• Home
  • About Cristen
  • Services
  • Testimonials
  • Contact
   

Subscribe to our list

THE BEST 100 NOVELS CHALLENGE

5/10/2017

2 Comments

 
My mind went straight to Middle Grade and Classics  I haven't read as many current novels because I spend a lot of my time meditating, though I do read the books that make a stir.  I kept many of my favorite books from my childhood and have been re-reading many middle grade novels with my nephews... FUN!!!! :)  You want to relax?  Read Charlotte's Web again.  ;)
  1. Charlotte’s Web
  2. Anna Karenina (I <3 Levin)
  3. East of Eden
  4. This Boy’s Life  (Memoir, I know.)
  5. Fantastic Mr. Fox
  6. Island of the Blue Dolphins 
  7. Pride And Prejudice
  8. Jane Eyre
  9. Siddartha
  10. The Eyes of the Dragon
  11. Heidi
  12. The Secret Garden
  13. Farmer Boy
  14. Of Mice and Men
  15. Sense and Sensibility
  16. The Witches
  17. The Witch of Blackbird Pond
  18. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
  19. Little House in the Big Woods
  20. The Great Gatsby
  21. Are You There God It's Me Margaret
  22. Then Again Maybe I Won’t
  23. Little House on the Prairie
  24. The Alchemist
  25. The Wind in the Willows (Best Literary Bromance?)
  26. Tiger Eyes
  27. The Hobbit
  28. The Bridge to Terabithia
  29. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
  30. Anne of Green Gables
  31. Rilla of Ingleside (First Book that made me cry)
  32. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
  33. Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing
  34. Alice in Wonderland
  35. Blubber
  36. Summer Sisters
  37. Waterlily
  38. Ramona and her Mother
  39. Anne’s House of Dreams
  40. The BFG
  41. The Shining
  42. The Fellowship of the Ring
  43. The Return of the King
  44. The Two Towers
  45. Emma
  46. David Copperfield
  47. Tortilla Flat
  48. The Stand
  49. The Sun Also Rises
  50. All Quiet on the Western Front
  51. In Cold Blood
  52. Hinds Feet on High Places
  53. Wuthering Heights
  54. Ethan Frome
  55. Ceremoney
  56. 1984
  57. Bram Stroker’s Dracula
  58. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
  59. The Mouse and the Motorcycle
  60. The Trumpet of the Swan
  61. Little Women
  62. Stuart Little
  63. Cold Mountain
  64. Lonesome Dove
  65. Beloved
  66. The Hunger Games
  67. Matilda
  68. The Grapes of Wrath
  69. Animal Farm
  70. Memoirs of a Geisha
  71. Sophie’s Choice
  72. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
  73. Watership Down
  74. To Kill A MockingBird
  75. Ender’s Game
  76. The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe
  77. The Color Purple
  78. The Remains of the Day
  79. Great Expectations
  80. The Pearl
  81. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
  82. The Awakening
  83. American Psycho
  84. Interview with a Vampire
  85. A Wrinkle in Time
  86. Garden Spells
  87. James and the Giant Peach
  88. The Age of Innocence
  89. Carrie
  90. A River Runs Through It
  91. The Twits
  92. The Handmaid's Tale
  93. A Clockwork Orange
  94. She’s Come Undone
  95. Cannery Row
  96. The Voyage of Dawn Treader
  97. James and the Giant peach
  98. Eat Pray Love
  99. The Cider House Rules
  100. Misery ​
Nathan Bransford challenged his blog readers to share their top 100 novels.  I took the bait!
Picture

Picture
Picture
Picture
2 Comments

I GOT A JENNIE

5/9/2017

4 Comments

 
Picture
You might have an Iphone 7 or new car.  But, do you know what I got?  I got a Jennie.  My Grandma Pagano, wise matriarch and charming Sicilian, effortlessly socialized with a flirt and a laugh to all.

Yep, I got a Jennie.  Well I had a Jennie; she passed away Monday night.  She lived a good, long life and I couldn’t be more proud than to know that I came from her.  I am her legacy.  I have her genes and her recipes.  She will live on through me … through all of her family.  She taught me how to be loyal, loving, courageous and kind.  She too had arthritis, experiencing a lifetime of chronic pain.  That never stopped her from having a family and a kitchen that ran around the clock.  The machine shop, as my Aunt Rose called Jennie’s kitchen, pumped out the best food I will ever eat.  Did your grandma wake you up to the smell of browning meat at 6:30 am?  Mine did.

Over the years, so much wisdom, encouragement and love was passed from her to me with lots of humor, laughter, and a wee bit of passive aggression to keep me alert.  Here’s a taste:
​
  1. Parmesean is better than romano, but your Grandfather likes romano.  (said while grating romano with slight disdain)
  2. Sicilians put pork in the sauce.  It makes it sweeter.
  3. Where did you get your big butt from?
  4. I don’t want him to get shot, but I wouldn’t mind if he tripped.  (Trump’s inauguration)
  5. All of my girls have good eyebrows and cheekbones.
  6. Does your other Grandma cook for you?
  7. Your grandfather liked snails in his sauce, but he had to go to his sister's house for that.  
  8. Slovaks and the Polish aren’t good hostesses.  They don’t have sweets ready for guests.  (My Mother is Slovak and an excellent baker and hostess ;))
  9. You look like my mother-in-law: she was pretty.  
  10. You don’t have pasta bowls?  Joe, we have to go to Boscov’s.  Cristen doesn't have pasta bowls.  (Right of passage in our family - first set of pasta bowls.)
  11. Are you sure he doesn’t have a second family with all of his out of town business trips?  (Concern over my EX-husband’s frequent absenteeism.)
  12. I think about you every day.  Are you in pain?
  13. This life isn’t easy.  Not everyone could do it. (said a few months ago while living in an assisted living facility and unable to walk)
  14. It feels so long ago, like it was a dream.  (Also said just a few months ago about her marriage and raising four children)
  15. My parents were very loving.
  16. I didn’t have any help and didn’t have time to be depressed.  (I asked her if she ever experienced depression as a young mother.)
  17. Are you hungry?  (asked everyday --several times a day)
  18. First marriages seem to be just a starter these days.
  19. Don’t marry an Italian. (She did.)
  20. Don’t you wash your chicken?  I take the strings out of celery.  (Micromanagement while I made chicken salad)
  21. Connie baked the best bread and nobody baked bread like Connie because she never gave anyone the correct recipe.  (her sister)
  22. Aunt Rose is the most like me.  She takes care of everyone.  (her daughter)
  23. Jovanina brings her own coffee when she visits.  I guess mine’s not good enough.  (my older sister)
  24. I’m glad  your sister moved in; Paganos don’t like living alone.
  25. I already knew something was the matter; you know they call me “the witch”.  
  26. It doesn't matter if your meatballs aren’t perfect balls; he’ll like them anyway.
  27. I don’t eat sweets just some cookies with coffee when I first wake up.  Sometimes I have ice cream at night.  (She had dessert almost every time we went out to eat, too.)
  28. We lost so much time together.  I never gave up on you, Cristen.  When you were little, I would drive by your other grandparent's house to try and catch a glimpse of you.  (There were longs periods of estrangement from my Pagano family when I was a kid.)
Picture
All of these quotes were met with a smile, giggle , gratitude and profound admiration for my Jennie. 
Picture


​Love you Grandma.  I’m so glad you’re at peace now.  I know you're watching.  You can still keep up with all of us!  Now you can see my home and meet my new dog.  See where I hung up the oriental silk you gave me?  Look, I wear your ring every day.  See how much better I’m walking?  Actually everything is better for me and I’m happy.  I’m working on understanding good love.  Thank you for being absolutely amazing.  Thank you for being the embodiment of what’s right and good, loyal, charming and REAL.  ​

Picture
4 Comments

FEELIN' GROOVY

5/2/2017

0 Comments

 
0 Comments

    Subjects

    Children's Literature - Magical Realism, Nature, Spirituality, Qi Gong #ownvoices. 

    Qi Gong Meetup

    Archives

    May 2019
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016

Home

About

Services

Blog

Contact

Copyright Cristen Bopp © 2016
Photos used under Creative Commons from postman.pete Thanks for 2m Views, Tambako the Jaguar, Alexander Day, Marko@Oulu, waferboard, v923z, Ingrid Taylar, francesbean
  • Home
  • About Cristen
  • Services
  • Testimonials
  • Contact