The Seed Keeper by Diane Wilson

This book has three perspectives--one is keeping true to the traditions of your culture as a way to re-anchor yourself, the second is incorporating American Indian values of respecting the earth, our only potential home, in the era of climate change butting heads with corporate greed, and the last is an interesting way to portray the effects of generational trauma. These elements weave together in the story of Rosalie Iron Wing, a Dakhóta woman whom we first meet during a major turning point in her life. Wilson, who is herself Dakhóta, composes a narrative that moves back and forth in time, filling in Rosalie’s backstory and family history. During these movements through time, we meet Marie Blackbird, Rosalie’s great-great-grandmother. Marie describes running from US Indian Agents who, among other things, took children away from their families and placed them in boarding schools to convert them to Christianity. Rosalie is, body and mind, a product of the transgressions and violations her family and the Dakhóta have endured, from the loss of their lands to the loss of their traditional food and their children. This book asserts that much of the past does not go away, but continues to exist in the present. It details the way history runs through the bloodstream, through the DNA, through the bones, through the water, and through the land, affecting every life that steps forward into the present. We primarily experience this idea through the eyes of the Dakhóta, but during one scene, Rosalie’s white husband, John, takes her to see a monument commemorating the Sioux Indian War of 1862, one of the many events that transformed and devastated Rosalie’s family—but also John’s family. I did not like the time travel in this, skipping between times throughout the book--I find it a little dizzying, especially when it is all over the place and not just two time periods, but overall would recommend.

Taquería El Jarocho, Mexico City, Mexico

This is a Michelin Bib Gourmand taqueria--where it is important to note that while they open at 9:30, they do not start serving off their more extensive menu until later in the morning. But you can always have tacos!

El Jarocho has eighty years of history backing it up, and has been run by three generations of the same family. It was originally a tortilleria, and they're known for their guisado-style tacos, offering a wide variety of proteins and vegetables stewed in a number of different ways. And don't skip their campechano taco with chopped steak and topped with crispy chicharron--that was Joel's favorite--mine was the mile verde tacos. Fresh tortillas are made in-house.

Last Night In Brooklyn by Xochitl Gonzalez

I read a review that this is a modern telling of The Great Gatsby story, moved from Long Island to Brooklyn, the place in New York to be now. I myself didn't catch that, and while it definitely holds water, that was not my take away from it. That says more about me than it does Gonzalez, because I didn't love Gatsby and I didn't love this either. Here goes. Brooklyn, 2007. Alicia (the new Nick) is 26 years old and feels like she’s stuck. She’s doing what is expected of her rather than what she wants to do. She’s saving for a wedding she’s not sure if she wants. But one night she attends a party in the Fort Greene neighborhood, and her life changes dramatically. She finds herself in the orbit of her magnetic neighbor, an up and coming designer who calls herself La Garza (the Great Jay Gasby). Alicia watches her neighbor from across the street, marveling at the epic parties she throws. When Alicia is invited into La Garza’s world, she finally realizes what she wants and what she’s been missing. La Garza has almost mythical reverence surrounding her. Alicia finds herself torn in many directions as the whole spun out of gold fairy tales cames spinning down. The setting of the book is as much a part as a character. Brooklyn in 2007 is on the verge of gentrification. The Barclays Center is about to be built, pushing out some of the neighborhood’s oldest residents. The country is already feeling the effects of a possible recession, even as the optimism of the Obama campaign is rising, especially for black and brown people. The big difference for the reader is that while The Great Gatsby was published in 1925, at the peak of the high times and long before the Crash of '29, this version comes to us almost 20 years after the events depicted, we know where that ends.

Cold Storage (2026)

My spouse and I have developed a ritual of watching very light weight action moview when we are starting an international vacation. We are usually going over water and facing a significant time change, which also involves cocktails and trying to get some sleep--not so this time however. We were Mexico City bound and not a drop of intoxicating liquid on board. In our defence, while this is a very silly movie that leans into horror heavily, it stars a favored action hero (Liam Neeson--although his last movie I was also not a fan of, so maybe not) and it has a good IMDB rating (go figure). What I did not know in advance of this is that it is adapted from a 2019 novel and is based on a real-life event. The breakup and descent of the NASA space station Skylab in 1979 and the space agency’s diligent recovery of the orbiter’s debris did happen. What did not happen is that starting in Western Australia, the movie depicts an uncollected piece of debris emitting the aforementioned gnarly, green, tendrilly fungus, which almost instantly infects all the humans in the immediate vicinity and causes their bodies to explode. Gross. After a small NASA contingent (led by Neeson and the incompable Lesley Manville) manages to trap, freeze, and contain the rampaging green stuff, we cut to the government warehouse where the fungus lies dormant in, yes, cold storage. Only the government warehouse is shut down, the building goes up for sale, and decades later, in the present day, it’s a self-storage emporium. So there are some excellent actors, but this is basically a gory film with a thin plot line and nothing can save it.

Romancing Mister Bridgerton by Julia Quinn

This is a friend to romance novel, which while I am not an avid reader of this genre, is a favored plot line. Then there is something about the Bridgerton books is compelling me to binge read them all. When I read The Duke and I I had no idea that I was going to eventually binge all of the books. Unexpectedly, I love the show (although why I am surprised is beyond me, because I love the Regency period novels and film adaptations) and Colin and Penelope’s romance was one I was looking forward to. This is not aptly named however--in the relationship that develops, neither party romances the other so much as act themselves. Colin Bridgerton has been wandering the world while trying to figure out his place in life. These rich men who hope to make a difference but do not need to work to support themselves--it can make them a bit tedious and Colin is no exception. He is tired of being thought nothing but an empty-headed charmer, tired of everyone’s preoccupation with the notorious gossip columnist Lady Whistledown, who can’t seem to publish an edition without mentioning the Bridgertons. But when Colin returns to London from a trip abroad he discovers nothing in his life is quite the same – including his sister's long time friend Penelope Featherington. Their friendship--which was at arms length for him and an adoration for her--slowly blossoms into something more, and something that he doesn't quite understand. It takes him quite some time to figure out just what a treasure she is and to come to her support when her secret is outed. He so obviously under valued what she brought to his life and he clearly needs her as a partner. Now I enter the half of the Bridgerton children whose lives have yet to be chronicled by the Netflix series. I am enjoying both versions.

Casa Azul, Frieda Kahlo Museum, Mexico City, Mexico

The Frieda Kahlo Museum is the blue house where she was born, died, and spent most of her life within these walls. It is a gorgeous space and it is filled with some of her possessions, some of her clothes and jewelry, and some of her art. A hard to beleive fact is that as many people visit this museum as do the National Museum of Anthropology, a museum that encompasses the history of Mexico. Frida’s father, Guillermo Kahlo – Hungarian-German by birth – had the house built in 1904. The historian Beatriz Scharrer, “in the style of the time: a central courtyard surrounded by all the interior rooms, and the exterior totally French.” The home was the meeting place for many of the great personalities who lived or met with Diego and Frida. Among them, Leon Trotsky, Henry Moore, Remedios Varo, and André Breton.

The kitchen has been preserved in its original condition, and remains an important part of the entire house. All the objects within it, including dinnerware and cookware, reflect the impact of Mexican culture on the artists’ daily lives. It is very beautiful in itself and it was very cool to visit. I bought tickets well in advance and if you think you want to go, so should you.

Behold The Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue

This is a novel that focuses on the lives of immigrants who are working to make a life in the United States. It is set in 2008, on the edge of the financial collapse that happened that year. The protagonist Jende Jonga is a Cameroonian migrant to America along with his wife Neni and their six-year old son Liomi. He is a driver for Clark Edwards, an investment banker at Lehman Brothers on Wall Street. While Jende is waiting for the result of his asylum application, he settles self-effacingly into his job, offering up stories of his homeland for his boss’s amusement. Jende is a small man at work, at the beck and call of Clark, his wife Cindy and their two sons; but he is a big man at home. The humiliations of being a driver allow him to pay his wife’s college tuition and send money back to Cameroon. The Edwards' are self-absorbed and selfish but there are also slim bridges of genuine affection that exist between them and the Jongas. But it is 2008 and Edward works for Lehman Brothers. Edward too is trapped in a powerful system, this time a financial one, and there is little room for maneuver and when the Edwards' lives are upended, so too are the Jonga's lives.

Enola Holmes 3 (2026)

Let me start off by saying that this is more good clean fun than it is pristine cinema, and I enjoyed this one as much as the prvious two installments in the series that is about fictional Sherlock Holmes' fictional sister. The film opens on the island of Malta where Enola is about to marry Lord Tewkesbury. However, the ceremony is quickly derailed when Enola’s brother, Sherlock Holmes, is kidnapped. The film pivots from a wedding into a swashbuckling rescue mission, weaving in overarching themes of British colonialism, sunken treasure, and the return of the formidable villain Moriarty. The style of storytelling style is energetic, with quick cutaways to headlines both real and imagined. There is a lot of breaking the fourth wall and if you don't care for that, skip this, because it really is part of the charm. The action scenes are dynamic and exciting, the puzzles are clever, the romance is endearing, and Enola’s commitment to fairness is gratifying. Enola is true-hearted, passionate, determined, and fearlessand we can see that her betrothed appreciates all that and more about her. When she speaks directly to us, it feels good to be part of her story.

The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes

My SIL gave this book to my nieces and it is aimed at the elementary school aged reader. This Newbery Honor classic, illustrated by a Caldecott Medalist and published originally in 1944, is a beautifully written tribute to the power of kindness, acceptance, and standing up for what's right. The narrative centers on Wanda, who claims she has a closet full of 100 beautiful dresses at home despite always wearing the same one to school. Her classmates, led by a girl named Peggy, tease her about her claim. Another classmate, Maddie, feels uneasy about the teasing but stays silent because she fears becoming the next target. Eventually, Wanda's family pulls her out of school due to the relentless bullying. When the class realizes the truth—that Wanda's "hundred dresses" are 100 exquisite drawings she made for an art contest—they are overcome with regret. Wanda is marginalized because of her poverty, but also because her name is Polish, and what a great story in this time of ICE terrorizing people of color on the streets of American cities for nothing more than the color of their skin. And people doing nothing--unless you are from Minneapolis and you fought like it was a war and some of them were murdered for it.

Contramar, Mexico City, Mexico

It was our first night in Mexico City, and even though there wasn't much of a time change from home, we had to get up early to get there, so an early dinner was in order. Thank goodness we had a reservation because the place was completely packed at 4:40 in the afternoon--perhaps aided by a World Cup game, which could be seen (and heard) from every corner of the large restaurant with closely packed seating. This is not a quiet place at the best of times, but if you like a lively festive environment and do not need to hear yourself think, this is a great place to eat seafood. My favorite dish was the shrimp tostada and the signature dish of the restaurant is the whole fish, grilled and then served half with salsa verde and half with salsa rojo. The whole meal was excellent and I would recommend it. The chef Gabriela Cámara has served as a culinary advisor to a former Mexican president, so not like we discovered this place!

Lázár by Nelio Biedermann

vThis has been dubbed a saga, and it has received much attention in Europe for its quirky and confident take on 20th-century Hungarian history, written by a Gen Z author who didn't live through any of it. The opening pages introduce us to a world straight out of gothic fable. In an isolated manor house by a forbiddingly dark forest, a strange-looking baby is born. This unearthly child, Lajos, is fated to carry forward the family name of the Lázárs, a noble dynasty with an alarming tendency to go mad, die violently, or both. Meanwhile, in another wing of the house lurks the baron’s older brother, Imre, who is barred from the baronetcy by reason of insanity. Maybe fortunate given the genetics, Lajos von Lázár’s parentage isn’t quite what it appears. We soon learn that he is the product of an illicit liaison between Maria, the lady of the manor, and one of the grooms. Lázár gradually reveals itself to be a book about the way the fortunes of a single family are entwined with the historic upheaval of the 20th century. The family seat, where the novel opens, stands close to the town of Pécs, on the southern border of present-day Hungary. On the chilly January day when Lajos draws his first breath, his homeland is still part of the Habsburg empire – the union of Austria and Hungary that also included the Balkan states and parts of northern Italy. As the story develops, enormous changes break up the empire and turn Hungary first into a fascist autocracy and then a satellite state of the Soviet Union. As the privileged former elite, the Lázárs will become a special target for the class warriors of Soviet Hungary. Successive generations of the Lázár family live through all this turmoil over the course of the book, up to the moment of the failed Hungarian uprising in 1956.

Wrecking Crew (2026)

My spouse and I have a penchant for watching extremely llght movies when we are on our way to a vacation. We have leaned toward action movies that lack much in the way of depth or message, and then on the way home we might dip our toes into more meaningful and message driven fare. This is definitely of the going on vacation genre. The two stars of this are quite likable actors playing at odds siblings. Dave Bautista plays the rock-solid family man, James Hale, a former Navy SEAL turned drill instructor who has a house near Honolulu, a beautiful and charming child psychologist wife, Leila (Roimata Fox), and two adorable kids. Jason Momoa plays the loose cannon partner, James’ half-brother Jonny, a long-haired, hard-drinking, impetuous cop on an Oklahoma reservation. hey’ve been estranged for more than 20 years. But when their father, Walter, a sleazy private eye, gets killed in a hit-and-run accident while working a case in Honolulu, Jonny swallows his pride and flies to Hawaii for the funeral, setting up the inevitable reconciliation, plus lots of skillfully choreographed, sometimes slyly funny action sequences. They untangle the demise of their parents as well as some rampant corruption, all the while looking like they spend way more time in the gym than their characters spend throwing their weight around.

Hollow Spaces by Victor Suthammonat

This is a jumped up murder mystery dressed up like literature. Not quite at the Tana French or John Banville level of great literature, and not at the plot devlopment over many volumes level of Louise Penny, but very good, nonetheless. The story centers on John Lo, who was a groundbreaking Asian American partner at a prestigious New York law firm until he has an extramarital affair with a coworker who is subordinant to him, and then she ends up dead. He is the first one they suspect, and he does very little to defend himself--which seem uncharacteristic of a lawyer, especially since there is a lot of circumastantial evidence against him. Although despite all, he escapes a guilty verdict, the trial destroys his professional and personal life, shattering his marriage.Thirty years later, the story jumps to the present. John's estranged adult children—Brennan, a lawyer following in her father's footsteps, and Hunter, a disgruntled war correspondent—reunite while caring for their ailing mother. Because they were separated by their conflicting beliefs about their father's guilt, the siblings decide to reinvestigate the old murder case in hopes of uncovering the truth and finally healing their fractured family.

The English Garden by Ursula Buchan

I am doing a Botanical Block of the Month through Quiltfolk this year--the reason is that there are interviews each month with Kaffe Fawsett that take place in his home and studio and while he is not completely my cup of tea as a designer, he is a well deserved icon and I couldn't pass up the chance to spend nine months hearing what he has to say and seeing where he works and what his process is. So while he is American, he lives and works in England and since we are doing botanicals one of the people in the group suggested looking at English gardens as a source of inspiration for the quilt that we produce for this project, and that resonated with me. It has been 30 years since we did a pass for the National Trust and toured houses with large English gardens but I was impressed with them then and this book is a great visual walk through the various styles of English gardens, from traditional to contemporary, those with water features and those with ornamental sculpture. I would recommend this--it is both visually beautiful and informative. This book, along with The English Gardener's Garden, are excellent visual displays of what is a centuries old practice.

An Offer From A Gentleman by Julia Quinn

This is the third of four books that I have read in this series, and it is pretty much a Cinderella story. Sophia "Sophie" Beckett, the illegitimate daughter of the late Richard Gunningworth, Earl of Penwood. He did not claim her as his own but he did bring her home as his ward, educated her. He provided for her in his estate, but his wife ignored his wishes so she is serving as a maid in the home of her step-mother, Araminta Gunningworth, Countess of Penwood, and two step-sisters, Rosamund and Posy Reiling. Sound familiar? In 1815, Sophie is 20 and assists her stepmother and stepsisters as they prepare for the Bridgerton family's masquerade ball. After they leave, the other servants help Sophie dress up to go to the ball, as long as she leaves by midnight. She dresses in a gown that belonged to her grandmother and she captures the imagination of the second Bridgerton son. He searched high and low for her, but comes up empty handed--because he isn't looking in any of the right places. He encounters Sophie years later and is again quite taken by her--only this time he does not see her as an option for marriage--this is a failing on his part of course, but this is a romance novel afterall. The step-mother gets her comeuppance and Sophie finds a way.

Maison de Vicor Hugo, Paris, France

I read both Les Miserable and The Hunchback of Notre Dame when I was a teenager, my era of doing deep and thorough dives into the classics, and love Victor Hugo as a result. When I was looking for a museum that was small and hopefully not too crowded and not too far from our hotel for a recent Paris trip (I was trying very hard, maybe too hard, to avoid being jousled as I was less than two months past a shoulder replacement--I did not want to give up the trip, but also didn't wan an unforced error), this one was suggested. This intimate museum is located in the southeast corner of beautiful Place des Vosges. Stroll around the square to number 6 and look up to the second floor to see the windows where Hugo once lived. The buildings surrounding the Place des Vosges were inaugurated in 1612 in honor of Louis XIII’s wedding to Anne of Austria, and they’ve always been a fashionable address in Paris. Victor Hugo moved into an enormous 3,000 square foot apartment in October 1832 with his wife Adele, and it is here that Hugo wrote much of his most famous work Les Misérables and many other important works. The entire building was converted into a museum dedicated to Hugo’s life and works, and is now managed by the City of Paris. Inside the museum, visitors can explore a reception hall with family portraits, a salon (my favorite room) with an impressive collection of Chinoiserie, or Chinese style art and design, a family dining room, and Hugo’s bedroom with his original writing desk. Hugo’s creativity and passion extended well beyond writing, and the museum displays some of his drawings and the Gothic-style furniture he designed. It’s such an unique experience to be so close to where Hugo lived and to see the moments of daily life frozen in time. Hugo had the unusual preference to write standing up, and you can see how high his writing desk was compared to a nearby chair--ahead of his time. I very much enjoyed this and it takes very little time to see thoroughly and completely.

American Han by Lisa Lee

This book is really good and a little bit hard going. It is the author's debut novel and it has a rawness to it that she might lose with time, but has a certain wisdom to it. The Korean word “han” is difficult to translate precisely into English, but the concept revolves around a profound sadness, regret, resentment and a loss of a collective identity that arises from historical injustice, such as occupation, war, and separation. It is, in other words, a generational trauma with Korean characteristics. It is set during the time of the first tech boom, and is anchored in the despair and rancor that defines the Kim family of the San Francisco Bay. Jane Kim is a third year law student at a second tier law school in San Francisco, when her mother leaves her father and her brother gets into big trouble for police brutality. It is a story of change, and change at a time when it is unusual. All four of them are unhappy in the life they have thus far forged, and so they step out into the less secure unknown in search of happiness.

Lorraine Woodruff-Long: Quilting Through Fog

My quilt guild hosted this quilter last month and I have been thinking about her work ever since. On the 4th of July she announced her new portest project, which is related to the 27 Grievances in the Declaration of Independence that the colonists leveled at King George III. They sound eerily familiar to the fascism of today's GOP, which has allowed for the stripping away of many basic human rights protected in hte Constiturion. She is a clever quilter when it comes to protest and she has a foot firmly in the traditional quilting camp, which I very much like. The quilt pictured behind her here is a great example, where her commentary on climate change and the melting of the polar ice caps is dramatic and subtle at the same time. I look forward to continuing to be inspired but the ideas of others and nurturing a more creative me.

The Spinach King by John Seabrook

This is a memoir that chronicles three generations of the author’s family and their South Jersey-based agricultural empire, Seabrook Farms. At the heart of the narrative is the author's great-grandfather, C.F. Seabrook, an autocratic, driven patriarch who revolutionized the frozen-food industry. Often hailed as the "Henry Ford of agriculture," C.F. built the company into the biggest vegetable factory on earth. This is a story of improbable success followed by implosion through his paranoia, greed, and abusive treatment of family members. The emotional core of the book lies in the author's complex relationship with his father, Jack—a stylish, patrician figure and playboy who desperately sought his father's approval. Jack had a lavish life style and hobnobbed with movie stars but further squandered the financial resources of the business. Beyond the family drama, the book does not shy away from the darker history of Seabrook Farms. Seabrook made a fortune during World War II by employing interned Japanese Americans and, later, displaced persons from Europe to staff his massive fields. The book uncovers the company’s controversial labor practices, including a violent 1934 labor strike involving armed vigilantes and the Ku Klux Klan. These events paint a complex picture of ingenuity coexisting with labor exploitation.

Qui Plume La Lune, Paris, France

Our last meal in France! We made it a good one, walking the mile or so from our hotel right outside Le Gard Notre train station, so we got a chance to experience the city a bit, even though I was still a bit under the weather from my shoulder replacement surgery, and not up to the usual marching about we do. Paris is a beautiful walking city and so well worth doing at least a bit of that. This is a wonderful place, with great atmosphere as well as food. Here is what they say on the Michelin website: Qui plume la Lune boasts two very different interiors: one with bare stone walls and natural materials and the other a riot of colour and dried flower compositions. The chef executes a creative score that showcases the season’s finest ingredients: fillet of croaker, risotto of tapioca pearls; tender beef fillet with mash and roast celery; poached pear and muscovado sorbet. The dishes are artfully plated and indulgently served, the cooking is spot on and the flavours and seasonings exquisitely balanced: just the ticket for a good meal in a warm, elegant setting. We were seated in the more formal half of the restaurant, pictured above, and very much enjoyed the meal.