Nonfiction Mini-Reviews: Foodie Memoirs

Give a Girl a Knife by Amy Thielen (2017)

In Give a Girl a Knife, chef Amy Thielen recounts her many years cooking in fine dining restaurants and the time she spent living in a rural area.  I wanted to love this memoir, but unfortunately it fell flat for me.

What didn't work for me: Although it's obvious that Thielen is a gifted writer, much of the book felt overwritten and too flowery for my taste.  The narrative wasn't in a chronological format, so sometimes it was hard to place where she was in her career and life.  Some of the anecdotes she told felt extraneous.  At the risk of sounding like a jerk, I didn't think she came across that well as an employee, either.  She skipped around from job to job, was often late or disinterested, and also seemed to spend a lot of time not working at all.

What worked: I liked the juxtaposition of working as a chef in high-end NYC restaurants with the time she spent at a cabin in the middle of nowhere, cooking from her own garden.  I also enjoyed when she spoke of her mother and grandmother and how they inspired the chef she later became.  You can tell that Thielen loves food, the act of cooking, and using food as a way to connect to people and her heritage.  3 stars

Wine Girl: The Obstacles, Humiliations, and Triumphs of America's Youngest Sommelier by Victoria James (2020)

In Wine Girl, Victoria James recounts how she overcame her troubled childhood to become a highly successful sommelier in some of New York City's Michelin-starred restaurants.

From a young age, Victoria showed herself to be extremely intelligent and hard-working, and also very interested in hospitality.  This led her to become interested in wine, which she parlayed into a career as a sommelier, helping patrons make the best food and wine pairings and building up the cellars at the restaurants she worked at.   Both her age and the fact that she's a woman were obstacles that she had to continually overcome, and I think James did a great job showing how unglamorous the restaurant industry can be.  There were so many ugly encounters, on top of the extremely long hours and often low pay; it makes you wonder if it would all be worth it, but over the years James came up with coping mechanisms.  I was also amazed at the sheer amount of knowledge one has to have to become a sommelier.  4 stars

Can't-Wait Wednesday: The Heir Affair

Can't-Wait Wednesday is hosted by Tressa at Wishful Endings and helps us spotlight upcoming releases we're eagerly anticipating!

The Heir Affair (Royal We #2)
Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan
Expected publication date: June 16, 2020

Making it up the aisle was the easy part: After marrying the heir to the throne, Rebecca “Bex” Porter must survive her own scandals as she adjusts to life in the glamorous British royal family, in this “highly anticipated” follow-up to The Royal We, the “fun and dishy” bestseller and NYT Summer Reading List pick inspired by Will and Kate’s romance (People).

After a scandalous secret turns their fairy-tale wedding into a nightmare, Rebecca “Bex” Porter and her husband Prince Nicholas are in self-imposed exile. The public is angry. The Queen is even angrier. And the press is salivating. Cutting themselves off from friends and family, and escaping the world’s judgmental eyes, feels like the best way to protect their fragile, all-consuming romance.

But when a crisis forces the new Duke and Duchess back to London, the Band-Aid they’d placed over their problems starts to peel at the edges. Now, as old family secrets and new ones threaten to derail her new royal life, Bex has to face the emotional wreckage she and Nick left behind: with the Queen, with the world, and with Nick’s brother Freddie, whose sins may not be so easily forgotten — nor forgiven. - from Goodreads

I'm a huge royal watcher and The Royal We was one of my favorites from a few years ago.  I'm so excited to revisit Bex and Nicholas' relationship!

The Book Snob Tag

I haven't done a book tag in awhile, so I figured I'd try this one!  I've had it saved for awhile from Tracy at Cornerfolds, and apparently it originally started on Booktube!

Adaptation Snob: Do you always read the book before you see the film?

Nope!  Sometimes seeing the movie actually makes me want to go back and read the book, to see how they differ.

Format Snob: You can only choose 1 format in which to read books for the rest of your life. Which one do you choose: physical books, eBooks, or audiobooks?

Oh, this is hard because I've really come to rely on my Kindle this year, but I think I'd choose physical books!  There's just something about having an actual book in your hands!

Ship Snob: Would you date or marry a non-reader?

Absolutely!  In fact, I wrote a whole post about how my husband is a non-reader and why it works for us!

Genre Snob: You have to ditch one genre – never to be read again for the rest of your life. Which one do you ditch?

At the risk of seeming like I'm cheating, I'd choose a genre that I hardly read anyway - maybe something like horror?  Sometimes I read spooky or eerie books around Halloween, but it wouldn't bother me too much to not read them again!

Uber Genre Snob: You can only choose to read from one genre for the rest of your life. Which genre do you choose?

As someone who reads pretty broadly and enjoys many genres, this is a really hard question for me!  I love women's fiction, and contemporary romance and science fiction are two more genres I've been enjoying a lot lately, but if I had to choose just one, I think I'd go with my first love, historical fiction!

Community Snob: Which genre do you think receives the most snobbery from the bookish community?

I have to say, I haven't seen too much snobbery WITHIN the bookish community, but I think romance gets a pretty bad rap sometimes, and also maybe YA, specifically adults reading YA.  Can we just all agree that any reading is good reading?

Snobbery Recipient: Have you ever been snubbed for something that you have been reading or for reading in general?

I've never been snubbed for something I was reading, and as for reading in general, I typically get one of two reactions: either total neutrality or they seem impressed at how much reading I do.  It's not usually negative.  One time, though, my mom did ask me what the point of reading so many books was when I don't remember everything about every book.  It would be nearly impossible to remember that much; it's more about the experience you have with the book while you're reading!

Do you agree with any of my answers?  Consider yourself tagged if you'd like to join in!

Quick Reviews: The Colleen Hoover Edition

Ok, so I am super-late to the Colleen Hoover bandwagon, but after amassing copies of several of her books, I finally dove in!

All Your Perfects (2018)

Quinn and Graham's relationship starts in the most unexpected of ways - they meet when their significant others are caught cheating on them.  Several years later, their own marriage is facing serious issues.

This is going to be a major spoiler, but I think it's an important trigger warning: this book is all about infertility.  I never would have known that from the blurb, and I kind of wish I had.  Told in alternating "then" and "now" chapters from Quinn's POV, the reader experiences the extreme highs of Quinn and Graham's early relationship and the serious lows they are facing after years of unsuccessfully trying for a baby.  It almost felt like emotional whiplash at times, but it also felt very honest and raw.  I honestly didn't know how this story would end - it's obvious that Quinn and Graham have something special, but it's been eroded so much and Quinn seems ready to give up.  This definitely isn't a light read, and I think Hoover did a great job in exploring all the feelings related to infertility.  4 stars

 It Ends With Us (2016)

Lily and Ryle are caught up in a whirlwind romance, but when Lily's first love, Atlas, returns to her life, her relationship is put to the ultimate test.

I went into this book pretty blind, but as soon as we meet Ryle, I had a bad feeling about him.  Trigger warning: domestic violence.  Colleen Hoover never seems to shy away from tough topics, and I thought her treatment of domestic abuse was heartbreaking, honest, and delicate.  It was interesting to see Lily finding herself in the same position as her own abused mother, and I think the way she tries to justify Ryle's actions and her own behavior is probably very common.  I was rooting for Lily the whole time; you could really see her struggling with her feelings, especially knowing her history.  I thought the relationship and everything that happened just felt too quick, and although I respected the decisions Lily ultimately made for herself, I actually could have done without the epilogue.  4 stars

 Verity (2018)

Struggling author Lowen is hired to complete the final books in a series by Verity Crawford, a popular author, after Verity is injured.  While working in Verity's office, Lowen finds a document in which she makes some disturbing confessions about her children.

This book felt very different from the Colleen Hoover books I've read previously - more thriller, less romance - and I really enjoyed it!  I liked the way Hoover incorporated parts of Verity's autobiography; I kept wondering if it was actually true or if there would be some twist later.  I think overall the thriller vibe of the story felt a bit over-the-top; Lowen's reactions to things, her fear and discomfort, seemed too strong and too quick sometimes.  The fact that she was also an unreliable narrator added to this.  Yet at the same time, I couldn't stop reading - I needed to know what would happen next, to Lowen, to Verity, to Verity's son Crew and her husband, Jeremy.  There was definitely something weird going on in that house!  4 stars

Can't-Wait Wednesday: I Was Told It Would Get Easier

Can't-Wait Wednesday is hosted by Tressa at Wishful Endings and helps us spotlight upcoming releases we're eagerly anticipating!

I Was Told It Would Get Easier
Abbi Waxman
Expected publication date: June 16, 2020

Squashed among a bus full of strangers, mother-daughter duo Jessica and Emily Burnstein watch their carefully mapped-out college tour devolve into a series of off-roading misadventures, from the USA Today bestselling author of The Bookish Life of Nina Hill.

Jessica and Emily Burnstein have very different ideas of how this college tour should go.

For Emily, it’s a preview of freedom, exploring the possibility of her new and more exciting future. Not that she’s sure she even wants to go to college, but let’s ignore that for now. And maybe the other kids on the tour will like her more than the ones at school. . . . They have to, right?

For Jessica, it’s a chance to bond with the daughter she seems to have lost. They used to be so close, but then Goldfish crackers and Play-Doh were no longer enough of a draw. She isn’t even sure if Emily likes her anymore. To be honest, Jessica isn’t sure she likes herself.

Together with a dozen strangers–and two familiar enemies–Jessica and Emily travel the East Coast, meeting up with family and old friends along the way. Surprises and secrets threaten their relationship and, in the end, change it forever. - from Goodreads

I've really enjoyed Abbi Waxman's books, and this one about a mother-daughter duo on a road trip sounds just as heartfelt!

Down The TBR Hole #11

Down the TBR Hole is a feature created by Lost in a Story (although the blog seems to be down recently).  I've seen it on a few other blogs and thought I would try it out myself!  It seems like a really good way to cull your TBR of those books you're no longer interested in.  So, how does it work?

• Go to your Goodreads to-read shelf.
• Order on ascending date added.
• Take the first 5 (or 10 (or even more!) if you’re feeling adventurous) books. Of course, if you do this weekly, you start where you left off the last time.
• Read the synopses of the books
• Decide: keep it or should it go?

Here are the books I'm looking at this time:

 The Arrangement by Robyn Harding

An art student falls in love with her sugar daddy, and when he ends the arrangement, she begins stalking him.  Hmm - pass!

The Book Charmer by Karen Hawkins

This story about a small town and the librarian who wields magic with books sounds perfect for book lovers!  Keep!

A Girl Named Anna by Lizzy Barber

A Girl Named Anna is the story of two girls, one whose sister went missing 15 years ago and one who has lived a strict and sheltered life for as long as she can remember.  I feel like I can guess too much of the story just from the blurb, so I think I'll pass on this one!

The Lady Rogue by Jenn Bennett

I've really enjoyed Jenn Bennett's books, and this historical fiction book about a young woman and her first love searching for her father, and a ring that may have belonged to Vlad the Impaler, sounds awesome!  Keep!

The Lying Room by Nicci French

A married woman finds her fling murdered, and she worries she will be implicated.  Eh, just not really grabbing me anymore.  Pass!

Sidelined by Suzanne Baltsar

This romance about a female football coach trying to prove herself to her male assistant coach sounds fun - keep!

 Elevator Pitch by Linwood Barclay

I cannot resist stories like this, that sound like they could be great movies - NYC is thrown into chaos when elevators in several high-rise buildings start plummeting to the ground, and the police have to try to find the person behind it.  Keep!

Have you read any of these?

 

Fiction/Nonfiction Mini-Reviews: The Out of This World Edition

Letters from an Astrophysicist by Neil deGrasse Tyson (2019)

In Letters From an Astrophysicist, Neil deGrasse Tyson has handpicked 100 letters and emails received throughout his career and provided his responses to them. It’s a fun look at the types of things people want to ask or relay to a public figure, and they run the gamut from science to religion to life in general. Interestingly, many of the letters and questions don’t even pertain to his specialty of astrophysics. People look to him as a role model for their children, for example.  The letters and responses cover both heavy emotional topics (such as Tyson's memories of 9/11) to the kind of silly (such as why he believes Bigfoot does not exist).  The content felt a bit repetitive at times (he mentions several times that eyewitness testimony is unreliable) and a big focus of the letters was on religion (how people can reconcile faith and science, etc.), which wasn’t always that interesting to me. However, although blunt at times, Tyson’s witty, personable nature shines through in his responses, and it’s really cool to see how he engages with the public. 4 stars

Light From Other Stars by Erika Swyler (2019)

A thoughtful dual timeline science fiction story about space, time, and family relationships.

This was a gem of a book.  I didn't know a lot about the story going in, but I ended up really enjoying it.  In 1986, Nedda and her family are living in Easter, Florida.  Just after the Challenger tragedy, a project that Nedda's father was working on plunges the town into chaos.  In the future timeline, Nedda is an astronaut on a mission to help build a colony on a distant planet.   

The writing is beautiful, although in some places it felt a little high-brow for me.  But, it did help elevate this science fiction story into something more.  Nedda's father's project, a machine that manipulates time, is definitely in the sci-fi realm, but it's the reason he wants to create the machine and how he relates to his daughter that are at the heart of the story.  The pacing did feel a bit slow at times, but there are some interesting reveals near the end that make it worth sticking around.  4 stars