The Rook by Daniel O'Malley

I put The Rook on my library queue after seeing some ads for it on Goodreads. Supernatural Secret Service? Sounds good to me. I thoroughly enjoyed The Rook.

A woman finds herself in the rain with no memory of how she got there. She’s got 2 black eyes, some bruises, and scrapped knees. There are 2 letters in her pocket, telling her that she is inhabiting the body of Myfawny Thomas. She also receives instructions that start her on one wild ride. Myfawny (pronounced Miff-un-ee rhymes with Tiffany) works for the Checquy, a convert government operation that deals with supernatural phenomenon. Myfawny herself has some supernatural abilities of her own. I loved the new Myfawny right away. She wakes up in this strange body, no clue how she got there or what to do. Now she has some trouble but l loved watching her figure everything out. Who stripped Myfawny of her memory and personality? Is there a traitor within Checquy? Will England be invaded?

Not only was the plot original and entertaining but the writing was humorous. I kept laughing out loud. The scene with the duck was priceless. Sure, there are the same supernaturals-vamps, demons. But there were some strange almost Lovecraftian creatures too which was pretty cool. Myfawny's coworkers are an odd bunch too. One of her coworkers has 4 bodies, three men and one woman. Another is a contortionist. There are others that can manipulate metal, control minds, and have impenetrable skin. I loved the world O'Malley created. 

Overall, I highly recommend The Rook. Fans of the supernatural will enjoy it. I just noticed it's the first in a series. I'm really looking forward to the next one. Others who shared their thoughts on The Rook: King Of The Nerds, Blogging For A Good Book, Bookalicious Babe Book Reviews, and Sawcat's Book Blog.

Every Day by David Levithan

I picked up Every Day off the shelf after hearing some good things. Even though it took me a few pages to get into it, I loved Every Day. Definitely in this year's top ten.
Every day, A wakes up in different body. This has been A's life since A was born. A has accepted this until A meets Rhiannon. A usually is able to leave each life and not look back but things with Rhiannon are different. A falls in love.
The premise sounds like it would be hard to get into but after the A wakes up in a few different bodies, I looked forward to seeing who A will be today. Sometimes A is male, sometimes female. A doesn't have a gender. I loved the diversity of the people A inhabited. Even more I loved how Levithan wrote about each of the people. Particularly the girl with the serious depression. How a black cloud hung around her. I think that was my favorite chapter. My second favorite was the chapter where A inhabits the body of a transgendered female. The details and the emotion that Levithan put into those two chapters was amazing. I savored the writing of Every Day. It's one I would love to read again.
I would highly recommend Every Day to anyone. The writing as well as the story was amazing. Others who shared their thoughts on Every Day: Pub Writes, The Perpetual Page Turner, My Overstuffed Bookshelf, My Friend Amy, and The Lost Entwife.

Library Loot

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and Marg from The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries.

Just one this week for me.

Son

I'm really looking forward to finishing The Giver Quartet!

What did you get this week?

Top Ten Tuesday: Most Anticipated Books For 2013

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created here at The Broke and the Bookish. 

This week's topic is my most anticipated books of 2013. My list is very series and YA heavy!

Scarlet

I read Cinder early this year and have been anxious to read the sequel. 

Sever

While I didn't love Fever, I want to read the conclusion.

The Elite

First off, I love the cover. But I also want to continue America's story. 

Asunder

I loved Incarnate. I can't wait to get my hands on Asunder.

Poison

First the cover is amazing. Plus it sounds like a good fantasy romance.

Etiquette & Espionage

I love Carriger's Parasol Protectorate series so I'm looking forward to her next series.

Requiem

Ever since finishing Ballad, I have been waiting for the next in the Books of Faerie series. In 2013 the wait is over. 

Shades of Earth

I'm excited for the conclusion of the Across The Universe series.

Star Cursed

I loved Born Wicked and I'm really looking forward to the next in the series.

Untitled (Divergent #3 or Detergent)

I'm really looking forward to the conclusion of the Divergent series. I wish the book had a name so we can stop calling it Detergent. 

What books are you looking forward to reading in 2013? 

Cleaving by Julie Powell

After reading Julie & Julia and enjoying it, I decided to read her second book, Cleaving. Julie didn’t bother me that much in Julie & Julia but she lost any redeeming qualities in Cleaving. It was hard book for me to read.
After Julie’s success with Julie & Julia, she decides she wants to learn to be a butcher. It’s difficult to find a butcher that is willing to apprentice her. Finally Julie finds a shop willing to teach her how to become a butcher. Within the shop, Julie also finds a place to escape her life. For the last two years, Julie has been having an affair. Unable to leave her husband, Eric, or her lover, D, Julie finds an escape in butchering. There are 3 stories within this book. Julie attempting to become a butcher. Julie struggling between Eric and D. And Julie struggling with herself.
While reading this book, I was reminded by something Tai tells me all the time: Happiness is a choice. Through each page of the book, I really felt like Julie was choosing to be miserable. Some of it was to gain knowledge like a 4 hour round trip commute to the butcher shop in upstate New York. But I really felt like her affair was a choice to be unhappy. I really had a hard time with her adultery.
Reading the butchering parts was sometimes hard. Julie doesn’t hold anything back about describing the details involved with butchering beef, pork, turkeys. But as a carnivore, I decided that I had to read those parts. If I eat meat, I should understand how it gets to my table. I found the butchering parts to be very interesting. I learned a lot that will help me in the kitchen and in the butcher shop. There are some recipes sprinkled though the book highlighting the different cuts of meat the Julie butchered.
Reading Julie’s struggle with Eric and D was difficult for me. I have a hard time with adultery. I’m definitely a one man kind of woman. While I’ve read fiction and nonfiction where adultery is the topic, it’s usually the aftermath that’s dealt with. Julie was still with D for parts of Cleaving. She’d break up with him and get back together all while trying to maintain her relationship with Eric. I did not identify with her struggle and honestly it made me angry sometimes. For the last part of the book, Julie travels alone to the Ukraine, Tanzania, Argentina, and Japan. I enjoyed the travel part especially when she went to Tanzania. So much of Julie’s life has been wrapped up around Eric and D. Julie met Eric in high school and D in college. Julie hasn’t had a lot of time on her own. I think her traveling did her good. I still didn’t agree with her choices but I kind of understood them better.
Overall I can’t recommend this book. If you found Julie annoying in Julie and Julie, avoid Cleaving. It doesn’t get better. Others who shared their opinion of Cleaving: Solid Gold Eats, Celeste's Stories and Writing Adventures, In The Next Room, and Book A Week With Jen.
This was my sixteenth read for the Foodies Read 2 Challenge.

Weekend Cooking: 97 Orchard by Jane Ziegelman

I put 97 Orchard: An Edible History of Five Immigrant Families in One New York Tenement on my tbr list earlier this year. I'm glad I made time to read it. It was a very interesting read.
97 Orchard is one of New York's tenements where thousands of immigrants lived. Each wave of immigrants (Germans, Irish, Italians, and Eastern European Jews) brought changes to New York and American food culture. Each immigrant family is used to tell the story of what it was like for them to arrive in New York, what kinds of jobs they might have taken, and what they would have had access to. Not only did Ziegelman talk about food but also about the social and economic times that each wave of immigrants met. 97 Orchard was part of each immigrant wave. All types of immigrants lived there over a 70 year span, each bringing and leaving different things. It's important to point out that Ziegelman uses each family to represent the larger community they came from. Some families there was more speculation as to what they had then actual facts. I did not mind that this book was not about each family but about each immigrant group. But part of the title of the book (An Edible History of Five Immigrant Families) is sort of misleading.
I love food history. I was geeking out with all the food history facts in 97 Orchard. Ziegelman did a good job of making the history seem fresh and interesting. This isn't just the history of those five families, but the histories of millions of immigrants that lived in New York during those 70 years. I really felt like I was there. I loved the parts about Ellis Island where my grandparents arrived in the United States. I remember going to Ellis Island years ago so I could really vividly see where Ziegelman was talking about. Imagine leaving your home, sailing across the Atlantic, and the food served to you was foreign. Some of the immigrants stayed for weeks on Ellis Island until family arrived to claim them or they were sent back to their country of origin. I love learning about how they changed the food program on Ellis Island to accommodate incoming immigrants and find foods to satisfy them.
Overall, I loved 97 Orchard. It was a wonderful historical look at food, immigration, and the social and economic conditions of immigrants in the late 1800's and the early 1900's. Others who shared their thoughts on 97 Orchard: Olduvai Reads, Lakeside Musing, A Cup Of Tea and A Cozy For Me, Passion For Flavor, and Kate Cooks The Books.
This was my fifteenth read for Foodies Read 2 Challenge

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, fabulous quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page. For more information, see the welcome post.

Pin It and Do It Challenge: 30 Minute Filet Bourguignonne

As soon as I saw this bourguinonne recipe, I knew I had to try it. I've never tried to make Julia Child's beef bourguinonne. I want to some day, but this recipe is much quicker. Although it did take me longer than 30 minutes to cook, closer to an hour.
Here's the pin:

Source: myrecipes.com via Linda on Pinterest

Here's mine:

OMG. So good. Definitely worth every minute it took to make. I served it over pasta but next time I'll try garlic mashed potatoes. I used filet mignon which was worth every penny. The meat was so tender. This made 2 large portions. I would double it if I needed to feed more than 2 people.

Happy Thanksgiving

For the first time in a while, I'm preparing Thanksgiving (turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, yams, gravy, and cranberry sauce). We usually have a potluck but this year our potluck group had no location to hold Thanksgiving. So we'll be having a small Thanksgiving with Jeff instead.

Have a great Thanksgiving! Hope it's a great one!

Library Loot

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and Marg from The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries.

I had a few holds to pick up this week and successfully left the library without browsing. I'm trying to finish what I have before the end of the year plus read a couple of my own books!

Carnival of Souls

I'm so excited about this one. 

Amulet vol 5

I've been enjoying this series.

Bon Appetit

The second in the French Twist series. 

What did you get this week?

Pin It and Do It Challenge: Sweet Potato, Mozzarella and Baked Eggs

I'm always looking for something different for breakfast. I love eggs and bacon but sometimes it get tired. So when I spotted this recipe for Sweet Potato, Gorgonzola and Baked Eggs, I had to pin it and make it. But when Saturday morning arrived, I didn't any gorgonzola so I substituted mozzarella.
Here's the original pin:

Source: naturallyella.com via Linda on Pinterest

And here's mine:

So I used a leek in place of the red onion and mozzarella instead of gorgonzola. It was delicious. You could roast the veggies the night before and add the eggs in the morning to make this a faster breakfast. But I liked that I could put the food in the oven and do other things like tidy up the kitchen. It didn't require my complete attention.
The recipe also suggests that it be served with toast which I did. We found the toast unnecessary so I won't bother with it next time.

The Other Normals by Ned Vizzini

I picked up The Other Normals for Tai. Since he plays Dungons and Dragons (Creatures and Caverns in The Other Normals), I thought he might get a kick out of it. I hoped to read if I had time before it was due back to the library. I thought parts of it were funny but wasn't impressed overall.
Perry is a typical role playing teen. He doesn't think about much outside of Creatures and Caverns. He spends most of his time creating characters and adventuring by himself. Creatures and Caverns isn't a video game or online game. C&C is played with paper and pens and sometimes miniatures. C&C is usually played in a group where each member is different character. So for Perry to be playing alone, it's sad and probably a little difficult.
Community did a D&D episode which can give you some idea of how D&D is played. Tai pointed out it does show you how D&D is played but the characters are not role players and do a poor job of role playing their D&D characters. But you can see there is no board and it's just players, sitting around telling a story.
Perry's parents send him to summer camp so he learn how to interact with other kids his age and stop playing Creatures and Caverns. The camp is filled with bullies and Perry has a hard time fitting in. Then Perry meets Mortin who is from The World of Other Normals, a world filled with Creatures and Caverns creatures. Mortin brings Perry to The World of Other Normals and they embark on a quest. Here's where I started to have a hard time with the book. First I loved how detailed The World of The Other Normals was. Detailed and inventive, I loved being in The World of The Other Normals. But The World of The Other Normals is parallel universe. For each person on Earth, there is a correspondant in The World of The Other Normals. So sometimes Perry would do something because his correspondant did something in The World of The Other Normals. It got strange there for a while. The whole correspondant thing got to me. When Perry did something out of character and bizarre, it was because of his correspondant. There was one scene I couldn't imagine why Perry would do what he did. I struggled with that scene and I think it ruined the book for me.
I would recommend The Other Normals to older teens especially those who enjoy role playing type games, both boys and girls. Even though there is some "girls don't play role playing games" nonsense in there, I enjoyed hearing about puberty and being a teen from a boy's perspective. Others who shared their thoughts on The Other Normals: Good Books and Good Wine, Breathless Book Reviews, Buried In Books, Ashley Loves Book, and The Book Reaper.

Weekend Cooking: Honey Butter Pork

I'm always trying to pin more pork recipes. We love beef and tend to eat a lot of it. When I spotted this pork dish, I pinned it. It was quick easy and delicious.
Here's the original pin:

Source: mommahenskitchen.blogspot.com via Linda on Pinterest

Here's mine:

I didn't have pork tenderloin so I used pork shoulder blade steaks. It was a really quick meal. I would make it again.

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, fabulous quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page. For more information, see the welcome post.

Pin It and Do It: The Holiday Edition

I'm very excited that Trish decided to add a holiday Pin It and Do It Challenge. I'm looking forward to attempting at least one craft project. But as usual most of my pins will be food related. I'll be going for the Pin Obsessed level again (8+ pins). In 45 days that should be easy!

Join the fun at Trish's blog!

Lemon Blueberry Muffins

Tai's been taking muffins to work for his breakfasts. I've been going the easy route and buying his muffins. I keep meaning to make them every weekend but there's never been enough time. Since I had an extra day this weekend, I decided to make his muffins this week. Which muffins to make was easy. Tai loves lemon so I looked for a lemon blueberry muffin. I saw a lot of recipes that called for milk which I didn't have. I decided to look for dairy free muffins which would be better for Tai anyway. I found these vegan muffins which did the trick.

The strudel topping was delicious. I will be making these again.

Library Loot

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and Marg from The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries.

I decided to browse the shelves for a minute and came away with some good books!

The Starter Cook

What am I doing getting a beginner's cook book? I'm always looking to improve my skills and this looked like it might have some good tips and ideas.

Dearie: The Remarkable Life of Julia Child

I love Julia Child so when I spotted this on the shelf, I grabbed it.

Hidden

I'm so happy the final book of the Firelight trilogy is in my hands. I'm looking forward to seeing how it all ends!

What did you get this week?

Let Them Eat Cake by Sandra Byrd

I picked up Let Them Eat Cake because I wanted some cute chick lit. I didn't know it was Christian chick lit when I picked up. I don't usually read Christian fiction but I decided to give it a try. I'm glad I gave it a chance. It was cute. It didn't hurt that it was set in Seattle. 

I found Lexi very relatable. Lexi is in her 20's, living at home after returning from college. Lexi has gone through a few jobs, trying to find where she fits. She'd like to find a job where she can use her French language skills. Out of desperation, Lexi applies for a job at a French bakery. Lexi's parents are moving to a retirement community and Lexi needs to find her own place. 

I think this might have been the first Christian fiction novel I've read. I would definitely read more Christian chick lit. Sometimes the random bed hopping in some chick lit can get old. No sex, no swearing in Let Them Eat Cake. But the characters had some issues. Lexi's friend, Tanya, has some issues with men. Lexi's mom can be insecure. Lexi's soon to be sister in law feels her mom pushes her too much. There were no huge ah ha moments. Instead each character takes steps to change their lives. Nothing was perfect at the end but you could see changes in the female characters. 

I loved the fact that Lexi lived in West Seattle. The bakery was in downtown Seattle. She talks about places I see almost every day. That added an additional layer of enjoyment to Let Them Eat Cake for me.

Let Them Eat Cake is the first in a trilogy. I'm planning on reading the next in the series, Bon Appetit. Others who shared their thoughts on Let Them Eat Cake: A Life In Pages, Tree Swing Reading, and Hitting The Books. 

Broiled Steelhead Trout With Garlic, Rosemary and Lemon

I've been trying to get more fish into our diet. I admit my fish recipe repertoire is lacking. Especially if it's not salmon. I love salmon. It's incredibly easy to find here fresh. But eating the same thing over and over again can be a little boring. I challenged myself to try a different fish. The steelhead trout looked delicious so I gave it a shot.

 I did some digging and found this recipe. I served the trout with roasted brussel spouts. It was very yummy. I'll be keeping this recipe for the time I see some fresh steelhead.

Weekend Cooking: Low Carb Meals In Minutes

I picked up Low Carb Meals in Minutes to find more quick weeknight meals. As you know I don't follow the low carb diet. But it's incredibly easy for me to think of rice, pasta, or potato based dishes. I like looking at low carb cookbooks because they give me different things to try.
I tried the Smothered Steak with Caramelized Onions and Hearts of Palm Salad.

The steak was delicious. The onions took a little longer than the recipe said. I'd never had hearts of palm but the salad was easy and good. Overall it was yummy weeknight meal.

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, fabulous quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page. For more information, see the welcome post.

October Book Tally

More Make It Fast, Cook It Slow by Stephanie O'Dea

Some Girls by Jillian Lauren

The Treachery of Beautiful Things by Ruth Frances Long

Locke & Key vol 5 by Joe Hill

Bossypants by Tina Fey

Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry

Amulet vol 4 by Kazu Kibuishi

Low Carb Meals in Minutes by Linda Gassenheimer

Witch Child by Celia Rees

Messenger by Lois Lowry

Shucked by Erin Byers Murray

Bunheads by Sophie Flack

My Berlin Kitchen by Luisa Weiss

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

A Long, Long Sleep by Anna Sheehan

Fifteen books! Even better than my September tally. Plus I met my 100 book mark!

Stats:

Fill In The Gaps YTD: 0 (None this month)

War Through The Generations YTD: 2 (None this month)

The Western Genre Challenge YTD: 2 (None this month)

Foodies Read 2 Challenge YTD: 15 (Low Carb Meals in Minutes, More Make It Fast, Cook It Slow, Shucked and My Berlin Kitchen)
Total to date: 103

Crockpot Creamy Chicken and Mushroom

I pinned this chicken recipe a few weeks ago. It's not something I would make on weekday. It cooks too quickly. But it's the perfect weekend dish for us.
Here's the original pin:

Source: 365daysofcrockpot.com via Linda on Pinterest

And here's mine:

 It was so yummy. I made some roasted broccoli to go with it. As Tai said it is a keeper.

Library Loot

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and Marg from The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries.

Just one this week. Still playing catch up with the mountain of books I already had!

The Rook

I spied The Rook on Goodreads. It sounded interesting so I decided to give it a try.

What did you get this week?

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Couldn't Finish

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish.

This week's topic is a freebie. I decided to own up to those books I just couldn't finish. I hate not finishing a book but I hate admitting I couldn't finish it more. So I'm taking a big leap and admitting I couldn't finish these ten books.

 I spied a coworker reading Cheese and Culture and put it on my tbr list. But it was too dry for me. Interesting topic though.

 All The Pretty Horses is on my Fill In The Gaps Challenge. I read about 50 pages before giving up.

Another one off my Fill In The Gaps Challenge. But I would get through The Women. 

I've come to the realization that I don't like most erotica. There was nothing wrong with Bound by Honor. I'm slightly prudish and prefer more chaste romances.

 Honestly, I was bored to tears by The Picture of Dorian Gray.

 I have such a hard time with fictionalized life stories. I spent the time I read Blonde wondering how close to Marilyn's life it was. After a while it started to hurt my enjoyment of Blonde.

 The cover of Bitch Is The New Black caught my eye. Unfortunately it didn't work for me.

 Tropic of Cancer was another Fill In The Gap book. I got bored quickly.

I had read an article about Barbara Hutton which prompted me to pick up Poor Little Rich Girl. Another one I just couldn't get through.

The Night Strangers creeped me out. I was reading it before bed and it gave me terrible nightmares. I couldn't continue reading it. I am a scaredy cat. 

What books could you just not finish? Did you read any of these? Any I should give a second chance?