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!