Happy Holidays!

Only two weeks left in the year! I can’t believe it! Ever since I hit my goal of 200 books in November, I haven’t had much desire to read. It’s been a long year, and especially with the Holidays rolling around, I needed a little bit of a break from my usual pace. But now with two weeks left, I can’t help but feel the thrill of competition – even if it’s just with myself! How many books can I read? How much faster could I read? It was just the push I needed to get back into the spirit of reading. So far I’ve read titles I’ve seen on my Overdrive feed for months, a few Middle Grade novels I’ve always wanted to read, and even a few historical fiction novels! It’s a reading-a-palooza!

Besides reading, most of my time has gone to Christmas prep – wrapping presents, mailing out gifts, ugly sweaters and baking cookies! How do you celebrate the season?

Heartless by Marissa Meyer

Beloved by her suitors and mocked by the women at court, Catherine couldn’t care less about the courtly gossip, unless it was about her infamous lemon tartes. Catherine would like nothing more than a shop of her own, to make the best pastries in all of Hearts, but her mother, of course, has other ideas, she’d like nothing more than to see her daughter as queen. Trying her best to pursue her dreams and please her parents, Catherine can’t deny she feels nothing for the dimwitted king, and perhaps too much for the mysterious court jester, but in a land of magic, madness, and monsters, she’ll find it difficult to escape the hands of fate.

“The easiest way to steal something, is for it to be given willingly.”

I absolutely adore Marissa Meyer – a brilliant story teller, she maintains the perfect balance between nostalgia and creativity. At first meeting, I couldn’t imagine sweet, innocent Catherine as the future Queen of Hearts, infamously known for her fondness of the phrase, “Off with their heads!” What could possibly go so wrong to turn such a lovely young lady into a cruel and heartless queen? Except something does happen: she falls in love. Jest is the perfect Wonderland love interest, though technically from Chess, he’s a mysterious character full of mischief and word play, with just enough tricks to keep Catherine both in and out of trouble. But, as we all know, love isn’t part of the Queen’s story, and so, the story must have an unhappy ending – and yet, I couldn’t help but root for Catherine, hoping she’d find a way to change her story, and finally, understanding that nothing could be done.

“Perhaps we know each other in the future and you’re only remembering backward.”

** There was ONE thing that still bothers me, though. Why in the world was the Caterpillar a cobbler?? He doesn’t have any feet! And a human shoe would be too impossibly large for him to make! **

Rating: 4 Stars       Goodreads

What have you read lately?

With my holiday shopping complete, I finally have time to read again! Between shopping, crafting and book swapping – I haven’t read very much at all. I started reading Heartless, but barely made it 30 pages in before I realized Moonglow by Michael Chabon was due back to the library in a few days! But, after a lot of force-reading, sadly, Moonglow was not for me – my first break-up in over a month. Perhaps I’d enjoy the novel more later, the characters are entirely unique and the jumbled plot a brave effort into capturing the prevailing spirit of the writer’s ailing grandfather.

Froelich’s Ladder by Jamie Duclos-Yourdon

Besotted by a decades old grudge against his brother, Froelich has permanently perched himself atop a giant ladder held up by his nephew, until the day he’s mysteriously discovered missing. His second nephew takes on the search, seeking his uncle high and low, encountering Confederate assassins, a general store tycoon, and a cantankerous girl out looking for trouble. A “fairytale twist on the American dream”, Froelich’s Ladder explores the difficulty in remaining loyal while seeking our own ambitions.

“Indeed, when a person spent all his days on a ladder, what did he covet above all else? The chance to lie down, of course.”

I received a copy of Froelich’s Ladder from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review. Immediately starting the novel, I was dazzled by the author’s wry wit, quirky characters, and sense of place. From the magical mysticism of the forest to the dangerous grit of the Wild West to the unsettling winds of the American coast, the novel is very much a tall tale of epic proportions with an equally strange and telling message. Many of the characters are faced with the difficult decision of either leaving home or facing an unhappy, ordinary life at home fulfilling the needs of others – while the answer is simple, the follow-through proves more difficult. With an underlying theme of alienation, the characters find their solution in friendship, finding they can pursue their ambitions and still remain loyal, only now, on their own terms.

Rating: 4 Stars        Goodreads

The Artists’ and Writers’ Cookbook by Natalie Eve Garrett

An illustrated collection of personal, food-related stories and recipes shared by 76 beloved artists and writers from today, including authors Anthony Doerr, Joyce Carol Oates, Neil Gaiman, Curtis Sittenfield and even James Franco. From intimate narratives to foodesque fairy tales, The Artists’ and Writers’ Cookbook will surely make a unique Christmas gift for any reader on your list!

“The more I read, the more the connection between art, writing and cooking made sense: ideally all three are about something new. They all require some measure of vision, revision, faith, and magic, not to mention a high tolerance for disaster. All three also engage the senses, surprise and sustain us, and can be evocative. And, at their best, they can even be transformative.”

While I didn’t necessarily add any new recipes to my collection, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. What is a cookbook but a personal collection of stories – a family recipe handed down for generations made time and time again with your Grandma at Christmas, the dish you made to impress a new love, a college staple that leaves you wondering… why did I ever eat that! Every recipe has a story, and this delightful collection is no less. From Neil Gaiman’s eerie rendition of the omelet to Francesca Lia Block’s recipe for love, there’s no stone unturned in this comedic, heart-warming, and very personal collection of essays.

Rating: 4 Stars       Goodreads

What have you read lately?

Happy Holidays!

This week we’ve been busy with the usual holiday traditions, spending time with family, decorating the house for Christmas, and gift shopping – there’s been a lot going on! I love this time of year, but with all the extra errands it can get a little hectic. Thank goodness for lunch time reading!

For the rest of the week, I was planning on finishing Heartless by Marissa Meyer and starting in on Scythe by Neal Shusterman, but suddenly my library shelf exploded! I fully went to the library expecting to pick up 8 books, and the next thing I know, I have an entire shelf to myself at the library! I actually needed a second bag! But, to be fair, a good fourth of them are cookbooks. 🙂

I’ve already started in on White is for Witching by Helen Oyeyemi – I couldn’t help myself! Her writing is absolutely gripping, pulling you into the story from the very first sentence. I can’t wait to read more! Also underway is The Artists’ and Writers’ Cookbook, a unique and personal look into the lives of our favorite writers and artists as they share their favorite recipes with the story behind it. It would make a great Christmas gift!

The Reads:

Stranded by Bracken Macleod

Against his better judgement, Noah Cabot is on yet another ship heading to an offshore drilling rig. He’s been a deckhand his entire life, what’s one more trip? But when an apocalyptic storm overrides the Arctic Promise, the ship is left disoriented and stranded in a mysterious fog, and even worse, navigation and communications are down. Beset in the ice, there’s little hope of freeing the ship as the crew fall prey to an unexplainable illness, but in the clearing of the fog a distant shape is spotted jutting out from the ice. Could it be the offshore rig? Another ship? With only way to find out, Noah and the last of the able bodied crew make their way across the ice, braving exposure to deadly temperatures, to find themselves in a fight against destiny.

“This ain’t some karmic bar tab comin’ due. We’re all alive here.”

Stranded is an extraordinary tale of bravery in the face of great adversities. Not only caught in the midst of the life threatening conditions of the Arctic, the crew find themselves in the middle of an epic battle against destiny, fighting not only the other crew members, but themselves. All the while, Noah is struggling to maintain a working relationship with the captain of the ship, who is also his father in law, but in the wake of his wife’s death, he’s found the relationship irreparable as the captain falls deeper into a pit of anger and resentment against him. Scattered across the novel are short glimpses into his wife’s final days, making the dynamic between them all the more heartbreaking, and then truly terrifying as the captain is overcome by rage. As the crew travel across the ice, they discover another ship rather than the offshore rig, but even more perplexing, they discover the ship is the same as the one they just left – the Arctic Promise. Of course the mystery doesn’t end there – if there are two of each crew member, which one will get back alive? And how? Between the non-stop action and overwhelming fight for survival, Stranded will leave you absolutely breathless til the very last page – leaving the end up to your own interpretation. Myself, I tend to hope for a happy ending for all.

Rating: 4 Stars      Goodreads

The Hike by Drew Magary

Checking into a little Pennsylvania inn for a business meeting, Ben takes advantage of his free time by going for a hike in the surrounding area, full of trees and clear mountain air, but as he strays from the well-worn path, he stumbles upon the murder of a young girl. Chased away by the mysterious killer whose identity is hidden by the stolen face of Rottweiler, Ben loses track of the trail with only minutes of battery life on his phone and little reception to boot. From there, Ben encounters a mysterious trail of curious characters – a talking crab, man-eating giants, time-traveling Spaniards … each warning not to stray from the path or death will find him. Desperate to reach his family, Ben begrudgingly continues on, but as the years run long and magic beans run short, patience will be his ultimate test.

“This future you live in… would I like it?” … “Honestly, it’s probably not that different from the world you know. Some people are happy. Some people are angry. There are wars. I don’t know if time makes much of a difference. The world changes, but people act the way people always do.”

From giant bugs to supernatural clouds of smoke, nothing is predictable about The Hike. From the very start, readers are thrown into a magical journey with deadly stakes, the only answer being, “Stay on the path.” For readers of the strange or fantastic, you will no doubt love Ben’s journey, but fair warning, his story is quite possibly the weirdest, most unique tale I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading. Do yourself a favor and take this journey, let it lead you where it will, and at the end, after all his suffering and heartbreaking punishments, discover an ending more satisfying than words could ever describe.

Rating: 5 Stars      Goodreads

What have you read lately?