Book Review: The Girl Who Came Home

Like most elementary-aged girls in the 90s, I became fascinated with the Titanic when James Cameron's film was released. I remember going to see the movie with my dad (and feeling really uncomfortable sitting next to him during the sex scene) and finding the story so beautiful--while also hating Rose because she let Jack die. More importantly, though, after watching the movie, I wanted to learn everything I could about the Titanic. I read books, watched documentaries, re-watched Titanic a million times, and even played a board game where, if I remember correctly, the premise was to see if you would live or die. Needless to say, when I saw The Girl Who Came Home: A Novel of the Titanic by Hazel Gaynor at Books-a-Million last weekend, I had to buy it.

image courtesy of Goodreads.com

Like many novels that have been published recently, The Girl Who Came Home is told in alternating viewpoints, switching back and forth between Maggie Murphy, a seventeen year old girl who is traveling on the Titanic with her aunt and twelve others from her village in Ireland in 1912, and Grace Butler, Maggie's great-granddaughter and a budding journalist in Chicago in 1982. Grace, having just lost her father in a tragic car accident and with it, her love of journalism, appears to be in a life slump, that is until Maggie opens up to her about her experience on the Titanic. 

Maggie relives her life changing tragedy for her great-granddaughter, telling her of the young steward who saved her life, the girls she traveled with from her Irish village, and her experiences with the social class differences aboard the ship. All the while, Maggie tells Grace of how often her mind turned to Seamus, the young man from back home whom she was desperately in love with, and how deeply she cared for him. By reliving the past, Maggie is able to learn to let go, while, in turn, Grace learns how to hold on to the things she cares about.

While much of The Girl Who Came Home contained stories (a man who snuck onto one of the lifeboats disguised as a woman) and imagery (the little boy spinning a top on one of the decks of the ship) that I was already aware of, and, coincidentally enough, James Cameron showed in his film, Gaynor provided me with a story I was unfamiliar with. The characters and village in the novel, while fictional, are all based on real people and a real village near Killala in County Mayo in Ireland. "The Addergoole Fourteen" were a group of men and woman from there who sailed on the Titanic. Only three survived. Even though the characters in the novel are fictitious, their stories are riveting nonetheless.

The details that Gaynor provides are what gives the story depth, though. She richly details the aesthetics of the ship and how those on board behaved during the voyage. Also, sprinkled throughout the novel are telegrams sent and received by those on board the Titanic, as well as letters between the characters to further the plot. The book tended to be a little slow moving at times, but even so, the ending was unexpected; I did not think there were going to be any surprises, but I was very happy for the last reveal. 

I thoroughly enjoyed the story and there were times that I wanted to reach into the pages and rescue the people from the freezing waters of the Atlantic. I could physically feel Maggie's longing for Seamus, as well as her devastation of that horrible night. I give The Girl Who Came Home an 8.5 out of 10 and recommend it for anyone who is interested in this moment in history, with an appreciation for romance.

60 Before 30

Saturday was my birthday and now that I am 27, I feel...older. This is the first birthday where I truly feel like I am older and more adult. Maybe it is because my students spent all last week making me feel old (I had to explain what Total Request Live was and we had an in-depth discussion about the merits of the Spice Girls) and while feeling older is not a bad thing at all, I am now realizing that I am no longer in my mid-twenties. Nope, 27 counts as late-twenties and I can actually see 30 on the horizon.

I have been thinking about this birthday for awhile. On New Year's Day, while the husband was working in the home office, I sat and reflected on 2014 (Got married! Bought a house! Started a new job!) and what I wanted to accomplish in 2015. I have never really been one for goals, but I was inspired by Emily on Em for Marvelous who regularly blogs about her monthly and yearly goals. I like the thoughtful deliberation that goes into creating the goals and I feel like she is really holding herself accountable by putting them out there for the world to see. Last year, when she turned 27, she created a list of the 60 things she wanted to accomplish by the time she turned 30. I LOVED that idea and I was actually really happy to see that we had some of the same goals. Her post stuck with me and on New Year's Day of this year, I began crafting my own list. I did not actually have all 60 things until the last week or so, but I found myself checking a few things off here and there over the last four months and I felt so great about that (it is not cheating and I did not replace the few things I completed). A lot of my goals are home-related, but I think that just goes along with the point I am at in my life. 

State Date: January 1, 2015
End Date: April 4, 2018
Items Completed: 11

1. Cultivate a strawberry or raspberry bush
2. Grow a small cutting garden with roses, hydrangeas, or peonies
3. Start a small vegetable and herb garden in the backyard
4. Order an heirloom quality wedding album for our home completed January 2015
5. Celebrate our one year anniversary completed June 2015
6. ...and our two year!
7. ...and our three year!
8. Expand our family
9. Host a themed party
10. Make our front porch comfortable and inviting
11. Renovate the backyard so it is a great place to gather--this includes adding a deck or patio completed April 2015, post here
12. Go to a flea market--and buy something
13. Make a will
14. Transfer car title from parents
15. Create a drop zone or mudroom area near the garage door completed January 2015, post here
16. Add curtains to the family room and dining room
17. Paint the downstairs (kitchen, family room, and dining room) completed August 2015
18. Install a backsplash in the kitchen
19. Add some sort of organizational system to the kitchen that holds the pots and pans to make things easier to find and more accessible completed April 2015
20. Paint our bedroom
21. Hang the gallery wall over the sofa in the family room completed January 2015, post here
22. Buy a headboard/frame for our bedroom completed March 2015, post here
23. Learn to French braid
24. Make a quilt
25. Crochet or knit a blanket
26. Get in shape and to my goal weight
27. Save money
28. Pay off credit card
29. Visit three new cities  in progress...San Diego in October 2015
30. Make at least one friend in the neighborhood completed August 2015
31. Join or start a book club
32. Install a rain barrel
33. Attend a Broadway show with David
34. See more of New England--beyond just Boston
35. Start a blog completed February 2015, post here
36. Begin creating yearly family "yearbooks" to capture our lives together
37. Wake up earlier (regularly at 8am or before) and establish a consistent morning routine that energizes me
38. Send someone flowers out of the blue
39. Learn some photography skills beyond just "point and shoot"
40. Organize the books in our home library
41. Begin working towards (or even complete!) an endorsement to my teaching license in administration, library and media studies, or reading
42. Get certified to teach AP English Language and Composition completed July 2015
43. Make a presentation in an English-based, educational setting
44. Visit Aunt Babe in Wisconsin
45. Go to a Patriots game in Foxborough with David
46. Gather and display frame family photos from both sides of the family (parents and grandparents)
47. Host either Christmas or Thanksgiving with both sides of the family--or at least both sets of parents
48. Go to Europe with David--or at least begin planning the trip
49. Donate/sell old clothes and shoes I no longer wear
50. Take a new-to-me class, such as an exercise class, cooking class, art class, etc.
51. Learn how to ski-- or at least attempt it
52. Learn how to drive stick shift
53. Take a sister-only weekend trip somewhere with Rachel 
54. Go to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios in Orlando
55. Join and semi-regularly attend church
56. Plan a fun surprise date for David
57. Get my pearls and wedding ring insured
58. Go back to Phoenix and hike Camelback Mountain
59. Visit Colonial Williamsburg at Christmastime
60. Make homemade jam

While I may not be able to complete all 60 items on my list, I am really looking forward to trying. :)

Happy Birthday to Me!

Today is my 27th birthday, and as someone who loves birthdays and always makes a huge deal out of them, I think everyone should celebrate! I plan on spending all day with my wonderful husband, who is lovingly going to indulge my obsession with books by taking me to a used bookstore before we go out for some sushi. Gosh, I love that man!

I will be back on Monday with a special goals post. :)

Book Review: The Secret Life of Violet Grant

Beatriz Williams can do no wrong. I am officially convinced of that. I just finished reading The Secret Life of Violet Grant (why it took me so long, I have no idea), and it was wonderful. I was previously introduced to Williams' writing when I read A Hundred Summers last summer while on our honeymoon and I thought it was beautiful, so when The Secret Life of Violet Grant came up as a suggested read on Amazon last week, I wasted no time in purchasing it.

image courtesy of Goodreads.com

Vivian Schuyler was born wealthy, but is trying to make it on her own as a journalist, and is living in New York City in 1964 when a mysterious suitcase comes into her possession. The suitcase, at one point, belonged to Vivian's great-aunt Violet, a woman even more daring and independent than Vivian, who left her family behind to study physics in England in 1911 before disappearing. This suitcase potentially holds the key to her disappearance. Alternating between narrators, Violet's story is revealed; although, for decades, her family has managed to keep it under wraps, which adds a bit of mystery.

Secrets that have been long tucked away are revealed as Vivian tries to locate her great-aunt. While Vivian has hopes of writing a story about Violet and finally achieving her dream of becoming a full-fledged journalist, she is also curious about her mysterious disappearance and the accusation that Violet is an adulterer who murdered her famous physicist husband.

As we read Violet's narration, we see that Violet's marriage was not a happy one: her husband is extremely controlling and manipulative, and he does not value his wife in any way beyond being an attractive, younger woman on his arm. We also learn that Violet's scientific work, as well as the people she spent time with while working, somehow played a part in her disappearance. 

Williams is able to recreate the era in which Violet lived and while I was reading, I was able to imagine Europe in the early 1900s. The twists in the story kept me guessing and I found myself caught up in both Violet and Vivian's stories. Williams' work is quickly making her one of my must-read authors and I give The Secret Life of Violet Grant a 9 out of 10.

Addendum: With spring break next week, I just ordered Overseas, which was published in 2012, to have something exciting to read while lounging around the house in my pjs (I live an exciting life) and I cannot wait until Williams' next book, Tiny Little Thing, is released on June 23rd! 

Super Easy Veggie and Cheesy Quiche

This weekend was super chaotic. The State Forensics tournament was being held at our school on Saturday and since I am the assistant coach (no idea how that happened), I spent all Saturday running around like a crazy person at school, which meant today was reserved for grading and lesson planning. When it came time to make dinner tonight, I really had no energy, but I did not want order in. Since the husband is at work, I could make whatever I wanted, so I settled on breakfast for dinner. 

One of my favorite things to make for breakfast is this quiche because you can use whatever you want in it. I tend to just throw in whatever vegetables I have on hand, so there is really no shopping involved and it always ends up delicious! The ingredients listed below are what I used tonight.

Ingredients:

• 8 oz. fresh mushrooms
• 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1/2 cup baby spinach
• 1/2 cup of diced onion
• 1 bell pepper, chopped
• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 2 oz. feta cheese
• 1/4 cup shaved Parmesan
• 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella
• salt and pepper to taste

Everything except the eggs and milk

Directions:

• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
• Quickly rinse the mushrooms and chop them up. Put the mushrooms in a skillet coated with non-stick spray, add the minced garlic, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Turn the heat to medium-high and saute the mushrooms until they release their moisture and no water remains in the bottom of the skillet (5-7 minutes).
• Spray a pie dish with non-stick spray and layer the spinach in the bottom of the dish. Next add the mushrooms (with minced garlic), the onions, and the bell peppers. Top with crumbled feta.

• In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs until fairly smooth. Add the milk, Parmesan, and another sprinkle of pepper. Whisk to combine. (This can be done while the mushrooms are cooking.) Pour the mixture over the veggies and feta.

• Sprinkle the shredded mozzarella cheese over the top of the egg mixture.

• Place the quiche into the preheated over and bake until its golden brown on top and the center is solid. As all ovens are different, this will probably take between 45 minutes and an hour (for me, it took 55 minutes).

• Slice, serve, and enjoy!!!