Armchair BEA: If I was in New York today

As part of Armchair BEA I thought it would be a fun idea to do posts about what authors and sessions I would be trying  to attend if I really was in New York, as well as a little bit of cyber tourism about the city as well because I haven't been there yet, but would like to one day.

It appears that Tuesday is more an industry type day at BEA so that means there was really only one session that caught my eye and that is BEA Buzz (4.30pm), mainly because I love the idea of knowing what the next big books are going to be. The description of the session is below:

BEA’s original and ultimate taste making event. Insightful and passionate, this intimate editorial exchange will provide you with an editor’s perspective on six of the Fall’s biggest potential breakout releases.

Program Chair: John Freeman, American Editor, Granta

Editors: Chuck Adams, Executive Editor, Algonquin with Jonathan Evison’s WEST OF HERE; Susanna Porter, Executive Editor, Ballantine with Anne Fortier’s JULIET: A Novel; Mitzi Angel, Publisher, FSG with Ben Goldacre’s BAD SCIENCE; Judy Clain, Executive Editor, Little, Brown & Co. with Emma Donoghue’s ROOM; Nan Graham, Editor-in-Chief, Scribner with Siddhartha Mukherjee’s THE EMPEROR OF ALL MALADIES: A BIOGRAPHY OF CANCER; Cary Goldstein, Assoc. Publisher, Twelve with Benjamin Hale’s THE EVOLUTION OF BRUNO LITTLEMORE

On the plane trip over I would have tried to reread Beverly Swerling's books, City of Dreams and City of Glory so that I could refresh my memories about the founding of New York. I haven't yet read the fourth book written by her about New York, so I would try to read City of God as well! It's a very long flight from here to there!

Assuming that it was a lovely day I would get an early start and take the Statue of Liberty ferry so that I could see all round that very famous icon of New York. I would also try to spend time at the Immigration Museum on Ellis Island. This is something I have wanted to do since reading The Bridge to the Holy Cross by Paullina Simons (published in other countries under the title Tatiana and Alexander) because one of the main characters had spent some time there on their arrival in America.

Of course, I won't have the connection to the place that lots of Americans would have, but I think it would still be fascinating.

And at night, maybe a trip to the Empire State Building just before closing to see if I can find my true love who will know that I am going to be there (a la Sleepless in Seattle and An Affair to Remember). Hopefully the fact that it isn't Valentine's Day won't count against me). One bad thing though is that the last elevator goes up at 1.15am which is late if I am going to get another early start to get to BEA tomorrow!

A girl can dream can't she?

Just for fun, here's a scene from the movie Hitch, where Hitch takes Eva Mendez's character to Ellis Island on their first date .

Armchair BEA - Author signings

As part of Armchair BEA, there are a number of suggested topics for blogging about, one of which is "Ever been to an author signing? Which was your favorite? Share a picture or two, even the picture of your signed book will do. If you haven't ever been to one, tell us all about your dream signing!".

This sounds like the perfect opportunity to revisit Paullina Simon's visit to Melbourne 2 and a half years ago. She visited again last year but I wasn't able to attend. I definitely will be trying to again the next time she comes to Australia.

You haven't heard of Paullina Simons? She has written a couple of my favourite books mainly The Bronze Horseman trilogy. She regularly tops the charts here in Australia and she often visits Australia to sold out events. It is a mystery to me why she isn't more well known in America in particular. For another fan's take on The Bronze Horseman trilogy, check out this recent post by Katiebabs from Babbling About Books.

This is an edited version of a post that first appeared on my blog in November 2007. I have also included a photo of Paullina and me that I didn't post the first time around which was taken at the dinner I mention below. I don't particularly like looking at photos of myself but some times there has to be exceptions I guess. Can't believe how red my face is though. I hadn't had that much to drink!

That reminds me. I really need to send the signed copy I got done for me at last year's visit to its planned recipient.

*************

First, I will start with how gracious Paullina was when we met her. This below is a picture of all the books that Paullina signed for me. Obviously they are not all mine, but I was getting books signed for people who live in a few different countries where her books are not quite so available!



On Friday I took a day off work to go and see Paullina. I've never ever been to a book signing before, so I wasn't really all that sure what to expect. She was signing in the city at 12.30pm, so I wandered into the city carrying a pile of books and got to the venue about 12.15. I got in queue, and was only about 10 people from the front, but then I figured that seeing as I wasn't in very much of a hurry that I would wait for some friends from the forum. There was much texting of "how far away are you" but eventually there were three of us there so we took our place in line and waited. It was lucky to have others there that you knew because that definitely made the wait feel shorter.

As the line moved more towards the front it was obvious that she was taking time to chat with everyone and not just sign and move on! Now, I am sure that I have mentioned that I mod on her forum, and so spend quite a lot of time there. Mary (I have changed the names to protect the innocent!) was before me, and as the assistant said to are you Mary...THE Mary who posts on the forum?". And then she looked at me and said "And are you Marg?" which really surprised me, but she must have seen photos of us from the get togethers we have had in the past. When she got to me I explained that only one of the books that I had today was for me, but all the others were from other people. When I mentioned who the books that she was signing were for she knew exactly who I meant, and when I gave The Summer Garden to her to sign for one girl, Paullina knew that TSG was her favourite without me saying anything! She was extremely gracious, and said to me that I must be very busy, because she knew that I posted both on the official forum, and at Voy, and also blogged! She was so warm and gracious, and made us feel as though she was as pleased to see us as we were to see her. Then Sue behind me stepped up and Paullina not only took the time to find out who the she was and chat to her, but also to talk to her four year old daughter who had been waiting in line too. After that we said that we were all going to the dinner on Saturday night and we would see her there, and that was it. In the mean time someone else from the forum had turned up, so we waited for her to get through the queue and then went off and had some lunch together.

Then on Saturday night, we all gathered again for a dinner. Paullina took the time to come to our table a couple of times, and as soon as she came to the table she knew exactly who she had met previuosly and who she had not, which is pretty amazing when you consider how many people she must have met during the six events she had in Melbourne alone. I sat next to the mother of one of the girls from the forum, and we swapped book recommendations and reading stories, and generally had a really lovely time! It was also really good to catch up again with people who have become friends through the time we have spent together online, and also at the various meet ups we have had over the last couple of years!

The previous day when I got home I had gone on the forum and posted something along the lines of it's obvious that Paullina lurks a bit because she knew so much about us, and so I was really quite surprised when at the dinner she said "Now Marg, there is no reason for you to worry about me lurking!" which was a little embarrassing, but in the end it's not that I am worried, it was more that I was so surprised and thrilled!

For dinner we had chicken breast stuffed with cheese and pine nuts and something else, on a bed of tomato sauce and served with roasted potatoes, beans, peas and salad, and then sticky date pudding and ice cream for dessert. After dinner, Paullina got up and gave a 30 -40 minute presentation which was very entertaining, and featured some pictures of the places that Paullina went to as she went when she went on a research road trip as part of the writing process for Road to Paradise. She was funny and warm, and had the crowd in the palm of her hands. She certainly made me want to reread RTP now that I had very clear pictures of the journey that she took. A few questions from the audience and then it was time for more book signing.

We waited until the very end so that we could have a little more time, take some individual and group photos and have a chat, and it was really lovely. There will be some photos eventually, but of course, my camera batteries died even though I had recharged them the day before and hadn't used my camera at all! Always the way! Not that anyone wants to see photos of me anyway. I most certainly don't!

All in all, the last couple of days have been really great. Now that she has moved onto the next section of her tour I hope that the other fans really get to enjoy meeting her as well.

Alphabet in Historical Fiction: Shanghai Girls by Lisa See

Today I am posting my contribution to the letter L in the Alphabet in Historical Fiction which is hosted by Historical Tapestry, and also is one of my reviews for the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge. It also happens that Kelly from The Written World and I both had this book coming up to read soon, so it seemed like the perfect opportunity to do another joint review. Kelly has the first half of the review over at her blog, and the second half is on mine. Kelly's thoughts are in black, and mine are in purple.

First, here's the synopsis from the book:

In 1937, Shanghai is a city of great wealth and glamour, the home of millionaires and beggars, gangsters and gamblers, patriots and revolutionaries, artists and warlords. Thanks to the financial security and material comforts provided by their father’s prosperous rickshaw business, twenty-one-year-old Pearl Chin and her younger sister, May, are having the time of their lives. Though both sisters wave off authority and tradition, they couldn’t be more different: Pearl is a Dragon sign, strong and stubborn, while May is a true Sheep, adorable and placid. Both are beautiful, modern, and carefree . . . until the day their father tells them that he has gambled away their wealth and that in order to repay his debts he must sell the girls as wives to suitors who have traveled from California to find Chinese brides.

Pearl and May set out on the journey of a lifetime, one that will take them through the Chinese countryside, in and out of the clutch of brutal soldiers, and across the Pacific to the shores of America. In Los Angeles they begin a fresh chapter, trying to find love with the strangers they have married, brushing against the seduction of Hollywood, and striving to embrace American life. They face terrible sacrifices, make impossible choices, and confront a devastating, life-changing secret, but through it all the two heroines of this astounding new novel hold fast to who they are–Shanghai girls.

**********

I think that there are probably three factors that make reading the immigrant experience interesting for me. The first is what makes a person want to leave their home? Generally it is hardship, war, famine, poverty, bad family situation etc. I think that things usually have to be pretty bad for someone want to leave their homeland, family to start afresh. Yes, in this day and age their are reasons like a new job, but I am talking about the people who really struggle to get to a new life. The second factor is the idea of triumphing over adversity, becoming something different or more than they were previously and the struggle to get to that point. The third factor for me, is that whether we are talking about a Chinese person immigrating to America in the 1930s, people arriving in Canada or Australia at any time, there are direct parallels with people today. There are still people who are still trying to get to a better place for themselves and their children. Some times this may be through illegal means which is something that many countries around the world are dealing with today (including Australia and America), and other times legally, but at the heart of these people's quest is the desire to give the best life they can for their families, some thing I am sure that all of us can relate to.

I have to ask you about the formatting in your copy. I read the Randhom House large print version, and it had very strange bolding all the through it. A lot of the time, the bolding was of Chinese terms, and other times I think it was for emphasis, but there were times when it looked like just random words were highlighted. I found it very strange and a little distracting at times. Did you have this in your copy?

As to the formatting, mine was just regular formatting. That's weird that they chose to bold words in the large print edition. Having never actually read a large-print version of a book I am not sure if that is maybe a regular thing?

I definitely don't think it is a regular thing. I read a number of large print books mainly because it is the luck of the draw when you request a book from the library in terms of which edition you receive.

That makes no sense, then!

What were your overall impressions of Pearl and May?

I liked both of them, even allowing for the fact that they were very different types of people. I felt I could relate most to Pearl because she kind of buckled down to do what was expected of her once she was reunited with her husband and his new family even though it meant that she didn't get to live her dreams I feel that I can relate to that idea of doing what you have to do to get by. I found the idea of May fascinating, but the reality of Pearl more relatable. I did find the fact that May stayed married to Vernon a little out of character for everything else we found out about May though. I found the lengths that the two girls went to for each other were extreme, and I am grateful that I haven't had to be in anything like those situations with my own sister.

As for me, I really liked both of them. They were different people, though, so the relationship with each was different. Since Pearl told most of the story you got to know her better. She annoyed me at times. She had such potential in the beginning and then she got a bit dull for a while. I know that she had went through some terrible things, but it was so sad to watch her give-up. She became the person that she scorned when she was living in China. That's not to say that I didn't like her, but she lost a lot of herself for a while. Near the end of the book she started coming back into herself and I think she will be a very interesting character in the sequel. Pearl stayed pretty much the same. She turned out to be a bit more worldy than you originally would think, but she still wanted to be the same person that she was when things were good in China. I thought she was going to be really annoying because of her way of thinking, but she actually turned out to be more than I expected.

Much is made of the fact that Pearl was a Dragon and May a Sheep in the Chinese horoscope. Do you know what you are, and do you think that the attributes fit you?

I actually meant to look this up! I used to know what I was, but I am not even sure if what I am thinking is a sign! lol

I would like to talk a little about Joy. In some ways it seemed as though she was forced to grow up very early, what with going to be in the movies as a very little girl and then working in the family business at such a young age. Were you surprised by the way things turned out for her, particularly in relation to the ending? I was so glad when I found that there was going to be a sequel because otherwise I would definitely have been looking at the book and thinking you can't end a book there!

Yeah, we entirely overlooked Joy in this review, didn't we? I think she had to grow up faster than her mother and aunt, which is crazy when you think about the difference in experiences. She was exposed to a lot, though, and I think she will hopefully play a central role in the sequel so we can get to know her better.

************

 Thanks Kelly for another fun joint review.

Rating 4/5

TSS: Armchair BEA

On a semi regular basis there are events that are happening that I would love to attend one day, but the fact of the matter is, the US or the UK are a long way to go to go to an event like a Historical Novel Society conference or a Romance Readers of America conference, or as is the case this week, Book Expo America.

I was very excited to hear in the last couple of weeks that some enterprising bloggers who also cannot make it to BEA this year have come up with the idea of Armchair BEA for the rest of us to participate in this week. In addition to BEA, there is also the Book Blogger's Convention, and so this has been included as part of Armchair BEA as well.

Anyone can participate and there will be suggested blogging themes, giveaways, discussions and more.

Here is the proposed schedule:

• Tues. May 25th - BEA Related Posts
  
• Wed. May 26th - Blogger Interviews (Sign-ups already closed)
• Thurs. May 27th - BEA Related Posts & Giveaways on Participating Sites
• Friday May 28th - BBC Roundtables

There are suggestions for themes to post about at the website, and I am sure there will be more in due course.

I have already started working on my posts, and have had fun revisiting an author signing I have previously attended, and will have a challenge for all those people who are good at deciphering unintelligible hand writing later in the week, and on Wednesday I am planning to bring you an interview with a new to me blogger.

I do have a couple of other ideas of things to post for BEA, but we'll see how inspired I get as to whether I actually do post them or not!

So, while I can't make it to BEA or BBC, I will definitely have an Empire State of Mind this week

Weekend Cooking: Comfort Food by Gary Mehigan

Last Sunday night I was hanging out on Twitter and watching Masterchef (as you do) , and noticed a contest to win a signed cookbook by one of the co-hosts of Masterchef Australia, Gary Mehigan. Lucky for me, I was chosen as the winner, which I was very excited about. The signature says Love to Cook! Not necessarily true about me because I hate Monday to Friday cooking, but I do like finding a recipe, going and buying the ingredients and then eating it which is much more of a weekend type thing to do.

The book is called Comfort Food and in the introduction Gary talks about his early days of cooking, and the inspiration that he got from his grandfather.


I only got the book on Thursday and so I haven't had much of a chance to look through it, but I thought I would post some initial reactions. Understandably I guess, the author's idea of comfort food is much more cheffy than mine is! He didn't have any suggestions that included sitting on the couch eating chocolate. Easy (as long as there is already some in the cupboard), quick (how long does it take to unwrap?) and definitely comforting, although not necessarily good for you in copious quantities.

What I did like just looking at the recipes was that each one has an introduction telling why he chose that particular recipe, lots of lovely photographs, as well as the instructions and ingredients, but then there are are notes as well. For example, in the recipe for Pumpkin Soup, the instruction is to grate the pumpkin. Now as soon as I read that I was immediately dismissive! I mean, really... but then at the end of the recipe, there was a note saying

Even though it may take a little longer, grating the pumpkin is an important step because it helps to draw out its natural sweetness. Grated pumpkin also cooks more quickly, which helps to preserve the true pumpkin flavour.

Now when I cook pumpkin soup I tend to do it in the slow cooker so I am not necessarily worried about it cooking quickly, but rather than just being dismissive of something as being just a cheffy thing to do, I was glad to read the reason why he says that it is an important step. Whether I will listen or not is another thing entirely.  It probably is worth remembering for those days when I want to cook pumpkin soup and don't have a lot of time.

Pumpkin is one of the things that I am intending to post about in a future Weekend Cooking post, simply because it is a vegetable that seems to be used in very different ways all around the world. There will be at least one pumpkin soup recipe included when I do actually get around to writing that post.

Coincidentally, when I was searching for an image of the book cover, I did find this link to an interview with Gary which people in Australia should be able to listen to. Not sure about anyone else.

So these are my initial reactions. I may yet end up sharing a recipe or three from the book as I get around to trying a few of them.

What do you like to see in cookbooks? Handy tips? Photos? Personal anecdotes from the chef or author? Perhaps you prefer just the recipes without all the added extras?

Weekend Cooking is hosted by Beth Fish Reads and is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, fabulous quotations, photographs.

Brothers of Gwynedd Part 1 - Sunrise in the West

Over the next couple of months I am participating in the Sourcebooks Summer Reading Club, where the chosen read is Edith Pargeter's The Brothers of Gwynedd. When it was originally published back in the early mid 1970's, it was released as four separate books, with the first one being Sunrise in the West, which is the part that I am concentrating on today. This reissue is being released as one volume, and it is huge!

Have you ever read a book, or an author, that just spoiled you for any other authors that you read that dared to set their story in the same time and place? I have, and unfortunately for The Brothers of Gwynedd that story was Sharon Kay Penman's fantastic Welsh trilogy (Here Be Dragons, Falls the Shadow and The Reckoning). Admittedly the setting is not exactly the same. The first book in SKP's trilogy was Here Be Dragons, and focused on Llewellyn the Fawr, who is the grandfather of the Llewellyn who is the main character in this book, but some of the events that are covered in the first part of this novel, are covered in the later novels in the trilogy.

As soon as I started reading this book, I found myself trying to remember what had happened in SKP’s books, and my mind wandering off towards a reread of those books. As I think about it now, that leads me to wonder, what precisely was it that didn’t initially capture my imagination in this novel? In the first instance it is probably the density of the language, and a feeling of distance, of not getting to know the characters. Initially I was attributing this to an almost old-fashioned style of writing historical fiction, but I am currently reading a book that was published around the same time, and I am having to rethink that conclusion.

Don’t get me wrong. The language is beautiful. While I was reading this first part, I shared these two teasers as part of Teaser Tuesday, from pages 11 and 107 respectively:

By the upland road we went, turning our backs on that blessed sea that leads outward over the watery brightness to the beauteous isle of Enlli, where the saints are sleeping in bliss. We went towards the rib of Lleyn, that leads into Wales as an arm leads into the body: from rest into turmoil, from peace into conflict, from bliss into anguish.

And:

For these family relationships with their hates and loves were the trammel and bane of Wales as they were of the marches, and indeed, from all I could ever learn, of England and France and those troubled realms beyond the see no less. And the more the great laboured to make dynastic marriages, the more they tied their own hands, and put into other hands knives for their own backs. Their histories and ours was ever a chronicle of such expulsions and revenges, the tide of fortune flowing now this way, now that, and never safe or still.

There is definitely a lyricism to the words, but a whole book full of this kind of language is a bit time consuming to read. Normally I read somewhere between 60 and a 100 pages a day, so based on these averages I would have expected to get through the first section of this book, which is about 180 pages, in maybe 3 or 4 days tops. It took me more than 10. If I was a reader who gave up on books easily, there’s a fair chance that I would have put this down with the intention of never picking it up, but I am glad I persevered, because once I got more than half way through this first section, my enjoyment of it did increase.

So far I have talked about my reactions to the book, but not a lot about what it is actually about. Our narrator is Samson. He was born to his mother who was a lady in the Welsh court, but he does not know who his father is. As a young boy he played with Llewellyn whose father was the illegitimate oldest son of Llewellyn the Fawr. Normally illegitimacy does not preclude inheritance under Welsh law, but his father had decided to follow the English tradition of allowing only legitimate children to inherit, and therefore the younger son, David inherited the Welsh lands of his father. The scene is therefore set for dissension, constant battles between the supporters of both men, between those who want to follow and uphold the Welsh traditions and those who see the sense in trying to unite Wales under one leader.

In addition to being a playmate to Llewellyn (the younger), Samson’s mother was milkmaid to his brother David, and so Samson shares strong bonds with both the brothers. When still a young boy, he is sent off to begin a life of religious instruction, and this is what he expects his lot in life to be, until as a young man he is called back to Court, and finds himself working as clerk to the Welsh prince and one of his closest confidants.

One of the legacies of his father is ongoing issues between Llewellyn and his three brothers, agitated by their mother to a great extent. The three brothers, including the charismatic, changeable and vibrant David, have all pledged loyalty to the English king Henry, in the hope that their own claims will be upheld.

Llewellyn is sure of his right to rule Wales, but his greatest challenge is how to unite the whole country so that instead of fighting against each other, they can stand united against their greatest foe, England.

The difficulty of having Samson as the narrator, is that whilst he is sometimes part of the action, there are other times when he is merely retelling the facts for the reader. He is also somewhat under developed as a character personally. We find out what happened in his life, but I didn’t really feel as though we were allowed any intimate knowledge of him as a person until late in the book.

For all the denseness of the language, I will be continuing to read along, and I am confident that there will be a worthwhile result in the end. At this point, if I was to rate this book , I would probably give it a grading of 3.5/5

As part of this Summer Book Club, there is going to be a monthly chat about the book, each hosted at a different blog. The discussion of this first part of The Brothers of Gwynedd will be hosted by Amy at Passages to the Past on Monday night, May 24 at 7.00 EST (US time), and please check out what other people in the book club had to say about their experiences of reading this part of the book.

May 17 Reviews
The Burton Review	http://www.theburtonreview.com/
The Bibliophilic Book Blog	http://www.bibliophilicbookblog.com/
Rundpinne	http://www.rundpinne.com/
A Reader's Respite	http://readersrespite.blogspot.com/
History Undressed	http://www.historyundressed.blogspot.com/
Linda Banche Blog	http://lindabanche.blogspot.com/
A Hoyden's Look at Literature	http://caramellunacy.blogspot.com/
Renee's Reads	http://theroyalreviews.blogspot.com/
May 18 Reviews
Between the Pages	http://www.betweenthelinesandmore.blogspot.com/
The Broken Teepee	http://www.brokenteepee.blogspot.com/
Books and Coffee	http://bookswithcoffee.wordpress.com/
Book Girl of Mur-y-Castell	http://books-forlife.blogspot.com/
Tanzanite's Shelf and Stuff	http://shelfandstuff.blogspot.com/
Passages to the Past	http://www.passagestothepast.com/
The Book Faery	http://tbfreviews.net/
A Girl Walks Into a Bookstore	http://agirlwalksintoabookstore.blogspot.com/
Martha's Bookshelf	http://marthasbookshelf.blogspot.com/
May 19 Reviews
Beth Fish	http://bfishreads.blogspot.com/
Deb's Book Bag	http://debsbookbag.blogspot.com/
Book Tumbling	http://booktumbling.com/
A Work in Progress	http://danitorres.typepad.com/workinprogress/
Stiletto Storytime	http://www.stilettostorytime.wordpress.com/
Queen of Happy Endings	http://alainereading.blogspot.com/
May 20 Reviews
The Literate Housewife	http://literatehousewife.com/
Reading Adventures	http://readingadventures.blogspot.com/
Books Like Breathing	http://bibliophile23.wordpress.com/
Kailana's Written World	http://myreadingbooks.blogspot.com/
Confessions of a Muse in the Fog	http://muse-in-the-fog.blogspot.com/
Wendy's Minding Spot	http://mindingspot.blogspot.com/
Mrs. Q Book Addict	http://web.me.com/quirion
The Life and Lies of a Flying Inanimate Object	http://www.haleymathiot.blogspot.com/
Starting Fresh	http://startingfresh-gaby317.blogspot.com/
May 21 Reviews
Loving Heart Mommy	http://www.lovingheartmommy.com/
Peeking Between the Pages	http://peekingbetweenthepages.blogspot.com/
Celtic Lady's Ramblings	http://celticladysreviews.blogspot.com/
Bookfoolery	http://bookfoolery.blogspot.com/
One Literature Nut	http://mjmbecky.blogspot.com/
The Book Tree	http://thebooktree.blogspot.com/
My Reading Room	http://myreadingroom-crystal.blogspot.com/
May 23 Reviews
Carla Nayland's Blog	http://www.carlanayland.org/index.shtml

Library Loot: May 19 to 25

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Eva and myself that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries!

This is a no loot edition of Library Loot for me! There are a load of library books waiting for me to pick them up, but I haven't made it there yet, and to be honest I think it will be Saturday before I can do so. Expect a big Library Loot post next week!

In the mean time, if you have picked up any loot, then please share you link in Mr Linky so we can all come and see what you got this week!

Teaser Tuesday: The Help by Kathryn Stockett

This week my teaser comes from page 57 of The Help by Kathryn Stockett:

Mrs Charlotte Phelan's Guide to Husband-Hunting, Rule Number One: a pretty, petite girl should accentuate with makeup and good posture. A tall plain one, with a trust fund.

I was hoping for more rules so I could catch myself a husband, but no such luck!

Teaser Tuesday is host by Miz B at Should Be Reading. Head on over to find out all about it, and how to join in!

Anya Seton Season at Historical Tapestry

If you love Anya Seton's writing, or one particular book of hers, and would like to participate in the season by contributing a guest post, please let us know as we would be delighted to welcome you!

TSS: You haven't read that?

This morning I started reading The Help by Kathryn Stockett. I know that if I was to say I must be the last person in blog land to read this book, there will be 10 comments that say "oh, I haven't read that yet either". There are however times when it feels as though it must be true, and not just about The Help.

Some times one particular book seems to be popping up everywhere. Maybe part of the reason for that is that as a blogger I tend to gravitate towards the blogs of people who I know have a similar reading taste to me. Some times though, that hype is more manufactured that organic and there are times when it isn't easy to tell the difference.

There are times when seeing the same book over and over again makes me want to go out and get it, and read it straight away, but there are times when it has the opposite effect.Can a book possibly be that good? What happens if I am the only person who doesn't get what the attraction is? It's not the kind of thing that I normally read? And yet, if I hadn't stepped outside of my comfort zone, I would have missed out on some of my favourite reads ever. Books like The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruis Zafon, and just this year The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss (the windy theme of the examples given are purely coincidental!) are both books that I wouldn't have necessarily thought that I would love but I did.

The Help then made several Best of 2009 lists outside of the book blogosphere as well, which bought even more attention to it. At the end of the day, the only way to find out for sure is to actually sit down and read the book to make up your own mind, so I think that is what I am going to do this afternoon. Before I do that though, I thought I would ask a few questions:

Does lots of hype around a book make you want to read it, or is it more likely to turn you off a bit?

Have there been books that everyone else seems to love that make you go meh?

What's the last really hyped book that you read and loved, and wished you had of read earlier?

Are there any new books out at the moment that are getting plenty of hype that you think people should go out of their way to read?

And now I am off to read.... or maybe sleep. You never can tell what is going to happen once I lay down on that couch!

Weekend Cooking: The Food of Love by Anthony Capella

I knew exactly what I was going to do for Weekend Cooking this week. I had people coming for dinner so I was going to share the recipes that I was going to cook for them, but now they aren't coming. Admittedly they are two of my very favourite recipes ever and I have posted them on the blog before, but that doesn't mean that I couldn't share them again right? I am sure that I will cook those recipes at some point in the next couple of months, so instead of posting those recipes (again), I thought I would post a review of a fiction book with a very good foodie feel to it!

Laughter. Romance. Seduction

When in Rome, do as the Romans do...

Laura Patterson, a twenty-four-year-old student, is spending a year studying art history in Rome. She's decided that from now on she'll only go out with a man who can cook.

Tommaso Massi, handsome and silver tongued, tells Laura that he's a chef at one of Italy's best restaurants. In reality, he's just a humble waiter.

His best friend, Bruno, who really is a chef - a brilliant one - is called upon to help. But when he falls for Laura, the sparks begin to fly...

Laura Patterson is a student who is spending a year studying art history in Rome. I am not sure what the word is for someone who loves all thing Italian (the English equivalent is Anglophile).Unlike a lot of her fellow college students who seem to have created their own community and spend time hanging out together, Laura wants to get out and find real Italians, and is prepared to explore the back alleys of Rome to find whatever it is that she is looking for. She is however a little jaded by the typical Italian lotharios who approach her.

When she meets Tomasso, she is attracted to him as he is to her, but then again Tomasso has long had a taste for seducing foreigners. He does realise that there is one sure way to get what he wants with Laura, and that is through food. The only problem is he can't cook. He is however a waiter at one of the best restaurants in Rome, and his room mate Bruno is working towards being a chef. Bruno lives to cook, and pours all of his passion into his food, but is somewhat socially awkward, particularly around beautiful young Americans! So whilst Tomasso pretends to cook amazing food, Bruno pretends to be his waiter friend.

Is this set up sounding a little familiar? Yes, this is a twist on Cyrano de Bergerac, but this time the language of love is food, and let me tell you, I can understand why Laura fell for Tomasso when she thought he was the one doing all that cooking just for her.  Some of the food mentioned in this book sounded divine!

Of course, the path to true love is never smooth, and for Tomasso and Bruno things get complicated when they cook a meal for Laura's friend and her family. The father is a successful businessman and he is so impressed by the charming and handsome Tomasso who he believes is a fantastic cook, that he offers to set the young men up in business, but things don't exactly turn out as planned, and our three main characters need to face some difficult truths.

There's something really cool about a book where you get to read a good story, but it also has you salivating as you read! This is the second book by Anthony Capella that I have read, and he has managed to do that in both of them.  As I was reading this book, I was trying to think of any really good Italian restaurants nearby, so that I could go and eat really, really good Italian - freshly made pasta, with fresh herbs and quality ingredients, made with love! Spaghetti Bolognese made with the sauce in a jar that I usually have was just not going to cut it! Man, I am getting hungry again thinking about it.

Recently I saw the synopsis for Capella's next book, and I can not wait to read it! It involve ice cream, and the court of Charles II - sounds exactly like my kind of book!

On the cover of this book, it says "A Mouth Watering Romantic Comedy" and that is very much what you get. If you want a very enjoyable read which will make you salivate whilst reading it, give Anthony Capella a go! Maybe I will go out to an Italian restaurant for dinner tonight.

Rating 4.5/5