Reading the “In Death” Series

Nora Roberts is one of my favorite authors — I’ve probably read everything she’s written. In fact, I’m finishing one of her trilogies right now. But she also writes under the pseudonym J.D. Robb and I’m absolutely hooked on the “In Death” series. I’ve never been a fan of science fiction and the series is set in the late 2050s, complete with interplanetary travel and hover cars, but they’re more about the people, their relationships and the murders to be solved.

I think I picked up my first book, which was actually book #7, “Holiday in Death,” in 1999 at the used  bookstore — because it had the word Holiday in the title, right? I enjoyed it so much, I went back and got books 1 through 6 and have been buying them ever since. Two per year are released and I generally prefer paperbacks so I’ve collected them all as the paperback editions come out.

I was thinking this morning that it must be about time for the next paperback release and I started gathering up my copies. They were all over the place, on different bookshelves and in different rooms. When I got done, here’s what I had …

28 books containing murder, mayhem, bad guys and good sex.  The main character is New York City Police Lieutenant Eve Dallas. She never had a childhood, which fine tuned her street smarts and made her tough as nails. In the first book, “Naked in Death,” she encounters Roarke, billionaire owner of Roarke Industries, who had a rough and tumble childhood in Ireland, now lives in New York and is single-handedly working on owning just about everything on multiple planets. The sparks flew and they’re still flying!

All I can say is I love these books and someday I’m planning to read every one of them again, one after the other.

• Naked in Death
• Glory in Death
• Immortal in Death
• Rapture in Death
• Ceremony in Death
• Vengeance in Death
• Holiday in Death
• Conspiracy in Death
• Loyalty in Death
• Witness in Death
• Judgment in Death
• Betrayal in Death
• Seduction in Death
• Reunion in Death
• Purity in Death
• Portrait in Death
• Imitation in Death
• Divided in Death
• Visions in Death
• Survivor in Death
• Origin in Death
• Memory in Death
• Born in Death
• Innocent in Death
• Creation in Death
• Strangers in Death
• Salvation in Death
• Promises in Death

nora roberts aka jd robb

“Kindred in Death” will be released in paperback on March 30th. Yay!

http://www.jdrobb.com/index.html

Reading “The School of Essential Ingredients”

I received this book as a gift from a dear friend recently and it was such a pleasure to read.

Lillian, who owns and operates Lillian’s restaurant, holds a cooking class on Monday nights. She had an unusual childhood. Her father left them when she was only 4 and her mother’s method of coping was to read. Non-stop, constant reading, one book after another. Although she was there physically, reading aloud, spiritually and mentally she left Lillian as well. Lillian learned to take care of the household or nothing would get done. This included cooking, which became her passion.

Lillian has an uncanny sense for understanding people, for making sure that the people who can support and relate to each other come together. Her latest cooking class at “The School of Essential Ingredients” has a number of students who don’t even realize they’re looking for more than just cooking lessons. A young mother who doesn’t know who she is without her children and husband; a couple who have been married for many years and withstood a potential relationship shattering episode; a widower whose wife had been a chef; and more.

In this first novel by Erica Bauermeister, the writing is so lyrical, the food sounds so amazing and the characters feel like people you know. Here are a few wonderful excerpts:

• Helen would groan good-naturedly and roll over, telling Carl all she wanted for Christmas was a good night’s sleep, and he would pull the children close and whisper the story of the Night Before Christmas until they would slowly, one by one, fall asleep, their bodies draped across each other like laundry in the basket.
• The frosting was a thick butter-cream, rich as a satin dress laid against the firm, fragile texture of the cake. With each bite, the cake melted first, then the frosting, one after another, like lovers tumbling into bed.
• The first time he had kissed her–it had taken six weeks–was over hamburgers, two inches thick, juices running. He had leaned over and licked the grease off her arm without thinking.
• The chicken was soft, delicate, the broccoli crisp and distinctly alive, ginger seasoning the mix like the provocative flip of a short skirt.

This was a sweet, delightful read (258 pages) and a wonderful lesson in how food affects our senses and triggers memories.

http://ericabauermeister.com/

Reading “The Girl Who Played with Fire”

This is the March selection for our book club, the second in the Millennium series written by Stieg Larsson who passed away in 2004. It’s the follow up to “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” and is pretty darned exciting. I would definitely recommend first reading Dragon Tattoo so you have the lay of the land and who all the characters are.

This story is all about European sex trafficking and the scumbags who run the operation. Mikael Blomkvist, the journalist who writes about true crimes and corporate creeps, has an employee who is set to publish a book about the sex trafficking trade – and name names. When he and his girl (who has in tandem written her thesis on sex trafficking and organized crime) are both murdered, it is a blow to Blomkvist and the others at Millenium. A third murder has occurred nearby with the same weapon and forensic evidence points to Lisbeth Salander – she with the Dragon Tattoo who now Plays with Fire.

There are some very good, unexpected twists in this book and the excitement runs strong right to the very last page. Larsson did an excellent job of setting this story up as a lead in to the third installment, “The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets’ Nest.”

stieg larsson

I think the premise for the story can be found in one sentence on page 463 (hardback edition):

Salander was the woman who hated men who hate women.

I am anxious to read the next one.

Reading “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”

Our book club chose a book by Stieg Larsson for March — “The Girl Who Played With Fire.” Since it is a sequel to his first book, “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,” I decided to buy them both and read them before our March meeting, which was a challenge because they’re substantial and I only had a couple of weeks.

I picked up Dragon Tattoo in trade paperback size. It was “translated from the Swedish by Reg Keeland” and the translation was published in 2008.

Information on the author:

Stieg Larsson, who lived in Sweden, was the editor in chief of the magazine “Expo” and a leading expert on antidemocratic right-wing extremist and Nazi organizations. He died of a heart attack in 2004, shortly after delivering the manuscripts for “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,” The Girl Who Played with Fire” and the third novel in the series, “The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets’ Nest.”

I had trouble getting into Dragon Tattoo until about the fourth chapter (page 69 of 590). Then I could not put it down. I think at first it was all the Swedish names — people and places — which I found confusing. The main character is Mikael Blomkvist, a financial journalist who specializes in exposing corporate crooks in his publication “Millennium.” He writes an article on industrialist Hans-Erik Wennerstrom and, due to unfortunate circumstances, cannot substantiate his claims or sources. Blomkvist is indicted on libel charges, sentenced to a fine and a few months in prison.

He has decided to take some time off and distance himself from the business, leaving his partner to run Millennium, when he is contacted by Henrik Vanger, patriarch of a prominent, wealthy family. Vanger offers him a 2-part freelance assignment: research and write a book on the history of the Vanger family and — secretively — investigate and solve the disappearance of 16-year-old Harriet Vanger 36 years ago. Although her body was never found, Vanger believes that she was murdered and has become consumed by the mystery.

Lisbeth Salander, the actual girl with the dragon tattoo, is a personal investigator for Milton Security who becomes embroiled in the Vanger investigation with Blomkvist. She has a strange, sad background and leads a solitary life, but has incredible research talents.

Stieg Larsson ......... 1954-2004

Telling any more of the story would just be a spoiler, although I will say there are some extremely x-rated, as well as violent, situations in this book so if you’re the least bit squeamish, this isn’t for you. The solving of the mystery and the plot in general were great and, yay, I was able to immediately pick up Played With Fire and keep reading. The same characters, Blomkvist and Salander, continue on in this book. I’m looking forward to reading the third in the series and am saddened that this talented author passed away at such a young age.

http://www.stieglarsson.com/

Reading “The Broken Window”

Can you say Data Mining? This book was very scary in a today’s real world kind of way.

Written by Jeffery Deaver, this is another Lincoln Rhyme / Amelia Sachs murder mystery. (Remember “The Bone Collector” that was made into a movie starring Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie?) The paperback edition was released in May 2009 and I picked it up at the used book store.

The basic premise of the story is that someone is killing people, then planting evidence that very strongly convicts other people of the murders. The killer is able to go into any type of record out there and make changes … you failed a drug test you didn’t take … you have an outstanding warrant when you really don’t … you’ve missed making your car payments when you really haven’t. But the records are what the authorities believe and proving anything different is pretty much impossible.

He is also able to view your records to see what kind of evidence to plant. You bought a rope at Home Depot … you belong to a certain gym … you frequent a specific Starbucks. Even paying cash for your transactions doesn’t mean you aren’t being tracked.

There really are companies out there that specialize in data mining, selling the information to people who want to sell you something or figure out where you’re at in life … buying a house … having a baby … being promoted in your job.

jeffery deaver

You know those little key ring reward cards for your favorite places to shop? Oh yeah, everything you buy is being tracked by someone and that information is sold to someone else. Scary, huh?

The reason Lincoln Rhyme becomes involved in these murders is his cousin, Arthur Rhyme, is being convicted for one of them. This was a very good book and, frankly, I find myself thinking about it as I’m out running errands, leaving a trail of information.

http://www.jefferydeaver.com/

The White House Cook Book – An Antique Cookbook

I love antiques, I love cooking and I love books — so what could be better than an antique cookbook!

I have around 200 cookbooks in my collection but I think the oldest is one I received as a gift from my Youngest Sister a few years ago. The original copyright was in 1887; my copy of “The White House Cook Book” was published by The Saalfield Publishing Company in 1907, made by The Werner Company in Akron, Ohio. It was written by Hugo Zieman, Steward of the White House, and Mrs. F. L. Gillette.

I don’t know who owned it, but it is very yellowed and obviously used. There are a number of handwritten notes on the pages as well as inserted between the pages, along with newspaper clippings of recipes and a few Champion Dog Series collector cards – #9 Mastiff and #17 Great Dane.

It contains 590 pages of fascinating information including:

Page iv – Note from the Publisher (last paragraph) — Convenience has been studied in the make-up of the book. The type is large and plain; it is sewed by patent flexible process, so that when opened it will not close of itself, and it is bound in enameled cloth adapted for use in the kitchen.

Page 37 – Recipe for Squirrel Soup.

Page 147 – To Cure Ham and Bacon with a notation in parentheses (A Prize Recipe).

Newspaper clipping for Lady Baltimore Cake by Mrs. Janet McKenzie Hill, Editor of the Boston Cooking School Magazine.

Page 158 – How to prepare Herbs for Winter.

Beginning on Page 168 – An entire section on how to make Catsup — tomato, walnut, oyster, mushroom, gooseberry, cucumber, currant, apple, celery and spiced vinegar.

How to make all variety of Pickles.

A handwritten recipe on a piece of note paper for Molasses Candy.

Page 208 – How to make Butter.

A hand-drawn design for a Card Case (for calling cards?).

Page 226 – General directions for making Bread.

Page 229 – How to make Unrivaled Yeast.

Page 240 – Parker House Rolls. Oven temperature is “Bake in a rather quick oven.”

Page 259 – How to make Crackers.

There are pages of photos throughout the book that include the Presidents’ Wives (previous photo) as well as demonstrative photos like “Icing the Cakes” on Page 270.

Page 271 – Plain Chocolate Icing was an obvious favorite with a penciled X by it.

Handwritten recipe for Cucumber Pickles by Mary Roll.

Page 281 – Recipe for Snow Cake (Delicious.) “This is a genuine Scotch recipe.”

Page 296 – Sponge Drops in the Cake Section. Measurements are by Teacup and Coffee Cup and instructions read to”Bake instantly in a very quick oven.”

An old Sears, Roebuck envelope advertisement to order a Free Sample Book. It reads “Don’t pay retail prices for clothing” and takes a 2-cent stamp.

Many recipes called for “Butter the size of a walnut” or “Butter the size of an egg.”

Page 423 – Deep Red Coloring for Fruit, etc. [Take twenty grains of cochineal and fifteen grains of cream of tartar finely powdered; add to them a piece of alum the size of a cherry stone and boil them with a gill of soft water in an earthen vessel, slowly, for half an hour. Then strain it through muslin, and keep it tightly corked in a phial. If a little alcohol is added it will keep any length of time.]

Page 437 – The Healing Properties of Tea and Coffee. [The medical properties of these two beverages are considerable. Tea is used advantageously in inflammatory diseases and as a cure for the headache. Coffee is supposed to act as a preventive of gravel and gout, and to its influence is ascribed the rarity of those diseases in France and Turkey. Both tea and coffee powerfully counteract the effects of opium and intoxicating liquors; though, when taken in excess, and without nourishing food, they themselves produce, temporarily at least, some of the more disagreeable consequences incident to the use of ardent spirits. In general, however, none but persons possessing great mobility of the nervous system, or enfeebled or effeminate constitutions, are injuriously affected by the moderate use of tea and coffee in connection with food.]

How to make Wine and Beer.

Weekly Menus for each month of the year including holidays and special days like Washington’s Birthday.

Special Menus including a State Dinner at the White House; Mrs. Cleveland’s Wedding Lunch – June 4, 1888; General Grant’s Birthday Dinner; and a Buffet for 1,000 People.

Remedies and Cures for the Sick including Beefsteak and mutton chops if he is very sick; Draughts for the feet; and Cure for ringworm.

Health Suggestions including How Colds are Caught; for Toothache; and Asthma.

Miscellaneous recipes To clean kid gloves; Paper-hangers’ paste; Postage stamp mucilage.

Facts Worth Knowing such as To clean marble busts and To freshen gilt frames.

Toilet Recipes, Items including Lavender water; Hair invigorator, Phalon’s instantaneous hair dye; Pearl smelling salts; and antidote for poisons.

How to make dyes in all colors for a variety of fabrics.

Table Etiquette including Dinner giving [We gather around our board agreeable persons, and they pay us and our dinner the courtesy of dressing for the occasion, and this reunion should be a time of profit as well as pleasure.] ; and A family dinner [This sensible meal, well cooked and neatly served, is pleasing to almost any one, and is within the means of any housekeeper in ordinary circumstances.]

Handwritten recipes and notes in the book include Burnt Carmel Cake; Horse colic; Washing fluid; Throat gargle; Little Sage Tea [A pinch of Borax and a little honey is good for Baby’s sore mouth]; Cod oil and vinegar is good to take rust from cloth; and Black Chocolate Cake (requested).

This beautiful cookbook is an absolute treasure in my collection. I doubt if I’ll be doing much actual cooking from it, but it is fascinating to read! Thanks again to my Baby Sister!

Reading “Tender at the Bone”

Our book club selection for February is “Tender at the Bone — Growing Up at the Table” by Ruth Reichl. I had to keep reminding myself that this is non-fiction.

Ruth Reichl, Editor-in-Chief of Gourmet magazine which is no longer being published as of November 2009, has an entertaining history with food. While she had no formal culinary training, she has cooked since she was a small child. This is the story of her life with food and her no holds barred personal life, including dealing with a manic-depressive mother who was known as the Queen of Mold.

Here’s a little excerpt from the first chapter:

“Oh, it’s just a little mold,” I can remember her saying on the many occasions she scraped the fuzzy blue stuff off some concoction before serving what was left for dinner. She had an iron stomach and was incapable of understanding that other people did not.

This taught me many things. The first was that food could be dangerous, especially to those who loved it. I took this very seriously. My parents entertained a great deal, and before I was ten I had appointed myself guardian of the guests. My mission was to keep Mom from killing anybody who came to dinner.

She tells about learning to cook from her Aunt Birdie’s maid, Hortense, as well as their own family’s maid, Mrs. Peavey; being sent to boarding school in Montreal to learn French and getting an education from the local deli owners; spending time with a fellow student’s millionaire family where she was introduced to gourmet food; traveling abroad with her college roommate; marrying and making ends meet — then moving to California and living in a commune; being hired as a restaurant critic by a San Francisco magazine; going to France on a wine buying trip; even attending a party in honor of James Beard.

ruth reichl

I found her story interesting and fascinating. She really went through some ups and downs with her mother’s illness and came out on the right side of happy.

Ruth Reichl has written and edited a number of books and cookbooks over the years and I believe I’ll read them all. “Tender at the Bone” includes recipes throughout the text as well.

http://www.ruthreichl.com/?ID=2

Reading “Comfort Food”

I really enjoy books by Kate Jacobs. She has written “The Friday Night Knitting Club” and its sequel “Knit Two.” Of course, stories about knitting and knitting shops and knitting friends always appeal to me.

Now she has crossed over into my other love interest – cooking – with her book “Comfort Food.”

Gus Simpson is a widow with two daughters, now grown. At the time her husband died, her girls were still young and Gus felt the only way she could hold it all together was by being strong, hiding her grief and working, working, working. She has no formal culinary training, but enjoys cooking and opens a sandwich shop that receives interest from the head of the CookingChannel. After ending up with her own TV show, she feels like she has everything under control.

kate jacobs

Then the show’s ratings go down and she is unwillingly paired up with spicy hot former Miss Spain, Carmen Vega, to bring new viewers and regenerate interest with her existing audience. Through this painful process, she ends up learning a lot about herself and the disservice she has done to her daughters and their relationship.

It’s a fluffy, light story, but still lots of fun and all the more enjoyable with food talk throughout.

http://www.katejacobs.com/

Reading “Dear John”

My horoscope in today’s newspaper reads:

You find it impossible to think anything but the best about everyone you meet. Goodness hovers around you like a perfume.

Is that what that smell is? Obviously, they don’t know me!

I hosted our book club meeting last night. It’s good to have people over periodically. Makes you straighten up the house. I love the morning after we’ve had guests, just walking around with my coffee cup, enjoying the sparkly clean!

We discussed “The Help,” which everyone really liked and we’re all hoping Kathryn Stockett goes on to write more books. We were missing a few members due to illness and a bad back, but gained a new member — my YD joined us. There is another mother-daughter who attends and it’s so nice to see how they really like each other and want to spend time together. We are all lucky to have this close relationship.

In addition to the usual wine, cheese, crackers and fruit, I decided to make a little hot appetizer. It was super easy and really delicious. Actually got raves. At Italian restaurants, one of my favorites is a Caprese salad, which is mozzarella, plum tomatoes, basil and olive oil so this plays off of that. Called Crostini Caprese, I found it on the Pampered Chef website and will make this one over and over again. I don’t have the Large Round Stone, so substituted a cookie sheet and it worked just fine. Also just used my store brand spray olive oil.

Finally, to the real reason I’m writing. “Dear John” is classic Nicholas Sparks. As you’ll remember from “The Notebook,” he writes deep love stories and someone always gets sick and/or dies. This book did not disappoint; however, it was predictable. YD, hubby and I all read it and figured out the ending ahead of time. All that said, it was a nice read.

John Tyree is a troubled kid, raised alone by a father so shy he can barely carry on a conversation. After completing high school, John decides he is on the wrong path and joins the army, which turns out to be a good thing for him. Home on a furlough, he meets Savannah and they fall in love. They make plans to marry when he gets out of the service — then 9/11 happens. When his entire squad reenlists, he has to choose between love for his country and love for his woman. Lots of angst, lots of drama.

I am looking forward to seeing the movie, which comes out February 5th. But here’s one of the things that drives me nuts when they make a book into a movie. Sparks makes it very clear in the book that Savannah is brunette. Especially in the beginning when they first meet, it is mentioned over and over that she is an attractive brunette. So in my head I have this image of Savannah as a brunette. If you’ve seen the movie previews — or just look at the cover of the book, they have cast her as a blonde. What???

Pictured is the book with a vase of pretty yellow flowers I got yesterday.

The After Christmas Haze

At 6:04 this morning I’m snuggled into a comforter on the family room love seat with both Miles and Louie wrapped into the folds, just tips of noses showing. And I’m reading *so happily* the new “Mason-Dixon Knitting Outside the Lines” that Youngest Daughter got me for Christmas.

Hubby:  What are you doing up so early?

Me:  Well, I got up … and there I was … up.

Hubby:  That was profound.

Me:  I know — I should probably talk more.

Hubby:  Just not outside the house.

It’s nice to read something with big pages and type I can see easily. I am dealing with eye strain right now. Hubby got me a Sprint Moment touch phone with a slide out keyboard. We’ve discussed it for a good 5 months — when he began testing the water to see if I’d want one. I opened it Christmas morning, plugged it in to charge, and we took the Granddaughter to see “Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel.” That was a lot of fun. Many, many tiny kids and lots of noise off-screen. Everything is funnier when you speed it up to a helium-sucking level.

Anyway, once we got home, I started playing with the new phone. Just getting the touch part down took me a while. Since then I have run the battery out 4 times, which was a blessing so my eyes could rest while it charged.

The Mason-Dixon book is wonderful. Whenever I read anything by those gals, Kay and Ann, I feel like I’m visiting with girlfriends. Here are a couple of excerpts from the book:

Page 35: Tip from Leafy Reticule pattern … Why do I have to change the position of the marker in round 15?

The Short Answer: We don’t know why; just do it, or there will be trouble.

Ha!

And from Page 73: Tip from Baby Dotty blanket pattern … Make up little songs. Fair Isle is all about rhythm: 2 2 3 1 2 can be sung to the tune of “Row, Row, Row Your Boat.” If you’re a Prince fan, “I would die 4 u” also works.

Double Ha!

A couple of funny things happened over the holiday. When we went to bed around 1:00 a.m. Christmas Eve, I was so tired I actually forgot about the stockings. This has never happened before. Hubby said, “Hey, don’t we have to do the stockings?” And we raced back down the hallway past the 13-year-old Granddaughter’s room (she spent the night at our house which was so awesome) and filled the stockings.

A few hours later, she comes into our room in the dark and says, “Merry Christmas, Nana!” I looked at the clock … 4:27. I said, “No, not yet. Go back to bed.”

Then she comes back again a little later, this time on Bampa’s side of the bed (smart girl), wakes him up and crawls into bed between us. This is nice. She has done this since she was a baby … crawled into bed with us and we lay there and talk. Now I know she is past the stage of believing in Santa, but she still gets a kick out of pretending to and, of course, so do we. So we’re laying there talking in the dark and she says, “Did you remember to put out cookies and milk for Santa?” And I’m thinking, “Oh, crap!” So I say, “Of course we did. I’m going to start the oven to warm it up for the Caramel Pull Aparts,” and I race to the kitchen and choke down half a cookie and slurp some milk and run into the living room with the crummy plate and glass to leave them out. I just hoped she didn’t touch the glass because the milk was still cold.

And I get back in bed and we’re still talking and she says, “Do you think Santa remembered to put dog bones in the puppies’ stockings?” And it’s, “Son of a …” and I leap back out of bed and say I’m going to check on breakfast. Hubby says, “Should we just get up?” and I practically yell, “No!” And I run to the laundry room to get chew bones and then to the living room to put them in the dogs’ stockings. I was exhausted before we ever got up!

Something else we thought was funny … we hosted a small Christmas Eve family dinner at our house. We served Honeybaked Ham, parmesan mashed potatoes, cranberry-dried cherry chutney, pinto beans, fresh baked rolls, Hawaiian salad and chocolate bundt cake with chocolate frosting. Of course, we had a ton of food and ate the same thing on Christmas Day for lunch and dinner.

Then the day after Christmas, hubby’s brother called and said they had a lot of food left from their open house and would we come for dinner. Hubby says, “Thank God, we don’t have to eat ham and potatoes and beans again,” and off we go to BIL’s house. And guess what? They served ham and potato casserole, Boston baked beans and chocolate cupcakes. So we virtually ate the same meal again. We laughed all the way home!