Mailbox Monday
Mailbox Monday was created by The Printed Page. It is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their home last week.
Mailbox Monday is currently on tour, hosted by a different blog each month. The July host is BookNAround.
Two books from HarperAudio for review:
The Orchardist
by Amanda Coplin
At the turn of the twentieth century, in a rural stretch of the Pacific Northwest, a reclusive orchardist, William Talmadge, tends to apples and apricots as if they were loved ones. A gentle man, he’s found solace in the sweetness of the fruit he grows and the quiet, beating heart of the land he cultivates. One day, two teenage girls appear and steal his fruit from the market; they later return to the outskirts of his orchard to see the man who gave them no chase. Feral, scared, and very pregnant, the girls take up on Talmadge’s land and indulge in his deep reservoir of compassion. Just as the girls begin to trust him, men arrive in the orchard with guns, and the shattering tragedy that follows will set Talmadge on an irrevocable course not only to save and protect but also to reconcile the ghosts of his own troubled past.
The Roots of the Olive Tree
by Courtney Miller Santo
Anna, the family matriarch, is 112 and determined to become the oldest person in the world. An indomitable force, strong in mind and firm in body, she rules Hill House, the family home she shares with her daughter Bets, granddaughter Callie, great-granddaughter Deb, and great-great-granddaughter Erin. Though they lead ordinary lives, there is an element of the extraordinary to these women: the eldest two are defying longevity norms. Their unusual lifespans have caught the attention of a geneticist who believes they hold the key to breakthroughs that will revolutionize the aging process for everyone.
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It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?
It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.
Share what you read last week and what you are currently reading.
I can’t believe summer is almost over but today is Labor Day here in the US, and that means it’s the first Monday of September and the unofficial end of summer.
Last week I finished two audiobooks: Shadow Show, a fantastic collection of short stories in celebration of Ray Bradbury and Bel Canto for the read-along at BookJourney. I was a little disappointed in Bel Canto but I’ll save that for my review which will be posted on September 13th.
I also finished Where'd You Go Bernadette by Maria Semple, and it was every bit as fun as I expected. I’ll have a review and a giveaway posted this week.
Reading/Listening This Week:
I’m starting the audiobook of The Little Stranger today for the RIP Readalong at The Estella Society.
In print I’ll be reading The Last Policeman and The Dog Stars.
What Are You Reading?
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© 2012 Under My Apple Tree. All rights reserved.
Buried in Tomatoes
My tomato plants enjoyed the unusually warm summer. As long as I watered them regularly they were very happy, and very productive. They are ripening earlier than usual and I have already made six quarts of puree.
My counter top is once again filled with tomatoes waiting for my attention. I choose the ripest ones to puree for later use in other recipes. Then I store them in glass jars which I freeze as I don’t trust my canning skills.
Easy Tomato Puree Recipe
- Blanch ripe tomatoes in boiling water until the skins split, about 3 or 4 minutes.
- Remove using a slotted spoon and let cool (or drop in ice water for a minute).
- Cut in half, peel off skin and remove core.
- Roughly chop and blend.
- In a large pot boil down to desired consistency.
The puree can be used immediately in sauce, canned or stored frozen.
The Macina-Legumi
To make the puree I have a very cool hand-operated food mill called the Macina-Legumi that does a wonderful job. That’s a photo of it on the left. It’s a little more work than an electric food mill or blender but I like the results much better. It has three different size strainers and is very versatile.
Unfortunately I don’t know where it was purchased because I received it as a gift a few years ago. An online buying search doesn’t bring up any results other than eBay and a few sites in Italian. If you ever come across one at a garage sale, grab it.
Weekend Cooking is hosted by Beth Fish Reads. Participation 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.
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© 2012 Under My Apple Tree. All rights reserved.
The Green Heron is a small heron that breeds across most of the United States and migrates in the winter to the southern US and as far south as Venezuela. They are usually found around the shorelines of oceans, lakes, rivers and ponds. They are often difficult to spot because they stand motionless, blending into the grass, while waiting for a fish to come within striking range.
Earlier this summer while attending a program on Purple Martins we spotted a young Green Heron hiding in the grasses at the edge of a pond near where we had assembled. We all trained our binoculars on him, got a nice look, and went back to watching the program on the martins.
About 10 minutes later we heard a squawk and the heron went sailing past us and landed on a roosting bar in front of the martin house, apparently miffed that we were no longer paying any attention to him. He walked back and forth on the bar for a few minutes. Some of the martins flew away but many of them just watched him. I have seen martins attack and drive off a hawk, but they let the heron sit with them until he was ready to go.
This was the first time I had ever seen one perched up in the air. They are usually hiding in the grass on the shore pretending to be invisible.
The photo above gives an idea of the size of the bird. The martins are the birds roosting on the bars below the house. Compared to the Great Blue Heron, the Green Heron is much smaller at about 18 in or 45 cm in length. They do have green feathers but the bright sun that morning washed out some of the color making it difficult to see.
Saturday Snapshot is hosted by Alyce at At Home With Books. Visit her blog to see more great photos or add your own.
© 2012 Under My Apple Tree. All rights reserved.
Shadow Show: All-New Stories in Celebration of Ray Bradbury
Edited by Sam Weller and Mort Castle
Narrated by George Takei, Edward Herrmann, Kate Mulgrew, F. Murray Abraham, Neil Gaiman, Peter Appel, James Urbaniak and cast
Genre: Science Fiction, Mystery, Horror
Publisher: Harper Audio
Publish Date: July 10, 2012
Format: Audio, 14 hours | 11 minutes
Audio Listening Level: Easy – Intermediate
Rating: 4½ of 5
Ray Bradbury is probably best known for writing Fahrenheit 451 and The Martian Chronicles, but many of his stories were not science fiction; some were mysteries, others horror or even fantasy. He had a gift for storytelling, writing in a lyrical, engaging fashion that influenced readers and writers throughout the world over his seven decade career.
It is this influence that brought about a collection of new short stories, from a diverse group of twenty-six of today’s authors, as a tribute to Bradbury. Although it was published shortly after his death, he was aware of the project and even wrote an introduction where he expressed how proud he was of the contributors and declared that, “This book reads like a transcript of my own nightmares and daydreams”. Most of these stories were inspired by one that Bradbury wrote and some were even written in the spirit of a Bradbury story. Each was followed by an afterword where the author explained the influence or inspiration. It’s always enlightening to hear what the author was thinking and it added a level of understanding to the story.
In most anthologies there are good and bad stories. Not so with this collection. They were all good. Some better than others, some more to my liking, but all enjoyable. I confess, I will abandon a short story after about 5 minutes if it’s going nowhere, and I was only tempted to quit on one story in this collection.
A few of my favorites were Sam Weller’s The Girl In The Funeral Parlor, where we are haunted by a man who finds the woman of his dreams after she has already died, Charles Yu’s Earth: (A Gift Shop), a satirical take on a future earth that is now a tourist attraction and in John McNally’s The Phone Call, we revisit the futility of trying to change the past. I especially enjoyed the afterward by Harlan Ellison, a lifelong friend of Bradbury. I remember it more than the short story he contributed, which at the moment slips my mind!
The audiobook was narrated by an ensemble cast with many familiar names. All were a pleasure to listen to. The only problem I have with audio vs print is the short story format itself. Most were about 45 minutes long so I hesitated to listen for short periods preferring to complete each story without stopping. On the other hand, this is the perfect format for those who want to try an audiobook but don’t want to commit to 14 hours of listening.
Overall a wonderful collection. Highly recommended, even for those not entirely fond of short stories.
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[Click HERE for a preview of the book and a list of the stories and authors.]
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Source: Review copy.
© 2012 Under My Apple Tree. All rights reserved.
Almost wordless: These three belong on a wanted posted for garden vandalism!
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More Wordless Wednesday. © 2012 Under My Apple Tree. All rights reserved.
Mailbox Monday
Mailbox Monday was created by The Printed Page. It is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their home last week.
Mailbox Monday is currently on tour, hosted by a different blog each month. The July host is Jennifer D @ 5 Minutes for Books.
Two books from HarperAudio for review:
And When She Was Good
by Laura Lippman
When Hector Lewis told his daughter that she had a nothing face, it was just another bit of tossed-off cruelty from a man who specialized in harsh words and harsher deeds. But twenty years later, Heloise considers it a blessing to be a person who knows how to avoid attention. In the comfortable suburb where she lives, she’s just a mom, the youngish widow with a forgettable job who somehow never misses a soccer game or a school play. In the state capitol, she’s the redheaded lobbyist with a good cause and a mediocre track record. But in discreet hotel rooms throughout the area, she’s the woman of your dreams—if you can afford her hourly fee.
Some Remarks
by Neal Stephenson
One of the most talented and creative authors working today, Neal Stephenson is renowned for his exceptional novels—works colossal in vision and mind-boggling in complexity. Exploring and blending a diversity of topics, including technology, economics, history, science, pop culture, and philosophy, his books are the products of a keen and adventurous intellect. Not surprisingly, Stephenson is regularly asked to contribute articles, lectures, and essays to numerous outlets, from major newspapers and cutting-edge magazines to college symposia. This remarkable collection brings together previously published short writings, both fiction and nonfiction, as well as a new essay (and an extremely short story) created specifically for this volume.
For review from AmazonVine:
The Prankster: A Novella
by James Polster
Time-traveling alien Pom Trager has used the gullible denizens of Earth as fodder for his practical jokes throughout the ages, with the pyramids, Picasso, and several US presidents among his more modest pranks. Why does he do it? To boost the ratings of The Prankster, his home planet’s most popular reality show. But when a system snafu lands Trager in the wrong place, he finds himself at the mercy of the very species he’s made into a galactic laughingstock.
A win from She Treads Softly on a TLC Blog Tour:
Shout Her Lovely Name
by Natalie Serber
In a battle between a teenage daughter and her mother, wheat bread and plain yogurt become weapons. An aimless college student, married to her much older professor, sneaks cigarettes while caring for their newborn son. On the eve of her husband’s fiftieth birthday, a pilfered fifth of rum, an unexpected tattoo, and rogue teenagers leave a woman questioning her place. And in a suite of stories, we follow capricious, ambitious single mother Ruby and her cautious, steadfast daughter Nora through their tumultuous life—stray men, stray cats, and psychedelic drugs—in 1970s California.
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It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?
It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.
Share what you read last week and what you are currently reading.
I’m still reading the same books from last week. I’m just starting Where'd You Go Bernadette. I’ll have a review and a giveaway posted soon.
I’m almost finished listening to Shadow Show, a collection of short stories in celebration of Ray Bradbury.
Reading/Listening This Week:
Next on my listening list is Bel Canto by Ann Patchett for the upcoming read-along at BookJourney on September 13th.
What Are You Reading?
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© 2012 Under My Apple Tree. All rights reserved.
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