Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay

Sarah's Key alternates between WWII Paris, with a young Jewish girl, Sarah, and a middle-aged journalist, Julia, living in Paris with her French husband and their daughter. Despite the decades between them, Julia discovers that her life links with Sarah's in unexpected ways.

I love it when the stars align and the book announced for bookclub is one I'm already reading and nearly done with. My mom suggested this book (after her bookclub read it) since I tend to like historical fiction, so I'd downloaded it and listened to it while I made batch after batch of lemon cream (what, you don't think an audiobook is a good excuse for endless sweets making?).

The story switches between two story lines - one is Julia, a forty-year old journalist who moved to Paris after college, married a handsome, arrogant Frenchman and has lived there ever since. The other story is Sarah's, a ten-year-old Jewish girl living in Paris with her family during WWII.

Sarah's family is arrested by the French police, along with many other Jews, and taken to the Vélodrome d'Hiver outside the city where they are kept for a few days before they are shipped off to Auschwitz. History reports that none of the French Jews who went to Auschwitz ever came back; the only ones who lived are those very few who managed to escape before they arrived at Auschwitz. Which makes Julia frantic to determine whether or not Sarah's family managed to escape.

And why does she care so much? Because the apartment she and her family are about to move into, a Paris apartment her in-laws have owned for decades and are currently remodeling, turns out to be the apartment Sarah's family lived in until their arrest. Her in-laws moved in just days after the arrests, not knowing (although probably guessing) what had happened to its former occupants.

And so, having never heard of the round up of French Jews, Julia is suddenly obsessed with learning more about the event, the aftermath, and, most especially, Sarah and her family.

This comes on top of quite a lot of personal drama in Julia's life, none of which is made easier by her unflagging determination to uncover the truth of what happened with Sarah's family and her own in-laws decades earlier. Her husband and her father-in-law, especially, wish she would just let it go.

Look, of COURSE there were parts you could see coming a thousand miles away. And yes, sometimes the romantic drama in someone's life is hard to make gripping as when someone's LIFE is on the line in anti-Semitic countries.

But it's also a lot of fascinating and horrifying information about an event I knew nothing about. And Julia is a perfect lens through which to view this history. As an American, she's not as invested in living in denial of the French people's involvement in sending people off to killing camps - she wants to know the truth. And her personal struggles, while little compared to Sarah's lot in life, are still difficult.

And isn't that the way it always is? Whatever your personal trials, no matter how small compared to the horrors in someone else's life, they are difficult while you're going through them.

The end tapered, sadly. Sarah's story wraps up a good deal before Julia's and then Julia's story just keeeeeeeeeps going. Why must some books do this? It's not the best book I've read, by any means, but one of those popular books I'm glad to have read.

I do think I liked it better because I listened to it on audio. I found the reader very good and while I've heard other people say that Julia is annoying, I thought the narration made her possibly less so. 

Anyone else read this? I'm always curious what others think about extremely popular books. 


Audio downloaded from my library's Overdrive site

Tell Me What to Read: Round 19

I'm among friends here, right? Good, let me admit something very embarrassing.

You may remember that the winner of Tell Me What To Read for March was Maisie Dobbs, suggested by Alison K. I went to get it the other day out of my library basket so I could begin reading it and. . . couldn't find it. I searched everywhere. Nothing.

I went online and looked at my library account. I apparently had never checked it out. I am completely flummoxed by this as I was SURE I had brought it home with me on my last library trip. But, the fact that the library has no record of me doing so and my apartment, which is not that hard to search from top to bottom, has not revealed it, makes me think that I am, in fact, losing my mind. This is unfortunate.

What is even more unfortunate is that someone ELSE in my town had the audacity to check it out so I now have to wait another two weeks for it to be returned so I can start reading it.

So, I'll be doing that book AND another one this month. If I'm not busy trying to remember how to brush my teeth or something, since it appears I've lost a good many brain cells in recent days.

1. Comment with the title of one book you think I should read (any book you want). One title only, please, lest my brain explode.
2. I'll select one comment at random and announce it on the blog by the end of the week.
3. On the off-chance that I've already read the book you select, I'll contact you and ask for a follow-up suggestion (make sure there is a way to contact you either by blog or email).
4. I'll get a copy of the book and read it by the end of April.
5. I'll write a review of it here. Even if I hate the book, I will not hate you.

There is Always More to Say About Vegetables

First week of CSAing is complete! I pick up our second box of produce tomorrow. So far so good.

All I have left to use up are a few leaves of spinach, half a rutabaga, some grapefruit, and the collard greens (which I'm using in this dish tonight to go along with some pizza). Okay, actually that suddenly seems like quite a bit to finish off.

I used the rainbow chard (is there a prettier food?) to make this terrific polenta dish from Perry's Plate (one of my favorite food blogs these days) and the bok choy in some potstickers (I am in love with potstickers these days because i can make a large batch and then freeze them and pull out a few for a quick lunch any time I want). I used the carrots to make carrot puree which, despite sounding like baby food, is one of our favorite dishes of all time.

And, of course, we've had a lot of salad this week.

A couple of things I really love about Johnson's Backyard Garden is that each Monday they post a list of what will be in that week's box. On Tuesday, they photograph the box and label each item (helpful for those of us who have never actually seen a rutabaga (or know how to spell it, thank you Spell Check)) and then link to a list of recipes that use that particular item. It's really lovely to be able to meal plan before I pick up my box.

As a total menu-planning nerd, I enjoy the puzzle of planning out our meals around a list of vegetables. I'm already looking forward to tomorrow's box and another week of eating.

I cannot quite believe that this is me, waxing on about vegetables. Wasn't I the one ardently defending my liberal use of boxed cake mixes just a few years ago?  Now I'm off to go make my own cheese (if by "make my own cheese" you mean "lay on the couch and read").

Some Weekends Are Heavy on the Fun and Light on the Lazing Around

Last night we flew back to Austin from a whirlwind Utah trip. Also, how frustrating is it to have to fly to SLC by way of LOS ANGELES, a city that I am fairly certain is NOT located between Austin and Salt Lake? I am extremely familiar with Southwest snacks and flight procedures after this weekend, is what I'm saying.

Ella took four naps in the air. I only got one because no one offered me a pacifier or a nice swaddle.

My youngest sister, Landen, is graduating from BYU this April in costume design and she was the head of costumes for the main spring show, Persuasion (Landen is an enormous Jane Austen fan, so it was really fun for this to be the show she gets to finish with). My parents kindly offered to fly us out and our entire family attended the Saturday matinee.

One of the things that is particularly lovely about going to Utah for events with my family is that nearly all of Bart's family is there too, so we get a chance to see most of them. Bart's dad and stepmom picked us up at the airport and we went to his sister's house for dinner, where Ella got a lot of attention from her cousins (and I ate a ridiculous amount of Italian Wedding Soup - word to the wise, marry into a family that cooks):

We had a nice evening and morning with Bart's parents and then lunch at Slab Pizza which was very fun and extremely tasty (Bart opted for his new favorite, J Dawgs - Ella was a big fan of it too, particularly the special sauce. She is her daddy's daughter) before heading to Persuasion.

The show was terrific; it was MUCH funnier than the movie version and the costumes were, of course, outstanding. Landen had quite the crowd of fans there - we took up nearly two entire rows (I'd guess thirty or forty of us altogether).

And then, up to my grandparents' house for a fun family dinner, where there was much laughing, good food, and even a rousing game of charades where I got my team to guess the title Things I've Been Silent About in just over two minutes, despite no one on my team ever having heard of it. Not bad, friends, not bad. There are few things I love more than a good game of charades.

Ella was a really good baby, continuing to be pleasant even when she was subjected to three different cribs in a single day, but when we arrived back home yesterday afternoon, she sat in the middle of the living room with her basket of toys for nearly two hours, just playing and rolling around, before falling asleep within second of me rocking her before bed. I think she is glad to be back to normal life.

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Other things of note:

The winner of The Girl Who Was On Fire is Ang of Team Forsyth. Send me your mailing address and it will be winging your way in no time!

I wrote a post about my family's reunions with a giveaway, if you're interested in winning a Slim-Fast prize pack. 

The Loud Book by Deborah Underwood and Renata Liwska

The Loud Book! is maybe not the book for bedtime. It's too rambunctious, too full of noisy fun. Stick with the first book by this duo, The Quiet Book, at bedtime.

For any OTHER time? Grab The Loud Book! and brush up your sound effect skills.

The Loud Book! goes through sounds in a day, starting with "Alarm Clock Loud!" and ending with "Crickets Loud." Some of the loud noises are expected, others took me delightfully by surprise.

I've read a lot of picture books in recent months and there are many that I feel like were written for adults or perhaps by someone that has never actually met a child. This is neither -  young children will find this book uproariously fun, but that doesn't come at the expense of adult enjoyment either. It's silly without being dumb and cute without being saccharine.

And these illustrations. Seriously, they kill me. They are so darling, so fun, and so clever.

Don't you just want to frame that and hang it in your child's room? Me too. 

I love the size of this book - not tiny, but not very big either - I'd estimate about six by eight inches. Just the right size for a lap story. 

This book made Ella laugh like no other book ever has. So much so that I reread it to her a second time in a row and video-taped it (poorly). And also wished I didn't have a whale bathtub sitting in my living room waiting to be returned to its owner. And yet, despite these hardships, I carry on. Because I want to share the joy of baby laughter with you. And also the joy of hearing my ridiculous voice.

Copy received from Blue Slip Media

Blah, Blah, Food, Blah

A couple of years ago, when I started hearing a lot of buzz about The Omnivore's Dilemma, I picked up a copy at the library. And then I flipped through it, saw that the print was a wee bit small and that it had over four hundred pages and returned it to the library unread. Yes, I am a true inspiration.

Then it was picked for one of my bookclubs this month and I started it several weeks ago in order to give myself time to work my way through it. And, my heavens, I couldn't put it down. It combined two of my very favorite topics - food and finances (how food prices are driven, the government's financial involvement in the food chain, etc). I was absorbed through almost all of it (I got a little bored during the section about hunting wild pig in Northern California).

And then, much to Bart's dismay, I checked out (for the third time) Food, Inc. and finally watched it. He watched too. And we both loved it.

What I liked about the movie was the encouragement of ways you could make a difference. Because I keep my grocery budget as small as I can, I figured my money didn't make much of a difference one way or another.

I don't feel that way anymore. I'm still not willing to spend $11 for a single chicken breast or something, but I am willing to spend a little more in some areas and cut back on products that I don't want to be supporting. I've heard for years about "voting with your food dollars" and not really bought into that whole premise, but I recognize clearly now that even my few dollars a week either supports or doesn't support enormous corporations with only the bottom line in mind.

I signed up for a CSA box a few weeks ago (I split it with a girl in my ward so that I'm not 1. drowning in bok choi and 2. spending my entire budget on vegetables) and I've found a woman who lives nearby who sells eggs from chickens she raises in her backyard for much less than it costs to buy cage-free organic whatever eggs at the grocery store.

I'm not really in a position to eat in the most sustainable, perfect way possible. Few people are, probably. But I can make a few changes in what I do and right now that's something I can feel good about.

Eight Months

Dear Ella,

I think now that you are eight months old, it is safe to declare you a blue-eyed baby. Your Grancie thought you were going to go dark like me and three of my four siblings, but you've held on. Your dad's recessive genes really came through for you, although your eyes are darker than his are.

Remember how I mentioned last month how you were just in love with your dad? You still are. The other day we were in your bedroom playing when he came home for lunch. As soon as you heard the door beep, your head snapped up and you started shaking with excitement. It took him a minute or so to come back to where we were and you didn't take your eyes off the door the whole time, just waiting for him to appear. When you see him, you shake and squirm and squeal, holding out your arms to have him pick you up.

You are not so keen on other men, though. Dad's cousin and his wife live in our apartment complex with their two little girls and he is a tall guy, with a lot of dark hair and a beard. When they were over here hanging out a few weeks ago, your dad held your hands and walked you over to him. You were pretty reluctant and slow. When he took your hands and turned you around to walk you back to Dad, you walked as fast as I've ever seen you. We all got a big laugh out of that.

In general, though, you just love people. At the library or the grocery store, as soon as you see someone, you look at them intently and if they stop and look at you, you wave your arms around and smile and giggle. Pretty sure you got that from your dad too, as he is much more social than I am.

Your ability to interact has really come a long way this month. When I come get you out of your crib, I fold up your blanket and then I hold out my hand for your pacifier. And you'll either pick it up and drop it in my hand or just open your mouth and lean your head over my hand so it falls out. The first time your dad saw you do that, he couldn't stop laughing at how cute it is.

On Sunday night, we took you into your room to change your clothes after dinner since you were rather filthy and you got kind of anxious, I'm assuming because you thought it was bed time. When we came back out of your room and went to the door to go for a walk, you burst into spontaneous laughter, which we'd never seen you do before.

You make us laugh all the time. We love you more than you know,

Mama

P.S. I tried to take that brush away from you for these pictures. And I got this winner: 

The Girl Who Was On Fire edited by Leah Wilson

The Girl who was on Fire is not my normal kind of read. But this book was so fantastically terrific. If you're a Hunger Games fan, this is worth a read.

Look, I am not the kind of person who wants to read endlessly about books I like (well, okay, I love reading blog posts about books I like, but I don't want to read an entire book about people who have clearly thought way too deeply about something I read, enjoyed, and do not want to read a dissertation on).

So, I thought there was a distinct possibility I would not actually love this book.

And then I read the first essay and it was so ludicrously smart and engaging and I had to read whole paragraphs to Bart after he got home from work reeeeeeeally late and probably wanted only to go to sleep. But no! He must listen. (Good soul that he is, he totally listened. And acted interested).

There are thirteen essays in this book, each written by a different YA author, and each one is fantastic. The first one is about why the Hunger Games has been so insanely popular. I know, sounds cliche. But it's anything but. For instance, this paragraph:

Another things that kept me reading compulsively was sheer interest in how the novel is structured: how does Suzanne Collins allay the very bleak premise of the Hunger Games enough so that we are not all carted, weeping softly, off to a lunatic asylum in the middle of Catching Fire, and how does she keep her characters sympathetic even when they are almost all, by necessity, murderers?

Why indeed? And that's just the beginning. The chapter about Team Katniss - why she is such a fascinating character independent of the two boys vying for her love. Or the one about love as a political act. Or how fashion is used in the books (I was sure this would be the one I yawned through. I did not. Not even for a moment). How surveillance keeps people in check (or doesn't). How Katniss' world is one of smoke and mirrors, where it is incredibly difficult for people to tell what is real and what is not.

Reading this book is like going to an English class where your professor suddenly starts pointing out all the symbolism and themes and you think, "wow, I didn't even like this book and now I want to reread it." Imagine that happening with a book you actually loved. You could talk for ages about this.

I only read Mockingjay back in August when it came out, but now that I'm itching to read the entire series straight through. I generally wouldn't be the person recommending a book of essays about another book, but here I am. Seriously, this is fascinating stuff.

Also, this book did what the three original books failed to do - it turned me to Team Peeta.

And. . . when I emailed the publisher to tell them how much I LOVED this book, they offered to give a copy away to a reader. So, if you'd like your own copy, leave a comment (one per person, only if you live in the USA or Canada, tragically (that is, it's tragic that it's only open to those readers, not tragic if you live in one of those two countries)). I'll close entries at midnight on Sunday night and announce a winner Monday morning. Ta-da!

Advance copy received from publisher

Restart

For the last many weeks, Bart has been in the midst of busy season at work, which meant he worked pretty much around the clock for weeks on end.

Then, on Tuesday afternoon, he called to say it was all done and he was on his way home. And he didn't go back to work until this morning.

Having him home for five and a half straight days was fantastic. We met up with my cousins for dinner (they were visiting San Antonio for their anniversary) at the Clay Pit, walked to the library, slept in, watched Food Inc, dipped our feet in the pool, went on a little camping outing (although we wimped out and didn't spend the night), attended a little St. Patrick's Day dinner with friends, watched some BYU basketball, went to a BBQ, and I finally went in to get my eyes checked (it's been over two years).

Pretty much the best week I can imagine. It was a perfect mix of social activities, productivity, and do-nothing-relaxation. 

On the other hand, it's nice to be back to normal life this morning. I am, perhaps, the world's biggest fan of everyday life. And even more so now that everyday life doesn't mean that Bart stays at work until ten p.m. and then comes home and works some more until two a.m.

Of course, now I have to start making dinner again. I can't pretend it's not been a nice little break to have several weeks of virtually no dinner making.

Reliving One of the Best Meals of My Life

A long time ago, in a house only a few blocks away from my current apartment, I wrote a book review and someone asked if I'd been paid to write it (it was a book quite outside the normal teen romance scope of my reading). I had not, but the book was non-fiction and so my review was more outline-y than my standard "and there was a love triangle of doom" reviews.

I've been thinking about that post mainly because here is another post that will sound paid but is most definitely not (which is tragic, but true; however, if one of you would like to send me a check for writing this post, I will not turn it down).

Back in September, it was Austin Restaurant Week (if you aren't familiar with the Restaurant Week concept, the idea is that restaurants offer a several course menu for a fixed cost so that you can try out restaurants you might not otherwise afford or be inclined to try - many cities around the USA have them annually).

Anyway, I had spent a ridiculous amount of time trolling the list of participating restaurants, looking at menus and deciding which one we might want to try out.

And then, on Austin Restaurant Week's twitter page, I won a $25 gift certificate to Fabi and Rosi, a restaurant that I hadn't even really considered. (My mom would say "of COURSE you won," but, really, she has no idea how many time I entered the daily giveaways both on Facebook and Twitter, for both Bart and me, so statistically, the odds were in my favor of winning at least ONCE (which of course, was the maximum times you were allowed to win)).

People, I cannot say enough good things about this restaurant.

It's downtown, but not RIGHT downtown, so there was easy parking. Bart and I remembered why we don't miss Boston, home of the "Please hand over your first born child or prepare to max out your credit card" parking.

The restaurant is in this darling old house (apparently another famous Austin restaurant used to be there until they moved to a new location). If Anthropologie had a restaurant, it would look like this one. It was that cool.

via Cheap Chic

We'd planned on taking the little girl with us, but then Ralphie, proving herself once again to be her own Texas Welcoming Committee, offered to watch her and, not being idiots, we took her up on it. On my reservation, I'd told them we'd have an infant and when we showed up, they took us to our table and they had one of those fancy little carseat holders set up for us. The hostess said, "Oh, you didn't bring your baby! We were all so excited to see a little newborn." Of course I loved her instantly for saying so.

Because of a mix-up with the gift certificate, the chef came out to talk to us, and oh, how we liked him instantly. He was also, we found out later, the owner, along with his wife.

We decided to skip the Restaurant Week menu in favor of choosing our own items from the menu (the power! the control!) and we started off with some bratwurst (the chef is German), which was fantastic. And they sent us out some little goat cheese tarts (mmm, goat cheese) and also a bowl of mussels. Tragically, I learned that I don't much care for mussels. I ate one. I drank a lot of water after that. At least they were free. . .

For our main course we got the schnitzel with noodle (of course I had the Sound of Music song stuck in my head for the rest of the evening) and then, because we were feeling brave, the vegetable plate. Oh. My. Heavens. That vegetable plate was, quite possibly, one of the best restaurant meals of my life. Every vegetable was so fantastic, I could hardly believe it. I didn't know a carrot could taste so good.

One of the waitresses noticed I was checking out every plate that came by, just to see what else people were ordering and so she started pausing briefly at our table to show me the various dishes as she passed.

It was one of the best dates I can remember in ages. When we left, the weather was a little bit warm and breezy and the lights in the front of the restaurant were twinkling over the outdoor seating. It was a perfect Austin evening.

I looked at the menu again this week and it's almost all new dishes. I can't wait to go back and try some more. Someone come visit soon, please, so I can have an excuse to go back.

A Book of Sleep by Il Sung Na

A Book of Sleep came out a couple of years ago, but I'd never heard of it until The Horn Book mentioned that a board book version of it was being released (they said the board book version was too small and the images were really dark, so you know, skip it).

Now I am in love with this book and am bumping it to the top of my "books to give for baby showers" list. It is SO darling. And since this doesn't appear to be very well-known, you could give it without much worry that it'll be the fifth copy they've received (unlike Goodnight Moon). Unless, of course, I'm going to that baby shower too. In which case, back off.

This is the perfect bedtime story - not too long, quiet pictures, plenty to look at, and a soft, soothing storyline.

The book shows a dark night, with the owl the only animal still awake. The owl visits quite a number of different animals, all of them sleeping in different ways - some snoring loudly, some with their eyes open, some in groups, others alone. In the end, the sun comes up and all the animals wake up. "Except for the tired owl."

The illustrations are so whimsical, full of character and color without being busy, and it is great fun to try and spot the owl in each picture:

I've read this to Ella at least half a dozen times already. Now time to go check out his other books from the library including the recently released Snow Rabbit, Spring Rabbit. I love finding a new author.

The False Princess by Eilis O'Neal

The False Princess was so so much better than I expected. A really fun younger YA fantasy that reminded me of Ella Enchanted or The Goose Girl. Definitely recommended if you're a fantasy fan.

You know how tons of books say things like, "Perfect for fans of _______ and ________." And how most of the time the only similarity is that the authors they reference write in English and the book you are holding are written in English?

This book said it was perfect for fans of Gail Carson Levine (hello, Ella Enchanted, one of my favorite books ever) and Shannon Hale (whose books I think walk on water). I was dubious, to say the least.

People, I was wrong. This book actually is nearly on par with those books (of course, not QUITE as good, because what is as good as those books, but it really is a fun read).

Nalia is the princess and only child of the king and queen. Except, on her sixteenth birthday, her parents reveal that she's not the real princess. A prophecy was made about the real princess, foretelling her death before she reached sixteen, and so the real princess was sent away and Nalia - a name that isn't even hers, but belongs to the real princess - has been put in her place unbeknownst to the entire kingdom, until the danger has passed.

And now that the real Nalia is sixteen, safe from harm, she is returned to her rightful place and the false princess, whose true name is Sinda, is sent to a teeny town out in the kingdom to live with her one remaining relative, a frosty aunt who isn't thrilled about suddenly being responsible for a teenager.

Not to mention a teenager who appears to be pretty useless when it comes to any sort of manual labor. But then, Sinda discovers she has magical abilities. Unharnessed, true, but definitely there.

Sinda returns to the city to attempt to enroll herself in the kingdom's wizarding school, but besides magical training, she also finds a possible romance with her former friend from the court, not to mention a plot that might overthrow the kingdom. Maybe, between these things, she can find a place in the world for herself now

So you know, all things I like in a book. And this book had a few twists that I did not see coming. Clever! (or perhaps I am dumb, but I prefer to think that it's a clever book). 

Also, Sinda is such an excellent character. I feel like sometimes authors try and make their female characters super extra awesome to show girl power or whatever and it just makes it feel contrived. I love Sinda because she's not like that - she's strong and she's smart. Sometimes. Other times she's confused and makes foolish mistakes and her judgment is a little off. You know, like a real person.

I've already handed off my copy to Ralphie; you know I like a book when I can hardly wait to pass it on.

Review copy sent from publisher

Odds and Ends

I was on a winning streak a couple of weeks ago. In the course of a week, I won a box of Meyer lemons from Princess Nebraska's backyard (yum), two camis from Mod Bod (oh my heavens, I love them so much; in the last ten days, I've probably worn them at least five times), and. . . .an immersion blender from Perry's Plate. Seriously. I laughed.

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Should you be in a cooking mood (and really, why shouldn't you be?), here are two recipes I've loved lately. First, lemon cream. Oh my word, this stuff is to die for. I've made it twice with the aforementioned Meyer Lemons and it's just the most delicious thing ever (caution: some hyperbole may have been used). Spreading it on muffins is an excellent way to go.

And then these Sweet Potato Tin Foil Tacos. This was one of those meals where I had low expectations and then Bart and I spent the whole mean saying "THIS IS SO GOOD." A little guacamole and sour cream on top, and it was one of the best dinners I've made in ages.

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Have you heard about Pinterest? I got an invite from Emily, and I am in love. I think this might finally solve my recipe organizing problems. Any of you using it? And if anyone wants an invite, I've got several. I won't lie, though, the site can be reallllllly slow to load.

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I'm reading The Ominvore's Dilemma for book club and finding it so ridiculously fascinating. I read In Defense of Food a while ago and while I enjoyed that one, so far this one is much more interesting to me.  Bart is a good soul to listen to me ramble on at length about it. 

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I wrote a little article from Problem Solved over at Work It, Mom about how to fit reading into your life.

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It is amazing to me how mobile a baby who can't crawl or walk can be. Ella is just rolling all over the place, trying to pull herself up on things (unsuccessfully so far) and practically turning somersaults in the bathtub (so much so that last night she flipped herself right out of the little plastic tub into the big tub and gave herself a nice goose egg).

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Speaking of that baby, we are feeling mighty brave and planning to go camping later this month. Are we very foolish? (Do not answer that). 

Nine Coaches Waiting by Mary Stewart

All the quotes on the back that said Nine Coaches Waiting was like Rebecca. And it totally is - beautiful/creepy old house, odd marriages, intrigue, love story - I loved this Gothic romance. Rebecca meets Jane Eyre. Highly recommended.

I suffer from a chronic problem where I read ten pages of a book, don't get sucked in immediately and then have a hard time returning to it. I had to renew this book three times AND check it out a second time. But! When I finally sat down and read more than 15 pages, I was immediately sucked in. I flew through this book in two days.

The story follows Linda, a girl in her twenties who was orphaned some ten years earlier, while living in France with her parents. After their deaths she was returned to an orphanage in her native England where she has lived ever since. She's been working as a tutor, but not been particularly happy there and so when a chance to be a governess for a small boy in France comes up, she leaps at the chance.

For some reason, during the interview, though, she gets a little bit of the sense that the employers don't want someone who knows French and so she doesn't reveal that she is completely fluent or that she lived in that country for much of her life. This makes it a bit awkward for her as she has to pretend to be picking up French slowly and to also not understand the conversations buzzing around her.

The boy, Philippe, she'll be acting as governess to is also an orphan. His father was the oldest of three brothers, one of which now is his guardian and the other who acts as caretaker to the estate that Philippe will inherit when he comes of age. The guardian is currently out of the country for work for a few months and Phillipe is now staying with the other uncle, Leon, and his wife at the estate.

And they have a son of their own, although he's an adult. And not only of the tall, dark and handsome variety, but also of the swanky, fast car driving variety. What's a poor governess to do but fall in love with him?

Except. . . then there is an attempt on Philippe's life and while it's deemed accidental, Linda isn't quite so sure. And so, now instead of swooning over devilishly good-looking French men, she's looking over her shoulder and worrying about Phillipe.

This was just a really fantastic book. The pacing was fast, the plot was simple but not obvious, and the characters were excellent. Linda is quiet, but she is so capable and when things get tense, she steps up. I loved her.

And there is such ATMOSPHERE to this book. I could have sworn I was at an old French castle/manor, with sweeping grounds and winding roads. (Sadly, I was actually sitting on my couch).

If you know anything about me, you know that I am the world's largest wimp. So it is telling that I was so engrossed in this story that even though I knew it would freak me out to read it late at night when Bart was gone, I did anyway. And then I lay in bed certain I was going to be murdered. It was worth it.

Copy obtained from my local library (and twenty cents in late fees paid on it. The shame!)

Fashion Blogging

Kayla, my dear long-distance friend, switched up her blog a few months ago and now posts nearly-daily pictures of what she's wearing. I pretty much live for her blog these days.

Also, I finally made her tortillas after a solid year of trembling in fear.They were a success! I may have bragged to every person I saw for the next week that I'd made my own tortillas. Or I may not have. I'll never tell.

I mean, really, a food about clothing and healthy food? What's not to like? (the fact that she lives hundreds of miles away, that's what's not to like).

And then she had the brilliant idea to ask non-fashion bloggers to do guest posts about what they wear. And isn't she lucky to be friends with someone who is as non-fashion blogger as they get (see this post if you needed evidence that I was not made for the runway)?

So today, I am a . . .

Go check it out. I'll be here, lying on the couch from the exhaustion of taking a decent picture. How do people do this every single day?

Cookies: Proof That There Is No Topic I Can't Ramble Endlessly On About

A few weeks after we got married, I had a birthday. Bart and I went out for dinner and then Bart's parents had us over for a little dessert.

Since it was a birthday celebration, you may suspect that Bart's mother (who is an excellent, excellent cook) had made cake. You would be wrong. She knew that cake was not my favorite dessert and so she had made cookies, which she served with ice cream and cinnamon caramel sauce. Five years later, I still remember it as one of the nicer things someone has done for me on my birthday.

And lately, I've been remember just how much I LOVE cookies. I mean, I certainly like the occasional cake, or a square of brownie, but cookies tie with ice cream for my favorite dessert.

I like cookies because they freeze well, it's easy to eat just one or two without having to get out the entire pan and cut (no extra dishes!), they're crunchy AND soft. There is such variety in size, texture, and flavor.

Um, did I just write a love letter to cookies? I think I might have. And I am not the least bit sorry.

I remember as a kid making cookies and feeling like, once I'd made the first batch, I didn't want to keeeeeeeep making them. Now, I've solved that problem by halving or quartering most recipes so I only make a dozen or two at a time. Also makes it easier to justify trying more recipes.

I've also started enjoying making cookies much more now that I have some essential cooking making tools:

• the KitchenAid, of course 
• a silicone baking mat (you will never be the same after you start making cookies on one of these - they cook so much more evenly, plus cleanup is easy-peasy). 
• a cookie scoop (which I bought when I was trying to use up the end of a gift certificate and now can't imagine life without. Nice uniform cookies without getting your hands dirty? Sold). 
• Cooling racks. My Grannie bought me two when she came out for Ella's blessing and I love them.

Oh, and it would be rude to not tell you which cookies I've made and enjoyed recently:

• Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip- I loved these more than is really decent
• Chocolate M&M - Bart has declared these the best cookies I have ever made.
• Iced Lemon
• Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip OATMEAL - I capitalized oatmeal so you'd know they were different than the OTHER peanut butter chocolate chip cookies
• Oatmeal Coconut - I added chocolate chips because Bart needs chocolate
• Whole Wheat Oatmeal Chocolate Chip - I used big bittersweet chips and it was life-changing.
• Pumpkin Cranberry - I used regular chocolate instead of white because white chocolate is a bad word in our home. And I used cranberries instead of cherries.

Now to find the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe. I think I'm ready to attempt the famed New York Times one.

P.S. I wrote this post a couple of days ago, and then, when Bart mentioned we were out of brownies and needed some new desserts in the freezer, I made a batch of cookies that were a complete failure. They stuck to the pan, they fell apart, they tasted lousy. I guess that's what you get for writing a post that basically boils down to "I am the cookie master."

Drums, Girls and Dangerous Pie and After Ever After by Jordan Sonnenblick

These books are so well-written, funny and real, about a family dealing with cancer (I know - who could even believe it might be funny?). Why did it take me so long to read these? 

Let me, first, get a little something off my chest. Drums, Girls and Dangerous Pie has a bunch of different covers. And this one is not the one that was on the book I read, so I usually wouldn't have picked this one to use for my review. Not to mention that I think it's an ugly cover and much prefer some of the other ones. But it matches the cover for After Ever After which is, from what I can tell, the only cover for that book.

So then I have the dilemma of "use the matching covers" or "use the cover I do not hate and also actually saw every time I picked the book up to read." These are dilemmas, people. My life is not all bonbon eating and YA reading.

Also, because I'm talking about two books at once here, it might spoil some of the first book for you. Consider yourself warned.

The first one, Drums, Girls and Dangerous Pie, is told from eighth-grader Steven's point of view, much of it in journal entries for his English class. As the year begins, he's mostly caught up in his drumming and the ridiculously beautiful girl in his class, Renee. And perhaps a little whining about his five-year-old brother. It's amusing and very average-teenage kind of stuff. And then that five-year-old brother, Jeffrey, is diagnosed with leukemia. Suddenly life is a little less average and a lot more terrifying.

In a very realistic way, Steven tries to deal with this by telling absolutely no one. Of course, it eventually comes out and it changes the way people interact with him. And having a brother with cancer doesn't mean Jeffrey doesn't sometimes still really annoy Steven.

The entire dynamic of Steven's family changes too, as the mother quits her job in order to take Jeffrey back and forth from a nearby city for treatment and to be able to stay with him in the hospital. This leaves Steven and his dad home together alone for long periods of time, with his dad becoming pretty reclusive and, when he is out, he's mostly just worried about money. Life is a little bleak, to say the least. 

After Ever After takes place during Jeffrey's eighth-grade year.  He's survived the leukemia, although it's definitely left its mark, as he has a fairly pronounced limp and also suffers from some learning disorders because of the treatment.

And even a life without cancer is complicated. The new girl in school is beautiful and smart, but what are the chances she'll be interested in the chubby boy who limps and can't do math? And why has Steven dropped out of college and gone to Africa - after years of relying on Steven to be there for him, Jeffrey feels lost with Steven completely unreachable.

Oh, these books. I laughed out loud, I made Bart listen while I read him passages that were too funny not to share (the true test of a good book for me), and I felt a little teary.  It's a sign of a well-written book, to me, that it can deal with such a tragic situation and still be funny, without being flippant or annoying.

Having lost my own brother to cancer, I'm always interested in books that deal with these kinds of situations and how families work through it. This book made me so grateful that my parents didn't fall apart when Shepard was diagnosed and that, in nearly every way, our lives went on very much as normal.

Most reviews I've read seem to prefer Drums, but I thought After Ever After was better. Read them both and tell me if I'm wrong.

Also, since reading them, I also checked out and read Notes from the Midnight Driver which was just as good as these two. 


Copies checked out from my local library

9 out of 10

Long ago, I had a request to rate the books I read. And, because I do what my fanbase (er, college roommate) wants, I have for the last two years (almost to the day).

But this has become more and more uncomfortable for me. How in the world is one number supposed to sum up how I feel about a book?

And what is the ranking for anyway? Does it rate where on my scale of least and most favorites I would rank this book? Does it rate how likely I am to recommend it? Does it rate the quality of the writing? The pace of the storyline? The size of the audience that would enjoy it?

I found myself trying to incorporate all those things into a single number - okay, nine for story line, but maybe a little edgy for some, so let's drop it to an eight, but the writing is a ten, so back up to a nine, but it's maybe a little slow for some people, so down to eight again, and maybe the topic is too depressing for some people, so seven, but I'd say it's one of my favorites so back up to an eight. Okay, eight. Perfect.

Actually, not even close to perfect. More like insane.

And so,as of this moment, I'm ditching the numbers. I try to mainly only review books I liked and would recommend to at least one person, and the books I don't like and review, it's mainly because my strong negative feelings need to be aired before I talk Bart to death.

It is perhaps a little unhealthy how freeeeeeee I suddenly feel.

Fablehaven by Brandon Mull

I am deeply regretting that I didn't read Fablehaven before I was a librarian. Funny, clever, and fast-paced, with normal children plunked suddenly in the middle of an intensely magical world, this would have been a great recommendation for the (enormous number of) kids who loved fantasy. 

Kendra and Seth are going to spend a few weeks with their grandparents while their parents go on a cruise. These grandparents are rather reclusive, but have agreed to watch them.

When they arrive, they find themselves really enjoying staying there (although, mysteriously, the grandmother is absent). The grounds are beautiful, their grandfather is kind and interesting, and there are all sorts of amazing things to keep them entertained.

And then, they discover that their grandparents' home is Fablehaven, a sanctuary for magical creatures, both good and evil, to protect them from extinction. There are a number of these sanctuaries around the world, with caretakers for each one. Their grandfather is the caretaker of Fablehaven and he keeps the creatures living in some sort of harmony, and enforces the rules that bind them all. 

But on special occasions, the creatures are allowed to mingle and come up near the house and during that time, the family must retreat inside in order to stay safe. The grandfather warns them that the creatures will try and lure them out, but they absolutely must stay within their room and in their beds.

Of course, it wouldn't be much of a story if they didn't break the rules, now would it? And that's when the action really picks up.

When I announced this book as the winner (in October. . .), Mary commented that she liked the book, but one of the characters was extremely annoying. It took me approximately ten pages to nail Seth as the one she'd been referring to. I just have no tolerance for willfully stupid characters; Seth really really really strained my patience.

There have been so many fantasy books published in the last decade or so, many of which I think are pretty rubbishy. This one, however, is excellent - a great premise, plenty of action, and many clever details. Once I started this one, it was easy to keep reading.

I'm not even particularly a huge fantasy fan, and this one is one I enjoyed from start to finish and that I've continued to think of fondly even months after closing the book (yes, I really did finish it that long ago. . . ).


Copy checked out from my local library