Sue Monk Kidd is one of my favorite authors. I’ve read several of her books, and last year her work The Book of Longings made my top ten list. Today’s book is about one of her older works, published in 2005. Here is my book review The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd.
Jessie has avoided the island where she grew up and her eccentric mother for years, always finding an excuse to stay away. But when her mother’s odd behavior takes an even odder turn, Jessie is forced to leave her comfortable home and husband Hugh and venture back to Egret Island.
Kidd’s story will unfold for both Jessie and her mother, as they learn things about each other’s past. Playing an important role through out the tale is the Mermaid Chair, an ornate and sacred relic in the Benedictine monastery on the island.
Jessie will struggle with her own unhappiness, being drawn to an unlikely and handsome monk. Her relationship with Brother Thomas will make her question everything about her own life, her marriage her childhood and the tragedy that took the life of her father. All this while her mother’s mental health will eventually unlock long hidden family secrets that revolve around The Mermaid Chair.
****Four stars for The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd
I hope you enjoyed reading my book review The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd.
We blew our budget through the atmosphere during our 12 days in New York City. Most of that was because we ate out every night in an expensive city. Then we were under budget on the island of Antigua because we used our kitchen and ate in 8 of the 10 nights. Next we arrived to our beautiful resort in Turks and Caicos. A generous room, with a fridge, sink, washer/dryer and microwave. So I got busy figuring out how to stay on budget with hotel microwave cooking.
Hotel Microwave Cooking
I have a microwave at home, but it is not a source for cooking for me. I use it only occasionally to reheat food, or cook frozen vegetables. I’ve never made an entire meal in a microwave. So I went to my favorite recipe source – Pinterest of course, for hotel microwave cooking ideas.
Eggs boiled in the microwave
Here in Turks and Caicos everything is expensive. And we really try to stay within our budget, which is how we sustain long term travel. Groceries are expensive, but eating out is even more expensive. So our nine nights at the Royal West Indies Resort meant hotel microwave cooking more than half of those.
Breakfast
We always eat a bowl of fruit, spinach, quinoa, yogurt, and nuts for breakfast. But I had never cooked quinoa in the microwave before. But, yes you can. And the nice thing about quinoa is you can also make other great meals with it using pre-cooked chicken from the grocery store, beans and veg. It’s a wonderful staple that is part of my daily diet.
I never knew you could make hard boiled eggs in the microwave….what planet have I been on? This is revelation for me, because we each eat a hard boiled egg every morning with our breakfast bowl. Here’s how;
Tip – I didn’t have cooking spray but olive oil or butter works fine. I used a bowl not a mug and this is essentially scrambled eggs not an omelet. I added cheddar, spinach and green onion. I had heavy cream from the pasta the night before (see below) and used that instead of milk. I cooked the eggs a total of 4 min stirring every 30 sec. Microwave cooking time will vary.
Omelet
Dinner
I made four dinners, two of them using the microwave.
Tip – the pasta took 15 min. A smaller pasta probably wouldn’t take as long. After 15 min our microwave overheated and we had to let it cool down before we could continue. I cooked onions and garlic in butter then added canned tomatoes and heavy cream to make it creamy as well as parmesan.
Creamy tomato Rigatoni
Without using the microwave we also had a very yummy Swiss cheese and turkey on Toast with a cucumber tomato salad as well as a salad with store bought cooked chicken and lots of other store bought yummy ingredients. You can also cook bacon in the microwave and make BLT’s.
Sandwich and Salad
Delicious Salad
Stay On Budget With Creative Cooking
We don’t travel like we are on vacation. We travel like we are living a regular day…it just so happens to be in an exotic location. And this is how we stay on budget, experience the local culture and feel a little tiny bit like a local. It’s what we set out to do more than six years ago when we started the Grand Adventure, and we have made it work. This is how we sustain long term travel – by cooking in our Airbnb and occasionally in our hotel. Thanks for reading my blog post Hotel Microwave Cooking. Watch for next Friday’s post all about the Royal West Indies Resort in Turks and Caicos.
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Yes it’s his real name. Randy Rainbow is a comedian and satirist and Playing with Myself is his first book. I listened to this book on audible and and it has so many funny moments, but also a serious side. Here is my book review Playing with Myself by Randy Rainbow.
Rainbow, who grew up in New York and South Florida, tells how he went from being a hostess at Hooters (yes really) to a full-fledged comedian hobnobbing with the likes of Carol Burnett, Patti LaPone and Steven Sondheim. His story is truthful and not always funny, particularly the part about his narcissist father, childhood bullies and lack of self-confidence as a young gay man.
Rainbow today looks back on the difficult times that brought him to his success, gives credit to all those people who helped him along the way, including those who did what they could to see him fail. He does it with a fun and inventive writing style and a whole lot a flare. And let’s not forget his signature pink glasses.
Rainbow is a unique talent, and now he’s an author too. I loved this book, and I am a fan of his humor and the way he uses music as satire and all the characters he has developed as part of his act. A breath of fresh air. Thanks for reading my book review Playing with Myself by Randy Rainbow.
*****Five Stars for Playing with Myself by Randy Rainbow
As we travel around the world on the Grand Adventure we have become amateur bird watchers. We didn’t set out to do this but it gradually happened as we marveled at the world’s amazing avian life. A few years ago we discovered the bird identifier app called Merlin. It quickly became one of our most used travel apps. Using it in the Caribbean we have really enjoyed the birds of Antigua West Indies.
Bananaquit
The Merlin Bird Identifier App
The free Merlin app is created by the Cornell Lab, part of Cornell University in New York. My husband discovered this app, and it’s honestly amazing that it is free because it offers so many features. Our favorite features include the easy search function, excellent photos (most photos in this post from Merlin) and the super fun birdsong/sound identifier.
Broadwinged Hawk
As we travel we catalog the birds we discover around the world. And we discovered 13 new birds while on Antigua West Indies. Thanks Merlin!
We spent ten days on this tiny Caribbean island. Here is a list of both the 13 new as well as several others that were repeats with a little bit about each one. These photos below are from the Merlin App.;
Birds of Antigua West Indies
Green Heron – beautiful blue green water bird with a rust colored neck and a crown that he fluffs up when he is agitated or happy.
Green Heron
Broad-winged Hawk – beautiful small hawk, multi colored with spectacular underwing color.
White Winged Dove – usually on the ground or perched, smaller with gray and brown and white on the wings
White Winged Dove
Zenaida Dove – shy and keeps to beachy or scrub area, similar to Mourning Dove. Distinct white edge on wings when seen in flight.
Zenaida Dove
Green-throated Carib – large for a hummingbird, the fluorescent green color can appear black in certain light.
Green-throated Carib
Common Ground Dove – tiny dove dull brown color keeps to grasses and shrubby areas
Common Ground Dove
White-crowned Pigeon – large dark gray with white cap and pink legs, common in low coast areas and mangroves.
White-crowned Pigeon
Gray Kingbird – medium gray and white, primarily Caribbean and found in dense woodlands near the coast.
Gray Kingbird
Yellow Warbler – prefers brushy areas near water but easy to spot due to flash of color although females are duller in color.
Yellow Warbler
Carib Grackle – Black with yellow eye, long tail and rather obnoxious call
Carib Grackle
Bananaquit – Gray with yellow belly and black and white head, known for screeching call. Found in woodlands and gardens, feeds on fruits and at bird feeders.
Bananaquit
Laughing Gull, distinctive call that sounds like laughter, most common shorebird on Antigua, white and gray with full black head.
Laughing Gull
Common Gallinule – chicken-like marsh bird found near cattails, black with distinctive red face and yellow legs.
Common Gallinule
Lesser Antillean Bullfinch – tame and often seen at your picnic or on your deck, males are black with red throat and females are brownish green.
Lesser Antillian Bullfinch
Great Egret – Large, long-necked white heron found in marshy area, quick to startle.
Great Egret
Cattle Egret – common white stocky with short yellow bill, usually in dryer area than other egrets, splash of pink on the head.
Cattle Egret
Black-necked Stilt – fragile looking water bird with distinctive pink legs and tuxedo body. Forages in shallow pools and marshes.
Black-necked Stilt
Brown Pelican – large and gray brown saltwater habitat, very long bill with pouch for scooping fish. Often gather in groups.
Brown Pelican
Magnificent Frigatebird – huge seabird found in tropical ocean areas black with forked tail with inflatable red pouch on throat (males) and females white chest and gold bar on shoulder.
Magnificent Frigatebird
Apps Make Travel Fun and Easy
There are several apps we use for travel on nearly a daily basis including Google Maps, Google Translate, Airbnb, Expedia, PictureThis Plant Identifier and The Weather Channel. But Merlin is one of our favorites for both the education and entertainment value it provides. Whether you travel or not, we recommend you check out Merlin Bird Identifier App.
Well I have loved this author in the past for her astonishing work of Station Eleven, one of my favorite books of 2018. It’s about a pandemic by the way…weird. I was excited to read her next novel The Glass Hotel, but it just fell flat for me. So I was cautiously hopeful about her latest book. And, I loved it. Here is my Book Review Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel.
In this novel Mandel continues her imaginative work into “speculative fiction”, a genre that takes the reader through both natural and unnatural, magical and metaphysical and futuristic. But, it’s not SciFi. It’s much more. This book had some elements that reminded me of Cloud Cockoo Land, one of my favorite books of 2021. I love a writer who can imagine life in a completely different realm but make it is believable.
In Sea of Tranquility we meet a wide range of characters, in a wide range of time frames, starting with Edwin in 1912 to Olive two hundred years later and finally Gaspery-Jacques another several centuries in the future. How these people are connected, and reconnected through time travel, is the crux of the story. Can the past be changed, should it be?
You’ll find yourself questioning your own daily reality, as questions are explored that we are grappling with on earth today including climate, pandemic, and violence. Thank you for reading my Book Review Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel.
*****Five stars for Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel
New York, the largest city in the United States, is a collection of distinctive neighborhoods covering more than 472 square miles. Home to 8.5 million people, New Yorkers are proud and hard working, ambitious and love their city and individual neighborhoods.
New York is made up of five boroughs; The Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens and Staten Island. Within the boroughs are numerous neighborhoods. Below is a list of my favorites, but please note I was not able to visit all the boroughs or all the neighborhoods. My twelve days in the city were incredibly busy, but even so I didn’t see it all. I would love to go back for even more exploration. So with that in mind, here is what I discovered, exploring the neighborhoods of New York City.
I’ll start in Lower Manhattan and work north up Manhattan Island before coming around clockwise to Long Island. Again please note, this is not all neighborhoods, just the ones I was able to briefly visit.
Manhattan Skyline
Lower Manhattan
Lower Manhattan – lower Manhattan encompasses a variety of unique places including Wall Street, the September 11th Memorial and Museum, NYU and much more. Here I have broken out four neighborhoods from lower Manhattan; Chinatown, Gramercy Park, Little Italy and Greenwich Village. But there is much more to Lower Manhattan.
Views of the Statue of Liberty, the free ferry to Staten Island, great restaurants, shops and museums; Lower Manhattan has a great vibe and should not be missed. It’s the jumping off point for most tours to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty
Recommendation The Tenement Museum, Katz Deli, Wall Street
Lower Manhattan
Lower Manhattan
Tenement Museum
Lower Manhattan
Chinatown
Population 100,000
Lower East Side covering 2 square miles
Recommendation Spicy Village for handmade noodles and dumplings
Manhattan’s Chinatown today is a bustling gritty area of businesses and restaurants. In the 1800’s it was a cluster of immigrants trying to survive. Unlike the European immigrants who arrived through Ellis Island, most of the Chinese arrived from the West Coast, fleeing from violence and discrimination there. The majority of those arriving in New York were males who took on jobs considered “women’s work” including laundry and restaurants still prevalent today.
Worth a visit today to experience the amazing food, fresh fruit stands or shop in the wide variety of tiny stores.
Chinatown
Chinatown
Chinatown
Gramercy Park and Neighborhood
Population 27,000
Lower Manhattan about 172 acres.
Some famous residents of Gramercy Park include Jimmy Fallon, Julia Roberts & Uma Thurman
Recommendation – just take a stroll. Or if you can afford it, visit Gramercy Tavern. (I did not)
In 1831 Samuel Ruggles purchased a swamp in farmland in lower Manhattan. He spent 180,000 to turn the land into a private park surrounded by 66 parcels of land. Residents of the 66 parcels still today are the private users of Gramercy Park, the neighborhood known as Gramercy.
This is an upscale area with beautiful homes and even more beautiful people. Visitors are not allowed in the park but you can walk the sidewalk that surrounds it.
Gramercy Park
Gramercy Park
Gramercy Park
Greenwich Village
Population – 28,000
Lower Manhattan (nearly to Midtown) 0.3 square miles
Famous people who live in the village are many including Ralph Fiennes, Daniel Radcliff, and Chris Noth.
Recommendation – stroll, people watch, eat. In my opinion this is the most beautiful neighborhood in New York. Check out the Washington Square Park, art shops and music clubs.
“The Village” is one of the oldest neighborhoods in New York, dating to the 1600’s. Visitors will notice the narrower, tree lined streets (some with cobblestones). Greenwich was laid out prior to the grid system the rest of the city has. It is one of the things that give the neighborhood such a quaint village feel. Once the home to a Bohemian scene in the 1960’s and today it retains its individual vibe with a young and vibrant scene. The architecture has the look of Alexandria Virginia with a colonial feel.
Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village
Little Italy
Population – 5000
Lower Manhattan – 3 blocks of Mulberry Street with some surrounding blocks included
Famous People from Little Italy include Robert DeNiro
Recommendation- Zia Maria Italian was delicious. Come in the evening to stroll.
Originally Little Italy was a much larger part of immigrant Lower Manhattan. Home to tenements and working class people. Today, it is a shell of it’s original self, mostly catering to tourists, with few Italians still living in the area. It is however a wonderful place to find delicious authentic Italian food, on the three block Mulberry area designated at Little Italy.
Little Italy has been the setting for many iconic movies and films including the three Godfather movies. It has also seen its own real life Mafia. For much of its history the Italian Mafia operated out of Little Italy, including John Gotti.
Midtown is a thriving business district and home to Grand Central Station, the Empire State Building, Rockefeller Center, the Crysler Building, the United Nations and much more. Bustling center of retail and commerce, Midtown is home to a wide array of fantastic dining. Times Square and the Broadway theater scene is part of the Midtown neighborhood reach.
Hell’s Kitchen, a small neighborhood of Midtown, is home to hundreds of restaurants, many with ethnic flavors from Greek to Cuban, Italian to Spanish, Vegan and Indian. Everything you might desire.
Fifth Avenue, famous for Saks, Rockefeller Square and Saint Patrick’s Cathedral is a great place to stroll and window shop and people watch.
Midtown
Radio City Music Hall, Midtown
St Patrick’s Cathedral, Midtown
Rockefeller Center Midtown
Upper West Side
Population 215,000
Upper West Manhattan bordering the entire west side of Central Park about 2 square miles with the Hudson River to the west.
Many celebrities call the Upper West Side home including Antonio Banderas, Jerry Seinfeld and Randy Rainbow (see more)
Affluent residential area that is also home to Central Park, the American Museum of Natural History, Columbia University and Lincoln Center. High rise apartments and upscale hotels surround restaurants and shopping. The area was not developed until the 1800’s, although there was shipping and industry along the Hudson River.
The development of Central Park and an elevated railway helped boost the growth of the area and it is today one of the most sought after neighborhoods in the world.
Recommendation – Central Park, American Museum of Natural History, Lincoln Center, Crave Fish Bar and many restaurants
Upper West Side
Upper West Side
Upper West Side
Upper West Side from Lower Manhattan
Upper East Side
Population – 125,000
Upper Manhattan covering all of the east side of Central Park to the East River. 1.75 square miles
Famous people born in the Upper East Side include Woody Allen, Elizabeth Arden and Herb Alpert. Today some of the celebrities who make their home there include Samuel Jackson, Drew Barrymore, Mariah Carey and Bill Murray.
Early on the Upper East Side was a fashionable address, and was home to famous New Yorkers such as the Rockefellers. Developed earlier than the west side of the park and therefore it is home to many elegant post Civil War brownstones and apartments. The Upper East Side Historic District is a registered National Historic site.
Today the quiet tree lined streets continue to house the cities elite and beautiful. The Museum Mile, 5th Avenue along the East side of Central Park, is home to several museums including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Guggenheim.
The Upper East Side has its own small neighborhoods such as Yorkville. Throughout the Upper East Side you will find designer shops as well as humble markets, five star restaurants as well as tiny diners and takeout.
Famous People from Harlem – Cicely Tyson, Sammy Davis Jr., Ed Sullivan, Lou Gehrig (more). Matt Damon is a current resident.
Recommendation- Jazz Clubs, Apollo Theater and Sylvia’s Diner the Queen of Soul Food. Don’t miss the northern most part of Central Park also in Harlem, a less manicured, more forested section of Central Park.
Founded by the Dutch in the 1600’s, the area was predominately Jewish and Irish in the 1800’s and until the Great Migration of Afro Americans began in the early 20th century. Harlem has experienced wide swings of boom or bust, depression and success. It is the home of the “Harlem Renaissance” in the 1920’s and 30’s as African Americans defined the music and art scene. Many legendary Jazz and R&B artists are from Harlem.
Harlem has fought the “gentrification” of it’s name and neighborhood and all though it has changed, it holds onto its roots as a family and working class neighborhood.
I wanted more time in Harlem, but I didn’t get it. I’ll see more on my next visit.
Harlem
Harlem
Harlem
The Bronx
Population – 1.5 million
Just across the Harlem River from Manhattan, The Bronx is the only borough on the mainland. 57 square miles
Famous people from The Bronx; Jennifer Lopez, Carl Reiner, Kerry Washington, Lauren Bacall, Billy Joel, Al Pacino (more)
Once a violent and poor, gang-infused area of New York, today The Bronx is safer and more family oriented , although still home to one of the poorest congressional districts in the US. Just across the Harlem River from Manhattan, The Bronx is the home of the New York Yankees as well as the beautiful campus of Fordham University. As a visitor the New York Botanical Gardens are not to be missed or the famous Bronx Zoo.
The name “The” Bronx (sometimes capitalized but not always) comes from Swedish born Jonas Bronck who is credited as the first settler and farmer of the area. One story goes Manhattanites headed to “The Broncks” as a weekend getaway.
The Bronx history includes bootlegging center during prohibition and poverty and crime in the 1960’s. In the 1980’s the Bronx Expressway created even more poverty by destroying neighborhoods and housing. In the late 80’s and 90’s a revitalization plan by the city helped and today The Bronx continues to search for it’s place in this huge city and to deal with it’s social issues. That said, a visit to NYC should include a visit to The Bronx.
The Bronx
Yankee Stadium, The Bronx
New York Botanical Gardens
Brooklyn
Population 2,800,000. If Brooklyn were it’s own city it would be the third largest in the nation
West end of Long Island 71 square miles
Famous People from Brooklyn – Barbra Streisand, Jerry Seinfeld, Anne Hathaway, Joan Rivers (more). Current residents John Krasinski and Emily Blunt, Daniel Craig and Spike Lee.
Named after the Dutch village of Bruekelen, Brooklyn is a hub of New York life. One of my favorite neighborhoods for food and people watching, Brooklyn is connected to Manhattan by numerous bridges and tunnels including the iconic Brooklyn Bridge. Once a working class area, Brooklyn has become “gentrified” with housing prices skyrocketing and entrepreneurs flocking to the community.
The Dutch arrived in the 1680’s to find Native Americans (Nayak and Carnasee) growing corn and crops in the rich soil of the region. Over the next two centuries Brooklyn would attract immigrants from Ireland, Germany, Britain and after World War II Italians.
I wanted more time in Brooklyn. It will definitely be a place I visit again.
Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn, Bushwich Collective
Brooklyn Bridge
Exploring the Neighborhoods of New York City
Even if you lived in New York, you could never explore it all. It is one of the most unique, vast, interesting and most beautiful cities in the world. It is constantly in motion and always changing. I love it and I can’t wait to go back and see even more. I hope you will consider visiting and exploring the neighborhoods of New York City.
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I’m a big Leif Enger fan. One of my all time favorite books is his first novel Peace Like a River, published in 2001. I also immensely enjoyed Virgil Wander, published in 2018. This book, falls between these two published in 2008, and I am happy to have finally read it. Here is my Book Review So Brave, Young and Handsome by Leif Enger.
It would be my dream come true to be able to write in such a gifted way as Leif Enger. Because what makes a brilliant author is one who has a believable and compelling plot that is married with outstanding character development. Leif Enger does that.
So Brave, Young and Handsome is a coming of age story, but more for middle-aged men…the characters we fall in love with. Even the “bad guy” is someone your heart will go out to. Such a sign of exceptional storyline and writing.
It’s 1915 in Minnesota when we meet Monte Becket, a fledging author trying to find his sense of purpose. Along comes Glendon, a reserved but beguiling man of similar age who literally materializes through the fog on the river.
And so begins an adventure of a lifetime for Becket, and just one more dangerous and volatile adventure for wanted outlaw Glendon. The two befriend a young boy, stay one step ahead of the relentless bounty hunter Charles Siringo and make their way across the country together and separately to Glendon’s former wife Blue. And along the way what a story is told.
Like Enger’s other two books, I could not put this page turner down. I loved it – even the bad guy. Thanks for reading my book review So Young Brave and Handsome by Leif Enger.
*****Five big stars for So Young, Brave and Handsome
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