Make Ahead Meals for Busy Moms, Jane Doiron

I guess the fact that I've posted all of three times in October versus roughly fourteen (which is still not great, BTW) in September qualifies me as a busy mom. So this was definitely the book for me to road test. Click the link in the title above to go to the book webpage. This review is part of a book tour sponsored by Pump Up Your Book Promotion Virtual Book Tours. I received an ARC for this review.

TBH, I most likely would've purchased one of these from a bricks and mortar bookstore. I try very hard to be organized, and one of the keys is good tools to help you become and remain organized. This book is one of those tools. Funny observation- the dessert section is pretty early on in this book. To my way of thinking placing it there matches up pretty closely with how my days go sometimes- I just want to start with dessert and skip the main course entirely. IIRC Garfield agrees with me!

On a slightly more serious note, I appreciated the tips pages in the very front of the book the most. They helped keep me on track and out of the woods several times. The recipes themselves are as advertised: quick, familiar, and easy. Even your fussiest appetite will find something to love in here. Most of all the recipes use mainly pantry staples, which means no buying an unfamiliar ingredient that will then sit on your shelves unused. Which is always a plus nowadays with the economy being what it is.

Around my house the earliest bus pick up is 6:15 am. Obviously that means sleeping in until 5:45, racing through a shower and running out the door at 6:10. If I'm lucky this child remembers to grab the premade lunch & a quick yogurt or piece of fruit for breakfast. I tried some of Ms. Doiron's breakfast recipes, some of which can be 'bus stop friendly' or carpool friendly or what have you. Now, I tried them over the weekends, so we've yet to try and incorporate them into the am frenzy, but we're going to give it a try.

Another child despises standard breakfast fare and is known to eat hot chili or tuna salad in the morning before school. Make Ahead Meals came to the rescue for this child too, because the recipes I tried hold up quite well for reheating any leftovers the next morning. If you're lucky enough to have leftovers, that is. I don't always have those. The hubby is on a supervised diet, which the side dish and soup sections accommodated with only a few changes here and there.

Overall, Make Ahead Meals for Busy Moms was a success for our house. The recipes are teen friendly (both to cook and to eat), fussy-eater friendly and sure to save your bacon in an emergency. Plan out a week's menu using this book, go to the grocery store and try it out. Ms. Doiron's book is a winner in the daily struggle to feed the kids and maintain some sanity.




Cover image found on Pump Up Your Book Promotion Virtual Book Tours

The Graveyard Book, Neil Gaiman

The Graveyard Book, Neil Gaiman
I listened to this in the audiobook version, cover opposite. Mr. Gaiman performs his book- incredibly well I might add. It truly was a performance as opposed to a simple reading. I highly recommend borrowing this version from your library even if you’ve read it. He’s that good. You won’t be sorry, I promise you. I’m probably going to buy this for my nephew for Christmas. The Graveyard Book was originally published by Harper Collins in September of 2008.

I love Neil Gaiman’s books. I’ve read most of his sci fi alternate reality titles aimed at adults. However, I’ve avoided most of the titles aimed at children. I don’t exactly have a reason, truth be told. I’m coming around to thinking that I need to add Mr. Gaiman to my (very short) list of authors whose work I need to read no matter what the plot is supposed to be, who it’s ‘aimed’ at, what type of fiction it’s categorized as. I should’ve known better than to skip it. I read children’s fiction and young adult lit. frequently and I’m well aware that these fields are full of highly talented authors who write smart, entertaining fiction for kids.

The plot is deceptively simple. An eighteen month old toddler happens to climb out of his crib and wander off exploring on the night his parents are murdered. Purely by happenstance he wanders into the graveyard near his home, in time to simultaneously be saved from the murderers and adopted by the graveyard residents once it becomes clear that this is what his mother’s ghost wants. After that the reader follows along as Bod grows up. Makes friends with his first live human. Watch him try to cope with a teacher he doesn’t like. Cringe as he falls in with the wrong crowd- literally. Bod learns the truth about what happened on that long ago night. He meets a person who I came to believe is the embodiment of the old poem “To see a fine lady upon a white horse; Rings on her fingers and bells on her toes, And she shall have music wherever she goes.”

A wonderful, unique story about a boy who survives and thrives against the fearsome odds arrayed against him from the very start of his life.

Prince of Midnight; Laura Kinsale

I'm sure there are people who won't believe this, but this is a DNF for me. PoM fell flat on its face because the plot hit a hurdle that up until now I hadn't realized I have. In this review, I will be discussing things that happen up to page 100 or so & I may reference things that are or would be spoilers. Consider yourself warned. My copy is a hardcover put out by Avon in 1990 and has Fabio on the cover. The cover pictured here is a Sourcebooks cover, according to Amazon.

Prince of Midnight is set in late 18th century France amid the revolution. Leigh Strachan is a young Englishwoman running around France disguised as young man. She's looking for a legendary highwayman whom she wants to teach her swordsmanship. Ms. Kinsale turns a typical plot on its head by making Leigh the one who burns for vengeance. S.T. Maitland, despite being disabled by severe vertigo and deafness in one ear, is the highwayman Leigh is looking for. Let's just say that Leigh is a tad surprised when she realizes that Maitland is indeed who she's looking for.

Now, I love to read about women in disguise as young men, women who seek vengeance for a wrong committed against them or those they love. I liked the topsy turvy aspect of Maitland being the one who falls head over heels in love, no matter how improbable I found it. The problem I ran up against is that Leigh's desire for revenge is based on religious persecution of her family. The abuses could have been made as a power grab or for revenge or any number of other reasons.

I did a little investigating & found out that there was religious persecution of certain individuals in England during this time period and possibly in the place mentioned. This is all fine. All fiction has grains of truth embedded within it. However, I am tired of reading books wherein the main character's personal problems are rooted in active persecution of that person or their loved ones by religious functionaries. It may well be true- I have no argument with that truth. I am simply tired of reading about it. I am tired of reading fictionalized accounts of the abuses of religious authorities. Why is it so hard to find fiction that reveals the good things faith does?

*Sigh* I chose not to finish PoM. There is already too much authentic, serious, faith based controversy in the news for me to be able to set this aside in the fiction I read.

ETA: Corrected author's name in the title. My apologies to all! :(

The Enchantment Emporium; Tanya Huff

Tanya Huff is a new to me Canadian author I found on the "fabulous new finds" shelves in my local library. This book was published this year by Daw. I searched for a book site for her without success, although she has a livejournal page, the title above links to a wiki page about her. ISFDB has a page for her. Ms. Huff has a huge list of work, none of which I'm familiar with- a condition many Canadian authors probably suffer with (ie: Americans being totally clueless about our good neighbors' literary work). I have managed to find one of her older works: titled Gate of Darkness, Circle of Light, which I look forward to reading sometime soon.

I have to say the title and cover sucked me right in- that the blurb sounded fascinating was a bonus. Ms. Huff has developed a detailed alternate reality version of Canada populated with well developed, articulate characters (in this case primarily women) who have what we would likely consider paranormal gifts. The Gale family is comprised almost entirely of women, the few directly related male members of the family are carefully portioned out to the other ladies 'to keep the bloodlines pure' according to the characters. Once I realized what that actually was, it squicked me out totally. Still does. Despite that Ms. Huff managed to pull me deeper into her story.

Alysha Gale is twenty four, newly unemployed and has been summoned across Canada by a mysterious letter mailed to her by her grandmother that opens: "If you're reading this I'm dead.." or something close to that. Allie has to go to her grandmother's antique shop and figure out what's happening. No one is totally sure if grandmother is dead or not, so Allie and her favorite cousin and their childhood friend Michael are ordered to figure out exactly what's going on. After that it's nonstop action: leprechauns, gates that allow powerful beasts into the mortal realm, mysterious spelled cell phones, baked goods that have spells and charms baked right in. Let's not forget the seventh son of a seventh son and yummy delicious bad guys that have this romance reader wishing the bad guys had books all their own.

I really enjoyed The Enchantment Emporium. I felt like I was dropped into a fully developed world, as opposed to enduring lots of world building. I'm hopeful Ms. Huff will write more books set in this world, preferably with more on stage action by the bad guys!

This is post #973 for those of you keeping track of my 1,000 post giveaway

The Book of Unholy Mischief; Elle Newmark

All I can say is yummy. From beginning to end: yummy. Elle Newmark's newest book is an historical thriller wrapped in a delicious disguise as a tour of a 15th century Venetian kitchen. I was invited to review this novel by Pump Up Your Book Promotion and received a (signed!!yay!!) review copy. The image here is of the audiobook, but the cover is the same. Via Simon & Schuster. I spent most of this book hungry. I warned you. lol :) If you are a fan of Ariana Franklin's work, this is definitely one to try.

The plot is deceptively simple: the Doge's chef rescues a near starving street urchin named Luciano & makes him the chef's apprentice. Luciano, along with most of Venice, becomes obsessed with a fabled book that is rumored to have recipes not only for making gold, but for immortality itself. And wealthy Venetians want it. The apprenticeship is a huge opportunity for an uneducated bastard who'd been on the streets of Venice since he was five. Hints are placed carefully so that soon you realize there is significantly more happening to this story than you thought there would be. Venice herself, that grand lady, as well as the food, the cuisine, and most especially her politics are all characters who play a part.

Adjective upon adjective wells up in my mind when thinking about The Book of Unholy Mischief. Lush, sensual and decadent are only three of them. Feast for the senses, 'purple prose' for epicures, to use a romance cliche in the best sense of the phrase. The relationships are complicated by lust, greed, curiosity, furtiveness, revenge and the need for secrecy. Knowledge is power. Venetians, running a shipping empire, know this more than others. For some the quest drives them ever higher, ever onward. But who will pay the price?

The narrative is nonlinear and Ms. Newmark leads the reader along by the stomach, which is entirely pleasant, I assure you. There are a few words and phrases in Italian (also French and Spanish) which are translated at the author's website, here. I realize this review is short, but in my defense I have to say I honestly found very little to critique in The Book of Unholy Mischief, indeed very little to quibble over. For me this is a book to savor much like a ripe peach- sweet, intense, full of delicious juices and you're sorry when it's done. Like homegrown tomatoes, Ms. Newmark's book is the best of the bunch. Is that enough food metaphors for you? This is a book I would have purchased on my own- run out and buy one yourself. It's worth it's weight in ripe peaches! Or homegrown tomatoes. lol :)

PS~ Ms. Newmark has a blog where she discusses book signing in Venice and her age as well as a video walking tour. Click here.

The Ruby Dice; Catherine Asaro

The Ruby Dice was published in 2008 by Baen, written by Catherine Asaro. It is the second novel in what I consider a duology. The first novel is The Moon's Shadow, reviewed here. These novels are set in Asaro's Skolian Empire world and are basically straight science fiction. If you are a romance reader looking to branch out into others of Asaro's worlds be aware that these novels are very different from her novels published by Luna. Honestly, I think one of the biggest problems SFF has is awful covers! They are so terrible. It can be very off putting. Her stories grab my attention and don't let go, but the covers..jeez. :(

Primarily The Ruby Dice is the story of how Kelricson Valdoria Skolia and Jaibriol Qox manage to drag their respective empires to the peace table. Unknown to Kelric, he and Jai are uncle and nephew, which adds a unique flavor to the storyline. Secondarily the story details the political and personal struggles each ruler has while trying to bring the desired treaty to fruition. This episode takes place nine years after the events in The Moon's Shadow. If you prefer to read these stories in internal chronological story order, the list is here.

It's hard to discuss this novel without including spoilers of the previous one, but I'll try. Kelric was thought dead, killed in action basically, for eighteen years until Jai set him free from the Eubians (previous novel). Ms. Asaro alternates between telling some of Kelric's back story with current political realities,linking them both to his desire for peace. Meantime, Jai has his own motivations for pushing for peace, albeit very carefully. Jai discovers that perhaps he has other, more personal motivations for wanting peace.


The Ruby Dice presents peace making between large governments as achievable via personal relationships between the two rulers. A hoped for solution, perhaps, but unrealistic as far as I'm concerned. I was reminded of the conferences and photo ops over the Cold War years: pretty to look at, nice to read about but they don't really achieve much. Peace isn't unwanted, mind you, but isn't achievable in the manner the author wishes the reader to believe. Other political machinations within each respective group seem to be believeable, the complexity of motivation, the unwieldy bureaucracy, the seeming inbred opposition for opposition's sake, etc.

Leaving that aside, I liked watching Jai and his wife interact, learning how they've built a relationship, how they work together towards goals Jai has for the Empire. Jai seems to spend most of his time suspecting his wife's motivations and goals. He's more of an idealist, while she's more capitalistic and pragmatic. He doesn't appear to recognize that someone behind the scene sometimes has to set the stage for future victories. He's become cynical and more aware that the personal price he will pay is much higher than he originally thought. Inevitable changes for one in his position. Meantime some of her actions proved, to me at least, that she deeply cares for him aside from his position and her subsequent power, although her ability to compartmentalize her roles often keeps Jai off balance. Then too, Eubian culture isn't his native culture and some of their behaviors probably continue to keep him off kilter.

Kelric's family story is unique and interesting and is central to the Skolians' efforts at peacemaking, but is very hard to talk about here without revealing major plot point. His story is also found in the book The Last Hawk. I'm very hopeful that Ms. Asaro will write books about the newest members of Kelric's already large family.

One of the most intriguing elements of The Ruby Dice are the dice themselves. Quis is a dice game played with multiple players using multiple dice. It's kind of a storytelling three dimensional chess game, click here for wiki article explaining chess variants. Kelric has a set and uses them to think through some of the problems presented to him. Quis is an essential element on the planet where Kelric was hidden. I like the concept of a culture that both forms and was formed by a game.

An enjoyable and satisfying episode in the Eubian-Skolian saga, all in all. The familial backstory and the to-ing and fro-ing of more intimate relationships was most interesting to me. Jai and his wife and their situation, personally and politically fascinate me no end & I'm hoping to see glimpses of them in the future.

The Moon's Shadow; Catherine Asaro

The Moon’s Shadow was published by Tor in 2002. I categorize it as science fiction with romantic elements. If you’re a romance reader, be aware that this has romantic elements only, unlike the novels Ms. Asaro has written for Luna. This novel is the first part of what I think of as a duology, the second part is The Ruby Dice, to be reviewed shortly. They are a continuation of the story of the same man, Jaibriol Rockworth Qox told with a nine year gap (within the story) between novels. This book is a coming of age tale. It’s set in the same world as her Skolian Empire series depicting a member of the Eubian Concord, the Skolian’s despised enemies.

Jaibriol Rockworth Qox, aka Jai, is seventeen and has grown up isolated and sheltered. His parents were mortal enemies who fell in love and were killed trying to reunite when Jai was young. Their story is told in the book Primary Inversion. At least I think that's the right one. If I'm wrong, please let me know. Jai knows neither his mother’s family nor his father’s. That they were intergalactic scions and rulers of most of the known universe between them all, is about all he knows. As The Moon’s Shadow opens Jai trades himself to the Eubian Concord in exchange for an uncle who doesn’t know who or what Jai is. You see, Jai will inherit the throne of the Emperor of the Eubian Concord as well as being a Ruby Telepath, the rarest of all gifts, inherited from his mother’s family.

As the saying goes, Jai leaps from the frying pan into the fire. He reckons the price worth it despite knowing only a smattering of Eubian culture and some of the language. Of course he’s only seventeen. At seventeen we humans invariably think we know everything (and we’re always right!). As a newcomer Jai sees everything with fresh eyes, perhaps he will be able to take the Empire to new places because of that. If he survives, that is.

I think these quotes sum things up nicely:

"I should so like to make the stars safe for those I love.." and then, four pages later, "..it may be desirable, sometimes, to act in benefit of Eube [the empire] rather than of oneself." Pages 456 & 460.

The Eubian Concord is a culture where everyone is injected with new and powerful nanomeds (tiny cell like machines) whose primary job is to hunt for poisons and to repair injuries and illnesses and other defects. Why? Because you can’t trust anyone, including members of your own family. Royalty, the universe over, since time immemorial, is always a target. Someone else is after your job because they can do it better, because they hate you, because they think you’re weak, because a ruler breeds enemies like dogs collect fleas.

Culturally, Eubians have bred out almost all feelings since feelings are often perceived as weakness. And Eubians despise all weakness. Eubians exist in a kind of symbiotic relationship with other humans the Eubians call ‘providers’ and everyone else calls slaves. The gap left within by the lack of feelings has to be filled with something though. The providers are the ones to fill this, forced by the Eubians. How can you force someone to feed you their emotions? Why, by torturing them of course. When inflicting pain upon a psychically gifted person a Eubian will feel euphoria (and other positive emotions). Eubians have a kind of ‘sixth sense’ about people who are or could be ‘providers’ and Eubian law and culture treats these people as belongings with very few rights.

What does this have to do with the new Emperor Jaibriol? As I mentioned above, he’s a Ruby Telepath. The Eubians don’t know this though. How can a provider rule the empire undetected? Aside from the fact that he’s only seventeen and practically untutored, that is. You’ll have to read The Moon’s Shadow and find out!

I love the books set in this world. I’ve read The Ruby Dice a review of which is coming in a few days. I also borrowed Ms. Asaro’s newest book, Diamond Star, from the library & plan to read (& review) it very soon. There is almost no physics or technological jargon in this book, which is either a plus or a minus depending on your point of view. As a character centered reader I view this as a plus. I was most interested in watching Jai maneuver in this new world he dropped himself into. Sci fi oriented readers may disagree. I wish that Ms. Asaro's website listed the series books in internal chronological order like Ms. Bujold's site does. I like to read the books by the internal chronological order, which I had to look up on wikipedia, unfortunately. A listing that includes short stories is here.

Image found on B&N.

Scar Night; Alan Campbell

Recently I’ve added several UK and Canadian science fiction (and its attendants subtypes) review blogs to my feed reader. It’s via one of these, Fantasy Book Critic, that I found Alan Campbell. Scar Night is the first in his trilogy about the city of Deepgate. It was published by Bantam Dell in the UK in 2006, US publication was 2007. This is his debut title. I like to read the short little biographies I find in the back of books and on some review sites, it turns out Mr. Campbell was a video game software designer for such games as Grand Theft Auto. It shows very clearly in this book. Scar Night is extremely visual which is central to the atmosphere and the setting of the story.

Thematically, several things stood out for me. On a large scale: exploration of how individuals and groups cope with death, vengeance, how geography helps form the perceptions of whole peoples. How gullible we humans can be when we dearly want to believe what we are told. Mr. Campbell has created a reality where the entire world is the playground of the Gods, where human beings are pawns without worth, where angels are weapons of war. It’s a fascinating and complex world.

The plot is obliquely approached: it was hard to get a handle on it due to uneven pacing and elements that were helpful to understanding what was happening were placed late in the book. Basically we have a city ruled by fear of things that go bump in the night, a city whose entire existence is due to the angels’ war eons ago. Over a period of time, things don’t add up- not all of the bodies found can be attributed to “the thing that goes bump in the night”- the angel Carnival. Once a month Carnival drains one victim of blood & leaves the body behind. Carnival is several thousand years old. Her body is almost completely covered with scars. This has continued for as long as anyone can remember. No one can stop her.

One night a young woman named Abigail Nettle is found dead, dead and drained of blood. This means that she can’t be buried in the traditional manner approved by the church. Mr. Nettle goes on a one man crusade to find his daughter. Meantime, a young angel named Dill is being kept in isolation at the cathedral in the city. Purposefully raised with very little contact with others, Dill is practically a prisoner. One day the Presbyter in charge of the cathedral, seemingly of the very religion, assigns Dill a bodyguard/tutor/babysitter named Rachael Hael. Dill is the only child of one of the last angels. Rachael was in training to become one of the church’s military members, an emotionless automaton titled a ‘Spine’, however, her brother Mark refuses to give his permission for her to undergo the final examination. The reader follows Dill, Rachel, Mr. Nettle and a selection of church members as events unfold in Deepgate.

Let me say first, before I go into the issues I have with this book, and they were several and serious, that I find Mr. Campbell’s voice compelling & I care about these characters. Rachael and Carnival and Arch Chemist Devon are absolutely my favorite characters. Carnival in particular is worthy of her own book. Rachael and Carnival together as fighting pair would have been incredible. I’ve already borrowed the second book.

The biggest problem is uneven pacing. Passage of time within the story felt like it was in super slow motion . It took over one hundred pages to move thirty six hours. Then you get one sentence where several days or more pass and then we’re onto more or less normal time. The second problem I had was placement of certain storyline information late in the book. It made Scar Night unnecessarily complicated and opaque until late in the story. Third, the backstory of and relationships between certain characters wasn't fully explored. Devon and Sypes come to mind, as do Rachael and Dill. Carnival. In terms of Rachael and Dill readers are asked to believe that they somehow come to care for each other despite the fact that a) they get very little face time and most of that is action packed, not in a romantic way and b) the story itself takes place over roughly a month. In fact, Dill seemed pretty much superfluous for a while. Fourth, and this is related to number one, just as the narrative builds momentum the book is over.

So, yeah, for me Scar Night has flaws, flaws that interfered with my enjoyment of the story. However, Mr. Campbell is absolutely compelling. Mr. Nettle, Carnival and Rachael totally suck you and refuse to let go. I’m looking forward to Mr. Campbell’s future writing and I hope that he’s prolific. And available here in the US!