Well, we have finally travelled through the year to another Christmas. Grid lock traffic, people everywhere. Rushing. Stressing. Laughing. Silly. These are the words and actions that come to mind.
This week has been an incredibly sad week for Australia with the tragic events on Bondi Beach last weekend. I wonât add anymore comments or noise to this situation as there is more than enough. I am tired of feeling so sad about it. Must move on. I will say though I am very much thinking of the Jewish community who were so happy celebrating Hannakah.
Everyone and their dog wants to comment about it on every social media platform, news outlets and visual media. Enough said.
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I am going into a fantasy world with Stephen King this week. I donât read much of him. For one there is too much of him. He has so many published books. Some of them are way out in the stratosphere. The one Iâm reading is a bit graphic but it is fun.
11/22/63. That is the day John F. Kennedy was assassinated.
I remember that event like it was yesterday. I was in the last class of the day when I heard about it. 8th grade. Math class. Mr. Nixon. Though this incident happened in the morning, students werenât told about it until school dismissal. I remember walking home. I went into the house and my mother was curled up in an old blue chair we had watching the black and white tv. I think she had been there all day. My dad was at work.
We lived in a small town in mid Michigan. Kingâs book takes place in a small town in Wisconsin. His old pal who runs a shop has discovered a way into the past through an old staircase. He shares it with our protagonist. Old pal (as I will call him) is dying of cancer. He doesnât have long. They have conversations about all the things they can do with returning to the past. I love those conversations. They speculate on what they could do.
They settle on the killing of Kennedy. If only Oswald could be stopped there would be a lot of changes in the world.
I would probably choose a different event but would need to think about what it would be.
But first they decide to see if their action does change anything so they pick a crime from the 1950s where a drunken father goes home one night and kills his wife and child and permanently disables his son.
Our protagonist changes his name and heads back to the past. The fun part of this book is the prices of things, the conversations, the news of the day. 9 cents milkshakes. The car he buys which is now a classic he buys for $300.
He has to be careful not to mention events that happened beyond the 1950s and 1960s. It is just a lot of fun and the memories it evokes are so much to laugh at. The candies, the drinks, the food. The cars, the types of shops. I remember it all from the 50s in my small town in Michigan. It is all so familiar and I feel I am there with him.
It is funny he has the horse racing results so makes some good bets and wins (of course). That is how he collects an income while there. He also works as a substitute teacher. His real job in the present is a secondary school English teacher.
I really laughed at the books and plays taught in the schools. Of course The Catcher in the Rye was not in the school library. Haha
The school play was Steinbeckâs Of Mice and Men. I remember the books we had to read in high school. Arthur Millerâs The Crucible. Nathaniel Hawthorneâs The Scarlet Letter. Hemingwayâs The Old Man and the Sea. Didnât appreciate any of them at the time. I think now the only one I wouldnât mind reading again is Steinbeckâs book. When I look back I remember all the religious connotations in these books that were drummed into us even though it was a public school. Very sneaky- eh?
This book is 900 + pages long. I am just at the part where our protagonist is watching Lee Harvey Oswald who has just moved to Texas after marrying his wife, Marina Oswald.
I am listening to this book on Audible. It is narrated by Craig Wasson. He does a great job with the variety of dialects between the north- Wisconsin and the south- Texas.
Iâm finding the book suspenseful, a very pacy read and very well defined characters. Stephen Kingâs characters are always very well developed. He is a wonderful writer. Love him or hate him, he sure has a backlog of very different books. I love his imagination.
Iâve been trying to remember the other books Iâve read by him over the decades. The Shining, Pet Cemetery, Cujo, Carrie, Dolores Clairborne (I think that is the name) and Misery. I began the Long Walk but got stressed so put it aside. I was a lot younger and braver when the books I mention came out in the beginning of his career. I also read On Writing which is a wonderful book with no violence.
I wouldnât mind reading that again.
Well that wraps up this past week. I havenât done much else except exercise at the gym, do some Christmas shopping. I checked out all the gifts and books at Fullers book store. So much fun. I had a gift certificate from my birthday so bought a 15 minute, beautiful glass hour glass for my desk.
I havenât wanted to be around people this week but we have a lovely lunch coming up tomorrow with some dear friends and their family weâre looking forward to. Along with their five adult children, four of whom are home from university and their youngest finishing up high school.
Christmas will be a quiet day with our dogs, Ollie, Peanut (Peannie) and indoor cats Cousin Eddie, Grizzy (Griswald) and Pickles. Iâll get the dogs to the beach when we have good weather. Shouldnât be long now.
I hope all of you have a wonderful Christmas and New Yearâs season and a very happy 2026. Looking forward to all the bookish challenges.
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Penguin;s Question of the Week.
If you could time travel and change one thing , what would it be?
Travellin' Penguin 