I awoke this morning with a bit of a sore throat and have felt slightly off all day. I knew I wanted to get some nutritious foods into my belly around lunchtime and figured a smoothie packed with spinach and fruit would be a great way to sneak a lot of healthy fare into one cup.
The highlight of the smoothie?
Peanut butter!
Rumor has it that today is National Peanut Butter Lover’s Day, so it was only fitting. I’m now craving my peanut butter energy bites, so I may have to make a batch this evening.
My smoothie looked like death in a cup, but it tasted great!
In the blender:
- 1 cup frozen strawberries
- 1 frozen banana
- 1 spoonful peanut butter
- 1 scoop chocolate protein powder
- 1 cup 2 percent milk
- 1 spoonful cocoa powder
- 3 large handfuls fresh spinach
It was not so pretty, but I am hoping that all of the vitamins and nutrients from the spinach and fruit will help fight off whatever sickness seems to be trying to sneak up on me.
And now it’s time to discuss February’s book club selection, The Paris Wife!
The Paris Wife
The Paris Wife is a novel told from the perspective of Hadley Richardson, Ernest Hemingway’s first wife. Ernest and Hadley married in 1921 after a very short courtship and the couple quickly moved to Paris during the Jazz Age, enjoying their new marriage, many drinks and the company of well-known writers including F. Scott Fitzgerald and Gertrude Stein.
As a reader, I already knew that Hadley and Ernest’s marriage ultimately fails because of history, but following their journey and trying to understand their complicated bond kept my interest, though slowly but surely I found myself growing more and more frustrated with Hadley. I liked her, but started to lose respect for her and disagreed with a lot of her personal decisions, particularly in the second half of the book.
(Hadley Richardson: Source)
Hadley and Ernest seem very opposite, with Ernest portrayed as a vibrant, proud, egotistical and dynamic man and Hadley a calm, supportive, lost yet loving woman. They seem to adore each other but it’s clear that they have some very intense differences and ideals.
I really enjoyed how the book introduced me to writers I’ve admired for years as friends of the Hemingways. Reading about F. Scott Fitzgerald, the author of The Great Gatsby (my favorite “assigned reading” book from high school), was interesting and fun, as I haven’t done much research into his personal life. “Knowing” the secondary characters in the book really added to the story, especially when I started to become increasingly frustrated with Hadley.
I enjoyed reading about Ernest’s writing habits and his dedication to his writing, though his endearing passion for writing seemed to morph into a craft tainted with ego as the book progressed. I also found myself questioning Hadley, her way of life and her decisions with greater fervor during the second half of the book. I began to think she was meek and should stand her ground with greater intensity and not put up with Ernest’s games and his inevitable infidelity.
As a whole, I enjoyed the book and thought it was a quick, easy read. It also sparked my interest in the lives of the authors discussed in the book and I quickly found myself researching and reading more and more about the personal lives of the prominent writers discussed in The Paris Wife.
Blogger Link Up
Additional reviews of The Paris Wife may be found on the following blogs:
- Just a One Girl Revolution
- Chasing a Mile
- After Dinner Dance
- A Better Life with Burgers
- Recimplicity
- Life, Fitness and Me
- Will Run for Treats
- Pieces of Jess
- In the Pink and Green
- Peace, Love and Oats
- Enjoy Your Healthy Life
- Chocolate and Wild Air
- Confessions from a Rambling Mind
- Cook with B
Discussion Questions
- Did you find Hadley likeable? Why or why not?
- Did you enjoy the random passages written from Ernest’s point of view? Did you find that they added to the story and helped you understand Ernest or changed your opinion of him in any way?
- Do you feel like there was one moment in Hadley and Ernest’s relationship where things changed and became irreparable or was the demise of their relationship slow and steady?
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