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.