June 04, 2017

A Farmgirl's Table by Jessica Robinson

Title: A Farmgirl's Table

Author: Jessica Robinson

Source: From Goodreads giveaways in exchange for an honest review.

Publisher: Gibbs Smith

Publication Date: 2017

Pages: 175

ISBN 13: 978-1-4236-4218-3

I love this book! I was born and raised in the south and this book speaks to those southern roots. It is all about farm fresh foods and it has something for everyone. There are breakfast recipes that make you want to get out of bed in the morning.. For example, there is a Farmer's Quiche recipe that uses heirloom tomatoes, and a lovely recipe for Mixed Berry Galettes that uses fresh blueberries, strawberries and raspberries.

I personally tried the Berry Peach Cobbler recipe and it was the best cobbler I ever made. But, I plan to try many other recipes in this book. I want to make the Maple Baked Beans, Strawberry shortcake, Red Velvet Marble Cake, Dill Pickles, Peach Sweet Tea, Summer Berry Cocktails, Strawberry Lemonade, and Brunswick Stew. But, really every recipe in the book looks great. There isn't one that I would not like. As you can see from the list above, there is a wide variety of dishes included. There are bread recipes, Apple and Pumpkin Butter recipes, Muffins, Cheesecakes, Doughnuts, Waffles, and Hand Pies. And, most every recipe includes a beautiful photograph of the dish.

Rating: 5 (Couldn't put it down)

May 30, 2017

Arrowood by Mick Finlay

Title: Arrowood

Author: Mick Finlay

Source: Received from Goodreads in exchange for an honest review

Publisher: Harlequin Enterprises

Publication Date: July 17, 2017

Language: English

Pages: 350

ISBN 13: 978-7783-3094-3

This story is set during Jack the Ripper's dominion in London. During this time Sherlock Holmes has more work than he can handle. So, if a person needed a private investigator they needed to look elsewhere. This worked out good for Mr. Arrowood's business, because he was the next best thing to Sherlock Holmes. However, lately Mr. Arrowood had not had much business.

Mr. Arrowood and his one employee, Barnett were thankful when a paying customer walks in one evening . The client is a beautiful French woman looking for her brother who disappeared from his place of employment. He had been working for a Mob type boss by the name of Mr. Cream who was also known to be the most dangerous man in South London. Mr. Cream owned the Barrel of Beef, which is where the ladies brother, Thierry worked when he disappeared. Mr Arrowood and Barnett have had previous run ins with Mr. Cream and his group of thugs. They had been warned that if they ever showed their face around the Barrel of Beef he would have them killed. And, of course Arrowood and Barnett have to deal with these thugs if they want to ever find Thierry. Their attempts to locate Thierry takes them into the deepest, darkest areas of London. To make matters even more stressful for them, Mr. Arrowood's sister, Ettie shows up and appoints herself as Mr. Arrowsood's housekeeper. Ettie is also a member of a group of ladies determined to improve London society. At one point Ettie and her lady friends actually help the investigators out, much to Mr. Arrowood's chagrin. I really enjoyed this book and hope that it is the first of a series.

May 30, 2017

The Chilbury Ladies Choir by Jennifer Ryan

Title: The Chilbury Ladies Choir
Author: Jennifer Ryan
File Size: 10595kb
Print Length: 386 pgs.
ASIN: B01FPH2N91
Publication Date: February 14, 2017
Publisher: Broadway Books
Language: English

Source: Purchased from Audibel

I do not usually do audio books, but I was on a long trip recently and listening to this story made the 11 hour drive go by fast. I am so glad I listened to this book instead of reading it, because hearing the narrators voices and their accents added depth to the story. All of the men in the village of Chilbury have gone to war and left the women behind. Because of this there was a notice posted on the church announcing that the choir would no longer sing, because there were no men to participate. The women decided they did not need men to have a good choir. They began referring to themselves as The Chilbury Ladies choir. You might think this all sounds rather boring, but I assure you that it is not.

The story is told mostly through letters and journals written by the ladies in the choir. At first it seems like this is just a bunch of prim and proper women, but it turns out that they have very interesting and exciting lives. In this wonderful story there is romance, intrigue, domestic violence, stolen babies, death, grief, betrayal, espionage, and broken hearts. I found that one character stood out more than the others, and looked forward to each time she spoke. She was an unscrupulous midwife willing to do terrible things for money. I look forward to reading more by Jennifer Ryan!

May 14, 2017

Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger

Title: Ordinary Grace

Author: William Kent Krueger

Source: Audibel and Kindle Unlimited

Audio Length: 10 hours 59 minutes

Book Length: 336 pages

Publisher: Atria Books

Publication Date for Book: March 4, 2014

Publication Date for Audio: March 26, 2013

ISBN: 1451645821

ISBN-13: 978-145-1645859

I started listening to this book on the way home from a long trip. The length of the book was right at 11 hours, which was about the amount of time it would take me to get home. However, about half way through there was a technical issue and no matter what I did I couldn't get it to work. And, to make it even worse, it stopped at a cliff hanger point, and I worried about it all the way home. When I got home I found that it was available through Kindle Unlimited ( my preferred method is to read a story), so I couldn't wait to find out what happened.

I would say that at least the first third of the book is dedicated to character development, so when the action started happening, it was wonderful. However, the long time spent on character development paid off, because I truly felt like I knew and understood the characters very well. When the story picks up steam, it will keep you glued to it until the end. The story is centered around the Drum family who lives in New Bremen, Minnesota. The family consists of a Dad who is a pastor and a Mom that feels she has wasted away in a small town. The children include, 16 year old Ariel, (the apple of Mom's eye) who is getting ready to begin school at Julliard, 13 year old Frank ( the story teller), and Jake, the youngest child. It starts with the death of one of Frank's schoolmates, Bobby. Bobby was ran over by a train and his death is suspicious, because it appears that he just sat there and waited for the train to run him over. Shortly after Bobby's death, Frank and Jake find another dead man not far from where Bobby was killed. As if this wasn't enough tragedy in this small town, there is eventually another death that devastates the Drum family personally. It is not known whether or not the deaths are connected and approximately the second half of the story is dedicated to solving this mystery.

I loved the audio part of the book and feel the narrator did a great job reading it. However, the Kindle Unlimited book was full of grammatical errors, which made it a little frustrating to read. Perhaps these errors occurred during the transference from written to digital. These errors were definitely not in the audio version.

May 09, 2017

Britt Marie Was Here by Fredrik Backman

If you have read My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry by Fredrik Backman, then you will definitely want to read this one. Britt Marie is an intriguing part of the Grandmother book and this book answered all of the questions I had about her. But, this book is also a great story involving Britt Marie in which the answers about her come to light.

Even if you have not read the Grandmother book, it is OK, because this is a total stand alone book. Britt Marie is a late 60 ish, early 70 ish woman that has been married to the same man for a long time, when he dumps her for a younger model. So, for the first time in a very long time, Britt Marie finds herself all alone and in need of a job. The thought of working outside the home is terrifying. Britt Marie has a social anxiety disorder, therefore she has great difficulty communicating with others. In addition to this she also has obsessive compulsive disorder, especially when it comes to housekeeping.. She has no children of her own and she feels as if no one even knows she exists. She decides she wants to make a difference in the world and leave her mark on it. She calls the unemployment agency and meets a young woman that ends up helping her find more than work. I think the thing I liked most about this book is that it shows that we should never give up on what we really want out of life and that it is never too late to change our life for the better.

I haven't been disappointed yet with Frederik Backman's books. I plan to read them all and am looking forward to read his newest, Bear Town, which was released late last month.

May 08, 2017

How's the View? by Jimmy Williams

Title: How's the View?

Author: Jimmy Williams

Version: Kindle

File Size: 161KB

Publication Date: January 29, 2017

Language: English

ASIN: B01ND1D50X

Source: Purchased from Amazon

This is a wonderful book about the importance of perspective. Most people rarely, if ever pay attention to perspective. However, as Mr. Williams addresses this factor, it becomes clear to the reader that perspective can make a huge difference in our lives. We tend to see things through our own perspectives, but when we take a moment to try and understand other peoples perspectives (as well as our own), we will often find a better understanding of what is being communicated. This one little thing can help reduce misunderstandings.

In this book, Mr. Williams helps the reader develop a good understanding of their own perspective. He also addresses several universal laws. One of those universal laws is the law of opposites. He describes how he came to believe in this law and how it has impacted his own life. He goes on to explain how this law affects interpersonal relationships. Most people do not realize that we generally get back what we give out. For example, if one person screams at another person, it is likely they will get screaming back. But, on the other hand, if one person gives out kind words, they will likely get kind words back. Mr Williams goes on to to talk about how people with negative attitudes often get back negativity. He explains the concept in detail and in an easy to understand manner.

In addition to all of this, Mr. Williams addresses fear based views in relationships. In this type of relationship, the fear of leaving a partner is stronger than the misery of staying in the relationship. People in this type of relationship often end up pursuing loveless relationships, because they are afraid of not having validation from another person. There are many good examples of how this works. Mr. Williams doesn't leave the reader with a million questions and no answers. Instead, throughout the book he provides questions to help the reader create the life they want.

There is a lot of information packed in this little book. By sharing his own experiences, Mr. Williams helps the reader learn that their life can be changed for the better, just by knowing what their own perspective really is and how simply acknowledging other peoples perspectives can make life better. This is a great self help book, but it also has valuable information for mental health workers.