A New Way of Eating

If you train at a Cross Fit gym, you are usually encouraged to give Paleo a try. The Paleo way of eating can be a bit restrictive as it emphasizes whole, natural foods. Meats, poultry, fish, vegetables, fruit and nuts are delicious by themselves, but it’s great to read some cookbooks that show how to combine these foods to add variety to your meals. Here a few of the books in the Library’s collection and we have many more…come check them out!

The Paleo Diet Cookbook is written by Dr. Loren Cordain, whose book, The Paleo Diet, began the whole movement. It includes 150 simple recipes for delicious and Paleo-friendly breakfasts, brunches, lunches, dinners, snacks, and beverages.

Sarah Fragoso’s new title, Everyday Paleo Family Cookbook: RealFood for Real Life, features recipes that she cooks for her entire family. Since it has to be yummy or the kids won’t touch the food, the reader is assured some great tasting meals.

Mark Sisson’s two cookbooks, The Primal Blueprint Cookbook and The Primal Blueprint Quick and Easy Meals:Delicious Primal-Approved Meals You Can Make in Under 30 Minutes, are filled with well thought out primal recipes that can easily be adapted to pure paleo.

For something really different try Melissa Joulwen’s Well Fed. She shows how to make a basic recipe and then gives further tips on how to spice each dish up in several other ways. She goes beyond standard American cooking and incorporates international ingredients in her fare. She is also the author of the newest Paleo title, Living Paleo for Dummies.

Bodies in the Backyard

These three compelling but different books all start with a body (or two) in the backyard.

The Death of Bees by Lisa O’Donnell

 “Today is Christmas Eve. Today is my birthday. Today I am fifteen. Today I buried my parents in the backyard. Neither of them were beloved”- Thus begins this darkly comic novel set in Glasgow. Life with her drug addicted, neglectful parents has made bright but troubled Marnie older than her years and determined to keep her odd younger sister, Nellie, out of the system after she finds her parents dead.  Struggling to get by, they form a tentative bond with Lennie, the gay old man next door, who has problems of his own. Soon however the life they have built together starts to unravel as people come looking for their parents. Told from the perspective of three flawed but sympathetic characters this novel is both heart wrenching and heartwarming.

Three Graves Full by Jami Mason

Mild-mannered Jason Getty has a big problem; his gardeners have discovered two bodies in his front yard.   While anyone would be distressed by this, Jason is especially unnerved since elsewhere on his property is the grave of the man he killed.  With the police on the scene, Jason knows his secret won’t stay buried long and devises a desperate plan to hide his crime –one that leads to more trouble than he dreamed.  Throw in an angry, grieving woman, a twin with secret, suspicious detectives and a loyal police dog and you have this well written thriller.

The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton

 

Returning to the family farm for her mother’s 90^th birthday, successful actress Laurel Nicolson’s memories of a summer when she saw a man lying dead in their yard after being stabbed by her normally loving and gentle mother are re-awakened.  Determined to find truth, Lauren begins to delve into her mother’s past and the secrets that she has been keeping.  With plenty of twists and turns, this intriguing novel follows both Lauren on her quest to find answers and her mother’s life in World War II London.

Just read two great books........

A STUNNING AND MEMORABLE DEBUT

The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman
Every few years a truly interesting, fully-realized novel comes along that leaves you wondering how an author can combine great literary skill with such an absorbing story. Such is The Light Between Oceans.

After four harrowing years on the Western Front, Tom Sherbourne returns to Australia and takes a job as the lighthouse keeper on remote Janus Rock. Tom marries Isabel, a loving young woman and brings her to the lighthouse to share his isolated life. Their attempts to have a child fail and they have given up hope until a boat washes up on their island carrying a dead man and a baby. What follows is an incredibly moving novel about what happens when good people make bad decisions.

The East Meadow Public Library will be discussing The Light Between Oceans for its Lunch ‘n Book program on Monday, May 6^th, at 12:30 p.m. Join us with one of our favorite presenters, Jane Shapiro, for a rewarding talk.

BEST TANA FRENCH BOOK TO DATE....A REAL WINNER AND IMPOSSIBLE TO PUT DOWN!

Faithful Place by Tana French

Calling all mystery fans! Tana French has a linked series of psychological mysteries that involve the Dublin murder squad. Each book highlights one of the detectives in a gripping story. Her debut novel, In the Woods, won the Edgar Award for best first novel.

Faithful Place is her third book. When Detective Frank Mackey was 19 years old, he and his girlfriend, Rosie Daly, made secret plans to elope to England and start a new life together far away from their families. But Rosie doesn't meet Frank the night they're meant to leave. Instead he finds a farewell note and assumes she's left him behind. For 22 years, Frank, who becomes an undercover cop, stays away from Faithful Place, his childhood Dublin neighborhood. When his sister calls to tell him that someone found Rosie's suitcase hidden in an abandoned house, Frank reluctantly returns. Now everything he thought he knew is turned upside down: did Rosie really leave that night, or did someone stop her before she could? Start with In the Woods and enjoy!

3 to Read in 2013

I’m surprised that Oprah has not picked up on Attenberg’s The Middlesteins as it is perfect for her book club.  It is about an extremely dysfunctional Jewish family in Chicago-the mother, a lawyer, is eating herself to death, her husband has given up on his marriage much to the consternation of their daughter, and their son and daughter-in-law are planning a double Bar/Bat Mitzvah which will feature vegetables and other dietetic food.   The idea of exploring the implosion of a family through its food choices is interesting and guaranteed to make the reader a little uncomfortable and a bit hungry.

Seventeenth century Swedish politics, tarot cards, and the art of the fan artfully combine in the novel The Stockholm Octavo by Karen Engelmann.  Larrson, a young customs officer who excels at card games has insinuated himself into the lives of his betters.  After consulting a fortune teller who uses the octavo spread to map out his love life and political connections, Larrson participates in court intrigue that could topple King Gustav himself.

                

Mary Bowser was a young house slave in pre-civil war Richmond, Virginia.  Her abolitionist mistress decided to set her free and send her to Philadelphia to become educated. While in Philadelphia she met a black family who was an integral part of the Underground Railway. As she begins to help other slaves gain their freedom she realizes that her education can be used to further the cause and she becomes a spy in the heart of the Confederacy.  Based on true events, The Secrets of Mary Bowser by Lois Leveen is a very personal introduction to a slave’s view of the Civil War.

Imitation is the Sincerest Form of Flattery

In The Art Forger, Clarie Roth is plagued by the worst deja vu since Bill Murray was tormented by "I Got You Babe" in Groundhog Day.  Throughout B.A. Shapiro's thrilling novel, poor Claire must be constantly thinking that she's been there and done that.  Art forgeries, prisons, and untrustable men are leitmotifs that are vitally important in this work.

Claire Roth is a Boston artist with baggage.  Through flashbacks, we find out that she's an artist in disgrace, the art world has given her the moniker "The Great Pretender."   In an altruistic moment, Claire helps out her depressive boyfriend Isaac, who has artist's block, by creating a painting for him to pass off as his own for an exhibit at the Modern Museum of Art.  Fortunately or unfortunately, her painting is so good that it becomes a tremendous success and Isaac gets all the acclaim.  Isaac becomes a huge celebrity in the art world and breaks up with Claire, leaving her feeling betrayed and angry.  Isaac refuses to admit that Claire is the painter of his masterpiece and she is unable to get the art experts to acknowledge her as the creator.

Meanwhile, back in the present day, Claire ends up making a faustian deal with Aiden Markel, the owner of a prestigious gallery on Boston's fashionable Newbury Street.  After Claire is disgraced by the Isaac incident, the art world blacklists her so she ends up working for an art reproduction company and develops an expertise in making Degas copies.  Markel has somehow acquired one of the Degas masterpieces that had been stolen in the unsolved Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum heist.  Markel wants to take advantage of Claire's skills by having her paint a copy of the stolen Degas so that he can sell that one to the buyer and thus keep the real painting in order to return it to the museum.  In return for her help, Claire will receive a substantial sum of money, the honor of having been involved in getting a stolen masterpiece returned to the world, and most importantly, the opportunity to have her own art show at Markel's gallery, something she has always dreamed of, a way of showing the art world that she was misjudged and that she truly is talented.  Well, you know what they say about the best laid plans...

After the dust settles, Claire ends up on a quest for the real Degas (the one in the museum isn't what it seems) in order to clear Markel and herself of the charges brought against them.  The forgery theme recurs throughout several of the storylines which are integrated beautifully by the end of the book.  The Art Forger is my favorite book for 2012, I highly recommend it.

Dog On It

Welcome to the Little Detective Agency.  It's named for my partner Bernie, Bernie Little.  You see, Bernie is the brains of the agency and no one can puzzle out a case like my partner, except maybe his reporter girlfriend, Suzy.  I guess I'm the muscle 'cause when I get the perp around the ankle it's "case closed."   I'm also a crack tracker, which comes in handy when our case is about finding missing persons, or elephants, or championship show dogs or movie stars.  But Bernie isn't so wise in the financial department, so we take anything we can get to keep us in food. And speaking of food, there is nothing like a great mess of bbq ribs to take the edge off-much prefer that to the usual kibble. Oh yeah, I'm a dog.  Names Chet, not Chester, not Chetter-boy, just Chet.   I'm big, have a great set of canines and  can be really ferocious if I have to, but I love Bernie's son Charlie-to him I'm Chet the Jet, his private pony.  Bernie got me after I flunked out of K-9 school.  I was passing every test with flying colors, but when it came to leaping (which is my specialty) I got diverted, mid-spring by an interesting scent.  But that turned out great, 'cause I joined Bernie's agency-and I love Bernie.  We even smell a little alike.  We live in the west (Arizona, maybe) and have a house right on the desert, with the backyard facing a canyon.  Bernie "knows" things about me that he thinks are true, like he knows that I can't jump the 6 foot fence around the courtyard, but I do anyway.  Well wouldn't you, if you heard the cry of a certain female across the canyon?  He also doesn't know where I've gone when I'm stolen or catch an irresistable scent and follow it.  He usually muddles into the solution to the mystery with his superior intellect, not with his tiny nose.

Anyway, since I don't have fingers on my paws, I've dictated our adventures to an author named Spencer Quinn, who also writes thrillers under the name Peter Abrahams.  The Chet and Bernie mystery series titles in order are:
Dog On It
Thereby Hangs a Tale
To Fetch a Thief
The Dog Who Knew Too Much
and in September, A Fistful of Collars.

A Fairy Tale Comes to Life

The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey
This novel is based on a Russian folk story of the same name. In this tale a barren couple builds a child made of snow and the next day a little girl, who eerily resembles the one they made, appears out of nowhere. Ivey moves this tale to rural Alaska in the 1920s- a place both beautiful and dangerous.

Trying to escape the lingering grief of their stillborn child and the rift this has caused in their marriage, Jack and Mabel, a couple in their 50s, relocate there from Pennsylvania and attempt to start life anew. Unfortunately they are ill prepared to survive farming in this wild land and the isolation wears on them. Despite living in a tiny cabin they feel more apart from each other than ever.

Then comes the first snowfall of the year and the fairy tale seems to come true. Slowly the little skittish girl, who appeared where once a snow figure was built, starts to trust the couple. Her name is Faina and she unbelievably seems to survive on her own in the vast wilderness with only a fox as a companion. Faina, as well as a new found friendship with a neighboring family, begins to transform the life of the couple. But mysteries abound - Why does Faina disappear each Spring? Why doesn't snow melt on her skin? Why has no one else seen her?

Alaska comes alive with in this tale of loss and hope; isolation and belonging; humankind and nature. It is a haunting, evocative story told elegantly and it stayed with me long after I finished reading it.