Twisted Turkey Day!

My group of friends held a Thanksgiving potluck with a twist...it was an all-day affair and every dish had to be a unique take on a traditional Turkey day dish.  Lemme tell you, it was delicious!!

Yummm...we had "Hot Browns" instead of traditional turkey (it's a Kentucky dish that is quite delicious)!

My friend Charlotte making the cream sauce for her delicious Hot Browns

The group enjoying our delicious spread!  Our meal: "Hot Browns," seafood stuffing, sour cream mashed potatoes, sour cream and cornflake green bean casserole, and triple-chocolate pumpkin pie!

ALSO...we did a brunch that was made up of a stuffing breakfast casserole and pumpkin pancakes...amazing!!

Latest Read - The Eyre Affair

The Eyre Affair...what can I say but, what a fun read!  This is science fiction for the book-lover and Jasper Fforde's imaginative alternate world made me laugh out loud several times!

How to describe this book...hmmm.  Well, despite being written in 2001, the novel takes place in a futuristic 1985 (I like to think of it more as an alternate reality) where the Crimean War has waged for hundreds of years and time-travel - and much stranger things - are commonplace.  

The story follows a female protagonist named Thursday Next who is a "Literatec Operative," meaning...she investigates literary crimes.  In this alternate reality, literature is taken as seriously (if not more) than religion...for example "Baconites" go door to door trying to convince people that it was Bacon who actually wrote the plays attributed to Shakespeare.  As you may be able to guess, the literary crime in question involves Jane Eyre...for the rest of the story you'll have to read it yourself!

After finishing this fun read, I was delighted to discover that this is actually the first book in a series following Thursday Next.  Needless to say, I recommend this book to those who can suspend disbelief and the subsequent sequels will definitely be on my "To-Read" list!

FYI...Sequels are: Lost in a Good Book, The Well of Lost Plots, Something Rotten, First Among Sequels,  and coming next year...One of Our Thursdays is Missing

3.5/5 stars.

Fun With Pinterest

My friend Joni gave me a heads-up about this super-fun site called Pinterest.com where you can create "Pin-boards" of things you love, inspiration, etc.  Here's a snapshot of one I made earlier of all Etsy home items:

Check it out in full here.

Latest Read - The House at Riverton

I recently finished Kate Morton's The House at Riverton:

As you may recall, I gave a glowing review of Ms. Morton's other novel The Forgotten Garden.  Which is why I immediately purchased this novel, her first.  I truly love her writing and while the book was every bit a page turner of wonderful imagery in an exciting time, it was also a bit depressing a la Atonement.  This wistful "if only this character hadn't done this one thing everything would be okay" aspect haunts me...and because it remained in my thoughts for so long I realize the value of this novel.  Yet, I prefer The Forgotten Garden a bit more...perhaps her writing became more refined over time? Or maybe I just liked the story better?  I can't put my finger on it quite yet, but I can say that I will be reading her newest novel The Distant Hours very soon!!

3.5/5 stars.

But first, a little bit of Science Fiction with The Eyre Affair I'll be sure to review it when I'm finished!

Fall Reads...so far

As you all know...I'm a busy busy fiction reader!  Here's my hit list of good and unique books I've read of late:

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake

A novel about a girl growing up cursed with the ability to taste people's feelings in their cooking...if you need stories to be completely realistic, this isn't for you, otherwise I highly recommend!  4/5 stars.

The Forgotten Garden

Loooooved this book!  It has mystery, romance, murder, betrayal, and a bit of whimsy.  Seriously, just read it.  5/5 stars.

One Day

Interesting take on a love story...following the lives of the 2 main characters on the same day of each year.  4/5 stars.

Never Let Me Go

The story that evolves in these pages is truly original and heartbreaking; however, the author's writing style was not for me.  It was a bit choppy and MUCH too descriptive.  Despite this, I would recommend the book - and, (gasp!) I think the movie might actually do a better job of telling the story than the book!  4/5 stars.