The Kitchen Front

 The Kitchen Front by Jennifer Ryan  406 pages

Summary from Goodreads: Two years into WW2, Britain is feeling her losses; the Nazis have won battles, the Blitz has destroyed cities, and U-boats have cut off the supply of food. In an effort to help housewives with food rationing, a BBC radio program called The Kitchen Front is putting on a cooking contest--and the grand prize is a job as the program's first-ever female co-host. For four very different women, winning the contest presents a crucial chance to change their lives.

For a young widow, it's a chance to pay off her husband's debts and keep a roof over her children's heads. For a kitchen maid, it's a chance to leave servitude and find freedom. For the lady of the manor, it's a chance to escape her wealthy husband's increasingly hostile behavior. And for a trained chef, it's a chance to challenge the men at the top of her profession.

These four women are giving the competition their all--even if that sometimes means bending the rules. But with so much at stake, will the contest that aims to bring the community together serve only to break it apart? 

And here's what I thought:  I liked this story, although some of it was pretty predictable (which was perfectly fine). Basing this on historical fiction, my curiosity was piqued at times and it was fun to look up some details so I was broadening my knowledge, along with enjoying the story. Having some recipes included added an extra interesting detail to the book --- although I will not be trying any of them soon. But, really seeing examples of wartime recipes brought to life what it was like for people to ration, or be creative with food, all in the name of being a good citizen. I did feel there was good character development in the story (even if some of it was predictable) and the pace moved the story along smoothly. I can see a re-read of this book at some point, just because I liked it enough to want to revisit it.

The Ravenmaster: My Life with the Ravens at the Tower of London

The Ravenmaster: My Life with the Ravens at the Tower of London by Christopher Skaife   256 pages

For hundreds of years, the Tower of London has had some famous residents: the ravens. The legend is that if the ravens should ever leave, the Tower will fall and great harm will come to the kingdom. So, it's imperative that this disaster never comes to pass and the responsibility for ensuring this falls to one man: Yeoman Warder Christopher Skaife.

I really enjoyed this book. I had purchase it for my husband as a Christmas Eve gift and thought he would like it --- and he did. He kept sharing details from the book with me when he was reading, so I knew I had to read it, myself.  Skaife is a fascinating guy and has led a pretty interesting life. So, you're not just learning about the ravens at the Tower of London, but you're learning about him, the history of London, and a ton of information about ravens and corvids.  He writes in a very engaging, entertaining way, and he has a conversational style.  I found the book to be absolutely fascinating --- I have an interest in corvids (the group of birds that includes crows, ravens, rooks, jackdaws, jays, magpies and others) and have visited the Tower of London, so this was, in a way, a perfect book.

I also liked that Skaife includes information and folklore about ravens and then balances it with real-life information, so you can understand the fascination many people have with these amazing birds.

By the way, Skaife is on Twitter and often shows off photos of the ravens, including Merlina, who is very friendly with him. 

Darkest Hour

Darkest Hour: How Churchill Brought England Back From the Brink by Anthony McCarten            Audiobook:  6 hours, 30 mins   Hardback Book:  336 pages          

Eye opening  homage to Winston Churchill, his exploits prior to and during WWII.    I learned a lot about Churchill’s life from this book.    I had forgoten his mother was American but I learned a little more about where she was from New York, how his parents met and married and about his life growing up.    His Dad had no praise for him basically told him he was a loser every chance he got, following it up with but, I love you, Son.   (Whaaaat?   What a jerk.)    His mother praised him and always believed in him, spurring him on to greatness.   He was lucky enough to find a wife who was just as supportive and loving.    I knew Churchill was the voice of Britain in WWII and worked tirelessly to find a solution to the Hitler/Nazi Regime campaign to overtake and control all of Europe, I did not know tha Churchill was an alcoholic.    He drank with every meal (and not just a little) and he drank throughout the day and night.    I can’t imagine how the dear man didn’t die young of liver psoriasis as he drank more daily than a rockstar on tour.    Also a bit of whimsy – like Benjamin Franklin before him, he had no issue conducting conversations while in the nude.    His habit was to take a long hot bath to relax before he held late night cabinet meetings with his fellow warroom stratigizers.   If his fellows arrived before he left the bath, he would exit the tub and walk out in the hall to greet them and even walk into the room they were meeting in still in the nude.  He might dress as they began their discussion or he might not.   A lot of his peers did not care for him, maybe that was his way of saying, “In your face!” without having to say a word.    He fought in two wars, serving in South Africa and later Cuba which gave him an edge in understanding war strategy having seen it implemented first hand during his military career.   He made some on the most valiant and patriotically inspiring speeches in history and was a great writer.   When writing speeches he would practice them over and over testing the effect of his delivery, adding emphasis to varying syllables or words to decide how best to express the sentiment he wanted his audience, the English commonwealth to understand.     He edited his writing several times before being content with it, after which, he would practice the speech over and over until he felt it just the way he wanted it to sound.   He was a master at oration, and a shining example of how to influence the people especially with the repetition of certain strong words he could spur folks on to keep enduring, keep fighting to vanquish the enemy.      A thorn of contention between  Churchill, Viscount Halifax, Neville Chamberlin and others in his war cabinet was Churchill’s belief that the English nation should fight with everything they had to the bitter end.    His constituents in the warroom cabinet fought tooth and nail for him to work toward whatever measure it took to gain peace with Hitler rather than war.    When Belgium surrendered that was the turning point.    When the terms of the surrender of Belgium were laid out in writing, the English warrroom staff were taken aback at the lengths of control the German government demanded and not wanting to give up sovereignty of the Crown they were willing to concede to allowing Hitler the title of Overlord of Central Europe and were willing to negotiate the terms for that in order to gain peace.    Churchill was viewed as a warhawk though he didn’t see himself as such.   He saw himself as trying to spur national spirit to keep the Nazis at bay and inspire every man, woman and child to keep fighting the fight for their freedom from fascist rule, though, at times Churchill fought the “black dog” of depression fearing it was all over and Hitler would overtake them.   Churchill was known to get so emotional at these times he would cry as he gave speeches letting the English public know how dire the circumstances were at the time, hoping desperately the United States would join them before it was too late.   Very good book.   I am looking forward to seeing the film by the same name starring Gary Oldman as Churchill.   Excellent read for WWII buffs, History buffs and anyone interested in the politics of war, military strategy  or the Third Reich.    Many things are shared here that I don’t believe have been released before like the fact that the war council had reined Churchill in enough to admit he would be willing to accept a truce from Hitler in the event it meant peace.  Great view of Churchill’s homelife and his rise from adversity to opposition to Prime Minister and historical icon.     Two thumbs up for this one.