Author: Book Girl

The Spellshop

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The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst

If cozy fantasy is your jam, you’re sure to enjoy this book. Lots of jam is made and consumed in this novel, mostly raspberry jam. Librarian Kiela and her assistant Caz flee Alyssium during a rebellion when fire reaches the library. They take five crates of spellbooks down the lift to a sailboat and head for the islands.

Caz is an enchanted spider plant with great penmanship. Kiela sails to a remote island where she was born, and finds that her parents’ clifftop cottage is still vacant. Introverted Kiela soon meets baker Bryn and her friendly neighbor Larran, who tends the merhorses who help the local fishermen. There are also mermaids, winged cats, a harpist with four arms, and a cactus. Kiela has blue skin, blue hair, and magenta freckles. This is lovely cottagecore, but with lots of drama, including some suspicious islanders, dangerous storms, an imperial inspector, and the uncertainty of trying new spells. Kiela and Caz would love to stay in her cottage, now with multi-colored custom shelves for the jam and spellbooks thanks to Larran, but can they? This is a compelling and entertaining read. Readalikes include Shanna Swendson’s Tea and Empathy or Bread and Burglary in her Tales of Rydding Village series.

Brenda

Welcome to Glorious Tuga

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Welcome to Glorious Tuga by Francesca Segal

The fictional south Atlantic island of Tuga de Oro is inaccessible to ships for several months every year. Island Open Day is a cause for celebration, as it brings ships with long waited cargo, FFA (folk from away) and returning Tugans. Seasick Charlotte Walker arrives at Island Close, which is celebrated with fireworks. Charlotte is a young vet who is spending a year on Tuga to study gold coin tortoises. Tugan Dr. Dan Zekri is returning so his Uncle Saul can retire. At the same time, a mother leaves the island for a job and an 11-year-old is headed to boarding school. The family connections are a bit bewildering at first to Charlotte (the reader has a list of characters and how they’re related), but she gets a warmer welcome than Dr. Dan, especially when she is willing to use her veterinary skills as well as research the tortoises. Next comes Katie, a physiotherapist who’s more in love with island life than her Tugan sweetheart. Secrets, dramas, history, and the gorgeous island itself are all part of the storyline. This is a vivid, compelling read that is hard to put down.

Brenda

The Editor

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The Editor: How Publishing Legend Judith Jones Shaped Culture in America by Sara B. Franklin

Editor Judith Jones lived to be 93 and didn’t retire from Knop until she was 85. She edited many, many books and enjoyed many lunches with her authors. A couple of years in Paris as a young adult just after World War II inspired a love of food, cooking, and travel. Judith joined Knopf when it was rare for a woman to work in publishing as anything other than a secretary. When she became an editor, she worked very long hours, and became known as a passionate editor with a firm but delicate touch. She specialized in editing literary fiction, poetry, and food writing.

She married Dick Jones and they lived in New York City and Vermont. Dogs, swimming, music, poetry, and books filled their days. Infertility was a lifelong grief, though two stepchildren and later two older foster children expanded their family. Julia Child, Claudia Roden, Edna Lewis, and James Beard were some of the authors she worked with on bestselling cookbooks. The changing tastes in America for food and cookbooks is a major theme in this book. Also, quite a lot about being an underpaid woman in publishing, as well as growing old gracefully. Quite an interesting read, especially for foodies or avid cooks.

Brenda

The Husbands

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The Husbands by Holly Gramazio

Londoner Lauren is a little drunk after Elena’s hen party, and is very startled to find a strange man on the stair landing of her duplex. The man turns out to be her husband, Michael. Her flat looks a bit different than she remembers and the fridge is stocked with grapefruit water. Neighbor Toby knows Michael, but Lauren is single. She fakes a cold and Michael sleeps in the spare room. When he goes up to the attic to replace a light bulb, a different husband comes down. Lauren’s attic seems to have a supply of husbands! This is a completely ridiculous plot, but makes for a fun, compelling summer read.

Lauren is sure of a few things. She is friends with Toby and Elena. Her sister Natalie is married with two little kids. But when a new husband comes downstairs to the flat, there are changes, like the paint color, art work, or furniture in their flat. And sometimes other things are different. One husband is very cross; she has trouble getting him back in the attic. Jason is very nice, but her job has completely changed. Lauren learns to look at photos and messages on her phone to see if she likes her life, her job, and her relationships. Sometimes Lauren doesn’t like herself at all, and neither does the reader. Often, she calls off sick from work or buys things not in her budget, because everything will reset the next time. Then a couple of exes come back. Is Lauren the only one with an attic like that? I wondered why she doesn’t move away. Will she ever find what she’s looking for?

After a while, Lauren gets desperate and makes some very bad choices. But finally, she learns from her experiences and the ending is unexpected and dramatic. This book is hard to put down and would make a great movie, with lots of cameo parts for men. Try reading this novel and not talking about it; I certainly couldn’t. The author is from Australia and lives in London. A game designer, this is her first novel. I’m fascinated to see what she writes next.

Brenda

How to Age Disgracefully

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How to Age Disgracefully by Clare Pooley

I liked Pooley’s book The Authenticity Project and enjoyed a recent book discussion of Iona Iverson’s Rules for Commuting, so I was eager to read this British novel with an ensemble cast.

Daphne is turning 70 and rarely leaves her apartment. A dog named Maggie Thatcher needs a new home, or homes. Ziggy is a teen dad to toddler Kylie. Lydia, struggling with hot flashes at 54, starts a part-time job at a London community center, leading a new social club for seniors. Art, a bit actor is bored, and brings his photographer friend William along. Ruby knits and knits. When the community center needs expensive repairs, the local council considers selling the building to developers. The senior club and the daycare, along with a group of pregnant women and people in recovery all band together to try and save the building. There is an unusual joint nativity play, some clever yarn bombing, and Maggie Thatcher is entered into a competition on a TV show. The seniors also trail Lydia’s husband, deal with Ziggy’s local bully, and find lost family members, as well as uncover Daphne’s very big secret. This is a funny, moving, and entertaining read with bighearted and realistic middle-aged and older characters.

Brenda

Moon Shot

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Moon Shot: A NASA Astronaut’s Guide to Achieving the Impossible by Mike Massimino

This book is an excellent combination of memoir and motivational writing. Mike applied to be a NASA astronaut three times, and failed. The third time he was close, but his vision wasn’t quite good enough. He was prescribed eye exercises by an optometrist, and managed to get accepted. Then he found out he needed to pass a long-distance swim test and a lifesaving test, and Mike didn’t swim as well as his 3-year-old. When he became part of the Astronaut Candidate group in 1996, he learned that a large part of their training was about team work, so the stronger swimmers spent time giving tips to Mike and the other weak swimmers.

Massimino, a mechanical engineer nicknamed Mass, was on two space shuttle missions to repair the Hubble telescope. His first trip to space was on Columbia, 11 months before its terrible accident. Mike writes about being a CapCom, talking with the astronauts stranded on the International Space Station after the Columbia accident, checking on their families, and talking them through basic station maintenance, as if they were doing weekend chores back home. He learned from astronauts like Alan Bean, who flew to the moon in Apollo 12. Some of his lessons from NASA that can apply to anyone’s life include: be amazed, build trust, accept ideas from your whole team, go slow and don’t make your mistakes worse. Ask for help, and learn from your mistakes. There are funny scenes and dramatic moments, in a compelling read from from someone who clearly loved working for NASA. Mike later appeared as himself on The Big Bang Theory, and is now a professor and public speaker.

Brenda

Incredible Minnesota

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Minnehaha Falls, Minneapolis
Spoonbridge and Cherry Sculpture with Basilica in background
Basilica of Saint Mary in Minneapolis
Japanese Garden
Japanese Garden, Normandale Community College

Photos from the Twin Cities area of Minnesota, taken last week.

Winter Lost

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Winter Lost by Patricia Briggs

The dedication for this book is to Dan dos Santos, the painter of the striking book jacket art featuring Mercy, holding a fancy and very unusual lyre. Mercy, a shape shifter, is still hurting and usually has a headache resulting from the events in Soul Taken. I read Soul Taken in 2022 but only remember Italy and a very strong and wicked vampire.

Mercy’s half-brother Gary, also the son of Coyote, shows up on a snowy night and can’t talk or write. Mercy and Adam, her werewolf husband, head to a ranch in rural Montana where Gary was working. They encounter a mammoth blizzard, caused by Ymir, a frost giant. At a lodge nearby they find most of a wedding party and some more supernatural beings. The lyre, or perhaps a harp, must be found. Also, the wedding needs to happen as scheduled, on the winter solstice by the nearby hot spring. The groom is still a couple of states away due to the blizzard.

Mercy investigates, Adam tries to protect her, and a silver spider gets involved along with Jack, a ghost. This is not the Mercy Thompson book to start with, but if you’re already acquainted with Mercy and the Tri-Cities werewolves, it may be hard to put down.

Brenda

The Weekday Vegetarians

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The Weekday Vegetarians by Jenny Rosenstrach

Cookbook author and blogger Jenny and her husband Andy have 2 teen girls. One day Jenny texted Andy “Should we become vegetarians?” And if so, how would that work? They decided to cook and serve vegetarian dinners during the week, and Jenny and Andy also decided to eat vegetarian for breakfast and lunch on the weekdays. It wasn’t an easy switch and Jenny and Andy needed more vegetarian recipes the whole family would enjoy. Eventually Jenny came up with this family friendly cookbook. Many of the recipes have options for vegans and/or suggestions to make any holdouts happier with some meat.

I’ve made three recipes so far – all warmly welcomed. Spicy-Tangy-Smoky Pinto Bean Bowls, served with rice. I skipped the cayenne to go tangy-smoky. Smoked paprika and tomato paste with a splash of red wine vinegar made canned pinto beans delicious, and leftovers were good.

Wheat Berries with Crispy Tofu, Grapes, Arugula and Feta was also a hit. I made 2 substitutions. I cooked farro instead of wheat berries, and served butter lettuce instead of arugula. The small tofu cubes baked on a sheet pan were delicious. Pistachios are also included for a nice crunch. The only criticism I have is that this recipe took me a full hour of active food prep and cooking, plus time to cook the farro. This was excellent leftover, and we look forward to variations. I’ve made the tofu again, served with a peanut sauce.

Finally, I made Roasted Butternut Squash and Black Bean Tacos. I followed the recipe, but also added half a sliced yellow onion to the sheet pan with the squash and roasted both for 35 minutes, instead of the recipe’s suggested 20-25 minutes. I also added 4 ounces of cubed halloumi cheese for the last fifteen minutes. When I added the roasted onions to the black beans and mashed them as directed, it tasted like refried beans. As suggested, I served them with both crispy and soft taco shells, though I skipped the Cilantro pesto for a jar of mild salsa.

This cookbook, which was published in 2021, is full of fresh, appealing, and healthy dinner ideas, with great food photography by Christine Han. I was happy to learn that a new cookbook, The Weekday Vegetarians Get Simple, will be published in late August.

Brenda

Uprooted

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Uprooted by Naomi Novik

Dark, with marvelous storytelling, this fantasy novel is decidedly NOT cozy, and not recommended for bedtime reading. It is also very unlike the Temeraire series by Novik in which Temeraire is a dragon bonded to a naval captain in the Napoleonic Wars. Her book Spinning Silver is probably a good readalike, but I haven’t read it (yet).

Agnieska grows up in the village of Dvernik, in a valley near the Wood, which is a very scary place. Agnieska’s friend Kasia is beautiful and is sure to be chosen by the Dragon, a wizard named Sarkan, when they are 17. When Agnieska the untidy and untalented is chosen instead, it’s a shock to the village, the girls, and their mothers. Every ten years a girl is chosen from the valley villages, later they have enough education and money to move to the city and be independent.

Agnieska was chosen because she has magic. Her magic isn’t like Sarkan’s, and her first months in the Tower are a struggle. Then Wensa, Kasia’s mother, comes for help. Kasia’s been taken to the Wood. A book of spells by Jaga (aka Baba Yaga) may be helpful.

So, the adventures begin, in the Wood, the Tower, and in the heart of the Kingdom, when the Queen comes out of the wood. Kasia and Agnieska, plus a little prince and princess, are the heart of this compelling, spellbinding story.

Brenda