Totally different

Libba Bray's Going Bovine is COMPLETELY different than her previous works. Completely different. Having read her blog, it rings much closer to her natural voice.

The story follows Cameron, a teenager who's been diagnosed with mad cow disease and is dying. He's given a chance to truly live by going on a c-r-a-z-y road trip through the help of a punk rock angel, so he takes it.

I liked the book; it was crazy and interesting and, like The Sweet Far Thing, didn't resolve with sugar plums and happiness.

Rating: 8/10

Speaking of sugar plums and other foods, I just finished A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg. I adore Wizenberg's column in Bon Appetit, so I wanted to read her book.

It was a mix of memoir and recipes and was a lovely read. She had numerous recipes I want to try, particularly her sister's scones. Also, I like her concept of mixing to create a meal--that delicious dinners (or lunches or breakfasts) can be easy. It wasn't so much as cooking as blending various ingredients to make a simple meal.

It was a nice read and I really like Wizenberg. She's got a solid fan in me.

Rating: 8/10

Not so tasty after all

Confession: I've tried to read Julie & Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen (by Julie Powell) twice--a few years apart, too--and just could not make it through either time.

I wanted to see the movie (actually just saw it last night and Meryl Streep was amazing in it; Amy Adams' haircut was awful) and of course, wanted to read the book first. But I just couldn't force myself beyond page 50.

Powell swears up a storm--I can handle a few words sprinkled in but her usage was sooo unnecessary and constant. And she keeps on bashing Republicans constantly. I'm pretty darn non-political but I'm not a Democrat, so her continual blame on that political party got old quickly.

Probably my biggest issue is the simple fact that the book is more of a memoir about her life and not really about her cooking. I don't care about your crappy apartment, Julie, or the fact that you're not-really-ok-maybe-slightly interested in guys other than your husband. It's marketed as a food book; I want it to be about food.

Rating: 2/10

Weekend/Monday Reads

I wasn't really in the mood to read much this weekend (a rare event for me). Still, I managed to finish off Mad About the Boy? by Dolores Gordon-Smith and Edna Lewis' The Taste of Country Cooking.

I love the cover on this one; it's actually what drew me into the series. The cover is evocative of the atmosphere of the novel--very 1920s.

The series feature Jack Haldean, a former Royal Flying Corps pilot turned mystery writer. While Jack is visiting relatives at their grand estate, a guest kills himself--but Jack isn't convinced. As he delves into the mystery, new complications keep on popping up, involving everyone in the family.

Gordon-Smith, as I've said before, is a good writer; it's easy to read and engrossing. I'll be reading book three, As If By Magic (and again, beautiful cover!).

Rating: 8.5/10

Another book I've been reading in bits and pieces is The Taste of Country Cooking (30th anniversary edition). I wouldn't call it a cookbook for general use but rather a look at what cooking used to be like--and I am SO GLAD that I don't have to butcher my meals. It's fascinating how much food preparation has changed in less than 100 years but also in what remains the same. Also, I was intrigued by how Lewis is a strong champion for local and organic eating--30+ years before it became a major movement.

Overall, it reminded me of Little House on the Prairie and how so much of those books involved gathering/preparing/eating food. And I loved them for that fact. But, as in those books, I don't love Edna's descriptions of slaughtered pigs with "glistening" white skin. Eww. I'm not a vegetarian nor will I ever be, but let's not test how deep my love for meat goes, okay?

Still, slaughtering descriptions aside, it was an excellent read and I do recommend it for any fan of cooking.

Delicioussssss

For my birthday, I requested Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan. I peruse through numerous food blogs and Baking always seems to pop up. And since I love baking, well, I figured I should own this classic.

Um, yeah, isn't that cover reason enough to buy this book? After paging through it, I settled upon her Coffee-Break Muffins, which use A LOT of coffee (fine by me!). I brought them into work, where reviews were mixed. The girls seemed to like them; the guys, not so much. Let's just say if you don't like coffee, you'll hate these muffins.

Anyway, I'm excited to try more out of her book--especially the chocolate recipes.

Not so much

If you've read this blog for any length of time, you may have picked up that I like Elizabeth Peters. When I heard that she was writing another Vicky Bliss book, obviously I had to read it.

The Laughter of Dead Kings is the final book for the series--and written only 14 YEARS AFTER the last book in the series, which to my mind, felt like a series finale.

What can I say about Laughter? It was okay--by far not my favorite of Peters' work--and just didn't capture my fancy. The series has spanned years and years; the first book technically in the series was written in the '60s. But this newest book just felt too rooted in the modern era. Cell phones, texts and email abounded. While that's obviously accurate, it's just not what I want from a book by Peters. She does note this incongruity in the introduction but whatever, I still didn't like it.

The plot is similar to any other Vicky Bliss plot; however, characters from all the books are brought back. And at the end, Peters inserts herself, which was mildly amusing.

Basically, I have to admit I skim read it. Oh well, c'est la vie. On a positive note, I made absolutely delicious scones tonight, which is going to brighten up my morning.

Rating: 5.5/10

Book vs. Movie

If you're a woman, you've probably seen the movie Chocolat. Well, the book version of Chocolat (by Joanne Harris) is, um, VASTLY different than the movie version (and it was the original).



Here's my version of the movie: Magical chocolate lady with daughter moves to French city. She makes magical chocolate, everybody eats it, they're happy, fall in love, etc. She falls in love with a gypsy. Everybody's happy, yay, yay, yay. There may have been a conflict but I don't really remember it.


Here's my version of the book: Witch lady with daughter moves to French city. She makes chocolate but it doesn't make everybody happy or really have that magical of powers. She clashes with the town priest, helps people defy him, etc. After pages of subtle digs and not-so-subtle digs at the Catholic church, the priest (and Easter) is defeated by chocolate and pagan happiness. Oh, and yeah, there's a gypsy man but he ends up with somebody else.

Can you see why I'm having trouble digesting the book version? Obviously I have to view them as two separate creations because their stories are so different. The book gave the movie its very basic outlines but wow, the screenplay writers added so much more--and made it a happy, much lighter story, too.

I really didn't enjoy Harris' continual slamming of Catholicism and Christianity. I'm a Christian--not Catholic--but I hate how she portrayed the Christian faith. Honestly, I barely finished the book. She's welcome to her opinion but I don't agree with it. So keep that in mind for my rating.

Rating: 5/10

Issues

I wasn't a huge fan of The Lace Reader but I have to admit that I thought about the book the whole day. That is definitely a sign of a quality book (or one that has a really unsatisfying ending).

I'm just a mess in general because I really want to read Breaking Dawn. However, I'm on a budget and as pathetic as it sounds, I don't want to buy BD yet when I know I'll be able to buy it in a month or so for $5. Thankfully my best friend is mailing me her copy! Thank you Mary!!!

I read Pomegranate Soup by Marsha Mehran earlier this year and picked up its sequel, Rosewater and Soda Bread, at the library.

Pretty cover, yes? Yes. The inside was a bit messier, however. The story is about three Iranian sisters and their new life in Ireland. There's plenty of delicious food and magic realism. What was lacking was a coherent plot. This sequel featured several plotlines but none were fully developed.
The romance was shaky, the girl who shakes up their life just kind of fades away and "threats" to the sisters' way of life were mentioned and then just dropped. It was so odd. I really liked the first book but this one just didn't match up to it.

Rating: 6.5/10

So sweet

I have found an author that I love and I will read all of her books from now on. Her name is Sarah Addison Allen.

I stumbled across The Sugar Queen randomly on Amazon and decided to give it a try.

I must admit, the absolutely gorgeous cover drew me in. Isn't it so pretty and magical? Anyway, the story is about Josey, who at 27, lives with her really old mom and does everything her mother tells her to do. It actually reminds me of Valancy and The Blue Castle.

One day, Josey opens her closet door--her secret closet, where she hides oodles of sweets and romance novels from her mother--and there sits Della Lee. Della Lee refuses to leave Josey's closet. That's where Josey's new life begins.

The story, although it sounds a bit odd, is adorable. The story has plenty of magic realism, which I love. Josey slowly blossoms and breaks away from her mother. A sweet love story flourishes with Josey and a certain young man.

Can I make it any clearer? This is a really sweet, cute book. I liked Allen's style of writing so much that I will read all of her books. All of her books feature "love and magic." I know her Garden Spells was a huge hit, so I'm going to read that, too.

Rating: 10/10

Book sale pickings

The library's book sale was overflowing with hardcover books for $1. I picked up four books, including a nonfiction read (shocking for me!), a mystery, an Anne Stevenson mystery and an academic/history mystery.

I only bought Hell Hath No Curry because it is a "Pennsylvania Dutch Mystery with Recipes." How...odd. Unfortunately, it's also like book 20 in the series, so I'm way out of the loop. The series features a Mennonite woman who solves mysteries. All the titles feature a play on some type of food.

I haven't finished it yet and I'm not sure I will...I hate coming into a series blind. So we'll see.

Oh my, Martha

I've been reading Zemindar all week long...it's a really lengthy book. It's all about India and Sepoy rebellions. Go history.

I also request Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook from the library. Oh. My. Word. It is amazing. I think my mouth was open the entire time I was paging through it. (Pretty baked goods photos and awesome recipes tend to amaze me.) I'll be attempting my first recipe today. If the baked goods turn out anything like their photos, I will buy this book.

Today is my local library's booksale--I am excited! Yay for cheap books! I'll let you know what I pick up.

Lastly, and this is sad, I only have three discs left in the last season of Veronica Mars. In case you haven't figured this out, I really like this show. The ending of that series will be a sad day for me. I'll probably need a bowl of my Ben and Jerry's Phish Food--or a Coca-Cola. Both are excellent comforters. Good thing Burn Notice just started up again...and Psych starts next week. I will need distractions for my sorrow.

The Pause That Refreshes

In honor of this last book that I read, I just finished off an iced glass of Coca-Cola. After all, reading For God, Country and Coca-Cola: The Unauthorized History of the Great American Soft Drink and the Company That Makes It made me thirsty for a nice glass of Coke.

It's no secret to my friends that I love Coca-Cola (which I learned, thanks to this book, is always hyphenated). That picture is of a train station I saw in Germany. What a fabulously huge advertisement.

Anyway, the book only covers up to 1990, but it's still a fascinating look at Coke. I learned all sorts of trivia like:
*Coke caused riots in France.
*For decades, Coke referred to Pepsi as "the competitor," "the enemy" and other names--but never by the P-word.
*The introduction of "New Coke" caused a huge uproar--so huge that Coke brought back the old formula.

If you like corporate history or Coca-Cola, you'll like this book. It was interesting enough to keep me entertained--and I generally don't read nonfiction!

Rating: 9/10

magical

While wandering at the library, I saw Pomegranate Soup. Out of curiousity, I picked it up. It's a story about three Iranian girls who move to Ireland and start a café. The cover blurb also promised hints of magic realism, which I love. (Magic realism: realism with hints of fantasy or magic.) Food and magic realism? I was in.


Marsha Mehran did a great job of combining cultures. Readers experience Iranian food (which sounds utterly delicious--Mehran provides recipes!), Irish scenery and an overall comfy feeling. The plot is simple: the sisters adjust to living in Ireland and try to run a café. Yet, there's much more--flashbacks, interactions and slow realizations that add spice to this book.

Characterization is great. All three sisters are very different, yet likeable. Secondary characters added depth to the story and never detracted. The writing was luscious and reminded me a lot of Suzanne Strempek Shea's Becoming Finola (also set in Ireland and absolutely a wonderful book).

Basically, it's an international best-seller for a reason. Check it out.

Rating: 9/10