Book Review - The Mercury Fountain by Eliza Factor

How did I come into possession of this book?

This book came from the LibraryThing Early reviews program (Which by the way, I love.  I find that I receive way more book from here than its equivalent on Goodreads, which I have yet to receive a book from.)

First Lines:

“The scream must have come from Casa Grande.  There were no other houses, no trees or huts, no jackals, only the bone-white road, the dusty scrub.”  (Factor 9)

What is it about?

The book takes place near the Mexico, Texas boarder in the early 1900s.  The story centers on the Scraperton family who have made the town of Pristina very prosperous because of the mercury there.  However, as with any Utopian society, things don’t stay perfect and the book follows all of trials and conflicts the family has to endure.

What did I think?

This was not the book I expected when I read the blurb on the early reviewers page.  I am a huge dystopian/utopian society fan, but I think most of those sorts of books I read are in the young adult genre and therefore I wasn’t prepared for such a heavy book.  This is not an easy quick read; in fact, I will be reading it again to get the full idea of all that happened.  By the time I got to the end I finally had in my mind who everyone was and how the town fit together and I just felt like I had missed so much while reading the rest of the book and trying to place where all the characters were.  I did really enjoy this book, it is wonderfully written and the characters are quite interesting and unique.

Who would I recommend it to?

As long as you don’t go into this thinking it’s going to be a light, easy read you will enjoy this book.  I can see it being a great book to discuss in a book club or similar situation.  And it really is just a great piece of literature, I highly recommend it!

Still not much snow, but that didn't stop me!

A couple weekends ago I took a mini vacation back to Tahoe.  The main purpose of this trip was to go skiing.  Over Christmas break there was no snow and that’s usually when I get a lot of my skiing in (especially since I was about to move to Kentucky!).  Well, a month and a half later they’ve had a least one storm but the snow was still very, very sad.  It’s quite a bummer when you go visit a town that relies on a good winter (read: lots of snow) and they just haven’t got it.  It’s all anyone can talk about and it just makes everything feel depressing.  Despite all this I was determined to go skiing, I was flying across the country fergodsakes!  I was determined to make the best of my three days there and I’m pretty sure I did.

Day 1: I flew out of KY super early and was in Tahoe by noon.  I went downhill skiing at Squaw Valley because  they have a great program where they will give you a free afternoon lift ticket if you flew in that day, all I had to do was show my boarding pass and I was on the mountain.  Luckily, my mom and one of my closest friends have season passes so I was able to ski the afternoon with them.  Squaw is one of the biggest resorts in the area and there was only one run that had decent snow.  It was still fun and worthwhile get those few hours in.  Just being out there is one of the best parts; these pictures only give you a taste of the beauty.

Day 2: I headed out cross country skiing with my parents, which was a nice afternoon activity.  My dad and I decided to try a trail that didn’t look like it had been groomed lately and ended up having to take a longer trail (an extra 4 kilometers).  Not only that but part of the trail was just dirt and we had to hike “a little bit” (my dad’s words).  It was nice to be out there but it was so obvious the lack of snow.

Dirt patches we had to cross, carrying our skis.

Day 3: Back to the nordic center for more cross country skiing, but this time skating! Met up with the same close friend I downhill skied with on Friday for a nice morning ski.  We basically went as far out as the trails were groomed before we had to turn around.  Luckily, it got us out to this beautiful lookout

Ah silver, such a rewarding view.

Update:  It looks as though Tahoe is getting lots of snow as I post this, I must be good luck, y'all can thank me for that!

To all who come to this happy place, Welcome!

I <3 Disneyland so very much! Yes, I am 26 and there are no small children in our family, yet it is still possible to have a fantastic time there. 

My Happy Family

First you ave to understand that Disneyland isn't all about the big rides, its about the overall experience.  You should go see shows and attractions that aren't rides to give you a full magical experience.  Some of my family's favorite non-ride attractions:

Animation (in California Adventure) - First, you walk into a big room with scenes of Disney animated movies playing and music from those movies. There are comfy benches and it is very relaxing.  There are two "shows" you can go to here, turtle talk with Crush and Animation Studio (or something).  Turtle Talk with Crush is so cool for kids and adults. Crush (the turtle from finding nemo) shows up on the screen as his computer animated self and interacts with the people in the audience.  My sister answered a question from him and he gave her the nick name Kickin' it Casey! The other show isn't quite as cool, but you do get to learn how to draw a Disney Character (and compare it to your family's interpretations :). The last part of the animation attraction is a walk through type of thing where you get to do cool things like see which Disney character you are most like (I was Jane from Tarzan) and put your voice to a Disney song or scene (we did Hakuna Matata).  I think we spent about 2 hours here and it was so fun, as always!

Blue Sky Cellar (In California Adventure) - This is a small room that talks about coming attractions to California Adventure and information from Disney Imagineers.  There are some really cool models and videos of plans for the new rides.  This time it was focused on the new Little Mermaid ride (opening in June) and the new Cars Land (already in construction and opening in 2012).  You learn some cool stuff!

Fireworks (Disneyland) - Nothing beats the fireworks in Disneyland, they are coordinated to music so well and always have a theme. We watched them from the middle of main street in good view of the castle.

Fantasmic (Disneyland) - A great 20 minute show with cool effects and lots of Disney characters, its shown on the rivers of America by New Orleans Square and you can sit down to watch the show.  Sadly, we didn't watch it this time but I usually recommend going to the late show.

Tiki Room (Disneyland) - A classic animatronic show.  The birds sing, the flowers sing, even the totem poles on the wall sing! And while you are waiting you can get a pineapple whip, yum-zo!

There are also some fun rides that aren't "thrill" rides, that contribute to the overall experience.  Here are some of my favs:

Toy Story Mania (California Adventure) - its a 3D video game on a ride!  So fun, and if your family is competitive (who us?) its even better.  Unfortunately, I got last in my family first time we went, but improved and got second to last the second (Ha, Dad, beat you!).

Astroblasters (Disneyland) - Same idea, but you don't wear 3-D glasses and you are shooting at moving targets, I do much better at this game, for some reason.

Peter Pan (Disneyland) - Yes, its a kid's ride, but it is such a good idea for a ride it still remains one of the best!

And then there are the thrill rides and ones everyone knows about like Space, Thunder, and Splash (closed while we were there) Mountains, Indiana Jones, California Screamin and Soarin, and the Tower of Terror.

One disappointment from this trip, World of Color.  Its a water, light, music, animation show on teh big pond in California Adventure.  It was so hyped up, and we got our fastpasses, like we were told to.  But we really couldn't see the animation projected on the water and we had to wait and stand an hour in our area before it started.  They really need to fix the viewing area...put in bleachers or risers that come out of the ground (you're Disney, you can do it).

The only other disappointment was that we really only spent 1.5 days there :(  Just one more night and half a day at the park would've made all the difference and we could've gone back to the hotel and napped without feeling like we were missing anything.

Ok, last disappointment was that we didn't stay at the Grand Californian.  If they are having a special, stay there, it's worth it!