Pages of the Mind

A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula Le Guin A booK Review

2012-01-21T11:07:00.001-06:00

The first book of Earthsea is a tale of wizards, dragons and terrifying shadows.

The island of Gont is a land famous for wizards. Of these, some say the greatest - and surely the greatest voyager - is the man called Sparrowhawk. As a reckless, awkward boy, he discovered the great power that was in him - with terrifying consequences. Tempted by pride to try spells beyond his means, Sparrowhawk lets loose an evil shadow-beast in his land. Only he can destroy it, and the quest leads him to the farthest corner of Earthsea.

I have owned this book for well over a year. The first time I tried to read it I couldn't. It is written so different from what I was used too I easily got confused and gave up after the first 3 chapters. However recently I've found myself with nothing to read. Searching the shelves at the local charity shops and grocery stores for something to grab my attention and nothing did. We are having the windows in the house re-placed which caused us to move everything around. Good for an early spring cleaning and for looking through ones books! This one was sitting in the pile of yet to read. Without thinking I started to read it, right in the middle of sorting and I was hooked. It's an enchanting coming of age story. People in other reviews are comparing it to the likes of Harry Potter and such, but it's way before Harry's time therefore it can't compare. A young boy discovers he has magical ability in a world where it is excepted, he goes off to school and learns the skills to be a wizard. While in school he does something foolish and after school the real life lessons are learned. I like it. I can't wait to read the other three. I have them all in one book.

I don't like series because I don't know if or when they will end and I don't have the time to commit or funds to a series. However a trilogy or saga is different. I know it's 3 or 4 books and expect it to have a beginning, middle, and end. Different then a series.

This reads like old school science fiction. If you like fantasy and sci-fi I would recommend it to you! I would also recommend it to you if you like coming of age and adventure stories!!
x LiSa

The Fat Chance Guide to Dieting by Claudia Pattison

2012-01-05T10:21:00.000-06:00

Think nothing tastes as good as slim feels? You're obviously not eating the right food . . .
Holly, Naomi and Kate are determined to win the battle of the bulge. So it's down to the local slimming club, where carbs are strictly off the menu and there's no escaping the scales. But calorie-counting isn't the only thing on their minds.
Newly engaged Holly should be over the moon. So why does she blush every time her sexy boss walks into the room? Curvaceous Naomi finds herself the object of a very unusual fetish and a shocking secret is revealed when an unexpected visitor arrives on Kate's doorstep.
Yet with a little group support (and a particularly brutal weight loss boot camp) the women manage to stick to their regime, in time for the glamorous Slimmer of the Year Awards. But with tempting buffet tables, highly competitive contestants and even the odd fat fetishist lurking, it's anyone's guess as to what will happen . . .

Having recently joined a local slimming club I thought this would be a fun read, but it's nothing short of odd. The group leader is horrible and the lives of the 3 main characters are lacking to say the least! Another reviewer said that the book was about friendship and that it shined throughout the book. I didn't get that. The relationship between the girls hardly progressed from acquaintances. One of the girls actually gets held against her will and force fed by a guy who gets turned on by bigger girls stuffing their faces. Ah...okay? I would suggest you give this one a miss!!
Happy Reading in 2012! I hope to be around a bit more!! You can always find me at my other blog www.unitedcakedom.com where you can find reviews on all my baking books!!
~Lisa

Happy New Year!!

2012-01-01T08:28:00.000-06:00

This year one of my resolutions is to post at least one book review a month! :0) I don't read nearly as much as I used too. Kids are getting bigger and I find that I actually have less time to myself!
Hope everyone has had a great 2011 and are looking forward to 2012!!

2011-10-31T11:05:00.000-05:00

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

What scary stories have you been reading??

The Hunger Games Trilogy A Re-Review and The DaVinci Code

2011-09-29T07:47:00.000-05:00

I've been in re-read mood. I just finished re-reading the Hunger Games Trilogy. Almost exactly a year since I read them the first time around. I love them. It feels like they were written as one book. I mean it feels the author, Suzanne Collins, wrote them all at once and then published as separate for the obvious reason of the book being way too big to hold. Although with digital books on rise there should be no reason to pay 3 times for one story.
Okay back to the story. I love Katniss, I love the fact that she's real. She's not some dopey girl who is madly in love with anyone. She's sensible when it comes to feelings of the heart and about life in general. She's imperfect in real ways, not superficial ways *coughstupidbellacoughcough* The love triangle is more real because sometimes you love someone who just isn't right for you. You choose the one who completes you, not the one you love more.
Going away from the love story the whole scary government thing is great too. No, Suzanne Collins isn't the first one to use children as pawns in some sick twisted way for the government to control it's people, Battle Royale and Running Man.... but her story is her story and it's very well written and organized. I can't fault it really. It also shows how wars and governments don't change over night. That leaders in these sorts of causes aren't always the good guy but a lesser of two evils.
If you still haven't read these please do so before it's ruined with the movie due to come out in March. Any true fan of literature cannot like any of the movies made from their favorite most beloved books. I hated the Harry Potter movies, the Circle of Friends movie, The Notebook, the Percy Jackson movie wasn't too bad, but it was nothing like the book at all! Even though I may be curious to see how the movie for the Hunger Games turns out I'm not going to see it. I'm just to worried they will have messed it up completely. I have my Katniss, Peeta, Prim, Haymitch, Gale all in my head I don't need Hollywood telling me how these characters should look. That's one of the best parts of reading....using your imagination.

I didn't mean for my "review" to turn into a rant about books being turned into movies, but it does annoy me. And it leads me into the second book (4th book) I've re-read recently The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. It's fast paced and very entertaining. Movie was only so/so.

I have yet to read the prequel or the newer sequel, but I really loved this book. I've always been one to question things so it's a fun alternative to some things that have been thought of as fact. It's based on some facts, but it is fiction. For everyone who may have been offended by this book it is fiction.

I'll try to be on here more often! Let us know what your reading! I'm always looking for new books to read!!

What I Read this Summer!!

2011-09-20T05:14:00.000-05:00

The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor

It was good! A bit rushed it took place over 13 years.

It is, surprise surprise, the first in a trilogy.

Definintly an insightful look into Wonderland.

One Day by David Nicholls

I really enjoyed this book.

I can completely understand why it's such a hit.

As a women who hasn't had some type of Dexter?

As a man who hasn't had an Emma?

A book that shows life over a period of time, that is so very like real life.

The Help By Kathryn Stockett

A very insightful story!

I really enjoyed this book.

It tugged at my heartstrings.

I'm not surprised by the popularity of this book.

Will be seeing the movie when it comes out in October! (UK)

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl I'm not sure how I made it through my childhood without reading this.
It is a must.
It's a fun entertaining read, better then both the movies!!

I also did a little re-reading:
Meet Me at the Cupcake Cafe by Jenny Colgan
Just as sweet as the first time I read it.
I'd love to bake for people so this book appeals to me!
Will probably be re-read again and again!

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
(never again)
I thought the first book was ok.
I now know the rest of the series is dumb.
So, I shouldn't have ruined the first book by re-reading it.
Too late.

Souless by Gail Carrigner I liked it enough to read it again.
Not sure if I will continue with the series though.
Time will tell!

If you want an update on all my cookery/bakery books check out my new blog!

What has everyone else been reading??

Leave a comment or let us know on facebook!

We've got a group page, you're welcome to join!!

Sorry it's been so long since we've had activity on here! With winter coming up I hope to have a bit more time to read! Lots of days in due to rain and cold weather!

x Lisa

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

2011-07-27T16:29:00.000-05:00

Marianne Dashwood wears her heart on her sleeve, and when she falls in love with the dashing but unsuitable John Willoughby she ignores her sister Elinor's warning that her impulsive behaviour leaves her open to gossip and innuendo. Meanwhile Elinor, always sensitive to social convention, is struggling to conceal her own romantic disappointment, even from those closest to her. Through their parallel experience of love - and its threatened loss - the sisters learn that sense must mix with sensibility if they are to find personal happiness in a society where status and money govern the rules of love.

I think after it's third reading this surpasses Pride and Prejudice as my favorite Austen novel. In the past I would have listed them P&P first, Emma second, S&S third and the last 3 are just sorta bunched up together (I do like them, but not like I like these 3) but now I actually think Sense and Sensibility jumps to number 1. These characters feel real, they would have no problem stepping out of the book into the real world. They would fit right in. It's full of betrayal, love children, affairs, second marriages, etc.... It has everything that we love to gossip about now! I am writing as though everyone knows this story already. If you don't you

should!! It's very good!!

Chocolat by Joanne Harris A Book Review

2011-07-17T13:06:00.000-05:00

Try me...Test me...Taste me.When an exotic stranger, Vianne Rocher, arrives in the French village of Lansquenet and opens a chocolate boutique directly opposite the church, Father Reynaud identifies her as a serious danger to his flock – especially as it is the beginning of Lent, the traditional season of self-denial. War is declared as the priest denounces the newcomer’s wares as instruments of murder.Suddenly Vianne’s shop-cum-cafe means that there is somewhere for secrets to be whispered, grievances to be aired, dreams to be tested. But Vianne’s plans for an Easter Chocolate Festival divide the whole community in a conflict that escalates into a ‘Church not Chocolate’ battle. As mouths water in anticipation, can the solemnity of the Church compare with the pagan passion of a chocolate éclair?For the first time here is a novel in which chocolate enjoys its true importance, emerging as a moral issue, as an agent of transformation – as well as a pleasure bordering on obsession. Rich, clever and mischievous, this is a triumphant read.

I have been wanting to read this for a while, but hadn't gotten around to it. It's a quick easy summer read; full of magic and life lessons.

The mother and daughter come to a small town and open a chocolate store during Lent and the priest is not happy. One might want to say it was about good and evil, but really it's about the gray area between the two.

A very enjoyable read. I have seen parts of the movie so can't comment on a comparison. Although it has Johnny Depp in it so really it can't be too bad right?

Would recommend it!! If anyone else has read it I would love to hear your thoughts on it!! Please leave a comment!!!

Harry Potter 7 part 2

2011-07-12T16:26:00.000-05:00

I just booked tickets for a friend and me to go Friday night!
Are you tickets booked??
When will you see it??

new blog....

2011-07-11T17:01:00.000-05:00

For those of you who love cook books as much as me check out my new blog An American Baker in England!

I decided I wanted a separate space to share cook book reviews and pictures of the food cooked from those books. I generally want to share what I've baked more then what I made my family for dinner, hence the name of the blog. So, please check it out and follow along if you'd like to see what I bake next!

xXx Lisa

JK's new project.....

2011-06-16T10:41:00.000-05:00

http://www.pottermore.com/
The link is to what will be a new website.... Pottermore!
Very excited to learn more in 6 days time!
Check out Mugglenet for more info!!
http://www.mugglenet.com/index.php

White Cat by Holly Black

2011-06-15T10:16:00.000-05:00

Cassel is cursed. Cursed by the memory of the fourteen year old girl he murdered. Life at school is a constant trial. Life at home even worse. No-one at home is ever going to forget that Cassel is a killer. No-one at home is ever going to forget that he isn't a magic worker. Cassel's family are one of the big five crime families in America. Ever since magic was prohibited in 1929 magic workers have been driven underground and into crime. And while people still need their touch, their curses, their magical killings, their transformations, times have been hard. His granddad has been driven to drink, his mother is in prison and his brothers detest him as the only one of their family who can't do magic. But there is a secret at the centre of Cassel's family and he's about to inherit it. It's terrifying and that's the truth. The White Cat is a stunning novel of a world changed by magic. In this world only 1% of the population can work magic but they have the power of nightmares.

Holly Black's White Cat was so different from anything I have read recently! I really enjoyed it, but... it's a series!! I have recently read a lot of firsts in series, mostly all young adult novels, and none of them I've wanted to read the second book let alone a third or fourth. This book is no exception. Where I am curious to what is in store for Cassel I'm not prepared to read a handful of more books to find out. If it turns out to be a trilogy then I'd be up for that. I don't regret reading it. I knew it was the first in a series and have only myself to blame for starting it. I also don't feel like I HAVE to read the following book, this was a good story on it's own. If your into young adult-alternative modern day-series then go get this book! Very different and lots of interesting twists and turns!!

Music!

2011-06-09T18:26:00.000-05:00

YouTube is full of all sorts of stuff and people who do video book reviews. This isn't a book review but a song taken from the Hunger Games Trilogy. (Let us know if video book reviews would be something you'd like to see in the future in the comments below) There are different versions on youtube, but this is my favorite and I thought I'd share it with you! For those of you who haven't read this trilogy I highly recommend it!!!

The Suspicions of Mr Whicher by Kate Summerscale

2011-05-26T16:16:00.002-05:00

It is a summer's night in 1860. In an elegant detached Georgian house in the village of Road, Wiltshire, all is quiet. Behind shuttered windows the Kent family lies sound asleep. At some point after midnight a dog barks.The family wakes the next morning to a horrific discovery: an unimaginably gruesome murder has taken place in their home. The household reverberates with shock, not least because the guilty party is surely still among them. Jack Whicher of Scotland Yard, the most celebrated detective of his day, reaches Road Hill House a fortnight later. He faces an unenviable task: to solve a case in which the grieving family are the suspects. The murder provokes national hysteria. The thought of what might be festering behind the closed doors of respectable middle-class homes - scheming servants, rebellious children, insanity, jealousy, loneliness and loathing - arouses fear and a kind of excitement. But when Whicher reaches his shocking conclusion there is uproar and bewilderment.A true story that inspired a generation of writers such as Wilkie Collins, Charles Dickens and Arthur Conan Doyle, this has all the hallmarks of the classic murder mystery - a body; a detective; a country house steeped in secrets. In The Suspicions of Mr Whicher Kate Summerscale untangles the facts behind this notorious case, bringing it back to vivid, extraordinary life.

I've read this for my book club at Waterstone's in Reading on Broad St for anyone who wants to come along it's at 7 after closing the last Thursday of ever month!
It's a very interesting read because it reads like fiction but is a very true account of what happened. The author did a great job and really making you feel as if you were there.
If you enjoy murder mysteries and true stories this is for you! Also have a look it was made into a TV series!
I was meant to discuss this with my fellow book clubers tonight, but due to my husbands work I was unable to attend the monthly meeting. Ah well next month.

summer read suggestion!

2011-05-21T03:41:00.001-05:00

Ever dreamed of starting over? Issy Randall can bake. No, more than that - Issy can create stunning, mouth-wateringly divine cakes. After a childhood spent in her beloved Grampa Joe’s bakery she has undoubtedly inherited his talent. So when she’s made redundant from her safe but dull City job, Issy decides to seize the moment and open up her own café. It should be a piece of cake, right? Wrong. As her friends point out, she has trouble remembering where she left her house keys, let alone trying to run her own business. But Issy is determined. Armed with recipes posted to her from Grampa, and with her local bank manager fighting her corner, Issy attempts to prove everyone wrong. Following your dreams is never easy and this is no exception. Can Issy do it?

A chic-lit but entertaining! If your looking for a summer read I would suggest this one. It also has recipes for cupcakes and other baked goodies!

Toxic Childhood by Sue Palmer ~ A Book Review

2011-05-09T17:09:00.006-05:00

Children throughout the developed world are suffering: instances of obesity, dyslexia, ADHD, bad behaviour and so on are all on the rise. And it's not simply that our willingness to diagnose has increased; there are very real and growing problems. Sue Palmer, a former head teacher and literacy expert, has researched a whole range of problem areas, from poor diet, lack of exercise and sleep deprivation to a range of modern difficulties that are having a major effect: television, computer games, mobile phones. This combination of factors, added to the increasingly busy and stressed life of parents, means that we are developing a toxic new generation. TOXIC CHILDHOOD illustrates the latest research from around the world and provides answers for worried parents as to how they can protect their families from the problems of the modern world and help ensure that their children emerge as healthy, intelligent and pleasant adults.

I've read this book in bits and pieces, but have read all of it. It is informative and shocking at times, but the parents who would benefit from this book the most are more likely not to read it. In another way the book doesn't say anything most of us don't already know. Surprisingly this book didn't make me feel like the worst parent in the world. It just made me more aware of some of the decisions I've made and will probably affect some of the decisions I've yet to make. If you read stuff like this on the Internet there is no need to buy this book. If your curious about how the modern world is affecting our children and want it in a clear manageable format go ahead and borrow this from the library.

The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson ~a recommendation

2011-05-04T19:06:00.001-05:00

A mouse is taking a stroll through the deep, dark wood when along comes a hungry fox, then an owl, and then a snake. The mouse is good enough to eat but smart enough to know this, so he invents . . . the gruffalo! As Mouse explains, the gruffalo is a creature with terrible claws, and terrible tusks in its terrible jaws, and knobbly knees and turned-out toes, and a poisonous wart at the end of its nose. But Mouse has no worry to show. After all, there’s no such thing as a gruffalo. . . .

My daughters favorite book to date! It's one that I never tire of reading and re-reading to her! If you haven't read this book you must!
Five stars!!

Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami ~ A Book Recommendation

2011-05-04T17:08:00.003-05:00

movie tie in cover

When he hears her favourite Beatles song, Toru Watanabe recalls his first love Naoko, the girlfriend of his best friend Kizuki. Immediately he is transported back almost twenty years to his student days in Tokyo, adrift in a world of uneasy friendships, casual sex, passion, loss and desire - to a time when an impetuous young woman called Midori marches into his life and he has to choose between the future and the past.

Loved this book!! Haruki Murakami is on my top 5 favorite authors at the moment!!

A story of love life and death. A lot of people thought it was semi auto biographical but Murakami denies it. It reads like real life so I can see why the masses would want to think it was the love story of his life.

It's a story of what a person would do for love.

A story of coping with the ups and downs of relationships.

I'm not sure I want to see the movie that has recently been made.

I really did enjoy Kafka on the Shore and had no idea what was happening in After Dark, but this one was ... dare I say ... beautiful.

It's not usually a word I use to describe a book, but it's the only word that suits it in my opinion.

I give this book 5 stars and would recommend it to anyone and everyone!!

Michael McIntyre: Life and Laughing ~ a review

2011-05-01T16:19:00.001-05:00

Michael McIntyre has become Britain’s biggest comedy star. His debut stand-up DVD was the fastest selling of all time, only to be eclipsed by his second that sold over 1.4 million copies and was the 2009 Christmas number one. He hosts his own BAFTA nominated BBC1 series, Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow, and won the British Comedy Award for Best Live Stand-up in 2009 following his record breaking fifty-four date Arena tour.

But how did he get there?

Michael reveals all in his remarkably honest and hilarious autobiography Life and Laughing. His showbiz roots, his appalling attempts to attract the opposite sex, his fish-out-of-water move from public to state school and his astonishing journey from selling just one ticket at the Edinburgh Festival to selling half a million tickets on his last tour. Michael’s story is riveting, poignant, romantic and above all very, very funny.

I read this book in about a day! Very funny, moving, and entertaining. He starts out with his birth ending at his big break. He touches on his parents divorce, the awkward teenage years, finding the love of his life and the most important the ups and downs of going after what you really want. In a way it's a motivational story with lots of tears. Tears of laughter and joy and tears of loss and heartache.

If you haven't heard of him check him out on YouTube! Hilarious!

I give this a 4 star!

The Blind Assassian by Margaret Atwood

2011-04-17T17:09:00.002-05:00

Laura Chase's older sister Iris, married at eighteen to a politically prominent industrialist but now poor and eighty-two, is living in Port Ticonderoga, a town dominated by their once-prosperous family before the First War. While coping with her unreliable body, Iris reflects on her far from exemplary life, in particular the events surrounding her sister's tragic death. Chief among these was the publication of The Blind Assassin, a novel which earned the dead Laura Chase not only notoriety but also a devoted cult following. Sexually explicit for its time, The Blind Assassin describes a risky affair in the turbulent thirties between a wealthy young woman and a man on the run. During their secret meetings in rented rooms, the lovers concoct a pulp fantasy set on Planet Zycron. As the invented story twists through love and sacrifice and betrayal, so does the real one; while events in both move closer to war and catastrophe. By turns lyrical, outrageous, formidable, compelling and funny, this is a novel filled with deep humour and dark drama.

I have always meant to pick up a Margaret Atwood title but never got around to it. There are plenty of titles to choose from but I thought I'd start with this one as it won the Booker Prize in 2000. I couldn't put it down. Even though I had guessed the ending and had come to the correct conclusion on certain events I did enjoy this book.
I did have my issues with the relationship between the sisters. Mainly because I feel close to mine and wouldn't have made some of the decisions that Iris had. Despite not liking her decisions, being a middle sister I understand what it's like to be an older and younger sister, therefore I could relate to both sisters and their roles.
I also related to the being helpless in a situation you feel you have no control. If only you were looking at it from the outside you'd see how to regain control. In those instances the solution is never easy and takes a certain amount of risk. Which is why some of Iris's decisions are unforgivable because she was just scared. Although there are times I truly felt like she, Iris, thought her choices were the best possible ones. Sometimes in life people truly try their best and their best just isn't good enough.
I would give this book 4 stars and would recommend it most fellow readers!

If I knew you were coming I'd have baked a cake!

2011-04-15T17:10:00.001-05:00

the hummingbird bakery: cookbook

the hummingbird bakery: Cake Days

Fat Witch Brownies by Patricia Helding

More baking books!! I like to bake and these are some of the best books I've come by to date! The Hummingbird Bakery is in London and they sell American style cakes. It is because of them that I've had the idea to do a bakery tour of London! If I get it underway I'll be sure to post all the details!

The Glass Lake by Maeve Binchy ~A Book Review

2011-04-12T17:37:00.001-05:00

Kit McMahon lives in the small Irish town of Lough Glass, where everyone knows everyone; children who walk to school together grow up and become sweethearts and marry, people gossip and grumble and dream their lives away. For it is a place where change comes slowly. Until one day, beautiful, mysterious Helen McMahon disappears, presumed drowned in the lake, and then the gossip runs wild. The consequences for Helen's husband, her son, but above all for her daughter, Kit, are unimaginable and will leave not one of their lives unchanged.

I have been a fan of Maeve Binchy's ever since I read Circle of Friends (it's in my top 5) but after reading a handful of other titles I sort of went off her work as it was very similar. Which is good because it means you always know what you're going to get when you pick up one of her books. It's bad though if you're looking for something new to enlighten you. However the back cover drew me in and I gave this one a go after a long break from Maeve Binchy titles!

I liked it because it felt like an old familiar jacket or blanket, but I didn't like it because as always it was over ridden with too many characters! I love the depth in which her characters interact, but some characters were just pointless!

Also the back cover description (above) is over dramatic! Spoiler Alert: It is very clear that Helen McMahon did not drown but ran away and we're told that very early on. So, there was no mystery of where she was etc.... Which is what I was expecting.

Not sure where my ramblings are taking me. I give it 3 stars as I don't wish I hadn't read it and it did what I expect all books to do, take me away to another world for a little while!

Inkheart by Cornelia Funke ~A Book Review

2011-04-10T17:06:00.002-05:00

Meggie lives a quiet life alone with her father, a book-binder. But her father has a deep secret-- he possesses an extraordinary magical power. One day a mysterious stranger arrives who seems linked to her father's past. Who is this sinister character and what does he want? Suddenly Meggie is involved in a breathless game of escape and intrigue as her father's life is put in danger. Will she be able to save him in time?

Another YA (young adult) title! I kept seeing this book in odd places so when I was browsing my local Oxfam (charity shop in the UK) and it was there and I bought it! It was good, but not great.
I think if I was 12 I would have loved it!! Unfortunately I'm not 12 and therefore it was just okay. I don't think I'll continue on with the other two books that complete this trilogy nor will I go out of my way to see the movie starring Brandon Frasier!
I did really enjoy the bringing characters out of books by just reading out loud and the amount of chaos that would ensue. Which is why I picked up the book in the first place. It was full of adventure and intrigue! Therefore, if you are or have a young adult who likes to read I would recommend this book to you!

2011-04-02T16:57:00.001-05:00

So, I'm thinking of re-doing the book of the month. Mainly I can't expect others to read them if I don't even get around to reading them! I still would like to highlight a book every month, but not have it where people discuss it? Anyhow look forward to a new way! :0)

If you managed to get a hold of Making Toast please feel free to let us know what you thought below in the comments. It is a book I will read one day, but I just didn't get around to it this month!

I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore

2011-03-15T17:40:00.001-05:00

John Smith is not your average teenager. He regularly moves from small town to small town. He changes his name and identity. He does not put down roots. He cannot tell anyone who or what he really is. If he stops moving those who hunt him will find and kill him. But you can’t run forever.

So when he stops in Paradise, Ohio, John decides to try and settle down. To fit in. And for the first time he makes some real friends. People he cares about – and who care about him. Never in John’s short life has there been space for friendship, or even love.But it’s just a matter of time before John’s secret is revealed.

He was once one of nine. Three of them have been killed.

John is Number Four. He knows that he is next . . .

You might be really surprised to see this written, but I think this book would make a better movie. Yes, I know it already is a movie. No, I haven't seen it yet, but I want too. On amazon it's getting so many mixed reviews. I personally enjoyed it. Is it something new...not really it follows along the lines of all teenage fiction these days. Everlasting love and impending doom, with a lecture on how we need to protect our planet. Well, sorta but it's all about how one race destroyed a planet for it's resources and basically earth is next....which is why I think big screen more on this then book.
However I found it really entertaining and unlike other series.... (yes another series!! 6 in total!!) I do want to know what happens I'll most likely be reading all 6! And if I get to the movies I'll be back to post on it!! I'm sorry if that turned out to be mostly ramblings!!

Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan ~A Book Review

2011-03-07T17:24:00.002-06:00

Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief by Rick RiordanLook, I didn't want to be a half-blood. I never asked to be the son of a Greek god. I was just a normal kid, going to school, playing basketball, skateboarding. The usual. Until I accidentally vaporized my maths teacher. That's when things started really going wrong. Now I spend my time fighting with swords, battling monsters with my friends and generally trying to stay alive.

This is the one where Zeus, God of the Sky, thinks I've stolen his lightning bolt - and making Zeus angry is a very bad idea . . .

It's a good story....the movie is very different, done by the same director of the first two Harry Potter movies. Sorry, this isn't about the movie it's about the book. The book was good. I always liked Greek mythology so it was interesting on that part. I'm not overly excited about the start of this series. Where it's good and adventurous and entertaining there was something missing. I can't put my finger on it.....which maybe I'll find in the following books. I also failed to really fall in love with Percy. His character was missing flare. I'm sure Rick Riordan will tell me where to stick my flare, but the book was good enough for me to want to continue reading. So, look forward to more Percy Jackson and .........
This was recommended to be my by a friend on Facebook if you haven't already join us on Facebook. It's not the most happening place, but it's a great way to let us know what your reading and what you think we should read!! :0)

Sorcery and Cecelia: Or the Enchanted Chocolate Pot by Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer

2011-03-04T17:02:00.000-06:00

This was such a fun book! The two authors plotted the book separately by writing each other letters and without speaking about it they had the story come together!! A lot of fun and a must read for people who love Jane Austen and stories that have a little magic!!
Basically one of the young ladies has gone to London to be presented to society and getting into all sorts while the other is at home also getting into trouble! Good read....there are two more that I think will need to be added to my collection!!

Book for March!!! Making Toast by Roger Rosenblatt

2011-03-01T17:16:00.000-06:00

When Roger's daughter, Amy—a gifted doctor, mother, and wife—collapses and dies from an asymptomatic heart condition at age thirty-eight, Roger and his wife, Ginny, leave their home on the South Shore of Long Island to move in with their son-in-law, Harris, and their three young grandchildren: six-year-old Jessica, four-year-old Sammy, and one-year-old James, known as Bubbies.

Long past the years of diapers, homework, and recitals, Roger and Ginny—Boppo and Mimi to the kids—quickly re accustom themselves to the world of small children: bedtime stories, talking toys, play-dates, nonstop questions, and non sequential thought. Though reeling from Amy's death, they carry on, reconstructing a family, sustaining one another, and guiding three lively, alert, and tenderhearted children through the pains and confusions of grief. As he marvels at the strength of his son-in-law and the tenacity and skill of his wife, Roger attends each day to "the one household duty I have mastered"—preparing the morning toast perfectly to each child's liking.

What did you think of Northanger Abbey??

2011-02-28T17:15:00.000-06:00

1.Northanger Abbey is about an ordinary girl who tends to see the world in a rather blinkered light. How is Catherine Morland relevant to women today? Is she different from modern women? Is her outlook familiar in any way? If so, how?

2.Can Northanger Abbey be read as a Gothic novel? If not, in what ways does it allude to this genre of writing?

3.In what ways is Catherine in Northanger Abbey comparable to Elizabeth in Pride and Prejudice? Do they change at all throughout the novels?

4.What is the significance of wealth and property in Northanger Abbey? Does Jane Austen condemn or condone such outlooks?

5.Is Catherine’s response to the General’s behaviour intrusive? Or is she actually showing initiative and perception? Is she a passive heroine, or more of an action figure? Discuss.

6.W Garrod, author of the 1928 book Jane Austen: A Depreciation complained about ‘that ridiculous use of marriage as a finale in Jane Austen’s novels’. Is this a fair comment? Is the brief description of the marriage at the end of the novel anti-climactic or prosaic? Why do you think Austen chose this closure?

Souless by Gail Carriger

2011-02-13T15:19:00.000-06:00

Souless by Gail Carriger: Alexia Tarabotti is labouring under a great many social tribulations. First, she has no soul. Second, she's a spinster whose father is both Italian and dead. Third, she was rudely attacked by a vampire, breaking all standards of social etiquette. Where to go from there? From bad to worse apparently, for Alexia accidentally kills the vampire - and then the appalling Lord Maccon (loud, messy, gorgeous, and werewolf) is sent by Queen Victoria to investigate. With unexpected vampires appearing and expected vampires disappearing, everyone seems to believe Alexia responsible. Can she figure out what is actually happening to London's high society? Or will her soulless ability to negate supernatural powers prove useful or just plain embarrassing? Finally, who is the real enemy, and do they have treacle tart? SOULLESS is a comedy of manners set in Victorian London: full of werewolves, vampires, dirigibles, and tea-drinking.

This book was pure entertainment!! Loved it! Probably will re-read it many times! It's not too long and it has everything I could want in a novel. Mystery, love, fantasy, all set in Victorian England! Although not completely perfect....as it's a series. I sort of despise series. Sequels or trilogies I can handle; series not so much. It's just that after the first 3 or 4 the story lines start to drop or get repetitive. I like that this book stands on it's on so you can choose to carry on or not.
Definitely give it a go!

Lost Encyclopedia

2011-02-10T17:52:00.001-06:00

I received this for Christmas and was pretty excited to read it! Lots of information which brought all the seasons together for me. I hadn't re-watched the earlier seasons since watching the end of the series last year so it was good to get everything together. However there were some serious editing issues. Places were lines were repeated almost like they reworded the sentence and forgot to take out the edited line. I can understand if it happened once maybe twice, but the editors and authors must have rushed this out. Saying that I would say Lost fans would not be disappointed with this encyclopedia.

Note: amazon reviewers were saying some of the info was wrong....I'm a Lost fan, but I wouldn't call myself a Lostie so I didn't notice anything that was flat out wrong.

The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs

2011-02-08T06:00:00.000-06:00

Georgia Walker's entire life is wrapped up in running her knitting store, Walker and Daughter, and caring for her 12-year-old daughter, Dakota. With the help of Anita, a lively widow in her seventies, Georgia starts the Friday Night Knitting Club, which draws loyal customers and a few oddballs. Darwin Chiu, a feminist grad student, believes knitting is downright old-fashioned, but she's drawn to the club as her young marriage threatens to unravel. Lucie, 42, a television producer, is about to become a mother for the first time--without a man in her life. Brash book editor KC finds her career has stalled unexpectedly, while brilliant Peri works at Walker and Daughter by day and designs handbags at night. Georgia gets her own taste of upheaval when Dakota's father reappears, hoping for a second chance. ~ Booklist

A knitter myself, I thought this book would be right up my alley. I found myself turning pages very quickly until the end. I liked the book and would recommend it for a light read, but I wasn't overly impressed. I felt that some of the things that happened in the book seemed to be a bit forced in trying to build the characters. And, save the main character, none of the others were really deep. I know this is Jacobs' first novel, so I would catch her a break and read the second one because she told a story I was interested in.

let's eat!

2011-02-06T17:36:00.002-06:00

Here are some of my new cookbooks! I know I have a problem! I just have a complete obsession!! I want to be a food photographer that would be like my ulitmate dream job!!

The Return by Victoria Hislop ~a book review

2011-02-03T17:20:00.008-06:00

The Return by Victoria Hislop: Sonia knows nothing of Granada's shocking past, but ordering a simple cup of coffee in a quiet cafÉ will lead her into the extraordinary tale of a family's fight to survive the horror of the Spanish Civil War.

Seventy years earlier, in the RamÍrez family's cafÉ, Concha and Pablo's children relish an atmosphere of hope. Antonio is a serious young teacher, Ignacio a flamboyant matador, and Emilio a skilled musician. Their sister, Mercedes, is a spirited girl whose sole passion is dancing, until she meets Javier and an obsessive love affair begins. But Spain is a country in turmoil. In the heat of civil war, everyone must take a side and choose whether to submit, to fight, or to attempt escape.

When I first started reading this book it was hard for me to get into. I like stories that take place over time where the past affects the future. The present story was not engaging and hard to get through. However once this novel went to the past I could not put it down! I only new a little about the Spanish civil war because of art history and the art I studied from that time. This narrative puts you right in the middle of the civil war. It's moving and it made me want to learn more about Spanish history. Some people think if they ignore politics it will go away. But what they do affect us each and every day. It's just scary how much power governments and other parties have over innocent people.

Anyway this is an amazing story and I would say if you get a chance plough through the first part and get to the part that will stay with you for a very long time!
Think I might have to take up salsa!

Little Children by Tom Perroitta

2011-01-31T10:03:00.000-06:00

The characters in this intelligent, absorbing tale of suburban angst are constrained and defined by their relationship to children. There's Sarah, an erstwhile bisexual feminist who finds herself an unhappy mother and wife to a branding consultant addicted to Internet porn. There's Todd, a handsome ex-jock and stay-at-home dad known to neighborhood housewives as the Prom King, who finds in house-husbandry and reveries about his teenage glory days a comforting alternative to his wife's demands that he pass the bar and get on with a law career. There's Mary Ann, an uptight supermom who schedules sex with her husband every Tuesday at nine and already has her well-drilled four-year-old on the inside track to Harvard. And there's Ronnie, a pedophile whose return from prison throws the school district into an uproar, and his mother, May, who still harbors hopes that her son will turn out well after all. In the midst of this universe of mild to fulminating family dysfunction, Sarah and Todd drift into an affair that recaptures the passion of adolescence, that fleeting minimal period of freedom and possibility between the dutiful rigidities of childhood and parenthood. ~ Publishers Weekly

I recommend this book, it was not your typical fairytale story. Maybe not quite like real suburbia, but not that far off either. You'll like it!

double post

2011-01-30T05:00:00.002-06:00

If you've read Skippy Dies here is the post to tell us all about it!

I didn't get around to reading it this month. I am in a weird reading place where I'm not sure what sort of book I'm in the mood for. Ya know? I will get around to reading it one day. Just not today!

I'm doubling up this post and revealing the book for February: Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen. I thought it was time for a classic and next month (March) we have our first non-fiction title! Might see a bit of a trend....I actually have the next six months planned out attentively for our monthly reads. I'm a nerd I know. (check out our book of the month tab for past and future reads!) But please feel free to suggest anything you might want to read and/or discuss!! I'm always looking for new books!!!

Northanger Abbey:

During an eventful season at Bath, young, naïve Catherine Morland experiences the joys of fashionable society for the first time. She is delighted with her new acquaintances: flirtatious Isabella, who shares Catherine's love of Gothic romance and horror, and sophisticated Henry and Eleanor Tilney, who invite her to their father's mysterious house, Northanger Abbey. There, her imagination influenced by novels of sensation and intrigue, Catherine imagines terrible crimes committed by General Tilney. With its broad comedy and irrepressible heroine, this is the most youthful and and optimistic of Jane Austen's works.

How to Train Your Dragon book one by Cressida Cowell

2011-01-29T16:59:00.000-06:00

Chronicles the adventures and misadventures of Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III as he tries to pass the important initiation test of his Viking clan, the Tribe of the Hairy Hooligans, by catching and training a dragon.

A recommendation! This book is totally cute!! love it!! I'll be getting the other books in the series and saving them for my daughters! If you have a kid or kids in the age group 9-12 you must get this for them!! ;0)

Beauty by Robin McKinley

2011-01-15T09:40:00.001-06:00

When the family business collapses, Beauty and her two sisters are forced to leave the city and begin a new life in the countryside. However, when their father accepts hospitality from the elusive and magical Beast, he is forced to make a terrible promise - to send one daughter to the Beast's castle, with no guarantee that she will be seen again. Beauty accepts the challenge, and there begins an extraordinary story of magic and love that overcomes all boundaries.

A classic love story. Where you learn once again that love is more then lust and magic and that it usually takes time for love to grow and in some cases fester. I hate shallow love stories and this is sort of shallow. Although it can be taken in a couple of ways. It's the same reason I hate Shrek. A princess can't be in love with an ugly Ogre. The only way they can be together is if she's just as ugly and horrid as he is.

Well, here McKinley has made Beauty plain in appearance. Which in any other story would be okay, but I sort of felt the point is that she is beautiful (hence Beauty and the Beast) and isn't expected to fall in love with a beast. Which is suppose to be a double lesson of the story good looking prince gets bewitched for being an ass and good looking girl figuring out that sometimes there is more then meets the eye (transformers!) So, both characters figure out they aren't as shallow after all.

In this version, after months of spending time in an enchanted castle, she becomes beautiful. Now here is where I'm not sure about stuff, because was she always beautiful just in denial? or Was she was beautiful in the eyes of the Beast therefore beautiful to the reader? or Was she physically transformed like the ugly duckling? The latter would really annoy me. So, if anyone has read or now wants to read this please let me know what you thought!

Okay now that I have that out of my system over all I really did enjoy this book. Because really deep down this story is about falling in love with a person's soul? personality? core? whatever you call it it's about falling in love with your best friend and that's where it gets a spot on my shelf as a keeper!

So, I recommend it to anyone who likes a good classic fantastical love story!

Lovely Bones by Alice Seabold

2011-01-10T09:18:00.006-06:00

My name was Salmon, like the fish; first name, Susie. I was fourteen when I was murdered on December 6, 1973. My murderer was a man from our neighborhood. My mother liked his border flowers, and my father talked to him once about fertilizer. This is Susie Salmon. Watching from heaven, Susie sees her happy, suburban family devastated by her death, isolated even from one another as they each try to cope with their terrible loss alone. Over the years, her friends and siblings grow up, fall in love, do all the things she never had the chance to do herself. But life is not quite finished with Susie yet ...

This story is told from the point of view of a murdered girl and it focus's on how her family deals with the unknown and the loss of a daughter and sister. It's can be a little awkward to read as it's one of those things that unless you've experienced it you can never really know what it's like. I also hope it is something I never ever have to experience. Even Susie, the girl who is dead, doesn't know what it's like to deal with it as she's just observing. Susie's loss is something else: of experiences, growing up, and family. Which is why when young people die it seems so much more a tragedy.
I do like the way the book is sort of choppy going over a long period of time. Time is a man made thing so we all like to assume that 'heaven' is timeless. And I think if you're to write a book told by a girl who is in heaven the way it's written fits the story. The only part I didn't like was when she posses her friends body. It was weird. A bonus of this book is it's short and could be read in a day!

Last Note: They made a movie of this about a year ago, I could look up exactly when, but to be honest I'm not bothered by this one. The book is something out of parents worst nightmares and I don't need to torture myself really. The only thing that would make me watch it is to find out how they put it to film because of how it's written.

January's Book of the Month!

2011-01-07T08:16:00.002-06:00

Hey! Book for the month is Skippy Dies by Paul Murray
Ruprecht Van Doren is an overweight genius whose hobbies include very difficult maths and the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence. Daniel ‘Skippy’ Juster is his roommate. In the grand old Dublin institution that is Seabrook College for Boys, nobody pays either of them much attention. But when Skippy falls for Lori, the frisbee-playing Siren from the girls’ school next door, suddenly all kinds of people take an interest – including Carl, part-time drug-dealer and official school psychopath . . . A tragic comedy of epic sweep and dimension, Skippy Dies scours the corners of the human heart and wrings every drop of pathos, humour and hopelessness out of life, love, Robert Graves, mermaids, M-theory, and everything in between.

Hope everyone had a great holiday season and looking forward to reading with everyone this year!
Any books you want to read leave a comment!
Also look ahead in the tab Book of the Month!

Time to find out what you thought of Blood and Ice!

2010-12-28T04:34:00.003-06:00

Blood and Ice by Robert Masello discuss!

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

2010-11-30T07:01:00.004-06:00

Have you seen the movie?

If so we want to know:

What did you think?

What was your favorite part?

What was the worst part?

What parts surprised you?

How did you feel about where they decided to split it?

And anything else you want to add please feel free,

we would love to hear thoughts!!

Also if you've re-read or read the book for the first time now is a good time to discuss it! ;0)

Blood and Ice by Robert Masello

2010-11-29T07:41:00.001-06:00

USA cover

Blood and Ice by Robert Masello is December's book of the month!
Synopsis

UK Cover

Joanne Chang ~ Book Signing

2010-11-28T16:29:00.002-06:00

"Make life sweeter...Eat dessert first." ~Joanne Chang

About the Book: Flour is not only an excellent cookbook with a million recipes I can't wait to try, it is also a genuinely good read. Each recipe features an introduction by Joanne about when she first encountered the dessert, how it effected her, and how she has elevated it into something divine. My favorite story goes along with her Nutella tart. She talks about spending time abroad, and how at breakfast they put out bread and a variety of spreads, and how she avoided the Nutella because she was skeptical of the brown goo (despite the assurances of her host that it was "schokolade"). When she finally gave in and tried it, she was hooked and amazed that people actually ate chocolate for breakfast. The book is also packed full of beautiful color photos of each recipe that make you want to lick the pages. Seriously. I have yet to try any of the recipes from the book, but my one experience at her bakery tell me that everything inside is going to be phenomenal.

About the Author: Joanne Chang, who owns the Boston bakery, Flour, is known for traditioal American desserts, muffins and other breakfast treats, rich cakes, fruit tarts, good cookies. Her trademark is a little extra crunch, more richness, caramelized edges that only come about from well-made components and enough time in the oven. Essentially she like to reinvent the ordinary and make it extraordinary. Her oreo (I've included the recipe below), pop tart, and fig newton recipes are excellent examples of her transformations. Since Joanne didn't have many sweets growing up, she sees even the simplest desserts, that the rest of us take for granted, as something worth developing into an upscale treat.

She also beat Bobby Flay in a Throwndown with her Sticky Sticky Buns.

I find it funny how two people on opposite end of the world can be doing practically the same thing at the same time...well, almost. Take Lisa's post about Nigella Lawson, swap in Joanne Change, remove the healthy foods in place of all-American dessert, and you have my recent book signing experience in Boston. I was not first in line and I had no kids in toe but, like Lisa, I had been looking forward to this meet-and greet for weeks, since I had seen it advertised in the window at the Brookline Booksmith. I stood in line for about 15 minutes wondering what I wanted to say to this Harvard-educated mathematician turned distinguished pastry chef. When I made it to Joanne, I said hello and handed over my new book, and the post-it with my name spelled correctly, and said "I love that you began your career as a mathematician and that you were able to give up such a practical career for such an impractical one and be a success." She smiled and said that it was an easy transition once she knew what she wanted and was willing to work for it.

"Melanie - Eat dessert first! - Joanne Chang"

Homemade Oreos
Adapted from: Flour

Ingredients:
1 cup (2 sticks/228g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup (200g) semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted and cooled slightly
1 egg
1 1/2 cups (210g) all-purpose flour
3/4 cup (90g) Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Filling:
1/2 cup (1 stick/114g) unsalted butter, softened
1 2/3 cups (230g) confectioners sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon milk
Pinch of salt

Method:
1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the butter and granulated sugar until well combined. You may also use a stand mixer with a paddle attachment. Mix in the vanilla and chocolate until just combined, and add the egg, continuing to mix until thoroughly incorporated.

2. In another medium bowl, stir together the flour, cocoa powder, salt, and baking soda until well mixed. Using a spatula, stir the flour mixture into the chocolate mixture. The dough will start to seem pretty floury, so you can just mix with your hands if that's easier. It should have the consistency of Play-Doh.

3. Divide the dough in half and wrap each disk in plastic wrap. Chill in the refrigerator for one hour.

4. Preheat the oven to 325 F.

5. Remove the disks from the refrigerator and let sit at room temperature for 5-8 minutes to make them easier to work with. Using a rolling pin roll out each disk to about 1/4-inch thickness.

6. Using a 3-inch cookie cutter, cut out as many circles as you can out of the dough. Quickly bring it back together and re-roll the scraps, repeating the process of cutting out the circles. If it become tacky or difficult to work with, place back in refrigerator for ten minutes to firm back up. Repeat with second disk.

7. Transfer the dough to parchment-lined cookie sheets. Bake for 20-22 minutes or until the cookies are firm to the touch. Check them frequently after 18 minutes. Unfortunately, you can't judge by color because they're already black. Allow to cool completely on baking sheet before you fill.

8. To make the filling: beat the butter on low for 30 seconds until smooth. Gradually add the sugar and vanilla and beat on high for 2-3 minutes until nice and fluffy. And milk and salt and beat again until smooth - it will resemble white spackle

9. Assemble the cookies: Scoop a heaping teaspoon of filling onto the bottom cookie and press a second on top until the filling spreads to the edges. Repeat until you have 16-18 homemade oreos.

Law of Nines by Terry Goodkind ~ A Review

2010-11-27T17:39:00.001-06:00

Trouble will find you

They watch you through mirrors.

'Your mother was twenty-seven when it came to her. Now you're twenty-seven, and it's come to you.'

The skin of Alex's arms tingled with goose bumps. By her twenty-seventh birthday insanity had come to his mother..

Turning twenty-seven may be terrifying for some, but for Alex, a struggling artist living in the mid-western United States, it is cataclysmic. Inheriting a huge expanse of land should have made him a rich and happy man; but something about this birthday, his name, and the beautiful woman whose life he just saved, has suddenly made him - and everyone he loves - into a target. A target for extreme and uncompromising violence.

Where do you turn when your own reflection spells doom?

In Alex, Terry Goodkind brings to life a modern hero in a whole new kind of high-octane thriller.

~ This is the first book I have read of Terry Goodkinds that wasn't one of his Sword of Truth Novels, which are some of my favorite books of all times. This book was great because it drew some of the back story from the Sword of Truth Novels. It brought the fantasy land to present day. One of the main through lines of the book is comparing technology to magic which is quite interesting.

The Alchemyst The Secrets of The Immprtal Nicholas Flamel by Michael Scott

2010-11-25T14:47:00.000-06:00

Teen twins Josh and Sophie discover, in a rather explosive way, that the San Francisco bookstore owner Josh works for is really Nicholas Flamel, a nearly 700-year-old alchemist who created the Philosopher's Stone, from which he and his wife Perenelle get the Elixir of Life. Their enemy is Dr. John Dee, who works for the Dark Elders, members of the Elder Race who are the source of most of humanity's ancient myths and legends. The Dark Elders want to reinstate their dominion over the Earth.

Dee kidnaps Perenelle and steals the Codex, an ancient book containing the secrets of magic, and a prophecy involving twins. But Josh accidentally ends up with the final two pages, and now Dee and his masters and minions are out to reclaim the pages, and enlist or kill the twins. As they race across the West Coast, members of the Elder Race begin lining up on both sides

Is It Any Good? Harry Potter fans will recognize the name Nicholas Flamel, and may be surprised to learn that J.K. Rowling didn't make him up. Irish author and mythology expert Michael Scott has taken elements from Flamel's legend, woven them together with myths and stories from around the world, and set the whole thing in modern-day California. The result is a slam-bang, fantasy-adventure, with enough action to keep the most rabid genre fans happy, and enough references to ancient stories to keep the mind working as well.

Though the good-vs.-evil and kids-with-secret-powers themes may be well worn by now, nothing about this story -- from its setting and characters to its intricate use of myth to create an alternative history of earth -- is typical. Though an appendix with references for all the characters and places mentioned in the story would have been welcome, this book, the first of a planned series, is plain old-fashioned fun, with an intellectual gloss that will give fans something to look into while waiting for the next in the series. (review from amazon)

After fleeing Ojai, Nicholas, Sophie, Josh, and Scatty emerge in Paris, the City of Lights. Home for Nicholas Flamel. Only this homecoming is anything but sweet. Perenelle is still locked up back in Alcatraz and Paris is teeming with enemies. Niccolo Machiavelli, immortal author and celebrated art collector, is working for Dee. He's after them, and time is running out for Nicholas and Perenelle. For every day spent without the Book of Abraham the Mage, they age one year-their magic becoming weaker and their bodies more frail. For Flamel, the Prophecy is becoming more and more clear.
It's time for Sophie to learn the second elemental magic: Fire Magic. And there's only one man who can teach it to her: Flamel's old student, the Comte de Saint-Germain-alchemist, magician, and rock star. Josh and Sophie Newman are the world's only hope-if they don't turn on each other first.
*
Nicholas Flamel's heart almost broke as he watched his beloved Paris crumble before him. The city was destroyed by Dee and Machiavelli, but Flamel played his own role in the destruction. Sophie and Josh Newman show every sign of being the twins of prophecy, and Flamel had to protect them and the pages from the Dark Elders.
But Nicholas grows weaker with each passing day. Perenelle is still trapped in Alcatraz, and now that Scatty has gone missing, the group is without protection. Except for Clarent-the twin sword to Excalibur. But Clarent's power is unthinkable, its evil making it nearly impossible to use without its darkness seeping into the soul of whoever wields it.
If he hopes to defeat Dee, Nicholas must find an Elder who can teach Josh and Sophie the third elemental magic-Water Magic. The problem? The only one who can do that is Gilgamesh, and he is quite, quite insane.

*
San Francisco:
After fleeing to Ojai, then Paris, and escaping to London, Josh and Sophie Newman are finally home. And after everything they've seen and learned in the past week, they're both more confused than ever about their future. Neither of them has mastered the magics they'll need to protect themselves from the Dark Elders, they've lost Scatty, and they're still being pursued by Dr. John Dee. Most disturbing of all, however, is that now they must ask themselves, can they trust Nicholas Flamel? Can they trust anyone?
Alcatraz:
Dr. Dee underestimated Perenelle Flamel's power. Alcatraz could not hold her, Nereus was no match for her, and she was able to align herself with the most unlikely of allies. But she wasn't the only one being held on the island. Behind the prison's bars and protective sigils were a menagerie of monsters-an army for Dee to use in the final battle. And now Machiavelli has come to Alcatraz to loose those monsters on San Francisco.
Perenelle might be powerful, but each day she weakens, and even with Nicholas back at her side, a battle of this size could be too much for her. Nicholas and Perenelle must fight to protect the city, but the effort will probably kill them both.
London:
Having been unable to regain the two final pages of the Codex, Dee has failed his Elder and is now an outlaw-and the new prey of all the creatures formerly sent to hunt down Flamel.
But Dee has a plan. With the Codex and the creatures on Alcatraz, he can control the world. All he needs is the help of the Archons. But for his plan to work, he must raise the Mother of the Gods from the dead. For that, he'll have to train a necromancer. And the twins of legend will make the perfect pupils. . . .
*Up coming books
The Warlock
The Enchantress
Here is a website if you want to learn more...
http://www.randomhouse.com/teens/alchemyst/

I've never read this series but since my sisters and I love Harry Potter so much and since it's our book of the month I thought that this was appropriate.

***

Nigella Lawson ~ Book Signing

2010-11-24T18:09:00.002-06:00

The Book: A big, compendious, comfortable, informative and utterly engaging book, Kitchen brings us feel-good food for cooks and eaters, whether Express-style and exotic-easy during the week, or leisurely and luxuriating (in the spirit of How to be a Domestic Goddess and Feast) at weekends or for occasions. Divided into two parts -- Kitchen Quandaries and Kitchen Comforts -- Nigella gives us the wherewithal to tackle any situation and satisfy all nourishment needs. But real cooking is often about leftovers, too, so here one recipe can lead to another… from ham hocks to pea soup and pasties, from chicken to Chinatown salad. This isn’t just about being thrifty but about demonstrating how recipes come about, and giving new inspiration for last-minute meals and souped-up store cupboard suppers. As well as offering the reader a mouthwatering array of new recipes, both comforting and exciting – from clams with chorizo to Guinness gingerbread, from Asian braised beef to flourless chocolate lime cake, from Pasta alla Genovese to Venetian carrot cake – Nigella rounds up her kitchen kit must-haves (telling us, too, what equipment we don’t need) and highlights individual ingredients – both basic essentials and modern-day life-savers. But above all, she reminds the reader how much pleasure there is to be had in real food, and in reclaiming the traditional rhythms of the kitchen, as she cooks to the beat of the heart of the home, creating simple recipes to make life less complicated.

About the Author: Nigella Lawson is the author of bestselling books - How to Eat ('may just be the best cookery book ever' Daily Telegraph), How to be a Domestic Goddess (British Book Awards 2001), Nigella Bites (WHSmith Award 2002) Forever Summer ('images of warmth and Mediterranean climes' Time Out), Feast, ('a voluptuous and delicious piece of food writing' Guardian), Nigella Express (no. 1 bestseller with over 1 million sales) and Nigella Christmas ('everything to make your Christmas sparkle' Independent) - which, together with her successful TV series and her recent iPhone App, Nigella Quick Collection, have made hers a household name around the world. She lives in London with her family.

To Lisa, a peanut-butter lover, Love, Nigella

Tuesday 23rd of November at WH Smith in Reading town centre Nigella Lawson was signing copies of her new book Kitchen. I was second in line to get the TV chef's signature!

I have only recently been introduced to Nigella by watching her re-runs of Nigella Bites on the Good Food Channel. So, when I saw she had a new book out I wanted it....also because there was a recipe for peanut butter cheesecake. Yes, I really am a peanut butter lover! I held off buying it and thought I'd ask for it for Christmas, but then when in town with my friend Lauren I saw the sign posted in WH Smith's window announcing her arrival the following week. Well, I had to be there!

Nigella turning off her phone. I was second in line!!

When I arrived I was the first one there! I was like um.....I don't know where to line up, but I didn't have to wait very long before a very nice girl came up and asked me if I was in line and I was like well, sorta? So, we waited and talked and in the end exchanged email addresses! Then before Nigella was due to arrive a WH Smith employee handed us pencils and post it notes and told us to write what we wanted her to write. I had been thinking about this for a while but still wasn't sure what I wanted her to write. I thought you know it's peanut butter that drew me to her and the fact that so far most of the British people I've met do not like peanut butter and she does it has to be about peanut butter! So, it was!

Looking back after I had my book signed...the body guard with the blue tie thought my daughter was really cute! :0)

I then walked up to her and it was at this point that daughter, 9 months, decided she wanted to cry a little and my 3 year old decided to walk around in circles which she does when she's really bored...like a caged animal in the zoo that is going crazy. So, I said a few things about peanut butter and then moved on! I didn't even stop to get a picture I should have.....ah well it was still fun and I'm glad I went...I'm now addicted and have been looking for more local book signings!! ;0)

I've only begun to read the book as I am in the middle of another book. But what I've read I am excited about and hope to use a recipe or too soon! Catch the show that accompanies the book on Thursday nights at 8 on the BBC2!! :0)

The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks ~~ A Quick Review

2010-11-21T03:48:00.013-06:00

After U.S. Marine Logan Thibault finds a photograph of a smiling young woman buried in the dirt during his tour of duty in Iraq, he experiences a sudden streak of luck -- winning poker games and even surviving deadly combat. Only his best friend, Victor, seems to have an explanation for his good fortune: the photograph -- his lucky charm.

Back home in Colorado, Thibault can't seem to get the woman in the photograph out of his mind and he sets out on a journey across the country to find her. But Thibault is caught off guard by the strong attraction he feels for the woman he encounters in North Carolina - Elizabeth, a divorced mother -- and he keeps the story of the photo, and his luck, a secret. As he and Elizabeth embark upon a passionate love affair, his secret soon threatens to tear them apart -- destroying not only their love, but also their lives.
Filled with tender romance and terrific suspense, THE LUCKY ONE is an unforgettable story about the surprising paths our lives often take and the power of fate to guide us to true and everlasting love.

This book was dumb. It wasn't romantic or in anyway believable. I started it thinking this could go somewhere....but then it didn't. *spoiler* The ending was tied up nicely by killing off the bad guy. How convenient for everyone to have their happy ending.* I haven't read a lot of Nicholas Sparks, but what I have read I have always enjoyed so when this book was given to me I was more then happy to take it. I finished it and was just like WTF? It was just a nothing story, nothing to move me really. I would skip it if I was you, which I'm not you, but if I was I would skip it.
I would second Janet's recommendation of The Notebook or Stacy recommends The Last Song both by Nicholas Sparks!

The Sheriff of Yrnameer: A Reccomendation

2010-11-19T09:00:00.002-06:00

"Finally a science fiction book your grandmother will love--if she's a lustful, violent lady." -- Stephan Colbert

The author, Michael Rubens is a former writer/field producer for The Daily Show and Yrnameer is his first attempt at sci-fi. Written in the style of Terry Pratchett or Douglas Adams, the book is ridiculous and illogical but delivered in a dead pan way that's quite hilarious. Rubens has a ways to go before he is really on the same ballfield as Pratchett or Adams, but this was his first attempt and he made me chuckle so I won't complain.

From the back of the book:

Meet Cole: hapless space rogue, part-time smuggler, on a path to being full-time dead. His sidekick just stole his girlfriend. The galaxy's most hideous and feared bounty hunter wants to lay eggs in his brain. And the luxury space yacht Cole just hijacked turns out of be filled with interstellar do-gooders, one especially loathsome stowaway, and a cargo of freeze-dried orphans.

Reluctantly compelled to deliver these defenseless, fluidless children to safety, Cole gathers a misfit crew for a desperate journey to the far reaches of the galaxy. Their destination: the mysterious world of Yrnameer, the very last of the your-name-heres—planets without corporate sponsors. But little does Cole know that this legendary utopia is home to a murderous band of outlaws bent on destroying the planet's tiny, peaceful community.

Follow Cole's adventures through a delightfully absurd science-fiction universe, where the artificial intelligence is stupid, dust motes carry branding messages, and middle-management zombies have overrun a corporate training satellite. In the spirit of Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett, The Sheriff of Yrnameer is sci-fi comedy at its best—mordant, raucously funny, and a thrilling page-turner.

Review - Season of the Witch by Natasha Mostert

2010-11-17T08:00:00.001-06:00

Season of the Witch by Natasha Mostert: Gabriel Blackstone is an unscrupulous hacker and unrepentant "remote viewer" who can't resist his ex-lover's request to look into her stepson's disappearance. His investigation leads him to a rambling Victorian home that bewitches him-as do its beautiful, enigmatic owners, the Monk sisters. The pair are solar witches, obsessed with alchemy and the Art of Memory, a practice invented by the ancient Greeks.

With his uneasy suspicion that one of the sisters is a killer, Gabriel sets out to determine which. But the more entangled in the case he becomes, the more deeply he is drawn into the sisters' entrancing world-losing hold of reality even as he falls into mortal danger...

- This book was not the easiest book to get hooked on. But once I was hooked....well, I was hooked. I had to know how it ended. I feel like the main concept of the book was a bit mind blowing, it is a quick read and it's not your typical witch type of book. It is set in modern times which makes it a bit interesting for me in the fact that there are probably people out there who on the outside act like the witches in this book act. I'm not saying that they have powers just that the behavior could potentially be much the same.-

Finding Faith

2010-11-15T06:00:00.001-06:00

Alright so maybe "Finding Faith" isn't the best title to this post, however, I found faith in humanity when I stumbled upon a fabulous book store today. This book store is called Wild Rumpus, it is a children's book store. Seems simple enough, but it is better then you could imagine! There are animals all over this place! They have chickens that have cages that they can come and go as they please! I watched the cutest little girl holding a book twice her size follow the black chicken all over the store trying to pet it. They have lizards and chinchillas and cats and something else that you have to look through the floor to see (but I couldn't see) and birds! This place is awesome, they also have some of the pre-teen kinda books. They have book clubs and story times.

This is a really great place, I had a lot of fun. Maybe to much fun, my friends had to drag me out of the store. Speaking of entering and exiting the store, there is another best part.......they have a mini door inside the bigger door for little dudes to go in and out, I clearly used the little door because it was there! Had to be done :0) Another bonus for adults is on the outside of the building they have a basket where they give away free adult romance novels, wink wink, nudge nudge.

Here's the link and if you are ever in Minnesota you should check it out!

http://www.wildrumpusbooks.com/

Cheers,
Stacy

The book that built the bookstore.
According to the website history tab, this book was their "blueprint"
for building the book store. Check out the website for the whole story!!!

Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist -- A Book Review

2010-11-14T06:31:00.001-06:00

synopsis:
Tie-in to the award-winning 2009 film, John Ajvide Lindqvist’s original novel is a unique and brilliant fusion of social novel and vampire legend, a deeply moving fable about rejection, friendship and loyalty.

This book was creepy. So, creepy that I couldn't read it before bed: I had a dream that I was hanging out with my old high school friends and we had to escape from Thief River Falls, MN because everyone there was a vampire. So, it was sorta like a zombie movie, but with vampires. Buffy showed up too. Strange. After that I decided it was best not to read the novel before bed.
I think what made it so freaky is the way the story read. Like a news story or something a friend told you about as if it actually happened. It didn't read like fiction. I like how the synopsis of the book is very simple and doesn't give anything away. I'm going to follow suit and not say too much. Except I don't think I'll be seeing the movie as the book scared me. It's not very often that a book actually scares me. So kudos to Mr. Lindqvist.
On another note - it is a bit slow at times and the characters one-dimensional, but it didn't hinder the book for me. I don't always need a book where the characters are easy to relate to. Sometimes it's not the point of the story. This book isn't something I'd recommend to just anyone. If you're looking to be creeped out have a go at it, but don't worry it's not that scary that you can't fall asleep, just know that your dreams may be a bit tainted. :0)

About the Author: John Ajvide Lindqvist is a Swedish author who grew up in Blackeberg, the setting for Let Me In. Wanting to become something awful and fantastic, he first became a conjurer, and then was a stand-up comedian for twelve years. He has also written for Swedish television. Let Me In was a bestseller in Sweden and was named Best Novel in Translation 2005 in Norway. It is being made into a major motion picture. Let Me In is Lindqvist’s first novel.

Pages to Screen: Julie and Julia

2010-11-13T19:10:00.000-06:00

I know the movie and book are old, but it premiered on Sky Movies this weekend so I taped it and watched it last night. I have to say I really enjoyed it. I like how it was two stories intertwined as one even though Julie and Julia never actually met. I think it shows how a person you've never met can affect your life either for the good or the bad. I think I may have to read Julia Child's autobiography My Life in France now!

If you've not see the movie I suggest you do! I also suggest you read the book and then check out our discussions!

Timeline by Michael Crichton -- A Recommendation

2010-11-13T18:19:00.000-06:00

I recently read a book called Timeline by Michael Crichton. I couldn't put the book down! After talking to Lisa I was reminded that this is one of her top five favorite books and rightfully so. I guess I am recommending an old recommendation. Here is the synopsis:

In an Arizona desert a man wanders in a daze, speaking words that make no sense. Within twenty-four hours he is dead, his body swiftly cremated by his only known associates. Halfway around the world archaeologists make a shocking discovery at a medieval site. Suddenly they are swept off to the headquarters of a secretive multinational corporation that has developed an astounding technology. Now this group is about to get a chance not to study the past but to enter it. And with history opened to the present, the dead awakened to the living, these men and women will soon find themselves fighting for their very survival–six hundred years ago. . . .

update

2010-11-11T03:44:00.000-06:00

We've been a bit behind on stuff but I don't think that Harry Potter really needed an introduction! I've already finished re-reading it! And am waiting for the movie!

Anyone who read Stilettos and Scoundrels please post here what you thought!!

Also if your reading anything new or if you have any recommendations leave a comment below!

A Closer Look at Robert Masello

2010-11-01T05:43:00.001-05:00

Robert Masello is an award-winning journalist, television writer, and the bestselling author of many novels and nonfiction books. He has written for several popular television series: his produced credits include such shows as "Early Edition," (loved Early Edition!!) "Charmed," "Sliders," and "Poltergeist: the Legacy." He also has written a number of non-fiction books with a wide range of topics.
His latest novel, Blood and Ice is one choice for our book of the month! His previous novels include The Spirit Wood, Black Horizon, Private Demons, Bestiary,and Vigil.

Robert Masello studied at Princeton University and served as the Visiting Lecturer in Literature at Claremont McKenna College from 2002 to 2008.
He now lives, with his lovely wife and his hyperactive Labrador retriever in Santa Monica, CA.
This information was taken from his website.

A Closer Look at John Greene

2010-11-01T05:10:00.002-05:00

John Greene's first novel, Looking for Alaska, won the 2006 Michael L. Printz Award and mad the ALA 2005 Top 10 Best Book for Young Adults and is also scheduled to be a movie in 2013. His second novel, An Abundance of Katherines, is also slated for a movie. Then in 2008 he collaborated on Let it Snow with fellow authors Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle and also our book of the month last December.

Paper Towns was released in October 2008 and debuted at number 5 on the New York bestseller list and was awarded the 2009 Edgar Award for Best Young Adult Novel and won the 2010 Corine Literature Prize.

He graduated from Kenyon College in 2000 with a double major in English and Religious Studies. John Greene currently resides in Indianapolis, Indiana (woohoo) with his wife and baby boy, Henry, born in January.

Check John out on You Tube!! He's funny! If you follow that link check out his other videos where he talks about his books! ;0)

Vote For John's Paper Towns!!
Most of the information was taken from wikipedia.

Recommending a Recomendation

2010-10-26T04:53:00.000-05:00

Recently Melanie recommended The Hunger Game Trilogy, over my two week vacation I managed to read all 3!!
I picked up the first one in paper back on discount and then felt dumb as I went back and bought the hardback box set as I had to read the other two! (I passed along my paperback to my sister!)

Sometimes in a series I find that when it comes to the end it's not as good as I was expecting. The ending of the this trilogy was so good I read it twice. I mean I literally just read the last few chapters again! Okay I also read the end of the book as I returned back to the UK and was in a jet lagged haze and wanted to make sure I hadn't missed anything but still an amazing serious!
I have to second Melanie's recommendation!

Here is Melanie's Recommendation.

PS I will be posting again after I've read Battle Royale. Some reviewer on Amazon says that Collins has copied scenes from it word for word. I like to look into such claims :0)

And the winners are...

2010-10-15T09:57:00.000-05:00

Eileen Brown and Janet Chan! Congratulations! Please email your mailing address to jmpritchett11@yahoo.com and expect your free signed copy of Stilettos and Scoundrels in 2-3 weeks!!! Sorry for the delay and thank you for participating! :)

October's Book of the Month

2010-10-01T05:03:00.002-05:00

Stilettos & Scoundrels by Laina Turner-Moleaski

Presley Thurman, a sassy, thirty-something red-head, was looking to reinvent herself. She didn't allow the fact she was recently fired to bother her - she was ready to pursue her lifelong dream of becoming a writer. Presley is a lover of shopping and Starbucks, and even though she sometimes had bad taste in men, she always had great taste in clothes. Not looking back on corporate America, Presley decided to follow her dream. With her feisty nature and a spirit to not "sweat the small stuff," she was ready to tackle any challenge (even if she had no idea how she would pay the bills). When her friend Trevor offered her a job with his online magazine to interview public figures, she jumped at the chance. However, the new job turned into something unexpected when the U.S. Senator she was slated to write about was murdered - in her home town! Presley was excited - she hadn't seen so much buzz since the spring sample sale at Saks. She was ready for this adventure, even if it didn't seem to fit neatly into her life. She couldn't pass up the opportunity to be in the middle of the buzz. Presley was determined (not to mention curious) to find the killer and write her story. After all, she couldn't afford her shoe habit without a job and she was certainly not one to shy away from danger. The only thing standing in her way was an old high school fling, Cooper Sands, head of the Senator's security. He was not actually standing in her way, but because of his good looks, he was the biggest distraction and one she was having the hardest time overcoming. Cooper felt it was too dangerous for Presley to look for a killer and tried to distract her with reliving the past; which Presley found more dangerous than any killer. While she attempted to resist Cooper's good looks and charm, Presley was able to discover the Senator's wife, Helen, had been having an affair... with her best friend's boyfriend! Did Helen kill the Senator? Or was it the Senator's love of gambling that got him killed? And what was Cooper's secret tie to the mob boss Garrison Palazzo? Presley was betting her favorite pair of Manolo's she will find the killer... but will time run out!

Last chance to win this book!! Enter the competition below now!!

2010-09-28T17:17:00.000-05:00

We Want to knoW

Whatcha' reading noW?

Discussion Time!

2010-09-28T04:21:00.001-05:00

With this book I just want to know what you thought of it?

Enter to win a signed book from Pages of the Mind!

2010-09-17T09:37:00.000-05:00

On October 1, 2010, we will be giving away two signed copies of Stiletto's and Scoundrels (October Book of the Month) by Laina Turner-Molaski. There are four ways to enter your name to win! Each one gives you an additional entry and a better chance to win. Two winners will be randomly chosen and announced on October 1st.

Leave a comment on this post by finishing this sentence: The title of my memoir would be ________.
Share this post on Facebook by clicking the FB icon below and leave a comment saying you did so.
Become a follower of this blog.
Become a member of the Pages of the Mind group on Facebook and leave a comment here saying you did so.

Good Luck!

P.S. There will be another contest to win a signed copy of Laina's new book, Chiczofrenic, that is being published in October! Details to follow.

Contest rules:
You can only win once. Winners must reside in the US or UK. Contest ends September 30, 2010 at midnight, Eastern Standard Time. Please allow 2-3 weeks delivery time. Owners of this blog are excluded from winning.

Meet the Author - Laina Turner-Molaski

2010-09-16T19:06:00.001-05:00

Janet Pritchett and Laina Turner-Molaski

On September 11, I went to Mudsock Books and Curiosity Shop to meet Laina and get my very own signed copy of Stiletto's and Scoundrels! It was great to see her and talk with her about Stiletto's & Scoundrels, as well as her new book, Chiczofrenic that is due out in October. After talking with her, I got a surprise! Laina gave us 4 books to giveaway to our readers! There will be information coming soon about how to win a signed book, so stay tuned! Thanks Laina!

Children's Book Giveaway!

2010-09-16T08:03:00.001-05:00

Laurie Keller's new book, Birdy's Smile Book, will be published on September 28th. To celebrate she's giving away 5 free copies!

If you'd like to enter the drawing, just go to her website (http://www.lauriekeller.com/) and send her an email including your name and email address. You will be notified by email if you have won.

Good Luck!

Local Book Signing in Fishers, IN!

2010-09-10T09:43:00.001-05:00

The Book of the Month in October will be Stilettos and Scoundrels by Laina Turner-Molaski. If you do not have a copy yet, head out to Mudsock Books & Curiosity Shop in Fishers to purchase one. Mudsocks is located on Allisonville Road near Hallmark behind Kroger. Laina Turner-Molaski will be there this Saturday (the 11th) starting at 1pm to sign copies of Stilettos & Scoundrels! Hope to see you there!

The Hunger Games Trilogy: A Reccomendation

2010-09-08T09:00:00.003-05:00

The Hunger Games takes place in an unidentified future time period after the destruction of North America, in a nation known as Panem. Panem consists of a rich Capitol and twelve surrounding, poorer districts. As punishment for a previous rebellion against the Capitol, every year one boy and one girl between the ages of 12 and 18 from each district are selected at random and forced to participate in the Hunger Games, a televised event where the participants, or "tributes", must fight to the death in a dangerous outdoor arena until only one remains. The story follows fatherless 16-year-old Katniss Everdeen, a girl from District 12 who volunteers for the 74th Games in place of her younger sister, Prim. Also participating from District 12 is Peeta Mellark, a boy whom Katniss knows from school and who once saved Katniss's life by giving her bread when her family was starving.
(Synopsis from Wikipedia)

The first book details Katniss' journey through the Hunger Games - I read this book over the course of weekend (a busy weekend where I only had time to pick up the book to get a few pages in while waiting for water to boil or sitting in my car outside a friends house before leaving to tailgate). I haven't yet read the second two books in the (supposedly) young-adult trilogy but the person who recommended them to me assures me that they are just as good. The second looks at life after the Hunger Games and if I tell you too much about what happens in the third, I'd have to tell you too much about the second...so if you want to know, read them ;)

Even Cowgirls get the Blues by Tom Robbins - A Recommendation

2010-09-05T16:51:00.000-05:00

Sissy Hankshaw, an almost flawlessly beautiful small-town girl with big-time dreams, hitchhikes her way into your heart, your hopes, and your sleeping bag in Tom Robbins's magical, funny, and most famous novel. Follow Sissy's amazing odyssey from Virginia to chic Manhattan to the Dakota Badlands, where FBI agents, cowgirls, and ecstatic whooping cranes explode in a deliciously drawn-out climax. This is Tom Robbins at his offbeat, outrageous, and inventive best.
Stacy Says- This is one of the best books I have read in a long time. I think that Tom Robbins is a brilliant author and I look forward to reading more of his work. The way he uses words is truly beautiful. There is a truth to humanity with a twist of silliness that comes out in this book and because of that I intend to read this again some day to make sure I didn't miss anything.

Extreamly Loud & Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer

2010-09-05T14:56:00.001-05:00

Jonathan Safran Foer emerged as one of the most original writers of his generation with his best-selling debut novel, Everything Is Illuminated. Now, with humor, tenderness, and awe, he confronts the traumas of our recent history. What he discovers is solace in that most human quality, imagination.

Meet Oskar Schell, an inventor, Francophile, tambourine player, Shakespearean actor, jeweler, pacifist. He is nine years old. And he is on an urgent, secret search through the five boroughs of New York. His mission is to find the lock that fits a mysterious key belonging to his father, who died in the attack on the World Trade Center. An inspired creation, Oskar is alternately endearing, exasperating, and hilarious as he careens from Central Park to Coney Island to Harlem on his search. Along the way he is always dreaming up inventions to keep those he loves safe from harm. What about a birdseed shirt to let you fly away? What if you could actually hear everyone's heartbeat? His goal is hopeful, but the past speaks a loud warning in stories of those who've lost loved ones before. As Oskar roams New York, he encounters a motley assortment of characters who are all survivors in their own way. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close boldly approaches history and tragedy with humor, tenderness, and awe.

Stacy Says- When asked to describe what this book is about I could not tell you, I just know that you should read it.

2010-09-03T04:53:00.011-05:00

We've announced the books we're reading for our book of the month till the end of the year.

Just check our Book of the Month tab!

We're voting for our December book now!

Check out the Your Vote tab to read about your choices!!

As always we are taking suggestions for books to read!

I'm always looking for recommendations!!

Please tell us what to read!!

September's Book: Heartburn by Ephron

2010-09-01T03:37:00.002-05:00

September's book is........ Heartburn by Nora Ephron.

Seven months into her pregnancy, Rachel discovers that her husband is in love with another woman. The fact that this woman has a 'neck as long as an arm and a nose as long as a thumb' is no consolation. Food sometimes is, though, since Rachel is a cookery writer, and between trying to win Mark back and wishing him dead, she offers us some of her favourite recipes. Heartburn is a roller coaster of love, betrayal, loss and - most satisfyingly - revenge.

I discovered this book in The Reading Group by Elizbeth Noble,

I felt it would make a good discussion book! I hope you all like it!!!

I also picked it as I am under the impression it has recipes through out the book which of reminds me of Melanie! Who recommended Julia and Julia last summer!!

American Gods by Neil Gaiman Book of the Month

2010-08-28T06:00:00.014-05:00

Beware that there will be spoilers!

1. American Gods is an epic novel dealing with many big themes, including sacrifice, loyalty, betrayal, love and faith. Which theme affected you the most strongly, and why?

2. Shadow begins the novel as a convict, and ends it a different man. How does the novel exploit the idea of America as a place where immigrants and exiles, both physical and emotional, can reinvent themselves? What makes Shadow himself so compelling and complex?

3. American Gods is partly road trip through small-town America, where Shadow can see the darker side of life that other people ignore. What does the novel say about what people will accept in order to maintain a sense of normality?

4. The old gods expect sacrifice, violence and worship? How have the adapted to the modern world? What does this say about the nature of divinity? How and why have Americans transferred their devotion to the new technological and material gods from the old spiritual gods? What comment is being made about modern cultural values?

5. What is the significance of the illusions, cons and magic tricks that occur throughout the novel? American Gods is a novel where magic, myth and the divine coexist with the normal, mundane and human in a way that is utterly believable. How is this illusion maintained?

6. How does the rick background description increase the power of the narrative? What dot he secondary characters, particularly the gods whose lives and deaths we are given a brief insight into, add to the novel?

7. Would you recommend this to anyone? Would you read any other of Neil Gaiman's work? If you would which ones look interesting to you? And if you have which ones would you recommend?

Check out the other Neil Gaiman books Lisa's read here and here and here

questions are taken from my UK edition :0)

Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult - a book review

2010-08-25T08:02:00.001-05:00

Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult : June's first husband was killed in a car crash. Against all the odds, her daughter was uninjured and, in another miracle, June found love again with the policeman who rescued them. Six years on they are a happy family, June pregnant with their own child.

But now June's second daughter is dying without the new heart she so urgently needs. And her first daughter, along with her husband, is dead, killed by Shay Bourne, an itinerant workman they welcomed into their home. The crime was so heinous that Shay has been given the death penalty for the first time in 69 years in New Hampshire. Shay is going to die, and he is looking for redemption. He wants to give June's daughter his heart . . .

This was written in true Picoult style. It has all the twists and turns you come to expect from her. This book has had lots of criticism of resembling Stephen Kings The Green Mile. In fact I feel it was very similar, but I also know that she knows that. She has one of the inmates on I-tier call Shay Bourne 'Green Mile' and even has one of the characters say they would rather be curled up with the latest Stephen King novel. Besides the main character basically being the same the stories are very different. Jodi Picoult's is based on the very the touchy topic of religion. Where Green Mile is more about the death sentence and sentencing innocent people. If you liked Green Mile, which I did, I would recommend Change of Heart to you. And vise versa if you liked this then I would recommend The Green Mile, not the movie. Where the movie was entertaining it didn't have the same impact that the book did, there was just something lost in the feeling for the main characters. A topic I could go on and on and on about all day!
As I am a very curious person when it comes to religion I really did like this book. Religion is a very personal thing as I feel it says a lot about the person, but I hate how it's something people can't talk about in an easygoing conversation. It always seems to turn into a childish argument of who is right and who is wrong. If you are a close-minded person when it comes to religion I would stay clear of this book as it's just going to piss you off. I'm sorry if that statement pissed you off. I'm just warning you.

I think this book warrants a read. Maybe not my favorite Picoult novel but it definitely still has me thinking!

Check out our other reviews of Jodi Picoult's books: House Rules, Keeping Faith, The Pact, My Sister's Keeper, The Tenth Circle and Plain Truth.

The Reading Group by Elizabeth Noble a book review

2010-08-21T17:41:00.001-05:00

The Reading Group by Elizabeth Noble: A New Year. A New Page. A New Reading Group. Five women meet for their first reading group, little realising this social gathering over books and glasses of wine might see them share more than literary debate … and will, in fact, take each of them to places they’d never imagined. Harriet and Nicole are the ringleaders, best friends who can’t quite admit – to themselves or one other – they might be trapped in loveless marriages. While Polly, a determined single mum, finds herself tipped off course by an unexpected proposal. Susan, usually so carefree and happy, is forced to face a shattering reality and Clare, quiet and mysterious, plainly has more on her mind than next week’s book choice. Over the coming year their worlds will intertwine in delightful, unexpected and surprising ways. Stories will be re-written as dreams are made and broken, but through it all they’ll have the Reading Group, with friendship, tears and laughter featuring in every chapter of their lives. My Thoughts: This was a whole lot better then The Jane Austen Book Club, but still wasn't great. It's an easy chic-lit novel that tugs on heart strings, but nothing that I would go on and on about! Some of the characters were flat and cliche' and others didn't get enough page time. That said I read it pretty quickly so it was definitely entertaining!! My favorite character was Harriet because I felt like she was the only one I related too. Each character had a life lesson to learn and a lot of it had to do with their choices in life and love and of course the consequences. The books they choose each month had little to do with the actual story. The book club was just there in the back ground as a way to connect these women together. Although as I haven't read all the books they read I can't really comment on the impact the books had on the story, it's just from the ones I read it wasn't that obvious. Maybe I just read it too fast. I've made a list of the books they read though as I am interested in a few! Sorry if this post is a bit rambling it's late and I just wanted to get it in as I've already started on a new book! Would I recommend it? Yes, because although I may not have gotten a whole lot out of it I can see where someone else could. I can see where someone might really relate to one of the women if they happen to have gone or are going through what they are in the story. I really do feel that books effect you differently at different times. Would I give it a second read? Probably not. It is Elizabeth Noble's first novel and is why I chose it. Would I read another one of her novels. Yes I would give another title a go sometime. I actually have one on my amazon wish list: Things I Want My Daughters to Know.

On the Road by Jack Kerouac a book review

2010-08-18T17:20:00.000-05:00

On the Road swings to the rhythms of 1950s underground America, jazz, sex, generosity, chill dawns and drugs, with Sal Paradise and his hero Dean Moriarty, traveller and mystic, the living epitome of Beat. Now recognized as a modern classic, its American Dream is nearer that of Walt Whitman than Scott Fitzgerald, and it goes racing towards the sunset with unforgettable exuberance, poignancy and autobiographical passion.

..........hum?..........I'm not really sure where to start? I'm trying to put into words how this book made me feel and I'm having a hard time pin-pointing it. I read it with the understanding that is seen as an "American Classic" a book that changed lives (according to my back cover). I've actually owned the book for well over a year the first time I tried to read it I found it irritating as I felt it didn't say anything. I'm glad I've given it a second go and finished it because I have found that it says a lot.

A lot about life and how people really haven't changed in 50 years. But then it makes me ask: if people haven't changed than what has? Because something has changed...my daughter's new favorite movie is Cars. Sorry that might have been a bit random, but stay with me. In Cars Radiator Springs/Route 66 is left behind to the new shiny highway. Jack Kerouac's America has been left behind. The book made me sad. I think/feel that this was Jack's way of saying goodbye to a certain way of life. When he was traveling (1947) it was right when America was testing the atom bomb, the world was changing.

This book has been very controversial since it was published. Saying it glorifies immoral young men and how it justifies rebellious behavior and drug use. I guess I wouldn't want my kids reading it and treating it as their guide to life, but I wouldn't stop them from reading it. Especially as there are other things to gain such as an insight to another time and the acceptance of all people no matter their station in life and possibly that a simpler life doesn't always mean an unhappy one.

Did this book change my life? No, but it shows that we're not alone in our ultimate quest to find "it" -- the meaning of life. Would I recommend it? I think it would depend on the person for this one.

Click here to read more about Jack on wikipedia!

2010-08-14T17:32:00.002-05:00

We've got about a week or so before we discuss Neil Gaiman's American Gods,

but I haven't put up a post for September's book

any suggestions please leave in the comment area

here on the blog or on our facebook page!

Just look for Pages of the Mind

and join! ;0)

2010-08-13T08:06:00.003-05:00

Starting something new! I'm always trying new things makes life interesting right? Well, we're looking to get this site out there so I purpose an exchange anyone who advertises this blog on their blog with a picture that links on the side we'll do the same for them! The content doesn't have to have anything to do with books, but I will be monitoring it so nothing fishy! If there are enough people interested maybe we'll get an official button! Let me know here in the comment area!

we do not own this picture it is taken from here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/patrickgage/3738107746/

2010-08-10T08:01:00.000-05:00

We Wanna knoW:

What are you reading noW?

Talking about: FOREIGN FRUIT by Jojo Moyes

2010-08-03T09:53:00.000-05:00

Merham is a well-ordered 1950s seaside town: the kind of town in which everyone knows their place (and those who don’t are promptly put in it). Lottie Swift, an evacuee who has grown up with the respectable Holden family, loves Merham, while the Holdens’ daughter Celia chafes against the constraints of the town.
When a group of bohemians takes over Arcadia, a stark Art Deco house on the seafront, the girls are as drawn to its temptations as Merham’s citizens are appalled by them. They set in place a chain of events both within the Holden family and Merham itself which will have longstanding and tragic consequences for all concerned.
Now, almost fifty years on, Arcadia is returning to life, and its inhabitants stirring up strong feelings again. And prompting more than one person to look into their own romantic history and ask: Can you ever leave your past behind?

I am deep down a sucker for a good love story and after reading Jane Austen I have always found most of them, love stories that is fail to make me feel anything. Most love stories feel false to me, I like them to feel real. Ya know? Rattling on again, but my point is that this novel felt real to me. I was completely wrapped up in the characters and their lives. (I wouldn't compare this to Jane Austen I was just using her to make point.)

Foreign Fruit, won the RNA Novel of the Year award for 2003. I can say it was well deserved. I picked this book up for £1 at my local store; I liked it because of the cover. Yes, I do judge books by there cover, I can't help it! I also think it's a stupid saying because if I were to ever write a book I would make sure it had an awesome cover! For the sole purpose of selling it.
Back to the book. I think most people reflect on the choices they have made, good or bad and wonder "what if?" The book mainly follows Lottie's story full of everything that life is made of: love, loss and so on. I like how it shows that love can grow from friendship full of understanding and loyalty and how some are a whirlwind of intense passion. This book has it all. I would say if you, like me, are a sucker for love stories give this one a go!

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

2010-07-27T17:51:00.000-05:00

Angelfield House stands abandoned and forgotten. It was once home to the March family - fascinating, manipulative Isabelle, brutal, dangerous Charlie, and the wild, untamed twins, Emmeline and Adeline. But Angelfield House hides a chilling secret which strikes at the very heart of each of them, tearing their lives apart... Now Margaret Lea is investigating Angelfield's past - and the mystery of the March family starts to unravel. What has Angelfield been hiding? What is its connection with the enigmatic writer Vida Winter? And what is the secret that strikes at the heart of Margaret's own, troubled life? As Margaret digs deeper, two parallel stories unfold, and the tale she uncovers sheds a disturbing light on her own life...

Funny how one month I choose books I think I'd like to read and then read neither, but this month I read both books because I really couldn't decide which I wanted to read!

This was recommended by Janet for our book of the month after she read it she told me that she was pretty sure I would like it and it to give it a chance. I'm glad I did. I feel like it pays homage to some classic stories. Ones that are actually recommended as further reading in the back of the book. The Bronte sisters and Henry James to name a few.

Tell me the truth....

This book was a little slow at first I had other things on my mind and it wasn't engaging enough at first to hold my attention over the other thoughts in my head. Once I started on the 2nd or 3rd chapter I was hooked. The book has many mysteries and one thing I liked is that the mystery's weren't all solved at the end; they were solved as the story went along. Some I thought to myself "I knew that!" but with all mysteries you don't really know it until the author says.

I think the story is just engaging because it deals with love and loss...usually they go hand in hand. Who hasn't had to deal with those two things at some point in their lives? Some of the relationships might not be something one could relate too, but you'd understand all the same.

The main character is called on to write someone else's story, but of course she's got her own story that echos the one she is writing. There was a part about that that sort of annoyed me, but I don't want to go into too much detail as I don't want to give anything away. So, if you've read it and are curious to know what bothered me leave a message in the comment area and we'll discuss it! ;0) I also believe that some of the characters behavior to be a little OTT (over-the-top) and very dramatic.

Other then that a very entertaining read which I would recommend!! As long as you take it as that. If you are a lover of the classics then you might want to be wary. But as I just said as long as you don't expect anything amazing you'll have no reason to be disappointed!

PS In the UK it tells us where she went to high school and it is where my husband went!! Not at the same time as she was born in the late 40's early 50's where my husband was born in the 80's! :0) click here for her biography!

Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami Book Review/Recommendation

2010-07-20T17:44:00.000-05:00

Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami

Kafka on the Shore follows the fortunes of two remarkable characters. Kafka Tamura runs away from home at fifteen, under the shadow of his father's dark prophesy. The aging Nakata, tracker of lost cats, who never recovered from a bizarre childhood affliction, finds his pleasantly simplified life suddenly turned upside down. Their parallel odysseys are enriched throughout by vivid accomplices and mesmerising dramas. Cats converse with people; fish tumble from the sky; a ghostlike pimp deploys a Hegel-spouting girl of the night; a forest harbours soldiers apparently un-aged since WWII. There is a savage killing, but the identity of both victim and killer is a riddle. Murakami's novel is at once a classic quest, but it is also a bold exploration of mythic and contemporary taboos, of patricide, of mother-love, of sister-love. Above all it is an entertainment of a very high order.

This was an amazing read. I think it was meant to sit on my shelf for a year for a reason. I think it was waiting for me to finish watching Lost and take an interest in philosophy before reading it. It was full of philosophical thinking and metaphors. Haruki has said that it is a book you will need to read a few times to unravel all the puzzles. Although I don't feel I need to read it again, I really want too! After I read a book I like to go on to Amazon and read all the reviews good and bad to see what other people thought. One reviewer who gave it a 1 star said that he/she believed that no one understood this book and that they just said they did to sound smart and/or superior. Now there is some strange stuff in this book not all of it making straight forward sense, but as for the story...the story makes sense. Not like After Dark (same author) where I couldn't make heads or tails of it. Maybe it needs another re-read. I just had a quick look back and I never reviewed that book...probably because I wasn't sure what to make of it! ha anyway back to Kafka on the Shore.

As it says above the book follows two different people who never actually meet in the story but who's lives sort of depend on each other. I love stories like that. It just makes you wonder who's life is important or integral to yours...that is if they exist. I think if you like crazy stories this is one for you. I wish I could read Japanese to read it in it's original language I was wonder what is lost in translation. Not sure what else to say but after I reread it I will write another review saying what it was I found!

Whatcha' Reading?

2010-07-13T17:21:00.000-05:00

I want to know what everyone is reading so far this summer? I am currently reading KaFka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami. I have had it on my to-read-list (and on my shelf) for well over a year! I am kicking myself for waiting so long! I am about half way through and am in love...might have to re-think my top ten list! Of course I have to wait until the end as the end could ruin it!
Will write a review soon!

Anyone see a movie recently that they have also read the book? Let us know which you would recommend!

I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith

2010-07-04T01:07:00.000-05:00

I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith: This is the journal of Cassandra Mortmain; an extraordinary account of life with her extraordinary family. First, there is her eccentric father. Then there is her sister, Rose - beautiful, vain and bored - and her stepmother, Topaz, an artist's model who likes to commune with nature. Finally, there is Stephen, dazzlingly handsome and hopelessly in love with Cassandra.
In the cold and crumbling castle which is their home, Cassandra records events with characteristic honesty, as she tries to come to terms with her own feelings. The result is both marvellously funny and genuinely moving.

Dorothy Gladys 'Dodie' Smith was born in 1896 in Lancashire and she was one of the most successful female dramatists of her generation. Her first novel, I Capture the Castle, was written when she lived in America during the 1940's and marked her crossover debut from playwright to novelist. The novel became an immediate success and was produced as a play in 1954. She has written numerous other novels but is best known today for The Hundred and One Dalmatians, a story for younger readers.

This is a coming of age story that made me feel 17 again. Thank goodness I'm not 17 anymore, but sometimes it's nice to remember what it was like: to remember the events that changed our view of the world. Cassandra is a lovely character and you can't help but relate to her. Her relationship with her sister and being the middle child are only two of the reasons I felt I could relate. I also remember what it is like to have someone in love with you, but try as you might you do not love them back in the same way.
I am very much in love with this book and am already wanting to reread it. Part of me wonders if I like this book so much because in the introduction, Valeria Grove, tells us that she was an English woman living in America who missed England terribly. I just know what that feels like. In the novel you can tell how much Smith is in love with England. I Capture the Castle is so beautifully written that even if you've never been to England, you will definitely think you have.
I would recommend it to anyone and everyone. I wish I had read this when I was a teenager. Definitely one I will be encouraging my daughters to read when they are teenagers, that is if they enjoy reading as much as I do!! I don't know what else to say of this book then to read it.

And the Winner is.........

2010-07-03T03:41:00.000-05:00

American Gods: A Novel by Neil Gaiman has been selected as our book for July and August!

Jamie's Ministry of Food: Anyone can Learn to Cook in 24hrs by Jamie Oliver

2010-06-30T09:06:00.000-05:00

Sixty years ago food was in short supply and malnutrition rates were high. The Ministry of Food was set up to teach the public how to make the best use of the food available to them. Fast forward to the present day, where we have unlimited choices and plenty of food, yet we're living in a world of junk food, additives and preservatives. Our war is now against obesity, as most people have little or no idea about how to cook and what makes a balanced diet. We need to learn from the past. We need to look back at the way our grandmothers and great-grandmothers cooked – wholesome, tasty food that was simple and quick to prepare. If you're a complete beginner in the kitchen, Jamie's promise to you is that you'll be making some great dinners within hours of reading his book. A little knowledge and a few basic tools can go a long way, and this book is your first step . . .

Great book for beginners!! I would give this to a graduating highschool/college student as it is perfect for people who have never really had to cook for themselves! It's also great for those people looking at getting back to cooking nutious, affordable, good food.

I also have Jamie's America which is also fun to read! I love reading what Brits think of Americans! :0) For those of you who live in the UK it's on sale at Sainsbury's for 5.99!!

The title of the book has been changed in the US to Jamie's Food Reveloution as the story (above) of the title Ministry of Food doesn't apply to Americans.
I love cook books!!!

2010-06-30T08:45:00.001-05:00

If you've read either Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet or The Murderer's Daughters tell us what you thought in the comment area! I unfortunately never got around to reading either of them oops!!! Five hours left on the poll for July/August book!!! American God's is in the lead!!

If there is anything you were wanting to read and think it would make a great book club book let us know!! We love getting recommendations from our followers!! ;0)

The Pig that Wants to be Eaten by Julian Baggini

2010-06-26T04:38:00.012-05:00

Julian Baggini presents 100 thought experiments - short scenarios which pose a problem in a vivid and concrete way - and invites the reader to think about possible answers for him/herself. Experiments cover identity, religion, art, ethics, language, knowledge and many more. From Zeno's paradox to Groundhog Day (how do you make sense of a life of eternal recurrence?), via the pig that wants to be eaten (so should you eat him?), Plato's cave, Minority Report (is it right to punish people for what they are going to do, but haven't yet done?), and an American Werewolf in London (how can we tell whether we are awake or dreaming?), this book makes philosophy not only mind-stretching but also entertaining.

Julian Baggini is the editor and co-founder of The Philosophers' Magazine. He writes regularly for the Guardian, Independent and Independent on Sunday, Prospect and the TES, and has regularly appears on Radio 4 He is the author of several books on philosophy, including What's It All About? Philosophy and the Meaning of Life (Granta).

I love love love this book. It's so much fun to read as it makes you...think. Seeing as they are thought experiments it's very obvious that it would make you think. I started to look into philosophy as I was watching Lost and so I thought it would be fun to get a simple book about the subject. I had a few recommendations from the sales clerk at Waterstones and this was one of them. It's also nice to have just around you can pick it up read an 'experiment' and then set it down to think about it. Some of them make me feel a bit uncomfortable. Which is why I like it! I would recommend it to anyone who just needs to wake up there minds every once in a while!

A few my favorite ones are titled: #3 The Indian and the ice # 8 Good God #37 Nature the artist #45 The Invisible Gardner #54 The elusive I #67 The poppadom paradox

Miss Dahl's Voluptuous Delights by Sophie Dahl

2010-06-24T16:28:00.002-05:00

Sophie Dahl, one of the most glorious women on the planet, shares delicious secrets from her slinky kitchen, funny stories and favourite recipes in a beautifully illustrated hardback. With delectable recipes for each season, this luscious abundant take on food will delight women everywhere. In this beautifully colour illustrated cookbook, Sophie shares 100 of her favourite recipes that show that healthy can be delicious and indulgent. Sophie lived out the latter part of her adolescence under the public spotlight as the first anti-waif model. Flirting with every food fad from Atkins to raw food, she experienced both misadventures and victories in her quest to have a healthy relationship with food. Now she reveals the recipes that allowed her to eat what she wants while being sylphy as a sapling. Sophie cooks with gusto and passion and here she takes us on a delicious journey through a wonderful collection of her favourite recipes for every meal and every season - from her Grandmother Gee-Gee's ginger parkin, to her dad's amazing chicken curry to what she serves her boyfriend for breakfast. Try out her mama's baked acorn squash and the delicious student-days favourite 'Paris Mash', plus childhood-fun puddings like Carnation milk jelly or decadent desserts like Chocolate chestnut souffle. Sophie reveals compassionate common sense about food, and serves up a lashing of healthy recipes that celebrate the joy of eating so you'll never want to diet again. Original, funny, intimate, and quirky with a bit of whimsy, this glorious book is full of wonderful anecdotes and delicious recipes, scattered with Sophie's own lovely Matisse-like line drawings that slope off the page.

Sophie Dahl began modelling in 1996, after being discovered by fashion maverick Isabella Blow. In 2003 her best-selling novella, 'The Man With The Dancing Eyes' was published. Dahl has been published in American Vogue, the Guardian, the Telegraph Magazine and The Spectator. Dahl lives in England after an eight year sojourn in New York. She is now a regular contributor to Waitrose Food Monthly Magazine.

I love cook books and for my birthday in May I had a gift card to amazon and spent some of it on 3 new cookbooks! This one was really enjoyable to read and I like how she's real. I also love how her recipes are very obviously well used. The way the instructions are written it's like she's talking to you. A lot of the recipes are very veggie as she is a veggie. She does cook meat for her family members and what not so there are recipes for meat. I love vegetables so I will be using this one a lot I think!! Again I haven't used it yet so I will let you know!!! Click here for her Peanut Butter Fudge recipe!! There are more videos on youtube of her BBC show The Delicious Miss Dahl!!

Sunshine by Robin McKinley

2010-06-17T07:52:00.001-05:00

There are places in the world where darkness rules, where it's unwise to walk. But the lake had been quiet for years...She never heard them coming. Of course you don't, when they're vampires. They took her clothes and sneakers. They dressed her in a long red gown. And they shackled her to the wall of an abandoned mansion - within easy reach of her fellow prisoner. She knows he is a vampire. She knows that she's to be his dinner, and that when he is finished with her, she will be dead. Yet when dawn breaks, she is still alive. And now he needs her to help him survive the day...

Robin McKinley is an American writer who has won many awards in the US, including the Newbery Medal for The Hero and the Crown, a Newbery Honor for The Blue Sword and the Mythopoeic Award for Adult Literature for Sunshine.She lives in Hampshire with her husband, author Peter Dickinson, two hellhounds, an 1897 Steinway upright, increasing numbers of rose bushes, and a stone's throw from her change-ringing bell tower. Her blog and her website are full of lots more information!

Okay Okay I know I've said over and over again that I am sick of vampire novels, but I have always liked them and a series I won't mention coughtwilightcoughcough has sorta ruined it for me. I have read lots of vampire books when I was but a young person. So, why should I let one series that I did not mentioned above ruin it for me? Plus Amazon was shoving this book down my throat every time I signed on! I think because I have recently bought a couple Neil Gaiman books and he is quoted on the cover saying 'Astonishing...a perfect work of magical literature.' And I assume that it's what brought it up as I hadn't seen it before....beside the point really. My point being that this is a great book. I really enjoyed it and had a hard time wanting to put it down. It was so different from anything I read before. It's not like those other vampire novels. It stays true to vampires with out making them glittery and veggie. Sunshine seems more marketed to the female(s) but there are parts that I could see males enjoying too. Especially at some parts I was thinking to myself (I do think out loud sometimes much to the annoyance of my husband who gets flustered when I just come out with something) how awesome would that be as a video game!
If you follow the links above to her website/blog she's made it very clear that there is no sequel in the making and I have to assume that means no prequels or video games either and hopefully for the sake of my sanity no movie either! Maybe I shouldn't assume as it makes an ass out of u and me; I don't know the author personally and shouldn't assume I do. I think that's the only problem having a personal blog as people read it and assume they know you.

Back to the point...the book I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys fantasy, scify, adventure novels. Not sure where it fits in genres but that's why I think I like it. There were so many things in this novel that I would love to know more about. Yet I'm not sure I want the author to tell me. I love the world Sunshine lives although a little scary. Sunshine is her nickname but also so much more. A lovely heroine who I would love to be friends with! I didn't find myself personally relating to her, but I rarely do as I usually see myself in the sidekick characters. I don't want to give anything away which is why this is a long post that basically says nothing! Please if you see this book out and about give it a chance and don't judge it by the hype surrounding vampire stories.

This is the cover I have as I live in the UK and get different book covers then most of you who read this! I love book covers!! :0)

2010-06-16T01:19:00.000-05:00

We Want to knoW.........
What are you reading noW?

Mexican Food Made Simple by Thomasina Miers

2010-06-15T03:10:00.001-05:00

If you love having friends and family round for dinner or simply rustling up fresh, fast food, Mexican cooking is fun, fantastic and full of flavour. One of its brightest stars, Wahaca chef and food writer Thomasina Miers shares the recipes she has gathered since she first fell in love with the country aged 18, reinventing the classics with accessible ingredients to demonstrate how exciting and delicious traditional Mexican food can be.

Whether you're looking for street snacks full of punch, rich, hearty stews, or sensational, spicy wraps, Thomasina's Mexican Food Made Simple is bursting with recipes you'll want to eat and share: soft corn tacos and tostados; little cheesy things (Quesadillas); a great Mexican chille con carne; Grilled Sea bass or succulent Lamb Chops with homemade salsas and tortilla chips; and to finish churros with chocolate sauce.
The book features vibrant food photography throughout, and step-by-step guides to folding the perfect burrito, eating a taco (no knives and forks allowed), making a sizzling table salsa, and much more. And with Thomasina's guide to the world's hottest Chillis, ingenious cheats, and helpful menu planner, Mexican Food Made Simple has everything you need to put together a fantastic Mexican feast at home.

About the Author
When Thomasina Miers first arrived in Mexico aged eighteen, she fell so in love with its food that she went back to live there, opening up a cocktail bar in Mexico City and using her free time to travel the country and cook with some of Mexico’s top chefs. After returning to London and winning BBC2’s Master Chef in 2005, Thomasina opened the Mexican street food cantina, Wahaca, which won the Observer Food Monthly’s ‘best cheap eats’ award, and has now opened three branches. She writes a regular recipe column in the Times and is co-editor of Soup Kitchen (2005) and the author of Cook (2006) and Wild Gourmets (2007). Click Here for a YouTube video of warm sweetcorn salad and look on the side for others!!

I love cookbooks even if I never use a single recipe I love reading about the food of the world! Mexican Food Made Simple is not Tex Mex food but has authentic dishes that had me drooling every time I opened the book. I haven't yet made a dish from this book but have ear-marked several to try soon!! I will let you know how I get on!! I enjoyed reading it as I definitely felt the love she has for Mexican food!! My only problem is my husband is allergic to all citrus and she uses a lot of lemon and lime juice which makes sense being Mexican food, but I just have to wonder how important it is for the dish and what I might be able to substitute with.

Molecular Gastronomy by Hervé This

2010-06-01T09:09:00.000-05:00

I know we usually stick to fiction here at Pages of the Mind, but I've been so thoroughly enjoying this book that I had to share it! Have you ever wondered if salt really enhances flavours? Or why? What is the best way to cool a cup of tea? Stirring or blowing? Or, which method of hard boiling an egg most effectively centers the yolk?

The subtitle of this book is Exploring the Science of Flavor and that's exactly what This (pronounced: Teese, like geese) does in this book. I think the phrase molecular gastronomy itself might scare some people off, but please don't be fooled by the name of the subject. Molecular gastronomy is simply a branch of science that tried to understand the chemical processes that occur during cooking. Understanding these processes then allows molecular gastronomers to understand how to best accomplish the cooking task.

Each chapter is one to three pages long - 99 chapters in all. He begins every chapter with a question and proceeds to explain the experiments that have been done to answer that question, and explains how the conclusions of those experiments translates into the kitchen. Hervé This is French, so there are a few chapters pertaining to food or cooking techniques that I have never heard of, but I still found it extremely interesting to read about them anyway.

July/August Book

2010-06-01T09:04:00.000-05:00

The Thirteenth Tale: A Novel by Diane Setterfield

Sometimes, when you open the door to thepast, what you confront is your destiny.

Reclusive author Vida Winter, famous for her collection of twelve enchanting stories, has spent the past six decades penning a series of alternate lives for herself. Now old and ailing, she is ready to reveal the truth about her extraordinary existence and the violent and tragic past she has kept secret for so long. Calling on Margaret Lea, a young biographer troubled by her own painful history, Vida disinters the life she meant to bury for good. Margaret is mesmerized by the author's tale of Gothic strangeness -- featuring the beautiful and willful Isabelle, the feral twins Adeline and Emmeline, a ghost, a governess,a topiary garden and a devastating fire. Together, Margaret and Vida confront the ghosts that have haunted them while becoming, finally, transformed by the truth themselves.

July/August Book

2010-06-01T09:03:00.001-05:00

American Gods: A Novel by Neil Gaiman

After three years in prison, Shadow has done his time. But as the time until his release ticks away, he can feel a storm brewing. Two days before he gets out, his wife Laura dies in a mysterious car crash, in adulterous circumstances. Dazed, Shadow travels home, only to encounter the bizarre Mr Wednesday claiming to be a refugee from a distant war, a former god and the king of America. Together they embark on a very strange journey across the States, along the way solving the murders which have occurred every winter in one small American town. But the storm is about to break... Disturbing, gripping and profoundly strange, Gaiman's epic novel sees him on the road to the heart of America.

A New Way

2010-05-29T03:57:00.004-05:00

If you didn't have a chance to read either Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet or The Murderer's Daughters we're extending it through June. With summer upon us a lot of us will be busy doing summer-y things.

July and August's book will either be American Gods by Neil Gaiman or The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield. I keep changing my mind on how I want to run this book club. I want people to read along in their own time, but even I don't always find time to read the book of the month with all the other titles I have waiting on my shelf for me to read! So, for June we'll read either of last months titles! Be sure to vote for the July/August book!! It's up now!! If there are any suggestions for September/October please leave them here in the comment area!

If you plan to buy any of the books we suggest on here please use our links to amazon.com as we'll get credit for it! As I posted before we'd like to use anything we earn through advertising for a giveaway for our readers!

Did you choose Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet?

2010-05-28T02:36:00.001-05:00

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet
by Jamie Ford
•What was unique about the setting of the book and how did it enhance or take away from the story?

•What specific themes did the author emphasize throughout the novel? What do you think he or she is trying to get across to the reader?

•Do the characters seem real and believable? Can you relate to their predicaments? To what extent do they remind you of yourself or someone you know?

•How do characters change or evolve throughout the course of the story? What events trigger such changes?

•In what ways do the events in the books reveal evidence of the author's world view?

•Did certain parts of the book make you uncomfortable? If so, why did you feel that way? Did this lead to a new understanding or awareness of some aspect of your life you might not have thought about before?

Did you choose The Murderer's Daughters?

2010-05-28T02:36:00.000-05:00

The Murderer's Daughters
by R.S. Meyers
•What was unique about the setting of the book and how did it enhance or take away from the story?

•What specific themes did the author emphasize throughout the novel? What do you think he or she is trying to get across to the reader?

•Do the characters seem real and believable? Can you relate to their predicaments? To what extent do they remind you of yourself or someone you know?

•How do characters change or evolve throughout the course of the story? What events trigger such changes?

•In what ways do the events in the books reveal evidence of the author's world view?

•Did certain parts of the book make you uncomfortable? If so, why did you feel that way? Did this lead to a new understanding or awareness of some aspect of your life you might not have thought about before?

Sushi for Beginners by Marian Keyes ~ A Book Review

2010-05-27T03:22:00.000-05:00

Dammit,’ she realized. ‘I think I’m having a nervous breakdown.’ Hot-shot magazine editor Lisa Edwards’ career is destined for high-rise New York when suddenly she’s diverted to low-rise Dublin. But what can she do about it? Ashling Kennedy, Lisa’s super-organized assistant, worries about everything from her lack of waist to the lack of men in her life. She’s even anxious about of a little bit of raw fish … Clodagh Kelly is Ashling’s best friend and has her prince, her beautiful kids and a lovely house – everything in fact that Ashling ever wanted. She should be – yet, she’s not – happy.

~Sushi for Beginners: A Novel by Marian Keyes

A novel that is perfect for when you are lounging around this summer. It's my first Marian Keyes novel and I have to say I enjoyed it. For the first time I was guessing who was going to end up with who. In most novels the romances are obvious. Which works for some novels as it's not the main focus of the story. It also looked further into why the characters tended to behave how they did. How their up bringing has made them who they were. One of the characters rebelling against it and another being in denial about it. It made the characters seem more real. Which I like my fictional characters to have a bit of believability and depth. All in all I would say it's a nice easy read and I would recommend it to anyone looking to relax and unwind! Oh and I also like how the title of the book is a bit of a mystery until you get towards the end! So Sweet!!

Baby Names Inspired by Twilight

2010-05-26T07:29:00.000-05:00

Write exactly that in google and you'll get lots of articles popping up telling you that the Twilight series has inspired people to name their babies Isabella, Jacob, Edward, Cullen, Esme and so on. Whenever I read these things I think 'yeah yeah sure', but today at Rhyme Time in our local library I met 2 Edwards, 1 Isabella, and 1 Jasper. All of them were under a year old.
People said JK Rowlings Harry Potter didn't inspire names as much as Twilight has, but really is that a shocker? I mean Harry? Ron? Hermione? Although you could go with Arthur, Molly, Bill, Charlie, Fred and George, but to me those are all pretty traditional names to start with.
Would you name your kid(s) after your favorite character either in a book, movie, or TV Show? I can't really talk as one of my daughters names is a Disney princess and the other happens to come from a popular TV show in the early 2000's!
Click here and here for some links to articles about inspired baby names.

2010-05-24T18:24:00.001-05:00

After keeping us waiting for a century, Mark Twain will finally reveal all
The great American writer left instructions not to publish his autobiography until 100 years after his death, which is now
By Guy Adams in Los Angeles
Sunday, 23 May 2010

Exactly a century after rumours of his death turned out to be entirely accurate, one of Mark Twain's dying wishes is at last coming true: an extensive, outspoken and revelatory autobiography which he devoted the last decade of his life to writing is finally going to be published.

The creator of Tom Sawyer , Huckleberry Finn and some of the most frequently misquoted catchphrases in the English language left behind 5,000 unedited pages of memoirs when he died in 1910, together with handwritten notes saying that he did not want them to hit bookshops for at least a century.

Click here for the full article.

Picture taken from here.