Just Jot It January is hosted by Linda H Gill - here's the link
to her site where you will find all the rules and the place to leave
your link to your own post if you decide to join in plus links to all
the other participants.
The background to the challenge can be found here.
Your prompt for JusJoJan 2019, January 11th is brought to you by M! Click here to find her last SoCS post
and say hi while you’re there! M’s word for our prompt today is in SoCS
style: “flew/flu/flue.” Use one, use them all, use them anywhere in
your post or make one or all the theme of your post. Have fun!
I will need to be able to say my fingers flew over the keyboard to get this post done and posted on time. The day seems to have disappeared on me and dinner was late so clearing up even later and now I'm rushing to get all my Friday posts finished.
Thankfully I don't have flu. I have actually had real flu in the past (as opposed to a really heavy cold/cough etc that many people would call flu even though they are able to function almost normally) It really hit me for six and left me with a chest infection requiring antibiotics and it was almost a month before I had a day where I thought "I felt ok today!" I try and get the flu jab each year but must admit I haven't done that yet this time.
Hmm 2 out of 3. But actually I do have a flue that comes out of our boiler which is in the kitchen. There is also a chimney flue to the fireplace in our living room. We've never actually used it for an open fire. I believe the former owners of the house did but that was a long time ago so if we had any real desire to use it we would have to get the flue checked out. Not something I'm keen to do. Open fires are lovely but I much prefer to enjoy someone else's than mess about with trying to get the fire going and then clearing up the ash etc afterwards.
Well this has definitely been a waffle kind of post but my fingers were definitely flying! Hope there aren't too many typos!
Our Souls at Night by Kent Haruf
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
A spare yet eloquent,
bittersweet yet inspiring story of a man and a woman who, in advanced
age, come together to wrestle with the events of their lives and their
hopes for the imminent future.
In the familiar setting of Holt,
Colorado, home to all of Kent Haruf's inimitable fiction, Addie Moore
pays an unexpected visit to a neighbor, Louis Waters. Her husband died
years ago, as did his wife, and in such a small town they naturally have
known of each other for decades; in fact, Addie was quite fond of
Louis's wife. His daughter lives hours away in Colorado Springs, her son
even farther away in Grand Junction, and Addie and Louis have long been
living alone in houses now empty of family, the nights so terribly
lonely, especially with no one to talk with.
Their brave
adventures - their pleasures and their difficulties - are hugely
involving and truly resonant, making Our Souls at Night the perfect
final installment to this beloved writer's enduring contribution to
American literature.
There's definitely something about this book that makes me understand why some people rate it so highly. Difficult to put my finger on exactly what that is. There is so much that frustrated me, especially the decision to use no speech punctuation marks when a lot of the text is either spoken or thought. I found myself re-reading many paragraphs to work out what had actually been said and by who.
The whole premise of the story is a little hard to get your head around too. I can't imagine being widowed in my 70s and approaching a relative stranger (albeit a long time neighbour) to share by bed at night just to talk, because I was lonely. But that's what Addie does. She approaches her neighbour Louis with her proposal.
The book charts how this develops and the reactions of their families. It's interesting but I wouldn't call it a great book. For anyone wondering whether it's worth a try the big thing in its favour is that it's quite short and therefore a quick read. Be prepared for a disappointing ending though.
View all my reviews
Why Mummy Drinks by Gill Sims
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Why Mummy Drinks is the brilliant novel from Gill Sims, the author of the online sensation Peter and Jane.
It
is Mummy’s 39th birthday. She is staring down the barrel of a future of
people asking if she wants to come to their advanced yoga classes, and
polite book clubs where everyone claims to be tiddly after a glass of
Pinot Grigio and says things like ‘Oooh gosh, are you having another
glass?’
But Mummy does not want to go quietly into that good
night of women with sensible haircuts who ‘live for their children’ and
stand in the playground trying to trump each other with their
offspring’s extracurricular activities and achievements, and boasting
about their latest holidays.
Instead, she clutches a large
glass of wine, muttering ‘FML’ over and over again. Until she remembers
the gem of an idea she’s had…
A good light hearted read to start the New Year. Most Mums, especially working Mums will be able to relate to this. Many of us will be able to say "been there" and "done that". We've all probably had the moment of enlightenment too where we realise none of us are perfect, we all struggle but we don't talk about it enough. Thankfully most of us won't have to cope with an influx of extra kids and their insufferable parents but it was fun reading about them. Realistic at times but mostly over the top, I enjoyed it.
View all my reviews
