Book: Diana, Her True Story

Diana: Her True Story - In Her Own Words
by Andrew Morton

Length: 432

Format: Paperback
Price: free from the library

How I heard: I don’t think I’ve ever blogged about my obsession with the British royal family, but it’s been a real thing since August 31, 1997. (If you aren’t familiar with significant royal dates, that is the day Princess Diana was killed in a car crash in Paris.) I was not obsessed with Disney princesses, nor can I claim a particular affinity for celebrities, but there was something completely fascinating about that entire ordeal, and like much of the rest of the world, I was sucked in. I read everything I could get my hands on. I watched news reports. I remember sitting in my EO in eighth grade and watching the coverage on Channel 1. I remember saving my money and buying People magazine and Time magazine and Newsweek. (I also remember my brother making fun of my obsession and drawing all over the cover of one of the magazines. My parents made him go buy me a new one. Score!) My social studies teacher offered an extra credit assignment in which we could write a summation of any news story that took place during the school year. Although I didn’t need the extra credit, I took the opportunity to write a lengthy essay without doing a scrap of research.

When the movie The Queen came out in theaters, my husband very thoughtfully took me to see it, and then bought me the movie for Christmas. When Prince William got engaged, I woke up early to watch the wedding. And when I discovered the TV show “The Crown” on Netflix, I did a little else until the first season was finished, and I have been waiting with bated breath for December 8th. And when I discovered a series of documentaries on the queen and her family to celebrate 100 years of the house of Windsor... well, you get it.

All that said, I decided to read a biography on the queen and so I started browsing shelves at the public library. However, before I could find one I liked, I stumbled upon Diana: Her True Story by Andrew Morton. Of course, I was familiar with this title from my Diana days. It was the shocking biography released in 1992 that ruffled all sorts of feathers within the royal family and without. Though her involvement was officially kept secret until after her death (though rumors were rife), the forward of the 25th anniversary edition reveals covert efforts to smuggle recordings from Diana’s home at Kensington Palace to Andrew Morton via a mutual friend. Since book was on the shelf, I thought would give it a try.

My Take: 6/10

As one might predict, it is not first class writing. At times it felt as though Morton was lost in the story he was telling, repeating himself and struggling to find a thread that would carry him through and bring cohesion to the isolated incidents he was reporting. As he was a news correspondent writing a biography, perhaps we should forgive him this.

Aside from the sporadic style, the book itself was interesting because after the forward, there were transcripts of the tapes in this edition. What can be read there is as close to an autobiography as there will ever be. In this addition, there is also information about the years that followed the book’s publication, which includes the divorce, her controversial work on the landmines campaign in Africa, and of course, her death, funeral, and the rather embarassing reaction of the royal family. With my recent rewatch of “The Crown,” these details were made all the more interesting.

Sister was very taken with the cover of this book. I think she thought Diana was pretty. She asked me who she was, and when I explained, she asked me to read the book out loud to her. I read some small sections, and when we had to give the book back to the library, she asked if we could go buy it. I told her no, but I did purchase this for her for Christmas:

Overall, this wasn’t a great book, but I can see why it caused such a “fuss.”

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be off reading about Prince Harry’s engagement. (Which, if you want to know, is completely interesting in itself, because when his great great uncle wanted to marry an American divorcée 80 years ago, he had to abdicate, and when Harry’s great aunt wanted to marry a British divorcee 20 years after, she was refused. What a difference a few generations can make!)

Book: Murder on the Orient Express

Murder on the Orient Express
by Agatha Christie

Length: 288

Format: Kindle Book
Price: $6.99

How I heard about it: A student of mine read it and recommended it, and then I saw the trailer for the new film.

Basic Premise: Set against the snowy backdrop of Eastern Europe in the dead of winter, this book tells the story of the mysterious murder of a gangster on board the stranded Orient Express. Everyone is suspect, but fortunately, the hailed detective Hercule Poirot is on board and on the case.

My Take: 9 out of 10 (scale here)

This was fun! I downloaded it at the tail end of our Disney trip, and thankfully Sister needed next to no help on the flight, and I was free to read. I had the book finished by the following day and Husband and I even made it out to see the movie that evening!

The book was good and interesting, but only someone as skilled as Agatha Christie could get away with such a formulaic approach to the storytelling. In perhaps a predictable manner, the crime is committed, and the suspects are interviewed...and there are many. Everyone on the train, in fact, is under suspicion. The act of calling each one in individually to get his/her story would be an easy place for readers to get bored and check out, because the suspects just keep coming. However, Christie's masterful use of both language and detail keep the reader riveted, and I am convinced that even a reluctant reader would want to keep going. It was excellent, excellent writing. The story itself was interesting, though I will say Christie depended a bit on the audience's familiarity with her protagonist, as this is the 11th book in a series. It felt a bit Westing Game-ish because of the large and varied cast of characters who all seem to be connected, but with a more serious tone. I didn't see the end coming (though perhaps I should have...the details were there!)

But I have to share my favorite moment of the book. Before he is murdered, the gangster offers Poirot a job. Here is his response:

Brilliant.

Day 7: UNIVERSAL

Days 1 & 2

Day 3

Day 4

Days 5 & 6

Oh man, guys. This was the day my family (and I, in particular) had been waiting for! This was

HARRY POTTER DAY!!!

I teared up a little when I saw the castle. It was really, really cool. The first thing we did was get wands:

(Brother = Sirius Black’s, Sister = Hermione’s), and then we rode “Flight of the Hippogriff,” which the kids really liked. We all went through the castle (though Sister and I took the early exit when it came time to get on the ride). We drank some DELICIOUS butter beer:

before boarding the Hogwarts Express and journeying to Hogsmeade.

When we arrrived, we were greeted by the Knight Bus

Although that is NOT Stan Shunpike. Brother asked.

And 12 Grimauld Place (which Brother doesn’t know yet)

And then we entered Diagon Alley:

Wow. It was so cool and special, and the best let is that my kids were just as exited as I was! We rode the Gringotts ride (which was a long line but worth it!), and then stopped at the Magical Menagerie, where Brother got Buckbeak and sister got Crookshanks:

By now it was lunch time, and we left Diagon Alley to find lunch. We wanted to eat at the Leaky Cauldron, but even though you can’t see it, the line was crazy long and we were hungry. We ate some yummy seafood and the boys went to ride some roller coasters in the non-Harry Potter parts of the park. Sister and I browsed a few shops and watched a show, and stopped for some ice cream. When the boys were done, it was time to hook back up with the big group. Tonight was “date night” for us, so we left the kids with the big group and headed back to Hogsmeade.

Husband really wanted me to ride the ride in the castle, and someone gave us their fast passes for it! We were in and out in 15 minutes, and then we found a quiet corner, bought some drinks, and reflected on what had been an amazing trip. Truly, our kids were WONDERFUL. They could not have had a better week. I mean, they did things like this:

(telling secrets in the fort, if that wasn’t obvious). They were really wonderful, and the walking, long days, close quarters, and constant company of extended family seemed to have no effect on the two of them, for which we were profoundly thankful to God. It was clear His fingerprints were all over this trip!

Of all 5 parks we visited (Magic Kingdom, Hollywood, EPCOT, Animal Kingdom, and Universal), Universal ranks as follows by my family:

Husband: 1st favorite

Brother: 1st favorite

Sister: 1st favorite 

Me: 1st favorite 

A HUGE thank you to my in-laws for their enormous investment in this trip and our family! It was magical!

Days 5 & 6: Magic/Animal Kingdom

Days 1 & 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5 we went back to Magic Kingdom, but because we’d already been there, we went a little late and left a little early. We still had time for:

And 

I particularly enjoyed this because of my Arthur class this summer!

And a visit to Belle’s castle where everyone (including Daddy) played a role in telling the story:

For dinner, we visited the Polynesian, where the kids did coconut races:

And we ended the evening at the giant pool before an early bedtime.

Day 6, we headed to our last Disney Park, Animal Kingdom. The boys were especially excited about this one because of a VERY popular ride...so popular, in fact, that this was the line in front of them:

And this is the line behind them:

YIKES. The great part of this was that the rest of the park was completely empty, so Sister and viewed the animal exhibits and rode the flying dinosaur ride four times in a row!

After we hooked back up with the boys, we found out that Brother made a really awesome pin trade:

Pin trading is something I read about a week before we left. Official Disney pins can be traded, both by cast members and guests, so before we left, I ordered a handful of pins and lanyards so the kids could trade. This was great fun all week, but this pin was the icing on Brother’s cake!

We went on a safari on a giant open-air truck, which was really cool, and then saw a bird show:

But the highlight of the day was DEFINITELY the Lion King show. Husband and I had seen it more than a decade ago when we went to Disneyland in Hong Kong, and we loved it so much we went twice. If we hadn’t been at the last showing I would have insisted on a repeat viewing this time, too. It was EXCELLENT.

Dinner was served at the Tusker House, where the kids again got to meet Mickey’s crew:

We headed home after dinner, greatly anticipating the following day: Universal Studios!

Of all 5 parks we visited (Magic Kingdom, Hollywood, EPCOT, Animal Kingdom, and Universal), Animal Kingdom ranks as follows by my family:

Husband: 4th favorite

Brother: 5th favorite

Sister: 5th favorite 

Me: 5th favorite 

Day 4: EPCOT

Days 1 & 2

Day 3

I woke more excited for this day than any other day so far because 1) I LOVE EPCOT! (It’s the only park I’d been to before), 2) there were EXTRA MAGIC HOURS at the park that night, which meant we would get a break from the suffocating crowds, and 3) I was so excited to introduce Brother to the World Showcase! He’d read all about it in his WDW Guide, and he was pumped.

We arrived and the boys immediately wanted to ride roller coasters, so Sister and I FaceTimed with Gigi and went to get a snack. Since Sister was the first customer at that particular snack cart, the guy let her “open the cart,” which meant she got to talk on the radio, and we each got a free snack!

After the boys rode their ride, we all embarked on “Test Track,” an experience where you build a car and the race it. I thought this was all simulated, but as it turns out, it was a full-blown roller coaster. The kids dug it, but it wasn’t my favorite.

After lunch, my in-laws has planned to take the girls to the Bibbity Bobbity Boutique to be transformed into princesses. I’m not going to lie...I wasn’t very enthusiastic about this, mainly because I didn’t want to miss out at EPCOT, but Husband promised me he would ride rides with Brother and they wouldn’t head to the World Showcase until Sister and I returned. So we all took a taxi to the salon.

Once there, they had the “princesses” choose a hairstyle and get into their princess dresses. 

They were then taken to their fairy God-mother, who was in charge of their make-over, which included:

• Make-up
• Hair (and extensions, in Sister’s case)
• Nails
• Sash
• A goodie bag of all the products that had been used)
• A sprinkling of pixie dust

As this operation is one well-oiled machine, we were in and out and back on our way to EPCOT within an hour. We met up with the boys for

THE WORLD SHOWCASE!

We met Mary Poppins in the United Kingdom.

We ate glacé in France.

We met Jasmine in Monaco.

We browsed manga in Japan.

We played the drums at the Outpost.

We met Elsa in Norway.

And we ate the most delicious dinner in China.

And at last, after the park closed and the crowds dissipated, we rode Soarin’ like six times right in a row.

Aaaaaaaaand this was my Fitbit reading when I finally climbed into bed that night:

Of all 5 parks we visited (Magic Kingdom, Hollywood, EPCOT, Animal Kingdom, and Universal), EPCOT ranks as follows by my family:

Husband: 2nd favorite

Brother: 2nd favorite

Sister: 2nd favorite 

Me: 2nd favorite