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Revisiting Atwood and Trevor

A couple weeks ago I finished reading The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood, which I was prompted to read by my niece who recently read and loved it. Actually, I read this book about 15 years ago and had almost entirely forgotten it, but my Atwood binge near the end of last year has me turning to some of her older stuff once again.

What can I say? If you read and loved her more recent novels such as The Year of the Flood and Oryx and Crake, which I most certainly did, you'll thoroughly enjoy this book. It's a look at a dystopian near future in which religion is used to take over the US and women are made subservient. In fact, as I was reading this prescient book, I saw a lot of crazy things that reminded me of the state of the US today.

There is so much more I could say about her ideas put forth in this book -- they struck a chord with me -- but I suggest that you give it a read. It's very much worth your time.

Next up was Fools of Fortune by William Trevor, another author I have recently read. This book came to me via Pete, who always reads Irish writers in March and has become a fan of William Trevor. While I loved Love and Summer which I read a few months ago, I was not as impressed with this novel. While I found the characters and story intriguing, there were some oddities of plot that pulled me out of the universe he created, thus lessening my enjoyment. I will be reading more Trevor in the future, most likely starting with The Story of Lucy Gault.

Right now I'm reading Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel which has won both the Man Booker and National Book Critics Circle awards. I had a hard time getting into the action (perhaps due to my lack of knowledge in the area of British history) but things are moving along now and I'm starting to enjoy it quite a bit.

Loving: Liberated Quiltmaking II

Liberated Quiltmaking II by Gwen Marston

Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger

I finished Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger -- you know, the woman who wrote The Time Traveler's Wife -- and I loved it. Sure it's a bit creepy, after all, it is a ghost story. And wouldn't you expect a tale of the supernatural from the woman whose previous novel concerned time travel?

Obsession and love are theme here, reflected (literally and figuratively) in the mirror image twins Julia and Valentina. But the compulsions to control, posses and break free are embodied in many of the characters. And while these characters all have some serious flaws, I found something to like in each of them.

I could not put this book down as I was pulled deeper and deeper into the rabbit hole that is the lives of these characters. I highly recommend this book.

Now (re)reading: The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

Rama Redux

Well, I finished re-reading the four Rama books by Arthur C. Clarke & Gentry Lee.  They were just as good as I remembered and I flew through them.

Now I'm reading Audrey Niffenegger's Her Fearful Symmetry and I can hardly put it down. It's really that good.

Stardust and Rama

I finished up Neil Gaiman's Stardust shortly after I posted that I had begun reading it. This fairy tale for grown-ups was a delightful read and I highly recommend it.

Last year we lost a giant in the world of sci-fi -- Sir Arthur C. Clarke. You may know him from the film 2001: A Space Odyssey, but I fell in love with his Rama books ages ago. The first, Rendezvous with Rama, which was written back in the early 70's, is a classic. And while it was left quite open ended, it looked like there would be no more Rama books. When he began writing more in the late 80's, I read each and every one eagerly and have re-read them several time.

I finished up the first book, reading my old 1973 copy which I purchased used at some point in time:

 

Okay, this photo of the cover is from wikipedia and I had to show it to you, because it is so psychedelically awesome, is it not?

I've started the second book -- Rama II -- and it is quite different from the first book. Why? Well this book was written with Gentry Lee whose style tends more toward that of Kim Stanley Robinson (who wrote the awesome Mars books), and while it might not be as good as the first book on some levels, his ability to involve you with the characters satisfies.  Definitely worth a read if you are a sci-fi fan!

Three Things

Three things are taking up all my free time lately:

1. Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes for Nintendo DS

This puzzle game is so fun that I cannot stop playing it. I have even been dreaming about linking my "armies" to make combos. If you love games like Puzzle Quest or Bejeweled Twist, you'll easily get hooked on this game.

2. Python Programming Language -- I first learned to program in BASIC when I was around 10 on a TRS-80 from Radio Shack. I learned C on my own, C++ at DePaul, Java and now Python on my own. Python is so easy that it's messing with my mind. (Thanks, for recommending it Theresa!) I've been using the O'Reilly Book, as well as a nice online tutorial.

3. Neil Gaiman's Stardust

This book is a fairy tale for grown-ups and I am flying through it and enjoying it thoroughly.

Other than that I've been baking banana bread, watching LOST, and trying to get healthy & pain free. I feel like getting back to crafting, so perhaps something to share later in the week.

Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson

I just finished Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash last night and I'm torn. I actually enjoyed the book for the most part, but it had some serious problems which destroyed the flow and took you out of the world he created with such care.

First of all, let me tell you about the premise. The idea here is that there is a computer virus that is also a biological virus and someone has discovered this and is using it to his advantage. Now this is all well and good, but instead of working this seamlessly in to the story, he creates this artificial construct (a digital librarian) for one of the protagonists (by the name of Hiro Protagonist -- groan) to talk with about this convoluted idea. I do not like this "discourse" technique, and it disrupts the flow in this otherwise action packed novel.

There are other issues -- some of the blood and guts go too far in my opinion -- but otherwise the concepts he proposes here are interesting. And the thing is, any *one* on the many concepts could have been developed into a great story, but instead he has thrown them all into one novel. Too much.

Hiro -- a sword wielding hacker -- and Y.T. -- a skateboarding courier -- are tough, likeable characters. And the adrenalin filled action scenes are worth slogging through the other stuff, in my opinion.  

If you haven't read Stephenson yet, start with the incredibly awesome Anathem. If you have read everything by him and crave more, give Snow Crash a try. It's a bad ass, wild ride.

Coveting -- Moleskine Passions

The Moleskine Passions Recipe Journal looks awesome and would resolve some of my messy recipe collection issues.

Barbara Kingsolver's The Lacuna

Last night I finished up Barbara Kingsolver's epic, The Lacuna.When I say epic, I'm not talking about a sweeping novel that spans generations, but rather a book that covers a complex time and two very different places -- the US and Mexico before during and after WWII, with a focus on the rise of Communism... and did I mention the artists?

The book starts with the story of a lonely boy who begins keeping a diary at his mother's request.  The novel is a recount of his life through these diaries -- a literary device I find problematic.  I prefer something plot driven, some forward movement other than a slow plodding through life that gets you to the end.  So writing in the style of a diarist is something that doesn't capture my attention as it should.

Having said that, I found the book to be utterly fascinating and quite informative.  Here we get a glimpse into the the lives of the famous painter and muralist Freida Kahlo and Diego Rivera.  Trotsky makes an appearance, looking more like a kindly grandfather than a leader of a revolution, and all the while we learn how the media can distort all manner of events.  (Perhaps a timely subject, don't you think?)

I definitely recommend this book as I think it will probably get you thinking about many things.  In fact, after finishing The Lacuna last night, I pulled out the MOMA book I received years ago from Pete:

The Museum of Modern Art New York.   We all sat down together and looked thorugh it.  There was only one photo each of Kahlo's and Rivera's works, but we had a fine time looking through all the beautiful, wild, terrible and wonderful works reproduced here.  Sometimes you just don't know where a book will lead you.

Reading Recap 2009

Let me start the 2009 book review with the last book I finished last year -- a classic -- J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit. This was the first time that I read the beautiful collector's edition that Pete bought me a few years back. It includes Tolkien's original illustrations and maps and was so much easier to read than the old, crumbling paperback copy I have read so many times before (and my dad before me). It was as magical as the first time my dad read to me from it when I was a kid.

Now for the recap -- to the best of my abilities, I calculate that I read 43 books (cooking and craft books aside) in 2009 which seems about right. Last year I didn't post a recap, but at the end of 2007 I reported reading 41 books.

This year there isn't one book that stands out above all the others, although I did enjoy Margaret Atwood's The Year of the Flood so much that I re-read Oryx and Crake right afterward. And 2009 was the year I discovered and devoured much by Robert Charles Wilson. I think my favorite was Spin, but The Chronolithswas also very good.

I'm starting off the new year by reading Barbara Kingsolver's new book -- The Lacuna and even though I'm only a few pages into it, I can tell it's going to be good.  An auspicious beginning to the 2010 reading year!

Books I've read but not reviewed (and probably will not review)

I think I may have mentioned that I use the blog as my personal book log because I am so bad about writing down what I have read. Usually I am prompt in, at the very least, listing what I've read on the blog, but lately things have gotten away from me and now here we are. Therefore, in no particular order, here are some of the book I recall reading recently:

Matchless: A Christmas Story by Gregory Maguire (the guy who wrote Wicked ).

Darwinia by Robert Charles Wilson -- I think this is the fourth or fifth book I read by him this year. In other words, I've taken a liking to his writing. Good old sci-fi.

Miles from Nowhere by Nami Mun

Love and Summer by William Trevor, who wrote The Story of Lucy Gault which is now on my "to read" list.

And right now I'm reading:

Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe -- but I've stalled out on it, so I started:

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien which I've already read probably half a dozen times, but there you have it.

I've been lax this year, so I'm sure my final count won't be accurate, but after the first of the year I'll be back with the (somewhat accurate) final count and a word or two about my favorite reads of the 2009.

Margaret Atwood does it again

Margaret Atwood returns to the dystopia she created in Oryx and Crake in her latest novel, The Year of the Flood.  This time she follows the stories of two women, but employs the same technique of jumping back and forth in time which was so effective in the first novel.

Here we have two women caught up in the God's Gardeners movement -- a group fighting against the corporations which have taken over the planet.  We see them before the pandemic as they struggle with life in this nightmare scenario and after -- perhaps just as nightmarish, or perhaps not.

I loved this book so much, that I immediately reread Oryx and Crake when I finished it.  Since one is not a sequel to the other, but a retelling from a different perspective, you could read them in whichever order you chose, but I might recommend reading Oryx and Crake first for reasons I don't want to mention here for fear of giving away too much. 

I literally could not put these two books down and would highly recommend both of them.

Remembering Kurt Vonnegut

"I have been a soreheaded occupant of a file drawer labeled 'science fiction' […] and I would like out, particularly since so many serious critics regularly mistake the drawer for a urinal."

~ Kurt Vonnegut

Happy Birthday, Mr, Vonnegut, the world isn't the same without you.

Updating

Do you read David Lebovitz's blog?  If you like food, you should.  Why?  Because he's funny, he lives in Paris & he posts great recipes.  If his blog leaves you wanting more, he has written a book, The Sweet Life in Paris, which is filled with great stories about his move from California to Paris and his adventures as he adjusts to this crazy city.  Each chapter is punctuated by recipes that, usually in some strange way, relate to the material presented.  It was a great read -- fun and light.

I mentioned a while back that I forgot to post a few books I had finished reading, and now I'm not sure I remember what I read.  I do remember that I finished Rabbit Is Rich by Updike a while back. This is the third Rabbit Angstrom book and the most depressing. Rabbit is reaching middle age and is quite pathetic really. At points the story moved a little more slowly than in the first two books, but a little over halfway through the plot picks up and once again I am left wanting to read more about Rabbit. Luckily I have the fourth book -- Rabbit at Rest -- which I'll probably read before the year is out.

I also read a collection by Will Eisner, a graphic novelist, called Will Eisner's New York: Life in the Big City. The stories are wonderfully engrossing and really pull you into New York as seen through Eisner's eyes. His style is detailed, old school and fits the subject matter perfectly.

I think I'm missing something else in there, but can't for the life of me think what it might be. Recently I've picked up Margaret Atwood's The Year of the Flood which I'm liking quite well -- probably not surprising since I liked Oryx and Crake and this new novel revisits the same world she sets up there. It doesn't appear to be a sequel, but rather a re-telling from a different perspective.  More on that as soon as I finish reading the book.

A Three Book Day (or a five book day, depending on how you look at it)

I finished reading three different books yesterday...

Blind Lake by Robert Charles Wilson -- Best book I've read by him to date.  Even better than Axis, in my opinion.  You have to love sci-fi with aliens and thinking computers. 

Spirited Away, Vol. 1 by Hayao Miyazaki -- I read this graphic novel in the afternoon becasue Maddie finished it and loved it.  If you have kids who love Japanese comic book stuff (Manga) and are worried about content, this is a great book.  (Some of the Manga stuff can be age inapproproate, so I find it's not always easy to find stuff my 9 year old can read.)  Lovely graphics -- exciting story.

Odd and the Frost Giants by Neil Gaiman -- These little hardbound books that some authors have been putting out lately just kill me.  Nice illustrations, pretty book cover, great little novella -- you get the idea.  (Philip Pullman has done a couple of these, which I also own and love.)  This is a very short novel based on Norse mythology (Thor, Odin & Loki all appear) in which a crippled boy has an adventure.  Gaiman's voice shines through, so if you are a fan, this is a must read.

In addition to these three, Maddie and I are reading The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 1) by Rick Riordan, which fits nicely with our current curriculum.  She's been reading a lot of Greek mythology and history and just finished The Iliad and the Odyssey -- an illustrated version by Marcia Williams.

And since I can never go to sleep bookless, I started Kent Haruf's Where You Once Belonged.

I recenlty finished several other books, which I haven't posted on the blog yet, so when I get my act together, I'll get this updated.  (If I don't, I'll completely forget what I've read before the year is out.  The blog has become part book log for me.) 

What are you all reading?

Holes by Louis Sachar

Maddie has been reading Holes by Louis Sachar to me in school and we have been loving it so much, that many days we end up eating lunch quite late because she asks to read "just one more" chapter 3 or 4 times. Then last night, she and I snuggled into bed and read for quite a while because we didn't want to wait until Monday to read more.

I guess what I'm saying is -- if you have an kid around 8 or 9 (maybe up to 11 -- Amazon says 9-12 yrs), get this book! I think you'll both enjoy reading it together.

Exciting Craft (& Cook) Books

Liberated Quiltmaking II by Gwen Marston. I have long had my eye out for a used copy of Gwen Marston's Liberated Quiltmaking, but at the crazy expensive prices they were going for it was not to be. So glad that a new version is coming out and at a reasonable price -- yeah!

Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day is the follow up to the wildly popular Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day and will feature lots of new recipes which use whole grains, fruit veggies and even gluten free recipes. Sounds interesting.

Okay, I'll admit that I'm not a flowery, romantic type, so Cath Kidston may not exactly fit my style, but there is something about her things that I am attracted too nonetheless. So Make! is definitely on my list of books to check out.

And I have three new books, generously sent to me by publishers, that I need to share with you soon. Lily Chin's Knitting Tips & Trick, Haiku Knits and This Is Not a Book. All great books -- more on that soon!

Disturbing and Wonderful Book

Ian McEwan is one of my absolute favorite writers.  I thoroughly enjoyed and highly recommend Atonement, Amsterdam and Saturday; and now I can recommend another of his books -- a short novel entitled The Cement Garden.

The premise here is that a family of four children is left orphaned, but their circumstances are such that they are able to conceal this fact and live on their own.  I found the story absolutely mesmerizing and was unable to put the book down, finishing it in a day.  At the end, I looked up, muttered "disturbing" and went on to tell Pete what an excellent book it was.

I also recently read Cornelia Funke's Inkheart which I thought was fun and interesting, but most definitely a kids' book.  While it was a good read and the plot kept things moving, I felt the characters were a bit flat.

The Chronoliths by Robert Charles Wilson -- the sci fi streak continues -- was an interesting read exploring the idea of the warping of time and how events in the future can affect the past.  It sounds a bit crazy, but it was done simply and isn't really all that mind twisting.  I was a little disappointed with the ending, but unless he had done some massive thing (like Kim Stanley Robinson and the Mars Trilogy) it would be hard to cover the scope of the issue he presents without glossing over a few things.  In the end, I'm glad he kept it short and focused on characters. 

Now Reading: Cook with Jamie: My Guide to Making You a Better Cook

Cooking with all things Trader Joe's

A while back I mentioned how much I love Trader Joe's and next thing you know, a friend gave me a contact and Cooking with All Things Trader Joe's landed on my doorstep!

If you too love Trader Joe's, I highly recommend this book.  I have a habit of marking recipes I want to make with little mini sticky notes and look at what happened after a first look through this book:

That is a lot of sticky notes!  Some of the recipes I marked:

• Peanutty Sesame Noodles
• Pasta alla Checca
• Black Bean Soup
• California Fish Tacos
• Dress to Impress Lobster Ravioli
• Frozen Tiramisu
• Sangria
• Almond Pudding
• Mushroom Basil Frittata

And that's just some of what I marked.  The recipes don't use a ton of ingredients and look very simple to throw together.  What a great resource for us TJ fans!

Here's What I Got

So, here's the stack of books I got at Downtown Books in Milwaukee:

The Chronoliths by Robert Charles Wilson, author of Spin which I loved.

Rabbit Novels Vol. 2 by John Updike. Books 3 & 4 of the Rabbit novels in one convenient volume. Looking forward to reading more about Rabbit since I really enjoyed the first two books.

The Cement Garden by Ian McEwan -- one of my favorite living authors.

Where You Once Belonged by Kent Haruf of Plainsong fame. A small volume that I couldn't resist.

Well, those should keep me busy for a little while at least.

Two I couldn't get through

I've been slogging through books lately and can't seem to find one that will stick. I started Philip Roth's I Married a Communist and really gave it a good try. I think I managed almost 150 pages before I finally gave up on it. The story telling device was so convoluted that it made me cringe. Basically you have a story told by this middle aged guy about the brother of a 90 year old man in narration by that 90 year old man. And to top it off, the passages where this 90 year old speaks (which is a huge portion of the book) are nearly essays. So, I finally set it aside.

Next up was Axis by Robert Charles Wilson. I recently read and enjoyed Spin so I figured this was a safe bet. And it was good, but not nearly as good as Spin. Ah well.

Since Sci-Fi (NOT Sy-Fy, thank you very much) was working out a bit better for me, and since I loved his Mars Trilogy, I decided to pick up Kim Stanley Robinson's The Years of Rice and Salt. It seemed a bit slow at first, but I stuck with it for over 100 pages. Here again, the device used was odd. A couple of "souls" are being reincarnated over and over through an alternate history where Europe has pretty much been killed off by the plague and (up to the point I stopped) the traders, warlords and various other people of Asia are expanding westward. I would just start to identify with a character and they would be killed off. This broke up the book too much for me and I finally moved on.

To cleanse the palate, I picked up Cornelia Funke's Inkheart. Yes, it's a YA book, but I have to say that I found it immediately engaging and have been enjoying it more than anything else I've read in the last few weeks.  Ah. . .

Neil Gaiman is *so* cool!

Seriously.

Spin by Robert Charles Wilson

Spin by Robert Charles Wilson has been on my reading list for quite some time, but the library only had it in mass market paperback -- which is just too hard on my eyes -- so I waited. When I received my Kindle I thought I would finally get a chance to read it, but it wasn't available yet. Fortunately last time I checked, the Kindle version of Spin was available and I downloaded it and tore into it. Thank goodness Amazon is being diligent about getting books converted.

Why was I so eager to read Spin? Well, I am a sci-fi junkie and it won the 2006 Hugo Award for best novel. I've read quite a few of the Hugo winners (and nominees) and find that they are usually excellent books.

Wilson explores a not so distant future in which an unseen intelligence messes with the earth, flinging us into the future with an unknown purpose. I really liked the main character, character being very important to good sci-fi, and loved where he went with this idea.

I looked for a Kindle version of the follow-up to this book -- Axis -- but it is not yet available. Darn. However, my library did have it in hardcover and it's sitting next to my computer as I type this, waiting to be read. But before that, I need to finish I Married a Communist by Philip Roth. I'm liking it well enough, but still feel like I'm not meshing with Roth as much as I would like. It's definitely better than Everyman (wow, did I loathe the main character in that book!) but not as good as The Plot Against America.

Neal Stephenson, you're killing me!

If there was a reading olymipcs, the triathlon would involve reading three Neal Stepehnson books in a year as their length, heft and girth are enough to test any reader's stamina. This year I completed just this challenge, having read Anathem, Quicksilver and Cryptonomicon.

Whew.

The book that started this mania was Anathem, which I simply could not put down. Even at 900 pages, I devoured it in less than two weeks and if you are going to take on Stephenson, I suggest that you start with it.

Cryptonomicon was probably the second runner up. While it was another 900 page tome, it read much more quickly than I thought it would. The mathematics which pops up here and there throughout the book appealed to me in a deeply geeky way. And while I am quick to point out when a novel of this size could benefit from some serious editing -- I don't think that applies here. If you are going to read Stephenson, part of the appeal is the quirky, geeky, and sometime hilarious asides that crop up on a regular basis. While the main story could go on without them, something would be lost.

I think I'll stay away from Stephenson for a while and give myself time to recover, but I'm sure I'll be back. How can I resist?

I have to mention Simon Singh's The Code Book: The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography -- which looks at crypto in WWII, as this is the focus of Cryptonomicon.  If you read or have read Cryptonomicon, it would be a fabulous companion book.

I have a little crush. . .

on Mark Bittman. In case you don't know who he is, let me first direct you to his blog -- Bitten -- which is in *no way* related to vampires (sorry to disappoint). No, he's a food writer for the NYTimes.

And he's awesome.

A few years ago when my love of food, cooking & health led me to an exploration of organic, local, and seasonal eating, I bumped into the writing of Mark Bittman.  I purchased his award winning book, How To Cook Everything, started reading his blog and recently purchased his new book -- Food Matters: A Guide to Conscious Eating with More Than 75 Recipes. While you might call this a cookbook, there is an extensive discussion of food policy and it's affect on all of us in the first half of the book which flows almost seamlessly into the "recipe" section.

The discussion is thought provoking and just might change your eating habits. He makes an excellent argument for eating less meat and more fruits, vegetables and whole grains. If you've been thinking about these things, as I have, I think you will enjoy reading this book.

Then there are the recipes. Bittman is the kind of no nonsense cook that I identify with. He gives you the feeling that cooking isn't some big, difficult task, but rather a simple, enjoyable part of life that need not be stressful. He encourages you to throw together the best, freshest ingredients you can find and relax. These aren't complex recipes that require you to go out and purchase fancy ingredients, instead he gives you a blueprint for making do with what you have.

For example, in the "basics" section he explains how to cook just about any veggie, any way -- in less than three pages. Then he teaches you how to make a basic vinaigrette, cook pretty much any grain without fuss, and make a pot of beans. He includes customizable recipes for salsa, tomato sauce, stock, bread and so much more.

This is a wonderful guide to eating and thinking about what we eat, and if you can't get enough, I recommend his book How To Cook Everything: Simple Recipes for Great Food which I have any use all the time. It is an excellent resource that I find invaluable.

Jam it, Pickle it, Cure it and other cooking projects

Jam It, Pickle It, Cure It: And Other Cooking Projects by Karen Solomon is a book so awesome that I was freaking out as I looked through it. Seriously.

So how did I come across this amazing book? Well, I'm a library patron -- one of those people who wander the isles plucking random books from the shelves. I occasionally look up a book in the catalog, but I find a good 90% of the books I check out by hunting and gathering. This week my interests leaned toward preserving, canning and cheese making, so I hit the 641.4 section. This book called out to me when I saw the beautiful cover -- a quick page through it revealed equally lovely photos, so I brought it home.

When I sat down I noticed the subtitle -- "and other cooking projects" -- and knew this was going to be good. I *love* food projects -- making bear, soda, jam, bread, pickles, and so on. When I opened to the first section I was super excited to see cracker recipes -- well, one basic recipe with a bunch of variations. Since I almost always alter recipes, a book with variations makes me happy. And since I've been wanting to get away from processed foods and Pete loves crackers -- this is one recipe I've been looking for.

Condiments are covered next -- infused oils, salad dressings, ketchup, mayo -- all things I want to try my hand at. Then comes pickles and olives, which is wonderful since I'm growing pickling cucumbers and some of them are nearing ripeness.

The next section made me think the author was writing the book just for me, as it includes basic pasta dough, tomato sauce and ravioli (and more). Since we are mostly vegetarian, we tend to eat a lot of pasta and I've been wanting to make fresh pasta with Maddie.

The next couple of sections are for the meat eaters -- cured, smoked, dried, etc. fish and meat. I have to admit, I'm tempted to try her recipe for homemade bacon.

Section 7 is all about butter and cheese. OMG! I was actually looking for this book when I stumbled upon Jam It, Pickle It, Cure It. Recipes include butter and compound butters, queso blanco, ricotta and ricotta salata.

Section 8 is Preserves, curds and fruit butters. And section 9 is called "Sugar It". This section includes a recipe I've been meaning to make for ages -- marshmallows. She thoughtfully includes a recipe for graham crackers too, so you can get some smore action going. And I have to mention the fruit leather recipe because Maddie has been asking to make homemade fruit leathers for the last couple weeks. (Seriously, does the author know me?) In keeping with the sweet theme, section 10 include recipes for all sorts of popsicles, including chocolate fudge pops and burnt salted caramel icies.

Section 11 is all about candy making and includes some yummy looking peppermint patties, toffee and peanut butter cups -- Pete's favorite.

Since I've been meaning to try making flavored vodka, section 12 -- hard and soft beverages -- was well received.  I also bookmarked limoncello, ginger beer, chai and winter solstice brew.

Okay, I know I've gone on and on about this book, but it is right up my alley and has me ridiculously excited. Check it out yourself if you have the chance!  And I'll be sure to post my results as I work my way through this book.

Wacky Baby Knits

I was recently sent a review copy of Wacky Baby Knits by Alison Jenkins and I have to say that there are some wacky designs in the book -- the cow suit you see on the cover, a frog costume and a robot costume, to name a few -- which is all very well and good if you feel like knitting something that involved for a baby who will quickly grow out of it. I however, preferred the slightly less involved and much more practical items which include some very cute booties, a bunch of hats -- some wacky and some adorable -- and several doable sweaters.

Check the book out for yourself -- even if you, like me, could not picture yourself knitting a full pirate outfit for a baby, I think you'll find some things you like in this book.  Perhaps some Furry Bear Feet, or the whimsical Cupcake Hat. 

One last note -- I like the fact that the beginning of the book includes quite detailed knitting instructions, so even the new mom or grandma who picks this up hoping to make one of the items despite little or no prior knitting experience will have lots of information to guide them along.  I love that books are doing this these days!

Reading with a headache

I've had a headache for a week straight now (my head is pounding as I type this), so I've been trying to lay low when I can, which means I've been reading quite a bit. In fact, I started The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams on Friday night and finished it up on Saturday.

If you know me and my reading habits, you would probably be shocked that I am just now getting around to reading this cult favorite. In fact, I'm surprised at myself -- but even fanatical readers have weird holes in their libraries. Fortunately this was rectified when I came across a bunch of sci-fi novels at a garage sale (yes!)

If you are a fan of sci-fi, absurdest comedy, or both like me, you will really enjoy this book (think Asimov meets Vonnegut). Funny, thought provoking, and just plain fun. I am very happy that this gaping hole in my library has now been filled.

Reading, Reading, Reading

It's been a while since I posted a reading update, but that doesn't mean I haven't been reading. When last I posted, I was starting Rabbit Redux by John Updike, which I flew through. I think it may even have been better than the first book -- Rabbit, Run. Highly recommended. I'm sure I'll be reading Rabbit Is Rich, the next Harry Angstrom book, as soon as I can get my hands on a copy.

Next up was The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga which won the Man Booker Prize. I really enjoyed this book and the glimpse into social issues in India which I previously knew little about. The story is told as a series of letters written to the leader of China from an Indian man who works his way up from an orphan boy in rural India to an entrepreneur in the big city. The driving force of the plot is the murder he commits, why he commits it and how it changes his life. Highly recommended reading.

Most recently I finished reading Lisa See's latest -- Shanghai Girls, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I've written about Lisa See before and my love of her books exploring the fate of women in Chiona in the past. This book starts in Shanghai and the action moves to the United States as a pair of sisters flee during the Japanese invasion. It's a wonderful novel, historically based, with an engaging lead character. I recommend this book as well as her others -- Snow Flower and the Secret Fan & Peony in Love.

Baking with Dorie Greenspan

Sometimes I purchase a cookbook and right away I have to make something from it -- or several things. Then there are cookbooks that I gaze at and then place on the shelf, only to rediscover them months or years later. Dorie Greenspan's book Baking: From My Home to Yours is one of the later.

After ignoring it for ages, I picked it up a couple of weeks ago and  have made two recipes in succession which both turned out wonderfully. Now I shouldn't be all that surprised by this since this book did win the 2007 James Beard Award in the Baking and Deserts category.

First I made the chocolate chip cookies -- I usually use the Toll House recipe, so this was a departure. They were just perfect, the extra dough froze beautifully and the second batch that I baked up after thawing the dough was as good (if not better) than the first.

Then last night I made the Chocolate Chocolate Chunk Muffins. Perfect as a snack or dessert and everyone loved them. They were easy to make too.

I'm not sure what I'll make next from this cookbook, but one thing is certain -- this will be my go to baking book for some time.

Reading Classics, Award Winners & Graphic Novels

I can hardly remember where I left off, but I believe I was starting to read Pride and Prejudice on the Kindle. Really enjoyable and fun read as always.

After that I picked up The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves by M.T. Anderson. I loved the first volume -- The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Vol. 1: The Pox Party -- and decided I had to read the follow up. It was as good, if not better than the first book and I highly recommend them. They fall into one of my favorite genres, historically based fiction. This book leads into the Revolutionary war and follows Octavian Nothing as he fights first for the Rebels and then for the Redcoats trying to figure out who will give him his freedom with all this talk of liberty. 

Next I picked up a couple of graphic novels at the library -- Good-bye, Chunky Rice and Thoreau at Walden.

I read Blankets by Craig Thompson ages ago and knew that he had another much loved graphic novel called Good-bye, Chunky Rice but hadn't seen it available anywhere, so as soon as I saw it at the library, I snagged it. It's a wonderfully sad little story and was a joy to read.

Thoreau at Walden by John Porcellino is a nice little volume composed mostly of quotes from Walden, mixed with endearing illustrations -- Thoreau and a friendly mouse, Thoreau working in his garden, and Thoreau enjoying nature. I think it is a fun read and a nice introduction to Walden for younger readers.

Right now I'm completely caught up in Updike's Rabbit Redux -- the second Rabbit Angstrom book. Incredible books (like Phillip Roth, but so much better -- more restrained and less egotistical.)

Booking Through Thursday -- Graphic Novels

This week's Booking Through Thursday discussion topic pertains to graphic novels -- of which I am a fan. In fact, that's one of the library sections I almost always check out (pardon the pun). My all time favorite is Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi which I completely recommend to everyone. (And the movie is pretty darn good too.)

My daughter is an even bigger fan of graphic novels and literally devours them. She always goes straight to them in any bookstore or library and has read so many, that I can't list them all here. I will say that she loves all Pokémon graphic novels as well as the graphic novel versions of the Warriors books, but we have also found some real gems like Robot Dreams and To Dance: A Ballerina's Graphic Novel. While I don't have any trouble getting Maddie to read (she takes after her mother and father in this respect), I would imagine that this would be a way to engage a reluctant reader. Check some of these great books out with your child -- I bet you'll enjoy them too!

Quicksilver & Octavian Nothing

A Couple of weeks ago I mentioned that I was reading Neal Stephenson's Quicksilver which is the first book in the Baroque Cycle. I actually flew threw it (considering it's length!) and I'm looking forward to reading the next book -- The Confusion.

I won't lie to you, this book took some time to get into, but not all that much time -- maybe a couple of hundred pages (the book is something like 1000 pages long) but once he focused more on the make believe characters, I was hooked. And that seems to be true for a lot of this book for me. I liked the characters he invented, but grew a bit distracted when he focused too much on historical figures. The scientists and mathematicians weren't too bad (Newton, Leibniz, et. al) but the courtiers -- oy!

The book story is told in an unusual manor -- much of the book is written as correspondence, there is a portion that is written as a play and a large portion at the end is a cipher -- actually the decoded cipher that had been sewn into a piece of embroidery. (crazy!)

It's a massive work, and an ambitious undertaking to re-tell history from this age of political upheaval and scientific discovery. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in this time period.

Strangely enough -- the next book I read was from nearly the same time period (a bit later, but a similar theme here) -- The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Vol. 1: The Pox Party by M.T. Anderson. This book won the National Book Award (2006) and was Michael L. Printz Award Honor Book (2007). It's a strange tale of a slave who doesn't know he is a slave and is set in the (US) colonies, pre-revolutionary war. The owners of this unusual slave boy bring him up as if he were a prince -- giving him a classical education and measuring every aspect of his life for "scientific" purposes. He eventually finds out that he is not free and as the benefactor of this scientific group dies, he finds out how harsh life can be. It is a gripping tale and I literally sped through it.

This book is recommended for teens and I agree -- some aspects are too difficult for younger children. However, I would definitely recommend this book to adults. And I'm looking forward to reading the second book -- The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves.

Right now I'm reading (re-reading, actually) Pride and Prejudice because it was on my Kindle and I needed something to read last night after I finished Octavian Nothing.

Can I just say?

That I totally and completely love my Kindle .  Really.  I haven't read a regular book since I got it.  I'm completely in love and I'm 100% satisfied with my purchase.  If you are a reader and you have a tax refund check burning a hole in your pocket, I can't recommend it highly enough.

Currently reading Quicksilver -- a massive 960 page book that would be (at best) bulky to hold and (at worst) painful.  Books like this were made for the Kindle -- seriously.

Crafty Books!

Yesterday I received a box of crafty books from Trafalgar Square Books which I will be sharing with you over the next few weeks. I already quickly looked through about half of them and I have to say that there are some awesome books here! I'm especially excited about Crochet Workshop which is a Rowan publication. And I'm wishing I had a little one to knit for after looking through Essential Knits for Kids from Debbie Bliss.

I'll share more soon!

Twilight Saga -- done.

When you have the flu (the real, actual flu -- not the stomach flu) there isn't much you can do except lay in bed and wait it out. Since I was down for the count for the better part of a week, I was able to finish off the entire Twilight Saga -- not a bad thing to read when you are sick.

Overall I enjoyed them -- at least well enough to keep reading them -- and would recommend them to anyone looking for some light reading --- think beach read. I did however, have a problem with the role of the main character and her influence on young (teenage) women women who are the target audience for these books. If your teen reads them, I would suggest that you read them too and create a dialog about Bella.

While reading these I developed an unhealthy love for my Kindle. I'm completely and utterly hooked and won't look back. In fact, I'm now reading Little Brother by Cory Doctorow on it and loving it.

Red Mars -- A free Kindle book I love!

Now here's a free book I can recommend with no reservations at all -- Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson. I've read the entire martian trilogy, and while I was lucky to find an oversize used copy of Green Mars, I had to read Red Mars in Mass Market Paperback form which was very hard on my eyes.  (I think I checked Blue Mars out from the library.) I'm so glad to have this for the Kindle because I can see myself reading it again.

Don't have a Kindle? Well, if you have and iPod you can read it using the Kindle app. I've loaded the Kindle app on my iPod touch and it seems to work quite nicely.  (Although it doesn't really compare to the ease of reading on a Kindle in my opinion.)

You can read about free books and more on the Kindle Blog.

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

Well, that was a quick read despite its length.

I'm sure you've heard of Twilight, or read it already or know someone who has read it already. I, myself, was quite unaware of the whole phenomenon until the 3rd or 4th book came out and I started seeing huge displays in bookstores. Teenage vampire story, though. Really? I couldn't bring myself to look at it. Then the movie came out and all the hysteria that came with it -- really, I thought? Then my sisters started reading the books. And truth be told, I couldn't let my sisters read them without reading them myself.

Well, I've read the first book and started the second -- New Moon -- and I guess I'm hooked like everyone else. Don't get me wrong -- this is not really very good writing and the characters fall a bit flat for my taste. Their motivations are also suspect and don't ring true in many places throughout the book.

But does all that really matter when you want a trash novel to read? Sometimes you want something easy, fun, intriguing. The storyline is engaging and she does a good enough job of moving the plot forward so you simply can't put it down. I'm sure I'll read the rest of the books -- why not?  They are a fun diversion from the usual stuff I read and you can really fly through them.

Free Books for the Kindle 2

So, you have a Kindle and you want some free books. Where do you go? Well, I suppose you could go straight to Project Gutenberg and download a book, then convert it and then load it onto your reader, but luckily the hard work has been done for you already. Thanks to a tip from Jenny I am using Feedbooks.

This was so much easier than I thought it would be. First you download the Kindle guide from the website. Then just put it in the "document" folder on your Kindle -- same thing as yesterday with the converted knitting pattern. Then you can click on the guide from your Kindle's homepage and you'll be taken to a website where you can easily download books.

I hope someone will find this helpful! I'll be doing some more file conversion and such in the coming weeks and I'll post tips as I come across them.

Slam & Twilight

I've been a fan of Nick Hornby for ages, reading pretty much all of his novels, and if you've been checking out my book posts here over the last year or so, you will know that I am all about the YA genre, so it should be no surprise that Slam would be on my short list of must read books.

Slam by Nick Hornby is the story of a teenage boy who knocks up his girlfriend, but doesn't find this out until they have broken up. His parents -- now divorced -- had him at a very young age so there is another dynamic at play. In addition, the boy is an avid skateboarder and idolized Tony Hawk -- going so far as to "talk" to him when trying to work though his problems.

I felt that the voice here was authentic -- not sure if that's entirely a good thing  -- as an adult reader, I found it to be a bit too easy to read and wanted a little more. However, it was authentic to my ears, so I have to give him credit for that. All in all, I think it's a fresh look at the whole teen pregnancy issue and am guessing it would be greatly enjoyed by any teenager.

Continuing the YA theme, I've taken the plunge and started reading Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. I simply could no longer resist as just about everyone around me is reading it -- including 2 of my sisters who are not big readers. My sister who says she reads one book a year has breezed through the first two books recently and is ready to read the third. So I have to stay in the loop! I bought the first book for my Kindle and I'm flying through it. It's certainly not high literature, but it's quite entertaining and is better than I thought it would be.

Kindle Unboxed

What could be a better gift for a girl who loves to read and loves electronic gadgets than a Kindle ? 

It arrived safe and sound a few days after my birthday and I wasted no time opening it up.  I have to hand it to Amazon, the packaging was slick, protective and mostly recyclable.

I seriously felt like a kid at Christmas opening this package up!  Isn't she gorgeous?

I charged it right up, purchased my first book (only $6.04) and am already 25% through it.  I just keep saying "I love my Kindle!" over and over.  Seriously -- this is like a reading revolution.
More on Kindle soon!  And a big thank you to Pete & my Mom for bringing me and my Kindle together!

Rabbit, Run by John Updike

I finished Rabbit, Run by John Updike yesterday. I still can't believe that it took me this long to read Updike.

Before I even get into character, plot, and all that good stuff, let me talk a bit about the style. The prose here is dense, almost overwhelming at first, yet he writes about the mundane, revealing everyday glimpses of suburbia in a profound way. And the book is written in the present tense, jumping from one point of view to another -- making us privy to the thoughts of each character we encounter. Really nice writing -- very engaging.

The story here is of a young, straying husband who was a big basketball star in high school, but those days are behind him. He leaves his pregnant wife -- who is a drunk and rather unsympathetic character -- and runs into the arms of a whore, to whom he is introduced by no other than his former basketball coach -- once a god, now a broken and pathetic man. I'm sure you are getting the idea here -- all these people are flawed. Surburbia is diseased. However, at the same time he shows you the worst of his characters, Updike leaves them vulnerable and you can't help but feel sorry for them at times.

I'll be reading more about Rabbit at the first chance I get. Thank goodness there are three more novels and a novella to keep me busy.

One Vonnegut Down, One Updike Started

Now that's more like it. I started and finished Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five -- an *excellent* book. I don't know how many times I've read it, but each time I do, I discover something new. If you haven't yet read this classic, you really should give it a try. While it is a book about war, there is so much more to it than that.

I've started Updike's Rabbit, Run -- what dense prose! A delight so far.

Intrigued with Kindle

So, Amazon is coming out with a new version of the Kindle. I have to say, I was intrigued when they came out with the first one, but I'm always wary of the first generation of most any electronic device -- especially one in a  relatively unexplored (or unsuccessful) area such as electronic reading devices. Presumably people have reported on what they didn't like, or what they would like to see and Amazon has, hopefully, incorporated the best ideas into the new device.

So here are the pros and cons for me 

Pros:

• Thin and lightweight -- I tend to read some longer books and lugging around, or just holding a book that is over 700 pages can be a pain.
• Adjustable print size -- Love this!! I don't have the best eyesight and my eyes tend to tire easily. Being able to increase text size is HUGE for me.
• One charge lasts 14 days and you can recharge using USB.
• Tons of books available.

Cons:

• Price -- device is $360 and books are around $6-$10 each. Right now I use the library a lot to save $$. So this price tag is a bit hard to swallow.
• Fearful of eyestrain -- I would want to make sure this really was easy on the eyes.
• I'm a bit old fashioned and like the physical book as an object.

So, I'm not quite sold, but I'm getting there. Now I know there are some other electronic book readers out there besides the Kindle -- notably the Sony PRS-505. Do any of you have an eBook Reader? And if so, what do you think of it?

When to Stop Reading a Book

There are all kinds of theories as to when you should give up on a book. I like the Rule of 50 put forth by Nancy Pearl which says that you should give a book 50 pages if you are under the age of 50 and if you are over 50, subtract your age from 100 and use that number. I'm a pretty fast reader though and sometimes I allow myself to continue reading a book for far too long.

 

Case in point, The Given Day by Dennis Lehane (of Mystic River fame). I'm now on page 354 and I'm about to take it back to the library unfinished -- it is actually 704 pages long.

I guess I liked the characters well enough -- which kept me reading as long as I did -- but I don't really care if Luther ever gets back with Lila, or if Danny ever ends up with Nora, or gets his gold shield, or unionizes the police in Boston. And enough already with Babe Ruth! (There are these weird passages which are supposed to sort of link two stories here. They all include Babe Ruth and as far as I'm concerned, they have little value, break up the flow and make me wonder why an editor didn't convince Lehane to remove them.)

So there you have it. I've invested quite a bit of time in reading this book, but I just don't have it in me to finish. My mind keeps wandering to the other goodies sitting on my shelves and I find myself reading shorter bits of the book each night. It's time to say goodbye.

Up next: Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut -- my all time favorite author. I've declared 2009 to be the year of Vonnegut and Updike. Can you believe I haven't read the Rabbit Novels yet?

The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke

I just finished up The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke and I have to say that I loved it. Lately I've discovered that there are many books tucked away in the "Kids" and "Teens" sections at the bookstore that deserve some notice from adults too.

This is an adventure tale about some homeless kids living in Venice. In has all the makings of a delightful story -- suspense, mystery, orphans, and even an old, abandoned movie theater. If you want a quick read that is lots of fun, check it out. Better yet, read it with your kid or grandkid!

I see this was also made into a film which I'll need to check out. And this is also the author of the Inkheart books which are now on my reading list.

The Children of Hurin by J.R.R. Tolkien

I just finished up The Children of Hurin last night and I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised. You never know what you are going to get when someone goes mucking around in the papers of a deceased author, but in this case, J.R.R. Tolkien's son did him justice.

The story takes place much earlier than either The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings, but has a very similar feel. There are still elves and orcs, dwarves and even a dragon, but the main characters here are men. Tolkien's storytelling is engaging as always and I really tore through this book. If you are a fan of Tolkein's other works, this is a must!

Anathem by Neal Stephenson

I finished Anathem by Neal Stephenson already despite its 900 page heftiness. Guess it didn't take me the two weeks I though it would but close enough. I have to say this book was so excellent that I stayed up past my bedtime on quite a few occasions because I simply couldn't put it down.

Now I'm reading Aldous Huxley's Island which seems promising already. And can I just say that the reason I picked up this book was LOST, which is back in only 2 weeks. TWO WEEKS! (I'm a wee bit excited.)

Books I received. . .

If you've read my blog for any length of time, I'm sure you can deduce that I have book fetish. So it's probably no surprise that I received quite a few books this holiday season. Here are some of them:

Slam by Nick Hornby -- received from Pete -- I've been a fan of Hornby for years and have read pretty much everything he's written (I'm talking about his novels here), so it was a good bet that I would want to read this too. This is the first book he's put out in the increasingly popular "young adult" genre. (Pete wants to read this too, I'm sure, so he may have had some ulterior motives behind this purchase.)

Jamie at Home & Martha Stewart's Cooking School -- two cookbooks to add to my growing collection. This year I need to invest in a bookcase solely for my cookbooks as they are growing out of their present space despite my having taken some to the local used bookshop. I'm sure I'll be posting more about these as I make recipes from them. I also received The Brownie Experience to go along with my new Baker's Edge Pan. No more undercooked center.

I'm a fan of Frank Lloyd Wright, so I was happy to receive Frank Lloyd Wright The Houses from my SIL. It is filled with gorgeous photos of the insides and outsides of just about every Frank Lloyd Wright house ever. Just beautiful.

I feel like I'm forgetting something, but I'm too lazy to walk upstairs right now, so I'll leave it at that.

Currently reading Anathem by Neal Stephenson -- a beast at over 900 pages. I'm already completely sucked in, so I must continue reading now. Damn you and your excellent storytelling Stephenson -- I'll be reading this one for at least the next 2 weeks.

Home by Marilyn Robinson

I just finished reading Home by Marilynne Robinson and I wanted to post about it right away because it was a great book! I've already read her two other novels -- Housekeeping, which I loved, and Gilead which I liked but found a bit tedious. Home takes place in Gilead and concerns a aging preacher (friends of the preacher in the book Gilead), his daughter and son. The son, a one time drunk and troublemaker, has returned after 20 years to resolve some issues with his father. Meanwhile the daughter is home caring for her aging father and is caught up in the drama.

At first I thought this was going to be another Gilead, with too much introspection on the daughter's part (she's the voice here), but as soon as the brother arrives on the scene, the action starts up and things are recovered. Robinson is an excellent storyteller and I was completely caught up in the tale.

Issues here include belief vs. skepticism, past mistakes vs. the present and the place of women and African Americans in society. There is a lot to think about, but the story is simple and spare. Really excellent writing and a book that I would highly recommend.