“Waiting On” Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we’re eagerly anticipating.
A psychological thriller with the added element of dementia caught my attention this week.
Turn of Mind
by Alice LaPlante
To be Published: July 2011 by Atlantic Monthly Press
A stunning first novel, both literary and thriller, about a retired orthopedic surgeon with dementia, Turn of Mind has already received worldwide attention. With unmatched patience and a pulsating intensity, Alice LaPlante brings us deep into a brilliant woman’s deteriorating mind, where the impossibility of recognizing reality can be both a blessing and a curse.
As the book opens, Dr. Jennifer White’s best friend, Amanda, who lived down the block, has been killed, and four fingers surgically removed from her hand. Dr. White is the prime suspect and she herself doesn’t know whether she did it. Told in White’s own voice, fractured and eloquent, a picture emerges of the surprisingly intimate, complex alliance between these life-long friends—two proud, forceful women who were at times each other’s most formidable adversaries. As the investigation into the murder deepens and White’s relationships with her live-in caretaker and two grown children intensify, a chilling question lingers: is White’s shattered memory preventing her from revealing the truth or helping her to hide it?
The The Stainless Steel Rat
by Harry Harrison
Read by Phil Gigante
Genre: Science Fiction
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Publish Date: September 12, 2010
(first published 1961)
Format: 4 CDs | 5 Hours
Rating: 4 of 5
Jim DiGriz is a likeable a con man, a smooth, slippery rat of a guy, a stainless steel rat. Crime is rare in his world and a criminal of DiGriz’ skills is difficult catch. But eventually he does get caught and it’s all over for him. Or is it? Soon he is recruited into the Special Corps, a law enforcement group made up of ex-criminals. It takes a criminal to catch a criminal. In no time Jim is chasing after a thief that has stolen an industrial ship with the intent to build it into a battleship. The fun starts when Jim catches up with the thief, the beautiful Angelina. He has met his match.
This book was originally published in 1961 and is now considered classic sci-fi. It is book one in a series of Stainless Steel Rat books. If you are of a certain age and you read science fiction in your younger days, chances are good you already know about these books. Somehow I missed out on this series. Oh, I knew about them I just never got around to reading them. When I saw book one had been reissued in audio book I grabbed a copy from the library to find out what I had been missing.
This is a book with a sense of humor. The story is not deep and I don’t think it was intended to be. I laughed out loud more than a few times at the sometimes corny and sometimes clever dialog. Science fiction doesn’t have to be technical or exist in a complex, carefully built world. It can be entertaining, fun and campy. The audio was nicely performed by Phil Gigante. I enjoyed his interpretations and portrayal of the characters. At only 4 CDs for the unabridged version, this is a short book and easy to listen to.
Although dated the story has held up fairly well. Thankfully attitudes towards women and the way they are portrayed have, for the most part, changed. While Angelina was initially portrayed as brilliant and strong she quickly turned into the stereotypical femme fatal which had me gritting my teeth and grumbling gaaaah, gaaaah! Setting that aside, it was enjoyable and I’ll be listening to the next book in the series.
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Source: Borrowed audio CDs from the library.
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I participate in Book Review Party Wednesday. Click the link to read more great reviews.
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. This month’s host is Amy @ Passages To The Past.
I received two books for review last week and am really excited about both of them.
The Bird Sisters
by Rebecca Rasmussen
When a bird flies into a window in Spring Green, Wisconsin, sisters Milly and Twiss get a visit. Twiss listens to the birds’ heartbeats, assessing what she can fix and what she can’t, while Milly listens to the heartaches of the people who’ve brought them. These spinster sisters have spent their lives nursing people and birds back to health.
Dreams of Joy
by Lisa See
Lisa See has brilliantly illuminated the potent bonds of mother love, romantic love, and love of country. Now, in her most powerful novel yet, she returns to these timeless themes, continuing the story of sisters Pearl and May from Shanghai Girls, and Pearl’s strong-willed nineteen-year-old daughter, Joy.
Reeling from newly uncovered family secrets, and anger at her mother and aunt for keeping them from her, Joy runs away to Shanghai in early 1957 to find her birth father—the artist Z.G. Li, with whom both May and Pearl were once in love.
The Edible Front Yard
The Mow-Less, Grow-More Plan for a Beautiful, Bountiful Garden
by Ivette Soler
Genre: Gardening, Food
Publisher: Timber Press
Publish Date: February 23, 2011
Format: Paperback | 216 pages
I grow a lot of herbs in barrels in my back yard adjacent to the deck. This makes it very easy to grab a handful when needed for cooking. They grow quickly in the summer heat and must be cut frequently or they will flower and go to seed. When that happens I notice how pretty they are as flowers. Basil, sage, oregano, chives and even lettuce will produce lovely flowers. My front yard is seriously in need of some new landscaping. More flowers, less grass, environmentally friendly native shrubs, and maybe some edible plants to mix in. Which brings us to this book.
The Edible Front Yard describes how to replace boring, needy, thirsty grass with a diverse mix of ornamentals and edibles. It is filled with beautiful photos and lots of design ideas for various regions and climates. There is advice for shade plants and sun plants, how to remove grass without poison and how to prepare the soil for planting.
There is also a section on building codes, restrictions, permits and neighbors who think your plants are weeds. I am not doing anything that grand, maybe a small retaining wall and a trellis or two. Half my grass is staying put, but it’s nice to know how to handle some of those issues.
One of the ideas I did like and will consider is a beautiful trellis with a section of climbing plants. Another are the herbs. Sage comes in many varieties, makes pretty flowers and is hardy in most climates. I’ve been using chives as perennials for many years. They make gorgeous purple flowers. If you live in a warm climate rosemary is also a beautiful shrub and can be used as a hedge. Last year I let my parsley go to seed and it make big white flowers and also attracted many swallowtail butterfly caterpillars. I hope to have many butterflies this year as a result.
I have been pulling out sections of grass in the front and back yards for a few years now and replacing it with native shrubs, clumps of tall grasses and wildflowers. The benefits are many. They are pretty, add diversity and interest, butterflies and humming birds have appeared, they need little water, little maintenance and no chemicals or fertilizer. Until I saw this book I really hadn’t thought of using my herbs and maybe even a veggie or two out front.
If you are looking for ideas to add some edible and pretty plants to your landscaping I recommend this book.
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There is a preview available on google books. I borrowed my copy from the library.
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(In a round about grow your food before you cook it kind of way I suppose this qualifies for Weekend Cooking.)
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.
North America is home to about three dozen species of sparrows. The Song Sparrow, one of the more common, is found all across the US and most of Canada. It is a medium size bird with reddish-brown streaky colors. There is quite a bit of variation in color by region with the pacific northwest birds darker and browner overall than eastern form. The southern and desert birds have paler plumages.
I usually see Song Sparrows when I go on walks in the woods or nature habitats. They like to flit around in the brush or dense vegetation. True to their name, males can often be heard singing.
Occasionally one will stop by the feeder in my yard for a quick meal. I noticed this little guy kicking around in the wood chips. Then he moved under the feeder and I was able to get a few nice pictures of him.
In this view you can clearly see the spot in the middle of the breast and the dark, thick streaks which is a characteristic of the eastern form of Song Sparrow. That is a seed in his beak. In the picture above, you can see his tongue flicking up. Yes, birds have tongues!
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Saturday Snapshots is hosted by Alyce. Head on over to At Home With Books to see more great photos or add your own.
“Waiting On” Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we’re eagerly anticipating.
I spotted this on LibraryThing’s list of early reviewer books. The time period and the women pilots caught my interest.
Wings: A Novel of WWII Flygirls
by Karl Friedrich
To be Published: April 1, 2011 by McBooks Press
Based on the true World War II stories of America’s first female military pilots, this historic novel follows the story of a young woman from a dirt-poor farm family.
Sally Ketchum has little chance of bettering her life until a mysterious barnstormer named Tex teaches her to fly and to dare to love. But when Tex dies in a freak accident, Sally must make her own way in the world. She enrolls in the U.S. military’s Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) program at a special school known as Avenger, where she learns to fly the biggest, fastest, meanest planes. She also reluctantly becomes involved with Beau Bayard, a flight instructor and aspiring writer who seems to offer her everything she could want. Despite her obvious mastery of flying, many members of the military are unable to accept that a “skirt” has any place in a cockpit.
Karen K. and Sally B.
are the winners of
The Revenge of the Radioactive Lady.
Thanks to everyone who stopped by and took the time to read my review and enter the contest.
Under My Apple Tree 