Seven Letter From Paris

There are days (and this week has been one of those days) when just upping and moving to another country sounds just like the right thing to do.  But only if I could take this book along...

I was checking this book in at the library and laid it aside to read.  And I am so glad I did. An easy read and one I didn't want to put down, I felt like I was having a drink with Samantha Verant and hearing her story in person.  And one that I loved.

Nearing her 40th birthday, Samantha goes through a series of events like many of us do.  Her 13 year marriage is over, all except the paperwork. Heavily in debt, her job was eliminated and she finds herself moving from Chicago to California to live with her parents while she gets her life back in order.  A chance mention by a friend of an encounter 20 years earlier while they were in France has her searching for the letters written by a young man she met in Paris and only knew for a few hours.

Samantha locates the letters in a bin of stuff she has been holding onto for years. She never originally answered the letters, but decided to give it a try 20 years later.  And it works. What happens is a fairy tale come true.  It makes me glad I love to write letters!

The course of true love never runs smoothly, but after being separated all these years, she and Jean-Luc make every effort to make it work.  Both have marriages which ended in divorce.  He has two young children, she has none.  She's in California, he's in France.  But with the aid of the internet, emails and phone calls, they quickly come together again.

READ THIS BOOK!  Preferably with a glass of wine in hand.

Update on 26 Books to Read in 2015

Actually, I feel a bit of a cheat on this project.  After all, working at a library means I have at my disposal hundreds and hundreds of books.  On a daily basis.  And my co-workers and I are all book-addicts.  So much so, if one of us gets a book on reserve before the others, we leave little "hurry-up-and-read notes" for them. I also know this is suppose to be a year-long challenge, but I'm already at 60+ books for the year and it's the end of April.

I have been on a couple of 'jags' with my reading.  First, is reading Terry Brooks.  He is the author at MisCon 29 and I want to be familiar with his writings.  Actually, the first book I read of his was his book on writing.  Now it seems there will be a series by MTV based on his Shannara books.  Secondly, I have been on a reading about writing and creativity bent.  Third, Montana history.  Well, I haven't actually done more than check out a couple of books recommended to me, but they are beside the bed.  I want to learn more about this wonderful state I live in. Which brings up my fourth obsession currently - Yellowstone.  I have been watching Ken Burn's The National Parks and realized I had plucked off the giveaway cart the companion book to the series.

Anyway - the list and my progress to date:

1.  A BOOK YOU OWN BUT HAVEN'T READ - Lavender Garden by Lucinda Riley

2.  A BOOK THAT WAS MADE INTO A MOVIE - Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks (well, not technically a movie, but close enough)

3.  A BOOK YOU PICK SOLELY BECAUSE OF THE COVER - Tons, but will settle on one soon

4.  A BOOK YOUR FRIEND LOVES - will have to check on this one

5.  A BOOK PUBLISHED THIS YEAR - Vision in Silver by Anne Bishop

6.  A BOOK BY AN AUTHOR YOU'VE NEVER READ BEFORE - Afterworlds by Scott Westerfeld (a young adult writer, interesting book)

7.  A BOOK BY AN AUTHOR YOU LOVE - many, but will settle on Bittersweet by Susan Wittig Albert (love her China Bayles series)

8.  A BOOK AT THE BOTTOM OF YOUR 'TO BE READ' PILE - several in fact, I need to read my writing group member's books - so several M. A. Brotherton books on my iPad to eread.

9.  A BOOK WITH A COLOR IN THE TITLE - The Van Gogh Blues by Eric Maisel (about depression and creativity)

10. A BOOK SET SOMEWHERE YOU'VE ALWAYS WANTED TO VISIT - Secret of a Thousand Beauties by Mingle Yip.  Needlework and China - what's not to like.

11. A BOOK YOU STARTED BUT NEVER FINISHED - The Twelves Rooms of the Nile by Enid Shomer.  Couldn't make it through the first room, much less 12.

12. A BOOK WITH A LION, A WITCH, OR A WARDROBE - still pending

13. A BOOK WITH A FEMALE HEROINE - Dead Heat by Patricia Briggs

14. A BOOK SET IN THE SUMMER - pending

15. A BOOK OF POEMS - pending - probably a Mary Oliver one

16. A BOOK YOU LEARNED ABOUT BECAUSE OF THIS CHALLENGE - pending

17. A BOOK THAT WILL MAKE YOU SMARTER - The Art of Slow Writing by Louise DeSalvo.  Unfortunately, this has also spurred another obsession, writers and their journals about writing their books.

18. A BOOK WITH A BLUE COVER - The Liar by Nora Roberts

19. A BOOK YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO READ IN SCHOOL BUT DIDN'T - right now, it looks like East of Eden by John  Steinbeck.  Of course, I have to read this in tandem with his journal on writing the book.

20. A BOOK "EVERYONE" BUT YOU HAS READ - pending

21. A BOOK WITH A GREAT FIRST LINE - pending

22. A BOOK WITH PICTURES - I have a toddler in the house, are you kidding!  Piggies was the latest hit.

23. A BOOK FROM THE LIBRARY - most of them!

24. A BOOK YOU LOVED AND READ AGAIN - A Shiver of Light by Laurell K. Hamilton (along with several others of hers and Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden series, squeezed in a couple of those)

25. A BOOK THAT IS MORE THAN 10 YEARS OLD - The Sierra Club Nature Writing Handbook by John Murray

26. A BOOK BASED ON A TRUE STORY - A Wilder Rose by Susan Wittig Albert

So there you have it, my updated list.  

Oh, and my NEW obsession - 12 Banned Books Every Woman Should Read.  As it turns out the library has all but one of them, number 12.  That one I picked up on my kindle for $2.50.  I have read one of the books, but need to reread because I have forgotten a lot of the details.

So many books, so little time!  And if anyone has suggestions for my 'pending' status categories, please let me know. 

The Bookman's Tale

Peter Byerly got hooked on books in college and is an antiquarian bookseller.  Young and shy, he has relocated from North Carolina to England, to the cottage his wife Amanda had been renovating prior to her untimely death.  Not sure how to get his life back together again, Peter is floundering, until he finds a picture of Amanda stuck in an old book.  Only problem is, the watercolor was painted over a century ago, which puts her in Victorian England.  

Spanning Peter's past and present, he tries to find out why and who painted this picture of his Amanda.  Throw into the mix Shakespeare, murders (past and present) and a possible priceless book (or is it a forgery), Charlie Lovett has woven a tale which won't let you put it down.  So much so, I am blaming it on not getting homework done on Saturday which I should have been working on rather than reading this book.  This is one I wish they make into a movie.

My Usual Table - A Life in Restaurants

Growing up in Hollywood in the latter years of the studio days, Colman Andrews writes not so much about the meals themselves, but the restaurants he grew up eating in.  Restaurants which even to someone who was about as far away from the glitter of Hollywood as you can get, I recognize the names.  Not only the places themselves, but the regulars who frequented them, names we have seen on the big screen over and over.  Then comes his days in the music industry and the meals with big names there. From the famous Trader Vic's and Chasen's, to cafes in Rome and Paris and the rise of Wolfgang Puck's Spago, My Usual Table is a literary feast.

Andrews delves into his copious notes over the years and brings the history behind the restaurants.  He also brings his own history with that establishment, most of it very fond memories of people and times past, and meals shared there.  Having just discovered how nice it is to go somewhere and have the bartender know who you are, decades of similar treatment and even more intimate involvement in the restaurant, must have been exciting.

Colman Andrews has written three other books and four cookbooks, not to mention the food magazines and columns he has written over the years.  Currently he is the editorial director of The Daily Meal .

Side note:  He has kept notebooks on details of his meals and the establishments for decades.  From notebooks to pages of notes, he recorded everything for years.  This is further evidence my journals and 'writer's notebooks' are worth keeping. 

26 Books to Read in 2015

I came across this challenge in Bringing Up Burns and have the listing printed out and hanging on my bulletin board.  Since I have been told to rest the wrist and elevate (to stop swelling and spasms), I pulled out the book for week one - A BOOK I OWN BUT HAVEN'T READ.

Now this was a challenge (not) as I picked up the first book off one of the many piles I have in corners around the house.

The Lavender Garden, by Lucinda Riley,  has two storylines expertly woven together.  And just when I thought I had it figured out, there would be a slight twist to the story and I would be a hair off, which made it an enjoyable read.

Set primarily in southern France, Emilie de la Martinieres has just buried her mother and is faced with settling the family estate.  Enter Sebastian Carruthers who is an art agent and it seems, ties to the estate.  As questions emerge about the past, Emilie discovers more and more about her family's past and the ties to World War II and Constance Carruthers, Sebastian's grandmother.

Over the next few months, as Emilie pieces together the past, she also pieces together her future and the future of the estate.  

A nice read and I am glad I had it in my pile of books to read.  The next item on the list is a BOOK MADE INTO A MOVIE and I just happen to have a copy of Gone Girl on that same pile.

Radical Reading

One of my favorite 'genre' to read is 'a year in the life of...' type books.  Normally these are nonfiction and entertaining.  Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle is one that comes to mind immediately as a book which falls in that category.  

Last week I was picking out some books at the library (have a fantastic one I'm reading on Thomas Jefferson's garden at Monticello), and I came across Radical Prunings by Bonnie Thomas Abbott.  While it is not nonfiction, it does cover two years in the garden and I picked it up to give it a read.

Funny and smart is this read.  Set up as the gardening column of Mertensia Corydalis, we get to follow the seasons of gardening advice, as well as the happenings of her brother/sister gardener/secretary team.  Bits are thrown in about her celebrity gardener and ex-husband Norton and lots about her distain for people with lawns.  Since one of my pet peeves are home owner associations who feel a fertilized and sprayed lawn, each one matching the next door neighbors, is preferable to gardens and especially veggies in the front of the house, Mertensia's anti-lawn position was a joy.

While I am not a master gardener, the advice she gives in her column is sound gardening (and made me want to force bulbs indoors), so some interested in gardening wouldn't be mislead.   The trials of the Vong family, her brother Artur and her own gardening trials round out the columns to make this a great and quick read.

By the way...

1.    Mertensia

2. Mertensia is a genus of about 40 species of perennial herbaceous plants with bell-shaped blue flowers opening from pink-tinged buds. This is one of several plants commonly called bluebell.

   
   

   1. Corydalis

      
      

      Corydalis is a genus of about 470 species of annual and perennial herbaceous plants in the Papaveraceae family, native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere and the high mountains of tropical eastern Africa. 

Only 26?

I came across this post from Bringing Up Burns and knew it was just right up my alley...

Since my goal on goodreads.com is 150 books for 2015, I can easily fit this in.  Actually, book #24 has been on my mind for some time now.   My first 'horse' book I can remember reading was Black Beauty.  I think about 5 decades is long enough and I need to reread.

All You Can Dream Buffet

I found a new author!  I just finished Barbara O'Neal's latest, All You Can Dream Buffet and it was a feast I could sink my teeth into.

Now I am a sucker for reads about women finding themselves, especially since I feel I am on that same journey myself.  But when a book not only combines the search-for-self, but blogging, photography, food and lavender, it doesn't get much better than that.

Lavender, who just happens to run an organic lavender farm in Oregon, is turning 85.  And she doesn't want the farm falling into her nephews' hands.  So she invites three fellow bloggers she has gotten to know over the past few years.  Each of them are at a crossroads in their life.

Ruby, mid-twenties and pregnant, is needing a place for her and her baby, but she is not sure where that will be.  Valerie, and her teenage daughter, are still coping with the deaths two years earlier of her husband and other two daughters.  And Ginger, after twenty years of marriage, is realizing maybe small town Kansas with people not wanting her to rock the boat with her cake blog and photography, isn't where she wants to be.

Throw in some cute little Airstream trailers, chickens and bees and it is a recipe to savor.

Mighty Ugly is a Pretty Good Read

I have been reading a lot of what some people might call 'self-help' books recently.  And books on writing and creativity.  One of the books I came across is Make It Mighty Ugly by Kim Piper Werker.

The thing which grabbed me from the start was Werker stating "Nothing makes me want books to drown more than cheerleading and hand-waving."  Coming from the corporate world, where every couple of years we had to sit through the latest 'rah-rah' fad, I was completely in agreement with her.

The introduction starts out by telling you this isn't a rah-rah, cheery book on being creative.  This book is about acknowledging it isn't easy and we all have demons to overcome.  Except her demons are kind of cute.  The first part of the book has you naming and facing your demons - and we all have them.  Whether you are a writer, artist, business person (or all three), we all have demons in our lives which stop us from doing the things we really want to do.

In one of the first exercises she has you do is to make a list of Things I Am Good At.  Anything and everything.  Form being a super tooth flosser to preparing a meal for four in 30 minutes.  Everything! She goes on to say:

"Your strengths are qualities that make you feel good and maybe even make others feel good."

From a talent to an achievement you have worked hard for, all your strengths.  I sat down to try make my list.  It's hard to think about what we are good at doing and make a list.

The second step is to look for themes to those things you are good at doing.  Organization could be an overriding theme.  It could be one or many themes.  For myself, it was 'ideas', 'planning' and 'making things' and 'art'.  The last step is to write down "The Heart of What I'm Good At" - writing it big and loud - write it proud and use it to fight your demons.  For me - IDEAS and CREATING.  Werker leads you through naming the villains and demons your fight with your hero qualities. 

One of the best take aways from the book is what she calls "Productive Procrastination".  This struck a chord with me because is procrastination were an Olympic sport, I would be a gold medal contender every time.  She says to embrace your procrastination by being a creative or productive procrastinator.  Instead of playing games on Facebook (as I am likely to do), I should -

• Work on another project
• Read
• Knit
• Exercise
• Clean the kitchen
• Run a load of laundry

(Note:  writing this post is my productive procrastination from doing my homework assignments.)

Werker states, "As long as I can keep myself from falling into a rut that's utterly unproductive, I can keep the procrastination demons from derailing my creative life."

Since I have so many projects to work on, clothes to fold, books to read and dogs to walk, I figure productive procrastination is for me!

After a small section on "Making Stuff" and a few exercises to go along with that, the final part "Keep On Making Stuff" has some really interesting ideas.

The first section seemed like a no-brainer to me - "Establish a Regular Practice" and in it she has an exercise of taking 3 pictures a day.

• Day One - Take 3 pictures by the end of the day
• Day Two - Take 3 pictures of red things
• Day Three - Take 3 pictures of living things
• Day Four - Take 3 pictures of moving things
• Day Five - Take 3 pictures of yourself
• Day Six - Take 3 pictures of surprises
• Day Seven - Take 3 pictures by the end of the day

One of the purposes of this is to deal with constraints and working without constraints and to see how you feel about it.   She also goes on to advocate a daily project, whether for 30 days or a whole year.  Right now I have already signed up for A Documented Life - 2015, as well as a 30 day journaling class starting in January, Flow, with Lisa Sonora.

Then she gets into an area which is where I am now - "Show and Tell".  In other words, put yourself out there.  In my case, actually acknowledging and claiming and SHOWING I'm an artist and writer.

Section 3 involves "The Continuing Battle" and the first exercise is something I have on my to-do list - "Try Something New".  In my case, a fused glass class and dragging a couple of friends into a monthly crafting session on different items.

"Sustenance" is the fourth and final section of the book, or as Werker calls it, "The Rinse, Repeat Cycle".  She urges collaboration and 'finding your people' - whether in your town or on the internet.  Once again - deja vu - I'm looking at starting a writing group locally and working on the above mentioned projects online.

If it's not evident, I enjoyed this book.  On one hand it is a quick and easy read.  But then you get pulled into the exercises and thinking about your demons and how to overcome them and how to do the things you want to do and the read isn't so quick and easy.  I highly recommend it to anyone interested in expanding their creativity. 

Lestat Returns

I can remember when Interview With The Vampire came out in 1976.  I had graduated high school the year before and was now a 'worldly' college student.  And this book was a real departure from everything else out there.  Over the years I read most of the Vampire Chronicles as they were released.  Then Anne Rice found Jesus. Then I found A. R. Roquelaure.  And recently there came the  werewolves (which is a great series by the way).  Now Rice has gone back to her 'roots', so to speak, and picked up on the story of Lestat.

Her current novel has all the original characters culled from the Vampire Chronicles.  Louis, Armand, Marcus...the whole cast and crew.  Unfortunately, there seems to be a 'voice' which is telling the vampires to kill each other.  Resting places around the world are going up in flames, killing young vampires by the dozens.  And no one knows where this Voice is coming from or what it really wants.

Told from different points of view throughout the book, the old vampires must come together to solve this puzzle and the 'Brat Prince' is now looked to as the head of the vampires, the new Prince Lestat.

A good read, especially since you are getting the story told from all different points of view and experiences.  However, this is a book you really need to have read some of the earlier works in order to understand just who is who and what their past relationships really were. 

The only thing this book makes me want to do is to go back and start from the beginning again.

Skin Game - Jim Butcher

I'm in love, or maybe it's just lust.  I feel replete for now, but know I will be hungry for more.  In fact, on my drive to Arizona in a few weeks, I'll probably listen to several of the books on audio.  Just to get my "Dresden" on.

I fell for Harry Dresden a few years ago when I stumbled across the TV series, "The Dresden Files".  I immediately had the hots for Paul Blackthorne/Harry Dresden.  And Bob.  Can't forget about Bob.  In fact, I have looked at skulls several times with the thought of placing one on my dresser, just in case he dropped by.

Once again, I have fought by Harry's side as he battles the forces of evil, black magic, those who want to hurt others.  This time it involves going to hell and back, literally.  Mab send Harry on a job to assist the bad guy on a trip to the Underworld to rob Hades.  And that's not half the story.

The story is great.  The twists and turns are worth biting your nails over.  That faith triumphs over evil does something for this lapsed Methodist.  And that Butters gets his day, other than just patching up Harry.

So now I'm exhausted after my journey through hell and back.  I think I will go watch a few episodes on TV.

A New Respect for Cooks

I seem to be on a roll with 'cooking' books recently.  First, Kitchen Confidential, then Delicious! and now Sous Chef.  Needless to say, I have gone from hungry to exhausted and have a whole new respect for what goes on behind the scenes in a kitchen.

Michael Gibney condenses his life of working various kitchens into a 24-hour, minute-by-minute, read of what it's like to be a sous chef.  And frankly, I am ready for a nice sandwich and a nap. At 214 pages, the intensity and relentless pace propels you along.  Working a kitchen isn't necessarily sexy or cozy.  It's pressure, non-stop, from the moment they step in the door, to when the last plate is washed and put away to start another day.  Frankly, while I think being a 'chef' would be great and exciting, there is no way I could do the job necessary to be successful.  But it makes for a fast-paced read.  Just be sure to go out for a good meal afterwards and send your thanks to all the kitchen staff!

Delicious! is Delectable

When I first starting nibbling on this book, I almost put it down.  It was good, but not sure I wanted to spend my limited reading time on it.  Then I picked it up for a second bite and was soon devouring it. 

Billie has arrived in New York City, a little California girl with a nose and palate for cooking which is beyond ordinary - to everyone but her.  After the decades old magazine she is working for closes and she is left answering customer complaints about the recipes, she finds a letter which leads to another, which leads to a great story.

In between Billie's search for Lulu in the convoluted filing system of the late librarian, Bertie, she discovers she has a bounty of new friends.  Sammy, another writer let go from the magazine.  Sal, who owns and runs Fontanari's, a family owned Italian market.  Mr. Complainer, a customer, who becomes more than just a pain to wait on.

Billie's search for Lulu, and her relationship in writing with the legendary James Beard, is echoed by Billie's discovery of just who she is.  Several mysteries about herself slowly unfold to those around her.

Delicious! is layer upon layer of savory goodness and now I must go and see what else Reichl has cooked up. 

No Longer "Burned"

I think I have finally broken my curse of 'bad' books.  I certainly didn't get 'burned' with Frost Burned.

Continuing the story of Mercy, a shape shifter/walker, who is a mechanic and coyote and a very capable woman in her own right.  Throw in a sexy, werewolf/mate/Alpha in the form of Adam and you have a great pairing.  But in this book, Adam is kidnapped, along with most of the pack and it is up to Mercy to figure out where they are and why they were taken.

Throw in some supportive humans, fae and a vampire or two and you have an action packed page turner as Mercy discovers even more things she can do with her ever growing abilities.

The downside to reading Patricia Briggs' Mercy Thompson series....you want to go back and start at the beginning again and reread all the books.  Unfortunately, mine are in storage still.  But there is always the library!

Empty Mansions Equals Empty Reading

I was intrigued by the premise of the book.  After all, I'm scraping together money to make it to payday and here was someone with several empty mansions around the country.  And palatial ones at that.   Empty Mansions is the story of Huguette Clark, who actually has connections with Montana.  So I was doubly inspired to read the book.  And a hefty one at that.  

The book starts out following the life of her father, W. A. Clark, who was old enough to be her grandfather when she was born in France.  It follows his colorful life from Pennsylvania to Montana, the amassing of his fortune (at one time he was one of the richest, if not the richest, men in the world) and his need to become a senator at all costs - literally.  And between all of that, building some of the most expensive houses and art collections around.  What was interesting about him was that in a time when the 'robber barons' could care less about his workers, W. A. was actually paying decent wages and had fairly good work rules in place, especially for the time.  With little Huguette quietly in the background with her sister and reclusive mother.

I plowed through pages on W. A. and was almost relieved when he finally passed away.  There are only so many scandals and payoffs that I can take in.  Then the book focuses on Huguette.  I made it through her failed marriage in her early 20's (one that was probably unconsummated) and as her life was slowly being revealed in all it's million of dollars glory - well, who cares.  I found it hard to be in the least bit sympathetic to her life in all it's crazy misery.  It's like being upset because Paris Hilton might have to spend a night in jail for drunk driving.  This was one girl who needed some serious counseling.

Maybe it was because I was getting upset with all the millions and millions of dollars which were being spent (and I'm trying not to spend anything except on groceries and bills this month).  Maybe it was because I didn't find her a very likable or interesting person.  Maybe it's a phase I am going through, because yet again I have closed a book halfway through out of boredom.  

I think I need 'trashy' reading for a bit to jar me out of my rut.

Longbourn or Long-Bored

I picked this up of the shelving cart as a possible interesting read.  After all, the premise is a parallel story of the characters of Pride and Prejudice as seen from the servants side of events.

In the background you have the Bennett family going about their business with the Bingley's and Mr. Darcy and Wickham.  It shows the chaos that Mr. Collins unexpected visit to the house causes.  And just what is the background of the new footman, James?  Most of the story is about Sarah, the maid.  All her duties and trials and tribulations.  Her fetching and hair curling and chilblains. Throw in Mr. Bingley's colored servant, Ptolemy, which fascinates Sarah.   Does she get with James?  Or does she take a daring risk and run off with Ptolemy?  Or is she destined to stay as a maid to the Bennett's forever?  And it is still not a sufficiently interesting read for me to really care what does or does not happen to Sarah.   So about halfway through and I'm calling it quit.  So long, Sarah.

Widow's Tears by Susan Wittig Albert

I have followed Susan Wittig Albert for over a decade now, anticipating every new China Bayles adventure.  I had not read this one yet (it had slipped by me in the move) and when it came across the counter at work, I grabbed it up.  I know a SWA book is a quick read, because you can't put it down and she has another book coming out shortly (in April). 

This one didn't disappoint,.  However, it is a bit different from her other China Bayles books.  For one thing, China figures very little in this book.  It is mainly about Ruby.  

Widow's Tears has the past meeting the present in a very disturbing way.  September 8, 1900 was the day of the hurricane which destroyed Galveston and left almost 10,000 people dead (most of the city at the time).  Flash forward to 2013 and Ruby is helping her old friend Claire discover what a ghost in a house Claire inherited wants so that Claire can use the old, strange house as a bed and breakfast.

As past and present intertwine, a disturbing story of that sad day in history unfolds.  In fact, being a mother myself, I found the story a bit unsettling.  In fact, so much so that it wasn't quite as quick a read as I was expecting.  I have been inland for a handful of hurricanes in North Carolina.  I know the crack of pine trees as they fall victim to the wind and rain.  I have had power loss for almost a week and roads cut off for a couple of days due to trees down across the road.  And yet, even in these days we can still experience the devastation similar to Galveston (take New Orleans).  So there was a bit of empathy for Rachel's experience in Galveston.  It takes Ruby's empathy and psyhic ability to finally understand after a century what Rachel really wants.  China's no-nonsense strengths can't help here.

I have also picked my share of widow's tears, growing wild.  The tiny purple/blue flowers are lovely and each chapter starts with a tidbit on the language of flowers.  I regret we have lost the need to 'speak our message' with flowers.  

This is another book which will join the other China Bayles' mysteries on my shelf to read and re-read over and over again. 

Home To Big Stone Gap

How can you not read a book when a friend tells you they are listening to an audio recording of it and the narrator has an accent like you do.  Therefore, they feel that you are reading the book to them.  At the same time, I came across a give-away book and asked "is this the book you're reading"?  Seems like something or someone was telling me I needed to read it.

Set in the rural section of the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, Adriana Trigiani follows the life of Ave Maria as she readjusts her life to her daughter moving to Italy and getting married, as well as the health scare with her husband.  In her mid fifties, her life is changing in ways she had not anticipated. Even long time friends seem to have secrets and are evolving differently than what she imagined.

This book appealed to me on many levels.  First, it was set in an area of the country I know well.  I know what these really small towns are like and how friendship and families go back decades.  How everyone knows everything about everybody, or at least they think they do.  There is nothing like living in an area where people know who is traveling down the road just by the car that goes by.

Secondly, Ave Maria is in her fifties and is encountering changes she had not anticipated.  That's where I am in my life, in my fifties and making changes I had not thought I would be making.  Her confusion and resistance to these twists hit home.

From the large gatherings centered around food (recipes included in the book) to discovering hidden secrets about her best friend and her husband's 'to-do' list, Ave Maria copes with a world which is moving down a different path than what she felt she was walking.

Home to Big Stone Gap is book number four in the series, which I didn't know when I was reading the book.  It stands alone enough you can skip the first three and still have a very good read.  Now I want to go back and read the first three books.

52 Small Changes - One Year to a Happier, Healthier You

Once again as I was checking in books, I came across one that I checked in and then check out for myself.  Fifty-two small changes seemed doable.

52 Small Changes - One Year to a Happier, Healthier You by Brett Blumenthal did not contain any new, earth-shattering information.  What it did do was to break down, in manageable chunks, what I needed to be doing.

I have always been on the dehydrated side and now that I am in Montana which has a very dry climate, I really need to be drinking more water and that's what this book opened up on - drinking water.  So obviously I was on the right path.

Each week is broken down with what the week will focus on, or "The Change".  It includes a "Roadmap for Success" or how to best incorporate the lesson of the week into your life.  There are step by step instructions on how to go about the lesson of the week and hints and suggestions to make it easier to do so.  At the end of each week there is a "Extra Credit" section if you are already doing the thing of the week to take it to the next level.  The chapter closes with a Weekly Change Checklist so you can see where you are with making the changes.

Like I said, there is nothing earth-shattering in the book, but what I liked about it was that it was broken down in nice, neat chunks.  Instead of saying "eat better", you start off one week with starting to keep a food journal.  Then a couple of weeks later, incorporating more vegetables into your eating habits.  A couple of weeks later, more grains.  So you aren't thrown a huge overhaul at one time, but gradually making your way toward the ultimate goal of eating better and thus, as you get to Week 43, Practicing Mindful Eating.

Another thing which I found good about the book was when Blumenthal talked about stretching or strengthening your core muscles, simple illustrated exercises were included.  You weren't just left hanging on finding your own exercises.

The last chapter, or Week 52, was a bit of a surprise after all the other weeks, but it was a great culmination for the book - "Find Your Own Spirituality".  Blumenthal does not advocate any particular religion, but rather finding what gives you peace and connects you to that higher plane.

I have taken notes and will probably check the book out again from the library (or several times).  Breaking things down into small chunks like this fits in well with setting daily and weekly intentions on where I want to go and what I want to do.  

So off to fill up the water jug for the day!

Written in Red - Anne Bishop

Anne Bishop has created another world in which I would like to wander.  However, being human and considered 'meat' by The Others, would make it a short hike.

In Written in Red, an alternative Earth, Thaisia, is the setting for this world and Meg Corbyn is a cassandra sangue, or blood prophet.  By making cuts on her skin, she sees visions of the future.  This practice is both painful and euphoric.  It also means she has been locked up and controlled her whole life, learning about the world by watching videos and looking at pictures, learning so she can describe what she sees in the visions.  To her Controller, she and other blood prophets are a source of a very lucritive fortune.  But Meg manages to escape and make it to a Courtyard where she seeks to hide against recapture.

A Courtyard is a city within a city, controlled strictly by The Others, the terra indigene, and maintained to keep an eye on the humans (or monkeys, as they are called).  When Meg reaches Lakeside, she finds a job as the Human Liaison, despite Simon Wolfgard's, a shape-shifter, unease.  She's human, meat, prey, but she doesn't smell like prey and he and the other shifters can't figure her out.  

From the very first day on the job, Meg is determined to succeed where others have failed.  Mainly because it is only in the Courtyard she is safe from being returned to her Controller.  And from the first, her naive approach to The Others slowly, but surely, worms it's way into their heart and protection.  She makes sure Winter and her sisters has their books, she delivers packages to the Sanguinati (vampires with a twist) endearing herself to the head of their clan, and she gives treats to the ponies, all which in turn means that Meg is "theirs" and they protect what is "theirs".

While there are aspects of the book which are predictable, the overall read is great and Bishop has created a world which is different and fascinating.  This world in which the shifters rule and don't have to hide what they are is engaging.  A world in which a werewolf is the least of a humans worries if they anger an Elemental, or worse.

Murder of Crows is due out in March, 2014 and I am tapping my foot impatiently.  It's on pre-order already.

City of Dark Magic

One of the worse things about working at the library and checking in books is that the pile of books beside my bed and my list of books to read keeps growing and growing.  A book which recently came through and caught by eye was City of Dark Magic by Magnus Flyte.  

Sarah is a musicologist working on her Ph.D and is offered a summer job in Prague, coordinating the music section of a soon-to-be opened private museum.  Since this is where her idol, Beethoven, spent some time, this was a no-brainer to accept this job.  That's when things get strange.

First, there is a dwarf who keeps appearing and making odd statements and giving her even odder articles.  There is the current prince, Max, who has inherited the estates in and around Prague and who is setting up the museum.   A young, blind musical prodigy which Sarah mentors.  Two or three murders occur.  Throw in the beautiful, but deadly, other half of Max's family and an American senator with high aspirations, some wild sex and a strange, magical drug and here is a book you can't put down.

One thing I liked about the book was the setting, Prague.  It is not unusual to get books set in Paris, London, Moscow, New York, or some obscure little town somewhere, but you don't often get cities that have been set in cities which have been behind the Iron Curtain for so long.

The best thing is that Sarah is not a dummy nor is she some shrinking violet in need of rescue.  One of the reasons she took the job was that her mentor, Professor Sherbatsky, apparently committed suicide at the palace where the museum is being set up.  She will be taking over where he left off and she wants to get to the bottom of this 'suicide', because she isn't believing it.

A fast-paced book, filled with international intrigue, sex, magic, and music, it is a book well worth reading.  What is also fun is the author, Magnus Flyte, who obviously isn't a 'real' person.  And there is this nice video which gives a little bit more information on the premise of the book. 

On an even better note (no musical pun intended), there is a sequel coming out next month, following the same characters.  I can't wait.

Styxx and Stones...

...may break my bones, but words can never hurt me.  Well, Sherrilyn Kenyon's latest just proved that saying wrong.

I am a Sherrilyn Kenyon fan.  I have several Dark-Hunter novels on my shelf which I go back and reread time and time again.  So when I saw this huge 836 page latest release was coming out, I had my name on the waiting list at the library (one of the perks of working there, first crack at the new books.)

After a painful week of reading, I only made it to page 277.  I actually wanted to stop at about 113, but kept on.  I thought there was no way she could continue to belabor the bad childhood Styxx and his twin had, but I was wrong.  It continued.  And continued.  And continued.  Don't get me wrong, I am not squeamish about a man getting gang raped, but when it happens again and again, the 'horror' of it is lost and it's just 'get on with the story already'.

Then he finds the love of his life, while he is under an assumed name.  And she hates Styxx, so he can't tell her who he is for fear she will be repulsed.  But she is under an assumed identity too.  And her real persona wants Styxx dead.  Can you tell where this is leading?

The only saving grace of this book (I flipped to the back few pages) is that Simi appears, and who can't love Simi, and that the original 1600 pages was cut to the 836 pages.  

Sorry, Simi, but even a liberal dose of BBQ sauce doesn't make this book worth reading.

It's All About Food Porn

I am going to step into a weighty subject - literally.  These two books weight about 5 pounds each.  And while you might think with all that poundage, these are candidates for an e-reader, think again.  These two books need to be savored in all their printed, full-color photographic, splendor.

I call them 'food porn' because the first thing you do is look at the pictures and drool.  Forget reading the material until you have paged through these tomes from cover to cover and back again.  Then you can read the articles.

The first book, and I'll labeled it 'R' rated, is Bouchon Bakery by Thomas Keller and Sebastien Rouxel.

And this is how I was enjoying flipping through this book....

sitting on the patio in the morning with a cup of coffee and a pad to take some notes.  Notes like,  (1) I need this book, (2) I need to buy a food scale for the kitchen, (3) I need a thermometer for the oven, and (4) I need to exercise more so that I can make and eat the food made from the recipes in this book.

With brief stories on how each of the people involved in this book got to where they are, Bouchon Bakery then opens up like stepping through the doors of a bakery.  There are the cookies, tarts, cakes and breads all neatly arranged in their places.  A continuation of Sebastien Rouxel's 'cooking clean' philosophy.  

The recipes are to die for and the directions easy to follow.  However, and this is explained and stressed at the start of the book, the recipes are mainly in grams and ounces rather than cups and spoonfuls.  There is a conversion for most of the recipes, but I think I am going to have to get the scale and start measuring in order to make the breads I want to make. 

Color photographs accompany most of the recipes, but not all.  Or there is one photograph showing several different products at one time a few pages away from the recipe.  This is the only negative I have about the book.

Now for the 'X' rated book.  And this one I immediately sent a message to Savvy to get for herself and a friend (who is an avid baker and in training to become a professional baker).  It is on my Amazon wish list (if anyone would care to get it for me---my birthday is coming up you know!)

I happen to know that this book is 5.5 pounds of pure lusciousness, I weighed it.  A hot pink cover, opening this book is like opening the door of a French patisserie, in all it's brass and glass glory.  This is food porn at it's finest.

The recipes are rated according to difficulty, but with the almost step-by-step instructions it would be hard to go wrong.  Macaroons to shortbread, this book has it all and shows it to you in beautifully detailed colored photographs.  It should be illegal to make a book like this.   Little time is wasted on background, but jumps directly into the dough.  Hopefully, I will have this book in my hands, not as a library book, but as MY book by Christmas baking time.

These books make me glad I have saved and purchased two things recently - (1) a Kitchenaid stand mixer and (2) my recumbent bike!  I will be 'kneading' both. 

It's Not About the Sex Anymore

WARNING:  Potential spoilers involved.

I just finished Affliction, Laurell K. Hamilton's latest installment in the Anita Blake series.  Interesting enough, this year is 20 years of Anita Blake.  Wow, how time flies when you are having fun!

At 570 pages, this is not a 'summer read on the beach' type book. And, as usual, with all the action taking place in only 48-72 hours, you are exhausted by the time the book is over, but in a good way.  

Micah, one of Anita's main men, is called home because his father is dying a terrible death from a bite from a rotting zombie.  Anita and Nathaniel accompany him as support, also knowing their presence could cause even more family trauma.  

With a hospital full of cops (Micah's father is a sheriff) and religious zealot family members, this reunion is even more unpleasant.  Not to mention there are zombies feeding on people, people disappearing and the presence of a master vampire causing havoc.  

While Micah sees to his father and a hopeful reunion with his immediate family, Anita and her men are called upon to assist (reluctantly on both sides) local law enforcement officials in solving the latest problem.  Edward/Ted is called in when Anita is hurt (but not for long) and you know, if Edward/Ted is involved, it's going to be good.

As usual, you are lead panting along until the last 50 pages of the book.  I do have to say that while Hamilton writes some of the sexiest scenes around (and has for years - move over Shades of Grey), her story is what it is all about.  In fact, there are times I want the sex to be over (although Nicky and Dev in a shower with me---sigh) and to get back to the action.  That's the sign of a good book in my estimation.

The ending left me wrung out.  As Anita calls on her powers which have been building, you find yourself holding your breath and lending your powers so she will be successful.  Jean-Claude makes an appearance and a surprise revelation.  Some tears will be shed, both in sadness and in joy.  

The downside of this book is that after I finish it, I now want to go back and reread the last few books.  But the good news is that Hamilton is working on the next Merry Gentry book, which will be out next year.  The bad news is that I have to go back and reread those too.  And they are all in storage.

An Embarrassment of Books

Between a couple of trips to Sam's Warehouse Club and Costco and the discovery of the Helena Library I am up to my ears in books - literally......

This doesn't count the two on my bedside table I am currently reading or the ton that I have on my Kindle to read.  And school starts in about 3 weeks, so I will have books there to read.  Now to fit reading time into my schedule....

Not So Beautiful

I enjoy reading young adult fiction.  Some of the best stories are being written for teens.  Think the Harry Potter, the Hunger Game books and the Twilight series (yes I read the books, didn't see the movies--vampires don't sparkle).  However, I do read these YA books with the understanding that there will probably be a certain amount of teenage angst.  So like I did books when I first started reading Harlequin romances as a young teen (when I had read just about everything else in the library), I just skip over all the 'angsty' parts and continue on my way.

I had seen the movie trailer for Beautiful Creatures and was interested, especially since Jeremy Irons was in it.  I made it through the first book relatively unscathed.  Then I started the second and third books.  And I plan on reading the fourth book, simply because I have so much invested in the story not to finish it up.

But the amount of angst going on in these books could have turned 3 books into 1 book if most of it was cut out.  Currently, I am so tired of Ethan and Lena's hand holding (or not) and sighing as they try to not let the world as we know it end.  So I am waiting a bit before I buy Beautiful Redemption as any more 'emo' would probably send me over the edge.

As things stand now, Gatlin (the town the books are set in) is in the grasp of a drought and grasshoppers and things are destined to become worse unless Ethan and Lena can solve the puzzle and figure out how to put things to right which were undone with her claiming on her 16th birthday.  Things are definitely not as they should be and Gatlin has become the battleground between the Light and Dark Casters and all those who know about them.  At the end of book 3, Ethan has solved the puzzle, but at what cost.

The story is good and because of that I will continue the series.  I survived raising two girls through their teenage years, so I know I can survive reading book four.  However, it will be done with a lot of skipped pages as I wade through all the emotion and sighing going on.  Thus is the peril of reading YA fiction.