August Literary Locals Wrap-Up

I actually read a couple local (i.e. Texas) authors this month: Candace Havens & Rick Riordan.  You can check out the reviews/commentary via the links above, or just click the literary locals tag at the top of this post and it will bring up all the Texas authors I’ve flagged.

I know I’ve read more Texas authors than the ones that show up so far, but I’m having to remember title by title–the ones already listed are series, which made it MUCH easier to tag them. But I’ll get there.  Maybe by the end of September.

Spiced by Dalia Jurgensen

( 66 )

I love cookbooks.  I can’t cook my way out of a wet paper bag eighty percent of the time, but I love cookbooks.  For actual cooking I love older books, ones with far more recipes, and, frankly, usually far simpler recipes, than the newer fancy, photo-filled ones.

The one exception to this rule being a photo essay/cookbook called, “Intercourses.”  The link is to the 10th anniversary edition — mine is the older one and I’ve never cooked a darn thing out of it, but the photos and food talk are lush and wonderful.

Anywho…while randomly flipping through a magazine, Vogue, I think, that someone left in the break room at work, I ran across the booklist and “Spiced” was one of the recommended reads. I thought, “Why not?” and requested it from my library.

And liked it!  I know, a memoir and still, I liked it. It did not, like the review promised, have cool pastry recipes, but the author’s website (myspicedlife.com) more than makes up for this.

I expected to attempt this book—I picked it up thinking, “WHY did I request this?”—and give up, annoyed by the pretension and snobbery of the author (yes, I’ve read Bourdain and it had a deeply negative effect on my opinion of cooks turned writers). Jurgensen’s voice is real and warm. She talks about some of the ugly truths of the restaurant world with gentle good humor and is very generous, probably overly so, to her frequently misogynistic co-workers in this book.

This was a pretty fast read, and I found myself wanting to read it, even abandoning my fiction for it. Are there any big surprises, shocking revelations, or great truths to be had here (other than some of the nicest, yet seemingly honest, things I’ve ever seen written about Martha Stewart)? No.

My biggest issue was the lack of a glossary.  Despite it being mentioned umpteen times in the book, I haven’t the slightest clue what a tarte tatin is. Or mise en place or any of a number of other specific pastry/culinary/kitchen terms the author uses frequently. Some, like mise en place I can guess based on context, but that damn tatin thing, I’m going to have to look that up and that annoys me.

Yes, I live in Central Texas and a nice meal out with Raidman is ~$100 so I have no clue what the world she writes about is like, but at least I’m willing to admit my ignorance.

But still, it was an entertaining read and one that I don’t hesitate to recommend to my memoir loving freaks friends

The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan

( 65 ) Percy Jackson and the Olympians, book 5

Wow, two in one month!

Rick Riordan is a bit more local than Candace Havens, though, hailing as he does from my home town, San Antonio   In fact, I’ve even met him, though I doubt he’d recall since I’m shy.  He and 3 other Texas mystery authors (Riordan’s adult series qualified him for this) participated in a panel discussion in San Marcos and SWT er, Texas State… or whatever the heck they’re calling themselves now…

Can I just say that I have enjoyed the heck out of this series and was ~thrilled~ to see the trailer for the movie of book 1 during the HP6 movie teasers!

I thought Riordan did a fantastic job of wrapping things up in a way that satisfied me as a reader, but did not feel so tidy I rolled my eyes at the end.  I got the impression from the way he ended the book that there may be another series about the demigods and Camp Half Blood (different protagonists or generation perhaps?), but maybe that’s just wishful thinking on my part…

As a side note… I read this one because the library didn’t have it on audio, but if you ever get a chance to listen to this series, you should! Jesse Bernstein does a fantastic reading and, with the exception of this one, I enjoyed the three I listened to more than the ones I read. Check it out of you get a chance!  Will probably re-listen to the series next year with the girlchild.

Inkheart by Cornelia Funke

( 64 )

I heard about, and bought, this book when it first came out—there was a lot of buzz on a children’s writer’s listserv I’m on. I waited to read it til my girl was old enough—then ended up listening to it with her. 14 CDs ( I don’t DO abridged audio productions)!  Took freakin’ forever at 10min/day on the school commute.

I liked it, but I would have preferred to read it. That said, she stopped me a few times to ask me what a word meant, etc, so it was probably better that she listened to it.

Too tired to review properly tonight, but we both enjoyed it and the reading by Lynn Redgrave was superb.  Need to go find the ipod and load “Inkspell” so we can start that one tomorrow.

Charmed and Deadly by Candace Havens

( 63 ) Bronwyn the Witch, book 3

Woot! My first current litloc post since I decided to play the game.

I like Bronwyn.  She’s funny, and sassy and kicks a lot of ass and doesn’t apologize for it in the slightest.

This book in the series annoyed me a bit though. I think possibly just because I finally read Bridget Jones (the 1st one) earlier this year. The transitions in the Bronwyn books seem far less original now that I’ve seen what I think is probably the actual original (short journal-style posts with number counts).

To date, all of Bronwyn’s tales have been pretty stand alone without an obvious lead in to the next one. This one changed that. This story felt really unfinished at the end, and I was a bit disappointed in that.

Over all, though, still a fun fluffy read.

Gilding Lily by Tatiana Boncompagni

( 62 )

I liked this, and devoured it a single day, but it was a very looong day   I do have to include a disclaimer: I have a weakness for books (and movies for that matter) where the main character is some type of writer and sometimes go easier on those stories than I should.

I didn’t need to go easy on this. It was not as vapid as I expected it to be after reading the back cover blurb.  I loved the title and decided to give it a shot even though it’s outside my normal preferences. Lily is a lot like me and I found her very relatable. I did notice that, although the author says in the afterword and interview that was in my copy that most socialites are good people (I’m paraphrasing), most of the ones in this book were anything but.  Seems like Boncompagni should have shown it how she saw it, with a few bad apples floating at the top of barrel and ruining things for everyone else, rather than having the majority of the socialite characters be hell on wheels.

No. my life will not be changed by this book and I haven’t spent more than 5 minutes thinking about it since I closed it (3 days ago, but I post the date I finish, not necessarily the day I have time to write the review) but neither do I consider the time I spent reading it wasted–a nice balance.

This would make a good beach read. One caveat: keeping up with all the society ladies’ names was a little challenging sometimes.

I do give the author genuine kudos for taking a serious turn toward the end and addressing, at least briefly, the issue of adult bullying. As moderator for a local mothers group, I used to see more of this kind of thing and it is ugly and hurtful. Our member roster was revolving door for a while because of it.

But then some idiot put me in charge in 2005 and we’re all a lot more egalitarian now, lol.

Black Ships by Jo Graham

( 61 )

Okay, I admit it. I never read “The Aenid”.

After reading “Black Ships” I think I may have to read the story that inspired the story. Oddly enough though, based on the author’s notes, while Virgil’s tale may be the first recorded version of the story of Troy’s survivors in the aftermath of the Trojan War, Graham’s is more historically accurate (though still fiction).

I really enjoyed this and never ran into a moment or a line that brought me out of the story.  Highly recommended!

I had a lot of trouble categorizing this book, so feel free to disagree with my choices—and tell me why, I’m starting to think I’m talking to myself here!

The Smile by Donna Jo Napoli

( 60 )

I love Donna Jo Napoli’s reimagining of stories we know (Hansel and Gretel, Beauty and the Beast, etc.) and I liked this, too, though it was something new.  Rather than imagining an old story from a new perspective (like Greg Maguire, but waaaaay better and aimed at the YA crowd) in this one she created a backstory for the unknown subject in Da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa”.

It was an interesting book, and entertaining, but not my favorite by this author.

FYI parent, it’s also a bit older than some of her other works—it touches, briefly, on sex, menstruation, and rather a lot of death and politics.

Valiant by Holly Black

( 59 ) A tale of modern faerie #2

I liked “Tithe”. I picked this up on audio before I read “Tithe” because I knew my book club was going to be reading the first in the series. I don’t get to listen to books for me a lot these days, since the girl and I are listening to HER book in the car.

Do you have ANY idea how long it take to listen to 14 unabridged cds of “Inkheart” at 15min/day?!?

Anywho… I went out of town this weekend and thought it would be the perfect time to listen to something of mine.  “Tithe” was pretty dark, so I knew I did not want to listen to this with my 8yo.

That was a VERY good call.

I’m not sure if this was any darker than “Tithe” or not, when I make myself really think about it. I think it was, and, frankly, knowing the intended audience I found this book disturbing as hell.  Profligate drug use, violence,  and indiscriminate (not to mention unsafe) sex is not unusual in books dealing with the supernatural these days (sad but true).

I don’t know if this just felt darker because someone was saying all these horrible, dark things aloud in my car, but I just can’t seem to get past it. The story, if the characters had all been 5-8 years older, would have worked. I wonder if it reading it would have bugged me as much as listening to it did? I may pick it up and try to find out, but it’s not going to be any time soon.

I know, I know, being a teenager is hard, the world is scary, etc. etc. I’m not naive or stupid. I just think that sometimes the books aimed at teens are a little TOO dark, this one included.
Jenn — I still have the audio if you want to listen and weigh in.

The Book Club by Mary Alice Monroe

( 58 )

I read this for my book club. I liked it well enough that i blew off some things I ~should~ have been doing to read it and, later, to finish it.

But (you knew there was a, “but” coming, right?) it drove me crazy, too. I spent a significant portion of my reading time wanting to grab all these damn fool women by the shoulders and shake some common sense into them.

I’m eager for our book club meeting next Sunday to discuss this one. I think the discussion will be lively and interesting, but nowhere as good, or as revealing, as the discussion we had a few years ago over Elizabeth Noble’s, “The Reading Group.”

Cool New Toy!

First and foremost let me say I am not in any way a paid blogger, at least on this site. If I talk about a meme, book, or other product, it is solely at my discretion and no one pays me to pimp their products.

If that ever changes, it will be clearly indicated.

I went to the Salado Art Fair with my mom and her sister today.  Had fun, saw some beautiful original oils I’ll be blogging about on my other blog, and discovered (and subsequently bought three) Literati Bookmarks. I read a lot, and throw a book in my purse ~all the time~ and well, bookmarks fall out.

I should maybe mention here that I have a bookmark problem?

I love bookmarks and have since I was a kid. I still have some of the ones I got as a kid. You know, the pastel cardboard with the glittery unicorns, cheesy sayings and aqua yarn and everything.  I have some of the (overpriced) fancy metal ones you can find near the checkouts at B&N. I have several I’ve made myself, since I crochet bookmarks for gifts and school giveaways. I even collect the freebies from Half Price books… Yes, it’s a problem, but at least they don’t take up much space.

My point?  These literati things are ingenius!  So simple I wonder why no one ever thought of it sooner, and boy do they work! I bought one (butterfly w/ blue beads) for me, one for use with cookbooks (pewter cookbook charm w/ gorgeous pale green glass beads) and one for the girlchild (stylized J covered in rhinestones w/ silver striped black beads). On a side note, if you like them and want one, check their event schedule.  They sell for $13/each on the literati bookmarks website, but I paid $10/each for mine in person and no tax or shipping (tax was built in to the $10 according to the guyy manning the booth).