Cat Thursday 48

Welcome to the weekly meme that celebrates the wonders and sometime hilarity of cats! Join us by posting a favorite LOL cat pic you may have come across, famous cat art or even share with us pics of your own beloved cat(s). It's all for the love of cats! Enjoy! Hosted by Michelle of The True Book Addict.

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I've just been introduced to Didga, the cat who can skateboard and do all sorts of other fun tricks!

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

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Doerr creates a very interesting piece. There are time shifts and two little kids growing up harshly in landslide of war.

Werner lives in Germany and is an orphan along with his sister near a mining town. He loves taking apart radios and transistors and basically learning all he can on his own about science and electronics. He must leave his sister, though, as war breaks out, and he's accepted into the Hitler's Youth program.

Marie-Laure lives in France. We see her go blind at a very young age and how her father creates a miniature town for Marie-Laure. Her world is one she can't see but can feel.

We see their time before the war and when war breaks out and eventually the events that bring these two people together.

I really enjoyed the story from the views of these characters. We see how Werner struggles to keep his humanity and yet how he can be apart of all Germany stood for during the war.

But Doerr threw in a third character...an ancient mysterious jewel and a German geologist going to the ends of the earth to find it. It felt a little hokey to me. I think the story would have been a lot stronger without this little magical and superstitious sidetrack.

I also had a hard time following the way the timelines flowed. We didn't stick with any one character too long and thus I felt it disjointed my reading flow.

It's beautifully written and offers a unique look of World War II through Werner's and Marie-Laure's eyes but it just didn't quite flow together for me. It took me a very long time to read this. It's worth a read, of course, but it wasn't my favorite.

“I have been feeling very clearheaded lately and what I want to write about today is the sea. It contains so many colors. Silver at dawn, green at noon, dark blue in the evening. Sometimes it looks almost red. Or it will turn the color of old coins. Right now the shadows of clouds are dragging across it, and patches of sunlight are touching down everywhere. White strings of gulls drag over it like beads.

It is my favorite thing, I think, that I have ever seen. Sometimes I catch myself staring at it and forget my duties. It seems big enough to contain everything anyone could ever feel.”

Living and Reading in Japan (9)

This weekly meme has been inspired by Michelle at The True Book Addict and Lisa at Lit and Life--Life: It Goes On...but I wanted to tweak it a bit for myself since I am living in Japan for the next year (2014-2015).

I do these too far and in between. This is my 9th one since being in Japan....Shameful really. I just have a hard time focusing! Ha ha. My life. Hopefully this isn't my last.

Reading:

1. Inside Out by Maria V. Snyder
2. Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed
3. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien
4. Space Chronicles by Neil deGrasse Tyson

Finished:

• All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
• Even White Trash Zombies Get the Blues by Diana Rowland

Looking Forward To:

School being back in session. I love my dear son but it throws of my daily mojo especially when we're not off adventuring aka hubs off of work and we're vacationing...while he's out of school. We've done a few fun things but it's a whole week and a day...

Making:

I watched Chef with Jon Favreau the other night and it inspired me to make grilled cheese sandwiches with Gabe. Cheese is super duper expensive here in Japan so it was a worthy effort. The cheese was phenomenal. Gabe ate every last crumb and cheese.

I'm also planning on fried rice tonight. Made the perfect white and brown rice combo last night. It's a favorite in our house.

Listening to:

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. Quite a journey and I'm really enjoying it. It'll be a long listen, though, at over 27 hours....

Watching:

Nazi Hunters and Death in Paradise. The last episode of Nazi Hunters was on the children of the Aryan breeding program. Thousands of children were kidnapped from surrounding conquered countries like Russia, Ukraine, Poland. Many found out there fathers were high up in the SS and ordered thousands of deaths. It was a powerful and poignant piece.

Things I Did This Week:

Sunset Beach. A beautiful little island a couple hours a way from Hiroshima. We canoed, sunbathed, ate, and enjoyed the ocean.

The ramen was hot but he loves it!

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