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.