Quantcast

The Hundred-Foot Journey by Richard C. Morais (audio)

November 8, 2016 by

Source: Public Library
Audio, 9+ hours
I am an Amazon Affiliate

*** Spoilers included ***

The Hundred-Foot Journey by Richard C. Morais, narrated by Neil Shah, is a coming-of-age story that traverses India, London, and France as Hassan Haji comes into his own as a chef. Told from Hassan’s point of view, the novel almost takes on the feel of a memoir. He speaks of his past in India and the culture and food that shaped him, but he also speaks about the death of his mother with a sense of detachment, even though the character claims it is a defining moment.

As the family moves abroad, Hassan is exposed to different foods and cultures, but he’s also shackled to the life of his father’s making. As a rivalry blooms between his father and another restaurateur in Lumière, Madame Mallory, Hassan begins to see glimmers of a world he could master and enjoy. The 100-foot distance between his father’s restaurant and that of Mallory is short, but seems to be worlds away, especially as she makes it her mission to destroy their business.

While food is central to this story and Hassan does grow into a stupendous chef, according to those around him, readers may find he develops little, especially in terms of his relationships with women. Hassan has been unable to commit to anyone, and while it is hinted at the end that this might change, it is almost like an afterthought by the author. There are other deaths in the novel, as well, and given the closeness of Hassan to his father and Mallory, it is hard to believe that the author would gloss over these and their impacts on Hassan, but he does.

Shah is a good narrator, though some of the accents seemed over the top at times and the language a bit forced. The Hundred-Foot Journey by Richard C. Morais, narrated by Neil Shah, is an interesting take on a man outside his culture learning to cook with greater skill but learning little else about himself. Although he becomes a famous chef, it seems that his relationships are only on the surface, and his character stagnates, especially as the trials of his early days in the Paris kitchens are glossed over.

RATING: Tercet

About the Author:

Richard C. Morais is a Canadian American novelist and journalist. He is the author of three books, including The Hundred-Foot Journey, which is an international bestseller and has been adapted as a film by Dreamworks.

Filed Under: audiobooks, borrowed copy, challenges, fiction, New Authors Challenge, Read in 2016, reviews Tagged With: , , ,

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller

October 19, 2016 by

Source: Public Library
Paperback, 463 pgs.
I am an Amazon Affiliate

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller, which was our banned book selection for book club, was a re-read for me. The book was initially banned in Ohio because the language was considered indecent and considered objectionable. While there is objectionable language and graphic sexual situations, this is a book about the absurdity of war and it is a satire about World War II.

Catch-22: a dilemma or difficult circumstance from which there is no escape because of mutually conflicting or dependent conditions.

Yossarian is a bombardier who is an excellent shot, who achieves a second pass and earns a medal, but Colonel Cathcart has plans and continues to raise the number of missions his crew must fly. This bombardier and the colonel are in a silent battle, as Yossarian seeks out any number of reasons to get admitted to the hospital, or be declared insane, anything that will get him out of flying more dangerous missions. He’s almost like a clown bumbling around to disguise his strategy for escape.

“Colonel Cathcart cracked his knuckles violently. Colonel Korn, a stocky, dark, flaccid man with a shapeless paunch, sat completely relaxed on one of the benches in the front row, his hands clasped comfortably over the top of his bald and swarthy head. His eyes were amused behind his glinting rimless spectacles.” (pg. 148)

The shifting nature of this book mirrors the chaos of war on a smaller scale, leaving the reader in a whirlwind of activity and nonsense. Despite the horrors of war and the deaths around them, there’s a levity to these characters and their interactions. Frustration with superiors and bureaucracy is typical of many war novels, but Heller carefully demonstrates the back-stabbing, the all-for-myself moves of men in power, and the utter disbelief of soldiers at the very bottom of the power structure when the rug is pulled from beneath them. As in war, readers are unlikely to form strong attachments for the characters interacting in Heller’s novel — despite the incident with Snowden — making the war seem even more distant even more ridiculous.

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller is a fun ride that never disappoints. From Yossarian’s struggles within the system to Milo’s triumph outside the hierarchy of military power, Heller has created a novel that speaks to the overall chaos and disharmony of war, the futile attempts to make life for soldiers seem normal by the military through order and discipline, and the machinations of those with their own agendas and how they can place everyone in jeopardy.

RATING: Quatrain

About the Author:

Joseph Heller was born in Brooklyn in 1923. In 1961, he published Catch-22, which became a bestseller and, in 1970, a film. He went on to write such novels as Good as Gold, God Knows, Picture This, Closing Time (the sequel to Catch-22), and Portrait of an Artist, as an Old Man. Heller died in December 1999.

banned2016

Filed Under: 2016 World at War Reading Challenge, audiobooks, borrowed copy, challenges, fiction, historical fiction, Publishers/Publicists, Read in 2016, reviews, Simon & Schuster Tagged With: , , ,

The Sandman: Preludes & Nocturnes by Neil Gaiman

October 11, 2016 by

Source: Public Library
Paperback, 240 pgs.
I am an Amazon Affiliate

The Sandman, Vol. 1: Preludes & Nocturnes by Neil Gaiman, which was our October book club selection, contains eight comics that were issued once per month. Gaiman admits that the writing is not as good upon reading them long after they were issued, and on this readers might agree. The dialogue is often choppy and the comics feel as though they do not have a focus or story arc. In many ways they are vignettes.

“There was a definite effort on my part, in the stories in this volume, to explore genres available: “The Sleep of the Just” was intended to be a classical English horror story; “Imperfect Hosts” plays with some of the conventions of the old DC and E.C. horror comics (and the hosts thereof); “Dream a Little Dream of Me” is slightly more contemporary British horror story … ” (From Gaiman’s Afterword)

Having read other graphic novels by Gaiman, this seems like a freshman effort at comics. The drawings themselves are dark and haphazard at times, making it hard for readers to follow the story in a cohesive way. I had to re-read a few pages to fully capture what was happening. Even after doing so, it seemed as though I was missing some backstory and even some explanation as to why this “order” would trap Sandman if he was not the one they wanted in the first place. However, I did like Sandman’s cloak…the flames were a nice touch.

Even once that episode is done and Sandman is free, the attempts to take back his “tools” are so easily accomplished that they fell flat. It was more of a detective story in that way — follow the clues and obtain the objects. Even the major battle with the demon was only mildly entertaining, and forget the battle with Dr. Dee. Overall, The Sandman, Vol. 1: Preludes & Nocturnes by Neil Gaiman fell a little flat for me in terms of substance, even the interactions between Sandman and Death were less than stellar.

RATING: Couplet

Other Reviews:

About the Author:

Neil Gaiman is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of more than twenty books, and is the recipient of numerous literary honors. Originally from England, he now lives in America.

Find out more about Neil at his website, find all his books at his online bookstore, and follow him on Facebook, tumblr, and his blog.

Filed Under: borrowed copy, comic, fiction, graphic novel, Read in 2016, reviews Tagged With: , ,

United States of Books: The Awakening by Kate Chopin

September 26, 2016 by

Source: Public Library
eBook and audiobook, 211 pgs.; 4+ hrs.
I am an Amazon Affiliate

For Louisiana, Entertainment Weekly says, “Chopin’s early feminist work, which presents a woman carving an identity for herself that has nothing to do with wifedom or motherhood, also serves as an engrossing immersion in the historical worlds of New Orleans and the Louisiana Gulf Coast.”

awakeningThe Awakening by Kate Chopin is considered by many to be a work of Feminism, published in the early 1900s. Mrs. and Mr. Pontellier appear to have a mutual respect for one another and the relationship many married couples fall into, such as nods and certain looks that are read easily by one another. He is a broker and has very specific ideas about how much attention his wife should pay to the children. But despite their easy way with one another, there is something distant in their relationship, as he feels she does not value his conversation and she tries to tamp down her anguish about only being a mother and a wife.

While summering at Grand Isle, she comes to view their relationship much differently and that of her place in the world. Mrs. Pontellier can see from the actions of other mothers vacationing there that she is much different. She does not worship her children and she does not have all the sophistication of a societal wife. As she becomes aware of these differences, Robert Lebrun begins to pay her special attention, which recalls for her many youthful infatuations. However, when Alcee Arobin crosses her path, things begin to change dramatically for the reborn painter, Mrs. Pontellier.

Edna Pontellier returns to the city and begins to break with tradition, which raises her husband’s eyebrows. Chopin’s work is not so much about the liberation of a woman from societal expectations. It is an introspective look at how we present ourselves to our husbands, children, friends, and greater society. Our inner selves, our true selves — if they ever emerge — are buried deep within our private worlds. For many of us, our true self is only known by us and, in some cases, not even then. Edna has been awakened to her true self and she embarks on a journey to realize it fully.

“She was becoming herself and daily casting aside that fictitious self which we assume like a garment with which to appear before the world.”

In terms of the setting, it’s clear that they live in Louisiana and music and art are strong cultural elements. The roots of French colonization remain in the area, and many of the people Edna interacts with speak French. Many of these people are definitely from the upper crust as they do little more than socialize, entertain one another, and gossip. The Awakening by Kate Chopin explores the consequences of becoming independent and stripping all pretension, leaving Edna in a solitary world (which mirrors the one she held close prior to her awakening). However, it seems as though Edna fails to evolve, merely bringing her inner world to the surface to find that she cannot survive, rather than exploring what that means and how she should move forward.

RATING: Tercet

chopinAbout the Author:

Kate Chopin was an American novelist and short-story writer best known for her startling 1899 novel, The Awakening. Born in St. Louis, she moved to New Orleans after marrying Oscar Chopin in 1870. Less than a decade later Oscar’s cotton business fell on hard times and they moved to his family’s plantation in the Natchitoches Parish of northwestern Louisiana. Oscar died in 1882 and Kate was suddenly a young widow with six children. She turned to writing and published her first poem in 1889. The Awakening, considered Chopin’s masterpiece, was subject to harsh criticism at the time for its frank approach to sexual themes. It was rediscovered in the 1960s and has since become a standard of American literature, appreciated for its sophistication and artistry. Chopin’s short stories of Cajun and Creole life are collected in Bayou Folk (1894) and A Night in Acadie (1897), and include “Desiree’s Baby,” “The Story of an Hour” and “The Storm.”

usbooks_la

Filed Under: borrowed copy, challenges, fiction, New Authors Challenge, Read in 2016, reviews Tagged With: , , , ,

Symbiont by Mira Grant (audio)

September 20, 2016 by

Source: Public Library
Audiobook, 16+ hours
I am an Amazon Affiliate

Symbiont by Mira Grant, narrated by Christine Lakin, is the second book in the Parasitology series, so if you haven’t read book 1, stop here. Read my review for book 1, Parasite.

Our protagonist Sal Mitchell finds herself in the hands of the enemy more than once in this book. Upon escaping from her father’s government facility, she finds herself thrust in the hands of another enemy. Much of the book is spent unraveling the plots of the fully-functioning tapeworm humans (chimera) who want to rid the world of humans — naturally. Led by Sherman, her sometimes handler at SymboGen, Sal finds out that the tapeworms were not only engineered to help people with health problems, but they also seem to have specific skills.

Like any species that is evolving, there are those that have fully taken over their human hosts and there are others who act more like zombies and devour humans on sight with little cognitive function. Sal is frightened of all of the above because she is on the side of life — living in harmony. Is humanity ready to accept these tapeworm takeovers as people and are the tapeworms ready to let bygones be bygones and make peace with their creators? Even when she returns to Dr. Kim and his mother at their undisclosed lab location, the ethical lines of science are blurring further than she could imagine, especially when Dr. Stephen Banks enters the picture.

Lakin continues to narrate this winding and repetitive story well, but the repetition got to me by the end. Symbiont by Mira Grant, narrated by Christine Lakin, could have been a great middle book with better editing and less back-tracking over plot points established in the first book. Certain aspects of the backstory from the first book seemed to be too constraining for the author, who reinvented some of the backstory here to suit her needs. This middle book just seemed like one bad car chase after another toward the end, and Grant did herself a disservice in that. However, the cliffhanger at the end and the overall story mean I must see this one to its conclusion in Chimera.

RATING: Tercet

Other Reviews:

About the Author:

Born and raised in Northern California, Mira Grant has made a lifelong study of horror movies, horrible viruses, and the inevitable threat of the living dead. In college, she was voted Most Likely to Summon Something Horrible in the Cornfield, and was a founding member of the Horror Movie Sleep-Away Survival Camp, where her record for time survived in the Swamp Cannibals scenario remains unchallenged.

Mira lives in a crumbling farmhouse with an assortment of cats, horror movies, comics, and books about horrible diseases. When not writing, she splits her time between travel, auditing college virology courses, and watching more horror movies than is strictly good for you. Favorite vacation spots include Seattle, London, and a large haunted corn maze just outside of Huntsville, Alabama.

Mira sleeps with a machete under her bed, and highly suggests that you do the same.

Filed Under: audiobooks, borrowed copy, fiction, Hachette Books, Publishers/Publicists, Read in 2016, reviews Tagged With: , , ,

United States of Books: Maud Martha by Gwendolyn Brooks

September 19, 2016 by

Source: Public Library
Paperback, 180 pgs.
I am an Amazon Affiliate

For Illinois, Entertainment Weekly says, “Sure you can always go with Saul Bellow’s Chicago, but if you’re looking for another view of the windy city, pick up this challenging, essential look at urban black life, with all its beauty and pain.”

Maud Martha by Gwendolyn Brooks is her only novel, and despite being familiar with her poetry for a long time, I’ve never read it. Maud Martha is darker than her sister, and this is a shadow that follows her throughout the novel until she eventually learns that it is not about her outward appearance but the well of strength she has inside. As a child, she looks at the world around her and finds the beauty everywhere, like the dandelions she calls “yellow jewels for everyday.” (pg. 2) Maud is very observant, even as she enjoys every moment, she does note that things are not as merry as others make them seem. In her own family, she notes that everyone is “enslaved” by her sister’s beauty (Helen), but Maud is never bitter because she knows that they cannot help it.

Like many, New York City becomes a symbol of dreams and greater things, but like many symbols, they can be tarnished. Maud meets Paul, and she knows that he could have a prettier, lighter woman as his wife. Even as he marries her, she does not delude herself. Leaving her mother’s home for her own with her husband, Maud discovers that her dreams are much different.

“But she was learning to love moments. To love moments for themselves.” (pg. 78)

Brooks’ style is very different from the traditional novelist, where things happen but not necessarily on the page before the reader. She leaves a great many plot points unobserved, while at the same time, enabling the reader to hear directly from Maud. Her observations, her thoughts … providing readers with an inside look at how life of an urban black woman truly was. Through these observations, Brooks provides a window into the racial divide within even the black community, as well as how tough it was during the depression and the beginning of WWII. At the same time, Maud has opportunities to work outside the home, and these moments provide her with insight into how her husband is treated in the workplace.

“When they sat, their heights were equal, for his length was in the legs. But he thought he was looking down at her, and she was very willing to concede that that was what he was doing, for the immediate effect of the look was to make her sit straight as a stick.” (pg. 131)

Maud Martha by Gwendolyn Brooks paints a stark picture of urban life within the black community, the differences between how the community perceived the use of the n-word and how it was perceived by whites, and the plight of women in the community. Maud says, “What was unreal to you, you could deal with violently,” and isn’t that true of all of us. What is real to us is harder to deal with head on, but we must push aside our fears. “On the whole, she felt, life was more comedy than tragedy.” (pg. 165) Maud is a pillar of inner strength from whom other women could take lessons.

RATING: Cinquain

About the Author:

Although she was born in 1917 in Topeka, Kansas–the first child of David and Keziah Brooks–Gwendolyn Brooks is “a Chicagoan.” The family moved to Chicago shortly after her birth, and despite her extensive travels and periods in some of the major universities of the country, she has remained associated with the city’s South Side. What her strong family unit lacked in material wealth was made bearable by the wealth of human capital that resulted from warm interpersonal relationships. When she writes about families that–despite their daily adversities–are not dysfunctional, Gwendolyn Brooks writes from an intimate knowledge reinforced by her own life.

usbooks_il

Filed Under: borrowed copy, challenges, fiction, Poetry Reading Challenge, Read in 2016, reviews Tagged With: , , ,

Parasite by Mira Grant (audio)

September 7, 2016 by

Source: Public Library
Audiobook, 16+ hours
I am an Amazon Affiliate

Parasite by Mira Grant, narrated by Christine Lakin, is another series of books in which the world has been turned upside down. Sally Mitchell was involved in horrific car accident and a genetically engineered worm is introduced to her body. When she wakes up, she has no memory of her life before and must begin again, learning how to walk, talk, and interact. In a world where germs are eradicated and worms are used in symbiosis with human bodies to ensure the immune system functions properly, it’s no wonder that things go haywire in 2027.

With only six years of life to build upon, Sal Mitchell must create a new life for herself and leave the old Sally behind. With her doctor boyfriend and continued checkups at SymboGen Corp., her life is pretty carefree, unless you like being poked and prodded. Her father, a general, works in a lab that keeps a check on the nation’s diseases and outbreaks, and her sister works there too as an intern. Sal may be a lab rat, but everyone around her seems to be a scientist. The entire world has bought into the Intestinal Bodyguard worm marketing of SymboGen, except for Sal’s boyfriend Dr. Kim.

Grant has become a go-to author for me when I want something fresh. Her books push the envelope of science as far as it will go to create a world that resembles our current reality but is horrifying. Her ability to create a believable world in which science has gone beyond the bounds of ethics and created something they can no longer control is nothing short of a miracle. You could step into these worlds and believe they are your reality. And that is very scary.

Lakin does an excellent narrative job as she voices Sal and the other characters, making each one distinct without making them sound ridiculously accented. Parasite by Mira Grant, narrated by Christine Lakin, is spell-binding and would be great for a book club discussion about medical and scientific ethics. This is book one, and you can bet I’m reading the rest of this series.

RATING: Quatrain

Other Reviews:

About the Author:

Born and raised in Northern California, Mira Grant has made a lifelong study of horror movies, horrible viruses, and the inevitable threat of the living dead. In college, she was voted Most Likely to Summon Something Horrible in the Cornfield, and was a founding member of the Horror Movie Sleep-Away Survival Camp, where her record for time survived in the Swamp Cannibals scenario remains unchallenged.

Mira lives in a crumbling farmhouse with an assortment of cats, horror movies, comics, and books about horrible diseases. When not writing, she splits her time between travel, auditing college virology courses, and watching more horror movies than is strictly good for you. Favorite vacation spots include Seattle, London, and a large haunted corn maze just outside of Huntsville, Alabama.

Mira sleeps with a machete under her bed, and highly suggests that you do the same.

Filed Under: audiobooks, borrowed copy, fiction, Hachette Books, Publishers/Publicists, Read in 2016, reviews Tagged With: , , ,

United States of Books: Independence Day by Richard Ford (audio)

August 15, 2016 by

Source: Public Library
Audiobook, 17 CDs
I am an Amazon Affiliate

Entertainment Weekly said, “The second of four books to feature Frank Basscombe, a sportswriter-turned-Realtor who’s the perfect sarcastic resident of that great big suburb called New Jersey.”

Independence Day by Richard Ford, narrated by Richard Poe, is one of those novels in which readers can be frustrated, as the main character, Frank Basscombe, often scurries along tangents just when the narration appears to be going somewhere relevant.  Poe does a good job of narrating this character.  He’s a divorced man who lives alone in his former wife’s house in Haddam, N.J., and he’s entered the real-estate game.  He barely sees his children, still wants to hang onto his newly married ex-wife, but also says that he loves his girlfriend.

Basscombe tells the truth as he sees it in that moment, but from moment-to-moment that truth can change.  He’s not steady in his beliefs, and much of that is because he’s clearly in the midst of a crisis.  He’s unsure of his own direction and his own place in life and in his family.  On a trip with his son to the Basketball and Baseball Halls of Fame, Basscombe makes a concerted effort to be someone to at least one somebody — his son.  However, like him, his son is going through a period of unease, as he’s unsure how to be and act, and he’s trying on different hats — some of which raise concern with his mother about his mental stability.

In many ways, Basscombe and his son’s inability to stand firm and find their own peace in the world mirror the wishy-washy perception of New Jersey — which ET calls a suburb.  The view of New Jersey can be its industrial gas and oil farms or the fact that it is the neighbor of New York, a place where those who work in the city come to escape the fast-paced life and find some green.

It’s hard to believe that there are four books about this character, given his disinterest and disdain for everything.  Independence Day by Richard Ford, narrated by Richard Poe, is one man’s search for a final independence — he’s looking to free himself from the ties that bind him to his ex-wife, trying to carve out a new career, and to find some direction for his own life without being hampered by the past.

RATING: Tercet

About the Author:

Richard Ford is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist and short story writer. His best-known works are the novel The Sportswriter and its sequels, Independence Day and The Lay of the Land, and the short story collection Rock Springs, which contains several widely anthologized stories.

 

 

 

 

USbooks New Jersey

Filed Under: audiobooks, borrowed copy, challenges, fiction, New Authors Challenge, Read in 2016, reviews Tagged With: , , ,

Science Verse by Jon Scieszka, illustrated by Lane Smith

July 22, 2016 by

Source: Public Library
Hardcover, 40 pgs.
I am an Amazon Affiliate

Science Verse by Jon Scieszka, illustrated by Lane Smith, is a delightful children’s book that meshes poetry and science.  Although some of these concepts may be tough for kids in kindergarten to understand, kids will enjoy the delightful illustrations and the fun verses that poke fun of critters and teachers.  My daughter particularly liked that the teachers are the reason dinosaurs died — of boredom, naturally — and not meteors.  She doesn’t really understand that dinosaurs are gone over in several grades or that they died because of meteors, etc., but she like the idea of the dinosaurs falling dead at the feet of teachers with their tongues hanging out.

My favorites were about the water cycle and amoebas, as well as the poems about evolution from apes and black holes.  Scieszka is creative and his verse is witty.  The rhymes make it easy for younger kids to follow along, and parents have something to work with when explaining the science concepts to younger children.

Science Verse by Jon Scieszka, illustrated by Lane Smith, is delightful and fun for kids and adults.  It’s a great way to introduce kids to science concepts from evolution to the water cycle.  Now all it needs is some experiments to get kids interacting, something parents could look into as supplements to the text.

RATING: Cinquain

About the Author:

Jon Scieszka is a writer and teacher. He lives in Brooklyn, New York, with his wife and two children. Occasionally he has been known to howl at the full moon. –from the dust jacket of “The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs”

Jon Scieszka is also the author of the best-selling ALA Notable Book, The True Story of the Three Little Pigs, as well as Knights of the Kitchen Table, and The Not-So-Jolly Roger. He teaches as The Day School in Manhattan where he is known as Mr. Scieszka. He lives with his wife, and two children in Brooklyn where he is known as Dad. –from the dust jacket of “The Frog Prince Continued”.

About the Illustrator:

Smith was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, but moved to Corona, California at a young age. He spent summers in Tulsa, however, and cites experiences there as inspirations for his work, saying that “[o]nce you’ve seen a 100-foot cement buffalo on top of a donut-stand (sic) in the middle of nowhere, you’re never the same.”

He studied art in college at the encouragement of his high school art teacher, helping to pay for it by working as a janitor at Disneyland. He graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in illustration, and moved to New York City, where he was hired to do illustrations for various publications including Time, Mother Jones, and Ms..

Smith is married to Molly Leach, who is a book designer and designed the Smith/Scieszka collaboration.

 

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: borrowed copy, challenges, children's fiction, New Authors Challenge, poetry, Poetry Reading Challenge, Read in 2016, reviews Tagged With: , ,

Sweets & Treats With Six Sisters’ Stuff

July 7, 2016 by

Source: Public Library
Paperback, 176 pgs.
I am an Amazon Affiliate

Sweets & Treats with Six Sisters’ Stuff: 100+ Desserts, Gift Ideas, and Traditions for the Whole Family is a fun book for the sweet-tooth in your family or for those gatherings, like book club, where you’re sick of making the same old treats.  The Six Sisters are masters at combining ready-made products in the grocery store with original recipes, as well as creating recipes from scratch.

When I got this book out of the library, we went through and selected recipes we all wanted to try.  My husband chose Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches for a gather we had with several kids, and the kids loved making them.  I’d recommend this for hot summer days when you have cookies and ice cream on hand or you could make your own cookies.  I chose to make Oatmeal Scotchie Blondies, which we shared with our daughter’s preschool class, since it made more than a dozen.  These were more like bars and something happened with the recipe that made these harder than expected.  Perhaps it was because I had to substitute some brown sugar for white sugar.  I’m not a culinary expert.

IMG_2829

The final recipe we made, and one we’ll likely make again, was shared with book club in June.  Mint Oreo Brownies were easy to make, using brownie mixes and Oreo cookies, as well as marshmallow creme.  The recipe called for food coloring and mint extract to make a light green colored marshmallow and frosting.  These were such a hit with book club that we only had two left, and I also cut the recipe down to one box of brownie mix.

Sweets & Treats with Six Sisters’ Stuff: 100+ Desserts, Gift Ideas, and Traditions for the Whole Family has recipes that are so easy to use, and as long as, users know how many people they are feeding, the recipes can be adjusted.  The cookbook includes recipes for other brownies, cakes, cookies, and bars, as well as pies, no-bake treats, and ice cream.  It’s definitely a cookbook to keep on hand.

RATING: Cinquain

Other reviews:

Save

Filed Under: borrowed copy, nonfiction, Read in 2016, Reference, reviews Tagged With: , ,

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

July 5, 2016 by

Source: Public Library
Audiobook, 9 CDs
I am an Amazon Affiliate

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel, narrated by Kirsten Potter, opens with the on stage demise of Arthur Leander, a famous actor who has a number of wives and feels disconnected from his own son. While a few of the characters are connected with Leander, those connections really don’t matter in the grand scheme of the novel, and many of the tertiary characters met at the beginning die weeks into the epidemic after his death. Mandel may be using the distance from the characters to create a sense that who lives and dies is random and without purpose, but it’s a blunt instrument that leaves little room for connection between the reader and the characters that have adventures in the book.

The Traveling Symphony is the most intriguing with its odd cast of characters and Kirsten Raymonde’s tattoo from Star Trek: “Because survival is insufficient.” She was present on stage as Leander died, and her life since the epidemic is one she would rather not have endured, though she maintains her spirits. As these cast members, for that’s how they are portrayed, deal with the aftermath of civilization, it’s a wonder that any art or creativity remains, especially when there are men like the Prophet willing to engage in bigamy with young girls and spout nonsense to their people about being the chosen ones — so long as they obey him.

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel, narrated by Kirsten Potter, was a 2014 National Book Award Finalist that wowed many, but I felt a bit distant from the action and the characters. While I enjoyed this story and the vignettes and the back and forth between the present and the past in this post-apocalyptic story, Mandel kept me at too far a distance from her characters. She’s attempting to comment on the need for something more than just survival when disaster strikes and how to do it, but much of it is lost in the mire.  Like the traveling artists that take to the pop-up cities and towns after the Georgia Flu kills 99% of the population, readers will feel like they don’t get a deep feel for the places visited or the people they spend time with.  The stories are interesting and kept my attention, but there was too much time spent wondering where it was all going and what the point was.

RATING: Couplet

About the Author:

Emily St. John Mandel was born and raised on the west coast of British Columbia, Canada. She studied contemporary dance at the School of Toronto Dance Theatre and lived briefly in Montreal before relocating to New York.

Her fourth novel, Station Eleven, is forthcoming in September 2014. All three of her previous novels—Last Night in Montreal, The Singer’s Gun, and The Lola Quartet—were Indie Next Picks, and The Singer’s Gun was the 2014 winner of the Prix Mystere de la Critique in France. Her short fiction and essays have been anthologized in numerous collections, including Best American Mystery Stories 2013. She is a staff writer for The Millions. She lives in New York City with her husband.

Filed Under: audiobooks, borrowed copy, fiction, Publishers/Publicists, random house, Read in 2016, reviews Tagged With: , ,

United States of Books: The Betsy-Tacy Treasury by Maud Hart Lovelace

June 13, 2016 by

Source: Public Library
Paperback, 736 pgs.
I am an Amazon Affiliate

The Betsy-Tacy Treasury by Maud Hart Lovelace, which is the first four books in this 10 book series, was praised by Entertainment Weekly as “a rosy remembrance of a region already known for its niceness.”  My daughter and I read these together over many weeks, reading little more than a chapter every couple of evenings.

Betsy-Tacy is the first book in the series, and young readers are introduced to five-year-old Betsy who lives in Deep Valley, Minnesota.  She lives in a small mill town at the end of Hill Street, but she’s soon to have a new neighbor, as a new family moves into the house across the street.  My daughter was thrilled to hear about a girl her age, and she was even more excited when I told her that there were pencil-like sketches inside for her to visualize what we were reading.  Transitioning from only picture books to chapter books can be hard, especially for kids who love visuals.  Betsy soon has a new friend, Tacy, and they share big imaginary adventures together before her baby sister arrives and before they even meet Tib, whose family is from Milwaukee and live in the chocolate-colored house they covet.  Entertainment Weekly‘s assessment of a “rosy” picture of a “nice” little town is highly accurate, and it’s clear that this story takes place some time ago before many worried about strangers, criminals, or had cars, cellphones, and televisions.  Imagination was a commodity that children needed in large supply.  This is not to say that Betsy, Tacy, and Tib do not get into trouble.

Rating: Cinquain

Betsy-Tacy and Tib is the second book, and the girls are now eight years old.  It becomes clear that even though these books were written during a time when women were supposed to be mothers and wives, these girls have bigger dreams.  Betsy is a storyteller and she seems to have dreams of writing books, while Tacy wants to be a mother to a number of kids, just as her mother is.  Tib is torn.  To be an architect/engineer, mother, dancer, or something else.  When kids think about what they want to be when they grow up, their dreams are big and seem to be out of reach.  They are fantasies, like many of the stories these girls create in this book for Tib’s Aunt Dolly and themselves.  My daughter is riveted by these books and the fun and trouble these girls get into, from visiting the Mirror Palace to cutting chunks of their hair off to put in lockets.  These books remind me of the good old days when dreams were interchangeable and wonderful.

Rating: Cinquain

Betsy and Tacy Go Over the Big Hill is the third book and the girls are now age 10.  It’s great how accurate Maud Hart Lovelace captures the competition between young kids when it comes to celebrating birthdays and feeling left out when others have birthday parties and they do not.  But, ultimately, everything turns out well between Betsy, Tacy, and Tib, only to have a quarrel between Betsy and Tacy and their older sisters over who will become queen.  This book has a lot in it about conflict resolution, which younger kids can definitely use as friendships grow and change, as well as in their relationships with siblings.  My daughter enjoyed this one, but was a little unsure of the hubbub about kings and queens, even though she is an avid fan of princesses.  I liked the historical details about the Syrian immigrants and foreign affairs involving the King of Spain, as well as a tidbit about the current president being Theodore Roosevelt.  However, there are some “old-fashioned” ideas about immigrants and other cultures here that might need further explanation.

Rating: Quatrain

Betsy and Tacy Go Downtown is the fourth book, and at age 12, Betsy, Tacy, and Tib are a little too old for my daughter.  She lost interest in this book series with this book, as their adventures downtown and their prodding of Winona to take them to see the play Uncle Tom’s Cabin did not resonate with her.  She’s more interested in make-believe games and stories, and while these girls act as girls probably do at this age, manipulating a classmate is not a lesson I’d like my daughter to learn.  It’s also interesting from an adult perspective to see how times have changed — a prized possession for one of the girls is a beer calendar!  But here, we also see Betsy grow up and take an adventure to the new library on her own.  While she apprehensive, she’s happy to be on her own and she thrives in the books she finds and reads, but also in the attention she seems to receive from others about her own writing.  It’s wonderful to see her parents support her writing/art.  It’s a lesson that is often not passed on today, as kids are tested and too focused on subjects that will net them lucrative careers.

Rating: Tercet

Average rating for all 4 books: 4.25

About the Author:

Maud Hart Lovelace was born on April 25, 1892, in Mankato, Minnesota. She was the middle of three children born to Thomas and Stella (Palmer) Hart. Her sister, Kathleen, was three years older, and her other sister, Helen, was six years younger. “That dear family” was the model for the fictional Ray family. Maud’s birthplace was a small house on a hilly residential street several blocks above Mankato’s center business district. The street, Center Street, dead-ended at one of the town’s many hills. When Maud was a few months old, the Hart family moved two blocks up the street to 333 Center.

Shortly before Maud’s fifth birthday a “large merry Irish family” moved into the house directly across the street. Among its many children was a girl Maud’s age, Frances, nicknamed Bick, who was to be Maud’s best friend and the model for Tacy Kelly. Tib’s character was based on another playmate, Marjorie (Midge) Gerlach, who lived nearby in a large house designed by her architect father. Maud, Bick, and Midge became lifelong friends. Maud once stated that the three couldn’t have been closer if they’d been sisters.

MinUSofBooks

Filed Under: borrowed copy, challenges, children's fiction, Harper Collins, New Authors Challenge, Publishers/Publicists, Read in 2016, reviews Tagged With: , , , , , ,