Mrs. Baja's Gift Shop: Stephanie Plum Inspired Gifts

The gift giving season is upon us, but here at Mrs BG’s we think it’s always fun to shop. So we have a new, year ‘round feature, Mrs. Baja's Gift Shop.

Here we'll show off book-inspired gifts, sticking to the theme of the book, series or character. No books, book marks or book lights here; we are thinking off the page. Confused? Have a look and you'll see what we mean.

We are kicking off with gifts for Stephanie Plum readers. Wacky, exciting, Stephanie-related gifts for Evanovich aficionados.

Since Stephanie never cooks and has nothing in her pantry except peanut butter and frosted flakes, a gourmet food hamper is just the ticket. The only thing here that needs cooking is tea, so it’s perfect for stake outs. After the food is gone she could use the basket for picnics. Who are we kidding? She can use it to take her laundry to her mother’s.

Wooden donuts are low calorie fun treats. Or is that just too cruel?

This is a beautiful cookie jar. It would add a touch of class to any inner-city apartment, and it would be easy to see when you are running on low on treats. But you wouldn’t be able to hide your gun in it...

This one would be better for hiding guns, and you can personalize it with the names of the family. But which man would Stephanie put on hers? And do they have hamster images?

This is the ultimate cookie jar for Stephanie fans, since Morelli calls her cupcake.

This will make you or your partner smell like Ranger, the sexiest man in fiction.

…a cap gun, so someone can shoot at you, and you can shoot back. It’s die cast and looks really real.

For those who love bling or want to channel Sally Sweet, a pretty pair of earrings. They would dress up the t-shirt below.

Any woman would appreciate a wardrobe staple like a V neck tee. Fits nice and snug to show off your curves (donuts, anyone?) and goes anywhere. The funeral parlor, the police station, a break-and-enter, a movie and capture, a transvestite rock concert, dinner with the family, a stake out….

Books I Couldn't Finish

I have been away from blogland for a while, and I briefly explained why on my blog. With the quality of writing produced by my fellow bloggers I know you have been well entertained. So I'm back!

Would you believe I started this post originally back in February, then picked it up and worked on it a few months ago, then re-revisited it AGAIN just now? How's that for procrastination? So here it is, third time lucky. If it seems a bit disjointed you know why. I was afraid that if I took the time to polish it up I would procrastinate yet again!


From a month or so ago...

With all the recent talk (ed. Note; August) about books Mrs BG's dear readers and authors couldn't finish, I thought I would dust off this post I couldn't finish back in February about books I couldn't finish. I'm looking forward to finishing it!

When Sam said she'd abandoned books and felt guilty about it, I completely understand. And I am dying to know why we give up on books. Could you all please respond to the first official Mrs Baja survey?

Original post I didn't finish follows....

So, there have been a couple of books recently (ed. Note; February) that have just not worked for me. I have never thought myself very critical, fickle or discriminating, but maybe I am.

My first non-finisher is a book my beautiful mother bought me back in June. I picked it up and was so intrigued and excited by it. The author is the apparently well-known Steven Pinker, author of The Blank Slate. The cover of The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window into Human Nature says it's 'curious, inventive, fearless, naughty', which is hard to resist.



Some of the ideas are fascinating. I liked reading about how language shapes our attitudes. For example, doctors are more likely to be in favor of a program that might save 200 out of 600 vulnerable patients rather than one that will kill 400 out of 600. Same numbers, different spin.

And Pinker quotes a study that shows when we estimate number problems roughly, we don't really use language in our heads, but when we calculate exactly, we do. So, we have an image-based estimating process, but use words to calculate.

Parts of the book made me think about my French and Italian students. For example, the idea of language not translating exactly is hard for some. I regularly have to explain that the English gerund (ex. I am running) really doesn't have an exact translation into romance languages. That concept is not expressed simply in some languages, and so, conversely, many English learners with Romance language backgrounds have a hard time choosing between 'I run.' 'I do run.', and 'I am running.'

These are all interesting ideas, and the book is very well-written, but I just haven't made much progress in the months I've had it. It's a lot of thinking for my poor brain, and I usually want to read something lighter, funnier and easier.

Well, that's where I stopped finishing my post about six months ago. Since then I have gotten side tracked reading a few more books.

Michael Robotham's Bombproof was just a bit brutal for my delicate sensibilities.

Le Testament Français by Andreї Makine is beautiful. I got it from the Heron Island swapsies library. His first language is Russian and he wrote in French. This edition is in English and it is musical, lyrical, just poetry in prose and the images he paints stay with me. I love it. And I haven't finished it… Don't know what's going on there...





Image from the National Gallery of Australia.



And to finish off this post about not finishing books I will tell you about Ned Kelly: A Short Life by Ian Jones. The Kelly family is infamous and very important to the Australian psyche. Ned was the bushranger (bandit?) who made his own armour. Does anyone remember seeing 'him' in the 2000 Sydney Olympics opening ceremony? Kind of a naughty Robin Hood.

Jones' book is an incredibly, minutely detailed account of Ned's life. No event, however small, is left out of this account. I'm not making any progress here. It may have been a short life but this is a loooong book.

If you want to learn more about Ned without having to read Ian Jones, check here. It looks like a great blog. And they seem fond of Ian's work, too.

So, ladies and gentlemen, there is my confession. Now your turn. How many books do you have languishing in your to-be-finished pile? Please don't tell me none! I might start to worry about myself.

Fruits- by photographer Shoichi Aoki

My sister and I used to fight constantly over who would get to keep this book, week after week. Another art gallery buy, the glossy pictures, short, sharp sentences and vibrant colour, it was the kind of book you were drawn to from about the ages of about 2-13. But this book is not aimed at any age in particular.

Fruits is a collection of photographs of Japanese street style, complete with small descriptions of every look at the bottom. According to the unique individuals photographed, their ensembles are representing a personal point of fashion, from "fluffy alien" to "harmony and unity". The western clothing that you see everyone except these people wearing has only been mainstream in Japan for about fifty years and considered very conservative. The strange outfits of these people are mostly handmade and most link back to their traditional culture- kimonos in bright colours. 

This book makes you laugh occasionally, think often and smile at every page. Definitely worth reading, even if you just want to see the boys with  funny hairstyles.

X.

http://viewsofnow.blogspot.com/

The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai

Well. 

I have just finished reading Kiran Desai's second book - The Inheritance of Loss.

Set in India, it is the story of orphaned Sai, who is deposited on the doorstep of her grandfather. His cook is the one who cares for and nurtures her, although he is distracted by thoughts of his son in America. A violent political insurgency is set off, causing chaos and pain, and affects the characters - rich and poor alike - in unusual ways.

 

I have to say that although much prefer the author's first book, simply because the plot was lighter, this story had me riveted! She has a way of describing the cold, the wet, the smells, the darkness. I was completely sucked in to India. I absolutely love how the characters are so realistically self absorbed and how remarkable her observations are:

The insurgents: "The men sat unbedding on their rage, learning...that old hatreds are endlessly retrievable...they find the hate pure, purer than it could ever have been before because the grief of the past was gone. Just the fury remained..."

Proud mamas: "Perhaps England and America didn't know that they were in a fight to the death, but it was being fought on their behalf, anyway, by these two spirited widows of Kalimpong."

War: "But while the residents were shocked at the violence, they were often surprised by the mundaneness of it all...and found that it was possible, faced with the stench of unimaginable evil, for a human being to grow bored, yawn, be absorbed by the problem of a missing sock, by neighborly irritations, to feel hunger skipping like a little mouse inside a tummy..."

I will say, it does have quite a few moments that truly made me angry and sad, and I am a sucker for resolved happy endings. This doesn't end bad. It just ended. I would have like for an airplane to fall from the sky and give them everything they need for a happy ending and a "what-for" to those that deserved it. And for the pilots of said airplane to be okay....but it didn't end that way.

So basically, I probably won't read this again, but I did enjoy it very much. The descriptions and the narrative were definitely enjoyable and I really love her characters. All in all an excellent read. Once. ;)

Tuesday Treasures: Petticoats West To Jane Eyre!

 Tuesday Treasures is a recurrent feature in which I share the bookish distractions that catch my eye in the school library I work in on Tuesday. I'm not the librarian; I am the speech pathologist. You will hear no complaints from me about sharing a workspace-- this little old school library collection is chock full of wonderful treasures. Plus, I get to release my inner-librarian. The students who wander in looking for books assume I am the Tuesday Librarian.



Today's lunch and break pages are brought to you by:

The title on the spine of this 1967 edition caught my eye and what a fun retro cover. I had to read the first chapter. 

The setting is post Civil War Boston and times are very difficult for orphaned girls and widows. Seventeen year old best friends Addie and Sybil run into each other after two years of separation.

Addie never left Boston but illness, losing both parents and becoming poor left her disconnected (self-imposed) from her old life. Running into Sybil makes her realize that hardtimes have affected everyone and there is no shame in shabbiness. 

Sybil and her mother are planning to join a movement led by a charismatic but ugly man to take orphaned girls and widows by ship to the Pacific Northwest. Addie wants to join to but has no hope of raising the $300 fee-- with luck she may get to go as a charity case but, of course, work off her debt.

Quite the engrossing tale and a lot of story for one chapter;  maybe I actually read two chapters... I do lose track of time.

Do you know the author Olive Burt? The most information I found is here in a write up (including photos) by the president of the League of Utah Writers. Olive Burt was a very prolific author who mainly wrote juvenile western historical fiction. Click  here to see a  list of her books.  She was also  a member of  many writing/press societies and won many awards/honors. Interesting lady!

This edition of Jane Eyre is from the 80s. Did book covers typically look like this in the 80s?  I can't remember! 

I do remember last reading Jane Eyre in the late 80s while in my gothic phase.  Really didn't plan to ever reread it but Enbrethiliel at Shredded Cheddar will not stop writing about this book! If you don't believe me, follow the link to her millions of fascinating Jane Eyre  related posts! And on the first day at school, what book just happened to be on the library cart-- yep, Jane Eyre!

So after spotting it again today, I gave in and read the first chapter. Wow! What a great beginning and I didn't remember Jane being a bookworm or being bullied and abused by her relations. Her mean obnoxious cousin throws   a book at her head resulting in a cut! Good on Jane for finally defending herself-- I wanted to clobber him too!!

Guess I will be rereading this book sooner rather than later.

That is it for this edition of Tuesday Treasures. May you also have the joy of discovering a gem of a book. Happy reading, ya'll!