by difficulty articulating the "r" sound, also known as r-deletion, r-substitution, or lallation

borbor (page 149) - Cambodian rice soup or porridge

doolally (page 168) - temporarily deranged or feebleminded

stupa (page 177) - a dome-shaped structure erected as a Buddhist shrine

Gary Glitter (page 177) - Paul Francis Gadd (born 8 May 1944), better known by his stage name Gary Glitter, is an English former singer who achieved fame and success during the 1970s and 1980s. His career ended after he was convicted of downloading child pornography in 1999. He was also convicted of child sexual abuse in 2006 and a series of sexual offences (including attempted rape) in 2015.

Angkor Wat (page 177) - a Hindu-Buddhist temple complex in Cambodia

Tuol Sleng (page 177) - The Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, or simply Tuol Sleng, is a museum chronicling the Cambodian genocide. Located in Phnom Penh, the site is a former secondary school which was used as Security Prison 21 by the Khmer Rouge regime from 1975 until its fall in 1979.

Saloth Sor (page 177) - YOU GUYS. This is Pol Pot's real name. Why didn't I know this? Honestly. What sort of education do I have?

The Marne (page 200)  - A river in France; the site of a 1914 battle of World War I

Kindertransport (page 207) - an organized rescue effort of children from Nazi-controlled territory that took place in 1938–1939 during the nine months prior to the outbreak of World War II. The United Kingdom took in nearly 10,000 children. The children were placed in British foster homes, hostels, schools, and farms. Often they were the only members of their families who survived the Holocaust. [The line in the book is "We frame the Kindertransport as an act of heroism, a coherent example of Britain's intrinsic charity and anti-fascism. It's not all untrue - those orphans were grateful, often, thrived, sometimes." It's critical, though, of the refusal to take these children's parents.]

Deleuze (page 215) - Gilles Louis René Deleuze was a French philosopher who, from the early 1950s until his death in 1995, wrote on philosophy, literature, film, and fine art.

Rupert Brooke (page 328) - an English poet known for his idealistic war sonnets written during the First World War, especially "The Soldier"

Siegfried Sassoon (page 328) - was an English war poet, writer, and soldier. Decorated for bravery on the Western Front, he became one of the leading poets of the First World War.

Hat mentions (why hats?):

"You could make a lovely hat." (page 57)

"Did the fashionable still wear hats?" (page 64)

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How do you feel about time travel books? 

May 2025: What I Spent

As a reminder, my husband pays the "big bills" like mortgage, phone, and electricity. I pay for groceries and the pets and that somehow evens things out.

Groceries ($870.33, 28.1%) - This was a lot considering there are only two of us, but it did include a trip to Costco, me stocking up on snacks for my office, and me getting road trip snacks for a couple of road trips. I always splurge and get Perrier grapefruit-flavored sparkling water for these trips, even though the price is outrageous. The place I used to get popcorn from on my road trips closed the convenient location, so I don't even stop for popcorn anymore. 

Travel ($753.36, 24.3%) - I bought a plane ticket for an adventure in July!

Gifts ($463, 14.9%) - May is brutal for gifts. There was a graduation gift, birthdays for a few niblings, and Dr. BB's birthday.

Bills ($275.22, 8.9%) - Water/sewer, insurance, and I had to buy new checks.

Cars ($211, 6.8%) - Lots of gas for road trips AND I had to pay for the license plate renewal for one of the cars. 

Savings ($200, 6.5%) - Just the regular. 

Eating out ($144, 4.6%) - I treated myself to lunch out once on a road trip, coffee once, and I took my family out to dinner when I was in Michigan.

Pets ($69.52, 2.2%) - What?!?! Under one hundred dollars?! What nonsense is this? The only things I bought for the girls all month was food for the cat and a cone of shame for Hannah. (If anyone is wondering, Hannah's scab fell off on our walk on Saturday afternoon after she rolled around in the grass like a lunatic. It is currently bald there. I wonder if she's just going to have a bald patch there forever?)

Personal care ($63.40, 2%) - Hair cut!

Entertainment ($10, < 1%) - I paid for parking in Madison when Dr. BB and I had an adventure downtown. 

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What's your favorite road trip snack?