The Year is Half Over!
How did that happen so fast? Life has a way of happening when you’re not paying attention. It seems like just yesterday we were complaining about the horrible cold and snowy winter and just like that summer is here, warm and rainy.
Since we are at the half-way point, I thought I’d take a look at what I’ve read so far this year. Of the 40 books I’ve read since January, a few stand out as favorites. Interestingly none of them were the must-read, hyped books I’d been looking forward to, but rather in a few cases, pleasant surprises.
Favorites So Far This Year
The Memory Painter by Gwendolyn Womack
What if there was a drug that could help you remember past lives? A compelling blend of genres—history, science fiction, fantasy, and a little romance.
Aquarium by David Vann
Contemporary Fiction (Review coming soon)
How We Got to Now: Six Innovations That Made the Modern World by Steven Johnson
Non-Fiction – Learn about how all the things we take for granted became part of our daily lives in fun, non-technical writing.
Fishbowl by Bradley Somer
A unique, quirky tale with well-developed, likable characters and a surprise hit for me. I picked this one up for the cover and the fish!
Love Is Red by Sophie Jaff
Suspense/Thriller – A blend of genres including horror, fantasy, and the supernatural, uniquely told in alternating viewpoints.
The Birds of Pandemonium by Michele Raffin
Memoir – An uplifting story of one woman’s unending devotion to her birds. Even those who know nothing about birds will find themselves captivated by these beautiful creatures.
Pleasant Surprises
Interestingly, none of these were the must-read, hyped books I’d been looking forward to, but instead were pleasant surprises.
How about you—any pleasant surprises to recommend?
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Welcome to Mailbox Monday, created by Marcia of To Be Continued, a place where readers share the books that came in their mailbox during the last week.
After several years of being on tour with different blogs as the monthly host, the Mailbox Monday Blog is now the permanent home for the meme.
Good thing there are lots of daylight hours this time of year because I have been crazy busy this past week with outdoor projects and events.
This past weekend I participated in a BioBlitz hosted by the forest preserve district. A BioBlitz is a 24-hour event in which teams of scientists, naturalists and volunteers work together to find and identify all the living species—plant and animal—within a designated area. I was a volunteer citizen scientist on the bird counting team. The final results aren’t in yet, but I already know the event was a success.
Unfortunately there was not a lot of time for reading or writing last week, but I did get to listen to some audiobooks. A few new books arrived in the mail . . .
New Arrivals
Letters to the Lost by Iona Grey from Goodreads.
A beautifully written and evocative novel—the story of an impossible, unstoppable love affair set in London during World War II and the present day.
Reading the Comments: Likers, Haters, and Manipulators at the Bottom of the Web by Joseph M. Reagle from Amazon Vine.
Online comment can be informative or misleading, entertaining or maddening. Haters and manipulators often seem to monopolize the conversation. Some comments are off-topic, or even topic-less. In this book, Joseph Reagle urges us to read the comments. Conversations “on the bottom half of the Internet,” he argues, can tell us much about human nature and social behavior.
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A two book giveaway . . .
Award-winning cookbook author Judith Fertig has just released her first novel, The Cake Therapist, combining her expertise in baking with a passion for storytelling.
Win a copy of The Cake Therapist and a brand new cookbook, Bake Happy, by Judith Fertig
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A Rapid Review
A Small Indiscretion by Jan Ellison
Publisher: Random House Audio | January 2015
Format: Audio Download | 10 hours | Rating: 4 stars
Audio Listening Level: Intermediate
A Small Indiscretion is a riveting debut novel about a woman’s search for understanding and forgiveness, a taut exploration of a modern marriage, and of love—the kind that destroys, and the kind that redeems.
Even in the days before Facebook, Twitter, and other social media, the past has a way of resurfacing when you least expect it.
Annie is a happily married mom of three, until the day a photograph taken years ago arrives anonymously in the mail. Twenty years ago Annie lived a carefree life as an office assistant to a real-estate developer in London. The photo was of Annie, her boss, his wife, and the wife’s lover (who Annie had a passion for). She didn’t even remember this photo being taken, and it was from a part of her past she had thought was long forgotten.
The story moves back and forth in time between London twenty years ago and San Francisco in the present. As the story opens, Annie has just learned that her son was in a car accident. Although he is in a coma, Annie sits at his bedside and begins to tell him about the year he was conceived—the year she lived in London—and of the several romantic affairs she had, and how she met his father that same year.
Eventually pieces of the puzzle come together and Annie’s story is revealed. The beautiful, descriptive prose and richly detailed surroundings made this compelling story a joy to listen to.
Audio production:
The narration was performed by Kathe Mazur. Shifts in time were deftly handled and I did not have a problem following the progression of the story.
[Audio Sample on SoundCloud.]
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Source: Review copy provided by the publisher.
© 2015 Under My Apple Tree. All rights reserved.
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The Cake Therapist by Judith Fertig
Award-winning cookbook author Judith Fertig has just released her first novel, The Cake Therapist, combining her expertise in baking with a passion for storytelling.
Today I have a delicious treat — an opportunity for one of my readers to win a copy of The Cake Therapist AND Judith’s brand new cookbook, Bake Happy.
About the Book
The Cake Therapist
by Judith Fertig
Publisher: Berkley Trade Paperback | 304 pages
Publication Date: June 2015
A fiction debut that will leave you wanting seconds, from an award-winning cookbook author.
Claire “Neely” O’Neil is a pastry chef of extraordinary talent. Every great chef can taste shimmering, elusive flavors that most of us miss, but Neely can “taste” feelings-cinnamon makes you remember; plum is pleased with itself; orange is a wake-up call. When flavor and feeling give Neely a glimpse of someone’s inner self, she can customize her creations to help that person celebrate love, overcome fear, even mourn a devastating loss.
Maybe that’s why she feels the need to go home to Millcreek Valley at a time when her life seems about to fall apart. The bakery she opens in her hometown is perfect, intimate, just what she’s always dreamed of-and yet, as she meets her new customers, Neely has a sense of secrets, some dark, some perhaps with tempting possibilities. A recurring flavor of alarming intensity signals to her perfect palate a long-ago story that must be told.
Neely has always been able to help everyone else. Getting to the end of this story may be just what she needs to help herself.
About the Author
Cookbook author Judith Fertig grew up in the Midwest, went to La Varenne Ecole de Cuisine in Paris and The Iowa Writers’ Workshop, and now lives in Kansas City. Described by Saveur Magazine as a “heartland cookbook icon,” Fertig writes cookbooks that reflect her love of bread, baking, barbecue, and the fabulous foods of the Heartland.
Fertig’s food and lifestyle writing has appeared in more than a dozen publications, including Bon Appetit, Saveur and The New York Times. You can read some of her cookbooks like novels–the fabulously photographed Heartland, the award-winning and James Beard Awards-nominated Prairie Home Cooking (a “tour de force,” says Saveur), the encylopedic All-American Desserts, and Prairie Home Breads. Her IACP Cookbook Award-winning The Back in the Swing Cookbook (with Barbara C. Unell) takes you on a delicious daily journey to get you back in the swing after breast cancer.
And one of her books IS a novel, her debut The Cake Therapist (June 2015), the story of a talented pastry chef with a very special gift who opens a bakery in her hometown, with mesmerizing results.
Visit Judith at her blog, Alfresco.
Two Book Giveaway
Win a copy of The Cake Therapist AND Judith’s brand new cookbook, Bake Happy.
To enter, fill out the form below on or before midnight, Saturday, July 4th. Continental US addresses only. For an extra entry, tweet or blog about the giveaway. The winner will be contacted by email and have 48 hours to respond.
[Giveaway has ended]
Winner: Elisabeth
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© 2015 Under My Apple Tree. All rights reserved.
Source: Giveaway provided by Tandem Literary
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Thank you to everyone that stopped by to enter the giveaways last few weeks.
Winners have been selected for the following books and have been notified by email.
Girl of My Dreams
by Peter Davis
Winner: Anne
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Beach Town
by Mary Kay Andrews
Winner: Katherine @ I Wish I Lived in a Library
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© 2015 Under My Apple Tree. All rights reserved.
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Almost wordless: Last Wednesday I featured an angry Mrs. Blackbird, upset because I walked past her nest. This is Mr. Blackbird delivering a meal to the nestlings.
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More Wordless Wednesday. © 2015 Under My Apple Tree. All rights reserved.
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A Rapid Review
Freedom’s Child by Jax Miller
Publisher: Random House Audio | June 2015
Format: Audio Download | 11 hours | Rating: 5 stars
Audio Listening Level: Easy – Intermediate
Freedom Oliver has plenty of secrets. She lives in a small Oregon town and keeps mostly to herself. Her few friends and neighbors know she works at the local biker bar; they know she gets arrested for public drunkenness almost every night; they know she’s brash, funny, and fearless.
What they don’t know is that Freedom Oliver is a fake name. They don’t know that she’s now in witness protection, regretting ever making a deal with the Feds . . .
When Freedom went into the witness protection program, part of the deal was to give up her two young children for adoption, a deal she regrets. Falsely accused of killing her police officer husband, she feared, because of her testimony against his brother, that his family would be out to get her and find the children. Now she learns her daughter has gone missing and sets out on her own, without the fed’s protection, to find her.
Freedom is a very flawed character that I couldn’t help liking. She’s brash, angry, and reckless but at the same time strong and likable. With a multi-layered plot and lots of action, the story took off right from the first page and never let up. Characters were interesting and well-developed, even though many were not very nice people.
This was an engaging thriller with a satisfying ending where loose ends are tied up, puzzles are resolved, and questions are answered.
Audio production:
Narration was performed by Hillary Huber and MacLeod Andrews. This was an easy story to follow even though there were quite a few characters and the setting moved to a few different places. The narrators did a nice job keeping the characters distinct throughout the fast-paced adventure. The story was well-written and I was always clear where we were and what was happening.
[Audio Sample on SoundCloud.]
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Source: Review copy provided by Random House.
© 2015 Under My Apple Tree. All rights reserved.
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