The Wednesday Letters

Samantha folded the letter and slid it back into its envelope. Malcolm and Matthew stared at each other from across the table.
"Unbelievable," Matthew said.
"Unbelievable," Malcolm repeated. It seemed to be all anyone could come up with.
Samantha pulled out another letter from the box and began reading. Malcolm and Matthew went back to their own letters. (p.98)

For almost forty years Jack Cooper wrote a letter to his wife Laurel every Wednesday. And after the death of their parents, the Cooper children discover the boxes of letters their father wrote. The Wednesday Letters by Jason F. Wright is a beautiful book about family, love, and forgiveness when a family is divided and hurt from the consequences of their individual choices in the past.

"Those two lived quite a life," she mused. "These pieces of paper," she tapped the top of a letter with her index finger as she spoke, "they saved their marriage more than once." (p. 161)

The letters shared thoughts, memories, and unknown secrets from each week that Jack wanted Laurel to remember. They also revealed a past that the Cooper children never realized or knew. A touching story that tells how each family member heals in ways they never expected, The Wednesday Letters is a beautiful book that I highly recommend to others.

Queen Of Babble

I'm dead. I'm so dead. I can't believe I did that. Why did I do that? Why did I open my big mouth? Especially about something that has nothing whatsoever to do with me. NOTHING. God, I'm such an idiot. (p.235)

That pretty much sums up the hilarious book Queen Of Babble by Meg Cabot. Lizzie Nichols can't keep any conversation, details, or secrets to herself. Currently she finds herself in quite a situation: she has to figure out how to juggle a thesis, a trip to England, a best friend who wants her to spend the summer in France and then move to New York to start a new life, and two different men in two different countries. Meanwhile, her big mouth is still getting her into misunderstandings, breakups, family squabbles, trouble, and fights. Following graduation from college, Lizzie will experience a crazy summer that she won't soon forget.

Set in three locations: Ann Arbor Michigan, London England, and Souillac France, Queen Of Babble is a fun, fast read that definitely fits the chick-lit category of reading. (As a cover review states: "Playful, irreverent, and entertaining." -Booklist) I had a great time reading it and am contemplating finding its sequel for future reading.

Beach Road

Dante's grandmom Marie bows her head and reaches for my hand, which I gratefully give her. "Thank you, Lord, for the abundance we are about to receive," she says. "Thank you for the strength to endure this terrible, terrible ordeal and most of all for delivering such dedicated attorneys as Tom and Kate. Bless this meal, oh Lord, and please find it in your heart to keep an eye out for my grandson Dante. My innocent grandson. Amen." (p. 248)

I love to read a good mystery and I haven't really read one in quite a long time. So I was excited to pick up James Patterson's Beach Road. From beginning to end I was entertained with a thriller that included good guys and bad guys, lost lovers reunited, investigation and trial scenes, and twists and turns that kept the story extremely interesting.

Tom Dunleavy is a struggling lawyer in a wealthy resort town. His friend Dante Halleyville is accused of killing three young men execution-style on the evening after a threat was made to one of them during a basketball game. Tom believes that Dante is innocent and recruits Kate Costello, a successful lawyer and past love, to help with the case. But two more murders occur and details begin to reveal a set up. Who is guilty of what? And who can get away with murder in the end?

Beach Road is a page turner with short chapters that are narrated by the various main characters. And the final twist is not one that I was totally expecting, but I did find that it held true to the storyline. I very much enjoyed Beach Road by James Patterson and Peter De Jonge. I recommend it to others and hope to read more mysteries by Patterson in the future.

Soup's On! Challenge --- Completed

Now this was a tasty challenge to complete! I have finished my cookbook challenge with Soup's On! by trying several recipes and then reviewing the following cookbooks, listed in order of my favorite to least favorite:

The Ultimate Muffin Book by Bruce Weinstein and mark Scarbrough

2008 Quick Cooking Annual Recipes by Taste of Home

Sourdough Baking by Susan Draudt

The Heart Smart Healthy Exchanges Cookbook by JoAnna M Lund

Mr. Food a little LIGHTER by Art Ginsburg

2007 Light & Tasty Annual Recipes by Taste of Home

All six cookbooks were good in their own way and I enjoyed all the new recipes that I tried over the past year. I think this was a great challenge because it gave me a reason to give my cookbooks more serious attention than I have in the past. I hope that I will continue to read through each of these titles in the upcoming year and experience more happy eating!

For other cookbook reviews, be sure to check the Soup's On! blog to see what other participants of this challenge experienced in their kitchens!

Mr Food a little LIGHTER

I remember first being introduced to Mr. Food while watching him on a local news spot weekly sharing his tried and true recipes that are "ooh so good!!" I also purchased a collection of his cookbooks several years ago and enjoyed a variety of recipes. Recently I have been looking for ways to cook lighter and I stumbled upon Mr. Food a little LIGHTER by Art Ginsburg, so I decided to give him another try in my kitchen.

What I liked about this cookbook is the variety and ease of the recipes. Mr. Food is known for his easy adaptable recipes and this holds true to this cookbook as well. Also, I like that he uses a variety of spices to make the recipes tastier, especially when cooking light. And many recipes are "family friendly", meaning they do not have unusual ingredients and my kids were willing to give the final products a try. Always a plus in my home!

What I did not like about this cookbook is that it just didn't draw me to it the way some of my cookbooks do when I am looking for something different to make. This is not necessarily a flaw, just an observation. I think I need to pick it up a few more times and bookmark a few more recipes to give it a fair chance to stand up to my Taste of Home cookbooks which are my favorite overall. Also, I found it unusual that a book with "lighter" recipes often called for prepared ingredients such as refrigerator doughs/breads and soups. Not a complaint as I often have these in my kitchen, just again an observation.

I tried the following recipes from this cookbook: Turkey Goulash (p.138); Sweet Potato Fries (I used white potatoes) (p.234); Pinwheel Pizzas (p. 29); Applesauce Bread (I made muffins) (p. 271); and Herb-Crusted Chicken (p. 111). Each were very good and easy to make. My favorites were the fries and the muffins (bread). I do have a couple more recipes bookmarked to try in the future.

Although not one of my favorite cookbooks, Mr. Food a little LIGHTER was worth the time to try. I think I will hang on to it a little longer and continue to look through it for more ideas. I would recommend it to other fans of Mr. Food or to those who are looking for very basic and simple recipes that give a twist to some of our tried and true favorites.

Harvest

Although a cookie-cutter medical thriller, Harvest by Tess Gerritsen did leave me on the edge of my seat with suspense and a surprise ending. Dr. Abby DiMatteo is a second-year resident at Boston's Bayside Hospital. She is being considered to join a very prestigious group of doctors that make up the cardiac transplant team at Bayside. As one can guess by the title of this book, Harvest is about harvesting organs in an unethical and illegal manner. First, can Abby prove that favoritism is involved in the selection of recipients; second, can she prove any illegal involvement by family members of the recipients and by the transplant team itself. And just exactly who is involved in this medical scandal? Complete with missing paperwork, sudden deaths and disappearances, and several threats on people's lives, Harvest lives up to its name as a medical thriller.

I very much enjoyed this audio book. In fact, I found myself wanting to drive my van around the block to hear what would happen next as the story began to draw its conclusions. Harvest was my first Tess Gerritsen book and I hope to read more of her work in the future. I recommend this book to others.

Summer

Ashley closed the Bible and set it back on the nightstand. So what was the message? Part of it seemed obvious. She had asked for a dramatic miracle, proof that God was here with her, caring for her, loving her. But she had asked for an earthquake or a fire. ... And that's when He'd told her about the gentle whisper. (p. 318)

A summer of new concerns, the need for miracles, and an appreciation for life. This is the premise of Karen Kingsbury's Summer, the second book in the Baxter Family Drama Sunrise Series. Two of John Baxter's daughters are expecting babies, but one will need the family's extra support with faith, love, and prayer. One son will find his marriage in trouble. One daughter will find herself distanced from the family after offering her medical advice. And one woman is finally told of John's intentions. The Flanigan family is also facing some serious issues. One of their members is leaving at the end of the summer. One of their members is concerned about a teenage pregnancy. And several members are shaken when it is announced that CKT will be closing after its summer production.

Trouble lay around every corner as far as Jenny could see. ... But somehow, set against the backdrop of summer, all of it felt manageable. If there was a predominant season in heaven, Jenny Flanigan believed it would be summer. (p.229)

Another page turner with real to life characters and issues, I thoroughly enjoyed Summer. Karen Kingsbury knows how to reach out to her readers on so many different levels.

A test of faith, a season of hope, and endless days of longing. (front cover)

And she has definitely touched this reader through her characters and their stories in the Baxter Family Drama series!

Dying For Chocolate

He would demand, "Do you know the significance of the last course? It is what will linger in the memory and on the tongue."
What does that best?
Chocolate. In spite of my fury, I smiled, remembering. ... I knew serving clients chocolate nurtured them emotionally. I read an article that said people crave chocolate, gorge on it in fact, when they have been let go by a lover, boss, or spouse." (pp. 94-95)

Goldy loves her chocolate. And it helps when things get crazy in Dying For Chocolate by Diane Mott Davidson. But crazy doesn't begin to describe the situations in which Goldy finds herself again in the second book of this catering mystery series.

Goldy and her son Arch are living with friends after her ex-husband once again uses intimidation to harass her. The kitchen is a great set up for her catering business, the security is intense, and the neighbors are more involved in one another's lives that she could ever have imagined. When Phillip drives off the road and dies, Goldy finds the crash suspicious. And so does Schultz, the law enforcement who has eyes for the caterer. Goldy also finds herself fighting to use her name on the business and angry with a food critic in the local newspaper who can't even get the menu right. Crazy characters, unexpected secrets, and actual recipes for Goldy's menus make for a fast reading mystery that will leave you hungry and amused.

We were all quiet for a few minutes. I reflected on the people who had come to inhabit my life in the last month. That was what everyone wanted: to force love's issue. Adele and Weezie adored Brian and had tried to make the adoration mutual. I had cherished the illusion that Adele was my friend and confidante. Julian was enamored of Sissy. Sissy in turn had great affection for the idea of being married to a doctor. And I wanted to make Arch love me, so that he would choose to live with me instead of his father. (p. 320)

Although not quite as good as Catering to Nobody, I did very much enjoy Dying For Chocolate. Goldy always seems to find trouble and it continues to follow her right up to the very end. Schultz is always in the background with open arms. And Arch is into magic this time which gives Goldy something more to worry about. I recommend this book to others who enjoy a fun mystery.