The Travelers

The Travelers by Chris Pavone 464  pages

One of the things that drew me to The Travelers is right there on the cover: “Hitchcockian.” This was the first Chris Pavone novel that I tried to read. However, instead of the master of suspense director, I say that the story is more William Faulknerish. With its long, convoluted sentences that meander through from subject to subject, I found this novel less than enthralling.  

The other thing that enticed me to this book where the different locales in which the action (or lack thereof, depending on your point of view) takes places: Argentina, Dublin, New York City, Paris, Barcelona, the North Atlantic Ocean, and other exotic areas. It jumped around a lot, switching characters constantly until I had to re-read sections to figure out what was going happening.

I like books that make me think, but not books that cause me to struggle trying to figure out what was happening. When I think spy novel, I think edge-of-my-seat read. Unfortunately, this was a slow, tedious read for me.  The Travelers receives 1 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

I received this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for this review.

In Her Kitchen

In Her Kitchen : Stories and Recipes from Grandmas Around the World by Gabriele Galimberti, 248 pages

This really was a cookbook but with every recipe was a story about where and who it came from.  What started as a series of magazine articles about people's lives around the world culminated in this book.  The little stories were nice and the recipes were interesting.  I was not inspired to try any of them but I probably would have eaten most of them if someone else were making it.  Most were pretty normal, several were dishes I had heard of but at least a couple were pretty unusual and definitely not something the average American has ever tried or probably wanted to try.  Overall I'd say liked this more for the glimpse into other lives and cultures than the actual recipes.