Monniblog

By age thirteen, Anna has undergone countless surgeries, transfusions, and shots so that her older sister, Kate, can fight the leukemia that has plagued her since childhood. Anna was conceived as a bone marrow match for Kate - a life and a role that she has never questioned… until now. Like most teenagers, Anna is beginning to question who she truly is. But unlike most teenagers, she has always been defined in terms of her sister - and so Anna makes a decision that for most would be unthinkable… a decision that will tear her family apart and have perhaps fatal consequences for the sister she loves. [official synopsis]

Chan very thoughtfully sent me My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult when I expressed an interest in reading it on her blog post. I had no trouble getting into the book and am now anticipating seeing the movie. I finished it about a week ago and probably shouldn’t have waited so long to write up a review.

With books like this, you always expect it to either end up happy, or completely depressing. While I did cry at the end (which my boyfriend made fun of) it definitely was an unexpected twist. I won’t give any spoilers, but I thought the three kids (Anna, Kate and Jesse) were my favourite characters. They all had such a unique dynamic with each other that I guess only a family tragedy could bring together.

I thought that the plot was very direct, and I like how the narrative switched characters and years to provide flashbacks and additional insights. I definitely don’t think that the book would be as compelling without making you compassionate for all the characters involved.

I really enjoyed the book — it was a quick and compelling read. Check out an excerpt (entire first chapter) at the publisher’s website!

I am slowly coming to realize that I may need to buy a new laptop. I don’t know if this 3-year-old MacBook is worth the investment of getting it fixed. I have a feeling it would cost less to just buy a new MacBook. For a while now I’ve had battery life issues. This usually means that I can’t have it unplugged from the power source for more than 5-10 minutes or it just shuts off. I’ve dealt with it, although it has limited the mobility of my laptop, it’s been okay.

But over the weekend I forgot my laptop and left it at home not plugged in. It obviously had trouble keeping the harddrive alive because booting up yesterday I kept getting a “kernal panic” message which basically says you need to reboot for whatever reason. Booting up just now took about 20 minutes and I had to keep turning it off and on, off and on, until it booted up. Sometimes it would just sit there making the boot up noise a bunch of times, doing nothing.

So I’m looking at a 13-inch MacBook Pro with 4GB of RAM (which I was considering updating on this computer anyway). It’s $1,749.00, with free shipping… but we also now have an Apple Store here in Vancouver, so I might go down and play with some of the new computers. Is 3 years too short of a lifespan for a laptop that I use every day, sometimes non-stop for several hours at a time? Have I got my money’s worth when I spent $1,600 on this machine?

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On Tuesday I met Chelle (and her new guide Faye) for a bit of knitting at Tree’s Coffee. I had to prove that I have actually knit, so here are the lovely seven rows of garter stitch that I did while chatting.

As you can tell, I’m a.) a slow knitter; and b.) more chatty than knitty. Hahha and many thanks to Chelle who actually brought some yarn and needles for me as I forgot to bring mine to work on Tuesday.

Today I did have plans to complete a half-finished washcloth I worked on last time I saw Chelle at the beginning of May… but I ended up painting my bathroom instead! Yay “Sonoma” blue!

Henry watched the brush go uuuup and down…. up and down… up and down. I should have taken a video it was so funny! (Does this count as Whiskers on Wednesday?)

Today was officially Car Free Day Vancouver. It is celebrated in several communities in Vancouver by shutting down the streets to motor traffic and basically having a great big block party. There is music, food, entertainment, bicycling, demonstrations, and various vendors.

The Main Street festival is only six blocks from my new apartment, so we walked over to check it out. I took a lot of photos and even ran out of memory on my camera taking videos!

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“On the eve of her first day of senior high, May Sutherland’s mother gives her a diary in which to record her experiences. It’s 1948 and the entire student body at Magee High in Vancouver is divided according to their preference for Bing Crosby or Frank Sinatra. After losing her two best friends overnight, May struggles between her disdain for the debate and her loneliness as one of only a handful of neutrals.”

It was really neat to read a novel placed here in Vancouver in a high school that I considered attending. This short novel was a quick and enjoyable read. The voice of May felt very authentic and it was well-written. Being a big fan of Frank Sinatra, it was really interesting to read about the history of the Crosby/Sinatra debate among teens in 1948.

Sometimes the direction of the novel felt questionable, and although the debate between Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra remained central, nothing was particularly resolved. I do think that the format of a diary is hard to write — on one hand you risk over-informing the reader, and on the other, it’s difficult to move forward quickly.

I would definitely recommend That Tune Clutches My Heart, by Vancouverite Paul Headrick. It was also shortlisted for the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize and received 2nd prize for Prose Fiction for the Alciun Society’s Awards for Excellence in Book Design.

Henry has never been a couch-cuddler. He used to avoid the couch like the plague, and I always thought it was because he’d always get booted off by someone (usually Dad). Well, with the new apartment, he has turned into a real couch potato!

Things have been very hectic lately, but let’s see if I can sum it all up.

I’m all moved in, but the apartment is still a little chaotic. Not everything has a home yet and I still need to paint the bathroom. I’ve got lots of food and tons to kitchen stuffs, but I need to get better with meal planning when I go grocery shopping. Henry is also doing much better. He only gets confused when he can hear my voice in the hallway and can’t figure out how to get to me. Other than that, he’s been back to visit my parents’ house for a week and readjusted here fine. Chico is also doing well.

Craig is here in Canada; his flight got bumped up so he’s been here nearly a week and a half. I worked at the Ranch/Camp last week for School Groups. The Summer weeks start June 29th, and we both have the week prior off work so I’m planning some day trips! It should be lots of fun — things like Bowen Island, kayaking in False Creek, Playland and PNE, maybe going to Nat Bailey for a baseball game or Hastings Racecourse.

Oh and I dyed my hair purple!

Set in South Carolina in 1964, The Secret Life of Bees follows the story of 14-year-old Lily Owens. She is mistreated by her father, T. Ray; haunted by the memories of her mother’s death; and only loved by her nanny Rosaleen. Everything changes when Rosaleen insults the three biggest racists in their little town. Lily breaks Rosaleen out of jail and heads for Tilbourn, South Carolina on just a small hint that her mother may have once been there.

I really enjoyed The Secret Life of Bees; the story was interesting, the characters were compelling. You can definitely see how it would make a good film as the action is very straight forward and almost a little flat. That’s not to say it was boring, it was just the same direction all the time; no major “problem” for our protagonist or “inciting incidents” that help the story reach a climax.

I really enjoyed the variety of characters and I think that was the highlight of the book. Lily was a typical 14-year-old: insecure, self-conscious, and wanting something special to call her own. August Boatwright, who Lily finds in Tilbourn, becomes her mentor and confident. Rosaleen is unforgiving, bold, and sometimes brash. August is a confident woman with the makings of a fantastic, loving, caring “Aunt August”. August’s sisters June and May each have their own quirks and quarrels which keeps them interesting. They are certainly vivid characters with personality and life of their own; definitely my favourite part of the book was learning more about each of the women.

I would definitely recommend this book for an easy and enjoyable read. I think I’ll lend it to my mother next… and keep your eyes peeled as Julia is currently reading it too! Now, to rent the movie and compare/contrast!

Things have been fairly routine around here, nothing too exciting, not too hectic either. I’ve been mostly working on the apartment (still haven’t painted the bathroom) and finishing up some school stuff. It’s quieting down at work though, so that’s kind of nice after the past few months. I’ll be AWOL this weekend as my BF arrives from England for the summer! We’re spending next week out at camp helping for school groups. So here is a little meme to tide my blogging buddies over with:

• One book you’re currently reading: The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
• One book that changed your life: The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi
• One book you’d want on a deserted island: whichever book I am currently reading when I get stranded on the island.
• One book you’ve read more than once: I rarely do this, but I would like to read The Time Traveller’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger again.
• One book you’ve never been able to finish: War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells
• One book that made you laugh: A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore
• One book that made you cry: (just one!? I cry a lot while reading) Lucky by Alice Sebold
• One book you keep rereading: Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss (used to have it memorized too!)
• One book you’ve been meaning to read: The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje
• One book you believe everyone should read: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

So a few weeks ago I moved into my own apartment (before and after photos to come) and earlier this week I moved the boys — Chico and Henry. Chico adapted very well and quite quickly, as he didn’t really leave his immediate home (aka cage). Henry on the other hand, didn’t know what to think. First of all, I shoved him into a medium-sized carrier. My sister’s cat is more than willing to go into the carrier — in fact she loves small spaces and going under covers… not Henry. He started tossing his weight around the carrier which made it extremely difficult to carry smoothly.

When we finally got inside, Henry went slinking off into the bedroom, and was momentarily stunned to see my bed there. As you may recall, he’s been quite fine at my parent’s house with the empty bedroom, and I was hoping he’d be okay with a new surroundings with all the same interior stuff… He liked hiding under the bed though.

Also, my box springs are actually sliced down the middle because they’re for a double bed and wouldn’t fit around  the corner of the stairs in my parent’s house. So my dad cut the frame almost in half, so that it could bend to get around the corner. With the box springs cut down the middle, the cheese-cloth stuff on the back was left open. Soon Henry found a new exciting toy (aka hiding place).

But those photos are from a couple days ago and he’s adjusting fine now. He still likes the bedroom best, but he’s always liked my bedroom best (even at my parent’s house). And don’t worry — his appetite is normal and he’s using his box. He’s back to being his normal snuggly self!