Teaser Tuesday: The Wisdom of John Muir

Muir looked forward to the trip and wasn't disappointed.  "I made up a package of bread, tied my notebook to my belt, and strode away in the bracing air, every nerve and muscle tingling with eager indefinite hope, and ready to give welcome to all that wilderness might offer."

-- The Wisdom of John Muir: 100 Selections from the Letters, Journals, and Essays of the Great Naturalist by Anne Rowthorn.

This is a good example both of Muir's own writing -- I love "eager indefinite hope" -- and the way Rowthorn uses it.  She uses Muir's own writing, in long passages and little snippets, interspersed with her own cogent explanations for context, to write a chronological biography of America's greatest naturalist. 

The Wisdom of John Muir is a good introduction to Muir's life and thinking.

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by Should Be Reading, where you can find the official rules for this weekly event. 

Mailbox Monday

Thanks for joining me for Mailbox Monday! MM was created by Marcia at A girl and her books (fka The Printed Page), who graciously hosted it for a long, long time, before turning it into a touring meme (details here).

This month, Mailbox Monday is hosted by Martha's Bookshelf.  Please take the time to visit her wonderfully eclectic blog.

I got a short stack of books last week from a variety of sources:



Get Your Pitchfork On!: The Real Dirt on Country Living by Kristy Athens.  This is terrific! It is a practical, no-nonsense guide for urbanites who want to go live in the country -- and don't we all have those fantasies every now and again? Thanks go to intrepid publicist, Mary Bisbee-Beek for my copy.  This is right up my Food Freedom alley!



Songs of Power and Prayer in the Columbia Plateau: The Jesuit, the Medicine Man, and the Indian Hymn Singer by Chad S. Hamill.  This looks like a really interesting story about the connections between music, religion, and Native American spirituality.  Thanks go to OSU Press for my copy.



Skios by Michael Frayn.  I first saw Frayn's permanently-running and very funny play, Noises Off, when I went to London as a teen-ager in 1983.  His new novel looks like it could be just as funny.  Thanks go to the LibraryThing Early Reviewer program for my copy. 



Island by Aldous Huxley.  This shows up on the Anthony Burgess list of his favorite 99 Novels, so I've been looking for a copy. I found one at The Joy of Books in Libby, Montana when I was there for work.

Opening Sentence: Comfort Me with Apples

Easy for him to say: He was independently wealthy.

-- Comfort Me with Apples: More Adventures at the Table by Ruth Reichl. She was referring to the quote from legendary food writer A. J. Liebling at the top of the page: "The primary requisite for writing well about food is a good appetite."

Reichl is the editor in chief of Gourmet magazine and the author of several foodie memoirs.  This is the first of her books that I have read. It counts as one of my books for the Foodie Reading Challenge, hosted by Margot at Joyfully Retired., and for the Memorable Memoirs Challenge, hosted by Melissa at The Betty and Boo Chronicles.



She ends several of the chapters with recipes.  The one I am going to make this weekend is so simple it isn't really a recipe.  But it sounds delicious. 

ASPARAGUS WITH BALSAMIC

Cook the fattest asparagus you can find, making sure to not overcook it.  Serve with a little bowl of the best balsamic vinegar you have.  Eat with fingers, dipping spears in the vinegar. 

Reichl's description of her first encounter with this dish brings back feelings of early food discoveries.  It was the late '70s and she had never eaten asparagus with her fingers and had never heard of, let alone tasted, balsamic vinegar. 

WEEKEND COOKING

Hosted by Beth Fish Reads

Book Beginnings: The Wisdom of John Muir

Please join me every Friday to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires.  Please remember to include the title of the book and the author.

Leave a link to your post.  If you don't have a blog, but want to participate, please leave a comment with your Book Beginning.



Be patient with me today. I'm in Kalispell, Montana for depositions of a couple of my clients. It's going to be a jam-packed day and then I fly home at the crack of dawn tomorrow. I probably won't get around to visit all your posts until later this weekend. But I will stop by as soon as I can. Thanks for posting!

MY BOOK BEGINNING

This book is invaluable because, among many other things, it reminds us what a talented writer John Muir was.

-- from the Forward to The Wisdom of John Muir: 100 Selections from the Letters, Journals, and Essays of the Great Naturalist by Anne Rowthorn. 

I've read about John Muir, but I've never read his own writing. I am looking forward to learning more.

My copy came through the LibraryThing Early Reviewer program.

Review: Doctor Thorne

Frank Gresham must marry money. His father has already sold off part of Gresham Park and the rest is mortgaged to the hilt. His mother wants to keep – and use – the London house. His five sisters need dowries. And no one wants to lose face with their rich De Courcy relatives. So now that Frank is twenty-one, all agree that he must marry money.

All except Frank, that is. He’s in love with Mary Thorne, the bastard niece of a country doctor. Anthony Trollope recounts the trials and tribulations of these unlucky lovers in his 1858 novel, Doctor Thorne, the third book in his Chronicles of Barsetshire.

Like the first two in the series, The Warden and Barchester Towers, Doctor Thorne is lively, witty, occasionally snarky, and thoroughly engrossing. It feels even more contemporary, perhaps because of the racy matter of illegitimacy, or because it gets away from the ecclesiastical themes of the first two in favor of more secular topics.  Side stories dealing with product recognition and election financing feel particularly current.

There are a couple of potboiler parts where the story gets repetitive and the whole thing drags on just a bit too long, but overall Doctor Thorne is a terrific read, either as part of the Chronicles or as a stand-alone.

OTHER REVIEWS

If you would like your review of this or any other Anthony Trollope book listed here, please leave a comment with a link and I will add it.

NOTES

I listened to the audiobook available for instant download at my library, so this was one of my books for the AudioBook Challenge.  There is also a free kindle edition on amazon.

Opening Sentence: The Finkler Question

He should have seen it coming.

-- The Finkler Question by Howard Jacobson.

If ever there was an opening sentence with infinite possibility, that is it.  I am now half-way through this Booker winner and enjoying every minute of it.  The audio version is particularly entertaining because the reader, Steven Crossley, is excellent.

This is a story about three friends -- two school buddies, now grown, and their former professor.  It is about friendship, rivalry, marriage, love, mourning, and being Jewish in modern-day London.  It is also about misbehaving middle-aged men, which is my favorite fiction genre.  The only thing missing for me is that none of the characters over drink.  Add a touch of dipsomania and it would be an all-time favorite for me.   

This is one of my Booker choices for the 2012 Battle of the Prizes, British Version. 

Teaser Tuesday: The Things You Would Have Said

 

Dear Mom,

. . . What I have learned so far is that I come from a family of very strong women.  Perhaps I have some of that strength in me.

 -- from one of the letters in The Things You Would Have Said: The Chance to Say What You Always Wanted Them to Know, edited by Jackie Hooper.

This is the book edition of the popular blog by the same name.  It contains letters written by real people to others who have passed out of their lives -- parents, friends, enemies, their childhood selves, etc.  The letters are incredible.

This could be a great idea for Mother's Day, this Sunday.

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by Should Be Reading, where you can find the official rules for this weekly event. 

Mailbox Monday

Thanks for joining me for Mailbox Monday! MM was created by Marcia at A girl and her books (fka The Printed Page), who graciously hosted it for a long, long time, before turning it into a touring meme (details here).

This month, Mailbox Monday is hosted by Martha's Bookshelf.  Please take the time to visit her wonderfully eclectic blog.

I got one terrific book last week:



The Secrets of Mary Bowser by Lois Leveen.

Publisher's Description:

Based on a remarkable true story, The Secrets of Mary Bowser is an inspiring tale of one daring woman's willingness to sacrifice her own freedom to change the course of history.

All her life, Mary has been a slave to the wealthy Van Lew family of Richmond, Virginia. But when Bet, the willful Van Lew daughter, decides to send Mary to Philadelphia to be educated, she must leave her family to seize her freedom.  

Life in the North brings new friendships, a courtship, and a far different education than Mary ever expected, one that leads her into the heart of the abolition movement. With the nation edging toward war, she defies Virginia law by returning to Richmond to care for her ailing father—and to fight for emancipation. Posing as a slave in the Confederate White House in order to spy on President Jefferson Davis, Mary deceives even those who are closest to her to aid the Union command.

Just when it seems that all her courageous gambles to end slavery will pay off, Mary discovers that everything comes at a cost—even freedom.

This looks really, really good.  It is getting rave reviews already, one from Barbara at Views from the Countryside.  You can find links to other reviews on the author's website. You can see the trailer here.  

Leveen lives here in Portland and has agreed to do an author interview on Rose City Reader. Check back soon to see what Lois has to say about writing, reading, and her debut novel.

Weekend Cooking: Amber Waves

I love Junior League cookbooks.  Who doesn't? And, having spent my childhood in Nebraska, my go to choice is Amber Waves, from the Omaha Junior League. 

This weekend, I went, as I have done so many times before, to the Best Ever Brisket recipe in Amber Waves.  It is easy and delicious and my Second Dinner Party recipe -- the recipe I make for guests coming to my house for a second time.  First time guests get Chicken Marbella from The Silver Palate Cookbook.  I always use the recipes in that order so I can keep track.

BEST EVER BRISKET (adapted from memory)

Day Before:

Rub a brisket with liquid smoke and wrap in heavy duty aluminum foil. Put in roasting pan and cook.  The recipe says to cook it for 30 minutes per pound at 350 degrees.  If I remember in time, I do this.

If I don't, I put it in the oven at 225 overnight -- setting the oven to turn off before I wake up if it is a little brisket.  This time, I have a six pound brisket, so I bunged it in the 225 oven at 8:00 pm and set the oven to turn off at 5:00 am.  The point is to apply heat to food -- a higher temperature for a shorter time; lower temperature for a longer time. Nine hours won't hurt it and if it needs more time, I can goose it in the morning.

Take the fat off the meat (now or later). Save the pan juices. Chill the brisket well.

Day Of:

Make a sauce of 16 ounces or so of ketchup,  1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup molasses, 1 tablespoon liquid smoke, 2 tablespoons red wine, 1 tablespoon hot sauce, a clove or two of minced garlic (the recipe calls for 1 teaspoon of powdered).  Boil for 15 minutes. Cool until ready to use.

Slice the brisket across the grain in thin slices, 1/4-inch if possible, trying to keep it in brisket form.  Mix the sauce with at least half a cup of meat juice and mush the sauce between slices. Wrap brisket in heavy duty foil again. If this is too much trouble or too much of a mess, I just put it in a baking dish as close to the size of the brisket as possible, in as close to the original shape as possible, and cover with foil.

Before serving. heat at 275 for one hour, or until good and hot.

Serve with mashed potatoes, polenta, or some other starchy side dish.

There are usually no left overs. 

WEEKEND COOKING

Hosted by Beth Fish Reads

Review: A Month of Sundays

A Month of Sundays is about sex. It is also about religion. When Tom Marshfield, pastor of an unidentified Midwestern church, can’t stop combining the two, his wife, curate, jilted mistress, and bishop intervene to send him to a desert retreat for wayward clergy.

During his month in exile, the Reverend Tom spends the mornings reflecting on his recent exploits and writing a journal with increasingly sermon-like focus, waiting for the bar to open at noon, a round of golf, and an evening playing poker with other fallen fathers.

Guarded over (and secretly read?) by a Nurse Ratchet-like matron, these journal entries start by recounting Tom’s tragic-comic affair with his plump organist – John Updike at his salacious best – move through a sexually rococo phase as Tom gropes his way through the female side of his congregation, and end with a series of increasingly theosophical, although doctrinally dubious, reflections on faith.

A Month of Sundays is not for the Updike newbie. But seasoned fans will find plenty to enjoy.

OTHER REVIEWS

If you would like your review of this or any other John Updike book listed here, please leave a comment with a link and I will add it.

NOTES

This counts as my "calendar" book for the What's in a Name? Challenge and as another book for the Mt. TBR and Off the Shelf Challenges. 

Book Beginning: The Things You Would Have Said

Please join me every Friday to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires.  Please remember to include the title of the book and the author.

Leave a link to your post.  If you don't have a blog, but want to participate, please leave a comment with your Book Beginning.




MY BOOK BEGINNING

 

I have spent the last few years collecting letters from complete strangers.

 -- The Things You Would Have Said: The Chance to Say What You Always Wanted Them to Know, edited by Jackie Hooper.

This is the book edition of the popular blog by the same name.  It contains letters written by real people to others who have passed out of their lives -- parents, friends, enemies, their childhood selves, etc.  The letters are incredible.

This has huge Mother's Day potential.

What Are They Reading? Dressed for Death

Authors tend to be readers, so it is natural for them to create characters who like to read.  It is always interesting to me to read what books the characters are reading in the books I read. Even if I can't say that ten times fast.

Usually, the characters' choice of books reflects the author's tastes or, I sometimes think, what the author was reading at the time.  But sometimes the character's reading material is a clue to the character's personality, or is even a part of the story. 

This is an occasional blog event. If anyone wants to join in, feel free to leave a comment with a link to your related post. And feel free to use the button.  If this catches on, I can pick a day and make it a weekly event.

Dressed for Death by Donna Leon



In this third installment in Leon's Venice-based series featuring Commissario Guido Brunetti, both Guido and his wife Paola are reading some pretty heavy tomes.

Paola is on vacation with the kids in the mountains, escaping the August heat of Venice.  Apparently she is a big Henry James fan and is reading his novel, The Sacred Fount.  Paola and I are going to have to agree to disagree about James.  He will never be one of my favorites, as I discussed here and here.

Stuck in the city to solve a mystery, Guido draws inspiration from Tacitus, reading the classic author's History of Rome.

Whew!  Maybe Paola and Guido need to take a break and read a good mystery!

Review: BabyLit Books

 

These BabyLit books are adorable!  I have Little Master Carroll and Little Miss Brontë in front of me, but there are several more available in Jennifer Adams's new series for budding bibliophiles.

The Alice in Wonderland adaptation is a "colors primer"; the Jane Eyre a "counting primer." Both incorporate imaginative, beautiful, captivating images by Alison Oliver inspired by the classics they emulate.  They are not summaries of the plots by any means, giving only the merest nods to the originals.  But they are baby picture books, after all, not graphic novels. 

I don't have a baby or a toddler to read them with, and can't speculate as to what holds a wee bairns's attention, book-wise.  The boards seem plenty sturdy for little teeth and slick enough not to absorb drool, which seems like a good endorsement for a baby book.

For me, the point of these is that they are super cute for adults trying to indoctrinate tiny readers early into a book culture -- either those adults actually reading to the little tykes or, like me, those looking for something fresh and clever to give as gifts to the newborns we come across. 

OTHER REVIEWS

If you would like your reviews of these or other BabyLit books listed here, please leave a comment with a link and I will add it.

Teaser Tuesday: Bamboo Farmer Wisdom

Most are stopped by the start.  Identify your bamboo and start watering.

-- Bamboo Farmer Wisdom: 101 Inspirational Thoughts by Greg Bell.

This is a little gift-book companion to Bell's excellent Water The Bamboo: Unleashing The Potential Of Teams And Individuals, which I reviewed here. 

Bell uses the metaphor of bamboo farming as a formula for success.  The basic idea is that discipline and steadfastness towards a goal will achieve enormous results over time.





Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by Should Be Reading, where you can find the official rules for this weekly event. 

Mailbox Monday

Thanks for joining me for Mailbox Monday! MM was created by Marcia at A girl and her books (fka The Printed Page), who graciously hosted it for a long, long time, before turning it into a touring meme (details here).

This month, Mailbox Monday moves north, to somewhere near Quebec, where Cindy at Cindy's Love of Books is hosting.  Please stop by to visit her blog and join in the fun.

A lot of books came into my house last week, thanks mostly to a Multnomah County Library Friends' sale. 

A few of my favorites are:



The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver



Picked-Up Pieces by John Updike (essays and criticism)



The Flood by Ian Rankin (his first book, reissued; not a John Rebus novel)




Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert (a cool, Modern Library edition with dustjacket!)



Nobody Move by Denis Johnson (great cover and I really liked Tree of Smoke)

Opening Sentence: On the Town in New York

American history books do little to describe the plight of New York City during the Revolution for the simple reason that it was an enemy base.

-- On the Town in New York: The Landmark History of Eating, Drinking, and Entertainments from the American Revolution to the Food Revolution by Michael and Ariane Batterberry.

So begins this classic culinary history of New York City, from 1776 to when the book was first published in 1973.  The 25th anniversary edition that I have adds a chapter on the era from about 1970 to 1998. 

So far, I'm up to the Civil War era.  As the title suggests, the book is mostly about restaurant and hotel dining, not home cooking and not New York's agriculture or food production.  This is about how people ate when they were On the Town.

I first read about this book when Anthony Bourdain recommended it in Kitchen Confidential. 

It is the first book I am reading this year for the Foodie Reading Challenge. hosted by Margot at Joyfully Retired.

WEEKEND COOKING

Hosted by Beth Fish Reads

Book Beginning: Bamboo Farmer Wisdom

Please join me every Friday to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires.  Please remember to include the title of the book and the author.

Leave a link to your post.  If you don't have a blog, but want to participate, please leave a comment with your Book Beginning.



MY BOOK BEGINNING

A bamboo farmer buries a giant bamboo seed deep in the earth and waters it day after day.

-- Bamboo Farmer Wisdom: 101 Inspirational Thoughts by Greg Bell.



This is a little gift-book companion to Bell's excellent Water The Bamboo: Unleashing The Potential Of Teams And Individuals, which I reviewed here.



The Wisdom book did indeed come with a Water the Bamboo wristband.  My cats immediately disappeared it.

Pin This!

Uh oh. I jumped on the Pinterest bandwagon.  It is too fun to skip.

I'm there as Gilion Dumas.  So far, I've created boards that tie in with Rose City Reader, like Favorite Author boards, book review boards, and a board for the reading challenges I'm doing.  But I also added a couple of house, food, travel, and general interest boards.

If you are on Pinterest too, please leave a comment with your Pinterest user name so I can find you. Or follow me on Pinterest so I can find you and follow you back.

You know, now that I think of it, the same goes for twitter.  You can find me there @GilionDumas.

Teaser Tuesday: The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Presidents

FDR was famous for his fierce attacks on big business and "economic royalists."  But those who pose as his liberal heirs forget, if they ever knew in the first place, his equal concern for middle class opportunity and his endorsement of individual enterprise. 

-- The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Presidents: From Wilson to Obama by Steven F. Hayward.

This book is a lot of fun and perfect for this election year.  

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by Should Be Reading, where you can find the official rules for this weekly event. 

Mailbox Monday

Thanks for joining me for Mailbox Monday! MM was created by Marcia at A girl and her books (fka The Printed Page), who graciously hosted it for a long, long time, before turning it into a touring meme (details here).

This month, Mailbox Monday moves north, to somewhere near Quebec, where Cindy at Cindy's Love of Books is hosting.  Please stop by to visit her blog and join in the fun.

I am on a roll with Ian Rankin's John Rebus series.  I just finished The Black Book, the fourth novel in the series, which I reviewed here.

So I was pleased as Punch to find a copy of Set in Darkness on my branch library's free paperback shelf.

Review: 100 Poems to Bestill Your Young Heart

100 Poems to Bestill Your Young Heart is an exuberant collection poetry by Portland writer Kenneth Woods.  Woods -- who is still in high school himself -- writes with the passion and pathos of every teenager with a wild heart and alert perception.

Some of the poems are funny, others are tender, a few overwrought, and all demonstrate an honest willingness to expose and examine the life of an American teen. It is a collection that would appeal to Woods's contemporaries, but has plenty to offer older generations.

One of my particular favorites is a short poem called "Can't Put My Finger On It" because I love the idea of "clarity of mind" coming together with "clarity of time":

Why do all my good ideas
Come to me
When I don't have
Anything to write
Them down with?

Why can I never
Have the clarity of mind
When I have the clarity
Of time
And space and
All other things that
Allow me to put them to
Any good use?

NOTES

April is National Poetry Month, so a great time to support young poets. 100 Poems to Bestill Your Young Heart is available on amazon, in paperback or kindle. It would make a great graduation gift, especially for creative types.

Review: The Black Book

 

The Black Book is the fourth novel in Ian Rankin's Edinburgh-based series featuring hard-bitten police detective John Rebus. This one finds Rebus poking into a five-year old mystery involving an unidentified body burned up in a hotel fire.

The series really hits its stride in this book. The first one, Knots and Crosses, is a good story in itself, but the mystery is too personal to Rebus to be a proper kick off for a series – it's a sprint, not the start of a marathon. Hide and Seek is better, but still a little thin. The third one, Tooth and Nail, finds Rebus seconded to Scotland Yard to find a screamingly improbable serial killer. It has the markings of an early manuscript dusted off to appease an eager publisher.

But The Black Book has none of these flaws. Rebus has filled out as a character, as has his supporting cast, and there are about 50 more pages, which gives Rankin the space to develop the main and side stories. Edinburgh's history and environs shape the story and provide plenty of color.

Completists should start the series at the beginning, but for those just looking for a great mystery, jump right in with The Black Book.

OTHER REVIEWS

If you would ike your review of this or any of Rankin's other books listed here, please leave a comment with a link and I will add it. 

NOTES

This counts as one of my books for the TBR challenges I am doing this year.

Book Beginnings: The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Presidents

Please join me every Friday to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires.  Please remember to include the title of the book and the author.

Leave a link to your post.  If you don't have a blog, but want to participate, please leave a comment with your Book Beginning.



MY BOOK BEGINNING

The Founding Fathers would be appalled by the modern presidency.

-- The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Presidents: From Wilson to Obama by Steven F. Hayward.

This is exactly what I need for a refresher course on 20th+ Century Presidents. Hayward is as witty and irreverent as ever. And he gets right to the point with his system of grading US Presidents on how strictly they adhered to their oath to uphold the Constitution.  I'm learning while I'm laughing.