Sunday, November 8, 2015

The Madness of Cthulhu Anthology (Volume Two)

I loved this book it is so interesting and entertaining.  The author does such an amazing job of bringing the readers into the story.  I couldn't put this book down at all from start to finish.  I cant wait for the next one to come out.

Vegan Bowls: Perfect Flavor Harmony in Cozy One-Bowl Meals

I made 6 recipes from this book so far. Every one was a winner. I just made the mushroom carbonara, and I knew I had to rate this book. That recipe was so amazing. It is one of the best things I've had and I make a lot of good food. I will say that I haven't really been able to make most of the recipes in 30 minutes, I don't know if I'm just slow but I think they're a little more involved then being able to do in 30 minutes but they're well worth the effort.

Cook the Pantry: Vegan Pantry-to-Plate Recipes in 20 Minutes (or Less!

I had the pleasure of testing the recipes for this book, and each new recipe came together quickly with little fuss, and always tasted delicious. Robin includes a wide variety of recipes that you can make with basic staples in a well-stocked kitchen, and even provides the resources on how to build a well-stocked pantry, if you don't have one already.Some of my favorites include the Tortilla Soup, the Creamy Peanut Soup, the White Bean Nicoise Salad, the Homestyle Hash Burgers, the Jerk Tempeh with Coconut Quinoa, the Bananas Foster Dessert Nachos, and last but not least, the Chocolate-Coated Walnut-Stuffed Dates in Pastry. Robin gives tips on how to simplify the recipes even further, and variations for people that have very little time to cook dinner. And best of all, every single recipe is vegan! This is a great book to have on hand in your own cookbook library, and would be a great Christmas gift this holiday season!

Recipes for Love and Murder: A Tannie Maria Mystery

This is an amazing tale with lots different characters and people that make the book great and interesting.  I love how intense this book is and how the author lets you get to know the people in the book.  I will be reading a lot more books by this author.

The Muralist: A Novel

The Muralist by B.A. Shapiro, author of the bestselling The Art Forger, is an enthralling and gripping historical suspense mystery thriller with life, art and politics of pre-World War II New York City serving as the backdrop, with the story shifting back and forth from the past to the present, and the author bringing to life historical characters from the past and imaginatively mingling them with an array of fictional characters. Written in a style only B.A. Shapiro can, with a subject close to her heart as the pivotal theme of the novel, what you have is a mix of factual and fictional events vying for centre-stage as the story unfolds.

The story begins in the present-day with Danielle Abrams, who is the great-niece of Alizee Benoit, trying to solve the mysterious disappearance of her great-aunt over seventy years before. Her family has been clueless, and disinterested, about the whole affair drawing her curiosity. The stoic silence of Danielle’s Holocaust-surviving grandparents shrouded what little might have been known until something happened, lifted the veil and takes her further into the mystery.

Saturday, October 31, 2015

And West Is West

This excellent, fast-paced novel, which won the Barbara Kingsolver Pen Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction, tells its larger story of government and financial corruption through engaging, unique characters. In this twisty tale, the reader experiences how easy it is for a moral individual to become a cog in a corrupt organization's schemes. And how quickly that same individual can become a victim the Powerful want to destroy.

The main characters are Ethan, a "quant" who writes software to make billions for his Wall Street firm without adding any value to society, and Jessica, a US Army sergeant who remotely pilots war drones that drop bombs on Somalia. The book moves back and forth between their stories, all the while maintaining your fascination with both. Wall Street and the US Army drone program would be interesting enough settings on their own, but the plots expand to include the international art world, the US prison system, the Nevada desert, a dysfunctional wealthy family, an aging hippy couple, and more. The author navigates these diverse worlds with ease. Each character, place and situation is believable, interesting, and memorable.

I highly recommend this superbly written book. At little more than 300 pages, it's a swift, engrossing read that leaves you thinking about the real issue that faces us all: if an individual can't change a corrupt system, how do they live a moral life?

The Shift: One Nurse, Twelve Hours, Four Patients' Lives

I absolutely loved this book. Theresa Brown is a gifted writer. Not only is she a nurse, but she has a PhD in English and is a former university English professor. By the time I finished the book, I felt I not only knew her intimately, but also her patients.I am a retired nurse and a former nursing professor, so when I read the details of her 12 hour shift, I could relate to all that she did. However, I don't think you would need a medical background to feel like you were right there with her with every decision she made and every task she performed. The book is entertaining in that it gives a real feel for what decisions nurses must make on a typical day in the hospital.It not only covers routine tasks she performed, but the emotional toll that nursing requires and the responsibility nurses have for being an advocate for a patient. This is one of the best books I have read in a long time.