Weekend Cooking: The Last Weekend

Now that I will be without them for the next four months, I cling to my cookbooks. The big kitchen remodel starts Monday, and the books are all going in boxes today. But I delay their banishment, flipping through pages and contemplating recipes.

There's nothing wrong with our current kitchen. It is big enough (just) and serviceable. It is just shabby and tired and its little inconveniences annoy us – like exhaust fan install backwards so it blows into the room instead of sucking the air out. And it is dark, with only two little windows and prime window space hidden behind a mudroom and an inconveniently located powder room.

It is all going away on Monday. The demolition crew shows up bright and early, no doubt as I am brewing my last pot of tea in the old kitchen. We'll be camping out in the dining room for the months to come with a refrigerator and a microwave, but no running water.

And when we move into the new kitchen this summer my favorite new feature will be double the book shelf space so all my cookbook collection can be right there with me.

WEEKEND COOKING

Hosted by Beth Fish Reads

Book Beginnings & GIVEAWAY: Warming Up

SEE GIVEAWAY DETAILS BELOW

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's name.

TWITTER, ETC: If you are on Twitter, please tweet a link to your post using the hash tag #BookBeginnings. I also recently signed up for Google+ and have a button over there in the right-hand column to join my circles or whatever it is. I don't really understand yet how that one works.

MR. LINKY: Please leave a link to your post below. If you don't have a blog, but want to participate, please leave a comment with your Book Beginning.

MY BOOK BEGINNING

I'm a sucker for kind eyes.

-- Warming Up by Mary Hutchings Reed, coming in April from She Writes Press.

PUBLISHER'S DESCRIPTION:

Approaching forty, unemployed but well-off, talented but unknown, functional but depressed, former musical actress Cecilia Morrison reluctantly seeks therapy. Although she once won leading roles, Cecilia now can't bring herself to audition for parts. In the end it’s not therapy, but a runaway teenager who changes her life when he cons her out of sixty bucks.

Whether at the apex of one’s success or just starting out, Warming Up speaks to anyone who’s ever wondered, “What’s it all about?” or who finds themselves doing something they never thought they’d do.

Warming Up was a short list finalist for the 2011 William Wisdom-William Faulkner Prize for the Novel.  Ten percent of the author’s proceeds are donated to The Night Ministry, which provides temporary housing, transitional living, and parenting services to Chicago’s homeless youth.

THE GIVEAWAY

This is a "leap-frog" giveaway.  This means that I have three (3!) copies to giveaway to Rose City Reader readers, and each winner will get to host another giveaway for an additional copy, thanks to the wonderful book publicist, Mary Bisbee-Beek.

The contest is for readers in the USA and Canada and is open until Thursday, February 28, 2013, at 9:00 PST. There are five ways to enter and each one is worth a chance to win.  To enter, do any or all of the following, but you must leave a comment for each one:

1. Leave a comment on this post. You must include a way to contact you (email or website address in your comment or available in your profile). If I can't find a way to contact you I will draw another winner. (1 entry)

2. Blog about this giveaway. Posting the giveaway on your sidebar is also acceptable. Leave a separate comment with a link to your post. (1 entry)

3. Subscribe to my rss feed, follow me on blogger, or subscribe via email (or tell me if you already are a subscriber or follower). Leave a separate comment for this. (1 entry)

4. Tweet this post on Twitter. Leave me a separate comment with your twitter user name. (1 entry)

5. Post this on a social network. Put it on facebook, post it on Google+, pin it on Pinterest, Stumble it, digg it, technorati fave it, or otherwise put it out there in the social network. Leave a separate comment with a link or explaination. (1 entry)

There are a lot of ways to enter (maximum of five entries), but you must LEAVE A SEPARATE COMMENT for each one or they will not count. I will use random.org to pick the winners from the comments.

This contest is open to entries from the U.S. and Canada only. The deadline for entry is 9:00 PM, Pacific Time, on Thursday, February 28, 2013. I will draw and post the winner's name in my Book Beginning post for March 1, 2013.

Review: Just Enough Liebling

A. J. Liebling is best remembered for the long piece journalism he wrote for The New Yorker from 1935 until his death in 1963. A native Manhattanite and avid gourmand, his favorite subjects were food, Paris, boxing, and horseracing.

Just Enough Liebling: Classic Work by the Legendary New Yorker Writer is a collection of his best pieces from that magazine and other publications. Organized by category, the articles cover dining in Paris; Liebling's experiences as a World War II correspondent in Tunisia, liberated France, and a merchant marine convoy; life on the make in New York; boxing; journalism; and Earl Long of Louisiana, Huey Long's brother who stepped into the gubernatorial seat after Huey's assassination.

Like John Mitchell (Up in the Old Hotel), his friend and contemporary at The New Yorker, Liebling delighted in his subjects and had a keen eye for the kind of detail that makes a story blossom. He put himself into the stories as an active narrator, often with self-deprecating humor. For example, one of the strongest and most memoir-like of the essays, "Quest for Mollie," begins with Liebling passing a dead American soldier on a transport route through northern Tunisia and leads to him tracing the dead man's colorful history back to the bars and union halls of Hell's Kitchen. Liebling took his quest personally, concluding:

It cheers me to think there may be more like him all around me – a notion I would have dismissed as sheer romanticism before World War II. Cynicism is often the shamefaced product of inexperience.

It is just this personal connection with his subjects that make Liebling's essays as full of human interest today as when he first wrote them.

OTHER REVIEWS

Up in the Old Hotel by John Mitchell, here on Rose City Reader

If you would like your review of any of Liebling's books listed here, please leave a comment with a link and I will add it.  (If you reviewed Up in the Old Hotel and would like it listed, please leave a comment with a link on my review post for that book and I will add it there.)

NOTES

Just Enough Liebling is one of the non-fiction books I read for the TBR challenges I am doing this year. Because Liebling's first love was food, every piece in the book -- even those about boxing -- talk about food.  So this also counted as my first book for the 2013 Foodies Read Challenge.  Finally, at 534 pages, it was the first chunkster I read for the 2013 Chunkster Challenge.

I am also adding Just Enough Liebling to my French Connections list because of the section on dining in Paris and the WWII pieces about France.

Teaser Tuesdays: Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons

Audrey spread across the chaise lounge like a studious centerfold, one hand pillowing her head, the other holding a book. Her long, pretty legs were crossed at the ankle, and one of her feet swayed back and forth, steady as a pendulum.

-- Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons by Lorna Landvik.  This book is a lot of fun, although more serious than I anticipated.



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, who graciously hosted it for a long, long time, before turning it into a touring event (details here).

Audra at Unabridged Chick is hosting in February.  Stop by her terrific blog for reviews, giveaways, interviews, and more.

I got two books last week, both ARCs, but coming soon and worth watching for:



Word Up! How to Write Powerful Sentences and Paragraphs (And Everything You Build from Them) by Marcia Riefer Johnston.

I am a grammar geek and love all kinds of "how to write well" books, from The Elements of Style to The Harvard Blue Book (that one dates me!) to Eats, Shoots and Leaves. I read them cover to cover, like novels.  This one is particularly good -- livelier than most, but with plenty of substance.

You can buy Word Up! starting April 27, 2013—National Tell a Story Day. Print and e-book versions will be available from Powell’s, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble.  Better yet, ask your local bookstore to carry it!



Dry Rot by S. L. Stoner, a "Sage Adair Historical Mystery" set in 1902 wild and wooly Portland, Oregon during a big labor strike.  This is the third book in the series, but can stand alone.

You can pre-order a copy of Dry Rot from Epicenter Press.  It is due out on June 1, 2013.  Check back here in a couple of weeks when I host a giveaway for this new novel.

Book Beginnings: Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons

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's name.

TWITTER, ETC: If you are on Twitter, please tweet a link to your post using the hash tag #BookBeginnings. I also recently signed up for Google+ and have a button over there in the right-hand column to join my circles or whatever it is. I don't really understand yet how that one works.

MR. LINKY: Please leave a link to your post below. If you don't have a blog, but want to participate, please leave a comment with your Book Beginning.



MY BOOK BEGINNING

A Fuller Brush salesman had the unfortunate task of trying to sell his wares to the women of Freesia Court during the fifth day of a March cold snap.

-- Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons by Lorna Landvik. That's a great opening sentence because it creates a sense of time, location, and trouble.

Happy Valentine's Day!

This dorky picture is perfect for my Valentine's Day because my husband is out of town and I am spending the evening with my sister.  After we eat the big pot of fondue we are making, we will need outfits like these.

Review: The Tuesday Club Murders

The Tuesday Club Murders is a collection of 13 short stories by Agatha Christie and was the second published volume in her Miss Marples series. Christie organized the stories around the idea of Miss Marples and a group of her friends taking turns telling about a mystery in which they were personally involved and making the others try to solve it.

Each snappy little story is jammed with clues, but still satisfactorily resolved by Miss Marples after the others kick it around for a while. Jane is at her best – draped in lace shawls, knitting away, and drawing insight from homey village events.

The stories and their set ups are varied enough to keep the reader's attention, right up to the final piece, in which Miss Marples solves a contemporaneous village mystery with the help of Sir Henry Clithering, an ex-commissioner of Scotland Yard and one of the original members of the Tuesday Club.

Like any collection of short mystery stories, The Tuesday Club Murders lacks the heft of a full-length novel. But unlike a novel, these stories can be gobbled down like the stack of yummy Agatha Christy cookies that they are.


OTHER REVIEWS

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

NOTES

The Tuesday Club Murders was my first book for the 2013 Vintage Mystery Challenge, hosted by Bev on My Reader's Block.  The challenge has a "Scattegories" theme this year and this book counts as my "Calendar of Crime" choice.

Teaser Tuesdays: A Prefect's Uncle

Describing the hero Farnie's first day at a new boarding school:

Finally, on retiring to bed and being pressed by the rest of his dormitory for a story, he embarked upon the history of a certain Pollock and an individual referred to throughout as the Porroh Man, the former of whom caused the latter to be decapitated, and was ever afterwards haunted by his head, which appeared to him all day and every day (not excepting Sundays and Bank Holidays) in an upside-down position and wearing a horrible grin. In the end Pollock very sensibly committed suicide (with ghastly details), and the dormitory thanked Farnie in a subdued and chastened manner, and tried, with small success, to go to sleep.

-- A Prefect's Uncle by P. G. Wodehouse.

A Prefect's Uncle is Wodehouse's second published book. Like his first, The Pothunters, it is set in an English boarding school for boys. Except in the long passages describing cricket matches, it is a charming and funny book that hints at the hilarious style Wodehouse later perfected.

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, who graciously hosted it for a long, long time, before turning it into a touring event (details here).

Audra at Unabridged Chick is hosting in February.  Stop by her terrific blog for reviews, giveaways, interviews, and more.

I got one book last week, from the intrepid book publicist Mary Bisbee-Beek. Check back here in a couple of weeks when I host a giveaway for this new novel.



Warming Up by Mary Hutchings Reed, coming in April from She Writes Press. I am excited to read a novel by a fellow "lady lawyer" -- and one set in Chicago, a city I love, is even better!

PUBLISHER'S DESCRIPTION:

Approaching forty, unemployed but well-off, talented but unknown, functional but depressed, former musical actress Cecilia Morrison reluctantly seeks therapy. Although she once won leading roles, Cecilia now can't bring herself to audition for parts. In the end it’s not therapy, but a runaway teenager who changes her life when he cons her out of sixty bucks.

Whether at the apex of one’s success or just starting out, Warming Up speaks to anyone who’s ever wondered, “What’s it all about?” or who finds themselves doing something they never thought they’d do.

Warming Up was a short list finalist for the 2011 William Wisdom-William Faulkner Prize for the Novel.  Ten percent of the author’s proceeds are donated to The Night Ministry, which provides temporary housing, transitional living, and parenting services to Chicago’s homeless youth.

Birthday Celebration: Pie & Books

I celebrate my birthday. I prefer to stretch the celebration out for as many days as possible, take time off work, maybe go on a trip.

But at a bare minimum I celebrate on the day itself by doing anything I want to. Today, that means pie for breakfast. Not just any pie, but Random Order pie. Yum!

I am lucky enough to live within walking distance of Random Order, my favorite Portland coffee house and pie shop.  They make the best pie crust of any commercial establishment.  They make several variations of apple pie -- the salted caramel is my favorite -- and other fruit pies, but the cream pies are out of this world.  Love them!

And the greatest thing about eating pie at Random Order is that the also have a liquor license.  Pie is just that much better with an Irish coffee.

Then it's back to my couch to finish off the A.J. Liebling book I'm reading and make a dent in Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons, which struck me as the perfect book to read on my birthday.

WEEKEND COOKING

Hosted by Beth Fish Reads

Review: She's Come Undone

I put off reading Wally Lamb’s hefty novel She’s Come Undone, because I knew it is about a young girl who became fat, and I could not imagine reading 500-plus pages about being fat. But I should have known that Lamb could spin a great tale and just put myself in his capable hands.

So much happens in Dolores Price’s young life that her weight gain (and loss) is just a small part of this crowded story. Without giving anything away, Dolores survives family loss, endures trauma, makes mistakes, repeats mistakes, and finally builds a life that works for her.

The glory of Lamb’s story is that he makes it absolutely believable, no matter how awful or statistically improbable. From Dolores as a little kid riding her bike through her neighborhood; through her depressingly difficult teen years, her recovery, and her rash first marriage; to her ultimate contentment with the life she creates, Dolores is an authentic and endearing heroine.

OTHER REVIEWS

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

NOTES

She's Come Undone counts as the first chunkster I read for the 2013 Chunkster Challenge, and counts for one of my books for the three TBR challenges I am doing this year.

Book Beginnings: A Prefect's Uncle

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's name.

TWITTER, ETC: If you are on Twitter, please tweet a link to your post using the hash tag #BookBeginnings. I also recently signed up for Google+ and have a button over there in the right-hand column to join my circles or whatever it is. I don't really understand yet how that one works.

MR. LINKY: Please leave a link to your post below. If you don't have a blog, but want to participate, please leave a comment with your Book Beginning.



MY BOOK BEGINNING

Marriott walked into the senior day-room, and, finding no one there, hurled his portmanteau down on the table with a bang.

-- A Prefect's Uncle by P. G. Wodehouse.

The picture above is not my copy -- it is the first edition cover.  Since this novel is Wodehouse's second published book, first edition copies are rare and pricey.

My edition is from the Collector's series published by The Overlook Press, so also has a cool cover, but not a $5,000 cover.

Review: Interpreter of Maladies

Jhumpa Lahiri won the Pulitzer Prize for her first collection of short stories, Interpreter of Maladies.  The stores are not interconnected, but all feature Indian protagonists, either in Bengal, as immigrants in New England, or as second-generation Americans.

Each of the nine stories is a polished gem.  The main characters all feel like very real people, whether Lahiri writes about old ladies, new brides, middle-aged men, or children. The plots are all satisfyingly solid, without any gimmicky "gotcha" endings that can make short stories irksome.

OTHER REVIEWS

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

NOTES

This is one of the books that I read for the three TBR challenges I am doing this year, and for my ongoing project to read all of the Pulitzer fiction winners.

Review: The Unbearable Lightness of Being

The Unbearable Lightness of Being is sad and beautiful. Set in the aftermath of the 1968 Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia, the short novel focuses on two couples, womanizing Tomas and his tormented wife Tereza, and Tomas' long-term mistress Sabine and her new lover Franz.

There isn't a lot of plot to the story; it is a novel of ideas and philosophy, but on a human, personal level, as Milan Kundera considers whether life is difficult because it is heavy with responsibility and consequences, or impossible because it is meaninglessly light. The characters induce sympathy, even when they act less than admirably, either trying to live with political and intimate situations beyond their control or to assert control when they can.

OTHER REVIEWS

Vapour Trails

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

NOTES

I finally got around to reading The Unbearable Lightness of Being because my 2013 TBR challenges involve reading all the books on one of my TBR shelves, which I chose at random.  I put off reading the book because I didn't care for the movie.  The book was far superior.

It also counts as one of my books for the 2013 European Reading Challenge.  

Teaser Tuesdays: Walking Distance

We've chosen these trails as our favorites and to represent the great diversity of long distance walking. These trails are found on six continents, represent fourteen countries, and range from cultural landscapes like Cinque Terre and El Camino De Santiago to wilderness walks like the John Muir Trail and the Kungsleden, and a vast spectrum in between.

-- Walking Distance: Extraordinary Hikes for Ordinary People by Robert and Martha Manning.

This books has me planning hiking vacations enough to fill up several decades.  It is wonderful. And would make a great gift.

Walking Distance is oversized and full of gorgeous pictures of hiking trails all over the world. The husband/wife authors describe the hikes and the amenities (or lack of) along the routes. It is the perfect combination of practical guide and inspiration.


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, who graciously hosted it for a long, long time, before turning it into a touring event (details here).

Audra at Unabridged Chick is hosting in February.  Stop by her terrific blog for reviews, giveaways, interviews, and more. 

I got one book last week, just in time for Lincoln's birthday:



Lincoln and Oregon Country: Politics in the Civil War Era by Richard W. Etulain, published by OSU Press. Did you know that Abraham Lincoln was asked to be the governor of the new Oregon territory? Just think how history would have been changed!

Etulain is a prolific author of lively, well-penned history books on a variety of subjects.  In this new book, he sets out to show how "men and women of the Oregon Country were personally and emotionally involved in the controversial ideas and events that inflamed the United States during the fractious era" of the Civil War.

Lincoln and Oregon Country would be a great gift for any Lincoln buff.  The book is already gathering praise:

Once again, historian Richard Etulain has provided a scholarly, lively, and definitive look at Lincoln and the Pacific Northwest. Lincoln himself thought the ‘Far Corner’ of Oregon simply too far to become his own home, but his close ties to many friends who did migrate there remained important in both elections and war. Etulain re-creates the pioneer spirit and political fractiousness of Oregon with a keen eye for both the sweep of history and the small anecdotes that make the best history books irresistible.

— Harold Holzer, Lincoln scholar and Chairman of the Lincoln Bicentennial Foundation.

2012 European Reading Challenge: Wrap-Up & Winners

The European Reading Challenge
January 1, 2012 to January 31, 2013

FINISHED

THIS IS THE WRAP-UP POST FOR 2012

TO FIND THE 2012 REVIEWS, GO TO THIS PAGE
TO FIND THE 2012 WRAP UP POSTS, GO TO THIS PAGE

THE 2013 EUROPEAN READING CHALLENGE IS LIVE NOW -- GO TO THIS PAGE TO SIGN UP OR READ MORE

2012 was the first year for this challenge.  Big thanks to all the participants who joined me for the Grand Tour!

WINNERS

Mary Galliver at Whiskers and Tales was the big winner of the Jet Setter Grand Prize.  Mary posted reviews for 35 books!  Mary won a $25 gift card to Powell's Books (can be used in store or on line).

Lizzy Siddal at Lizzy's Reading Challenges won a $10 Powell's gift card for reviewing the most books in the Culture Vulture category, meaning books that won literary prizes in their countries.

Honorary Mention (but no prizes) go to several participants who read 10 or more books:

• Lara Emilie at Powers of Words (21)
• Srivalli at Valli's Book Den (20)
• Maphead's Book Blog (14)
• Shonna at Canadian Bookworm (13)
• Carolyn at Riedel Fascination (11)
• Fanda at Fanda's Book Shelf (10)

Congratulations to all 23+ readers who completed the challenge! Twenty-three people posted wrap-up posts.  For those who finished the challenge but didn't post a wrap-up, feel free to do so now and link it on this page.

JOIN THE 2013 CHALLENGE! SIGN UP HERE.

The gist: The idea is to read books by European authors or books set in European countries (no matter where the author comes from). The books can be anything – novels, short stories, memoirs, travel guides, cookbooks, biography, poetry, or any other genre. You can participate at different levels, but each book must be by a different author and set in a different country – it's supposed to be a tour.

2013 Challenge: The Chunkster Reading Challenge

COMPLETED!

Wendy at Caribousmom and Vasilly at 1330V have again teamed up to host the Chunkster Challenge, one of my favorites, even if I am not so good at completing it.

2013 is the fourth year that I am participating in this challenge, which involves reading books with a minimum of 450 pages.  I am signed up for the "Plump Primer" level to read six chunksters before the end of the year.

BOOKS READ

Not only did I finally manage to complete this challenge, I read one extra book.  And I cam very close to getting an eighth, but my edition of What's Bred in the Bone by Robertson Davies (reviewed here) only had 448 pages in it!

Only two of the books I read for the challenge were from the list of possibilities I made at the beginning of the challenge. So much for planning!

Personal History by Katharine Graham (reviewed here) (688 pages)
The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown (not reviewed) (624 pages)

The Affair by Lee Child (nor reviewed) (608 pages)
Just Enough Liebling by A. J. Liebling (reviewed here) (560 pages)
Independent People by Halldór Laxness (reviewed here) (512 pages)
Arrowsmith by Sinclair Lewis (not reviewed) (480 pages)
She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb (reviewed here) (465 pages)

BOOK POSSIBILITIES

Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry (960)

More Matter: Essays and Criticism by John Updike (928)

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy (862)

Redemption by Leon Uris (848)

The Charm School by Nelson DeMille (816)

Ancient Evening by Norman Mailer (800)

The Life of Noel Coward by Cole Lesley (608)

Just Enough Liebling by A. J. Liebling (560)

She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb (465)

UPDATED: December 26, 2013

Book Beginnings: Walking Distance

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's name.

TWITTER, ETC: If you are on Twitter, please tweet a link to your post using the hash tag #BookBeginnings. I also recently signed up for Google+ and have a button over there in the right-hand column to join my circles or whatever it is. I don't really understand yet how that one works.

MR. LINKY: Please leave a link to your post below. If you don't have a blog, but want to participate, please leave a comment with your Book Beginning.



MY BOOK BEGINNING

About ten years ago we decided to walk the aptly named Long Trail in our home state of Vermont.

-- Walking Distance: Extraordinary Hikes for Ordinary People by Robert and Martha Manning.

I love this book! It is prompting a lot of armchair traveler fantasies. 

Walking Distance is oversized and full of gorgeous pictures of hiking trails all over the world. The husband/wife authors describe the hikes and the amenities (or lack of) along the routes. It is the perfect combination of practical guide and inspiration.

Review: Cutting for Stone

Despite its enormous popularity, including with the ladies in my book club, I thought that Abraham Verghese's hefty novel, Cutting for Stone was only so-so.  It is an interesting story about two brothers and their families – natural and adopted – but it went on too long for me and the medical details weighed it down.

The story really gets going with the traumatic birth of twin brothers, Shiva and Marion, at Missing Hospital in Ethiopia. The sons of an Indian nun and a British surgeon, both boys grow up to become doctors. Their story has roots in India, takes them to New York and Boston, embroils them in the political upheavals in Ethiopia, and tears the brothers apart over a woman before uniting them for good.

The multiple storylines are absorbing. But when they all spectacularly converge, the climax is startlingly hard to believe and throws off the pacing of the rest of the book.

Cutting for Stone is worthwhile, but would have benefited from a stronger hand on the editing reigns.

OTHER REVIEWS

Man of la Book

If you would like your review of Cutting for Stone listed here, please leave a comment with a link and I will add it. 

Review: What a Piece of Work I Am

Only rarely do I stray from my book lists when choosing what to read. When I do, it is with mixed results. Maybe my book club will pick something that I never heard of, but end up enjoying immensely (The Imperfectionists by Tim Rachman). Or I hear about a book and buy it on impulse (Fierce Conversations by Susan Scott) and love it. Or a cover catches my eye at a library book sale, and I read something I wish I hadn't.

That was a case with What a Piece of Work I Am by Eric Kraft.

Many readers might find this story-within-a-story novel to be charmingly quirky and refreshingly sassy. Unfortunately for me, what was supposed be quirky came across as cheeky and what might seem sassy to others felt too cute by half to me.

The novel looks back at the life of Ariane Lodkochnikov as she tells her story to her childhood family friend, Peter Leroy, over a series of evening visits. In dialogue irritatingly stilted for reasons apparent later, they discussed her life in seaside Babbington, from clam shack waitress, to small-town floozy, through several reinventions of herself, to her ultimate role as an international phenomenon.

The back cover describes the novel as a "fascinating meditation on human urge to tell and hear stories" and that storytelling theme is writ large throughout the narrative. However, because the book begins with a "prologue" by Leroy explaining that Ariane is his imaginary childhood friend, the whole thing feels like watching a parlor trick when you already know how it's done.

OTHER REVIEWS

If you would like your review of this book listed here, please leave a comment with a link and I will add it.  But since there are no reviews on amazon, it seems unlikely that other bloggers have reviews to share.

NOTES

I bought this because the cover caught my eye. I read it because I set up my 2013 TBR challenges to read though one of my TBR shelves at random.  There is a lesson in this.

Teaser Tuesdays: On the Rocks

Had that been what happened to Mr. Brown, an involuntary slip? But there had been no arm to catch him, only the red-shirted arm that flung itself out before he went off the cliff.

-- On the Rocks: A Willa Cather and Edith Lewis Mystery by Sue Hallgarth.  This historic, literary mystery is the first of what could be a terrific new series.  The setting -- on the Canadian island of Grand Maras in 1929 -- is captivating and the story engaging.  On the Rocks is a real treat!


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, who graciously hosted it for a long, long time, before turning it into a touring event (details here).

Lori at Lori's Reading Corner is hosting in January.  Please visit her fun blog for giveaways, reviews, and lots more.

I got one book last week:




Sweet Tooth by Ian McEwan. I love the faux-'70s cover!

Normally, I never buy a brand new book because it takes me years to get around to reading any book I buy -- I like to let them shelf age for a while, like wine -- so I might as well wait and find a used copy. 

But Ian McEwan is such a favorite of mine, and his new book fits into a favorite niche of mine (Cold War, British espionage) that I couldn't resist. So I have a brand new hardback just waiting to be cracked open.  I should get to it by 2016.

2012 Challenge: Chunkster Challenge Wrap Up

Wendy at Caribousmom and Vasilly at 1330V teamed up to host the 2012 Chunkster Reading Challenge.

FINISHED

2012 was the third year I participated in this challenge.  In 2010, I bit off more than I could chew, signing up for six books and only finishing four.  So I scaled back in 2011 to the "Chubby Chunkster" four-book level. 

Despite my less than stellar performance in years past, I signed up for the Do These Books Make my Butt Look Big? option to read SIX chunksters from the following categories: two books 450 - 550 pages; two books 551 - 750 pages; and two books longer than 750 pages.

I am so pleased that I actually completed this challenge! It really got me inspired to read a couple of doorstops that have been sitting on my TBR shelves for too long. I even finished an extra book.

My books:


World Without End by Ken Follett (1,024 pages); reviewed here; 


The Gate House by Nelson DeMille (800 pages), reviewed here;

Witness by Whittaker Chambers (802 pages), reviewed here;

Personal History by Katharine Graham (642 pages), reviewed here;


The Book and the Brotherhood by Iris Murdoch (624 pages), reviewed here;

Oscar and Lucinda by Peter Carey (511 pages), reviewed here; 

Glittering Images by Susan Howatch (462 pages), reviewed here.

I am going to sign up for the 2013 Chunkster Challenge, but probably back at the 4-book level. 

Book Beginnings: On the Rocks

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's name.

TWITTER, ETC: If you are on Twitter, please tweet a link to your post using the hash tag #BookBeginnings.  You can find me @GilionDumas. I have tried to follow everyone who participates, but if I missed you, please send me a direct tweet as a gentle reminder.  I also recently signed up for Google+ and have a circle of book bloggers. Please let us know if we can find you there as well.

MR. LINKY: Please leave a link to your post below. If you don't have a blog, but want to participate, please leave a comment with your Book Beginning.



MY BOOK BEGINNING

Edith Lewis got out her easel and watercolors and set them up near the edge of the bluff in front of their cottage on Whale Cove.

-- On the Rocks: A Willa Cather and Edith Lewis Mystery by Sue Hallgarth.  Set in 1929 on Grand Maras, a Canadian island, this historic, literary mystery is the first of what looks like a terrific new series.

Review: Personal History

 

Katharine Graham deservedly won the Pulitzer Prize for her autobiography, Personal History. Graham lived a fascinating life, from her childhood of wealth and privilege, through her tumultuous marriage to Phil Graham that ended in his suicide, to her increasingly powerful role at the helm of the Washington Post Company.

Graham's father bought the Washington Post in 1933. Her husband ran it during their marriage. When she took over after his death, she had no real work experience, no concept of the magnitude of her new job, and little support from the male-dominated publishing industry.

Learning as she went, and making many mistakes along the way, Graham grew the Washington Post Company into a media powerhouse. Under her watch, the company went public, became famous -- or infamous -- for its coverage of the Watergate scandal, and broke the unions' stranglehold of the newspaper industry after a five-month strike.

Throughout these busy years, Graham also maintained a dizzying social and community life. She traveled extensively, held positions on several professional and academic boards, and hobnobbed with politicians and other prominent figures, including among her friends the likes of Truman Capote, Henry Kissinger, and Warren Buffett.

Her first-hand account is crisply written, unflinching, and honest, but always dignified.  She discusses her family relationships and friendships, but without any intimate details.  The focus most definitely is on her public and professional life, which makes it all the more interesting.        

OTHER REVIEWS

If you would like your review of Personal History listed here, please leave a comment with a link and I will add it.

NOTES

I've been meaning to read Personal History for years and finally got around to it to complete the 2012 Chunkster Challenge.

Review: The Prestige

Why did I assume I would dislike The Prestige? There were several reasons:

• It is about magicians, a class of entertainers I tolerate only slightly better than mimes or clowns.
• It is set during a period of time I am bored with, no matter how enduringly popular in novels – the Civil War through World War I.
• I had already seen the movie, and I dislike reading a book when I already know what the story, especially a story with big secrets like this one.
• I really do not like speculative fiction in any of its broad forms – fantasy, paranormal, or science-fiction.

But I read it anyway because it won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize and I am working my way diligently through that list. I am so glad I did!

Christopher Priest's novel is the story of two rival magicians at the turn of the 20th Century, vying to outdo each other in an illusion featuring a disappearing man. Both have secrets that follow them to the grave – and beyond – that are only revealed when their grandchildren meet up decades later.

Because Priest is such a first class storyteller, he created a drama that is entirely believable – no matter how scientifically farfetched – and mesmerizing, even for readers who know the secrets from the movie. I was completely entranced.

Even though The Prestige runs contrary to many of my book prejudices, it could end up as my favorite book of 2013 – pretty big words, considering it is only January.

OTHER REVIEWS

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

NOTES

The Prestige counts as my second Black winner for the 2012 Battle of the Prizes, British Version, which runs through January 31, 2013.   I have now finished that challenge.  Whew!

Teaser Tuesdays: Interpreter of Maladies

As a result of spending all her time in college with Raj, she continued, she did not make many close friends. There was no one to confide in about him at the end of a difficult day, or to share a passing thought or a worry.

-- from the title story in Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri.  This won the Pulitzer Prize and has been on my TBR shelf for a while. 

Short story collections are never my first choice, so I am finally getting around to this one because it fell within my random choice method of selecting books for my 2013 TBR challenges.


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