by Libby Cone
Why do we write so much about World War II? It was the first event that the majority of the planet’s population was aware of while it was happening. It did not involve only Europe, as World War I did, but had theaters of operations in both the eastern and western hemispheres. It resulted in 50-70 million deaths. Something that enormous, something perpetrated by humans upon the whole planet over a relatively short period of time, is unique. What everyone who writes about this event strives for, I think, is to help the readership wrap its brain around this enormity by breaking it down into smaller components. Like a fractal, which looks the same when broken into smaller pieces, looking at the war’s effect on a smaller group of people does not reduce its impact, but rather clarifies it. Readers of Holocaust literature know that the phrase “six million,” when thrown around enough, begins to sound like any other number. But when one portrays individuals, one removes the barriers of impersonality and reaches the reader much more directly.
Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.
This week's Waiting on Wednesday pick is Dirty Rotten Tendrils by Kate Collins #10 in her flower shop mystery series. I've read several books in this series and enjoyed them very much. Fun characters and great mysteries! Don't you just love the title? From Goodreads: When high-powered lawyer Ken "the Lip" Lipinski is found dead from a suspicious overdose, florist and amateur sleuth Abby Knight finds it hard to swallow that his opposing counsel-and her old boss-is the murderer. Paperback: 336 pages
Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by Miz B of Should Be Reading and asks you to:
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.
This week I am highlighting my mother's oldest cookbook. It's in such deplorable condition but I still treasure it mainly for sentimental value not for too many of the recipes. The cook book is titled The American Woman's Cook Book published by the Culinary Arts Institute of Chicago in 1948. Actually, I think my mother originally purchased a set of classic books and this cookbook was the "bonus" gift but she used it constantly. She never made the recipe at the bottom of this post but you might find it interesting.
Any fan of cookbooks would like this one just from an historical perspective. Some of the illustrations are just fascinating; probably the height of modernity when the book was published. The women shown in the book definitely have that 40's look. What is interesting to me is not just the recipes but all the info that is included; methods of preparation, time tables, carving instructions, table settings, measurements and much, much more. I just thought I would include this segment on monogramming.
"The pattern or design of the cloth and napkins and the type, design, and size of the monograms embroidered on them should make a perfect unity. For table-cloths, the size of the monogram should be two and one-half to five inches. For dinner napkins from one to two inches. For luncheon and breakfast napkins and doilies, from three-quartes of an inch to an inch and a half. When the bride-to-be is marking her trousseau linens, it is best form for her to use the initials of her maiden name. However, there is no hard and fast rule for this marking, and she may if she prefers use the initials of the first and last names of her maiden name and the initial letter of the groom's last name. If an initial is used instead of a monogram it should be the initial of your last name. When only one letter is used, it is usually a block letter - sometimes ornate - since a single letter in script is not very effective-looking. " The next segment gives instruction on how to measure for the placing of the monogram. Somehow, I can't see today's brides doing this. Different times, indeed! Even 44 years ago (honestly, I was a child bride) I didn't do this! Just to show the scope of this book, I am including a recipe for Roast Squirrels ( just in case you had a real hankering for them this week) I am omitting the instructions on how to insert a bicycle pump into the skin and blowing it up to remove the fur. I thought you could live without that! Anywhooooo, here's the recipe: 3 small squirrels
Holly works in reception at a London investment bank and seems to spend most of her day composing e-mails to friends, family and her boyfriend, Toby. Occasionally, work intrudes and Holly must deal with the demands of her job. Through her e-mails and the subsequent replies from various people, we learn about Holly's quirky family, the day to day grind of working and her boyfriend Toby who also works in the bank. Seems that their relationship is floundering a bit and Holly and her friends Jason, Trisha and Aisha think that Toby might be harboring a secret. Is he having an affair? Why does he keep making trips to France?
When Holly is promoted to manager, she only has 30 days to prove herself. Holly does an excellent job but an unfortunate mix-up just before the end of the probation period sends Holly and the bank into a tailspin. Her at- work-nemesis, Tanya, tries to make Holly's life hell but Holly does manage to get her own sweet revenge. About half way through the book started to flag for me and began sounding repetitive but then the author threw a few twists in that perked up my interest. Even though it is 523 pages long, it reads up quickly in the e-mail format. While I didn't love the book, I did like it, especially the nice neat ending. An easy read if you're looking for something extremely light and frothy with a comedic feel to it. 3***Holly Denham is the pen name for Bill Surie, who is the owner of a placement service for receptionists and secretaries in London, a direct inspiration for Holly’s Inbox. He started the Holly's Inbox website as a place to serialize his first novel, which became an overnight sensation.
Disclosure: A review copy of the book was provided by Sourcebooks, Inc.
ich fantasy life, with lots of imaginary friends and dressing up as my favorite characters. It was natural to combine my early scribbles with those little internal stories. My childhood was also spent with lots of children's books, Disney movies, and - until we moved from Philadelphia when I was 8 years old - this wonderful local television show (Cartoon Corners General Store) where the host, Gene London, drew pictures as he told stories, fairy tales, and myths. It is not hyperbole to say I knew from the moment I could clutch a crayon that I wanted to illustrate. I don't know that I had a clear idea of what the actual career was called of course, but I knew it would entail drawing pictures to accompany some sort of narrative. Interestingly enough, looking back I don't think my approach to the process has significantly changed from that day till now. It starts with the words, pictures almost immediately come to mind, and I just put those images down on paper.
ox, and a grandmother image. Besides books on mammals, reptiles, fish, insects and birds I also pawed through my photo albums (the grandmother in the story is based on my mother), had a little girl down the street pose for Sophia's body (Sophia's face, however, was loosely based on my own daughter), and physically pulled together an enormous sewing/craft box. Then, armed with all that research material I went to the art room and started doing rough thumbnail sketches (as the name suggests - small loose, very rough line scribbles of all the proposed illustrations. In this stage, I don't worry too much about what the finished characters will actually look like. Mostly I'm just trying to work out the page layouts - figuring out the best way to portray the action. The characters might be simple blobs or stick figures, sometimes they are a little more fully realized, but either way they are mostly place savers and I try not to get too bogged down in the specifics until I have a better idea of how the whole page will be filled. I might do a couple different thumbnails, trying out different looks, or I might rework the initial sketch and clean it up a bit - there are no hard and fast rules. Some pictures practically draw themselves and remain the same throughout the entire process (the dream vortex illustration in F&F is such a picture), others are more of a struggle, or change with each pass. And there are usually a couple passes as I develop the picture.
Show Me 5, a meme started by That's a Novel Idea, gives each blogger a chance to answer these questions:
4. Things you liked/disliked about the book:
5. Stars or less for your rating: 4.5 **** The Target is number three in this suspense filled series. Even though this book was written in 1998, it does not feel dated. The Big Guy and I both enjoyed this one immensely.
Disclosure: This book is from my personal library and was purchased by me.
Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by Miz B of Should Be Reading and asks you to:
Friday Our Kind of Traitor by John Le Carré from Penguin. Cover is not the one I received. Lovely people at Penguin!!
