I certainly can’t speak for all of you, but I’m still adrift this week trying to deal with feelings of disbelief and dread. I have a tremendous need for comfort in my reading and thankfully, I found it from one woman who on the surface may have appeared shy and self-effacing, but who has lived her life by “jumping off cliffs”. I’m talking about Ina Garten, cookbook ... Read More...
Mrs. Quinn’s Rise to Fame
The trend of lighter reading has been working for me so I thought I’d wrap up April with one more charming novel. Mainly because it combined two things I really love: a favorite TV show and sumptuous descriptions of baking. The novel is Mrs. Quinn’s Rise to Fame and is about Jenny, a 77-year-old British woman who applies to and gets on a national TV show called Britain Bakes. ... Read More...
Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club
J. Ryan Stradal’s new novel, Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club, employs his familiar template of families, food and drink, but once again he uses it to create a fresh canvas for two families in northern Minnesota. Each runs a restaurant, but the similarities stop there. Betty and Floyd run the Lakeside, a traditional supper club with a bar, dance floor, and musical ... Read More...
The Golden Spoon: A Novel
It was only a matter of time before some clever writer jumped on the Great British Bake Off juggernaut and wrote a novel about it. In this case, the author is Jessa Maxwell and the novel is The Golden Spoon, a murder mystery on the set of the American version of GBBO. Known as Bake Week, the show is filming its tenth season when things in the tent begin to heat up and it’s not ... Read More...
Down and Out in Paradise
When Anthony Bourdain died four years ago, most people were stunned. How could a man with so much to live for, a man adored by people around the globe, kill himself? He was a world traveler, sharing his love of food to show the commonalities rather than the differences between various cultures. In Down & Out in Paradise journalist Charles Leerhsen looks for answers in ... Read More...
May Reading Recap
Wait a minute—is May over? I’m pretty sure I was cheated out of a week. Or maybe it’s just that the bad news is coming at a faster pace, whether it’s the increasing attack on women’s rights or the unrelenting uptick in gun violence. I veer between apathy and a rage that wants to know: why doesn’t the government apply the same attention and rigor to young men buying guns as they ... Read More...
