The Short of It:

Warm, witty and touching. Absolutely loved it.

The Rest of It:

I am a huge Diane Keaton fan. Years ago when I was in film school, I took a series of classes on Woody Allen. I adored Woody Allen and I couldn’t help but get to know Keaton’s work as well since she appeared in so many of his films. What I didn’t know, is that they sort of had a “thing” for each other. Yes, I know…it seems so obvious but it wasn’t until I listened to her memoir that I actually believed it. Of course, her years with Woody were extremely interesting to me, but what I found most interesting was her childhood. Then Again is Keaton’s memoir, but it also functions a tribute to Keaton’s mother Dorothy Hall, who suffered from, and later died of Alzheimer’s disease.

Listening to this on audio was such a treat! It’s read by Diane herself and every time I plugged into my iPod I was taken to another time and place. She talks of her childhood and the wonderful relationship she had with her mother. She also mentions her other siblings and her father, but the real focus here is her mother, Dorothy Hall who pretty much taught Diane everything she needed to know about life and more. Here was a bright, educated woman who gave up her career to raise a family. Did she regret it? According to her journal entries which are shared by Diane, not really. She loved her family and her family was everything to her. Did she make a sacrifice? Of course, but she was a positive woman who tried to make the best of things. A trait that Diane appreciated and modeled with her own children.

As wonderful as walking down Memory Lane can be, there is a darkness that emerges as well. Dorothy Hall was a woman of many talents, but constantly struggling to find her niche.  All in all, the Halls appeared to be a happy family and that was mostly due to her mother making it so. Something that Diane appreciates now, but also regrets when she realizes how lonely her mother must have been, trying to constantly re-invent herself at every turn. Diane shares in this self-doubt. Always wondering if she is good enough, pretty enough, or smart enough for anyone to want her.

In between these thoughtful moments, Diane shares stories from her career. How she met Woody, how she came to know Warren Beatty and her first impression of Jack Nicholson and Al Pacino. She talks of that famous outfit from Annie Hall and how she originally turned down the part of Erica Barry in Something’s Gotta Give. Can you imagine?

This was a wonderful memoir to listen to. I loved hearing Diane tell her own story but the parts where she discusses her mom, well… those parts brought a tear to my eye. The only downside to listening to this on audio is that I probably missed out on some great family photos. That’s okay, because it was wonderfully done and anyone who enjoys her work, loves hearing about mother/daughter relationships or anyone who has lost someone to Alzheimer’s, will enjoy and find comfort in this book.

Source: Borrowed
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

Here it is, nearly 7pm my time and I am just now getting to my Sunday Salon post. If time moved any faster, I’d miss it.

Today started off good. I made bacon and eggs and we settled in to a great Sunday morning, finished off nicely by two cups of cinnamon coffee. BUT…The Girl’s Toastmaster’s speech is due this Friday which means that memorization needs to happen between now and then and let me tell you, it just was not happening. She got irritated with me (unbelievable, I know) and I got majorly irritated with her attitude.  The next thing I knew, there was screaming and yelling.

BUT, we had plans to hit the zoo so we put the speech aside and figured that some fresh air and sun, is what we all needed. The Boy had his oral surgery last week and was still out of it, so the fresh air would do him good too. What we didn’t expect were crowds of people. It has NEVER been that crowded before. The parking lots were full and I was already on edge but we tried to make the best of it.

After The Girl flipped out over two chimpanzees fighting over an apple, I just about lost it. I went off and stared at the giraffes for awhile and tried to lose myself in their eating routine. I know their fighting scared her, but it was so interesting to watch and there was no way we could since she screamed her special, high-pitched scream, the one that only an eight-year-old girl can do. I mean really, if there had been any glass nearby we would have been in trouble.

So, we left. Drove home. Picked up stuff to BBQ and then got all bickery (my word) when the meat was overcooked. It’s me, I know it’s me. I am on edge. I don’t particularly care for hordes of people and everyone at the zoo just rubbed me the wrong way. You don’t knock on an enclosure to wake a big cat up and you certainly don’t use a spray bottle to try to wake them up either. Everywhere I turned, I saw dumb people.

The overcooked meat has been put away. The speech has been shortened by at least a minute and I am about to dive back into Wish You Were Here, which ironically is about people being together in a small confined space (cottage by the lake).

I won’t be able to catch-up  with everyone’s blog posts tonight but I will catch-up with everyone tomorrow morning. Oh, and if you had a day like mine, I am sending you calming vibes to get you through the evening.

Rules
1 You must post the rules.
2 Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post and then create eleven new questions to ask the  people you’ve tagged.
3 Tag eleven people and link to them on your post. (won’t be tagging)
4 Let them know you’ve tagged them! (won’t be tagging)

These questions are from Care, and here are my answers:

1.  Tell me about any letters you’ve written lately to a friend just for the heck of it?
I haven’t written a letter to anyone in a really long time. I think it’s been at least 6 months if not longer. I send a lot of emails, but I assume you mean actual, hand-written letters. Nope. I think my hand has forgotten how to write!

2. Do you have a favorite beer?
I am not a beer drinker. The only time I ever craved it, was when I was pregnant with #2. Weird. I didn’t indulge (in case you were wondering). Plus, I am gluten-free now and some beers pose problems for me.  If I had to choose one, it would be some kind of honey ale.

3. If you ever write a book (or if you have), which genre would it be/is it?
I do have the workings of a book in my head and if it ever gets written, it will fall into the literary fiction category. It’s the one genre that consistently resonates with me. I could also see myself writing a book for Young Adults. Especially one geared towards boys, since my son (the non-reader) always complains about the lack of books for his age group.

4. What is your favorite dish to cook?
What I make, all the time, is pasta with some kind of sauce but my favorite to cook (and eat) is a huge tray of chicken enchiladas. Chicken, white cheese sauce, freshly made corn tortillas and roasted green chilies. Love!

5. Didn’t Trisha (the person who posted this meme prior to Care) ask some awesome questions?
Yes, she did! You can see them here.

6. What book would you absolutely hate to see get parodied?
Lolita. Can you imagine? In my worse dreams, it’s done as a musical.

7. Do you have a favorite number?
I do have a favorite number. It happens to be 5. I was born on the 5th of September and for whatever reason, 5 has always been good to me.

8. Tell me a nonfiction book idea subject that you think I should write a book on because there isn’t one already?
Is there a book on Curling yet? It’s a sport that always catches my attention, yet I know nothing about it.

9. Did you like my answers to No. 5 for book that should be H.S. curricula? (She answered, The Book Thief and The Wind-up Bird Chronicle)
Since I adore Haruki Murakami, I must say…yes!! However, I never finished The Book Thief. I found myself bored with it. I know I didn’t give it enough time to get into it though, so I plan to try it again at some point.

10. Red or white?
I hope you are talking wine here. If so, RED. Preferably a nice Pinot Noir.

11. Would you be embarrassed to receive a postcard with artwork by Dali? ya know – the erotic variety?  I have some if you want one. I’m kinda embarrassed to send.
I wouldn’t be embarrassed to get one, but with the kids in the house and the little one in charge of mail pick-up, I would have to pass on one. However, my favorite of his is Women Forming a Skull.

This is where I am shamefully bad. I don’t mind playing, but I don’t like to tag so I’m not tagging anyone in this post.  I figure if you want to answer one of the questions, you’ll do so in the comments, you know… to make it interesting.

The Short of It:

Mysterious and thrilling. The Technologists is the best kind of historical thriller. Learn a little, enjoy a lot.

The Rest of It:

Boston, 1868. The story opens with a catastrophe that no one can explain. Ships, coming in from the harbor are suddenly unable to navigate with the instruments they have. As the instrumentation goes haywire, vessels of all shapes and sizes crash into the harbor one by one. A sight that is hard to imagine, but even worse to witness firsthand. What caused this? Who caused this? Will it happen again?

This mysterious event piques the curiosity of many. Including the students of The Institute who live and breathe science and know that there must be a scientific explanation for what’s occurred. Except, society as a whole has not accepted science as an answer and in fact, would do almost anything to discredit it. Especially the Harvard boys who believe it’s just a bunch of hooey.

This creates quite a challenge for the students of the Institute, led by Marcus Mansfield and the group called The Technologists. They band together, with the assistance of the Institute’s only female student, Ellen Swallow to solve the mystery of what happened in that harbor on that fateful day, and the other disasters that follow in its wake.

I have a tiny crush on Matthew Pearl. He doesn’t know it, but that’s okay. His name might be familiar to you. A few years back he released The Last Dickens which I reviewed here. I don’t know if it is his writing, the fact that he chooses Boston in the late 1800′s as a setting (love), or what, but whatever he is doing, I am liking. The other thing to note, is that his books tend to cross many genres and they never seem to bore me. That’s always a plus. For example, I love mysterious elements but I am not a fan of mystery as a genre. Somehow, he manages to present the mysterious elements within historical fact which is endlessly fascinating to me.

This book pulls you in quickly and has just the right amount of science to make it interesting. At times, I felt the book a tad too long. In between the excitement of the disasters themselves, there is a great deal of experimentation and let’s be honest here, I couldn’t wait for the next disaster to hit and got a little cranky in-between the events when things didn’t happen right away. However, the practice of science is not a speedy task. There are notes to be taken, results to be reviewed, etc. Had it been written any other way, I’m sure I would have found fault with it. So in the end, these experimental “asides” did not keep me from enjoying the novel.

Overall, the characters are realistically drawn and the events, thrilling. To think that science was at one time compared to black magic is almost too difficult to believe, but Pearl truly gives the reader a glimpse of how it was for that first graduating class at MIT and many of the characters are based on actual students.

If you like to learn something while being entertained, you will undoubtedly enjoy this one. And if you’re lucky, you could win a copy of your own (see details below).

Source: ARC and giveaway copy is provided by the publisher via TLC Book Tours.
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

Matthew’s website, Facebook page, and book trailer. To visit the the other blogs on the tour, click here.

Giveaway Information

The publisher has offered me one copy of The Technologists to giveaway! Giveaway is open to the US and Canada. The publisher will send the book to the winner and the winner will be notified by me. To enter, complete the form below. Giveaway ends on February 19, 2012.

The giveaway is now closed!