Season’s Eatings

Posted on June 2, 2012 by Rebecca

Farmer’s Market Week continues with inspirational cookbooks. Sometimes just gobbling up the fresh fruits and vegetables is the best thing to do. If you want to cook with the fresh stuff but are feeling uninspired, here are three cookbooks that focus on fresh, seasonal eating. Do you have your own favorite seasonal cookbooks?

In Late Winter We Ate Pears: A Year of Hunger and Love–Seasonal Recipes and Stories From an Italian Kitchen by Deirdre Heekin & Caleb Barber

The Big Sur Bakery Cookbook: A Year in the Life of a Restaurant by Michelle & Philip Wojtowicz

The San Francisco Ferry Plaza Farmers’ Market Cookbook: A Comprehensive Guide to Impeccable Produce Plus 130 Seasonal Recipes by Peggy Knickerbocker & Christopher Hirsheimer

Day and Night

Posted on April 22, 2012 by Rebecca

Tomorrow, April 23, is UNESCO’s World Book and Copyright Day. April 23 also marks World Book Night. April 23, which is why they chose the date, is also the death date for Shakespeare (maybe even Shakespeare’s birthdate), Cervantes, and El Inca Garcilaso.

World Book Day Poster, © Dowhawon & Kim, Hyo-Suo 2012/ © UNESCO

UNESCO is particularly highlighting the 80th anniversary of their Index Translationum, an index of international translations of published works. It’s pretty cool (and was actually started by The League of Nations) and sometimes surprising–Barbara Cartland, for example, is the 6th most translated author (Agatha Christie is first). Read something in translation today (for ideas see the “Interchange” column in the Winter 2011/2012 issue of Quarterly Speed Bump Magazine.

World Book Night started last year in the UK and Ireland. The US is joining in this year with a day “to bring attention to books for adult readers, with a few young adult books to be included” and “is intended to be thousands of individual interactions and celebrations of reading and giving that day.” Books are given away (it’s too late to be a book “giver” for this year) and this year’s World Book Night book list contains the following:

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

Friday Night Lights by H.G. Bissinger

Kindred by Octavia Butler

Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card

Little Bee by Chris Cleave

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Blood Work by Michael Connelly

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz

Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo

Zeitoun by Dave Eggars

Peace Like a River by Leif Enger

A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick

Q is for Quarry by Sue Grafton

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving

The Stand by Stephen King

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

The History of Love by Nicole Krauss

The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri

The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien

Bel Canto by Ann Patchett

My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult

Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

Just Kids by Patti Smith

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Go read a book!

You Pick

Posted on April 18, 2012 by Rebecca

As you may have heard, there wasn’t a Pulitzer Prize awarded for fiction this year. That’s not particularly rare (no award has been given almost 12% of the time) but it’s the first time no award has been given since 1977. There’s uproar this time around because the book publishing industry could certainly use the boost provided by an award.

I saw this post on The Online Photographer (aka TOP) blog and I really like the idea. Go read the rules laid out by TOP’s Mr. Johnston and comment there as you see fit. If you have the time, come back here and say what book you would nominate for the prize, too–I’m particularly interested! Also, if you’re at all interested in photography, I’d say that The Online Photographer, including the well-moderated comments, is the blog to read. TOP is intelligent, thought-provoking, and informative (and addictive).

It’s National Library Week

Posted on April 9, 2012 by Rebecca

Yesterday, besides being Easter, was the start of National Library Week here in the U.S. You might have noticed how fond of books we are at the Quarterly Speed Bump. Well, we could never afford to buy all the books we want to read. Thank goodness for libraries. We all belong at our libraries. Go check something out today and show your support.

Iron Druid Chronicles

Posted on February 26, 2012 by Rebecca

Thanks to the recommendation of QSB‘s “Undulations” columnist, I just read the first three books in a fantastic urban fantasy series: The Iron Druid Chronicles by Kevin Hearne. Hounded, Hexed, & Hammered are out now. Tricked is coming on April 24th which is good because of the many directions the story could take after Hammered–cannot wait!

Definitely irreverent what with all the gods of all mythologies running around and real. The Iron Druid is Atticus O’Sullivan (aka Siodhachan Ó Suleabháin) who’s been around for a good 21 centuries. He’s just looking to “chill” in Tempe, Arizona but the Fae and some gods just don’t like that idea. There are references to Monty Python, Star Wars, Hitchhiker’s Guide, the Princess Bride, and other pop culture…how can you go wrong?! Plus witches, werewolves, vampires, and anything else you can think of that might appear in the speculative fiction vein. More literate than other current fiction (the author’s a high school english teacher). And the wolfhound sidekick, Oberon, is hilarious but believable.

In other book notes, the Armand Gamache books I raved about in this post continued to live up to my expectations. I devoured all seven of the current titles. The 8th book–The Beautiful Mystery–will be out on August 28 of this year so mark your calendars if you’ve become a fan.

100 Books

Posted on February 21, 2012 by Rebecca

Have you seen the list of the 100 Greatest Books for Kids (it’s been all over the Web so nothing new here–I’m just jumping on the bandwagon) put out by Scholastic’s Parent & Child Magazine? I’m a sucker for these types of lists. My own list would be different but this is a good jumping off point. What do you think? I really want to know what you loved, what the young people in your life love, and what you think really should have made the list and didn’t.

And what did you read over and over again when you were a kid? I was partial to series books since they wouldn’t run out too quickly. Off the top of my head (and this all seems to be what I was reading around the age of 8-10…must have been a stressful time to have to re-read them so often but I don’t remember that part):

The Mary Poppins books by P.L. Travers

The earlier Nancy Drew books by “Carolyn Keene”

The Borrowers books by Mary Norton (also her Bedknobs & Broomsticks)

The Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder

The Littles books by John Peterson

The earlier Boxcar Children books by Gertrude Chandler Warner

Almost anything by Judy Blume.

Do You Love a Mystery?

Posted on January 19, 2012 by Rebecca

I’ve finally started reading the Inspector Armand Gamache series by Louise Penny. At the moment there are seven books and I’m only on the third. But, I read the first two books in two days and didn’t wait to start the next one so I have high hopes for the rest–enough that I’m recommending them to everyone before reading the entire series.

Mostly set in the seemingly idyllic village of Three Pines (in Quebec, Canada) not too far from either the US border or the big city, Montreal, these books are mysteries and reflections on life and emotions. We learn a little about the francophone/anglophone outlooks on life and culture. We meet the extremely quirky townspeople of Three Pines. Throughout, there is homicide detective Gamache who is gentle and wise; interested in teamwork over self-promotion; compassionate; and trying, always, to do the right thing. This has stalled his career to some extent and we get glimpses of something ugly happening within his department, the Sûreté du Québec, that doesn’t look good for him at all. He is aware but continues to do his job: listening, observing, finding the murderers, and trying to do the right thing.

Book the First

In order (and you really do need to read them in order so you won’t spoil things for yourself), the series contains:

1. Still Life
2. A Fatal Grace (titled Dead Cold outside of the US)
3. The Cruelest Month
4. A Rule Against Murder (titled The Murder Stone outside of the US)
5. The Brutal Telling
6. Bury Your Dead
7. A Trick of the Light

I’ve heard the books described as “cozies” and that’s true to some extent. There are murders but little gore and guts. However, evil does lurk. If they sound interesting, give ’em a go. I think you’ll be sucked into Gamache’s world. It’s a pretty good place to be.

What’ve you been reading?

Go. While You Still Can.

Posted on January 12, 2012 by Rebecca

Today’s the anniversary of Jack London’s birth (1876). Like many, I had to read either White Fang or Call of the Wild (can’t really remember which was required but I have read both) in school. I wasn’t a fan. I’ve never been one for stories with animals as main characters–call it a character flaw on my part.

Time passed. Then my family spent my paternal grandmother’s 80th birthday at the house where she was born (now a B&B…it was a boarding house when she was born) in Glen Ellen, California. Just down the road is Jack London State Historic Park. We visited. London wrote other things? Nonfiction too? His life was more adventurous even than his stories? Did my family meet him? Yes. Yes. Yes. And I don’t know. But, it was time to start reading his other works.

I’ve been back several times because the Park is beautiful–it’s the remnants of the ranch London bought in 1905 (the year before my grandmother was born)–and so worth a trip. You can see the remains of the house he and his wife Charmian were building that burned down just before it was completed, hike to his grave site, and see the museum. The museum/cottage on the property is, well, if I ever build a house from the ground up it’s having sleeping porches just like the ones in “The House of Happy Walls.” Plus the hiking through the Park and to the top of Sonoma Mountain is wonderful.

The Park is currently closed Tuesday-Thursday and is one of the California State Parks on the chopping block due to budget cuts–it’ll be totally closed starting July 1, 2012. Go While You Still Can. Who knows when/if it will open again.

And while I’ve got you thinking about Jack London, two of his short nonfiction works that I recommend are particularly evocative of California. One is an article, “Navigating Four Horses North of the Bay,” he wrote for Sunset Magazine in 1911 (later published as “Four Horses and a Sailor”). The trip that he and his wife took by four horse-drawn carriage (the theme of the article) is still a romantic one today and visits many of my favorite places in California. His description of the San Francisco Fire after the Earthquake, “The Story of an Eyewitness,” that he wrote for Collier’s Weekly in 1906 is another piece that I highly recommend. He was in the city as it burned.

Both can be found in the now out of the print Jack London’s Golden State edited by Gerald Haslam, various other publications, and in a multitude of places on the web (including the links above, of course!).

Fontastic

Posted on January 10, 2012 by Rebecca

And now for something completely different…

I pack my camera around with me almost everywhere. It’s led me to notice things that I hadn’t before. Now I’ve read a book and watched a movie that have done the same thing for me regarding fonts. The book:

Just My Type: A Book About Fonts by Simon Garfield.

The movie:

Helvetica, released 2007.

Even if you didn’t know anything about fonts except the ones available on your word processing program, I guarantee that you’ll be noticing fonts all over the place after reading the book and watching the movie. FYI: Quarterly Speed Bump Magazine uses the Perpetua font family for no reason other than the Editor likes it and it’s pretty easy to read.

14 Days ’til Christmas: Books Galore

Posted on December 11, 2011 by Rebecca

I’m sure you realized it was only a matter of time before I talked about books again. Here’s a list of some of my favorite Christmas fiction. If you have some faves, please let me know in the comments. I’m always looking for more things to read. Five seems to be the number of choice around here, so here are five books for the day after you’ve got your Christmas shopping done. Or for the evening after you feel like you’ve been mauled at the mall.

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
How can you not love a book that starts off: “Marley was dead: to begin with. There was no doubt whatever about that.” and then goes on to debate the relative merits of using door-nails vs. coffin nails to describe the quality of deadness? You can’t beat that and the book is short, really short. Try Dickens’s other Christmas ghost stories while you’re at it.

A Charlie Brown Christmas by Charles Schultz
If you missed the TV special you can have it in book form. See which edition appeals to you–there are many.

The Christmas Train by David Baldacci
Romance aboard a snowbound train at Christmastime. Only somewhat farfetched. 😉

The Stupidest Angel: A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terror by Christopher Moore
Yes, it’s irreverent. Yes, there’s a stupid angel. Mayhem ensues. It all comes out all right in the end and you might get some belly laughs along the way.

The Mischief of the Mistletoe by Lauren Willig
This is one of the later volumes (#7) in the Pink Carnation Series and the only one so far that’s set entirely during the Regency period. The whole series is fun–set in alternating chapters between the present (starring Eloise and Colin) and the Regency Era–following the adventures of an English spy ring led by the Pink Carnation. Do start with the first book (The Secret History of the Pink Carnation) so you know what’s going on.

NB: Remember, I just link to Amazon for convenience. Do try your local bookstore first so you’ll continue to have a local bookstore.

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