I didn’t enjoy The Poet Prince as much as I did the first two books in the Magdalene series. I think it’s because I didn’t like any of the “modern day” characters enough – or maybe there weren’t as many entries about them so I didn’t really get into their dilemma? I mean we got all of what, two paragraphs, about Peter and Petra. Two paragraphs. Please. I’m all for telling us the stories from the past but you have to keep us connected to the current characters, too.
I love the “Just Returned” shelf of the library. I always find interesting things there. Things like a book with a hot pink cover called Hello Kitty Must Die. If you like Dexter, you’re going to like this book. You might even like this book more than you like Dexter. (I know, I’m scaring you now aren’t I?)
Try it. Trust me. I take my serial killer books very seriously.
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I read the second book in the Bibliophile Mystery series before I read the first. I hate it when that happens so I reserved the first one, Homicide in Hardcover, to get the back story. It was an ok book but the second one was much better, I think. (And how often does that happen?)
Fun chick-litty mystery series that involves food but only because Brooklyn really likes to eat. I’m looking forward to the next book.
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Cherie Priest just gets creepier and creepier – but that’s good. I’ve been trying to figure out how to convince RJ that she needs to start reading Cherie Priest – Dreadful Skin might just be the way to do it. Werewolves and a really cool Nun – could it get any better than that?
It’s weird, I really didn’t have any desire to read Julie and Julia. I don’t know why, the book has everything I like – food blogger, grand ideas, Julia freaking Child. So why didn’t I want to read it? I don’t know, it was probably the hype that turned me off. I only read it because a) I saw it on the shelf, in large print, and thought TW’s mom would like it b) TW’s mom said it was “weird” and it didn’t make sense to her that someone would do such a project c) TW’s mother raised TW who would CERTAINLY think up something like this – and carry it through.
I couldn’t NOT read it after hearing TW’s mom talk about it.
Turns out this was a horrible book for TW’s mom. She doesn’t do the F word and lord, the F word is all over the book. I think had this not been the case, she’d have probably had a different reaction. (TW’s mom would totally be one of those “bleaders” who gave Julie shit for her language.)
I, on the otherhand, loved every word of it. Every single word. Well the killing of the lobsters made me kind of queasy but that’s to be expected. Lots of the recipes made me queasy – that’s a lot of mess, a lot of work, a lot of crazy food that I really do not want to eat. But… the project… pure brilliance. And the writing, fun. Fun, fun, fun.
I’m so glad I read it. (I’m sorry though to hear that Robert, the dog Julie and Eric adopted post-project, passed away a couple of months ago. I was irrationally sad about that when I saw it on her blog last night.)
We always listen to the Ladies #1 Detective Agency books on audio. It’s a tradition. Thankfully, my reserved copy arrived really quickly and we didn’t have to wait long. (Oddly, the day I picked up the reserve copy in audio, I saw a large print copy just sitting on the shelf – that would never have happened at my old library! I grabbed it for TW’s mom – she’s not a fan, apparently…)
We enjoyed The Double Comfort Safari Club, as expected. There wasn’t enough storyline from the apprentices, hopefully the next one will include them a wee bit more. Violet was back and wreaking havoc, of course. Grace got a new pair of shoes. And in the end everything was as it should be in Botswana.
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The Brontes Went to Woolworths is one of those books I’ve wanted to read but couldn’t find easily on the shelf – or at the library. I ended up buying the Bloomsbury edition though I wish I had a Virago like Sassymonkey has. Sniff.
When I needed to choose three books for the 1930’s Mini Challenge, this was the first one on my list. It would give me a good excuse to break down and buy it since my libraries have never been cooperative. When I started to read it, I was afraid I’d made a mistake. I knew it was going to be a farce but those first five pages were downright confusing and I was having trouble relaxing and just going with it. Whatever it was. That was the problem really, I couldn’t tell what was real, what was made up and what I was supposed to know was real or made up. I felt like one of the poor Governesses in the book.
After those first ten pages, I did settle into the characters and it was all fun. The Bronte Sisters, Toddy and Lady Toddington, the works – amusing maybe because I live in a house where people make up elaborate sagas all of the time – and then play them like they are real. Yep, we definitely live in a “fun house” around here.
And with that – my 1930s Mini Challenge is complete. It was fun. Three great books that I’ve wanted to read – finally read. I’m glad I joined.
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I never would have read Miriam’s Kitchen had it not been for Sassymonkey’s post, Miriam’s Kitchen and Mine – and tweets. And even then, if someone hadn’t nicely nominated it for BlogHer Voice of the Week, I might have skimmed and really missed something good.
I’m not a foodie and I don’t have those family memory food experiences that are always the basis of food memoirs. I’ve read so many Jewish memoirs that I don’t go out of my way to read more – not because they aren’t important or well written or I don’t enjoy them, but because I sometimes feel like those stories are becoming diluted for me and that’s not what should happen. So many words all melded together, I’m losing the individual story and find myself lumping it all into one massive trauma. Anyway, enough of that…
Miriam’s Kitchen is something you should run out right now and buy or reserve at your library. If you don’t – you will be missing something special. It may have been simply that I like food memoirs. Or it could be that I like grandmothers. Or also that I was reading it right around Shavuot and we’d been talking about celebration, spring harvest, dairy (who doesn’t love dairy?) and Ruth – which is an even bigger (WHO DOESN’T LOVE RUTH??)
Whatever it was – it all worked for me. Every story. Every question. Every recipe.
I’d happily own this one – but I would ask TW to just not put raisins in my cheesecake. That – that doesn’t work for me.
I didn’t expect to get sucked into Grace Hammer the way that I did but I really could not put it down. Grace as a single mom who takes care of her family threw pick-pocketing (and teaching her sons to follow suit) is a great character. Her daughter Daisy is exactly what you’d expect. And the monster lurking in their lives isn’t Jack the Ripper, though he might just be lurking there too. Excellent tale.
Again I’m thankful for Sassymonkey and the 1930’s mini challenge. I’ve read Dorothy Sayers in the past and wasn’t all that impressed – but Gaudy Night, once I dug into it – I was hooked. I think it’s that I don’t really love Peter Wimsy but I do love Harriet Vane. The key to my Sayers pleasure may be to find books really heavy in female characters. Not that she writes men badly – she does not. I found myself wanting to read more about Padgett (I liked him much the way I liked Betteredge in The Moonstone.)
Nice job of twisting me around – I thought I knew who the villain was but towards the end I was really doubting myself. Nicely, nicely done.