Virtual Reality

When I was in middle school, all 8th graders were required to take a computer science class. At the beginning of every class the teacher would have us recite the history of computing with a chant.  I vaguely recall the lyrics including Babbage! and FORTRAN!  What I can’t forget is the enthusiasm of the teacher as she punctuated every lesson with a multitude of exclamation points and cheerleader-like excitement.

Something of that enthusiasm for learning is captured in The Unseen World by Liz Moore. Ada Sibelius is a precocious 12-year-old being raised by a single father who isn’t called Dad, but David. Each day, David and the homeschooled Ada go to the computer science lab he directs at the Boston Institute of Technology.  Her favorite parts of the day are when she gets to spend time on the lab’s key project, a chatbot program called ELIXIR. 

One Saturday, Ada wakes to find her father missing. When he reappears late the next day, Ada begins to suspect something is wrong with his memory. Enlisting the help of David’s colleague Liston, Ada concedes that he may more need care than she can provide. Just before he’s placed in a care facility, he hands her a floppy disk that contains a puzzle for her to solve.

Two decades later, we see the adult Ada preparing to meet with investors to demonstrate a virtual reality headset she has helped develop. As she tries to escape her present, she delves deeper into her past, finally cracking the code her father left for her to figure out his true identity – and hers.

Fans of Wrinkle in Time and Anastasia Krupnik will find that Moore’s characters embody the awkwardness of adolescence and the magic of discovery. She also conveys the pain of trying to remain true to one’s identity when the world hasn’t quite caught up as well as the elixir of escaping reality that is all too tempting.

Don’t be too alarmed if when you reach the book’s satisfying conclusion, you find yourself cheering…Gimme an A! Gimme a D! Gimme an A! ADA!

Julie and Julia - Reread

Reorganizing the bookshelves, as one is wont to do in times of crisis, I came across Julie and Julia. It's just the thing for vicarious cooking (and cleaning up), especially when the stores are still out of flour. Haven't checked on the whole marrow bone thing.

The following is a repost from 2009.

“Sometimes I just made stuff up.” Despite the disclaimer on page one, Julie Powell serves up a humorous account of her attempt to follow all the recipes in Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child. Faced with conception complications at home and the endless files to be copied at work, she began the cooking project (and blog documenting the project) in August of 2002. Interspersed throughout the book version are imaginary scenes between Julia and Paul Child. I skimmed these for the most part to get back to the meatier narrative.

Powell recounts her successes – skinning a duck and flipping a flawless crepe - but more entertaining are her mess ups – one memorable description likens her homemade ladyfingers to “so many sunk mastodons” in a “tar pit” of caramelized sugar. She also relates how she connected with her blog readers with proficient swearing and as ifs which resulted in donations of funds and jars of her favorite salsa. You might recoil with her in the discovery of a maggot colony under the drainer, but you’ll marvel at her chutzpah at leaving an offering of butter at the Julia Child exhibit at the Smithsonian.

 If you missed the blog, then read the book. If you missed the book, there’s always the Nora Ephron movie.

The book by Julie Powell is called Julie and Julia: 365 days, 524 recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen: How One Girl Risked Her Marriage, Her Job, and Her Sanity to Master the Art of Living.

Reprieve from Real Life

This is not the time for Station Eleven or The Road. Nor should you pick up The Stand or, heaven forbid, One Second After. However, if you must go there, go here.

For me, turning off the news and escaping into fiction has done wonders for my mental health – and probably irreversible damage to my back.

Before turning to this week’s list of recommendations of escape fiction, I’d like to give a shout out to Libby. Since my Kindle seems to be on the fritz, I’ve relied on her more and more to access free books from the library.

Some are light-hearted, a few are well-written, but in all of them you’ll notice the absence of social distancing and the novelty of well, going places. Best of all, they offer a short reprieve from real life.

Maybe in a Another Life by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Waiting for Tom Hanks by Kerry Winfrey

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

The Confession Club by Elizabeth Berg

The Gifted School by Bruce Holsinger

Some Luck by Jane Smiley

The Dutch House by Anne Patchett

The Third Wife by Lisa Jewell

Will you be mine?

You know that feeling? Butterflies in the gut excited feeling. Counting down the minutes until the next meeting feeling. Time stopping in the moment when you are together feeling. That staying up until all hours of the night replaying key moments feeling.

Even though it’s Valentine’s Day, I’m not talking about that feeling.In this case, it's the feeling of discovering a new author.  

A few weeks ago, I stumbled across a book called 26a by Diana Evans when I was scrolling through Libby looking for that little sticker they put on the covers of award winning books.

From the first pages, I was hooked. Not only on the story of growing up in eighties England, but on Evans’ style. The description of twins Georgia and Bessi’s birth likened to roadkill (as weird as that may sound) is gorgeously brutal. The trauma of this beginning foreshadows later moments of darkness. Unfortunately, it’s a darkness that in the end proves unbearable for at least one of the characters. And more poignant when you learn some of Evans’ own story.

I’ve just picked up Evans’ 2018 work – Ordinary People. And haven’t yet been disappointed. Where the focus of 26a was from the perspective of the kids, this novel looks at life from the standpoint of the parents. In chapter two, a wife asks her husband if he’s seen a purple fitted sheet. This seemingly mundane exchange manages to capture perfectly the dissatisfaction both partners are feeling in their relationship. 

Forget chocolate and roses. My heart rests in the pages of a decadently written book. 

Know Thyself

In various social circles recently, self-help books abound.

Over Christmas, my sister wanted to talk about love languages. For me, I totally swoon over acts of service. Yes, you can say "I love you" through doing the laundry.  

The Five Languages by Gary Chapman

In my graduate class, everyone was comparing enneagram numbers. Just from the title alone, I'd say I'm a 9 - "The Peacemaker."   

The Wisdom of the Enneagram by Don Richard Riso

At work, we were all encouraged to take the Clifton StrengthsFinder test. Turns out my top five themes are: Harmony, Intellection, Connectedness, Learner, and Developer.  

Living Your Strengths by Winseman, Clifton, and Liesveld 

What does all this tell me? Something I already knew...

I like to read. 

The Story of Christmas

I've dusted off this post from four years ago as a reminder of the importance of tradition. This year, due to various work and school obligations, it feels like we've hardly sat down to dinner together as a family. That means we've lost and picked up the thread of the Nativity story we usually read with grace. And rather than the kids vying to light and blow out the candles, they do so with a sense of "meh."So here's to reclaiming traditions....or perhaps starting new ones. 

 My daughter had to give a presentation at school about her family’s holiday traditions. She chose to talk about Advent. When she had finished speaking, a boy in her class raised his hand and asked, “Do you still celebrate Christmas?”

 Actually, this year we may be just celebrating Christmas since, in the move, I’ve managed to misplace our Advent wreath, children’s nativity set, and Advent calendar, a book called The Story of Christmas. 

 Those objects are replaceable of course, but one of the nice things about traditions is unpacking the ones you have used year after year. The corners may be dog eared, the wreath may be splattered with pink and purple wax, and the donkey may be missing a tail, but that is part of what makes them yours.

 Whether you are starting a new tradition or supplementing an old, perhaps one of these books will add to your Advent season:

 The Light of theWorld: Daily Meditations for Advent and Christmas by Phyllis Zagano

 Advent of the Heart: SeasonalSermons and Prison Writings - 1941-1944 by Alfred Delp

 A Gift for the Christ Child: A Christmas Folktale by Anne Wilson and Linda Schlafer

 Manger edited by Lee Bennett Hopkins

 Light Upon Light: ALiterary Guide to Prayer for Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany compiled by Sarah Arthur

Who Built the Stable?: A Nativity Poem by Ashley Bryan

Pretty Paper by Willie Nelson and David Ritz

Maddi's Fridge

Best friends Sofia and Maddi play at the park and commiserate over their little brothers. One day Maddi invites Sofia over. When they go to the fridge for a snack, Sofia is shocked to see that it's empty apart from a bottle of milk. After promising not to tell, Sofia attempts to share the contents of her fridge with her friend. However, she soon discovers that however healthy fish and eggs may be, they aren’t very portable in her backpack. 

How can she help her friend without revealing her secret? As it turns out, some secrets aren’t meant to be kept.  

Great for any age, Maddi’s Fridge (written by Lois Brandt and illustrated by Vin Vogel) reminds us that hunger can be present where we least expect it. But it also emphasizes the importance of true friendship. When friends are hurting, we shouldn't stay silent.