Waiting on Wednesday

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Waiting on Wednesday is a fun event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine in which bloggers highlight books that they are eagerly anticipating.  This week I chose

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
Release Date:  June 2012
Crown Publishing

From Amazon.com

"What are you thinking, Amy? The question I've asked most often during our marriage, if not out loud, if not to the person who could answer. I suppose these questions stormcloud over every marriage: What are you thinking? How are you feeling? Who are you? What have we done to each other? What will we do?" Just how well can you ever know the person you love? This is the question that Nick Dunne must ask himself on the morning of his fifth wedding anniversary, when his wife Amy suddenly disappears. The police immediately suspect Nick. Amy's friends reveal that she was afraid of him, that she kept secrets from him. He swears it isn't true. A police examination of his computer shows strange searches. He says they aren't his. And then there are the persistent calls on his mobile phone. So what did really did happen to Nick's beautiful wife? And what was left in that half-wrapped box left so casually on their marital bed? In this novel, marriage truly is the art of war...

Sounds like a page turner to me!  What are you waiting for this week?

The Variations- GIVEAWAY

I am pleased to spotlight the upcoming publication of a work of literary fiction from the director of the Yale University Press, John Donatich, and to offer my readers the chance to win one of two copies furnished by the publisher, Henry Holt and Company.

The Variations by John Donatich
Release Date:  March 2012

Publisher description:

A powerful debut novel about a priest who has lost his church, his mentor, and, most upsetting, his ability to pray.
How can Father Dominic protect or guide his parish when everything he loves falls away? How can he counsel Dolores, a troubled teenager prone to emotional panic and spiritual monomania? Or James, a promising African American pianist, struggling to realize his artistic ambitions by bringing his own voice to a piece that has been played by the world's most brilliant pianists, Bach's Goldberg Variations?

Into this mix comes Andrea, a sophisticated New York editor attracted at first by Dom's blog and then by the man himself. Dom's journey from the cloth into the secular world will offer carnal knowledge, but also something deeper, a more resistant knowledge as life fails to offer happiness or redemption for Dom. In prose both searching and graceful, The Variations locates the right metaphor for our times in this story of one man's spiritual disillusion and ache for
self-knowledge.

Thanks to the generosity of Henry Holt and Company, I have two copies of The Variations to give away to two lucky readers.  To enter, please leave a comment on this post indicating your desire to enter.  Entrants must provide an email address, either in the comment, or by emailing me at Bookgirlblog@hotmail.com.  Entries limited to US/Canada residents, and no P.O. Boxes please.  Followers of this blog will receive an additional entry.  Books will be mailed by the publisher.  Winners will be notified by email and will have 72 hours to respond.  If no response is received within 72 hours, another winner will be selected.  Contest ends on at 11:59 p.m. e.s.t. on February 19, 2012.  Good luck to all!

I received an advance reader's edition of The Variations from the publisher.

Historical suspense -- GIVEAWAY

A PLACE OF SECRETS by Rachel Hore

My rating:  3 of  5 stars

The term "historical fiction" is a fairly broad one, encompassing everything from stories set in Tudor England, to Ancient Egypt, World War II, the Vietnam era, and everything in between.  In addition to the disparate time periods, these books can have different emphasis:  some are heavy on the historical details, others feature suspense, a mystery or a romance, and still others combine several such elements.  I suspect that I am not alone amongst those fans of historical fiction in having favorite time periods to read about (mine are the two World Wars).  I also love reading books that have unique settings, or that spotlight an obscure aspect of history.  In A Place of Secrets, British author Rachel Hore offers a suspenseful story that centers on a facet of history that is not often explored in popular literature:  the science of astronomy in the late 1700's. 

Antiquarian book expert Jude Gower is working for an English auction house when she fields a request to value a collection of scientific books and instruments.  The materials are located in Scarborough Hall, an old countryside estate house where her grandmother Jessie lived as a child in the gatekeeper's cottage.  Upon learning that Jude will be going to the estate, Jessie hints that she is harboring a secret that is linked to "the folly," a tower that was used for stargazing by Anthony Wickham, an amateur astronomer who owned the estate in the late 18th century.  As Jude explores Wickham's library, she begins to unravel the story of Esther Wickham, a foundling adopted by Anthony, who helped him record his observations.  Slowly, the journals reveal secrets that are linked to Jude's own familial past and suggest that the nightmares Jude suffered as a child and currently plague her young niece Summer, are the reflection of an otherworldly connection spanning two hundred years.  When Summer goes missing near the Hall and her family fears the worst, the centuries converge in an exciting conclusion.

This was a book that worked in many respects for me, and in other ways, did not.  First, the positives.  I was very interested in the astronomy  -- an unusual subject matter for historical narratives.  As set forth in the afterword, Ms. Hore used, as a template for her story, the events surrounding the discovery of Uranus by a scientist and his sister.

I loved Esther -- she was such an interesting character, strong and wise beyond her years, and I felt like I was inside Esther's mind as Jude read Esther's journals.  In addition, a gamut of human emotions is set forth through the pathos of Jude's widowhood, her knotty relationship with her older sister, and her budding romance with a man who occupies a cottage on the estate.

I was intrigued by Ms. Hore's explication of the Romany (gypsy) culture and their place in English history, which she achieved by weaving the stories of two young Romany girls, one of whom was a contemporary of Esther's, the other a friend of Jessie's.  As a whole, I thoroughly bought into the device of the tantalizing connection between the past and the present -- the thread running from Esther to Jessie to Jude to Summer. 

So what did not work as well.  Essentially two things.  I felt that the book was about fifty or so pages too long, and as a result, at times my interest would lag.  In essence, this was not a book that I "couldn't put down."  The other negative is the fact that there were numerous threads to the narrative that are all resolved ever so conveniently in the last few pages of the book.  In both these respects, I think that less would have been more.

Because I did enjoy the book in many respects, not the least of which was the quality of the writing, I would certainly be open to reading this author again.

 I received an advance reader's edition of A Place of Secrets from the publisher, Henry Holt.  A Place of Secrets  will be released in February of 2012.

Thanks to the generosity of Henry Holt, I have two copies of A Place of Secrets to give away to two lucky readers of this blog. To enter, please leave a comment on this post indicating you wish to enter. Entries must include an e-mail address either in the comment, or by e-mailing me at
Bookgirlblog@hotmail.com. Followers of this blog will receive an additional entry. Entries limited to US/Canada residents only, and no P.O. Boxes please.  Books will be mailed by the publisher.  Winner will be notified by e-mail, and will have 72 hours to respond. If the winner does not respond within that time, another winner will be selected. Contest ends at 11:59 p.m. e.s.t. on February 17, 2012. Good luck to all!

Wednesday Winners

I'm happy to announce the winners of two recent giveaways.

Reclaiming Our Food goes to Heather from Raging Bibliomania

Death Drops goes to Joy from Books and Life

Congratulations to Heather and Joy!

Stay tuned for an upcoming giveaway this weekend.

Not much here

THE DRESSMAKER by Kate Alcott

My rating:  2.5 of 5 stars

Readers of this blog know that I am an easy touch for historical fiction, and that I like to mix up my time periods.  Having seen the movie Titanic but having read little about the actual events, I was interested to learn more about the disaster.  The blurbs I read about The Dressmaker promised an unique perspective on the events.  In that respect, I would say that the book delivered, but in that respect only.  While I would not characterize The Dressmaker as a dud, it definitely will not be a memorable read for me.

The novel is loosely based on the real-life British fashion designer Lucile Duff-Gordon and her baronet husband Cosmo.  The Gordons survived the shipwreck, but were eventually vilified as personifying the ruthless disregard that was displayed for the lives of the less privileged souls in steerage.  As the novel opens, Lucile hires Tess Collins, a young woman fleeing a life of servitude in order to pursue her real talents as a seamstress.  From her observations as Lucile's personal maid, Tess senses that there is more to Lucile than meets the eye.  Lucile keeps Tess guessing -- is she a vacuous society matron, a driven career woman, a vulnerable girl harboring deep insecurities, or some combination thereof?   When tragedy strikes, Tess manages to survive with the help of a young seaman, Jim Bonney, but her hopes for a new life are  threatened when questions are raised about Lucile's actions on the night of the shipwreck.  During hearings held on the matter in the U.S. Senate, Bonney's character is impugned, and Tess must decide where the truth and her loyalties lie. 

In writing the book, Alcott used the transcript of the hearings, and grounded her story in the fact that 60% of the first class passengers  survived that night while the percentage of those in steerage who survived was a mere 25%.  From the reports of half-empty lifeboats and refusals to return for those in the water who might have been saved, Alcott has crafted a narrative that explores the notion of responsibility, and pauses to consider what price the will to survive may exact on those who do just that. 

An interesting idea, to be sure, but one that mostly failed in the execution for me.  My primary complaint is that the only individual with any real substance is Tess.  I never formed an image in my head of any of the other players as I was reading, which for me is the definition of "thinly drawn" characters.  Even the person of tough talking young suffragist and newspaperwoman Pinky Wade, while entertaining, was more caricature than substance.  I was also less than enamoured of the plot pacing.  The first half of the book dragged, though I did find myself more engaged when midway through the focus shifted to the Senate hearings.

I have been on a run of really terrific reads lately, so it was only a matter of time before I stumbled.  With so many wonderful books out there, even the "just eh" read is one that I aim to avoid.  Hopefully I'll get back on track with the early books of 2012.

I received an advance reader's edition of The Dressmaker from the publisher.  The Dressmaker will be released in February of 2012.

New herbal remedies cozy mystery series - GIVEAWAY

DEATH DROPS by Chrystle Fiedler

To be released in February 2012
by Gallery Books

Publisher description:

Nature’s Way Market and Café sells healthy foods and natural cures for what ails you. But there is no cure for murder. . . .  Even naturopathic doctors need a little stress relief—that’s why Willow McQuade, ND, takes a break to visit her Aunt Claire, owner of Nature’s Way Market and Café, on Long Island’s North Fork. But Willow’s serenity is shattered when she finds her aunt’s lifeless body on the market floor, a bottle of Mimulus lying nearby. Taken to calm one’s fear of misfortune, the flower essence clearly failed Aunt Claire . . . for her death was no accident.  But who would want to kill her? The police soon zero in on Willow herself, who stands to inherit Claire’s business and the rights to a breakthrough anti-aging cream. Desperate to prove her innocence, Willow turns to former police officer Jackson Spade for help. Together they unearth a slew of suspects, each with something to gain by Claire’s unnatural demise. But as Willow gets closer to the truth, a killer waits to administer one final dose of death.

I love to shop in health food stores, so much so that I am on a first name basis with the proprietor of my favorite one just around the corner.  However, I am not all that well-versed in the area of home remedies or herbal cures.  As readers of this blog know, I am always on the lookout for new cozy mysteries, and when I saw this one, it seemed like a perfect way to learn a little more about homeopathy while having fun at the same time.

Ms. Fiedler has written extensively on herbal remedies for well-known periodicals and she is also the author of three books on the subject: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Natural Remedies, Beat Sugar Addiction Now! and the Country Almanac of Home Remedies.  I am anxious to get started on her first foray into the mystery genre, and if you are too, you are in luck!

Thanks to the generosity of Gallery Books, I have one copy of Death Drops to give away to a lucky reader of this blog.

To enter, please leave a comment on this post stating that you wish to enter the giveaway. Entries must include an e-mail address either in the comment, or by e-mailing me at Bookgirlblog@hotmail.com. Followers of this blog will receive an additional entry. Entries limited to US residents only and no P.O. Boxes please. The winner will be notified by e-mail, and will have 72 hours to respond. If the winner does not respond within that time, another winner will be selected.  The book will be mailed by the publisher.  Contest ends at 11:59 p.m. e.s.t. on January 16, 2012. Good luck to all!

I received an advance reader's edition of Death Drops from the publisher.

Weekend Cooking is a fun event hosted by Beth Fish Reads in which bloggers share food-related posts.  Stop by and see what's cooking this week!

A parent's nightmare

THE GOOD FATHER by Noah Hawley

My rating:  5 of  5 stars

What parent hasn’t wondered if mistakes made in raising their children might well have some lasting deleterious effect? In The Good Father, Noah Hawley takes this scenario to nightmarish proportions as renowned physician Dr. Paul Allen must deal with the knowledge that his son Daniel has apparently assassinated a beloved presidential candidate in cold blood. Faced with the seemingly incontrovertible evidence that his son is a calculated killer, Allen struggles to learn the truth about the crime itself. In the process, Allen is forced to acknowledge Daniel's fractured childhood and the abandonment Daniel felt when Allen divorced his mother, moved across the country, and created a new family. A book that pulled me in from the first page, The Good Father is a work that is both wholly mesmerizing and utterly disturbing.

I have deliberately chosen not to discuss plot specifics.  I felt that would detract from the tension the author manages to sustain, one of the strengths of the book. Suffice it to say that the book shifts focus subtly, at times questioning the level of Daniel’s actual guilt, but always returning to the ultimate issue of how Allen can reconcile what has happened to the boy he calls his son.

What I will say is that Noah Hawley has an amazing ability to convey what is going on inside the head of both Daniel and his father in a way that makes the reader equally invested in these very different and complicated individuals. Through Allen’s struggle to understand how his son could have committed such an act, the author searingly portrays what it is like for the families of those accused of  infamous crimes. Hawley brings to life the heart-wrenching experience of those family members who continue to love the accused in the face of overwhelming public animus and their own conflicted feelings about the destruction to innocent lives that their loved one has wrought. Consider this passage as Allen ruminates on his endeavor to accept what his son has apparently become:

“A man stands in a crowd listening to a speech about hope. He raises a handgun and pulls the trigger, and, in that moment, extinguishes hope for everyone. Who is that man, if not a monster? Do we really need to know his reasons? Read his manifesto? If understanding him makes what he did seem right, justifies it, even for a moment, then doesn’t that make the very act of understanding obscene?” (281 from ARC that is subject to change).

I have only one nit to pick.  A good portion of the middle section of the book contains detailed accounts of the actions of several well-known killers such as Timothy McVeigh,  Texas clock tower sniper Charles Whitman, and Sirhan Sirhan, in the days immediately preceding their crimes.  In all honesty, this material at times felt flat out creepy to me.  I was also somewhat put off by the frequent interruption to the feel and flow of the narrative that resulted from including this information. As the book moved past this section, though, I quickly got back into the story, and ultimately this glitch did not detract from my reading experience.

I am not one to cry when I read -- that has only happened in two instances that I can think of. But I will tell you that my hands were shaking as I finished this book. Is it possible to “love” a book that is incredibly unsettling? I’m not sure. I will say this, though. The Good Father can’t go on my top ten list of 2011 books because it will not be released until February, but I am fairly certain it is not too early to save a place for it on my top ten of 2012.

A book that will stay with you after you read the last page and a conversational gold mine for book clubs.  Read this one now.

I received an advance reader's edition of The Good Father from the publisher, Doubleday.  The Good Father will be released in February of 2012.

Weekend Cooking (17): Review

CAKE BOSS: Stories and Recipes from Mia Famiglia
 by Buddy Valastro

My rating:  4 of 5 stars

Food-themed television has certainly come a long way from the days when cooking shows were limited to offerings such as The Galloping Gourmet and In the Kitchen with Julia.  Now, between The Food Network and The Learning Channel (TLC) it seems like there is a never ending feast of new food shows from which to choose.  Along with Chopped, Cupcake Wars, and the several incarnations of Iron Chef America, one of my long-time favorites is Cake Boss.  For those of you who have not seen the show, in addition to actual baking, the program offers an intimate glimpse into the workings of a family owned and operated bakery.  As anyone who has watched Cake Boss knows,it is the outsize personalities of the various Valastro family members that make this show so entertaining.

In this first of Valastro's books, the newest being Baking With the Cake Boss, he tells the story of Carlo's Bake Shop, and more specifically, the story of his father, Buddy, Sr.  This book is, at its essence, an homage to Valastro's father, a man beloved by his family and community.  Though he died when Buddy was only 17, Buddy Sr. still exerts a tremendous influence over Valastro's life and work.  Sad stories of the hardships Buddy Sr. endured growing up are interwoven with accounts of the near idyllic childhood that Valastro enjoyed as part of a large, close-knit, Italian-American family.   Though his father did not insist that Valastro follow in the family's baking footsteps, he finds himself drawn to the bakery as he sees the joy his father brings to customers.  I had never really thought about it before, but I was struck when reading Buddy's sentiments about the role his creations play in the lives of his clients -- how a baker is an integral part of creating memories for people at special times in their lives.

For those Cake Boss aficionados, it will be no surprise that Buddy's ample self-confidence screams off the pages of this book.  What was surprising to me was that it takes about 90 hours of filming to get enough footage to produce one 30 minute episode.  Fans of the show might also like to read the story of how the Food Network was apparently not interested in doing this show because they already had a hit "cake" show and how Buddy was then snapped up by TLC. 

Even if you don't watch the show, I still think the book is an enjoyable read.  Apart from the immigrant story that is so lovingly depicted here, there is a lot of real life drama:  the chaos that ensued when Buddy Sr.'s untimely death left a leadership vacuum in the bakery, the dissension that was sparked after Valastro began to tinker with old family recipes in order to keep Carlo's relevant in a changing food culture, and the make it or break it struggle Valastro had in learning to make sfogliatelle -- a dough needed to produce a signature Italian pastry that only Buddy Sr. knew how to "pull".  I felt like I was getting a real induction into the baking world, as I learned terms such as having "the hand of the bag" (the natural talent for piping where the bag seems to be an extension of the decorator's arm) and the idea that some artisan bakers believe that their hands are "touched by God" with the "gift" of being able to make dough behave in a certain way.

There is a fairly extensive recipe section at the back of the book that includes many of the most famous offerings from Carlo's Bake Shop.  One particular recipe, for a popular Italian holiday dessert,  Ricotta Pie, apparently came with the keys to the original Carlo's bakery established in 1910 and  purchased by Buddy Sr. in 1963.  Though these recipes are usually made in huge quantities in the bakery, the book indicates that the scaled down versions have all been tested in home kitchen situations, though Valastro stresses that quality of ingredients is paramount to achieving good results.

 

Weekend Cooking is a fun event hosted by Beth Fish Reads in which bloggers share food related posts.  Stop by and see what's cooking this week!

Two winners

I'm happy to announce the winners of two recent giveaways:

A Cookie Before Dying by Virginia Lowell goes to Amy from The House of the Seven Tails

and

State of Wonder by Ann Patchett goes to Patti from Peppermint Ph.d

There's still time to enter the giveaway for Reclaiming Our Food.

Not your usual celebrity memoir

UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS:  A Story of Loss and Gain
by Portia deRossi

My rating:  4 of 5 stars

I have read alot of reviews from readers who have started a book with high expectations, whether from hype or great past experience with the author, only to be roundly disappointed, and who are then left wondering if their feelings were colored by the high hopes they had for the book.  With Unbearable Lightness, I found myself in the somewhat inverse circumstance, yet faced with the same question.  I went into this book with exceedingly low expectations:  a celebrity memoir (sigh), with an emphasis on her journey through an eating disorder (I have read a wealth of those sort of books and thought there was not much new to add).   Surprise, surprise, though, I ended up reading this one in essentially one sitting because I liked it so much.  Now, did I like it so much because I expected so little?  As with the first scenario, I cannot know for sure.  But, no matter, the bottom line is that I thought this book was very very good.

As an adult, Portia deRossi has weighed 82 pounds and 168 pounds all in the same year.  In this candid memoir, she recounts the journey from the self-loathing that led her into the depths of a life-threatening eating disorder, to the self-acceptance that allowed her to recover and live a full and happy life as a healthy, gay woman.  She lays bare the feelings of insecurity and never measuring up that caused her to reinvent herself to fit the image of the thin, heterosexual Hollywood actress, because she did not feel she could simply be who she was and be loved.

Before I began this book, I knew Portia deRossi primarily as Ellen DeGeneres' wife.  I knew she was an actress, and I had a vague image in my mind of what she looked like.  However I never watched either of the TV shows in which she had a recurring role:  Ally McBeal and Arrested Development, and I can't recall ever seeing her in a movie.  But deRossi's fame was not an element in this book:  she was writing her story as an individual, not as a famous actress.  And therein may lie the explanation for why this book worked for me when celebrity books usually do not.

 The book has a wonderful intimate tone -- there are no histrionics here -- that made me feel as though she was sitting in the room talking to me.  She writes her story as an individual, who just happens to be a famous actress.   I believe that this compelling personal account of one woman's battle to not just accept who she is, but to embrace that person, speaks to us non-celebrities as well who fight our own insecurity demons on a daily basis. 

While this is one of those eating disorder stories that has a happy ending, there is not a lot of detail about her recovery process.  She suggests that what turned the tide for her was when she decided to eat whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted it, erasing all notions of "good" and "bad" foods.   Frankly, this was the one part of the book that did not work for me.  It simply did not seem plausible that after a lifetime of obsessing about what she could and could not eat, that one day she would suddenly allow herself to do that, and never look back.  I have to believe there was more to the process than that, and I wish that she had included greater detail on that point.




Weekend Cooking is a fun event hosted by Beth Fish Reads in which bloggers share food-related posts.  Stop by and see what's cooking this week!

Weekend Cooking (16): Review and GIVEAWAY

RECLAIMING OUR FOOD
by Tanya Denckla Cobb
Photo Essays by Jason Houston

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

This impressive compendium of essays and photographs illustrates in both words and images how the grassroots local food movement is being implemented across the country in urban and rural areas alike.  Cobb debunks the notion that the local food movement is merely a pet project of the liberal elites by demonstrating how community gardens and farming are springing up to great effect in the poorest communities.

Before diving into this book I was familiar with the CSA cooperative model designed to facilitate buying food locally, but I had no idea of the variety of other initiatives currently in place to help individuals "reclaim" the foods they eat.  In addition to detailing the wide range of projects and their differing emphasis -- some focus on the food itself, some stress the benefits to the environment, and others use the initiative to strengthen a sense of community -- Reclaiming Our Food seeks to identify the nexus between these initiatives.  In that regard, Cobb offers the following:

The grassroots food movement seems to be arising from a common feeling that we have lost our center.  Across our nation, we see spiritual restlessness, children disconnected from nature and each other, a proliferation of foods that fail to nourish either body or spirit, and a lack of community, neighborliness, and relationship.  This book tells the story of people who are seeking to find a new center, to create meaning and purpose in their lives, to restore harmony and balance in their relationships with the land, food, and each other.
Food, as the sustenance of body, spirit, and culture, is a powerful change agent -- for better or worse.  At its worst, we've learned that daily fare that is highly processed, rich in calories but poor in the broad range of nutrients needed to maintain health, benefits the corporations that produce it, not the people who eat it.  Decades of this unmindful daily fare, and the resulting epidemics of obesity, diabetes, and heart disease, are now stressing our health-care system (not to mention our collective pocketbooks) and creating the dismal prospect that our children may lead shorter lives than their parents.
At its best, however, our daily fare can be a powerfully positive force for individual and community healing and health.  This is a core value of the grassroots food movement.  (7).

The volume is divided into eight chapters corresponding to the focus of the project and each chapter contains a collection of short essays, spotlighting unique programs in that area.  There are stories of organizations in urban centers promoting the raising of livestock, beekeeping, and wild food foraging.  One essay argues that community-based agriculture can and should be considered at the development stage of housing construction as a planned asset, rather than just an added afterthought that has to be shoe-horned into existing structures. Other chapters focus on educational initiatives in schools and local food projects that are designed to preserve cultural heritages.  In addition to the stories, Cobb includes a "lessons learned" section at the end of each essay, which gives simple, detailed, and practical advice for those who wish to launch similar programs in their community.

An essay that stayed with me spoke about the Seeds of Harmony, a city garden in Oregon located in a housing development that contained subsidized housing alongside luxury condominiums. The garden became the vehicle to allow residents to come together who might otherwise have never interacted. I was impressed by the description of the "kids section" that encourages the agricultural spirit in the younger generation, thus insuring a greater chance that the initiative will continue to flourish as the garden's creators move on.

Perhaps my favorite essay, though, was that regarding the Gateway Greening Project that was borne out of a desire to "green" the city of St. Louis. One facet of the project is the City Seeds Urban Farm, sandwiched between a freeway and a hotel in an urban area, whose workers are drawn in part from at-risk populations: substance abusers, those with criminal records, the mentally and the homeless, and unemployed veterans. Reading about how the garden provided job training, a sense of purpose, and a means to re-integrate into society, was inspiring.

In the interest of full disclosure, this is not the kind of book that I would sit and read from cover to cover.  Instead, I will read an essay or two at a time. To that end, I much appreciated the fact that none of the essays were particularly lengthy, thus making it very easy to pick up the book and put it down frequently. Some of the sections were frankly more of interest to me than others, but I thoroughly enjoyed all of the photographs, which vividly brought to life the various stories.

I heartily recommend this book to anyone committed to food/agricultural issues or those who would like to know how to do more to support the local foods movement. It would also make a great gift for those who like reading about  how individuals can make a difference in the communities in which they live.

Thanks to the generosity of Storey Publishing, I have one copy of Reclaiming Our Food to give away to one lucky reader of this blog. To enter, please leave a comment on this post indicating your desire to enter. Entries must contain an e-mail address, either in the comment, or by e-mailing me at Bookgirlblog@hotmail.com. Followers of this blog will receive an additional entry. Entries limited to US residents only. Book will be mailed by the publisher. Contest ends at 11:59 p.m. e.s.t. on December 22, 2011. Good luck!

I received a copy of Reclaiming Our Food from the publisher.

Weekend Cooking is a fun event hosted by Beth Fish Reads in which bloggers share food-related posts. Stop by and see what's cooking this week!

Women can do anything

MIGHTY BE OUR POWERS: How Sisterhood, Prayer and Sex Changed a Nation at War by Leymah Gbowee

My rating:  4 of 5 stars

Last year, I read a riveting memoir written by a man who escaped the horrors of the Congolese Civil War and made a new life for himself as a United States Marine and successful businessman. Recently, I read another compelling memoir of an individual who survived the atrocities of civil war in Africa. This time the setting is Liberia, and the individual in question is a woman -- Leymah Gbowee -- recipient of the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize. Ms. Gbowee has an amazing story to tell, and she does so in a way that educates and inspires.

Before reading Mighty Be Our Powers, I had only peripheral knowledge of the events in Liberia during the decade of the 1990’s. At that time, rebels led by Charles Taylor invaded the country from the Ivory Coast. As the fighters moved south intent on deposing the tyrannical President Doe, years of tribal hatreds were unleashed, leading to widespread massacres in which women and young children were murdered in devastating numbers. Gbowee was 17 years old when she witnessed her first murder and was forced to flee with her family. Because her father was a radio technician who worked at the U.S. embassy, he was eventually able to secure passage for his family on a transport ship to Ghana. When Gbowee arrives with her mother and siblings, however, they are forced into a camp with 50,000 refugees where they lived under deplorable conditions. She begins a relationship with a physically abusive man from the camp, and by the time she is 19 she has two children with him. As the fighting continues to rage on in Liberia, Gbowee enters a UNICEF program to train in social work, but ultimately she is ground down by years of degradation and deprivation at the hands of her abusive husband and his family. After bearing her fourth child, Gbowee reaches her breaking point and returns to Liberia where she re-connects with a supportive man whose constant encouragement helps her continue her education and fulfill her potential.

Eventually, Gbowee becomes involved with the Trauma Healing Project working to help the victims of the Liberian strife. The core ideal of the project is that lasting resolution of civil conflicts can only come when there is true reconciliation between the victims and the perpetrators. Her fieldwork begins with workshops aimed at helping the disabled child soldiers, who were universally reviled, to reintegrate into society. Over the next seven years, Gbowee takes on more responsibility with the project, and begins to question why all the team leaders are men, when so much of the devastation of these civil conflicts is borne by the women of the war-torn nations.

In 2000, Gbowee meets Thelma Ekiyor, a Nigerian lawyer, and a lifelong relationship between the women is formed as they become sisters in the fight for women’s rights on the African continent. One of the pivotal moments in their movement is a mass action that they organize to put pressure on leaders negotiating an end to the Liberian conflict. The sit-in that began with just a few hundred women ultimately numbered in the thousands, and included a “sex strike” in which the women of Liberia vowed to withhold relations until the fighting ceased. The mass action, covered by the BBC, helped to empower the women of the African continent as they witnessed how a nation could be changed as the women themselves learned what they were capable of accomplishing. The efforts of Gbowee and women like her were the catalyst to progress in the stalled peace talks taking place in Ghana.

Reading Gbowee’s story from the comfort of my living room easy chair, I could not help but be floored by the tenacity and spirit her life embodies. It seems almost unfathomable to me that she was able to rise above the horrors she endured as her country disintegrated around her. It was truly inspiring to watch her grow into her own as an independent woman against seemingly insurmountable odds.

This was a book that I had a hard time reading knowing that it was a work of non-fiction, and at the same time, I had a time putting it down because it was told in such an accessible way. In addition to recounting the details of the Liberian conflict, Gbowee takes the reader inside the workings of non-profits, exposing the less than altruistic motives that occasionally account for individual players’ actions. I found it interesting to read her take on how divisions in the movement erupted once the movement gained substantial notoriety, and the attacks leveled at her lifestyle that arose as she rose to prominence in the human rights arena.

I heartily recommend Mighty Be Our Powers to those who enjoy memoirs that are about more than just the writer. There are lessons to be taken from Gbowee’s story about the role of women in the world, the need to respond to armed conflicts in ways other than the traditional, and the efforts we should make to find strength in ourselves in order to effect real change in our own lives and the lives of those around us.

I received an advance reader’s edition of Mighty Be Our Powers from the publisher, Beast Books/Perseus Books Group.    

A wonderful state indeed -- GIVEAWAY

STATE OF WONDER by Ann Patchett

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Between running a used bookshop, and writing this blog, I spend a lot of my time recommending books to other readers. By the same token, I get a lot of recommendations, both from customers and fellow bloggers. One of the authors that is frequently touted to me by both constituencies is Ann Patchett. As a lover of literary fiction, I am somewhat embarrassed to admit that I had not read Patchett before, despite the accolades that her work has earned. Well, I finally remedied this omission, having just finished her newest book, State of Wonder and all I can say is, what took me so long?

This book blew me away. Period. One of the best books I will read this year. Period. She writes beautifully. She took me to the Amazon jungle as surely as if I had boarded a plane to Brazil, and she wove a story that gripped me as tightly as the anaconda that attacks her protagonist. It has been quite a while since I have read a novel with characters of such depth and originality. Single-minded research scientist Dr. Annick Swenson spends her life among the indigenous people with the intent of developing a fertility drug for her pharmaceutical company employer and is a fascinating individual. Dr. Marina Singh, an employee of that same company who is sent to discover the truth surrounding the death of a third fellow scientist, is a woman with whom I have nothing in common, and yet, I completely related to and empathized with her from the first page. What happens to Marina during her time in the Amazon raises ethical questions in the reader's mind at the same time that it tears at your heart.

I now am keen to hear from those of you who have read Ms. Patchett’s other books. I would love to know which one of her books you think I should read next, and for those of you who have read State of Wonder, how you think her other books compare?  And, I have a fun incentive for you to weigh in.

Thanks to the generosity of HarperCollins, I have one copy of State of Wonder to give away to one lucky reader of this blog. If you wish to enter, please say so in a comment on this post. Entries must include an e-mail address either in the comment, or by e-mailing me at  Bookgirlblog@hotmail.com. Followers of this blog will receive an additional entry. Entries limited to US/Canada only, and no P.O. Boxes please.  Winner will be notified by e-mail, and will have 72 hours to respond. If the winner does not respond within that time, another winner will be selected. The book will be mailed by the publisher. Contest ends at 11:59 p.m. e.s.t. on December 8, 2011. Good luck to all!

I received an advance reader's edition of State of Wonder from the publisher.

An author to watch

CAMP NINE by Vivienne Schiffer

My rating:  4.5 of 5 stars

Debut novels are particularly interesting to me. I love the idea of "getting in on the ground floor" of an author's literary career. Finding a new voice that resonates with me and wanting to support the efforts of an unknown talent are two of the reasons I gravitate to the work of first time authors. Don't get me wrong:  I am not above following the masses to grab the newest "blockbuster" from a best-selling name. But when you stumble on a writer who has written a book that makes you impatient to see what he or she will come up with next, there is nothing better. Such was my experience with Camp Nine.

In this debut novel, Schiffer takes the reader to the Arkansas Delta where, in the summer of 1942, a Japanese internment camp was erected on land owned by the powerful Morton family.   "Chess" Morton is twelve years old when the internees arrive, and in the ensuing months, she forms a connection with the Matsuis, who have been brought to the camp from their home in San Francisco.  Chess's mother Carrie, a widow living in the shadow of her wealthy in-laws, chafes at the injustice being done to the internees, many of whom are American citizens.  Carrie's decision to teach art classes at the camp raises eyebrows in the insular Delta society and incurs the wrath of her despicable foreman and Klan member, Hammond Ryfle.  Through her work at the camp, Carrie blossoms into the artist she once was before her husband's death.  When an American soldier from her past is assigned to oversee the camp, her life takes yet another turn. 

Over the next year and a half, the Matsuis, along with the other internees, attempt to maintain their honor and dignity in the face of devastating loss.  As the older son Henry goes off to fight for the U.S. in Europe, his younger brother David, a gifted musician, struggles to reconcile how the same country for which Henry is risking his life would take everything away from his family in the name of national security.   David's affinity for music leads Chess to tell him about enigmatic snake handler and legendary blues musician Willie "Cottonmouth" Monroe, the blind nephew of  the Mortons' elderly housekeeper RubyJean.  Upon absenting himself from the camp to find Monroe, David sets in motion a series of events that will forever changes the lives of those around him.  Long after the internment camp has been dismantled, Chess comes to learn that the fortunes of Willie, RubyJean and Hammond Ryfle are intimately connected with that of her own family, when long held secrets are finally revealed.

Camp Nine is a quiet book that is sure to raise alot of noise in your head.  In her subtle and evocative portrayal of the secretive and hierarchical Delta community, Schiffer expertly conveys not just the racial divides, but the economic ones as well.  The nuances of the social strata between blacks and whites, poor whites and rich whites, and the social taboo of blacks mixing with the Japanese are artfully illustrated.  Interwoven through the story was also the longing and disappointment Carrie faced stemming from the fact that her immigrant Italian parentage prevented her from being truly accepted by the powerful Morton clan.  Vivienne Schiffer grew up in the Delta, in a town that was the site of a Japanese Relocation Center, and that experience has seamlessly translated to the pages of this novel.

Her heart-breaking depiction of the shameful treatment of the Japanese-Americans was made all the more impactful by showing how each of the members of the Matsui family were personally affected in their own particular way.  In the course of the narrative, she also provided lesser known details about this period -- such as the divide between the Hawaiian soldiers and those Japanese from the mainland who were put together in one fighting force, that could be traced to the fact that the Hawaiians had not experienced the shame of the interment camps.

One of the more amazing parts of this book is Schiffer's facility with the narrative voice:  when the book opens, Chess is an adult, looking back 20 years on the events, and in her recollections the sentiments of her twelve year-old self are perfectly captured. In the final chapter, when Chess learns the truth about her family's past, she also makes a powerful discovery about herself:

"I know that Camp Nine was something that should never have been.  It destroyed lives and separated families; it interrupted joys and brought in their stead, wretched sorrows.  But the experience was mine, too.  On a deeper level than I had ever understood, Camp Nine had defined my life.  The misery of thousands had shone a light on who I was, on who we all were, here in the Delta.  Would I have ever known these things without their sacrifice?" (126)

I chose to review this book for TLC Book Tours because I wanted to learn more about the Arkansas internment camps.  For that alone, I would recommend this book.  But I ended up getting so much more.  This is a deeply moving, thoughtful book that is at times painful to read because you know that the premise is true. 

I received a copy of Camp Nine from the publisher, University of Arkansas Press, through TLC Book Tours.  Camp Nine was released in September of 2011.

Two more winners

I'm happy to announce the winners of two recent giveaways:

MY FIRST LADIES by Nancy Clarke with Christie Matheson went to Elisabeth.

SPORK-FED by Jenny Engel and Heather Goldberg went to Rhapsody in Books.

Congratulations to both winners, and don't forget there is still time to enter the giveaway for A Cookie  Before Dying by Virginia Lowell.

Weekend Cooking (15): Review and Giveaway

COOKIE DOUGH OR DIE by Virginia Lowell

My rating:  4 of 5 stars

As the holidays approach, I always seem to up my consumption of food-related books, and this year is no exception.  This past week I discovered another new cozy mystery series that I can recommend to all looking for a light, entertaining read with a slight twist. Unlike the usual bake-shop owning sleuth books, this entry includes neither recipes nor excessive discussions of baked goods.  The "hook" to this series is the collectible cookie cutter phenomenon.

Olivia Greyson is the thirty-something owner of The Gingerbread House, a store featuring all kinds of cookie cutters, from run of the mill plastic flower shapes, to antique metal cutters that fetch hundreds of dollars.  Olivia runs the store with the help of her best friend, Maddie Briggs, an exuberant redhead with a real spark of creative genius.  Early on in the story, Olivia's mentor and friend, the elderly Clarisse Chamberlain, is found dead under questionable circumstances and Olivia is certain that there is more to Clarisse's death than meets the eye.  When a nosy mailman who delivered an important letter to Clarisse shortly before her death ends up in the hospital after eating cookies from Olivia's shop, Olivia takes it upon herself to discover exactly how and why Clarisse died.

Cookie Dough or Die features the usual panoply of suspects, including Clarisse's two sons, Edmund and Hugh, who are vying for control of the family business, Hugh's fiance Tammy whom Clarisse despised, and Hugh's ex-girlfriend Jasmine who suddenly disappeared from town years earlier.  Olivia herself becomes the object of rumor and innuendo after Clarisse's will leaves her a substantial monetary bequest as well as a vintage cookie cutter collection worth more than $30,000. 

Several things struck me about this first installment.  First, Lowell does a wonderful job with the characterizations, from Olivia and Maddie, to the lesser characters of Olivia's aging hippie mother and Clarisse's warm-hearted housekeeper, Bertha. Even the requisite love interest for Olivia, Sheriff  Del, is an authentic, no-nonsense figure, the antithesis of the bumbling small town sheriff.   Cozy mysteries often suffer from thin or over-the-top characterizations, but Lowell has adeptly avoided that trap here.

Second, I was taken with the cookie cutter angle to the story.  I loved how Lowell made the cookie cutters vital clues in solving the mystery of Clarisse's murder. I thought this was a unique and engaging way to decipher the murderer's identity.  I have read a good number of caterer, baker, and chef mysteries, but Cookie Dough or Die is my first foray into the world of cookie cutters.  Usually, in these type of cozies, the food descriptions and recipes provide the comfort and homey atmosphere, but here, it is the discussion of the cookie cutters that serves that function, and it does so effectively.

I was also interested to learn that there is a real organization known as the  National Cookie Cutter Collectors Club, and that it has it's own newsletter, Cookie Crumbs.  Lowell makes reference to a number of collectible types of cutters in the book, and one in particular rang a bell with me:  vintage Peanuts cookie cutters from the early 1970's.  I distinctly remember having cookie cutters from the Peanuts comic strip during those years.  Of course, I no longer have them, yet another casualty of my mother's cleaning efforts, right alongside my older brothers' comic book and baseball collections that would undoubtedly fetch a small fortune on e-bay today.

If you like getting in on the ground floor of a cozy series, I urge you to pick up Cookie Dough or Die  soon so that you will be ready for the December release of the second installment, A Cookie Before Dying.

A COOKIE BEFORE DYING by Virginia Lowell

From the publisher's website:
On a stormy night, Olivia Greyson and her Yorkie discover the body of a man stabbed to death—which looks suspiciously like the intruder seen fleeing the local health food store The Vegetable Plate. Charlene Critch, owner of The Vegetable Plate, has a grudge against Olivia’s cookie cutter shop, but could Charlene be hiding a secret serious enough to kill for?



Thanks to the generosity of Berkley Prime Crime, I have one copy of A Cookie Before Dying to give away to one lucky reader of this blog.  Enter by leaving a comment on this post stating that you wish to participate in the giveaway. Followers of this blog will receive an additional entry. All entries must include an e-mail address either in the comments section or by e-mailing me at Bookgirlblog@hotmail.com. Entries limited to US residents only, and no P.O. Boxes please.   Book will be mailed by the publisher.  Contest ends at 11:59 p.m. e.s.t. on December 2, 2011.   
 

Weekend Cooking is a fun event hosted by Beth Fish Reads in which bloggers share food-related posts.  Stop by and see what's cooking this week!

A new look for an old favorite

FOOD RULES an eater's manual
by Michael Pollan, illustrations by Maira Kalman.

My rating:  4 of 5 stars

For those interested in reading about the politics and science of food and nutrition, Michael Pollan will probably be a familiar name. Pollan has published several books on the subject, including Food Rules, a short collection of dictates designed to help the average person eat better. The theme of Pollan's books generally is that there is not any one evil nutrient responsible for the rise in obesity in America, but rather it is the Western diet as a whole that is the problem.  One need only to look at the diet books of the last twenty years to see what he is getting at: each new diet promises results in weight reduction, an increase in energy, or a boon in health-related vital statistics if only X were removed or added to the diet. X can be carbs, fats, proteins, sugar, white flour, take your pick. But people are still getting heavier, and still suffering from health-related issues. Pollan's advice is very practical. Eat real food, in moderate portions, essentially the anti-thesis of the processed food, super-sized Western diet. He believes that our cultural traditions are a better resource for nutritional advice than pronouncements issued by government agencies.

 After the original Food Rules was released in 2009, it sparked a debate about the state of diet in America, which was exactly what Pollan had hoped for. Through blogs at the New York Times and Slow Food USA, among others, the American people offered up their own advice for ways to improve one's eating habits. Concomitantly, Pollan happened to visit an exhibit of renowned artist Maira Kalman's, whose work is peppered with images of food, and the idea to re-issue an updated, illustrated version of Food Rules was born.

This new version of Food Rules consists of 83 rules divided into three sections designed to help the reader implement his famous tagline: Eat food, mostly plants, not too much. There are 19 new rules in this book, the outgrowth of the national conversation he sparked with the original publication, as well as a new foreword by Pollan. But frankly what makes this version special and a must purchase for even those who have the original book, is the illustrations. Kalman's work makes the whole subject so accessible and fun! Her whimsical approach is a joy to behold -- from the large drawing of a cheez-doodle that accompanies her introduction, to the illustration of the cereal box on the back cover that animates Rule # 39 not to eat cereal that changes the color of the milk.

This is one instance in which "new" really is better. I liked Food Rules when I read it the first time, but I love this new version. There is something about Kalman's drawings that is infectious -- you smile while you read. Always a good thing.

I received a copy of the new Food Rules from the publisher, Penguin Press, through TLC Book Tours. The illustrated version of Food Rules was released in November 2011.

Weekend Cooking is a fun event hosted by Beth Fish Reads where bloggers share food-related posts.  Stop by and see what's cooking this week!

Have fun while eating well - Cookbook Giveaway

SPORK-FED by Jenny Engel & Heather Goldberg

My rating:  4 of  5 stars

I love cookbooks.  But not just any cookbooks.  They have to have attractive photographs (call me shallow, but I need the visuals).  They have to feature recipes that don't require me to drive two hours to find the ingredients.  And they have to have interesting text in addition to the recipes.  As a long time vegetarian, if they contain veggie recipes that are new to me, that's an added plus.  The new vegan cookbook Spork-Fed has all this and more. 

Engel and Goldberg are sisters who own and operate Spork Foods, a  California company that provides vegan cooking lessons in both group and private settings, as well as individual consultations on how to eat healthily.  Their website, www.sporkonline.com even offers on-line cooking classes.  There is no preaching in this cookbook -  the sisters have a fun open attitude toward food and their genuine enthusiasm for showing people how to eat well and deliciously at the same time is infectious. 

One of the things I love about this cookbook is the way the recipes are presented.  The directions are clear and easy to follow and each recipe has an introductory paragraph containing suggestions on how to serve the creations.  Each recipe also has two fun sections dubbed The Sporkie Scoop.  For your smarts gives interesting, little-known facts about one or more of the ingredients, and For your parts does the same with respect to nutritional aspects to the recipe.  The only thing that I can see some perceiving as a negative is that the recipes tend to have rather long ingredient lists. While that is not a deterrent for me, it may be for those who are looking for dishes that can be assembled in a matter of minutes.

The book is divided into the standard sections: appetizers, soups &salads, sides, main dishes, desserts and brunch.  There is a list of resources for obtaining many vegan products and reading material on issues of diet and health.  Finally, a "suggested menus" section provides ideas for pairing recipes to make 12 different themed meals such as "throwback to the 50's", "fancy pants" and "hold me-comfort foods." 

When I received Spork-Fed, I do what I usually do with any new cookbook, that is, I turned to the desserts section!  While they all sound delicious, two recipes in particular caught my eye:  Crispy Green Tea Cookies and the Apple Pie Milkshake.    They are both interesting to me because I have never made anything like either of them before.  A quick rundown of the recipes in the other sections makes it clear why this cookbook would be popular even with those who don't adhere to a vegan lifestyle, as there dishes in each section that seem comfortingly familiar:  corn cakes with a smoky paprika sauce, velvety carrot soup, creamy tomato soup, creamed onions with a whole wheat bread crumb topping, scallion pancakes, potato gnocchi, sweet potato biscuits and gravy.  On the other hand, for those who have a wealth of veggie recipes in their repertoire, I daresay that there are many in this cookbook that will be a breath of fresh air.  Contemporary, cutting-edge combinations such as miso-glazed japanese eggplant, seitan wellington with a creamy spinach sauce, and pear fig and sage tarts with a roasted garlic aioli are just a few of the novel offerings.

I am happy to have added this cookbook to my shelves and I think you will be too.  In addition, Spork-Fed would make a lovely gift for the vegetarian/vegan in your life, as well as the meat-eater who likes to mix it up once in a while.

I received a copy of Spork-Fed from the publisher, St. Lynn's Press.  Spork-Fed was released in October 2011.

Thanks to the generosity of St. Lynn's Press, I have one copy of Spork-Fed to give away to one lucky reader of this blog. To enter, please leave a comment on this post. Entries must include an e-mail address either in the comment, or by e-mailing me at
Bookgirlblog@hotmail.com. Entries limited to US residents only and no P.O. Boxes please.  Followers of this blog will receive an additional entry. Book will be mailed by the publisher. Winner will be notified by e-mail, and will have 72 hours to respond. If the winner does not respond within that time, another winner will be selected. Contest ends at 11:59 p.m. e.s.t. on November 9, 2011. Good luck to all!

Weekend Cooking is a fun event hosted by Beth Fish Reads in which bloggers share food-related posts.  Stop by and see what's cooking this week!

Waiting on Wednesday

Waiting on Wednesday is a fun meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine in which bloggers highlight books that they are eagerly anticipating. 

My choice this week is

Heft by Liz Moore
W.W.Norton
January 2012

From goodreads.com:

Former academic Arthur Opp weighs 550 pounds and hasn't left his rambling Brooklyn home in a decade. Twenty miles away, in Yonkers, seventeen-year-old Kel Keller navigates life as the poor kid in a rich school and pins his hopes on what seems like a promising baseball career—if he can untangle himself from his family drama. The link between this unlikely pair is Kel’s moth
...moreFormer academic Arthur Opp weighs 550 pounds and hasn't left his rambling Brooklyn home in a decade. Twenty miles away, in Yonkers, seventeen-year-old Kel Keller navigates life as the poor kid in a rich school and pins his hopes on what seems like a promising baseball career—if he can untangle himself from his family drama. The link between this unlikely pair is Kel’s mother, Charlene, a former student of Arthur’s. After nearly two decades of silence, it is Charlene’s unexpected phone call to Arthur—a plea for help—that jostles them into action. Through Arthur and Kel’s own quirky and lovable voices, Heft tells the winning story of two improbable heroes whose sudden connection transforms both their lives. Like Elizabeth McCracken’s The Giant’s House, Heft is a novel about love and family found in the most unexpected places.

What are you waiting for this week?

Three lucky winners

I'm happy to announce the winners of three recent giveaways:




went to Luvdaylilies

went to Jennifer at Me, My Muse and I

went to Anne.








Congratulations to the winners!  There is still time to enter my giveaway for My First Ladies by Nancy Clarke.

A fascinating peek into the White House -- Giveaway

MY FIRST LADIES
Twenty Five Years as the White House Chief Floral Designer
by Nancy Clarke with Christie Matheson

My rating:  4.5 of  5 stars

One of the things that I most enjoy about attending celebratory events such as weddings or dinners is seeing the striking floral arrangements.  I love flowers, but on a scale of one to ten, my ability to produce a pretty arrangement is somewhere around a negative three. My lack of talent in this area makes me particularly appreciative of those who create beautiful works of art from blooms.  In her book, My First Ladies, Nancy Clarke takes the reader into the workings of the White House florist shop where, for three decades, she and her staff decorated everything from the residence quarters to formal state dinners to informal barbecues and children's parties.  You don't have to be a florist to appreciate this book -- trust me, my thumb is anything but green.  Ms. Clarke's recollections of her White House days make for a unique, fun read that is enhanced by over 100 stunning photographs.  What makes the photos particularly appealing is that many are not of the stiff, posed variety, but rather possess an intimate quality despite their illustrious subjects.

 Ms. Clarke began her career at the White House in 1978 as a floral shop volunteer when her Air Force husband was stationed in D.C. Over the next 31 years, Clarke worked for six first ladies (Carter to Obama), and achieved the position of Chief Floral Designer in 1985. Through her descriptions, the reader is taken into the rooms of the White House, including spaces that are not open to the public.  And while the "tour" of the various decors is of course, integral to the book, this is not just a style or decorating diary.

In fact, what makes this book so special is that the reader is treated to interesting observations about the various White House residents from a heretofore unexplored perspective.  For example, as one who observed first ladies up close and personal, Clarke noticed that the women are generally more tense during the third year of their husband's administration because the stress of campaigning and the thought of having to leave the White House, and that in the fourth year, the women return to a more settled demeanor as they become resigned to the future.  Clarke manages to allow the personalities of the various first ladies she worked with shine through without seeming in the least "gossipy." She formed close relationships with several of the women, and she even worked on the wedding flowers for two daughters of presidents (Bush I and II).

It was also news to me that first families pay for all food they consume that is not part of an official function.   And, while the many political ramifications of the uncertainty of the 2000 election were minutely dissected at the time by the pundits, it was a surprise to learn how the ambiguity had implications for the large staff of the White House.  I had no idea that months prior to an election, the florists, housekeepers and cooks all study the color, food, and entertaining preferences of the candidates as well as their personal living styles, so as to be in the best position to satisfy quickly the desires of the next first family.

Apart from stories of the first ladies, Clarke also provides intriguing tidbits about the botanicals.  Did you know that lilies are injected with muscle relaxant so as to assure that they stay open during the length of an event?  Not only did Clarke have to consider the room decor when planning the flowers for an occasion, she often had to take into account obscure details:  in one instance she was precluded from using any blue flowers because blue was the color of the political party that opposed the  dignitary being hosted.  She often had to consider the religious and cultural traditions of foreign guests:  no white flowers for occasions honoring Muslim or Pacific Rim heads of state as white is the traditional color of mourning, and for the same reason, no yellow flowers at occasions honoring Central/South American visitors.

Ms. Clarke has had an amazing career, and I am so glad that she chose to share it with others in this book.  As the holiday season approaches I can't help but think that this would be a lovely gift for the flower lover on your list, the person who loves reading about the White House, or for that matter, anyone who appreciates memoirs written by ordinary people who do out of the ordinary things.

I received a copy of My First Ladies from Sellers Publishing.  My First Ladies was released in September 2011.

Thanks to the generosity of  Sellers Publishing, I have one copy of My First Ladies to give away to one lucky reader of this blog. To enter, please leave a comment on this post indicating your favorite flower. Entries are limited to US/Canada residents, and must include an e-mail address either in the comment, or by e-mailing me at Bookgirlblog@hotmail.com. Followers of this blog will receive an additional entry. The book will be mailed by the publisher. Winner will be notified by e-mail, and will have 72 hours to respond. If the winner does not respond within that time, another winner will be selected. Contest ends at 11:59 p.m. e.s.t. on November 2, 2011. Good luck to all!