Meditations In Wonderland

Alfalfa’s out here at the lake looking for copperheads, but not just any - Demon Copperhead, to be exact. The character at the center of @Barbara.Kingsolver’s latest novel that we reviewed for @bullybookclub!
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I preface my review by saying that Kingsolver is one of my favorite authors and everything she writes is five-star quality, this novel was no different. It’s right up there with Poisonwood Bible in my mind. I always get so attached to her characters I never want the book to end! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
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In #DemonCopperhead, Kingsolver transports Dickens’ “David Copperfield” into the mountains of southern Appalachian, Lee County, VA, a county in my own state I hadn’t heard of before reading this but now feels like a place I could go on about for hours. I’m grateful to her for giving me a different perspective on my home state. Lee County makes provides the backdrop for a profoundly deep and sad and raw and inspiring story about generations of childhoods lost to the opioid epidemic, broken foster care systems, child labor and institutional poverty. Kingsolver treads these waters with empathy, compassion and anger that translates into her protagonist, Demon, who also may be the funniest first-person narrator I’ve met.
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So well done, Barbara. I think David Copperfield and Mark Twain would nod their heads in approval. In her words: “A good story doesn’t just copy life, it pushes back on it.”
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#bullybookclub @harperbooks @harpercollins
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Taking them with me into 2023 🖤 (at The Purcellville Pub)
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Walking into year five of our marriage like… please be better than year four 😅😘 kidding but also this year showed me how grateful I am to have a husband who truly honors his vows every day, who has made so many sacrifices and puts our family first every chance he gets. Thanks for holding onto me so tight during it all. Four years and forever more 🖤
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He graced us with 95 years on earth, and for that I’m grateful. It was an honor to be Dick’s only granddaughter, and (so he admitted, anyway) favorite dance partner. If heaven looks like one big putting green, this guy is there. I’ll miss his subtle sense of humor, and plan on honoring his mandatory 5-o’clock “Martini Time” to celebrate his birthday every year. He spoiled me with the experience of a grandfather-granddaughter relationship as an adult, I’ll always cherish that. Cheers to you, Dick. You’ll be missed, remembered and always loved. “That’ll do it.” P.S., if you too want to live to 95, here was Dick’s advice: “Just do what the doctor tells you to do.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/Ckd-73NJ5MEKhguXLYGbCtHUZxz8BruzvGBkiQ0/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Spooky photo dump in honor of my favorite holiday 🖤🍂
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It’s the most wonderful time of the year, it’s the hap-happiest season of all 🎃🦇🍂
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32 ✨🖤 mountains, my boys, bubbles and books at the cabin. My libra soul is fed!
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Time for our annual birthday cookie munch photo in honor of this warthog and absolute ham turning 7 🐗🍪🎈
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Reunited halfway through Paul’s cross country aviation adventure in his plane! Seeing her against the desert mountain backdrop really emphasized how far he’s come 🥹 proud wife moment. Light the fires kick the tires, see you at home soon hubby! 🛩🖤 (at Tucson Airport , Arizona)
https://www.instagram.com/p/CiV8ivKpwuC7PEdS62dQWYSZSZbuVL-yFUqn9o0/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Not Alfalfa keeping an eye on the garden in case there’s a mystery to be solved! He must be inspired by our @bullybookclub August read, chosen by @pigdog_kenzie, @katharinewrites’ #BodyInTheGarden, for which Alfalfa and I give ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.
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Calling all Anglophiles, this book is for you! Set in Regency England during war time, heroine Lily Adler overhears a murder take place while taking a breather outside at a party, and becomes a female Sherlock Holmes to solve the mystery and save the day, and maybe also get the guy - her sidekick Captain Jack Hartley?
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What I liked most about the story was Lily herself - she’s strong willed, intelligent and is guided by her keen instincts and sense of justice. In a time full of female suppression, stuffy elitism and idle ladies, Lily is who you hope you would have been.
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Would she have been able to galavant around London administering vigilante justice in Regency England? Were we asked to indulge in a bit of revisionist history? Maybe. But for me it didn’t keep me for rooting for Lily to prevail.
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So Al and I will take a page for Lily’s book and go for a wander in the garden. You never know where adventure may find you. And if it does, I’ve got my Captain Jack at my side.
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@crookedlanebooks #bullybookclub
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Today Paul and I got to meet our sweet goddaughter, Inez Montrose! Thanks to Mandi and Nate for indulging us in monopolizing her for all the cuddles, can’t wait to spoil her 💕👑
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It’s @bullybookclub review day, and July’s pick, from @artemisthebulldog, is @johngreenwritesbooks’ #TheAnthropoceneReviewed, for which Alfalfa and I give ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.
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One of the lines in Green’s book amounts to something like - wonders are infinite, it’s our attention that wanes. And that’s exactly what I took away from Green’s reviews as he poured over topics from air conditioning to the Lascaux caves to Canadian Geese, I contemplated many of the topics he discussed far more deeply than I had before. The book is written as a collection of reviews on various subjects on a five-star scale. Put simply, the amount of fun facts I now know is off the charts.
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I’ll add that I’m a big John Green fan, I’ve read all of his novels. His first, Looking For Alaska, is in my top 5 eternally. In typical John Green fashion, the topic of mental health is woven into the majority of the subjects he reviewed, and, in my eyes, he always does it justice. He also spoke a lot about navigating the last few years, and I felt like reading this book gave me permission to begin the frenzied unraveling and processing of the pandemic, and all we lost.
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I laughed, I cried, I thought deeply. As far as books go, that’s really what I’m looking for. And for that I give this book five stars.
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… All it was missing was a review of the tennis ball, Al’s favorite toy. He gives it five stars as well.
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@duttonbooks
https://www.instagram.com/p/CgO9fr6O8HFWF8oPNg935rbjEkTdzIq0lWeX700/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

My husband, adventure buddy and favorite pilot turned 30 today 🖤✈️ some of my favorite recent adventures of ours!
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With sorrow, we dissent. With anger, we rise. I thought about the horror of this day 6 years ago when I attended the Women’s March. We were there then, we’re here today, we’re not going anywhere. We dissent. (at Supreme Court of the United States)
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This year has been hellish but at least my roses are thriving 💁🏻‍♀️ a little girl was walking out front of our house and I overheard her call it “the rose house” and it melted my little black heart 🖤🌹
https://www.instagram.com/p/Cebn1FjLu1uCTlXPXf2jTMAanUwR_D5t6i8saA0/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=