MONDAY MEMES: MAILBOX & WHAT ARE YOU READING? — FEB. 28

MONDAY MEMES

Welcome to our Monday Memes, in which we celebrate the books received, as well as those read.  We also share out reading plans for the upcoming week.

Mailbox Monday is hosted in February by Library of Clean Reads.

What Are You Reading? is hosted by Book Journey.

MAILBOX MONDAY:

My book receipts were all purchases by me, and included four print books and two e-books.

1.  Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand, by Helen Simonson

In her witty and wise debut novel, newcomer Helen Simonson introduces the unforgettable character of the widower Major Ernest Pettigrew.  The Major epitomizes the Englishman with the “stiff upper lip,” who clings to traditional values and has tried (in vain) to pass these along to his yuppie son, Roger. The story centers around Pettigrew’s fight to keep his greedy relatives (including his son) from selling a valuable family heirloom–a pair of hunting rifles that symbolizes much of what he stands for, or at least what he thinks he does…

2.  The Girl Who Played With Fire, by Stieg Larsson

Stieg Larsson’s seething heroine, Lisbeth Salander, once again finds herself paired with journalist Mikael Blomkvist on the trail of a sinister criminal enterprise. Only this time, Lisbeth must return to the darkness of her own past (more specifically, an event coldly known as “All the Evil”) if she is to stay one step ahead–and alive. The Girl Who Played with Fire is a break-out-in-a-cold-sweat thriller that crackles with stunning twists and dismisses any talk of a sophomore slump.

3.  Drinking:  A Love Story, by Caroline Knapp

The roots of alcoholism in the life of a brilliant daughter of an upper-class family are explored in this stylistic, literary memoir of drinking by a Massachusetts journalist.

4.  Digging Out, by Anne Richardson (Roiphe)

Published in 1966, Anne Richardson’s first novel explores the tale of a young NY woman’s rebirth after her mother’s death.  Coming of age tale set in empty, affluent times.

5.  Amsterdam (e-book), by Ian McEwen

When good-time, fortysomething Molly Lane dies of an unspecified degenerative illness, her many friends and numerous lovers are led to think about their own mortality. Vernon Halliday, editor of the upmarket newspaper the Judge, persuades his old friend Clive Linley, a self-indulgent composer of some reputation, to enter into a euthanasia pact with him. Should either of them be stricken with such an illness, the other will bring about his death. From this point onward we are in little doubt as to Amsterdam‘s outcome–it’s only a matter of who will kill whom….

6.  My Hollywood (e-book), by Mona Simpson

Simpson’s pragmatic and delightfully observant nanny Lola shines in this story of contemporary child rearing. Critics did find Claire, with her privileged lifestyle and chronic self-doubt, a slightly less compelling character. And, in stark contrast to all other critics, the Philadelphia Inquirer reviewer found the novel disorganized, repetitive, and filled with exasperating characters. While a few readers may not find My Hollywood to their liking, most should find it an entertaining and heartfelt addition to Simpson’s body of work….

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WHAT ARE YOU READING?

This week, I’ve enjoyed some blogging, as well as reading.  Here are some of my favorites:

Booking Through Thursday:  Something Old & Something New

Saturday Snapshot — Old Photos

A Bit of Me (Me) — A Writer’s Life

Reading Week — Click Titles for Reviews:

1.  The Paris Wife, by Paula McLain

2.  The Book of Tomorrow, by Cecelia Ahern

3.  Hardly Knew Her, by Laura Lippman

STILL READING:  Freedom, by Jonathan Franzen

What’s Up Next?

1.  Facets, by Barbara Delinsky (on my TBR stacks)

Delinsky’s ( Heart of the Night ) new tale demonstrates that even when revenge isn’t sweet, it still makes palatable reading. Writer Hillary Cox has been exceptionally patient and discreet during her 27-year affair with mining and jewelry magnate John St. George, a man who is, as they say, not the “marrying kind.” Thus, when John announces on television that he has become engaged to another woman, Hillary’s thoughts turn to equally public revenge: she decides to write a biographical expose of his personal and business life….

2.  Wicked Appetite, by Janet Evanovich

Life in Marblehead has had a pleasant predictability, until Diesel arrives. Rumor has it that a collection of priceless ancient relics representing the Seven Deadly Sins have made their way to Boston’s North Shore. Partnered with pastry chef Lizzie Tucker, Diesel bullies and charms his way through historic Salem to track them down—and his criminal mastermind cousin Gerewulf Grimorie. The black-haired, black-hearted Wulf is on the hunt for the relic representing gluttony. Caught in a race against time, Diesel and Lizzie soon find out that more isn’t always better, as they battle Wulf and the first of the deadly sins….

3.  The Weird Sisters (e-book), by Eleanor Brown

You don’t have to have a sister or be a fan of the Bard to love Brown’s bright, literate debut, but it wouldn’t hurt. Sisters Rose (Rosalind; As You Like It), Bean (Bianca; The Taming of the Shrew), and Cordy (Cordelia; King Lear)–the book-loving, Shakespeare-quoting, and wonderfully screwed-up spawn of Bard scholar Dr. James Andreas–end up under one roof again in Barnwell, Ohio, the college town where they were raised, to help their breast cancer–stricken mom. The real reasons they’ve trudged home, however, are far less straightforward: vagabond and youngest sib Cordy is pregnant with nowhere to go; man-eater Bean ran into big trouble in New York for embezzlement, and eldest sister Rose can’t venture beyond the “mental circle with Barnwell at the center of it.” For these pains-in-the-soul, the sisters have to learn to trust love–of themselves, of each other–to find their way home again….

4.  The Three Weissmanns of Westport, by Cathleen Schine

A geriatric stepfather falls in love with a scheming woman half his age in Schine’s Sense and Sensibility–flecked and compulsively readable follow-up to The New Yorkers. Betty Weissman is 75 when Joseph, her husband of nearly 50 years, announces he’s divorcing her. Soon, Betty moves out of their grand Central Park West apartment and Joseph’s conniving girlfriend, Felicity, moves in. Betty lands in a rundown Westport, Conn., beach cottage, but things quickly get more complicated when Betty’s daughters run into their own problems….

So that’s it for the week!  I think I’ll be busy reading these…and hopefully I’ll get some writing done, too.  What do you have on tap for the week?  Hope you’ll stop by and share….

Oh…except I have added this photo of the new bookshelf I bought yesterday…with a few books on it….

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A NEW SHELF CAN MAKE!

DARK, TIGHTLY THEMED, & RICH IN CHARACTERIZATIONS — A REVIEW

In Laura Lippman’s short story collection, we experience a variety of voices: first person narratives; stories from the perspective of women ranging from teens to aged; two from men who have been less than faithful to their wives (spousal betrayal seems to be a recurring theme); and a couple from the perspective of black men.

Another recurring theme lies in the numerous stories set in Baltimore or neighboring cities, like Washington, D.C. There are a few Tess Monaghan stories, and one of my favorites was the one entitled “The Accidental Detective,” in which Tess is undergoing an interview about her life. I discovered enough about Tess in this one to convince me that I really needed to read the whole series about her.

Most of the stories share a dark theme, with murder being the order of the day.

In the title story, “Hardly Knew Her,” we meet a young girl who figures out an unusual way to stop her father from gambling away all of her possessions.

In the last story, which is almost a novella entitled “Scratch a Woman,” we meet again a character from an earlier story: a high-level prostitute/madam, in which we thoroughly delve into this character’s backstory, and even meet her own sister, who also has a dark side.

Short story collections can sometimes be tedious, or many of the stories don’t hold up to the high level of one or two of them. But with Hardly Knew Her: Stories, I found that the characterizations were as rich as those in a novel, and the plots kept me turning pages, wondering what I would discover next. Therefore, five stars for this one.

MONDAY MEMES: MAILBOX & WHAT ARE YOU READING? — FEB. 21

MONDAY MEMES

Welcome to our Monday Memes, in which we reflect on our past week in books and blogging, and plan for the next one.

Mailbox Monday is hosted in February by Library of Clean Reads.

What Are You Reading? is hosted by Book Journey.

 

MAILBOX MONDAY:

 

I was very excited by the books I received this week, all purchases I made.  Some were print books and some were e-books.

 

1.  A Widow’s Story, by Joyce Carol Oates

Here’s a blurb on Amazon:

Brutal violence and catastrophic loss are often the subjects of Oates’ powerful novels and stories. But as she reveals in this galvanizing memoir, her creative inferno was sequestered from her joyful life with her husband, Raymond Smith. A revered editor and publisher who did not read her fiction, Smith kept their household humming during their 48-year marriage. After his shocking death from a “secondary infection” while hospitalized with pneumonia, Oates found herself in the grip of a relentless waking nightmare. She recounts this horrific “siege” of grief with her signature perception, specificity, and intensity, from epic insomnia and terrifying hallucinations to the torment of “death-duties,” painful recognitions of confidences unshared and secrets harbored, and a chilling evaporation of meaning….

2.  The Easter Parade, by Richard Yates

A Snippet from Amazon:

In The Easter Parade, first published in 1976, we meet sisters Sarah and Emily Grimes when they are still the children of divorced parents. We observe the sisters over four decades, watching them grow into two very different women. Sarah is stable and stalwart, settling into an unhappy marriage. Emily is precocious and independent, struggling with one unsatisfactory love affair after another. Richard Yates’s classic novel is about how both women struggle to overcome their tarnished family’s past, and how both finally reach for some semblance of renewal….

3.  Now You See Her, by Joy Fielding

Amazon Blurb:

Fifty-year-old Marcy Taggart is in Ireland celebrating her twenty-fifth wedding anniversary with one notable absence, that of her husband, who recently left her for the female golf pro at their country club. Ever since the mysterious disappearance of her daughter, Devon, two years ago, Marcy has been suffering one long nervous breakdown. Her soon-to-be-ex-husband and her sister are convinced that Devon, who had bipolar disorder, committed suicide. But Marcy believes Devon ran away to start a new life. When Marcy takes a break from her relentless sightseeing in Cork, she catches sight of Devon through a window, and so begins her reckless odyssey to reclaim her missing daughter….

Then I received a $20.00 gift certificate in a contest win from Book Journey, which led to my downloading these e-books.

Thanks, Sheila!

4.  Every Secret Thing, by Laura Lippman

Two 11-year-old children-good girl Alice Manning and bad girl Ronnie Fuller-wander homeward in Baltimore after being kicked out of a friend’s pool party. They discover a baby in an unattended carriage by the front door of a house and steal it away. The reader watches in horror, knowing what will come next. The baby dies, and Alice and Ronnie are imprisoned for seven years. The mystery involves which girl did the killing, and which was the dupe….

5.  The Tapestry of Love, by Rosy Thornton

A warm and uplifting story of how a woman falls in love with a place and its people: a landscape, a community and a fragile way of life. A rural idyll: that’s what Catherine is seeking when she sells her house in England and moves to a tiny hamlet in the Cévennes mountains. With her divorce in the past and her children grown, she is free to make a new start, and her dream is to set up in business as a seamstress. But this is a harsh and lonely place when you’re no longer just here on holiday. There is French bureaucracy to contend with, not to mention the mountain weather, and the reserve of her neighbours, including the intriguing Patrick Castagnol. And that’s before the arrival of Catherine’s sister, Bryony…

6.  The Lake of Dreams, by Kim Edwards

When Lucy Jarrett returns to her childhood home in Lake of Dreams, N.Y., she learns that her brother, Blake, who’s gone into the family business, and his girlfriend hope to drain a controversial marsh to construct a high-end property. Meanwhile, Lucy, who remains haunted by her father’s death in a fishing accident years earlier, reconnects with her first boyfriend, Keegan Fall, now a successful glass artist. But when she sees something familiar in the pattern of one of his pieces, and discovers a hidden note in her childhood home, Lucy finally digs into her family’s mysterious past. Unfortunately, the lazy expository handling of information mutes the intrigue, and readers will see the reignited spark between Keegan and Lucy coming for miles….

 

What a treasure trove of books!  I’m loving each and every one.

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WHAT ARE YOU READING?

 

In the past week, I’ve enjoyed my blogging and reading.

Here are some of my blog posts:

WEEKEND POTPOURRI — TAXES

READING, SPARKY TREASURES, ETC.

SATURDAY SNAPSHOT — EUROPEAN IMAGES

ROW 80 UPDATE — THE TORTOISE & THE HARE

 

Books Read and Reviewed – Click Titles for Reviews:

1.  Ladybird, by Grace Livingston Hill

2.  Married:  A Fine Predicament, by Anne Roiphe

3.  The Long Road Home, by Mary Alice Monroe

4.  My Passion for Design, by Barbra Streisand

 

What’s Up Next?

1.  The Paris Wife, by Paula McLain

The fictional story brings Hadley Richardson Hemingway out from the formidable shadow cast by her famous husband. Though doomed, the Hemingway marriage had its giddy high points, including a whirlwind courtship and a few fast and furious years of the expatriate lifestyle in 1920s Paris….

2.  The Book of Tomorrow, by Cecelia Ahern

“A veritable modern-day Gothic, Ahern’s engrossing new novel is filled with family secrets, intrigue, and magic aplenty.”

3.  Freedom, by Jonathan Franzen (I’ll probably be reading this one awhile)

Franzen’s second novel is a wrenching, funny, and forgiving portrait of a Midwestern family (from St. Paul this time, rather than the fictional St. Jude). Patty and Walter Berglund find each other early: a pretty jock, focused on the court and a little lost off it, and a stolid budding lawyer, besotted with her and almost burdened by his integrity. They make a family and a life together, and, over time, slowly lose track of each other….

 

So that’s it…finally!  It’s going to be a very busy week.  What about you?  I’d love to read about your books, etc…..

IS MARRIAGE STILL A VIABLE OPTION? — A REVIEW

Marriage, and whether or not to marry, is the topic of Anne Roiphe’s memoir. In it, she explores the traditional marriages in history; the sexual revolution and its impact on marriage; the additional issues that children bring to the marriage; and how divorce and remarriage impact the individuals, the family, and the future.

In Married: A Fine Predicament, she explores each of these topics by describing examples from history, from books, and from her own experiences.

Talking about marriage, by necessity, also involves analyzing the different kinds of marriages and the expectations in each. For example, some marriages allow for infidelities, while others cling to monogamy. The author describes how the need for monogamy might seem contrary to some of her own experiences, like being a “revolutionary, a lover of freedom, a rebel against conventional bonds.” Yet in marrying her second (and last) husband, she realized, after getting to know him and his values (he felt disloyal if he dated more than one woman at a time), that she could not violate such a man’s trust.

After a thorough and detailed description of the various contemporary kinds of couples, from the living together to the married, and all the formats in between, she states:

“Marriage is not the only way to be respectable these days and social power is possessed by those who mock the rules (rock and rap stars, movie stars, wealthy men) and social disapproval carries no real sting in urban America and less than it used to across the land.” She goes on to say that “marriage can answer one human problem better than any other solution yet divined. It can assuage our loneliness.”

Obviously, this author is in favor of marriage, despite is many flaws and failings. She is not anti-divorce, as she writes that sometimes the ending of a marriage is the best solution for all.

Personally, I have experienced marriage and various forms of companionship in between, and while I have, finally, at this time, decided that my individual journey works best for me, I can see the appeal that others find in the institution. Sometimes the children of divorce suffer permanent trauma, but at the same time, the children in unhappy marriages may sustain life-long damage as well.

My conclusions are that each of us has to decide what works best in our own lives, and hopefully have the courage of our convictions.

This thoughtful, provocative, and meaningful exploration earned five stars from me.

MONDAY MEMES: MAILBOX & WHAT ARE YOU READING? — FEB. 14

MY READING & BLOGGING JOURNEY

It’s that time again!  Time to share about the books we’ve bought or received, and the books we’ve read last week and plan to read this week.

Mailbox Monday is the place we share our acquisitions, and is hosted in February by Library of Clean Reads.

What Are You Reading? is hosted by Book Journey.

 

MAILBOX MONDAY:

This week I bought two books, a print book and an e-book.

1.  My Passion for Design, by Barbra Streisand…I’ve had my eye on this one ever since she appeared on Oprah to talk about this fabulous journey designing her gorgeous homes, filled with lots of pictures.

On Amazon, I read this blurb:

A lavishly illustrated personal tour of the great star’s homes and collections.

For nearly five decades Barbra Streisand has been one of the singular figures in American entertainment. From the cabaret to the Broadway stage, from television and film stardom to her acclaimed work as a director, from the recording studio to the concert hall, she has demonstrated that the extraordinary voice that launched her career was only one of her remarkable gifts.

Now, in her first book, Barbra Streisand reveals another aspect of her talent: the taste and style that have inspired her beautiful homes and collections. My Passion for Design focuses on the architecture and construction of her newest homes, the dream refuge that she has longed for since the days when she shared a small Brooklyn apartment with her mother, brother, and grandparents….

2.  These Things Hidden (an e-book), by Heather Gudenkauf

A tantalizing blurb from Amazon:

Gudenkauf’s scintillating second suspense novel (after The Weight of Silence) opens with the release of 21-year-old Allison Glenn from prison, where she has served five years for an unspecified but particularly horrible crime. Allison is reluctant to enter a halfway house in her hometown of Linden Falls, Iowa, where “even a heroin-addicted prostitute arrested for armed robbery and murder would get more compassion than I ever will….”

I can’t wait to dive into these!

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WHAT ARE YOU READING?

My reading and blogging week has sped by, and some of my thoughts can be found in these blog posts:

WHERE HAVE ALL THE FLOWERS GONE?

TRYING TO ESCAPE THE PAST — AN EXCERPT

INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR/ARTIST KRISI KELEY

My Reading Week:  Books Read & Reviewed – Click Titles for Review:

1.  Where Angels Fear, by Sunny Frazier

2.  The Blue Bistro, by Elin Hilderbrand

3.  Lancelot’s Lady (e-book), by Cherish D’Angelo

4.  The Enchanted Barn (e-book), by Grace Livingston Hill

Now…What’s Up Next?

1.  The Long Road Home, by Mary Alice Monroe

Amazon Snippet:

Her husband’s suicide left Nora MacKenzie alone, and his shady Wall Street dealings left the Manhattan socialite penniless. By a miracle she’s held on to their mountainside farm—and she’ll keep holding on, no matter what. The property is Nora’s one chance to wring some dignity out of the sham she’s been living.

The Vermont locals think she’s a city girl on a nature kick, but she’s not afraid to get her hands dirty. Nora’s serious about learning the farming business…if she can figure out where to begin. Against the locals’ skepticism, she has only one ally: Charles “C.W.” Walker.

C.W. is hardworking, gentle with the animals and a patient teacher of the hundreds of chores Nora needs to learn. Slowly she starts to believe she’ll survive in her new life, even flourish. She might even be willing to open her heart again. But she won’t return to a life of lies…and the truth about C.W. may be more than Nora’s fragile heart can bear….

2.  Married:  A Fine Predicament, by Anne Roiphe (On my TBR Stacks!)

A Blurb on Amazon:

Readers disgusted by sugarcoated, mushy sentiments will welcome this latest installment from the prolific Roiphe (Up the Sandbox; Fruitful). Neither antiromantic nor hopelessly giddy, Roiphe’s book takes an honest look at what happens after couples say “I do,” and asks why the institution has survived at all….

3.  Ladybird, by Grace Livingston Hill (a library book)

A tale of hardship, abuse, and an escape to a better life.

4.  My Passion for Design, by Barbra Streisand

A lavish exploration of the star’s homes and the journey toward their completion.  Gorgeous photos!

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So that’s my week in review.  Hope you’ll stop by and share your own experiences.

FACING UP TO OUR ADOLESCENT SELVES — REPRISING A REVIEW

A forty-year high school reunion promises so many things to so many people, but especially to Dorothy, Mary Alice, Lester, Candy, and Pete.

What could any of these people find at this unlikeliest of crossroads in their lives? The class beauty searches for meaning and hope for the future; a newly divorced woman hopes to finally attract the class heartthrob; the wall-flower hopes to face up to and overcome her painful past. A lonely widower who has thrown himself into his veterinary practice and pretty much eschewed all things romantic could possibly connect with other like-minded individuals. And Pete Decker, the class heartthrob, seeks an opportunity to put his best foot forward and find redemption for his tattered marriage.

Berg has done it again. The Last Time I Saw You: A Novel reeled me in from the very first page; I felt immediately connected to these characters, even the superficial ones, because they are so three-dimensional. Their pettiness, their hate, their compassion, and even the vulnerabilities that their classmates probably never knew they had are out in full display on this night. As each of them meets up with classmates, they discover that those old high school friends (or enemies) have grown and changed and perhaps even transformed themselves into decent human beings, just as they themselves have had to do some soul-searching and growing over the years.

What happens afterwards? Do any of the intriguing couplings of the evening turn into more? Will new friendships develop? And will each of them find that confronting their youthful selves actually transformed them into better people?

Reading about the journey of these classmates almost made me want to attend my reunion this year—almost!

Five stars!

MONDAY MEMES: MAILBOX & WHAT ARE YOU READING? — FEB. 7

My Reading and Blogging Week

Welcome to our Monday Memes, in which we celebrate all things bookish.  Mailbox Monday is hosted this month by Library of Clean Reads.  What Are You Reading? is hosted by Book Journey.

MAILBOX MONDAY

This week, I received two review books in the mail from Amazon Vine, and ordered two additional books from Amazon.

Then I ordered two e-books.  I know…I’m now addicted to Whispernet.

Books Received:

1.  The Three Weissmanns of Westport, by Cathleen Schine

2.  Pictures of You, by Caroline Leavitt

3.  The Long Road Home, by Mary Alice Monroe (Amazon Vine)

4.  The Book of Tomorrow, by Cecelia Ahern (Amazon Vine)

My e-books:

The Weird Sisters, by Eleanor Brown

Left Neglected, by Lisa Genova

That’s it for my mailbox.…

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WHAT ARE YOU READING?

This past week has sped by so quickly that I’m surprised to have accomplished anything at all.  But I’m looking forward to the week ahead.  Meanwhile, here are some of last week’s accomplishments.

Some blog posts from the past week.

Meet Sparky — A Kindle Sequel

Cheryl K. Tardif – Guest Post

Saturday Snapshot

A Bit of Me (Me) – Colors of the Rainbow

Books Read & Reviewed – Click Title for Review

1.  A Ticket to Ride, by Paula McLain

2.  Wild Child:  Girlhoods in the Counterculture, by Chelsea Cain

3.  The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, by Stieg Larsson

Currently Reading:

Where Angels Fear, by Sunny Frazier

What’s Up Next?

1.  The Blue Bistro, by Elin Hilderbrand

Hilderbrand sets her sophisticated romance novel against the glamorous backdrop of Nantucket Island, as she has done in previous novels (Nantucket Nights, 2002; Summer People, 2003). Adrienne Dealey is anxious to put Aspen behind her, for it was the scene of her latest disastrous romance with a man of dubious character. Her previous stint as a concierge lands her a job as hostess at an upscale oceanfront restaurant. Charming, boyish owner Thatcher Smith has put the multimillion-dollar property up for sale and intends to close the Blue Bistro for good by summer’s end.

2.  Lancelot’s Lady, by Cherish D’Angelo

A Bahamas holiday from dying billionaire JT Lance, a man with a dark secret, leads palliative nurse Rhianna McLeod to Jonathan, a man with his own troubled past, and Rhianna finds herself drawn to the handsome recluse, while unbeknownst to her, someone with a horrific plan is hunting her down.

3.  The Enchanted Barn, by Grace Livingston Hill

The story of an impoverished family, rendered homeless by circumstances, and how, with the help of friends, they transform an old barn into their new home.

That’s my reading and blogging week.  What is on your list this week?  Hope you’ll stop by and share.

BEHIND CLOSED DOORS — A REVIEW

For Laci:  A Mother’s Story of Love, Loss, and Justice, by Sharon Rocha, is a heart-wrenching tale of a mother’s most painful times after her daughter and grandson are murdered—by the one person none of them would have suspected, her husband.

We read about Laci’s childhood, her wonderfully vibrant personality, and how she met the love of her life — Scott Peterson. Behind closed doors, what went on in this family that would turn the beautiful fairytale story into a tragic nightmare?

There is little in the book to reveal the clues to that tale—others conclude that the truth lay somewhere in the psyche of a sociopath, a charming young man whose goal in life was to satisfy his own needs.

This story seems near to my heart, since I once lived in the community where all of this took place, and even attended the community college there (Modesto, CA).

Another book that lends another aspect to the mysterious events is the story told by Amber Frey, Scott Peterson’s mistress, in Witness: For the Prosecution of Scott Peterson.

Even after several years, this story of what can go wrong in a picture-book life holds fascination for many. Do we read the titillating tales because we want to stave off misfortune in our own lives?

Whatever our reasons, these questions linger. And the pain of the loss for people like Laci’s mother will never be assuaged.

I gave this one five stars.