May We Feed The King by Rebecca Perry

This is a debut novel that was short listed for the 2026 Booker Prize, which is a feat in itself, but it is also my second choice for the award (which means it absolutely will not win, nor is it favored for that, and of course the favorite is my absolute least favorite of the 13 long listed books, so take all of this with the back story that I am absolutely never right about this prize). In a medieval palace of an unnamed king an unnamed curator of unspecified gender is employed by the palace to dress some of its rooms for public viewing in the wake of an undescribed personal tragedy. This is the back story of someone who does hisotrically accurate renditions with a lot of fake food and manufactured replicas so we the viewer can get a sense of what it was like back in the day. Soon after being hired for this task, the Curator meets the Archivist, keeper of the medieval palace’s historical records, and in those records finds mention of the brief reign of a king whose life the Curator will draw on to create their historical scenes. Although the King began as third in line, and temperamentally unsuited to rule, it seems that this king assumed the throne reluctantly after the death of both his brothers, then refused to govern. At this point, the narrative slips into the world of the King, his Queen, his hated Chief Adviser, a loyal young Attendant and the wider world of the court, swallowing up the Curator and holding them there, dazzled by the richness of its details and, like the King, quite unable to find our way out. It is inventive, creative, imaginative and tells a sweeping story in a relatively short narrative.

Enhjørningen Fiskerestaurant, Bergen, Norway

This restaurant is upstairs in an old waterfront part of Bergen that is absolutely charming, and more importantly for us the afternoon we went that it opened for dinner at 4PM. We prioritized hotels with breakfast included (same price as those without and food is expensive in Norway), so we ate with abandon one meal a day. Admittedly, breakfast wouldn't be my first choice--or even my second choice--for that meal to be, but it is what it is and I do like a Scandanavian breakfast (or frokost). The downstream issue is that we were hungry early in the evening, maybe even by late afternoon and embraced a place that opened early. I loved the atmosphere in this restaurant--dark, heavy wooden floors and furniture, paintings of people and places from a century ago and a wonderful view of the water, and the comings and goings there.

We opted for two fish main courses, which were both delicious and perfectly cooked, but the memorable item that we ordered was a Skagen toast--which is a traditional Swedish dish that I fell in love with and had several more times throughout the trip, but never as good as it was right here. It is buttered brioche toast that is toasted, and then a tiny shrimp salad with dill is piled on top of it (I love the tiny succulant flavorful shrimp in Norway), then a scoop or roe, a few boiled shrimp scattered atop as well, and a wedge of lemon. I could eat that every day if it was on offer. And did for the rest of the trip.

Stitched by Eli McCann

I read this as part of a reading group within my modern quilt guild. The story is that a long standing quilt guild is at the point where they have lost so many members that they are in danger of becoming non-viable. One of their members owns a quilt oriented fabric store and her long time assistant is a young gay man who is involved with an artistic boyfriend, and she invites the two of them to join. Neither of them can sew, but it turns out that the level of interpersonal drama on the one hand and the camaraderie on the other keep them coming back. My review is mixed. The good part is that the depiction of the quilting world is pretty dead on. The range of skills between various guild members is realistic, as is the friendship between unlikely people that form solely based on textile arts. That has been my experience, that a deep seated love of fibers can actually create ties that bind. The down side is that the characters are a bit underdeveloped individually, and while there are points of enjoyment, overall this was just ok.

Norway, Land of Waterfalls

We planned this trip kind of late in the game, about a month before we went, and decided on a simple trip--drive to Bergen, gateway to the famous Norwegian fjords, and back to Oslo, going on a southerly arc to Bergen and on a northerly arc to return to Oslo. It is a spectacularly beautiful route to drive (and speaking with people, the train is also quite beautiful, although holds the disadvantage that you cannot stop and enjoy a particular view or take a picture at your leisure, both of which options we exercised frequently on the drive.

There is quite a lot of water to be found everywhere--rivers, lakes, fjords, and best of all, waterfalls. They are everywhere, they are plentiful, they are gorgeous to the point of looking preternatural. I posted a reel on my social media page and someone thought it looked like AI. So if this holds appeal for you, Norway has it in exceptional measure.

The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout

I loved this book. It is one of the short list for the Booker Prize, and having read the other 5 on that list, this is my choice for the winner. That said, while I have not read absolutely all of this author's books, I have read many of them and she is a really good fit for me. The books are emotionally on target, describing things that I relate to, both personally and as a mental health professional. She doesn't shy away from the hard stuff, and she does so in a very relatable way. The man whose head we get inside of is Artie--he is long married, has a son Rob, and is a beloved high school English teacher and seems to have a way with teens. So on the outside all looks good, but Artie is struggling with suicidal ideation and is at the point where he is thinking his way through to a plan. The story explores loneliness and existential trauma, love and meaningful connections with those around us. The book does not flinch away from some of the political challenges facing America right now, the threat to democracy and the loss of empathy that is on display for the world to see and how distressing that is for many people. This is one of the best--do not miss it.

Lisverket, Bergen, Norway

I loved this restaurant. First of all, it is in a museum, and the space is absolutely beautiful. We had a reservation that started the minute the restaurant opened, so it started off quiet, but over the course of our meal it filled up, and the sound scape was just as nice as the visual scape. On top of that they used Norwegian made glassware that was paper thin--it was so beautiful but I know we would break each and every one of them before we would get much if any use out of them. So sad and so gorgeous. But it is good to know your audience, especially when it is you. This is a Michelin one star restaurant, which is my personal sweet spot for a fancy meal, but I also read about it in one of the guide books I read while figuring what the heck to do on this trip, because the chef is a bit of a trend setter in Norwegian modern cuisine. It is run by chef/owner Christopher Haatuft and featured in New York Times 2017 as "redefining Nordic Cuisine", Lysverket presents a modern Norwegian cuisine with focus on local seafood, such as handpicked shells and dry-aged fish – but you will also find meat and seasonable vegetable dishes on the menu. The restaurant offers a 10-course tasting menu that can be combined with wine pairings, alcohol free pairings, or a bottle of wine from an extensive wine list--we opted for a more modestly priced (for Norway) cremant that the sommelier recommended, and we were very happy with it. The price of the wine pairings is double the cost of the meal. Christopher Haatuft also runs a company called MatTak together with a local gardener. Their goal is to spread knowledge about growing food and finding solutions for issues caused by climate change. The idea is to grow food on roofs throughout the city to manage the impacts of heavy rain, while at the same time provide locally sourced produce for restaurants and residents of Bergen. Lysverket uses vegetables grown locally by MatTak, which helps reduce the restaurant’s environmental impact. There were several memorable course, all featuring local proteins and seasonal vegetables, and all delicious, but the nasturtium salad was exceptionally delicious and the seafood spectacular--the oyseter underneath a pea granite was another standout. To top things off the beautiful Kode Bergen Art Museum was offering a weaving work shop that I would have loved to check out.

Helen of Nowhere by Makenna Goodwin

This book was long listed for the Booker Prize, and very nicely fits into the sort of book to glean that honor. It reads pretty tongue in cheek to me, and the characters are not named. Man is pretty typical of men who think they get what their privledge is but essentially are clueless. Despite his inducements to kindness, insight, fun and joy, Man is let go from his work as a university professor: his views are no longer compatible with the university’s. Later still, Wife, his spouse and also a professor at the university, leaves him. This might be because they met when he was her teacher and have since outgrown a dynamic where she is subordinate. Or because he speaks casually of hitting her during sex and of hitting her dog. Or simply because she is no longer as beautiful as she was when she was young (not that Man believes telling women they’re beautiful--not because it objectifies them but because it might go to their head). It’s difficult for him to say – all the same, he is depleted of self and purpose, and it’s clear a return to Nature is needed. This leads him to Helen and a house in the woods. While I can totally relate to this phenomena, having worked for 40 years in the workforce in general and as a university professor specifically, and this is dead on in so many ways, I just did not love it.

Roadside Public Bathrooms in Norway

I was a bit hesitant about renting an electric car in a sparsely populated country, but it was half the price of a car with gas, and lots of information on line intimated that it would not be a problem, so we went for it, and I would urge you to do the same. It was also a quarter the price of taking the train for the two of us, and we could stop whenever and whereever we wanted as an added bonus. The thing I did not think about and probably should of is the availability of public bathrooms in such a place. I have survived metastatic ovarian cancer, which entailed an extensive and lengthy abdominal surgery followed by 6 months of intrabdominal chemotherapy. Suffice it to say that I am very grateful to be a survivor over the last decade, but it did not leave me with what I would call predictable bathroom habits. At all. I do largely try to ignore it but it can be unexpectedly inconvenient and that was unfortunately the case on this trip. The truly amazing news is that public bathrooms on tiny Norwegian back roads are both surprisingly plentiful and quite modern, clean, and well equipped. It was a pleasure to use them, and every time I needed one, it was not far away to get to. As a health care worker, I know that while my reason for this is unusual, the problem is not at all, and so if you see a bit of yourself in this situation, rest assured that you can travel comfortably in Norway. Best public bathrooms in Europe. Maybe anywhere I have been.

This Land Is Your Land by Beverly Gage

The author was reflecting on 2026 being both America’s 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence coinciding with the president of the United States and the GOP being openly disinterested in maintaining the republic and leaning hard into authoritarian leadership. She was guided by her perspective as a historian and fueled by her love of a good road trip, Gage sets out on a journey of epic proportions, visiting thirteen different destinations in pursuit of answering a question once posed by Benjamin Franklin, namely: Is the sun rising or setting over the republic? To that end, Gage — mostly alone, but occasionally with a travel companion in tow — traverses some of this country’s most storied places. Her objective is perhaps less to answer Franklin’s question, and more to explore why it remains one. Be aware--this is not attempting to represent a comprehensive history of the United States, nor does she deliver a one-to-one ratio of America’s best and worst. Instead, the author provides a thoughtfully curated exploration of some of America’s most poignant historic sites and a means of learning more of our past and, perhaps in the process, gaining a deeper understanding of our present and how we got here. It is the good, the bad, and the ugly. The good news is that overall she emerged from this experience more hopeful than when she started. It is also a good read, more conversational than dry and academic. It is also a trip that would be a nice blueprint for a trip of your own once you are for whatever reason not tied to a job that requires you to show up on a regular basis.

Vågslidtun Hotel, Vågsli, Norway

When your vacation plan is to drive on a big circle route from Oslo to Bergen, and you want to do it in a leisurely fashion, you need to find a stopping point along the way. Norway has about 5.5 million people, and 1.1 million of them live in Oslo (so about 2 out of every 10 people)--the think is that Bergen, with a population of under 300,000 people, is the next largest town. So the other 80% of the Norwegian population is scattered across a country of 150,000 square miles. Meaning it is sparsely populated and the choices for accomodations and eating establishments are equally sparse. THe one thing you can find is a place to charge your electric car, which is a very good thing. So that is how we ended up here, at this rustic country hotel where we had the most basic room of the entire stay and balancing that out, the most spectacular view--and as my spouse pointed out, we were in the cheap seats--there were more luxurious chalets on the property with equal or better views. It is near to Hardangervidda National Park, so lots of natural beauty to be had. There is a restaurant on site, which had a good and attentive breakfast, but didn't serve dinner until 7PM, which was too late for us--but a nearby lodge served foor continuously and we got a little electricity for the car while we ate yet another simple meal for $50. They had some excellent cheese and crackers to go (another $25) that we enjoyed as well.

Switzy by Emma Cline

This was a difficult read, and that is at least partly due to the subject at hand. The main character, David, is a former business executive who was good at what he did, successful and it seems also trsuted, who has made a monumental business error, and one that he cannot quite remember the exact details of. He has what seems to be a rapidly progressing dementia, more like Lewy Body dementia that Alzheimers, and he has a care taker whose job is to keep him more or less out of trouble. It is not a 24/7/365 kind of situation, but when left to his own devices, David gets into trouble, and he cannot see his way out of it once he is there. David has elected to go to Switzerland to have euthanasia, which I know from reading Amy Bloom's memoir In Love that you have to be cognizant enough to be able to consent to the procedure. It is expensive but allows for death before all dignity is lost. David is on a farewell tour before his final act, where he first meets with his estranged daughter--she is unaware of his illness, and is encouraging to continue in work. They lack a connection, and it seems that the feelings are mutually distant. Then he meets briefly with a childhood friend who he wronged, or at least who he did not stand up for, and he wants to apologize to him, which he does. The friend has long ago forgiven him and is quite puzzled by his visit--as was I. Perhaps in the throes of forgetting the present we are haunted by past wrongs, but in any case this meet up ends with a wimper rather than a roar. The book is all told through David, so there is a fair amount of forgetting and confusion, a failure to read the social cues, and also a feeling that while he grasps what he is about to do, he is not altogether with it. The people around him back away from his confusion rather than correcting him. and it is also quite clear that this is a rich man's exit, one that is not available to most of us. It was long listed for the Booker prize, and is very much in keeping with what you might routinely find in books with that recognition. It is well written, off beat, and unusual.

Litt Kaos, Drammen, Norway

We arrived in Oslo in the early evening after a long travel day with a stop over in Franfurt. We wanted to stay outside the city, but not drive too too far that first night, and Drammen was perfect. This restaurant was a nice first meal--we had the fixed proce menu, which included a charcuterie board and five small dishes to share, and the food was well prepared and swiftly served, which suited us well. The restaurant was hopping on a Saturday night, with a couple of tables occupied when we arrived and while we ate the restaurant filled up. We each had a beer, which was pricy and also wise because the legal limit for alcohol in Norway is .02, one of the lowest in the world, and basically even one beer might be pushing it--we looked this up after we had made this choice, and decided that for the rest of the trip we would either drink or drive but not both. We stayed at a new Thon hotel, which was very nice if hard to find, with excellent parking, but it wasn't especially near the downtown area, and we were fortunate that for the rest of the trip we were mostly in a place where we did not have to drive after dinner. I would recommend this as both affordable (for Norway, where it is very challenging to eat out for less than $50 a person) and good.

Wide Sargasso Sea bu Jean Rhys

This is a Parnassus Book recommendation, and I felt slightly handicapped reading it, having not read the book which it spins off from. It is a retelling of Jane Eyre from the point of view of Mr Rochester’s first wife – the mad woman in the attic. This is an imagining of what happened to her, how she ended up with Mr. Rochester, and what went terribly wrong. The settung is Jamaica in the 1830’s, and it starts with the disturbing childhood of Antoinette (Bertha) Cosway. White descendants of slave owners, Antoinette’s family is initially impoverished after emancipation until her mother remarries. Her stepfather sets Antoinette up with a decent fortune to attract a young Englishman and the majority of the novel focusses on the deterioration of her marriage during their honeymoon--and then he puts it all in his son-in-law's hands "because I trust him". Her mother questioned the wisdom of that, leaving her daughter at her husband's command rather than retaining some control of her personal fortune, and that is the moral of the story as far as I am concerned. Never give up control of your purse strings, especially if it is not required. This is the book that revived Rhys' career, and it is an idea I would like to see pursued more often--it is common with Austen novels in every possible way, which I happen to love--and would like to see something similar with other classics.

The Mandalorian and Gorgu (2026)

I watched this on an airplane, which is clearly not showing it off to it's cinematic best, bit is it also a venue where I tend to be pretty forgiving. Not so this time. I have unexpectedly loved both Mando and Grogu. finding them individually and collectively charming. Not so in this rendition, and while there is not much about this that is substantively different than the series, I really loved those. Perhaps it is the length of the plot line, watching it all at once rather than in shorter bits. In any case, while I certainly wouldn't steer a fan away from this, it was darker and nowhere near as enjoyable as I have found this couple to be in the past.

The Poisoned King by Katherine Rundell

I loved this second installment in the Impossible Creatures series, maybe more than the first because I knew what I was getting in to and I wasn't disappointed. Christopher Forrester is unexpectedly woken by Jacque, a small dragon chewing on his face, and his heart leaps for joy. For months he’s dreamed of returning to the Archipelago – the secret islands where all the creatures of myth still live. Jacque has an urgent message to return because the dragons are dying. Christopher, as heir-to-the-protector (his grandfather is the current one) immediately leaves his home in London and dashes off to Scotland to enter the portal near his grandfather’s home. Anya, granddaughter to the titular king, is on the run from the villain who not only killed the king but framed Anya’s father for the murder. Teaming up, the only question is which problem Christopher and Anya should tackle first – save the dying dragons or rescue Anya’s father, facing execution for a crime he did not commit. The story is also about loyalty, greed, friendship, courage and fear, all themes that middle schoolers are already well versed in, and still enjoyable for those of us well beyond that point. The story is encased in immersive prose and a fascinating world and I eagerly await the next one.

The Norwegian Breakfast

It had been far too long since we have been in a Scandanavian country--so long that I had forgotten how much I loved the breakfasts. I booked rooms with breakfast included because I did remember just how expensive food is, especially food that people prepare for you. I am not exactly sure why that would be, but my hypothesis is that they pay people living wages and that translates into higher prices in restaurants. In any case, while I am not usually a big fan of breakfast, I chose that option because the hotels that included it were not more expensive than those that do not, so maximizing our value without a clear diminusion in sleeping arrangements. I am not one to overpay on hotel--even if we spend time in the room when we are awake, we pack lightly and can always make due. Well, our very first morning (at a Thon hotel, which is a chain in Norway, and it was a spectacular introduction. There was lots of everything--cheese and charcuterie, breads and pastries, fruit and yogurt and nuts, a large hot food buffet, and coffee and juice. We only had one morning on our trip where we needed to get up and go, so each morning other than that one we had a leisurely and gradual start to the day that held us until an early dinner.

Maggie; Or A Man And A Woman Walk Into A Bar by Katie Yee

Wow, just wow. There is an awful lot of emotional baggage to unpack here. First of all the title seems unnecessarily lengthy and obscure. But that is easily explained. A man and a woman walk into a restaurant. The woman expects a lovely night filled with delicious food and merriment. Instead, she finds out her husband is having an affair with a woman named Maggie. A short while after, her chest starts to ache--she initially delays investigating it, even though her mother had breast cancer at a young age. She eventually walks into an examination room, where she finds out the pain in her breast is indeed cancer. She decides to call the tumor Maggie. Unfolding in fragments over the course of the ensuing months, the narrator embarks on a journey of grief, healing, and reclamation. She overgenerously creates a “Guide to My Husband: A User’s Manual” for Maggie (the other woman, not her tumor), a somewhat sardonic accounting of her soon-to-be ex-husband’s whims and quirks. She turns her children’s bedtime stories into retellings of Chinese folklore passed down by her own mother, in an attempt to make them fall in love with their shared culture—and to maybe save herself in the process. This is well written, concise, and emotionally laden in a good way--the thing I found irritating is that she does what she can to spare her husband in all ways. She hides her cancer diagnosis and spares him from being the guy who leaves his spouse when she is facing a life threatening diagnosis. She also agrees to stay in their house, which locks her in to being constantly reminded of her previous life rather than getting to start over. So I was irritated throughout.

Remember by Joy Harjo

Remember the sky that you were born under, know each of the star’s stories. Remember the moon, know who she is. Remember the sun’s birth at dawn, that is the strongest point of time. Remember sundown and the giving away to night. Remember your birth, how your mother struggled to give you form and breath. You are evidence of her life, and her mother’s, and hers. Remember your father. He is your life, also. Remember the earth whose skin you are: red earth, black earth, yellow earth, white earth brown earth, we are earth. Remember the plants, trees, animal life who all have their tribes, their families, their histories, too. Talk to them, listen to them. They are alive poems. Remember the wind. Remember her voice. She knows the origin of this universe. Remember you are all people and all people are you. Remember you are this universe and this universe is you. Remember all is in motion, is growing, is you. Remember language comes from this. Remember the dance language is, that life is. Remember.

Daughters of the Sun and Moon by Lisa See

The depth of racism in America is what is on offer here, as well as the deep and wide exploitation of women. If either of these things are anathema to you, skip this book. I have independent of this book been reading banned books, and this has a lot of elements that lead to getting on those lists—it negates the message that the United States is a country of equality, where all are treated equally, but where white men are superior. This takes place in a frontier town and follow three different women, all from China coming to AMerica hoping for something better and basically not finding it, but on different paths until they land in the same boat. They are: • Dove: The innocent, bound-footed daughter of an imperial scholar who arrives to marry an older merchant. • Petal: A peasant’s daughter with unbound feet who is sold into indentured servitude and sex work. • Moon: An educated, English-speaking beauty married to a traditional Chinese medicine doctor, carrying a limp from a failed childhood foot-binding So they come from wildly different backgrounds but they end up in much the same situation—which they provide support for each other. I like this author and she has a large body of work that is aimed at better understanding cultural backgrounds and what the différences are.

Project Hail Mary (2026)

I really liked the book--which I would never have picked up on my own, but did so on the strength of it being on Obama's reecommended reading list, which is a relable source and often features books that I would otherwise have missed. The movie was more of a stretch for me--and I love Ryan Gosling, but felt that the movie was strongest when it flashed back to before he was rocketing through space trying to save the sun. The story goes that Dr. Ryland Grace travels through space alone toward a distant star that he hopes holds the key to saving life on Earth. Along the way, however, he meets a surprising extraterrestrial being whose world is under threat as well. Their journey makes the expected visual nods to sci-fi classics and attempts to offer some blockbuster spectacle. But the harder the film tries, the more one feels pulled along rather than effortlessly transported. Much like with all space movies, there just isn't a whole lot to do there, and it is less riveting for me (the exception being Apollo 11, where they are doing quite a lot)--but I especially enjoyed seeing Sandrs Huller again--she made quite the showing in films that rose to award level attention a couple years ago and hope we see more of her. This is good but not great in my estimation.

Whistler by Ann Patchett

I am a huge Ann Patchett fan, and since reading her last book I have become a fan of her through her work at Parnassus and her unwavering support for books, authors, and independent bookstores. She is a marvel. So yes, predisposed to love this, and I did. There are some parallels to Patchett's own story in this one. Daphne is much younger than her husband and she has had three fathers--her biological father, a middle stepfather, and her current stepfather. Eddie was the fan favorite, and even though he was the shortest lived, he was the one that loved Daphne best, better than her own parents. When he disappeared from her life when she was a child after a catastrophic car accident, she never found a parent figure that replaced him. Flash forward decades--she and her spouse are at a NYC museum and her husband is convinced they are being followed by a stranger--which it turns out they are. It is Eddie, and the feelings of affection between them are easily revived, and they are both eager to in some way catch up and be part of each other's stories again. They discover that the familiarity between them has not waned with time. They share the intimacy of renewed friendship, bolstered by small revelations: As it turns out, Eddie is gay, and his relationship with Daphne’s mother broke down, in part, because he could not deny that truth. The modern world is complicated and what constitutes family has shifted and permutated in ways that this book very sweetly captures. Do not miss this--it is hopeful and bright.

Tavern 19, Shakopee, Minnesota

I am mostly unfamiliar with the western suburbs of Minneapolis, so when my clinic there had the need for a lunch I let the locals pick a location. I was initially hesitant when we entered, as it is on a golf course, and my bias was that there would be less of a focus on food and more of a focus on things like course conditions and beer on tap. The restaurant was very accomodating of our large crowd, which arrived unannounced, and the menu was varied enough to accomodate a wide range of dietary desires and restrictions, and at a reasonable price. This is particularly important when you are requiring co-workers to both eat together and pay their own way. The most amazing thing about my lunch there was that I was facing a big picture window that overlooked a flower garden aimed at pollinators and there were literally dozens of Monarch butterflies flitting about, maybe hundreds, but certainly more than I had ever seen before.

Go Gentle by Maria Semple

This is part cozy, part romance and I very much enjoyed the result. The main character is Adora Hazzard, Stoic philosopher and divorcee. She lives a contented life on New York City’s Upper West Side, spending her days tutoring the twin sons of an old-money family in philosophy and seeking to live according to Stoic virtues, without recourse to destabilising “externals”. But her settled life is soon disrupted when a handsome stranger approaches her. Long before she was a philosoper, Adora was an aspiring writer with a Hollywood past--she was the victim of a Me Too incident that ended with an NDA, a sizable pay off, and she took it as a sign to quit the now unglamorous life of Southern California to go to grad shool and then got a seemingly cushy and cloistered life in New York. As is so often the case, in real life as well as in fiction, all is not as it appears and Adora has a few rude awakenings before she gets a pretty perfect storybook ending. This is charming, and while Stoicism is not traditionally very sexy, Adora makes it feel fresh and exciting.

500 Miles (2026)

This is based on a book written for Young Adults that shares some emotional baggage with The Fault In Our Stars. The story is told in flashbacks and in the present. The story behind the title is that Finn overhears his father telling his mother that he is leaving and that he is taking Charlie with him. Finn decides to go on the run rather than let that happen, so with little money and fewer plans they hit the road to get to their granfather's home in Dingle Ireland, which is more or less 500 miles from where they start in Sheffield, England. The flashbacks demonstrate that life was the best for them as a family when they were there. In the present day, Finn and Charlie no longer have a relationship with their grandfather. Their grandmother has passed away, and their parents are constantly bickering. Sneaking out of their home, the brothers decide to embark on an ill-advised road trip, from Sheffield to the west coast of Ireland, to track down their grandfather and reunite the family. Their journey won’t be an easy one, as they’re too young to travel without adult supervision, and Matthews’ clever framing reminds us how vast the countryside is, hills and mountains dwarfing their small frames. Their journey gets a surprise assist from Kait (a lovely Maisie Williams), who they meet on a train while she is busking. It is admittedly overly sentimental but speaking as a family that have weathered severe childhood illness let me just say it is an overly sentimental experience and I appreciated this rendition.

Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons

On the one hand this is a spoof, a book that is poking fun at the over wrought darkness of books by the likes of DH Lawrence and Thomas Hardy--I myself did not get that, and reading a review from The Guardian, neither do a lot of 21st century readers. So luckily, this works quite well in its own right. When 19-year-old London socialite Flora Poste is orphaned and destitute, so rather than work she decides to impose upon her eccentric, miserable relatives rather than get a job. She moves to Cold Comfort Farm in Sussex, home of the wretched Starkadder family. Flora's essential talent is to stop people being ridiculous and the Starkadder famility deperately need this. She at least stops them being ridiculous in situations where they can do any harm. She never displays contempt. She's even polite to Amos Starkadder about the Church of the Quivering Brethren and his opinion that "ye're all damned." Nor does she indulge the emotional excesses or strange beliefs of the Starkadder clan. She doesn't take herself too seriously – and doesn't make that mistake with other people, either, except in that she is loyal to her friends and kind to others. Flora has come along and tamed the wild Starkadders and sanitized their farm. She's interfered. She is like Jane Austen's Emma, only she never gets her comeuppance and she never learns not to meddle. The essential question is whether we see this as part of the joke or part of the message. I tend to think the later, given how it all ends up, but it is a very witty tale, and the Roz Chast cover beautifully sums up the cast of characters. Do not miss this one--another worthy Parnassus recommendation.

Whistlepig Tasting Room, Quechee, Vermont

You should really only go here if you are prepared to spend a fair amount of cash to taste a small amount of whiskey. It is located in the Parker House, which has a long history. It had until recently been an inn and restaurant located adjacent to Simon Pearce — the Vermont glassware and pottery maker and restaurateur in Quechee, Vermont. Simon Pearce recently bought the property and the acquisition brings together under common ownership two historic properties in the heart of the village: the former textile mill operated by 19th-century manufacturer and Vermont lawmaker J.C. Parker and Parker’s adjacent brick residence, which was built in 1857. What they intend to do in the future remains to be seen--Pearce has been buying up Quechee property over time and this is their sixth. In the meantime, the Whistlepig Tasting Room has taken up residence on the second floor, offering modest tastings at relatively high prices. It is an opportunity to try some of the products that can only be bought throught he tasting room, or in Vermont, and that is enough of a draw to bring in a crowd. The afternoon we were there the place was packed, and yes, we left with a bottle ourselves.

Bastard Out Of Carolina by Dorothy Allison

I found this book through Ann Patchett and Parnassus books weekly series called "It's Friday And If You Haven't Read This It Is New To You"--the focus is more on books you might have missed, either because they came out too long ago, or you weren't paying attention, or maybe just that sometimes it is hard to keep up, no matter how much you read, but I have found these recommendations to be deeply rewarding to read--although not always easy--and often something that I would have missed completely if I hadn't heded the recomendation. This is a work of fiction, but is based on the author's own childhood--in the afterwards she comments on how whse couldn't face writing a meoir and that a work of fiction allowed her the distance that she needed to get it out. She never knows her father and she grows up in the deep seated poverty of the infamous South. Her stepfather calls her by this name, and worse, and he is openly cruel to her and slightly lecherous when no one is looking. She has a lot of concerned family members and her mother senses that all is not right and sends her to live with them, but she cannot bring herself to reveal the depth of her mistreatment. After one brutal beating her mother moves out, and her step father follows them, coming one say when she is home alone--he proceeds to explode on her, at the height of which her mother returns home and sees for herself the extent of the abuse, all laid out before her. It is a very difficult read, this story, which is unflinchingly told, but so well done.

9 To 5 (1980)

I was motivated to watch this with the passing of Dolly Parton and the iconic song from this movie being heard on repeat as a result. Let me start by saying she was an incredible person, beautiful on the inside as well as the outside, and that she did so much good in the world. That stands in sharp contraast to many billionaires, who are uncharitable, both inside and out. I am reasonably sure that I saw this movie when it came out almost 50 years ago, but my memory of it is quite different than what it is. Dolly's character is being sexually harrassed by her boss, Lily Tomlin's character is passed over for promotions on a regular basis and her ideas are routinely stolen from her without attribution, and Jane Fonda plays a mousy recently divorced woman entering the work place for the first time. What I did not remember is that they get into a whole mess of trouble, including kidnapping their boss and holding him hostage for a prolonged period of time. I did recall that they find strength in numbers, that the unlikely alliance of the three of them works out well for everyone, and all in all, I would say that while this is clearly VERY dated, it does hold up well, and some of the main themes remain issues almost half a century later.

Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell

We have officially entered, or are about to enter, the time when we return to reading what children read--we are entering at the middle school level, which is a bit advanced for our eldest granddaughter and a bit young for us, so meeting in the middle, in a way--the book was recommended by a children's librarian and we listened to it. The audiobook is well done. One thing that is cool about this author is that she is a scholar. The first book of hers that I read was Super-Infinite, a short book about John Donne. This one is completely different--it is a young adult/middle school age fantasy book. It begins as Christopher Forrester is packed off to stay at his grandfather’s estate at the foot of a steep hill in Scotland, little realizing that the hill contains a portal to a magically sequestered portion of the world called the Archipelago, islands inhabited by creatures from assorted mythologies. Then there’s Mal, who is capable of flying (sometimes) thanks to a magical coat she received as a baby. Mal lives in a beautiful world called the Archipelago, where magical creature still exist. Christopher is part of a legacy of guardians who protect the link between our worlds. But the magical animals of the Archipelago are dying and no one knows why. Does it have something to do with Mal? Is that why people are trying to kill her? One thing’s for certain. Once Christopher crosses the border into her world, his life makes a big leap into another dimension, one where children risk their lives to protect others. I definitely enjoyed this and look forward to the rest of the series.

The Red Hen Moved to Montpelier, Vermont

One of our most frequently returned to places in central Vermont is the Red Hen Bakery--they have excellent bread, good laminated pastries, nice sandwiches, and decent coffee. When they were in Middlesex we liked their sit down options and usually had a meal there and took some things home with us as well, and when we leanred they were moving, we hoped it would go well. Their new store front in Montpelier is a bit closer for us to get to and a bit larger, so finding a seat was easy. And not because there was no one there--the place was hopping on Labor Day morning, which was very good to see. Montpelier has a lot going for it these days as well. A storm flooded the whole downtown area a coupld of summers ago and fortunately many of the affected buildings have businesses back in them, and there is a bustle about the place. Do not miss this bakery in it's new iteration, it is really top notch.

The Vivisectors by Missouri Williams

I am working my way through the Booker Prize 2026 longlist--which is going surprisingly well, but I have yet to read the truly long book and there are quite a few that are between 200-300 pages, so not exactly back patting stuff. The main thing is that I have been able to get them, which is not always the case. That said, this is really not my cup of tea. It is dark in a way that I find unattractive and uninstructive. It is set in an ancient and unnamed university town which is rapidly being overwhelmed by vegetation: avenues lined with lush flower bushes, arches have vines galore, and it smells of flowers but in a sickeningly sweet way rather than opulent English garden style. A fraternity of mysterious gardeners seek to keep the chaotic foliage in check, but they are hamstrung by a bitter dispute with university officials. Power games and proxy battles ensue. It is a hot summer and decay is rampant: revolution is in the air. The narrator, Agathe, an alarmingly cynical young woman. She views everyone she meets as a tragic case, and knows that nothing lies between her and the same sad designation but her ability to see through the stories they’re telling themselves. She rejects self-expression and desire, refusing anything that might compromise her sense of separation and superiority. Her judgments are swift, conclusive and brutal. It goes from bad to worse when her mother has a failed suicide attempt, is left wheelchair bound, and her father basically blames her for any and all failings in the family. There is quite a few more unpleasant things that happen to equally unpleasant people, the end.

Sew.Quilt.Explore by Colby Cartledge

Colby is a member of our modern quilt guild and lucky for us, she is also a lecturer who really knows how to strike a chord with a large swath of the guild. Her lecture last year about her way of managing her scraps was really inspirational--at many a Zoom sew in afterwards someone was bound to quote her and I certainly took in her wisdom while not being completely adherent to the message. My scraps remain a mess, but I do feel like if I got a chance to manage them that I have a place to start. Another thing about her quilting philosophy is the Reuse Reduce Recycle kind of approach--she will take offcasts and is a proponent for sustainable quilting, even if I have not heard her say as much. The most recent lecture I heard was about Quilting Rules--which ones do you really need to adhere to and which ones can you ignore--she is a quilter who is not all about perfection, and if you are one of those, someone for whom the seam ripper might be used more than once on the same block, it might not be for you, but that is not me (although I seam ripped yesterday--more than once--but only when truly provoked, like I should have used a leader but I did not, and the squinching was too much, or a log cabin that I got off to the wrong start and a dark ended up in a light position, and it really had to be corrected, no getting around it). She talked about increasing your confidence in your skills so that you don't need all the guard rails, and guess what? There are no quilt police. You make your own rules and guidelines, and you can break them at your leisure.

Isola by Allegra Goodman

Every once in awhile it is good to be reminded that in fact the fate of women has improved over time. This book introduces the reader to a real life person. Marguerite de la Rocque, a French noblewoman born in the 1500s. Orphaned in infancy, her inheritance was squandered by her guardian, the ambitious and cruel Jean-Francois de la Rocque de Roberval, leaving her vulnerable yet stubbornly dignified. Her noble lineage, a delicate reminder of her past, contrasted sharply with her precarious present. This contradiction—her inherent status versus her lack of tangible power—sets the stage for her transformative journey. Central to this narrative is the enduring bond between Marguerite and Damienne, her devoted nurse. Damienne, an older woman with an unwavering moral compass, served as Marguerite’s first teacher and a steadfast maternal figure. There are strong women who help make her life bearable, despite her lack of control over what happens. Throughout the novel, Marguerite learns to navigate a world that demands she restrain her true thoughts and feelings. This begins in her childhood, where societal expectations for a woman of noble birth require her to suppress her desires and opinions. As she grows older, this restraint is further compounded by fear—fear of the consequences should she dare to speak or act against the dictates of those in power, particularly her guardian. This enforced silence becomes a significant aspect of her internal struggle. However, she finds that she has hidden depths that her guardian under estimates.

Oak and Iron, Randolph, Vermont

This is a welcome new addition to the dining scene in Randolph. It is housed in a restaurant space I have previously eaten in, and they have done a nice job with it since. There is a well stocked bar with interesting looking cocktails that we did not partake in, and the menu is medium sized, varied, and overall well prepared. I did not care for the iteration of meatloaf I got (I was trying it to see if I got any ideas to improve on my own version and that did not happen--and not because mine is unbeatable) and my husband liked his fish, but we both thought the risotto could use some spice and some work on the texture. The side vegetables for both our meals were very good--well prepared and well flavored. We shared a Caesar salad that was excellent, with white anchovies, a bright and balanced lemon flavor and good parmesan. Randolph overall seems to be on the upswing compared to recent years. The corner restaurant space on Main Street is still empty--which is too bad because it has lots of windows and light and would be an excellent breakfast and lunch place to take advantage of that--but this is a good devlopment, and the fact that there is another new restaurant of note that we will try next year should it survive the winter is good news.

Paris To The Moon by Adam Gopnick

The author lived in Paris in the 1990s and into the early 2000s and chronicled his experiences in the Paris Journals for the New Yorker as well as within this memoir. He explores the difficulties of being an American in Paris as well as becoming a new father shortly before his move across continents. This predates the current situation, where the American brand has been badly tarnished abroad, but even back 30 years ago his delineation of the details related to the minutiae of living in Paris and the daily battles of an American trying to adapt to a new home, specifically in a home so disdainful of the brand of American globalism, and how he managed. The upside is that it appears to have been a great experience for him professionally as well as personally. There is an emphasis on food int he French culture and that is reflected here, as well as the apparently well-deserved reputation for excessive bureaucracy. This has a humorous flare to it, and comes across as insightful and a straight shooter.

The Answer Man (2009)

Well, is you see this as a grumpy man who softens with the help of a generous woman then this is a so so movie. I saw it a bit differently. One thing is that Arlen Faber wrote a book entitled 'Me and God' decades ago and it is still holding sway with 10% of 'the God market'--the fact that there is a God market and that one book that is not divine in origin can hold that kind of sway says a fair amount about mankind and our inability to answer our own questions. One look at Arlen makes it very clear that he does not hold the answers, not now, not ever. He wisely remains a recluse up until the time that he throws his back out and literally crawls into a chiroprator's, where she works two wonders--the first is allevating his pain and the other is that she grabs the attention of this somewhat socially anxious and possible neurodivergent man, who then goes about trial and error when it comes to winning her over. Lucky for him he can much more easily related to her son, which goes a long way towards cementing his chances with her. Arlen could have become an interesting character, but the script for this is far too wooden for that to happen, but I did not find it quite so terrible as the reviewers did.

American Fantasy by Emma Straub

This is a themed book where something happens that I would never ever do. Which is what Annie, the protagonist, thought as well. When the American Fantasy cruise ship sets sail for a four-day themed voyage, aboard are all five members of a famous, nineties-era boy band and three thousand screaming women who have worshipped them since childhood. Many of them are repeats on the cruise and have developed relationships and rivalries . Feeling slightly out of place amid this crowd is Annie, here on a lark to appease her sister. Yet when the lights come up and the idols of her youth begin to sing, something is unlocked. Call it memory. Call it nostalgia. Call it the chemical reaction of hormones, hope, and sexual reawakening. Between the slushy alcoholic drinks, the familiar music, and the throngs of middle-aged women acting like lovesick teenagers, Annie finally reconnects to a long-submerged part of herself. By the time she meets one of the band members—not just a celebrity but someone in need of a friend—she has fully changed her mind. It is an improbable story of redemption and renewal with the least likely source, and maybe what these nostalgia events tap into is recaptured youth in more ways than one.

Royal Orchid, Montpelier, Vermont

We return to Vermont with great regularity. We fly into Burlington airport in the afternoon after the traditional lunch hour has ended and have a 1.5 hour drive to central Vermont where we stay. We have searched for a place to eat that we would regularly return to, and while there have been some good candidates, there has not been a hands down winner. We enjoy a lobster roll, but beyond that we have looked for a place that fits our schedule and that serves a meal we would look forward to returning for. This restaurant in Montperlier might be just the thing. It does not serve food continuously, but it does open early, at 4PM, which works with our schedule. The food is excellent--we had two dishes with shrimp, which was of good quality and cooked well. We were there ahead of the traditional dining hour, and there were several tables occupied in the time we were there. It has a broad menu, and we will definitely return. Added bonus was that the food came quickly and we were back on the road in no time. Highly recommended.

The Renovation by Kenan Orhan

This has been longlisted for the Booker Prize, which is how I came to read it. It is part magical realism, part a commentary on the persistence of trauma no matter how long ago it was and how far away you get from the source, and part a refelction on the toll of caregiving for a loved one with Alzheimer's disease. This is not a renovation gone wrong--which is that instead of getting a new bathroom, when Dilarah goes into her new bathroom it is instead a cell, and she is transported far away to a well-known prison in Turkey, the homeland she had left behind. Slowly, a past she was hiding from comes to light in flashbacks and shimmering sentences. The cell is part of a vast complex within Istanbul’s Silivri Prison, where women of all ages and classes are housed for their alleged conspiracies against an oppressive regime. Dilara had fled Turkey around a decade ago with her husband and mentally declining, dissident father to apparent freedom in the mountains of Italy. But try as she might, she cannot now conjure away the prospect of imprisonment; it has literally followed her. Then there is the trials and tribulations of caring for a loved one with dementia. Dilara’s husband takes the appearance of the cell as a sign the Turkish authorities are on their tail and abandons their home, leaving Dilara to care for her father on her own as he suffers from Alzheimer’s. Her father was once an outspoken professor and novelist; he now slips and falls easily, has lost his sense of humor, cannot recall basic words, and fails to recognize his own daughter, and Dilara herself is filled with anguish, anger, and sorrow watching him fade.

Arthur The King (2024)

Michael Light is a restless soul with the edge of an adrenalin junkie--he was the leader of an Adventure Racing team that had a spectacular failure in it's last outing and while no one watned to sponsor him again, he didn't feel done. Adventure Team Racing is the most extreme, demanding, endurance activity in the world. It makes the Iron Man combination of running, swimming, and biking look like a game of hopscotch. An adventure race can involve running, biking, climbing, kayaking, and any other imaginable strenuous movement forward, over every possible kind of treacherous terrain. Races can last for many days, with only brief permissible stops and time penalties for aids like IV fluids. This is loosely based on the true story of one of these races, with an American team racing through the jungles, mountains, and rivers of the Dominican Republic. Michael has amassed a team and while they were in the midst of the race, surprisingly competative, and they discovered they were being accompanied by a stray dog, and somewhere along the way, that relationship became more important than the race itself, and somehow Michael is able to find deep meaning in something else, something other than the race, and the dog, Arthur, helped him to transition from competitor to life beyond competing.

Joyful Anyway by Kate Bowler

This book was recommended to me by someone who has faced life threatening illness herself, with the feeling that this approach was helpful to her as she faces an uncertain future. The author is a long term survivor of Stage 4 Colon cancer, which is generally considered to be an unsurvivable disease, with the aid of immunotherapy. The reason this might indeed resonate with me is that I, too, am a long term survivor of an illness that is also considered unsurvivable. This is about finding joy, regardless of the circumstances. She has been a long time critic of the culture of bashing the American cult of positivity and the pursuit of optimal happiness. So this is difference from that. She talks a lot about the difference between happiness and joy--they have a distinct psychological profile. Here is it in her own words: "Happiness will feel like ease, it will feel relaxing, it will feel like the accumulated good things, where you’re kind of climbing a ladder of good feelings, and you get to have a beautiful view, and that’s because even just the word happiness comes from the word "hap." It’s the Norse word for chance, which just means like happenstance, the stuff that happens to you. We experience happiness that way — it’s the temperature of our coffee and the music playing and the friend you get to call later and the job that came through. It’s very contextual and circumstantial, and it’s also very incremental. It takes a lot of things coming together to make us happy. Joy, on the other hand, is not relaxing. Joy is this big, bright, enlivening feeling. It’s like it startles us awake. It will make us say, "Yes, yes, it is good to be alive." And that’s why I think, whereas happiness is just a lot of positive things happening to you, joy isn’t just a positive emotion. It’s a story. That’s why it touches existential themes, like, "Is it good to be alive?" Joy, when it bubbles up inside of us, presents itself as an answer to that question." This is well worth the time to read and think about.

Reynal 2, Idaho Falls, ID

There are a number of Mexican restaurants in Idaho Falls that we would go back to. Garcia's Market was our favorite, a hopping eatery at the back of the store where the first time we ate there a server took pity on our glazed looks at the hustle and buslr and muscled us into a booth after a suitable period of disorientation. This one has a dish that we fell in love with over 30 years ago in Tuscon, a breakfast dish called machaca. Here you can order the dish, which comes with a large tortilla and make two meals out of it for $12. First you fill and roll up a burrito sized portion in the accompanying tortilla and then you share the remaining machaca with rice, beans, and any number of salsas from the excellent salsa bar. Unfortunately we haven't settle on the perfect second thing to order here, but the machaca is so good we keep trying.

Country People by Daniel Mason

This author writes beautifully and his books are quite varied. This one is also set in New England, like Northwoods, but it has a far lighter tone. It is looking inward rather than the broad scope of that book. It is whimsical and relatable rather than sark and brooding. Miles and Kate have been together since their school days--Kate soared academically, getting tenure before she was 30, despite having MS. She has responded well to immunotherapy, and is in remission but it casts a shadow. Miles on the other hand, is stalled. He is 12 years overdue in finishing his PhD and he main responsibility is as stay at home dad to their two children. Kate gets a visiting professorship in a Vermont college and they move from the west coast and begin small town life. From the moment they arrive Miles is sure he will not finish his PhD and he goes about figuring out exactly where he belongs and what he is going to do going forward. As is so often the case, his failure to launch a meaningful life does not set him apart from many of his generation--but he is different in that he is not playing video games and seething in his beholdeness to his far more successful wife. Rather he sways back and forth in what he sees as the steps forward and settles in a very good spot.