Cooking for Mr. Latte

She's a foodie. Can she find love, happiness and a good meal in New York? Cooking for Mr. Latte by Amanda Hesser is her memoir of her relationship with food and her courtship of her future husband. When they first meet, she is dismayed by his ordering a Latte as an after dinner drink. (Apparently that is not hip - who knew?) She has found that food can be a make or break thing in her relationships. She is a New York Times food writer and restaurant critic after all, and food plays a big part of her life. Will this blind date guy last?

Join Hesser on her adventure, and in the meantime we discover more about her work, her friends, family, the food culture in the U.S. and we get a view of the growth of a long term relationship in 21st century New York.

Not just for foodies. Great for fans of Sex in the City and ChickLit too. And some good recipes as well. A fun read.

Assassination Vacation

I got the chance to see Sarah Vowell give a lecture of her work. Meeting a favorite author in person usually makes one feel like a bit of a geek. Standing in a autographing line makes one race, to think up something pithy and witty to say to the author in the 2 minutes you may get, to converse with her. Then nerves take over - you give her your name and you say something about how you love her work and you just went to the Lincoln Museum in Springfield, yadda, yadda, yadda... And when the moment is over and you move on- you realize you really can't remember if you came off like a knowledgable citizen of the world or as a provincial rube. Sigh. But you percieve that this author is a bit of a geek herself in some ways - at least that is how you feel from reading her work - so in the end, you feel she may understand. We, history geeks have to stick together.

Have you been always wanting to take a relaxing tour of presidential assassination sites? Sure ya do. Sarah Vowell's Assassination Vacation does just that. And while entertaining us with her travels via the Lincoln, Garfield and McKinley assassination sites, she makes pithy statements and parallels about the modern presidency.

The book focuses mostly on the Lincoln assassination - but the others were all interconnected. Vowell points out that Robert Todd Lincoln was there for all of them. She refers to him as Jinxy McDeath. Always popping up near the appointed assignation time. Talk about being cursed. She also goes into great detail about the lives of those involved, so this book is definitely not just history lite.

With humor and irony, Vowell leads us on the path of discovery. We see how these men's lives affected their times and the policies that the United States still has today. And how the dedication of local historians and small museums keeps this history alive and that the truth truly can be weirder than fiction. And she makes the history geeks want to hitchhike along for the ride. An excellent read.

If you get a chance - try and listen to a bit of the book on audio. Vowell is a commentator on NPR's This American Life, and this shows in the audio book version. Can't wait until her next book - it is supposed to be on the Pilgrims.

Death at the Spring Plant Sale

Ann Ripley's Death at the Spring Plant Sale is a another book with her series character Louise Eldridge. Louise is now a host of a garden show for her local Virginia PBS station. She gets a request from her friend, Emily, to feature her Bethesda Maryland, gardening club on the show. She decides it may be worth while, and she is eager to visit with her old college pal. What starts out as a good filming day at the plant sale, turns into a case of murder when the club president is shot and killed in her own driveway later that evening.

Emily wants Louise to investigate and is willing to be her sidekick over the objections of her husband. Husbands become a bit of a sticky issue when they try to investigate - for the victims's husband is a big whig at the Federal Reserve. Just who was the shooter trying to kill?

Louise is an engaging character and I am encouraged to read more books in this series. In a bit of local humor - I found it ironic that one of the more annoying suspects had been involved in a gardening club in Winnetka! A fun mystery.

Gardens Can be Murder

The Garden Plot by J.S. Borthwick is a book in the Sarah Deane mystery series. And it has a great concept. Sarah is going on a gardening travel tour with her Aunt Julia. Aunt Julia got the trip for free because someone else could not go. A free trip to England to visit the famous gardens - what a deal! Sarah could use a rest after teaching this last semester in Maine. And she is curious to see her colleague Ellen lead the group as the gardening expert.

But on the way to airport to catch their flight - things begin to happen. Ellen doesn't make her flight. When they arrive in England - no one can get in touch with her. Where is she? When her stabbed body is found on the side of the road, Sarah starts to get a bit nervous. It is beginning to look like the murderer made the flight and is on the tour. So just who is it? Just try to enjoy your vacation with that hanging over you!

Borthwick deftly takes us to England, Maine and back again as the investigation becomes trans-Atlantic. Sarah and Aunt Jane are great characters and bring us into the story. The author makes the English trip come alive - if you have been there - it will bring you back. And you definitely will look at gardening tools a little different from now on. This was a great introduction to a series I was not familiar with. I am looking forward to reading some more books from the series. A fun read.

Summer of the Big Bachi

Summer of the Big Bachi by Naomi Hirahara is not your typical mystery. This book does not start out with a bang or a murder. It starts very slowly by showing us Mas Arai, who is a 69 year old gardener. As we learn more about him and his place within the Japanese-American Community in the L.A. area, we discover that there are secrets. Secrets from the war. Secrets that people want left behind. Secrets and money that people would kill for.

Strangers are coming around asking questions. Mas who is an ornery character, doesn't want anyone knowing his business or background. Why do they want to know about Mas' old friends? Who sent them? What does this have to do with a piece of land in Hiroshima? He does not want any more trouble headed his way. To get himself and his friends out of this mess, Mas needs to ask some questions of his own.

Hirahara takes her time with her character study of Mas and his social environment. But by doing this, she also manages to create a ominous feeling that something bad is really going to happen. She allows the reader to experience the growing pressure surrounding Mas. Is he going to tell what he knows - can he tell it? Will they let him? In creating this amoral character she leaves the reader in suspense of what he is going to do.

A great study of a character who is a survivor. Survivors are not always the "heroic people" Hollywood makes them out to be. They are as real as the next person. I am interested in seeing where Hirahara's sequels take him. A little different, but a good read.

Pushing Up Daisies

With a first book in a mystery series, you never know quite what you going to get. Does it set up a character in a way that you really want to revisit them again? Does it leave you eager for the next "installment?" And more importantly, does it have a decent mystery? In Pushing Up Daisies: a Dirty Business Mystery by Rosemary Harris, she takes on those challenges and does it very well.

Harris' lead character Paula Holliday is busy trying to get her own gardening business off the ground. She has a few regular clients, but money is tight in establishing this second career of hers. She gets the opportunity to bid on a project to restore a once grand garden whose owners have recently died. On her first day of the job, she finds a buried metal object - which just happens to have a dead baby inside. Paula finds herself in the midst of a local mystery - whose child it is? The property owners were unmarried spinsters - or were they? What is the significance of the Spanish medal wrapped around the child? Does this have anything to do with a old case of a missing Hispanic girl ? Paula, being the new kid in town, has to rely on some of her new friends and neighbors to bring the truth to light. It also helps if the local police Sergeant takes an interest in the case.

Harris also does a great job of incorporating the topic of Spanish speaking day laborers in to the story. In a major metropolitan area like this locale - the Connecticut suburbs near New York City - the chance that your gardening workers are Hispanic, is a very high one. And with that sub theme, Harris grounds her tale with the realities of the landscaping and gardening business.

It is a great start for a promising new series. I really enjoyed the character, and the surrounding quirky cast, and I am truly interested to read the next book! A very fun read.

A Hoe Lot of Trouble

A Hoe Lot of Trouble by Heather Webber is a quick and easy book that goes down fast while serving up some fun characters and a decent mystery. When we meet Nina Quinn, owner of a landscaping firm, she is still reeling from the fact that her husband, a cop, cheated on her. She is having issues with her teenage step-son, and she is hoping his snake is found soon. Her Italian mother is hounding on her to get her dress fitted for her sister's wedding. And then she finds out that the man who inspired her to become a landscaper has been found dead. And his family thinks it was murder.

Nina definitely rises to the challenge, with humor and resolve. When she says she is tired - we believe her! She also has someone stealing tools from her job sites - and she is determined to figure out who it is - and it is not going to be easy when most of your staff is on probabtion. (That's what happens when your cousin is a probation officer.)

Nina is an engaging character and it will be interesting to see where her author takes her. A fun read.

Eat Food. Not Too Much. Mostly Plants.

Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto is almost a continuation of what he started in the The Omnivore's Dilemma. But here he goes further and takes on the nutrition "industry". You know who they are - the folks that keep telling you that you need to eat more of this or that, but don't eat THAT - cause that will kill you. But then the next month - somebody else does a food study that totally negates what the previous one did. And that, he points out is part of the problem - just who is doing the study, who is paying for the study, and why? He goes into the background of the rise in these health studies. And it is very interesting to see what is "behind the curtain."

His mantra is fairly simple in the end : "Eat Food. Not Too Much. Mostly Plants." And he goes on to explain it within detail. Will this book change your diet? Maybe. Maybe not. But it will definitely awaken your eyes to the nutrition industry and have you studying your plate a little closer. And perhaps you will be paying a little more attention to the fuel your body craves. Everything in moderation! A very good read.

Pretty Poison

Pretty Poison by Joyce and Jim Lavene is the first in a series with the character Peggy Lee. Dr. Lee is a botanist with a special interest in poisonous plants. She is a cop's widow recovering from the violent death of her husband. She is now lecturing at a college and running her own urban gardening business. And her life gets a jolt when the husband of one of her customers is found dead in her shop.

The authors do a great job with an older character restarting her life. They have a great character with a zest for life and it shows in the diverse amount of friends she has. The mystery was just okay - but I'm hoping the growth of the character will bring this series along. A fun read.

Herbal Mysteries with China Bayles

Thyme of Death by Susan Wittig Albert is the first book in the China Bayles series. We are introduced to her and her small Texas community. She is an ex-lawyer who got off of the fast track and is making a life for herself and her herbal shop. One of her best friends in the community dies. But is it really suicide like the police want to think? She was ill, but had a strong sense of self and was busy fighting against a new regional airport. Was it her enemies on the council? Or was the mysterious visitor she seemed to have? The more China discovers the more questions arise to the surface.

The author sets up a great character and her friends in their first outing and follows it with a great mystery to boot. Let's hope the energy level is kept up in the rest of the series. I'm looking forward to the next one. A fun read.

Okay- since I started this post - I have gone on a wild reading jag and have read the next seven books. And I really love this character and her world. And it is best to read them in order to see how this cast of characters grows. These books will become your new friends. And now I'm itching to see what herbs will grow in my garden... Try them. They are fun!

Ain't Myth-Behaving

Katie MacAlister's book Ain't Myth-Behaving takes romances to a different level. One can count on her books to be fun and have a sense of whimsy - but this one might win! It contains actually two novellas. One tells the story of an Irish god who needs to get married by Beltane otherwise he will cease to exist. His usual goddess has run out on him, but he has met this lovely American tourist who seems to fit the bill. How does he convince her he is real?

The other tale is one of cursed Vikings who only appear on a stretch of Scandinavian coastline. When Brynna is rescued by them - a tale unto itself - one Viking realizes that she may be able to break the curse. Will she help them out? How do you bring home a bunch of Vikings for a family dinner? Anyone know where Odin lives now days?

Brush up on your gods and goddesses folks. You might need it. Myths can be fun. A great read.

It Happened at Christmas

First of all - yes, I am stilling reading Christmas stories after the holiday. So sue me. Sometimes one needs the extra lift. And some Christmas romance stories are not like the others. The anthology, It Happened at Christmas with pieces by Penny Jordan, Helen Brooks and Carol Wood is a great collection of different stories.

One can read romances set completely in the houses of the high and mighty and the folks go from one gala to the next. Don't get me wrong, those can be fun to read too, but these tales are set in out of the way places from the typical romance spot. One story is set on the Isle of Dogs in the East end of London. A new doctor comes to help out his uncle's practice with the poor in the neighborhood. The nurse and the doctor do not see eye to eye on remedies. Another story is set in a mill town where a girl needs to find out if a mill owner with a bad reputation - is really the ogre he is said to be. The other story is a about how a factory girl with a family to support gets a new job as a tenant on a farmer's land.

Definitely different Christmas stories. Take a look. A fun read.

Why Men Never Remember and Women Never Forget

Why Men Never Remember and Women Never Forget by Marianne J. Legato is not you’re usual "let's study the social differences between the sexes" book. There is more science than societal antidote here. Somethings I learned: facts like men's brains are bigger than women's but women's brains have more interconnectivity between the different sections. And the fact that men's ability to process language and to understand what is said to them starts to diminish as early as age 35, while women preserve this function until after menopause.

A great primer on the study of the brain and other gender differences and it is written in an easy to understand style - for the lay people out there. An interesting read.

Keeper of the Bride

Talk about having a bad day. Nina is left at the altar. She looked great, the church looked great, the groom decided he was a no show. Just as she is getting a ride home from the reverend, the church blows up. So now she gets to wait around in her bridal gown to have the investingating detective inform her - that it was not a gas leak. It was a bomb. And by the way, did she or her fiance have any enemies willing to kill them?

Thus begins the roller coaster ride in Tess Gerritsen's Keeper of the Bride. Nina just wants to go home and get out of her gown, but now she gets a ride home from the cop - Sam. Sam just wants to find out why some one would bomb this ER nurse. He doesn't want to get involved with an "emotional" ex-bride, but then more accidents happen, and more bombings. Just who is trying to kill this nice woman? And why?

Gerristen keeps the reader on the edge as the plot gets more twisted and the action gets faster. The more things are discovered, the more questions there are, and Sam, Nina and his team are trying to connect the dots before the killer strikes again. A fun and fantastic read.