Now that’s cheap entertainment!

This past weekend flew by as quickly as they all seem to do, but this time I had some fun mixed in with all of the laundry and usual errands, recent wedding preparations and other obligations.

For starters, I knew I wanted to read this month’s book club selection—or at least begin reading it. Talk about cheap entertainment; I rented this one from the library, although I enjoyed it so much I may go out and buy my own copy just to have it. It’s a book called What Alice Forgot, by  Liane Moriarty. I picked it up thinking I would just take a peek. With my daughter’s upcoming wedding this month, if Book Club gets placed on the back burner, that’s okay (my daughter is the founder, so if anyone has an excuse not to have it this month, it’s her!).

But from the first page, I was hooked. Oh, I know it employs one of the most well-known plot devices—amnesia—but as I’ve always said, anything seem fresh if it’s used well. And this author used it well! This book is funny and touching and it even made me think—all of my favorite book ingredients. The main character, a married mother of three, falls and hits her head during her spin class. Page one begins as she regains consciousness—only to realize she’s forgotten the last ten years of her life. The good news is she’s thinner and more energetic than ever; the bad news is those scratches she thought she picked up from the fall are actually fine lines and wrinkles just beginning to appear around her thirty-nine (not twenty-nine) year old eyes.

I won’t give away more than that, and of course there were a couple of things I might have done differently (Sorry! I can’t  help myself! I love rewriting other people’s books.) But it’s been a long time since I had to force myself not to peek ahead at the ending, I was so eager to find out what would happen. I’m proud to say I controlled myself and didn’t even glance ahead to the next page, let alone spoiling the ending.

The book also had me wondering if I’ve changed in the last ten years. Life-altering events have a way of changing people, as this book demonstrated. Am I happier since these years have gone by, or have the hard knocks of life added an edge of bitterness? Have I taken my loved ones for granted?

You’ll ask yourself these and more questions if you pick up this book!

Then on Saturday evening our handicapped son went to a Special Rec program—giving my husband and I the opportunity to enjoy some quiet time together. Redbox, anyone? So for a buck we picked up a movie and for a few dollars more some Quiznos subs, popped some corn in the microwave, and sat down to watch The Way, a story about a man who experienced some hard knocks of his own: a widower who at the beginning of the movie is informed that his only son has died in an accident in Europe. This father and son had grown apart because the son had the itch to leave his “normal” life and wander the world, something the father absolutely could not understand. Part of the son’s wanderings took him to the Pyrenees mountains near the French border of Spain to start a special, spiritual journey—The Way of St. James. It’s a pilgrimage that’s been around for a thousand years, starting in various places in Europe but ending in the same spot: Santiago de Compostela, Spain, where it’s believed the remains of St. James are buried.

Basically this is a movie with a message that contradicts what everyone thinks these days: the world says we’re more “connected” than ever, because of the Internet. But if life is really about relationship, we’re less connected than ever. It’s a fascinating look at how this father, who lost his relational connection with others, finds that capacity again when he takes up The Way on his son’s behalf, carrying his son’s ashes along a five-hundred mile hike. Inspiring!

Finally, while I was baking cookies to freeze that will be included on the dessert table for my daughter’s wedding this month, I had the television on while I was in the kitchen. I watched a movie based on the book Pope Joan, a fictitious account of a legendary female pope from Medieval days, in this rendition assigned to the 9th century. It was fascinating, mainly because I think they portrayed the brutality and barbarity of the era so well, as well as the limitations women were subjected to that forced Joan (Johanna) to hide the fact that she’s a woman. There were certain “ick” factors included in the movie for me, and since it’s written from a secular point of view and fairly faithful to the legend, some of the spiritual overtones didn’t seem to make sense. But overall it was an interesting rendition of a story that probably isn’t very Catholic in its message, yet was entertaining nonetheless.

So there you have it: three options for cheap entertainment! I hope you take a little time this week to enjoy the creative fruits that are so plentiful in our society.