Monday, February 27, 2012

It's Monday, What Are You Reading?

It's Monday, What Are You Reading is a weekly blog meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journey where you list the books you read last week and the ones you hope to read this week.

I am a little late to the game but it is still Monday for a few hours! 

Read this week:



The Hob's Bargain by Patricia Briggs- I picked this up because it sounded fun; and it was! Review to be posted soon.

A Perfect Blood by Kim Harrison- This came in the mail, I forgot I pre-ordered it! I had to put Wuthering Heights on hold for a bit to read this and a few other books I bought.  Review to be posted very soon. 

Reading this Week:


The Wolf Gift by Anne Rice - I am so so excited that Anne Rice is writing spooky, supernatural stuff again!!  I also saw this article and completely agree!






Sunday, February 19, 2012

Its Monday, What Are You Reading?

It's Monday, What Are You Reading is a weekly blog meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journey where you list the books you read last week and the ones you hope to read this week.

If you check back and look at my post Distracted, you will see I have been not reading so much.  I became a bit too Downton distracted. 


Reading this week:

   
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte:  My favorite - although, I am not a super fan of Heathcliff. 

The Hob's Bargain by Patricia Briggs: Just because it looks interesting.

Read in the past and catching up on blogs:




Saturday, February 18, 2012

Twenties Girl - Review

          
                                                         Title:  Twenties Girl
                                                       Author: Sophie Kinsella
                                                   Source: Paperback Swap

Goodreads Summary:

Lara Lington has always had an overactive imagination, but suddenly that imagination seems to be in overdrive. Normal professional twenty-something young women don’t get visited by ghosts. Or do they?

When the spirit of Lara’s great-aunt Sadie—a feisty, demanding girl with firm ideas about fashion, love, and the right way to dance—mysteriously appears, she has one request: Lara must find a missing necklace that had been in Sadie’s possession for more than seventy-five years, because Sadie cannot rest without it. 

Lara and Sadie make a hilarious sparring duo, and at first it seems as though they have nothing in common. But as the mission to find Sadie’s necklace leads to intrigue and a new romance for Lara, these very different “twenties” girls learn some surprising truths from and about each other. Written with all the irrepressible charm and humor that have made Sophie Kinsella’s books beloved by millions, Twenties Girl is also a deeply moving testament to the transcendent bonds of friendship and family.


My thoughts:

I thought this book was so fun.  I am not very familiar with this author's work, this is one of the first I have read, and I really liked it.  I requested it from Paperback Swap because of the title; I am obsessed with the 20s: jazz, dancing, cute hair. (and I don't know if you can use a semi colon and a colon in the same sentence but I did)

Lara was kind of scary in this book - she was so obsessed with her ex-boyfriend, and it was super creepy.  The whole time she was trying to get back with him, and used Sadie to spy on him to collect info.  The whole time this is going on, she meets an American named Ed and "dates" him for Sadie.  Lara good naturedly dresses as Sadie demands, in full on flapper gear, for these dates, and Ed is compelled by Sadie to continue going out with her, because when Sadie really concentrates and yells in people's ears, they do what she "suggests".  I especially like the parts with Sadie, and I loved the mystery of her own great love.




The Kitchen Daugher- Review

Title:  The Kitchen Daughter
Author:  Jael McHenry
Source: Good ol' library

Goodreads Summary:

After the unexpected death of her parents, painfully shy and sheltered 26-year-old Ginny Selvaggio seeks comfort in cooking from family recipes. But the rich, peppery scent of her Nonna’s soup draws an unexpected visitor into the kitchen: the ghost of Nonna herself, dead for twenty years, who appears with a cryptic warning (“do no let her…”) before vanishing like steam from a cooling dish. 

A haunted kitchen isn’t Ginny’s only challenge. Her domineering sister, Amanda, (aka “Demanda”) insists on selling their parents’ house, the only home Ginny has ever known. As she packs up her parents’ belongings, Ginny finds evidence of family secrets she isn’t sure how to unravel. She knows how to turn milk into cheese and cream into butter, but she doesn’t know why her mother hid a letter in the bedroom chimney, or the identity of the woman in her father’s photographs. The more she learns, the more she realizes the keys to these riddles lie with the dead, and there’s only one way to get answers: cook from dead people’s recipes, raise their ghosts, and ask them.

My thoughts:

I thought this book was a very calm and gentle book, despite the massive, sad tragedies that occur within its pages.  Ginny has Aspergers, and sees and feels the world in a way that is different from most people.  She doesn't like to be touched, and tries to understand the emotions of others.  The book begins with the death of her parents, which rocks her world.  They were her touchstones, they were her guides in a world that was difficult for her to manuever in certain ways.  She is left with alone, with just her sister Amanda, who in return has a difficult time understanding Ginny.

Ginny finds comfort and solace in cooking, and uses food as a coping mechanism when the world gets too messy for, and retreats to  memories of cooking, the subtle flavors and nuances that certain foods have.  She comforts herself with her Nonna's Ribollita, and the smell of this dish draws the ghost of her grandmother to her.  Her Nonna dissipates as the scent of the Ribollita does, and leaves Ginny with a cryptic message: "Do no let her..."; Ginny figures the "her" is Amanda, who is trying to sell the house. 

She is befriended by her cleaning lady Gert, who guides her from her home and introduces her to people, convincing Ginny to use her cooking talents to prepare meals for those at her temple who are mourning. 

Ginny continues to draw the ghost of her family to her, as well as to Gert's son David, who had a very sad, surprising plot twist! She also has many moments with her sister, working through their confusion to come to a place they both agree on., as Ginny and she work on their grief.

I really enjoyed this book, and I am going to add a few of the recipes to my list! Especially the Ribollita.

Distracted

I haven't read much lately.  And this is the reason why:



Is anyone else addicted to this show? My friend Jill and I have been watching it like crazy and then reading all we can online.  Personally, I have been reading most about this guy:



This is Branson, a complex character - a Socialist Irish Chauffeur who falls in love with the aristocratic youngest daughter. His plotline is the best, and it doesn't hurt that he is super adorable.

But all this Downton Abbey has sparked an interest in the old classic gothics, like Jane Eyre, and Wuthering Heights, so I guess this obsession was good for something.  This week I am reading:



Wuthering Heights by Jane Eyre:  One of my favorites, but I really don't like Heathcliff!



Cheerful Money by Tad Friend:  I think this looks pretty interesting.