Three Books That Deserve Attention

Reprinted from the Citizen:

There are so many books published each year that unless the author is an established one (James Patterson, Mary Higgins Clark, etc.), it may be hard to cut through the clutter and find an audience. I found three recent books by not-so-famous authors that deserve attention.

Maureen Sherry worked on Wall Street and she uses her experiences in her novel Opening Belle. Sherry takes us into this breakneck-paced, testosterone-fueled world of high finance through the character of Isabelle. 

Isabelle is married to Bruce, who is content to be a part-time stay-at-home dad, part-time not-exactly-sure-what-he-does-for-a-living. They have three young children, and even though Isabelle works full-time, she is still the one responsible for grocery shopping, Christmas present shopping, and arranging playdates for the children. Bruce goes to the gym. And they have a nanny.

The trading floor of the company Isabelle works for is filled with men who behave appallingly towards the female traders and analysts and heaven help the poor female assistants and administrative employees, it is worse for them.

And when some of the women working at the firm decide they have had enough, Isabelle has to decide whether to jeopardize her position at the firm and her family’s financial security to join with them.

Isabelle works hard and she is a great analyst. She has a luncheon meeting with the CEO of her biggest client and who shows up with him but Henry, the man who was once her fiance`until she found out that he was dating another woman just weeks before their wedding.

Sherry never signed a non-disclosure form when she left her job on Wall Street, so “Opening Belle” is filled with little tidbits and stories that you just know ring true, and I bet that some of the people who used to work with her recognize some of the events and characters. They are just too good to not be true.

Opening Belle is fast-paced read, and one that you will devour like a eating an entire bag of chips. You’ll root for Isabelle to get everything that she deserves.

Another contemporary novel is Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney’s The Nest, also set in New York City. The Plumb children are all grown adults who are waiting for the day when they can get their hands on a trust fund set up by their father. 

Each has different plans for the money. Jack needs the money to replace funds he spent behind his husband’s back; he mortgaged their beach cottage to keep his small antiques shop from closing.

Melody is counting on the money to send her two daughters to a good college and to keep from losing the home she has created and loved for so long. Sister Bea wants to quit her job and finish the novel she has started.

But all their plans go up in smoke when brother Leo has a car accident with young lady who is not his wife and she is seriously injured. Their mother gives Leo the money to pay off the young lady, and now the siblings must convince Leo to pay them back. Easy, yes?

Well, not so easy. Leo is a selfish man, and he feels no loyalty to his siblings. The story is interesting and the idea of what parents owe their children is one that will engender a thoughtful discussion for book clubs who choose this one.

The final book, The Versions of Us by Laura Barnett, takes place across the pond in England, starting in 1958 when Jim Taylor runs across Eva Edelstein, who has just had an accident with her bicycle on the way to take a test at university. They fall in love and what comes next is told in three different versions. 

The title of the book comes from the triptych that Jim paints, depicting three versions of a couple. I loved this story, and although you may think that keeping track of three different versions of this couple’s lives over the years would be confusing, Barnett does an amazing job of keeping it all straight in the reader’s mind.

We see what happens or could have happened, over the years to Jim and Eva, and how one decision made changes so many lives in each version. Fans of the books/movies One Day and Sliding Doors will like this one, and I enjoyed it even more than both of those.

Opening Belle by Maureen Sweeney

Published by Simon & Schuster

Hardcover, 352 pages

A+

The Nest by Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney

Published by Ecco

Hardcover, 368 pages

B+

The Versions of Us by Laura Barnett

Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Hardcover, 416 pages

A

Weekend Cooking- A Visit to the Sarasota Farmer's Market

This post is part of Beth Fish Reads' Weekend Cooking.  If you have anything related to food, cookbook reviews, novel or non-fiction book reviews, recipes, movie reviews, etc., head over to Beth Fish Reads and add your post. Or, if you want to read food related posts, head over to read what some interesting people have to say about food.

Last Saturday, my sister-in-law and I made a trip to the Sarasota Farmers Market. We had heard such great things about it and couldn't wait to go.

It's located in the beautiful historic downtown section of Sarasota, and when we came upon it we couldn't believe how big it was. It takes up over two huge blocks.

The market entrance

Breakfast is big at the market, and I thought this red VW bus reinvented as a coffee truck was so cute.

The Alpine Steakhouse had people lined up for their hearty breakfast items.

My sister-in-law loves crepes, so we stopped to get a strawberry and chocolate one.

The vegetables looked so fresh and appealing, like these red onions and patty pan squash.

The flowers were so pretty too, it was hard to resist them. 

My purchase of the day was vegetable and pineapple kebabs that we had with our dinner that night. They were lovely and delicious. 

We had such a wonderful time at the Farmers Market, it will definitely become a regular stop on travels to Sarasota. If you ever find yourself there on a Saturday, don't miss this treat. They even have musical entertainment! Read more about it at their website here.

The Total Package by Stephanie Evanovich

The Total Package by Stephanie Evanovich
Published by William Morrow ISBN 978-0-06223485-8
Hardcover, $26.99, 244 pages

A few years ago I read a debut novel by author Stephanie Evanovich, Big Girl Panties, and beyond loving the title, I really enjoyed the book about Logan Montgomery, a hot trainer who brings Holly, a young widow, out of her shell. I finished the book and wanted to read more about two secondary characters, baseball superstar Chase and his sassy wife Amanda.

When The Sweet Spot was published the following year, I was so excited that we got to find out how Chase and Amanda got together, and I loved it even more than Big Girl Panties. 

Evanovich just published her third book, The Total Package, about a big shot quarterback, Tyson Palmer, who trashes his career. When Palmer hits bottom, the owner of the Austin Mavericks picks him up and makes him the cornerstone of his team, hoping to win the Super Bowl.

Palmer digs in and works to make himself one of the league's best quarterbacks. When hot young wide receiver Marcus LaRue joins the Mavericks, he hopes that he and Palmer can be a dream team. LaRue's only request is that the team hire a young reporter, Dani Carr, to be his media person. He will only allow Carr to interview him, no one else.

Carr leaves her young son behind in Philadelphia with her supportive family- Mom, Dad and brothers- to take advantage of this possible career-building opportunity. She concentrates on the work, and hopes that no one discovers her secret.

Tyson is attracted to Carr but finds it hard to break through her shell. LaRue too is very secretive. He doesn't party like a rock star and he is never seen in the company of the many young ladies who seek his attention. And for some reason LaRue keeps pushing for Tyson and Dani to get together.

The Total Package is Evanovich's best book yet. Her characters feel like people you would know, especially Dani's close-knit Italian family. They are the family we all want to have. It's nice to read a book where the characters are kind to each other and support each other, even when they make mistakes.

I'm more of a baseball fan than football fan, but that didn't stop me from loving everything about this book. And I cried tears of joy when old friends Logan and Holly and Chase and Amanda made an appearance in the book. It was so much fun to see Chase and Amanda's wedding from a different perspective.

Evanovich's writing is sharp in this book, and you will find yourself racing through it to finish it. Like her first two books, it is sexy (oh, those sex scenes!) and sassy and this one has such a sweetness to it it is heartwarming.

Now I am hoping that the next book will tell us more about Marcus LaRue's story (and not just because Marcus and I share a surname). He may be Evanovich's most intriguing character yet and I want to find out more about where he came from and where he is going.

The Total Package is a great book to give your best girlfriend and you may want to read the steamier scenes out loud to your significant other, you know for inspiration. It's like Fifty Shades of Grey, except much better written and with a lot more heart. I give it my highest recommendation.

Stephanie Evanovich's website is here.

Perfectly Broken by Robert Burke Warren

Perfectly Broken by Robert Burke Warren
Published by Story Plant ISBN 978-1-61188-218-6
Hardcover, $26.95, 270 pages

For most of the last twenty-five years, I have been surrounded by men (my husband and two sons- even our dog was male), so I am drawn to fiction by and about men. I find that look into the male psyche enlightening.

When the opportunity to review Robert Burke Warren's novel Perfectly Broken came about, I was looking forward to reading the story of a former rock musician now a stay-at-home dad to a four-year-old boy. I'm happy to say that I just fell into Perfectly Broken and loved it.

Grant was part of semi-successful rock band from the grunge 1990's, married to Beth, who works in public relations for musicians in New York City. They fell in love, married and have a sweet little boy, Evan. Beth goes to work and Grant stays home, caring for Evan.

After 9/11, times get tough and Beth loses her job. They move upstate to the Catskills to live in a home owned by their friends Trip and Christa, rent-free while they get back on their feet.

Life has thrown them some curves. Beth's brother is a drug addict, always promising to get straight, and always failing. As a young boy, Grant came home to find that his father committed suicide, and his mother went off the deep end following that.

Grant and Beth are deeply in love, but moving from the excitement of New York to the quiet of a small Catskills community is difficult. When a family tragedy strikes, Beth seems to be dealing with that and a new job that frequently takes her out of town, but the cracks in their marriage begin to show.

And when a former bandmate of Grant's come to visit, one who is now very successful, the crack becomes seismic. At a dinner party at Trip and Christa's, things are revealed that result in damage to some marriages that may not be able to be undone. The torrential storm that rages outside rivals the storm happening inside, with both storms wreaking havoc that changes everyone permanently.

I don't know much about the grunge music scene, but if you do, you will get another level of enjoyment from this terrific novel. All of the characters are well drawn and interesting, but they do take too many anti-depressants. That can't be good for anyone.

Grant makes a decision after the storm that I find perplexing. I found that to be an interesting choice for the character of Grant, and again, this insight into his mind I find to be fascinating.

Warren writes some very steamy sex scenes, and he has some interesting things to say about marriage and friendship. I highly recommend Perfectly Broken, especially for anyone who likes Jonathan Tropper's books. Greg Olear's Fathermucker also came to mind when I read this. It pairs well with another recent book I read, Vicki Abelson's Don't Jump,  about a woman in New York City in the entertainment industry trying to find herself. (My review here.)

Thanks to TLC Tours for putting me on Robert Burke Warren's tour. The rest of Robert's stops are here:

Tour Stops

Tuesday, March 8th: Vox Libris

Wednesday, March 9th: Becklist

Thursday, March 10th: I’m Shelf-ish

Monday, March 14th: Worth Getting in Bed For

Tuesday, March 15th: Sharon’s Garden of Book Reviews

Thursday, March 17th: she treads softly

Friday, March 18th: Art @ Home

Monday, March 21st: Gspotsylvania: Ramblings from a Reading Writer Who Rescues Birds and Beasts

Tuesday, March 22nd: Jenn’s Bookshelves

Wednesday, March 23rd: An Unconventional Librarian

Thursday, March 24th: The 3 R’s: Reading, ‘Riting, and Randomness

Monday, March 28th: Everyday I Write the Book

Tuesday, March 29th: From the TBR Pile

Wednesday, March 30th: The Book Chick

Thursday, March 31st: Chaos is a Friend of Mine

Monday, April 4th: bookchickdi

TBD: BoundbyWords

Weekend Cooking- St. Patrick's Day & Easter

This post is part of Beth Fish Reads' Weekend Cooking.  If you have anything related to food, cookbook reviews, novel or non-fiction book reviews, recipes, movie reviews, etc., head over to Beth Fish Reads and add your post. Or, if you want to read food related posts, head over to read what some interesting people have to say about food.


Last weekend, my family had back-to-back celebrations- St. Patrick's Day on Saturday and Easter on Sunday. We always have the same meal for St. Patrick's Day- corned beef and cabbage, champs potatoes, carrots, pistachio bread, and a family favorite, Irish bread pudding for dessert.

This year I had to work on Saturday at the Book Cellar where I volunteer, so I got up early to peel the potatoes and put the corned beef in the slow cooker, a method I had not used before to make corned beef. I ran home during my shift to put the cabbage in the slow cooker at 2pm so that dinner would be ready by 6pm.

The meal was delicious, and even though I made the bread pudding the day before, it tasted fabulous on day two. The recipe for Irish Bread Pudding is here.

Sunday was Easter, and I spent the day in the kitchen. I made Ina Garten's Herbed-Roasted Lamb, which I made last year, and it turned out perfectly. My husband made a tasty gravy from the drippings.

I tried a few new recipes this year, including a scalloped potatoes recipes I found on Pinterest. I used a mandolin to slice the potatoes thin and then cooked them in a skillet on the stove for a few minutes before putting them in the oven.

Simple Scalloped Potatoes

These were the best scalloped potatoes I ever made! I'm not a big fan of scalloped potatoes, but these were fantastic and my husband will be happy to know that I will make them more often now. The recipe is here.

While on a plane a few weeks ago, I watched Giada at Home on the Food Network and she made
Peas, Bacon and Prosecco that I thought would pair well with Easter dinner. It was a big hit with the smoky, crispy bacon complementing the sweet peas, and everyone had seconds. The recipe is here.

Peas, Bacon and Prosecco

We started with a pear salad because someone sent my husband pears from Harry & David, and we ended with three little cakes from Two Little Red Hens- Brooklyn Blackout, Red Velvet and the surprise favorite, Raspberry Filled Vanilla Cake. We also had deviled eggs and strawberry jello salad.

Three Cakes from Two Little Red Hens

There were seven of us for Easter this year, and we had a wonderful time. The conversation was engaging (there was a suggestion that two of our dining companions should start a podcast because their banter is hilarious), and the meal turned out to be the one of the best I have ever made from start to finish. Everything turned out perfectly and that almost never happens.

Our Perfect Easter Dinner

It was a memorable weekend indeed. Have you ever made a meal that you thought was perfect from beginning to end? Tell me about it in comments.

Terrible Virtue by Ellen Feldman

Terrible Virtue by Ellen Feldman
Published by Harper ISBN 978-0-06-240755-9
Hardcover, $25.99, 272 pages

There has been a recent trend of historical novels featuring women many of us don't know much about. Paula McLain's The Paris Wife about Hadley Hemingway, Ernest's first wife, began the trend a few years ago, and some more recent ones include McLain's Circling the Sun (about aviatrix Beryl Markham) and a book I recently loved and reviewed The First Daughter, about Thomas' Jefferson's daughter Patsy. (My review here)

Ellen Feldman's Terrible Virtue tells the story of Margaret Sanger, widely regarded as the woman who helped bring about birth control education for women and the founder of Planned Parenthood. I didn't know much about Sanger, so I was curious to read more about her.

Sanger's mother had thirteen children and her father was an alcoholic who fancied himself a socialist atheist philosopher. Sanger watched her mother give birth year after year and become a shell of a woman, worn out by caring for so many children without any help from her husband.

Margaret was intelligent and thanks to her older sisters who raised enough money, she was able to attend nursing school.  She also became passionate about social justice, as well as men. She had relationships with many men and believed in free love.

Yet she married Bill Sanger and they had three children- two sons and daughter named Peggy. Peggy was diagnosed with polio, a diagnosis Margaret disagreed with, and she refused to let her daughter wear a leg brace.

One day Margaret was asked to speak to some women about health issues, and she began to talk about contraception, which was a forbidden topic at the time. Women were hungry for more information and soon Margaret's talks drew more and more women.

She also drew attention from authorities and Margaret was arrested. Margaret fled the country for Europe, leaving behind her family. When she eventually returned, she devoted so much of her time and energy to the issue of contraception and women's health that her relationship with her husband and children suffered.

The story is told from Margaret's point of view, with some characters- her husband, her son, her sister, her lawyer and others in her life- telling their story in small doses. I think the novel may have been stronger if we heard more of their voices.

It was difficult for me to completely empathize with Margaret. She is, to say the least, a very complicated character. She was a pioneer in women's health, and her determination to help women understand and have access to contraception changed the world for women. So many poor women were trapped, forced year after year to have babies because contraception was not available to them.

But she wasn't a good mother or wife. It's one thing to say that her husband knew what he was getting into with Margaret and her extramarital affairs, but her children didn't deserve to have an absentee mother. They were sent a boarding school that was horrible, and at the end of her life, I wonder how much she regretted not having a better relationship with them.

I recommend Terrible Virtue as it brings to light how difficult life was for women because they didn't have any control over basic health care regarding contraception. The world changed dramatically for women once this happened, and Margaret Sanger was the one who changed it.

Ellen Feldman's website is here.

Thanks to TLC Tours for putting me on Ellen Feldman's tour. The rest of Ellen's tour stops are here:

Tour Stops

Tuesday, March 22nd: Sara’s Organized Chaos

Wednesday, March 23rd: Doing Dewey

Thursday, March 24th: Bibliotica

Friday, March 25th: Books on the Table

Monday, March 28th: A Literary Vacation

Tuesday, March 29th: Lesa’s Book Critiques

Wednesday, March 30th: bookchickdi

Thursday, March 31st: 5 Minutes For Books

Monday, April 4th: The Feminist Texican [Reads]

Tuesday, April 5th: From the TBR Pile

Wednesday, April 6th: Ms. Nose in a Book

Thursday, April 7th: Kritters Ramblings

Monday, April 11th: Puddletown Reviews

Tuesday, April 12th: Reading Reality

Wednesday, April 13th: Broken Teepee

Thursday, April 14th: Time 2 Read

Thursday, April 14th: Literary Feline

Weekend Cooking- Kitchens of the Great Midwest

This post is part of Beth Fish Reads' Weekend Cooking.  If you have anything related to food, cookbook reviews, novel or non-fiction book reviews, recipes, movie reviews, etc., head over to Beth Fish Reads and add your post. Or, if you want to read food related posts, head over to read what some interesting people have to say about food.

Kitchens of the Great Midwest by J. Ryan Stradal
Published by Pamela Dorman Books ISBN 978-0-525-42914-2
Hardcover, $27.95, 310 pages

J. Ryan Stradal's novel Kitchens of the Great Midwest received a great deal of buzz at last year's Book Expo of America (BEA) and for good reason: it's one terrific book.

It's also hard to describe, there is not a lot I can compare it to. His voice is unique, and the way in which he tells the story of young Eva, a girl with an incredible ability to be able to eat the hottest, spiciest foods imaginable, is spellbinding.

When you read Kitchens of the Great Midwest, you think you know where it is going, and then Stradal takes the reader on a detour. For awhile, you are not even quite sure whose story he is going to be telling, but you sit back and enjoy the ride.

The story is set in Minnesota, where a mixed race marriage is considered one between a Norwegian and a Dane. We think the story is about Lars, a chef who falls in love with Cynthia, who wants to be a sommelier. They have a daughter, Eva, whom Lars absolutely dotes upon.

Then we skip ahead eleven years to find Eva on the brink of adolescence. She grows hot peppers at home and gets a job working in a restaurant. She doesn't really fit in with her peers.

You just get comfortable with Eva, and we jump ahead to Braque, Eva's single-mindedly athletic cousin. Will this be Braque's story then? It doesn't really matter, the book is that consuming.

Each chapter has the name of a food- Chocolate Habanero, Walleye, Sweet Pepper Jelly-culminating with the Dinner chapter where the story comes full circle. There are some terrific recipes in the book, including some for county fair dessert bar contestants like Mississippi Mud Bars and Pat Prager's Peanut Butter Bars which had won five times. (I will be trying both of these.)

For someone who only knows Minnesota from  The Mary Tyler Moore Show, I like how this novel immerses you in the culture, the language, the people and the food of the region. It's Stradal's love letter to his home.

We get to know Eva's story through the people around her, much like we got to know Olive Kittridge through the stories of the people in her orbit in Elizabeth Strout's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. Eva is somewhat inscrutable, but also incredibly interesting.

If you are willing to try a book that is a little bit different, you will be rewarded with fascinating characters in a story that stays with you for a long time. I highly recommend it.

Pat Prager's Peanut Butter Bars
2 1/2 cups crushed graham cracker crumbs
1 cup melted Grade A butter
1 cup peanut butter
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup milk chocolate chips with 1 teaspoon Grade A butter

Mix together the graham cracker crumbs, melted butter, peanut butter, and sugar. Put into a greased 9x13 pan. Melt the chips and butter and spread them on top of the bars. Set in the refrigerator until firm. Cut into bars.

America's First Daughter by Stephanie Dray & Laura Kamoie

America's First Daughter by Stephanie Dray & Laura Kamoie
Published by William Morrow ISBN 978-0-06-234726-8
Trade paperback, $15.99, 624 pages

When the hottest thing is entertainment is Broadway's hit musical Hamilton, the timing is good for a novel about President Thomas Jefferson's daughter Pasty. Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie combined to give us a fascinating look at not only Patsy Jefferson, but also at a fascinating time in our history in America's First Daughter.

On Patsy's mother's deathbed, she told young Patsy that it would be Patsy's job to look after her father Thomas and that is what Patsy spent her life doing. She accompanied her father to his post as ambassador to France, served as his hostess when he became President and became mistress of his famous estate in Monticello, Virginia.

Patsy also cared for her younger daughter Polly, and then married and became mother to eleven children. The man she married, Thomas Randolph, was left penniless due to a family fight, and he descended into anger and alcoholism which left Patsy to care for her family on her own.

Her first love was William Short, a man her father considered his adopted son. Patsy and William's path to a happy future was a rocky one because Thomas Jefferson believed that Short would not be able to provide adequately for his daughter, and would not give his blessing. How different her life would have been if only he did!

Short believed that slavery was an abomination, and because Jefferson's home state of Virginia depended on slave labor, this was a problem. Patsy also believed that holding people captive was wrong, and when she discovered that her father was carrying on with Sally Hemings, a household slave and his wife's half-sister, she was bereft and conflicted.

I was particularly impressed with how the authors dealt with the complications of slavery in this novel. Jefferson famously wrote that "all men are created equal" while he himself owned slaves and depended on them to operate his beloved Monticello. He had several children with Sally Hemings, children who were slaves on his plantation.

There are many wrenching scenes in this novel, but none are more disturbing than the one of Patsy attending an auction of her family's worldly goods, including many of the slaves. She is heartbroken that families will be broken apart and sold South, and yet she feels there is nothing she can do to stop it.

We also see in this novel what little say women had in their own lives. There are scenes of domestic violence where women are beaten and abused by their husbands and no one, not even a former President of the United States, is allowed to intervene. Married women are at the mercy of their husbands whims and decisions no matter how intelligent or wealthy they may be.

I read America's First Daughter on a plane and was so totally lost in this world I was shocked at how quickly the time flew. Dray and Kamoie clearly did a great deal of research and used letters recently released by the Jefferson estate as a jumping off point. There is a terrific conversation with the authors at the end of the book that should not be missed.

I highly recommend America's First Daughter, especially for people who like to read about historical figures. Patsy Jefferson comes alive in this wonderful book, and I am now going to read the Pulitzer Prize-winning book The Hemingses of Monticello by Annette Gordon-Reed to find out the real story of Sally Hemings and her children.

Thanks to TLC Tours for putting me on this tour. The rest of the stops can be found here:

Tuesday, March 1st: Broken Teepee

Wednesday, March 2nd: Cerebral Girl in a Redneck World

Thursday, March 3rd: From L.A. to LA

Friday, March 4th: Read-Love-Blog

Monday, March 7th: Luxury Reading

Monday, March 7th: Svetlana’s Reads and Views

Tuesday, March 8th: Just One More Chapter

Wednesday, March 9th: Reading Reality

Thursday, March 10th: A Chick Who Reads

Friday, March 11th: 100 Pages a Day…Stephanie’s Book Reviews

Monday, March 14th: No More Grumpy Bookseller

Tuesday, March 15th: Kritters Ramblings

Wednesday, March 16th: bookchickdi

Thursday, March 17th: Ms. Nose in a Book

Friday, March 18th: Peeking Between the Pages

Monday, March 21st: Puddletown Reviews

Tuesday, March 22nd: 100 Pages a Day…Stephanie’s Book Reviews

Book Report- Books Make Great Broadway Shows and Movies

Many of the movies nominated for Oscars this year have their roots in books, including a few of my favorites, Colm Toibin's Brooklyn and Emma Donoghue's Room. I discussed this in my March Book Report column in last week's Citizen. Click the link below to read it.

http://auburnpub.com/lifestyles/la-rue-the-revenant-hamilton-and-other-awards-season-darlings/article_b97f731f-8c3a-51f4-97f6-ef59ec08ba42.html

Weekend Cooking- More Foodie Fun in Florida

This post is part of Beth Fish Reads' Weekend Cooking.  If you have anything related to food, cookbook reviews, novel or non-fiction book reviews, recipes, movie reviews, etc., head over to Beth Fish Reads and add your post. Or, if you want to read food related posts, head over to read what some interesting people have to say about food.

Last week we returned to Florida and this time the weather was much better and I wasn't sick, so it was a win-win. My brother-in-law and his wife stayed with us and we had fun exploring Sarasota Bay and the Gulf of Mexico in our rented boat.

We also tried some new restaurants and returned to a few favorites. There was new food to try and new beverages to consume. A great time was had by all!

First, the drinks. We stopped at The Old Salty Dog, which is very close to our house but we had never tried. In honor of our annual trip to Barbados (which is now a trip to Longboat Key instead), Kay and I tried their Rum Punch, and we were very happy that it was almost as good as the rum punch Darlene used to make for us in Barbados. The decor in the restaurant was fun too.

Rum Punch

Another drink we really enjoyed was the Raspberry Lemondrop Martini at Michael's On East, where we had a fabulous meal. Our server, Kimberly, was terrific and the piano player was singing our favorite songs.  The presentation of the drink was just lovely. If you ever go to Sarasota and want a special evening out, Michael's On East is the place.

Raspberry Lemondrop Martini

We rented a boat and cruised around, ending up at the Star Fish Company in Cortez for lunch. After docking, we ate on the boat as their was a crazy long line for the picnic tables. Their blackened grouper sandwich was the best fish we had all week. It was so simply prepared, it got raves from all of us. They have a fresh fish market there as well.

Grouper Sandwich

My brother-in-law went out fishing one day and he caught a ton of flounder, sheepshead and even a few snappers. The man who took him out on the charter arranged for us to have a local restaurant, Harry's Continental Kitchens, cook up the fish fresh for us for dinner.

They started us out with an appetizer of sheepshead, which they fried and plated over an Asian slaw with a sauce on top. It was so fresh and delicious, we all loved it.

Sheepshead appetizer

They cooked the flounder two ways: one simply in a white wine, caper and lemon sauce and another with a coconut breading. Again, it was tasty and there is just nothing better than eating fish freshly caught. Everyone at Harry's made us feel at home.

Chris' Catch

I do have one funny anecdote for the week. We went to the Ritz-Carlton Spa for couples' massages and while I was being escorted to our treatment room, I ran into Joe Torre, former NY Yankees manager and now an executive with Major League Baseball, in the hall. We were both in bathrobes, otherwise I probably would have tried to chat him up. Next time.

Weekend Cooking- The Sherwood Inn

This post is part of Beth Fish Reads' Weekend Cooking.  If you have anything related to food, cookbook reviews, novel or non-fiction book reviews, recipes, movie reviews, etc., head over to Beth Fish Reads and add your post. Or, if you want to read food related posts, head over to read what some interesting people have to say about food.

Yesterday I was working at the Book Cellar, and one of our regular customers came in with some books she wanted to donate. I started unloading her cart and sitting right there was this book.

I had to look twice- was this the same Sherwood Inn in Skaneateles, New York, the Inn where my husband and I had our wedding reception? I told our customer that story and she said that she spends part of her summers in Skaneateles, so we had a lovely chat about that beautiful village.

Of course I had to buy the book, it was meant to be! It is a gorgeous book, written by Denise Owen Harrigan and Bill Eberhardt, the man who bought the historic Sherwood Inn when it was in disrepair in 1974 and restored it to its former glory, making it even better.

The photos by James Scherzi inside are stunning, and there are many reproductions of paintings and documents from the history of the inn, dating back to 1807 during the John Adams administration.

The Sherwood Inn truly is the cornerstone of the charming village of Skaneateles, about five miles from where I grew up. I loved reading about the history of the inn, and it was great fun looking at photos of the annual events in Skaneateles- the Antique Boat Show, Dickens Christmas, concerts in the park- that my husband and I enjoyed attending.

The best part of the book may be that there are recipes of the many classic dishes served at the Sherwood Inn. As I read, I could almost taste the Clams Casino (my husband's favorite), French Onion Soup, Chicken Mulligatawny Soup, Pepper Parmesan Dressing and Raspberry & Mascarpone Stuffed French Toast that I so loved to eat.

I'll be making some of these in the near future, and I'll be sure to let you know in a future post how they turned out.

I do have one memory of Skaneateles that sticks out in my mind. After our wedding reception, while my husband and I were taking some photos by the beautiful lake, the groomsmen decided to jump into the lake with their tuxedos on. It was shocking and funny until my poor mother and her friend had to return the tuxedos to the rental shop the next day. The bags were dripping wet, and my mother and her friend dropped the bags on the counter and hightailed it out of there. They still laugh about that incident!

If you ever visit central New York, a trip to Skaneateles and the Sherwood Inn in a must. Their website is here.

On Broadway- Misery

One of my husband's favorite movies is Misery, based on Stephen King's novel and starring Kathy Bates as crazed fan Annie Wilkes. It was the movie that made her a star and she is unforgettable in that role.

When I heard that they were working on a Broadway adaptation of Misery, I thought that no one could be so good in that iconic role and that maybe it wasn't a smart idea. Elizabeth Marvel, a Broadway vet, was slated to play Annie Wilkes, and I thought that was a great choice. Unfortunately, she had to drop out, but Laurie Metcalf took on the role and was brilliant.

Many people know Metcalf from her role as Roseanne's sister Jackie in TV's groundbreaking sitcom Roseanne. I have seen her on Broadway and know how good she is on the stage, and I knew she'd be terrific. I also loved her on the HBO comedy Getting On, where she played a tightly-wound doctor in a long-term care ward of a hospital. How she hasn't gotten an Emmy for that is a head-scratcher.

Metcalf astounds as writer Paul Sheldon's "number one fan". Sheldon writes her favorite series of books, historical romances about a strong female character named Misery. The show opens with Sheldon incapacitated by a serious car accident, with two broken legs, waking up in a bed in nurse Annie Wilkes home.

At first we think Annie is just a good Samaritan, caring for the injured man. Then we come to realize that she is little bit crazy and maybe she ran him off the road herself. Paul's newest Misery book is publishing soon, and Annie is so excited to read it....until she does.

Paul kills off Misery in the latest book and that sets Annie off the edge of sanity. She holds Paul hostage, and forces him to write a new Misery book, one where Misery lives happily every after.

A basically two-person show requires that both actors be on the same page, and unfortunately, Metcalf is much stronger in her role than Bruce Willis is in his. To be fair, he spends most of the show in bed, and this is his Broadway debut, so that plays into it. But Laurie Metcalf is just on another plane here. She shows us how Annie descends into madness and we almost feel compassionate towards her.

Misery ended its run this past week, and while I wouldn't have recommended it wholeheartedly, I did really enjoy Laurie Metcalf's performance and was glad I saw it.

The Opposite of Everyone by Joshilyn Jackson

The Opposite of Everyone by Joshilyn Jackson
Published by William Morrow ISBN 9780062105684
Hardcover, $26.99, 304 pages

Two years ago I fell in love with Joshilyn Jackson's novel Someone Else's Love Story. The characters in her story were so realistic and you felt like you could be their friends. Shandi is a single mom with a young son who is a genius, and they become involved with William, a very smart man who likely has Asperger's syndrome.

Jackson's newest book features a character from that novel, William's protective best friend Paula Vauss, who is openly hostile to Shandi and vows to keep her from him. It took a long time to completely understand Paula's motives in a brilliant twist ending to that novel.

Now we see Paula's story in The Opposite of Everyone. She was born to a single mom, Kai, who loved to tell Paula (whom she calls Kali) stories from the Hindu religion. Kai's parents did not approve of her lifestyle, and free spirit Kai moved Paula from place to place and man to man, leaving each man when she tired of him.

Paula spent time in the foster care system when her mother was arrested for drug possession. It was a difficult time in both of their lives, and Jackson does an amazing job describing the life in the group home where Paula spent a few years.

Eventually Paula grows up and becomes a lawyer. She works for a firm that handles divorce cases, where she has a reputation as a shark. She also does a few pro bono cases each year, mostly for young women who grew up like she did.

Paula has lost contact with her mother, but she sends her a check every month. She alludes to  the fact that she owes this to her mother for something she did to her in the past, something we don't find out until midway through the story.

Her most recent check is sent back to her with VOID written on it by her mother. This confuses Paula, and when a young man shows up looking for her mother, Paula gets her former boyfriend and private investigator Birdwine to help her find out where her mother is now.

As Birdwine tracks Kai down, Paula learns something about her mother that makes finding her crucial. Her mother sent Paula clues in the form of a Hindu story, and Paula must crack the code to solve this important and life-changing mystery.

No ones writes characters better than Joshilyn Jackson. Every character, from the major- Paula, Birdwine,  Julian the young man seeking Paula's mother- to the minor- Shar her former foster care nemisis, Joya, her best friend in foster care, even Oakleigh, the supremely selfish divorce client- are well drawn and well-rounded characters. You want to know more about all of them.

I was surprised that William was not in this novel at all, just a few passing glances, and even though I thought I would miss him, I did not. Paula has an entire world of her own here, and I loved being in her orbit.

The Opposite of Everyone is the kind of book you get lost in, not realizing how long you have been reading until you look up and see that hours have passed. And then you fall right back in, determined to finish Paula's story and discover all the secrets within.

I hope that sometime in the future, Joshilyn Jackson decides to pull a fascinating character out of this book (there are many to choose from) and gives us their story. I give The Opposite of Everyone my highest recommendation.

Joshilyn Jackson's website is here.
My review of Someone Else's Love Story is here.

Weekend Cooking- Super Bowl Sunday Food Trucks

This post is part of Beth Fish Reads' Weekend Cooking.  If you have anything related to food, cookbook reviews, novel or non-fiction book reviews, recipes, movie reviews, etc., head over to Beth Fish Reads and add your post. Or, if you want to read food related posts, head over to read what some interesting people have to say about food.

My husband had a conference at the Hyatt Regency Resort outside of Austin Texas last week, which meant that we were away for the Super Bowl.

The conference hosted a Super Bowl party in the front courtyard of the resort, and they brought in four popular Austin food trucks for the event. It was a festive evening, and we were excited to try the food trucks.

We started with a BBQ Brisket Taco from Peached Tortilla.  It's a Southern dry rub brisket with a creamy apple slaw and peach barbeque sauce. It was delicious, easily the best food of the evening. The creamy apple slaw had just the right blend of sweet and tangy, and the peach sauce rounded out the flavors so well.  The Peached Tortilla website is here.

The Peached Tortilla truck

BBQ Taco

ALC Steaks On Tour food truck served up sliced NY strip steak with frites. They had a long line, and the steak frites was pretty good. I liked the seasoning on the steak, and a homemade barbeque sauce came with it. ALC Steaks On Tour website is here.

Burro Cheese Kitchen served up grilled cheese sandwiches. They offered two sandwiches- the Waylon & Willie which had aged cheddar, gouda, caramelized onions, pepperocini and a spicy bourbon maple sauce, and the one I chose, the Via 206, which had cheddar, gouda and a balsamic fig jam on sourdough bread. It was good, but grilled cheese really needs to made to order or else the cheese tends to congeal. Burro Cheese Kitchen's website is here.

Amy's Ice Creams truck

For dessert, Amy's Ice Creams served up homemade ice cream. I chose the Belgian Chocolate with Heath's candy pieces as a topping. My husband got a scoop of Belgian Chocolate and a scoop of Mexican Vanilla, two of their signature flavors. Both were a terrific ending to the meal. Amy's Ice Creams' website is here.

It was a fun evening, and next time I hope to get to the actual city of Austin to eat at some of the great restaurants there.