chaotic compendiums

Book Review - The Bellwether Revivals by Benjamin Wood

2012-05-30T05:00:00.000-07:00

Canadian Cover
I like it better than the American version

Synopsis: The Bellwether Revivals opens and closes with bodies. The story of whose bodies and how they come to be spread about an elegant house on the river near Cambridge is told by Oscar, a young, bright working class man who has fallen in love with an upper-class Cambridge student, Iris, and thereby become entangled with a group of close friends, led by Iris's charismatic, brilliant, possibly dangerous brother. For Eden Bellwether believes he can heal -- and perhaps more -- through the power of music.

In this masterful debut, we too are seduced by this gilded group of young people, entranced by Eden's powerful personality and his obvious talent as a musician, and caught off guard by the strangeness of Iris and Eden's parents. And we find ourselves utterly unsure as to whether Eden Bellweather is a saviour or a villain, and whether Oscar will be able to solve this mystery in time to save himself, if not everyone else.

First Line: They heard the caterwaul of sirens, and saw the dust rising underneath the ambulance wheels at the far end of the driveway, and soon the darkening garden was a wash of flashing blue lights.

Random Quote: "How's that for an epitaph, huh?" The top line of the inscription read: DAVID PALMER, 1825-1862. CHERISHED FATHER, BROTHER, UNCLE. FOREVER IN PEACE. The bottom line read: MARY PALMER, WIFE OF THE ABOVE. "Boy, what a kick in the guts. Her entire life reduced to four little words."

Review: I've had the great pleasure of reading some wonderful debut novels this year. I got two of them around the same time and they came out within a month of each other. One was The Starboard Sea by Amber Dermont, the other was The Bellwether Revivals by Benjamin Wood. Both are school stories, although the school setting is different. In Dermont's book it's American prep school in the 1980's - in Wood's it is Cambridge and its environs. Both are about a young man's journey through the worlds of privilege and elite and the way their encounters change who they are and, ultimately, help them grow up.

I was immediately attracted to The Bellwether Revivals because it was described as similar to The Secret History by Donna Tartt and Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh. Since those are both favorites of mine, reading this was a no-brainer, although my expectations weren't terribly high. Most books compared to these two don't stand a snowball's chance in hell - it's sort of unfair to put those labels on a book.

Organ by by Henry Willis. 1860s. King's College Chapel, University of London designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott.
Interior attributed to Clayton & Bell. 1864. Photograph and text by Jacqueline Banerjee 2007

I loved The Bellwether Revivals. It does, indeed, contain elements that make it similar to either book, but its voice is its own and it's a wonderful voice. Where The Secret History is all religious ecstasy disguised under a great deal of chilliness, The Bellwether Revivals is more about belief in and about others. Eden Bellwether, like Henry Winter before him, is a narcissist. His world is Edencentric - even in the healing games he plays it's really all about his own glory. I know some people found him ambiguous, found the suspense in the novel to be whether or not Eden could heal, but for me it was about what would happen when he was inevitably exposed for who he was. How far off the rails could things go?

Cambridge, King's College
(image source)

Juxtaposing the Bellwethers is Oscar, a working class man who is taken up by and falls in love with Iris, Eden's sister. The tension in the novel between the worlds the characters inhabit, particularly given the strangeness of Oscar's Cambridge friends, holds the story together. Oscar's sheer likeability and strong sense of self carry the tale along through all its improbabilities.

This is the kind of book that makes it difficult to find something to read after it. It's difficult to measure up. Did I mention that I loved this book? Another favorite for this year and a wonderful debut of an author I look forward to reading in the future. Highly recommended.

FTC Disclosure: Advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley

Publishing Information: McLelland and Stewart - March 20, 2012 (Canadian edition, American edition available June 28, 2012)

Format: Kindle

Rating: ★★★★★★

Reading Challenges: Mystery and Suspense Challenge

Teaser Tuesdays

2012-05-29T05:00:00.000-07:00

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme hosted by Miz B of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

Grab your current read
Open to a random page
Share two (2) random teaser sentences from somewhere on that page
BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS (make sure that what you share doesn't give too much away! You don't want to ruin the book for others!)
Share the title and author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

... lately her silent compliance was wearing a little thin. She felt it happening. Like the fabric of a shirt that had been worn and washed too many times.

- "The Little Green God of Agony" by Stephen King - The Best Horror of the Year (Vol. 4), edited by Ellen Datlow

Honoring Our Fallen - Memorial Day

2012-05-28T05:00:00.000-07:00

Memorial Day Tricycle Parade - 1951 - Pine Plains, NY
(image source)

Let's Talk about One Scary Martini

2012-05-27T12:19:00.001-07:00


Cthulhu in plush He may be a plushie, but he's still an Elder God. (image source)

Scary martinis fall into a couple of categories. There are the ones that are scary because they're made with the gin or vodka that is stashed underneath and behind the bottom shelf on the bar. If you're going to have martinis, you really need a vodka or gin that isn't named Gordon. Although their purity can be sullied, as I'm about to demonstrate, a good martini is best when utterly cold and made from good liquor. Then there are the ones that are scary because they just look cool and freaky - they're red or have "eyeballs" floating in them or dry ice or ...

Why am I writing about scary martinis for Memorial Day Weekend - well, I'm not really. I am, but not for Memorial Day - rather because I'm reading The Best Horror of the Year, Volume 4 by Ellen Datlow. I searched about for things I might post that could be had any day of the year and had the right look and I found a recipe for the Vampire Kiss Martini cocktail - a beautiful drink for just about any time of the year when red might be perfect (Valentine's Day, Christmas, the anniversary of your open heart surgery - endless possibilities).

Vampire Kiss Martini

Ingredients

1½ oz vodka
1½ oz Champagne
¾ oz Chambord
Red sugar for the rim of the glass

Directions

Rim a martini glass with red sugar (use food coloring to dye the sugar).
Pour vodka and half of the Chambord into the glass.
Top with Champagne.
Pour the remaining half of the Chambord into the glass over the back of a spoon so it floats.

There you have it. A pretty cocktail that goes well with the reading of any horror story.

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. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page. For more information, see the welcome post.

Book Review - Ghost Under Foot: The Spirit of Mary Bell: The True Story of One Family's Haunting by Kenneth W. Harmon

2012-05-23T05:00:00.000-07:00

Synopsis: Just weeks after settling into their new home in Fort Collins, Colorado, retired police officer Kenneth W. Harmon and his family make a chilling discovery: they're living with a ghost.

This true haunting story begins during a ghost tour at the famous Stanley Hotel, where the Harmons experienced headaches and paranormal phenomena. Once back at home, strange rapping noises, eerie whispers captured on film, and unidentified dark shapes in his photographs compel Ken to research the land's history. What he learns shocks everyone: in the backyard sits the unmarked grave of Mary Bell Wilson, a young woman who died of typhoid fever in the late 1880s.

As his fixation grows, Ken uses a dowsing rod to communicate with Mary Bell's spirit and investigate her brief life. The spirit's surprising answers shed light on mysteries of the spirit world, crossing over, heaven and hell, and God.

First Line: The knocking on the headboard boomed inside my brain.

Random Quote: The sudden increase in the number of orbs perplexed me. Was the ghost in our house responding to the religious music?

Review: I love a good ghost story. I was especially fond of them as a child when I would read collections of various regional ghost stories. They were always scary good fun. Ghost stories are harder when you get older - maybe the best ones have already been written? I hate to think that.

I often read non-fictional accounts of hauntings, mostly to see what happened and how people integrated what happened into their lives. Ghost Under Foot seemed like a great choice - the story of a police detective finding his house haunted and his steps towards investigating what was happening. Unfortunately this is one of the most boring ghost stories I've ever read.

Fort Collins, CO (image source)

The author seems dead set on proving the existence of this spirit 3 billion times over - that's at least the number of times he describes filming and seeing orbs and using dowsing rods to communicate. After the first few descriptions of his investigative techniques the whole thing turns into an enormous snooze fest. You begin to pray for the arrival of a Greater Demon to eat this guy's camera along with his head. Once he begins dowsing for "yes" and "no" answers on various things about spirit life as well as spirit perspectives on past and future events I wanted to pull my brain out through my ears.

Orbs created by kicking dust in the air (image source)

I've never thought it mattered whether or not ghosts "really" exist - it only matters if you believe them. Sometimes these experiences can be life-changing and other times they just enhance what's already there - whether that's things being thrown about the house or the utter boring parts of every day existence. Sadly, this was utter boring and I can't recommend it, although I do admire the author's sheer stamina in the repitition of the same act over and over and over again.

FTC Disclosure: Copy received from publisher for review via NetGalley

Publishing Information: LLewelyn Publications - March 8, 2012

Format: Kindle

Rating: ★

Reading Challenges: Non-Fiction Non-Memoir

Teaser Tuesdays

2012-05-22T05:00:00.000-07:00

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme hosted by Miz B of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

Grab your current read
Open to a random page
Share two (2) random teaser sentences from somewhere on that page
BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS (make sure that what you share doesn't give too much away! You don't want to ruin the book for others!)
Share the title and author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

It did make for an odd-looking meeting: the many vibrant colours of the household - party peacock blues and greens, bright copper - approaching the travelling drabness of the shocked and drifting passengers.

- The Univited Guests by Sadie Jones

In My Mailbox Monday

2012-05-21T05:00:00.000-07:00

Edwardian Era mailbox - Colden, West Yorkshire
(image source)

Mailbox Mondays in May is hosted by Martha of Martha's Bookshelf. In My Mailbox is hosted by The Story Siren. It's a place where we ~~brag about~~ share the books that arrived in our mailboxes each week. I'm reading The Univited Guests by Sadie Jones, so found an Edwardian Era mailbox in Colden, West Yorkshire.

This post contains books that have arrived in the past couple of weeks. Work has been insanely busy so I had a quiet week last week in terms of blog posting.

Printed Matter (from publishers):

Dead Beautiful by Melanie Dugan. Dead Beautiful is a contemporary retelling of the classic Greek myth of Persephone. This was the myth the Greeks used to explain how we came to have the change of seasons. In the traditional version of the myth, Persephone – the daughter of Demeter, Goddess of agriculture and fertility, and Zeus, the top god on Olympus – is abducted one day by Hades, God of the Underworld (which is also called Hades). Demeter refuses to do her job until her daughter is returned to her, and the earth is plunged into the first winter: no crops grow, cold settles on the earth. It turns out that while in Hades, Persephone has eaten six pomegranate seeds. As a result, for six months of the year, she must live with Hades; this is when it is fall and winter on earth. For six months she lives with her mother – then we have spring and summer. Dead Beautiful asks, what if Persephone, like many adolescent girls, didn’t tell her mother the whole truth? What if Hades didn’t abduct her? What if she made the decision to go with him?

The Univited Guests by Sadie Jones. It is the last day of April in 1912, and the country estate of Sterne is humming with preparations for an intimate dinner party. Today Emerald Torrington turns 20. The members of the household – and their guests, now en route – have no idea that over the course of this single day and night, all their lives will be turned upside down, for better or for worse.

Kindle Books (NetGalley)

Fire in the Belly by Cynthia Carr. In December 2010, the National Portrait Gallery in Washington made headlines when it responded to protests from the Catholic League by voluntarily censoring an excerpt of David Wojnarowicz’s A Fire in My Belly from its show on American portraiture. Why a work of art could stir such emotions is at the heart of Cynthia Carr’s Fire in the Belly, the first biography of a beleaguered art-world figure who became one of the most important voices of his generation. Wojnarowicz emerged from a Dickensian childhood that included orphanages, abusive and absent parents, and a life of hustling on the street. He first found acclaim in New York’s East Village, a neighborhood noted in the 1970s and ’80s for its abandoned buildings, junkies, and burgeoning art scene. Along with Keith Haring, Nan Goldin, and Jean-Michel Basquiat, Wojnarowicz helped redefine art for the times. As uptown art collectors looked downtown for the next big thing, this community of cultural outsiders was suddenly thrust into the national spotlight. The ensuing culture war, the neighborhood’s gentrification, and the AIDS crisis then devastated the East Village scene. Wojnarowicz died of AIDS in 1992 at the age of thirty-seven.

Night Watch by Linda Fairstein. Forty-eight hours after Alexandra Cooper arrives in France to visit her boyfriend and famed restaurateur, Luc Rouget, her vacation in paradise is cut short when a young woman from the village is found murdered. The only evidence discovered on the body is one of Luc’s matchboxes promoting his new restaurant in New York. But before the investigation begins, Alex is summoned back to New York to handle a high profile case. Mohammed Gil-Darsin, the distinguished and wealthy Head of the World Economic Bureau, has been arrested and accused of attacking a maid in his hotel. As the world watches in fascination to see how the scandal will unfold, Alex finds her attention torn between preparing the alleged victim to testify and a murder case with ties too close to home. A second body is found with Luc’s matchbox—this time in Brooklyn—and Alex begins to fear that the two cases may not be as unrelated as she thought, and that uncovering the sordid secrets of the city’s most wealthy and powerful could cost her and her loved ones everything they hold dear.

The Unquiet by Jeanine Garsee. Sixteen-year-old Rinn Jacobs has secrets: One, she’s bipolar. Two, she killed her grandmother. After a suicide attempt, and now her parents' separation, Rinn and her mom move from California to the rural Ohio town where her mother grew up. Back on her medications and hoping to stay well, Rinn settles into her new home, undaunted by the fact that the previous owner hanged herself in Rinn's bedroom. At school, her classmates believe the school pool is haunted by Annaliese, a girl who drowned there. But when a reckless séance goes awry, and terrible things start happening to her new friends—yet not to her—Rinn is determined to find out why she can’t be "touched" by Annaliese...or if Annaliese even exists.

Encounter with Hell: My Terrifying Clash with a Demonic Entity by Alexis McQuillen. The events in this story are true, but the names and locations have been changed to protect the reader. Alexis is a psychic who never believed in demons until she came face to face with pure evil. This is her true story of battling a terrifying entity that was so powerful it turned her life upside down and put her in mortal danger . . .

John Saturnall's Feast by Lawrence Norfolk. 1625. In the remote village of Buckland, a mob chants of witchcraft and John Sandall and his mother are running for their lives. Taking refuge among the trees of Buccla's Wood, John's mother opens her book and begins to tell her son of an ancient Feast kept in secret down the generations. But as the rich dishes rise from the pages, the ground beneath them freezes. That winter John's mother dies. The Feast is John's legacy.

The Watchers by Jon Steele. Meet Marc Rochat, a man-child who has devoted his life to being the bell ringer at the Gothic Lausanne Cathedral, one of the greatest architectural structures in the world. Eerie things have been going on in and around his church, including tremblings in the underground crypt and a variety of gruesomely murdered bodies showing up in nearby streets. Across the square from the cathedral lives Katherine Taylor, a beautiful young American woman who is making phenomenal money as one of the highest-priced call girls in Switzerland; she's a bit too introspective for her own good and, unfortunately, much too observant of her clients' peccadilloes. Rochat's and Taylor's lives collide with Jay Harper, a British private eye who has been sent to investigate the killings and other strange doings; alas, he has no memory of who hired him or precisely why he was chosen for the job. And now all the clues are pointing skyward, where fallen angels are said to haunt Lausanne.

Death in the Delta by Molly Walling. Growing up, Molly Walling could not fathom the source of the dark and intense discomfort in her family home. Then in 2006 she discovered her father's complicity in the murder of two black men on December 12, 1946, in Anguilla, deep in the
Mississippi Delta. Death in the Delta tells the story of one woman's search for the truth behind a closely held, sixty-year old family secret. Though the author's mother and father decided that they would protect their three children from that past, its effect was profound. When the story of a fatal shoot-out surfaced, apprehension turned into a devouring need to know.

Let's Talk About Trifle

2012-05-20T12:35:00.002-07:00

Strawberry Lemon Curd Trifle (image source)

I'm reading The Univited Guests by Sadie Jones - a book set in the English countryside in 1912. Although the time period and context is different, it reminds me a bit of Love in a Cold Climate by Nancy Mitford and all of those thoughts, settings, and remembering brought me to finding a recipe for trifle. My Seattle grandmother had a gorgeous glass bowl that she used for making trifles. When I would visit her in the summer we would often eat outside on their terrace at their house on Capitol Hill and I remember the trifles being brought out of the kitchen to sit in splendor on the picnic table.

Trifle is a traditional English dessert, dating back to 1596. There are many variations, some of which contain small amounts of port, sweet sherry, or madeira. In the South this is made with Drambuie or whisky and called a tipsy cake (why yes, many people from Scotland migrated to the Southern part of the US). A basic trifle these days contains some kind of sponge cake custard, fruit, fruit juice or gelatin, and whipped cream.

Here's a recipe from The Joy of Baking that captures the essence of my grandmother's trifle (plus it's the perfect time of year for the fruit in it):

Individual Strawberry and Lemon Curd Trifles
(image source)

Strawberry and Lemon Curd Trifle

Ingredients

Pound Cake (home made or store bought) (can also use a sponge or butter cake or ladyfingers)
1 ½ cups Strawberry Sauce
½ pound fresh strawberries, sliced
1 ½ cups Lemon Curd (home made or store bought)
1 ½ cups cold heavy whipping cream (double cream) (contains 36 - 40% butterfat)
2 - 3 tablespoons granulated white sugar
½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
4 crushed Amaretti Cookies or shortbread cookies (home made or store bought)

Recipe

Strawberry and Lemon Curd Trifle: Have ready the pound cake, the strawberry sauce, sliced strawberries, lemon curd, and whipping cream.

To make the whipping cream: In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, whip the cream, sugar, and vanilla extract until stiff peaks form.

To assemble: In the bottom of your trifle bowl place slices (about 1/3 inch (8 mm) thick) of the pound cake. Fill in any gaps with extra pieces of the cake. Pour half of the strawberry sauce over the pound cake. Top the strawberry sauce with half of the sliced strawberries. Then pour half of the lemon curd over the strawberries. Top with half of the whipped cream. Repeat the layers. Cover and refrigerate for 8 and up to 24 hours to allow the flavors to mingle. Just before serving sprinkle the top of the trifle with the crushed Amaretti or shortbread cookies.

Serves about 12-14 people.

Note: This trifle can also be made into individual servings (as shown above). Simply follow the recipe for the large trifle only instead of using a large trifle bowl, use small glasses (about 1 cup (240 ml)). Makes about 10 individual trifles.

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. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page. For more information, see the welcome post.

Book Review - Blue Eyes by Jerome Charyn

2012-05-16T05:00:00.000-07:00

Synopsis: Before Isaac Sidel adopts him, Manfred Coen is a mutt. A kid from the Bronx, he joins the police academy after his father’s suicide leaves him directionless, and is trudging along like any other cadet when first deputy Sidel, the commissioner’s right hand man, comes looking for a young cop with blue eyes to infiltrate a ring of Polish smugglers. He chooses Coen, and asks the cadet to join his department after he finishes the academy. Working under Sidel means fast promotions, plush assignments, and, when a corruption scandal topples his mentor, the resentment of every rank-and-file detective on the force.

Now just an ordinary cop, Coen hears word that his old mentor has a line on a human trafficking operation. When Sidel’s attempt at infiltration fails, he sends in Coen. For Coen, it’s a shot to prove himself and redeem his mentor, but it could cost the blue-eyed cop his life.

First Line: "Shotgun Coen."

Random Quote: Coen slumped down and tried to initimidate the pimp. "You can speak to me, Elmo, or you can cry to the DA. Stealing girls out of private schools isn't going to increase your popularity." He plucked three of his fingers. "That's sodomy, rape, carrying minors over the state line. Nobody loves a kidnapper."

Review: If you're a fan of classic noir pulp fiction, Jerome Charyn's Blue Eyes would be a great place to indulge your interest. The first book in a series of four, Blue Eyes has a lot in common with other great pulp fiction published in the early seventies, although the author reminds me most of Ross MacDonald (if MacDonald was writing about New York).

Urban Blight - Bronx, 1970s (image source)

The main character, Manfred Coen, is a detective caught up in a feud between his mentor Isaac Sidel and a group of pickpockets. The story takes us on a journey through New York in the seventies, a time when the city was literally falling to pieces and the NYPD was both influenced by its corruption and decay and trying to hold the place together.

South Bronx Playground - NY 1970s

Coen, assigned as the lead officer in the kidnapping of a producer of pornographic films is our hero. You remember, right? Back in the days when porn was filmed on ... you know ... film. For a great read on the history of porn, I highly recommend The Other Hollywood: The Uncensored Oral History of the Porn Film Industry by Legs McNeil. The book includes a walk through New York's porn scene in the seventies and dovetails nicely with the background of Charyn's book. Coen meanders through Bronx on his way to Mexico where the ultimate showdown occurs over a game of Ping Pong. How delicious is that?

Creative and well-conceived, this is hard-boiled detective fiction at its very best. With an eye for details of place and for untrammeled chaos, Charyn will keep you up all night. Highly recommended.

FTC Disclosure: Review copy from publisher

Publishing Information: MysteriousPress.com/OpenRoadMedia- April 12, 2012

Format: e-Book

Rating: ★★★★

Reading Challenges: Mystery and Suspense Reading Challenge

I'm pleased to be on Mr. Charyn's blog tour for the reprint of this wonderful book. Here's some additional information on the author and how to find him online:

Jerome Charyn's Bio:

Jerome Charyn (born May 13, 1937) is an award-winning American author. With nearly 50 published works, Charyn has earned a long-standing reputation as an inventive and prolific chronicler of real and imagined American life. Michael Chabon calls him “one of the most important writers in American literature.”

New York Newsday hailed Charyn as “a contemporary American Balzac,” and the Los Angeles Times described him as “absolutely unique among American writers.”

Since the 1964 release of Charyn’s first novel, Once Upon a Droshky, he has published 30 novels, three memoirs, eight graphic novels, two books about film, short stories, plays and works of non-fiction. Two of his memoirs were named New York Times Book of the Year. Charyn has been a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction. He received the Rosenthal Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and has been named Commander of Arts and Letters by the French Minister of Culture.

Charyn was Distinguished Professor of Film Studies at the American University of Paris until he left teaching in 2009.

In addition to his writing and teaching, Charyn is a tournament table tennis player, once ranked in the top 10 percent of players in France. Noted novelist Don DeLillo called Charyn’s book on table tennis, Sizzling Chops & Devilish Spins, "The Sun Also Rises of ping-pong."

Charyn lives in Paris and New York City.

Jerome Charyn's web site:
http://www.jeromecharyn.com/

Jerome Charyn's Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/#!/jerome.charyn

Jerome Charyn's Twitter:
http://twitter.com/jeromecharyn

Issac Sidel's Twitter:
https://twitter.com/#!/IsaacSidel

Tribute Books Blog Tours Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tribute-Books-Blog-Tours/242431245775186

Blue Eyes blog tour site:
http://blue-eyes-isaac-sidel.blogspot.com/

Book Review - The Outlaw Album: Stories by Daniel Woodrell

2012-05-10T05:00:00.000-07:00

Synopsis: Daniel Woodrell is able to lend uncanny logic to harsh, even criminal behavior in this wrenching collection of stories. Desperation-both material and psychological--motivates his characters. A husband cruelly avenges the killing of his wife's pet; an injured rapist is cared for by a young girl, until she reaches her breaking point; a disturbed veteran of Iraq is murdered for his erratic behavior; an outsider's house is set on fire by an angry neighbor.

There is also the tenderness and loyalty of the vulnerable in these stories--between spouses, parents and children, siblings, and comrades in arms-which brings the troubled, sorely tested cast of characters to vivid, relatable life.

First Line: Once Boshell finally killed his neighbor he couldn't seem to quit killing him.

Random Quote: Perfect weather pushed up from Arkansas and all windows were open to the screen. Jill seemed bouyant and wore only a sheer light-blue nightie. The house breathed that night in the cadence of cicadas, drawing in the smells of honeysuckle and plowed dirt, dogwood and cattle in the distance. Pelham watched the final innings from St. Louis on the bedroom television, a tumbler of bourbon in his hand. Jill lay across the bed, face over the edge, book on the floor, the nightie smoothed to her skin. She snapped the book closed and sat up. "That one's over."

Review: Daniel Woodrell became one of my favorite writers when I discovered Winter's Bone, a book that has a place in my top 10 favorite books. His stories are sly, brutally honest, removed from redneck stereotype - firmly rooted in a particular kind of reality. He also writes beautifully. Winter's Bone is a book that made me ache the first time I read and did so again after I finished it and read it all over a second time.

The Outlaw Album is a book of short stories - capsulized moments of revenge, of what can happen when people are pushed to the edge. It is strongly of its place - one that I know well from the time I spent living in Arkansas.

Ouachita Mountains (image source)

I spent a summer in college going out on the Little Rock library's bookmobile. Twice a week we sat in the big bookmobile in a suburban parking with lots of choice and air conditioning. The other two days we took the smaller bookmobile and drove back roads up into the Ouachita mountains - no air conditioning, but breathtaking beauty and patrons who brought us food from their gardens and homemade sausages. I can remember riding those roads through the woods with trees that formed a canopy over the road and wild roses growing in the trees that colored them all like a young girl's blush.

Daniel Woodrell gets the place and the people and its stories. His voice reminds me most of singers like Meredith Sisco or Levon Helm or early early Loretta Lynn or any of the people I've heard singing Appalachin folk songs and hymns at tent revivals, church, and bluegrass gatherings. The Outlaw Album isn't Winter's Bone, but it's still got that lonely soulful mountain feel and that's good enough.

FTC Disclosure: Copy from publisher for review

Publishing Information: Little, Brown, and Company - October 5, 2011

Format: Hardback

Rating: ★★★★

Book Review - Vurt by Jeff Noon

2012-05-09T05:00:00.000-07:00

Synopsis: Vurt is a feather--a drug, a dimension, a dream state, a virtual reality. It comes in many colors: legal Blues for lullaby dreams. Blacks, filled with tenderness and pain, just beyond the law. Pink Pornovurts, doorways to bliss. Silver feathers for techies who know how to remix colors and open new dimensions. And Yellows--the feathers from which there is no escape.

The beautiful young Desdemona is trapped in Curious Yellow, the ultimate Metavurt, a feather few have ever seen and fewer still have dared ingest. Her brother Scribble will risk everything to rescue his beloved sister. Helped by his gang, the Stash Riders, hindered by shadowcops, robos, rock and roll dogmen, and his own dread, Scribble searches along the edges of civilization for a feather that, if it exists at all, must be bought with the one thing no sane person would willingly give.

First Line: Mandy came out of the all-night Vurt-U-Want, clutching a bag of goodies.

Random Quote: Bottletown kids laughing and dancing in the orange night, and me just sitting on a broken down car-park bench, thinking about the world, and getting licked to fuck by a mixed-up pile of dog flesh and plastic, name of Karli.

Shards of glass under my feet, the colours of dreams.

In Bottletown, even our tears flicker like jewels.

Review: I associate Vurt with Snow Crash because they came out around the same time. I was very fortunate to borrow Vurt from a friend who had a British copy of it he'd received from a friend in London. I loved the cover and had no idea what to expect. I started reading it, fell asleep, woke up the next morning and called in sick to work so I could read the book cover-to-cover all at once. It was an amazing reading experience and one of the best roller coaster rides of a book that I ever had. Snow Crash, in comparison, seemed to wish it was Vurt.

Feathers (image source)

At the time of Vurt's publication I was neck-deep in text-based virtual worlds - MUDs and MOOs - and many of the people in my real life had crossed over from my virtual life. I was also an active member on the FutureCulture list-serv. We were all doing a lot of thinking about what it meant to have a virtual life and a real life, where the two might meet/meat, and where we thought all of it was going. I'm still close to many of the people I know from then whether I've actually met them in the flesh. I've known lots of these people going on 15 or so years. For me, Vurt captured the feel of that time and the not-so-secret desire to be liberated from flesh to play in dreams.

The writing and pacing of this book are pretty flawless to me. Vurt grabs you by the collar and shoves you into its world running as fast and furious as it can with you bumping along behind. Noon as a very visual writing style, a knack for cyberpunk imagery. The book doesn't differentiate one world from the next as you careen with Scribble, our hero, on his search for the gateway to his sister. You might not approve of the lifestyle choices, but these people are complex and real and I feel like I know them all. All of this remained true on my second read so many years later.

I've recommended this book to lots of people and have given away many copies. One of my favorite reads.

FTC Disclosure: I bought it for myself

Publishing Information: First published in Britain - 1993, Winner of the Arthur C. Clarke Award in 1994

Format: Paperback

Rating: ★★★★★★

Teaser Tuesdays

2012-05-08T05:00:00.000-07:00

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme hosted by Miz B of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

Grab your current read
Open to a random page
Share two (2) random teaser sentences from somewhere on that page
BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS (make sure that what you share doesn't give too much away! You don't want to ruin the book for others!)
Share the title and author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

I didn't think it was appropriate for me to tell people what I thought their personal problems were. but again and again those problems seem linked to the activity.

- Paranormal State: My Journey Into the Unknown by Ryan Buell and Stefan Petrucha

In My Mailbox

2012-05-07T05:00:00.000-07:00

Ghosty on the Mailbox (image source)

In My Mailbox is hosted by The Story Siren. It's a place where we ~~brag about~~ share the books that arrived in our mailboxes each week. I'm reading Paranormal State - the proudly ghost-written "memoir" of Ryan Buell of A&E Paranormal State fame. This required a ghostly mailbox.

I haven't posted a mailbox in awhile so the list is a bit long, but it's a happy list.

Printed Matter (from publishers):

An African Affair by Nina Darton. Corruption, drug smuggling, rampant human rights abuses—New York journalist Lindsay Cameron finds plenty to report, covering the regime of Nigeria’s President Michael Olumide. But in the aftermath of two probable assassinations, her inquiries attract unwanted government attention. As rebel factions call for free elections, Lindsay races to penetrate the intricate network of corrupt government officials, oil interests, and CIA agents who really run the Nigerian show. Meanwhile, her entanglement with a rare art dealer leads her still deeper into terrain that’s confounding in every respect – from matters of the heart to those of politics and trade.

The Queen's Vow by C.W. Gortner. No one believed I was destined for greatness. So begins Isabella’s story, in this evocative, vividly imagined novel about one of history’s most famous and controversial queens—the warrior who united a fractured country, the champion of the faith whose reign gave rise to the Inquisition, and the visionary who sent Columbus to discover a New World. Acclaimed author C. W. Gortner envisages the turbulent early years of a woman whose mythic rise to power would go on to transform a monarchy, a nation, and the world.

Leak: Why Mark Felt Became Deep Throat by Max Holland. Max Holland has found the missing piece of that Deep Throat puzzle—one that’s been hidden in plain sight all along. He reveals for the first time in detail what truly motivated the FBI’s number-two executive to become the most fabled secret source in American history. In the process, he directly challenges Felt’s own explanations while also demolishing the legend fostered by Woodward and Bernstein’s bestselling account.

I am Forbidden by Anouk Markovits. Sweeping from the Central European countryside just before World War II to Paris to contemporary Williamsburg, Brooklyn, I Am Forbidden brings to life four generations of one Satmar family. Opening in 1939 Transylvania, five-year-old Josef witnesses the murder of his family by the Romanian Iron Guard and is rescued by a Gentile maid to be raised as her own son. Five years later, Josef rescues a young girl, Mila, after her parents are killed while running to meet the Rebbe they hoped would save them. Josef helps Mila reach Zalman Stern, a leader in the Satmar community, in whose home Mila is raised as a sister to Zalman’s daughter, Atara. As the two girls mature, Mila’s faith intensifies, while her beloved sister Atara discovers a world of books and learning that she cannot ignore. With the rise of communism in central Europe, the family moves to Paris, to the Marais, where Zalman tries to raise his children apart from the city in which they live.

The Unseen by Katherine Webb. England, 1911. The Reverend Albert Canning, a vicar with a passion for spiritualism, leads a happy existence with his naive wife Hester in a sleepy Berkshire village. As summer dawns, their quiet lives are changed for ever by two new arrivals. First comes Cat, the new maid: a free-spirited and disaffected young woman sent down from London after entanglements with the law. Cat quickly finds a place for herself in the secret underbelly of local society as she plots her escape. Then comes Robin Durrant, a leading expert in the occult, enticed by tales of elemental beings in the water meadows nearby. A young man of magnetic charm and beauty, Robin soon becomes an object of fascination and desire. During a long spell of oppressive summer heat, the rectory at Cold Ash Holt becomes charged with ambition, love and jealousy; a mixture of emotions so powerful that it leads, ultimately, to murder.

Kindle Books (a couple I bought for myself because everyone needs a present sometimes):

Paranormal State: My Journey Into the Unknown by Ryan Buell and Stefan Petrucha. Follow Ryan Buell on his extraordinary journey as he seeks out the truth behind terrifying demonic disturbances, hauntings, and paranormal phenomena to solve unexplained mysteries that have been plaguing frightened families who have nowhere else to turn.

The Chalk Girl by Carol O'Connell. 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. For Mallory, newly returned to the Special Crimes Unit after three months' lost time, there is something about the girl that she understands. Mallory is damaged, they say, but she can tell a kindred spirit. And this one will lead her to a story of extraordinary crimes: murders stretching back fifteen years, blackmail and complicity and a particular cruelty that only someone with Mallory's history could fully recognize. In the next few weeks, she will deal with them all . . . in her own way.

Kindle Books (from publishers):

The Hiding Place by David Bell. The twenty-fifth anniversary of her brother's disappearance and murder has Janet Manning on edge—especially when a detective and a newspaper reporter start asking questions, opening old wounds and raising new suspicions. Soon, years of deceit will be swept away, and the truth about what happened to Janet's brother will be revealed. And the answers that Janet has sought may be found much closer to home than she ever could have imagined...

Dead Scared by S.J. Bolton. When a rash of suicides tears through Cambridge University, DI Mark Joesbury recruits DC Lacey Flint to go undercover as a student to investigate the suspicious deaths. Given the circumstances, no one is convinced that the victims acted alone. They believe that someone is preying on lonely and insecure students and either encouraging them to take their own lives or actually luring them to their deaths. So long as Lacey can play the role of a vulnerable young woman, she may be able to stop these deaths, but is it just a role? With a past as fragile as hers is she drawing out the killers or is she getting drawn into a deadly game where she is a perfect victim?

Talulla Rising by Glen Duncan. The woman is Talulla Demetriou. She’s grieving for her werewolf lover, Jake, whose violent death has left her alone with her own sublime monstrousness. On the run, pursued by the hunters of WOCOP (World Organisation for the Control of Occult Phenomena), she must find a place to give birth to Jake’s child in secret. The birth, under a full moon at a remote Alaska lodge, leaves Talulla ravaged, but with her infant son in her arms she believes the worst is over—until the windows crash in, and she discovers that the worst has only just begun . . .

A Small Town Near Auschwitz by Mary Fulbrook. Mary Fulbrook tells the story of Udo Klausa, a civilian administrator in the small town of Bedzin, an ordinary functionary who helped implement the Nazi's inhumane policies towards the Jews. Using a wealth of personal letters, memoirs, testimonies, interviews, and other sources, Fulbrook pieces together Klausa's role in the unfolding destruction of the Jews under his authority, as well as the heroic attempts at resistance on the part of some of his victims. She also offers fascinating insight into the inner conflicts of a Nazi bureaucrat who, throughout, considered himself "a decent man."

Shadowfell by Juliet Marillier. Its name is spoken only in whispers, if the people of Alban dare to speak it at all: Shadowfell. The training ground for rebels seeking to free their land from the grip of the tyrannical king is so shrouded in mystery that most believe it to be a myth. But for Neryn, Shadowfell's existence is her only hope. She is penniless, orphaned, and utterly alone - and concealing a treacherous magical power that will warrant her immediate enslavement should it be revealed. She finds hope of allies in the Good Folk, fey beings whom she must pretend she cannot see and who taunt her with chatter of prophecies and tests, and in a striking, mysterious stranger, who saves her from certain death but whose motives remain unclear.

I hope you all have great stuff from your mailbox! Remember to check out the other mailboxes if you need to add more to your TBR lists.

Let's Talk about Mint Juleps

2012-05-05T15:59:00.000-07:00

Kentucky Derby Hat
Drink 2 mint juleps to enable hat-wearing
(image source)

So, it's Derby Day. This, of course, means fancy hats (pronounced faincy) and mint juleps. Having had an argument with my Seattle native husband about whether or not one poured green creme de menthe into bourbon and called it a julep (not in my house, you don't), I thought I'd post some thoughts on the proper mint julep. Then I read a great article on Slate by Troy Patterson, who pretty much summed up my feelings about a proper mint julep quite nicely, although I completely disagree with his choice of bourbon.

If you were unaware, bourbon is another Southern church (along with barbecue and not wearing white before Memorial Day even if you really really want to). I am fond of fancy expensive bourbons, but for the day-to-day parts of life - even the Kentucky Derby - I prefer George Dickel Tennessee Sipping Whisky.

I like my mint juleps made with Dickel because it tastes good, but also because it's fun to insult the Kentucky people by drinking Tennessee whisky in their famous drink. Yes, I am a silly person - thanks for asking.

As Mr. Patterson mentions in his article, a julep should be drunk from a silver cup, but don't let that stop you. Go with what you have. Please also be aware that this is a mixed drink in much the same way that a very dry martini has vermouth in it. Not so much. If you can't handle your whiskey, this is so not a good idea for you.

This is the basic recipe for a mint julep - no creme de menthe, no peppermint sticks, pretty much a lot of whiskey and bit of garnish.

Mint Juleps (image source)

Mint Julep

(serves 1)

Mint leaves and sprig
1 tsp. sugar
1.25 ounces of bourbon, whisky, brandy, or another dark brown liquor of your choice (juleps are forgiving)

Dissolve sugar in a little water. Gently crush six mint leaves in a silver cup (or other handy drinking fount) and add sugar mixture. Fill the cup halfway with crushed ice. Stir in whiskey. Fill with ice to the top. Garnish with mint spring dipped in powdered sugar.

Happy Derby Day - hope your horse comes in to win!

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. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page. For more information, see the welcome post.

Book Review - Poison Flower by Thomas Perry

2012-05-04T05:00:00.000-07:00

Synopsis: Poison Flower, the seventh novel in Thomas Perry's celebrated Jane Whitefield series, opens as Jane spirits James Shelby, a man unjustly convicted of his wife's murder, out of the heavily guarded criminal court building in downtown Los Angeles. But the price of Shelby's freedom is high. Within minutes, men posing as police officers kidnap Jane and, when she tries to escape, shoot her. Jane's captors are employees of the man who really killed Shelby's wife. He believes he won't be safe until Shelby is dead, and his men will do anything to force Jane to reveal Shelby's hiding place.

But Jane endures their torment, and is willing to die rather than betray Shelby. Jane manages to escape but she is alone, wounded, thousands of miles from home with no money and no identification, hunted by the police as well as her captors. She must rejoin Shelby, reach his sister before the hunters do, and get them both to safety.In this unrelenting, breathtaking cross-country battle, Jane survives by relying on the traditions of her Seneca ancestors. When at last Jane turns to fight, her enemies face a cunning and ferocious warrior who has one weapon that they don't.

First Line: James Shelby sat in the white prison van looking out the tinted window.

Random Quote: When he was here, they all watched him and unconsciously mirrored his movements and expressions. But there was something else, and listening to him talk to the nurse helped her identify it: people were instinctively wary of him. There was a volatile, vindictive quality to him that was so strong that people timidly observed his moods for signs of change, and humored him.

Avenging Angel (image source)

Review: I've been trying to remember the name of this series and this author for ages and finally identified it when I found this galley to review. It's always been a fun series - a sort of female version of Lee Childs' Jack Reacher series. Like Reacher, Jane Whitfield is hyper-prepared and impossible to beat - not necessarily grounded in reality, but I don't read thrillers for reality.

Pure escapist mind candy with some caveats. Most of this book, unlike others in the series, is a non-stop brutality fest with Jane playing avenging angel. The level of violence makes a lot of this not so fun to read, perhaps particularly because much of the violence is torture committed against the main character. In fact, the first third of the book is all about this torture. The rest follows Jane's revenge. It's a good read, but if you're squeamish I wouldn't recommend it.

Not the best entry in the series - okay, but not great.

FTC Disclosure: Advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley

Publishing Information: Grove/Atlantic - March 6, 2012

Format: e-Galley

Rating: ★★

Reading Challenges: Mystery and Suspense Reading Challenge

Abandonment Issues

2012-05-03T05:00:00.000-07:00

Abandoned Boats - Skerries, North County, Dublin, Ireland
(image source)

This is a semi-regular feature where I confess to the books that I just couldn't get through - your mileage may vary, but none of these worked for me:

The Man from Primrose Lane by James Renner. I got two-thirds of the way through this book, put it down and walked away, and never looked back. I kept looking for something that wasn't there and I can't quite articulate what that was so it's not a very useful observation. Nonetheless, I found the book disjointed and chilly - standing outside of itself looking in and in and in.

The Demi-Monde: Winter by Rod Rees. Painfully impossible to read. Pretentious, trying too hard, plus boring! It reminded me greatly of The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters by Gordon Dahlquist - great title, can't read it. If you liked those books (and many did), try this one.

Before the Poison by Peter Robinson. I will never ever agree to review one of Mr. Robinson's books again. I can't manage to get through them and it's time to stop trying. It's just not fair to someone who might be a fan.

Island Of Vice: Theodore Roosevelt's Doomed Quest To Clean Up Sin Loving New York by Richard Zacks. I love the kind of crime book that combines the story of a crime or crimes and puts it into the context of its own time, combining social history and true crime into one delicious mix. Obviously Erik Larson's The Devil in the White City comes immediately to mind. I wanted to get into this, but the detail was too minute for me to be able to crawl through its density. Maybe another time, but not now.

Book Review - The Starboard Sea by Amber Dermont

2012-05-02T05:00:00.000-07:00

Synopsis: Set against the backdrop of the 1987 stock market collapse, The Starboard Sea is an examination of the abuses of class privilege, the mutability of sexual desire, the thrill and risk of competitive sailing and the adult cost of teenage recklessness. It is a powerful and compelling novel about a young man navigating the depths of his emotional life, finding his moral center, trying to forgive himself, and accepting the gift of love.

First Line: On the morning I turned eighteen, instead of a birthday present, my father tossed me the keys to his car and informed me I was finally man enough to captain his Cadillac.

Random Quote: The worst part of that night was that I knew I would wake up the following day. My face would greet me in the mirror. I would walk down hallways and into rooms and my name would be called and I would hear the call and answer. I would go on. The linear progression of time would rule and I would be caught in its mornings and afternoons. The nights would come and I would feel alone. When Cal died, I thought time would cease to recognize me. Though that I would step into some new dimension. I realized how innocent I'd been and how much worse it was now to know the unsettling truth about grief.

Review: I was attracted to this book by its plot description, but unsure what to expect since it's a debut novel - those don't always live up to the promise of their synopses and hype. I needn't have worried. The Starboard Sea is a beautifully written elegy to the late eighties, to being hyper-rich, to boarding school, to love, loss, and adolescence.

Jason Prosper, our narrator, has been kicked out of his previous boarding school for initally undisclosed reasons and ends up at the boarding school of last resort - Bellingham - the place you go when there's nowhere else to go other than prison or drug rehab. Trying to deal with the death of his best friend and sailing partner, Cal, while navigating the rocky shoals of boarding school is a challenge. The Starboard Sea tells the story of his senior year - what happened, what might've happened, the prices that were paid.

Sailing on The Bequia (image source)

Ms. Dermont has written an assured and honest book about how much adolescence sucks - no matter where you are. Anchored in loss, Jason's journey is one the reader wants to follow. The book is brutally honest. Adolescents can be maudlin and Jason is, too. His voice is captured elegantly and neatly integrated into his environment of privilege and bullying and deep friendships plus love. There is a lot of violence running underneath the surface and through it all there is Jason - trying to cope, trying to figure out who he is, trying to get through 'til the end.

Although I did not attend a New England boarding school, I did leave high school a year early. I was miserable and wasting my time. My best friend killed himself in a car accident the summer before junior year and I couldn't take it. I headed for college based on my SAT scores and hung on for dear life - not always making it. Ms. Dermont captures what that all feels like in a way I haven't read before. The voice, the emotions, the confusion, the moments of clarity and all the bitter despair radiate throughout the novel.

One of the best things I've read all year - you must read this book.

FTC Disclosure: Advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley

Publishing Information: St. Martin's Press - February 28, 2012

Format: e-Galley

Rating: ★★★★★★

April Reading Roundup

2012-05-01T05:00:00.000-07:00

Starting a new job doesn't affect the number of books I read, but it does affect the number of reviews I write, so April isn't as busy as usual. I will endeavour to improve for May. In the meantime, here's what I reviewed in April along with the food I wrote about (apparently I can just about always write about food ...)

Book Reviews

Food

Hope everyone has a wonderful May! Here's to nicer weather, a bit of sunshine, and the Berkeley breeze ...

Book Review - The Day the World Ends by Ethan Coen

2012-04-30T05:00:00.000-07:00

Synopsis: From one of the most inventive and celebrated filmmakers of the twentieth century, and co-creator of such classics as Fargo, No Country for Old Men, and True Grit, a collection of poems that offers humor and insight into an artist who has always pushed the boundaries of his craft.

Ethan Coen's screenplays have surprised and delighted international audiences with their hilarious vision and bizarrely profound understanding of human nature. This eccentric genius is revealed again in The Day the World Ends, a remarkable range of poems that are as funny, ribald, provocative, raw, and often touching as the brilliant films that have made the Coen brothers cult legends.

First Line: We stand across the grassy hill

Random Quote:
We stand across the grassy hill,
The fall line square to each. We could
Chew on and on and on, until
Apocalypse - whose ructions would
But coax we sheep to lift and drop
Our dainty little feel until
The shifting underfoot should stop.
And then we'd square around once more
To crop the newly slanting hill.

Review: I am a huge fan of the Coen Brothers. I love their wicked sense of humor and range in filmmaking. Their ideas are creative and full of different kinds of fun and their movies are worth it. They're also kind of weird - the brothers and the movies. I like weird.

I didn't expect to review a book of poems by Ethan Coen, but April is National Poetry Month and when the copy was offered to me I couldn't resist. I figured this would be a good book to let hang around the house in various locations so I could read bits and pieces and think about what I thought. That Coen would be a good writer was a baseline assumption for me, but being a good poet is pretty different than being a good writer. Poetry tends to be crystalline in the ways that films and novels are not. It's all in the moment.

Sheepies! (image source)

Lots of people think poetry is either stuffy and pretentious or always has to rhyme or must be about Love and Loss and Very Important Stuff. If you've ever read any poetry you should have figured out by now that poetry is a lot of different things as illustrated in Coen's The Day the World Ends, a book of poetry that is both deep and crude, beautiful and awkward. Sometimes it rhymes, sometimes it doesn't, and often it is referential - a play on other poets or famous poems.

I like some of this poetry, but I don't love it. I'm not sure Coen would be a published poet if he weren't a celebrity. Ultimately the book depends too much on gimmicks, tricks, and sheer shock value - a combination that works well in the movies (think Blood Simple) and not so well with poetry. It's worth a sample - some of the words are nice, but mostly it is what it is - a book titled The Day the World Ends published in 2012 (the year that the Mayan calendar ends and we all die as the last calendar pages turns us off the world) to promote National Poetry Month and to indulge in a bit of wordplay. Good, but not great.

FTC Disclosure: Advance copy for review from the publisher

Publishing Information: Crown Publishing Group - April 3, 2012

Format: Paperback

Rating: ★★

Reading Challenges: What's in a Name Reading Challenge

Let's Talk about Spring English Pea Soup

2012-04-29T17:33:00.000-07:00

English Peas in a Pod (image source)

It's been kind of a crazy week, but the book I'm reading has been a great stabilizer - The Bellwether Revivals by Benjamin Wood, described in the book description as a cross between The Secret History by Donna Tartt and Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh. Enough to say that it takes place in Cambridge, both town and gown, and in the English countryside. It's also really nice here in Berkeley with rain and chill giving way (for now at least) to sunshine and beautiful weather.

In looking into British recipes in the Springtime season, I found many different kinds of things, but when I saw this soup I knew I'd have to write about it. Why? Because it's made from English peas and I have a history with English peas.

What? You haven't heard about The Great English Pea Rebellion? It was quite an event and very important in history and I started it.

I've written before about my Father and his great cooking. He loved and made great food and shared that love in a family full of foodies of all kinds. Of course, in a week of making dinner, sometimes you're going to make something simple like a chop, a vegetable, and a starch of some sort. If you do those simple things well, that's a great thing, but it's easy to depend on reliables that may or may not be liked by diners. For my Father prior to The Great English Pea Rebellion his go-to vegetable was English peas - easy to prepare and vary, right? Right.

Thing is too much of anything (even chocolate ... maybe) is just too much and as teenager I had enough of the English peas - and said so at dinner. My Mother piped up quickly afterwards and we had a lively family discussion about the advantages and disadvantages of English peas and whether or not we wanted to eat more them. The end result of this skirmish was that my Father was kind enough to cut back on how often we ate the English peas. This was quickly followed by The Great Orange Sherbet Rebellion (which was never quite successful - "I buy the orange sherbet it lasts longer." "Yeah, cuz everybody hates it!").

Having related that story, I will say that springtime English peas are a wonderful thing, especially when simply prepared and cooked very briefly. Add butter and fresh mint and you're good to go. This soup isn't necessarily simple, but it treats the peas nicely and sounds wonderfully comforting so here we go:

Spring English Pea Soup (image source)

Spring English Pea Soup

(from FoodNRecipe.com)

Ingredients

5 bacon strips, cut into small pieces
1 onion, thinly sliced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 leek, finely chopped
3 pounds unshelled English green peas (1 1/4 pounds, if shelled)
4-5 cups vegetable stock
3-4 sprigs fresh thyme
2 cups milk
2 cups heavy cream
Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Brown the beef bacon in a a large pot. Add the onions, garlic and leek and cook until softened. Add the peas and sauté.
2. Add the stock, milk and thyme and bring to a simmer for about 5 minutes.
3. Remove the thyme; remove from the heat and purée the soup smooth in a blender.
4. Strain the soup through a fine sieve and return to the pot.
5. Stir the cream in the soup over low heat and finish. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Book Review - Avalon Chronicles, Volume 1: Once in a Blue Moon by Nunzio DeFilippis & Christina Weir (writers) and Emma Vieceli (artist)

2012-04-26T05:00:00.000-07:00

Synopsis: When Aeslin Finn was a little girl, her parents read to her from a magical book called The Avalon Chronicles. But that was a long time ago. Now a teenager, Aeslin is about to discover just how magical she and that book really are. Transported to the world of Avalon, she discovers a kingdom in need of a Dragon Knight - and the last dragon, Blue Moon, is waiting for her.

Review: If I had a tween girl I would pass Once in a Blue Moon along to her RIGHT NOW. Great story with a plucky heroine, but also a deeper message about the importance of story in our lives.

Aeslin was used to her parents telling her stories, but all that changed when her father died and her mother banned the notion of anything magical from the world. Fortunately, Aeslin finds the perfect bookstore, and is sold the perfect book, and falls into another world from that book. Multiple times. So jealous.

The Magical Bookstore (image source)
Yes, I look for this place every day.

There's fantasy and mystery and new things to be learned about parents. There's reaffirmation that girls can do anything they set out to do, that traditional gender roles are bunk, and that stories are everything we think they are.

The art is manga-style - not my favorite style, but also well-rendered and, in this instance, didn't make me want to barf all over the cuteness. That probably sounds like faint praise, but it isn't. The artist actually made me like a manga style and that's new and different.

Great for tweens, but really for anyone of any age who's looking for a great little story and some true entertainment on a rainy day.

P.S. Did I mention the dragons?

FTC Disclosure: Advance copy from publisher for review

Publishing Information: Oni Press - March 21, 2012

Format: Black and White Hardcover

Rating: ★★★★

Book Review - Truth Like the Sun by Jim Lynch

2012-04-25T05:00:00.000-07:00

Synopsis: A classic and hugely entertaining political novel, the cat-and-mouse story of urban intrigue in Seattle both in 1962, when Seattle hosted the World's Fair, and in 2001, after its transformation in the Microsoft gold rush.

Larger than life, Roger Morgan was the mastermind behind the fair that made the city famous and is still a backstage power forty years later, when at the age of seventy he runs for mayor in hopes of restoring all of Seattle's former glory. Helen Gulanos, a reporter every bit as eager to make her mark, sees her assignment to investigate the events of 1962 become front-page news with Morgan's candidacy, and resolves to find out who he really is and where his power comes from: in 1962, a brash and excitable young promoter, greeting everyone from Elvis Presley to Lyndon Johnson, smooth-talking himself out of difficult situations, dipping in and out of secret card games; now, a beloved public figure with, it turns out, still-plentiful secrets. Wonderfully interwoven into this tale of the city of dreams are backroom deals, idealism and pragmatism, the best and worst ambitions, and all the aspirations that shape our communities and our lives.

First Line: This is when and where it begins, with all the dreamers champagne-drunk and stumbling on the head of the Needle.

Random Quote: The diagonal rain made it hard to see the freshly boarded up Starbucks as she drove down Twenty-third toward a three-story brick fortress that looked more like a detention facility than a community center. She parked in the gravel lot next to the netless basketball hoop among older American cars that reminded her of Ohio and watched families shuffle toward the entrance, their necks bowed against the rain.

Review: Although I grew up all over the South, my father's mother and her second husband moved to Seattle when I was in the third grade - 1970/1971 or thereabouts. I visited every summer - sometimes for two weeks, sometimes for a month, and once for the entire summer. When I was in college I visited them at Thanksgiving - I lived in New Mexico and couldn't go home at Thanksgiving and Christmas both so my grandmother claimed Thanksgiving as her own.

The Space Needle (image source)

As an adult I moved to Seattle in 1991 and lived there for ten years. My son was born there. I got divorced there. I met my current husband there (a Seattle native - very rare). I got endlessly rained on, spent most of those ten years with wet feet and clothes, and for the most part I had lots of good times there. I miss it until we visit, re-experience the traffic nightmare (just horrible due to geographic constraints - it makes its way out onto surface streets like black mold), get rained on, and remember why we moved. Still, I love the city and would live there again.

Model for the 1962 Seattle World's Fair (image source)

I have very fond memories of Seattle as a child. The Seattle Center, the location of the World's Fair, was a great place to be as a kid - The Space Needle, all the events that happened all over as part of Seafair. As an adult I was drawn to Bumbershoot and Folklife (before they became the insanity of today). I have danced in fountain there as often as I possibly could my entire life. These memories made it fun to read Jim Lynch's Truth Like the Sun just in time for the 50th anniversary of the Space Needle.

International Fountain - Seattle Center (image source)

Seattle now bears little resemblance to the Seattle of my memory. Honestly, for me, the nineties were the beginning of the end. We got out as it became more and more clear that yuppies were welcome, the city had been bought by the developers, and all us old-school Seattleites were no longer welcome. All my favorite dive bars closed and that was the end.

Volunteer Park Wading Pool - Seattle - 1936 (image source)

Mr. Lynch deftly catches the different spirits and feelings of the city at different times along with the differences in politics. Exploring the city through the eyes of Roger Morgan, the fair's mastermind, and Helen Gulanos, a Seattle new-comer. Ray, still on the scene and in his seventies, hopes for a last hurrah and runs for mayor. Helen, new to the scene and puzzled by Seattle's glossy finish, hopes for a Pulitzer and eyes a 40-year-old scandal involving Ray as her key to the prize. Book-ended by crises - the Cuban Missile Crisis and 9/11 - all the uncertainties inherent in living in changing times are seen here. In addition there is the simple celebration of the beauty of the city and its environs - sun setting over the Olympics, playing in the wading pool at Volunteer Park, coming into the city on the ferry at night and seeing it light up along the Puget Sound - these things make Seattle special.

Rich in detail, well-written, satirical, and clever, Truth Like the Sun captures the best and the worst about Seattle and its politics. And now I'm thoroughly homesick.

FTC Disclosure: Advance copy from Inkwell Management for review

Publication Information: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group - April 10, 2012

Format: Hardback

Rating: ★★★★

Teaser Tuesdays

2012-04-24T05:00:00.000-07:00

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme hosted by Miz B of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

Grab your current read
Open to a random page
Share two (2) random teaser sentences from somewhere on that page
BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS (make sure that what you share doesn't give too much away! You don't want to ruin the book for others!)
Share the title and author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

"Don't you ever have sleepless nights about conniving to destroy the lives of millions of people? Do you never stop to consider whether what you are doing is right?"

Heydrich studied Ella carefully, as though he had difficulty understanding her question, as though perplexed by her obtuseness. Suddenly, he began to laugh.

- The Demi-Monde: Winter by Rod Rees

In My Mailbox Monday

2012-04-23T05:00:00.000-07:00

Parisian Mailbox - 1920's (image source)

In April, Mailbox Monday is hosted by Cindy at Cindy's Love of Books. In My Mailbox is hosted by The Story Siren. These are the places where we ~~brag about~~ share the books that arrived in our mailboxes each week. As always, I try to find a mailbox or mailish thing that is somehow associated with what I'm reading right now. I'm just starting The Demi-Monde: Winter by Rod Rees so I looked for a Parisian mailbox from the twenties. Although the book is set in a virtual world, Paris is one of the virtual locations and I thought the mailbox was really cool.

Here's what I got this week:

Printed Matter

As the Crow Flies (Walt Longmire, #8) by Craig Johnson. Embarking on his eighth adventure, Wyoming Sheriff Walt Longmire has a more important matter on his mind than cowboys and criminals. His daughter, Cady, is getting married to the brother of his undersheriff, Victoria Moretti. Walt and old friend Henry Standing Bear are the de facto wedding planners and fear Cady’s wrath when the wedding locale arrangements go up in smoke two weeks before the big event. The pair set out to find a new site for the nuptials on the Cheyenne Reservation, but their scouting expedition ends in horror as they witness a young Crow woman plummeting from Painted Warrior’s majestic cliffs. It’s not Walt’s turf, but the newly appointed tribal police chief and Iraqi war veteran, the beautiful Lolo Long, shanghais him into helping with the investigation. Walt is stretched thin as he mentors Lolo, attempts to catch the bad guys, and performs the role of father of the bride.

Kindle Books (all from publishers via NetGalley.com)

Wake of the Bloody Angel by Alex Bledsoe. Twenty years ago, a barmaid in a harbor town fell for a young sailor who turned pirate to make his fortune. But what truly became of Black Edward Tew remains a mystery—one that has just fallen into the lap of freelance sword jockey Eddie LaCrosse.
For years, Eddie has kept his office above Angelina’s tavern, so when Angelina herself asks him to find out what happened to the dashing pirate who stole her heart, he can hardly say no—even though the trail is two decades old. Some say Black Edward and his ship, The Bloody Angel, went to bottom of the sea, taking with it a king’s fortune in treasure. Others say he rules a wealthy, secret pirate kingdom. And a few believe he still sails under a ghostly flag with a crew of the damned.
To find the truth, and earn his twenty-five gold pieces a day, Eddie must take to sea in the company of a former pirate queen in search of the infamous Black Edward Tew…and his even more legendary treasure.

Black Fire: The True Story of the Original Tom Sawyer--and of the Mysterious Fires That Baptized Gold Rush-Era San Francisco by Robert Graysmith. The first biography of the little-known real-life Tom Sawyer (who Mark Twain met during his brief tenure as a California newspaper reporter), told through a harrowing account of Sawyer's involvement in the hunt for a serial arsonist on the loose in mid-nineteenth century San Francisco.

Thieftaker by D.B. Jackson. Boston, 1767: In D.B. Jackson's Thieftaker, revolution is brewing as the British Crown imposes increasingly onerous taxes on the colonies, and intrigue swirls around firebrands like Samuel Adams and the Sons of Liberty. But for Ethan Kaille, a thieftaker who makes his living by conjuring spells that help him solve crimes, politics is for others…until he is asked to recover a necklace worn by the murdered daughter of a prominent family. Suddenly, he faces another conjurer of enormous power, someone unknown, who is part of a conspiracy that reaches to the highest levels of power in the turbulent colony. His adversary has already killed—and not for his own gain, but in the service of his powerful masters, people for whom others are mere pawns in a game of politics and power. Ethan is in way over his head, and he knows it. Already a man with a dark past, he can ill afford to fail, lest his livelihood be forfeit. But he can't stop now, for his magic has marked him, so he must fight the odds, even though he seems hopelessly overmatched, his doom seeming certain at the spectral hands of one he cannot even see.

Some Kind of Fairy Tale by Graham Joyce. It is Christmas afternoon and Peter Martin gets an unexpected phonecall from his parents, asking him to come round. It pulls him away from his wife and children and into a bewildering mystery. He arrives at his parents' house and discovers that they have a visitor. His sister Tara. Not so unusual you might think, this is Christmas after all, a time when families get together. But twenty years ago Tara took a walk into the woods and never came back and as the years have gone by with no word from her the family have, unspoken, assumed that she was dead. Now she's back, tired, dirty, dishevelled, but happy and full of stories about twenty years spent travelling the world, an epic odyssey taken on a whim.

Gilt by Katherine Longshore. When Kitty Tylney's best friend, Catherine Howard, worms her way into King Henry VIII's heart and brings Kitty to court, she's thrust into a world filled with fabulous gowns, sparkling jewels, and elegant parties. No longer stuck in Cat's shadow, Kitty's now caught between two men--the object of her affection and the object of her desire. But court is also full of secrets, lies, and sordid affairs, and as Kitty witnesses Cat's meteoric rise and fall as queen, she must figure out how to keep being a good friend when the price of telling the truth could literally be her head.

Eat the City: A Tale of the Fishers, Foragers, Butchers, Farmers, Poultry Minders, Sugar Refiners, Cane Cutters, Beekeepers, Winemakers, and Brewers Who Built New York by Robin Shulman. New York is not a city for growing and manufacturing food. It’s a money and real estate city, with less naked earth and industry than high-rise glass and concrete. Yet in this intimate, visceral, and beautifully written book, Robin Shulman introduces the people of New York City - both past and present - who do grow vegetables, butcher meat, fish local waters, cut and refine sugar, keep bees for honey, brew beer, and make wine. In the most heavily built urban environment in the country, she shows an organic city full of intrepid and eccentric people who want to make things grow. What’s more, Shulman artfully places today’s urban food production in the context of hundreds of years of history, and traces how we got to where we are.

Helen Keller in Love by Rosie Sultan. Rosie Sultan’s debut novel imagines a part of Keller’s life she rarely spoke of or wrote about: the man she once loved. When Helen is in her thirties and Annie Sullivan is diagnosed with tuberculosis, a young man steps in as a private secretary. Peter Fagan opens a new world to Helen, and their sensual interactions—signing and lip-reading with hands and fingers—quickly set in motion a liberating, passionate, and clandestine affair. It’s not long before Helen’s secret is discovered and met with stern disapproval from her family and Annie. As pressure mounts, the lovers plot to elope, and Helen is caught between the expectations of the people who love her and her most intimate desires.

How the Trouble Started by Robert Williams. Donald Bailey is sixteen. He can't forget the trouble that happened when he was eight, when the police were called. His mother can't forget either and even leaving their home town doesn't help. Then Donald befriends Jake, who is eight years old and terrifyingly vulnerable. As he tries to protect him, Donald fails to see the most obvious danger. And that the trouble might be closer than he thinks... Following Robert Williams's prize-winning debut Luke and Jon, How the Trouble Started is a dark, gripping novel about childhood, morality and the loneliness of children and adults. Told with Robert Williams's characteristic warmth, humanity and deceptively light touch, it is a story about how our best and worst intentions can lead us astray, and the moments we can never leave behind.

Kindle Books (bought for me by me cuz I wanted to)

Fatal Tango by William Fleischhauer. Giulietta Battin has devoted herself to ballet, earning a coveted spot as a dancer with the Staatsoper Berlin. But when she decides to explore a new style of music—the tango—life as she knows it changes forever. Soon after beginning her musical adventure, she meets Argentinean tango dancer Damián Alsina. They begin a torrid affair…which quickly turns into a nightmare. Damián suddenly sabotages his own performance with a bizarre, improvised choreography. His passionate creativity excites Giulietta, until Damián’s strange behavior culminates in a shocking act: he kidnaps and tortures her jealous father. Horrified, she demands answers, but Damián has fled to Buenos Aires and her father, his victim, is being suspiciously unforthcoming. So Giulietta follows her lover to South America, where her journey into the world of tango confronts her with the unspeakable horrors of the country’s brutal past. But denial will never silence art, and as Giulietta learns to decipher the true significance of Damián’s dance style, she finds the key to the mystery of her lover´s past and the terrifying truth that connects it with her own.

Let's Talk about Champagne Cocktails

2012-04-22T12:11:00.001-07:00

(image source)

I'm just starting to read The Demi-Monde: Winter by Rod Rees. The word demi-monde always makes me think of cocktails and decadence of all kinds and the decadence part of that thought makes me think of champagne cocktails. Who doesn't love champagne and who doesn't love a pretty cocktail with champagne in it?

I'm enjoying the book so far and have had these types of cocktails on my mind. I'll need to go to brunch and have one soon. In the meantime, here are 3 different champagne cocktail recipes (all are from marthastewart.com):

Classic Champagne Cocktail (image source)

Classic Champagne Cocktail

Yield Makes 1

Ingredients

3 drops bitters
1 sugar cube
1 ounce Cognac
4 ounces chilled Champagne

Directions

Drop bitters onto sugar cube; let soak in.
Place sugar cube in a Champagne flute.
Add Cognac, and top with Champagne.

Blood Orange Champagne Cocktail (image source)

Blood Orange Champagne Cocktail
(like a Mimosa, only prettier)

Yield Serves 10 to 12

Ingredients

2 1/4 cups freshly squeezed or frozen blood-orange juice
2 750-ml bottles champagne, chilled

Directions

Pour 3 tablespoons juice in each champagne flute.
Fill flutes with champagne, and serve.

Kir Royales (image source)

Kir Royale
(one of my favorites - so pretty)

Yield Serves 6

Ingredients

3 ounces (6 tablespoons) creme de cassis
1 bottle Champagne or other sparkling white wine
6 strips tangerine or orange zest, for garnish

Directions

Just before serving, pour 1 tablespoon creme de cassis into each glass.
Fill with Champagne, and garnish with zest.

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Ingredients

Directions

Ingredients

Directions

Ingredients

Directions