a lovely shore breeze....

Wordless Wednesday...A Few More Lighthouses

2012-01-31T15:59:00.012-05:00

All Maine this week...

One of the "Two Lights" at Cape Elizabeth

Rockland Breakwater Light

Lobster boats in Bass Harbor

Marshall Point

Bass Harbor Light

...as always, for more Wordless Wednesday, check these out.

Musing Monday..Plan? I Don't Need No Stinking Plan!

2012-01-30T06:31:00.000-05:00

Nice and early Monday morning, so let's see what MizB at Should Be Reading is asking this week...

This week’s musing asks…

How far along are you in your current read before you start thinking about what you’ll read next?

Wait, let me get this right. You think I should be picking my next book to read while I am reading the current book? Really?

I may have mentioned it before, but when it comes to my reading, and actually when it come to this blog, I really have no..or very little..plan. It's how I roll. :-)
I remember first reading about fellow bloggers who keep a calendar of what has to be read and/or reviewed by a certain date. Log and charts and graphs, oh my! And I must say I was impressed. But I have no plan of following their plan...if that is not too many plans for you.

First, I am not the most organized of people. Not like one of those people who hoard stuff unplanned, but not up to keep some giant calender with my reading obligations. Which is maybe why I miss a few, or a lot, from time to time. If I am part of a tour, OK, I pay attention to that. But reviewing on or close to the publication date of a review book, as I attempt, not so good. But I am doing the best that I can, without trying too hard. If that makes sense.

Reading, even reading review books, is not my job. It is suppose to be fun. And keeping charts and graphs and such is too much like work to be fun. When it is not fun for me, I will just stop doing it.

So when do I pick my next read?
When I finish the current one.
I think "Hmmm..what will I read next?" I do consider what review books I have that will be coming up soon. And I consider if I have a library book that is due back soon sitting around.
But most of all I just consider what I feel like reading. Do I have one from a favorite author waiting, or one I read a great review of somewhere?
Do I want something more serious, or something a bit fast and lighter? A thriller, a cozy, non-fiction or, oh heavens, a memoir? It will all effect what I pick.
Right after I turn the last page of this one.

Weekend Cooking...Pork Rolls Stuffed With Ricotta and Spinach

2012-01-28T09:59:00.009-05:00

What to cook, what to cook??

Well, I am a believer that you should cook to use up what is on hand whenever possible, so when I saw this recipe in the Philadelphia Inquirer the other day, I was hooked. I had that left over container of ricotta in the frig (wow, that has a long expiration date!) and that boneless pork loin I bought on sale at the supermarket.
Perfect!

OK, yes, I made some changes in my version.
The original recipe use 1/8 lb. slices and I used 1/4 lb. pieces, slicing a one pound piece in four. Pork dries out easily and that original thickness sounded too thin. They put the pancetta on the outside, I rolled it into the filling and I added the Parmesan cheese. They used toothpicks to close, which never works for me or the thicker pieces, so I tied them. I dusted the rolls with flour, to get that extra browning, added garlic to the sauce and I add the parsley and capers to the sauce at the end and reduced it to concentrate the flavors.
OK, I made quite a few changes, but the idea is the same.

Pork Rolls Stuffed With Ricotta and Spinach
(adapted from Cucina Provera)

Makes 4 servings

8 ounces spinach, steamed, drained and finely chopped
1/2 cup whole-milk ricotta cheese
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Freshly ground nutmeg
1 pound boneless pork loin, sliced into 4 pieces
4 thin slices pancetta
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup dry white wine
2-3 cloves finely chopped garlic
1 Tbs. chopped parsley
1 tsp. capers

1. In a medium bowl, combine the spinach, parmesan and ricotta and stir to blend. Season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg to taste. Set aside.

2. Place a slice of pork between 2 pieces of parchment paper, and roll with a rolling pin until flattened to an even thickness, about 1/4 inch. Repeat to flatten the remaining slices. Put on a slice of pancetta and spread a thin layer of the spinach mixture on top, leaving a 1/4-inch border. Roll up and tie at each end with cooking string to secure. Repeat with remaining pork. Roll each piece in flour until just dusted.

3. In a large, heavy saute pan, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat, and sear the rolls for about 2 minutes on each side. Remove the pork, add chopped garlic and brown slightly. Now add the wine and stir to scrape up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan.
Put the rolls back in the pan and simmer briskly for 7 to 8 minutes, turning the rolls once or twice to cook them through. Remove pork to a plate and cut and remove the string. Add parsley, and capers, if desired, and bring to a boil, reducing sauce to desire thickness.
Taste and adjust salt and pepper if needed.
Serve at once.

Very nice, I must say, and pretty quick to cook.
I loved the pork, by I think it would be just as good with veal or chicken or even beef. And you could use stock instead of wine, although the wine adds a lot of flavor to the sauce. And the dish is nice served with a glass of it as well.

This is my contribution this to this week's Weekend Cooking.
"Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, fabulous quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend."
Be sure to check out the other entries this week. As always, hosted by Beth Fish Reads.

A Review of "A Superior Death" [10]

2012-01-27T06:51:00.002-05:00

A Superior Death by Nevada Barr

Putnam Adult, ISBN 978-0399139161

(March 23, 1994, 303 pages

Anna Pigeon is not really a cold weather person, preferring the dry, hot desert, but I guess National Park service rangers do not always have totally control over where they are assigned. Which is maybe why she finds herself on the decided cold Lake Superior, a ranger in Michigan's Isle Royale National Park, in this, the second in Barr's series. But then that watery, chilly setting is exactly why I picked this one out of the 17 Anna Pigeon books to read. You know what they say...every adventure is better with a boat...and there will be any number of boats this time around, as well as some cold and dangerous scuba diving and a sunken ghost ship, deep at the bottom of Superior.

As one of the ranger assigned to Michigan's Isle Royale park, out on Lake Superior, one of Anna's duties is to give permits to recreational divers who want to check out the sunken wrecks that dot the area,. This includes the one that entails the most dangerous dive, the Kamloops, which still contains the bodies of five crew members, preserved since their deaths in 1927 by the icy old water of the Great Lake. But when the divers show her some pictures they took down there and the pictures show six bodies, it soon looks like murder is the only way to explain that new inhabitant of the ship.

The sixth man turns out to be expert local diver Denny Castle, murdered shortly after his recent wedding and found in the ship, dressed, bizarrely, in the uniform of a 19th century ship's captain.

Who could have wanted him dead? Maybe the twin brother and sister who were his partners on a dive boat and look to now inherit the business. Or maybe his new wife, who never reported him missing and takes the news of her husband's death rather oddly. Or how about Anna's fellow ranger Scotty Butcus, whose own wife has appeared to have gone missing as well. And what of the rumors that she and the dead man, Denny, were involved.
Oh, there are any number of odd and quirky characters on the island who might be guilty of something, including one very strange murder.

I have read a number of books in the Anna Pigeon series and picking up one is always like returning to spend some time with an old friend. It's comfortable and you know that you are going to have a good time. While I usually suggest reading a series in order, I have not done that with this series over the years, actually picking a book by what sounds like a interesting setting and this was perhaps my favorite setting of them all. Yes, I like the boats and the chilly summer weather, but perhaps what was best were the parts about the deep and dangerous dives. Very interesting and not a little scary.

And, of course, Anna is a great character, funny and smart and far from perfect, sustained by regular chats with her NYC therapist sister, Molly and a glass or two ...or three or four of wine, something which at this point in the series appears to be a bit of an issue for Anna. But we will forgive her....she is only human. And we like her.

Anna's take on the tourists visiting the parks, her fellow rangers and the running of the parks themselves is always fun and one suspects spot on, since the author was herself a park ranger. I love visiting a different National Park in each book...OK, I think some parks may make more than one appearance ...and seeing them through Anna and Nevada Barr's eyes. Maybe someday I will get a chance to visit them in person, but in the meantime, visiting them with Anna and her friends, with a healthy dose of death and danger, is always a fun time and an entertaining read.

Ms. Barr, if by chance you might read this (ok, it may be unlikely, but I can try) I have only one suggestion for you, maybe for your next book.

In fact, just three words...Acadia National Park!

A review of "Believing the Lie" [9]

2012-01-26T06:58:00.005-05:00

Believing the Lie by Elizabeth George

Dutton Adult, ISBN 97805255952589

January 10, 2012, 624 pages

Back for the seventeenth time..yes, 17...is Inspector Thomas Lynley's and his regular cast of characters, including Simon and Deborah St. James and the ever loyal assistant, Barbara Havers. This time he is on a secret mission, to investigate the apparently accidental death of one Ian Cresswell, nephew and heir apparent of the very wealthy and very influential Bernard Fairclough. For reason that are not entire clear or convincing, Mr. Fairclough wants the death looked into, unofficially, and has the influence to convince the head of Scotland Yard to assign one of his best to look into it.

And let's just say that once they start digging into that family, they better be wearing their hip boots, because things are going to get quite nasty. Certainly, there appears to be any number of reasons why Ian might have been killed and any numbers of people who might benefit from his death and the further Lynley and the rest dig, the more possibilities arise. But still, was it murder? Sadly, by the end of the book, I barely cared.

George's books tend to be rather complex stories, and that is not a bad thing. But this book goes far, far further down that path, to the point that I think it got lost in the weeds.

I have said it before, but a huge tome makes me rather suspicious, and with this one weighing in at 600 pages, there is cause. Sometimes it is a matter of too much material, that you could almost make two books of it. But in this case it is a matter of too much matter, pages after page that just ramble on and should have been cut. In fact, there are a storyline or two, of many, that might have been cut, like the one of the giant reporter and his mother's matchmaking. The giant aside, bigger is not always better. Too many storylines, too many characters, several of them boring , several of them distasteful, all in need of a serious editor.

I have never been a big fan of Deborah and she does not prove me wrong in this book, doing something which one might argue results in someone death. But even my favorites do not come across too well in this one. Yes, Thomas is a grieving widower and has to get on with his life but his affair with his boss is distasteful and out of character. And poor Barbara is relegated to spending most of the book worrying about her haircut and her wardrobe. Oh, how far we have fallen.

But maybe the biggest problem is with the implausibility of the central story. There is an attempt to have it explained at the end, but it falls short in my opinion.

Why all this need for the investigation to be secret? Why the need for it to be secret even from Lynley's boss, with the problems it causes? And why in the world would Deborah and St. James go off for an endless amount of time..ok, maybe it just seemed like an endless amount of time ...to bumble about, really seeming to figure little out. And the final dash of pedophilia, well, I guess we need that to seem timely these days. I must admit that toward the end I started to skip ahead. I was curious as to the solution but was tiring of slogging along to get there.

As I said, I have enjoyed several of George's books before, but this one fell far short of what I remember that made them enjoyable. I think fans who feel compelled to read her latest will be disappointed and would not recommend that readers who have heard good things about this series start with this one.

In fact, start with the first and stop before you get here.

My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing a review copy of this book.

Wordless Wednesday...Lighthouses

2012-01-24T16:24:00.011-05:00

...near and far, from NJ and New York, to Maine and Turkey.

Cape May, NJ

Fire Island, NY

Pemaquid Point Lighthouse, Maine

Squirrel Point Light, Maine

Owl Head Light, Maine

Maiden's Tower, Istanbul Harbor

...as always, for more Wordless Wednesday, check these out.

Musing Monday... 'Just the facts, ma'am...just the facts'

2012-01-23T06:38:00.001-05:00

Another Monday morning, so let's head over and see what MizB at Should Be Reading is asking this week...

This week’s musing asks…

Why do you think that the Young Adult genre is so popular with even the adult readers? Do you read YA books, yourself?

I think the answer is simple. Some of them, maybe the ones that really succeed with youths and adults, are just really good stories. And bottom line, that is what we all want in a book isn't it, a really good story.

Maybe it is at least in part because usually YA books are too complex, not huge, heavy reads. Some adult fiction seems to get so serious, so full of itself, that it seems the author almost has forgotten this is suppose to be entertainment as well. Sure, maybe a book like that is what we want, but I think for most of us, for most of the time, we are looking for some to escape with, to relax with. And often a YA book can fill that need.
Even when they deal with more serious topics, maybe the young age of the characters makes the situation seem more hopeful. They are young, things can change, it will be alright..maybe.

Then there is the element of seeing a story unfold through young eyes, eyes that have not seen all this before, jaded eyes. I think that has the possibility of taking us back and letting us see those experiences in a fresh way once again, whatever the experiences may be, from first love to the alien invasion.

Do I read YA?
A bit. I tend to read the big hits, the ones everyone in BlogLand is talking about, like The Hunger Games when it first came out. A good, exciting story.
But I don't read then as much as some book bloggers.
Maybe because it is just hard to find a nice serial killer in most YA books for some reason. And you know I have a weakness for a nice serial killer.

Sick Sammy So-So Sunday

2012-01-22T03:26:00.000-05:00

Poor Sammy has a sore foot, and since he will not leave it alone, The Cone had to be applied.

"I look like a fool...I know you are laughing at me, I just know it!"

Weekend Cooking...Tea For Two or a Cuppa Joe?

2012-01-21T06:51:00.001-05:00

For several years, I have considered myself a tea drinker. Pretty much two varieties, Irish Breakfast or Earl Gray. Now, I did not give up coffee totally. If I am out, in a diner or restaurant, I may order coffee, but only because American seems to have no idea how to make a decent cup of tea. It is not hard.

Take good tea and add boiling water. BOILING water not that lukewarn stuff from the side of the coffee maker. At home, I use tea bags..but an Irish brand..and loose tea, especially Adagio's Earl Gray Bravo. An electric kettle to boil the water and that little basket thing.

Put tea in basket, basket in cup, water poured through basket into cup. Wait several minutes, remove basket and tea leaves. Done.

But then Christmas came and this Tassimo brewer came into my life. I suspect the Bro and Sil gave it to me so that the Bro could have a cup of coffee when they come to my house, because before I had no coffee available. And the strange thing? I have started to have a cup of coffee myself on occasion. Because, I must say, with the Tassimo, it is very quick, easy to make the one cup I need..and quite good.
And it make tea!
Their Earl Gray is very nice.
As is their hot chocolate.
Their espresso.
Their cappucccino.
Their Crema

Now, there is another very big brand of this sort of brewer out there, but the Bro thinks this one is better and I must now agree.
Because the Tassimo has a bar code reader that reads the different code on each pod and brews it correctly, in three diffent sizes, depending on the product. With the Crema, it finishes the cup with a blast of hot air to make the foamy, velvety top. Cool.
On the other brand, you can make different sizes, but it is just adding more or less water to the same amount of coffee..so it is just weaker or stronger. Not different.

I have my Tassimo sitting on a nice drawer in which I can store a nice selection.
Including my beloved Earl Gray.

But fear not loose leaf tea, I still love you too.

Reviews of L.J.Sellers Wade Jackson Series [4-8]

2012-01-20T04:20:00.005-05:00

So many book...so few reviews.
I have said it before, but I really enjoy reading books more than I enjoy reviewing them.
But in an effort to start and catch up, I figure I would review five at one time!

They are five of a six part series by an author that I really enjoy..even if I did not read the first...and is an author I really think should be more well known and more widely read than she is.
Yes, another series...but what can I say..it is a good one!
They are center around a Eugene, Oregon police detective, Wade Jackson, with reoccurring appearances by his co-workers, his daughter and ex-wife and his new girlfriend, who he met in the first book, Sex Club. Each contains a very good plot, just enough personal matters of Wade to be interesting and an interesting setting in the Pacific Northwest.

Secrets to Die For, second in the series, starts with the murder of social worker Raina Hughes. The last thing she had done was visit a young boy who was one of her clients and now his ex-con father looks like a good suspect in her death. But it soon become more complicated when her girl-friend, trying to keep the secret of her personal life, decides to keep a secret from the police...and soon disappears. Now it is up to Jackson to figure it out, maybe in time to save her life.

Thrilled to Death, next in the series, opens with a young mother disappearing from the parking lot of her psychiatrist. Since she was having issues with motherhood, at first police are not sure she did not just take off. But when a young socialite is found dead and some evidence ties them together, things get more complicated. Especially since the number one suspect has not left his house in over a year.

Next, we have Passions of the Dead. Police are called to investigate what appears to be a home invasion and the murder of the entire family, in a particularly horrible way. Well, almost all the family because the daughter, while attacked, survived, sadly with no memory of what happened or who attacked them. Of course, will her attacker believe that? And then she disappears...

The fifth book is Dying For Justice. Detective Lara Evans, newly working with Jackson, who she has quite the crush on, is given a routine case to investigate. There is a woman who has been in a coma for two years, an apparent suicide, who has come out of the coma and now claims she did not try to kill herself but instead that she was attacked. And when she says who she claims attacked her, Evans realizes she may be in way over her head. Meanwhile Jackson gets a plea from a man convicted of murder, now claiming he was coerced into a confession. But can Jackson put aside her own feelings to look at the facts objectively, especially since the man was convicted of killing Jackson's own parents.

And lately we have Sellers latest, Liars, Cheaters & Thieves (hate that cover..). Again Detective Jackson and all his friends are back and a great story is unfolding. First, a young veteran's throat is cut as he sits in his truck in a bar parking lot. Then the next day an elderly woman dies of a heart attack when she finds her bank account has been cleaned out and it seems a sham charity may tie the two deaths together. Like they say, follow the money..but can Jackson track down the killer before even more lives are ruined and more people die?

Even one of these books is very good, very well written with clever, smart plots and some very good, surprising endings. Sellers also gives us some quite likeable characters, including the excellent Wade Jackson. He is far from perfect and maybe a bit obsessed with his job, to the detriment of his loved ones, but is always a guy you would want on your side. Any one of the books can be easily read alone but it is nice to read them in order, if just to follow what is going on in Jackson's personal life, and the very natural progression we see from book to book. We see his very realistic dealings with his ex-wife, his girlfriend, his daughter, his brother, the death of his parents..you get the idea.
I also like that the books deal, to a degree, with some timely social issues but never in a pushy way.
Read one or read them all and I think you will be in for a great time.

One final point.
If you are an e-book reader, you can get some great deals on them at the moment on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. A couple are available for 99 cents, one for $1.99 and the rest for $2.99. For a few bucks you will be introduced to a very good author, a very good series and have hours and hours of reading pleasure ahead. What more can you want?

A Review of "Raylan" [3]

2012-01-19T10:22:00.003-05:00

Raylan by Elmore Leonard
William Morrow, ISBN 978-0062119469
272 pages, January 17, 2012

Elmore Leonard is another one of those authors I have heard of, again and again, and never read. And since he has written a very large number of books, that is saying something. But it was a TV series that finally tipped the balance. The series is Justified, a series which has just started it's second season on FX and it is based on Leonard's US Marshall Raylan Givens, who has appeared previously in the novels Pronto and Riding the Rap and a short story, "Fire in the Hole".
And now, maybe riding the popularity of the show we have Mr. Givens back again, in Raylan.

I hesitate to call this a novel, because, although they are tied together, this is really more of a series of several short stories. First, we have a tale about a drug bust that turns into the classic urban myth, a man who wakes up in a bathtub to find his kidney stolen. Except in this case it is both his kidneys and they are being held hostage for a payment of $100,000. After Givens solves that one, we move on to another story, this of an evil, nasty piece of work woman who is the representative of the coal company that is strip mining the area mountains...and let's just say that she is willing to go the extra mile to get her way. It may appear that her story is left hanging as we move on to the next, but worry not. It will be resolved and in an amusing, if deadly, way. And finally, we have the story of Jackie Nevada, a college student and fantastic poker player, who skips out of jail, becoming Givens' professional as well as personal subject of interest.

I am a bit torn about this book. The stories are interesting and the book is a fast, easy read, full of great characters, not the least of which is Raylan Givens himself. The dialogue is fantastic, obviously one of Leonard's strengths. And I am sure fans of the previous books will enjoy this book. But I am not sure it is the place to start and from what I understand, viewers of the series who come to this book may be a little confused, because while some of the same folks and settings appear, there are a great, great many changes.
Still Raylan is a very good character, enough to carry this book with as much style as he wears his trademark hat and it was a fun read.

My thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy of this book

Wordless Wednesday...The Only Color is in the Sky

2012-01-17T15:59:00.013-05:00

No ice, no snow...and little color this time of year.
But the marsh and the beaches are still beautiful.

See that tiny, white steeple in the center? My house is right next to it.

It was cold..

But we can always count on Mother Nature for some color..

...as always, for more Wordless Wednesday, check these out.

Musing Monday..Sold My Soul to the Company E-Reader

2012-01-16T03:24:00.003-05:00

Nice and early Monday morning, so let's head over and see what MizB at Should Be Reading is asking this week...

This week’s musing asks…

What devices –if any– do you read books on? Do you find it enjoyable, or still somewhat bothersome?

Or: If you only read the print books, why haven’t you chosen to read on any devices?

Oh my..this opens a kettle of fish. I may have to eat a bit of crow.

If you have been reading my wee blog for awhile, you may remember my past rants about e-books. Yes, they were rants.
And while I have not really changed my mind about them, the Evil E-Readers, threatening the future of books and the very basis of civilization, I gave in and went over to the dark side.
And then the dark side got even bigger.
And bigger.

I started with a Nook, the original e-ink Nook. I choose the Nook because at the time you could not download library books or books from NetGalley to the Kindle and since Borders was on the verge of collapse and the Kobo was tied to them, I went with what I considered the best bet. And I had to admit, I started to like my Nook.
But then they came out with the Nook color...and I had to have one. What can I say, I like the bells and whistles. Do not fear. The original did not go to waste since I gave it to the Sil.

Of course, I had to add the Nook and Kindle apps to my phone.
And my netbook.
And my brand new iPad.

Ok, this may be getting out of hand.

See, on the one side, I love the new, shiny gadgets. Even without the whole book reading ability, I would still love these toys. Because all of them, the phone, the iPad, the netbook, even the Nook Color, offer other things. You can play games, and check your calender, get your e-mail, access the internet, listen to music..and read books.
All at the same time maybe.

But as to the original question, "Do you find it enjoyable, or still somewhat bothersome?"
Well, push come to shove, I still prefer a "real" book. I love to look at a nice cover, some nice art, some interesting graphic. I like to flip the page. I just love the look and feel of a book.

That being said, I do recognize that there are certain advantages to e-books and e-readers. Not having to find more space to pile all these books is a good thing. For travel, you can not beat them. Dozens, hundreds of book, all in one little package, so tidy. And being able to have a nice assortment of books on the reader comes in handy. As I have mentioned, I work shift work and in the early hours of the morning, when I get a chance to do some reading at times, these is nothing worse than being stuck with a stinker of a book and having nothing else to read. But with my Nook..or even my phone if I forgot the Nook..I have a bunch more to pick from.

Add in the ability to borrow some, if not all, library books to an e-device and to get books, if for a limited time, for review from NetGalley, easily downloaded to my Nook, and a large number of free books from a number of online sources...well, there are a lot of cheap and free books out there for e-readers. And you know I am in desperate need of some books to read.
Not.

Just in terms of reading, I think the Nook is the most pleasurable experience, short of a real book, and the phone the least. But still, even with the small screen, I still find the phone perfectly acceptable and have read several whole books on it. It's one huge advantage is that it is always there, in my pocket or bag.

And there is something so comforting about that.

Sammy So-So Sunday.. With a Guest Appearance from Bandit

2012-01-15T04:30:00.002-05:00

Do you ever wonder what your dog does while you are gone?

Well, obviously these two, Sammy and Bandit, order address labels for themselves and then send out Birthday cards.

Nice label fellows.

Do you send a lot of mail?

And your penmanship is excellent!

You remember these two, right?

Weekend Cooking...Grand Marnier French Toast

2012-01-14T10:04:00.000-05:00

Yes, sadly, Christmas is behind us. The days of excess are over...but if you have it in you for one more great breakfast, maybe on a weekend, I have a recipe for you!

I have written before about our traditional Christmas morning breakfast at the Bro's and Sil's house.
First, there are Pillsbury Orange Rolls, a holdover from my youth.
Then, some years ago we added my Sausage Hash Brown Casserole, which I thought I had share with you. But, if my search of my blog is to be believed, I may not have. But that will have to be for another day, because today we are going over to the sweet side, with the Niece's contribution.
One that I think is a keeper.

Christmas Morning Grande Marnier French Toast

8 large eggs
1 1/3 cup half and half
2/3 cup Grand Marnier
4 tbs. Sugar
2 tbs. Orange zest
1 tsp vanilla extract
¼ tsp. Vanilla bean paste (optional)
1 loaf challah bread torn into bite size pieces

Mix all the ingredients and pour over the torn bread in a 9X13 baking dish.
Mix well and let sit, covered, in the frig overnight.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Bake for 40 minutes, covered with foil, uncovering to brown last 10 minutes.

Easy, you can make it ahead of time except for the sticking in the oven part and pretty simple.
Serve with some warmed maple, ideally REAL maple syrup.
Delicious.

Ok, wow, I do not even have a photograph of this dish, because when the Niece put it on the table, we descended on it like starving wolves..
No time to find the camera or someone might steal mine!
So the Niece found this photo online and sent it to me to use on this post.
It looked just like this actually.
If this is your photo, someone out there in BlogLand, I apologize for the lack of credit. :-)

Belated Happy Birthday to Me...Belated Happy Birthday to Me.....

2012-01-13T09:06:00.004-05:00

Really, I am going to sit down and write a couple of reviews today. Really.

But first, let me just say that yesterday, Thursday, was my birthday.
Now being past the half century mark...by a number of years, as shocking as that is to me, a huge celebration is not called for. But I will pause for a short round of applause and a huge number of good wishes.
Ok, we will move on.

I just want to bask in the warm, happy glow of my birthday gifts for just a moment.

First, the Niece bought me this lovely, huge, baking dish. Isn't it pretty?
I am a fan, without question, of primary colors in my kitchen.
And look at those great handles! Are they not a great idea?

Now the only question is what is the first thing I should make in it. Any suggestions out there?
Isn't it pretty....

And then there are the Bro and Sil.
What did they get me?
They bought me an iPad2!!
Yes, they are very, very nice to me.
The ultimate electronic toy junky's desire!!
It is so pretty, even if they don't make them in primary colors.

Now, much to the Niece's disgust, I am not an Apple user.
So I have a bit of a learning curve to figure out all the options here. The Niece gave me a quick tutorial last night, but I think I need to do a bit of reading and figure things out.
Anyhoo, that is how I roll.
Read the instructions.

Already, you might notice , that Sammy's pic is on the background. Isn't he so cute? Hi Sammy!
You have to take care of the important things first.
He had eaten a bit too much and, we found out shortly after this was taken, that his stomach was a bit upset. But I will leave you to figure that out, what happen, on your own.
Bottom line, he is still so cute. ;-)

It also give me the chance, now that I have an iPad, to use this cool fold-out keyboard, made just for the iPad2, that I recently got from Amazon Vine.
Now why I requested it when I did not already have an iPad is another question.
Goes back to read the instructions thing in a way.

So, do any of you have an iPad?
I know you must!
What do you think of it? What are your favorite things about it? What is the number one..or two or three...things you think I must know?

But now all is well.
I am off to play with my new toy!!
Woo Hoo!!

Wordless Wednesday...Some Color on a Gray Day

2012-01-11T03:51:00.000-05:00

Winter is here, the gray days of winter, so here are a few picture that have nothing in common...except some COLOR!

A Hidden Mickey!

Camellias from Longwood

...as always, for more Wordless Wednesday, check these out.

A Review of "The End of the Wasp Season" [2]

2012-01-10T09:04:00.004-05:00

The End of the Wasp Season by Denise Mina
Regan Arthur Books, ISBN 978-0316069335
September 26, 2011, 400 pages

"When a notorious millionaire banker hangs himself, his death attracts no sympathy. But the legacy of a lifetime of selfishness is widespread, and the carnage most acute among those he ought to be protecting: his family.

Meanwhile, in a wealthy suburb of Glasgow, a young woman is found savagely murdered. The community is stunned by what appears to be a vicious, random attack. When Detective Inspector Alex Morrow, heavily pregnant with twins, is called in to investigate, she soon discovers that a tangled web of lies lurks behind the murder. It's a web that will spiral through Alex's own home, the local community, and ultimately right back to a swinging rope, hundreds of miles away.

The End of the Wasp Season is an accomplished, compelling and multi-layered novel about family's power of damage-and redemption."

The suicide of Lars Anderson invokes little sympathy, even among his own family. He was once an extremely rich man, a man who caused a lot of people to lose their money before his creation fell apart. He was a man with a lot of enemies. But there is no mystery about his death.

Then there is the horrible, brutal murder of 24 year old Sarah Erroll in her own home. Again, for us, the readers, there is not a lot of mystery about her death. From the opening pages we know who did it, even to a degree, why they did it. Yes, the viciousness of the murder is not fully understood until later in the book and the ultimate chilling truth of it all is not to be understood until the very last pages of the book. Still, we even find out fairly early in the book that there is some connection between these two deaths, or at least the individuals involved. We seem to know a good deal of what has happened.
So is this book a mystery? Well, actually, I would describe this as a crime novel, emphasis on the novel. A novel that happens to be centered around some very nasty crimes.

This is the second of Mina's book starring Detective Inspector Alex Morrow, charged with investigating the murder. And starring is the right word. She is very likable, the sort of charcter you miss when the book is finished. She is tough and smart at her job while at the same time dealing with a potential coup happening among her fellow police officers. Yet she has another side, a vulnerable side, that we see when she has to deal with the burial of her father, forcing her once more to interact with her brother, the head of a criminal organization and a secret she has been trying to keep her whole adult life. He is part of a world she has tried so hard to leave behind but that she keeps getting dragged back into. And then there is the fact that she is five months pregnant, with twins no less, a wonderful, hopeful event yet one with just a bit of fear after the death of Morrow's first child, a son, just a few years ago.

But Morrow is not the only great character in this story. Even the murder victim, Sarah, has more than a few secrets, not the least of which is the vast amount of money hidden under the kitchen table. What exactly was she into, and is that tied to her death? Then there is Kay, a house cleaner with four teenage children, just trying her best to scrape by, and protect her kids growing up in a less than ideal circumstance. But she too is key to the story, because it turns out she knew the murdered woman, was the principle caregiver for the murdered woman recently dead mother...and a childhood friend of DI Morrow. Kay is tough and smart too, just like her old friend, but could she somehow be involved in the murder..and just how far will she go to protect her kids? And speaking of protecting your kids, we will also meet the family of Lars Anderson, the man who committed suicide, a family that puts the dysfunction in dysfunctional. Yes, ultimately this book is all about family, about the family we grew up in and the family we create, about families that protect and families that destroy.

Mina is an excellent writer and while I have enjoyed all her books, I must admit that the two Morrow books, this and the first, Still Midnight, are maybe my favorites. I love the Scotland setting of all her books, and they are all so very well written, but the character of Morrow makes these two stand out for me. And if you have not read any of Mina's books before they are a great place to start since this is only the second book in the series. You could totally read this one as a standalone, but the first one is so good you really should start there and find out a lot more about Morrow's background that will make some of the events in this one even more meaningful.

Highly recommended.

Musing Monday...Don't Hype the Hype

2012-01-09T07:42:00.001-05:00

Let's head over to see what MizB at Should Be Reading is asking this week on Musing Monday...

Are there any “raved reads” –books that everyone seems to be talking about– that you’re hoping to get read this year, yourself? What books are they, and why are you hoping to read them? Is it because you want to say you’ve read it? Or, would you have chosen to read it, even if you’d discovered it yourself, and no one was raving about it?

Is there a book out there, a best seller, a one getting a lot of hype, a lot of reviews, that I plan on reading soon?
I can only think of one, The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern .
But...actually, I am in no huge rush . I just looked at my library catalog online (is that not the greatest thing in the world?) and see they have a copy on the shelf at my local branch that I could go and get today. But, I am not sure I am in the mood for it at the moment..the whole magical thing and all. And the Niece just read it and was not terribly taken with it. So, while that may not stop me, it does not have me rushing out to get it.

Beside, I am not sure that I am at all a fan of "raved reads" or hyped books. In fact, some contrary aspect of my nature makes me rather hesitant to read a book that everyone else is reaing and talking about. I admit I often do end up reading some of the Big Hits but usually a bit later than everyone else. And that is fine with me. I have read some on the big best sellers in recent years, like The Help and The Hunger Games and Stieg Larsson's books. Gosh, they are still on the best seller lists! And I very much enjoyed them. But there are a lot of books on those lists that I know I would not enjoy and I don't plan to read them, hype or not. There is a Sparks book on the current NY Times list and a Grisham and from past experience I think I will skip those.
So many good books out there, so little time.

Would I read a book no one is talking about? Sure, I do it all the time. In fact, one thing I love about reviewing books..actually maybe the only thing I love about reviewing books.. is finding a really great, entertaining, enjoyable book that is not know, is not being talked about, but should be and being able to review it and share it with a few readers. If just one of you picks it up and reads it and likes it and finds a new author to check out..well, then my work here is done!

Would I do it so I can say that I read it? Well, really, who would I tell? You, my dear readers, are about the only people I discuss books with and since many of you have read the same ones, who am I going to impress? I have the same feeling about movies. The Big Blockbusters that everyone is seeing...that's ok, I will wait and see them on DVD. I really prefer to go to the smaller ones. One that is foreign...subtitles...I am there.

Hype is not all it is Hyped up to be.

Case in point.
Check out this article in The Guardian listing the 100 best selling books of all time...
Well, since 1998.
In the UK.
The number one book?
The Da Vinci code by Dan Brown.
I kid you not.
Really.
Enough said.

The 'Il sole mio' Sammy Sunday Edition

2012-01-08T05:09:00.002-05:00

'O sole mio

sta 'nfronte a te!

'O sole, 'o sole mio,

sta 'nfronte a te!

Why, oh why, do they do this to me??

..After a long day on the gondola..

Weekend Cooking...Time for that Super Bowl Thing Yet?

2012-01-07T07:21:00.000-05:00

Something very strange, very unexpected, happened in my Bro's household a few years ago.

I blame the Niece.
She when to college at the University of Florida, a college perhaps best known at the time for it's quarterback, some guy named Timmy Tebow. Won some games there I hear, won something called the Heisman Trophy and before I knew it they were all watching football games.

Now Timmy...as I like to call him...is playing for some team in Denver...with some name that has to do with horses for some reason. Mustangs...no....oh yes, the Broncos.
All I know is, if I go over there on a Sunday afternoon, they are sitting around discussing players and rankings and all sorts of things I do not understand.
If you don't get a first down, do you get a second...or a third? What do those quarterbacks keep in that little fanny pack they wear? Snacks? A tissue? Perhaps not. But some of the uniforms are very pretty colors and I must admit that Timmy is a cute looking feller, and as the Niece, who almost ran him over once with her scooter, will tell you, a really nice guy.

So, while I always hope Timmy has a good day playing his little game, I just try to ignore all the rest, all that running around on the field and the all that yelling and concentrate instead on the other thing that seems required when watching football on TV.

Football food!!

I understand that shortly there will be a BIG game of the football, so big it is called Super and that this Super Bowl, as it is known, requires seriously Super Bowls of Football Food.
But do not worry. The Niece is testing recipes. And we were lucky enough to sample a few of them last weekend.

One very tasty one is..
Queso Dip

Ingredients:
1 can (10 oz each) Ro*Tel Diced Tomatoes & Green Chilies, undrained
1 pkg (8 oz) Cream cheese
8 ozs. shredded Mexican mix..or Pepper Jack...or Monterey Jack cheese

Directions:
Combine undrained tomatoes and cheese in medium saucepan.
Cook over medium heat 5 minutes or until cheeses are completely melted and mixture is well blended, stirring frequently. Add a bit of milk if it is too thick.
Serve warm as a dip with tortilla chips, crackers or cut-up fresh vegetables.

Very easy, very tasty and always a favorite.

And then there is a new recipe she tried out and it was a winner!

Pepperoni Pizza Puffs (adapted from Everyday with Rachael Ray

Ingredients:
3/4 cup flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 cup whole milk
1 egg, lightly beaten
4 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded (about 1 cup)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
4 ounces pepperoni, cut into small cubes (about 1 cup)
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh basil
1 tablespoon dry Italian seasoning
pinch of salt
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 cup store-bought pizza sauce

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 375°. Grease a 24-cup mini-muffin pan. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour and baking powder, Italian seasoning, salt and red pepper; whisk in the milk and egg. Stir in the mozzarella, Parmesan and pepperoni; let stand for 10 minutes.
2. Stir the batter and divide among the mini-muffin cups. Bake until puffed and golden, 20 to 25 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, microwave the pizza sauce until warmed through, then stir in 1 tablespoon basil. Sprinkle the puffs with the remaining 1 tablespoon basil. Serve the puffs with the pizza warmed sauce for dipping.

If you get the King Arthur Flour e-mail letter, you might have noticed that they had a very similar recipe in the latest edition, but they left out the dipping sauce, which I think is a big mistake. Warmed pizza sauce..and the Niece strongly recommends the pictured brand..makes it.

Bandit and Sammy totally agreed!

A Review of "An Object of Beauty" [1]

2012-01-06T07:26:00.002-05:00

An Object of Beauty by Steve Martin
Grand Central Publishing, ISBN 978-0446573641
November 23, 2010, 304 pages

The art business is, it seems, in many ways more about the business than about the art and Lacey Yeager is a player in that wourld who very much wants to succeed. From the Publisher Weekly description..."After cutting her teeth at Sotheby's, she manipulates her way up through Barton Talley's gallery of "Very Expensive Paintings," sleeping with patrons, and dodging and indulging in questionable deals, possible felonies, and general skeeviness until she opens her own gallery in Chelsea."
Oh yes, Lacey who is described as beautiful, always stylish and smart, will do any number of questionable things, both personally and in business, to get ahead. The story is narrated by her friend, the budding art critic Daniel Franks, and it was there, for me that the problems began.

We never get to know Franks. Actually, it is never really clear why he so taken with her. Taken enough that he helps her, as we at last find out, do a particularly skeevy thing, bad even for Lacey. His character seems unnecessary and his occasional reappearance always seemed surprising and out of place. We could have done without him.
Then there is Lacey herself. Are we suppose to like her, hate her? Again, for me she was never real enough to care either way. She is smart and beautiful, we are told, able to woo men and woman or anyone who might advance her career and is certainly not above using her sexuality to get ahead. The problem was, that as we are told that again and again, she seems to become more a middle aged man's fantasy about a beautiful successful woman than a real person. She became a stereotype that, unusually for me, I found rather offensive and annoying. I kept seeing Mr. Martin wiggling his eyebrows and winking at me as I read Lacey's exploits.

On the plus side, the author treats us to a number of interludes, worked into the story, where he introduces us to a number of works of art with some very nice illustrations. Fine in themselves, educational even, but still, they never felt natural to the book but more like little lectures, brief commercial interludes for very, very expensive products.

Which brings us to the final point. What is this book about? Certainly, it is not really about Lacey. Is it a commentary that art has become just another commodity, like coffee beans or pig bellies, where it is all about money, often astronomical, amount of money? The price asks has little to do with merit and one very successful sale can make the prices of the artist's work rise above all reason while other artists of great talent remain unsold.
Yes, people can be greedy and yes, as long as art is bought and sold, it is apart of a business. But, for me, a novel has to make that idea personal, to make me care, and I never did. Love her or hate her, wanting her to succeed or fail, to get caught or get away with it, the reader has to feel connected. Lacey and her story all boiled down to one word for me.
Boring. I just did not care.

Mr. Martin is a great comedian, a very good actor, obviously a talented man. He has written a number of books, some of which are said to be very good stories. He is, it seems, very knowledgeable about art and the art world with some observations about it to make.
But for me, I was hard pressed to finish this book, left hoping for some connection I never found.

Snow!!

2012-01-05T08:21:00.000-05:00

As I sat down to write a review this morning, I looked out the window and was totally distracted by what I saw.

SNOW!

Ok, it is a sad, tiny amount, but it is still snow.

Wordless Wednesday..."On the 10th Day of Christmas.."

2012-01-03T16:00:00.006-05:00

The Christmas Season is not over yet!

One more from Longwood Gardens

Christmas Eve at the Bro and Sil's

Dessert! My Christmas cake, homemade truffles and cookies from the Niece.

..the Magi have arrived.

...as always, for more Wordless Wednesday, check these out.

Musing Monday...Not Feeling the Love

2012-01-02T07:22:00.001-05:00

Happy New Years, and what better way to start than with this weeks Musing Monday question from MizB...

This week’s musing asks…

What is/are the first book(s) you’re reading for the new year?

Well, in this holiday week, between Christmas and New Years I have started three books and finished two, and I have to tell ya, I am not feeling the book love. One was just ok, one I skimmed just to finish and the third, Last Rituals by Yrsa Sigurdardittir, the one I am still reading now, may end up on my DNF..Did Not Finish...list.It is a murder mystery set in Iceland, which is maybe what first attracted me, but it is not living up to my hopes so far. I am about half way through it and debating it's future.

But....I hate to give up on a book.
I am not sure why, but it is hard for me. In theory, I support the idea that life is too short to waste on a book for are not loving, but in actuality, I find it hard. If it is an ARC or any book I received for review, yes I think it ones obligation to really give it your best try. But two of these, including the one I am reading not are not review copies. In fact, they are both from the library and I know the library folk could care less if I finish them. So what is the problem?

Maybe I hate to give up. Maybe I hate to see the time I already invested wasted. Maybe I am just too hopeful that it will get better. Maybe I am just foolish.
I am leaning forward the last one and thinking maybe that I should resolve to change in the New Year. Give a book a fair try, maybe 50 pages, maybe 75..and if I am not liking it, not feeling the book love, put it down and move on, guilt free.
Yes, that is what I am going to do.

Hey, did I tell you about my resolution to buy no new books in the new year but rather really start to work on that TBR pile?
Yesterday I went online and bought three books. Sure, I have a good excuse why I had to get each one...but really...less than a day?

Happy New Years!!!

2012-01-01T10:10:00.001-05:00

Happy New Years from Bandit and Sammy
[..maybe we shouldn't have stayed up so late...]

Weekend Cooking...New Years Foods

2011-12-31T07:32:00.002-05:00

So, what are you doing New Years Eve, as the song asks?

Ok, that had nothing to do with food but I just liked it and wanted to share. So, on to the actual question, what are you doing New Years, Eve and and New Years Day, food wise?

So what is traditional to eat at New Years? Well, according to an Epicurious article, here are a few suggestions... Grapes (does wines counts?), cooked greens, pork...

"Legumes including beans, peas, and lentils are also symbolic of money. Their small, seedlike appearance resembles coins that swell when cooked so they are consumed with financial rewards in mind.In the Southern United States, it's traditional to eat black-eyed peas or cowpeas in a dish called hoppin' john. There are even those who believe in eating one pea for every day in the new year. This all traces back to the legend that during the Civil War, the town of Vicksburg, Mississippi, ran out of food while under attack. The residents fortunately discovered black-eyed peas and the legume was thereafter considered lucky."

Now I celebrated a bit early, because I am working today, New Years Eve and it seems Sunday, New Years Day, will be devoted to watching football and eating traditional football foods. So, Friday night, we had my New Years dinner. Ham..so the pork thing is covered. Mac and Cheese, because I love it and corn fritters because nothing in my opinion goes better with ham than corn fritters. I have spared the recipe before, but I used a slightly different one this time and I must say they were delicious.

We did better with the dessert, tradition wise.

"Cakes and other baked goods are commonly served from Christmas to New Year's around the world, with a special emphasis placed on round or ring-shaped items...Mexico's rosca de reyes is a ring-shaped cake decorated with candied fruit and baked with one or more surprises inside....In Scotland, {New Years guests}often brings symbolic gifts like coal to keep the house warm or baked goods such as shortbread, oat cakes, and a fruit caked called black bun, to make sure the household always has food."

We had some more of that Christmas fruitcake and the Niece made her own, slightly alcoholic take, on Pineapple Upside Down Cake. It's round, it has rings and it has fruit, round, ringed fruit.

Adult Pineapple Upside Down Cake

1 package Pineapple Supreme Duncan Hines cake mix
1 large can pineapple rings, reserve 1 cup juice
rum for soaking pineapple rings and for cake
3 large eggs
1/3 vegetable oil
4 TBS. butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
Maraschino cherries

Drain pineapple rings and reserve juice. Place in a large shallow pan and cover with dark rum. Allow in sit overnight if frig. Reserve run

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a 10”cast iron pan melt butter. Add brown sugar to make a thick mixture and spread over bottom of pan. Place pineapple rings, each with a cherry in center hole, in pan.

In a mixing bowl combine cake mix, 1 cup pineapple juice, oil, eggs and 1/3 cup reserved rum. Mix on medium speed for 2 minutes. Grease side of pan with Pam and then pour in mixture over pineapple rings.

Cook cake for 50-55 minutes. When removed from oven, while still warm, pokes holes in cake and pour 1/4-1/3 cup of rum in holes.When partially cooled but still warm, flip and unmold on a plate.

Very moist and rather rummy!

This is my contribution this to this week's Weekend Cooking.

"Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, fabulous quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend."

Be sure to check out the other entries this week. As always, hosted by Beth Fish Reads.

A Review of "The Hitman's Guide to House Cleaning" [86]

2011-12-29T07:28:00.001-05:00

The Hitman's Guide to House Cleaning by Hallgrimur Helgason
Amazon Crossings, ISBN 978-1611091397
January 24, 2012, 256 pages

You might figure that a guy whose nickname is Toxic might not be the nicest guy and, in fact, Tomislav Bokšić starts off as not the most likable of guys. After all, he is a professional hitman for the Croatian mob in NYC, with some 60 'jobs' on his resume. And that does not take into consideration the additional 60+ people he killed during the Bosnian war. But even though he is at times a bit haunted by his past, he is very good at his job and rather content in it.
Until he kills the wrong man.

the waterfront in Split

Well, it was not his fault. He killed the man he was suppose to but it seems the man was in fact working for the FBI and now Tomislav must go on the run. He intends to return home to Split (hey, I have actually been there) but through a comedy of errors ends up on a plane to Iceland, posing as an American televangelist, Father Friendly. Iceland is unlike anywhere he has ever been, with it's season of endless days..and then months of endless nights, names he can not even begin to pronounce and no one gun in the entire country that he can get his hands on and sometimes not even one murder in the whole country in a year. What kind of place is this? One that is going to cause this professional killer to come to terms with his past and try and create a new future in his new home. But as funny as this book is, as any good professional killer knows, maybe it is not possible to escape your past.
Can a hitman find forgiveness..can a hitman find love?

I was a little concerned when I started this book, because the main character, the one we are suppose to identify with, is a man who kills people for a living and seems to have little problem with it. If you can't like the main character...well, that can be a problem.

But don't worry, because the whole professional killer thing aside, Tommy, as he comes to be called, is a great character. First of all, this is a very funny book, at times laugh out loud funny. I will not let on what happens to him, but let's just says he gets involves with quite a cast of characters and some situations that he never would have foreseen when he was in NYC. And Iceland, the author's home is a fascinating, and slightly bizarre, place especially as seem through the author's eyes. Maybe this is not quite the view the Tourist Board would have us see, but it is funny and interesting and you have to love a nice volcanic landscape.
Yet it is not all fun and games and Tommy has to deal with some serious issues from both the past and present if he has any hope of any future, let alone a good future. And before long, we, the reader, will be pulling for him.

A very good entertaining book, quite funny yet with a serious undercurrent, a smart book that caught me by surprise and that I thoroughly enjoyed.

Wordless Wednesday...Some Christmas Treasures

2011-12-28T16:00:00.000-05:00

Welcome...come on in and see...

...Russian nesting Santas...

...some lighthouses and a lobster...

..a little horsie I make with wine corks...

...gosh, even the beer got dressed up!

...as always, for more Wordless Wednesday, check these out.

Musing Monday..When Pigs Fly

2011-12-26T09:46:00.001-05:00

"On the second day of Christmas...."
To those of you who celebrate Christmas, I hope you had a lovely weekend..and don't forget, the season of Christmas is, like the song says, a twelve day feast, so don't stop now. Sings those songs, sit by that tree, eat those leftovers, visit with friends and maybe enjoy a gift or two.
Speaking of gifts, let's check out this weeks Musing Monday question from MizB...

This week’s musing asks…

Did you get any books for Christmas? If so, what were they?

If you didn’t, what books are you most looking forward to reading (and/or buying) in the new year?

Well, even though I have expressed a few concerns about books as Christmas gifts, being as they are a very difficult thing to buy for someone else, this year I both gave and received books.
I myself received three, a series by Joseph Caldwell. There is The Pig Did It, The Pig Comes To Dinner and The Pig Goes To Hog Heaven and I must say I have never heard of them but am anxious to check them out.
Just to look at the description of the first book...

"A pig escapes from its pen and roots up the garden of Kitty McCloud, a bestselling novelist who “corrects” the classics. What the obstreperous little pig unearths is evidence of a possible transgression that the novel’s three Irish characters—the plagiarizing Kitty, her blood-feud rival Kieran, and a sexy swineherd named Lolly—are convinced the other has probably benefited from.

How this hilarious mystery is resolved inspires both comic eloquence and a theatrically colorful canvas depicting the brooding Irish land and seascape."

So it contains a couple of things I love. They are set in Ireland..there is a mystery, there is humor...and there are PIGS! And really, who doesn't love a cute pig. Maybe, this the one in my photo, a flying pig.

For the new year my plan is to not buy one more book. Work on that TBR pile, only borrow from the library is it is totally necessary. Yes, that is my New Year resolution.
I figure it will last about two weeks.

Wishing You a Happy and Holy Christmas

2011-12-24T20:10:00.000-05:00

And in that region there were shepherds out in the field,
keeping watch over their flock by night.
And an angel of the Lord appeared to them,
and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear.
And the angel said to them,
"Be not afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which will come to all the people;
for to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
And this will be a sign for you:
you will find a babe wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger."
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host
praising God and saying,

"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased!"

Luke2:8-15

Weekend Cooking...Christmas Eve

2011-12-24T08:07:00.002-05:00

Contrary to the recipes you see here, I am not a huge fan of desserts.

Except cookies.

I love cookies. Not store bought cookies which I don't buy, but homemade cookies and the king of cookies are Christmas cookies. So many cookies..

So, what is my favorite cookie?
Well, it might have to be a chocolate chip..with nuts. But somehow I don't think of that as a Christmas cookie. What is another favorite and the perfect Christmas cookie?
Pignoli Nut Cookies!

Why? Well first, they are delicious. If you like almond flavor, and I do, they are perhaps the most almond-ish of cookies. They are chewy and topped with those creamy delicious pignoli nuts.
And they are rather expensive. The almond paste is not cheap and the nuts are not cheap, so they are the special perfect occasion cookie.
And they freeze perfectly.

Just four ingredients, five with the nuts...

Pignoli Cookies

Ingredients:
12 ounces almond paste
1/2 cup white sugar
1 cup confectioners' sugar
4 egg whites
1 1/2 cups pine nuts

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Line 2 cookie sheets with foil; lightly grease foil.
2. Mix almond paste and granulated sugar in food processor until smooth. Add confectioners' sugar and 2 egg whites; process until smooth.
3. Whisk remaining 2 egg whites in small bowl. Place pine nuts on shallow plate. With lightly floured hands roll dough into 1 inch balls. Coat balls in egg whites, shaking off excess, then roll in pine nuts, pressing lightly to stick. Arrange balls on cookie sheets, and flatten slightly to form a 1 1/2 inch round.
4. Bake 15 to 18 minutes in the preheated oven, or until lightly browned. Let stand on cookie sheet 1 minute. Transfer to wire rack to cool.

The Christmas cake is decorated and ready to go.
The presents are wrapped.
The cookies are baked.
The tree is decorated.

I will be at my brother's for Christmas Eve. Last year we did a Seven Fish Dinner, but this year we are going a little easier, with baked ziti and meatballs and sausage and a substantial variety of other delicious things.

And of course, a cute doggie or two will be in attendance, wearing their Christmas bells.

A Review of "The Whisperer" [85]

2011-12-22T07:26:00.001-05:00

The Whisperer by Donato Carrisi
Mulholland Books, ISBN 978-0316194723
January 5, 2012, 432 pages.

From the product description..

"Six buried arms. Six missing girls. A team led by Captain Roche and internationally renowned criminologist Goran Gavila are on the trail of a serial killer whose ferocity seems to have no limits. And he seems to be taunting them, leading them to discover each small corpse in turn; but the clues on the bodies point to several different killers. Roche and Gavila bring in Mila Vasquez, a specialist in cases involving children, and Mila discovers that the real killer is one who has never lifted a finger against the girls - but merely psychologically instructs others to do his work: a 'subliminal killer' - the hardest to catch... "

Well, actually, it is six arms but five missing girls, which is why they call in a missing child expert to help. To try and discover who the sixth girl is..and determine if they might be able to rescue her while she is still alive. Good start.
I must say reading the description I thought this was right up my alley, even though comparisons to Stieg Larsson made me a little concerned.
And there are some positive things about the book. The idea that the killer is using the murder of each girl to lead the police to uncover another hidden crime is rather clever. And I must say that the ending was quite a surprise, always a great thing in my book...quite a surprise.

But, from there on I have quite a few problems with this book.
First, is the basic premise that there are such thing as "whisperers", evil people who can somehow influence others to do bad things, people who otherwise may not have been bad people. Interesting, but the case is never really made by the author, and at least one of the examples just seems totally unbelievable.
Then there is the writing. This is a translation, so I am not sure if the issue is with the original or the translation, but either way it comes across as very awkward. I have read a couple of reviews that thought that gave it a "European charm". I just though it kept me from getting totally involved in the book, always jolting me out of the story to reread yet another awkward phrase that just felt wrong.

And a final issue..I could list a few more...is that the book has no setting. I am not sure that I have ever read a book before that was set in no specific place.
You know it is not the US because there are too many metric references for us metric challenged Americans. The character's names are of a variety of ethic sources, so that is no help and no specific reference is ever made to a real place. So is it Europe? Germany..Italy...England...who knows? And I wanted to! I must say I do not understand that decision of the author at all and found it annoying. The setting can be a huge plus to a story and the lack here was just another thing to grate on me as I read this book.

There are a lot of great mysteries and thrillers out there, including the above mentioned Stieg Larsson, but too little time to waste on a just fair book like this one.

My thanks to the publisher and Library Thing Early Reviewers for providing a review copy of this book.

Wordless Wednesday..Longwood Gardens at Christmas

2011-12-20T16:00:00.004-05:00

...let me share from a recent trip the Niece and I made to one of my favorite places.

...as always, for more Wordless Wednesday, check these out.

A Review of "Maman's Homesick Pie" [84]

2011-12-20T08:07:00.002-05:00

Maman's Homesick Pie: A Persian Heart in an American Kitchen by Donia Bijan
Algonquin Books,ISBN 978-1565129573
October 11, 2011, 272 pages

In the past, I have mentioned my dislike of memoirs. I find most of them whiny and self indulgent and usually pass them up. Happily, due to a number of positive reviews, I made an exception with this book and I am very happy that I did, because I must admit, I just loved this book. Loved it.

Ms. Bijan grew up in Iran, her father a successful and prestigious doctor who had built his own hospital and her mother, a nurse who had trained in England and was later involved in a number of political movements in the country, especially related to woman's rights. Theirs was a rather Westernized lifestyle, sending their daughters to international schools, holding elaborate parties and spending their weekends with fellow doctors in the country, reading poetry and plays, full of music and an endless buffet of food...delicious, exotic Persian food, rich meats and grains full of spices and fruits and nuts.

But when the Iranian Revolution happened, that life came to an end for her family. Her family was on vacation on a Spanish island at the time, but soon learned from friends at home that their property, the hospital that was their life's work and family home, had been taken, most of their money confiscated. And worse, because of her political involvement, if her mother ever returned to Iran, she would most likely be arrested and shot. So ultimately, they all ended up in California, where they had some family living. But it was a very different life. Bijan's mother was able to get her license and get work as a registered nurse, but her father, because of language issues, was never able to pass the medical boards and practice as a doctor. No longer was he a man of prestige, no longer was he the bread winner, no longer could he do the work he loved, being a doctor.

Then, as if that is not bad enough, he finds out that his youngest, Donia, was not going to become a doctor as he had always hoped, but a chef. And while he loved food, in his mind being a cook was no better than being a servant, something that estranged father and daughter for years.
Now, in lesser hands, all this could be very negative and yes, whiny, but in Bijan's, while it is important to her, it is not dwelled on. No, she is so caught up in her passion, her calling if you will, to be a chef, that the reader can't help but also be caught up in her enthusiasm. When she is working endless hours in a small, hot restaurant kitchen and yet has never been happier, we understand why. When she agrees to work for free in some of the best restaurants in Europe for the experience, she makes it seem so reasonable, a great adventure. When she talks about opening her own restaurant, we share the joy of her dream.

And along the way she shares with us, at the end of each chapter, some thirty recipes, from the simple cardamom tea that would great every visitor to a home in her youth to the Duck a la Orange of her Cordon Bleu training and finally ending the book with her Mother's Apple Pie and the Cherry Slushy she now makes for her own son. Every one of them sounds delicious and I have already had to buy some cardamom pods and check my spices to see what I will make.

And speaking of Bijan's mother..what a woman. Honesty, her husband, Bijan's father was not the easiest man in the world to live with, especially after the move to the US, but she seemed to just deal with it all and carry on, working hard, swimming her laps in the pool and taking her long walks. Not only did she pass on her love of food and cooking to her daughter but I am not sure a child could have had a more supportive parent. Here was a woman who, at an age when most people would be retired, volunteered to go to Bosnia during the war there to train nurses, as significant danger to her own life. Happily, before her tragic death, hit by a car on one of her morning walks, she lived long enough to see her daughter do the one thing her mother thought might never happen, get married and provide her with another grandchild. Hey it is hard to meet someone if you are in a kitchen 16 hours a day!

So, why is this memoir different from the ones I so often dislike?
Well, because it tell a very interesting story, exposes the reader to a different view of a country, Iran, about which many of us only have a negative image, a country that as seem through the author's eyes as a young girl, was almost magical. Then, it moves on to tell the story of a family that lost almost everything and had to take refuge in a new country, starting over and did it quite successfully. While they suffered some real difficulties, overall it is a story of a close and loving family, supportive of their children, even a daughter who took up a career they had serious issues with. And lastly, it is the author's own story of become the chef she wanted to be, finally being able to tie together her Persian origins, her American upbringing and her classical French training, being true to each. I don't know that I can remember ever reading a writer who could better describe food, it's aromas, it's textures, the process of creating it..simply lovely.

This is an excellent book that I can not recommend highly enough.
In fact, unusual for me, I can not find one flaw with it.
It is a delightful book, very well written, and I read it straight through in one day. You will meet some fascinating people and visit, from a different perspective, some fascinating places. If you are a foodie you will love it and if you are not, this book may make you one. And there are those great recipes...I challenge you not to want grab the pots and start making at least one.

My thanks to Algonquin Books for providing me with a copy of this book. Now the idea was that I was going to take part in the Book Club hosted by Devourer of Books and Linus's Blanket that started on 12/10. Of course, I was on vacation last week and missed the whole thing...bad, bad blogger.
But better late than never!!!

Musing Monday...You Can't Please Everyone

2011-12-19T03:05:00.004-05:00

Monday, time to Muse..so, what is this week's question from MizB at Should Be Reading?...

This week’s musing asks…

What’s one book you always recommend to just about anyone?

Wow, that is a hard one.
I will have to muse and get back to you.

OK, I am back.
And it is still a hard one.
Is there one book that every reader will like? I am not sure there is.
Books are very personal and what appeals to one person will most likely not appeal to someone else. I read a lot of book blogs and quite honestly there are many that contain reviews of books I have no interest in reading and let the blogger waxes on about them. Which is wonderful. I am always happy when people love to read, whatever their taste.

And also, quite honestly, I often hesitate to recommend books to people unless I really know their taste. OK, isn't that a strange thing for a blogger who write book reviews to say? Sort of. Every book blogger puts their personal taste out there and if you are reading it I have to assume there is something of interest for you there. Also, I assume we bloggers are speaking to an audience of serious regular readers. We read dozens and dozens of books a year, as opposed to most people (and yes, I still find this sad and shocking) who go a year reading one or two...on no...books. So if I recommend a book to a BIG reader and they read it and don't love it, no great loss. There will soon be the next one. But if I get most other people to read a book and they dislike it, I have probably turned them off books for years.

OK, do I actually have an answer?
I must say the first book that comes to mind, and yes, I have said this before, is Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather. I think it would appeal to men and women, which is not easy, it can appeals to people who have an interest in history of the West, it appeals to people who love great characters. It makes all those 100 Best Books of all time lists as my friends at Wikipedia point out, "The novel was included on Time's 100 Best English-language Novels from 1923 to 2005 and Modern Library's list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century, and was chosen by the Western Writers of America to be the 7th-best "Western Novel" of the 20th century." Not sure what happened to take it off Time's list from 2005 on, because it is still a great book. So, it must be a pretty good book right, standing the test of time
And bottom line, it is just a great story.

After a bit more musing, I am editing this to add another book. Yes, actually two, I Hadn't Meant to Tell You This and Lena by Jacqueline Woodson, but I think they need to be read as a pair. I am not sure why, but for some reason these books just grabbed me and have held on for all this time since I have read it. At times they can be a bit difficult to read because of what they are about, but they are so beautiful written, so powerful, I would love for everyone to read them

So I throw these out there for your consideration.
If you love it, I am happy.
If you do not...well, you can't please everyone!

Santa Sammy Sunday

2011-12-18T03:08:00.004-05:00

Have you been Naughty or Nice?

Weekend Cooking...The World's Best Chicken Soup

2011-12-17T08:49:00.000-05:00

When the weather turns chilly..if it ever does here in NJ...there is nothing as warming as some soup and in my mind the King of Soups is Chicken Noodle.

And if I do say so myself, I make a very good chicken soup. Perhaps, the World's Best.

So what is my secret?
And should I share it?

Well, it is Christmastime, so it will be my gift to you, my dear readers.
It is all about the stock.
And my stock is very easy, and very cheap and takes days.
Yes, days.
But days when you do nothing to it, just let it bubble away.

I have tried many thing to make chicken stock. Necks, wings, even chicken feet which was rather creepy. And the best thing to make stock are the carcasses from rotisserie chickens. Ever so often I get one from Sam's Club and when I have eaten all the meat, I crush the carcass a bit, put it in a gallon freezer bag and stick it in the freezer. When I have three frozen ones, perfect for my stock pot, it is stock time!

I put the bones in a 10 gallon stock pot, with several roughly chopped onions, carrots, celery. Add a handful of whole peppercorns, a few bay leaves and fill to cover with cold water. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer, cover and leave it simmering, very low, two or three days. Yes, days.

At that point, I get another big pot and put a colander on top of it and using a big skimmer, scoop out all the bones and depleted veggies. Then I strain the liquid into that same smaller pot through a fine mesh stainer to catch any solids. You have a gallon or two of very rich stock to use or freeze.

One final, very important step. Got this tip from an old Jewish grandmother. You have very hot stock and you want to put it in the frig. If you just put it in the frig hot, it will actually lower the temperature of the whole frig. Not good. If you let it set out to cool, it reaches a temp when it is the perfect temperature for bacteria to grow, which can give it a sour, off taste. At best.
So...fill your sink 1/2 way with cold water, add some ice, put the hot pot in the cold water and stir. In about 5 minutes it will be cool and you can put it in the frig overnight. All the grease will rise to the top overnight where you can skim it off. I then pour it into freezer bags to put in the deep freeze, if I am not using it at one.

Ok, so where is the soup?
Just 15 minutes or so away!
When you want to make the soup, I take a bag of stock out of the freezer and put it in a pot, frozen, over low heat to defrost. Meanwhile, I prepare what I will add. I chop a couple of carrots, some onion and celery and when the stock is hot, I add then to the stock to cook, about 10 minutes. It is at this point that I add salt to taste and adjust the stock. It may actually be too strong and you need to add a bit of water. I also start a pot of boiling water and add wide noodles (they cook in 10 minutes), tri-color tortellini (6 minutes), thin noodles (3 minutes), so in 10 minutes they are all perfectly cooked in the one pot.
Now, personally, I usually keep the noodles separate from the stock until shorty before I serve it so they do not overcook and get mushy.
Then I put it all together.
Stock with veggies.
Add pre-cooked noodles.
Add shredded roasted or poached chicken and at the last minute, a good amount of baby spinach..it will wilt down a great deal

Top with a little grated Parmesan cheese and serve!

What I Want for Christmas!

2011-12-15T03:36:00.002-05:00

From Animal Planet, a... "Trailer for upcoming documentary filmed at the world's only sloth orphanage in Costa Rica."

Wordless Wednesday...Christmas Trees, Far and Near.

2011-12-13T16:03:00.012-05:00

From Maine, one covered with lobster buoys

Disney

...and Disney again.

Mine

Cashal House, Ireland

Rockefeller Center..from a few years ago.

...as always, for more Wordless Wednesday, check these out.

A Review of "Trespasser" [83]

2011-12-13T03:34:00.002-05:00

Trespasser by Paul Doiron
Minotaur Books, ISBN 978-0312558475
June 21, 2011, 320 pages

The Maine woods are huge and when something bad happens, the men and woman who are charged to respond are sometimes spread a little thin. So when a call comes in that a woman has hit a deer and wrecked her car, it is no surprise that game warden Mike Bowditch is tied up with another call, a case of ATV riders trespassing and destroying property. But Mike responds, even when he is told that the state police are sending a trooper. When he gets there the scene he finds is a bit of a mystery. No deer...no woman with the wrecked car...just some blood on the road. He thinks he should search the woods, but the trooper dismisses him, saying he will handle it. And it is not like Mike doesn't have a lot of other things on his plate but what happened to this woman nags at Mike and when she is found dead, murdered in a neighboring house, Mike can't help but feel that if he had pursued the matter more forcefully, he might have saved her.

As usual, Mike gets pulled into the matter deeper and deeper. It seems there are a number of similarities between this murder and one that occurred in the same area years ago and for which a man is serving life in prison. Could an innocent man have been convicted..and why does everyone seem to want to stop Mike from finding out the truth?

This is the second Mike Bowditch book, after Mr. Doiron's excellent The Poacher's Son and as usual, I had to wonder of the author had it in him to turn out another great book. Oh, the fear! So many fail. But good new! He did.

Mike is a great character, one that in a way makes me break my rule about hating stupid characters. Mike is not stupid, but as even he will admit, sometimes he does some things he should not do. Yep, even stupid things. It doesn't make him too popular with his bosses, even if he gets results. And it often does not go over too big with his girlfriend Sarah, who has a secret of her own, but it makes for great reading.

And of course there is the setting, in this case mid-coast Maine. Have I mentioned that I like Maine? Yes, I think I may have and Mr. Doiron, who is also the editor of DownEast magazine, does a great job of taking me back there as I was reading. While it is spring, mud season, between that and the constant fog and a peek into some of the poverty that populates rural Maine, there is a rather dark feel to this book which is a very good thing. It is a murder mystery after all.
Pull on your boots, because it is mud season in Maine, and things are getting deep!
A good plot, complicated enough to keep you guessing yet all clearly worked out by the end, good characters and a good setting all make for a very good read.

As I said, this is the second book in the series and while you could read this as a standalone, I do really think you will enjoy this one better if you read The Poacher's Son first and get to understand the background of Mike and Sarah, Mike's mentor Charley and his wife and Mike's personal history that has brought him to this point.
I think if you do, you will join me in anxiously awaiting the third book, hopefully in the not too distant future.
There will be a third, won't there Mr. Doiron?

Musing Monday...It's a Mystery!

2011-12-12T06:56:00.001-05:00

Can MizB at Should Be Reading possibly have come up with another Musing MOnday question this week? I bet she has...

What kind of books do you like to read?

Why? Provide specific examples.

Oh, such a difficult question.
How can I possibly answer this one?

Ok, I am just fooling around.
Just glance around at my last few reviews and I think you may figure the answer out.

Yes, I am a fan of mysteries.
A hopeless, over the top follower of the who-done-it in all it’s various forms. I like thrillers and police procedurals, noir and cozies, crime and psychological..I like them all. I like series and stand-alones, classic and contemporary..yep, I like them all.

Now I have tried to expand my genres, especially since I started the wee blog, and to some limited degree I have succeeded. Really! I went from 100% mysteries to maybe 90%. :-)
I read a bit of YA fiction, something I did not read when I was a YA since I was reading mysteries, and I read some of what might be called literary fiction, a name I always find rather odd. What, as opposed to non-literary fiction? But nevertheless, I read some. I have always read a bit of science fiction and have added some dystopian books in the last few years..even though they tend to depress me, and I have long enjoyed a bit of horror, at least the not too horrible horror of Dean Koontz.
But push come to shove, the one genre I always return to are mysteries.

They are my comfort read. Which is, I admit, rather odd.
Give me death and mayhem, violence and crime and I am relaxed and happy and enthralled. Why?

my childhood public library branch, Newark, NJ

Well, I wrote about this once before. What I concluded is that I think I and many readers are attracted to mysteries because, for all the bad things that may happen in one, they paint a world where there is order and goodness. Yes, there is a battle between good and evil and yes, it is not all black and white but rather filled with shades of gray but the mystery will be solved and truth will be revealed and order will be restored. If not perfectly, at least to some degree. Even in an imperfect world, people who do bad things will be punished.

And maybe best of all, we the readers get to play along, exercise our brain, and see if we can figure it out too. In a good mystery, what I consider a 'fair' mystery, we, the reader, will have the facts to solve it and will usually fail. And hopefully be amazed that once again a little sleight of hand led us to the wrong conclusions. Great fun.

Examples? Oh, where could I possibly start? There are so many author I love. Slaughter comes to mind as a favorite series and Ann Cleeves' Shetland Island Quartet is another. Laurie R. Kings' Martinelli books are very good, and I loved Cody McFadyen books...he is very, very creepy. And speaking of creepy, let me just mention Mr. Koontz again. He has written a huge number of books and while some of them are just good, many of them are really excellent.
And hey, they are not even mysteries!

Weekend Cooking... Whole-Wheat Spaghetti with Italian Sausage and Fennel

2011-12-10T04:37:00.001-05:00

We all want to eat a little healthier if we can, don't we?
And while I am not willing to give up my pasta, I have considered that a switch to whole wheat pasta might be an improvement. But as my friends at America's Test Kitchen point out, whole wheat pasta has a firmer texture and a more forceful flavor that the regular variety and not every sauce may work as well with it. So, I decided to give one of ATK recipes with the whole wheat variety a try.

First, I took advantage of a recent taste test of various brands that they published and bought the brand that was the winner, Bionaturae Organic 100 Percent Whole-Wheat Spaghetti. I did not even bother looking for it at my supermarket but instead bought some online at Amazon.

And I must say, I was very happy with the results.
This is a VERY flavorful, VERY fragrant dish..
Now, I did make one changed and double the sausage, because the pack I bought had about a pound in it and I figured I would use it all and I would use that much again. Otherwise I stuck to the recipe. The pasta is excellent. I must see what other shapes they sell because where as I have never been a big whole wheat pasta fan, I really like this one and I think this recipe would be excellent with other short shapes. Maybe some orecchiette...
I will warn you this dish is a little spicy. That red pepper really blooms in the oil, so if you like things a little milder you may want to cut that back a bit. And being a fan of fennel, I think I might use two bulbs, or at least a bigger one than I had. But otherwise, a delicious, rather hearty pasta dish.

"We wanted to create a whole wheat pasta sauce recipe that would provide just the right complement to the hearty flavor and firm texture of whole-wheat spaghetti. We found that a boldly flavored sauce made with sausage and chunks of sautéed fennel provides a nice counterpoint to the whole-wheat pasta’s hearty texture. Starch from some added pasta liquid thickens the sauce and helps it cling to the spaghetti. A sprinkling of freshly grated Pecorino Romano, which our tasters preferred to the more subtle Parmesan, adds a salty tang to a simply sauced whole-wheat spaghetti recipe."

Ingredients

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
6 medium garlic cloves, minced and pressed through garlic press (about 2 tablespoons)
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Table salt
8 ounces sweet Italian sausage , removed from casing
1 medium fennel bulb , halved, cored, and sliced thin
1/2 cup pine nuts , toasted and coarsely chopped
1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh basil leaves
2 tablespoons juice from 1 lemon
1 pound whole-wheat spaghetti
1 ounce grated Pecorino Romano cheese (about 1/2 cup)

Instructions

1. Combine oil, garlic, pepper flakes, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in small bowl; set aside.
2. Heat sausage in 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat; cook, stirring to break sausage into ½-inch pieces, until browned and crisp, 5 to 7 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer sausage to paper towel-lined plate, leaving rendered fat in skillet. (my sausage was so lean I has virtually no oil, so I added a bit of the one I had soaking with the red pepper) Return skillet to medium-high heat, add fennel and ¼ teaspoon salt, and cook, stirring frequently, until fennel is tender, about 5 minutes.
3. Push fennel to sides of skillet to create 3-inch clearing; add oil-garlic mixture and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, (Ok, this smells so good) about 1 minute. Stir to combine garlic mixture with fennel and cook for 1 minute longer. Remove skillet from heat and stir in sausage, pine nuts, basil, and lemon juice.(Wow, now it smells even better!)
4. Meanwhile, bring 4 quarts water to boil in large Dutch oven. Add pasta and 1 tablespoon salt to boiling water; cook until al dente. Reserve ¾ cup pasta cooking water, drain pasta, and return pasta to Dutch oven.
5. Add sauce and reserved cooking water to pasta and toss to coat. Season with salt to taste. Transfer to serving bowl, sprinkle with cheese, and serve.

A Review of "The Chalk Girl" [82]

2011-12-08T03:35:00.001-05:00

The Chalk Girl: A Mallory Novel by Carol O'Connell
Putnam Adult, ISBN 978-0399157745
January 17, 2012

“The little girl appeared in Central Park: red-haired, blue eyed, smiling, perfect- except for the blood on her shoulder. It fell from the sky, she said, while she was looking for her uncle, who turned into a tree. Poor child, people thought. And then they found the body in the tree.”

If you have an issue with rats, you may want to steel yourself. A beautiful summer day in New York City, and an elderly teacher is leading a group of day campers through Central Park. But as she stops to do a head count, she notices there is one child too many. A sweet elfin looking little girl, with blood on clothes, going on about the rats and her uncle in the tree, has attached herself to the group. But wait..it will get worse. Suddenly the park is swarming with rats, seemingly drugged, crazed rats, the teacher has a stroke , falls to the ground and... well, how to say this..is eaten. Well, the rats did not get to finish her before animal control turned up.
Gosh, if the beginning of this book does not get your attention, you must be dead. Wow!

It turns out there is a man in a tree, strung up while he was still alive, in the Ramble, left to die. But he is not the little girl's uncle. No, he is a very bad man, a bad man who has done bad things in the past, starting more than 15 years ago when he was in school. He was not alone in his evil deeds then and he will not be alone in his horrible death now.
But it seems it is time for payback and it is up to NYPD Detective Kathy Mallory and her partner Riker to protect the little girl who is their only witness and stop any more bodies from showing up in the trees.

This is the tenth book in the Mallory series, which does seem daunting if you have not read any of them. But I will say that I have only read a couple of them but had no trouble following this book. Mallory is a fascinating character, with a childhood that has resulted in making her a very unique adult and if you are not familiar with her and her 'group', you are going to have to pay attention and put the clues together. But if you reading a mystery, I assume you like clues!
This is a complex story, with a lot of characters...more than a few more rats.. and a story that reached back decades, but I think O'Connell is so skilled as a writer that the attentive reader will have no problem. Coco, the little red headed girl is a fabulous character. She suffers from something called Williams Syndrome, which results in her distinctive appearance as well as giving her a unique musical talent..and maybe her also unique ability to find a place in Mallory's heart, the rarest thing of all. How even knew she had a heart? But fans, fear not. Mallory will not be going all soft on us. No, she is as strange and brilliant and as unorthodox as always and deals with it all in a very Mallory like way.

This all comes to a conclusion with an excellent ending. Even when you think you have it figured out, there will be a few unexpected twists that will wrap it all up in a quite satisfactory way. Although I must say, it is hard to beat that beginning!

My thanks to the publisher and Library Thing Early Reviewers for a review copy of this book.

Wordless Wednesday...Faces

2011-12-06T16:01:00.010-05:00

Longwood Gardens

Athens, Greece

Disney's Animal Kingdom

Ephasus, Turkey

Garden Angels

...as always, for more Wordless Wednesday, check these out.

A Review of "The Hum and The Shiver" [81]

2011-12-06T07:23:00.001-05:00

The Hum and The Shiver by Alex Bledsoe
Tor Books, ISBN 978-0765327444
September 27, 2011, 352 pages

"A screech owl stood on the porch rail, its tiny talons scratching against the wood. The dawn light made the tufts of its wind-ruffled feathers look jagged and bloody. The bird had a voice far out of proportion to its size, and was intimately acquainted with the nights winds that guided the Tufa destiny. It was also, when seen during the day, an omen of death."

It should have been Bronwyn who died. The Tufa tend not to do very well when they leave the valley, but she did, running from her responsibilities as a First Daughter of one of the Tufa's most important families and avoiding nasty piece of work boyfriend. She did something rare for a Tufa and joined the military, who usually take conscientious objector status in times of war, and now she is returning to the valley, a "hero", badly injured in body and mind. But she know she will heal quickly in the East Tennessee valley, because it is the place she is meant to be. And like most Tufas, she has no interest in the reporters and media circus interested in her war story, preferring to keep to herself. And preparing for a death of someone she loves that seems inevitable.And at the heart of that is regaining the music she has lost, learning her song and giving into the night winds.

"Dark haired and dark skinned, yet not white, black, or Native American (although often content to be mistaken for any of the above if it meant they'd be left alone), the Tufa kept their secrets so close that, to Craig's knowledge, no one even knew how they'd turned up deep in Appalachia. Yet when the first official Europeans had reached this valley three centuries earlier, the Tufa were here, living quietly in the hills and minding their own business."

I will admit that this book is not the type I usually read. You might call it magical realism or, as the Wall Street Journal calls it, "a mixture: folk tales and folk songs, updated with a dose of "Sex and the City." Or, you might say, a rustic version of "urban fantasy,""
No, not my usual, but I was taken with the cover and by the fact that it is a Kirkus Reviews Best of 2011 Science Fiction & Fantasy title. And sometimes you just need a little fantasy and this is an excellent example. Bledsoe is a wonderful writer, creating a little world in that valley that is so real and populated with such real characters that you thing you should be able to find it on a map. The deep connection that the Tufa have to music is fascinating and, dare I say, magical. Yet the story is also very real, very modern..well, until it is not. And with a fair bit of sex and violence and fairly dark in parts, it is a grown up story. But I will not say too much and spoil it for you, because half the fun of the book is meeting these people, the Tufa, and figure out their story. Along the way we also meet with a few outsiders like Craig mentioned above, a Methodist minster trying to start a new church among the very non-church going Tufa and a reporter named Don who starts to get in touch with his part Tufa heritage, to very interesting results.

This is, I understand, the first in a three book series, so it may be a little light on plot as we figure out what is going on and meet and get to know all the characters, but that is not an issue. Maybe because the characters are so great, with Bronwyn, dealing with her inner turmoil..and a few other things..at the heart of it. A teenage hellion when she left, she now has a lot of growing up to do and she is fighting it. It will be interesting to see where the next two books take her and the rest of the Tufas and I will be there to find out.

Musing Monday...It's All In The Numbers

2011-12-05T06:24:00.003-05:00

Let's check out this week's question at MizB's Should Be Reading shall we?

This week’s musing asks…

How many books do you read in a week? Month? Year?

Well, since I don't really keep record, I will have to guess.
But wait, I have a blog, where I review the books I read. In fact, you might notice that they are numbered. So divide that by the weeks and you have an answer, right?
Sadly, no.

I will admit that is at least one reason I started the blog, to keep track of what I read and what I thought of each book. A noble idea. Yes, that it true but as with so many things, it did not totally work out that way. Because I will admit it. I am much happier reading a book than writing a review about it.

Yes, I do like to share my opinions. Especially about books. But for some reason I have the hardest time sitting down and putting those reviews to paper...so to speak. So I have many books that I have read this year and not reviewed. Some are one I was not that trileed with but a few are ones I liked. I find if I do not write the review as soon as I have finished the book the odds of writing a one falls off a steep cliff. A few make it back up the cliff face but not two many.
So maybe I need a new way to keep track of the books I read.
Or maybe I need to buck up and write the darn reviews.

Ok, after all that whining, back to the question.
I think I read on average between 2 and 3 books a week. Sometimes more, sometimes less and sometimes none at all. On a rare occasion I get a sort of book block and may go a whole week or two without even opening a cover. But then I balance that out by reading 4 in a week.

So my answer would be 2.5 a week...10.8 per month...130 per year.
And most of them are sitting boxes in my basement.
Stop by and take a few home!

Weekend Cooking...Keeping Christmas Well.

2011-12-03T06:49:00.004-05:00

Preparations for the Christmas Season are upon us!
Christmas lights are going up on houses. OK, not mine..
Presents are being wrapped in colorful papers, with ribbons and bows. No, not mine yet.
Christmas cards are being sent. I will get to it soon, I promise.

But I am undertaking a few things. Today, I will start the baking of my Christmas cake. And I have also started the search for the perfect Christmas beverage. And where better to look that Dickens A Christmas Carol?

I think for many of us the image of the perfect Christmas has been colored by this book..and maybe even more so by the various movie versions of the book. Happy carolers on snowy streets, a prize turkey in the oven and the steaming pudding presented on the table for the admiration of all.
But what does A Christmas Carol say about beverage?
Well, if you read carefully, you will find mention of at least one...the Smoking Bishop.

"A Merry Christmas, Bob!" said Scrooge with an earnestness that could not be mistaken, as he clapped him on the back. "A merrier Christmas, Bob, my good fellow, than I have given you for many a year! I'll raise your salary, and endeavor to assist your struggling family, and we will discuss your affairs this very afternoon over a bowl of Smoking Bishop, Bob!"

It seems that the English of the period liked a certain ecclesiastical connection with their alcoholic beverages. As Cedrick Dickens, Charles Dickens great-grandson, explains in a book he wrote called

Drinking with Dickens, "people back in the 1800s enjoyed a whole range of 'clerical drinks,' and Smoking Bishop was one of these. Pope is burgundy, Cardinal is champagne or rye, Archbishop is claret, Bishop is port, and so on,"

So we can assume that a Smoking Bishop contain port, but where do we go from there? Well happily, Cedrick provides us with a recipe as well and if you do a search, it is the one you will see repeated again and again. So lets find our cloves and search for some Seville oranges and set about making a bowl. It is sort of a winter version of sangria!

Smoking Bishop

1. Take six Seville oranges and bake them in a moderate oven until pale brown. If you cannot procure any bitter Seville oranges, use four regular oranges and one large grapefruit.
2. Prick each of the oranges with five whole cloves, put them into a warmed ceramic or glass vessel with one-quarter pound of sugar and a bottle of red wine, cover the vessel, and leave it in a warm place for 24 hours.
3. Take the oranges out of the mixture, cut in half and squeeze the juice, then pour the juice back into the wine.
4. Pour the mixture into a saucepan through a sieve, add a bottle of port, heat (without boiling), and serve in warmed glasses.
Drink the mixture, and keep Christmas well!

Now, for those of us that may not be able to polish off a bowl of punch with three bottle in one sitting, but don't want to be roasting oranges as the guests pull up with their sleighs and silver bells ring, I also found some instructions for doing much of the preparation in advance and then being able to add the last ingredients and warm it at the last minute...

1.     Wash the oranges and bake them in a moderate oven (180°C/350°F) until they are pale brown (approx 30 minutes).
2.     Put them into a warmed earthenware mixing bowl with five cloves pricked into each.
3.     Add the sugar and pour in the wine - not the Port.
4.     Cover and leave in a warm place for a day.
5.     Squeeze the oranges into the wine and pour it through a sieve.

If storing, pour into sterilized bottles and seal, omitting the port. When ready to use add port and heat as above.

Of course, you are free to take the recipe and run from there.
I have seen recipes that add lemons instead or in addition to the grapefruit. Some add some brandy, which certainly could not hurt. I saw one that added pomegranate seeds, which sounded very festive and a grating of nutmeg on each glass before it is served seems common. The same site also suggested continuing to simmer the Bishop down until it forms a syrup and using it to top ice cream.

OK, now you really have my attention! Ice cream and booze. Now that says festive!

A Review of "Down The Darkest Road" [80]

2011-12-01T06:42:00.001-05:00

Down The Darkest Road by Tami Hoag
Dutton Adult, ISBN 978-0525952398
December 27, 2011, 448 pages

Four years ago, in 1986, Lauren Lawton's life fell apart, a mother's worse nightmare became her reality.
Her oldest daughter, 16 year old Leslie, disappeared and was assumed kidnapped. To this day they do not know if she in dead or alive. Police even had a suspect, Roland Ballencoa, but they could never prove he was responsible. Shortly after, her husband Lance, unable to deal with what had happened, killed himself. And still the man she believed guilty for all this walks the streets, free.

Finally, Lauren takes her younger daughter Leah and moves to a new town, Oak Knoll, California. They both need a fresh start in a place where everyone does not know every detail of what happened and where everyone does not look at them with pity. Lauren is still dealing with her demons, not too successfully, but Leah has a summer job she loves, working at a stable and she has made a friend, Wendy, who readers of the two previous books in this series will remember has had to deal with her own personal issues. Finally it seems that at least Leah will be able to start rebuilding a normal life and maybe get the help she needs.

Until Lauren goes to the supermarket one day and sees a man in the aisle, a man that she sees in her nightmares every night, Roland Ballencoa. He is back and maybe Leah will be his next victim!

Back from the previous books....Deeper Than The Dead and Secrets of the Grave are all our favorites characters..Anne and her now husband, former FBI profiler Vince Leone and local Sheriff Deputy Tony Mendez. That is the good news. The bad news is that the most interesting of those folks, Anne and Vince, play only a very minor role in this book. Mendez is at the center of this one, which is fine...along with the mother Lauren, which is not that fine. Lauren is not a terribly likable person. Yes, she has suffered a terrible loss, but as she is being consumed by her grief and anger she is ignore her other daughter and missing what is happening to her. And Hoag uses the technique of having Lauren writing a journal about what happened, which we get to read as she is writing it. It works in giving us the in giving us the background of what happened but just become annoying as once more we must read about her grief. Ok, we get it and there is really no need to go on, page after page.

This is a pretty good book, but whereas I really like the first two, this one was just OK. The plot was interesting enough with a nice twist, but I would have been happy with hearing a lot less about Lauren's inner thoughts. Too much inner angst and not enough happening for my taste. Since this is a series that really should be read in order, I suggest you just go out and grab the first two, which I think you will really, really like and then decide whether to skip this one or not.

My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing a review copy of this book.

Wordless Wednesday...Green

2011-11-29T16:00:00.002-05:00

This week another color...Green.

...as always, for more Wordless Wednesday, check these out.

Musing Monday..Would a Moonie Like a Book for Christmas?

2011-11-28T02:55:00.001-05:00

Monday, so we must be Musing..what is this week's question from MizB at Should Be Reading?...

This week’s musing asks...
Will you be buying books for the holidays, this year? If so, for whom, and why?

Maybe.
I can't say.
Because books are wonderful.

Look, how can I answer this question?
I can't tell you what I am buying for Christmas!
I could lie and say "No, I won't be buying and books for anyone this year."
Or I could tell the truth and maybe let someone who reads this blog and may, hypothetically, be the possible recipient of a book or two, know.
And that would not be right!

So let's look at the past.
Yes, I have given books before but really, they are not an ideal gift in my opinion. How can I say that, being as I love books? Well, they are a very personal item and something that is very hard to buy for someone else. Will they like it, will they hate it? So hard to say.
And what if they have read it already? Unless you really, really know what someone else has read it is a danger. And no one needs two copies of the same book. I can tell you that from personal experience, except in my case, I have bought the duplicates myself. Sad, but true. If they own Legos and you buy them more Legos, that is fine. It they have a sweater and you get them another, no problem. But if you get them another copy of "The da Vinci Code" no one is going to be happy.

Which raises a plea. Everyone in America should use Library Thing! Then, if I wanted to buy you a book, I could just go one there, check out your library and see if you have it.
Really, I would appreciate it.
Just a suggestion.

As to why I would buy someone a book...do you really have to ask?
Really??
I love books, I love getting lost in a book and I can think of fewer things more fun to share with someone else than the love of reading. I would like to share it with strangers, let along people I know and like, but I find if you try to give a book to someone on the street they think you are a Moonie or something (ok, who out there remembers the Moonies and those cool group weddings?) and run away.

Sammy Sunday..The Post Thanksgiving Edition

2011-11-27T03:20:00.001-05:00


I think I ate too much....blurb...

Weekend Cooking...Sweetzels Spiced Wafers

2011-11-26T03:27:00.002-05:00

How do you know when fall has arrived?

Well the days start to get colder and shorter and of course, the leaves start to change color and then drop to the ground But if you live in the Philadelphia area, one sure sign of the arrival of the autumn season is the appearance of the iconic Sweetzels Spiced Wafer boxes in your grocery stores. Made in the little town of Skippack, PA, "Spiced Wafers have been tasty harbingers of Fall in Southeast Pennsylvania for over 90 years. Made using real ginger, Lancaster County molasses, allspice, cloves, cinnamon. and other natural ingredients, these cookies are born to be dunked." Well we will come Back to that dunking part later, but I do like these cookies. The mini Creme version is new as a last year I belive, and while good, I am a purist and prefer the plain Spiced Wafer. Very crisp (unless you intentionally allow them to get stale and sopt) and rather spicy, they just shout fall. Can you hear them?

Yes, they are a gingersnap, but with an extra bit of snap and spice and although they are for sale in a bit wider area these days..and even on Amazon, of course...to me they also shout Philly. And we in south Jersey who are in the greater Philly metro area.
Cheesesteaks and Sweetzels make it almost worthwhile to be that close. :-)

OK, I went in search of a recipe including Sweetzels and came upon this one some time ago. So long ago that I can't remember where I got it or the picture from. And I must admit I have not made it yet but it looks and sounds delicious and so seasonal. And it is vegan! And of course for you folks with no Sweetzels, you can use any crisp gingersnap.

Pumpkin Streusel Cake
adapted from Veganomicon by Isa Chandra Moskowitz
makes 16 servings
This vegan streusel cake bakes up very moist. Skip the streusel top, if you'd like something more pumpkin bread-like.

Streusel

7 Sweetzels gingersnaps, broken into pieces
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 cup coarsely chopped pecans
Pulse gingersnaps in a food processor until a flour-like consistency.
Mix pulsed gingersnaps and brown sugar together in a bowl. Sprinkle with canola oil, and mix until combined. Add pecans and mix.

Cake

1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin puree
3/4 cup soy milk
3/4 cup canola oil
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 tablespoons light molasses
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoons ground nutmeg
3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

Grease a 9x13-inch baking pan, and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
In a large bowl, mix together the pumpkin, soy, milk, oil, sugar, molasses and vanilla.
In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking poser, salt, and spices.
Adding half of the flour mixture at a time to the pumpkin mixture, gently mix the ingredients by hand, avoiding over mixing.
Pour batter into the prepared baking pan. Top evenly with the streusel mixture.
Bake for 45-50 minutes until done, or a tester inserted in the center comes out clean.

Of course, you can follow my example and eat them straight from the box with an ice cold glass of milk. Dunking is optional, although I really not approve of the habit. I like the cookies crisp and I HATE crumbs in my milk.
But dunk or not, you better hurry up because before you know it winter will be here and the brief Sweetzel season will be over, the cookies disappearing for another year.

Hmmm...I bet they freeze well..

A Review of "Though Not Dead" [79]

2011-11-25T08:02:00.002-05:00

Though Not Dead: A Kate Shugak Novel by Dana Stabenow
Minotaur Press, ISBN 0312559119
February 1, 2011, 464 pages

The death of Sam Dementieff will have a big effect on the residents of Alaska’s largest national park, both Native residents as well as the community as a whole. But none are more affected than his niece Kate Shugak. He was her uncle, but was actually more like a father to her after her parents died. He taught her much of what she know, about the natural world of Alaska as well as about how to deal with what life brings you, a lesson that has served Kate well, in her previous job as an investigator for the state and now in her life as a private investigator.

Since he had no children of his own, it come as no surprise that he leave Kate his belongings, his cabin, his books, along with a few instructions. What is surprising is the mystery he has left her to solve, including a note to “find his father”. It seems that it was not the man married to his mother, but a con man who befriended the tribe during the Flu Epidemic of 1918 and then made off with priceless artifacts, including a Russian icon that was said to have healing properties. But as Kate starts to look into matters, she soon finds that she is not the only one interested, and it appears that others will not even stop at murder to solve it.

I have read several of the books in this series before, and while I enjoyed them, this one may very well be my favorite. All the things I have loved before are back and then some. The Alaska setting is a big plus for me and Kate always gets to spend a lot of time out in it’s wildest reaches, which is fascinating. And if you have read any of the previous books, many of our favorite characters are back. Kate is great as usual, smart, yet headstrong enough to get her into some perilous situations. Her boyfriend Trooper Jim is back as well, although early in the story he must fly home to California to attend the funeral of his father and discover that his dad left him a mystery to solve as well, one his mother would very much like to remain a secret. But I must say that her canine pal Mutt, a 140 pound beast, half wolf, half husky, may be my favorite character and maybe one of the best doggie characters I have ever met. Brave, smart, strong, scary enough looking to keep strangers at a distance...what more can you want if the bad guys are chasing you?

But what sets this book up a notch from others in the series are the flashbacks to a variety of times in Alaska’s past from the flu epidemic, to the deadly battles in the Aleutian Island during WWII, to the beginning of statehood. This personal view into the history of Alaska was fascinating. All this will tie in one way or another to the mystery Sam’s has left but I doubt you will be able to figure all of it out because it is a complicated..and interesting..story.

OK, one small complaint…you know I had to have one..lol
I was happy to see that there was both a map and a family tree in the beginning of the book, because there are a lot of interrelated characters in this book. Sadly, a number of them were missing for some unknown reason from the tree and at time I was a little confused. OK, not that unusual, but not ideal. I am not sure if that is a family tree used in other books in the series…Kate’s family often plays a part in these books…but it needs a bit of work. Not a critical matter but a bit annoying.
And OK, maybe there was just one too many head injuries that never seem to keep Kate down. I would have been in a hospital for a week after the first.

But all in all, these are minor issues that did not affect my enjoyment of a very good book. If you are a fan of the series, this is a must read. If you have not read any before, while it might not be ideal to start this far along and you may appreciate it more if you have read some of the earlier books, I think it is totally doable as a standalone. There is enough explanation to allow you to figure things out and I am sure once you read this one you will want to go back and check out some of the others.

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T05:16:00.000-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving!

And while you are hopefully enjoying a nice dinner with friends and family, what you need to make the day just perfect is a song, so, for your listening pleasure...

A short ode to pumpkin pie...

Wordless Wednesday...Red

2011-11-22T16:12:00.002-05:00

Last week it was blue..this week it is red...

The Margaret Todd

West Quoddy

...as always, for more Wordless Wednesday, check these out.

A Review of "The Taste of Salt" [78]

2011-11-22T06:37:00.002-05:00

The Taste of Salt by Martha Southgate

Algonquin, ISBN 9781565129252

September 13, 2011, 288 pages

The world she grew up in and the life she dreamt about, a dream she has now actually achieved, are quite different.

Josie Henderson, along with her brother Tick and her parents, her mom a nurse and her dad, an auto worker, lived in Cleveland, Ohio where Lake Erie was a poor substitute in Josie's mind for the sea. Josie and her brother were both very smart, winning scholarships to a private high school and then she went on to study marine biology at Stanford. Her home life was not quite as successful. They were a blue collar, middle class African American family, a family whose life has been fractured by addiction. Her father is an alcoholic, although long sober, and he and his wife divorced when Josie was a teenager and her brother has sadly followed in his footsteps, an alcoholic and addict who has lost his marriage and his career.

Now Josie is married, in her late 30's and a marine biologist working at the prestigious Wood's Hole Oceanographic Institute in Massachusetts. And she is running as fast as she can from any connection to her family, which she fears will drag her down. She is running from her loving husband Daniel, carrying on an affair with the only other black scientist at Wood's Hole.

And it all comes to a head when Tick, once more fallen off the wagon and trying to turn his life around, shows up on his sister's doorstep, forcing Josie to confront the two parts of her life she has spent years trying to keep apart.

I must admit I read this book some time ago, weeks...months.

But I was at a bit of a loss as to what to write about it.

Bottom line, I wanted to like it more than I did.

On the plus side, I love the way Southgate writes, clean and direct. Her dialogue sounds so right, so true. And I though the story had great promise. The whole story of highs and lows of our family dynamics and how we all deal with our addictions. This successful black woman in a white male world, so fearful of how the 'secret' of her family would effect how others see her...

But there is the first problem, because I never believed for a minute that it would make much difference to most people, if they knew about her brother. There is a scene where she and her husband..that nice guy who loves her so much and she is screwing around on..and she is thinking if these people knew about her brother, the addict, it would somehow stereotype her, that black woman with the no good brother. And all I was thinking when I read it is that most likely everyone in that room would have the same issue in their own life, a daughter or father or parent with the same or similar issues. But she is so, so wrapped up in herself, she can't see that.

And we are to believe that she had such a terrible childhood, this life she must 'escape' from. Really? Yes, her father was a drunk, a quiet drunk, sitting in his chair, whose worse sin in her mind seems to be that when he was drinking he ignored her. She was not abused or neglected. They were not poor, she lacked for little. Private schools, a comfortable home to come back to every day, with food on the table...then Stanford..a dream job..oh yes, what a terrible life. Not!

No, I did not like Josie. I did not sympathize with her and I hated the way she treated her family. Her decision to cut herself off from them never felt justified.

On the other hand, I really liked her father. Yes, many years ago he was a drunk. His wife threw him out, he went to AA and except for one small fall has been sober for many years. He has overcome his own racial prejudices, has a steady relationship, uses his retirement time trying to help kids, has a good relationship with his ex-wife and tries to have one with his kids. Except his daughter will not answer the phone when she sees it is him. Oh, and did I mention he loves books and is a great reader? Well he is, while Josie does not read fiction.

I started to wonder if we were suppose to hate Josie! Really...does not read after growing up with that father who was always trying to pass on a great book to her? Gosh, I even felt more sympathy for her brother, the cocaine addict. Yes, there are many forms of addiction and Josie is in a way as much an addict as her father and brother and yet she is so totally unaware, so self righteous. Yes, if we are meant to dislike Josie, then the book succeeded. If not...and I think we are not meant to...well then the book ultimately failed for me.

But I do so love that cover!

Musing Monday...Thanks a Lot Guys.

2011-11-21T10:27:00.002-05:00

Let me put on my thinking cap and check out this weeks Musing Monday from MizB at Should Be Reading ...

How do you decide to read a book by an author you haven’t read before? What sort of recommendations count most highly in making that decision?

Honestly, I have so many books to read by authors I know, it takes some motivation to pick upon something by an unknown writer.
But a strong recommendation and an interesting sounding plot can convince me.
Ok, maybe it is not really that hard.
Without question, the number one source of those recommendations would be my fellow bloggers.
And over time I have developed a small group of bloggers whose tastes I think are most like mine and whose opinions I take more seriously.
What did I do before I started blogging and reading blogs? Oh yes, I remember. I did not have hundreds of books in my To Be Read pile and had to actually 'find' a next book to read.
Yeah, thanks a lot guys.
A whole, huge TBR pile of thanks. ;-)

But a certain percentage of recommendations come from other sources still. The NY Times Book Reviews is one I still read and often pick up some interesting 'new-to-me' authors. On occasion, in the past, I used to find new authors in other publications..People magazine, Newsweek, the Philadelphia Inquirer...but to tell ya the truth I don't read any of those publications anymore. So many book, so little time. Who has time to read the news?!

There are a few new sources to make up for them, some I am sure a number of you are familiar with. Shelf Awareness, is one. I click on one of those ads, maybe there is a little video, some blurbs from other authors and before you know it, I am hooked. Library Thing Early Reviewers is another. Ever month thousands of couple of a whole pile of books are offered. So of course, if you are going to request any, you have to read all the descriptions. At best, you may win one book, but now I have found so many more I wish I could read and a few I will just have to buy, usually by author that I did not know before.

So some of you may ask why am I even trying to get another book from Early Reviewers or an ARC offered on Shelf Awareness? Don't I have enough?
What does that have to do with anything??
Because I want the newest. I will admit it..it is so cool to be reading a book that is not even out yet, whether it is by an author I love or someone new and fresh to me
Because it is a sickness folks, an addiction.
But not that bad an addiction as addictions goes.

Or so I tell myself. :-)

Weekend Cooking...Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Bacon

2011-11-19T08:49:00.000-05:00

Autumn is upon us and shortly American will be celebrating Thanksgiving.
This Thursday in fact. But a few of us will be otherwise occupied Thursday...I will be working. So sad.
But I will have my little Thanksgiving. I will just have it today, Saturday. A small gathering, just myself, my brother and SIL.
And Sammy of course.
Oh, he is so cute.

There will be all the foods that we had on the table when I was a kid, because that is what you do on Thanksgiving. Turkey and stuffing, peas and mashed rutabagas, creamed cauliflower, and Pillsbury Crescent rolls.
And Brussels Sprouts!

My father was from Ireland and in Ireland many of the hearty vegetables are king..because there do not get a great deal of hot weather. Cabbage, potatoes, carrots, rutabagas and Brussels sprouts are popular, so they were often on our dinner table. Often.
But my brother did not eat vegetables. Well, corn and peas but that was it.
I well remember one night when I was about 5. We were having Brussels sprouts for dinner and, of course, the bro refused to eat his. So my father said we would not leave the table until he ate at least one.
My mother attempted a bribe. 25 cents to eat one. No way!
There were dramatics, there were raised voices and I thought we would be there until eternity.

The brother won and those Brussels sprouts lived to see another day.

We will see if he eats any of these today.
Maybe Sammy will have one.
Or maybe not.

ROASTED BRUSSELS SPROUTS WITH BACON

from Katharine Marsh, of The Breslin, NYC

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more to serve
2 medium white onions, thinly sliced (about 2 cups)
Kosher salt
1 pound Brussels sprouts, tough outer leaves removed and trimmed
4 ounces slab bacon, cut into medium cubes (about 1/4 cup)
5 fresh sage leaves, finely chopped
1 medium lemon
Flaky sea salt
Crushed red chile flakes

1. In a large skillet set over low heat, heat the olive oil. Add the
onions, a large pinch of salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until
the onions are sweet and caramelized, about 30 minutes. Remove
from the heat and set aside.

2. In a large stockpot, blanch the Brussels sprouts in salted, boiling
water until bright green and just tender, about 5 minutes. Remove
the Brussels sprouts from the water and set aside to cool. Cut
some of the larger Brussels sprouts in half but leave the smaller
ones whole.

3. In a medium skillet set over medium heat, cook the bacon,
stirring occasionally, until it is crisp on all sides, about 5 minutes.
Pour off the excess fat, leaving about 1 tablespoon. Add the halved
Brussels sprouts cut side down to the pan and cook without
stirring over medium heat until the sprouts are tender and nicely
caramelized. Add the remaining sprouts to the pan and cook until
browned, about 5 minutes more. Stir in the caramelized onions
and sage. Finish the dish with a few drops of freshly squeezed
lemon juice, sea salt, chile flakes and a drizzle of olive oil, all to
taste.
Serve immediately.

A Review of "Already Gone" [77]

2011-11-18T04:26:00.002-05:00

Already Gone by John Rector
Thomas and Mercer, ISBN 978-1612180878
October 25, 2011, 316 pages

"Should I be worries about you Jake?

"No," I say. "I've got everything under control."

And like a fool, I believed it.

His childhood was less than ideal. His father was a criminal, dying in prison. Since one of his early memories is of his mother killing herself, he is left all alone when his father is arrested and, at the age of 12, goes to live with a friend of his father, a man named Gabby. Gabby is a gangster and owns a junkyard where it is said a lot more than just old cars are buried, if you get the idea. In a few years Jake finds himself getting in all sorts of trouble and ends up in a juvenile detention center...where his life is turned around by falling in love with books.
OK, you have to love that, right?

It is years later and Jake is living the quiet life he once dreamed of. He is married to Diane, an art buyer and working as a professor of literature at the local college. And then in one evening, his life begins to fall apart. Coming out of a local tavern where he was having a few drinks with some college colleagues, he is attacked by two heavily accented thugs as he goes to his car. They don't rob him, they don't steal his car...no, they cut off one of his fingers with a bolt cutter, his ring finger with his wedding ring still on it. Don't worry, they will send it back, the finger with the ring still on it, to him in a jar.

Jake would like to believe it was just a random attack, as difficult as that is to think. That it might be tied to his past, and especially to Gabby, is just too dangerous. But the cop investigating the crime seems to be leaning that way and implies that Jake knows more than he is saying. For his part, Jake would just like to forget the whole thing and move on with his life. But when Jake sees the two men who attacked him outside his campus office and then Diane disappears, he knows that can't happen. He will be forced to turn for help to a man he both fears and hates...and trusts more than just about anyone to deal with something like this. His world as he knew it is over and Jake may have to become like the people he ran from years ago, to get his wife back.

I have read one of Rector's previous two books, The Grove and enjoyed it a lot, so I was looking forward to his newest. And I was not disappointed!
Let me start by saying that I just love the way John Rector writes. You won't find any flowery descriptions here, no rambling introspection. No, his writing is direct and clean, as sharp and spare as the story. This book is action and twists and turns from the that first "snip" to an ending that is fantastic...with just a note of uncertainty to keep us hanging.

The only flaw and the only thing that would keep me from giving Already Gone five starts if I gave stars, is that, at times Jake is a bit too naive for his own good. I would think, I would hope, that a man with his background would be a little faster on the uptake and learn to keep his mouth shut sometimes. Of course, if he were a bit more cynical, he might not have ever got into the situation that he did. So I will forgive it.

This is a rather violent, action filled thriller that will take the reader on a great ride.

My thanks to Amazon Vine for a review copy of this book.

A Review of "The Informationist" [76]

2011-11-17T03:56:00.009-05:00

The Informationist: A Thriller by Taylor Stevens
Crown, ISBN 978-0307717092
March 8, 2011, 320 pages

Vanessa "Michael" Munroe has a very successful career gathering information.
If you are an individual, a corporation, or a government that needs information, she is the best you can hire. She can blend into another culture, pose as all sorts of different characters and get the real information, see the hidden connections that tie the facts together and come up with the information that those who hire her will use to base their decisions on. She has an incredible, natural ability with languages, is very clever and is darn handy with a knife when she has to be.

Finding missing people is not her usual job. But when she gets an offer, for a huge amount of money, to try and find the missing daughter of billionaire oilman Richard Burbank, she is intrigued. Emily disappeared four years ago while traveling as a tourist in Africa. He has hired team after team to try and find out what happen, if she is alive or dead, but each one came up clueless. Munroe is his last chance, he say, to find the truth of what happen.

For Munroe, the trip where the clues lead, to Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea, will be a sort of a journey home. That is if she felt that she had a home. But it is the place she was born, to missionary parents, and it is the place she lived until nine years ago, when she killed a man and left the mercenary smuggler she had been working with. It is a past filled with terrible memories and a past that has left her with so many numerous scars, both physical and emotional, that at times she can barely keep the darkness and rage from overtaking her.

"Returning to the past was inevitable. Somehow in the last nine years she'd managed to stay upright on a tightrope stretched between brilliance and insanity, the blackness of the abyss always with her, leaving her sometimes wondering if letting go might in the end be easiest of all."

But soon after she gets there, things start to go very wrong. She finds herself drugged, shot and thrown off a boat and only because of her skills is able to narrowly survive. She finds herself alone and injured, in a wild and lawless nation, not knowing who betrayed her and who she can trust.
And what does a missing young American girl have to do with any of this.

If you read anything about this book, you can not miss the comparisons between Munroe and Lisbeth Salander. Yes, they are both androgynous, damaged young women with deadly skills and great intelligence. But this is no Larsson knockoff. No, Munroe is very much her own character. Her feelings and emotions, her anger, her fears seem so real that you can not help but think that they came from the actual emotions of the author, especially when you know the author's own story. Because I must admit that when I first read about this book, it was the author's story that I found as intriguing as the story outlined.
Stevens was raised in a cult, as she tell on her website...

"childhood and adolescence were spent begging on city streets from Zurich to Tokyo, preparing food and washing laundry for hundreds of people, and otherwise trying to survive dreary life as a worker bee child in a communal apocalyptic cult. My innocence and scholastic education stopped completely when I was twelve-years-old. Cut off from personal family, at times under the care of sadistic individuals and without access to books or television from the outside world, imagination became a survival mechanism...Along this journey I have seen the best and worst of humanity and don't have to look far to find the depth of soul and tormented conflict that drives my characters; I pull heavily from personal experience and the experience of the ones I love when creating the worlds they walk in."

That this is her first book, written with so little formal education, makes it even more remarkable. Because this is a very well written book. The dialogue is great, the characters are great and the plot, while yes, a bit over the top at times but hey folks, this is a thriller, will grab you and pull you to the last page and a surprising and satisfying ending.

Munroe is a great character. Maybe a bit too emotional for my taste because I like my borderline sociopaths to be a tiny bit more sociopathic. Oh please Ms. Stevens, do not make her too nice!! Keep the edge sharp! Still, I will be very interested to read Ms. Stevens next book, The Innocent, that will be out next year. I hope we have a lot more deep and dark secrets to find out about Vanessa and see what rip roaring adventure she will get us roped into next.
And you can not read this book but start to wonder who they will cast in the movie, because this would make one heck of a great movie!

My thanks to the publisher for providing me with a copy for review.

Looking Foward To This One?

2011-11-16T19:49:00.002-05:00

looks pretty good.
not as good as the book maybe, but pretty good.
what to you think of the casting?
what do you think of the look of the film?
does it look as you picture it from the book?
well, we will see...

Wordless Wednesday...Blue

2011-11-16T04:00:00.000-05:00

...from the floor of Saint Mark's Basilica

a Turkish tile

..a wall in an alley in Greece

...as always, for more Wordless Wednesday, check these out.

A Review of "Bad Things Happen" [75]

2011-11-15T05:01:00.002-05:00

Bad Things Happen: A Novel by Harry Dolan
Amy Einhorn Books, ISBN 978-0399155635
July 23, 2009, 352 pages.

"The shovel had to meet certain requirements. A pointed blade. A short handle, to make it maneuverable in a confined space."

Have you ever heard the saying that you can tell who are you true friends are because they are the one that you would call to help you bury the body. Well, "the man who calls himself David Loogan" and his boss Tom Kristoll must be grand pals, because it is David who gets the call to help deal with the body laying in Tom's study. He does not buy Tom's story about it being the body of a burglar and that he doesn't want the publicity that would come from calling the police. But who is David to press too hard. After all he has his own secrets, including the affair he is having with his friend's wife Laura.

David had not really been looking for a job. He was new to the college down of Ann Arbor and came upon a magazine, full of mystery stories, called Gray Streets. On a whim, he wrote a story and submitted it to the magazine anonymously. But he was not satisfied, did some editing and again submitted it anonymously. The third time he tried to drop off yet another newly edited version at night at the magazine's office, the owner, Tom, caught him and offered him a job as an editor, something he seems to have a talent for. He took the job, although he really didn't want to and he became friends with Tom and Laura, again without really trying and drifted into an affair when Laura pursued him. Things just seem to happen to David sometimes, and some of them are going to end very badly.

First, Tom's ends up dead, fallen from his office window in what police is murder made to looks, not too successfully, like suicide. Happily, David was a alibi, even if it is the dead man's wife. But he will not be the last to die and David, for reason that are not at first quite clear, feels a need try and help solve the mystery..always a dangerous thing to do, especially if like David you may have some secrets of your own.

I recently read a review of this book, I know not where. Which is sad, because I would like to thank that person for pointing this book out to me.
It was a great fun read, with a complicated plot that is always taking some twists and turns and dropping all sorts of red herrings. Even with all the deaths..and the bodies do start to pile up, this is not really a violent book. The murders had a bit of an Agatha Christie quality to them, although things to get a little hairy toward the end and the danger becomes more real and personal.

There are two things that I simply loved about this book. Great characters and great dialogue. The dialogue is real and believable and perhaps best of all, very witty at times. David is a clever fellow and he thinks and speaks like a clever fellow which is great fun for the reader.
Yes, David is a great character, but he is by no mean the only one, including the very talented police detective investigating the murder, Elizabeth Waishkey. Honorable mention goes to her daughter Sarah, a great character and a budding juggler. I will say, there are a good number of characters in this book, which can sometime be confusing, and it speaks to the author's skill that they are all very clear and distinct and well fleshed out. The proof of that is that I could remember who they all were without having to flip back in the pages.

A fun romp of a mystery, good story, good writing and great characters, a number of which, including David, Elizabeth and Sarah, appear in Mr. Dolan's second book, now out, called Very Bad Men.
You may guess what I will be read soon!

Musing Monday...I Ain't Getting Any Younger Ya Know.

2011-11-14T07:44:00.002-05:00

What could this week's question from MizB at Should Be Reading possibly be?...

Are you currently collecting any authors? Why?
Do you have all of their books? If not, why not?
Did you buy all the books in the collection at the same time, or did you buy a book here, a book there? Have you actually read all of the collection? If not, why not?

Well, collect might be the wrong word.
It implies a certain degree organization and planning that my reading lacks.
And collecting implies that I keep them and there are very few authors whose books I would keep all of. So many book...so little space.

Do I read all the books all the books by a certain author? Well, I will often read a bunch, but as I think about it, I probably rarely read them all. If I like a certain author after I read one of their books, usually I will shortly read a couple more. With most authors, honestly, that is enough. I get tired of them or the books are too much alike and I move on to something else.
Sadly, many successful authors seems to find a formula that sells and they keep it up and keep it and drive it into the ground. Even in a series, I want some change. I want the characters to grow, to have events that change them...even for some to unexpectedly die. I do not want a very obvious formula.

And I can think of another thing that made me give up on an author in the past. I was once a huge Dean Koontz fan. I read dozens of his books and I must give him credit for avoiding the formula trap. No, his books were all very different. But...he...his publisher...whoever, started reissuing his older books with new titles. I would see a "new" book of his, buy it and realize a few pages in that I had read this years ago. Second time that happen, I am sorry I moved on from the crazy, creepy books of Mr. Koontz.

And of course there are the authors who once I liked but who seem to have lost it. Most famous in that group is Patricia Cornwell. I thought her early books were very good, very entertaining, very well written. Then 10+ years ago her writing seem to go off a cliff..awful.After two awful ones that was the end of PC for me.
Another issue is sheer volume. You discover an author, read one book, and when you look for more, find out there are 10-15-20 earlier books in a series. Sorry, that is just to many to think about. A smaller series I would tackle, because if at all possible I like to read a series in order, but there is a limit to how many I will take on. I'm not getting any younger ya know.

Are there any authors I have read in total? Yes, a few. Three come to mind right away, Tess Gerritsen, Tolkien and Karin Slaughter. My that is an interesting group. With Gerritsen, I think I read her first Rizzoli and Iles book, loved it, and then went back and read the books she wrote before that series while waiting for the second R&I to come out. I think if you are a Gerritsen fan you should go back and read those. No, as I have said before, I have not and will not be reading the romance books she first published. I have my limits. So my Gerritsen is not totally complete..but pretty Darn good.

Tolkien is another I think I have read all of. At least his fiction.I think he may have a bunch of scholarly books out there and no I have not read those. But his fiction I have read. Not just The Lord of The Rings and The Hobbit but all the 'little' stuff. Tree and Leaf, Farmer Giles of Ham, The Silmarillion, Smith of Wootton Major and a few others little short works he wrote. But then everything he wrote was short compared to LoTR.
I think I have completed Tolkien.

The most recent time I set out to read all an author has written was with Karin Slaughter. I think, years ago, I read one of her books, in the middle of one of her series. That was a mistake because I think she is an author best read in order. Major things happen to characters, people died, major events happened and you have to follow that flow. Then, on that evil Barnes and Noble Nook, they was offering her first book, which I had not read...or read so long ago I forgot it...really cheap. I got it for the Nook and read it. I loved it, so I had to get the second to see what happened..then the third..and the fourth and within two weeks I had read them all. Darn that "way too easy to buy a book on" Nook. I even searched out a novella she wrote, Martin Misunderstood, and a book of short story by other writers that she edited.

Just waiting for her...and Ms. Gerritsen...to write their next one. I will read them.
Who knows. Maybe some day I will tire of them too. But not soon I think.
I guess I am done with Tolkien since I don't think will be writing anything else.
Being dead and all.

Weekend Cooking...You Are Not My Old Friend!

2011-11-12T05:02:00.082-05:00

..and I'm not Lovin It!

In the past, I have written that some of the foods I sample were all for you, my dear readers. The Coconut Chocolates, the Lobster Rolls, the Clam Chowder...the Beer.
OK, I may have been exaggerating a wee bit.
But this time, I am telling the truth!
I did this totally in the spirit of science.
This was a true experiment.
I did it just for you, my dear readers.
And I will not do it again.

See, I was reading an article on The Salt, NPR's Food blog. It was called From Nebraska Lab to McDonald's Tray: The McRib's Strange Journey.
Now, I rarely eat fast food, and I had never had a McRib.
But first, the recent McRib commercial got my attention. You know the one, where the couple is getting on the plane to go on their honeymoon and he gets a text that the McRib is back. Her comment "I married a 14 year old" is the punch line. But what really got my attention was the actress...she is the same girl that does the commercial for the Toyota Vensa where she says "I read an article...well, part of an article...online.." So True. Then she also does the commercial where she is shopping for jeans online and her mom says there is no needs. She, the mom, has lots of old jeans in her old jean box she can have, nice and roomy!..funny.

So my point is, that is the only reason I heard the McRib commercial and knew it "was BACK!" And it is the reason I read about the "technology" that lead to the McRib's creation.

"The pork producers wanted to see more pork on the menu, and they were targeting McDonald's," Mandigo said.
Mandigo went to work in the lab and came up with a new take on an old-fashioned technology: sausage-making. Instead of just stuffing pork meat inside a casing, Mandigo used salt to extract proteins from the muscle. Those proteins become an emulsifier "to hold all the little pieces of meat together," he says.

...Mandigo's invention of what's called "restructured meats" was important enough to earn him induction into the Meat Industry Hall of Fame.

Restructured meat indeed. Like a flat, casing-less sausage made of "pork trimmings". Care to think about what those trimmings might be? Well, they include things like...

"tripe, heart and scalded stomach, which is then mixed with salt and water to extract proteins from the muscle. The proteins bind all the pork trimmings together so that it can be re-molded into any specific shape — in this case, a fake slab of ribs."

Then there is the story, which is true, that the McRib has 70 ingredients. OK, that is a bit misleading because most of them, 34, are in the "bun".

"The ingredients include such things as azodicarbonamide, ammonium sulfate and polysorbate. Azodicarbonamide is found in the McRib bun and is also used in the process to make foam plastic; much like what gym mats are made of. The use of this component is banned in other countries outside of America because of a belief that exposure to the substance may cause asthma. The U.S. limits the amount of it in flour products based on their findings in lab testings."

OK, I read that after I actually ate one.
I made the stop at Mickey D's just for this test.

What did I think of it?
It doesn't look that bad, does it.
Well, the onion was nice...and the pickles were OK. It was downhill from there. The bun..totally unmemorable. You have to wonder what all those ingredients are possibly for. The BBQ sauce would not have been bad if there was not so much of it, but then I may have been able to see the meat byproduct patty.And that might not have been a good thing.
The patty, had no real taste or texture and is as far from real pork as Ronald McDonald is from a creepy clown. Oh no...wait..they are actually the same thing! But this is so unlike pork that it could have been anything.
I have had a pork sandwich and this is not it.

I am not a vegan, not even a vegetarian. I do eat meat.
OK, I like meat. But even I have my limits.
And I have met them.
This is not meat..and I am not sure it was a bun.
Will I be having a McRib in the future?
No.
Not even for you, my dear readers.

Reviews of "Promissory Payback"[73] and "Unrevealed" [74]

2011-11-11T08:09:00.009-05:00

Promissory Payback by Laurel Dewey
The Story Plant, ISBN 978-1611880076
August 2, 2011, 80 pages

Someone hated Carolyn Handel.
They hated her a great deal and it is not at all hard to see why.

When she is found dead, murdered in her bedroom in a particularly violent and degrading way, that is clear. And once Detective Jane Perry begins to investigate the woman, it also become clear that Handel was a woman worthy of being hated. She took advantage of desperate people, scamming them out of their last cent. But someone has made her pay the ultimate price.
The problem may be that the list of suspects is just too long.
You know what they say...Karma can be a bitch.

Unrevealed: Four Jane Perry Stories by Laurel Dewey
The Story Plant, ISBN 978-1611880236
October 4, 2011, 96 pages

From the publisher's website...

ANONYMOUS: One of Jane's first AA meetings leads her to an encounter with a woman in need of her detection skills...and a secret she never expected to uncover.

YOU CAN'T JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER: Forced by her boss to speak at a high school career day, Jane meets a troubled boy and finds that his story is only the beginning of a much more revealing tale.

YOU'RE ONLY AS SICK AS YOUR SECRETS: An early-morning homicide call introduces Jane to a mystery as layered as it is unsuspected.

THINGS AREN'T ALWAYS WHAT THEY SEEM: Jane finds herself sharing a 2:00 am conversation at a downtown bar with an old acquaintance. Will the bloody night that proceeded this moment complicate Jane's intentions?

I always love to find another great character and these two short books, the novella Promissory Payback and the four short stories in Unrevealed, are a great introduction to yet another one, police Detective Jane Perry. Fans of Dewey's full length novels starring Perry will no doubt love these, but for the rest of us who are not familiar with her, these are a great introduction. No doubt, I will have to check out one of Dewey's novels in the near future. Perry is very smart, very believable and very human. With her cowboy boots, endless cigarettes in hand and drinking problem..well, she is a good character and a good detective! And if these are an indication of what the author can create in so few pages, I really have to see what she can do with a bit more space.

The first, Promissory Payback, is a good story. The plot is quite good and the secondary characters, including all those suspects, were very good. That the author was able to get so much in such a short book was surprising and enjoyable.

But I must admit, of the two, my favorite was Unrevealed, with it's four excellent short stories.
I may have mentioned it before, but I am a big fan of short stories. The skill to create a complete, satisfying story, with good characters and a great plot, especially in the mystery genre, in a short number of pages is a skill I really admire. Perry pulls it off four times in this book.

Each story is very different and very good. I have read 400 pages books where the characters were not as memorable and novels whose conclusions did not leave me nearly as surprised. It would be hard to pick a favorite of the four, but I must say the last one, Things Aren't Always What They Seem, is one of those that had me saying "Wow" as I read the last page.
And I love when that happens.

Both are great reads when you want something short and quick, yet still well written and totally enjoyable.

My thanks to the Partner in Crime blog tours for providing me with copies of these books to review.
If you would like to check out some more stops of the tour, you can check out the links HERE.

And if you are interested in finding out more about the author Laurel Dewey and her three other Jane Perry novels, PROTECTOR, REDEMPTION, and REVELATIONS, and the another Jane Perry novelette, AN UNFINISHED DEATH , head over to her website.

A Review of "The Stranger You Seek" [72]

2011-11-10T03:20:00.005-05:00

The Stranger You Seek:A Novel by Amanda Kyle Williams
Bantam, ISBN 978-0553808070
August 30, 2011, 304 pages

Keye Street, the heroine of this book, will grab you from the very first page.

Sure, she is a kick-ass, take no hostages bail recovery agent, seeking out and bringing in those often very nasty and very desperate accused who want very much not to be found. But there is a lot more to her. She is Chinese-American, adopted by a very white bread couple (along with her gay African-American brother) after her Chinese grandparents were killed and she is an Atlanta native, born and bred, right down to the RC cola and MoonPies. She is also a damaged hero, the best kind, who lost her job as an FBI profiler and her marriage due to her alcoholism. Now four years later, she is sober..and at times hanging on by the skin of her teeth to her sobriety...she is making her living with this bail recovery job and private detective work, but she has not lost her profiling skills. When a serial killer appears in the oppressive summer heat of Atlanta and the fear is mounting, including some taunting letters to the police department, her old friend Lieutenant Aaron Rauser is not above asking for her help.

The papers have called me a monster. You’ve either concluded that I am a braggart as well as a sadist or that I have a deep and driving need to be caught and punished. And you must certainly be wondering if I am, in fact, the stranger you seek. Shall I convince you?

The killer, nicknamed the Wishbone Killer is going to be very hard to track down. He is killing men and women, people of all different races and economic backgrounds. But Keye is up to the challenge, especially when she is personally drawn into the killings, especially assisted as she is by an interesting group of friends that I hope we will see more of and learn more about in the next two promised book in this series, due out in 2012 and 2013.
And I found it amusing that the subject of blogging plays an important role in the story..who knew.

I thought the plot was very good and very believable as thrillers go. But the key to this book is...if you will forgive me...Keye. She is brave and fearless..sometimes so fearless as to be self destructive, and you know we love that in a good hero. She is flawed and believable, yet she is also smart..well, at least about most things. And she is often very funny, something I love in a psychological thriller. Even I can only take so much death and mayhem without a few lighter moments. I can not say I totally bought into a romance that developed..it seemed a bit off, but we will see how that goes in the next book. Because I can assure you I will be reading it. In several ways this book reminds me of the books of Karin Slaughter, and in my mind that is a great compliment.

My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing a copy of this book for review.

Wordless Wednesday...The Other Side of Maine

2011-11-08T16:00:00.003-05:00

As much as I love the ocean,

there are other things in Maine.

Like...

Beautiful fields..

...and mountains...

...and lakes.

..farms with barns...

..and more lakes!

...as always, for more Wordless Wednesday, check these out.

A review of "The Accident" [71]

2011-11-08T04:35:00.002-05:00

The Accident by Linwood Barclay
Bantam, ISBN 978-0553807189
August 9, 2011, 400 pages.

Glen Garber's life is starting to fall apart around him.
His contracting business is barely making it in this economy. And a fire at a house he was building may be found to be his fault and therefore not covered by his insurance. But he and his wife have been through difficult times before and dealt with them together. So she is going back to school, taking night classes in business and accounting, so she will be able to help out. And she also tells him she has a lead on another way she may be able to bring in some extra money.

But Glen had no idea how truly terrible things were very shortly going to become. When his wife is very late coming home from her night class, he pack their eight year old daughter into the car and sets out to look for her, hoping her will find her broken down on the side of the road with a dead cell phone. Instead he finds a terrible accident on a highway exit. A car was stopped going the wrong way on the exit, a car coming off hit it, killing the driver of the stopped car and two in the other car. And the driver of the stopped car was his wife, who police say was drunk, and passed out. And is now dead.

His daughter becomes the butt of jokes at school because of her drunk mother...the wife of the man and his son killed sue his for 15 million, saying he should have know his wife was a drunk and stopped her.
But that is the thing. She was not a big drinker and would never, ever has driven drunk. How could this terrible thing have happened then? How could he have been wrong about his wife?
And his life continues to unravel. A friend of his wife dies in another accident, one that is not looking like too much like an accident according to police. A mysterious, evil man is demanding the money he is owed, money Glen knows nothing about, someone takes a shot at his daughter's bedroom window. He starts to wonder if he can even trust his oldest friend, a man in the middle of some deep trouble himself and in desperate need of money.
Gosh, he thought things were bad before!

There is mush to like about this book. It is well written, even if I found the switch between first and third person a bit distracting. And the story is complex with a lot of twists and turns. I though I had the villain picked out..and I sort of did until one last twist at the end that had me saying "Wow..I did not see that coming."

But..and this is almost a deal breaker for me...while Glen is a fairly good character, he comes so very, very close to breaking my number one rule- of acting stupid. OK, your wife gets killed in a way that is totally opposed to the way she lived. Maybe. But then her friend, someone she had a bit of an involvement in a business with, a business that may have some mob ties, get killed too..and you don't consider something is off and that they may be connected until things go on and on for quite awhile. Let's just say he was way too slow on the uptake to make me happy. This guy is just way too nice and trusting for his own good. Or for the good of a good thriller.
I can forgive a lot, but not stupid.

I have read a couple of Mr. Barcley's book before and enjoyed them, but I can not say this is one of my favorites.

My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book to review.

Musing Monday..Let me Just Look That Up!

2011-11-07T06:52:00.000-05:00

If it's Monday, it's Musing.. from MizB at Should Be Reading ...

This week’s musing asks…

Other than for school, do you read books to learn how to do something? What was/were the topic(s)?

The question might be what have I not learned from books!

Of course, you must remember that there was a time when there was no internet. In fact, there was not even cable TV! Yes, shocking, but true!
So back in the dark, distant past, what were your options to learn how to do something? Well, you could have asked someone who already knew or you could try to figure it out from a book. Being as I am a shy, introverted person, you might guess which I picked.
Oh yes, my friends, the books.

My first big example of that was many decades ago. My mother owned a building. Thing temement, not Donald Trump. Our business was on the first floor and there were 3 apartments above, one of which we lived in. The other two were occupied by two older, bachelor men who had lived there from before we bought the building. Well, when one moved out, let’s just say it was going to need a bit of work before we could get a new tenant. It became my summer project while I was off from school.
I replaced the kitchen floor, painted the whole place and most dramatically, replaced the whole bathroom. I took it to the studs, sheet rocked it, put in a new subfloor, tiled the walls and floor, put in new fixtures…and I did the whole job by following a book. I had never done any of those things before. I remember the book...it was big and yellow with a shiny, hard cover and it was called The Reader’s Digest Complete Book of Home Repairs. Or something very close to that…

I would read the relevant chapter and then set about doing it. Read it carefully, think it out, make a plan…and it worked out pretty darn well. You could go look at it but the building later burned down. Years and years later and nothing to do with my renovations.

And I still have that book around here somewhere.

And if I do say so, that bathroom came out very nice.

I have always thought if you have a good book and read and follow it carefully, you can learn to do just about anything. I remember I learned to crochet from a book, make Pysanky, Ukrainian Easter eggs and plant a Square Foot garden, all from a book. Oh the list is endless, all from books. I have had any number of interests and hobbies in my life…I am a bit fickle that way…and I learned most if not all of them from books.
And I am pretty sure that after reading Moby Dick I could harpoon a whale.
OK, maybe not.

In my experience, I had a lot better experience learning to do things from books rather from that new thing, the World Wide Web. Maybe there is just too much competing information on the internet, too many ideas. I need one, definite way to follow when I have no idea what I am doing.

Sammy Sunday!!

2011-11-06T05:45:00.000-05:00

I am told Sammy had tied his hair up to do a little house work.

Obviously he had worked very hard and was taking a little nap.

He does not look to happy at being disturbed.

Weekend Cooking..Beer!

2011-11-05T09:31:00.009-04:00

Hey, did you know I went to Maine recently?
I may have mentioned it, maybe posted a couple of pictures. ;-)

Well yes, I did go to Maine and when I was planning my trip..about 3 days before I left...I decided that I would stay a couple of days in Portland, because while I had passed through the city several times and had lunch there and checked out Commercial Street that runs right along the harbor, I never spent much time there. So, knowing I would be there a couple of days, I went on one of my favorite travel websites, TripAdvisor, to check out the sites I should be checking out.
You know what was voted the #1 site?
A brewery.

Allagash Brewery.

"Allagash brews a unique variety of traditional and experimental Belgian-style beers made with a dedication to craftsmanship and quality. All of the bottled beers at Allagash are bottle conditioned. This means that just prior to bottling; a fresh dose of yeast is added, along with a measured amount of candi sugar. After bottling, the beers are moved into a temperature controlled cellar, where the yeast will actually begin a new fermentation in the bottle. This new fermentation naturally carbonates the beer, and greatly enhances the traditional Belgian character. It is a long, expensive and traditional process... but we think it is worth it."

Now I have been to several breweries and distilleries in my travels and I always enjoy them. It is an ancient process, beer making, with a history that does back thousand of years, as far as the early Neolithic age or 9500 BC. Also, beer is the third most popular beverage in the world, after water and tea, two others I am very fond of.
So off I set for Allagash, just a short drive from downtown Portland in an industrial park. It was a nice tour of a nice facility, small enough to easily see and understand the whole process and yet big enough to be really interesting, with lots of workers (actually about 40, all of whom you can meet on their their website ) and lots of activity and lots of stainless steel.
And did I mention they had free tastings!

Allagash, which started as a small one man operation in 1995, brews beer in the Belgian style,

"The first release from Allagash was Allagash White, modeled after the traditional "White" beers of Belgium. Also referred to as "wit" beers, they get their unique flavor from the use of wheat in place of barley, and the use of Curacao orange peel, coriander and other spices. Allagash combined these ingredients with their very own proprietary Belgian yeast strain to create the remarkably unique and refreshing beer that is today their flagship brand."

And after tasting a number of their beers...no where near the 40 or so they now make...I must say that the original 'White' is my favorite. Not too heavy, crisp, yet very flavorful, although I would be hard pressed to pick out the orange and coriander..which is fine.

While it is still their best seller it is not, in my opinion, their most interesting beer and that is sort of the point of this post. No, the distinction of the most interesting beers in my book goes to their barrel aged beers. Barrel aging is something I can not say I have ever seen done with beer before. They use that barrels that were previously used to age bourbon and for another beer they use new oak barrels. The first one they did this with was their Curieux, which was one of the beers we were given to taste. When you see their storeroom, not only does it look like they are aging wine, but they even talk about it like it was wine and in it's corked bottles it even looks a bit 'wineish'.

"Allagash Curieux was the first foray into barrel aging. Curieux is made by aging our Tripel Ale in Jim Beam bourbon barrels for eight weeks in our cold cellars. The aged beer is then blended back with a portion of fresh Tripel. The resulting beer is soft with coconut and vanilla notes, with hints of bourbon."

While I think Curieux is their biggest barrel aged beer, they have a number of others, including some 'experimental' ones that they are aging for much longer periods of time. Now I would be curious whose job it is to finally open one of those and taste them. That might be a fun job.

Sadly, while we can't do that, we can all stop in at Allagash if we find ourselves in the Portland, Maine area. Tours are free and their schedule and directions are on their website.
Did I mention the tasting was free too?
Yes, I think I may have.

A Review of "Lost Memory of Skin" [70]

2011-11-04T14:21:00.004-04:00

Lost Memory of Skin by Russell Bank
Knopf Canada, ISBN 978-0307401731
October 4, 2011, 432 pages

This story has two main characters. And it is hard to decide which is more unlikeable.

First, we have the Kid. While emotionally and psychologically he may be retarded in his development and seems in some ways like a child, in actuality he is a young man in his early 20's. He is also addicted to Internet porn and is a convicted, registered sex offender. He has spent hours a day, since the time he actually was a child, on the computer, seemingly with his single mother's knowledge, totally immersed in that sick, nasty world of internet porn. After getting thrown out of basic training in the military, the Kid actually tied to act on his desires and meet up with an underage 14 year old girl to have sex, ended up arrested and in jail.

When we meet him he is out of jail, a registered offender and required to wear a GPS ankle bracelet for 10 years. As a registered sex offender in his south Florida county, he can not live within 2500 feet of a school or playground or anyplace children may be, which leaves three places to live...the airport, a swamp or under an overpass of the highway into town. He has chosen the last, and live there with his only friend, a giant iguana, in a tent city of sort made up of sex offenders who, even with their amusing nicknames, are an even creepier bunch than the Kid.

It is there that we meet the second character, a man the Kid calls the Professor. The Professor is a brilliant man...he tells us this again and again...and a professor of sociology at the local college...who has decided to do a study of these offenders and the Kid in particular. He believes that he can cure them, ultimately by forming them into some sort of self regulating community.
But the Professor has some issues of his own. He is physically huge, very tall and grossly obese. And in this instance, the word gross seems to fit to perfection, because his relationship with food is truly disturbing and his relationships with people, including his wife, very unusual. Talk about the blind leading the blind.
And then, as we find out in the last part of the book, he claims that from the time he was in college until he got married and became a teacher, he was a spy, a double or triple agent for various government groups and now it seems that he has been found and is considered a danger by some people who may kill him and make it look like a suicide.
Of course, as even the Kid realizes, the Professor may be making the whole thing up.

"Despite what he says, the Kid is a little scared of the Professor. Especially now. The more the fat man reveals what he claims to be the truth about himself the less the Kid knows who or what the fat man is. Other than weird. If he is telling the truth he's the weirdest dude the Kid has even known and if he's lying he still the weirdest dude the kid has ever known."

Amen to that!

So, what are we to make of all of this.
Well, first of all, it is hard to like a book where none of the characters are likable or someone you can identify with. OK, you can almost feel sorry for the friendless Kid...unless you have a 14 daughter maybe. And yes, he is not as totally creepy as some of the others, like the Shyster, an ex-politician with a thing for little, little girls. But this all is told in such a direct, matter of fact way that it keeps it from being quite as horrible as it really is when we thing about it more. It's a book about people, as the author himself says mostly young men, who are totally alienated from real people, addicted to sex on the Internet where the line between reality and fantasy is so blurred as to be gone. And it is a book that questions how we as a society, what the author feels is a broken, fragile society, will deal with these people. The answer seems to be that we can't. We have no way to cure them, to really even treat them effectively and so we just try to keep ourselves safe from them as best we can.
Not a very hopeful answer.

I am not not sure that I can say I 'liked' this book. When you read a review like that of Janet Maslin in the NY Times, which calls it a "major new work...destined to be a canonical novel of our time." you think that you should. And it is certainly a book that I will remember and have spent way too much time thinking about, all to little end. Whether I recommend that you read it is one thing that I thought about and that I never did decide.

My thanks to the publisher for providing me with a review copy of this book.

A Review of "Defensive Wounds" [69]

2011-11-03T04:17:00.003-04:00

Defensive Wounds: A Novel of Suspense by Lisa Black
William Morrow, ISBN 978-0061989414
September 27, 2011, 352 pages

Marie Corrigan was found dead...naked, hog tied and her head beaten in with a chair. And virtually no one, including many of the police officers at the scene, were very upset. If ever a woman was meant to be killed, it was Marie Corrigan.

A high powered and very successful Cleveland defense attorney, Corrigan was not above playing fast and lose with the facts and the evidence to win her often very guilty clients an acquittal and in the process had made many enemies. So when she is found murdered in the Presidential Suite of the Ritz Carlton hotel during a convention of defense lawyers, the list of suspects is very long. It was an unrented room and no one can figure how she, or the murderer, got into the room and clues are very lacking. But it is up to forensic investigator Theresa MacLean to start going through the evidence and assist police in finding her killer..even though Theresa had her own run ins with Corrigan and is not exactly mourning her passing. Murder is murder and this is a particularly brutal one.

But then a second lawyer, this one from Atlanta, is found dead in his room, again naked, tied and head bashed in. Then a third, murdered the same way, and police have to wonder if they have some sort of lawyer slaying serial killer on their hands.
And a hotel full of both suspects and potential victims.

Meanwhile, Theresa has a few personal matters to deal with too, including her growing attraction to a cop she is working with. She also some very serious concerns about a young man her daughter is seeing. By coincidence, both the daughter and her new beau work at the Ritz Carlton, in the thick of the goings on. But that also leads to Theresa finding out the boy has a sealed juvenile file, having been acquitted a few years ago of rape and murder. And quess who his lawyer was!
Be sure, Theresa will stop at nothing to protect her daughter.

This is not a terribly complex mystery, as all three of the murders are very similar. The real fun is in all the suspects and there are no lack of those. If I had one complaint, it is that this book is a lot less about what happens than what is said. There are a lot of conversations and almost all our clues...and there are many...will be found there. As I mentioned, Theresa is a forensic investigator and I am a great fan of all things CSI, so watching her work the scenes, looking for evidence, was very interesting. But sadly, what she found never seemed to be of much help in these cases. Maybe realistic, but not that much fun for the reader. I also caught what I though were a few mistakes in the book..a character that was suppose to be one place but then appeared to be in another. I do not like having to go back and check if I or the author made a little mistake.

The murderer was not a huge surprise, but there were a couple of twists I did not see coming, which is always good. It is a pretty well written, quick, fun read that will hold your attention. Theresa is a good character, her relationship with her daughter and her cousin Frank, a Cleveland cop, interesting. This is the fourth book in the series, but have no fear, this one can stand totally on it's own and no need to have read the previous three to enjoy this one.

My thanks to the publisher and Library Thing's Early Reviewer program for providing a copy of this book for review.

Wordless Wednesday....Campobello Island, Canada

2011-11-02T16:00:00.000-04:00

Just a short drive across the bridge from Lubec, Maine...

The Roosevelt Summer "Cottage"

East Quoddy Lighthouse

...as always, for more Wordless Wednesday, check these out.

Musing Monday...Another Trip Down Memory Lane

2011-10-31T09:23:00.001-04:00

Hey! Happy Halloween!!

Let's head over and check out this week's question from MizB at Should Be Reading...

This week’s musing asks…

Would you say that you read about the same amount now as when you were younger? More? Less? Why?

You know, I though about this one and my surprising answer is..I am not sure. lol

At first I thought "Well, I was certainly a reader then, but I read more now!"
But the more I thought about it, the less sure I became.

I was a reader as a kid.
I have written more than once about traipsing off to out local branch of the Newark Public Library with my mom, when I was too young to have my own card. The key is how excited I was, up on the second floor in the kids section. So in grammar school, I was an enthusiastic reader.

And I know I read a lot while I was in high school.
First of all, we had a fair bit of reading, mostly classics, that was required. But besides that, I was reading a lot on my own. I remember reading Tolkien..and not just Lord of The Rings, but EVERYTHING Tolkien wrote..the complete Sherlock Holmes...all the Nero Wolfe books. Amazingly (not), I was reading a lot of mysteries. It was then it seems that my desire to read everything written by an author I liked first came to fruition.
Between what was required reading during the school year, which was a lot, and our summer reading list, which was pretty long, and what I was reading on my own, I was reading quite a bit.

And I still am.
You might not always know it by the number of books I review.
Maybe because I have dozens and dozens of unreviewed books this year.
But I would say, on average, I read 2-3 book a weeks. There are people who read more...and certain, especially if you read those surveys..a lot who read a lot less. Or none.

So bottom line, I think I have been a fairly consistent reader during my life.
I don't remember a time when I did not get great pleasure from reading and golly, golly, I hope I never do!!

Weekend Cooking...A Review of "The Cook's Illustrated Cookbook" [68]

2011-10-29T04:33:00.002-04:00

The Cook's Illustrated Cookbook: 2,000 Recipes from 20 Years of America's Most Trusted Cooking Magazine by the Editors of Cook's Illustrated Magazine
Cook's Illustrated, ISBN 978-1933615899
October 1, 2011, 928 pages

If I could have only one cookbook for the rest of my life, I really think this might have to be The One!

Now, if you are a regular reader here, you may already know that I am a fan both of Cook's Illustrated Magazine and their TV show, America's Test Kitchen. So, when I saw the ads for this book, I had to add it to my wish list. When it was on the newsletter for Amazon Vine this month, I was tripping over myself trying to put my request in while they still had copies.
And very happily, I got one.

Yes, 2000 recipes from 20 years of the magazine. This is a pretty big book. A pretty big, lovely book, weighing in at over 4 lbs. Yes, I weighed it.
An 80 page index, 154 Test Kitchen Tips, hundreds of ATK classic black and white drawings, a table of Contents that lists every recipe in each chapter, including the page number and 23 chapters covering everything from Curries to Quick Breads. As usual in the magazine, there are a lot of what might be considered classic American recipes, with an eye to making them a little healthier than your Grandmother might have made them. But there is also a nice mix of ethnic dishes, Italian, Greek, Chinese, Indian, Mexican, Thai...a variety that many now consider everyday fare.
And what I love about these recipes it that they will be as helpful in guiding a novice cook as it will teach something new to even the most serious foodie. There is no one who cooks that could not learn a good deal from this book.

Every recipe, all 2000 of them, begins with one of my favorite ATK things, the "Why This Recipe Works" explanation. Yes, they are certainly shortly than the most extensive explanations in the magazine but still very useful. And so interesting to a Food Geek. And I love how the book, like the magazine, takes one basic recipe and then shoots off from there, with variations that will keep even the most adventurous cook happy.

Now, there is one issue that some might consider a problem.
There are NO photographs.
No lovely pics that often bears little resemblance to my finished product. I did not find that an issue since there are many drawing that, honestly, I find more helpful. And if you like food or like to cook, I assure you there will be more than enough to hold your attention once you start looking through these pages.

Another thing that fans must remember is that these are not new recipes. Certainly most, if not all have been published before in the magazine or other ATK books. So if you own all the other cookbooks or have saved every magazine from the first issue, there is going to be duplication. But I don't, and I love being able to just go to this book rather than try to search out a favorite recipe from my saved copies of the magazine. And as Mr. Kimball, founder of Cook's Illustrated, says in the introduction, this book also contains the most recent, most favorite recipe of many ones that have been improved over the years. Only the Best!

If you are looking for a cookbook to give a novice, you can't go wrong with this one.
If you have been cooking for decades but are still open to always learning something a little new, you can't go wrong either. Want to find a new pasta dish, a new way to cook those pork chops or how to make a perfect roast chicken, this is a book you will want. If you are looking for one great go-to cookbook, I would suggest you take a look at this one.
At about $26 on Amazon ($28 if ordered directly from Cook's Illustrated, $40 list) this would be money well spent. Christmas is coming you know.
And I have to say I would be intrigued to have a look at the e-book version of this one. There is a Kindle version, but sadly, not one for my Nook Color yet.

A Review of "Love You More" [67]

2011-10-27T19:25:00.002-04:00

Love You More: A Novel By Lisa Gardner
Bantam, ISBN 978-0553807257
March 8, 2011, 368 pages

In this, the fifth Lisa Gardner novel featuring Boston PD Sgt. Det. D.D. Warren, she is happy that at first the shooting she is called to seems pretty cut and dry. An off duty female Mass. state trooper, Tessa Leoni, is found in her kitchen, beaten and bloody, the apparent victim of spousal abuse. A few feet away lays her husband of three years, dead, shot three time in the chest with her duty gun, in what she claims was self defense.

D.D. could use an easy case. True, with the involvement of a state trooper, and one of the few female ones at that, it is a bit of a delicate political situation. Especially since the case will be investigated by the Boston P.D and D.D realizes there is more than one thin Blue Line. But with her friend and former partner, Det. Bobby Dodge, acting as the state police liaison, she hopes it will be quickly wrapped up. But very shortly the story starts to fall apart. By far the biggest question is where is Tessa Leoni six year old daughter? They put out an Amber Alert, question friends and neighbors but nothing can be found of the girl. And her mother is not doing much talking. They do, however, find a shovel in the garage covered with dirt and leaves and dogs find the scent of a dead body in the husband's car. With a missing child, that is not a good thing.

Soon, everything you thought you knew at first is in question. As the investigation gets under way, the facts become more and more ambiguous. Is Tessa an innocent victim or a horrible, plotting killer?

And will D.D. ever get home to tell her boyfriend that she, the most unmaternal of all women, is pregnant.

I have read several of the books in this series before but, I must say, while I enjoyed them, this one is excellent! D.D is a good character, very smart, a great cop. And her little personal 'problem' is interesting. I must say it will be fun in the next book to she how she deals with motherhood because she is not off to a great start.

But the real star of this book is Tessa Leoni, who we get to find out more and more about, gradually, in a series of chapters written in the first person. I often don't like books that switch back and forth from first to third person, but here it works perfectly. Just when you start to think you know what happened, where the plot is going, another layer is peeled back. Is she good, is she bad...don't decide either way too soon. In every chapter we find out something more about the characters involved and we are looking at the facts from a whole different angle..and still not at all sure where this is all heading.

Yep, I enjoyed this one.
It is a very entertaining book that I was sorry to see end. It is a true page turner, well written and tightly edited with enough twists and turns..and a few carefully dropped clues...to keep the reader engrossed until the very last page. There are a lot of facts put out there, a lot of seemingly loose threads, but Ms. Gardner keeps them all well in hand and ties it all up very nicely and neatly by the end.
If you are a fan of Gardner, you will love this one. If you have not read any of her books before, this one can certainly stand alone and would be a great one to start with.
I think you will be hooked!

Wordless Wednesday...Color Me Maine

2011-10-26T04:00:00.000-04:00

Maine Lighthouse Museum

'Manship Toasting the Angels' by Barry Faulkner, Farnsworth Museum

...as always, for more Wordless Wednesday, check these out.

Musing Monday...I Heard It Through The Grapevine..I Mean The iPod!

2011-10-24T09:48:00.000-04:00

Gee, what could this week's question from MizB at Should Be Reading possibly be?...

Do you listen to audiobooks?

Why, or why not?

A nice direct question, that as usual, I have an indirect answer to.

My answer is sometimes.
I have a bit of love/hate relationship with audiobooks.
I want to love them, but so often do not.

Why? Well, I think there are several issues for me. First of all there is the actual physical use of them. I assume if you download a file online, from Audible or some such place, it is easy. I actually did that one, from my library, but I totally forget if there were any problems. I think not.
But almost every audio I has listened to was from CDs. So I can either listen to them on the CD player in my car or download them to my iPod. Now, either I am doing something wrong in the way I download them to iTunes or other people are more patient than I am. It is a pain. And the other option, playing them in the car, highlights my major problem with audiobooks. In my everyday life, most of my car rides are just too short. It takes me 10-15 minutes to drive to work or go to the supermarket or most of my errands and that is just too short to get into a book.

Now yes, a LONG drive is much more successful. A few weeks ago I drove to Maine, which is about 7-8 hour drive from here. Perfect. But I might do that once or twice a year which would not get many audiobooks 'read', would it.

I also noticed something else. I think I am best with audio books without a huge number of characters or too complicated a story. The book I listened to on my recent trip was one in Louise Penny's series and I must say the narrator pronounced those French names way differently that I had in my head. I assume he had them right, but it was rather disorienting! In a real book, I can page back and reread something or check a point, something I personally can not do on an audio. I have realized I have a visual memory not an auditory one when I was in high school Spanish class and nothing has changed. I see something and I remember it. I hear something and it is usually in one ear and out the other. So with an audio book, we need to keep it a bit simple. Hey, just like me!

Ok, so say I found my perfect audiobook, not too complicated, not too many characters to remember. Why can't I listen to it other than in the car?
Well, one of two things happen. My mind wanders or I fall asleep.
If I am doing a task, I start to think about what I am doing, Something that is sometimes required, and find I have missed a hunk of the book. Rewind...
If I am sitting still, I fall asleep and I wake up to find a chapter has ended. Rewind...

I have always thought an audio book would be perfect while exercising. Walking...on that step thing at the gym...the time would fly as I burned the calories and worked toward fitness.
Sounds like a good idea, right?
Maybe I should put on the sneakers and give that a try.
Soon.