Ponder Post: I Won!

What a nice uplifting surprise I got today. While on an afternoon walk with Frank, my cell phone rings and it is Alden Lane Nursery calling to tell me I had won $200 total in gift cards. I drove right over to pick up the prize.

How did this happen you ask? Last Friday, Frank and I had made our annual circuit of stores in local downtown Livermore that participate in a Holiday Open House Passport event. At each store you are invited to purchase one item of your choice at 25% off. If you collect a stamp from all eight participating merchants, your name is put in a drawing for $200 in gift certificates. It was my name that got pulled out! Now I get to go back to every one of those stores and spend my $25 at each. That will not be hard. I am familiar with and like each of these shops. Although not required to get a stamp, I bought something in all but two stores of the eight stores, each fun to browse and every one to my taste. Here is a smattering of photos of the unique shops.

In Between Stitches is my local quilt shop. I can always find something in there I just have to have!

Next to In Between Stitches are two home decor stores, Main Street Designs and Proctor's. They each carry a small selection of costume type artsy jewelry, also.

Also along Main Street is Divine Boutique and Outside In. The first is for clothes. I enjoy the inside decor even though on our holiday passport this is one store in which I did not buy something. I did try something on, but I passed on purchasing it.

Outside In carries home and garden decor. They have delightfully whimsical novelties and they are adjacent to my quilt shop so I browse there often. Friday was a look-but-not-buy day here.

Coolykatz Toys is one block away from Main Street. Last Friday we made several purchases in that store. Notable purchases here in past Christmases with the holiday passport 25% off have been a rocking locomotive and a rocking firetruck both carved out of wood, Now I am positive I will make good use of the $25 gift certificate in here!

Our next-to-last stop was the Main Street Christmas Store. It is a bit early, but never the less, we got to immerse ourselves in the season for a brief time. They had some lovely Christmas picture books here.

Alden Lane Nursery is not only a pleasant place to be but the last weekend of September every year they host a quilt show. It had been our final shop to visit where we dropped off our filled out passport Friday and where I returned to pick up that exciting $200 prize today.

I love Livermore!

Ponder Post: Etta and Otto and Russell and James

Why did I pick this book to read? The topic was about an 83-year old women who sets out to walk 3,232 km eastward from rural Canada to see the ocean. It is an impulsive, gutsy move that piqued my curiosity. Also, having just returned from Montreal, I thought I would continue my Canadian immersion. I found out about Etta and Otto and Russell and James by Emma Hooper (2015) from my daughter-in-law who had recently completed it as one of her book club's selections. I asked her if she liked it and was bemused by her response. "Yes, I did like it. It's a very quick read, so even if you don't like it, you won't spend much time not liking it. But I think you'll like it." (C.C. 10/19/16)

So the burning question is: "Did I like it?" My initial knee jerk response was, "Hell, No."

Upon further pondering I waffled toward the very wishy-washy opinion, "It depends."  But my daughter-in-law was right. I did not spend a lot of time "not liking" it.

I try not to read the reviews on books before I write my post. What I say really should be what I think and not be swayed by what others have voiced. But I had so many questions after finishing this book I could not just chalk it up as a turkey. Texting my daughter-in-law I learned that most of those very same questions had been raised in her bookclub discussions. Still avoiding reading reviews I sought out a reading group guide by the publisher Simon and Schuster. I was drawn in reading the discussion topics. I asked myself this, "Can a book that is this thought-provoking really be that bad?"

Etta and Otto and Russel and James had war, gore, hardship, injury, poverty, dementia, aging, maiming, and illiteracy in the novel although they were addressed in a very vague and non-graphic way. Alongside these negative topics was the quiet strength of love, fidelity, family bonds, determination, and acceptance but these traits were also subliminally conveyed between the lines of text. The book was written with quotes absent for spoken words; hand-penned letters were often the vehicle for tempered thoughts of the main characters. This punctuation style contributed to an almost stream of consciousness technique that is often used to convey a mood but is commonly very blurred on facts. I prefer something crisper and cleaner but I really do need to give Emma Hooper credit for being able to convey all the positives and negatives I listed above with such a watercolor (think Monet) narrative form rather than a crisp ink-pen (think Wysocki) grammatically edited text.

Finally I gave in and looked at the reviews on Amazon. Those fours stars are an average but customer reviewers either loved it or panned it. Even those who panned it though, could not help asking questions and digging deeper. It's high rating in Magical Realism tells you a bit about the writing style.

So, bottom line, would I recommend reading this book? It depends on what you want to get out of your reading. 

• Is it to get a good discussion group and topic going? By all means this is the book for you. 
• Is it thought-provocation and puzzling you are after? This choice is a good contender. 
• Is it light entertainment? I would not recommend this book. I like something with a happier tone. 

Etta and Otto and Russel and James is not among my first choices for a good read but I cannot call it a waste of time either. If forced into a one parameter metric I would give it three stars. Perhaps I have sparked your interest. Remember, "... even if you don't like it, you won't spend much time not liking it..."