Making of American Girl

 

I still have the very first American Girl catalog I ever received in the mail when I was a kid, back when it was still Pleasant Rowland's company and not Mattel. 

I was of an age where I was considered "too old" to be playing with dolls, but I didn't care. I grew up loving "Little House on the Prairie" and reading those books over and over again. I loved stories about the "olden days". Partner the gorgeous dolls with all the amazing accessories plus the historical factor? I was obsessed. 

Unfortunately, my parents couldn't afford them. My parents did buy us the books, so we had Kirsten, Samantha, and Molly's stories to read over and over, just not the dolls themselves. I was in my early twenties when I finally got my American Girl: Kit, who grew up during the Great Depression. And I still have her 😀 I went to Chicago with a group of girlfriends in 2010, and I drug them to the American Girl story on Michigan Ave. I had a splendid time. The other women? Probably not. 

American Girl is very different now than it was when I was a pre-teen. Pleasant sold the company to Mattel, who has done away with the historical dolls and all of their wonderful accessories (for the most part). I thoroughly enjoyed seeing how the company was brought to life and all of the research and work that went into creating the original dolls. I thought they were expensive until I read about how much effort went into them, now I realize they were actually kind of a bargain. This was a beautiful book that reminded me that there's always room in your life for imagination and whimsy, no matter how old you are. 

Summerall: On and Off the Air; Outlander

 

As promised, I was able to borrow a copy of Pat Summerall's autobiography, "On and Off the Air". The nights of drunken debauchery were not as exciting as I'd hoped, but that was okay, his life story was interesting. 

Pat was born with a club foot and his right leg twisted backwards. A doctor was able to correct it, and thought he would be okay to walk once he got older but probably not ever run or play sports. Pat defied the odds, playing all kinds of sports as a kid and a teenager, he loved all of it. 

He ended up playing football for a few teams, including the New York Giants when they had both Tom Landry and Vince Lombardi as assistant coaches. When he retired from football he took up broadcasting and was paired with Tom Brookshier. The two of them were great friends as well as drinking buddies until CBS split them up and put Pat with Coach Madden. Eventually his family and friends held an intervention and convinced Pat to go to the Betty Ford clinic for his alcoholism. Pat went and never drank again. 

Due to his years of alcohol abuse, Pat ended up needing a liver transplant and lived for another ten years. He sounded like a humble, grateful man at the end and I'm glad he got the chance to turn his life around. 

I've read "Outlander" before but a friend at work who loved the show just started reading the books and after talking with her about them it made me nostalgic to go back and reread them. I took advantage of the long, rainy weekend and tucked in with book one. 

The year is 1945 and Claire Randall, a nurse who served on the battlefields of France during WWII, and her husband, Frank, are vacationing in Scotland before Frank takes up a position at Oxford. They were apart during the war and they're trying to reconnect. While looking at some flowers at Craigh na Dun (a rock formation like Stonehenge), Claire falls through a portal back in time to 1743. 

A band of Scottish Highlanders rescue her from Captain Black Jack Randall, an ancestor of her husband, and take her under their protection. As part of being kept from Black Jack's murderous hands, she ends up marrying Jamie Fraser. At first for convenience, since she's determined to get back to the stones and go to her own time, but she and Jamie fall in love and she decides to stay. 

And yes, I know I have a million library books (not to mention all the ones I own) that I haven't read yet but there's no point fighting it. I've learned over the years 😊

The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion Vol. 1

 

So these books seemed to have exploded out of nowhere. After reading the first volume (of 9, I believe), I understand why. It was really good! 

In 1883, Emma Lion, an orphan, returns to the home she's set to inherit when she turns 21 in a few months. She's been living with her very disagreeable and elderly cousin Matilde, who promised to set her three years of wages aside for her but now is refusing to do so because she thinks Emma stole her silver. Her cousin Archibald, Matilde's brother, has been living in Lapis Lazuli House (which is Emma's), taking care of the upkeep and finances. He refuses to give Emma her old rooms and instead sticks her in the garret. He keeps avoiding her and Emma finally makes an appointment with her banker, who tells her Archibald has deliberately blown through her inheritance by buying expensive clothes. 

Boy, with relatives like these, man. Poor Emma. She's a plucky girl, though, and quickly arranges to have a renter come in and rent out part of the house so they have some income. Her aunt Eugenia also wants Emma to be a companion to her daughter, Arabella, who Eugenia is getting ready to introduce to society. 

Brower has written Emma with a lovely, quirky, slightly dark sense of humor and as a result Emma is very relatable and fun. I'm looking forward to reading the next volume.