Bunny Tales: A Shabby Rabbit Book Blog

Review: The Kitchen Counter Cooking School ~ Kathleen Flinn

2012-06-01T22:40:00.001-05:00

TITLE: The Kitchen Counter Cooking School. How A Few Simple Lessons Transformed Nine Culinary Novices into Fearless Home Cooks

AUTHOR: Kathleen Flinn

PUBLISHED: September 29th 2011 by Viking Adult

PAGES: 304

WHY I READ THIS: I found this title on netgalley and I've been contemplating my eating patterns for quite awhile. Plus I can always use help in the kitchen. The whole premise of this book appealed to me

SYNOPSIS FROM GOODREADS:
After graduating from Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, writer Kathleen Flinn returned with no idea what to do next, until one day at a supermarket she watched a woman loading her cart with ultraprocessed foods. Flinn's "chefternal" instinct kicked in: she persuaded the stranger to reload with fresh foods, offering her simple recipes for healthy, easy meals.
The Kitchen Counter Cooking School includes practical, healthy tips that boost readers' culinary self-confidence, and strategies to get the most from their grocery dollar, and simple recipes that get readers cooking.

MY FEELINGS ON IT:
This book was right up my alley. Did you know that if you tell people you can't cook, they believe you? Even if you make something really good, fancy and yummy they will still think of you as the person who can't cook. And guess what, after a while, you begin to think of yourself that way too. It's not a defeatist attitude, it's more a morphing that you forgot you really can cook somewhat.

And that's where I am now. I can cook I suppose, but I sure don't feel like I can. I had no confidence and I was the lady loading up on frozen pizza and boxed dinners. After I read Barbara Kingsolvers book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle that really started to bug me.

But I didn't think I actually could do much about it. Until this crazy chef went and pointed some easy stuff out to a lady in a supper market. And then gave a class to a bunch of ladies who were in the same boat.

The first half of the book seemed a bit more like a 'foodalogue' I guess. But then I read this in two distinct sections since I started with an egalley that expired....BUT I liked the book well enough that I just had to finish it SO I bought a copy. Now hows that for and endorsement!...

anyway, after a while she really got into the cooking and the instructions and the tips that actually do make a difference! I had used whole chickens before in my life (my poorer life) but I'd gotten away from it and I never had learned how to KEEP stock (I could make it but it looked gross and I didn't know how to store it) But I learned from the book what to do. And bought a whole bird today. And guess what...it was on sale for .88 per pound. Yup for a whole chicken! mine was less than 5.00 and I get 2 or 3 'can's of stock, and a couple meals. SWEET!

So you know I only gave this book 3.5 stars, but I may rethink that because I did enjoy it. I think I would have like MORE class time and more one on one conversations with the students and how they really did or did not adapt their lessons to their life.

I really did highlight quite a few things in the book. Like a 'lightbulb' passage on how kids metabolize processed foods get addicted to them at very young ages. It tells a chilling story of rats, processed high fat, high sugar foods, dopamine and addiction. It may not be just a bratty kid having a meltdown for fast food frys. It may be much sadder than that.

She tried an experiment (long about page 212) where she put post it notes on food items she bought. especially produce and if they went bad and she had to throw them away, she put their post-it note inside a cupboard door and then after a week she added up how much she had thrown out. Plus just seeing the monetary value of what was in the crisper helped her avoid the toss-it guilt and prompted her to think how to use things up. (hint hint ~ Soup!)

All in all though I found this book, instructive, entertaining, interesting, and helpful. Above all I simply enjoyed it!!

Maybe enough to not worry about what anyone else thinks of my cooking and just let myself cook :)

you're only as old as you feel

2012-05-31T21:35:00.001-05:00

I'm excited! I've found some more folks of my 'age group!' Even though I feel 20 something most of the time, I'm pretty much, well...not.

So here I am, along with some of my peers. If you're one of us... join in so we can see what you guys are up to as well!

Forty...it's the new, .... uhm... I forget... anyway. Yeah!
Thanks for hosting this Java! You're an inspiration :) Keep us young!

So I will also be adding to this post tomorrow for our regular Friday Bookish memes. And hope to have a lot of fun visiting everyone...as usual :)

Friday 4:30 p.m. ~ As promised....

BEA Edition – What upcoming releases are you most looking forward to?

Well, since I've had my nose so far in the past lately, I'm not paying close enough attention to what is even due out I'm afraid.

I would have said The Wind Through The Keyhole ~ Stephen King (a dark tower book) but that's already out now and I still haven't read it.

I've been terrible about reading any galleys lately. So I haven't even perused the list of whats on deck.

Although Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn comes out next week and that sounds like it has SUMMER READ written all over it!

Synopsis from B&N

Overview

'What are you thinking, Amy? The question I've asked most often during our marriage, if not out loud, if not to the person who could answer. I suppose these questions stormcloud over every marriage: What are you thinking? How are you feeling? Who are you? What have we done to each other? What will we do?' Just how well can you ever know the person you love? This is the question that Nick Dunne must ask himself on the morning of his fifth wedding anniversary, when his wife Amy suddenly disappears. The police immediately suspect Nick. Amy's friends reveal that she was afraid of him, that she kept secrets from him. He swears it isn't true. A police examination of his computer shows strange searches. He says they aren't his. And then there are the persistent calls on his mobile phone. So what did really did happen to Nick's beautiful wife? And what was left in that half-wrapped box left so casually on their marital bed? In this novel, marriage truly is the art of war...

So that's my pick... I'll be anxious to read yours and find out more about the pulse of the bookish future!!

Top Ten Tuesday May 29 - endure

2012-05-29T12:49:00.001-05:00

The word of the day today is Endure!

Today's Top Ten Tuesday hosted by the ever gracious folks at the Broke and the Bookish, asks us,
Top Ten Books Written In The Past 10 Years That I Hope Are Still Being Read In 30 Years

There are so many books from the past that I'm still trying to catch up reading that I actually had a hard time putting this list together! Everything I chose was over 10 years old! Almost...but there are some that I've had the privilege to read that should make an impression for years and years and years to come.

1. The Book Theif - Markus Zusak - it's got such wonderful character and lends so much information to such an awful time , touching, and so well crafted.

2. The Help - Kathryn Stockett - This was and is an important book. The lessons from the time period written about can still apply to how we treat people today!! We should never see this as a book about the past but a book about how we look at each other!!

3. The Homecoming of Samuel Lake - Another look into a different cultural area with amazing characters and touching on delicate topics and tragic events.

4. Strange as this Weather Has Been - Ann Pancake - This brings to light the tragic ecological topic of mountain top mining in a story populated with incredibly strong people,but especially strong women.

5. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle - Barbara Kingsolver - After I read this book, I never looked at my food or food choices the same again! This could be the modern version of 'Silent Spring'

6. Cold Mountain - Charles Frazier - This is literature. Simply literature. This is writing for the ages. It is Prose in a narrative world. I loved every sentence of this book. It did not rush, no matter how much I thought it should and it led me, involved me, in every path it took.

7. The Road - Cormac McCarthy - Allegory lives. On the surface, a post-apocalyptic novel about a man and his young son seeking safety. On another level, well .... I'll let you decide.

8. Looking For Alaska - John Green - Green is a master of our time. Considered a Young Adult author, there is nothing short of great literature between the pages of ANY Green book, but especially Looking For Alaska and it's how it handles sensitive subjects and important topics.

9.The Kitchen Counter Cooking School - Kathleen Flinn - If we all realized how easy it is to cook, perhaps we could break our unhealthy addiction to the fast and the over-processed! Me included...actually me Especially! :)

10. Of course, Harry Potter - J.K. Rowling. And I have no doubt this one will hold true!! :)

So there it is, I'm sure I'll come back with tons for my TBR list once I take off and wander around all your lists!

Breathe

2012-05-27T19:53:00.000-05:00

This is my first step over the Sunday Salon Lurking line into the light of Posting!

Over on the right side of my blog and down a tad you will see a list of upcoming things on my radar.

I have made it to 'Breathe!!' Yay!! The huge event that has stressed the last 2 months of my life is complete and except for having about 3 times as much cooked pasta as I actually needed, the party went off without a hitch.

Oh and I had too much cake too, by at least twice as much as I needed. And pop, yup 6 cases left over. Obviously some of the RSVP's didn't end up making it.

It was a fun time but I am so glad it's over. How in the world do professional party planners stand it!!

Now during this time of Breathe, I hope to actually get to R.E.A.D!!

I tried to listen to some of an audiobook, but I couldn't concentrate. I tried to read some of Mansfield Park and really really couldn't concentrate (I'm 100 pages in and have NO idea who is who), I even tried to blod through a little more Bill Bryson, which is usually more like a reward for me and couldn't get anywhere. So you know it's been hectic!

Now that 'Summer' is here, and the temperatures are going up and the days are long and the days cajole me into repose, perhaps I can indulge myself and find some gems to post about in the works I still hope to get to!

Have a safe holiday everyone!

Crazy gradu-bday-trip-party week!

2012-05-24T11:53:00.002-05:00

I'm not forgetting my dearest darling blog.

But this has been graduation, 8 hours drive the next day for my dads 85 birthday, drive home the day after that and get ready for a 200+ person grad party.

I sure am supppper proud of her!!

But what was I thinking stacking all this up?

Somebody shoot me!! I just want to stretch out and READ!

Top Ten Tuesday Freebie

2012-05-15T14:13:00.003-05:00

The Top Ten Tuesday topic at The Broke and the Bookish that Jamie chose was:

This week was scheduled to be Top Ten Authors I'd Like To See On A Reality Show but I got a lot of feedback about how HARD it was...so maybe not as good as an idea as I initally thought! SO..I opened it up as a Freebie Week but I decided to stick with the topic!

I'm opting for a freebie week topic...especially since I don't have TV and don't watch reality shows...so I chose:

top ten book characters that remind me of someone I know in reality :)

1) My eldest daughter - Skeeter from The Help - she is a writer and she has the courage to take the side of what is right weather or not is the side of what is expected or popular. She is planning on becoming a lawyer.

2) My youngest daughter - Hermione from Harry Potter - She is smart, reserved, fiercely loyal to her friends, logical and beautiful too. She is planning to teach High School English, so she's brave too!

3) My friend Audrey - Frances from Under the Tuscan Sun - Strong, single, impulsive, capable, quick to laughter and always ready for an adventure!

4) My friend Sara - Scout from To Kill A Mockingbird She's a "Hey, Boo" kinda girl. And not prone to understand deliberate ignorance. She doesn't judge and doesn't hold to prescribed norms. She knows not only good from bad, but fights for it too. And fights well! After all she IS a lawyer.

5) My friend Jody - Erin Brockovich - Ok so technically Erin is real and not from a book even, but seriously Jody can kick some butt, rock some heels, and do the job better than anyone with 3 times the education!! And you DEFINITELY want her on your side.

6) My Dad - Mr. Bennet from Pride and Prejudice - He just wanted to see me happy doing what I wanted to do as long as it wasn't tooooo out there and he'd defy who he needed to to make it happen. He wasn't the interfering type and went about his own business but was there for me with advice if I needed it. And he'd come get me if I was in trouble too.

7) My Mom - the Mom from I Love You Forever - She would never fail to tell me she loved me. She worked her whole life FOR me. And now the tables are beginning to turn as she gets older and I get to tell her how much I love her too :)

8) My friend and co-worker Kayla - Ruby Thewes from Cold Mountain - She's tough as nails and can do just anything. She'd put a floggin' rooster in a pot in a hurry! She's smart past her cirucmstances too and a hard worker whose had to stand on her own early in her life

9) ???? (I'm not quite ready to say his name in case he's not as ready as I am) - Noah from the Notebook - I hope I'm not saying this too prematurely but it's weird how close it all is. He's handsome, and independent, we were together once then apart (my fault) then there were others in the picture who kept us apart by manipulation and we never got a fair shot at this craziness called relationship. Now we are back together and it was practically a "it's still not over" moment. Hell it still might be!!! >:)

10) Me - so that makes me Allie. I've got a temper. I'm feisty and go against the norm sometimes, I wish I came from as much money. But I've not know too much poverty. I know my faults in my past and I know the future is up to my choices. I don't paint, but I do blog!!

Top Ten Quotes ~ subject to change without notice

2012-05-08T09:51:00.000-05:00

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

This week's topic is: Top Ten Favorite Passages from Books

This is a fun topic this week! It is also one that, like my favorite food, tends to change depending on, for one thing, what new book I've read or what strikes my fancy, or what I remember I've forgotten!! There are so many that I'm sure as I go through the linky list, I'll be face-palm-ing for not choosing more amazing quotes!

“You must never feel badly about making mistakes ... as long as you take the trouble to learn from them. For you often learn more by being wrong for the right reasons than you do by being right for the wrong reasons.”
― Norton Juster, The Phantom Tollbooth

“Sometimes the Bible in the hand of one man is worse than a whisky bottle in the hand of (another)... There are just some kind of men who - who're so busy worrying about the next world they've never learned to live in this one, and you can look down the street and see the results.(Miss Maudie)”
― Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird

“The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.”
― Henry David Thoreau, Walden, or Life in the Woods

“I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo.
"So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

“Not all those who wander are lost.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

'It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out of your door,' he used to say. 'You step into the Road, and if you don't keep your feet, there is no knowing where you might be swept off to.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

“I am going to take this bucket of water and pour it on the flames of hell, and then I am going to use this torch to burn down the gates of paradise so that people will not love God for want of heaven or fear of hell, but because He is God.”
― John Green, Looking for Alaska

“They call this war a cloud over the land. But they made the weather and then they stand in the rain and say 'Shit, it's raining!”
― Charles Frazier, Cold Mountain
(actually I like to recite this one just like in the movie. and I'm good at it too! I really get into it! watch out Renee!!)

“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.”
― Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

“But the wild things cried, “Oh please don't go- We'll eat you up- we love you so!”
― Maurice Sendak, Where the Wild Things Are

Farewell Maurice.

It's Monday May 7th

2012-05-07T11:24:00.003-05:00

This is my first participation in this meme although I have been lurking and reading IMWAYR posts from you all for quite some time :) I read so slow though (due to time, not because I'm bad at it), that I have felt that my posts would be quite redundant.

But maybe not, so I thought I'd give it a go :)

This week I finished:

I started this as an Audiobook and finished up with the print version. I didn't care for the audio at all. I did enjoy the print but was a bit "Meh" on the ending.

I am currently reading:

This takes a brain shift after Mockingjay. I am enjoying it but having a devil of a time remembering who is who!! And soooo trying to keep the movie out of my imagination as I read. I'm not far into it yet. I may have to make notes! ;)

Also

I've been dying to read this! It is laugh-out-loud funny but not exactly what I expected. I can't wait to get back to it each afternoon! I'm a little over half done I think.

This is the first time I've used the free Kindle reading app with a loan from our public library. This is purty slick!!

And

I started this as a galley but dropped the ball and didn't get it done... so I went and bought it and am finishing it. :) Hope to get back to it again pretty soon, I'm neglecting it again and not because I don't like it, I actually LOVE it!! Mostly because I don't think of myself as much of a cook and it's nice when I see other people struggle with food and win too!

Coming up:

and a WHOLE lot of other choices

Bookish things to do this week:

I've applied for a position on the local Library Board of Directors. There is a meeting on Wednesday and I hope to crash it since I don't think the position has been assigned yet.

I hope they want me!! :)

Sunday Screening and Contemplations

2012-05-06T20:40:00.001-05:00

In the midst of the extremely busy month I took a few hours today and took my girls to the mall. Big mistake since I WAS trying to save some money...I just can't help myself when it comes to getting things for them.

I also got a very very brief stroll through the Barnes & Nobel store and realized how much I would love to completely immerse myself in the book world. I wanted to read everything I saw! All of them on the best-seller shelf, from the new releases display, from the 3 for 19.00 or what ever it was, from the inspirational endcap. And I got a bit sad that I can only read so fast. And that I didn't have time to properly narrow down my choices and guiltily left without anything. Except its partially ok because I have a trip planned to an indie soon.

Which also got me thinking about how far I have to go for books. Which again made me sad.

So when I got home i decided to wallow for a bit longer and watch my netflix movie. It's not a new release, actually it's almost a year old, but I hadn't seen it yet. The movie was Super 8.

And I loved it!!! It was so much 'Friday Night Creature Feature' FUN!!!! If you haven't seen here's the imdb synopsis:
In the summer of 1979, a group of friends in a small Ohio town witness a catastrophic train crash while making a super 8 movie and soon suspect that it was not an accident. Shortly after, unusual disappearances and inexplicable events begin to take place in town, and the local Deputy tries to uncover the truth - something more terrifying than any of them could have imagined.

It was eerie and mysterious and creepy and jump-out-and-go-boo scary, the kids were amazing and the grown-ups were perfectly adultly oblivious but stepped up to the plate like adults should.

The time frame of the suburban 70's was so perfect for me because that's when I was watching movies like this. Or sort of like this, if Godzilla vs Mothra is sort of like this. And I was totally happy!! But it was done by Spielberg and well, that means it had to have some greatness to it!

As I was watching my mind kept sneaking off to a little world called The Billionaires Bookshop. Its a little place where I pretend I have so much money that Profit and Loss statements hardly matter and I can focus on just making a place in my little town where bookish folk can come together. I keep coming up with fun ideas...like a monster movie night. And then a brainstorming session on what would be a great read to continue the theme... I'd start it off with...
Under the Dome.. and let the ideas go from there. (which by the way, have Spielberg and King ever teamed up? Pardon me while I run over to google for a moment .... according to the illustrious information on the interwebs.. survey says.... Not Yet...but guess what... they are working together on ....(dramatic music: buhm buhm buhm) Under the Dome.)

Which was just a little trippy! Anyway....

And so on....wouldn't it be great to have a place like that here in town? Wouldn't it? 35 miles or so to the closest bookstore and none of them have a full fledged book culture. And I wouldn't get to enjoy much of it anyway because, well I'm 35 FRICKEN miles away.

I wonder if I should maybe take a job down at B&N to see what this book biz is all about. hmmmm? Maybe prepare myself with a little on-the-job training? Because if the Billionaires Bookshop ever actually came into being it would be suuuuuch a cool place I just KNOW it! :)

Mini-review: Mockingjay - Suzanne Collins

2012-05-05T14:32:00.003-05:00

I call this a mini review because this series has been so reviewed of late that there is probably not much I can add to the discussion at this point.

If you love the series you love it, if you're luke-warm on it there probably wont be anything that will increase your opinion.

So I've nothing left but to give my opinion on not only the third book, but the series.

My Rating: 3.5/5

Of course this book is on the waiting list still at the local library but I was anxious to finish the series so I opted for the audio book, which had no wait at all.

For me this was a big mistake. The narrator, Carolyn McCormick, didn't seem to have the same opinion of Katniss, et al. She leaned more to the 'young' in Young Adult than I had in my mind. So I was about 2/3 done when my name came up on the waiting list and I was super glad to swap them out and get Katniss back in my head where she took on more of her BA self I'd attributed to her.

Which brings me to my second opinion of this particular book in the series. While the premise of the Hunger Games was hard enough for the mother of daughters to take, the ending (minor spoiler alert!)

weather due to politics, mistake or deliberate act of war was doubly hard to take. That jolt aside, I think I felt the rest was a bit, actually, anti-climatic. Which definitely surprised me.

As for the series? I'm thinking one tightly written book may have actually done it, but on the cynical side would never have generated as much revenue (by, oh say, 1/3?).

All my moaning and complaining aside, do you know what? I actually really liked this series!! I know! By all rights I should say, oh no I didn't care for that. But it was fun! It was haunted house type of fun, you know it's not great and you know where all the tricks are, but you go anyway and scream and laugh and have a good time.

And you know what else? Sometimes there's absolutely nothing wrong with that! ;)

Laura

eReader envy?

2012-04-30T12:20:00.001-05:00

So I may be coming to this discussion a little late, but for those of you out there who have been lurking as well, jump right on in with me.

I want an eReader.

Why? I have no EARTHLY idea!! I tend to buy second hand books or from Idies as often as I can get near them, so having an eReader and tying myself to the big boys of Amazon and Barnes & Noble seems a bit anti-indie to me.

Yet I want an eReader

Which is SILLY!! Because..... I recently downloaded the Kindle Reader App for my laptop and now can read any ebook in the world (basically) on my nice Mac screen. And not only that, I can down load a book and store it on my Amazon Cloud (my free Amazon Cloud) and pick up where I left off no matter where I am. My computer at work has the reader app, my laptop has the reader app. The computer at my dad's house has the reader app. My library goes with me everywhere. And to keep things fair and balanced, Nook has the same app. And with my app I can check out eBooks from the library too, so I"m not 100% saddled to lining the pockets (directly) at the giants of the digital media world.

Yet I want an eReader

So what's wrong with me? I mean technically I HAVE an eReader!

Am I just so commercialized that I'm addicted to the getting? To the having and holding? Am I suffering from eReader-Envy? Am I addicted to the receipt collection that's taking over my desk and the darkest recesses of my purse? It's more than just that kindles and Nooks are easier to hold. I have my laptop with me most of the time anyway. So it has to be a gadget-mania symptom of some kind.

Something like that least. The only legitimate rationalization I can come up with is I want to know how to use it (and even some of the apps that come with it) so I don't fall behind the learning curve. I do fear that. Especially <whisper> at my age </whisper>

One of these days I'm sure I'll cave. Until then I do enjoy the benefits these apps are allowing me.

What about you? Did you pick a reader? Did it take like forever for you to figure out which one you wanted? Did you try the PC/MAC apps at all?

It's a lot to consider on a Monday! Must be the weather.

Laura

Expensive reading!!

2012-04-25T12:23:00.002-05:00

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/reading-royals-fan-displays-just-one-way-cope-223407810.html

I understand the seat our biblio-dedicated fan is reading in goes for upwards of $240 bucks! Maybe we'd have to know his family to know weather or not this was a bargin!

ANNNNND
Afterall....

It was WORLD BOOK NIGHT!! :)

I say Atta Boy!

REVIEW: Empire of the Summer Moon (etc)

2012-04-24T09:07:00.004-05:00

Title: Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History

Author: S.C Gwynne

Pages: 319

Why I Read This Book: Recommended to me by our company owner who shares a love of reading.

Rating: 3/5

Synopsis From Goodreads:

In the tradition of Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, a stunningly vivid historical account of the forty-year battle between Comanche Indians and white settlers for control of the American West, centering on Quanah, the greatest Comanche chief of them all.

S. C. Gwynne’s Empire of the Summer Moon spans two astonishing stories. The first traces the rise and fall of the Comanches, the most powerful Indian tribe in American history. The second entails one of the most remarkable narratives ever to come out of the Old West: the epic saga of the pioneer woman Cynthia Ann Parker and her mixed-blood son Quanah, who became the last and greatest chief of the Comanches.

My Review/Opinion:

My initial reaction to the book in general is that is was:
1) This book was 100% completely mis-named!! Quanah's name shouldn't have been in the title at all since it wasn't until the last 1/8th of the book that his story, or it's bearing on the then defunct Indian Nation, came into play. And frankly I felt Quanah was the Native version of Uncle Tom. I'd have rather seen it called Lords of the Plains (which Gwynne referred to the Comanches as in the book and the name seemed very appropriate)

2) This was a heavily researched, dare I say Overly Detailed response to the extreme romanticism that Native Americans of the 1700 and 1800's are seen with by your average, misinformed Euro-American.

They were not always noble, or spiritual. Sometimes they were brutal. Heinously so. And NOT always 'just in response to the intrusion of the arrogant white man'.

But the battle details, (the many, many battle details), and the atrocity details, (the many, many, many atrocity details) were a bit taxing to read.

While some of the book attempted to intersperse prose it mainly seemed forced and for the majority of the book the narrative read more text-bookish. Which is fine and interesting, just not what I was expecting based on other reviews I'd read that touted the writing. (personally one of my pet peeves is passive voice. 'Joe would go on to become the greatest sailor ever', instead of active 'Joe became the greatest sailor'. It's a style thing I suppose, but it drives me crazy and Gwynne used it allllll the time!).

I'm actually am so glad I read this book! The history was amazing and the inevitability of the abrupt changes that came to the Plains Indians is so tragic I am at a loss on how things could have turned out otherwise, with the exception of the white man not breaking every treaty made or Comanches not attacking every wagon that passed through the plains.

I've seen reviews that said this book was rife with bigotry and stereotyping. While I did see a bit of that I think it was meant to be more reflective of the attitudes of the American pioneers of the day than what Gwynne actually thinks of them. He does not mask the fact that there was brutality from both sides of these Cowboy and Indian wars.

There is lots to learn about how our country came to be. If Gwynne's research is a fair representation of what really happened, and from the bibliography and citations if it's not fair it certainly is prolific!

If you can stomach the details and go into this book with open historical mind, this book will remind you of why it was called The Wild West.

World Book Night 2012

2012-04-23T21:13:00.001-05:00

I wish I wasn't broke this week. If I had some disposable income (really, Prom was last weekend and I have TWO teenage daughters) I would have loved to have gone and gotten copies of my favorite books, my favorite kids books especially and donated them to the local 'kid warehouse' aka daycare facility.
Books like,

I love the cute and cuddly kitties on this book!!

There may not be many of you out there that remember this one. It was so special to me not only because it practically epitomized my midwest and trips to grama's farm (literally) but the farm even had an old blue truck with those wooden side thingies. Ah Nostalgia :)

ok and how about ANYTHING Beatrix Potter

Soooo beautiful and the prose is unmatched!!

And my eternal favorite which not only goes with World Book Night but also yesterday's Earth Day celbration:

I could give away a zillion of these books!! So wonderful!!

So, now to continue my enjoyment of this awesome bookish night, I 'm going to go finish my book :)

Dewey's Read-a-thon cheerleader

2012-04-21T13:10:00.000-05:00

Go Readers! It your birfday! We gonna read like! It your birfday! (ok maybe not all of you can hear the song I'm parody-ing in your head, but its funny as heck in mine)

It Read-a-thon day!!

One of these times I may actually even be able to join in!

But not today. Because it's also

Junior Senior Prom day here in our town and, well, I have TWO teenage daughters. I do have some lulls in the ~~drama~~ schedule for getting ready and pictures so I'm going to try to cheer some folks on!! Maybe do a mini-challenge with you!

I'm reading a book right now I'm becoming tired of so I'd sure like to be able to just 'nose to the grindstone' through it with you all today!! I'll see how far I get :)

For instance over at Book Apetit! The mini challenge this hour is as follows:

Take one of the books you are reading today. Now lets pretend that you are going to have a book discussion with friends regarding that book. They are all coming over to your house and you are providing food and beverage to go with said book.

Title and author of the book

2. The menu: the food, the beverage (if you want you can go as far plan background music, decor, whatever. )

I'm reading Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches (etc) by S.C. Gwynne

I'd be serving Buffalo Burgers, Cowboy Beans, Indian Bread and Sasparilla! :)

So yeah, have fun guys! I'll try to post again later but hey this really has been fun!!

Pulitzer Revisited

2012-04-19T10:02:00.002-05:00

So in a time when the book industry could sure use a shot in the arm, the Pulitzer people have gone and shot it in the foot....basically.

So they didn't pick a winner for fiction. We all know to the general population this looks like there was no winner because there were no good books. Despite the fact that it's more the opposite, there were good books that were so good they couldn't come to a majority on which was better because they were, apparently, soooo good. (in a nutshell)

I was sad anyway. For one it's been a goal of mine to read all the Pulitzer winners. (not that I'm getting very far on that...but that's another post.)

For another I like the literary buzz it creates. The discussions it instigates and my TBR list usually grows... again... by more than just the winner.

But then again, this 'no winner' business is certainly creating A LOT of buzz! And discussion. So mission accomplished??

Now I really want to read all of the nominees in order to see what the heck the problem was!
And the nominees are:

Now comes the part where...using the Oscars as an example, the glamorous, famous, presenters take the unopened envelope and just... leave.

But while I was poking around over at the Pulitzer Prize site ( http://www.pulitzer.org/awards/2012 )... I did find a few potential gems just sitting there, looking quite eclipsed.

Like this winning biography:

The full scope of George Kennan's long life and vast influence is revealed by one of today's most important Cold War scholars. Yale historian Gaddis began this magisterial history almost 30 years ago; the result is a remarkably revealing view of how this greatest of Cold War strategists came to doubt his strategy and always doubted himself. ~ synopsis from goodreads.

oooo Sounds intriguing!!

And when was the last time I voluntarily read poetry?? (shame on me, way too long ago) Try this winner:

New poetry by the award-winning poet Tracy K. Smith, whose “lyric brilliance and political impulses never falter” (Publishers Weekly, starred review)

You lie there kicking like a baby, waiting for God himself
To lift you past the rungs of your crib. What
Would your life say if it could talk?

And this is totally on my TBR list the winner for General Non-fiction:

One of the world's most celebrated scholars, Stephen Greenblatt has crafted both an innovative work of history and a thrilling story of discovery, in which one manuscript, plucked from a thousand years of neglect, changed the course of human thought and made possible the world as we know it. ~ goodreads.

Uh huh! Sound GREAT!!! I can't wait to get to it!

So OK Pulitzer Fiction people, you may have stubbed the proverbial toe of a part of this industry, but the whole is healthy and WILL make up for it. It may limp, but it will keep going!

Just, hey, please think this through for next year before the art you obviously truly love needs to limp away again.

Amazon's scoulding!

2012-04-18T07:10:00.005-05:00

I admit it. I have on occasion bought <whisper> books from Amazon </whisper>. But let me explain!! I had a gift card! And anyway the closest physical bookstore is 40 miles away!! (seriously!) Except the Walmart partial book isle but that's a 'devil you know vs devil you don't' scenario anyway...

I state emphatically I'd rather buy every printed piece from amazing, homey, comforting, caring indie bookstores.... And my case for WHY I'd prefer that just increased exponentially with the Yahoo Fortune article on some prettttty shady practices being seen over on the big ole Amazon website.

There are a number of books on Amazon with similar titles to much more popular ones. Fifty Shades of Grey, the steamy romance novel that has created buzz around the world, is the No. 1 selling book on Amazon. Also available on Amazon: Thirty-Five Shades of Grey. Both books are written by authors with two first initials – E. L. James and J. D. Lyte – and both are the first in a trilogy about a young girl who falls for an older, successful man with a taste for domineering sex. The publisher of the bestseller Fifty says the book is "a tale that will obsess you, possess you, and stay with you forever." The author and publisher of Thirty-Five, which came out in early April, apparently believe that description fits their book as well, word-for-word. Also selling on Amazon is I am the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and Twilight New Moon. Neither is the book you are likely looking for.

Here's the link to the article: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/amazon-s-knock-off-problem--35-shades-of-grey--anyone--.html

So at first I'm reading along and yeah, it sucks that there are those out there that would create such works obviously specifically intent on customer deception. 35 shades of gray vs 50 shades of gray. It's a busy mother's worst nightmare!! In the midst of meal planning, kiddo tending, volunteer work, house keeping you glance down and viola HEY there's that book! click.

Only to find out...that's not that book, this is a knockoff!

At first I blamed unscrupulous, un-original, un-inspired, and un-talented authors....untillllll I read this little tidbit in the Yahoo Finance Article

It's perhaps more shocking that Amazon (AMZN) not only sells the books, it's also helping their authors create them. All of the apparent copycat books that Fortune found on Amazon were made through CreateSpace, which is a division of Amazon. Authors can use CreateSpace's system to design and self-publish their own books. The books then go on sale on Amazon and other sites. Amazon splits the proceeds with authors. It's a different relationship than most publishers have with their authors, but there is no way for consumers to know that. On Amazon and other sites, CreateSpace is listed as the publisher of the books.

AMAZON!! SHAME ON YOU!!

For those of us that have snuck-a-buy from the internet giant from time to time there is hope for us. I know I will be atoning for my indiscretion by visiting my favorite indie stores' ..... online presence!!

(www.prairielights.com in case YOU would like to step into the online indie scene too. And noooo I'm not affiliated with this shop in any way shape or form. I just like them!)

All in all, after reading Stehpen Gandel's article, I feel rather like the bully got sent to the corner in front of the whole class!! And wasn't that an awesome feeling??!!?? >:)

Top One Tuesday 4 16 12

2012-04-17T16:15:00.001-05:00

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish and it's a meme of lists.

This week's list is the Top Ten Tips for New Bloggers:

Write something....anything... (this is a rule that I seem hell bent to break recently!) Half of why I read blogs is to get to know other bookish-folk. Everything you write helps me get to know you, even meme's!! So let it go, put it down, thwak those keys! I, for one, wanna hear from ya.

K~ since I'm not heeding my own tips at this point... I'll keep reading this week and see what tips I CAN pick up. :)

wha???

2012-04-12T15:43:00.003-05:00

Ok so it's been sooo long since I've been able to hold a coherent thought and make a blog post that this is the first time I've seen bloggers new format. I feel like I'm in some writing fog still!

Now I really feel like a heel!!

NOT THAT kind of heel... you know, just crappy!

Reviews I'm staring blankly at:

Under the Dome - while I liked it I didn't loooove it

Catching Fire - While I loved it, I should like it

and I'm not even sure what else.!!

And there are a whole slew of new books on my radar I haven't talked about
my obsession, thank to my youngest, with NCIS
some writing I'd like to do
And my new library that I'm putting together!

I haven't even gathered myself together to think through a meme! sheesh!

Deep healing breath, deep healing breath!

So. one topic at a time and maybe I can get back in the saddle here :)
I sure hope so, I miss you guys!!

I think I had a brain freeze!

2012-03-12T15:14:00.000-05:00

I must be having writers block. I've come here and stared at this blank box 10 times since my last post and just couldn't put together a coherent thought!

I still can't but just decided to go with that.

I've had less time for reading lately which is a bummer because I am enjoying Under the Dome. One quick, non-spoiler, to-date review. King really made these people black and white. The good are good and the bad are awful. He's been better in the past at shades of gray. Except for Randall Flagg.

I'm up 114 on my TBR list so I need to get my but in gear. I'm very close to breaking down and buying an e-reader (probably a kindle) so I can take it to the gym with me.

I also took a lovely stroll through our new Books A Million that filled the empty spot in the mall that Borders left. I enjoyed the selection and found it terribly similar to the other bigbox bookstores, my check out clerk however was a fellow bibliophile and the chit chat with her made it worthwhile and will actually bring me back. (That's Dubuque Iowa is anyone is curious)

Its all behind me

2012-02-17T11:56:00.000-06:00

I finished THAT book and am so glad to have it behind me. I prefer to not even revisit it and simply look ahead to the relaxing, entertaining, engaging, indulgence of a Stephen King read. It's my goal reward to for not giving up on THAT book.

Another thing that's behind me is my daughter's childhood!! She turned 18 today. I don't think there is one thing about her childhood that went as I would have ideally liked it. Poor to start out, divorce under dangerous circumstance, a disappearing father, then cancer? I think this kid has paid her dues Mr. Karma... pre-paid even.

I'd like to see the rest of her life go far far better. Actually I pray for that every day for her and her sister.

nearly done with a book I don't care for

2012-02-13T13:07:00.004-06:00

As I continue to sludge through this chunkster, Pillars of the Earth... I thought about reason number 2 why I would not like a book. Good writing, Awful subject.

For me I think The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo fit into this bracket. He sure had it right with the original Swedish title of Men Who Hate Women!! But it is not alone. Pillars certainly falls into the unnecessary perversion niche. And it TOTALLY annoys me. But at least Larsson could write! At least I enjoyed the English version, I assume it was as well done in it's native tongue. I am not really a fan a violence for entertainment.

Please be aware that it is the 'for entertainment' judgment that makes the difference. There are difficult books out there that are also important pieces, books like Speak and The Book Thief, or A Boy Called It (although I couldn't read that one either but not because I thought it was a 'bad' book) And I'm totally turned off by man's inhumanity to man. give me aliens, ghosts, ghouls, yes even the occasional vampire before lengthy titillation filled descriptions of sexual brutality - weather it has a resolution in the end or not!

I'm simply tired of it. And I think it's usually a hack way to sell books. Everyone wants the next most shocking. Not me. I believe what I surround myself with and dedicate my time to influences who I am and I simply do not want to get that jaded and desensitized to the world and how we behave in it. I want to look for more. Other books that fit in there are Stephanie Meyer books, not just Twilight but also The Host where the female protag stoically endured and justified being hit. (not cool Steph, not cool.) and even Gerald's Game by my favorite author-dude EVER hit this note sour.

That being said, there is such a thing as the overly sweet, dripping with oblivious dialog and un-engaged characters...but perhaps that will be for another post.

That and the prevalence of the mediocre.

But then... there's always the guilty pleasure. A book I shouldn't like based on these criteria....but I can't help it, I do! Maybe in a couple weeks I'll get to that post. (i'm looking forward to writing it big time!)

sludgin through a chunkster

2012-02-01T21:23:00.002-06:00

So I'm less than halfway through my second book of the year and I"m finding I don't like it much. Which makes me think on what makes a book good or bad for me...I like thinking on this as it takes my mind off what I'm currently reading.

There are a couple of things I've recently identified as the kiss of death for a piece....

Number one on the list:
Really really bad writing. A good book with the sentence structure of a 5th grader. For instance:
"She looked much older, she was much older, of course." really? really? It's like the author realized by saying 'she looked much older' he had written a totally inane sentence since he had just told us it had been years since they saw each other. Instead of taking that awful conglomeration out or re-phrasing, he just rambled on and told us of course she looked much older. (and used it as an awful excuse to recite their ages which was even worse but I wont get in to it).

And my next favorite annoyance is:
awful vocabulary, as in:
"what are you sorry for, you turd?"
This coming from a book set in the 12th century. I'm not sure this would pass. Perhaps, but it still sounds like a 5th grade bully.

Ah and then there's trite writing. ie: Breaking the literary rule of show don't tell.
"Tom enjoyed building the wall." How do we know? Because you TOLD us!

Worse still simply trite:
"He went off hot and bothered." does anyone really say that? OK does anyone really say that in seriousness and not teasing someone.

So yes, a good premise can be DESTROYED by lame writing. And that's the world I'm stuck in at the moment. So quit you say? I certainly can not at this point. It would hurt my feelings too much to have to say, 'No I gave up on that book'. Because no matter my reasoning or logic behind leaving it behind, someone would always think I was either not smart enough to follow it or intimidated by it's 900 page length. And I'd rather finish it and intelligently discuss my distaste than have to admit quitting.

But that's just me and I certainly can not wait to get to my next read...although I have yet to choose it.

More on what lands a book on my anti-literature shelf in my next post. Like decent writing and awful topics.

Who says you can only garage sale in summer!

2012-01-18T15:21:00.000-06:00

So Facebook has again become a wonderous place. We have a group here called Jackson County Online Garage Sale and I'm trying not to spend just about all my time there! Usually if I post something, priced fairly, I can move it in just a couple of hours....

Which isn't the problem....

The trouble is the buying! I've gotten quite a few things, today I got a dust mop and a pair of Avia running shoes for $5.00!

And yesterday I went and for a dollar each (I usually hold out for cheaper but these were on my tbr list) got these. She had a WHOLE box full and told me to take what I wanted, but I couldn't do that. I knew she could move those books, they were in perfect condition! I would have bought the whole box but I only had $2.00 on me!!

Antici........Pation!

2012-01-12T11:49:00.001-06:00

My youngest daughter is the biggest John Green fan ever! And Hank for that matter. She's a dyed in the wool Nerdfighter and dang proud of it. She works hard to reduce world suck and trys to always remember to be awesome.

So when I heard The Fault In Our Stars was available for pre-order, I jumped on that.

We were even more thrilled when it was revealed that all pre-orders would be signed!! And then different things started happening with the signing, the Yetti contributed some, so did Hank and it's all a crap shoot as to who gets which signed page!!

And then it turned out this book would be about cancer...which my oldest daughter is in remission from and the curiosity built.

So we waited...and waited...and waited.

Now today it's here. Amazon's smiling cardboard was placed on my desk about an hour ago. And the waiting is over.

Kindof.

Since this is my daughters book and she's the reason we love these guys with all our heart, I better let her open it. right? or....

Nah! I'll be good.

I'm so glad it snowed and there's an early out!!

DFTBA Y'ALL!!

Laura