Book Review: The History of Love by Nicole Krauss

I rarely read fiction anymore. My time for reading is limited, what with the whole special-needs kid thing (plus, if I'm honest, the Internet-is-distracting thing, a fact I'm not entirely proud of), and I prefer nonfiction. Books I can learn from. Books that keep me interested from beginning to end. Books about real people doing real things. I've never liked mysteries, for example - I just want to know WHO DID IT ALREADY. And yet, I'm a passionate reader, and I do love a good story, it just has to be special. The History of Love by Nicole Krauss was special.

I'm not sure if I can do this book justice beyond saying the above - that this was one of those rare fiction books that sucked me in and kept me turning the pages. It's several threads woven into one big tapestry. It's stories over here and stories over there that suddenly come together in a big A-Ha moment. And the writing. The writing is beautiful. The writing is what I loved best - the stories were fascinating, the characters were fully drawn, but the general tone of the writing was simply lovely.

You want a brief synopsis? A man lost his family in the Holocaust and came to America to find the love of his life had also been lost, though in a different way. A young girl wants to know what's going on with her own family, which has been falling apart for some time. A young boy wraps himself in religious fervor. A man is wracked with guilt over a choice he made years ago. A man finds out that things are not what he thought they were as he was growing up. A woman makes a decision that changes the course of history. And it all connects together, but not in the ways that I ever expected. 

And for me, easily distracted these days, the segmented story kept me interested and enabled me to occasionally (reluctantly) put the book down for a bit while I tended to more important matters. In the end, the payoff was totally worth it all, even if I felt like I probably should sit down and draw out a map of the story, complete with arrows and dashed lines and notes. Basically, you need to add this book to your to-read list right now. (And while I'm not currently in a book group, I think this would be a great choice for one.)

I've begun reading Krauss's second novel, Great House, although I've only had time for a few pages. So far, her writing seems to have retained its magical quality. Maybe tonight I'll shut down the computer and dig in for an hour or so.

According to my poor record keeping of 2010, I read approximately 45 books this year. I fell short of my usual goal to read 50, but I also read many, many picture books many, many times. I didn't officially count those, but trust me, I was reading even when I wasn't reading. I expect this trend to continue through 2011...

Happy New Year!

Enter a contest to win your own Keurig MINI plus apple cider K-cups - December 29, 2010

I've rambled so much about my Keurig that I thought maybe you'd like one of your own. (Plus, well, I love contests...) You can win a Keurig MINI Plus Brewing System from Leslie Loves Veggies (a site that has a BUNCH of giveaways - woohoo!) plus a box of apple cider K-cups (which are really yummy - a friend gave me a few - they actually have real apples in them, not fakey stuff).

From the site: "Giveaway will end on Tuesday 1/4.Giveaway open to U.S.& Canadian entries only." More info and rules at LeslieLovesVeggies.net.

Ah, and maybe you just want to try the apple cider K-cups, but you already have a Keurig brewer? Then just enter the Thanks Mail Carrier contest for a box of 24 of them! (More great giveaways at the Thanks Mail Carrier site too!)

Let me know if you win one of these!

End of the Year Meme List Thing - December 28, 2010

I shamelessly have borrowed (stolen?) this from the blog of E. Lockhart, an author I admire (and who could easily be on my list of "authors with whom I should be BFFs") and whose new book, the final in the Ruby Oliver series (although I secretly hope for more) Real Live Boyfriends just came out. The main character in this series may have a name that is similar to my child's. Total coincidence. Mostly.

1. What did you do in 2010 that you'd never done before? 

I got in the car, looked straight ahead, and drove. To Target. To R's house. To Publix. And it felt great. I also sold my wares at two craft shows.

2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I looked back and didn't seem to have many actual resolutions for 2010. I did make sure my kid got everything she needed and more, and that's always an important thing.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Yup. Several new 2010 babies made appearances. Hooray new babies!

4. Did anyone close to you die?
No.

5. What countries did you visit?
Does Massachusetts count as a country? No? Then, um....Tennessee. (I'm kidding. I didn't really go anywhere this year.)

6. What would you like to have in 2011 that you lacked in 2010?
A daughter who can walk. And I believe it's going to happen!

7. What date from 2010 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
The kid's first day of preschool, I think. Maybe some other milestones she reached this year - not the exact dates, necessarily, but the fact of them happening.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
The driving! Also adding new stores that carry my jewelry and selling at not one but TWO craft shows. (And making a profit at both.)

9. What was your biggest failure?
I didn't do enough writing this year - not on my personal pet project nor on projects that would actually pay me money. Next year for sure. I also gained a bit of weight (eep) and never managed to do much about it. 

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
I think 2010 was the year I did have some drama with my health, but mostly since we've started seeing the chiropractor we've all done reasonably well.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
The Vitamix and the Keurig.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
My friend k8 stuck by me all year - through phone calls and iChats and dramaz and craziness. Celebrate k8! 

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Commenters on the Internet. Particularly when the subject of the main article was anything related to breastfeeding/birth. Ugh.

14. Where did most of your money go?
Groceries, I think. Nothing all that fun. 

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
My kid. The Dresden Dolls show (not just for the fact that it existed at all, but also for getting to GO OUT and be a not-mom for a night). Groupons and coupons and deals. Coffee in all its forms. 

16. What song will always remind you of 2010?
The Yeti Stomp. "Yet? Yet? *point point* Yet?"

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
- happier or sadder? happier in some areas, sadder in others
- richer or poorer? the same, I think
- thinner or fatter? fatter. boo-urns.

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Exercise. 

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Paperwork. (Same answer as E. Lockhart, woohoo!) Insurance. Therapists. Applications. Etc.

20. How did you spend the holidays?
Hanukkah was low key. My family visited for Xmas. No big plans for NYE.

21. Did you fall in love in 2010?
Not with anyone new. 

22. How many one-night stands?
Ha ha ha ha ha. None. What a random question!

23. What was your favorite TV program?
CBS Sunday Morning, always and forever. How I Met Your Mother, America's Got Talent, and America's Next Top Model also were favorites this year. And Dexter!  

24. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
Probably. I'm a very nasty Scorpio.

25. What was the best book you read?
I made a list of 15 of them.

26. What was your favorite film of this year?
I saw Inception in the theater TWICE. Pretty amazing that I managed that - so even if it wouldn't be my favorite movie if I saw lots of movies, it sort of wins by default. 

27. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2010?
It fits and it's clean, so I'm wearing it. 

28 Whom did you miss?
I missed a bunch of my friends who live far away because I went and moved far away. 

29. Who was the best new person you met?
The entire staff at my kid's preschool, plus her new out-of-school speech therapist.

30. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2010.
Patience patience patience. Also, don't be afraid to question what you believe - it may simply make your beliefs stronger at the end of the day.

I Heart Contests - December 24, 2010

I enter lots of contests online, but I rarely win. Yesterday I opened my mailbox to find that I'd won a $100 Publix gift card from the Del Monte Family Meals Sweepstakes! Woohoo - free groceries! (The contest is long over; that link goes to the page on which I originally learned about it.)

I tried to remember if I'd won anything else in 2010. Here's what I came up with [updated 12/27/10]:

• I won a $50 Target gift card from the Dr. Oz giveaway a few months ago.
• I won a case of PopChips (the small 100-calorie bags - yum!).
• I won four tickets to the children's museum via Facebook.
• I won a box of Tetley Tea via Facebook.
• I won a giant stack of Laughing Cow coupons via Twitter.
• I earned about $200 in Amazon gift cards from Swagbucks (and since I started have earned almost $500 in cash and Amazon gift cards).
• I earned at least $100 in Amazon gift cards from mypoints.com. 
• I earned about $50-$75 from various online survey sites. I wasn't that strict about these - I just don't always have time to do a survey and I ignore 99% of the survey emails (I do MySurvey and Synovate when I see them, but other sites send me emails that I don't usually have time for).

Next year I'll try to be better about noting when I earn/win cash and prizes.

Do you like to enter contests? Where do you hear about them? I tend to learn about them from blogs like Money Saving Mom and iheartpublix.com, and a friend of mine just linked me to online-sweepstakes.com, although at the moment that's pretty overwhelming!

And who knows. Maybe in 2011 I will start being able to give things away in this blog! (That would be fantastic!)

Thing Review: Solofill reusable, refillable K-cup alternative - December 22, 2010

When I wrote this review, the Solofill was out of stock both on the main Solofill website and on Amazon (where I got mine because I have free Amazon Prime through the Amazon mom program). However, it is now back in stock or will be soon. And now, my review of the Solofill "Reusable Single Coffee Filter for Keurig Brewers."

It's awesome. Really.

It's red, which is nice, because red kitchen utensils are always fabulous. My Vitamix is red. My microwave oven is red. I like that. I'm superficial that way - but I would've bought this thing if it had been black or blue or purple.

Part of the reason I coveted a Keurig was that I knew that somehow I'd be able to use it with my own coffee, whether with a K Kap or a My K Cup or an EZ Cup or reusing the K Cups with foil or press-and-seal or...something. Obsessive Googling and researching led me to the Solofill, which is still a newcomer on the market for reusable K Cups, but it looked impressive. The only true competition is the My K Cup, which is made by Keurig itself, but I've read many bad reviews of it and the coffee it produces. Plus you have to remove parts and pieces from the brewer to use it. Do you know what happens when I have to remove parts and pieces from something to use something? I break that something or lose the parts and/or pieces. The Solofill doesn't make you do that. (The EZ Cup seems like another valid choice, but it requires you to also buy and use proprietary paper filters, where the Solofill is the filter so there's nothing more to buy.)

Really, I see some people saying that it's hard to use. I don't understand. I take the red plastic cup thingie. I dump in coffee to the fill line. I stick it in the machine. I push the button. Coffee comes out. Yes, when I open the machine back up, there's a puddle of water on top of the Solofill. So I carefully pull it out and pour off that water. Yes, it's hot when I take it out of the machine - so I wait a few minutes or I deal with it. K Cups are hot when I take them out too. Big whoop.

Now that I have a Solofill, I'm hoping to cut back on my purchases of K Cups. And yet...K Cups are so much fun, so easy to use, come in so many flavors...so, yeah, I suppose it probably it won't change all that much. But at least now I can use my Dunkin Donuts pumpkin spice coffee in my Keurig and I can take advantage of the amazing coupon + sale prices on coffee that show up every so often. And yesterday I got a free sample of Starbucks Natural Fusions vanilla coffee, which - you guessed it - I plan to use with the Solofill. (Yep, I could also drag out the French Press for these, but I'm all about the convenience factor and the ease of making just one cup at a time!) And I'm thinking I can add a bit of extra coffee to make it stronger so I have my own version of the "Brew Over Ice" coffee K-cups. And I may try even more tricks with it - brewing pods in it, brewing tea in it, and so on, just for fun.

If you need a reusable and refillable K-cup alternative for your Keurig single-cup home coffee maker, I recommend the Solofill.

Note: A competitor to the Solofill, the Ekobrew, has appeared on the market. Check out my new (July 2011) review of it. 

As of March 2013, this post is no longer accepting new comments.

May 2013 update: I'm now playing around with the Keurig Vue V500 thanks to House Party. Check out my first impressions and learn how you can get your own for 40% off!

(This is my referral link. I get a small kickback if you click through and sign up for Amazon Prime.

A Tale of Keurig.com, Coffee, and Customer Service - December 21, 2010

Well, I know someone from Green Mountain Roasters has seen this post thanks to my tracker...hi *waves* (You're probably back since I added this update and your Google alert will pick up the new content.) I still love my Keurig machine and the K cups I have for it. But my opinion of how I was treated stands.

Let me tell you a story. It's a story of my order with Keurig.com for some K Cups and accessories and how I am not exactly pleased with the way I was treated by customer service. More after the jump....

List Week - Fifteen Fabulous Books - December 17, 2010

Fifteen Fabulous Books I Read in 2010 

(that may or may not have actually been released in 2010)

(though I think most were)

(links go to my reviews, either on this blog or elsewhere) 

(not all books I reviewed made it onto this list, FYI)

(I behaved myself and didn't link to Amazon with affiliate links anywhere in this post)

(obligatory "in no particular order" statement)

1. Rat Girl by Kristin Hersh. (memoir)
2. The Butcher and the Vegetarian by Tara Austen Weaver. (memoir-ish, stunt journalism/a year-long project, food writing-y)
3. This Lovely Life by Vicki Forman. (memoir) (heartbreaker)
4. Home Cooking by Laurie Colwin. (food writing/memoir) (totally not from 2010)
5. When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead. (YA) (deserved the Newbery) (that link goes to the Washington Post, and no, I didn't write for it this year)
6. Dawn Light by Diane Ackerman. (Diane Ackerman-y) (essays on nature)
7. Bright-Sided by Barbara Ehrenreich. (Anti-Self-Help? Exposé?)
8. Confessions of a Prairie Bitch by Alison Arngrim. (memoir) (hysterical) (and sad)
9. Room by Emma Donoghue. (fiction) (sorry Book Lady!)
10. Moon Rabbit by Natalie Russell. (picture book) (follow link to page 16)
11. Baxter, the Pig Who Wanted to Be Kosher by Laurel Snyder. (picture book) (Laurel FTW)
12. The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. (stunt journalism/year-long project) (surprising)
13. The Secret Life of the Lonely Doll: The Search for Dare Wright by Jean Nathan. (biography) (OMG)
14. Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer. (Amazon says "food science, animal rights, fauna" - I don't know what to call it - memoir/exposé?)
15. My Baby Rides the Short Bus: The Unabashedly Human Experience of Raising Kids with Disabilities (essay collection) (this book changed my life)

Currently reading the History of Love by Nicole Krauss. I'll write a review here when I finish it, which hopefully will be sometime this weekend. The full list of books I read in 2010 can be found on my Shelfari page. Lesson learned: Mark each book with a date, whether actual or arbitrary, so I know which books belong to which year, because the site won't do it for me.

I'm looking forward to the new Jean Auel in 2011. (I lied. That's an Amazon referral link.) If that makes you think less of me, so be it. I sometimes have the urge to flash around all my credentials - master's degree! relevant undergrad degree! career in book publishing! professional writer! short stint working in a children's bookstore! - and then I think, hey, sometimes I just want to read fluffy foofy stuff and not be judged. It's like how musically I have accepted that I can love Heavenly and Britney Spears, Bat for Lashes and Lady Gaga, Janelle Monae and some of the new Deerhunter album. One dimensional is so me-at-15... So in 2011 I shall stop being defensive about my choices (which I've been working on anyway for, oh, ten years or so) and just be.