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| Author of Brave New World |
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| Author of IQ84 |
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| Author of The Color Purple |
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| Author of The Round House |
Some of these were already on my Wish List, and some got added today. Check it out!
Friday, August 30, 2013
ARTICLE SHARING: 50 of the best books you haven't read by authors you already love
Flavorwire has a list of 50 lesser known books by favorite authors. Such as...
Wednesday, August 28, 2013
REVIEW: Choosing Sides by Tara Mataraza Desmond
Choosing Sides includes 130 fabulous recipes for side dishes to complement any entree and complete meals for every occasion. Choosing Sides is a cookbook devoted entirely to side dishes that honors the standards but offers fresh ideas for new favorites. It maximizes on the trend of emphasizing elements that have traditionally played a supporting role at the table and capitalizes on our obsession as cooks with our ability to accessorize a meal using quality ingredients in inspired, varied and memorable recipes.
Choosing Sides elevates accompaniments with more interesting options than plain potatoes or buttered noodles. It offers entrée suggestions for each recipe with flavor and textural pairings in mind, and helps cooks design entire meals, not just the main dish, instead of tagging on bland afterthoughts at the last minute. Today the food that flanks the entrée is as important as the focal point itself. It offers a range of recipes for broad appeal, crossing cuisines, techniques and complexity such as:
- Chorizo Chard
- Coconut Cilantro Toasted Israeli Couscous
- Smoked Gouda Grits
- Sugar Snap Peas with Grana Padano Crust
- Browned Brussels with Maple Butter Drizzle
- Vintage Potato Salad
- Orange and Black Bean Quinoa
- Pumpkin Cozy Rolls
- Honey Balsamic Peaches and Burrata
Expected publication: September 10th 2013 by Andrews McMeel Publishing
ISBN 1449427111 (ISBN13: 9781449427115)
My Thoughts
So, the idea behind this book is to offer up some side options a little more interesting than the standard old rice and potato choices. Utilizing interesting ingredients like couscous, chard, gouda and kumquats, this is not your usual fare for weeknight dinner!
The book discusses how to choose your sides, touching on things like texture, balance, and seasonality, and even provides a chart of pairings for your choice of protein or entree, where you will find suggestions like Arugula with Sugar Cranberries and Pancetta or Baby Spinach with Oranges and Manchego for Chicken, and Butter Lettuce with Ribbons and Chives or Panfried Chapatis for Fish and Seafood.
The chapters are then divided into sections like Brunches and Luncheons, Weeknight Dinners, and Warm-Weather Cookouts.
I made a couple of the recipes the other night for a birthday dinner. I decided to go with the Strawberry Feta Salad, and the Charred Asparagus with Shaved Parmesan, as well as some Sweet and Savory Onions and Mushrooms.
The salad was fresh and sweet, a simple mix of spring greens and arugula, some sliced strawberries and scallions, feta cheese and almonds. I served it drizzled with a store-bought Raspberry Vinaigrette. The asparagus turned out very tender, roasted in the oven, drizzled with fresh lemon juice and topped with Parmesan. And I loved the mushrooms and onions, which were simply sauteed up until they began to brown, with a splash of vinegar and brown sugar and salt and pepper tossed in. This gave them a sweet and tangy flavor that made a nice addition to our burgers (well, my veggie burger).
My final word: This cookbook sets out to offer you more interesting and creative options for dinner, and it succeeds. It includes beautiful pictures and easy-to-follow recipes, and suggestions for entree accompaniments.The cookbook feels a little...stilted, I guess, or as if something is being held back. A little choppy. But overall I found it to be a success in what it is trying to accomplish. Well done!
My Rating:
Disclosure:
I received a complimentary e-book copy of this book for review through Netgalley, in exchange for my honest opinion. I was not financially compensated in any way, and the opinions expressed are my own and based on my observations while reading this novel. The book that I received was an uncorrected proof.
Tuesday, August 27, 2013
REVIEW: The Thicket by Joe R. Lansdale
Love and vengeance at the dark dawn of the East Texas oil boom from Joe Lansdale, "a true American original" (Joe Hill, author of Heart-Shaped Box).
Jack Parker thought he'd already seen his fair share of tragedy. His grandmother was killed in a farm accident when he was barely five years old. His parents have just succumbed to the smallpox epidemic sweeping turn-of-the-century East Texas--orphaning him and his younger sister, Lula.
Then catastrophe strikes on the way to their uncle's farm, when a traveling group of bank-robbing bandits murder Jack's grandfather and kidnap his sister. With no elders left for miles, Jack must grow up fast and enlist a band of heroes the likes of which has never been seen if his sister stands any chance at survival. But the best he can come up with is a charismatic, bounty-hunting dwarf named Shorty, a grave-digging son of an ex-slave named Eustace, and a street-smart woman-for-hire named Jimmie Sue who's come into some very intimate knowledge about the bandits (and a few members of Jack's extended family to boot).
In the throes of being civilized, East Texas is still a wild, feral place. Oil wells spurt liquid money from the ground. But as Jack's about to find out, blood and redemption rule supreme. In The Thicket, award-winning novelist Joe R. Lansdale lets loose like never before, in a rip-roaring adventure equal parts True Grit and Stand by Me--the perfect introduction to an acclaimed writer whose work has been called "as funny and frightening as anything that could have been dreamed up by the Brothers Grimm--or Mark Twain" (New York Times Book Review).
Hardcover, 352 pages
Expected publication: September 10th 2013 by Mulholland Books
ISBN 031618845X (ISBN13: 9780316188456)
About the Author
from his website
Champion Mojo Storyteller Joe R. Lansdale is the author of over thirty novels and numerous short stories. His work has appeared in national anthologies, magazines, and collections, as well as numerous foreign publications. He has written for comics, television, film, newspapers, and Internet sites. His work has been collected in eighteen short-story collections, and he has edited or co-edited over a dozen anthologies. He has received the Edgar Award, eight Bram Stoker Awards, the Horror Writers Association Lifetime Achievement Award, the British Fantasy Award, the Grinzani Cavour Prize for Literature, the Herodotus Historical Fiction Award, the Inkpot Award for Contributions to Science Fiction and Fantasy, and many others. His novella Bubba Hotep was adapted to film by Don Coscarelli, starring Bruce Campbell and Ossie Davis. His story "Incident On and Off a Mountain Road" was adapted to film for Showtime's "Masters of Horror." He is currently co-producing several films, among them The Bottoms, based on his Edgar Award-winning novel, with Bill Paxton and Brad Wyman, and The Drive-In, with Greg Nicotero. He is Writer In Residence at Stephen F. Austin State University, and is the founder of the martial arts system Shen Chuan: Martial Science and its affiliate, Shen Chuan Family System. He is a member of both the United States and International Martial Arts Halls of Fame. He lives in Nacogdoches, Texas with his wife, dog, and two cats.
Check out the author's website
Follow the author on Twitter
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My Thoughts
I didn't suspect the day Grandfather came out and got me and my sister, Lula, and hauled us off toward the ferry that I'd soon end up with worse things happening than had already come upon us or that I'd take up with a gun-shooting dwarf, the son of a slave, and a big angry hog, let alone find true love and kill someone, but that's exactly how it was.I thought this one of the most intriguing opening paragraphs of all time.
Sixteen-year-old Jack and his younger sister Lula have just lost their parents to "the Pox", and their Grandfather is taking them to live with a family member, when further tragedy befalls them, killing Jack's grandfather and leaving his sister kidnapped by ruffians. Jack hooks up with several oddball characters who, with the promise of future payment, set out on a quest to help him track down his sister.
I wasn’t a fan of the first half of this story. I even noted at times that it was rather “mundane” early on. It wasn’t what I was hoping for, having been dazzled and thrilled after being exposed to his last book Edge of Dark Water. Even the dwarf in this story, which I thought was a quirky addition, instead felt boring and annoying in the beginning. (By the end, I was in love with him. The handsome Shorty is no joke, and by the end of the story, the fact that he is “a midget” is moot. You almost forget the fact. He is simply an intelligent, thoughtful and loyal hero.)
I love the author's turn of a phrase. It courts me.
Pox ran all through the town like it was looking for money. (p. 11)
As Jimmie Sue says, you don’t always remember it so much the way it was as how you thought it was. (p. 237)At times his expressions and descriptions can be bawdy and crass, or even offensive, but rarely fail to entertain.
Had she been willing and not Winton’s wife, then I could have got past that face, which was like a hatchet to the soul. (p. 165)
...he had a face that looked to have been shaped with a rock and a stick wielded by an angry circus monkey. (p. 21)Jack is a likable character, caring only about getting his sister back, even if she is changed and damaged by the experience. He is an ethical boy, having been raised with the strong influence of an evangelical grandfather. At one point, he compares coffee and sin:
When I was young and had my first taste of it I found it bitter and nasty, but later on I learned to like it by putting a little milk in it, and then I learned to like it black. Sin is like that. You sweeten it a little with lies, and then you get so you can take it straight. I just didn’t want to do it all the way. I wanted to keep a little milk in it. (p. 187)Jack is joined by a young prostitute Jimmie Sue who decides to leave the brothel in an attempt to go straight. The band of criminals who kidnapped Lula are especially loathsome and ruthless, and leave a trail of destruction in their wake.
I have to note that I'm under the assumption that “the N word” is used regularly in Texas. Otherwise I'm not sure why it is used so heavily in the author's writing. I understand that it sometimes must be used for authenticity, which makes me wonder whether the use in his stories is to bring authenticity, because that's just how people talk in much of Texas? (Or at least it was common back when this story took place.) I don't know, but be forewarned.
My final word: This is my second Lansdale story, and he is a premier storyteller. Outrageous and raucous, his stories have an offbeat flair and peculiar characters. His stories are not for the easily-offended or overly-sensitive. You have to go into them with humor. I enjoyed the second half of this story more than the first half, and loved the ending (found it very satisfying). For some reason that I can't put my finger on, this story felt like a "short story" that would be found in a collection of stories (although it is actually too long to be a "short story"). Provocative and entertaining, I would recommend this to fans of southern lit who don't take themselves too seriously.
Cover: A-
Writing Style: B
Characters: B+
Storyline/Plot: B
Interest/Uniqueness: A
My Rating: B+
Disclosure:
I received a copy of this book to review through Netgalley, in exchange for my honest opinion. I was not financially compensated in any way, and the opinions expressed are my own and based on my observations while reading this novel. The copy I received was an uncorrected proof, and any quotes may differ from the final release.
Monday, August 26, 2013
Mailbox Monday (8/26/13 edition)
Copyright stands
Mailbox Monday is hosted by a different blog each month. See the official list here. I've received a few new books recently:
Won from No More Grumpy Bookseller
Michael Crichton meets The Time Traveler's Wife in this powerful debut novel in which a man, frozen in the Arctic ice for more than a century, awakens in the present day.
Dr. Kate Philo and her scientific exploration team make a breathtaking discovery in the Arctic: the body of a man buried deep in the ice. As a scientist in a groundbreaking project run by the egocentric and paranoid Erastus Carthage, Kate has brought small creatures-plankton, krill, shrimp-"back to life." Never have the team's methods been attempted on a large life form.
Heedless of the consequences, Carthage orders that the frozen man be brought back to the lab in Boston, and reanimated. As the man begins to regain his memories, the team learns that he was-is-a judge, Jeremiah Rice, and the last thing he remembers is falling overboard into the Arctic Ocean in 1906. When news of the Lazarus Project and Jeremiah Rice breaks, it ignites a media firestorm and massive protests by religious fundamentalists.
Thrown together by circumstances beyond their control, Kate and Jeremiah grow closer. But the clock is ticking and Jeremiah's new life is slipping away. With Carthage planning to exploit Jeremiah while he can, Kate must decide how far she is willing to go to protect the man she has come to love.
A gripping, poignant, and thoroughly original thriller, Stephen Kiernan's provocative debut novel raises disturbing questions about the very nature of life and humanity-man as a scientific subject, as a tabloid plaything, as a living being: A curiosity.
A beloved character brings the power of the press to 1920s Butte, Montana, in this latest from the best storyteller of the West
In the winter of 1920, a quirky bequest draws Morrie Morgan back to Butte, Montana, from a year-long honeymoon with his bride, Grace. But the mansion bestowed by a former boss upon the itinerant charmer, who debuted in Doig’s bestselling The Whistling Season, promises to be less windfall than money pit. And the town itself, with its polyglot army of miners struggling to extricate themselves from the stranglehold of the ruthless Anaconda Copper Mining Company, seems—like the couple’s fast-diminishing finances—on the verge of implosion.
These twin dilemmas catapult Morrie into his new career as editorialist for the Thunder, the fledgling union newspaper that dares to play David to Anaconda’s Goliath. Amid the clatter of typewriters, the rumble of the printing presses, and a cast of unforgettable characters, Morrie puts his gift for word-slinging to work. As he pursues victory for the miners, he discovers that he is enmeshed in a deeply personal battle as well—the struggle to win lasting love for himself.
Brilliantly capturing an America roaring into a new age, Sweet Thunder is another great tale from a classic American novelist.
And received through Netgalley:
A brilliant literary debut, inspired by a true story: the final days of a young woman accused of murder in Iceland in 1829.
Set against Iceland's stark landscape, Hannah Kent brings to vivid life the story of Agnes, who, charged with the brutal murder of her former master, is sent to an isolated farm to await execution.
Horrified at the prospect of housing a convicted murderer, the family at first avoids Agnes. Only Tóti, a priest Agnes has mysteriously chosen to be her spiritual guardian, seeks to understand her. But as Agnes's death looms, the farmer's wife and their daughters learn there is another side to the sensational story they've heard.
Riveting and rich with lyricism, BURIAL RITES evokes a dramatic existence in a distant time and place, and asks the question, how can one woman hope to endure when her life depends upon the stories told by others?
I'm a little over-extended on Netgalley, and scrambling to read all of the books that I've requested and been granted, but I couldn't resist requesting this one. It sounds fascinating, and it has great reviews!
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