Category: Books

Tidy Tidbits: Reading & Eating

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CONCERT NOTE

Kudos to the Ladies

Hensel, 1842 by Moritz Daniel Oppenheim (Wikipedia)

Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel was a talented and precocious composer and pianist.  But, she was female, and as sister to her talented brother Felix, she was relegated to the back of the room.  Their father declared that Felix would have the musical career and she would not.  In her day, some of her more than four hundred compositions were attributed to Felix. It is only recently that her work has been rediscovered.

We had the great pleasure recently of hearing a performance of Fanny Mendelssohn’s Piano Trio in D Minor by three very talented women, Carmit Zori, violin, Natalie Helm, cello, and Jean Schneider, piano.  Pianist Schneider got the biggest workout on this demanding piece.  It concluded the concert and was a fitting end to our set of Sarasota Music Festival concerts!

RECENT READING

When We Left Cuba by Chanel Cleeton

This is Cleeton’s second novel related to Cuba, this time featuring Beatriz, one of the sisters in the sugar rich Perez family who fled Havana for Palm Beach after Castro took over their government.  Beatriz is determined to avenge her activist brother’s death in that revolution and very much wants to return to their Havana homestead.  On the periphery of Palm Beach society, restless and bored by the endless round of parties, Beatriz is easily importuned to get involved in espionage. 

Discouraged by what she sees as feeble efforts by the Americans on Cuba’s behalf and quickly becoming involved with highly regarded U.S. senator, Nick Preston, she never knows for sure whom she can trust and to what degree.  This novel about the Cold War and the Cuban crises of the early 60’s is absorbing, suspenseful and romantic.  The perfect beach read! (~JWFarrington)

Exposure by Helen Dunmore

Helen Dunmore was a British poet, novelist and author of children’s books.  A prolific writer, she died of cancer in 2017 at only 64. This novel is one of her last works.  Exposure is a look into London in 1960 during the Cold War when there were still secrets and spies. But it is not a conventional spy novel; rather Dunmore focuses on the details and minutiae of life for three individuals all impacted by the misplacement of a top-secret file.  

Giles Galloway, middle-aged, works for the Admiralty, as does Simon Callington, a younger married father of two children.  Simon’s wife Lily, who emigrated from Germany as a child, is a part-time schoolteacher. When Giles falls in his flat and calls Simon to retrieve the file and return it, but Simon doesn’t, life unravels for all of them.  Giles ends up in the hospital, Simon is arrested, and Lily leaves her job. What secrets they hold close, how they cope with dire straits, and how each puzzles out what should be exposed and what not, make for a multi-faceted novel—part love story, part human drama, part thriller.  (~JWFarrington)

CASUAL DINING

Metro Diner

A friend introduced me to Bradenton’s Metro Diner, one of several local locations for this chain.  The restaurant is airy and attractive with a mix of booths along the walls and tables in the middle of the space.  A large American flag (made of tile?) graces much of one side wall.  Specials of the day are on a blackboard at the rear and included a green tomato BLT, beef pot pie, and two soups of the day (loaded potato and their version of Manhattan clam chowder).  The menu is a mix of traditional diner fare (meatloaf, hot turkey sandwich) as well as fried chicken and waffles, salads, and variations on eggs Benedict for breakfast.   We sampled the beef pot pie and the white meat chicken salad sandwich with cole slaw (one of several choices of sides).  Both were very good.  Portions are generous to very large so go with an appetite.  Our waitress was friendly and helpful and took good care of us. 

Blue Marlin Seafood

Steamed clams

This deep blue cottage is cute inside with nautical notes that would be as right in Maine as they are here in Bradenton Beach.  Our dining partner knew the ropes and had requested a table in the front room—and we got the best one.  This room is quieter and a bit more open than the back room and bar.  For a livelier crowd and a more boisterous experience, there are also outdoor tables and live music.  

Thai snapper nugz

Everything we ordered was fresh and delicious and exceeded my modest expectations.  The house salad had a tasty Caesar-like dressing, and my steamed clams were luscious in a broth that included nubs of bacon and a dash of hot pepper along with the requisite garlic.  My companions ordered fish nuggets prepared Thai style, exquisite scallops on roasted Brussels sprouts, and the black grouper (fish of the day).  We ordered mostly small plates and small salads which are very reasonably priced; the fish entrees tend toward the mid-30’s. This was a great discovery and we’ll put it on our regular list!

Note: Text and photos ©JWFarrington except as noted.

Tidy Tidbits: Reading Update & More

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A NOVEL, A MYSTERY AND A MEMOIR

Carnegie’s Maid by Marie Benedict

Author Benedict (wesa.fm)

This historical novel is built around the premise that someone or some event must have triggered Andrew Carnegie’s transformation from merely a successful, rich, and somewhat ruthless businessman into the philanthropist and library founder he became.  Clara Kelley is poor and young and sent by her family from Ireland to the States in 1863 to find a job to help support her family back home.  She travels in steerage and upon disembarking, hears her name called, answers, and is swept up by a woman who places lady’s maids with wealthy clients.  Clara is not that Clara, but assumes her identiy and thus leads a double life pretending to be someone with experience. 

Fortunately, her father saw that his children were educated so Clara is not without knowledge or ability.  Serving as Andrew Carnegie’s mother’s maid in Pittsburgh, she becomes acquainted with both Carnegie sons, but especially Andrew, and listens in as he and his mother discuss their business affairs. The focus of the novel is Clara’s relationships with both Mrs. Carnegie and Andrew and how they play out over several years.  The action is limited and the scope somewhat slight, but I found it an enjoyable book. (~JWFarrington)

The Lost Man by Jane Harper

I have not yet read any of Harper’s other mysteries, but this one was gripping.  Set in the hot dry dangerous Australian outback, it’s the tale of three brothers, Nathan, Cameron, and Bub.   But Cameron is dead, his car abandoned, and his body found near an isolated grave. For someone born and raised in this forbidding landscape and who knows the risks of the extremely hot sun, it’s a mysterious ending.  The novel is related from Nathan’s perspective.  Nathan is a solitary sort who lives alone on the adjoining property (adjoining but distant by several hours) and stays away from town due to an earlier misfortune.  What binds Cameron’s wife and kids together and what secrets they and the brothers’ mother keep hidden are slowly revealed as Nathan seeks answers. (~JWFarrington)

The Salt Path by Raynor Winn

Moth and Ray (startribune.com)

In one fell swoop after a long lead-up, Ray and her husband Moth lose their home, their livelihood, and his good health.  Without any resources and children just beginning their own independent lives, they are truly homeless.  Avid hikers in their earlier years, they decide to walk the South West Coastal Path through Dorset and Cornwall, or at least the first half of it.  Armed with only the clothes on their back, rucksacks stuffed with a tent, cooking utensils, a copy of Beowulf, their remaining few pounds of cash, and not much else, they set out.  Ray is 50 and Moth several years older and recently diagnosed with a terminal disease.

This is Ray’s account of their journey, wild camping on cliff edges, enduring every kind of weather from blistering sun to driving rain, being hungry, and surviving many days on a diet of noodles and fudge bars.  From hopelessness to acceptance, it’s initially a slog which becomes a walk in nature lightened by a newfound appreciation of freedom and the wider world.  These are resilient individuals and I found myself rooting for them.  It’s Winn’s first book and she’s a good writer who captures nature’s beauty while relating their struggles with wry humor.  Near the end, I did tire a bit of the nature descriptions, one more cove, another cliff, but that’s just me.  (~JWFarrington)

BIG SCREEN

Late Night

Kaling and Thompson (bookandfilmglobe.com)

I would go see Emma Thompson in almost anything.  She’s one of my favorite actors and she’s marvelous in this new film as Katherine Newbury, the reigning host of a late night comedy show.  After 28 years, Newbury has gotten stale, but doesn’t realize it until that truth is forced upon her.  In an effort to diversify her all male staff of writers, she hires an inexperienced Indian woman, Molly, whose naivete and refreshing candor create waves in the studio.  As played by Mindy Kaling, Molly is a delight. There has not yet been a late night female TV host, and Thompson’s character illustrates the harsh realities of women trying to age with grace on the screen.  Funny, relevant, and entertaining.  I’d see it again!

EATING OUT

Roessler’s Restaurant

Tucked in off busy Route 41, Roessler’s is south of Sarasota in a former residence with lovely windows overlooking a pretty garden.  There are several small rooms at one end, one with a bar, and then a spacious dining room (actually the former swimming pool area) decorated in soft greens.  Adam, our waiter, was new to the staff, but helpful and professional.  They were still offering a Savor Sarasota menu so we and our friends took advantage of it. 

Two of us ordered the Roessler Chicken with mushrooms and artichokes while the other two had the veal and the bouillabaisse.  First courses included a choice of house or Caesar salads, soup, or a crispy lobster tail.  For dessert, we sampled the parfait and the nicely tart key lime pie.  The lobster and the veal each came with a slight up charge.  It was a most relaxed and pleasant meal and also a place to visit again!

Note: Text ©JWFarrington. Header book photo from runningoutofpages.com

Tidy Tidbits: Screen, Page & Plate

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SMALL SCREEN

Shetland (Amazon Prime & BritBox)

DI Perez and his colleagues (bbcstudios.com.au)

We recently watched Seasons 5 and 6 of this Scottish detective series and it’s excellent.  One of the best of its kind!  Each season consists of six episodes and there is only one case that’s ongoing across the entire season.  More than most, this is a character-driven series, and Douglas Henshall as DI Jimmy Perez is superb.  He’s a compassionate man who is determined to find out who is responsible for any murders.  He knows the island residents very well and thus proceeds with a mix of delicacy and diplomacy combined with the drive to see that justice is done.  As viewers, you become acquainted with his colleagues Tosh and Sandy as well as with his now college age stepdaughter, Cassie, and with Duncan, her biological father and Jimmy’s co-parent.  Duncan is a particularly interesting character.  He means well, but is often hapless and unfocused and there is frequently tension between him and Jimmy.  But they both love Cassie and want to protect her.  If you haven’t discovered this series yet, try it and see how quickly you are addicted!

The Resident (Amazon Prime)

Nic, Conrad & Devon (hollywoodreporter.com)

This medical series from Fox is the opposite of Shetland.   It’s brash and bold, gory, and in your face.  Subtlety is not in resident Conrad Hawkins’ vocabulary nor that of Randolph Bell, the egotistical chief of surgery.  Add in the arrogant, talented surgeon Mina Okafor, newbie intern Devon Pravesh, and capable nurse practitioner Nic Niven, and you’ve got a larger than life cast of characters at the fictional Chastain Memorial Hospital in Atlanta. The surgeries are full of blood and guts, the medical crises all too frequent, and the pace mind-bending.  I watch it on the treadmill and it keeps me treading past my allotted time.  

READING PLATFORMS

I read books in paper and on my Kindle Paperwhite .  I bought my first Kindle in 2009 before we went to Madagascar for three weeks.  Smart packing and minimum weight were key, and I knew I would need some reading material for that long a trip.  I still prefer reading on paper, but for titles I have no desire to keep forever, e-books are an advantage.  

I have a card for our local public library, but being acquisitive when it comes to books, I procrastinated a long time before getting it.  Not a good advertisement for a retired librarian!  Recently, I decided I should really investigate borrowing e-books instead of buying all of them.  Turns out it was easier to do than I anticipated.  

Our library’s selection of e-books is somewhat limited, but I made the maximum number of recommendations for purchase and put holds on a few titles.  In the library’s defense, some of my recommended titles they have in hardback.  I was both surprised and pleased when over the past few days, three of my holds were honored.  I have read one novel, returned the nonfiction book which I found preachy, and am in the middle of an excellent mystery.  Success!  What format do you prefer for your leisure reading?

ITALIAN MYSTERY

Shadows on the Lake by Giovanni Cocco and Amneris Magella

This is the first mystery by this Italian husband-wife team and it’s a perfect summer read.  Set in the Italian Lake District around Lake Como, it features Stefania Valenti, a divorced mother with an 11-year old daughter who’s also a detective.  When human remains are found near an old villa owned by a prominent family and adjacent to a construction site for a new tunnel, she must investigate.  Valenti is an intriguing character and the best developed one. She’s a chain smoker, and like many Italians, is always up for a coffee and a pastry.  Focused on her job, she occasionally runs late in picking up daughter Camilla, who is remarkably understanding.  Her two lieutenants, Lucchesi and Piras, are less well drawn and almost indistinguishable one from the other. How the investigation plays out and its links to WWII make for an engaging story, but not a suspenseful one. The authors spend almost as much time describing the beautiful scenery as they do on the mystery.  Given everything, I will likely read the next installment when it becomes available in English. (~JWFarrington)

DINING IN SARASOTA

Selva Grill

We walked past this Sarasota restaurant many times, but it took a date with a friend to get us inside. Although the season is over, the dining room was full on this Saturday night.  The cuisine is Peruvian and the menu includes a long list of ceviches as well as other small plates and some tasty-sounding entrees.  Entrée prices are higher than some other local restaurants, but there is so much choice, you don’t have to spend a lot.  Among the three of us, we ordered the Spanish Caesar salad (a stacked version with manchego instead of Parmesan), shrimp and corn soup, beef and spinach empanadas, salmon, and their fish and chips special.  Most everything was very good, and we look forward to a return visit for either a ceviche or the mouth-watering beef our table neighbors had.  

Note: Text and header photo ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved).

Tidy Tidbits: Relationships

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It seems appropriate on this Father’s Day to talk about relationships. Both the novel by Anne Tyler and Lori Gottlieb’s book about therapy say something about parent-child relationships, our most important first relationships. I’ve also included some snippets about my own father whom I still miss after forty plus years.

READING UPDATE

Clock Dance by Anne Tyler

I set this book aside last year.  The reviews were mixed, and I wasn’t in the mood for Baltimore.  I didn’t want to be disappointed in this novel, but even though I finished it, I was.  Willa Drake, a child of the late 60’s, drops out of college to get married and gives up her goals to marry the somewhat controlling Derek.  When he dies and leaves her a young widow, she has two sons to raise and along the way acquires a second husband, Peter, about whose background we learn little.  When a neighbor of her son’s girlfriend in Baltimore (Willa now lives in Phoenix) calls and asks her help in taking care of an 11-year old girl since the former girlfriend is in the hospital, Willa accepts.  The assorted neighbors are a motley crew of typical Anne Tyler folks with eccentricities and Willa gets to know them all.  One might say that Willa gains perspective on herself and her life through her time back east, but I didn’t find her a particularly compelling character or that she underwent much of a transformation.  And I wasn’t fond of the neighborhood cast of characters which perhaps some readers might find more lovable than I did.  (~JWFarrington)

Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb

Psychotherapist Gottlieb’s book is fascinating.  Whether you’ve ever seen a therapist, are sure you’re not a candidate for therapy, or something in between, it’s worth your time.  Gottlieb is bold, frank, and occasionally funny as she relates her sessions with several patients over the course of a year or so.  They range in age from 40-year old TV producer John who thinks everyone else is an idiot,  Rita who’s approaching 70 and so unhappy she’s contemplating suicide, 25-year old Charlotte who has alcohol and attachment issues, and Julie, who in her early 30’s has terminal cancer.  As readers, you get to know these people and are able to eavesdrop on how Gottlieb supports them and prods them to overcome troublesome behaviors.  

But what is extraordinary about this book is the degree to which Gottlieb shares in detail her own sessions with Wendell, her therapist.  She’s been left by the man she was planning to marry and going to therapy helps her deal with the breakup and with other issues in her life.  She strips off the protective layers we all put on and reveals her own worries and concerns.  If I were to see a therapist, I’d want it to be Wendell.  While contemplating an appointment with him, this book is a delightful and thought-provoking journey through what makes us human.  (~JWFarrington) 

GLIMPSES OF DAD

My father was a family man with a broad smile and a sense of humor.  In the 60’s, he became known to us kids as “Daddy-O” and even signed letters and notes that way.   Not overtly gregarious, among friends and family he was both warm and kind. 

He liked the fruits of summer. I can see him returning home from one of the scattered local farm stands bearing the first strawberries of June and in July, ears of fresh corn. The strawberries would be hulled and sliced with a smidge of sugar and ready to top strawberry shortcake.  In our household, we served what I consider true shortcake—strawberries on my mother’s homemade biscuits.  None of those sweet patty shells for us.  As for the corn, it would be eaten on the cob, dripping with butter.

I’ve always thought Dad was ahead of his time.  I know my mother thought so too.  In an age when gender roles were more proscribed, he routinely dried the dinner dishes (pre-dishwasher age); was the weekend breakfast cook, think scrambled eggs and bacon or pancakes; and he made popcorn on the stove the old-fashioned way for Sunday suppers.  More importantly, he spent lots of time playing Flinch, cribbage, and board games with my sisters and me.  When my brother was old enough, they’d play catch in the backyard.  Other fathers seemed more focused on their work lives.  

In a family with four kids, parents have to spread their attention around, and often, the younger kids need it the most.  I was the oldest, but I had the advantage of alone time with my father when he drove us to Syracuse for my frequent orthodontist appointments.  The ride was about 45 minutes each way, so we had time for all sorts of conversation—-I relished having him to myself. 

My father was one of my biggest supporters.  I imagine my siblings felt similarly.  I got the impression he thought I could do anything I put my mind to and that was a powerful message.  He pushed me a bit, but in a good way, and once told me I was too soft, or as he phrased it, I needed to be “a bit more hard-bitten.”  It’s a comment I’ve never forgotten and like to think it served me well at the right moments.

Sadly, Dad died at 48 when I was just 25.  On this Father’s Day, I cherish these memories while simultaneously taking great joy in watching my son be a wonderful father to his own two daughters.

Note: Contents ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved).