An Address to Die For - Review

Address to Die For (A Maggie McDonald Mystery #1) by Mary Feliz

Rating: Very Good
Source: NetGalley

Description:  For professional organizer Maggie McDonald, moving her family into a new home should be the perfect organizational challenge.  But murder was definitely not on the tp-do list...
Maggie McDonald has a penchant for order that isn't confined to her clients' closets, kitchens, and sock drawers.  As she lays out her plans to transfer her family to the hundred-year-old house her husband, Max has inherited in the hills above Silicon Valley, she has every expectation for their new life to fall neatly into place.  But as the family bounces up the driveway of their new home, she's shocked to discover the dilapidated condition.  When her husband finds the caretaker face-down in their new basement, it's the detectives who end up moving in.  What a mess!  While the investigation unravels and the family camps out in a barn, a killer remains at large - exactly the sort of loose end Maggie can't help but clean up... (from Goodreads)

Genre: Mystery

Why I Picked This Book:  A professional organizer and a 100 year old house!   I couldn't resist it!

My Impression:  Last time we moved I swore I would never do it ever again.  I was 7 months pregnant which meant I could do just about nothing which drove me crazy.  J spent every night after work cleaning up our old house so we could turn it into a rental and that was first priority as we wanted to be paying 2 mortgages for as short of time as possible.  In the meantime I tried to do what unpacking I could at home which wasn't very much because my doctor kept threatening bed rest as it was.  But my move was a vacation compared to the mess Maggie McDonald lands in!
For starters the house that was promised to be turnkey ready isn't and what's weird is that it was 5 months ago when Maggie and her husband had done a walk through.  How could it have gone to great shape though a little dusty to looking like a tear down in 5 months?  When the caretaker is found at the bottom of the basement stairs deceased and the police investigation turns up evidence that the state of the house is more due to vandalism than dilapidation it becomes very evident that the move isn't going to be the organized calm that Maggie had hoped for.

I really liked Maggie.  She's in a situation that has spiraled out of control - especially when Max ends up halfway around the world for a few weeks thanks to his new job - and is trying to keep her footing to keep things moving forward and provide her kids with some kind of routine.  She feels like a real person with kids, a husband who travels a lot, and just too much to do.  I've been in her shoes and think she and I would get along!  I liked her children too.  They're good kids but they read pretty true.  They're trying to be helpful and responsible but sometimes they really just need that permission slip signed and turned in yesterday and go into full meltdown because it didn't happen because they didn't actually mention it to anyone.  I loved Tess too with her dual personality wardrobe and her matter of fact view of her surroundings and the people that inhabit them.  It's obvious that the author has spent her share of time on the school volunteer circuit.  While the bulk of the characters are likable people even if they have their quirks there's always a few that just make things harder than they have to be or have their own inflated view of their own importance.  It was fun to watch Maggie try and establish her place in her new community.  I also enjoyed hearing about Maggie's job as an organizer.  While she isn't actively working because of the move she does rely on her skill set quite a bit and each chapter is headed with an organization tip or reminder from her notebook.

I also really enjoyed the mystery and there's a lot going on!  There's vandalism, murder, arson, and any number of things that may or may not be connected.  This is a full book as Maggie tries to figure out what's going on, get to know her new community and try and protect her family.  The mystery itself made sense as did Maggie's reasons for investigating.  This was a great introduction to the series and to Maggie McDonald.  I'm already looking forward to my next visit to Orchard Valley and seeing what trouble Maggie gets into next!


Would I Read More of this Series/Author?: Absolutely!  I can't wait for the next book!  I'm looking forward to spending more time with Maggie and her friends.

Would I Recommend this Book?: Definitely!  If you like cozy mysteries this is a great one to pick up.  While there is a lot going on it never once was confusing and I just loved getting to know Maggie, her family, and Orchard Valley.

Top Ten Tuesday - Ten Books I've Read Set Outside the US

This week's Top Ten Tuesday Topic from The Broke and The Bookish is Ten Books I've Read that are Set Outside the US.  I'm also taking the UK out of the mix because I go there a LOT fictionally and it'd get kind of boring if every book I listed took place in London!  This made it a bit more of a challenge as I tend to not get too far outside my comfort zone geographically.

1. France -  The Light of Paris by Eleanor Brown - This might be cheating because 50% of the book takes place in Tennessee which is basically half an hour away from me BUT the other 50% is wonderfully gloriously Paris and not just Paris but Paris in 1924!

2. Canada - Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery  - Well all of L.M. Montgomery's books take place in Canada but the Anne books have placed Prince Edward Island in a special place in my heart.  My husband and I were talking about the top 5 places we want to visit and PEI is pretty high on my list!

3.  The Channel Islands - The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows - This might be another cheat since it's technically a British Crown dependency but I got such a feel of Guernsey itself with this book and Guernsey is cut off from anywhere else during the Nazi occupation that I'm going to count it.

4.  Egypt - Iris and Ruby by Rosie Thomas - This is another dual timeline book but both take place in Egypt though most of the characters are British.  I enjoyed the modern day timeline but Egypt during World War II was fascinating and not something I knew really anything about.

5.  Greece - Stars of Fortune by Nora Roberts - I loved visiting Corfu in this book.  I could just feel the sun and smell the salt.  Roberts' is wonderfully descriptive.  While I did enjoy the story overall I think one of the reasons I enjoyed it so much was because of the setting.

6.  Ireland - Secrets of the Lighthouse by Santa Montefiore -  Ireland should have been billed as a character in this richly drawn book of a young woman trying to reconnect with herself and a family she never really knew.  And there's a ghost!

7.  Jamaica - Live and Let Die by Ian Fleming - In the 2nd half of the 2nd James Bond book he spends half the time in Jamaica trying to finally hunt down the source of smuggled gold coins.  There's lots of talk of the water, the superstitions, and the sea life.

8.  Italy - Wings of the Falcon by Barbara Michaels - I'm not going to lie - the bulk of my Italian history knowledge came from this book AND this was also the reason I wrote a research paper on Etruscan burial art and funerary practices in college.  This is such gothic-y fun that I've reread it probably a dozen times and would love to reread it again soon!

9.  Iraq - They Came to Baghdad by Agatha Christie - Christie actually wrote a number of books set in the Middle East but most take place on archaeological digs.  This one is much more of a international intrigue with one of her girls with no families but a great deal of common sense main characters.  So much fun!

10.  Australia - Tumbledown Manor by Helen Brown - To be honest I didn't love this book but I did love the Australian setting with all the wildlife you can expect to run into if you're living off the beaten path.  I just couldn't get over how the kangaroos were viewed as basically big pests whereas in the US we get so excited about them

Where has your reading taken you this year?

Ramblings from the Stacks: Magic Words in Book Blurbs

I started thinking about this topic when J and I were having dinner at a new restaurant.  While we were waiting for the waiter we discussed what we each planned to order and discovered that we had each guessed correctly what the other person was going to order.  This isn't too big of a shock considered we've been married for quite some time and have eaten who knows how many thousands of meals together but we started talking about how we knew and it all centered around magic words.

I know if I see a menu item that involves "roasted garlic" J is most likely going to order it.  Same goes for "balsamic".  I'm slightly more complicated.  Basically if he sees a main course with a description of something he can't imagine why anyone would want to eat that he figures I'll order it.  Otherwise, it's dishes that involve "butternut squash", "horseradish", "balsamic", "caramelized onions", or "gorgonzola".

We have our anti-magic words too.  Words that will make us run the opposite direction of a dish.  Neither of us will order dishes with shrimp (I'm allergic, he thinks they're rats of the sea) or olives.  I really really dislike olives.  Like I have a full on rant about my dislike of olives.

All of this got me thinking about books.  In all those pretty shiny new books that come out every week what words jump out at me, make me pick some books over others?  These are some magic words that will make me grab a book that I know absolutely nothing.

1.  Ghosts

2.  Old diaries or letters - particularly if they're discovered hidden somewhere

3.  Unexpected skeletons

4.  Dilapidated or old houses (especially if the plot includes any or all of the above)

5.  Starting a restaurant or bakery

6.  Someone leaving their old life behind to figure out what they really want to do (as long as they're not leaving their children behind or wrecking a good marriage with a solid and understanding spouse who is devastated by this.  I don't like those at all.)

7.  1920s anything - especially London or Paris

8.  Homefront during either World War I or World War II

9.  Books about books, libraries, or bookstores

10. Multi-generational relationships - I think this may because of my relationship with my grandparents but if there's a book about a grandchild/grandparent relationship I'm on board

 On the other side of this are the words and themes that will make me fun away faster than a dish full of olives

1.  Civil War settings

2.  Death of a child - especially if it's a just turned my head for a second kind of accident

3.  Abduction stories that are told through the eyes of the victim

4.  Zombies

The good thing is I seem to have more Magic Words than Olive Words!  What about you?  Do you have certain words that will make you pick up a book that you know nothing about?  Words that make you hesitate even if it's by a favorite author?  And do you like olives?  If so, are there particular ones I should try to get past my hatred of them?

This Week in Reading July 17

It's Sunday Post time!  This is hosted by the awesome Caffeinated Book Reviewer and gives us all a chance to recap our week.

What I Got:

Darkest Journey by Heather Graham - It's Heather Graham and a Krewe series book.  I barely even look at the blurb anymore! (NetGalley)

Because of Miss Bridgerton by Julia Quinn - I'm so excited about this one!  I'm really looking forward to revisiting the Bridgerton family.  (Paperbackswap)

Pecan Pies and Homicides by Ellery Adams - Technically I haven't read the first book in this series but I have them all and do plan on starting it soon.  In the meantime I will keep collecting them! (Paperbackswap)

Privy to the Dead by Sheila Connolly - I really love this series from Connolly about a Historical Society director.  I'm looking forward to catching up on it. (Paperbackswap)

The Obsession by Nora Roberts - I've been waiting patiently for an e-copy of this one from the library but the Tornado and I were at the library earlier this week and there sat a print copy! (library)

Bon Appetempt: A Coming of Age Story (with Recipes) by Amelia Morris - Since I was already getting one book at the library I decided why not two!  This one jumped out at me because of it's cute cover and the title.  It sounds like it's project style memoir with cooking which I'm all about!  (Library)

Currently:

Reading:  A Hometown Girl by Mariah Stewart and An Address to Die For by Mary Feliz

Listening: Podcasts - I've really been enjoying Overdue about books you should have read by now and Read It and Weep which tears apart pretty bad books, movies and shows.

Watching:  J and I got the first season Northern Exposure from the library and have been watching it lately and really enjoying it.  I forgot just how great that show is!

Off the Blog:

Pokemon Go has taken over our lives this week.  The Tornado is obsessed and I have to admit it's pretty fun.  I don't understand all the fighting or the strategy but I'm all for the collecting!  We've gone on a few walks through our neighborhood, a few local parks, and downtown when we went to the Farmer's Market the other evening.  This weekend we're heading to the big outdoor mall to see what we can find there.  We're also planning to go see The Secret Life of Pets and go out to dinner and do a little shopping but Pokemon Go will play a pretty big part!  We'll probably also stop by the bookstore and I'm torn between some retail therapy and the knowledge that I'm not sure if I have any more corners to cram books into.  Not surprising but my book acquiring has greatly outpaced my book reading!

I had been thinking about the whole Pokemon Go thing but hadn't downloaded it or looked into it but on Monday Eleanor and her boyfriend came over and they'd been playing it.  So we talked about it for awhile and it sounded pretty fun.  And then Emma and her boyfriend came up from the town their school is in and they've apparently become obsessed with it.  We went to dinner and Emma's boyfriend and the Tornado (who incidentally have the same name) spent most of the meal discussing the game and going through all the Pokemon the boyfriend had collected.  After 2 nights of Pokemon Go talk there was no way we were going to get out of playing!

We're closing in on the end of summer.  The Tornado has one week of camp left and next week we'll see who his teacher in and a couple of weeks after that school will start.  This summer has flown by and I'm not quite ready for it to end!

On the Blog:

What Happened:

Monday: The Light of Paris - Review + Giveaway (1 day left!)
Tuesday: Top Ten Tuesday - Ten Facts About Me
Wednesday: A Most Curious Murder - Cozy Mystery Review
Thursday: James Bond: Live and Let Die - Book vs Movie
Friday: Friday Linkups featuring teasers from Hometown Girl
Saturday: Home Cooked - Cookbook Review + Recipe

What's Coming Up:

Monday: Ramblings from the Stacks - Magic Words

Tuesday: Top Ten Tuesday - Ten Books I've Read Set Outside the US

Wednesday: Address to Die For - Cozy Mystery Review

Thursday: Better Get to Livin' - Fiction/Contemporary Romance Review

Friday: Friday Linkups with Teasers from my current book

Saturday: My Foodie TBR

Have a great week and happy reading!

Home Cooked - Cookbook Review + Recipe

Home Cooked: Essential Recipes for a a New Way to Cook by Anya Fernald with Jessica Battilana

The blurb at the beginning of this book called my name.  It talks about rich sauces, meaty ragus with an unfussy execution and the focus on making delicious flavorful food.  I love cookbooks that focus on tasty food made with real ingredients and a focus on getting back to the fundamentals of home cooking with cooking from scratch and simple ingredients.

And Home Cooked is lovely.  From the homey picture on the cover to the botanical prints on the endpapers to the beautifully photographed ingredients and finished dishes.  It shows a lifestyle that I would love to emulate - clean without being sterile, homey without being cluttered and all the while relaxed content people who seem to be enjoying their meal.

At the beginning Anya Fernald talks about how she got her start in food, farming, and butchering which was absolutely fascinating and her devotion to what she does is admirable.  The cookbook starts out with a chapter called "Building Blocks" which I enjoyed.  There are recipes for sofritto, aioli, all different kinds of broth, and a number of different sauces including a Traditional Uruguayan Chimichurri that sounds heavenly.

After that it went a bit downhill for me - though really I should have realized that this wasn't the cookbook for me when I saw the recipe for "Trotter Broth".  The chapters progress in the order of a meal starting with Snacks and drinks, followed by main courses and vegetable side dishes and ending in dessert.  Unfortunately, the bulk of the recipes missed their mark with me.  While I'm sure the recipes all end with a delicious result and start with a clear and easy to follow recipe I don't see myself sitting down to a meal of Roasted Peppers with Salted Fish as my starter, followed with Bird and Bunny Ragu, and ending with a Panforte which while it sounds amazing would require a trip to the specialty grocery store across town.

The majority of recipes were either not for me because they involved organ meat (like Agrodolce tongue, braised tripe, seared beef heart, or grilled sweetbreads) meat that I don't care for or is hard to find (chicken fried rabbit, rack of goat, or squab confit), or requires too many steps to be something I make on a regular basis (tons of fresh filled pastas and homemade sausage).  While not for me it is a beautiful book and would be wonderful for cooks who are a little more adventurous than I am.

Today I thought I'd share two of the recipes from this book that I'll definitely be trying soon.  I think they'd pair well with some really nice cheeses to make a lovely snack or something to sit out pre-dinner.

Pickled Grapes

2 lbs organic seedless grapes, green, red, black, or a mixture, stemmed
3 sprigs fresh tarragon
3 cloves garlic, crushed
2 cups white wine vinegar
1 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons kosher salt

Pack the grapes into pint jars.  Add a spring of tarragon and a garlic clove to each jar.  In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the vinegar, water, sugar, and salt.  Bring to a simmer, stirring to dissolve the sugar and salt, then pour the hot brine over the grapes.
Let cool to room temperature, then cover tightly and refrigerate.  Grapes are ready to eat in 1 day but will keep, refrigerated, for 1 month.  Serve alongside confits, pate, or other rich meats.

Olive Oil Crackers

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup warm water

1 tablespoon olive oil, plus more for brushing on crackers

1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more for sprinkling on crackers

In a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine the flours, water, olive oil, and salt.  Mix on medium speed until smooth and elastic, about 15 minutes (this can also be done by hand).  The dough should be very stiff and not all sticky; if necessary, add a bit more flour by the tablespoonful until it is no longer sticky.

Cover the bowl with plastic warp or a clean kitchen towel and let stand at room temperature for 1 hour (at this point the dough can also be tightly wrapped with plastic wrap and refrigerated for up to 3 days).

Preheat the oven to 350.  Transfer the dough to a floured work surface and cut into four pieces.  With a floured rolling pin, working with one piece of dough at a time, roll the dough as thinly as possible.  Using a sharp knife or pizza cutter, cut into 3 by 1 inch rectangles.  Transfer to two parchment lined baking sheets (the crackers do not spread, so you do not need to leave much space between them) and brush each cracker on both sides with olive oil, then sprinkle with salt.  Repeat with the remaining pieces of dough.

Bake, rotating the pans halfway through, until the crackers are blistered and golden brown, about 10 minutes.  Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool completely.  Bake the remaining crackers.  The crackers will keep for 1 week in a paper bag.  Reheat in a 300 degree oven for 5 minutes to recrisp if necessary.

This book was received from Blogging for Books in exchange for an honest review.

I'm linking up with Weekend Cooking hosted by Beth Fish Reads

Friday Linkups: Hometown Girl

It's Friday linkup time!  I'm linking up with the Book Blogger Hop hosted by Coffee Addicted Writer, Book Beginnings of Fridays hosted by Rose City Reader, and the Friday 56 hosted by Freda's Voice

This Week's Book Blogger Hop Question:
So I've been off schedule with the questions on the list and the question this week is one I answered 2 weeks ago.  So I'm going to answer the question I missed and hopefully after that I'll be back on schedule.
Name an author or authors that you have read the most of his or her books and would recommend to others.

My Answer:
Well this one is easy!  Definitely Agatha Christie!  Not only have I read all of her 80+ mysteries but I've also read several of her books under the Mary Westmacott name and her nonfiction books like her Autobiography and Come Tell Me How You Live which is a memoir about her time on archaeological digs with her husband, renowned archaeologist Max Mallowan.
If you're looking to try Christie's mysteries I recommend Death on the Nile (Poirot), Sleeping Murder (Marple), And Then There Were None (stand alone), Murder on the Orient Express (Poirot), and any of her short story collections.

This week's book is from Mariah Stewart's Chesapeake Diaries, a series that I love but that I've had really mixed results with.  I really liked the first book, DNF'd the 2nd, and like the 3rd.  Then I went up towards the more recent releases and though #7 was okay but ended up loving 8 and 9.  Now I'm back towards the beginning and am trying to catch up with the middle books starting with the 4th in the series, Hometown Girl.  I've met the main couple in other books and liked them so I have hopes that this one will not disappoint.

The Beginning:
At the moment the moon began its descent and the sun started to rise, the back door of the old farmhouse opened and a petite woman with a long strawberry blond ponytail stepped out onto the porch.

My Thoughts:
Well this isn't the most attention grabbing first sentence but it does give me a picture of both the house and the main character.

The 56:
"Can we speak frankly?" Curtis's eyes had narrowed almost to the point of slits.  He didn't wait for a response.  "Your father was a great disappointment to me.  How do I know the apple hasn't fallen too close to the tree?"

My Thoughts:
I know enough about the story from later books to understand Curtis's point of view but I can imagine how frustrating it would be to be judged by the sins of those that came before you.

So what do you think?  Keep reading?  Do you have a series that reads inconsistently but the good is good enough that you're not ready to let it go?

James Bond: Live and Let Die - Book vs Movie

The Book:

Live and Let Die (James Bond #2)

Published: 1954

Main Characters: James Bond, Mr. Big, Felix Leiter, Solitare

Setting: Harlem and Manhattan, New York

St. Petersburg, Florida

Jamaica

Basic Premise: Mysterious gold coins have suddenly appeared on the market making their way from Jamaica to New York and are linked to Mr. Big, a notorious criminal and SMERSH operative.  Bond is sent to represent the British side of things and bring down Mr. Big.

My Thoughts:  This is my 2nd James Bond book and while I didn't enjoy it as much as the first it did keep me entertained and up until the end I had no idea how Bond was going to get out of the mess he'd gotten himself into.  I think one of the things that kept me from completely enjoying it was how dated it seemed.  I'm prepared for some - Bond's attitude towards women is fantastically patronizing - and it hadn't bothered me in Casino Royale.  However, a large focus of this book involved race relations so it became a little jarring especially in regards to language.  I know it was typical at the time so it's not really a reflection of the book itself but it did make it a bit harder to translate into now.  There's also a few complicated descriptions of trap doors and things that got a little over detailed and I lost focus on the book trying to visualize what he was talking about and had to rewind.  The story itself is super fast paced and wonderfully readable especially once Bond gets to St. Petersburg and the pace really picks up.  I love the simplicity of Fleming's writing.  His style is very clean and his amount of details is usually absolutely perfect - enough to get a good picture of what is going on but not enough to slow the pace of the story.  I'm really beginning to like Bond and I'm looking forward to reading/listening to his next adventure.  

Audio Note:  Simon Vance does a fantastic job with his narration and really brings the cool controlled Bond to life.  At 6 hours and 28 minutes it's a fairly short listen and one that is action packed.

Live and Let Die 
Released: 1973
Main Characters: James Bond (Roger Moore), Dr. Kananga/Mr. Big (Yaphet Kotto), Rosie Carver (Gloria Hendry), Tee Hee (Julius Harris), Solitaire (Jane Seymour)
Setting: London, New York, New Orleans, Jamaica
Basic Premise: Ummm... there's a lot of voodoo ceremonies and some stuff about heroin and lots of agents getting killed.  And some alligators.  And Jane Seymour is gorgeous.  That's pretty much all I got.

My Thoughts: So I didn't expect this movie to be amazing.  I was expecting cheesy with ridiculous gadgets but I was also expecting a plot that made some sense.  I definitely got cheese and ridiculous gadgets but after an hour I paused the movie and looked over at J and asked "What exactly are they investigating?"  He had no idea either.  There is absolutely no connection to the book except for the some of the character's names and 2 of the locations and the occasional scene fragment.  The movie was disjointed and incoherent but I did think the casting of Yaphet Kotto as Mr. Big was a great choice.  I just wish he had been like the Mr. Big in the book.  And the young Jane Seymour is absolutely lovely.  Moore is definitely a lighter smoother Bond than the Bond of books but I thought he did a good job as the character in terms of his essential British-ness.  Unfortunately, I can't say I enjoyed the movie.  While I could have gotten past the cheese and lack of connection to the book I couldn't get past that I found it kind of boring.

I had an idea of watching the movies as I read the book but after this one I don't think I'm going too.  I'm hoping to watch the different Bonds as I get to the books where Connery and others began to try and at least compare each actor's version of Bond.

I will say that I don't have a long history with Bond.  I've read the first 2 books and watched the Daniel Craig Bond movies but it wasn't a franchise I really grew up with though of course I had heard of it.  Is there something I'm missing?  If you're a fan of the Bond movies is there one I should watch that might raise my opinion of these earlier movies?  What's your Bond experience?