Making Toast

Making Toast by Roger Rosenblatt

Synopsis(from Barnes and Noble)

When his daughter, Amy, died suddenly of a heart condition, Roger Rosenblatt and his wife moved in with their son-in-law and their three young grandchildren. His story tells how a family makes the possible out of the impossible.

My thoughts

This book was sad but not depressingly sad. When their daughter Amy dies unexpectedly, Roger and Ginny Rosenblatt move in with their son in law to help raise their three grandchildren, Jessica, Sammy and James (aka Bubbies). You can tell it is both painful and comforting at the same time for them to take over Amy's role as parent. There are many touching moments in this book such as when Sammy lies on the floor in the same position they found his mother in. I think the grandchildren really help Roger and Ginny through the grief of losing their daughter. Roger tells little tales of Amy's life, intertwined with stories of dealing with grief and stories of their new daily life with their grandchildren. This book tells the story of how one can be very grief-stricken but still continue on. I found myself both feeling their pain and laughing at the antics of the children. It is a very honest memoir. Probably one of the most honest I have ever read. This was a quick read and I found it very touching and beautifully done.

I received this ARC for review courtesy of through EccoBooks through Shelf Awareness.

The Pioneer Woman Cooks

The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Recipes From An Accidental Country Girl by Ree Drummond

The Pioneer Woman cooks and boy does she cook well! I fell in love with her cooking abilities quite awhile ago when I accidentally came upon her blog. I believe it was the Apple Dumpling Recipe made with Mountain Dew that sent me over the edge. They are to die for! Then I moved onto the Marlboro Man's Favorite Sandwich recipe. Another wonderful taste treat! When I heard Ree had a cookbook coming out I talked about it nonstop to my children with huge hints about it being a fantastic Christmas present for a certain mother. The kids searched high and low before Christmas and could not find a copy anywhere. I assured them I could wait for a copy. We ordered one after the holidays which was ultimately back ordered. When I finally got the cookbook it was so worth the wait. Ree not only shares her recipes in this book but also a bit of their life on the ranch. The recipes have step by step pictures which I enjoy very much. No second guessing on what something should look like. These are recipes which are great for all levels of cooks. The instructions are laid out very nicely. There are also wonderful pictures of life on the ranch. This book is so much more than a cookbook.




Last night we had the Chicken Spaghetti(sorry the picture is not great, our camera needs to be put to rest, it has seen better days). The family looked at it and said "great another casserole!" I am sure you could feel their enthusiasm! What is with kids and casseroles anyway? Funny but after eating their first helping they went back for seconds! They said this is a casserole they would eat again and again. Just so you know I am pretty sure I have raised the pickiest eaters on the planet so the fact that they ate it and liked it was amazing. It was very simple to make too. That's important for me. I love to cook but I don't want to spend the whole day making a meal.

I highly recommend this cookbook! It is full of real recipes for real people. I am anxious to try all the recipes in this book. Everything looks very yummy!

Teaser Tuesday and Awards

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by Miz B at Should be Reading and asks you to :

1. Grab your current read
2. Open to a random page
3 . Share 2 "teaser"sentences also citing the title of the book and the author and in that way people can have great recommendations if they like the "teaser.
4. Please avoid spoilers!


This weeks teaser is from The Wives of Henry Oades by Johanna Moran, page 194.

"Henry stood too, his confounded gaze fixed high above the heads of both wives. His son was nearly a man. His baby was a little girl he shouldn't know, but somehow did."

Next up are two awards I received.




I received The Prolific Blogger Award from Laura at Library Of Clean Reads. Thank you Laura for thinking of me! I have received this one before so I am just posting my link to that post here.



Next up is the I'm Going Places Award which I received from Joyful Journey.

This award means `Your really going places baby`.

The rules are:
- link back to the blogger who sent me this award
- post where I would like to be in 10 years
- pass it on to 10 awesome bloggers

In ten years I hope to have all the books in my TBR stash read, lol! Boy, the family would love that one! They are taking over the house!

As far as passing these awards on I am passing them on to you! If you are reading this post, these awards are for you! I hate the thought of anyone feeling left out! Feel free to post them on your blog and pass them on. Thank you so much to Laura and Joyful! Be sure to visit their blogs too as they are both great!

Mailbox Monday

Mailbox Monday is a meme where you can post what books came into your home during the week. It is hosted by Marcia over at The Printed Page. Go on over and check it out. Be warned though it can lead to large TBR piles and wish lists!



The Poacher's Son by Paul Doiron

Publishers Weekly(from Barnes and Noble)

Down East editor-in-chief Doiron takes a provocative look at the ties between fathers and sons, unconditional love, and Maine’s changing landscape in his outstanding debut. Game warden Mike Bowditch, who hasn’t heard from his dad, Jack Bowditch, in two years, wonders what the man wants from him after he comes home late one night and finds Jack has left a cryptic message on his answering machine. Mike later learns Jack is the prime suspect in the shooting murders of a cop and a timber company executive. Jack, a brutal alcoholic, makes his living poaching game, but Mike can’t believe Jack is a cold-blooded killer. Mike’s belief in his father puts his job at risk, alienates him from the police, and drives him further away from the woman he loves. Fans of C.J. Box and Nevada Barr will appreciate the vivid wilderness scenes. Equally a story of relationships and an outdoor adventure, this evocative thriller is sure to put Doiron on several 2010 must-read lists. 100,000 first printing; author tour.

I received this courtesy of the Barnes and Noble First Look Book Club.





Seized: A Sea Captain's Adventures Battling Scoundrels and Pirates While Recovering Stolen Ships in the World's Most Troubled Waters by Max Hardberger

Synopsis

Seized throws open the hatch on the shadowy world of maritime shipping, where third-world governments place exorbitant liens against ships, pirates seize commercial vessels with impunity, crooks and con artists reign supreme on the docks and in the shipyards-and hapless owners have to rely on sea captain Max Hardberger to recapture their ships and win justice on the high seas.

A ship captain, airplane pilot, lawyer, teacher, writer, adventurer, and raconteur, Max Hardberger recovers stolen freighters for a living. In Seized, he takes us on a real-life journey into the mysterious world of freighters and shipping, where fortunes are made and lost by the whims of the waves. Desperate owners hire Max Hardberger to "extract" or steal back ships that have been illegitimately seized by putting together a mission-impossible team to sail them into international waters under cover of darkness. It's a high stakes assignment-if Max or his crew are caught, they risk imprisonment or death.

Seized takes readers behind the scenes of the multibillion dollar maritime industry, as he recounts his efforts to retrieve freighters and other vessels from New Orleans to the Caribbean, from East Germany to Vladivostak, Russia, and from Greece to Guatemala. He resorts to everything from disco dancing to women of the night to distract the shipyard guards, from bribes to voodoo doctors to divert attention and buy the time he needs to sail a ship out of a foreign port without clearance. Seized is adventure nonfiction at its best.

I received this courtesy of Barnes and Noble Sneak Peek Program

Letter To My Daughter

Letter To My Daughter by George Bishop

This book was a nice surprise. When Laura's daughter runs away on the eve of her fifteenth birthday after a disagreement, Laura is sick with worry. She decides to write her daughter a letter in which she tells about her experiences as a teenager and daughter. As a teen, Laura was involved with a young man who her parents did not approve of. He enlists in the army and goes to Vietnam hoping Laura will wait for him. As Laura grows into an adult she does not want to be like her mother and yet finds herself in a very similar situation. The story pulled me in from the beginning. I could feel Laura's frustration with not knowing where her daughter was. George Bishop did a wonderful job capturing the dynamics of a mother/daughter relationship. I read this book in one sitting. As a mother of a daughter and a daughter myself I found this to be an excellent read!

I received this book for review courtesy of Random House. Thank you Random House!

Mailbox Monday February 15

Mailbox Monday is a meme where you can post what books came into your home during the week. It is hosted by Marcia over at The Printed Page. Go on over and check it out. Be warned though it can lead to large TBR piles and wish lists!



I received one book this week courtesy of Bloomsbury/Shelf Awareness.

Mornings in Jenin by Susan Abulhawa

Synopsis(borrowed from B&N)

A heart-wrenching, powerfully written novel that could do for Palestine what The Kite Runner did for Afghanistan.

Forcibly removed from the ancient village of Ein Hod by the newly formed state of Israel in 1948, the Abulhejas are moved into the Jenin refugee camp. There, exiled from his beloved olive groves, the family patriarch languishes of a broken heart, his eldest son fathers a family and falls victim to an Israeli bullet, and his grandchildren struggle against tragedy toward freedom, peace, and home. This is the Palestinian story, told as never before, through four generations of a single family.

The very precariousness of existence in the camps quickens life itself. Amal, the patriarch's bright granddaughter, feels this with certainty when she discovers the joys of young friendship and first love and especially when she loses her adored father, who read to her daily as a young girl in the quiet of the early dawn. Through Amal we get the stories of her twin brothers, one who is kidnapped by an Israeli soldier and raised Jewish; the other who sacrifices everything for the Palestinian cause. Amal’s own dramatic story threads between the major Palestinian-Israeli clashes of three decades; it is one of love and loss, of childhood, marriage, and parenthood, and finally of the need to share her history with her daughter, to preserve the greatest love she has.

Previously published in a hardcover edition with a limited run under the title The Scar of David, this powerful novel is now available in a fully revised, newly titled paperback edition. The deep and moving humanity of Mornings in Jenin forces us to take a fresh look at one of thedefining political conflicts of our lifetimes.

What wonderful books made their way into your home?

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day to all who read my little old blog! I do appreciate each and everyone of you!

Award time

I received this award awhile back from Joyful over at Joyful Journey Thank you for thinking of me! I do appreciate!

Now I am supposed to list 10 things about me.

1. I love old movies.
2. I played the violin for many years growing up.
3. I enjoy cooking but not so much the cleaning up afterwards.
4. I love to go on picnics.
5. I like to sew a little even though I am not great at it.
6. I am addicted to Wii bowling!
7. I collect old salt and pepper shakers.
8. I am terrified of heights.
9. I love soft comfy lounging socks so much that I own a drawer full of them! Hey they are necessary for reading!
10. I lived in California for 4 years.

Now I am supposed to pass this on to 10 people. Ten seems a bit much so I am passing it on to five pretty new to me bloggers. I love finding new bloggers. I hope you enjoy the award as much as I have.

1. Dollycas
2. Kay at My Random Acts Of Reading
3. Amy at Passages to the Past
4. Justmom at My Round File
5. Pinklili at Sandals and Snowshoes

One Amazing Thing

One Amazing Thing by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

One Amazing Thing is about a group of 9 people who are trapped in an Indian passport and visa office somewhere in the U.S. To pass the time and comfort themselves they take turn telling one amazing thing that happened in their lives. Some are good things and some not so good. We also learn a bit about each character and why they were in the office seeking a passport/visa to India. Some characters were more likable than others. I like the author's writing style. It almost felt like a book of short stories intertwined with the main story which was being trapped in the earthquake. After reading their amazing stories, I concluded that each character was trapped in other ways in their lives not just trapped in a building after an earthquake. It was very different from the books I have read lately. I have read the last page and a half over several times and I'm not sure how I felt about the ending. I felt left hanging. I guess I like my endings cut and dry. Other than the ending I enjoyed the book. Reading this book right after the earthquake in Haiti felt very surreal to me.

(I received this book from Voice through Shelf Awareness for review. Thank you to Voice!)

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

-Grab your current read

-Open to a random page

-Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

-BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

-Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!



My Teaser;

"We were off, but I couldn't keep myself from looking back out the window as the carriage pulled away. Sukey was frantic, and Papa was having a hard time holding her as she kicked and hit, trying to break free.
Inside the carriage, Miss Martha's screams spoke for me."

"The Kitchen House" by Kathleen Grissom, pg. 171

Mailbox Monday February 8

Mailbox Monday is a meme where you can post what books came into your home during the week. It is hosted by Marcia over at The Printed Page. Go on over and check it out. Be warned though it can lead to large TBR piles and wish lists!



First off is The Kitchen House by Katherine Grissom.

Synopsis (from Barnes and Noble)


When a white servant girl violates the order of plantation society, she unleashes a tragedy that exposes the worst and best in the people she has come to call her family.
Orphaned while onboard ship from Ireland, seven-year-old Lavinia arrives on the steps of a tobacco plantation where she is to live and work with the slaves of the kitchen house. Under the care of Belle, the master's illegitimate daughter, Lavinia becomes deeply bonded to her adopted family, though she is set apart from them by her white skin.

Eventually, Lavinia is accepted into the world of the big house, where the master is absent and the mistress battles opium addiction. Lavinia finds herself perilously straddling two very different worlds. When she is forced to make a choice, loyalties are brought into question, dangerous truths are laid bare, and lives are put at risk.

The Kitchen House is a tragic story of page-turning suspense, exploring the meaning of family, where love and loyalty prevail.

I received this book courtesy of the author. Thank you so much Katherine! In exchanging emails we both realized we both loved The Five Little Peppers and How They Grew in our younger days. Anywho, The Kitchen House sounds wonderful and I can't wait to dig into it!

Next up is Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

Synopsis (from Barnes and Noble)
What if you had only one day to live? What would you do? Who would you kiss? And how far would you go to save your own life?

Samantha Kingston has it all: the world’s most crush-worthy boyfriend, three amazing best friends, and first pick of everything at Thomas Jefferson High, from the best table in the cafeteria to the choicest parking spot. Friday, February 12 should be just another day in her charmed life.

Instead, it turns out to be her last.

Fortunately, she gets a second chance. Seven chances, in fact. Reliving her last day during one miraculous week, she will untangle the mystery surrounding her death—and discover the true value of everything she is in danger of losing.

I received this book as part of the B&N First Look Book Club.

What fun books made their way into your home?

Teaser Tuesdays

I am participating In Teaser Tuesdays for the very first time today. Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

Grab your current read

Open to a random page

Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!



My teaser

"She drank three cups of water and splashed water on her neck, amazed at how normal this simple action made her feel. The pain in her wrist was still there, but like a nagging old relative to whose complaints she had grown accustomed."

One Amazing Thing by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni(page 40)

Mailbox Monday February 1

Mailbox Monday is a meme where you can post what books came into your home during the week. It is hosted by Marcia over at The Printed Page. Go on over and check it out. Be warned though it can lead to large TBR piles and wish lists!




I received this book from Ecco Marketing through Shelf Awareness. Thank you to Ecco.

Making Toast by Roger Rosenblatt

Synopsis(borrowed from Barnes and Noble)

When his daughter, Amy, died suddenly of a heart condition, Roger Rosenblatt and his wife moved in with their son-in-law and their three young grandchildren. His story tells how a family makes the possible out of the impossible.

What wonderful books made their way into your home?