A Foreign Affair (or Death at Dawn)

A Foreign Affair by Caro Peacock. What a great read! I think I read this book in 24 hours, not because it's short or easy but because it was just so good. This is another book I bought just because the back cover made it sound interesting. I would call it a gothic mystery. The main character was interesting, the mystery was tricky, and the writing was good. I discovered she has written two more books: Death of a Dancer and A Corpse in Shining Armor. (same heroine)
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One thing I have learned recently (the hard way) is that sometimes when a book is published first in England, it is published under a different name than the book is published under in the U.S. Unfair! I was excited recently to receive a book I had been looking for -- only to discover I had already read it - under a different title!

Best Friends by Martha Moody

Best Friends,by Martha Moody is a book I randomly picked up. I forget where I got it - probably the used paperback store (buy two get third one free! or Goodwill). I often give a book a try that is labeled "NATIONAL BESTSELLER". I figure there is a good chance I'll like it too. This story starts with two young women away at college. I liked the peek into college life and the choices they made along the way. It continues through their adulthood, the two women remaining close friends through many emotional times, moral dilemmas, marriages and children, issues with parents and siblings. It took a rather "gritty" turn at one point that caught me by surprise, but it was still an interesting book that kept me picking it up for "just one more chapter" many times throughout the day. I googled the author and she has written two more books, which I will look for now.

a slob in the kitchen

I didn't know I was going to review cookbooks - but here I am! I've been looking for easy recipes to share with W, for when he is cooking for himself. I found this one at the library, and in spite of the name, it looked like a great easy cookbook - with plenty of helpful hints. She claims "All the tricky, bland and laborious stuff has been sifted out." and "It is not a road map to mastering the gastronomic arts, but then, you are not the Queen of England, are you?"

I confess I read it like a novel. Its pages are pre-stained with blobs, blots and coffee cup rings. She uses all different fonts and italics so it is not too intimidating to read through a recipe.

Here is one recipe:

"shoe-leather marinade"

I make this often, My friend Beautiful Jenny named it "Shoe Leather Marinade," because an old boot would taste great if you marinated it in this mixture for an hour.

1 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup oil
1 Tablespoon minced garlic
1 Tablespoon peeled and minced fresh ginger

In a large bowl, whisk together all the ingredients until well combined.

I think I need to return this book to the library and buy one for Walker's cookbook shelf.

Two at Once!

Last night I finished TWO books! FALLEN SKIES by Philippa Gregory and SISTERCHICKS ON THE LOOSE by Robin Jones Gunn.

There could hardly be two different books! But I'm glad I read them simultaneously. Fallen Skies was very serious, even grim. Sisterchicks on the Loose was very uplifting and humorous.
I was really looking forward to Fallen Skies. I am a huge Philippa Gregory fan and I was excited to read another book of hers. My sister gave me the sisterchicks book, with the review "its a really quick read, and you might like it".

...

So, I read a bit of Fallen Skies, and then when it got too depressing I'd read Sisterchicks. But I still wanted to see what was going to happen in Fallen Skies, so I'd read more. I didn't really plan to finish Fallen Skies in the evening, and then finish reading Sisterchicks that same night, but it happened that way, perfectly!

...

Fallen Skies was a WWI Story, taking place in England. If you ever thought about what is going on in the mind of a seriously disturbed war veteran who appeared normal on the outside, this is the book for you. I did want to finish it and see how it ended. It was like watching a movie you wished you had not gone to, but you wanted to find out how it ended. It did have a basically happy ending, for most of the characters. Not the "Queens of England" histories that I have enjoyed in the past, but still well written.

....

More Lipman Novels

I finished two more Elinor Lipman novels. I feel like an addict that wants to stop, but can't. I think I might be satisfied for a while...
...
First, I read The Ladies' Man. This is probably my least favorite of her novels I've read before. If I had read it first, I probably wouldn't be on this particular "binge". But, it was interesting, and when you read so many novels by one author, you start to 'notice' things in her characters and style that you might not have noticed before. This was a story about three sisters, all impacted by the same man. He was a charming heel, and eventually they all moved on with their lives and he more or less got his reward. But this one! I really enjoyed Then She Found Me a lot. It had all my favorite elements of a Lipman story: interesting characters, a unique story line, funny events, and a happy ending.

Highly recommended. A movie was made of this one with Helen Hunt and Bette Midler. I don't usually like the movie version of a book I have enjoyed, but if it comes on cable, I might give it a try.