AfricanKelli

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My friends Juliann and Kent hosted a small Mad Men Season 4 party tonight. We came together for a light meal, heavy drinks and a great episode of television. I had a bit of fun dressing up for the event and channeling my best Betty Draper. (As a 5′10″ brunette, there isn’t much we share. A twitter friend said rather than January Jones, perhaps I’m July Jones. Indeed!)

The prep also included making Nigella Lawson’s gin and tonic jello mold. While the mold came together beautifully, transporting it to the party in 100-plus degree heat was fatal. Next time, I’ll make this for New Year’s. The few spoonfulls we ate before having to throw the runny mess away were delightful.

Here is to hoping the relationships in this show get better. Betty is becoming my least favorite character on TV. Don is still as gorgeous and charming, but lacks the bravado of season’s past. It seems Peggy is the only one who time has been kind to; she’s developed quite the backbone and her sass is admirable.

Without a doubt, I wish I’d lived in this era. No doubt I’d have been bored, but to experience it for a day would have been delightful.

-k

I’ve been reading more lately; Matt’s been out of town visiting his family in Africa. I’m long since out of the habit of watching television. Also, I’ve needed an entertaining distraction from the realities of too much NPR. (The polar bears are drowning. The gulf is slick. Obama won’t be re-elected. Iran hates us. We hate Iran. North Korea hates us. North Korea is starving to death. We hate North Korea. Mexico is now officially being run by the cartels. ) You get the very sad point.

So, to the library/bookshelf/bookstore I go! Regularly. I need a break from Michele Norris* or I’m afraid I may start suggesting feeding the polar bears to starving North Koreans and shipping our cocaine habits feeding the Mexican cartels to Iran.  (See? Books are a much better idea.)

The Lonely Polygamist: This is my favorite book of the summer so far. Four out of five bananas. For those who read The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint, you’ll see some similar themes. Both books include strong young male characters who are a fair mix of hilarious, precious and pathetic. Both books are set in the desert Southwest and both include LDS families. Brady Udall is fast becoming my favorite author. I love the voice of his characters, the way he is so carefully entwines important issues into otherwise bizarre and funny stories — so you feel like you learned something — and his wit. He is a very clever writer.

The Long Goodbye: This book is my first adventure with author Raymond Chandler. His word choice and settings are delightfully antiquated today. This story details a private investigator’s search for a killer, of sorts. It is twisted and well thought. It was a bit long in places and didn’t keep me so interested I couldn’t wait to get back to it. Three out of five bananas.

The Double Bind: This is the third Chris Bohjalian book I’ve read — after Midwives and The Law of Similars. I loved both of those stories. They were well written, kept me dying for quiet time to read more and again, taught me about subjects I knew nothing about without feeling like I’d received a lecture. The Double Bind is also a good read, but the ending was a sucker punch. It hurt.

Honestly, it made me a little angry too.

I wanted to start over from the beginning;  I was so confused and torn.  I do recommend the novel because I’ve never before read something and had such a strong reaction to the conclusion. Plus, for Great Gatsby lovers, this book is a treat. Three out of five bananas.

Blood of Flowers: I may have blogged about this read already — it was a quick in-between-book-club-assignments-read. I appreciated the setting — Iran, centuries ago. The main character becomes an apprentice and learns to weave rugs. The story is interesting and it certainly has great villains. I enjoyed this as light, fun reading. Three of five bananas.

The Elegant Hedgehog: Did I already write about this? I fear I did. It is still considered a summer read because the tattered copy is on my nightstand. This book is far too smart for my tastes. It is a quirky story, but the characters don’t bloom until page 200 of a 300 page novel. It was a book club selection and I am not interested in reading more from this author. 1.5 bananas.

People of the Book: This is the latest selection for my book club and I have to say — one of the most intellectually stimulating books I’ve ever read. It is fascinating. The story discusses the adventures of a woman chasing down clues to an ancient haggadah that has reappeared after the war in Sarajevo. The story flows between centuries, faiths, languages, cultures and politics. I can only imagine how much time it took the author to research. It was in ways like reading an exceptionally smart version of The DiVinci Code. I truly enjoyed this book and look forward to reading her Pulitzer Prize winning novel, March.

I’ve just started In the Woods and it looks like it has potential. Plus, it’s set in Ireland, one of my most favorite places.

What are you reading and enjoying this summer?

-K

* Tell me you NPR listeners don’t crave the day that someone will finally say to that smug Michele Norris — “JUST SAY MICHELLE ALREADY. KNOCK OF THE MEEEEESHELL.” Or is it just me?

Guess what friends — after working on my first novel for more than EIGHT YEARS, it is going to see the light of publishing day!

The book will be listed on Amazon and other web-based sellers by the end of August. I’ll be certain to post the details as soon as they come to light. However, for Phoenicians, there is a certain dream coming true on August 24th that I’d love for you to be a part of. Changing Hands Bookstore is a fixture for literary folk in the Valley. It’s one of the few remaining independent bookstores. The owners are community-minded folk who regularly invite international and local authors alike to speak about their varied passions and literary craft. I’ve listened to Barbara Kingsolver, Elizabeth Gilbert and many others thanks to Changing Hands.

In truth, it was my mother who gave me a love of reading —  specifically a love for Nancy Drew. I would save my allowance and beg for a trip to this bookstore, for time to sit among the dusty old marigold yellow copies of the mystery maven, trying to find those few copies missing from our vintage collection.

I grew up in this bookstore never guessing I’d one day be there presenting my own book. The day has arrived and you are invited:

7 pm, Tuesday, August 24th

Changing Hands Bookstore

Tempe, AZ

In the meantime, if you’d like a glimpse at what “Under the Same Moon” is about:

Abena Udate, a 15-year-old girl, is kidnapped from an open-air market in rural Mozambique by a wandering American businessman. Smuggled into a suburban Phoenix community, Abena must learn a new language, culture and way of life previously unimaginable. She tries desperately not to become accustomed to the luxuries she’s never previously known – bubble baths, libraries and a caretaker who keeps a keen eye on her new charge. The girl patient determines the motives of her captors and why they want a blue-black addition to their creamy family portrait.

Kupela, her young brother, will stop at nothing to find his sister and the muzungu who has stolen her. When he falls gravely ill with malaria, an American expat uses every resource to keep him alive and unravel the mystery of his missing sister. Burdened with the worries of flooding in Mozambique and the well-being of the brother she adores, Abena wonders if she’ll ever be able to escape the comfortable Arizonan stucco house for the mud hut in rural Beira she calls home.

And finally, this wouldn’t be my blog or style if I didn’t end on a note of sincere and complete gratitude. To Amanda, who spent countless hours editing and took my cover photo. To Colleen, who designed the most gorgeous cover in the history of novels. Really. To my friends, family and to all of you who have asked countless times about the status of this dream — my forever thanks.

~kmd

Novelist (!!)

Friends, my life is so scattered at the moment, I feel like a sandcastle that’s just been hit by an ice cold wave. Then again — it is self-imposed chaos after three back-to-back trips and a new job. And so, I ask that you hang in there with me while I get reorganized.

A couple of odd errors I’ve been meaning to correct:

1. My recipe for this month’s OYW project? 1/2 cup of peanut butter. NOT 1 1/2 cups. Jeez.

also,

2. The sewing projects for this month’s OYW project? They are the summer nightie and the pintucked top. Also, you have 2 months to complete these. I am going to try both. I know. Big promises for a girl who can’t seem to buy groceries and make dinner most nights of the week nowadays. (Is nowadays a word? If not, I’m making it so.)

So — 1/2 a cup of PB. Cute clothes. Two months to complete. Cook. Sew. Go!

In other news, I’ve read a bunch of great books lately and haven’t posted the details:

1. The Help. 4 out of 5 bananas. I really enjoyed this read and it left me with a newfound hunger for southern American writers. I actually bought Faulkner after reading this. It is a beautiful story of race, women, motherhood, and the South in the 1960s. This was an anti-vampire book club selection and I was very pleased. Read this book.

2. Little Bee. 3 out of 5 bananas. I also enjoyed this, mainly because it discusses both refugees and Africa. I thought the story was interesting and the characters were good. I simply wanted more. The main character in particular — Little Bee — was fascinating and I felt like we only got a glimpse at who she really was. Plus the ending left me wondering if it was written for a sequel. Nonetheless, any book that discusses these heavy topics is a winner with me. I appreciate the author’s attempt to teach the masses about those often overlooked in society.

3. The Blood of Flowers. 3 out of 5 bananas. An interesting story about Persian women and carpet making centuries ago.

I am currently reading, The Elegance of the Hedgehog for book club. It is translated from French and you can tell, which drives me a little batty. But the story is so far keeping my attention. I am debating several options for my selection for book club next month, including Brady Udall’s newest book, The Lonely Polygamist. Udall is the author of one of my favorite books of all time, The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint. Others under consideration include: People of the Book and Half the Sky.

Also? I currently have about 10,000 tomatoes, thanks to those 23 plants I planted back in January. I am going to can tomatoes this weekend, like some sort of homesteader. And do laundry. And by groceries. Because, by golly, I will catch up, put away the suitcase. I will. I will. I will!

~K

For the last week or so I’ve been reading, “Breath, Eyes, Memory” — a Haitan tale of women and their relationships with their daughters. Of course, with the tragedy unfolding in Port au Prince, it’s been a difficult read. I don’t know that anyone handles this sort of mass tragedy well, but I feel itchy. I wish more than anything I had some sort of skill that would make me useful in such situations. I wish I was there.

And then, I don’t. I’m not sure I could handle seeing the death. I nearly fell off the treadmill yesterday when they showed footage of a little boy being rescued from the wreckage. His arms outstretched, he was handed overhead by rescuers down a mountain of broken concrete. I was in tears.

This book is an Oprah selection; they usually make me far too introspective and sad. This book didn’t send in the dark clouds. Instead, it told a strange, interesting tale from a cultural perspective I was hungry to learn from. It is an easy read and I did enjoy it.

My favorite excerpt comes from the very last page:

“There is always a place where women live near trees that, blowing in the wind, sound like music. These women tell stories to their children both to frighten and delight them. These women, they are fluttering lanterns on the hills, the fireflies in the night, the faces that loom over you and recreate the same unspeakable acts that they themselves lived through. There is always a place where nightmares are passed on through generations like heirlooms. Where women like cardinal birds return to look at their own faces in stagnant bodies of water.

“I come from a place where breath, eyes, and memory are one, a place from which you carry your past like the hair on your head. Where women return to their children as butterflies or as tars in the eyes of the statues that their daughters pray to. My mother was as brave as starts at dawn.”

3 out of 5 bananas

~K