Introverted Reader

The School of Essential Ingredients by Erica Bauermeister: Book Review

One Monday night a month, a group of students gather in a quiet restaurant kitchen to attend The School of Essential Ingredients. Owner Lillian tells them from the beginning that she does not have a list of these "essential ingredients," nor does she offer them recipes. "All I can say is that you will learn what you need to." As the focus shifts around each of the students and Lillian, it is obvious that the essential ingredients are essential to life as well--time, patience, savoring the moment, starting fresh, doing what's good for yourself, and learning from your mistakes. I was surprised by how much I liked this book. I am a world-class picky eater so a book centered around food should not have done anything for me. But it was written so beautifully that I was even ready to admire the redness of a tomato or the honesty of killing your own crab for dinner. I'm looking for a quote to offer up, but really, just read the book. It's all gorgeous and it's impossible to choose a little bit to quote. I loved the way that the students grew during the class and took away exactly what they needed. The harried mother losing her identity, the grieving widower, the girl barely out of high school who needs a serious self-esteem boost, the aging woman losing her memories...they all come out of the class better able to live their lives. There was just one little aspect of the ending that I was not happy with. It tied things up a little too neatly and didn't ring exactly true for me. I can't say more without giving things away. When you have the time to sit down and savor a book about food and life, give this one a try.…

The Resurrectionist by E. B. Hudspeth: Book Review

Dr. Spencer Black was a brilliant doctor whose career was derailed by an obsession with mythological creatures. He believed that anatomical deformities were not so much mutations as throwbacks to earlier days in the evolutionary timeline. He believed he could prove this by recreating creatures from fable and myth. If he could make them viable, they must have existed, right? He left behind a body of work that is incredible for its detail of beings that have only been seen in imagination--for centuries anyway, if Dr. Black's theory is correct. I want to give this 5 stars, I really do. I gravitate more toward words than pictures though and the story in this book was not quite as strong as the art. I feel like I fumbled through my synopsis but that's because I was never entirely clear what Dr. Black was supposed to be trying to do with his work. It was a bit awkward and flimsy but I was mostly able to let it go because I knew there had to be a payoff in the illustrations. There were some genuinely creepy moments though. The part where Dr. Black's wife and brother find out what he's up to left me worried that I wouldn't be sleeping that night. It was that disturbing. It had a Frankenstein feel to it without Victor Frankenstein's histrionics and hysterics so I really liked that aspect as well. The last--oh, let's call it 2/3--of the book were gorgeous anatomical illustrations of mythical creatures. I tried hard to take my time through them and look at them closely and fully appreciate them. I can sometimes tear way too fast through pictures in a book. These were genuine works of art. I was amazed at the amount of detail that went into them. I was…

Bookish Miscellany

Weekly Update for May 27, 2013

Welcome to my weekly update for May 27, 2013! It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey. In a little personal update, I'm excited to announce that I bought a new-to-me car on Friday! A Subaru Impreza. I was driving a 1997 Subaru Legacy and it was faithful and loyal but starting to show its age in [...]

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May 27, 2013

The Princes of Ireland by Edward Rutherfurd: Book Review

The Princes of Ireland follows the story of several Irish families, from the year 430 to 1538. Their stories are set against the larger backdrop of important battles and events in the history of Ireland. This really felt like three novels in one. The transitions between generations were very abrupt. I liked the first story, but the other two were just okay. They could have been part of a book entitled, A History of the English in Dublin. It was interesting to see what Kings Henry II and Henry VIII got up to in Ireland, but I really wanted to know what was going on in Ireland itself. The female characters were terrible. They were almost all willful to the point of stupidity, impetuous, blind to anything they didn't want to see, and driven by some insane need for revenge. One other thing that bothers me in all books that skip around in time: if the author isn't going to give me some sort of obvious clue like, "Forty years later, Henry VIII did this...", I really wish that he or she would put dates at the beginning and end of the chapters. I find myself flipping back and forth a lot, because after 60 pages, I've forgotten what year I was in last. This was good enough, I just expected something different. If you want to know a little about Ireland as it changed from a druidic religion to Catholicism, and a lot about the way the English influenced events in Dublin, go ahead and read this. Just don't expect a lot of independent Irish history. Reviewed August 17, 2009 Read an excerpt. Find author Edward Rutherfurd on his website, Facebook, and Twitter. Buy The Princes of Ireland at Malaprop’s | Better World Books Friday Flashback Reviews are a…

Die, Snow White! Die, Damn You! by Yuri Rasovsky: Book Review

Synopsis from GoodReads: With the premiere of two new film versions of the Snow White tale, Blackstone enters the fray with its own adult, edgy, and not altogether serious full-cast exposé of fairy-taledom. At last it can be told! Was Snow White really as pure as the driven snow? Did her allegedly wicked stepmother get a bum rap from the Grimm brothers? What went on behind the closed Dutch doors of the dwarves' cottage? How many handsome princes does it take to screw in a light bulb? These and other burning questions may or may not be answered in this new pseudogothic audio play that Blackstone commissioned from award-winning author and audio dramatist Yuri Rasovsky I chose to listen to this because it showed up in my digital library's "recently added" lists and I recognized it as having been nominated for a couple of Audie awards. "I can't go wrong with something that's been nominated for an award, right?" I reasoned with myself. Wrong. It was terrible. Had it been any longer than two hours, I would have stopped after about 30 minutes. I felt the writer was trying way too hard to be funny and as a result, the whole thing just fell flat. The plot, such as it was, would circle miles out of the way to set up a joke that didn't even make me smile. The basics are here--the evil stepmother, Snow White, the mother wishing for a child fitting Snow White's description...I guess that's about it. There were tons of other fairy- and folk tale creatures dragged in by the skin of their teeth, which I should have loved, but I didn't. I mostly didn't see any rhyme or reason for who was included and who wasn't. I honestly can't even remember what happened to…

Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck: Book Review

John Steinbeck and his poodle Charley take off in a modified RV for a trip around the country. Will the real Jennifer G please stand up? I seem to have lost myself somewhere along the way. When did I become a fan of Steinbeck? Because I now have to admit that I am. I held a grudge against him for years because of The Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and Men, both of which I was forced to read in high school. I've been in denial for a couple of years but I just re-read Grapes and actually liked it. And looking back through all the passages of this book that I flagged, I realized that I love the way this man writes. I still don't forgive him for Lennie and can't imagine that I ever will, but if we both ignore that, we get along just fine. Better than fine. It's been almost two years since I read this, but I do remember that Steinbeck's observations, conversations, and chronicles of daily left held me pretty much spellbound. I'll even let you in on a secret: the man had a sense of humor. Steinbeck! Dark, depressing Steinbeck! I literally laughed out loud several times as I read this. I remember a passage about hunting in New England (I think) that had me in stitches. Another section I had forgotten but flagged was about introducing Charley to sequoias and redwoods. "But from the start I had withheld from him any information about the giant redwoods. It seemed to me that a Long Island poodle who had made his devoirs to Sequoia sempervirens or Sequoia gigantea might be set apart from other dogs--might even be like that Galahad who saw the Grail. The concept is staggering." Originally published in 1962, many…

The Weed that Strings the Hangman’s Bag by Alan Bradley: Book Review

3.5 Stars. This didn't quite have the charm and originality of the first book, but it was still good. I think this one felt a bit too dark for me. I typically steer clear of books that involve children's deaths. I know it happens, but I prefer to read in a world where it doesn't. I guess I like to keep my head in the sand. The [...]

Bookish Miscellany

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey. Posted: The Novel in the Viola (aka The House at Tyneford) by Natasha Solomons: Review--3.5 Stars The Little Giant of Aberdeen County by Tiffany Baker, read by Carrington MacDuffie: Review--2.5 Stars The Curse of the Pharaohs by Elizabeth Peters: Review--3.5 Stars The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald: Review--3 Stars Read: The School of Essential Ingredients by Erica Bauermeister Die, Snow White! Die, Damn You! by Yuri Rasovsky, read by Sandra Oh, Simon Helberg, Kate Burton, et al. Currently Reading: The Resurrectionist: The Lost Work of Dr. Spencer Black by E. B. Hudspeth The Ivory and the Horn by Charles de Lint (re-read) Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi, read by Jonathan Davis Blood Faerie by India Drummond Up Next: I haven't even really started some of my "Currently Reading" books, so I'm sure I won't be looking for anything new. What are you reading this week? I have an affiliate relationship with Malaprop's, my local independent bookstore located in beautiful downtown Asheville, NC; and Better World Books. I will receive a small commission at no cost to you if you purchase books through links on my site. My opinions are completely my own.

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May 13, 2013

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald: Book Review

Nick Carraway moves from the Midwest to Long Island to try to make a living after World War I. He is curious about his neighbor and the extravagant parties he throws every weekend. Eventually the two meet and become something like friends. The neighbor, Jay Gatsby, is shrouded in myth and legend and no one seems to know where he came from, how he made his money, or anything at all about him for that matter. Gatsby has a very specific reason for living where and how he does and his personal struggle pulls several others into his wake. Like many others, I decided to re-read this before the movie comes out. I disliked it in school but I've changed my mind about almost all the other classics I've bothered to re-read, so I thought I might change my mind about this one too. Not really. If you follow my reviews at all, you know that I am a very character-driven reader. Give me an awesome character and I'm happy. But there is not one likeable character in this novel. I think I kind of liked Nick in high school but now I don't even like him. He's by far the best of the bunch but that's not saying much. Gatsby himself is kind of pitiable. He's worked hard, being pushed constantly by an overweening ambition. He seems to have been born with a desire for more than he has but circumstances cause him to push himself even harder. He surrounds himself with people who don't bother to know him and seems to think that this is what gives a man a full life. Or rather, he thinks its a step on the way to fulfilling his deepest desire. He just made me feel tired and sad. He could have…

The Curse of the Pharaohs by Elizabeth Peters: Book Review

*Possible spoilers for Crocodile on the Sandbank* Amelia Peabody and Emerson have married and had a son, Ramses. They've decided to stay home in England with him and live a quiet life, at least until he's older. They're both going slowly crazy. Emerson has been reduced to practically begging the neighbor to let him dig in his barrow. Then an opportunity in Egypt presents itself that they just can't turn down. Leaving Ramses with his aunt and uncle, they take off. Someone is determined to undermine the expedition. Emerson was called in because the original financial backer of the dig was found dead under mysterious circumstances and the chief archaeologist has disappeared. The mysterious events continue under Emerson's supervision, as do the deaths. I didn't like this book quite as much as the first, but I still enjoyed myself immensely. I remembered how much I like Amelia Peabody, but I had forgotten why. I knew she was a practical woman who had no qualms about taking charge but I forgot how often she messes things up. Not that she would ever admit it. But she's fierce in her love of Egypt and Emerson and she unintentionally left me giggling. The rest of the characters were a hoot too. I adore Emerson and, despite his legendary temper, he must be a bit of a saint to put up with Amelia. He orchestrated one scene that had me howling with laughter. I didn't know Emerson had it in him! Madame Berengeria, a crazy widow who attaches herself to their party, positively cracked me up. I would have been tempted to wrap my hands around her neck in person but on the page--! I love that Emerson is practically terrified of her. There are several young men flocking around Madame Berengeria's daughter but…