Where The Hell Have You Been?

I'm not dead in a ditch somewhere.  It's summer and we've been having a beautiful summer and I've been being lazy.

I've read quite a few books.  The Executioner's Song by Norman Mailer and Shot In The Heart by Mikal Gilmore, both chronicling Gary Gilmore's life from two very different perspectives.  Both are incredibly well-written and heartbreaking in their own ways.  If you read them, I would suggest reading Mailer's work first (and it's a big read, the paperback goes 1054 pages) then Gilmore's, who was Gary's brother. Both will make you think not only about the death penalty but about what happens to a troubled kid who grows up in the prison system and becomes a troubled man.

I revisited Peyton Place by Grace Metalious and it remains a great read.

Right now, I'm in the midst of Mary Queen Of Scotland And The Isles by Margaret George.  It's another big read and I'm not generally real enamored of historical novels, but this one is compelling.  It was written over five years with meticulous research and it portrays an accurate portrait of the struggles of Scotland of the time.  I would next like to tackle The Autobiography Of Henry VIII, also by George, but I have to find it first.  I know I owned it at some point but I sure can't find it.  I'm sure Amazon will have a used copy I can score cheaply.  She also wrote historical novels about Cleopatra and Helen Of Troy and those might be worth checking out as well.

We went to Kensington Metropark for the fireworks.  It was a really nice evening, not too hot, no bugs, and they put on an incredible show.

As a side note, one of my favorite Fourth Of July memories remains the year of the bicentennial, 1976.  My father was playing in a charity golf tournament in Lima, Ohio and my mother and I were watching (or not, how boring is watching golf?) and I could pick out my dad from 100 yards away because he was wearing red white and blue striped golf pants.  They went well with his huge sideburns.  Those crazy 70s you know.

Oh and I seem to have a horrible but hopefully not fatal case of writer's block.  Did you notice?

Comments

[Beth]

Writers block along with Summeritis! LOL