Sunday, May 25, 2008
Sunday Salon

I spent eight hours in a car today. No wait...my brother was driving, so it was more like 7 hours. My mom, my big bro and I went down to Orange County (hi Lisa!) today, to visit family and celebrate my aunt's 70th birthday.

So 7 hours in a car. You'd think I could've gotten some prime reading time in. But no. My family doesn't really appreciate my desire to spend entire trips with my nose in a book. So I furtively try to read while keeping one ear tuned in to the conversation. However, the Oxnard/Camarillo stretch of the 101, along with the 405, is mighty bumpy these days, so even furtively, there wasn't a whole lotta reading going on. I read maybe 50 pages of my current book, Apples are from Kazakhstan. I'm still liking it, and today I learned something interesting about the Aral Sea. But I didn't read much this week, so I'm only about 1/2 way through.

The only other thing happening book-wise in my world this week was that I decided I would not be reading A New Earth. And judging from the comments on the post (by the way, you guys totally crack me up), the anti-Oprah movement is gaining speed.

I did buy a book...I Capture the Castle. It was my reward for not buying A New Earth. And I was so proud this morning, because I left the house with a book to pass on to my brother (some boring book about being a landlord that I didn't even realize we owned), 3 books for my mom (this one, this one, and this one), and 1 for my aunt (The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, because my aunt's name is Frankie). Getting rid of books is a good thing these days, because all the bookshelves in the house are full. However, my mom gave me two books. Tipping the Velvet and one I can't remember because it's still in my car and I'm too lazy to go get it. So really, there is no significant dent in the piles. Oh well, at least I tried.

My reading goal for this week is to finish Apples are from Kazakhstan. And to pass it on.

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Friday, May 23, 2008
Why I won't be joining Oprah's new Earth

You know, I consider myself to be an open-minded person. I may not come across that way, but I have my moments. So when the Slow Travel reading group chose A New Earth as our June book, I was game. I knew it was an Oprah pick, and she had some website about it, but that's all I knew about it and hey, I'm open-minded. Right? So off I went to Barnes and Noble to investigate.

I asked the information person where I could find A New Earth. She walked about five steps to the shelf behind the cashiers and picked up a copy. Uh-oh, it's so popular it's got behind the cashier status.

I took the book up the escalator (yes, I ride the escalator at Barnes and Noble...it's the only one in San Luis Obispo County, and a person should indulge their inner kid - see, I can be enlightened) to the second floor and found a chair to settle in for further investigation of this book that everyone but me seemed to be aware of.

I came to the quick realization that this was a self-help book. And didn't I just write about how I feel about those? Okay, so the back cover classifies it as spirituality. Have I mentioned I don't do religion? But I'm open-minded, dammit. So I skimmed through sections of the book. And honestly, I had a hard time not laughing out loud. The book is full of jargon...and I don't want to have to stop to try to figure out what an author just wrote. It reminds me too much of college, in particular the mandatory philosophy class, which I passed with the help of Cliff (last name Notes).

I sat there for about 10 minutes having an internal conversation that went something like this... "Don't buy this book. You just stated to the internet that you don't read self-help books. But it's for our book discussion, and I should give it a chance. Maybe he has some good points. Hah! Did you not just read a sentence that talked about flowers being the enlightenment of plants? And is indwelling really a word? Oh, and look, he uses capitals all over the place and you know that's a pet peeve of yours...get this: "birds are the temporary manifestations of the underlying one Life, one Consciousness." WTF? Oooh, maybe I should buy the book so I can mock. WHAT?? Do not spend your money on this. You will regret it, and you do not want to give that man (aka the author, Eckhart Tolle) any of your money. But...NO!"

So yeah, the nos and my self respect won. I had to go to Amazon and read the excerpt to find examples similar to those I raised my eyebrows at in the bookstore. And then I entertained myself further by reading the one-star reviews. So much for being open-minded.

So tell me...have you read the book? Am I missing something? Have you lost all respect for me?

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Thursday, May 22, 2008
Apples really are from Kazakhstan

Yes, I'm still reading about apples and Kazakhstan. It sounds like a cool place. Literally. If you're thinking about visiting, I'd avoid winter.

So not only is Kazakhstan (and boy is that an awkward word to type) the mother ship for apples, it's also the birthplace of tulips. And Trotsky (you know, Lenin's Comrade, then not-Comrade...he also had really big hair...although that has nothing to do with his historical significance...I just happened to get sidetracked looking at pictures on Wikipedia and it's hard not to notice the hair...go ahead, go look) spent a year in exile in Almaty, and he seemed to find it delightful. And speaking of Almaty (a city in south-eastern Kazakhstan), it's the Kazakh word for appleness. How cute is that?

Needless to say, I'm enjoying the book. It's kind of cute, too. It's small (bigger than a paperback, smaller than a trade paperback) and has little pencil illustrations scattered throughout. And while not every page is riveting, it's an entertaining read, full of odd little bits of trivia and Kazakh characters. I may just be giving this one away, so stay tuned.

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Books vs. Movies

Books and films both tell stories, but what we want from a book can be different from what we want from a movie. Is this true for you? If so, what’s the difference between a book and a movie?


I'll choose a book over a movie any day. While I do go to the movies occasionally (in fact, I just saw Prince Caspian), I could pretty much go through life without them. I can't say the same for books.
I'm very picky about my movies. I'm not sure when and why this happened. Maybe because my mom sees practically every movie that comes out (I'm exaggerating, but not by much) and has been known to give exhausting recountings of the movies. I very rarely will go see a movie if I've read the book (Prince Caspian being an exception, given the huge time frame between book being read and movie being viewed)...I like to remember my books as I interpret them, not how Hollywood interprets them. I haven't seen any of the Harry Potter movies and I have no desire to see Kite Runner. I did see Cold Mountain, but that was because I hated the book so much I figured the movie had to be an improvement.
Another reason I'm picky about movies is I don't like to watch people make fools of themselves. Case in point, The 40 Year Old Virgin. And American Gigolo. The only reason I've seen these movies is because they show up on tv entirely too often and Hamburger has doubtful taste in movies. I find them ridiculous and embarrassing and there's no way in hell I'd pay 7-10 bucks to see them in a theater. Although I will pay to watch Viggo Mortensen bare his soul (and his butt) in Eastern Promises and A History of Violence. For some reason, I like dark movies rather than the so-called chick-flicks or comedies.
But I don't like dark books. I prefer my books to have a happy ending, although that doesn't always happen. I haven't quite been able to pin down my taste in books, actually, but I wouldn't rush out and buy ack, what's that book that was turned into a movie with Sean Penn where his friend was kidnapped as a child...aaargh...okay, I have to go visit Google. Ah yes...Mystic River. I never was interested in the book. But the movie... I loved the movie. As for books, as a general rule, I tend to gravitate toward female authors and current fiction, but not always the best sellers.
Okay, I'm not sure if I answered the question...this was a hard one. I think I babbled more than usual.

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Monday, May 19, 2008
Broken Paradise

Broken Paradise
Cecilia Samartin
2008
340 pages


Last night I stated that I would be reading this book this week. Well, I was wrong. I read it today, in about 3 hours.

Adele and Nora are cousins growing up in Cuba in the 1950s. After Castro takes power, Nora's family decides to leave for the US, while Adele and her parents stay behind. Although Nora is the main character, and the story follows her throughout her life, we also receive glimpses of Adele, as the girls exchange infrequent letters. Nora knows that things are rough in Cuba, and she misses her homeland desperately, but she believes, out of respect for her parents, that she will never return as long as Castro is in power. She continues to adapt to life in America and although she knows Adele's life is different, she never fully understands the sacrifices Adele has made for her family until she decides to return to Cuba. Once in Cuba, Nora is shocked at how much has changed, including Adele. Despite the 20 year separation, the cousins instantly reconnect. At the risk of destroying her relationship with her husband and her parents, Nora delays her return home to help Adele and her daughter Lucinda. The books ends with a devastating act of bravery (actually multiple acts of bravery), but I won't give them away.

Cecilia Samartin was 9 months old when her parents fled Cuba, and she grew up on tales of the family's homeland. This book shines with love for Cuba. It also is filled with vitriol against Castro. The book also touches on other immigrant themes...the struggle to assimilate, battles between generations over the ways of the homeland vs. life in America and the longing for one's country. It also questions whether you really can go home again.

One last note...because the revolution is depicted through the eyes of a young Nora, the book doesn't really give much insight into Cuba's history. Actually, it doesn't give any insight. Nora and Adele's families are part of the upper-middle class, and although they would like to see change, they are horrified at the Communist's rise to power. And that's about all you get because that's not the focus of the book.

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Sunday, May 18, 2008
Sunday Salon

I've been meaning to join the Sunday Salon for awhile now. I'm not going to explain what it is...you can click on the badge it you want to read all about it.

So my current book is Broken Paradise, by Cecilia Samartin. Briefly, it's about cousins who grow up together in Cuba. After Castro comes to power, one immigrates to the United States, while the other stays behind.
The book hooked me with the first paragraph:

What I love most is the warmth, how it reaches in and spreads out to the tips of my fingers and toes until it fells like I'm part of the sun, like it's growing inside me. Have you ever seen the ocean turn smooth as a sheet of glass or curl upon the shore with a sigh? If you knew my country then you'd know that the sea can be many things; faithful and blue as the sky one moment and the next a shimmering turquoise so brilliant, you'd swear the sun was shining from beneath the waves.
Can't you just feel the heat of Cuba?

I'm only on page 37. That's all I had time for this morning before chores dragged me reluctantly from my book. But I have high hopes for this one...I plan to be reading this one throughout the week.

I did buy a couple of books on Saturday...but the stacks by my chair are growing, so I don't know when I thought I would be reading them. Although Apples are from Kazakhstan

might displace all others and jump to the top of the Read Me, Read Me pile. It's a travelogue of Kazakhstan. Who the hell travels to Kazakhstan?

In case you were wondering, Kazakhstan is here:

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Belong to Me

Belong to Me
Marisa de los Santos
April 2008
390 pages

Last year I read Love Walked In, a book that I adored. I also met the author, Marisa de los Santos. Unfortunately for her, at the time she was signing books next to Elizabeth Gilbert of Eat, Pray, Love fame, and she was looking pretty lonely. I told her I loved her book and she lit up, and she told me about her next book that was due out. I've been waiting for that book for what seemed like forever. And it didn't disappoint. Thank goodness, because I really liked the author.

I'm going to borrow the barnesandnoble.com synopsis:

Everyone has secrets. Some we keep to protect ourselves, others to protect those we love.

A devoted city dweller, Cornelia Brown surprised herself when she was gripped by the sudden desire to head for an idyllic suburb. Though she knows she's made the right move, she approaches her new life with trepidation and struggles to forge friendships. Cornelia's mettle is quickly tested by judgmental neighbor Piper Truitt, the embodiment of everything Cornelia feared she would find in suburbia. A saving grace soon appears in the form of Lake, and Cornelia develops an instant bond with this warm yet elusive woman.

As their individual stories unfold, the women become entangled in a web of trust, betrayal, love and loss that challenges them in ways they never imagined, and that ultimately teaches them what it means for one human being to belong to another.

Synopses (just what is the plural of synopsis, anyway?) never quite do a book justice. Or they do too much justice. This one is pretty bare bones. Belong to Me brings back characters from Love Walked In, and introduces new ones. Piper, in particular. I love her Stepford wife persona. It's also fun to see Cornelia and Teo again, and to watch them evolve. I still can't quite figure out what appeals to me so in these books...but Belong to Me joins Love Walked In as one of my favorites.

And ta-da! I'm now all caught up with the book reviews. Whew!

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My Best Friend's Girl


My Best Friend's Girl
Dorothy Koomson
March 2008
480 pages

This book was almost but not quite chick-lit. It was actually a good story and I was getting into it, but every once in awhile it faltered. Actually, I don't read chick-lit, so I guess I really shouldn't classify it as almost-not quite...more like almost what I would imagine chick-lit to be.

Kamryn is all set to enjoy her birthday when she gets a letter from her estranged friend Adele. Kamryn hasn't spoken to Adele since she discovered Adele had a one night stand with Kamryn's fiance...and that her fiance was the father of Adele's child. That discovery ended both their friendship, and Kamryn's engagement. Now Adele is dying of leukemia and she wants Kamryn to care for her daughter.

At first Kamryn is resistant, but she can't resist either Adele or her daughter, Tegan. Before she knows what's hit her, Kamryn is home in Leeds, with a new daughter and a new boss, who becomes the new boyfriend. And then Nate shows up. The ex-fiance. And Kamryn turns into a giant ball of conflicted emotion.

Around the time the new boyfriend, Luke, showed up, I began to notice a veritable plethora of cos's. I say veritable plethora, because when I was in high school and we had our weekly vocab lists, those two words appeared on the same week, and I've never been able to separate them. Anyways...this is an English book, and every once in awhile but not too much, an English turn of phrase pops up. And I don't know if using cos in place of because is an English slang thing, but I could have done without it. Not that I don't like slang. I mean, hello, I read my blog, and I know I'm all over the slang. I even use 'cause on occasion. But using cos right and left in a book I was really getting into, made me not so into it anymore. Added to that the waffling between Luke and Nate, and now you know why I felt like I was entering chick-lit land.

Still, in the end, I liked it. I'm not really sure why I'm nit-picking. I didn't like Three Cups of Tea, and all I said about that was that it was boring. Although in my book, that's a pretty harsh tag for a book.

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Three Cups of Tea

Three Cups of Tea

Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin
2007
368 pages

This was our choice for this month's Slow Travel Concentric Reading Circle, and we discussed the book today. Not my normal choice of reading, and I struggled with the book. In fact, I skimmed quite a bit of the first half. Consensus at today's chat was that the book needed a good editor.

In 1993, Greg Mortenson attempted to climb K2. He was unable to make it to the summit, and on his descent he got lost. Rescued by local villagers, he pledged to return and build a school for the girls of the village. Mortenson returned home, and living out of his car, struggled to save every penny in order to return and fulfill his promise. He sent hundreds of letters in an attempt to raise money, but didn't get very far. Finally, a former climber pledged $12,000, what Mortenson estimated it would cost to build one school. He finally built the school and went on to found the Central Asian Institute, whose goal is to promote peace and provide better opportunities for the children of remote villages by building schools. Today, due to Mortenson's perseverance and the generosity of thousands, the CAI is going strong.

Three Cups of Tea chronicles Mortenson's struggles and unwavering determination to make his dream a reality. It's a fantastic story and an even more fantastic achievement, but gawd, is the book ever boring. Okay, there were a few interesting parts, especially the post 9/11 segments. But overall? Boring.

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A birthday cake for Kate

Kate, here is your birthday cake. I know it doesn't look like much, but I promise it tastes good. If you like chocolate-orange stuff, which you said you do. And no comments on the photo.

Mexican Chocolate Loaf Cake

1 cup butter, soft
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 tbsp instant coffee*
3/4 cup water*
2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
zest of one orange

Preheat oven to 350F. Butter or grease a 9×5x3.5-inch loaf pan and dust with cocoa powder, knocking out the excess. Line 4 muffin cups with paper liners.

In a large, microwave-safe bowl, melt the butter. Whisk in cocoa powder until smooth, then add in instant coffee and water, whisking until dissolved. Stir in sugar, followed by the eggs, buttermilk, vanilla extract and orange zest, mixing well after each addition.

In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Gradually add to cocoa mixture, stirring until just combined.

Using a 1/4 cup measure, fill the four cupcake liners about 3/4 full with batter. Pour the remaining batter into the prepared loaf pan. Bake the cupcakes for 18-22 minutes, until a tester comes out clean. Bake the cake for 55-65 minutes (or longer, if you're my oven), until a tester comes out clean or with only a few crumbs. Cool in the pans for about 15 minutes, then turn out cupcakes and loaf cake onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes 1 loaf cake and 4 cupcakes. Serves 10-12, plus cupcakes for the cook.

*Note: You can omit the instant coffee and use 1/2 cup water with 1/4 cup coffee instead, as the original recipe calls for, if you don’t have instant.

I found this recipe at a blog called Baking Bites, which is full of incredible looking desserts (and other things, but I'm in love with the desserts). I made this cake a few weeks ago and took it to work, and it was gone before noon, which I interpret to mean it tasted good. Either that or everyone was exceptionally hungry that morning.

I also made banana bread. Not for Kate, but for Hamburger.

I have no idea what the banana bread tastes like. I had a few really ripe bananas staring at me, and I figured since I already had made a mess of the kitchen, and Hamburger loves banana muffins/bread/pudding, I might as well go all out and bake two things in one day.

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Saturday, May 17, 2008
The Virgin of Small Plains


The Virgin of Small Plains
Nancy Pickard
May 2007
351 pages

In 1987, during a blizzard, the body of a young woman is found in a field. Her identity and her death remains a mystery to town of Small Plains, Kansas. Over the years, she is given mystical powers...it is said that the Virgin performs miracles.

During that same blizzard of 1987, Mitch Newquist disappears from the lives of his best friends, Rex and Abby. His parents pack him off to boarding school in Chicago, and he is never heard from again.

17 years later, the Judge's wife wanders off into the cold and dies at the grave of the Virgin. Suddenly, Abby becomes curious about what really happened back in 1987. Who was the Virgin? Why did Mitch leave? And just as Abby starts questioning the past, Mitch reappears and begins asking his own questions. Together, their questions will dig up answers to the mystery surrounding the Virgin of Small Plains.

I really enjoyed this book. It had a good story, and interesting characters. And a good mystery, without being so convoluted that I couldn't follow it, or enjoy the story. Pickard also did a good job portraying small town life in Small Plains, and the people who live there. Two thumbs up.

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Friday, May 16, 2008
The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks


The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks
E. Lockhart
March 2008
352 pages

I'm not sure where I ran across this book. Over at Lesley's blog maybe? Wait, I'll go check...nope, not there. Stephanie? Nope again, but I see it's on her radar. Well, damn, I give up. It was probably on one of the Booking Through Thursday blogs. If it was you, please fess up. Because I adore this book...the title, the cover, and the story.
Frankie starts her sophomore year at prep school by attracting a cute, smart, personable guy. Oh, and he's a senior, too. Woo-hoo, life is looking good. Except Frankie begins to notice that Matthew (the cute, smart, etc. guy) and his buddies don't really treat her like an equal. They notice her boobs, but not her brains. So she sets out to to prove that she's just as good as they are.
Of course, the guys are never going to accept her or admit that she's smart, but boy, does Frankie impress the heck out of the school with her efforts. Not that they know it's her behind all of the genius pranks suddenly being played around the school. They think it's Matthew and his Old Boys club (aka the Hounds). No one realizes that Frankie has uncovered the secrets of the Hounds and that she's smarter than the rest of them. When they do discover what she's been up to, suddenly she's shunned. Because what she's done just isn't done.
However, Frankie does succeed in defining herself, and realizing that she doesn't need Matthew and his type in her life. Which is why I love this book. Yes, Frankie is a criminal mastermind, but she is also a strong teenage character. Go Frankie!

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The Geographer's Library

The Geographer's Library
Jon Fasman
2005
384 pages

I read this book in Savannah. Which is ironic, because I didn't take it with me. It was on the bookshelf in the cottage that I was staying in. But I'm almost positive I have this book on my bookshelf, too. I think I bought it a few years ago, yet never read it. Which now means I have an unread book that I've read.

Normally, I like books like this. Mystical artifacts, faraway places, tales of past times and present times all in one book. But I found The Geographer's Library hard to follow. The description of the mystical items was very hard to follow, and I was never 100% sure what they all combined to do. And I found the trips into the past a little flat. I did like the modern characters, though.

I also like this description from barnesandnoble.com:

Jon Fasman's dizzyingly plotted intellectual thriller suggests a marriage between Dan Brown and Donna Tartt. When reporter Paul Tomm is assigned to investigate the mysterious death of a reclusive academic, he finds himself pursuing leads that date back to the twelfth century and the theft of alchemical instruments from the geographer of the Sicilian court. Now someone is trying to retrieve them. Interspersed with the present action are the stories of the men and women who came to possess those charmed-and sometimes cursed-artifacts, which have powers that go well beyond the transmutation of lead into gold. Deftly combining history, magic, suspense, and romance-and as handsomely illustrated as an ancient incunabulum-The Geographer's Library is irresistible.
Not that agree with the irresistible tag, but I like the use of the words "dizzingly plotted." Maybe that's why I was confused.

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Ink Exchange


Ink Exchange
Melissa Marr
2008
336 pages

This is the follow-up to Wicked Lovely, the darker, gothy, fairy version of Twilight. Okay, not really. But sort of.

So at the end of Wicked Lovely I had all these issues. Ink Exchange took care of two of them. Seth is around, and you get to see Aislinn as both a high schooler and a queen. But Donia is entirely absent. Although this book isn't about her. It's about Leslie. Leslie appeared in Wicked Lovely as the faintly slutty, party-girl friend of Aislinn. At least that was the impression I got.

I liked Wicked Lovely lots more. The faeries are still interesting, but Irial (the king) and his court are dark. Way dark. Gee, maybe that's why they're called the Dark Court. They feed on emotion and through an ink exchange (tattoo) can create a link to a human who then becomes an emotional conduit. Nice for the fairy, not so nice for the human. Leslie spends a grim few months hooked up to Irial, until she finds the strength to break the spell/reverse the tattoo/whatever you wanna call it.

So the end is good because the girl finds the strength to let go of the guy and find her own way. Kind of like The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, which will be my next post. Although that's pretty much all these two books have in common. Anyways...the end is good, but the last third of the book before that point is pretty disturbing, since Leslie is acting like a drug addict. It pretty much put me off faeries for awhile. I'm not sure if Melissa Marr plans on continuing with the faeries, although there are lots of questions and characters to follow. But I don't know if I want to follow her down that path.

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