Jane of Austin by Hillary Manton Lodge

Considering the huge pile of books on the floor beside the bed to read, not counting the ones of the shelves across from the bed, I felt a little guilty about starting this book almost the moment it arrived. I think there was part of me pleased with being able to read a book before it was actually 'released'.

And I am so glad I did!

Written by Hillary Manton Lodge, it's the story of three sisters who head out from San Francisco to Austin, Texas to try and piece together their lives yet again. Tea and scones meet Texas BBQ in a wonderful combination. 

A modern day take on Sense and Sensibility (and probably some Pride and Prejudice too), Celia, Jane and Margot make a move to Austin to start over again, living on the property of a cousin until they can get their feet under them and a new tea shop opened. Sound familiar?

There is also the wounded military officer, haughty wives and sisters and bad-boy romances, all of which make it imperative you curl up on a Sunday afternoon to 'nap' and finish the book. It's so good, I recommended it to my library as a book club selection.

I haven't enjoyed a book this much in a long time. Light, fun reading - perfect with a cup of tea.

"I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review."

Not A Book, But a Game - Punderdome!

Our family LOVES puns!  As in, we have spent too many hours on car trips keeping the puns going, usually on one subject.  So when this came around, we had to grab it.

A well-crafted set of cards, pads to write on and it's game on.  

You pick two cards, one from each pile and create a pun connecting the prompts.  While it's not always easy, reading the puns on the back of the cards is worth the time and laughter.  

Definitely not for younger kids, although they would probably enjoy trying to play along, this nifty little box will go in the glove box in the car for trips.  It's better than wondering if a bear eats a zombie...

"I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review."

Broth & Stock from the Nourished Kitchen by Jennifer McGruther

Like most people, I rely on boxes and cans of stock from the grocery store.  I usually think about making my own when I need some and the cupboard is empty.  But Jennifer McGruber in her new book, Broth & Stock from the Nourished Kitchen, makes me want to fill the stove with pots of simmering liquid.

From using the left over bones from a meal and scraps of veggies to 'trotters' and chicken feet, McGruber makes a case for making and storing your own broth.  The bonus is she gives recipes for then using the broth and stocks as a base for some simply delicious soups.

I can see a lot of soup bowls in my future!

Note:  I received this book from Blogging For Books in exchange for a fair review.

The Paris Key by Juliet Blackwell

Synposis:  An American in Paris navigates her family’s secret past and unlocks her own future, in this emotionally evocative novel by New York Times bestselling author Juliet Blackwell.

As a girl, Genevieve Martin spent the happiest summer of her life in Paris, learning the delicate art of locksmithing at her uncle’s side. But since then, living back in the States, she has become more private, more subdued. She has been an observer of life rather than an active participant, holding herself back from those around her, including her soon-to-be-ex-husband.

Paris never really left Genevieve, and, as her marriage crumbles, she finds herself faced with an incredible opportunity: return to the magical city of her youth to take over her late uncle’s shop. But as she absorbs all that Parisian culture has to offer, she realizes the city also holds secrets about her family that could change her forever, and that locked doors can protect you or imprison you, depending on which side of them you stand.

It seems I have been on a Francophile journey the past few weeks.  And right now I need my passport updated so I can head to Paris and then saunter down to Provence.  And The Paris Key did not disappoint (or help with that longing).  A quick read (I devoured in two days) and one which makes you want to dress better and find the best baguette in town.

It seems the antique key Genevieve wears around her neck, given to her by her mother,  is the 'key' to both the past and the present.  With shifting points of view, you explore how Genevieve, her mother and aunt all had, and kept, secrets, some of which impact the future.

Does Genevieve give up on getting the proper paperwork and head back to her life in the United States, or does she unlock the door to a different future with her new friends in Paris?

5 in 5 for Every Season - Michael Symon

I enjoy watching Michael Symon on various cooking shows.  I like the fact he doesn't take himself or cooking seriously, so I was excited to see this book.  

There is one big 'issue' I have with the book and it is more personal.  Well, two actually.  First, there are more than five ingredients in each dish.  And many of them are outside the norm for this good ol' Southern gal.  But he does give a basic pantry set-up list at the front of the book and this is a chance to expand my palette.  That said, others in the household aren't as willing to 'expand' as Savvy and I are.  And some of the ingredients are a little hard to find in Helena, Montana.

That said, there is plenty I like about the book.

• Lovely pictures of the recipes throughout the book.
• The recipes are quick and relatively easy to prepare.
• Divided by season (which I like for trying to find things at the Farmer's Market)
• Some of the food combinations are a little unusual, which makes it interesting

While this will probably not become my 'go-to' cookbook for dinner ideas, I will slip one or two a month into the menu rotation.  

Note: "I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review."

After Alice - Gregory Maguire

I picked up this book at work for a couple of reasons.  First, I love Lewis Carroll and the Alice stories.  And secondly, because I am a fan of Wicked by Maguire.  So how could I go wrong?

According to the blurb on the book, this is the premise of the book...

When Alice toppled down the rabbit-hole 150 years ago, she found a Wonderland as rife with inconsistent rules and abrasive egos as the world she left behind. But what of that world? How did 1860s Oxford react to Alice’s disappearance?

In this brilliant work of fiction, Gregory Maguire turns his dazzling imagination to the question of underworlds, undergrounds, underpinnings—and understandings old and new, offering an inventive spin on Carroll’s enduring tale. Ada, a friend of Alice’s mentioned briefly in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, is off to visit her friend, but arrives a moment too late—and tumbles down the rabbit-hole herself.

Ada brings to Wonderland her own imperfect apprehension of cause and effect as she embarks on an odyssey to find Alice and see her safely home from this surreal world below the world. If Eurydice can ever be returned to the arms of Orpheus, or Lazarus can be raised from the tomb, perhaps Alice can be returned to life. Either way, everything that happens next is “After Alice.”

The book follows the adventures of a friend of Alice, Ada, one afternoon.  Not only is the book "after Alice", but Ada is also after Alice, as in trying to find her.  Running from her nanny, Ada tumbles down the rabbit hole also and soon is experiencing many of the same characters Alice does.

In reading the book I felt I was reading Carroll.  In fact, this is a book I want to get on audio to hear the flow of words rather than read them.  And if a musical should be made from this book....I'm ok with it!

Better Than Before - Gretchen Rubin

I picked this book, Better than Before, up off the check-in cart at work, mainly because I had read Rubin's first two books about The Happiness Project.  And it languished on my 'to-read' shelf until it was almost time to go back to the library.  Then it was a race to read and absorb and, several pages of notes later, I finished.

"I should monitor whatever is essential to me. 

In that way, I ensure that my life reflects my values."

The first section deals with setting up yourself to succeed at the habits you are trying to establish.  Rubin recommends (1) Monitor, (2) Foundation, (3) Scheduling and (4) Accountability.

"How we schedule our days

is how we spend our lives." 

So much of what was in this first section dovetailed with what I am trying to set up for 2016 and really, my life.  She then goes into when would be the best time to begin a new habit.  Some of her suggestions are - 

• First steps - one step of a project at a time (yes!)
• Lightening Bolt - 'something' triggers you - big or small
• Convenience - good habit/make it easier, bad habit/make it harder
• "If/Then" strategy - "If I want X, then I need to do Y."

Then she goes into the 'exceptions' we tell ourselves we need to make which derails us from our purpose.

"A planned exception works best when it's made

for something memorable...A good test of a planned

exception is "How will I feel about the exception later."

Other 'loopholes' to our goals of a new habit are:

• Moral - permission to do something 'bad' because we have been 'good'
• Tomorrow - doing something 'bad' because tomorrow we will be 'good'
• False Choice - can't do X because you are doing Y
• Lack of Control - too hot or too cold, for example
• Arranging to Fail - "...we make a change of seemingly harmless decisions that allow us covertly to engineer the very circumstances that we'll find irresistible."  For example, this doesn't count, I'm on vacation.
• Questionable Assumptions - ie - going to work shortly, so I can't do X.
• Concern for Others
• Fake Self-Actualization - life is too short not to live a little
• One-Coin - I haven't done project in so long-what's the point?  What's one more spoonful of sugar.
• Strategy of Distraction - looking at Facebook rather than reading a book 

One of the most interesting things she says in the book is about 'Rewards or Finishing' and how they might actually be bad things.

"...striving toward a finish line, not building a habit."

"By finding my reward within the habit itself, with a reward that

takes me deeper into the habit."

"The reward for a good habit is the habit itself."

And I thought about my goal of losing weight.  So I lose weight.  But if I haven't changed my eating habits, then the weight will come right back.  I have to make my goal to eat better, more healthy and combine with exercise.  Then I have a good habit and the offshoot is weight loss and once I hit the weight I want, the habit continues, it doesn't stop because I've reached my goal.

Rubin also talks about 'rewards' in that "...a treat is a small pleasure or indulgence that we give to ourselves just because we want it."  We shouldn't be rewarding ourselves for 'doing' the habit or goal we are attempting to establish.

Some of the tips she gives to setting yourself up for success have been on my radar already.

• Pairing - "...couple two activities, one that I need or want to do, and one that I don't particularly want to do, to get myself to accomplish them both."

I use this strategy already to a certain extent.  I will allow myself to work for a certain amount of time on a project I want, then I switch to something like doing the dishes, or another load of clothes, or cleaning a room.  Once the housework is done, then I can return to my 'play' for another amount of time.

• Clarity - "The clearer I am about what I value, and what action I expect from myself - not what other people value, or expect from me - the more likely I am to stick to my habits."

This is my project in December, to see where I want to go and do.  To get 'my head on straight', so to speak.

• Identity - Does the habit add to or take away from our identity.  "Our habits reflect our identity."
• Other People - we pick up others' habits - good and bad.  So associate with those whose habits and values reflect my own.

"Those habits wouldn't make everyone happy,

but they make me very happy."

This is a book I wish I had lingered over a bit longer and will probably go back and reread a couple of times.

My Pantry - Alice Waters

I fell in love with Alice Waters many years ago.  I own 2-3 of her earlier books and couldn't wait to get my hands on her latest book which includes illustrations by Fanny Singer (her daughter).

One thing about every book by Waters I pick up, I always feel very virtuous and compelled to make a trip to my local farmer's market.  Unfortunately, now that I'm in Montana, I don't have the extensive market which was available to me in North Carolina.  So I start haunting the local natural food store (where I have already ordered my Thanksgiving turkey from).  For the next few weeks, I will be eating better a'la Alice Waters.

This is a quick read as opposed to some of her earlier books.  I really enjoy the 'stories' behind the recipes which she includes, a very similar treatment as her other books.

My Pantry is just that, recipes for items she has in her pantry and which are staples for Waters.  While I am now considering sea salt/spice combinations to mix up and have on hand to make me use more spices in my cooking, I don't know that I will be making 10 liters of red wine vinegar.  Mainly because I don't drink enough wine and when I do, there's nothing left over!  But the chapter on making my own cheeses is interesting and might be used, as will be the Raspberry Syrup and Brandied Cherries.

At 144 pages, not a lot of really 'go-to' recipes, but a quick and interesting read none the less.



Note: "I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review."

Q & A a Day for Creatives

Once again I was drawn to the fact this book is a journal and it's labeled 'for creatives'.  I'm creative, right? And I journal, too.  Ok, so far, so good.

So four years of daily sketches should be a fun idea.  And it is.

By Potter Style, Q&A a Day For Creatives is a fun book.  Each page is divided into four quadrants and a quick prompt or question is listed to the side.  There is a tiny "20__" in each quadrant so you can list the year you are drawing.  

Most of the prompts are fun.  For example, March 13 is "Compose an abstract drawing that depicts your bank account's current status." 

Some of the things I like about the book are the fact the dates are already listed for you.  All I have to do is fill in the year.  The block you have to draw in each day is about 3.5 X 3.5 inches.  Not too small and not too large to be intimidating or time consuming to fill.

Couple of things I would change.  The paper is not ink friendly.  If you use anything other than pen (ball point) or pencil, there is a definite chance of bleed through.  Also, the book could use a ribbon to help mark your stop on the current day.

I have been using the journal in the mornings to get the old 'creative juices' flowing for the day.  It's fun and at this point, the bleed through on the pages is a bit of an irritant, but not a deal breaker.  We will see down the road.  In fact, I will probably be doing a bit of mixed media, mini-collages in it as time goes by.

This is definitely a book I would purchase to give to another 'creative journal.'

Note: "I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review."

Instant Happy Journal - Karen Salmansohn

There were three things in the title which attracted me to this book.  First, 'journal'.  I love to journal and love journals of all kinds.  Second, 'instant'.  As in instant gratification.  And third, 'happy'.  Who doesn't want to be happy?  

I can add a couple of other things which are attractive about this book.  It's small.  Only about 5.5"X6.5" and about an inch thick.  Just the right size to keep on the bedside table or throw in your bag and carry with you.  And it has a solid feel to it.  It doesn't feel like it would fall apart after a few uses. Secondly, the dates are blank.  So you can start anywhere in the book, writing down your responses to the questions or skip around.  Each day has a prompt in the form of a quote or question for you to think about and respond to.  All the pages are sturdy, so most pens will not bleed through to the other side.  Each page has an attractive colored graphic border of some sort around it.

Now for the downside.  It's too happy!  The outside, with the red, orange and yellow, I know is suppose to be energetic and, well, happy.  But it reminds me of McDonalds and just too happy for me.  I think I might have to make a cover for it as I have it on my bedside table.  I am using it at night before I go to bed.  Or at least that is my plan at the moment.

Another 'unhappy' thought about the book some of the prompts are really not prompts at all.  For example, how am I to respond to "Love the Heck out of Life"?  Or, in such a small space, how am I suppose to write a letter to myself or the first chapter or two of my life story?

Since I have it beside my bed and I would like to use the book, I will probably collage on some of the pages and put in other words or phrases over the prompts in the book and make it more my own.

I think this is a book you would give someone who you know loves 'page a day' books, but overall I probably would not buy this for myself or a serious journal writer.  

Note: I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review."

Book Review - Dessert & Booze Hacks

After my last review of the coloring book from Blogging for Books, I allowed Texter to pick out the next book to review.  Needless to say, this immediately caught her attention.  What drew my attention was I am sort of familiar with Buzzfeed and was interested in what Peggy Wang.

First, the book is what we call at the library, a board book.  It's a sturdy book, well suited to handle rough handling with ease.  The colors and pictures are simple and bright.  The type, easy to read.  A delightful 'feel' to the book, especially for the topic.

So Monday, since everyone was home, I decided to make some of the desserts.  I couldn't do any of the booze hacks without going to the store, so I passed on those.  Plus, we all had to go to work or school the next day.  But believe me, there are several booze hacks noted for future use.

The first recipe I tried was the "Easy Thin Mints".  I microwaved the Andes Mints and dipped the ritz crackers.  In order to cover the entire cracker, I dipped half, threw them in the freezer and then dipped the other half.  With a little more care, they would be really pretty.  But regardless, they are tasty and are similar to the actual thin mints.  I had some melted chocolate left over (I used one and a half packages of mints), I threw in some 'O' cereal and cashews and made some munchies out of them.

Once again, just emptying out things I had on hand, I made the Chocolate Chip Stuffed Raspberries, Bite Sized Caramel Grapes, Salted Chocolate Cuties and a couple of different versions of Autumnal Dessert Nachos.

Needless to say, once I called in the troops, the snacks disappeared in a flash.

What I have to say about the book - 

• The recipes are simple and easy.  Well suited for even children to help with.
• Most of the ingredients you already have in your kitchen.
• They are quick to make.  No hours spent slaving away.
• They're fun.
• This would be a great stocking stuffer or present for a young adult in college or their first apartment.
• Fairly inexpensive to make (until you get to the booze aspect of it).

Already, even though I have only had the book about a week, it's been well thumbed through.  It will find a place of honor on the bookshelf and will be referred to often, I can tell.  I would give it two thumbs up, but I'm too busy eating.

The Court of Thorns and Roses

I am a major sucker for any retelling of Beauty and the Beast.  But it does have to be good.  Just because it's the storyline, doesn't mean it can be half-assed.  Despite the move I'm in the middle of, and my priorities should have been a little different, I started and finished the latest from Sarah Maas, The Court of Thorns and Roses.

It's decades after the Faerie/Human War and the treaty has been signed and the wall in place.  Feyre, the middle daughter, is taking care of her father and two sisters, hopefully keeping them from starving to death.  A reversal of her father's fortune has left them with nothing and only Feyre's ability to hunt is keeping them alive.  Without meat for several days, she comes across a deer.  Unfortunately, so has a wolf.  A wolf which is obviously fae.  She kills the wolf which has killed the deer and now has meat and two pelts to sell to tide the family over.  However, someone demands payment for killing a faerie and she is taken to the Court of Spring by the High Lord himself.

Tamlin, the High Lord, deposits her in his realm and treats her as a guest.  Little by little Feyre discovers more and more about the faerie world she has only heard about in tales.  She also learns about the blight which is taking over the land and might soon come to the land of humans.

There are some twists and turns in the book, which make for delightful reading.  Feyre is no fainting damsel in distress and Tamlin is not the beast she first encounters.  This is the first in a new series and now I am tapping my foot impatiently.  This is a book I will get my own copy of so I can reread it.