By Golly, Ollie!

  • A Solid Dose of Nostalgia | The Mermaids of Lake Michigan by Suzanne Kamata

    A Solid Dose of Nostalgia | The Mermaids of Lake Michigan by Suzanne Kamata

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    I’m calling it right now– The Mermaids of Lake Michigan by Suzanne Kamata will be one of the top five books I read during 2017.

    the-mermaids-of-lake-michigan-book-coverThe Mermaids of Lake Michigan by Suzanne Kamata

    Released: February 14, 2017
    Publisher: Wyatt-MacKenzie Publishing
    Add to Goodreads
    ★★★★☆
    Amazon|BAM|B&N

    Elise Faulkner is more at home in the waters of her beloved Lake Michigan than on land where her beauty queen mom is always on her back about her lack of a social life; her sister is dating the boy of her dreams; her favorite penpal–the one who wrote about mermaids in Ghana–has gotten married and ended their correspondence; and no one’s allowed to talk about her glamorous great-grandmother, the deep-sea wreck diver. Elise is biding her time with books until she can flee. But then crazy Chiara Hanover pops into her life, as does Miguel, a mysterious carnival worker whose dark future has been predicted by a gypsy.

    Here’s the thing– the synopsis you’ll read on goodreads or the back of the book won’t do The Mermaids of Lake Michigan by Suzanne Kamata justice. The synopsis seems almost flippant with its talk of beauty queens and carnival workers and deep-sea wreck divers and mermaids (of course), but there is so much more gravity to this novel.

    The Mermaids of Lake Michigan is a stunningly-written and poetic coming-of-age novel that takes place in the small, sea-side town of Grand Haven, Michigan during the 1970s. Life for Elisa Faulkner seems cookie-cutter-esque until she meets the Chiara Hanover, her neighbor’s vibrant and carefree granddaughter. They’re a bit of an odd couple at first, but Chiara breathes life back into Elise. It’s the small things at first– like influencing Elise to chop of her long locks and changing her wardrobe. Then it grows to skipping school and stealing away to the smoky clubs in Chicago with fake IDs to succumb to infectious, jazzy music. Along the way, Elise meets a young Romani man at a carnival, and he sweeps her off her feet with talk of destiny.

    Every once in a while, readers also catch a glimpse of Elise’s childhood and her relationship with her mother. At times, readers see a pathetic vision of a mother trying to fit into the dress she wore when she was the winner of her local beauty pageant. They see her distant and depressed when she learns she is pregnant for a third time. They see her hiding a greyhound bus ticket that promised to take her far away from the family she helped build. And, it’s these visions that drive Elise to be impulsive– to follow her heart all the way from Michigan to Columbia, South Carolina. There she hopes to find love and destiny, but instead she finds longing and despair.

    I knocked a star off my rating because I didn’t realize this novel took place in the 1970s for the first several chapters. Also for its use of the word “gypsy”, which is a racial slur, and its associated stereotypes.

    I received a copy of this novel for free in exchange for an honest review as part of TLC Book Tours.

    TLC Book Tours

  • I’m Nervous About Starting This Book

    I’m Nervous About Starting This Book

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    A dense fog has sunk into mid-Michigan this week. It’s made my new, 30-mile commute dreadful and the woods across the street from my house particularly spooky. Perhaps the ominous atmosphere is what drove me to pluck Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris from the library shelf on Saturday. Or, perhaps it was the glitter on the book cover. Regardless the reason, now that I’ve sat down to read the novel, I find myself nervous to open the book. This is what I know about the Sookie Stackhouse series:

    1. It’s wildly popular. They even turned it into a TV show.
    2. It’s a pretty steamy series.
    3. There is a vampire in it (multiple vampires?), which immediately increases the probability that I will loathe the book.

    So, here I am procrastinating by blogging and drinking tea that tastes more like the sweet clovers I tasted in late Springtime in Ohio when I was a child than something that should accompany a novel about vampires. Even if said novel has glitter on the front cover.

    doomni-summer-oolong

    Today I drink Doomni Summer Oolong from Teabox Tea, which is from the Assam region, an area known for its malty, black tea rather than its Oolong. The dry leaves are a beautiful blend of dark green, rusty-brown, and taupe, and they smell creamy, sweet, and soft. The flavor of the tea is reminiscent of the red clover flowers that I used to taste growing up in Ohio– slightly vegetal and slightly honeyed sweet. I also pick up a very subtle floral flavor– jasmine, maybe? The package mentions there should also be some minty notes, but I do not taste it. Basically, Doomni Summer Oolong tastes like Springtime, and it seems to cut through the fog wrapped around soggy tree trunks. This tea is best sipped hot, but if you’re going to nurse it, you can add some honey to cut the bitterness that surfaces as it cools.

    Have you ever been so nervous to start a new book that you found yourself procrastinating?

  • My New Library Still Rubber Stamps the Due Dates On All of the Books

    My New Library Still Rubber Stamps the Due Dates On All of the Books

    6 comments on My New Library Still Rubber Stamps the Due Dates On All of the Books

    I think the thing that surprised me most about my local library was how many people were there. Then again, in a village of about 3,000 people, what else is there to do on a Saturday morning in the middle of January? This particular Saturday was “balmy”– overcast and nearly 50 degrees. I would have pried open windows, as Michiganders are wont to do during brief spells of unseasonably warm weather, but all of my windows are missing screens. So…I decided to walk to the library instead, which happens to be a short zig-zag away from my house. I mean, it probably took me a whole minute to walk there.

    Now, the library I used to visit in the capital city was a big, brand new building with high ceilings, couches, and a fireplace, and you could easily maneuver the stacks without bumping into anyone. My new library is a small brick building tucked beside the fire department. The front lawn is decorated with some awkward scarecrow made out of white fence pieces and a blow-up snowman that looks tacky now that Christmas is a month behind us. Inside is cozy though, perhaps a little dark in some corners, and almost over-stuffed with books, if such a thing were possible. Patrons included a man with a scraggly beard playing on the computers, an elderly woman, who has traced her ancestry back to the 1400s so far, and a middle-aged woman, who had just won $40 on a scratch-off lottery ticket, and the first thing she thought to do with the money was pay her library fine so she could borrow books again.

    Even though the selection of books isn’t nearly as vast as my old library, I still managed to spend an hour perusing the stacks. This weekend’s library loot includes:

    • Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison — I read this over ten years ago when I was still in high school; I wonder if it’s still as funny as I remember.
    • Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel — a sci-fi novel told in interviews, journal entries, transcripts, and news articles. I’ve not had any luck with epistolary novels lately, but we’ll see if this one is different.
    • Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz — because it’s about time I catch up with the rest of the book blogosphere!
    • Dead Until Dark: Sookie Stackhouse #1 by Charlain Harris — because it’s about time I catch up with the rest of the world!
    • the Mental Floss History of the World by Erik Sass and Steve Wiegand — because I’m a nerd.

    If you’re a library-goer, what are some of your favorite things about your library?

  • The Best of 2016
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    The Best of 2016

    5 comments on The Best of 2016

    Yet another year passes, and I didn’t reach my goal of reading 52 books. How can I call myself a book blogger if I cannot even achieve such a minuscule goal? Surely there is a quota that must be met for this sort of thing. Still, I read some pretty incredible books this year. These books take the cake!

    The Road to Little Dribbling by Bill Bryson — I knew this hilarious travel narrative by one of my favorite writers would top the list before I even started reading.

    Open Road Summer by Emery Lord — This novel started out as a two-star read but shifted into a four-star read that changed my perspective on YA Contemporary novels.

    The Sisters of Versailles and The Rivals of Versailles by Sally Christie — If you would have told me I was going to read and love this steamy romp through the palace of Versailles, I wouldn’t have believed you, but Sally Christie’s wit and storytelling abilities are irresistible. The final novel in this series, The Enemies of Versailles, is being released this year, and I cannot wait to read it!

    The Vanishing Season by Jodi Lynn Anderson — I still can’t find the words to accurately praise this novel. It is my absolute favorite read of 2016 though.

    The Art of Holding on and Letting Go by Kristin Bartley Lenz — This was a beautifully written novel about coping with grief and the healing powers of nature and rock climbing, and Lenz captured the essence of Michigan so perfectly (perhaps because she is a Michigander!).

    Into the Wild Nerd Yonder by Julie Halpern — Halpern captures the voice of a fifteen year old girl so vividly in this hilarious contemporary novel about family, friendship, and Dungeons & Dragons.

    Pique Tea Crystals — It’s a toss-up between their Earl Grey and their Mint Sencha, but Pique Tea Crystals is perfect for brewing a cup of iced tea on the go.

    Lemon Soleil Tea from Adagio Teas — The bright and lemony black tea was, without a doubt, my absolute favorite tea to sip on in 2016!

    Reading Nook Blend by Plume Deluxe — Just as the name of the tea suggests, this floral scented tea is perfect for keeping cozy while reading.

    Charcoal-baked Anxi Tie Guan Yin Oolong Tea from Tea Vivre — This is another dreamy, floral-flavored tea that makes me wish Springtime were right around the corner.

    Thai Chai Tea from Adagio Teas — this spicy and creamy blend of black tea, cinnamon bark, ginger root, dried coconut, cardamom, and lemon grass kept me warm this Autumn.

    What were some of your favorite Books & Tea in 2016?

  • Where Have I Been?

    Where Have I Been?

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    I have been a very bad blogger these past few months, but gosh! the end of the year has been a whirlwind– Nay! A tornado! I could express my dismay for neglecting my blog, but who wants to read about that? Here is the juicy stuff:

    Jackie & Jon Get Hitched!

    Remember back in January when I announced that I baked delicious blackberry mini-pies and also got engaged? Well, Jon and I sealed the deal on October 22, 2016! We had a small outdoor wedding among crimson and golden mums and trees that were beginning to change color. The ceremony was short and sweet, which is a relief because I spent most of it crying in front of 60 of our closest friends and relatives. Plus, it was a bit chilly, but at least it didn’t rain! Or more impressively, at least it didn’t snow.

    Then we herded indoors to a warm room decorated with copper and teal to feast on lasagna (because I like to live dangerously in a white dress) and wedding pie from Grand Traverse Pie Company (because wedding cake is so overrated) while sipping apple cider.

    I also engaged in awkward conversation because I have as much social grace as a hermit crab.

    We moved!

    Back in September, Jon and I both took a step up in the company we work for. My manager left, so I am officially THE accountant. So far, I haven’t lost my mind entirely, but the first two months were a bit rocky. Jon transferred to another franchise about an hour away to take on the role of the Move Manager (and to put this in context, we work for a moving company). Needless to say, spending two hours each day commuting was becoming draining for him, so we plopped down right in the middle.

    We relocated from the state’s capital, which (only) had about 100,000 citizens, to a literal village of less than 3,000 citizens. But, I think life here will be more my speed (which is about 25 mph on most streets “in town”).

    We moved on New Years Eve day, rang in the New Years by sleeping through the ball drop, and then enjoyed a hearty breakfast at a diner called the Feed Bag, which is situated across the street from a grain elevator and a livestock feed depot. It’s the kind of restaurant that has customers that greet you when you walk through the door even if you’re a stranger. They order “the usual” and talk about how they’re eating early today because their husband has to teach both of the children’s’ church services that morning. The one waitress working joins in on conversations at the tables and even offers you a coffee to go before you even realized you wanted one. Perhaps most importantly, they have delicious sausage gravy.

    The unpacking process is moving slowly, so I do not have pictures yet. But, I’m happy to announce…I finally have bookshelves!

    I’ve missed you, dear readers! How did you ring in the New Year?

About the Blogger

My name is Jackie, and I am a millennial / mother / Michigander / blogger / wannabe runner / accountant / local library enthusiast / gamer, kinda. This is a personal blog, which means I’m not entirely certain what you’ll find here, but it will definitely not show up on the first page of Google search results.