Baby got Books!

(sung to the tune of Baby Got Back)

I like big books and I cannot lie,
You other readers can’t deny
When the story opens up and sweeps me away
And I'm reading for the rest of the day
I get hooked!
Wanna devour the rest of that book!
Then you notice it's the first of a series.
Deep in the arc of the story,
Twists and turns to glory.
Oh baby, just one more chapter
That’s all I’m after!
My book club tried to warn me
And now I’m caught up in the story!
Ooh, hard or paperback
You say e-books are a sin?
Well amuse me, confuse me
I ain’t your average groupie!
Fantasy or sci-fi, oh
Historical or bio
Challenge my brain, it’s no strain!
TV pulls me down the drain!
I’m tired of blogs and sites
Saying reading is a dead art
Take a person with a brain and inquire
It’s gotta build a world and inspire!
So readers! Readers!
Has your story got the punch? (Hell yeah!)
Then read it, read it, read that epic book!
Baby got books!

2013 Reading List

These are the books I read for the first time in 2013. The list doesn't include novellas, short stories, compilations or re-reads.  One or two were forgettable and I had to look up the descriptions to recall having read them, but for the most part I chose well and listened to recommendations from the right people.

Atticus for the Undead	John Abramowitz
Throne of the Crescent Moon	Saladin Ahmed
The Shining Girls	Lauren Beukes
The Woken Gods	Gwenda Bond
This Case is Gonna Kill Me	Philippa Bornikova
Existence	David Brin
Dreams and Shadows	C. Robert Cargill
Revealed	P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast
Pirate Cinema	Cory Doctorow
The Ocean at the End of the Lane	Neil Gaiman
Odd and the Frost Giants	Neil Gaiman
Witchling	Yasmine Galenorn
Girl Unwrapped	Gabriella Goliger
Hild	Nicola Griffith
Affliction	Laurell K. Hamilton
Dead Ever After	Charlaine Harris
Hounded	Kevin Hearne
Hexed	Kevin Hearne
Hammered	Kevin Hearne
Tricked	Kevin Hearne
Trapped	Kevin Hearne
Bluedawn	Brighton Hill
NOS4A2	Joe Hill
Heart-Shaped Box	Joe Hill
Libriomancer	Jim C. Hines
Codex Born	Jim C. Hines
Shift	Hugh Howey
Southern Gods	John Horner Jacobs
Sappho’s Leap	Erica Jong
Doctor Sleep	Stephen King
Swordspoint	Ellen Kushner
The Privilege of the Sword	Ellen Kushner
Thomas the Rhymer	Ellen Kushner
A Wrinkle in Time	Madeleine L’Engle
Kiss of the Butterfly	James Lyon
Beyond Black	Hilary Mantel
Lamb	Christopher Moore
The Taken	Vicki Pettersson
The Hangman’s Daughter	Oliver Potzsch
Fireflies	Lacey Reah
Divergent	Veronica Roth
Insurgent	Veronica Roth
Allegiant	Veronica Roth
Attic Clowns	Jeremy Shipp
Tinker	Wen Spencer
Wolf Who Rules	Wen Spencer
Elfhome	Wen Spencer
Palimpsest	Catherynne Valente
The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a   Ship of Her Own Making	Catherynne Valente
The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There	Catherynne Valente
Mechanique	Genevieve Valentine
How to Discipline Your Vampire	Mina Vaughn
The Book of Blood and Shadow	Robin Wasserman
The Golem and the Jinni	Helene Wecker
Under the Empyrean Sky	Chuck Wendig

Hild by Nicola Griffiths

Hild by Nicola Griffith

My rating: 5 of 5 stars






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I'm a closet lover of historical fiction. Closet because I'm so picky - it has to be good, well researched and authentic. It also has to come alive and wrap me up in the story and the characters, blanket me in a sense of being there. Not many authors live up to those criteria, but Nicola Griffith does it beautifully. You can see a synopsis of any book online, but you have to rely on fellow readers to tell you whether it tastes good. This book is delicious.

Beetnik Sweet Bread

Wet: ⅔ cup shortening (butter optional) 2 ⅓ cup sugar 4 eggs 3 cups peeled, shredded fresh beets ⅔ cup cold coffee 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Dry: 3 cups flour ⅓ cup cocoa powder 2 teaspoons baking soda 1 ½ teaspoons salt ½ teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon nutmeg 1 cup chopped pecans (other nuts optional) 1 cup chocolate chips

Pre-heat oven to 350°.  Prepare bundt pan with cooking spray or grease and flour.

In a large bowl, cream shortening and sugar together.  Beat in eggs.  Add beets, then coffee and vanilla extract as each ingredient is combined.

Sift dry ingredients into wet ingredients a little at a time until everything is just incorporated.  Last, add nuts and chocolate chips.

Bake at 350° for 1 hour and 15 minutes.  Allow to cool, remove from pan and enjoy.

Challenge to my brother Carvin.

Since I've been writing more, this children's book keeps nagging at me.  Are you up for providing some illustrations?

*********************

The bug was alone.  Not really lonely, he had friends everywhere and anywhen.  But as far as he knew, he was the only one of his kind.  He wasn't a god, don't think that for a second.  But he had some qualities that none of his friends had.  Like detailed memories of things that were going to happen tomorrow.  Or next year, or even thousands of years ago.  And if he thought about it he could go there and, like television only better, he could touch and smell and taste along with watching and hearing.

He thought of himself as a bug because when he relaxed and just emptied his brain of being anything or anyone else he became what looked like a crab-like insect about the size of a dinner plate with 12 legs extending all around.  He had eye stalks protruding from the center of his body that could look in any direction and a mouth centered under his armored body that could eat, smell and even drink with a long proboscis, although he didn't need to breathe.  He didn't need to eat or drink either, for that matter, but he did enjoy doing so.  And he could fly and hover without wings or any visible propulsion.  He didn't know where he came from, but he could go anywhere, really.  When he was relaxing and pondering his own existence, he thought maybe he had evolved over a long, long time and that his abilities were survival mechanisms.  Like atomic powered camouflage or something.

Other creatures seemed to find the bug's natural appearance off-putting, so he could take on any appearance he wanted.  It didn't seem to matter what size relative to his natural bug shape.  He could be microscopic or gigantic as the need arose.  And language had never been a problem because once connected with those around him his mind just sort of absorbed the necessary lingo and all its rules and funny quirks.  Oh yes, and so far nothing seemed to be able to kill him.  But he did make mistakes and also learned from them.

So not all powerful, or all knowing, the bug still had impressive abilities.  But he wasn't a god and he knew it with a deep knowledge that was almost bone-deep instinct.

German Chocolate Brownies

We like to take old reliable recipes and fiddle with them.  This is an idea Mitch and I worked up together after I made butterscotch brownies on Friday, with the thought that you could combine the best of the pecan and coconut frosting from a German chocolate cake and add chocolate chips to live up to its name.  I finally made them this afternoon with delicious results.

German Chocolate Brownies

½ cup coconut flakes
½ cup chopped pecans
½ cup chocolate chips
½ cup butter or stick margarine
2 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup flour
2 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 350°.  Spread coconut flakes and pecans on a 9" x 12" baking pan, toast in oven for 10 minutes.  Remove, allow to cool and set aside.

Melt butter in a saucepan on medium heat.  When melted, add brown sugar and beat until there are no lumps and the mixture is a thick consistency.  Remove from heat and allow to cool.

In a medium mixing bowl, beat eggs and vanilla extract until smooth.  Add cooled butter/brown sugar mixture and beat smooth.  Add dry ingredients and stir until all dry ingredients are incorporated.  Mix in coconut and pecans.  Last, add chocolate chips.  Pour into 9" x 12" baking pan and bake at 350° for 25 minutes.  Allow to cool, cut into squares and enjoy.

Book Review - Under the Empyrean Sky by Chuck Wendig

Under the Empyrean Sky by Chuck Wendig

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I'm a sucker for a dystopian future tale, I must admit.

I had followed Chuck Wendig on Twitter for several months and tremendously enjoyed the interactive nature of his blog, terribleminds.com but I was oddly hesitant about reading his work.  After all, I had already formed an opinion of this guy based on his online writing and what if I didn't like his work?  It's happened before with authors I "met" outside of their published works.  I needn't have worried.  Under the Empyrean Sky was a terrific read.  The characters he created were easy to relate to and engaged in credible dialog. Most importantly he draws you into his created world a bit at a time, enough to allow a sense of that world to emerge in increments rather than throwing too much at you at once, leaving you to figure out what you're looking at.  At no point did the writing take me out of the story, it flowed as the best of stories do, and I can't wait for the sequel because now I have to know what happens next!



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