Wordless Wednesday 322

One of My Favorite Trees, 2014

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*** Happy New Year to Everyone. See you on Friday ***

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Today's Reads & Giveaway: Saving Grace & Tempting Fate by Jane Green

Christmas is over but it's never the wrong time to be in a gift-giving mood. Good thing, because I have a double Jane Green giveaway for one of my readers with a U.S. mailing address. To celebrate, here's a double first-paragraph teaser.

There are only so many hours Grace can stay away from home. Her husband's car is still in the driveway when she pulls in, her heart sinking at the sight. As if she should be surprised. Where did she think he'd be going at six o'clock in the evening? It was the triumph of hope over experience, she thought to herself.

—Saving Grace by Jane Green (St. Martin's Press, 2014, p. 1)

Premise: Ted's a successful writer, and Grace is a cookbook editor and stellar homemaker. Everyone thinks the Chapmans have the perfect life and perfect marriage. But what the outside world doesn't see is the black place, where Ted wields his power. When the couple hire a new assistant for the difficult Ted, Grace is relieved. That is, until Beth's efficiency threatens to undermine Grace's world. From Kirkus: "a dark romance, recalling All About Eve, where intimacy masks betrayal."

It's just a night out with girlfriends, Not the Academy Awards, thinks Gabby, frowning at her wardrobe as she endlessly pushes hangers back and forth, hoping something compelling, something worthy, will suddenly appear and jump out at her: the perfect shirt, the perfect dress.

It shouldn't matter, this being girls' night out, but of course it matters far more than a night out with Elliott. . . .

—Tempting Fate by Jane Green (St. Martin's Press, 2014, p. 3)

Premise: Gabby and Elliot have two teenage children and a solid marriage. Gabby can't imagine caring about the attention of any other man but her husband, until the night she meets Matt. What starts as an electrifying friendship begins to morph into dangerous emotional territory. Midlife crisis competes with family commitment, forcing Gabby to make decisions and then live with the consequences. From Kirkus: "A Scarlett Letter for the 21st century."

The Giveaway: Celebrate the new year with Jane Green's most recent novels. One lucky winner (with a U.S. mailing address) will get a copy of Saving Grace and Tempting Fate plus a set of wineglass charms (appropriate for Gabby's story). All you have to do to be entered for a chance to win is to fill out the form. I'll pick a winner via a random number generator on January 7. Once the winner has been confirmed, I'll erase all personal information from my computer.

Thanks to St. Martins Press for this giveaway. (NOTE: the graphic says win "1 book," but the winner will actually receive two books and 8 wine charms.)

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Sound Recommendations: Year-End Blitz, Part II

This is part two of a year-end Sound Recommendations blitz. Check out Friday's post for part one.

Set in the Scottish Highlands, M. C. Beaton's Hamish Macbeth series makes for fun, light escape reading. In Death of an Addict, the fifteenth installment, Hamish is investigating both a sea monster sighting and the alleged murder of a recovering drug addict. Worried that his beloved Highlands are becoming a staging point for a European drug cartel, Hamish goes undercover to get at the heart of the matter. Although he still has enemies in the police force in Strathbane, he accepts help from Detective Inspector Olivia Chater who is currently stationed in Glasgow. This adventure gives Hamish new experiences, including a trip to Amsterdam. Through it all, Hamish remains steadily unambitious, although he might be turning the corner in the love department. The unabridged audiobook edition I listened to (Recorded Books; 6 hr, 7 min) was read by the wonderful Davina Porter. I love her characterizations and Scottish accent. Frankly, I'd listen to almost anything she narrated. I noticed that there's another production of this book. I can't speak for that one, but I can wholeheartedly recommend Porter's version.

Heir of Fire, by Sarah J. Maas, takes the Throne of Glass series to a new level. Although I had mixed feelings about the first book, Maas gets stronger with each installment of her fantasy series. (I'm going to assume you've read the first two books.) Celaena, still grieving over the death of her friend, has been sent across the sea to murder the king's enemies. While there, she learns some surprising things about herself, her family, and the true nature of her sovereign. Meanwhile, back at Wendlyn, Chaol and Dorian are still at odds with each other and especially with their fathers (for different reasons); each must make a tough, life-altering decision. Heir of Fire introduces new characters, puts familiar faces on new paths, and fills in some of the gaps of the deeper history of Celaena's world. Lots of action and surprises. I could barely stop listening at some points. The unabridged audiobook (Audible Studios for Bloomsbury; 20 hr, 18 min) was read by Elizabeth Evans. She does a fine job setting the pace, building the tension, and maintaining her characterizations. I hope she returns for the final three books in the series.

Brian Morton's Florence Gordon made many people's best-of-2014 lists. Tough-as-nails, feminist writer Florence Gordon has always lived her life on her own terms. She does not suffer fools gladly. In the summer of her seventy-fifth year, her son (now a Seattle policeman of all things), his wife (an academic psychologist), and their daughter (taking a year off college) are temporarily in New York and in Florence's life. Told from different viewpoints, the novel examines aging, independence, marriage, fame, family, and secrets. Smart, sharp, and beautifully written, this a book that you won't soon forget. I listened to the unabridged audiobook (Blackstone Audio; 7 hr, 15 min) read by Dawn Harvey. As I said in my AudioFile magazine review, Harvey's performance felt intrusive, heavily signaling sarcasm and humor, for example, preventing listeners from making their own decisions. Furthermore, her characterizations and accents were inconsistent. Read this one in print; it deserves to be savored.

Although I had some issues with the plotting of the Wolves of Mercy Falls series, I've always loved Maggie Stiefvater's writing, her characters, and her imagined worlds. I'm not sure why I waited so long to listen to the Raven Cycle--The Raven Boys; The Dream Thieves; and Lily Blue, Blue Lily--but I'm glad I'm caught up, even if I now have to wait for the final installment. This fantasy (paranormal) series takes place in Virginia and in modern times. Local teen Blue Sargent has grown up in a house full of women, all of whom (except her) are psychic and make their living giving readings of various sorts. The town is fairly ordinary, expect that it houses a prep school for rich boys and is located close to powerful ley lines. When Blue breaks her cardinal rule of never getting involved with a boy from Aglionby Academy, her sheltered life begins to crumble. Each character is driven by different motive: Blue is cursed to kill her true love, perhaps with kiss; Gansey is obsessed with finding the resting place of an ancient Welsh king; Adam and Ronan are struggling with individual family issues; and Noah is coming to terms with an event in his past. As all gather around Gansey to help him on his quest, they and the world will never be the same. The Raven Cycle is complex, exciting, emotional, and sometimes unpredictable--put it on your reading list. All three unabridged audiobooks (Scholastic Audio; 11 hr, 8 min [Raven], 12 hr, 45 min [Dream], 10 hr, 3 min [Lily]) were read by actor Will Patton. Patton's native South Carolina accent is a perfect complement to these books. He injects his performance with a touch of appropriate creepiness, excellent characterizations, and sensitive pacing.

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Weekend Cooking: A Bowl of Olives by Sara Midda

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs. 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. For more information, see the welcome post.

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Sara Midda's A Bowl of Olives is one of those books that makes me wish I were more artistic. This mix of  memoir, thoughts, journal, and sketchbook is such a sweet, pretty book that I'm sure everyone who pages through it ends up smiling.

In this small tome, Midda tackles all manor of random foodie topics, such as eating outside, olives, figs, food memories, dinner plates, and visits to the market. Each page is copiously illustrated with hand lettering, photographs, watercolors, and/or black-and-white sketches. Before you even start to read, you'll want to take some time just to look at the artwork.

But don't forget to read the text. Midda's prose is charming, whether she is reminiscing about food in Italy, describing some favorite picnics, commenting on how to set a table, or thinking about salads.

Pick up two copies of A Bowl of Olives: one for yourself and one to have on hand for a spontaneous gift.

The scans that follow give you an idea of what to expect inside A Bowl of Olives. At the left, Midda muses about finding a mug (p. 43), and at the right is a pretty page of herbs (p. 122). Click the image to see the pages full size (all copyrights remain with Midda).

Published by Workman, 2014
ISBN-13: 9780761145264
Source: Review (see review policy)
Copyright © cbl for Beth Fish Reads, all rights reserved (see review policy)

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Sound Recommendations: Year-End Blitz, Part I

This is part one of a year-end Sound Recommendations blitz. Come back Monday for part two.

The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith (J. K. Rowling) is the second installment in the Cormoran Strike series. The plot is particularly fun because it involves an author, a scandalous manuscript, infidelity, murder, and revenge. The foundations of the mystery are solidly built and the clues are well placed. As with any good series, however, this one gives us more than the current crime. Cormoran and his assistant, Robin, are sympathetic characters with a complicated relationship, and we learn more about each one's personal life. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens with them, both together and separately. The unabridged audiobook (Hachette Audio, 17 hr, 22 min) was read by Robert Glenister, who also narrated the first book in the series. Glenister's performance is perfect for Galbraith's prose: he enhances the tension, has a good sense of pacing, creates consistent and believable characterizations, and helps listeners tell the difference between narrative prose, dialogue, and interior thoughts.

When everyone was reading and talking about Jill Lepore's The Secret History of Wonder Woman, I thought I'd give it a try. Despite the title, the book is really about the early feminist movement as well as the secret life of William Moulton Marston, creator of the superhero. Based on primary sources, Lepore discusses, among other things, Marston's unconventional home life, his development of the lie detector, and his connection with Margaret Sanger and how all these experiences influenced Wonder Woman's character, deep history, and even her costume. Although I remained interested, I was not as wowed by the book as others. My bad reaction is almost entirely the result of the audiobook production (Random House Audio; 9 hr, 5 min). The unabridged edition is read by author Jill Lepore, who is way too dramatic, with almost comical characterizations (no pun intended). Unfortunately, she pretty much ruined her own book. If you have any interest in the women's rights movement or in comics, add this to your reading list--just be sure to pick up the print or eBook version.

When I first started this blog, I often wrote about books I DNF'd (did not finish). Now I rarely do. But I picked up City of Dark Magic by Magnus Flyte based on some positive reviews from trusted bloggers when the book first came out (in 2012) and because it was an Indie Next pick. I bought the paperback but never got to it. Last month, I decided to try the audiobook. I'm so so sorry I wasted an Audible credit on this. The story had all the right elements for me: a bit of mystery, music, time travel, and a little paranormal. Maybe I didn't give it enough of a chance, but I felt it was a little too . . . I don't know . . . commercial(?) for me. I like escape reading as much as the next person, but this book never drew me in. The audiobook (Penguin Audio; 13 hr, 33 min) was read by Natalie Gold. Although Gold's accents could have been more believable, her narration (the parts I heard) was at least adequate. Either I wasn't in the mood or this book wasn't for me.

One of my top nonfiction reads this year was Eula Biss's On Immunity, a collection of interlinked essays on inoculation. Based on thorough research and personal experience, Biss presents many perspectives on vaccination and protecting our children and society from disease. She examines the veracity of popular opinion, the individual's responsibility to society, medical evidence, research results, and historical facts. I liked the mix of sources, which included not only the expected medical journals but also parents, social commentators (Rachel Carson, Susan Sontag), and her father (a practicing physician). This is an extremely accessible and easy-to-read account of a controversial subject. The audiobook (HighBridge; 6 hr, 23 min), was read by Tamara Marston, who found that magical place where listeners forget that the narrator is not the author. She managed to maintain the personal, conversational tone of the book without detracting from the scholarship. For my full audiobook review, see AudioFile magazine.

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