Little Bee Book Review

Little Bee by Chris Cleave
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

For about the first 1/3 of this book I had no idea where this story was going. I was introduced to Little Bee, a Nigerian refugee in England, and Sarah, a British woman, whose paths had crossed on a beach in Nigeria. It took quite a bit of time for Chris Cleave to share the details of their first meeting. I was completely sucked into their story during the middle 1/3 of the book. Their meeting, the aftershocks, and their reunion was heart wrenching. However, the remaining 1/3 of the book fell flat for me. There was melodrama where melodrama didn't exist, there was angst and threats which were sudden and out of place. The ending was completely deflating. I ended up feeling irritated with the loose ends and the authors use of imagery to wrap it up. While I understand his desire to depict a "real" ending, I don't feel like the ending offered anything to the reader. This book is okay, but will not end up on my favorites list.


View all my reviews

Sleepless in Seattle - Weekend Review Special Edition

Hello Friends!

We had a whirlwind trip to Seattle and now are back to the weekly grind.

Our trip started off *very* early Saturday morning. Earlier than we had scheduled because someone (not me) woke up at 3:30 in the morning and couldn't go back to sleep. Bah! So we just got up, got ready and were out the door at 5 to catch our flight. It is nice at times like this to live literally 5 minutes from the airport. By 20 after 5 we were through security and ordering a mocha for the plane.

Good Morning! Not looking too bad for 5:45 AM. 

We flew on Horizon air, using our air miles, so the tickets cost me a grand total of $10. Yes, ten dollars. We were on the smallest plane I have been on in a long time, and it was lacking in amenities. I told Chris that I have been on nicer buses in Mexico.

The seats were hard, very narrow and the seat backs don't even recline. They had no pillows or blankets and the overhead bins were very small. Yup, it has been a long time since I was on a place like this.

In a little over an hour we landed at Sea Tac airport. We have a friend that works for Alaska Airlines at Sea Tac who happened to be working that morning! He meet us at the gate and we visited with him for almost an hour. We parted with plans to meet the next night for dinner for a better chance to visit. It was great to see him! We had not seen him in a number of years, but it is always like picking up right where we left off.

We ran a couple of errands (yes, we had a few things we had to do in Seattle when we first arrived) and then met my brother-in-law Corey for breakfast with our nephews, Beau & Bear.

They were sharing a hot chocolate...so cute! Beau is very smart and interested in science. He was telling me all about all different kinds of flowers, how compasses work, stuff you can do with a magnifying glass and told me that microscopes let you see things that are really, really tiny, like onion cells, but that people cells were red. Wow!! Lookout science world...my nephew is coming!

Bear is only saying a few words, but he can say Corey and he can say NO! And he can also say MINE! And he can say No, Ocho. Ha! He is a cute kid.

After breakfast and a bit more visiting, we headed off to pick up my niece! I haven't seen her since last Christmas and I miss her a lot! We drove to North Bend, Washington where she is living now. We ended  up hanging out there and socializing with her mom and moms boyfriend for the rest of the day! It was SO nice. Mom Tawnya had made some homemade blackberry wine, so as we got into the afternoon we decided to have a glass of wine. It was delicious! I didn't take pictures, buy Shanelle, my niece, has a new little dog named Lala. She is tiny!

That evening we headed out with Shanelle to meet my mom and my grandma at the downtown Seattle waterfront. We were going on a dinner cruise in Elliot Bay.

I took this picture the next day. I highly recommend the Argosy line of cruises. The meal was very good, the live music was lovely, the waitstaff attentive but not annoying. We had a window table, and though it was really dark I snapped a couple of quick pics.

Above is the downtown skyline (shot through the window with some reflection of the interior lights) and below is a profile shot of Shanelle looking out at the Ferris wheel (also through the window with interior light reflection).

It was a lovely meal and a very nice visit with mom and grandma, too. We decided to keep Shanelle over night with us and do more fun stuff on Sunday, so we headed back to our hotel around midnight. That was a long day!

We stayed at the Larkspur Landing in Renton, which was a very nice executive suite hotel. I didn't take any pictures because after getting up at 3:30 that morning and not getting to bed until midnight, I was exhausted. Two things I thought were weird: no fan in the bathroom and the lighting in the bathroom was really odd. It was a very quiet hotel though, and they are pet friendly! I will be doing a review on Yelp of the hotel, and the other places we visited. You can visit my Yelp profile (my name: Corrie Beebe) to read all my reviews.

I did not sleep well at all that night. It had nothing to do with the hotel room, I just couldn't relax and my stomach was upset (which happens when I am exhausted and can't relax). Ugh...it made for a very long night and my exhaustedness was compounded greatly on Sunday. Needless to say, we didn't get the earliest start to our day.

Our first stop of the day was one of the main reasons we had decided to go to Seattle in the first place. Chris' dad passed away on October 24 1975. We were talking a few weeks ago that the anniversary of his passing was coming up and that we had not been to the cemetery in a number of years. We decided we should definitely go and so we planned our trip to Seattle.

Chris' dad is buried near Sea-Tac airport; he was in a motorcycle accident and did not survive. Chris was about 19 months old and has no recollection of his dad.

We stopped at the cemetery, found the grave marker and spent some time there. It was somber, but powerful and important. I am glad we made the point to go. Shanelle was with us, but she stayed in the car.

After that we decided to lighten things up a bit by playing tourist in downtown Seattle: to the Space Needle we went! Shanelle had never been there, though she is a born and raised Washingtonian.

Space Needle

Shanelle & Chris on the observation deck.

Shanelle & I on the observation deck...I LOVE how this pictured turned out!!! 

 The Seattle Skyline from the observation deck at the Space Needle:

It was cloudy, and a bit breezy on the observation deck, but the air temperature was warm enough that I never wore a jacket all weekend. Now THAT is amazing for Seattle in November!

After the Space Needle it was time for lunch so we headed back down to the waterfront to visit Ivar's famous seafood. Neither Shanelle or I had ever been there so Chris was appalled and said that was where we needed to go.

Shanelle ordered the seafood Alfredo (duh, that is all she ever orders) and it looked amazing. She said it was very good.

 I ordered a bowl of Ivar's famous clam chowder.

Chris and I then split an order of the four piece cod fish and chips. The waiter was nice enough to split the order on two plates and bring them both out. Nice!

My tummy was still a little off so I enjoyed the chowder (it was rich and creamy, with chunks of clams) and ate just a little bit of the fish. It was not greasy really, but my stomach just wasn't thrilled with the idea of fried food. Chris really enjoyed his and said it tasted "briney" like good seafood, which means it tasted very fresh.

After Ivar's we headed to Ye Olde Curiosity Shop to check out the mummy, shrunken heads, and the two-headed calf. Yes, for reals.

I didn't take pictures inside, but it was a little gift shop that had cute, touristy things, souvenirs, and the cool stuff mentioned above in the back. Chris was also appalled that Shanelle and I had never been there.

After that we were off to the third place Shanelle and I had never been: Pike Place Market! It is immense!! We didn't even see a tiny percentage of it.

We did see the bubble gum wall (gross).

And we got to see the famous flying fish at Pike Place Fish Co.

It was cool, but it made me wonder if it damaged the fish at all...

Chris said Pike Place Market is a hippie swap meet and in a sense he is right. It was cool to check out, but there is SO much to see and look at, and so many people! Gah, I don't do well with large crowds. I'm glad I went and can say that I have seen it and if I ever lived in downtown Seattle I could see it being a great local option for fresh fish, meats and vegetables.

After that it was time to take Shanelle back home. :( We had a great time hanging out with her and we just loved seeing her! Thanks for hanging out with us Shanelle!!

Then it was back to Kent for dinner with our friend that we met up with at the airport the previous morning. He and his girlfriend joined us for hot wings at the Wing Dome. Now, the Wing Dome sounds cool, but really it is a small bar that is using hot wings as their niche market. They have 7 levels of heat. 3 is their most popular level, which is what I ordered, but they were not hot at all. I didn't try four but our friends did and they said it was about tabasco level hot. We split another order of level 5 and that was hotter than I would want to comfortably eat. My lips were burning after just a small bite and I could smell the spiciness of the sauce.

It wasn't great, it wasn't horrible, but it really was just a bar that served mediocre hot wings. I will be doing a review on Yelp.

The visit with our friends was so fun though! We laughed and told stories and caught up on life. I love friendships like that; they withstand time and distance and start up again like no time has passed at all. Thanks Andy & Denise for taking time to meet up! It is your turn to visit now.

And whoooosh, just like it was time to get the rental car back, get to the airport, through security, onto the plane and zip...home. We landed at about midnight, got home a few minutes later and went straight to bed (after some quick kitty snuggles).

We had an excellent trip to Seattle. It was so full, but that fullness is what made is such a great trip. We loved seeing everyone we got to see and are sorry to have missed those we weren't able to see. Quick trips are always a challenge, especially when there are so many things to do and people to see in such a short time.

Tonight, we are both pretty wiped out and feel like it is going to be a long week.

I will write up reviews on Yelp, so if you want more info on any of the restaurants or hotels click on over there in the next few days.

Trader Joe's

(source)

OH MY GOSH! 

We *FINALLY* have a Trader Joe's here in Medford! I cannot tell you how excited/happy I am about this. 

When I lived in Portland I didn't shop at TJ's every day or anything, but it was a really nice store to have for some really specific things. I had two TJ's pretty close to where I lived and I clearly took it for granted. 

When I moved to Medford 3 years ago I began to sorely miss my TJ's! 

One of my dear friends would bring us treats from TJ's when she would come to visit. 

I have even contemplated driving all the way to Eugene (about 3 hours) just to shop at TJ's. 

Now...now I don't have to! There is a new Trader Joe's that opened just a couple miles up the road from me. Yesterday was the grand opening.

Chris and I went this morning to check it out and buy a few things. It was a madhouse! People and carts everywhere. I can't even imagine how much money they are raking in this weekend. 

This TJ's is smaller than the two in Portland that I am used to, but they still have a nice selection. Of course, some things are quite a bit more price wise than one would pay elsewhere, but other things are very inexpensive, so I guess when it comes to shopping there it is a matter of knowing what to buy there and what to buy elsewhere. 

I picked up a few things on my inaugural TJ's trip: 

I think I heard angels singing when I put the cookie butter in my cart....

Some pre-washed and chopped kale. I actually like to add kale to soups and eggs and so forth, but for some reason  I hate to clean and chop it, so I never buy it. This will be great for me because I will totally use it!

 Wild Rocket, otherwise known as arugula. I have a very yummy recipe that calls for arugula and I was just thinking of making it the other day. Now I have a key ingredient!

I feel the same way about leeks that I do kale! I love it, I like to add it to my food, hate to clean it. This is pre-washed and sliced frozen leeks! How easy will this be! Heaven!

Couldn't leave our first TJ's trip without some Carne Asada! We picked up some Curry Chicken Tenders, too. Both look good and a glance at the ingredients: no sugar! The asada does have wheat, but no sugar. Score!

We also picked up a couple of simmer sauces, Masala and Curry. I will eat them just with veggies, or on shredded zucchini or spaghetti squash. Chris will likely have them over noodles or rice. These, too, don't have sugar! YES! 

I'm so excited. I did buy some Thai Lime and Chili Cashews, but didn't snap a photo. They are my absolute favorite nuts. I'm not eating nuts right now, but I will be so looking forward to breaking that bag open and having a few. 

Of course there was tons of 2 buck Chuck, but I didn't buy any of that either. I kept reminding myself that the store wasn't going to be closed tomorrow. I didn't have to buy everything that I want all at once. 

I'm so excited to have Trader Joe's here in Medford and I know I will be stopping in regularly to supplement my regular grocery shopping. 

Now...if we could just get a HomeGoods! 

Do you shop at TJ's? What is your must-have item? 

What I'm Loving Wednesday 10-10-12

What I'm Loving Wednesday 10-10-12

1. Google Drive. Google Drive used to be Google Docs and it is a way to share documents, photos, presentations, and files with other users by uploading or creating the file in Google Docs (now Drive) and then sharing it to anyone else using their email address. Each person the document was shared with has full access to add to, delete from or otherwise edit the document. Everyone it is shared with can access it simultaneously! There is also a chat feature so if I am at home and my project partner is at her home we both can work on a presentation at the SAME time and we can IM about it as well in the same screen. Also, we can see with color coding who is working on which slide. Drive also keeps track of who and when the last adjustments were made. AND it saves your work automatically, so if you accidentally close your browser...no problem! All of your changes are saved. I LOVE Google Drive!

2. Something else I love as much if not more than Google Drive is Dropbox. 

Where Google Drive is great for sharing and working on presentations or documents simultaneously and being able to see those edits happening in real time, Dropbox is the way to have access to ALL of your files and photos and documents from any web enabled device, including your desktop, laptop, tablet or mobile device AND any other web-accessible device. I can't tell you how great this has been for me as a student (having instant access to files I worked on at home without having to upload them to a specific drive on the school network) from any device I happen to be using. It is FABULOUS! It has so many great features like: automatic upload of photo's I take from my phone, instant recognition of ANY changes made to any document or presentation or file that is uploaded and those changes are immediately done. Dropbox is an awesome way to do a quick and easy back up of important files on your main computer, too. It is SO easy to use! It has also made blogging easier because instead of having to look for photos in multiple different places (my phone, the web, the blog, the pic file) they are all in Dropbox as soon as I take them!  LOVE!

3. The beautiful, sunny, amazing Fall weather we are having! 

Roxie and I spent some time outside this afternoon laying in the sun and snuggling. It was awesome! We are still having temps in the upper 70's and low 80's during the day. Our nights are chilly, but yesterday I wore a tank-style dress with no jacket or sweater and was perfectly comfortable. In October! Ah...bliss! I am soaking up every lit bit!

4. My kittens....

Weekend Review 10-8-12

So we will see if I am able to get *this* weekend review post uploaded before Thursday.... insert eye roll here.

Chris and I had a great weekend! Unfortunately, I didn't take very many (like none) pictures of said great weekend. You will just have to use your imaginations, like in the olden days.

Friday night started off with Chris shutting off his pager for the weekend. YAY! That's right Chris was not on call this weekend.

(source)

Haha...while searching for the above graphic I stumbled upon this one and I think Chris would really appreciate it:

(source)

Also, I think he would totally agree with this one:

Ha! So true.

Anyway, the big bustling metropolis of Medford (sarcasm) has just installed an REI and Friday was the grand opening. Chris is an REI member, so we headed over there to check out the new store. We were not impressed. It really was a big overpriced clothing store with a few small sections for various sports equipment. The REI in Portland has a big section for kayaking/rafting but we didn't see any kayaking stuff here. Also, for being a brand new store, it is small and the sections are small and all crammed together. Meh...I don't need to go back.

(source)

Dinner at home of grilled steaks and mashed cauliflower, or what I like to call "faux-tatos." Tasty!

Saturday we took a road trip down into California. We went to Lake Shasta and walked around at one of the marina's (Holiday Harbor) admiring the beautiful water, the gorgeous day and all the different boats and houseboats. So pretty.

On the dock we saw this big...you know I'm not even sure what this is...cable pully? Anyway, it says "Beebe Bros. All Steel 2 Ton Winch. Oh...well I guess it is a winch. HA. dork.  And then it says Seattle USA and a serial number. Chris thought this was pretty cool...you know, considering our last name is Beebe and we are from the Seattle area.

The lake itself was still beautiful and clear, but the water level is L-O-W. Check out the "boat ramp" area:

Yeah, it's all mud, and what you can't see in this picture is two huge, deep trenches in the mud under the water from where people have pulled their boats in and out in the past. This is the higher water launch. To the right there is the low water launch which is still usable, but barely.

After exploring, doing a little shopping at the gift shop, and enjoying the mid-80's weather, we  headed off in search of lunch. We ended up at the Old Mill Eatery on Shasta Dam Blvd in Shasta Lake, Ca.

The Old Mill Eatery is a log cabin building with a nice menu of burgers, sandwiches, salads and breakfasts. Their servings are HUGE. Seriously, get one order and split it if you ever go here. Chris ordered the pastrami burger. 

There is a burger patty under all that pastrami somewhere...

I had a chicken salad that was ginormous. The food and prices were good. It is a husband-wife operation, so the service was not spot-on, but friendly and relaxed. We will definitely keep the Old Mill Eatery in mind if we are in the area again. We would rather go here than In-n-Out!

The rest of the day was just spent driving around and enjoying our day.

Sunday we did some work in the garden, some homework stuff, and did some shopping. We spent the whole weekend together enjoying having the freedom to do whatever we wanted without worrying about Chris having to go off to work.

Now it is Monday morning and it is back to school and work for the week!

Did anyone see Frankenweenie this weekend? That is one thing we were thinking of doing, but didn't quite make it. Any thoughts or reviews??

Have a great Monday!

(Looks like I did it...hitting publish in 3-2-1...)