ramblings from an arkansas farm girl
Dear Sunday Letter friends,
This time of year I spend time looking for the first blooms in our flower beds. Our daffodils are taking their sweet time which is probably a good thing since an arctic blast brought bone-chilling cold on Thursday with icy snow flurries that lasted all day. Those of a certain age will probably remember the Chiffon margarine commercial that ended with the reminder—it’s not nice to fool Mother Nature.
Remember?
Well, you can’t rush her either.
If you’ve been waiting for my January 2019 book reviews, here they are. If you’ve not been waiting, well, here they are. ?
I read State of Wonder and True Places for two different book clubs. I picked up a used copy of A Spot of Bother at Dickson Street Bookshop. Dickson Street Bookshop is a Fayetteville treasure and not to be missed if you visit northwest Arkansas. How to Be a Good Creature was a Christmas gift, and the perfect way for me to kick off my 2019 reading. Santa gave my husband a copy of Elevation. Once he finished it, I read it.
Yay, Santa. I like how he plans in advance.
I feel like I’ve left something off my January 2019 list, but for the life of me I can’t remember what it is.
I did try to read Milkman but gave up after page 200. If you read it and loved it, you amaze me. I’m marking it CNF (could not finish) because either 1) this period of my existence before death is too brief and transient and fleeting to devote one more heartbeat or blink of the eye to said prose, or 2) my organ of soft nervous tissue within my skull has grown dense, or 3) perhaps I’ve reached a certain age that renders me dull and confused, or 4) maybe I need my characters to have actual names, or 5) perhaps I subscribe to the philosophy that ninety-five words shouldn’t be used when four will suffice.
That’s just me.
I really wanted to like Milkman. When I walk away from any book, I am disappointed in myself. Does anyone else suffer from this ridiculousness?
The books I did read…
Last week, I was fortunate enough to help kick off the 2019 season of Potluck & Poison Ivy. For those of you who aren’t familiar with this event, Potluck & Poison Ivy is a live dinner theater located at The Joint in the Argenta Arts District of North Little Rock. Bring your story to the table—that’s the tagline for the evening. A $35 ticket will get you dinner, southern storytelling, and live music.
What a deal.
Arkansas friends, do you remember the Starving Artist Cafe? The cafe, which served as the venue for Tales from the South, closed in 2014. I never had the chance to attend Tales, but I imagine Potluck is similar.
