I have picked up and put down What Has Become of You so many times, not because it isn't good (I still can't decide on that yet) or boring (it's definitely not that!) but because the level of creepiness to it unnerves me.

The really weird thing is that I'm not sure if I'm supposed to feel creepy about the main character or the events going on in her life. Vera Lundy is sometimes someone to empathize with, other times someone you just don't understand. She can even be dislikable when it comes to how she relates with strangers, though many parts of her strike me as realistic even if those parts aren't something you want in a teacher.

The stars on Amazon are pretty much straight down the line:

20 Reviews

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

Author and book review publications seem to like it:

“It takes a lot to creep me out--I spent my youth reading Stephen King under the covers--but Jan Elizabeth Watson has more than succeeded in this gripping literary thriller. Part gloss on The Catcher in the Rye, part millennial The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, What Has Become of You is that rare beast: a page-turner that asks dark, difficult questions about the state of contemporary American society.” –Joanna Smith Rakoff, author of A Fortunate Age


Kirkus gives it a glowing review with a great opening line:

Vera Lundy's had a little trouble letting go of her high school demons, so teaching 10th-grade English might not have been the wisest career choice.
 
I'll give the novel another chance because I honestly want to know what happens and there are times when I feel like I'm almost reading a Shirley Jackson novel (which is a good thing.)

There's also the side of Vera that I truly feel for which keeps her human for me, even if later on she makes colossal personal and professional mistakes.

Great Friday music...

"Jimmy Mack" is a good way to jump start your day, especially if you're in an oldies but goodies kind of mood. Karen Carpenter once covered it for an album she never got to see released and as much as I love her singing, I have never cared for her version as much as the original.

Also good for the spirits is "Oye Como Va," specifically Tito Puente's version of off Mambo Birdland. At over five and a half minutes, it's the most delightful jam I think I've ever heard. As Tito says at the end, "Did You Feel It?"

Most indeed!! :)

 

 

Oh, wow, is I Love You But I Must Drive Off This Cliff Now wonderfully sultry and sophisticated pop, perfect for summer. A bit like the bird and the bee with a little Lily Allen and lots of sixties lounge music thrown in, this album is just amazing. At first, I thought "Did We Live Too Fast" was too good for the rest of the cd to compete with, but I was wrong. Each of the eleven tracks that follow the bewitching kick-off stand up well, with maybe the exception of the guitar-fizzed, potty-mouthed, but still kind of fun "Da Da Da."

 



"People die all the time. Life is a lot more fragile than we think. So you should treat others in a way that leaves no regrets. Fairly, and if possible, sincerely. It's too easy not to make the effort, then weep and wring your hands after the person dies.” - Dance Dance Dance (1988)
― Haruki Murakami, Dance Dance Dance

I love this man's novels and cannot wait until his new one comes out on August 12th. It's called Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage and sounds very Murakami-like which, if you enjoy his work, is a good thing. :)

 

 

 

Easy Come, Easy Go



Boy, do I love this song. It always puts a smile on my face with its overall bubble gum pop sound and optimistic spirit of bouncing back from a bad time in love. How can it not put someone willing to embrace an era light years away in fashion and music into a great mood? Plus, Bobby Sherman just looks like an overall nice guy. He has long been retired from show business and devotes lots of time to a children's charity he and his wife started.

 

So sweet, so wonderfully goofy, "Easy Come, Easy Go" :

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqty94GA9-g

 

 

 

Takin the shade out of the sun

Whatever made me think that I was number one
I oughta know easy come, easy go
Sittin' it out, spinnin' the dial
Thinkin' about the chump I've been
I have to smile
Didn't I know easy come, easy go
She wasn't kind, I wasn't smart
I lost my mind and fell apart
I had to find myself in time
Now I can start all over again
Hangin' around takin' it slow
Happy I found
I still can smile and dig the show
Lettin' me know easy come, easy go

Songwriters
Keller, Jack / Hilderbrand, Diane

Published by
Lyrics © EMI Music Publishing, Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner/Chappell Music, Inc

 
I'm into my second week of feeling like I haven't in ages and much of it has to do with the music I've been listening to and some of it with the absence of certain stressors. I'm trying to hold on to these feelings for as long as possible because soon some of those issues return. 

Inner peace seems more attainable when you accept what you cannot change and realize the things you want or the people you like who do not feel the same are what you need to let go of once and for all.

It's no wonder insomnia is so prevalent among those of us who tend to worry a lot. Other people, family, bills and, most fearsome of all, the future can all combine into a huge snowball of worry that seems to wreck your soul.

Insomnia, after a while, becomes something so common a part of your life you either sink or swim with it. I've been swimming most of the time, lately, mostly because pills, meditation and exercise (earlier in the day, of course) just don't seem to work. So I get up to clean or watch an old movie or sitcom or I pick up something light like the book below, which I read in one sitting.

I enjoyed Departure From The Script a lot; even if it's on the predictable side, it's the good kind of dependable, where you know you're going to get a solid romantic read. The characters (both main and secondary) are extremely likable and fully fleshed out and Jae, as always, writes well.

I'd strongly recommend this for a cozy afternoon, especially if you need to escape from real life for a few hours. Cute, sweet and full of refreshing sincerity, Departure is a stand-out in its genre.

 I'm not crazy about insomnia (who is?) but I do like to think of not sleeping as a chance to read as much as possible. There's no way I'd have taken in as many novels as I have without it...which is a good thing, I suppose, since this terrific new book has me jotting down even more titles for my Kindle and nightstand: