Back to “Normal”

“Isn’t it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet?”  – L.M. Montgomery

The New Year has started well. I am finally feeling almost back to normal, though I am on the tail end of the steroids with their fun side effects. Tennessee is also fully recovered and we’re both breathing a sigh of relief.

All the four-footed residents of the house have settled into their routine. My office mates have chosen their preferred sleeping places–the cat sleeps on the big dog bed, the smaller dog sleeps in the cat bed and the big dog is stuck finding a spot on the floor.

It’s pretty funny to see how careful the dogs are of the cat.

Our Blue Apron date nights are still happening, and we shared last night’s with Tennessee’s BFF.

She came with her pup and some craft supplies. We made Valentine’s ornaments because Tennessee can’t part with the white tree yet so we’re decorating it for Valentine’s Day.

It was a really good day and an appropriate finale for the first week of 2024.

I am also happy to say I’ve finished three books this week. Please see the short reviews below. It feels really good to be reading and writing again.

Book 1

“Black Magic Mushrooms” by Sara Bourgeois

This is the 16th book in a series with 23 books (so far?). I wrote a review of one of the earlier ones and I wasn’t so sure I was going to keep going then. However, I’m completely hooked now and invested in the lives of the characters. Each book takes place exactly where the last one left off. This one deals with the death and resurrection of her beloved Aunt. I am not often able to figure out the killer until late in the book, but I suspected the killer early on in this one, it was fun, nonetheless.

Book 2

“Cantoras” by Carolina de Robertis

I read this book for one of my book clubs. I loved this book so much, but I would not call it a ‘fun’ read.

It’s about five queer women from Uruguay who find each other and a refuge during the tumultuous and dangerous years of a dictatorship. The writing is rich and has so much depth and I was hooked immediately.

There are triggering events of violence and rape so please be aware of that. I am not of fan of how many queer stories have scenes like these, but this story takes place during a military coup and a violent dictatorship, and while the women are fictional, they are based on the real-life experiences of queer women who survived it.

Uruguay and Chile went through their coups and dictators around the same time, and I really connected with this story as a queer woman who wants to connect with her heritage. Just as the author was trying to do.  (https://www.npr.org/2019/09/15/760936470/carolina-de-robertis-on-cantoras)

I connected mostly through the many words that were left in Spanish. as many of those were names of food that the Uruguayans and Chileans have in common. For example:  

‘Alfajores’ – my mom makes these cookies every Christmas.  

‘Milanesa’ – in Chile these are called escalopas which means scallops but is actually a beef or pork schnitzel similar to the way the Germans make it.

The title of the book, Cantoras, literally means female singers. It was also the code for lesbians in Uruguay. In Chile one of the code words was ‘camiona’. I had to look this up and it was hard to find. Homosexuality is still not really acceptable in Chile despite gay marriage becoming legal in 2022. A camion is a truck, so it’s a derogatory word for butch. Another term used is ‘tortillera’- a woman who makes tortillas – tacos anyone?

While I was reading this book it made me wonder if I have or had any family members who are queer and had to hide who they were during the Pinochet years…or still feel like they have to.

You may not connect with this book the way I did, but I still highly recommend it.

Book 3

“Strange Practice” Written by Vivian Shaw and narrated by Suzannah Hampton

This was a fun listen. The main character, Greta Van Helsing (I’m sure that is not just a coincidence) is a fully-fledged doctor whose patients are Monsters, literally… ghouls, mummies, vampires, etc.

The plot centers around a supernatural evil entity that convinces a bunch of Christian monks that it is God and that they must do its bidding. They think their mission is retribution but it’s actually to sow fear which is how the entity feeds. The primary targets are the marginalized “monsters”. Not hard to see the message, but despite that, the story is well-written and entertaining.

Take care, my friends.