Top 10 Bookish (that are not books) Things I'd Like to Own

Today's Top Ten Tuesday from The Broke and the Bookish isn't technically about books.  It's about book related stuff.  I'm indulging my love of book related things with this list and making my dream office/reading room which will occur when I have a few empty bedrooms around here!

1.  A secret room hidden behind a bookcase - okay I probably won't have this one but if I was building a dream house it would be there!

2.

This photo of Agatha Christie surrounded by her books - framed

3.  This sweatshirt from Out of Print sold on Modcloth

4.  This ordinary looking copy of Nancy Drew is actually a hollowed out book safe!  I found it on etsy from SecretSafe Books and they have tons of options.  I'm partial to Nancy Drew but I love the Alice in Wonderland as well.

5.  I adore this mug from LennyMud on Etsy especially since I enjoy having a cup of tea with my book

6.  Words can't describe how much I want this candle from Frostbeard on Etsy.  They have other scents like Old Books and Book Cellar as well as book inspired scents like The Shire, Trashy Romance Novel and Don't Panic (Fresh Towel Scent).  They also have non-book but still awesome inspired scents like Wibbly Wobbly Timey Wimey and Exterminate!.  Seriously I want one of each.

7.  It's a blanket with books on it!  It's also on sale at CafePress right now but I shall be strong.  They also have one that has what looks like a typed page of The Raven but I watched the first season (and the second but we're not talking about that) of The Following so I'm not going there.

8.  This reading chair or something like it.  I like ottomans.  I have a comfortable chair I use for reading now but when I sit kind of sideways and put my legs over the arm they eventually fall asleep.

9.  This disappearing TARDIS bookmark which actually came from this pattern.  Though first I'd have to learn how to sew.

10.  A cat who actually sits on my lap while I read.  I'm not a big cat lover but this would be nice.

My Paris Kitchen - Review

My Paris Kitchen by David Lebovitz

Rating: 4 Stars

Description:  Ten years ago American chef David Lebovitz moved to Paris and began to study French food as it is eaten by the average French person.  This book tells the tale in both stories and recipes.

Genre: Cookbook/Food Memoir

My Impression:  I loved this book and actually more for the stories than the recipes themselves.  His basic philosophy of food which basically boils down to quality ingredients and simple methods definitely inspires my thinking while cooking.  I loved his story about a French journalist condescendingly explaining the different kinds of lettuce incorrectly.  His detailed explanation about the tools he uses and why would be helpful to any cook just starting out.  I found the look inside how regular French people eat fascinating.  I also had no idea that the French were so territorial when it came to food - who knew that Parisians didn't like food from Provence?  Many of the stories made me chuckle a bit - all were interesting. The main negative for me was that many of the recipes require a stand mixer which is not something I own and therefore makes a number of the recipes useless to me.  I was also somewhat surprised to see a decent number of Middle Eastern recipes mixed in.  He did explain the availability and popularity of certain Middle Eastern ingredients which was interesting but I was more interested in French food than food from other regions.  While some of the recipes involve ingredients that I'd either have to order or hunt for many were simple.  All of the desserts were drool worthy and I'm looking forward to trying several of them.  If you're interested in food in general, French food or French culture this is definitely a book worth reading and cooking from.

Would I Read More of this Series/Author?: Yes

Would I Recommend this Book?:  Yes

Showcase Sunday

It's time for Showcase Sunday!  This is a linkup hosted by Vicky at Books, Biscuits and Tea where you showcase all the books you've collected through the week.

Mine has been a pretty quiet week.  Not as quite as last week where for the first time in as long as I can remember I got no books.  I'm starting to catch up a little on my reviews which is lovely but I want new books!  This week I ended up with 3 - 1 actual and 2 e-ARCs.

Pies and Prejudice by Ellery Adams - I got this one in the mail through Paperbackswap this week.  I've read one of Adams' Books by the Bay series and while I found her writing style enjoyable I didn't like the characters.  I'm hoping this will be better.  Plus it involves books and baking so I can overlook quite a bit for those.

Murder on the Home Front: A True Story of Morgues, Murders and Mysteries During the London Blitz by Molly Lefebure

I was really excited when this came through on Netgalley.  This is the story of a young journalist who becomes the secretary of a forensic pathologist during the war.

We Are the Goldens by Dana Reinhardt - I'm a little nervous about this one.  It looks like it could be a little angst-y and I don't particularly love angst.  I am curious to see what the older sister's secret is and the plot itself does look intriguing.

Why Cleaning has Meaning - Review

Why Cleaning has Meaning: Bringing Wellbeing Into Your Home by Linda Thomas

Rating: 2 Stars

Description:  A detailed and deeper look into cleaning.  The author explores cultural, religious and psychological reasons for cleaning other than just getting rid of dust.

Genre: Self-help 

My Impression:  I'm reasonably neat but I don't really enjoy cleaning.  My husband is a major neat freak and so I was hoping this book would inspire me to find a little more enjoyment or purpose in cleaning for his sake. While I thought a lot of the information was interesting - especially the cleaning rituals and reasons in other cultures - the book just felt cumbersome.  While I liked the basic message about cleaning being important that feels like the only message.  This leads to a lot of repetition and the feeling kind of like reading in circles.   I admire the author for her research and for the tenacity in getting her business off the ground but I didn't really enjoy the book.  It felt a little like reading someone's thesis paper.

Would I Read More of this Series/Author?: I'd read an article by her but probably not a full length book.

Would I Recommend this Book?:  No

This Week in Reading

What I Read:

This is kind of embarrassing.  I got one book read this week.  And not only did I only get 1 book read this week it was a book that I was already pretty much finished with last Friday.

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie (Review)

This was the last book in the 4 non series 1930s books.  It's amazing and definitely one of her best.  I know I keep saying that but every book up until we hit the 1960s is well detailed and full of tons of twists and turns.  

What I'm Reading:

This redeems the above section a little.  I'm almost done with these 4:

The Alpine Yeoman by Mary Daheim - I meant to finish this last night but I realized with about 20 pages to go that I was essentially sleep reading.  It will get finished today and the review will be up Wednesday.

The Cottage on Juniper Ridge by Sheila Roberts - currently not in love but I'm hoping it improves.  I've finally hit the point where the plot is about to take off so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

The Here and Now by Ann Brashares - I'm not sure if I love this one but the writing definitely grabs me.  

Royal Blood by Rhys Bowen - This is the 4th book in a very enjoyable mystery series.  I've got about 100 pages left and so far it's been as good as the previous books. Review will be up Thursday.

Agatha Christie Challenge - 1930s Non Series

I decided that this was the year I was going to read all 85 of Agatha's books in one year.  I tried in 2012 and didn't quite make it so I thought I'd do a retry.  Turns out 85 books is a lot of books especially when you're reading other things.

This is a group review for the 4 books that were published in the 1930s that aren't attached to a series.  The 30s started the maddening trend of Agatha's books having 2 titles - one from the US and one from the UK.  This makes for lots of fun when trying to collect them as sometimes the titles are anywhere close to each other and they're both available pretty much everywhere.  This led to some frustrating double buys when I was trying to collect them all at used bookstores before the internet was easily available.

Murder at Hazelmoor or The Sittaford Mystery (1931)

The premise of this book is so good.  At a dinner party in a snowbound village the guests decide to hold a seance.  During the seance it is revealed that a friend in a neighboring town has been murdered.  No one knows what to think when it is discovered to be true.  Luckily the very clever Emily Trefusis, Inspector Narracot and reporter Charles Enderby manage to unravel the puzzle.  This was a really fun read based off an unusual concept.  Emily is really the star of the book.  She's a classic Christie heroine - smart, quick on her feet, willing to take a risk and very likable.  4 Stars

Why Didn't They Ask Evans? or The Boomerang Clue (1934)

When Bobby Jones, a minister's son in a little town in Wales, is playing his usual terrible game of golf he does not expect to find a body.  So he is quite surprised to find a man who has just fallen off a path barely clinging onto life.  He has a photograph in his wallet of a beautiful girl and manages one sentence - Why Didn't They Ask Evans? before he dies.  Bobby and his friend Lady Frances Derwent begin an adventure into England to discover who the man is, who the woman in the picture is and who on earth is Evans.  This has a very similar feel to The Seven Dials Mystery but is even more full of twists and turns.  I loved this one.  4 Stars

Murder is Easy or Easy to Kill (1939)

A harmless looking little old woman makes a comment to recently returned from India Luke Fitzwilliam about it being easy to kill it sticks with him. Especially when the woman is than later killed in a hit and run and then when the man she said was going to murdered is.  Luke goes down to the little village to figure out what is going on meeting the beautiful and interesting Bridget Conway while he's there.  This one didn't grab me as much as the others.  I wasn't as interested in the characters and the mystery while unique didn't have Christie's usual flare to it.  3 Stars

And Then There Were None or Ten Little Indians (1939)

The story of 10 muderers who can't be touched by law stuck on an island and being picked off one by one is one of Christie's best.  It is original, it is entertaining and it is unlike any of her other books.  This book is much more action oriented than her other books but still maintains her very thoughtful attention to detail.  The story bounces back and forth from different perspectives giving all 10 a complete in-depth personality.  We also see their crimes, hear their side of the story and how they're living with the consequences.  There is a racial slur used a few times in an expression which dates the book a bit but I believe it's only used twice.  Other than that this book is a classic mystery perfection.   5 Stars

The Other Side of Paradise - Review

The Other Side of Paradise: Life in the New Cuba by Julia Cooke


Rating: 3 Stars

Description:  This book tells the tale of how life really works in modern day Cuba particularly by looking at the country's young people.  While there is a brief history lesson and talk of politics, government and economics woven through out the book this is predominately the story of how regular people live.  With each new person we look a little deeper into a different element of Cuban life.

Genre: Non-Fiction

My Impression: It took me awhile to get involved in this book.  The first bit was kind of clunky setup that seemed to be trying to cram too much into too few pages.  Even with the first profile about a woman named Lucia I wasn't particularly involved and I almost put the book down.  I'm glad I didn't because soon after Cooke seems to hit her rhythm and the stories start to flow.  Through her new landlords we see how the real estate market works both pre and post Castro, through Sandra we take a look at the prostitution industry, through Isnael we see religion and racism and through Adrian we look at the Cuban music industry.  This continues through person after person taking a deeper look into what makes Cuba Cuba.  Despite a slow and rocky start I ended up really enjoying this book and really finding it interesting.  I think Cooke's way of exploring the different facets of Cuban culture through different profiles was a unique and effective way to get the information across.

Would I Read More of this Series/Author?: This isn't an author that would be an automatic read for me but I would definitely try more of her books if the subject matter interested me.

Would I Recommend this Book?:  Yes