Weekend Cooking: 9 Books for Food & Drink Lovers

Hello friends! It’s been a hot minute since I connected with my very favorite blogging group—all of you at Weekend Cooking. Part my absence was just needing a break and part is my lack of desire to learn the new Blogger interface. (And at this point I’m not really interested in paying someone to move everything over to WordPress.)

I’ll get the hang of it and all will be fine again.

Today’s post is a round-up of 9 food and cooking books I’ve been exploring since the beginning of the summer. Hope you find something you like here. All these books should be available at your local independent bookstore or library; note that publishing dates are from Edelweiss+ and may not be accurate.

• Modern Cast Iron by Ashley L. Jones (Red Lighting Books; Aug. 18): This book lives up to its subtitle; it is indeed a “complete guide” to cast iron and includes good information on how to buy pans, season and clean them, and even how to turn that crusty flea market find into something you’ll be happy to use. Jones includes a handful of recipes that will take you from breakfast through to dinner (we made the chocolate chip cookie skillet cake--see my Instagram for a photo). The recipes are easy and doable, but the worth of this book is in the excellent advice for incorporating cast iron into your modern kitchen.
• Dirt by Bill Buford (Knopf; May 5): I’ve been a fan of Buford’s since I first listened to his book Heat in 2006. In his newest cooking memoir he shares his journey to learn all there is to know about French cooking; never mind that he didn't really speak the language. His self-directed humor and conversational tone mixed with a natural talent for storytelling, makes Dirt a don’t-miss read. A six-month stay in Lyon, with his wife and toddler twin boys, turned into a years-long learning opportunity. You’ll be craving all things wonderful on your plate, even as you discover the strict rules and techniques that are de rigueur for French chefs.
• The Truth about Baked Beans by Meg Muckenhoupt (NYU Press, Aug. 25): This well-researched look into the culinary world of New England dissects the myths and reveals the truths of the region’s signature dishes. From Native Americans to the Pilgrims and through every wave of immigrants thereafter, every group has made its mark on household New England cooking, and—spoiler alert—most of those dishes are different from those that have gained legendary status. Firsthand accounts reveal the cultural biases, fear of the unfamiliar, and more that shaped the region’s culinary reputation. Well worth your time.

• Beautiful Booze by Natalie Migliarini and James Stevenson (Countryman Press; Aug. 25): I’m usually a wine (and sometimes beer) kind of woman, but other times I’m all about the cocktail. In these days of self-isolation, there’s something fun about coming up with the perfect afternoon, evening, or weekend drink to brighten your day and make you dream about a future when you can invite your friends and family into your house again. The “beautiful” part of the title of this cocktail recipe book isn’t a lie: the photos and the drinks themselves are simply gorgeous. I’m not kidding. The book includes all the expected information about stocking your bar, picking glassware, learning mixing techniques, and making homemade syrups. The drinks look heavenly.
• Six Seasons by Joshua McFadden with Martha Holmberg (Artisan; May 2): This wonderful vegetable-forward cookbook is just what you want to guide you through your year of veggies. I can’t wait until I can go to the farmer’s market again and explore all the freshest produce of the season; when that day happens, this is the cookbook I want by my side. In the meantime, I can use the recipes to make the most of grocery store curbside pickup. Although the recipes are centered on seasonal vegetables, this is not a fully vegetarian cookbook, so if you don’t eat meat, you’ll want to look through this before you buy it. Wondering about the six seasons? Summer is divided up into early, mid, and late harvests.
• The Ultimate Pasta Machine Cookbook by Lucy Vaserfirer (Harvard Common Press; Aug 4): I’m inspired by this down-to-earth, easy-to-follow guide to making homemade noodles. The techniques sections cover all kinds of pasta makers, from sheeters to cutters to extruders, including stand-alone electric machines, hand-cranked machines, and attachments to a mixer. The recipes look easy and fun, and Vaserfirer provides directions for gluten-free pasta too. I’m waiting for cooler weather to give these recipes a try, although now that I think about it, quarantine is the perfect time to perfect your pasta-making skills. Great photos and clear directions throughout.

• Unvarnished by Eric Alperin and Deborah Stoll (Harper Wave; June 23): This memoir has been billed as the Kitchen Confidential of the bartending world. That alone would get me to read this, but the book has also won tons of praise for its candid perspective of life on the other side of the bar. Alperin extolls the professional side of his chosen career, dispelling the notion that a good mixologist is somehow in limbo waiting for his or her "real" job opportunities to appear. I haven’t read this yet, but it’s currently at the top of my fall reading stack.
• Searching for Family and Traditions at the French Table by Carole Bumpus (She Writes Press; Aug. 18): In this second travelogue, food adventure, memoir mashup, Bumpus takes us to Normandy, Brittany, Loire, and Auvergne, where she met local families, learning about their foods, recipes, and traditions while cooking and talking at the kitchen table. If you’re interested in authentic French foods and wines, have a love of travel, and understand the importance of family, you’ll love Bumpus’s books. I’m reading this slowly, savoring every (tasty) word.
• Women in the Kitchen by Anne Willan (Scribner; Aug. 11): Willan’s books have a permanent place in my personal cookbook collection. Her latest is a look at a dozen women who lived and cooked at some point during the last 300 years and who (as the subtitle suggests) had a major influence on the way we eat and cook. I just received my review copy of this book (as in yesterday!), and I can’t wait to dive in. The book consists of short biographies and then a sampling of each woman’s recipes. I might not make Hannah Woolley’s seventeenth-century recipes, but I’ve already cooked from books written by Edna Lewis, Irma Rombauer, and many of the others. I’m looking forward to learning more!

Thanks to the publishers for providing review copies of these titles. Fuller reviews will be available on Goodreads or Instagram sometime during the following weeks.

Shared with Weekend Cooking, hosted by Marg at The Intrepid Reader (and Baker)

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Weekend Cooking: Cookbooks on My Mother's Shelves

One of the more difficult tasks that children face after their last parent dies is cleaning out their house. My mother was still living in the same four-bedroom, two-story house that we moved to in 1964. Although neither she nor my father was a hoarder, there are still quite a number of personal items that my brothers and I need to look through.

Among my mother's things were dozens of cookbooks. Only one of my brothers is a dedicated cook, so the two of us went through the books, picking out the ones we wanted to take home. Many evoked fond memories and prompted stories about holidays or special occasions, which made our job a little bit lighter.

I ended up taking only seven cookbooks, and that's what's today's Weekend Cooking post is all about.

Lee Bailey

The first four I knew I wanted to find on my mom's shelves were all by Lee Bailey (the food writer, not the attorney). Bailey had a down-to-earth attitude about cooking and used to write a monthly column for Food & Wine magazine. As I said in a post I wrote in 2012:

Bailey's books are known for their beautiful photography, not only of the food but of the table settings, rooms, people, and natural surroundings. I love that his cookbooks are arranged by complete menus. Depending on the book and recipes, he also writes about wine choices, the inspiration behind the meal, the right occasion to serve the meal, and so on.

I'm pretty sure his books are currently out of print, which is why I was happy to find four on my mother's bookshelves. I had a really hard time finding cover images for his books; thus the fuzzy photos below.

• City Food (Clarkson Potter, 1984) has menus with such great titles as "On a Ferry," "A Swell, Swell Dinner," "On a Rooftop Terrace," and "In a Painter's Loft." Yet, in true Bailey fashion, the menus are quite accessible. Here's one: Grill tuna with Creole sauce, string beans and mushrooms, oven-baked potato chips, coconut flan, wine, and coffee.
• Cooking for Friends (Clarkson Potter, 1992) compiles menus from around the world, including the Florida Keys, Gascony, New York City, and Tuscany. One of the Greek menus goes like this: pistachio-coated fish with cucumber sauce, orzo with onions and black olives, baked honey-mint tomatoes, and peach bread pudding with brandy jam sauce.
• Country Desserts (Clarkson Potter, 1988) breaks from Bailey's signature menus to give us tons of recipes for down-home cakes, cobbles, cookies, ice cream, and pies. The kids' desserts are hardly just for kids and the pound cakes, muffins, tarts, and bread puddings will make your mouth water.
• Good Parties (Clarkson Potter, 1986) covers the seasons from lazy summer lunches to city birthday parties, warming Sunday roasts, and winter getaways. A Sunday pasta dinner consists of vegetarian pasta with tomatoes and peppers, a lettuce and cheese salad, crusty bread, a peach cake, and wine and coffee.

If you ever see any of Lee Bailey's cookbooks at a yard sale or used book store, don't pass them by. Some of the ideas/meals may be dated, but all his recipes are pretty much guaranteed to succeed.

Thoughts for . . .

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Houghton Mifflin published three cookbooks: Thoughts for Food, Thoughts for Buffets, and Thoughts for Festive Foods (maybe not in that order). My mother used the latter two so much that they no longer have covers, so I had to search the internet for images (which you see to the right). So many of our long-time family favorite dishes came from these cookbooks that I had to have my mother's copies. I love that she wrote in the books and that they are so beaten up. I'm not sure how much I'll cook from these books, but I'm going smile every time I see them on my bookshelf. One puzzle though: Why didn't she own the first cookbook? Hummm.

Knopf Cooks American

Back in 2011, I wrote about the cookbook series Knopf Cooks American, which was published in the 1980s and 1990s (I think) and covered all kinds of cuisines and regional cooking found in United States, from the Deep South to the Pacific Northwest. I bought at least six books in the series and so was happy to see that my mom had one of the titles I didn't own.

Joan Nathan's Jewish Cooking in America was first published in 1994 and encompasses quite a broad range of flavors and traditions. The subtitle pretty much tells you all you need to know about this cookbook: "A splendid feast of over 300 Kosher recipes, old and new. With stories from Sephardic and Ashkenazic Jews who settled throughout this country." The book is also full of black-and-white family photos that document family meals, celebrations, menus, and restaurants. It doesn't look like my mother ever cooked out of this book, but I did find some recipe clippings tucked in its pages.

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Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page.

NOTE: Mr. Linky sometimes is mean and will give you an error message. He's usually wrong and your link went through just fine the first time. Grrrr.
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6 True Stories to Read in February

It's no secret, I love nonfiction. Give me biography, history, nature and travel writing, science and space, and everything else. The true stories that caught my eye this month cover a variety of topics, from the past to the present. Let's take a look.

Troubled History

1774: The Long Year of Revolution by Mary Beth Norton (Knopf, Feb. 11): Written by a respected historian, this is a focused look the critical months of the birth of new nation: "from the Boston Tea Party and the first Continental Congress to the Battles of Lexington and Concord." Norton relies on much firsthand sources and introduces us to figures who don't often appear in school history texts to show that American colonists felt their independence long before the formal declaration was finally signed. First lines:

During the stormy early morning hours of December 11, 1773, a vessel carrying tea and other cargo to Boston wrecked about two miles southeast of Race Point, the northern tip of Cape Cod. On board the William were fifty-eight chests of East India Company tea, fifty-five of which were successfully salvaged. The three damaged chests, each containing about 350 pounds of Bohea (black) tea, remained on the Cape when the other chests were transported later in the month to the safety of the British headquarters at Castle William, an island in Boston harbor. Responding to the sudden arrival of approximately 1,000 pounds of tea on their shores, Cape residents worked to earn it, bought and sold it, argued and fought over it, and destroyed some of it.

Audiobook: Read by Kimberly Farr (Random House Audio; 16 hr, 26 min)

Dressed for a Dance in the Snow: Women's Voices from the Gulag by Monika Zgustova, translated by Julie Jones (Other Press; Feb. 4): This volume collects the memories of nine women who were sent to the Soviet labor camps (one to a psych ward) because they or their families were accused of anti-government crimes. The stories are moving, provide eye-witness accounts, and fill some of the gaps in a history that could easily be lost to time. Among the women interviewed is the daughter of Olga Ivinskaya, the woman behind the character of Lara in Doctor Zhivago. The book includes an insert with black-and-white photos. First lines (from introduction):

When the liberation movement known as the Prague Spring ended in August 1968, suppressed by Soviet tanks, and Czechoslovakia was once again under the aegis of the Soviet Union, Soviet authorities began to persecute by father, an eminent linguist, for having participated in the protests in his native Prague. It was then that my parents started to think about fleeing and settling in the US. It wasn't an easy task, because under communism it was illegal to leave the country.

Audiobook: no information

Forensics

18 Tiny Deaths: The Untold Story of Frances Glessner Lee and the Invention of Modern Forensics, by Bruce Goldfarb (Sourcebooks, Feb. 4). Written by an investigative journalist who currently works for the chief medical examiner of the state of Maryland, this book introduces us to the woman who, though born in the decade after the Civil War, developed a revolutionary method for investigating crime scenes. Lee, a daughter of Chicago's high society, discovered her passion late in life when she met a medical examiner who told her stories of criminal deaths and bemoaned the fact that most men in his profession were political appointees instead of trained scientists. The book includes photographs. First lines:

Seventeen pathologists and medical examiners, all dressed in dark suits and neckties, sat around a long table in a wood-paneled conference room on the third floor of Building E-1 of Harvard Medical School. It was the autumn of 1944. Thousands of miles away, war ravaged Europe and the Pacific islands. The men had gathered at Harvard to attend a seminar on legal medicine, a field that would later be known as forensic science—the application of medicine to matters of law and justice.

Audiobook: Read by Nan McNamara (Recorded Books, 8 hr, 35 min)

American Sherlock: Murder, Forensics, and the Birth of American CSI, by Kate Winkler Dawson (Putnam, Feb. 11): Written by a producer of documentaries, this biography-history mashup tells the story of Edward Oscar Heinrich, who earned the moniker of "the American Sherlock" from his reputation for solving thousand of crimes in the first half of the last century. Based on primary sources, Dawson describes Heinrich's inventions, attention to detail, and "uncanny knack for finding clues." First lines:

His upper jawbone was massive—a long, curved bone with nine tiny holes meant to hold his teeth. The remainder of his skeleton was blackened by a fairly large fire ignited by an anonymous killer. Lifting up the jawbone, I examined the small blades of grass that adhered to its exterior—organic evidence from his hillside grave in El Cerrito in Northern California.

Audiobook: Read by the author (Penguin Audio; 10 hr, 43 min)

Our Feathered Friends

The Falcon Thief: A True Tale of Adventure, Treachery, and the Hunt for the Perfect Bird by Joshua Hammer (Simon & Schuster, Feb. 11): Who knew that the illegal practice of stealing birds' eggs was a thing? This is the true story of Jeffrey Lendrum, who devoted his life to smuggling falcons and falcon eggs from all over the world to sell to the rich, especially in the Mideast. It's also the story of Andy McWilliam from the UK National Wildlife Crime Unit, who was determined to put an end to Lendrum's career. First lines:

The man had been in there far too long, John Struczynski thought. Twenty minutes had elapsed since he had entered the shower facility in the Emirates Lounge for business and first class passengers at Birmingham International Airport, in the West Midlands region of England, 113 miles north of London. Now Struczynski stood in the corridor outside the shower room, a stack of fresh towels in the cart beside him, a mop, a pail, and a pair of caution wet floor signs at his feet. The janitor was impatient to clean the place.

Audiobook: Read by Matthew Lloyd Davies (Simon & Schuster Audio, 8 hr, 23 min)

White Feathers: The Nesting Lives of Tree Swallows by Bernd Heinrich (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Feb. 18): Written by a naturalist, this book starts with a simple question: Why do the  tree swallows in the author's yard line their nests exclusively with white feathers, even though they're not abundant near his New England home? This led to years of observations and non-intrusive experiments into tree swallow nesting behavior. The book contains photos and drawings and looks perfect for those of us who are curious about birds, animal behavior, and nature. First lines:

There is arguably no bird in the world that combines graceful flight, beauty of feathers, pleasing song, and accessibility, plus tameness and abundance, more than the tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor). And just by putting up a nest-box made in minutes from some scrap board and placed on a pole, I had a pair nesting by my door. In early May 2008, I happened to peek into the nest-box and saw five snow-white eggs in a bed of long white feathers. I had peeked into nest-boxes before and seen nest linings of various commonly available materials, but never anything like this. It was no fluke—such white feathers are rare, and it had cost the swallows deliberate effort to search for and acquire them.

Audiobook: Ready by Rick Adamson (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 7 hr, 10 min)

*All books (digital, print, and/or audio) provided by the publishers. Descriptive quotes taken from the publisher's summaries; descriptions derived from the publishers, skimming the books, and reading reviews. Some first lines taken from advanced reader copies.

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10 best books of 2019

December is almost over and we're heading quickly to Christmas, family time, and the new beginnings that January offers. It's also the time when I share my top ten books of the year.

This year I was surprised by the variety of books that made my list: fantasy, historical fiction, literary fiction, and nonfiction. One book was published in 2013, but all the rest came out in 2019.

How did I pick my top ten? These are books I still remember and still think about. They are the books I connected with, I recommended to family and friends, and I've talked about in real life.

I present them here in what was supposed to be alphabetical order (but oops on the graphic). Links lead to my full reviews (all books provided by the publishers).

• Disappearing Earth by Julia Phillips (Knopf, May 14): Set on Kamchatka peninsula, this genre-bending novel starts with the disappearance of two young girls and fans out to focus on how a number of other women and girls are affected by the event as well as on life in the remote northern regions of Russia. Audiobook: wonderfully read by Ilyana Kadushin (Random House Audio)
• The Glass Woman by Caroline Lea (Harper, Sept. 3): Set in late-17th-century Iceland, this haunting novel—infused with a bleak landscape and focusing on the edge of change or maybe the edge of changing states—examines the choices a young woman makes after her father suddenly dies and her mother becomes sick. Audiobook: nicely read by Heiða Reed and Smari Gunn (Harper Audio).
• The Last Whalers: Three Years in the Far Pacific with a Courageous Tribe and a Vanishing Way of Life by Doug Bock Clark (Little, Brown, Jan. 8): Written by an investigative journalist, this is a fascinating look into a vanishing culture and how the members of a small Indonesian whaling community balance their age-old traditions with the life in the 21st century. Audiobook: beautifully read by Jay Snyder (Hachette Audio).
• This Much Country by Kristin Knight Pace (Grand Central, March 5): In this memoir, Pace, a photojournalist and one of the few women to complete both the Yukon Quest and Iditarod sled dog races, shares the beauty and harshness of Alaska, her incredible relationship with her dogs, and the emotional journey that has given her a life fully led. Audiobook: nicely read by the author (Hachette Audio).
• Nothing More Dangerous by Allen Eskens (Mulholland, Nov. 12): Set in a small town in the Ozarks, this novel is about the summer a teenage boy learns just how far white men will go to protect the status quo and is everything I love in a coming-of-age story. Audiobook: wonderfully read by Kevin Stillwell (Hachette Audio).
• A Prayer for Travelers by Ruchika Tomar (Riverhead; July 9): Haunting in its truths, this nonchronologically told novel, set in the Nevada desert, is presented through the eyes of a new adult who is determined to find her friend and fellow waitress, who disappeared under suspicious circumstances. Audiobook: expertly read by Sophie Amoss (Penguin Audio)
• The River by Peter Heller (Knopf, March 5): Set on a river in Canada, this outdoorsy thriller about two college friends on a late-summer canoe trip demonstrates that Heller is a master at creating a creeping buildup of danger, holding it just out of sight so you never quite know where and when or if it will manifest.
• Tin Heart by Shivaun Plozza (Flatiron, March 12). This sometimes rough but realistic novel explores a slice of contemporary life that we rarely read about—life after a heart transplant for teenage girl who tries to find a new normality after a year-long recovery from her major surgery.
• The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow (Redhook; Sept. 10): This historical fantasy combines adventure, intrigue, and a strong female protagonist to create a memorable story of friendship, young and lasting love, coming of age, and betrayals. Audiobook: mind-blowingly read by January LaVoy (Hachette Audio). My top audiobook of the year.
• The Thicket by Joe R. Landsdale (Mulholland, Sept. 2013): Set in turn-of-the-20th-century rural east Texas, this engrossing coming-of-age story shines a light on the dying days of the Old West and follows a teenager determined to rescue his younger sister who has been kidnapped by bank robbers. Audiobook: perfectly performed by Will Collyer (Hachette Audio). My top novel of the year.

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Stacked-Up Book Thoughts: A Good Reading Week

Thank goodness I had a much quieter week than the one before. The new washing machine is installed, and although it's a little bit louder than the old one, it's faster and better, so all is good.

The temperatures moderated enough that on Saturday I spent a couple of hours on my deck reading. I loved being able to read outside for a change. I really should have been taking a walk, but it felt so good to just relax at home that I let my lazy streak take over.

I lucked out in my reading too. All three books were enjoyable and kept my attention, and today I find myself in that rare spot of getting to chose a new audiobook and a new print/digital book. I'm already looking forward to the end of the workday.

Amelia Westlake Was Never Here by Erin Gough (Poppy, May). This is a fun teen rom com with LBGTQ+ themes set in Australia. Will and Harriet may go to the same all-girls snooty prep school, but that's where they think their similarities end. Will is artistic, a little clumsy, middle class, and leans to the liberal side. Harriet is academic, a star athlete, rich, and definitely conservative. After their male swim coach makes yet another inappropriate comment, the two girls find themselves on the same side: something has to be done; this is the age of the #metoo movement, and despite coach's credentials, enough is enough. Worried about getting kicked out of school during their final year, Harriet and Will come up with a plan. They invent student activist Amelia Westlake. As the two girls give Amelia a social media presence and more things to protest (such as unfair grading practices), the students and faculty are abuzz with questions. Meanwhile Will and Harriet discover a growing mutual attraction, but is their shared secret enough to help them overcome their differences? Amelia Westlake Was Never Here follows a classic rom com plot line and is told in alternating perspectives from Harriet's and Will's viewpoints. Gough ties in themes of friendship, feminism, and economic privilege. The lesbian aspects are handled matter-of-factly, and both the primary and secondary characters are easy to envision. Fun summer escape reading. The unabridged audiobook (Hachette Audio; 9 hr, 5 min) is read by Candice Moll and Jaye Rosenberg, who both sounded believable as the teenagers. The performances were well matched in terms of characterizations and pacing, and I loved their Australian accents. (audio copy provided by the publisher)

Chances Are . . . by Richard Russo (Knopf, July 30). Russo is one of my go-to authors, so it was a no-brainer that I was going to read his latest. The story revolves around three college roommates reuniting on Martha's Vineyard forty years after graduation. The three were close as brothers in college, but this is the first time they've been together since a similar weekend in 1971 when their other best friend, a girl, left the island, never to be seen again. Despite a police investigation, Jacy's fate was never discovered. The reunion weekend shows just how much the guys have changed while also staying just the same, including their undying love for the long lost Jacy. The story is told both in the present and through flashbacks, revealing the men's secrets, the strength of their friendship, and ultimately, what happened to that beautiful girl after she stepped off the ferry. Chances Are . . . is a little bit character study, a little bit mystery, and a whole lot period piece. There's a strong focus on what it was like to be in college in the late 1960s to early 1970s, thoughts on the Vietnam War, and relationships between parents and children and husbands and wives. Russo also explores the differences between the ways we present ourselves to the world and the realities of our private lives. You won't want to miss this one. I listened to the unabridged audiobook (Random House; 11 hr, 17 min) for a freelance assignment. My thoughts on Fred Sanders's excellent performance will be available through AudioFile magazine. (digital copy provided by the publisher; audio copy for a freelance assignment)

Bethlehem by Karen Kelly (St. Martin's Press, July 9). This is a family saga set in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, when the steel mills were still running strong. The Parrish and Collier families have been intertwined since the post-World War I steel boom in eastern Pennsylvania, and the novel follows the two families, mostly in flashbacks from the 1960s, after Frank Collier and his wife, Joanna, move into the Parrish estate to live with his widowed mother and grandmother. Joanna, a South Philly native, isn't used to life on the nicer side of tracks, but tries to make the best of it. While walking her young children through the local graveyard, she meets an elderly couple and their grandson. As Joanna's friendship with this family deepens, she is confronted with choices and begins to suspect that her in-laws may have more complicated pasts than they let show. This was a fast read, ripe with family secrets and a few surprises. Bethlehem is light on period details but strong on the women's options, the consequences of their decisions, and their bonds over common issues. This is an enjoyable story that reads quickly. The twists weren't that hard to figure out and the world-building was a little scanty, but I was caught up in the women's lives. Recommended for beach or poolside reading. (finished copy provided by the publisher)

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Stacked-Up Book Thoughts: 2 Novels for Armchair Travels

Hello from rainy central Pennsylvania. We've had so much rain, I'm wondering if I'll ever get my gardens in shape for the summer. I mean it's already June 17!! Yikes.

In happier news, I've been kind of absent lately because we were in Colorado last week to attend the wedding of the daughter of our close friends and found family. The weather there was beautiful, the wildflowers were out, and we could see the snowy the Rockies (we were slightly east of them). The wedding itself was perfect and we were so happy and grateful to have been there.

The downside, of course, is coming home and taking care of all.the.things. We had a family issue (all is fine now) and I was not quite where I wanted to be work-wise. By skipping some of my reading and listening time and working through the weekend, I can now (as of Sunday night) say I'm busy but in good shape. Phew!

I never get enough reading time when I'm out of town because I'm more interested in exploring and enjoying the outdoors. I did however finish one print book and one audiobook. Yep. That's about it. Oh well; every week (or two weeks!) can't be a stellar reading week.

Pariah by W. Michael Gear (DAW, May 14). As you know, I'm a fairly recent convert to science-fiction, and the Donovan trilogy is an example what I'm loving about this genre. Oh, but wait! Did I say trilogy? Ummm, apparently there are going to be more than three books, at least that's my impression after finishing Pariah. Anyway, the short take on the main plot is that there is a small colony of Earthlings trying to colonize a new planet. They been cut off from the rest of the human worlds for a while, so they've had to adapt their cultural norms to new circumstances. But when first one and now two ships suddenly appear, life as we know it on Donovan begins to change. So what we have are culture clashes and differing opinions of how to inhabit or live in a new world. Many of the issues faced by our heroes are those faced by Western colonizers on Earth as they "discovered" the Americas, Australia, and other places. Because, of course, Donovan is not without inhabitants. And how the humans treat the native life--both plants and animals--shows that some of us haven't learned much over the centuries. Anyway, we have bad guys, good guys, people in between; we have native creatures; we have social / cultural questions; and we have lots of action, seeing as Donovan is not a paradise, even if it can support human life. Gear is great at world building, character development, and believable social interactions. Recommended series. (Thanks to the publisher for a finished copy)

Disappearing Earth by Julia Phillips (Knopf, May 14): I don't think I've ever read a book set on the Kamchatka peninsula before, but I hope this won't be my last virtual visit. This book is a little hard to explain because it's kind of a genre bender. It starts off with the disappearance of two sisters, aged 8 and 11, who do the one thing we're always told not to do: accept a ride from a stranger. From there, the mystery/thriller aspects are always in the background but don't always take center stage. Instead, the chapters that follow read almost like linked stories, each one focusing on different woman or girl whose life is somehow affected by the kidnappings. A teen loses her best friend because of family differences over how to stay safe. A woman is haunted by the fact that she's pretty sure she was a witness but can't remember enough details. A family begins to wonder if the daughter/sister they thought ran away a few years earlier might have actually also been a victim. The mother of the girls can't move forward. And we meet other women suffering from other losses and troubled relationships. Along the way we learn of life on the northern peninsula and the differences between city life, village life, and native (first peoples) life and the gap between the rich and poor and between those who grew up in the USSR and those who remember only modern-day Russia. Phillips doesn't forget about the sisters and doesn't let us forget either, and so the snapshots of life in another place do come around again to remind us that the story is driven by the fate of the girls. A book I'm going to think about for a while. I listened to the unabridged audiobook (Random House Audio; 11 hr, 15 min) wonderful read by Ilyana Kadushin. My audiobook review will be available from AudioFile magazine, but I can tell you that I was totally taken in by Kadushin's portrayals of the various women and girls. The only problem with the audiobook edition is that you won't have a copy of the map or cast of characters. (review copy provided for a freelance assignment)

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3 Recommended Books + Travel Reading

I've had a crazy spring. Between travel, my lace workshop, and the holiday, I feel as if I haven't worked a full workweek since mid-April. It's all a lot of fun, but I'm really ready to just say no to squeezing five days' worth of work into only three or four.

On Monday, I shared my thoughts on some of the audiobooks I've listened to lately. Today are brief musings on some of the print and digital books I've read or am still reading.

How Not to Die Alone by Richard Roper (Putnam, May 28): I'm a huge fan of quirky premises and characters, so I pretty much knew I'd really enjoy this novel. Andrew works for the government, trying to track down the next of kin when a person dies alone without any obvious clues to friends or family. He's a loner and is mostly okay with that. There's only one hitch: his work colleagues think he's a happily married man with two kids. Even that's okay . . . until he meets the new employee, that is. Peggy reawakens Andrew's ability to connect with others, but how will he be able to reveal all his secrets? Fun and different with characters that are easy to root for or boo at. (print copy provided by the publisher)

Time Museum Volume 2 by Matthew Loux (First Second, June 11): This is the second entry in the Time Museum series starring a group of kids who work at a natural history museum. This isn't your usual museum though, it's a portal to different worlds and different time periods. Each member of the youthful squad has a unique skill, and together they manage to get out of scrapes. In this installment they are sent to the French court of 1778, where they have to correct a glitch in time. The fun starts when the squad is given a new instructor--none other than Richard Nixon. The series is geared to a middle grade audience and is filled with action, humor, good art, a recurring bad guy, and (a little) young love. The time loop theme was sometimes hard to follow, but I still liked the story and artwork and seeing how the kids are maturing and learning to work as a team. (digital copy provided by the publisher)

The Weather Machine: A Journey Inside the Forecast by Andrew Blum (Ecco; June 25): I've always been interested in the weather and forecasting, and since moving to same county that houses AccuWeather's headquarters, my interest has only increased over the years. I've been reading this book slowly (a chapter every few days) and haven't finished yet. I've learned a lot about the history of forecasting, the science of meteorology, and the technology that drives them. The weather is one area in which countries throughout the world freely share knowledge and data. Blum visits weather stations, talks to weather experts, and tells us about the art and science behind the daily forecast. Try to imagine living in the days before the telegraph or telephone, when major storms could hit at any time, giving you absolutely no warning or time to prepare. Fascinating stuff. (digital copy provided by the publisher)

And here's what I've loaded onto my phone for listening and onto my tablet for reading as I get ready for yet another trip.

• The Shepherd's Hut by Tim Winton (Picador, June 11): a kind of coming-of-age story set in Australia. This is my first Winton novel, and I have high hopes for this book, which has won much praise. (print review copy)
• With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo (HarperTeen, May 7): The author, the food aspects, and the message to trust one's talents all call to me. Also part of #WeNeedDiverseBooks (digital review copy)
• Disappearing Earth by Julia Phillips (Knopf, May 14): This is a totally new setting (Kamchatka) for me and promises to be a combo thriller and community story. (audiobook freelance assignment)
• Ancestral Night by Elizabeth Bear (Gallery; March 5): Now that I know I like science fiction, I thought I give this much, much, much praised first in a new space opera series a try. (audiobook review copy)

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Stacked-Up Book Thoughts: Recommended Fiction in Print or Audio

Last week was a catch-up week. I've finally gotten a break in my workload, but instead of relaxing, I took care of all the little things I've let go the last couple of months and even got some yard work done. It feels great to work human hours again.

I don't think I need to tell Game of Thrones fans that the new (final) season started last night, but have you been watching Discovery of Witches on AMC? If you're in the UK or get Sundance Now, you've probably already seen it. But I had to wait for it come on AMC, so I'm stuck with once-a-week viewing. I loved the books and couldn't wait to see the series. Based on the first episode, I love the way it's filmed, the actors, and how the show interprets the books.

I started a print book and a digital book last week and finished two audiobooks. I'll have more on Bakhita and Tiny Hot Dogs next week, but here's what I thought of the other two.

The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters by Balli Kaur Jaswal (HarperAudio; 13 hr, 10 min; April 30). Even though I don't have sisters, I was fairly quickly caught up in this story of three sisters who travel to India to honor their late-mother's last request. Rajni, much older than the other two sisters, is organized and proper and maybe even a little uptight. Jezmeen, in her early 30s, is still hoping to make it big as an actress, though she's currently between jobs. Shirnia, the "good" sister, impulsively married a man she met through an online Indian dating app and moved from her native London to Melbourne, Australia. Each is hiding personal problems from her sisters. They all undertake this trip through India with mixed feelings, but they want to honor their mother's dying request that they scatter her ashes in the sacred waters of her homeland. On the surface, the novel is a light and sometimes funny sibling road trip through a country that none of them know--although when she was just a teenager, Rajini accompanied her mother on a single journey to visit relatives. Deeper layers explore mother-daughter relationships, sisters, life in India for women, Punjabi culture, aspects of Sikh religion, marriage, and other general contemporary issues. I was surprised at how strongly I connected to the sisters and sympathized with their problems. I, of course, can't speak to the authenticity of the British Punjabi experience described by Jaswal, but the story felt true to me. I listened to the audiobook for a freelance assignment. The bulk of the book was nicely performed by Soneela Nankani, who captured the sisters' different personalities and set the tone for both the humor and the more serious scenes. Deepti Gupta read the few short sections voiced by the Shergill sisters' mother.

Side note: No one is more surprised than I am to discover that I'm a science-fiction fan. Seriously, I never really got into the sci-fi television series when I was kid, and though I watched the early Star Wars movies (and even copyedited a few of the novels), I never became immersed in that universe. But in the last few years, and particularly recently, I've found several series and trilogies I love, the Illuminae Files books by Annie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff among them. So when I saw they had written a new series, described as a science-fiction epic, I had to give it a try.

Aurora Rising by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff (Listening Library; 11 hr, 30 min; May 7). The book opens as Tyler, the top student in the newly graduated class of cadets from Aurora Academy, rescues the only survivor from a centuries-old space ship. As a result of this act of heroism and the ensuing mandatory quarantine, Tyler misses the chance to pick his own crew for the peacekeeping, humanitarian, and diplomatic missions he's been trained to lead. The good news is that his twin sister and his lifelong best friend hold out to serve under him. The bad news is that he's stuck with three people no one else wanted. Meanwhile, Auri is revived from cryo-sleep, only to discover she's missed more than 200 years of history and is, within hours of awakening, already a person of interest. Before she can sort out friend from enemy in a world she barely recognizes, she's told by academy authorities to stow away in the cargo hold of Tyler's ship. The consequences of these acts, circumstances, and discoveries converge with universe-shattering consequences. I always like a book that is told from multiple viewpoints, and Kaufman and Kristoff do this brilliantly. The characters are fully realized, each carrying his or her own cultural and personal and familial baggage and each with a distinct personality and attitude. I liked the slow build up of trust (or not) among the crew and the way the six main characters interacted with each other. The revelation of the foundational conflict was well set up, presented a few surprises, and points to more adventures and discoveries to come as the series progresses. I'm being vague because you should learn about this universe, Auri, and Tyler's squad on your own. In fact, I recommend that you not read reviews, for fear of totally ruining the story. (Though Kirkus doesn't reveal any secrets.) Put this on your wish list in print or in audio. I'm going to find it really, really hard to wait for the next book. (review copy provided by the publisher)

The audiobook is read primarily by Kim Mai Guest (Auri), Johnathan McClain (Tyler), Erin Spencer (Tyler's twin), and Candice Moll (Tyler's best friend). Lincoln Hoppe, Donnabella Mortel, Jonathan Todd Ross, and Steve West take on the other crew members and one of the handheld computers. There are no weak links here; the eight narrators kept the characters consistent and were equally adept at building tension. Good pacing and expressive performances made it hard for me to take out my earbuds.

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Stacked-Up Book Thoughts: A Great Reading Week

I've reached that point where cabin fever is starting to set in. The sleet or ice or cold or snow has kept me cooped up inside and made me miss way too many outdoor walks. It's driving me crazy!

We finally started the new season of True Detective. I like it but need to see a few more episodes before commenting. We finished the Netflix series You, which started out strong, but I was less enamored by the end. We also finally watched the movie Room, which I liked. It's been too long since I read the book to make detailed comparisons, but the young actor who played Jack did an excellent job.

Here's what I read last week.

The Raven Tower by Ann Leckie (Orbit, Feb. 26): I really liked this epic fantasy--told in a mix of first and second person--about gods and humans, sons and fathers, how power travels through the world. As other reviewers have noted, some of the plot lines are similar to Hamlet (a young man returns from war to find his father dead and his uncle on the throne), but much is unique. The god Strength and Patience of the Hill has witnessed eons of the world's history and the rise of humans. Through Strength's narration we learn about the ancient gods, how they gain (and lose) power, where that power lies, what they can (and cannot do), their relationships with each other, and their complex connections with people. At the same time, we are following the political and religious goings on in the kingdom of Iraden. I was intrigued by Leckie's take on the world of the gods, which is different from that of Roman and Greek mythology. In The Raven Tower universe, gods must think carefully before they speak, because their words have the power to change the world and to change their own fate. I was also caught up in the court politics and how the paths of the gods and the humans were intertwined. Don't miss this one. I listened to the unabridged auidobook (Hachette Audio; 12 hr, 2 min) read by Adjoa Andoh, who does a brilliant job conveying the emotional depth of Strength and Patience of the Hill and the god's reactions to all it witnesses throughout the millennia. (audiobook provided by the publisher)

Good Riddance by Elinor Lipman (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Feb. 5): In a fit of Kondo-inspired tidying up, Daphne Maritch throws her late-mother's annotated high school yearbook into the recycling bin. In 1968 in a small New Hampshire town, Daphne's mom, June, was a teacher and the yearbook adviser; from that time on, she never missed a reunion of that class, updating her copy of the yearbook with the juicy tidbits of gossip and facts she learned each year. After Daphne's documentary-filmmaker-wantabe neighbor retrieves the yearbook, Maritch family secrets begin to leak out. This is a light, fun contemporary story of a young woman trying to find her place in the world and in New York. Her widowed father, snobby older sister, and various apartment building neighbors have parts to play as Daphne learns that her mother may not have been perfect and that her parents' loving marriage may have had some cracks. Pop culture, humor, and desperate acts keep the plot moving. Unfortunately one of the principal motivators for the entire novel is based on genetics, and the author got those genetics wrong. If I hadn't been listening to this book for a freelance assignment, I would have quit right there. The non-geneticists among you will enjoy this lighthearted novel. The unabridged audiobook (Dreamscape; 8 hr, 7 min) was very nicely read by Mia Barron, whose expressive performance brought out the humor and tapped into the characters' emotional journeys. (audiobook provided for a freelance assignment).

The River by Peter Heller (Knopf, March 5): I love Peter Heller, and this novel was one of my most anticipated books of the year. I was not disappointed, and The River is now sitting pretty as the best book I've read in a long while. This is the story of Wynn and Jack, both outdoorsy and from rural backgrounds, who meet at college and become best friends. They spend as much time as possible canoeing rivers, fly-fishing, and camping. They have a natural and respectful interpersonal rhythm, and easily travel and work together. While on a canoe trip in Canada, they notice the signs of a not-so-distance forest fire and thus decide to make haste to their take-out point. On that foggy morning they pass two other sets of campers: a pair of drunken older men who mock the boys and a couple camped on an island who can be heard arguing. From that point on the trip takes a dark turn as the boys' safety seems to be jeopardized along more than one front. I love how Heller conveys what it's like to be on a wilderness river--the sights, sounds, work, conditions--and his obvious passion for and knowledge of fly fishing shines. Heller is a master at creating a creeping buildup of danger, holding it just out of sight so you never quite know where and when or if it will manifest. I was completely connected to Wynn and Jack and understood what moved them, what made them who they were. Do not miss this one. (copy provided for a freelance assignment)

Enchantee by Gita Trelease (Flatiron, Feb. 5): I already wrote about this nicely done alternate history look at pre-revolutionary France and the intrigues of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette's court. Camille has inherited the gift of magic from her mother and the printer's trade from her father, but her apprenticeships are cut off when both parents die from smallpox in the late 1780s. Her older brother fails to offer Camille and their younger sister protection, leaving the girls on their own in a Paris that isn't kind to the poor or to girls. Realizing she must use whatever power she has, Camille dons her mother's enchanted dress and infiltrates Versailles, hoping her magic will help her win at cards and rise from poverty. The only trouble is that the magic of the dress lasts only so long, life at court is much more complicated than Camille is prepared for, and she is not the only magician in the palace. In some ways Enchantee is a Cinderella retelling: through magic, a poor girl is transformed, goes to court, and turns heads; but she must leave before her disguise falls apart. I always like a fairy tale retelling and enjoyed those aspects of Enchantee. I also liked the historical facts and period details of Paris: the rumblings of revolution, the storming of the Bastille, the attitudes of the rich, the fashions of court, and the new technology of hot-air ballooning. There were few surprises in Enchantee, but the ending was both exciting and satisfying. I listened to the unabridged audiobook (Macmillian Audio, 12 hr, 56 min) read by Justine Erye, who is one of my go-to narrators. She did an excellent job with the various accents and distinguishing among the characters. (print copy provided by the publisher; audio copy provided for a freelance assignment)

"Mercy" by Mandeliene Smith from Rutting Season (Scribner, Feb. 12). This week's short story comes from a debut collection. "Mercy" is set on a small family farm, where May is coping with sudden widowhood and the stresses of being a single mother solely in charge of keeping everything on track. The farm was her idea; her husband was a lawyer who gamely agreed to keeping animals, especially Pam's beloved horses. The emotional and dramatic aspects of the story were strong but realistic, and I could sense just how hard it was for Pam to move through her new reality while trying to present a strong and upbeat front for her young children. I will be reading more from this collection; the stories are billed as being about women and families on the brink of transformation. (digital copy provided by the publisher)

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Today's Read: The Weight of a Piano by Chris Cander

What if you found yourself in possession of something you couldn't keep but that was your last link to your parents? This is what happens to 26-year-old Clara, when she realizes she must sell her piano, which is the only thing she owns that belonged to her late-parents. What ensues after she places her Craigslist ad, was totally unexpected.

Here's how the book starts:

Hidden in the dense forests high in the Romanian mountains, where the winters were especially cold and long, were spruce tress that would be made into pianos: exquisite instruments famous for the warmth of their tone and beloved by the likes of Schumann and Liszt. One man alone knew how to choose them.

—The Weight of a Piano by Chris Cander (Knopf, January 23, 2019)

Quick Facts

• Setting: 1960s, Soviet Union; modern times, California
• Circumstances: In 1962, Russia, 8-year-old Katya inherits a beautiful Blüthner upright piano, built in Germany at the start of the century. Her piano and music are her passions, so when the instrument is lost during a time when she and her husband have a chance to immigrate to America, she is devastated. In 2012, Clara, an orphan, has only one physical connection to her parents: a Blüthner upright piano that she never learned to play. When her living circumstances change, she realizes she probably has to sell the piano. Greg, a photographer, wants to buy it, but Clara is not sure she can part with her family treasure. After Greg and Clara meet and she agrees to lease him the instrument, their lives are changed forever.
• Genre: literary fiction, with some historical fiction elements; not strictly a dual-time-period story
• Themes: loss, family, music, photography, the arts, the natural environment, relationships
• Why I want to read this book: I've seen several reviews that say this novel is perfect for fans of Ann Patchett, Annie Proulx, and/or Amanda Coplin. I like the idea of this book and the tie between the arts, pain, and possible healing. It's earned a gazillion starred reviews, and has a 3.8-star rating on Goodreads.
• An extra: I bet The Weight of a Piano would be a great book club pick, and a reading guide is available.
• Acknowledgments: thanks to Knopf's for the review copy of Chris Cander's The Weight of a Piano.

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A Bookish Miscellany

This week's roundup is a departure from my norm. Besides my weekly book list, I want to tell you about a couple bookish events this month plus alert you to a super podcast. So let's jump right in.

For Audiobook Fans

It's November, which means it's one of the biggest travel months of the year. And you know what I like to do when driving or flying? That's right, I listen to a good audiobook, which makes the time zip on by and the trip that much more fun.

If you're not sure what to listen to next or which audiobooks to pack for your holiday travel, put aside your worries. The Audiobook Publishers Association teamed up with 21 bloggers, who have some great listening recommendations and who are offering one of their readers the chance to win 8 audiobooks. Visit the APA's website to get the list of participating bloggers. Don't be shy, enter for a chance to win. Good luck!

If you need even more audiobook recommendations, be sure to tune in to AudioFile Magazine's new podcast, Behind the Mic. The podcast airs every weekday and is available via whatever podcast app you use and whatever operating system you like.

The really cool thing about this podcast is that it lasts only about 5 minutes! Each episode (they're up to about 60 now) focuses on a single book, which means you can listen quickly whenever you have a spare moment: while getting ready for work in the morning, when settling into your office for the day, or while walking to your car at lunchtime. Check out the list of available episodes and get ready to add to your wish list.

Giving the Gift of Reading

It's that time of year when we're reminded to be grateful for what we have and to give to those who are less fortunate. Zulily and Penguin Random House have once again joined forces to provide books to children in need.

When shopping for books for the kids on your holiday list, be sure visit the Zulily website or app and look for the Buy One, Give One banner. For every book you buy, Penguin Random House will donate one book to First Book, which provides quality books to families, children, and classrooms across the country. Here is a list of holiday books that are part of this generous program.

Borrowing Books

This week's roundup is quick look at some random books I have checked out of the library.

The Red Sister by Mark Lawrence (Ace, February 2018): This is the first in an epic fantasy trilogy that a friend of mine told me about. Here's the short blurb from the publisher: "A brand-new epic fantasy trilogy about a girl of rare talents who enters a convent to learn the art of combat and is drawn into a battle for empire." I didn't want to research the book too much (for fear of spoilers), but I think the main character is harboring secrets and powers. Reviews have been mostly glowing, noting that the world and concept are fresh. Most also mention how quickly they were drawn to the characters and their plight. I'm intrigued by the fighting nuns! Book two is already out and the final installment is just a few months away.

My Twenty-Five Years in Provence by Peter Mayle (Knopf, June 2018): you may recall that I reviewed this memoir in September. So why did I wait in the library hold line to get a copy of the book? I listened to the unabridged audiobook for a review assignment, which meant I missed out on the photographs that were included in the memoir. The library ebook became available just yesterday, so I haven't had a chance to flip through it, but I plan on spending an hour or so this weekend just looking at the pictures. As much as I love audiobooks, I hate missing out on the visuals and wish audiobook publishers would include PDFs of the illustrations.

The Feather Thief by Kirk Wallace Johnson (Viking, April 2018): Speaking of missing out on visuals, I held off starting the audiobook of this true-crime story because I wanted to see the photos while I was listening. This book is about an obsessed American fly-tier who stole 299 rare bird carcasses from a branch of the British Natural History Museum. Why? So he could sell the feathers to fellow fly-fishing enthusiasts and make a fortune. What was so devastating about this strange crime is that many of the birds were collected over 150 years ago by the famous naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace. Johnson, also a fly-fisherman, became fascinated with this story and wanted to know more about Edwin Rist, the music student who became a feather thief. The book won all kinds of starred reviews, and I'm really looking forward to being able to view the photographs while listening to this weird twenty-first-century heist.

At My Table by Nigella Lawson (Flatiron, April 2018): I have a major weakness for cookbooks. In an effort to feign restraint, I've developed the habit of delaying buying a new one until I've had a chance to check it out of the library or at least look through it at the store. Last week one of my Weekend Cooking participants wrote about Nigella's newest cookbook, and I couldn't resist taking a look. I've gone through this cookbook only very quickly, but it looks like it's focused--as the subtitle says--on home cooking and geared to cooks of a variety of skill levels. There are about 275 recipes that take you from breakfast to cocktail hour drinks and nibbles all the way through to after-dinner dessert. The photographs are stunning, and I'm afraid I can already tell that this is a must-own book. There are a couple of fall/winter recipes that are calling my name, such as a beet and goat cheese salad and a pork with prunes dinner. God save my wallet. Full review sometime in the future.

Death at the Chateau Bremont by M. L. Longworth (Penguin, June 2011): Not long ago a friend of mine recommended a mystery series set in Aix-en-Provence, featuring a chief magistrate and his law professor girlfriend. I love the concept and setting of these mysteries. It's the south of France! I expect to read about the beautiful countryside, good wine, and excellent food . . . n'est-ce pas? In this first installment we meet the investigators and learn of the importance of an excellent neighborhood cafe. Oh, and there's the murder of the count and whodunit puzzle. Reviewers comment on the vivid descriptions of the town, the chateau, and the secondary characters. I always seem to find room to add just one more series to my reading list.

I'm not quite sure who the library gods are, but I do know they like to play with me. No matter how spread out I make my library requests, all the books always seem to become available within a few days of each other. I waited months for some of these, and others I got right away. In any case, I'd better get reading or resign myself to the sadness that is returning books to library before I've had a chance to read them.

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