Books: Face of Deception - I Johansen

So sometimes I get a book and I like it and I sit down and don't get up till it's finished.  Especially on days when Nick works (and I don't).  Yep.  Happened today.

I saw a review for the final book in a series, so I headed back to the beginning and borrowed the first one from our library.

Iris Johansen

The author is interesting; she started writing romance novels when her kids went to college.  She's now in her 70s and going strong! 

Let's be clear.  This is NOT a romance novel :P  I used to read alot of mysteries (I think seeing Sherlock Holmes last night made me nostalgic!), but haven't done much with the genre recently. 

Source

The main character, Eve Duncan, is a forensic sculptor.  She was born poor and has worked really hard to get so good at her job.  Sadly, her 7 year old was kidnapped and murdered several years ago.  In the current book, she is recruited by a wealthy man to recreate a face on a skull that she knows nothing about and then the book gets all thriller/mystery.  It was a very easy read with interesting twists and turns - even at the very end - (and an interesting "bad guy"), and I actually liked it alot.  I think there are thirteen (?) books with Eve, so if I want to get to the end of her story, I've got some reading to do!!

Well, it took most of my Sunday, but Number 65: (2/33) - CHECK!!

Read any good mysteries lately??

Books: Beloved - T Morrison

I'm not sure what my deal is with this book.  It must have been on a required reading list at some point.  But whenever I think up "classic" books I want to read, this one is always there. 

 Source

To its credit:  Beloved by Toni Morrison won the Pulitzer Prize for literature in 1988, was made into a major motion picture starring Oprah in 1998, and in 2006 a New York Times survey of writers and literary critics ranked it as the best work of American fiction of the past 25 years.  So I had high hopes.

The first bad sign that I might not like this book was that as I started reading, I had the sinking feeling that I'd read it before.  And I had.  And I remembered 0.0001% of the story.  (Oops.)  Which is about slavery and reincarnated dead ghost babies.  And terribly tragic lives of sad people.

Source

I don't mind supernatural stories or fantasy, but something about this was just too... sad? tragic? not relate-able? for me to really get into.  I even had to renew it from the library, which for this fast-reading-girl is something!  It was very haunting, but ultimately not really my style.  Hopefully this time I remember having read it!!

So to #65: Read 33 books (1/33): CHECK.

Ever read Beloved and can explain to me what I'm missing?  Or have you ever read a book and completely forgot it??

Documentary: Gloria - In Her Own Words

Gloria Steinem popped up on my radar recently when reading an article about Jennifer Aniston.  She was asked (and answered):

If you could name one woman the sexiest of all-time, 
who would you have picked? 

It’s a tie between Bridgette Bardot and Gloria Steinem. 
But if I had to choose one, I’d say Gloria because, well, she’s the full package. That’s sexy.

I was thinking that I don't really know anything about her, other than that "she's a feminist".  So when I was looking for something to watch on a quiet Sunday night and saw Gloria - In Her Own Words, I loaded that right up.  

Source

First of all, she WAS gorgeous when she was young - in a very 70s New York City kind of way. 

Source

And she's aged well.

~Age 75
 Source

The movie was shocking really at how much we take for granted now.  I know there are still lots of gender inequalities today, but the fact that things were SO ridiculous less than 10 years before I was born... I had no idea really.  For example:

• "Women don't get better jobs because they have trouble concentrating."
• In 1970 (maybe until later), there were gender segregated dining rooms in NYC.
• Ms. wasn't an acceptable title on paperwork - the president (Nixon) publicly opposed it
• "Alot of the women of my generation are living the unlived lives of our mothers." - G.S.

Striking woman.  Short, interesting movie.  If it's free and on-demand, take a look.

To #59: Watch 20 documentaries (3/20) -- I say CHECK!

Got any biography documentaries to recommend??

Food: Cafe 522 and chicken livers

Awesome title, eh?

So last night, we wanted to take our shiny brand new car out on the town, so we headed to a new restaurant in downtown Sonoma:  Cafe 522.  In the two and a half years we've lived here, this is the third restaurant in this space... so we figured we better check it out fast!  It's been getting good reviews and you gotta love their theme "We love bacon".  On the entree menu, it even has the option "Add bacon to any meal: $3". 

We ordered an appetizer:

Farm Egg Noodles hunters-style chicken livers, hen of the wood mushroom, local egg

Which counts as #17 - eat new foods (2/10 - CHECK).  I honestly can't remember eating chicken livers before.  Unless the gross Liverwurst that mom used to make me eat for lunch (I blame you, Katie!) counts.  But I don't think it does.  Anywho, the noodles were fresh and the mushrooms and liver (which was chopped into small pieces) were in a rich sauce.  It felt like a very nice fall/winter dish. 

Nick ordered the 

Tolenas Farm Quail braised leg hash, fennel caramel, kale, fried quail egg  (he added bacon, of course)

And I had the 

‘Angry’ Laughing Bird Shrimp anson mills rice grits, fra’mani chorizo, lemon, wild arugula, brandy butter, garlic toast

The food was good and they had a nice menu of local beers and wines.  We had beers and were very entertained.  Which is a good thing because the service was sloooooowwww.  Overall, we enjoyed the food but it was pretty expensive, so it might be a little while before we return. 

And to #63.  Eat at new Sonoma restaurants, I say (1/10) CHECK! 

Have you ever eaten liver voluntarily?? 
**And this post is a good lesson in learn-to-take-pictures-if you're going to blog about it!! Sorry for the boredom!!**

Hikes: Oat Hill Mine Trail

Last weekend, Nick, Lucy, and I headed to Calistoga for a little getaway.

 

Source

Lucy made friends with the dog that lived at the B&B, his name was Sparky and looked JUST like Curly.  We enjoyed resting at the inn and in the spa area.  We also got to see the Lighted Tractor Parade (not something you see every day!).  But our main activity was heading to the Oat Hill Mine Trail for a few hours of hiking up above Napa Valley.  It had 10 (one way) miles of trails.  We hiked ~2 hrs up and then turned around.  And Lucy still wasn't tired!!!

 Still kind of looks like fall...

 Gorgeous manzanita trees

 Up at the top!

And down at the bottom again.  Lucy loves having her picture taken.

And so, to #47: Go on 10 new hikes, I say CHECK (2/10)!