Hello, folks -

How are you? Did it snow? Was there a snow day? I'm so out of the loop. . . I didn't even leave the hospital today. Maybe it snowed here. Did it? Do you know?

So, I've been reading! Duh . . . Okay, I finished The Memory Keeper's Daughter. Did I already tell you that? It was good; parts were great - so descriptive and vivid and REAL. But it was morbidly depressing (in my opinion). Is reality that depressing? I don't believe it. Just call me a glass-half-full-kind-of-girl. (And no remarks about how I'm too old to be considered a girl . . .)

Then I read Bringing Down the House . . . Shoot. I can't remember who wrote it. I'll get back to you on that one. But they have it at the MVRHS library. It's about these kids from MIT who make millions playing blackjack in Vegas and elsewhere. The writing isn't fabulous but the story is full of intrigue - violence, sleaziness, money, backstabbing, etc. I don't enjoy gambling AT ALL (why throw your money away on gambling when you could be buying BOOKS!?!?!?!?!) and I've never even played blackjack, but I was fascinated. There was a little too much info. about how to card count and how to improve your blackjack odds - I don't need to know. But there was so much human interest and action that I was hooked. Read it in one day. Some of you might like it.

Next I read Secret Confessions of the Applewood PTA by Ellen Meister. It was terrible but in a really fun and scandalous and ridiculous kind of way. I haven't read a book this trashy in a little while. I don't recommend it exactly, but I read it and I enjoyed it and I am embarrassed to admit it. Don't read it if you're looking for a LITERARY experience. . . Catcher in the Rye it ain't. (OOPS! I'm an English teacher and I said "ain't." I was using it as a quaint colloquialism.)
It was all about these ridiculous women who were on the PTA and trying to get a George Clooney movie filmed at their town elementary school. The women are idiots, the plot predictable, the dialogue forced, the characters one-dimensional, and the ending way too easy. If you wrote it, I'd give you a C. Maybe. But it was entertaining.

I'm not sure what my next foray will be. I have lots of choices. I'll keep you posted. I'm thinking it's going to be A Sudden Country by Karen Fisher. Anyone read it?

Hannah has taken a turn for the better this past week. She's not feeling or looking nearly as sick. We may be able to leave the hospital and head for the Ronald McDonald House in the next few weeks. We'll still be in Boston for a while, but we won't have to sleep in the hospital. We're all a little nervous about this; Hannah hasn't been away from the hospital since November 7. It's scary, but I'm sure it will be a good thing.

Hope all of you are doing well!

Ms. Wallace