Flowers and bee

Flowers and bee

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Sugar Cookie Murder

Looking for something fast and fun in a mystery? Try Joanne Fluke's Sugar Cookie Murder. It really is a novella, with a lot of recipes. When you're community is planning a local cookbook, and you are having a food tasting in the community center, and it happens to be during a Minnesota blizzard and then there is a murder - well - Hannah has a lot on her hands, and we have this fun story. Hannah enlists her family and friends into solving the case before the police do and they have good food along the way.

Don't read this if you are hungry - it will make it worse. And the recipes look good too. Enjoy.

Monday, September 10, 2007

Agnes and the Hitman

What do you when people with guns break into your kitchen? If you're a cook like Agnes, hitting them over the head with a frying pan seems kinda natural. Agnes is having a really bad week. She is trying to finish her cooking column for the newspaper, get her fiance to move into their new house, organize her god daughter's wedding at her house, and trying to avoid these home invaders. Just what do they want anyway? When she tells her buddy Joey - he sends his nephew Shane. But what does this guy really do for a living? Does this have anything to do with the fact this house used to belong to mob guy?

Welcome to Agnes and the Hitman, a wonderful adventure and romance written by Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer. They take you on a whirlwind trek, that involves dogs, missing millions, a wedding that might not happen, covert operations, betrayals, a neurotic grandmother of the bride, settling old scores and flamingos. And through it all, Agnes is trying to hold it together. And you think your life was stressful. Come join the fun, and trust them to take you along on one hell a good story.

Congratulations!

Congratulations to me! I now have over 100 posts on my blog. Yeah, it took awhile, but I have kept up with the books and the blog. Well here's to another hundred! ;-)
Monique

Saturday, September 08, 2007

A Year Without "Made in China"

A Year Without "Made in China": One Family's True Life Adventure in the Global Economy by Sara Bongiorni is the story of how a simple concept that started as a New Year's resolution grew into a family journey and book. The author, an avid label reader, was struck by the amount of items under the Christmas tree that were made in China. As a journalist, she had read some of the upcoming articles of China's economic machine, but it had never struck so close to home. She decided with her husband (who she starts out calling "the weakest link"), to try a family resolution of not purchasing anything new that was "made in China."

Their decision brings up all sorts of issues. What if they get a gift that is Chinese made? Are there items the Chinese have a monopoly on? (Apparently seasonal decorations, cheap sunglasses and reasonably priced children's shoes and toys.) Would they be able to replace their coffee maker at all? What about the components that are made in China? Does that count? Bongiorni finds that it is a struggle and can be - depending on the item you're searching for - take a lot of time and energy.

She does a great job of telling of the little struggles that her family has. What to do about birthday gifts for small children? (Some Legos) And what about her kids? Are they suffering with the loss of these goods? (No) She finds out that it probably is easier to do this now when her kids are small, and to her surprise, that her husband offers her some good support, and that they are saving some money from not buying or replacing their doodads and junk.

This is a fun and easily accessible book about one's consumer dollar. Bongiorni makes it an entertaining family story and allows the armchair reader to wonder "what if..." A great fast read.