When Javi Dumped Mari by Mia Sosa

I have been doing the Goodreads challenges for about a year, and have mostly been happy with the things that I have read to complete them--none have been clunkers, some have been very good and are also books I might otherwise have missed out on. So when I say that is why I read this one, it is a neutral thing. September is Hispanic Heritage Month, and this fits the bill for that--written by an author who identifies as half Puerto Rican and half Brazilian about Javier, who is of Puerto Rican heritage and Marisol, who is of Brazilian heritage. It is a pretty classic sort of romance novel. Javi and Mari have been friends and attracted to each other since college. They managed to salvage the friendship by icing the romance and so many things happen over the ensuing 12 years that keep them more or less apart. Mari's father does not think Javi is good enough for Mari, a fact he doesn't bother even a little bit to hide and that doesn't quite resister with Mari. Mari leaves college for law school and knows where she is going from the get go whereas Javi meanders around a bit and doesn't want to be a ball and chain. It all comes to a head when Mari impulsively decides to marry the man her father is mentoring in their law firm and asks Javi to be her man of honor. This does not go off script for a romantic comedy, and as is so often the case with this genre, that is what the reader is hoping will happen.

Enoteca Regionale del Barolo, Italy

I loved this place--I particularly love the ability to try a number of different barolos before buying, and while only manned by one person, Adriano, he was knowledgable and helpful, so we got our feet on the ground about barolos. Housed in the Castle of Barolo, the “Enoteca Regionale del Barolo” was established in 1982 by a specific regional law. It is the prestigious showcase of wine production in the eleven municipalities that make up the area of origin of the “king of wines”: Barolo, Castiglione Falletto Cherasco, Diano d’Alba, Grinzane Cavour, La Morra, Monforte d’Alba, Novello, Roddi, Serralunga d’Alba, Verduno. It currently represents 195 producers, whose wines are allowed only after an examination of a special wine tasting committee, operating strictly on anonymous samples to make an objective judgment. We were able to buy from several different wine makes, and ship from here. All in all a fun stop that I would recommend. The town of Barolo is quite charming as well (but I am glad that we stayed in Alba).

When The Harvest Comes by Denne Michele Norris

I put this book on my library hold list as part of a Goodreads challenge fulfillment for a debut book--I ended up reading something else, but had this on my shelf and I am glad I read it. There are not that many books that get on my radar where a character struggles with gender identity. The book opens on the eve of a wedding: Davis, a Black violist, is about to marry his boyfriend, Everett, the son of a close-knit white family whose exuberance and easy camaraderie permeate the air they breathe. Davis has been estranged from his father, a reverend, since he fled his Ohio hometown for New York and has since mostly fallen out with his sister as well. He’s focused on his career in classical music and his relationship with Everett. He has no plans to revisit his traumatic past or his fraught family relationships, until his father’s death forces him to confront everything he’s left behind. Complicated relationships lead to complicated grief, a truism born out in this story as well. Davis is struggling with his unresolved relationship with his father, but he is also struggling with his feelings of being female, and the two are enmeshed. He is also very avoidant of all of this--something that feels very real, but is also kind of annoying in fiction--but does eventually put all the pieces together and moves forward.

White Supremacy

This is bad. The text messages released from the NY chapter of the Young Repbulicans group chat are vulgar and leave nothing to the imagination. Then again, they reveal nothing that hasn't been said publicly in so many words by other members of the GOP. They wonder why they are called Nazis, but they say they love Hitler and they think gassing of Jews is the way to go. They wonder why they are called white supremacists when they are pro-slavery. Why not admit their commonality with the Ku Klux Klan and the tenets of the Confederacy. They are misogynists. They talk about women who should be raped. Their disdain for women is consistent with the GOP being determined to make all women second class citizens. Some have openly bemoaned the fact that women can vote. All of this is consistent with the current administration. The president wonders why domestic violence assaults are considered part of crime statistics. JD Vance, 41, considers these 18-40 year old men to be "young boys". Two things. First is that he is does what rape culture does, he excuses them. Too bad it went on their permanent record. Second, these are men, some of them his age, some of whom hold positions of importance in politics. Finally, we know that these beliefs reflect the moral values othe person at this age--they are not about to change any time soon if ever. The fact that he says he thought and said offensive things when he was "younger" is more damning of him than an excuse of their behavior. So why disavow them? That is what is unclear to me, other than that in these texts there is no mistaking the message. It is the actual text, not the subtext. Their core tenets are unequivocally stated.

Reagan by Max Boot

Yes, there are a lot of books about Reagan out there. I haven't read any of them but there are quite a few to choose from. Why did I choose this one? It was one of the 5 best Non-Fiction books names by the New York Times in 2024, and while I have had little interest in reading more about Reagan--he was governor when I was growing up in California and even as a child growing up in a Republican household, I could tell I didn't agree with his politics and didn't trust him. Then there is the timing. We are seeing the unwinding of American ideals that maybe didn't start with Reagan, but were at least propelled forward in a big way by him as president. The author was a Republican up to around about the Trump era where he broke away, but he was a fan of Reagan--which doesn't mean this lacks criticism, it has plenty of it, but it is an even handed biography, well researched and well written and exploring the facets of who Reagan was--he was so incapable of introspection, so emotionally withdrawn that he remained unknowable to everyone but possibly his second wife Nancy. His political priorities were shaped by things that happened to him in a way that lacked ideology, and he left the running of the government to those loyal to him. A pair of Trump’s eventual fixers lurked on the fringes of Reagan’s first presidential campaign: Roy Cohn and Roger Stone arranged for an endorsement that enabled Reagan to win the usually left-leaning state of New York. But the candidate himself always denied knowledge of such deals, and when Boot catches Reagan twisting the facts – for instance by reminiscing about his military valor during a war that he actually spent in Hollywood – he treats him as a self-deceived fabulist, not a liar. Well, to me they are both liars but one is a better story teller.

Massimo Camia Ristorante, Novello, Italy

Chef Massimo, together with his daughter Elisabetta, started anew in a refined location among vineyards and hills, where a renovated rustic building becomes inn and restaurant cooking in the Langhe tradition. He came out to greet us in the very elegant dining room, which we also shared with three women who are suppliers to the restaurant--a perk perhaps for them.

This was an excellent meal--with one course that was a bit of a clunker for us, but overall well prepared and flavored, and elegantly served. We very much enjoyed the inclusion of local specialties and seasonal vegetables, and would recommend this to travelers nearby.

The Right To Peacefully Protest

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We are exercising our first amendment right to free speech. I am a Daughter of the American Revolution, both sides of my family were in America before the war. We are a people who do not want to be ruled by dictators or kings. We are against the fascist government in power. They are male white supremacists, which is not illegal, but it is undesirable.

What does Fascism look like? The punch line is that we have a leader who has said and done every one of these things Forge alliances with elites. Fascist parties ally with powerful conservative groups, such as the wealthy and business owners, who fear a leftist or socialist revolution. These elites often believe they can control the new movement. In Italy in 1922, the king appointed Mussolini as prime minister after conservatives feared a civil war could break out. Subvert institutions. Once in power, the fascist leader works to dominate the government and dismantle democratic institutions. This can involve banning opposition parties and passing laws that consolidate power and eliminate oversight. Impose radical changes. With consolidated authority, the regime introduces radical changes. This may involve controlling the media, suppressing labor movements, and persecuting perceived enemies. The nation shifts towards extreme nationalism and totalitarian control. Propaganda and control of information: The government takes control of mass media to promote its ideology and create a culture of fear. Suppression of dissent: Opponents are silenced through imprisonment, violence, and intimidation. Militarism: The military is glorified, and violence is used to enforce control and settle political disputes.

Bob Trevino Likes It (2024)

Fortunately for Lily there are not one but two Bob Trevinos. Unfortunately for her, the one that is her father is a narcissistic man who holds love at a conditional arm’s length and provides his daughter with an itemized list of every expense it took to raise her. Lily, depsite all that, is a bubbly, wandering soul. Her high-spirited personality masks a muddied, traumatic childhood that she proudly and a little obliviously but sweetly owns. Her mother, a drug addict, left at an early age, and her father, a neglectful manipulator, raised her solo. Working as a live-in caretaker for the charmingly caustic Daphne (Lauren Spencer), Lily faces the world with light despite lacking a community of wires to help ignite her. Desperate for an unlikely, inopportune change of heart for her father during his latest silent treatment, she searches his name in Facebook and stumbles across a blank profile for a Bob Trevino. The man that she finds, no relation, is a timid construction manager, spending his days wishing for a raise and supporting the scrapbooking habit of his melancholy wife. He’s gentle. When he accepts Lily’s friend request, what begins as a simple inquiry into whether they’re related evolves into a n overly convenient but nonethe less tale of chosen family. It is hard to feel good about things sometimes, and if you are looking for a melancholy feel good movie, this fits the bill.

Wild Thing: A Life of Paul Gauguin by Sue Prideaux

I read a review of his book before putting it on my library requests, and was intrigued that the author was contending that Gauguin was a more complicated man than he is remembered for. She opens with the discovery of 4 of his teeth in the cistern where he lived in Tahiti, and that they do not reveal treatment for syphilis that were typical at the time he lived and died. He has been remembered as both a pedophile and a spreader of disease in the typical colonial fashion, but that on closer investigation it is true that he was bonded to two different girls, both of whom were 13 at the time their relationship began, which was the age of consent in Tahiti at the time and the relationships were blessed by the girls families--again, in compliance with the standards of the time. Then she later delineates his role in protecting the rights of Tahitians against the predatory practices of colonial Frenchmen, which is well documented in the book, as well as why that would have been the case based on his upbringing and his other stances on record. This is an all inclusive rendition of Gauguin's life, which is fascinating and definitely changed my ill informed view of him that I had before reading the book. He did not start off as an artist, but once he went that way, he crossed paths with Vincent and Theo Van Gogh, who liked him personally and found his work as an artist to be quite impressive. He he had modest success while he was alive, and his collaborative relationship with the Van Goghs helped both artists develop. I would definitely recommend this--it is well written, well researched, and peppered with lots of reproductions of Gauguin's work--that are both high quality and placed where she is talking about the painting rather than in a separate section disconnected from the discussion, which I really liked.

Alba, Piedmont, Italy

What a beautiful town! When planning a trip to the Piedmont region, we wanted to stay in a small town as a home base, and go out each day to explore the region, but have a place that we looked forward to returning to. We stayed in an older part of the city, just a couple of blcoks from the Duomo as well as the University, a restricted traffic zone at night, so it was easy to walk at night, but the streets were not exceptionally narrow either. We settled on Alba and it was a good choice.

In Piedmont, you have roughly three important wine regions. The most famous of these is the Langhe, where Alba is located and is the capital of. The famous Barolo, Barbaresco, and Dolcetto wines are produced in the Langhe. This region is considered to be the best wine region in Italy in terms of quality, the wines that come from here are among the absolute top. If you go a little north from Alba, you will come to the Roero region. Monferrato, which is located a little east of Alba, is the largest wine region. Famous wines such as Asti (named after the city of the same name) and Barbera del Monferrato come from here. Asti was another candidate for staying, but after visiting both, we are very glad that we chose Alba.