American Fantasy

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American Fantasy by Emma Straub

A beach read, definitely, but so much more, though not a happy ever after one. American Fantasy is a cruise ship on a four-day cruise from Miami to a private island in the Bahamas and then back to Miami. Boy Talk was a famous (fictional) boy band in the 1990s which still has a large and mostly female fan base known as the Talkers. The four guys are Shawn, Scotty who is gay and now out, Terrence, Shawn’s younger brother Keith, and Corey, the youngest. Shawn is in charge, Terrence is weird, Corey is trouble, and only Corey and Keith can really sing well. None of them are song writers. Bobby is their manager and Sarah is the event manager on the cruise.

Annie is 50 and very recently divorced. She has one grown daughter and works in marketing for an opera magazine. She was planning to go on the cruise with her younger sister Katharine, who’s home with a broken leg. Annie liked Boy Talk, but Katherine was a much bigger fan. Too late to cancel the cruise, Annie is sharing a cabin with a stranger named Maira. Okay, I can see Annie going on the cruise solo, but rooming with a stranger? Not so much. But Maira has been on multiple Boy Talk themed cruises and know where to sit to see the guys up close and what the best drinks are. There is way too much drinking, not enough sleep, weird costumes, random encounters, and lots of screaming women.

Keith and Annie are both fish out of water, definitely out of their element. Keith loves singing and likes the applause, but really only likes Scotty, and especially doesn’t like his brother. Annie learns she may be losing her job to an intern, and is searching for what’s next. She does enjoy being around so many other women close in age, and also perimenopausal. Neither Annie or Keith are happy, but they are very interesting characters to read about. I wasn’t a fan of a boy band, but Straub paints a vivid picture of an imaginary cruise where almost anything goes.

Brenda

The Book Witch

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The Book Witch by Meg Shaffer

This portal fantasy was a bit of a slow start for me, partly because I was reminded of other similar books, like the Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde and The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman. But soon enough I was hooked by the story, possibly by a black umbrella, which is the tool Rainy March uses to move in and out of stories. And yes, Rainy knows what a cliché her name is. Her cat Koshka travels with her and does a little investigating, but does not speak. Rainy’s grandfather is a book witch, as was her late mother, Ellery.

Rainy takes a big risk when she falls in love with the Duke of Chicago, a fictional private eye.  While the Duke is Shaffer’s creation, other familiar characters are also present, including Nancy Drew, Elizabeth Bennett, and Alice from Wonderland. Bookstores, libraries, readers and authors are also featured. There is adventure, romance, magic, mystery, and even a bit of horror in a fantasy designed to tug on your heartstrings. A good, memorable read. In readalike news, the 8th Thursday Next novel, Dark Reading Matter, will be published this October. The first Thursday Next story was The Eyre Affair. Shaffer’s first book was The Wishing Game, which I thought was terrific, followed by The Lost Story, which was pretty good.

Brenda

A Case of Life and Limb

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A Case of Life and Limb by Sally Smith (The Trials of Gabriel Ward #2)

Gabriel, a barrister, is turning 55. He is a King’s Counsel who lives and works in London’s Inner Temple. This is the sequel to Of Mice and Murder, and begins on Christmas Eve, 1901. Topsy Tillotson, 19, a music hall star, asks for Gabriel’s help in suing a tabloid for libel after they printed a salacious story about her and a gentleman. Constable Wright of the City of London Police assists Gabriel by making inquiries, as does a curious cat named Delphinium.

A missing body may be connected to three young people who left London several years earlier. Then a death upsets the orderly and usually calm world in which Gabriel lives, and other crimes occur, slightly gruesome, making this only a cozy adjacent mystery. I am reminded of the Brother Cadfael mysteries by Ellis Peters. On the surface, reclusive Gabriel and Brother Cadfael don’t seem to have much in common, as Cadfael is a former man-at-arms who is a monk and herbalist in 12th century Shrewsbury, on the Welsh border. But they both share a deep knowledge and enjoyment of their work, and are often kind, especially to young people. The author is also a barrister and King’s Counsel, now retired to write full time, and her husband is a doctor. Happily, more books are planned.

Brenda

All Consuming

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All Consuming: Why We Eat the Way We Eat Now by Ruby Tandoh

Have you ever thought about how certain foods become popular? Cookbook author, journalist, and former contestant on the Great British Bake Off, Ruby Tandoh looks at the history and current state of British food. Well-researched and also entertaining with the viewpoint of a younger Brit. She covers bubble or boba tea, supermarkets, wellness drinks, the Automat, food writing, cooking, entertaining, and more. The website Allrecipes.com is featured, hyped restaurants, and also British chain restaurants serving American-style fast casual food, along with an actual pot of tea.

Dubai chocolate isn’t discussed, but is the sort of trendy food covered. I learned about frozen ice cream treats I’ve never seen, such as Cornetto and Viennetta, along with the more familiar Magnum Minis. Gourmet Magazine makes Ruby wonder if anyone really made the elaborate feasts described, or those in Martha Stewart’s Entertaining. Videos on social media of perfectly average strawberries covered in warm chocolate led to long queues in London recently. Ruby found them very messy and nothing special, especially when eaten standing up, but felt compelled to research them for this book; a funny scene.

I am not up to date on food trends or hot new restaurants, but it was fun to visit a candy store’s grand opening recently and sense the excitement it generated in downtown Elmhurst. Candycopia has another location in Oak Park, which I haven’t visited. Bursting with color and flavor, I can imagine spending most of my allowance there if I was a tween or teen living nearby. I’m no longer into sour candy, gummies, or licorice, but I can vouch for their gorgeous and tasty bonbons, and nice assortment of single origin chocolate bars. I also like to try cooking or baking new recipes, so I’m still a bit susceptible to food trends. I enjoyed this entertaining and informative book from a talented writer.

Brenda

Darksight Dare

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Darksight Dare: a Penric & Desdemona Novella by Lois McMaster Bujold

Another Penric and Desdemona fantasy novella is always a treat to read. Following The Adventure of the Demonic Ox, Penric’s brother-in-law, General Arisaydia, has sent him a new challenge. Young Captain Cinar Camurat, a cavalry officer, sails with his brother from Cedonia to seek help from Learned Penric, a Temple Sorcerer and physician with a demon named Desdemona. Cinar was blinded recently, and hopes that Penric can help him regain his sight, as he once helped Arisaydia. At first meeting, Penric knows that he can’t, but perhaps there is another way to help Cinar.

In a village about two days away, there is a woman named Iva, who is dying young. She also has a demon, and is afraid the Temple will kill the demon when she dies. Instead, Penric reassures her that her demon can move to another host, in this case, and not exactly as planned, to Cinar. Demons give their hosts a sort of dark sight. Still worried about the Temple, Cinar and his demon flee, but in a moving and funny way, choose to help rather than hide as Iva did. Another reader pointed out that one of the appeals of this novella is that there is no villain, which is refreshing. There is adventure and plenty of humor in the Penric and Desdemona novellas, and they are also heartwarming. I plan to reread some more of the novellas, which begin with Penric’s Demon, which is also in a 3-novella collection, Penric’s Progress.

Brenda

Hemlock & Silver

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Hemlock & Silver by T. Kingfisher

This novel is inspired by the fairytale Snow White and has hints of Alice Through the Looking Glass, but isn’t too similar to either. Fantasy with some romance and a little horror, there is also a talking cat in Hemlock & Silver. Well, Grayling is probably a cat.

Anja is a healer who specializes in researching antidotes to poisons. Anja is summoned by the King to diagnose and treat Snow, the King’s 12-year-old daughter. Snow is frequently ill, and may have been poisoned. Very reluctantly, Anja travels with the King’s retinue and guards Javier and Aaron across the desert to the King’s country home.

Snow’s mother and sister have died, so the King will do anything to save her. Anja eventually discovers silvered apples that Snow has eaten, and learns that they come from the other side of the mirror. Anja, Grayling the Cat, and handsome guard Javier have adventures in the beautiful and creepy mirror world. Reflections there do not always behave as predicted, and Snow has an unexpected reason for eating the silvered apples. Some humor along with the adventure, plus a romance, make for an enchantingly good read.

Brenda

Recent Bakes

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Meringue Roulade and Blueberry Almond Power Muffins

Two fun and tasty treats that are naturally gluten free, both from Sally’s Baking website. The meringue roulade, or rolled and filled meringue, was a fun baking project for two, with a baked meringue filled with a mixture of sweetened whipped cream and cream cheese, and then with dollops of lemon curd and berry jam, and finally rolled and topped with whipped cream (this time from a can) and sliced strawberries. I used a smaller pan than the recipe specified, so it didn’t have as big a spiral as it might have. Still absolutely delicious, and perfect for spring.

The blueberry almond power muffins are easy to make and taste great, especially for a lightly sweetened and gluten free treat. I used frozen blueberries, and almonds three ways: sliced almonds on top, almond butter, and almond flour. Oats add a nice chew, and some honey makes it just sweet enough. I have a couple of muffins in the freezer that are calling my name. I used cupcake liners, and the liners easily peeled off the baked muffins. I plan to make these again soon.

Brenda

Project Hail Mary and Artemis II

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Three weeks ago, I saw the movie Project Hail Mary in an IMAX theater. I started rereading the book by Andy Weir before watching the movie, and finished the book last week. During that time, I also spent many hours watching the Artemis II launch, voyage around the moon, and splashdown, with the NASA YouTube channel on my television.

It’s been a challenging month for news in general, but the news about Artemis II was awesome. Sometimes we need something big to watch, to hope, to cheer for. In a different way, and on a much smaller scale, Project Hail Mary, in both book and movie formats, has had a bit of the same effect on movie fans and science fiction readers. I was rereading the book to see what I remembered and what was changed in the movie. There have been many movie reviews and I won’t detail the differences from the book; but my experience was that both are thrilling, entertaining, moving, and inspiring. The lack of violence is also refreshing, and I wish more movies were like that. I have recently heard that Andy Weir’s second book, Artemis, set on a moon colony, is being adapted for film, as was the hugely popular The Martian. Project Hail Mary is the improbable story about Ryland Grace, a science teacher turned astronaut on an interstellar voyage to save the Earth when the Sun and all but one other star in our area start dimming.

I don’t have memories of earlier voyages to the moon, but I have watched movies and documentaries, and read memoirs and other books about the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo missions. It was wonderful to be able to track the four astronauts in real time on their journey, and I look forward to seeing many more of their photos and videos.

Brenda

The Harvey Girl

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The Harvey Girl by Dana Stabenow

A Western crime novel set in New Mexico in 1980, this is the first book in a planned series featuring Pinkerton agent Clare Wright. After a train robbery and murder led Fred Harvey to contact the Pinkerton Agency, Clare goes undercover, trains as a Harvey Girl, and arrives in Montaña Roja to work as a waitress at the Harvey House restaurant, near the train station.

I have long been fascinated by Harvey Girls, probably since watching Judy Garland sing about the Atchison, Topeka, and the Santa Fe Railway in The Harvey Girls movie, released in 1946. Last year I reviewed The Harvey Girls by Juliette Fay. The train robbery Clare’s investigating was not a hold up of train passengers, but rather the diversion of freight cars onto a side track.

At 22, Clare is smart, attractive, and carries a derringer. She quickly learns just how hard Harvey Girls work. Bat Masterson and Mark Twain make appearance in the novel, which adds to the book’s appeal, as does the gorgeous scenery. Clare uncovers a number of secrets, but which ones are connected to her case? I enjoyed the setting, found Clare appealing, and liked that the plot was not predictable. In between working in the restaurant and exploring the town, Clare has some time for dancing and flirting. I wonder where Clare is headed on her next case. The Harvey Girl is an interesting series start from an award-winning author best known for her contemporary Alaskan mysteries featuring Kate Shugak, and also for a series set in ancient Egypt. Breakup is a fun place to meet Kate Shugak, and Death of an Eye is the first in the Eye of Isis series.

Brenda

Boy, with Accidental Dinosaur

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Boy, with Accidental Dinosaur by Ian McDonald

Sometimes you can tell a book by its cover. This science fiction/western novella is set in the future, after the Chaos. It’s dystopian, and absolutely fascinating. Latif Tamim, or Tif, wants to work with dinosaurs in a circus. There is a time portal in the southwest where the present connects to various times in the Mesozoic era, including the Cretaceous and Jurassic periods. Dinosaurs can come through the portal, for a while.

Orphaned Tif finds his home with a small circus, bringing an old carnotaur with him. A Silver Clown, a mysterious buckaroo named Prince, a vet/dinosaur wrangler, and the manager run the circus, along with a couple of self-driving trailer trucks. This is a wild, adventurous story, full of loss, longing, and hope, set in a largely nomadic society. Wrangler Matilda goes on a road trip with Tif to Montana so that he can reconnect with a fellow orphan. The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi is close to a readalike, though it has more humor, and no actual dinosaurs. A short, memorable read.

Brenda