Our November Book

We will be reading Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky for our meeting on November 15. 

I have been meaning to read this book since it came out and I learned the back story. Irene Nemirovsky was a writer during WWII in France. She also happened to be Jewish. She did not survive the war having died  in the infirmary at Auschwitz. In the 1990s her daughter found the notebooks with two novellas in them that were then published as Suite Francaise. Amazing backstory.

Welcome Book Clubbers

I am going to use this blog to share what my adult book club is reading with those members who cannot attend. Feel free to post your own comments whether you could make it to the meeting and, more importantly, if you cannot come.

Our November book was The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton. I liked it very much. It kept me guessing throughout although I thought I had figured out the mystery of Nell's parentage fairly early on. I accepted all the red herrings Morton presented along the way. (From a description of the book on GoodReads.com) A foundling, an old book of dark fairy tales, a secret garden, an aristocratic family, a love denied, and a mystery. The Forgotten Garden is a captivating, atmospheric and compulsively readable story of the past, secrets, family and memory from the international best-selling author Kate Morton.

If you read the book but could not come to the meeting and would like to comment, please do so below. The members who came to the meeting, all liked the book and we discussed the red herrings and when we all figured out the mystery. I don’t want to give anything away here because I know some members still want to read it. Superstorm Sandy really messed us up this month. 

 If you have any suggestions for next month's book, please write them below.

A Food Stylist I'm Not

A few weeks ago I made some whole wheat penne with red Swiss chard, pine nuts, and raisins. Mark Bittman's recipe called for currants but I was too lazy to go around the corner and get some. Yes, one of the perks of living in NY is supplies are never far away or hard to get, but alas, you can never overcome laziness no matter where you live. I love Mark Bittman and I want him to be my own personal chef and running partner. Anyway, the penne and chard were delicious and pretty beautiful even though the picture doesn't do the meal justice. (see photo) I know, I'm a weirdo, I photograph my food and I'm not a food stylist. Oh well.

I just finished reading Andromeda Klein by Frank Portman. It was pretty funny in parts; I love how Andromeda misheard things because she thought she had a hearing loss but in reality she only had a lot of wax and gunk in her ears. I love how her bully of a friend Rosalie had different riffs on Andromeda's name, i.e., Dromedary, Andramarama, etc. and followed every insult with "I'm just kidding." Everyone knew a Rosalie, right? But the tarot arcana ad nauseaum really was too much.

Interestingly, I'm reading two Scandinavian books at the same time, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and When the Snow Fell by Henning Mankell. It's Mankell's foray into the lucrative YA market. Hmmm.

I just previewed the post without the space between the paragraphs. Each paragraph came right after the one before but when I publish the post, there is too much space between paragraphs. I don't get it.

I have had the ingredients to make a shrimp bisque for a week, so I think I should go get some fresh fennel and celery and then make the bisque. It is deeeelicious! I got the recipe from the NY Times a couple of months ago. But I just saw two recipes in yesterday's Times for Scallop and Plum ceviche and a tomato gazpacho smoothie that I want to make. Maybe I'll make them this weekend after I get the ingredients at the farmer's market.

Ice Cream and Dystopia

I'm reading Monsters of Men by Patrick Ness, the third book in the Chaos Walking trilogy. I received it in the mail as an advanced reader copy and I was soooo excited. It is not coming out until August. I loaned it to a couple of my boys at school who I know really enjoyed the first two volumes, The Knife of Never Letting Go and The Ask and the Answer and they thought the conclusion of the series was satisfying and exciting. On the YALSA-BK listserv, one person commented that they put it down and did not finish it. I kind of get that reaction, because I'm finding parts of it slow. But now it is picking up and I can't wait to see what happens because there is a twist in it based on a character from the first two that I want to see what happens. (I hope I didn't give away too much!) I only get to read this book after school until I leave at 4 PM because I keep a book at school to read and then at home I'm reading Last December by Matt Beam. The picture on the cover is of a hockey player and I thought the book would be more about hockey but it's not. I know, I know, don't judge a book by it's cover! Kids ask me for hockey books from time to time and I thought I hit the jackpot at book evaluation where I pick up free books that I review. It's ok so far.



I read some recipes for ice creams in Vegetarian Times today that looked yummy but the last step in the recipes made no sense. It said to "freeze the ice cream according to the manufacturer's instructions." The manufacturer of the ice cream maker, I presume but the ice cream maker mixes the ice cream. When I thought about how my ice cream maker works, I realized I guess it does kind of freezed the ice cream as it's blending it. Anyway, the recipes were for a dark chocolate caramel sorbet, a banana malted ice cream, and a creamy vanilla. I think the names of them were more creative and scrumptious sounding than I just relayed but you get the idea. I think I will be making one of these very soon; I just can't decide which one. I also have to wait until I have room in my freezer for the ice cream bowl because I have to freeze it first and then freeze the ice cream after I make it. Yummmm.

What I am Reading and Cooking Now

Yesterday, my sister chastised me (gave me a look with raised eyebrows) about not writing in my blog more often. She writes on her blog, Prose and Kahn (I came up with that nifty title, thank you very much) EVERYDAY! Blech! No, just kidding. It's very good, I just can't keep up with mine. I just wrote a great paragraph and then lost it, when a patron asked me for help spelling "broccoli." Ack! I'm working at my second job in a library in northern New Jersey. Then I wrote something up in a Word document and discovered one of the limitations of Blogspot--you can't copy and paste from a Word document, for Pete's sake! Anyway, I've been reading and cooking up a storm.



I just finished Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. A large tome, but a page-turner. It tells the story of Ethan Wate trying to cope with high school and supernatural forces in the small southern town of Gatlin, S.C. Ethan can't wait to leave town when he graduates until he meets the new girl in town, Lena Duchannes, the niece of the town shut-in Macon Ravenwood. But then he begins to question whether he's ever fit into this town of people who hate outsiders, even though his family has lived in Gatlin for over a hundred years. When students and parents begin turning on Lena because she's different, an outsider, Macon's niece, and strange things happen when she's around, their portrayal is almost a caricature of southern bigotry. Overall, an enjoyable read sure to appeal to teens.



I have been cooking a lot on most weekends, making lots of healthy meals for me and my mom. I'm so happy spring/summer is here because the bounty at my neighborhood farmer's market just keeps growing. I wish I were more adventurous with what I try, but alas, I'm not. I get the standard fare that I know I like such as Swiss chard, spinach, and salad lettuces. I bought some rhubarb and strawberries a few weeks ago but did not have the ambition to make a pie, so I made a crisp. The strawberries were soooo delicious! The next week the strawberries were too tart. Jersey blueberries are in season right now and are deeeeliciously blueberryee. Does that make sense? I can't wait for peaches to be in season, so I can make a peach-blueberry pie. Hope I have the energy but now I have an air conditioner which makes all the difference.

Big Box o' Books

The Spectacle Blog has a contest for public and school librarians only. You can win a box o' books by emailing joni@jonisensel.com and reposting or tweeting and sending the link.

I tried to put the url for the blog here but it wouldn't paste for some reason, so just search the Spectacle Blog and you should get to it. Oh well.

Oh Summertime

Last I wrote I had gone to Chicago and heard about Devil in the White City by Erik Larson. I enjoyed it and I think high school kids would like it because it reads like a novel and it is full of sex, horror, and unusual people. There is some controversy among academics about this book but I never read what it is exactly.

I did a bit more traveling in August to Ottawa, Canada, my first time to visit that beautiful country. I brought a couple of books with me but I only remember The Reformed Vampire Support Group by Catherine Jinks, which I thoroughly enjoyed. It takes place in Australia, so it has that wry Aussie sensibility. Someone killed a vampire and the Reformed Vampire Support Group, composed of vampires who no longer consume human blood and have vowed to never create another vampire, fear for their lives. The support group is run by a Catholic priest and he takes over organizing them to search for the culprit. This funny book has strong characters, witty diaglogue, and fast-paced plot with many twists and turns.

The food in Canada was great. My favorite local delicacy was poutine consisting of well-done french fries with melted cheese curds and brown gravy. Just recalling it now is making my mouth water. I may have to go to Trader Joe's to get some cheese curds. Mmmmm!