“I liked hearing her earnest chatter, I liked the bizarre dishes served alongside our tea–buttered sandwiches, yes, but also a curry-scented bread which drove memories of Aunt Patience’s arrogant tiered refreshments straight from my mind.” For a Jane Steele inspired curry recipe, click here. 4/5 stars
Category: Book Reviews
Review: Illuminae: The Illuminae Files_01 by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
Ezra Mason: Yeah. So all hell breaks loose, and Kady is yelling at me and I’m yelling back. All this stuff that’d been building up for the last year and boiling just under the skin. Like, I loved her. I love her. But she had this way of just . . . It was so stupid. The world is ending all around us and we’re screaming about college applications and commitment and
$%!*&. I mean, can you believe that?Interviewer: You’re seventeen, right?
Ezra Mason: Almost eighteen.
Interviewer: Then yes, I believe it.
Ezra Mason: Cold, chum. Real cold.
For an Illuminae-cover inspired Coconut Cream Fruit Tart recipe, click here.
5/5 stars
Review: The Shadow Queen by C.J. Redwine
“The faint aroma of apples filled the air, and the lingering stain of rot smeared the teeth of those who smiled at Irina.”
The apples in this book never sounded appealing. For a non-apple recipe that Loralei and company could have taken on the road, click here.
3/5 stars
The Story:
A Snow White re-telling with a few twists, though it stays fairly close to the classic. After the Evil Queen overtakes her kingdom, Princess Loralei becomes a fugitive determined to win back her crown.
I liked this book more than I expected to. It was an entertaining, quick read. I did dock it a few stars for gaps in the plot, a deus ex machine, if you will…. …though I suppose anyone being saved from death by true love’s kiss is a deus ex machina? Mostly, I was disappointed with the Evil Queen’s characterization. The effort was there, but no follow through.
Review: Journey to Munich (Maisie Dobbs #12) by Jacqueline Winspear
The desk clerk took Maisie’s Baedecker guide, opened the map inside, and lifted his pencil. “May I?”
“Of course,” said Maisie. “I need to know where I’m going.”
Flourishing the pencil, the clerk marked the place where Maisie could board a tram and the point at which she should step off. He told her where to walk, and made a note in the margin of his favorite coffeehouse, where he informed her that she could buy a slice of the very best apple strudel. Maisie thanked the man and set off.
For a Maisie-inspired apple strudel recipe, click here.
5/5 stars
… Continue reading
Review: Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare (The Dark Artifices, #1)
“All right, enough,” said Jules. “We’re taking a break from killings and profiles for dinner.” He took the boxes from Emma, shooting her a grateful look, and set them down on the coffee table. “I don’t care what you all want to talk about, it just can’t involve murder or blood. Any blood.”
“But it’s vampire pizza,” Livvy pointed out.
“Immaterial,” Julian said. “Couch. Now.”
For a pizza + sauce recipe that will have you raving over how it could possibly be so good, click here.
Review: Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli
Blue,
Okay, first of all, Oreos absolutely qualify as a food group. Second of all, they’re the ONLY food group that matters. My sisters and I actually made up this place called the Shoreo a few years ago one night when we were staying at our aunt’s house. It’s like this place where everything is made of some kind of Oreo, and the river is an Oreo milk shake, and you sit on top of this massive Oreo and float down it. You get to scoop up cups of milk shake whenever you want. It’s kind of like that scene in Willy Wonka, I guess.
For my Oreo-obsessed Simon inspired cupcake recipe, click here.
Review: Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas (Throne of Glass, #2)
“Is that…chocolate cake?”
“I thought you might need some.”
“Need, not want?”
A ghost of a smile was on her lips, and he almost sagged in relief as he said, “For you, I’d say that chocolate cake is most definitely a need.”
Click here for a Crown of Midnight inspired chocolate cake recipe.
Click here for a review of the first book in the series, Throne of Glass.
The Story:
At the cost of nearly her life, Celaena has won the title of champion. Now she’s her enemy’s assassin, dispatched to remove the King of Adarlan’s dissenters. She’s living luxuriously off her blood money in the glass castle, but her friend Nehemia won’t allow her to enjoy these comforts, and neither will Celaena’s conscience. It’s time for Celaena to decide whose side she’s truly on and her reluctance to choose will come at a price.
Review: Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
5/5 stars
For a Nina-inspired cake recipe, click here.
The Story:
Cruel mob boss Kaz Brekker has a new job: break into the most impenetrable prison ever built. Enlisting the help of five other criminals from the Ketterdam slums, the six are staging a heist that will make them rich beyond their wildest dreams. The journey strains Kaz, though, breaking through his armor to reveal a seventeen-year-old vulnerable boy with a haunting past. … Continue reading
Review: The Martian by Andy Weir
4/5 stars
“I’ll spend the rest of the evening enjoying a potato. And by ‘enjoying’ I mean ‘hating so much I want to kill people.’”
For a baked potato recipe significantly better than anything Mark Watney enjoyed, click here.
The Story:
Mark Watney has been abandoned on Mars. Accidentally. Now, he must figure out a way to survive for four years until the next NASA mission to Mars. Watney proves to be the McGyver of space, constantly rigging solutions to his increasingly deadly obstacles. … Continue reading
Review: Throne of Glass (Throne of Glass, #1) by Sarah J. Maas
5/5 stars
The Story:
A slave in the Endovier salt mines, eighteen-year-old Celaena Sardothien is one day released by a royal guard and presented to the crown prince who invites her to participate in the King’s competition seeking a Champion. Why her? Because she was once the country’s greatest assassin. Sponsored by the womanizing and flawless Crown Prince Dorian Havilliard, trained by the also handsome though less politically refined Captain of the Royal Guard Chaol Westfall, Celaena prepares to compete against 23 men for the spot as the King’s Champion. In the midst of hiding her true identity, recuperating from a year working as a slave underground in the mines, training for her competition, and staying in the competition, Celaena must also battle a darkness that’s threatening the castle.
Sarah J. Maas creates a diverse and action-packed fantasy world and one example of that diversity is the main character, Celaena. She’s physically strong, mentally tough, and has a soft spot for the finer things in life. I’ve gathered some of my favorite scenes that demonstrate Celaena’s sometimes hilarious character.
Rebecca Peterson 