Baking is Life

The Art of Baking Blind by Sarah Vaughan

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


In 1966, Kathleen Eaden’s “The Art of Baking” became Britain’s “Joy of Cooking.” Eaden was the “face” of her husband’s grocery store chain and has recently died, and the company is looking for a new expert baker. Five amateurs are selected to compete for the title. (A contest, not reality show, BTW—but you’ll be familiar.)

“There are many reasons to bake: to feed; to create; to impress; to nourish; to define ourselves; and, sometimes, it has to be said, to perfect. But often we bake to fill a hunger that would be better filled by a simple gesture from a dear one. We bake to love and be loved.”~from The Art of Baking

Baking blind is a challenge for every pastry chef. It means baking the crust previous to filling the pie, and despite precise measurements and practiced skill, it doesn’t always fulfill expectations. In this case, the crust baked well and the filling makes for a pretty good piece of pie. The filling, of course, is the back story behind Mrs. Eaden’s “perfect” life, and the contestant’s own hopes, dreams, and realities.

The more things change, the more they stay the same—Mrs. Eaden’s struggle for fulfillment is not that different from these other women’s—fifty years later. Most women can relate to that.  Fine descriptions of food and baking along with good storytelling make for a hearty, savory pie. It’s a bit heavier than I expected, more soap opera than dramedy. Would make a good book club book.
(I received an EARC from St. Martins and Netgalley for review.) 




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Bittersweet

Bitter Creek by Peter Bowen

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Worth the long wait for the 14th book. If you've never had the pleasure of meeting Gabriel Du Pre, Metis fiddler, Montana brand inspector, start with Coyote Wind, the first entry. I own the entire series. Du Pre must help right an old wrong and clear up old murders in this welcome return of a master to his craft. Rural Montana. Cranky old medicine men. Pink wine and smart kids. It's an angry book, though, angry about lives wasted in fear and poverty and greed and hatred. And joyful, seizing the pleasures of family and food, music and beauty. Like McCall Smith's novels of Botswana, the character and the setting, the place and the voice and the stories combine to form an inimitable and irresistible whole. Literature at its best, that takes us to a completely different place and shows us ourselves.



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Tracker by C.J. Cherryh
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This long-running series is so wonderful--start with Foreigner. What makes the series stand out is its real attempt to portray the miracles and mishaps of communication between species. Unexpected actions in the heavens mean Bren does not get much of a rest after securing Tabini's rulership and young Cajeiri's heirship. Humans, as always, complicate things, but a dynasty is forming, and humans will be pulled along. A year is too long to wait for the next chapters!


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Silver Witch Shines

The Silver Witch by Paula Brackston

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


There were things in this book I loved and I want to read Brackston’s other books. (Even if they might be also written in the present tense, my least favorite way to read a book.) Brackston tells the story of Seren, an ancient Celtic shaman and witch, and Tilda, a modern day potter recovering from the loss of her husband who is discovering her own magic.

The descriptions of magic are what I loved about the book. While each woman has a love story, the love story is secondary to the plot, not really unique in the past or the present. The journey we take is Tilda’s journey through shamanic initiation, the discovery of her own power as an artist as well as a witch.

I’ll be interested to follow Brackston’s work. I would read a sequel to Tilda’s story. There are quite a few historical novelists and fantasists writing about magic in the past, but there’s lots of room outside of urban fantasy and thrillers for stories of magic in the present day. In both Brackston’s stories, modern and past, I was reminded of Mary Stewart—in a good way. Write on!

I received an EARC of this book for review from the publisher and Netgalley.




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April Book Club Book

The Movement of Stars by Amy Brill

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This historical novel is slow-paced and thoughtful, but will win you over in the end, especially if you are a woman between 50-65, or a young feminist.

Brill gives us the story of a privileged and protected young woman who nevertheless comes up against the realities of being female in the 19th Century.
The protagonist, Hannah Price, is modeled after Maria Mitchell, America's first female astronomer. Mitchell burned her private letters, and that set Brill to wondering and writing not a fictionalized biography, but true re-imagining.

Hannah’s had the benefit of scientific training from her father and his friends, but even if she achieves her dream of being the first to find a comet and winning recognition from the astronomy community and a prize from the King of Denmark, marriage means she will lose control of the money and her choices.

The Civil War looms and Hannah’s Quaker community is becoming less welcoming to strangers and those who don’t fit in. Though Quakers profess the equality of all, male and female, slave and free, Nantucket schools were segregated when whispers of abolition started. When Hannah starts teaching a young black sailor advanced mathematics, the tongues start to wag. She does develop a crush on Isaac, in the end opening both her heart and her mind. But this is not a romance—it’s Hannah’s coming of age. Confronted by the realities of church, government, and family that comprise her life, can she dare to forge her own path with the strength of her own desires—once she figures out what they are?

Brill portrays the dawning of passion beautifully in a book that is not about race, but about freedom: of religion, of thought, of opportunity.





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Adventures in Being a Professional Reader, Part II

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If it’s not obvious, I ‘m a true book addict. While I can, and have, sold or donated thousands of books over the years, I can’t say no to an interesting blurb, I’m drawn to a pretty cover.  So I was thankful to find Netgalley, and their ebooks for review. That’s good, right? The books pile up in virtual reality, not your floor. Good for the budget, too, right? Well, that’s where the rose-colored glasses need a wash. I’m incapable of not requesting a book that catches my interest. But you don’t get all the books you request, especially in the beginning. And then you’re getting more books, and more books catch your interest (you buy them) and you find new authors, and it’s actually pretty wonderful—if it weren’t for two things: digital books give me migraines—and now I’m reading to review deadlines. Not free to go back and read all the Belisarius novels, for instance, or investigate Pastrix:

The Cranky, Beautiful Faith of a Sinner & Saint, or catch up on the series, plural, that I’ve been reading for twenty years and I don’t request because I’m buying them anyway. There’s good and bad in everything, I guess.

I am grateful for Netgalley and all the publishers and publicists and reps I’ve met (virtually) because of them, but after two years, I understand the blogger who walked away. I have 400 ebooks and out of the 4K in my house about 400 I haven’t read. That’s 800 books on my to-read shelf. That’s 800 days of books for a fast reader like me, more than two years worth of reading. And I’m diminishing, not exaggerating the numbers. So it’s hard to justify the 20 books I have on pre-order—but believe me, I can justify!

Essentially, though, you pay for the books with a review. You do not have to publish a good review, but you need to turn one in. You are sometimes dealing with indie authors, sometimes with publishers, sometimes with publicity firms. You must put your reactions into words and pass them on. This is different than the simple process of assigning stars, 1-5. It requires thought and care. It takes time away from reading. The books pile up. 

I’m being more careful about my requests, but I’m not giving up Netgalley. I look forward to catching up on my own quirky reading paths, but I’ve found wonderful new paths as well. The glorious thing about a reading life is that, even if you read a book a day, you’ll never deplete that TBR pile!