This Week in Reading: June 14

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:

London From My Windows by Mary Carter - A sketch artist with severe agoraphobia is left an inheritance by an aunt with the stipulation she lives in the aunt's West End flat for a year.  (NetGalley)

Killer Run by Lynn Cahoon - the 5th book in the Tourist Trap series.  I've really enjoyed the first 3 and have the 4th coming up in a couple of weeks (NetGalley)

Starting Over by Stacy Finz - This is the 4th (I think) in a contemporary romance series set in a little town in Northern California.  This features a Bed and Breakfast that I'm hoping/assuming is the one that was being restored in the 1st book which I loved. (NetGalley)

The Orchard at the Edge of Town by Shirlee McCoy - I can't resist books with orchards.  I have no idea but it's almost as big of a draw as an old ramshackle house.  (NetGalley)

No One Needs to Know by Kevin O'Brien - I've been wanting to try this author for awhile I'm so excited! (NetGalley)

How Do You Tuck in a Superhero?: And Other Delightful Mysteries of Raising Boys by Rachel Balducci - I love the title of this one and the author has 5 boys .  I'm hoping to pick up some sanity saving tips! (Paperbackswap)

I had done so well about avoiding NetGalley but than Kensington released next month's books and I couldn't resist a few of them!

Currently:

Reading: Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie, Tribute by Nora Roberts, and The Gentle Art of Murder by Jeanne M. Dams

Listening: Nothing

Watching: Not much. J and I watched Major Crimes the other day even though I still haven't forgiven TNT for cancelling Perception.  I enjoyed it and am glad that it looks like they're laying an ongoing plot issue to rest.  It was getting a bit tired.  We've also started watching The Dead Files on Travel Channel which is interesting.

Off the Blog:

This week has been a big week for Emma.  She's currently at Bonnaroo with 6 of her closest friends and 79,000 other people.  She's supposed to be on her way home today at some point and I will be much relieved when she finally gets here!  Then she'll be heading down to college orientation with a friend and her future roommate.

The Tornado and I are still hiking up a storm and he's done some pretty difficult trails with no issue which has surprised me a bit.  We're able to go about 3 miles or so at this point without any issue which isn't bad for a 5 year old.  I finally remembered to bring bug spray which will hopefully keep us from being munched on by mosquitoes quite as much.

We have renters!  We've had an empty rental house since March and finally finally have renters!  They take possession this week AND have signed a 2 year lease!  We're very happy and very very relieved.

On the Blog:

What Happened:

Monday: Haunted Plantations of the South - Ghost Story and Travel Review
Tuesday: Top Ten Most Anticipated New Releases for the Rest of 2015
Wednesday: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - Classic Review
Thursday: Resorting to Murder - Classic Mystery Anthology Review
Friday: Friday Linkups Featuring Nora Roberts' Tribute
Saturday: Recipes for a Beautiful Life - Memoir Review with Recipes

What's Coming Up:

Monday: Book Scavenger - Middle Grade Review

Tuesday: Top Ten Tuesday - Summer TBR

Wednesday: Gentle Art of Murder - Mystery Review

Thursday: Nothing Like a Cowboy - Romance Review

Friday: Friday Linkups with Current Book

Saturday: No idea but probably something foodie

Have a great week and happy reading!

Recipes for A Beautiful Life - Review

Recipes for a Beautiful Life: A Memoir in Stories by Rebecca Barry
Rating: 5 Stars
Source: NetGalley

Description:  Writing with a delicate balance of humor and truth, critically acclaimed author Rebecca Barry reflects on motherhood, work and marriage in her new memoir about trying to build a creative life.

Genre: Nonfiction

Why I Picked This Book: I was curious about just one building a creative life consisted of and anytime anyone moves to a big house in the country I'm in!

My Impression:
I've made no secret about the fact I've had a hard time getting settled on a book lately.  In fact I've been pretty whiny about it.  Every book I picked up I just couldn't seem to stick to no matter how much I was enjoying it and how much I wanted to read it.  Then just by fluke I picked up this one which has been sitting on my Kindle for months.  And for the first time in weeks I was hooked.  On the surface I don't have much in common with Barry.  I don't pay too much attention to horoscopes, meditation just turns into me making a to-do list in my head, and I would rather stab myself in the eye than have a therapy session with my extended family.  But at the root of things something clicked.  I could relate to the basic feelings she shares in the book.  The exhaustion and the love that comes with raising children, the frustration with it feels like one thing after the next is falling apart, and the push and pull that occurs when dealing with family.
This book is written in diary form (which I normally don't like) with recipes scattered about periodically written in paragraph form (which I normally don't like).  And it worked!  The diary entries are casual and chatty with enough detail that you connect to Rebecca and all the people in her life without going over to the overly wordy and poetic side.  Her balance is perfect.  She manages to talk about how she deals with her husband, her children, her family, and her friends in a way that is humorous and easy to connect to without ever coming off as silly or preachy.  She talks about her failures and successes both professionally with her writing and personally with her family without ever lapsing into self-pity even when it feels like her desire to put her head on the table and cry is seeping through the pages.  And for the first time in a long time I was sad when this book ended.  I want to know what happens next.  How's her mother?  What happened with the magazine?  Did they ever fix the bathroom ceiling?  Does Dawson willingly put on pants?

Since I'm linking up with Weekend Cooking, hosted by Beth Fish Reads, I probably should mention the cooking part!  There's a lot of cooking in this book and a lot of food.  When we're not in the kitchen with people making sauces or chopping vegetables we're at a coffee shop drinking coffee or hot chocolate.  Woven throughout the book is about a dozen recipes.  Some are for things like How to Awaken Your Creativity or Get Children to Listen to You (this one is tongue in cheek) and there's a crafty recipe for Jack 'o Lanterns or Mummy Heads involving hard boiled eggs.  The food recipes look delicious and are for foods that fit perfectly with the mood for the chapters surrounding the recipes.

The Simplify Your Life Quaker Tzatziki is top of my list to try.  It takes 1 quart of yogurt (Greek preferably), 3 to 4 cloves of garlic, 1 large cucumber - seeded peeled and chopped, the juice of 1 lemon, salt and pepper to taste, and a handful or two of dill.  The basically reads to basically combine the ingredients except for the yogurt,  let sit for 30 minutes or so and then just mix in the yogurt (unless you're using regular yogurt in which case you've got some straining to do),  Let sit for an hour though preferably overnight and you've got her version of a Tzatziki sauce ready for anything.

To me this sounds simple, tasty and perfect for summer which when it really comes down to it would be pretty close to how I would describe this book.  That's not to say this book is light or fluff.  There's some serious issues tackled here including infertility, job loss, and the exhaustion that comes with taking care of two small children but there's a calming feeling about the book and I can easily picture reading it while sitting on the deck, eating Tzatziki spread over freshly baked bread.

Would I Read More of this Series/Author?: Yes - especially if it was more of this.

Would I Recommend this Book?:  Yes definitely!

Challenges Met?

Friday Linkups: Tribute

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:
Do you pre-schedule your posts?

My Answer:
I do but I definitely need to get better about it.  Right now I normally write for the next day but my goal is to build up about 2 weeks of posts.

This week's book is another book I got from the library awhile ago when I was wandering the shelves.  It's a reread but it's been so long since I read it the first time it kind of is like reading it the first time again. The Lifetime movie of this one starring Brittany Murphy came on a couple of weeks ago so I'm planning on watching that when I finish the book.

The Beginning: 
"According to legend, Steve McQueen once swam buck-naked among the cattails and lily pads in the pond at the Little Farm.  If true, and Cilla liked to think it was, the King of Cool had stripped off and dived in post The Magnificent Seven and prior to The Great Escape."

My Thoughts:
I love the beginning.  It sets the tone right from the beginning and the image of Steve McQueen skinny dipping in a pond is pretty funny.

The 56:
"But you didn't, Cilla thought as she stared at the soft sunlight sliding through the windows.  You didn't get by."

My Thoughts:
Cilla is trying to figure out her very famous grandmother that she never met and put together the pieces of what happened at the very end of the woman's life.  Cilla's starting to realize that it might not be as clear as she originally thought.

So what do you think?  Keep reading?

Resorting to Murder - Review

Resorting to Murder: Holiday Mysteries Edited by Martin Edwards

Rating: 4 Stars
Source: NetGalley

Description:  These fourteen stories have 2 things in common - the first is that at least one murder will be committed and the second is that the story takes place in a vacation destination.  The authors range from well known with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and G.K. Chesterton to the more obscure Leo Bruce and Gerald Findler and everyone in between.

Genre: Mystery

Why I Picked This Book:  I love classic mysteries and an anthology sounded like the best way to get introduced to some new authors.

My Impression:  I love Martin Edwards as an editor for this book.  We get a nice introduction to the book itself followed by a short biography of each author before the mystery they are responsible for. I could feel Edwards' enthusiasm for the author and their work which in turn made me more enthusiastic and interested.  It was also thanks to his book The Golden Age of Murder about mystery authors from this time period that made all of 14 of the authors listed here familiar names to me.  I enjoyed comparing the different voices of the different authors and finding the similarities.  While some added more humor and some were a little darker there's still a detachment that is common for this time period.  While at least one person will meet a rather grisly end in each of the stories it's almost soothing reading.  The pacing of all the stories is a little slow which I also find common for this story and this isn't a book I can imagine sitting down and reading in one sitting.  This is more of a sitting outside on a lovely day enjoying one story at a time while imaging you're on holiday kind of book and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Would I Read More of this Series/Author?: Yes definitely.  I've just heard that there is a Christmas anthology that Edwards is editing so that is definitely on my list!

Would I Recommend this Book?:  If you enjoy classic mysteries this one is not to be missed!

Challenges Met?

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
Rating: 4 Stars
Source: Library

Description:  Bored with storybooks with no pictures or conversation little Alice follows a White Rabbit down the rabbit hole and into an adventure.

Genre: Children's

Why I Picked This Book:  This is one of those books that I've always been aware of but never picked up.  I thought it was time to read it!

My Impression: I had a similar problem with this book that I had with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory earlier this year.  I'm so familiar with the movies and the imagery is so vivid that it's hard to mentally step away from my preconceived ideas and just read the book for the book's sake.  Alice starts out quickly.  There's not a lot of setup and within the first couple of pages Alice is already falling down the rabbit hole.  This book is pure and total nonsense.  Nothing makes sense, the characters are insane and the pacing has this rushed slapdash feel to it.  I kind of felt like I was madly chasing after Alice while reading it.  I was worried that the book itself would get caught up in description but it doesn't.  Carroll manages to draw an entire scene with only a handful or words and then we dash off to the next scene.  It took me a few chapters to get used to the pace and the nonsense but once I did it was really a fun read.  At just over 150 pages with some illustrations it a very quick read and definitely worth picking up if you've never read it.

Would I Read More of this Series/Author?:  My copy came with Through the Looking Glass which I will read as well.

Would I Recommend this Book?:  If you've never read it but enjoyed the movies it's worth picking up.

Challenges Met?  The Reading Assignment Challenge (June)

Top Ten Tuesday - Most Anticipated New Releases for the Rest of 2015

Today's Top Ten Tuesday topic from The Broke and the Bookish is Top Ten Most Anticipated New Releases for the Rest of 2015.  It turns out I'm terrible at this topic.  Apparently I live in my own little bubble and really have no idea what's coming out when.

1. Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson - (September) - I loved her first book and I love her blog.  I can't wait for this book to come out in September!

2.  Winter by Marissa Meyer - (November) - So technically I haven't started this series but I've really been wanting to and when this one comes out in November it will remove my last excuse to stall on reading the series.

3.  The Art of Sinning by Sabrina Jeffries - (July) - I love everything by Sabrina Jeffries that I've ever read so I'm excited about this new series.

4.  The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Dinner Time by Ree Drummond - (October) I cannot resist her cookbooks.  I don't even use them that much (though her mashed potatoes border on life changing) but so far anytime she has one out I buy it!

5.  Only a Kiss by Mary Balogh - (September) I"m so behind on Balogh's books but yet I can't help being excited about this one.

6.  Long Upon the Land by Margaret Maron - (August) This used to be one of favorite series and then for whatever reason I stopped reading it.  I'm looking forward to getting caught back up.

7.  The Forgotten by Heather Graham (July) - I love everything Heather Graham

8.  Let Me Tell You: New Stories, Essays, and Other Writings by Shirley Jackson - (August) - This is a new anthology of Jackson's stories edited by her children.

9.  Kitchens of the Great Midwest: A Novel by J. Ryan Stradal - (July) - This one has been catching my eye lately and I'm definitely looking forward to reading it.

10. The Man Who Fell From the Sky by Margaret Coel - (September) - This is another series that I used to love but for some reason haven't picked any up in awhile.  This involves a man searching for Butch Cassidy's treasure so it seems like a good to pick up!

What new releases are you looking forward to getting your hands on?

Haunted Plantations of the South - Review

Haunted Plantatins of the South by Richard Southall

Rating: 4 Stars
Source: NetGalley

Description:  When you hear the word "plantations" most people think of grand homes with pillars and sweeping staircases.  These houses of grandeur were located all through the South in the days before the Civil War, and there are some that still resonate with the loveliness they still had in their heyday.  These majestic homes have a long history, and some of those who lived in these houses remain today.  The ghosts of soldiers, slaves,and the elite family who lived in the plantation home still wander the halls. (from Goodreads)

Genre: Nonfiction

Why I Picked This Book: I love ghost stories and this one looked intriguing.

My Impression: Pretty much from the beginning I knew this was going to be an enjoyable read.  I was sitting out on the deck and the weather was just warm enough to be comfortable but not quite warm enough for the mosquitoes to come visit.  I was immediately hooked by Southall's casual story teller tone and settled right in for a lovely read.   It opens with a interesting introduction explaining what a plantation really is.  He talks about the family, the way the family made their money and the architecture of the house itself.  After a quick rundown on all the different building styles we switch over to the ghost side of things.  There's some talk about just hauntings in general and what factors seem to be required for a haunting.  This is more chatty and theory then academic. There's a quick reminder about being respectful to the property itself and whoever actually currently owns the property and then we get to the good stuff!  The haunted plantations are divided by state and stick to Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia.  If you live in or near any of these states now is the time to make sure you have something to take notes with!  If you're looking for a keep you up all night scary campfire book this isn't the book for you.  Each state has about a dozen plantations and each plantation gets a couple of pages.  While Southall does talk about the haunting and what visitors and residents have reported he mostly focuses on the history of the house itself.  We learn the story of the people who lived in or visited the house and who supposedly for many different reasons have decided to stay.  He also lists if the plantation or the grounds are closed to the public or open for tours.  While this wasn't a scary book about bumps in the night I thoroughly enjoyed getting a little history mixed with a dash of ghost story.  And I can pretty much guarantee I'll be driving by the houses he talks about that are in my area!

Would I Read More of this Series/Author?: Yes definitely!  Apparently he has another book about haunted places on Route 66 that I'd love to get if I ever head that direction!

Would I Recommend this Book?:  Yes, if you're looking for light history with a little bit of ghost story.  This wouldn't work if you're wanting spooky.

Challenges Met?