Book Review: Far From Here: A Novel by Nicole Baart

by Jillian @ http://blueshelled.com . April 1, 2012 . 2:30PM

When Goodreads.com sent me a free copy of Far From Here: A Novel, written by Nicole Baart, I was really looking forward to reading it. The premise of the novel is one that is written from the perspective of someone who has been left behind when someone they care about turns into a missing case. Was the person lost or did the person leave and will he return? Will he be found? What caused him to go in the first place and what happened when he did?

As someone who thrives on a good conspiracy theory, I know, I know, I should know better, but I do thrive on them, I couldn’t wait to see what Nicole Baart’s take on what it might be like to be in that uncomfortable position of loving someone and then having them disappear would look like. I tend to live vicariously through my books and would never, ever want to experience this firsthand, but I have frequently wondered about the people that just drop off the face of the earth. Did they choose it? Did something happen to them? Are they still there?

With these questions in mind, I opened up the beautifully illustrated cover of Far From Here and settled down for a good read. Danica and Etsell have been married for the majority of their adult lives. Etsell is a passionate pilot and Danica is his flight-phobic support system. On the surface, their marriage is perfect, even after ten years, and though Danica cannot share Etsell’s dream of flight, they begin to discuss having a family.

Etsell takes a flight job for a friend and will be in Alaska for two weeks flying, which is his dream job. Etsell has always wanted to work there on a permanent basis but Danica is set in her feelings of staying where they have planted roots and avoiding flying at all costs. It is with this dissonance between them that Etsell leaves for his two week business trip.

Danica focuses on his return until her doorbell rings and she gets the news that Etsell has gone missing. The remainder of the book, without giving anything away, is spent determining what has happened to him, if he meant to leave her, and exactly what was happening in their relationship when he left. Ultimately, Danica looks within herself and looks at how you can live with someone for ten years and never really know or understand them or yourself.

Does Danica ever find out what happened to Etsell? Does he return? Did he mean to leave her? Far From Here is a book that kept me entertained and moving through it at a rapid pace. The writing was well done and the characters were dynamic. With every page turn I felt like I needed to know more. I wanted a neatly packaged ending, but we don’t always get them in real life. Many books neglect the secondary characters and this book was an exception. The secondary characters in the novel are those that are used to show us who Danica truly is and they were not just thrown in there to add “filler” to the book. This was a nicely done book and I’d honestly like to see a sequel to it, if for no other reason than to tidy up the ending and to find out what Danica chooses to do from here.

Grammar Checker

by Jillian @ http://blueshelled.com . November 29, 2011 . 8:42PM

We all know that I’ve been working on my dissertation, right? ((“Right!!”)) At least, the old blueshelled regulars know this. The new folks are probably worked up about occupy nashville, a bad book review, or other controversial opinions. Beyond all of that, though, I’ve been working on my dissertation. My blog is generally an afterthought when I have two seconds of free time to work on it, which is why I don’t post nearly as often as I’d like, but probably more often than you’d like to hear from me. What I’ve discovered in this process is that I am really good at writing papers, but as good as I am about it, my grammar leaves a lot to be desired. I’ve always considered myself something of a strict grammar-arian (is that a word?), so I was surprised to find out that I’m just not that into grammar. So, I typed up my first Chapter of my dissertation (introduction/literature review), which for most people is the worst part of this whole thing and then I sent it off to my committee where things like my use of pronouns were mightily massacred.

Ouch.

About that time, I received an email from the people at Grammarly.com who have a fantastic Grammar Checker that can be used for free for 7 days. I got to try out a paid membership au gratis (for freebies) on them from now until the end of 2012. As I am looking to make sure my document is grammatically correct (they frown on poor spelling and grammar when they read dissertations) and that I have been doubly sure that nothing I’ve said could be considered plagiarism, which it won’t because I’m too self-absorbed to use someone else’s words but it’ll check it anyway, Grammar Check is going to be a great fit for what I’m doing in my career right now. What I find most interesting about all of this is that I could have said this at any point in the last 14 years of my college education.

Full discloser: I’m not a shiller. No one pays me for my opinion. Not even my sponsor. Everything said here is my own thoughts. I ran a 30 page lit review through grammar check and it nuked me. However, my dissertation is sparkling at this point. I get free use of the grammar check (which anyone can use for free for 7 days along with their neat little set of English Grammar Rules, I just get the paid version for a year) and, they are going to offer a $30 donation in the name of my blog to one of the organizations they support, Wideawake.org.

Now, onto my thoughts. I’ve already told you that it nuked and then zestfully cleaned my dissertation. What I liked most about what it did was that it went beyond the basic Microsoft Office spelling and grammar check. I don’t know when the last time I’ve had to define a gerund was, but when I’d misused one, the program would define it for me and then would show me how I’d misused it so I would not only fix the mistake, I would LEARN FROM MY MISTAKE. I can really see this as a stellar learning tool from ages 10-??? because we all need better grammar skills. I would highly recommend it for those just learning grammar skills, those studying their writing skills for big tests such as the SAT/ACT, those just entering undergraduate studies, those getting ready to take their post graduate exams…really, there is never a bad time for it. Obviously, I’m excited about it. Which is a bit silly because it’s a grammar program, but I’m also the same girl that gets really excited to go to Staples because it’s OFFICE SUPPLIES!!! Don’t judge me. My friend April does, too.

I also like that I can place it under different headings for the type of paper I’m writing. Obviously, my dissertation was under “academic.” This one was under creative. “Mary had a little lamb, little lamb, little lamb. Mary had a little lamb whose fleece was white as snow.” Generates this:

I’m not sure how well you can read this, being that my main panel is so small on here, but it says that there is a citation audit because…well, because Mary had a little lamb is all over the internet! Clearly, I plagiarized that puppy and if I don’t cite it, my teacher is going to fail me for it! Seriously, I love this program. If you have kids, if you are a kid, if you are in school, have friends in school, if your parents in are school, direct them to this free 7-day trial period. And if they like it, have them get the paid version for all the awesome bells and whistles.

Pizza Hut loves me

by Jillian @ http://blueshelled.com . November 20, 2011 . 11:39AM

On Friday night, we were all exhausted. I’d been sick with flu-like symptoms (but not the flu-NOT THE FLU-I got the shot-IT WAS NOT THE FLU) for two days, AJ had run a fever for 24 hours and Leon was coming down with some symptoms as well. I was still pretty coherent, but I was living off of Ramen and Coca-Cola. About 10pm, Leon was in the backyard with the dogs and I was in the kitchen. I thought I heard him knocking on the window. When I walked out to ask him what he needed, he looked at me with a strange face and asked what I was talking about and shrugged.

Well, ok then. I walked to the front door. Generally, if you aren’t expecting someone, a knock on the door at 10pm isn’t a good thing. I warily opened the door and hid behind it while only poking my face out–because, you know, if someone has a gun the first target you want them to see is your face.

“Yes?”

A girl stood in front of me with two small boxes. I looked at her in confusion, then to her red hat and to her car. “Did you happen to place an order for some cinnamon sticks? I’ve misplaced the name, but I’m always over here in this neighborhood delivering something to you guys, so I thought it MUST be the Blueshelled house! When I called my store, they confirmed it was the Blueshelled house!”

As I stood there trying to decide if I should be amused at the situation, offended by the implication that we live on Pizza Hut or happy that we are favored customers. She went on, “Gosh, I have an extra box of these anyway and I’m not going to find their owners in time. We’ll have to give the other people a refund. Would you like a box of these?”

In fairness to the sweet Pizza Hut girl, AJ believes the nice lady at the McDonald’s Drive Thru is our personal chef and that Pizza is a food group. “Well, sure! Thanks!”

So, thank you, Pizza Hut, for our late night snack on Friday night. It was well-appreciated by a family of sick people who longed for some cinnamon stick sweetness. There is something to be said for being a favored customer after all.