Gone With the Windsors

by Laurie Graham

It's not that I haven't been reading, but I was actually in the middle of three books, and this is the first among them I finished.

I fully expected a thirties' style chicklit tell-all, and in some ways this book is that, but I didn't expect to be as entertained as much as I have.

This is a work of fiction, but Laurie Graham created her characters so plausibly and kept faith with history so well that I often forgot that Maybelle Brumby didn't exist, and wasn't the paymaster general of Wallis Simpson.

The book is an interesting angle into one of the greatest love stories of the 20th century--the king who gave up his throne for love.

But the book asks its reader to wonder whether Edward VIII was really just a coward or a real idiot, and not the romantic most people are convinced he was.

It makes one think about how history might have gone down if Edward (called David in the book by Wally and intimates, which I think was actually how it was in real life) had remained King, and simply kept Wally Simpson as a mistress.

It also makes the reader question the utility of the British Royals. They fascinate, but perhaps everyone (including they!) would be better off if the monarchy no longer existed, and they could be Just People, instead of People with Duties and Obligations.

The diarist is both funny and sad, in her profligacy with money, in her narrow-mindedness, in her speed for disregarding advice which didn't suit her--but then again she wouldn't have been a convincing character if she didn't have those flaws and others. I admit though to being impatient as to when she'd finally have it out with Wally and her smooching and belittling and dictating. It took 8 years!!

The book also made me think of Charles and Diana and Camilla. What if Charles had learned the lesson of his great-uncle? What if he'd settled down with Camilla from the very beginning? Then likely more folks would have been happier all around. But then we'd never have had Diana for the 17 years she captivated the world. (Can you tell I was a big Diana fan? Her death depressed the crap out of me.) And maybe Wills wouldn't be as good-looking as he is.

Fragile Things

by Neil Gaiman

This man has imagination!

I have enjoyed Neil Gaiman's fiction tremendously--not such a big fan of his graphic novels, but I think that's because I had to be so damned CAREFUL while reading the Sandman (belonged to a friend of mine who would've killed me if there were food crumbs, hair, or fingerprints on the pages).

Loved Neverwhere, Stardust, Anansi Boys, Good Omens (which he co-wrote with Terry Pratchett)...and I loved this collection as well. (Short story collections are great for mothers of young children: you can actually finish an entire work in 20 minutes or less!)

Confession, though: I skipped over his poetry. I find I have to be in a "mood" to read poetry of any kind and wasn't so inspired during the 5 weeks I had this from the library.

Among my favorites in this collection are

A Study In Emerald: great for fans of Sherlock Holmes, and non-fans too!

Keepsakes and Memories: sick, and sad.

The Problem of Susan: personally the most disturbing story; inspired by The Chronicles of Narnia.

Goliath: if you're a Matrix fan you've probably read this on the website. I'd never heard about Gaiman's tie-up with the Matrix before reading his introduction in this volume. This story is lovely.

Fifteen Painted CArds from a Vampire Tarot: very clever; can't wait for him to finish the Major Arcana!

All in all, I recommend this book unabashedly--you will be entertained, for sure, even if you are disconcerted by most of his writing (especially if you haven't read a lot of his stuff!).

All Your Worth

I picked this up on Moxie's recommendation, plus I really learned so much from the authors' first book, The Two-Income Trap. The authors impress me as people who are on their readers' side. What they have to say is only partly depressing, and wholly empowering.

Moxie recommended this especially for people who may have zero or less than zero saved for their retirement. (Certainly a group I can identify with...but never mind retirement, try college for Teo!) Unlike other investment planning books that assume yu have money just sitting in a bank waiting to be told where to go, this assumes that you're a "normal" person who's made a few mistakes regarding your finances.

It has a great formula for what to do with your income to get your life in balance and eliminate the worry from your ife: spend 50% on your must-haves (which includes long-term obligations, mortgages, health and life insurance, and food), 30% on your wants (which includes cable, phone services that are above & beyond basic, your daily coffee, and the like) and put 20% toward savings.

We are nowhere near able to follow this formula right now, and the authors say that's ok too--now that we know what the ideal formula is, we need to work toward that as fast as we possibly can.

This book showed me the errors we've been making, but also showed me a light at the end of the tunnel.