Diana Chambers takes the known facts of the life and work of Julia McWilliams (later Julia Child) from 1943 to 1945 and adds plenty of adventure, undercover work, and near-death experiences to create an exciting World War II novel set in Asia. Julia did work for the OSS, Office of Strategic Services, during the war in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) and China, but didn’t talk much about her work. She certainly handled highly classified documents. Julia did meet and fall in love with mapmaker Paul Child, and they both enjoyed their introduction to Chinese food. The author traveled Julia’s route from India to Sri Lanka, then over the Himalayans to Kunming in western China, and her research brings the settings to life, along with the other historical characters. Readalikes include My Life in France by Julia Child with Alex Prud’homme and A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute.
How to Winter: Harness Your Mindset to Thrive on Cold, Dark, or Difficult Days by Kari Leibowitz, PhD
I finished reading this book the first week of January, during our coldest stretch of winter so far. I’ve tried to get outside for more seasonal activities this winter, as I wasn’t looking forward to the dark and cold. We’ve had a few snows, but not enough to shovel, or to sled, snowshoe, or cross-country ski. The author grew up in New Jersey, then went south to Atlanta for college, where she studied psychology.
Wanting to study winter mindsets, she headed to the University of Tromso, in northern Norway, where winter is embraced, even during the long polar night. She has since spent time in winter in Finland, Amsterdam, Iceland, the Hebrides off the northwest coast of Scotland, Yamagata, Japan, and Edmonton, in Alberta, Canada. Being active outdoors in winter is covered, as is being cozy indoors, exemplified by the Scandinavian concept of hygge. She learned that a positive winter mindset can help, along with the right clothing and footwear, local winter-themed activities and festivals to attend, but also infrastructure such as heated sidewalks, lighted ski trails, plowed bike lanes and streets. For coziness, candles, fires, heated patios with blankets, saunas, hot baths, and for outdoors, even winter swimming. The author also discusses climate change and how that’s affecting cities and regions that embrace winter. I live in the Midwest and observed less snow overall and fewer days for activities like sledding and snowshoeing. If you don’t live in a snowy area, the author encourages winter tourism, which is promoted by the Twin Cities in Minnesota and in Edmonton, Alberta.
This is an engaging, worthwhile read. I don’t know if it’s changed my winter mindset, but I have been appreciating winter skies and scenery more, and find that going for a walk on a chilly day can be invigorating and pleasant, but am still avoiding outdoor activities on very cold days or nights. I did learn that sandhill cranes are still migrating south in early January; perhaps I haven’t been outside enough in past years to hear their distinctive calls. I have also enjoyed more evenings with a group of LED candles adding ambience, even while doing a little garden planning for spring.
This engaging novel is set in Paris in 1956, featuring three women who met at Le Cordon Bleu several years ago. They have lost touch but reconnect in Paris. Parisian Claire is cooking at her father’s brasserie, but has dreams of cooking haute cuisine; especially challenging for a woman at that time. American Gina has broken off her engagement to Hal, an aspiring politician, after her father lost his fortune. She is writing a novel and works part-time at a bookstore.
Margot has returned from Australia, but is now going by Marie. She is working as a shop assistant at The House of Dior, and hasn’t let Claire know she’s back in Paris. Claire is gifted a gorgeous Dior gown, but has no occasion to wear it, so gives Gina the first chance to be fitted for the gown. Gina is invited to a ball where she’ll encounter her former fiancé Hal, who she still loves.
Cooking, fashion, and writing fill their days as the three women slowly reveal their secrets and alternately argue with and then support each other. Life for career women in 1950s Paris is challenging, and they all have decisions to make, as well as the chance for romance. Mid-century Paris is brought to life, making for an absorbing read that is neither lighthearted or too dark. Readalikes include Jacqueline in Paris by Ann Mah and Jennifer Robson’s The Gown and Coronation Year.
Ingrained: The Making of a Craftsman by Callum Robinson
This is a compelling memoir by a Scottish furniture maker and his wife Marisa, an architectural designer. They run a business making high end products for commercial showrooms, and have a huge job get cancelled at the last minute. Going back to his roots, Callum visits woodlots and gets to work in the workshop, to make custom furniture. Callum and Marisa have three full-time craftsmen to keep in work. They open a small store to display their work in Linlithgow. Callum even asks his dad, David, who taught him the craft, for help. Callum and the guys make beautiful and very expensive furniture, then need to find people who will love and then buy their work, or commission new pieces. I have had some relatives who enjoyed working with wood, but nothing large, and have no personal experience other than holding boards and fetching tools, but this book made me appreciate the challenges and the high level of craft that go into making beautiful wood furniture.
Ghost Town Living: Mining for Purpose and Chasing Dreams at the Edge of Death Valley by Brent Underwood
This remarkable memoir is set in the 2020s. Brent has a hostel in Austin, Texas, and his family lives in Florida. Somehow, with other financial backers, he buys a ghost town named Cerro Gordo, elevation 8500 feet, four hours from Los Angeles on the edge of Death Valley. Cerro Gordo is at the end of a terrible steep, winding road, and has no running water, but it does has a view of Mt. Whitney as well as Death Valley—the highest and lowest places in the continental United States. The town grew up around a mine, where silver, nickel, and lead were found, and Brent finds a bunch of old buildings still standing, including a hotel and a bunkhouse. There are petroglyphs and an ancient bristlecone pine nearby.
Brent, with some locals and many, many volunteers, must figure out how to explore the area safely, restore some of the buildings, and find a way to get water to the town. He also has some health challenges, partly from stress and overwork, but gains perspective from his friend Tip, who’s nearing the end of his life and loves to spend time in Cerro Gordo. I learned that the author narrated the audiobook version in the quietest place he could find: a cozy alcove in the mine. Compelling reading that almost makes me want to visit Cerro Gordo and Death Valley.
The sequel to The House in the Cerulean Sea is a satisfying read. Six magical children live with Linus and Arthur on Marsyas Island. Originally an orphanage, Linus and Arthur want to officially adopt all the children. Arthur is summoned to give testimony to DICOMY, the Department in Charge of Magical Youth, and asked about his own unhappy childhood, and his magical powers as a very magnificent phoenix. After his testimony, Arthur and Linus visit a potential new member of their family, 10-year-old David, who’s a yeti.
David likes to act, especially classic private detective scenes. He also likes to scare people, but not to hurt them. Lucy, 7, loves music, including Ella Fitzgerald and Elvis, and learns that David does as well. Lucy is developing his skills and learning what makes him calm.
Miss Harriet Marblemaw is sent to the island to investigate conditions, but is being directed by Jeanine Rowder, friend to absolutely no one on the island, including Zoë, the sprite who oversees the island and village. Themes include found family, embracing diversity, a sweet romance between Arthur and Linus, fun adventures with the kids, and the growing acceptance of the villagers for the island’s children. The magical children continue to delight. This is a sure bet for fans of The House in the Cerulean Sea.
This is a sweet contemporary novel of starting over, set in Wales. Jess Cavendish, 45, has hit rock bottom. Escaping from an angry, unfaithful boyfriend, Jess communicates with her family and friends only by text or short phone calls. In Caerwyddon, Wales, she camped in a tent in a graveyard for several weeks, then found a job as dishwasher in a nice restaurant (she showers at a local gym). Recently, Jess discovered Sunnyside, a recently sold but still vacant house and is camping out in a room there. When she’s discovered by the new owner, Gethin, he surprisingly asks her to stay and help with re-decorating the house.
Reluctantly, she agrees to stay, if he’ll allow her to pay rent. Jess gets a better job, stays friends with Maura from the restaurant, and helps Gethin strip wallpaper, pick out paint colors, and shop for furniture for the house. Jess teaches Gethin to cook, and he drives them to ruined castles where they picnic. Gethin is just out of a very long relationship with Vanessa, a television personality, and is slowly reconnecting with family and friends in the Caerwyddon area. At 47, he’s very nice and also lonely. His mum likes Jess while his sister Abby is naturally suspicious. They become friends, then lovers, then friends again. I enjoyed the Welsh setting, the house and garden, and especially Jess and Gethin, two very appealing characters. Readalikes include books by Abbi Waxman, Jennifer Crusie, and Maggie Moves On by Lucy Score.
Big Book of Bread: 125+ Recipes for Every Baker by King Arthur Baking Company
Flour Tortillas
Sky-High Nanterre Brioche
Mexican Chocolate Swirl Bread
Molasses-Oat Bread
This cookbook has recipes for all sorts of breads: flat breads, sourdough, sandwich loaves, round artisan breads, and fancy enriched breads. It’s suitable for bread bakers at all skill levels and has recipes from many countries. All four recipes I tried turned out very well. First I made flour tortillas, cooked in a skillet, using coconut oil as the suggested substitution for lard. Next I baked molasses-oat bread, and liked the technique given to add oats to the top of the loaf. Then I baked Mexican chocolate swirl bread, which is a lightly enriched dough. I omitted the optional chipotle powder in the filling, which included cocoa powder, cinnamon, and sugar. This was even more delicious than cinnamon and/or raisin swirl bread, and made excellent toast. Finally I made the brioche dough, and used my new Pullman loaf pan to bake the sky-high Nanterre loaf. This dough did take four hours for the second rise, one hour more than the recipe said, but it was worth the wait. The texture is much better than store-bought, mass-produced brioche.
Since there is a section on sourdough, I was pleased to see the the large majority of the recipes don’t require a sourdough starter. Some that suggest using a couple of tablespoons of sourdough have an alternate method, which I used in the swirl bread. Except for my brioche dough, the times given for mixing, shaping, rising, and baking in a bar graph at the top of each recipe worked perfectly for me, and the directions are clear with plenty of color photos. There are quite a few more breads I’m looking forward to baking!
Every fall, I look for the latest cozy holiday mystery by Andrews. They are always a delight to read, or to listen to. Meg Langslow and her husband Michael have a very large extended family. Her mother decorates Meg and Michael’s large house to the utmost every Christmas, and someone in the family is usually involved in a Christmas production. Michael often does a one-man Christmas Carol and twins Josh and Jamie, now about 13, have appeared in many Christmas pageants. Meg herself often organizes holiday events in their town of Caerphilly, Virginia, where downtown traffic slows to a crawl as visitors enjoy the holiday decorations and carolers.
This mystery is largely set at the luxurious Caerphilly Inn, where a relative is hosting the Presumed Innocent conference, with presenters giving information on how to exonerate wrongly convicted people. Meg and Michael have a very pregnant relative staying with them, tended to by herbalist cousin Rose Noire, and Meg’s dad, Dr. Langslow. Meg, with the assistance of relatives and town residents, is a skilled amateur sleuth, and is soon asked to investigate the death of someone involved with the conference. While not as funny as some of her other holiday mysteries, Josh and Jamie, along with their friend Adam, provide comic relief as they help Meg and Chief Burke by attempting to exit the Inn unseen by security cameras. Meg and Michael’s family continue to charm, as does the town of Caerphilly. More, please! Earlier holiday mysteries include Duck the Halls, The Nightingale Before Christmas, Owl be Home for Christmas, and several more. Enjoy!
The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern by Lynda Cohen Loigman
After her mother’s death, Augusta Stern’s Great Aunt Esther moves into the family apartment above their drugstore. Solomon Stern is the pharmacist, older sister Bess sells cosmetics, Irving Rivkin is the delivery boy, and Augusta is a cashier who learns about medicine and healing from her father and her aunt. Esther treats patients in the apartment with soup and herbs. The book title is a bit misleading, as neither Esther or Augusta makes a love elixir, although there is a bit of magical realism to Esther’s methods.
Set in Brooklyn in the early 1920s, and in south Florida in 1987, this is a heartfelt and enjoyable historical novel. It’s unusual in that the same main character is featured in both timelines. At almost 80, Augusta is still working as a hospital pharmacist, having altered her birthdate. She is finally ready to retire and her niece Jackie finds her an apartment at Rallentando Springs, a development for seniors, most of them Jewish, that includes a swimming pool and a book club. Augusta swims in the pool daily, and is stunned to meet Irving, who was her teenage sweetheart. She also encounters her late friend Evie’s handsome husband Nathaniel, who is not friendly with Irving. I appreciated that the seniors here are depicted as vibrant, active, and fairly healthy.
The author was inspired by the story of her husband’s great grandmother Goldie, a pharmacist, and by her father’s move to an assisted living residence in south Florida. Daily life in Prohibition era Brooklyn really comes to life and it was fun to read about the fashion trends of the 1980s. I found this book to be quite a good read, though her previous book, The Matchmaker’s Gift, is my favorite.
Sometimes I need a fun crime thriller or caper for escapist reading. This first book in a new series by Osman is just the ticket. While different from his Thursday Murder Club mysteries, fans of one series may enjoy the other. To begin with, Amy Wheeler and her father-in-law Steve are the good guys. Steve is a widowed ex-cop with a cat named Trouble. He lives in the English town of Axley where he walks to a favorite park bench every day to talk with Debbie, his late wife. Then there is lunch at the pub, where Tony can diagnose the problems with his car’s clutch, and quiz night once a week. He has just located a missing dog. There are frequent texts and regular chats with Amy, a bodyguard, and less frequent texts with his son Adam, currently en route to Dubai.
Amy is guarding longtime bestselling writer Rosie D’Antonio on her private island off the coast of South Carolina. Recently, three couriers have died, all with ties to Maximum Impact, the security company owned by Jeff, Amy’s boss, and to a small public relations firm in England. One of the deaths happened off the coast of South Carolina, and Amy learns that she’s a suspect. When she’s not sure who to trust, she asks Steve for help. At first reluctant to travel, Steve finds that he enjoys private plane rides, and the action moves to St. Lucia, Dublin, Dubai, and the New Forest in England. Pubs, posh restaurants, airports, golf courses and spas are all featured here. Steve and Amy make connections, ask questions, are occasionally in danger, and along with Rosie, are vastly entertaining. A movie actor, another security guard, and a caddy all help them figure out who’s responsible for the crime wave. Adam also gets to help, but is a minor character here. In the end, loose ends are tied up and the reader finally emerges back into the real world, refreshed.
Steve and Amy decide they will work together to solve mysteries, and Rosie may have located a missing cat. The Marseille Caper and The Corsican Caper by Peter Mayle are readalikes.
Book Girl & Little Bear 