The African Kitchen: A Day in the Life of a Safari Chef

Shirley J.     Adult Non-Fiction African Cookbook     Recipe from Ethiopia and other African Nations.

The African Kitchen: A Day in the Life of a Safari Chef by Josie Stow and Jan Baldwin       144 pages

Fascinating story, photos and recipes from chefs who work out in the wild on safari tours carrying their ingredients and cooking utensils, stoves and refrigerators out in the savannah to give tourists not only the experience of being up close and personal with wild animals still living free on the continent, but, also offering up lavish meals prepared outside on the African plains to give safari goers the ultimate experience of enjoying gourmet meals and adult beverages made from recipes from Ethiopia, Ghana, Malawi, Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, Botswana, Zambia, Namibia, Mozambique, etc.   The authors cite many recipes from a Zulu chef friend and the recipes sound so succulent and the photos so compelling it makes the reader wish you could be out there right along with them to experience the phenomenon that is Africa, ther terrain, the animals in the wild, the culture, the spirit, the freedom of experiencing living in the wild if only for a little while and living the dream that is the essence of African cooking.    It amazed me how simple the authors make it all seem.  What all they do to provide the full safari experience while making these sometimes extremely intricate recipes that they explain in such easy to follow instructions and explain them in such down to earth ways even as they have to often race ahead of the safari tourists in order to get elaborate food stations set up that are incredible yet out in the wild among all God's creatures.    They even teach you how to find termite mounds and how to make sure they have been vacated in order to term them into pizza ovens!   They tell you how to be sure the spot you are setting up in is free of snakes, cheetahs, elephants, lions etc.  Then how to go about setting up the equipment you have brought out.    It is always a good day if the eggs make it without cracking while riding fast in the jeeps as they rush out to stay ahead of the tour in order to provide cold drinks, and delightful appetizers, entrees, fruit and vegetable recipes that are foreign to our ears but look absolutely delectable in the photos included.   And to think of hauling actual stoves (they sometimes cook over a fire, they sometimes even put things on a shovel over a fire to cook them, but they don't always use termite mounds or cooking dugouts in the ground, they actually have refrigerators and stoves that households would use - how do they do it?    Generators?   Gas?   And then the elaborate decorations and tables adorned wonderfully and bars seriously BARS where they provide adult beverages, sometimes making their own vodka from many ingredients including fermented chili peppers.    I highly recommend everyone check out this look into a world you might never know about otherwise.   When I think about safaris, I had never thought about the local people working for the safari company to put out a spread of food that would rival a 5 star restaurant in the States.  Man!  They know how to throw a party at ever sitting and to have a view of Kilamanjaro rising above the serengetti, too!   Once when I was young I asked my Mom, "If you could be anywhere right now, where would it be?"   She said, "I would like to be on safari."    Having read this book with its wonderful asides telling of great experiences and repasts, along with the beauty and pureness of animals living free as they are meant to and being able to share that dream for even just a moment in time.   I am right there with you, Mom.   I recommend this book to anyone old enough to appreciate the wonder, the cuisine and the beauty and skill of bringing it all together in the outdoors in the magical continent of Africa.                                                                                                                                        

 

Not If I See You First

 Shirley J.         Teen Fiction              Auto accident, Blind, Orphaned, meeting life strong and head-on

Not If I See You First by Eric Lindstrom       336 pages

When Parker was 4, she was in a car accident that killed her mother and left her blind.   As a teenager her father died and now her Aunt and two cousins have moved in to Parker's house (it was way nicer than theirs) to look after her.   Parker is smart and doles out sage advice and tough love to her best friend and other friends.   Her cousin Sarah, now living with her, who is the same age and now attending the highschool that Parker goes to is not her bff.   To say their relationship is testy is being generous, but, she gets along great with Sarah's younger brother at least.   Not a lot of love showing from her Aunt, but, then they were never close till her Dad died so it is a familial unit of convenience for the most part.   Parker has strict rules she has set for herself, "Don't treat me any different" because she is blind and "Never take advantage."     She puts up a good facade of being tough but secretly she gives herself a gold star for every day she doesn't cry since her Dad's death.  Oh yeah, and her guilty pleasure is running.   Turns out, blind or not, she is good at it.   Lots happens, a blast from her past reemerges along with a new love interest and a maybe who ends up being tutored in calculus by Parker and her friends thereby earning the title of being "one of the girls."   A very well told story of teen angst with a whole lot more going on besides.    I recommend this one to middle schoolers on up.   A very good debut novel by Eric Lindstrom.

If I Could Turn Back Time: A Novel

Shirley J.             Adult Fiction                        Head Trauma, Time Travel, Getting a Do-Over on the past

If I Could Turn Back Time: A Novel by Beth Harbison    352 pages

Ramie Phillips gets the chance to do what so many wish we could at some point, she gets to go from her current 38 year old self who is successful, parties with the rich and famous but often feels "what if she had taken a different path?"   The universe or her fairy godmother hears her thoughts and while drinking champagne at a party on a yacht, she goes to dive off a diving board into the pool but hits her head and ends up going back in time to her 18 year old self to relive the time before graduation when she broke up with the love of her life and now she gets a do-over to see what her future would be with him in it, added bonus, she gets to see her Dad alive again and try to save him from the cancer that takes his life.   Problem: will she be stuck in the past and have to live everything over knowing what she knows now?    Very well done story unlike other similar theme fictions.   I recommend this one to high schoolers on up.
 

Woman Thou Art Loosed

 

Shirley J.                  Adult Non-Fiction                  Scriptural help for women dealing with past abuse

Woman Thou Art Loosed!: Healing the Wounds of the Past by T. D. Jakes     224 pages

In this book, T. D. Jakes addresses his teaching on the biblical scriptures telling of Jesus' encounters with the woman who had been healed by touching the hem of his cloak, the woman at the well, Mary Magdalene, the woman caught in the act of adultery, Tamar whose brother raped her, and more biblical scripture dealing with women who were dealing with past traumas and how God can help them to overcome and put past hurts behind them.    He addresses how to deal with low self-esteem, self-hatred, tragedy, disappointments then shows how regardless of what a woman has gone through in her past he offers hope and healing and how to achieve deliverance from past or present abuse and shows how God can make a way.    Good book,   I recommend this one to teenagers on up.

The Writing Retreat

 

The Writing Retreat by Julia Bartz 320 pages

 

I go on a writing retreat once a year, so when I saw this title in the library, I had to check it out!

 

For the past year, Alex has had writer’s block. She blames it on her breakup with her girlfriend, Wren. The opening chapters set up how destructive Alex’s life is since the two are no longer together.

 

Ursula, a friend, enters one of her old stories into a writing contest. The Grand Prize is a month-long writer’s retreat led by Alex’s all-time favorite, feminist horror writer Roza Vallo. Of course, she gets in, otherwise there would not be a novel. Alex is one of five women invited to the retreat. In addition to working with Roza, the winner will receive a publishing contract and a one-million-dollar reward. There is a lot at stake.

 

The retreat is held at Roza’s upstate New York estate, Blackbriar. Roza is eccentric and the women who care for her and her estate are also eccentric. That leads to a few weird rules and timeframes that seem impossible to meet. Each woman must write 3,000 new words for her novel and submit them to Roza everyday by midnight. If one of the women misses the deadline, she is invited to leave. That is a tough assignment for Alex who has not written a word in over a year.

 

Alex is in a frenzy. Wren is also there, so tensions are high. During the cocktail hour at the beginning of the retreat, Roza tells the group about the people who used to own Blackbriar. This opens a portal to the spirit of Daphne, the house’s former mistress. And that portal provides Alex with her novel.

 

In addition to watching the ladies write, all sorts of weird things begin to happen. The Writing Retreat has all the elements of a great gothic mystery. It also centers on the themes of friendship, creativity, courage and ambition.

 

Th plot is a little over the top for my tastes and too many graphic sex scenes. I’m not a prude, but it got old after a while. I was also disappointed that readers never learn the topics the other women are writing about. I loved the eeriness of Blackbrair and the author’s ability not to foreshadow too many of the happenings.

 

I had to know what happened, but not sure I would recommend this to anyone. Therefore, The Writing Retreat receives 3 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

Strangers in the Night: A Novel of Frank Sinatra and Ava Gardner

Strangers in the Night: A Novel of Frank Sinatra and Ava Gardner by Heather Webb 432 pages

 

Fans of Francis Albert Sinatra know he was a complicated man. He could be as loyal as man’s best friend and generous to a fault. When he loved you, he loved you, but when he hated you, he hated you.

 

Frank was a man who loved hard, who worked hard and who played hard. And so was one of Old Hollywood’s sex goddess’ and movie star Ava Gardner. It was as if the two were cut from the same cloth.

 

And when they met, oh my God, did fireworks fly. Combine all the above with the fact that his career was virtually over and hers was on the rise, well, it was instantaneous combustion. They were doomed from the first flame.

 

Author Webb divides the book into five sections, by date and with Frank’s song and movie titles and traces their relationships from 1946-1990, the comings, the going and all the in-betweens. Somehow, they were there for each other, chasing each other around the world. And drink? Those two could almost drink each other under the table! This story is the story of that chemistry, the need for each other that only they could sate.

 

However, always in the background was Nancy, Frank’s first wife, and his kids. Oh, how he loved those kiddos!

 

Frank was a notorious womanizer and only wanted the best things in life. Ava wanted a career, but she also wanted a quiet cottage surrounded by a family.

 

There were times I wanted to stop reading. I didn’t like to see who they were so cruel to each other. Frank came off worse than Ava did, and she, could be a real bitch. That broke my heart. But one thing I found sweet. Ava always called him Francis, unless she was pissed at him, then it was Frank. Only his mother got away with calling him Francis.

 

Strangers in the Night A Novel of Frank Sinatra and Ava Gardner receives 5 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

 

Return to Virgin River: A Novel (Book 21 of 22 in the Virgin River series)

 

Shirley J.              Adult Fiction/Romance                 Virgin River, population 600 nestled among the redwoods in northern California

Return to Virgin River (Book 21 in the 22 book Virgin River series.) by Robyn Carr   262 pages

A light breezy romance.   Suspense writer, Kaylee Sloan has just lost her mother to cancer, it has stunted her writing, she is totally lost in life now as her anchor, her advisor, her confidant, her best friend is now gone from her life.   Her mother left her house to Kaylee and it is a wonderful house, the one Kaylee grew up in and the one Kaylee had lived in again after coming back home to stay with her Mom after she was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer.   Everywhere she looks there is a memory or sentimental tie to everything in the house.   Her mother died on Christmas Day and Kaylee cannot abide the thought of going through celebrating the day ever again.   She doesn't feel like writing but even if she did the constant barrage of people calling or dropping by filled with good intentions but not understanding that Kaylee just needed to be left alone so she could pour her tears out in her writing but that seemed to be going nowhere.   She couldn't concentrate for crying and missing her Mom terribly.  She  decides she needs to get away.   Nothing sounds good until an offer comes from family friends to visit a small community on a lake she and her mother used to join them at many summers as Kaylee was growing up after her father left them.  Perfect!   A getaway she could use as a writer's retreat since she still owed her editor another suspense novel and her deadline was creeping up on her.  When she gets to the cabin it is like a punch in both of her eyes!   The cabin is on fire!  The story goes from there with what action Kaylee takes next, the reaction of the community to her, how her fear of dogs plays in to it, her attitude about the holidays.  This really was a comfy book to curl up with and an easy enough story to just let your mind follow where the story takes you.  The characters are very soul soothing and I think anyone reading this story will like it.   I recommend this one to mature high schoolers on up to seniors.   It is like spending time with grown folks you really get along with. 

The Only Plane In the Sky

 Shirley J.                 Adult Non-Fiction Historical                  First Person Accounts of 9/11 Experiences   The Only Plane in the Sky by Garrett M. Graff  560 pages

WOW!  This book will literally take your breath away it is that impactful.  It is told in the words of the people who experienced it first hand, both those who survived it and those who did not.   It is one after the other leading up to the event,  those on the ground or in the air during the event, chillingly those trapped in the inferno with no escape and those below watching in horror as it all unfolded around them.   Readers will feel the chill of the hijackers' words as they took over the plane, feel the realization of the passengers and loved ones knowing there is no way out and the helplessness of those trying to respond to this shocking act of terror while being helpless to stop it.   The book brought up something I hadn't realized before, many people made it down and out of the building only to die during the sudden impact of the bodies of jumpers falling on top of them.    Many firefighters died in that rain of bodies from above, too.   They describe the horrid sounds this made.   The sheer thought of people running forward out of the towers in relief to what they thought was safety only to die on the ground under the body of a desperate person choosing suicide over being burned up by 1800+ degree incinerating fire, or from choking to death on the fumes from the gas leaking from the jet engine or the smoke pouring everywhere or imploding in one of the multitudinous explosions as windows blew out and pulled some victims out to their death.   Some victims lost their lives trying to help others.   Some people followed protocol and obeyed the directive, "Stay where you are, don't move, responders are on their way and know where you are."   That was the massive chaos at the twin towers before, during, then after the attack followed by the inthinkable collapsing of both towers.   But there were two more hijacked planes, one crashing into the Pentagon another stopped from its wretched mission by passengers who rose up to fight the terrorists on that plane which crashed in a field.   Oh, wow.   This book brings so much of that whole sensory experience right to the reader.    Like I said, it will literally take your breath away.   A good book, a factual encounter that the reader will not forget and a teaching experience in that everything you may have thought you knew about that awful time is only a speck on the top of what actually transpired.   It is a nightmare.  Having said that, I do feel that everyone should experience as much of this book as they can even if they cannot finish it, know as much of what really happened.  Too intense for the very young, even the young, but certainly, high schoolers on up and I would recommend this book be on every high school and college reading list.  

The Kiss Quotient

 Shirley J.                      Adult Fiction                   Asberger's, Male escorts,  Economic trend tracking

The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang   352 pages

Stella Lane is an econometrician (economics expert) who researches and analyzes marketing trends to guide corporate business decisions.   She is very successful and obsesses over the math of compiling sales figures in various sectors so much so that she spends upwards of 12 hours or more a day at work and even comes in on the weekends because she so loves what she does.  This behavior necessitates little to no social life and her experience in that department is almost non-existant as in her 30+ years she has had 3 sexual encounters none of which were particularly pleasing as she was diagnosed in her childhood as autistic and suffers from asbergers.   She can hardly tolerate other people touching her.  She doesn't relate well to other people and doesn't know the norms of social interacting especially in large groups.   Her solitary work is perfect for her.   She can tabulate numbers to her heart's content and she can do it alone.   Perfect.   When her mother starts pushing her to find a boyfriend and stop working so much as her mother wants very much to be a grandmother.  Her mother starts trying to set Stella up with the boss at her firm who happens to be the son of one of her mother's acquaintances.   After a sort of stumbling get together, to which Stella turns her head when the boss goes in for a kiss, the idea of kissing him nearly makes her puke.   Prior to that Stella's sexual encounters have been 3 one night stands that neither party came away feeling particularly good about.   Stella likened French kissing to a shark having those little fish clean it's teeth.  The mere remembrance made her shudder.  She decides she needs instruction on the how of handling relationships and the intimacies that go with it.   She decides to hire a male escort to teach her what she needs to do to keep a man.    And that is what she does.   Enter Michael.   They both end up with way more than they expected!  A good book and manual on how to get and keep a man.   This one is pretty sexually explicit - it is training after all.  I recommend this one to adults through senior citizens.  

Meet Cute

 Shirley J.                  Adult Fiction                                Child Star, Lawyers, Life Upheaval

Meet Cute by Helena Hunting     384 ages

Kailyn Flowers was a huge fan of former t.v. star, Daxton Hughes.  So much so she collected every bit of memorabilia she could.   His face adorned multiple t-shirts she owned, action figures, cups, ad infinitum.  Then when she started law school,  who does she run into and has a fan-girl melt-down over, but, Daxton Hughes!   He is actually in class with her.   Him and his jerk friends.  Daxton in full star mode, turns on the smile he reserves for fan situations and is pleasant enough at the time, but, later when she asked for his help in turning in a paper, he betrays her.  Going through many hardships in her life, she can never get over the outright act of betrayal Daxton committed and her grade and her grade point average suffered because of it.   They never saw each other again until the day Dax comes walking into her law firm office with his parents to set up a trust.    Dax acts as if he doesn't remember her and nothing happened.   It is all Kailyn can do to remain professional throughout the meeting.  When a tragedy occurs, Kailyn and Dax are thrown back together.   He seeks her help and being a good person she doesn't refuse him but they will be tested throughout this new turn of events.   A good story told well.  Remember, "It ain't over till its over."   I recommend this one to high schoolers on up.              

Recommended For You

 

Shirley J.                 Young Adult Fiction                                Bookstores,  Jewish Teens, Two Moms

Recommended For You by Laura Silverman   272 pages       

Shoshanna Greenberg, teen workerbee at "Once Upon," her favorite bookstore, daughter of Mom and Mama, her two Moms, owner of Barbara Streisand, her hoopdie mobile that is always on its last leg and who she often prays to HaShem (Jewish word meaning "the Name" used to refer to God) to get her where she needs to go.   With Mom and Mama verbally sparing all the time now (Shoshanna is getting skiddish of the big D looming) the store has become her oasis.     Around the holidays, to kick up business as the store has been hit hard over the past few years from lack of sales, Shoshanna's boss announces a competition.   A cash prize for the employee selling the most books.    Shoshanna sees a way to get her car fixed, little does she know there is some steep competition for the prize money.   Good story, fun dialogue and fun characters.   I recommend this to middle schoolers on up.

The Firefly Code

Shirley J.                Juvenile Fiction              Scientist Parents, Genetically tweaked kids, A. I.                        The Firefly Code by Megan Frazer Blakemore         352 pages    

Mori and her friends have grown up in Old Harmonie, a small corporate town outside of Boston, where every parent is a scientist and works for the same company.    All the children have been genetically tweaked either before birth to create the designer babies the parents wanted ie. eye color, etc. or after.    After the kids are born the parents have the option to tweak their personalities as they see traits arising, ie. is the child too aggressive, etc. the parents can "dampen" unwanted traits genetically.  Are there fields of interest they would like to see developed ie. strong math/engineering skills, bents toward science or medicine?    All it takes is a visit to the "doctor" for a "check-up" and the child becomes genetically altered to the state required by the parents.    Then one day a new family moves to Old Harmonie.   None of the four friends, Mori, Theo, Benny nor Julia have ever seen a new family move in.   Every one that is here has been here all of their lives.   Interesting.   These folks are said to come from California.   Wow this new girl, Illana is an excellent athlete and while very nice, she is every bit as competitive as Julia, and she bests Julia and Theo at everything.    Mori's grandmother was also a scientist and is the one who came up with the program and the colony idea, down to all of their food being delivered to each of their identical houses.  There are many mysteries that will come to light as the story goes, and it is a good story that I think anyone could appreciate.  I certainly recommend it to the age group the author geared it to 8-12 year olds, but, it is a thought provoking story for any age group.      

                                                                           

 

The Last Heir to Blackwood Library

The Last Heir to Blackwood by Hester Fox 336 pages

 

Readers can always count on author Hester Fox for a quietly eerie novel, and her latest doesn’t quite live up to the abilities she has shown in other works.

 

Twenty-three-year-old Ivy Radcliffe is alone in the world. She lost her brother and father in the Great War and her mother succumbed to the Spanish Flu. She is shocked when she is summoned to a solicitor’s office for the reading of the will of the late Lord Hayworth, someone with whom she is unfamiliar. Turns out, he was Ivy’s father’s third cousin, and the last of the Hayworth line.

 

It took the solicitor a while, but they finally connected Ivy to Hayworth, and with that knowledge, she inherited his Lordship’s estate, Blackwood Abbey, located on the Yorkshire moors.

 

When Ivy arrived, the sprawling mansion was in disrepair, yet the servants who took care of her ancestor were still there. I don’t recall in how long the period was between the Lord’s death and Ivy’s arrival, but it cannot have been overlong since they were still there. The mansion is dark and depressing, attributed to its gothic vibes.

 

Almost immediately, Ivy is bored. She knows no one and there is little for her to do. On an afternoon outing to the local bookstore, she meets Sir Arthur Mabry. He discloses the existence of a magnificent library housed in the crumbling abode, and that he would love to get a chance to see it.

 

The conversation leads Ivy to wonder what she isn’t being told, especially if there are parts of the   house where she is told she cannot investigate. But a library! Ivy loves to read and makes it a priority to discover its contents.

 

The library is magnificent, but strange things happen there…footprints in the dust that lead to a solid wall without another living creature present is only one example. Still, Ivy isn’t scared away. Until the night of the storm.

 

I had a tough time piecing this novel together. I didn’t understand what the Prologue has to do with the rest of the story. Even after I finished the book and re-read it, it did not seem to tie in. I am afraid this is one of those stories that the author knew and understood but was unable to draw the picture for the reader.

 

 The Last Heir to Blackwood receives 3 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

 

The Night Portrait

The Night Portrait by Laura Morelli 496 pages

 

I saw this book listed on another book nerd page and knew I had to read it. It has dual-timelines, four main characters and a storyline that I loved.

 

At its core, this novel is about art: its creation and its importance to humankind and what will be done to save it.  This story centers on the Leonardo da Vinci masterpiece, The Lady with an Ermine. There is so much to write about how wonderful this story is that I could probably write a book about it. 

 

The two timelines are 1476-1499 and 1939-1946. The four main characters are Cecilia Gallerani (the painting’s subject), Leonardo Da Vinci (no introduction needed), Edith Becker (a German art conservator) and Dominic Bonnelli (American soldier, art lover and a member of the famed Monument Men unit). 

 

The Renaissance period, Cecilia and Leonardo, sections tell of how the painting came to be. The WWII sections described how the painting hung in a Nazi leader’s country home and how it almost became a war casualty.

 

The Night Portrait is a phenomenal read. I read it in three evenings and have the bags beneath my eyes to prove.  I cannot recommend this book enough to art, historical fiction, Renaissance and WWII lovers. It receives 6 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

 

Pi in the Sky

Shirley J.                Juvenile Fiction                       Supreme beings of the universe, earth disappears

Pi in the Sky by Wendy Mass    272 pages

Juvenile sci-fi story about the universe being run by a Supreme Overload and the planets being managed by his children.   The younger kids, not quite ready to step up and take on such responsibilities get lesser jobs.   Josh's job is to deliver pies.  (His grandmother is an amazing baker.)  Now these pies are a lot more involved than the pies we know here on earth, the pies that Josh delivers hold the secrets of the universe baked inside!   Lots happens, there is a.i. out the wazoo and lots of action on the fronts of ruling the universe and then in the midst of a cosmic intervention earth disappears.  Not only that but Josh's best friend Kal gets sucked out of "the Realm," the plane they inhabit while a girl from earth named Annika appears in it.   Josh doesn't really want to tell her that everything she has known up until this moment has just "disappeared," so he takes on the task of trying to restore earth.   But how?    A cute story geared to the 8 - 12 year old set.   An interesting take on what is out in the universe?    I would recommend this one to the younger set the author aims it for.  

Joy at Work

 Shirley J.                Adult Non-Fiction                       Marie Kondoing your workspace and digital media

Joy at Work: Organizing Your Professional Life by Marie Kondo and Scott Sonenshein     256 pages

Marie Kondo tells how to stop feeling drained by all the weight of the crap pile up on your desk at work, in your file cabinet languishing for years and all the electronic trappings of old emails, etc. on your p.c.  Marie Kondo takes you through getting rid of all the piles of clutter bogging you down physically and mentally as you come in to a mass of chaos begging to be organized and your mind crying to get out from under the sea if detritus washing you out to sea in its undertow.   Marie Kondo is all for getting rid of every piece of paper though she grudgingly admits there are some things one has to keep though if there is anyway to get around it Marie Kondo is for it and tries to come up with work arounds and tips to get all the endless emails, papers, useless tasks and time wasting meetings that do nothing but clog ones mind like the physical stuff clogs one's space.   She calls them the hazards of working that drain the joy from work, undermine our well being and limit our chances of career progress because what use is having piles of unorganized information at your fingertips if you can't fine what you need when you need it?   Better to shed it all than be lost in pandemonium.   She and Rice University Business Professor, Scott Sonenshein offer strategies to eliminate clutter and create a space for work that matters.   She uses her Kon-Mari method to overcome the workplace madness to create a positive, tidy desk and mind!   This book is part of a 3 book series that promises if you properly simplify your home and your work life once you will never have to do it again!   I recommend this series to middle-schoolers on up - it is never to soon to learn the proper Kon-Marie method of tidying your world!

Walking In My Joy

 Shirley J.        Adult Biography          Jenifer Lewis' life growing up in Kinloch, MO and take on everything from COVID, to Donald Trump the orange president, Kathy Griffin's near suicide, etc.

Jenifer Lewis tells it like it is and then some.  She backs up from no one and nothing.  She talks straight about her love life, her family, her career, her politics and anything else that comes to mind.  She is a joy and a firecracker!  Don't think this is going to be a nicey nice politically correct gentle story, this is about Jenifer Lewis!  Quiet is not a word to describe her until the day her great nephews flushed a sock down her toilet in the Kinloch Room or was it the Egypt room?   I know she forbade them from ever going into the Africa Room after that.  The lady is generous to a tee taking care of family and friends and seldom letting the opposite sex do a number on her, but, oh, that sorry so and so who did!   Her mother taught her to scrap and she pulls no punches.  A delightful read about a strong black woman that takes no mess, delivers genuine sincerity and can play the part of any one like no other actor out there.   She not only writes books, she writes and sings songs, poetry, you name it.  She is a loyal and fierce friend, Auntie to all, and as sensual at 64 as she was at 24.   She leaves no stone unturned, no mysteries, and in no uncertain terms she tells you her say and you can like it or leave it.   She is a pro at cursing so if you are sensitive to it, reader, fasten your seat belt!  I loved this book.  I can't wait to read her other one and any future tomes she chooses to share with us.   Themes, language, sexual explicitness say I should recommend this one for adults, but, I hate to deny anyone this read, she is a force of nature!  ; D

Red at the Bone

 Shirley J.                    Adult Fiction          A generational tale grandparents, Sammy Po'Boy and Sabe, who survived the Oklahoma riots to present day granddaughter, college student/baby mama, Iris.

Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson  208 pages

Excellent story with great characters chronicling a family's struggles to get by from the grandparents, Sammy Po'Boy and Sabe, who survive the Oklahoma riots and who's legacy carries on to their daughter, Melody,  who they have big hopes and dreams for to graduate and have a big successful life, slightly derailed when in her teens she becomes pregnant then to their granddaughter, Iris who also becomes pregnant as a teen by her best friend who comes to live with her family but strong willed Iris goes on to be the first in her family to go to college where she meets and falls in love with a woman who is a social activist on campus and who, seeing a photo of Iris' daughter assumes it is Iris' sister and so the lie begins.   Iris falls madly in love with the woman and sadly out of love with the father of her child, who is still living with her parents taking care of their child.   A good tale of survival over racism, love, betrayal, and coming of age.   Well done, Jacqueline Woodson.   I recommend this one to middle schoolers on up.

The House of Kennedy

 Shirley J.               Adult Non-Fiction             The story of every Kennedy since Honeyfitz to present

The House of Kennedy by James Patterson and Cynthia Fagen   432 pages

Brilliantly told biographies and histories of every American Kennedy, yes THE Kennedys, since their forebear Honeyfitz.   All the political aspirations, all the scandals (well, at least all the public has been privy to), the good they have done and the foibles within their characters and the damage and damage control over the years.   Excellent sharing of inside information, intimate details of the relationship between Joe Kennedy and Gloria Swanson and how Rose Kennedy dealt with the affair though it was right in her face, details of the affairs with Marilyn Monroe (both John and Bobby), Chappaquidick details that occurred that night and afterward.   Teddy's career and loss of Presidential candidacy, the later generations of the Kennedy Grandkids and Great Grankids.   Jackie and Joe's close family bond, Rose's girlhood and how she came to be Mrs. Joseph Kennedy, and her time campaigning for her family members, her reaction to losing so many of her immediate family.    There are so many good things about this book I cannot recommend it enough.   The glaring mistakes are not glossed over but are addressed head on and the successes and underworld ties are examined, too.   Well done James Patterson and Cynthia Fagen.   I recommend this book to Kennedy supporters, to history buffs, to highschool students on up.

Savage Season

 

Shirley J.                      Adult Fiction                                      Best Friends, Ex-Lovers, Double-Crosses

Savage Season (Book 1 in the Hap and Leonard series) by Joe R. Lansdale     178 pages

This book introduces us to the two best friends, Hap Collins and Leonard Pine.    Hap is a straight white dude from East Texas.  Leonard is a black man, a Vietnam Vet, and gay.   Hap a former social activist while in college that did time in prison over one of his causes and lost the love of his life while behind bars when his then wife couldn't hack the wait (18 months!) and divorced him and took off.   Trudy pops back up and waltzes in, seduces Hap (he is so easy) and brings him into her current illegal endeavor.   Seems her current boyfriend has information gleaned from a guy who heisted 3 or 400,000 dollars that is now dead but discussed the location of the money before he died.   This stolen money, once recovered will fund several social causes Trudy and the misfit band of radicals she brings with her want to aid.   Unfortunately, not all the radicals are committed to the greater good and while Hap and Leonard are drawn in for a big payday for helping, the best laid plans...can go awry.   A good book and excellent introduction to Hap and Leonard.   I recommend this one to mature high schoolers on up (for sexual content) and graphic depictions of shootings.   Excellent story and series.

Swedish Death Cleaning: What Moms and Housewives Need to Declutter House, Change Lifestyle and Enjoy Happiness

Shirley J.             Adult Non-Fiction       Decluttering with intent to save others from it after you are gone 

Swedish Death Cleaning: What Moms and Housewives Need to Declutter, House, Change Lifestyle and  Enjoy Happiness  by Cloe Hampton   116 pages

Cloe Hampton explores clutter from the perspective that minimalizing makes you more productive, improves your health and relationships.   You declutter your home, your personal space and your life so nobody else has to.   She calls it living the essentialist life ie. keeping only what is essential be it the necessary yet also the necessary to you (items that make you happy when you see them thus uplifting your spirit).   She covers all the places that clutter can accumulate, at home, at work, in the car, in our bags/pockets/wallets, on our computer, and our cell phones.   Too much is too much everywhere it is.  She recommends clearing all non-essential items from our lives.   She walks you through where and when to start, step by step, room by room, area by area.   She teaches you how to discern what to keep and what not to keep.   Very good book, lots of tips to be found here to make things easier on yourself and your family after you are gone.   I recommend this for young adults, the concept might be a little morbid for the younger set, though, it is never too early to start sorting out your belongings.  

Miss Julia Hits the Road

 

Shirley J.           Adult Fiction                Southern Women of a Certain Age, Fundraisers, Motorcycles

Miss Julia Hits the Road by Ann B. Ross     339 pages

Miss Julia's gentleman friend, Sam, has taken to wearing cowboy boots, even leather and driving a motorcycle!  He is sending her flowers and poetry and she thinks he is suffering from dementia!  In the meantime, Lillian has been evicted from her own home along with the other folks in the nine houses on her street.   The greedy jerk landlord doing it happens to be a deacon at Miss Julia's church!  Miss Julia enlists Binky's help to find a way out of it for Lillian and her neighbors but Binky is about to go into labor at any time herself.   Though worried for his sanity, Miss Julia calls on Sam who finds it is near to impossible to stop.   Seems there are viagra like qualities attributed to a spring behind the rental properties and the deacon plans on bottling it and selling it!   Drastic times call for drastic measures and Miss Julia and her usual go-to's get together to brain storm ways to keep Lillian and her neighborhood from going under and you won't believe what comes of it!  Is there a Harley in Miss Julia's future?  I recommend this book to all who love Miss Julia's tales as much as I do.   I think this one will appeal to 20 somethings on up.

Beautifully Organized at Work: Bring Order and Joy to Your Work Life So You Can Stay Calm, Relieve Stress, and Get More Done Each Day

 

Shirley J.        Adult Non-Fiction                 Organizing your workspace, stress-free work environment

Beautifully Organized at Work: Bring Order and Joy to Your Work Life So You Can Stay Calm, Relieve Stress, and Get More Done Each Day (The Beautifully Organized Series) by Nikki Boyd     150 pages

Nikki Boyd is big on decluttering your desk top and having little to nothing left out on your desk at the end of the day.   She suggests for those items you truly need, pens, note pad, sticky notes, tape, stapler to make drawer space for these items so when you arrive at work you begin your day with a clutter free desk top and suggests you only take out what you need then put away when finished or at the latest the end of the day.   She too has heard the studies about cluttered desks being the sign of creative minds but she finds if your desk is clear, or only housing minimal task related items, it helps to keep the mind clear and focused for the job ahead.   She recommends organizing files both hard copy and digital at all times again with a focus on minimal.   She recommends planning your workday to stay productive and on task.   She is big on having appropriate lighting and a clean desk and work area.  In fact from the photos of her home workspace it is almost stark and sterile looking.  Her color scheme is white and gold and the entire work area she has is made up of white walls, white carpeting, white pens with gold trim which she suggests finding what you like and buying/ordering matching accessories to help you mentally work more effectively.   She also works on a white desk (see photo on book cover).   A little hospital sterile seems to me, but, it is what works best for her and that is her point find what environment and accessories work best for you and it will improve your proficiency and efficiency.   She has many tips, shortcuts and ideas for getting your co-workers to do the same once they see how well your area works for you.   She offers suggestions for breakrooms, conference rooms, the lobby, etc.   I recommend this book to high schoolers on up.

Miss Julia Raises the Roof

Shirley J.               Adult Fiction                                 Devious tactics, neighborhood revolt    

Miss Julia Raises the Roof (Book 19 in the Miss Julia series) by Ann B. Ross    288 pages

Sam has gone to Europe to check out the architecture and artwork of cathedrals, Miss Julia is at home dealing with that busy body Madge Taylor who always tries to horn in and take over.   This time she has deviously bought a vacant property next to Hazel Marie and is fixing it up to put a group home for delinquent teenage boys in it!   No one checked with the residents before hand to see how they felt about a group home being in their midst.   Hazel Marie has the twin baby girls and Lloyd now a sophmore in highschool right next door!   Other residents with young children are concerned about it, too!  It was just the secretive way they did it and now the residents are seeking legal advice on whether the area is zoned for a group home.  No one balks at the need for at risk teenage boys to have a place to live but not in the midst of a residential area, but, it seems there are nefarious purposes behind the cover of a group home.   Several town councilmen and the new pastor is all for it, Madge has him sewed up as an ally and she is going around soliciting funds from the wealthy women in town.  Miss Julia included and Madge is manipulating in such a dishonest manner and as everyone notices Madge is certainly not putting the group home anywhere near her own residence!   Why doesn't she offer to foster a child or two?  And as for new pastor Rucker, why doesn't he open the church to the boys if he is such a goody goody?  No, all he does is quote Star Wars from the pulpit!  Wait till Miss Julia and Mildred who also is well off and not for any such happenings in her neighborhood either get together, the plots they come up with!   Another delightful Miss Julia story about steel magnolias not letting themselves be run over by bullies!    I recommend this one to young adults on up due to themes that might be uninteresting to the younger set.

Miss Julia Rocks the Cradle

Shirley J.                       Adult Fiction                                         Southern Folks, Southern Ways, Twins

Miss Julia Rocks the Cradle (#12 in the Miss Julia series) by Ann B. Ross    320 pages

When the Lloyd's schoolteacher, Miss Petty, is pulled out of class by two police officers, the town is aghast with gossip!  Neighbors are calling back and forth all over town, turns out a dead body was discovered in Miss Petty's tool shed!   And when Lillian goes to the grocery store the manager is real snippy and snidely tells her to have Miss Julia come down and settle up her bounced check!  Bounced check?   When Lillian tells Miss Julia what he said, Miss Julia is fit to be tied.  She has never bounced a check in her life!   She meticulously goes over her bank statements every month and reconciles her check book.   Come to find out she had forgotten to pick her check book off the car seat when she was going through her pursed looking for something one day.   Why, her checkbook was left in the car at least 3 days and someone had gone in and stolen several checks from the MIDDLE of her checkbook so she wouldn't have noticed right away!   All this is going on while Hazel Marie is about to deliver twins!   Who can think straight with so much going on?   And the folks at the bank are starting to treat her like she is senile!   Sam tries to straighten the confusion out and learns more than he bargained for!  A great book.  I love the Miss Julia series like I love the Hap and Leonard one.    I recommend this one to middle schoolers on up.  It is such a funny story, but, maybe being it is about older people, it might be geared to older folks, but, anyone reading it will like it, she is so funny, and oh so southern belle!
 

Rusty Puppy

 Shirley J.             Adult Fiction                                    Best Friends/Private Investigators in East Texas

Rusty Puppy: A Hap and Leonard Novel (10 in the series) by Joe R. Lansdale   213 pages

Hap is back working a case after dying twice on the operating table after his adventure in the previous book.  Didn't look like Hap was going to make it, but, fortunately he did.   Maybe it was Leonard's staying by his side while he was in the hospital willing him to live.  Or maybe it was the great medical care and more stories to tell.   Louise Elton comes into Hap and Leonard's office looking for the black private eye to help her, she did not trust white people, but, Hap charms her into letting him work the case for her till Leonard is available.  It seems her son was killed and she suspects cops did it.   He was killed in broad daylight in the projects by cops.  So that is where Hap starts the investigation fortunately for him he had left word for Leonard where he would be cause like a superhero, Leonard swooped in to save him from possible doom.   A good story with lot of plot twists and Leonard's new hat.   Fun characters and a sassy young lady who is not at all intimidated by Hap nor Leonard, although, her stepfather is another story.   I recommend this one to middle schoolers on up.  Great story.       

The Elephant of Surprise

 

Shirley J.                      Adult Fiction: Murder Mystery                                 Friends/Private Detectives

The Elephant of Surprise: A Hap and Leonard Novel (Book 12 in the series)    257 pages

Another delightful Hap and Leonard adventure.     Hap is married to Brett now and Hap's daughter, Chance and another newly arrived family member has joined the crew, who is as fast talking and sassy as the rest.  She fits in perfectly.   An East Texas flood wreaks havoc and Hap and Leonard end up saving an albino girl from the Dixie Mafia not without several fights and bodily damage on both sides.   Marvin is out of town so Manny his second in charge is working with the guys proving she is no slouch in the a** kicking department.   Oh, did I mention the albino girl's tongue has been cut out?   Thank goodness they didn't cut her fingers off!   I really like these stories what a great duo.   I hope this isn't the last of the series.   I recommend this book to middle schoolers on up.

In the Lives of Puppets

 

In the Lives of Puppets by T. J. Klune.  432 pp

Victor lives with his father, Gio, in a series of tree houses in a forest adjacent to a scrap yard.  He enjoys seeing what the scrap yard has to offer, but it is dangerous.  Several machines guard it from outside interference.  He already found a vaccum which he repaired and named "Rambo" and a robot nurse called Nurse Ratched (Ratched is actually the initials for Registered Automaton to Care, Heal, Educate, and Drill).  One day while in the scrap yard, Victor finds an android that seems to still be alive.  Unfortunately, by the time he removes everything on top of it, it is no longer functioning, but he takes it home to his lab to tinker with it.  Eventually, he is able to repair everything but the battery that makes it work.  He takes a heart he made in case his father needs it (Gio is an android, too) and puts a few drops of blood in and the android comes to life.  The android doesn't know who he is or what his purpose is, but he has some initials on his body HAP, so that is what Victor, Rambo, and Nurse Ratched call him.  Nurse Ratched also calls him Hysterically Angry Puppet since he is very grumpy.  When Gio sees what Victor has done, he is upset since Gio built HAP originally as a human destroyer (HARP stands for Human Annihilation Response Protocol) and Victor is a human.  Some government androids realize that HAP is alive and that there may be a human around, so Gio makes everyone go into a safe room.  The government androids take Gio back to the City of Electric Dreams and destroy his heart.  When Victor and his friends emerge from the safe room Gio is gone and the tree houses have been destroyed.  They they go on a quest to rescue Gio.

This is not my usual type of story (not big into Sci Fi), but I had read another T. J. Klune book and wanted to read this.  The robot friends are very funny (shades of MST3K).  Many reviews say this is a modern day Pinocchio.  I can see this as Gio creates Victor (he is already a "real" boy) and there is a workshop/lab for tinkering.  I really enjoyed it.

Mucho Mojo

 Shirley J.                   Adult Fiction Murder Mystery                 Family secrets, inheiritance, murder

Mucho Mojo: A Hap and Leonard Novel (Book 2 in the series) by Joe R. Lansdale    320 pages

Leonard's Uncle Chester dies and his worldly goods and house go to Leonard as his only surviving family member.  Leonard and his Uncle had been close throughout Leonard's childhood but after he grew up and his Uncle found out he was gay, they fell out.  Leonard never stopped loving his Uncle, he just stopped coming around to see him, but, always remembered the time he spent with him and how much he had loved his Uncle's house.    Going back to clean it out now that his Uncle had passed was harder than he had realized.  Hap went with his friend to help him through it.  When they arrive the house next door is a crack house and its inhabitants are trouble.  The thugs posture and try to instill fear which doesn't work with Leonard who gets them in check from the git go.   Going through his Uncle's things, Leonard comes across a hidden box he wished he had never found.   A good story with horrendous murders to solve done so well and so suavely by Leonard and Hap.    Another good story about this famous duo.  I recommend this one to mature middle schoolers on up.   

Honky Tonk Samurai

 Shirley J.              Adult Fiction                                 Best Friends/Private Eyes,  East Texas

Honky Tonk Samurai (A Hap and Leonard Novel #9 in the series) by Joe R. Lansdale   368 pages

The start of a normal day for freelance private investigators, Hap and Leonard, begins with witnessing a man abusing his female dog.   When Leonard and Hap see this guy swearing and kicking his dog so hard the poor animal cries out in pain, Leonard, animal lover that he is goes over and treats the abuser to the same he is dishing out to the poor dog.  Hap liberates the pooch and takes her home to live with him and his wife Rhett.  The day gets stranger from there when a new client an elderly woman comes in to the office to ask them to find her missing granddaughter in exchange for her keeping silent to the cops with the video she has of Leonard beating the crap out of the dog abuser.    They agree.   They learn that the innocent seeming car dealership her granddaughter was last known working for turns out to be the front for a high dollar prostitution ring.   Bodies start accumulating and blackmail is going on and so goes another story in the saga of Hap and Leonard and it is a good one!   I recommend this book to mature middle schoolers on up.  A fun read with lots of grown folks stuff going on.   

The Audrey Hepburn Estate

The Audrey Hepburn Estate by Brenda Janowitz 368 pages

 

One of my favorite movies of all-time is from 1954. Sabrina, starring Audrey Hepburn, Humphrey Bogart and William Holden. It is an important film, so much so that it “was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being ‘culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.’”

Author Brenda Janowitz, in her eighth novel, has taken the essence of the movie and of Hepburn to craft a warm and surprisingly twisty work. The story is told with two narratives, “Now” and “Then.” 

“Now” is current time. Emma, Henry and Leo grew up on Henry’s grandparents’ Long Island estate, known as Rolling Hill.  The grand mansion has fallen into such disrepair that it is beyond saving. Or so says Leo, who has recently purchased the estate and plans to raze it. Emma has not seen Leo in almost seven years. It had been even longer since she had seen Henry. “Then” fills in the backstory, giving the reader insight into the characters as children and young adults.

Since Emma was eight years old, she knew that Henry was the one for her. They were childhood sweethearts. Janowitz reverses male roles. Think Henry in the Linus/Bogart role. Leo, the driver’s son, had been in love with Emma since they played together as children. Leo has the William Holden role. Since Leo first met Emma, he knew that she was the one for him. Who will Emma cling to in the turmoil that lies ahead.?

Emma returns to Rolling Hill for a trip down memory lane. What she didn’t know was that the house held more than one secret. She tried to get to Leo not to raze the house, but she was talking to deaf ears. She goes so far as to join the local historical society in the hopes of obtaining an injunction against Leo and his company.  Along the way, Janowitz throws in a few twists that turned the story in a different, yet same, direction.

Be sure to read the Appendix, “Finding Audrey Hepburn in ‘The Audrey Hepburn Estate.’”

The Audrey Hepburn Estate receives 4 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.