back to work and reading

I'm back to work full time this week which means I haven't done as much writing this week.

I have done a lot of reading.

I started out reading a collection of speeches and writings by my mom's cousin that was published for her retirement. It was fun to read what she wrote. There were childhood memories and advice on sending kids off to school. I think one of the best things about reading this collection was the feeling that I maybe I wasn't switched at birth. The fact that there is another writer in my family tree gives me a little confidence in my own writing.

One of the speeches in the collection was about Nancy Drew which led me to pick up Nancy's Mysterious Letter this week. Reading Nancy Drew was entertaining. I love how the chapter's end with cliffhangers. I love some of the cheesy things in the books. There is one point where someone tells Nancy she's the best girl detective ever and she modestly says that lots of girls could be good detectives.

I also worked on the stack of books from the last Half Price Books shopping trip.

I decided to read the book Tennyson by Lesley M. M. Blume.

Tennyson and her sister Hattie live a carefree life until their mother leaves and their father goes to find her. Then they are sent to the family's decaying plantation, Agridoux.

The plantation was once grand but in the 1930's it is crumbling.

Aunt Henrietta is sure that the girls will save Agridoux by finding rich suitors and she begins training them in how to act like ladies.

Tennyson begins to learn the secret past of Agridoux and learns why her parents chose not to live there.

I thought the writing in this book was beautiful. The descriptions were amazing.

Writers will relate to Tennyson when she "fixes" one of her mom's stories but ends up upsetting her mom. From that point Tennyson feels like writing is her Mom's dream.

When she gets to Agridoux Tennyson begins writing again.

I highly recommend this book for the beautiful writing and for the glimpse into the history of the South after the Civil War.