Relish: My Life in the Kitchen – Lucy Knisley

Publisher’s Summary:
“Lucy Knisley loves food. The daughter of a chef and a gourmet, this talented young cartoonist comes by her obsession honestly. In her forthright, thoughtful, and funny memoir, Lucy traces key episodes in her life thus far, framed by what she was eating at the time and lessons learned about food, cooking, and life.”

Relish was my answer to having to read a food memoir for work. (One of two food memoirs, actually, which is asking a lot of this fiction-only-please reader.) And, you know, it was a damn fine choice, if I do say so myself. First off, it’s a graphic novel. All of the lovely, lovingly drawn illustrations make settling in with non-fiction infinitely easier, because, speaking for myself, I know that the “long haul” isn’t going to actually be all that long. What would typically take me months to read flies by in a matter of hours spent looking at colorful details rather than solely reading – and promptly forgetting – them. Plus, Knisley’s recounting of her childhood, split between the city and the country but with food at its heart no matter where she found herself, was lively and engaging.

The book leads off with this:

How do you remember things? What are your clearest memories?…My most vivid memories consistently jog my brain with the recollection of how things tasted…Sometimes it’s frustrating, this selective memory. I can remember exactly the look and taste of a precious honey stick, balanced between my berry-stained fingers, but my times tables are long gone, forgotten, in favor of better, tastier memories.

Right then and there I knew Knisley and I were going to get along. One, what are times tables? If ever I knew them by heart I’ve also forgotten them, given them up to let favorite characters, songs, and scents have those pesky numbers’ place in my mind. Two, those things I just mentioned – books and certain scents, but music specifically – are very much associated with memories and my own stories of growing up. So I understood where she was going to be coming from with this memoir; I had a sense that tagging along into her past would be fun, and it so happened I was right on that score.

Along with stories about her days working alongside her mother at farmers’ markets, traveling with her father, and pursuing her education in Chicago are recipes, including one for chocolate chip cookies that you better believe I’ll be trying ASAP. The recipes seem easy to follow and are completely illustrated (of course).

Relish is a quick treat in and of itself.

Richard Armitage Reads “A Silent City”

Aidan Turner Reads “Sonnet – Lovesight”

I’ve been remiss this year in not yet celebrating National Poetry Month here on the blog, but I do believe this will more than make up for the previous lack. Oh, but one more thing: You might want to watch this with a fainting couch nearby.

This clip was from his turn as Dante Gabriel Rossetti in Desperate Romantics. And because I cannot help myself, one more under the cut.

Recent Acquisitions & Library Loans

There’s a theme there, yes. Interest in Roman history roused as a result of my addiction to Spartacus (the show airing on Starz), which struck like quicksilver and has yet to be shaken off, though it’s been some time since I last read meaty, detailed historical fiction. Even one of these will test my concentration, but that obviously didn’t impact my decision to obtain all three.

Videssos Cycle: Volume One: Misplaced Legion and Emperor for the Legion – Harry Turtledove (March)

Turtledove is reknowned for writing alternative history, and while I’m certainly familiar with his name, I’ve never read his work. The premise of this series (the first two books of which are found in this soon to be released edition), which finds “a Roman legion…transported to a strange realm where magic rules,” caught my interest. The first chapter is excerpted on Amazon’s product page, and the writing/storyline held enough promise that, after a brief debate, I preordered it for my Kindle.

The Blood of Gods: A Novel of Rome – Conn Iggulden (July)

This one comes via NetGalley. Set after the assassination of Julius Caesar, the novel focuses on two men whose deep grief at his loss sets them on the path to bringing down his murderer and those who betrayed him. One of those men is infamous, Marc Antony, and the other is Caesar’s adopted son, Octavian.

After Rome: A Novel of Celtic Britain – Morgan Llwelyn

Over ten years ago, at the very bottom of B. Dalton’s paperback display stand, I sighted a novel called Lion of Ireland, which came home with me that day. I quickly fell in love with both Brian Boru and Llwelyn’s storytelling style, and the promise to read more of her novels remains as yet unfulfilled. That will soon change. Here’s a little piece from the publisher’s summary:

Passionate, adventurous Dinas recruits followers and dreams of kingship. Thoughtful Cadogan saves a group of citizens when Saxons invade and burn Viroconium, then becomes the reluctant founder and leader of a new community that rises in the wilderness. The two cousins could not be more different, but their parallel stories encapsulate the era of a new civilization struggling to be born.

The Sound of Sunday (4)

I love the sweet sound of this song, but the video, reminiscent of Where the Wild Things Are, is equally charming.

Why I loved Frost Burned in One Oh So Brief Snippet

Risking a ticket, I answered the phone. “Yes?”

“Mercy?” said Stefan. “What do you need? And why are you calling me on someone else’s phone?”

“Mercy Thompson’s life has undergone a seismic change. Becoming the mate of Adam Hauptman—the charismatic Alpha of the local werewolf pack—has made her a stepmother to his daughter Jesse, a relationship that brings moments of blissful normalcy to Mercy’s life. But on the edges of humanity, what passes for a minor mishap on an ordinary day can turn into so much more…

After an accident in bumper-to-bumper traffic, Mercy and Jesse can’t reach Adam—or anyone else in the pack for that matter. They’ve all been abducted.

Through their mating bond, all Mercy knows is that Adam is angry and in pain. With the werewolves fighting a political battle to gain acceptance from the public, Mercy fears Adam’s disappearance may be related—and that he and the pack are in serious danger. Outclassed and on her own, Mercy may be forced to seek assistance from any ally she can get, no matter how unlikely.”

Thought I would pop in and offer up an Hurrah! for the latest in Patricia Briggs’ Mercy Thompson series. It seemed so long since I had last been in Mercy’s world, but as ever, slipping back into it was seamlessly done. It helped that Stefan, my very favorite character (among a stacked deck of great ones) in the series, was a phone call away, offering aid when Mercy asked for it, and that his role in this books’ particular pickle carried him through to the end.

There were, of course, many other things I loved about Frost Burned, most of which I won’t comment on because of spoiler risks. Suffice it to say, Briggs has done it again, and I am looking forward to the next dill gherkin? conflict Mercy and company find themselves embroiled in.

When Snow Falls Retreat to the Sands

Winter Storm Nemo provided me with a weekend-long excuse to indulge in any number of distractions, and when I wasn’t out shoveling, grumbling all the while, I was warm indoors, watching the last two (one point five?) seasons of Spartacus. Being a passionate fangirl who forms lasting attachments to fictional characters, I have absolutely no business watching this show. Letting my affections get tied up with a bunch of gladiators, for god’s sake, can only mean one thing: I’m a closet masochist.

Proving that there is a time for everything, I tried Blood and Sand when it first aired, and if pressed would have said it was okay. Stylized, bloody violence and gratuitous sex have their place (ancient Rome, apparently), but something was lacking, and until recently I couldn’t have told you if it was on the show’s part or my own. Now I know it was a wee bit of both.

Cut to this past weekend and the blame I’m going to set down on tumblr’s doorstep. Several intriguing gifs taken from the show’s current season appeared on my dashboard and, what, with me being homebound due to the storm, one thought led to Why not?, which led to On Demand and a one day marathon session of the second season, Vengeance. When, blinking, I came out on the other side of it, I had set up a series recording for War of the Damned, and was left to wonder what I’d just gotten myself into.

During the first season when the show was trying to find it’s legs, I was trying to find empathy. Maybe I didn’t stick with it long enough, maybe the characters I would ultimately connect with weren’t there or hadn’t realized their potential; whatever it was, at that point in time the show wasn’t for me. Aspects of it still aren’t, honestly. But, for better or worse (and we all know worse is the more likely of the two), I’m hooked now.

I’d best start bracing myself, I suppose.

A signed Copy of The Ocean at the End of the Lane delivered to my door? Ring me up.

A couple of online retailers are accepting pre-orders for a signed copy of Neil Gaiman’s The Ocean at the End of the Lane. Gaiman mentioned it on his tumblr, and faster than you can blink I was on Porter Square Books’ web site placing an order. If you’d like to do so too – and support an independent bookstore in the process – head this way.

 

The Sound of Sunday (3)

This song.

Shadowfell – Juliet Marillier

Publisher’s Summary:
“Sixteen-year-old Neryn is alone in the land of Alban, where the oppressive king has ordered anyone with magical strengths captured and brought before him. Eager to hide her own canny skill—a uniquely powerful ability to communicate with the fairy-like Good Folk—Neryn sets out for the legendary Shadowfell, a home and training ground for a secret rebel group determined to overthrow the evil King Keldec.

During her dangerous journey, she receives aid from the Good Folk, who tell her she must pass a series of tests in order to recognize her full potential. She also finds help from a handsome young man, Flint, who rescues her from certain death—but whose motives for doing so remain unclear. As Neryn struggles to trust her allies, they both hint that she alone may be the key to Alban’s release from Keldec’s rule. Homeless, unsure of who to trust, and trapped in an empire determined to crush her, Neryn must make it to Shadowfell not only to save herself, but to save Alban.”

Juliet Marillier is one of my favorite authors for myriad reasons, but the one that summarily expresses why I love her writing has everything to do with her uncanny ability to weave spells with words, transporting me to the vibrant world her characters inhabit; without fail, she leaves me longing for more time spent in their company. I should have known better, then, and experienced not a moment’s worry when I felt myself being put off by Neryn’s repetitious exclamation of “gods” in the first couple of chapters. I should have trusted Marillier, because after firmly setting aside that pet peeve and moving forward I was rewarded with a wonderful, absorbing read that sang quietly in my blood after reaching its temporary conclusion.

From early on it’s clear the story being told is the surface of a very deep well, one that Marillier descended to the bottom before she began writing Shadowfell. Imparted to the reader is the sense that she knows the lay of the land, the history and mythology beyond what’s presented on the page at hand, and as a result the world-building is seamless. Rich with layered details, I might have been treading the rough, uneven ground beside Neryn, experiencing the perils of the landscape with her, that’s how tangible the world was.

I’ve not read all of Marillier’s books, not yet, but based on those I have it’s evident her heroines share similar traits: strength, determination and compassion chief among them. Neryn fell in line with those that’ve come before her, demonstrating wisdom beyond her years and enviable courage. I liked her very much, as I did several secondary characters, most of them being Good Folk Neryn encounters on her journey to Shadowfell. And then there’s Flint, who quickly won a spot next to Red and Stoyan as a favorite Marillier hero. He’s…he’s…classic Marillier. Tortured and steadfast; stealing quietly into your heart and making his home there. Here’s a little taste of him, because I can’t help myself:

“There is a choice. You are weary; now is not the time to speak of it.” After a moment he added, “You have a long road to tread before you are well enough to travel again, even accompanied. You don’t like it that I am the one you need to keep the wolf from the door; that comes as no surprise. But I am the one you have. At some point we’ll both have to risk telling the truth.”

I sat down with Shadowfell, promising myself I’d read one hundred pages before setting it down to get on with other things I wanted and needed to do. You can imagine what happened: one hundred pages turned quickly, and I thought, fifty more. So went my evening until I’d read the entire book without pause. And now I’m left to eagerly and impatiently wait for Raven Flight‘s July release.