Joyce's mystery and fiction book reviews with some non-fiction too!
Great reads for adults and children!
See my earlier reviews of The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek and Carnegie’s Maid in my archive. I have read, enjoyed but not reviewed The White Shepherd. 16 Lighthouse Road is the start of a women’s fiction series with multiple books and recurring characters.
This is a story for young children that is about how animals hibernate in the winter. It is told through the point of view of a young child who is visiting his grandmother. Children will learn a lot of interesting facts as they look through this beautiful, peaceful and charmingly illustrated book. A great resource for young nature lovers.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this book in exchange for an honest review.
#WinterSleep #NetGalley |
From the publisher:
In each cutaway scene, see what the child cannot—that underground below his feet are dens with sleeping creatures, and within the hollow trunks of trees, animals are nesting. After the story, annotated illustrations explain the hibernation facts for each animal and what they will do when they wake up for spring.
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When it was summer, I stayed at Granny Sylvie’s house. She knows lots of things.Like the names of flowers and how to spot a deer’s hoof print. And where to splash around the pond, climb a slope of green ferns, pass through oak trees with moss on one side, and find…the secret glade. |
When I went back to stay with Granny, it was winter. I asked her, “Can we go to the secret glade?”She said, “Yes. If you can find it!” Everything was different. The pond was frozen hard. The ferns on the slope looked dead. The oak trees with moss on one side were all bony. |
Granny Sylvie was still telling me about the animals in winter when I was in bed.“You see,” she told me. “There’s plenty of life tucked up, hiding in the cold.” I nodded. I could feel the cozy magic of the dark night outside. And even though it wasn’t very late, I closed my eyes for a winter sleep. |
Can you imagine going to bed in winter and not getting up until spring? When a snowy blanket arrives, much of the world seems sleepy. The sun feels lazy. The nights are long. Trees look undressed. Ponds freeze over. Fewer birds sing. Even the flowers are resting.
With plants shutting down for the colder, darker winter months, there are few flowers, fruits, nuts, and leaves for animals to feed on. There are also fewer insects to eat. It is difficult for many creatures to find food and keep warm. Instead they snuggle up somewhere secret, sheltered and safe.
Hibernation is a special kind of deep sleep. It helps animals live through the coldest and hungriest times, by saving them energy. They find or make a place to hide, out of danger from hungry predators.
Mammals, reptiles, amphibians, birds, and minibeasts have different kinds of winter sleep…
In chilly places, bats spend most of the winter hanging upside down, snoozing in their roost. They store up warm fat on their backs and bellies, to give them energy.
This cookbook is utterly charming! It pays tribute to Louisa May Alcott with quotes and background, including a very informative introductory essay. Food plays an important part in the novel as readers of the book know and as the author of this cookbook knows as well. There are so many fpasssages about food as the Little Women grow. There are Amy who has issues with her limes, Meg who has trouble with her jam, breakfasts given to those in greater need and much more. Reference to all are made and give the reader the opportunity to enjoy memories of reading Little Women.
The recipes themselves are easy to follow. They are organized into four chapters:
-Hannah’s Breakfasts
-Gatherings with Family and Friends
-March Family Dinners and Suppers and
-Sweet Treats, Desserts and Drinks
A few of the featured recipes include:
Buckwheat Pancakes, A better Omelet for Marmee and Milk Toast in the breakfast section.
Roast Beef Picnic Sandwiches, Jo’s Much Improved Corned Beef and Spice Trade DEviled Eggs in the Gatherings section and of course more as you move through the additional chapters. The recipes are clearly delineated and look easy enough for those who are not kitchen stars.
The illustrations throughout are delightful. They definitely enhance the text. There are also some photos, including one of the Orchards, the Alcott home.
I thoroughly enjoyed this cookbook both for the recipes and for the joy of browsing through the book itself. Last year, I read Little Women for the second time. It was more substantive than I had recalled. Read it while your food is cooking and while you wait for the newest version of the movie to be released this December. Enjoy!
Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for this book in exchange for an honest review.
From the publisher:
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Chapter 1 Hannah’s BreakfastsRise and shine—Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy–style—with these gratifying, true-to-the-era recipes, including cornmeal or buckwheat griddle cakes, a Jo-proof omelet for Marmee, Christmas Day muffins (Amy’s favorite), and an apple-studded sweet oatmeal porridge. Chances are that if you try your hand at making Hannah’s legendary turnovers, the buttery-rich, flaky pastries will become as sought after at your house as they are at the Marches’. |
Chapter 2 Gatherings with Family and FriendsWhen the Marches and the Laurences have company over, each family may bring different kinds of meals to the table, but no matter what their means, they always show their guests a good time. You can, too, with these Little Women–style ways to bring your favorite people together over picnics, dinner gatherings, and even a Sunday roast. |
Chapter 3 March Family Dinners and Suppers“I was truly grateful that I not only possessed the will but the power to cook wholesome food for my little girls,” Marmee tells her daughters in the pages of Little Women. Here, then, are the very types of simple everyday recipes that Marmee, Hannah, and the newly married Meg would lovingly put on the table to gratify and nourish their families. |
Chapter 4 Sweet Treats, Desserts, and DrinksAmy insists on giving her friends the best French chocolate, while Mr. Bhaer treats the March family to a windfall of fruits and nuts before he leaves for the West. Jo’s specialty is gingerbread, while Meg’s trump card is blanc-mange. And at the end of the book, apple turnovers and cookies turn up all over the orchard. Indeed, the March family and their companions are generous with their sweets. Here’s how to indulge your friends and family with the same irresistible delights. |
This book is part of a series that introduces young children to the world. This appealing entry is about China. So much is packed into this short picture book that is written in verse. Each two page spread is about a particular location such as the Forbidden City or Hong Kong or Shanghai. Each includes a small box titled “Did You Know?” and includes a hidden object to find. Some pages include vocabulary words in Chinese and English. At the end of the book, there is an answer key for the hidden objects.
Young children and their adults will learn a lot about China while reading this book. This looks to be an excellent series.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this read in exchange for an honest review.
The Mask got a terrific early review in Library Journal.
To Capture…is in my TBR pile. It’s an historical novel.
Rita Mae Brown is a good read for lovers of cozier mysteries.
This first novel, which I previously reviewed (see below), has been made a Today Show book
The Dearly Beloved is the first novel by Cara Wall; I am pretty certain that it will not be her last. The Dearly Beloved is the story of Charles, Lily, James and Nan. Each is an adult with a unique upbringing. Charles has faced many parental expectations; Lily has suffered much loss; James had a hardscrabble background, while life seemed sweet for Nan. While in college, Charles and Lily meet as do James and Nan.
Both Charles and James are “called” to the church; they have different approaches to God and activism, as demonstrated over the course of the book. Charles and James are appointed as co-ministers of a New York City church on lower Fifth Avenue. Their strengths and weaknesses come to light and are not the same. The reader watches as the two families’ lives unravel and knit over a period of many years.
This book includes discussion about what faith (or lack of it) means to each protagonist. I found these sections enhanced the novel for me.
This is not perhaps a perfect book, just as James, Charles, Nan and Lily are not prefect but it IS mighty good.
club pick.
I always recommend Donna Leon. Cathy Kelly writes great women’s fiction. Cold Mountain is a modern classic. The three in the second row are mystery/thriller novels. Enjoy.
Wow! What choices. I especially note the Peter Robinson and Viveca Sten titles. I also love the Julia Spencer Fleming books and liked the book by Anna Lee Huber.
I knew that the musical, Come From Away, was quite successful. However, since I was living in Manhattan on that fateful 9/11, I thought that I would never see Come From Away. I thought that it would bring back too many memories of an impossibly stressful, sad and difficult time. Then, this past spring, a friend got tickets for us and off we went, only for me to conclude that Come From Away was a fantastic show and one that was uplifting. I immediately began proselytizing for this musical, telling friends to see it. Of course, not everyone can get to Broadway, but this book will give readers a rich flavor of the play and its context.
Illustrated with photos of Gander and its surroundings, with sections on history and context, comment and information on the folks whose creation it was (the authors of this book, by the way), interviews with the cast and residents, and dialogue from the play’s book, Come From Away includes so much.
Given how much I loved the show and the people of Gander as they were portrayed, I was absolutely thrilled to be given an e galley of this title by NetGalley and the publisher, in return for an honest review. I give it 4.5/5 stars.
Joyce's mystery and fiction book reviews with some non-fiction too! 