Monday 4 January 2016

Parmesan, Poison And Picadilly

Lots of reading here over the past week - and it is holiday time so neither of us feels in the least bit guilty about indulging in hours of happy page turning. Here are three of the novels I have borrowed from the library
Delicious! by Ruth Reichl. I saw this mentioned on someone's blog - [my greatest apologies, I cannot find the original recommendation - but thank you so much] This is a tale of love, war and cake - set in contemporary New York, at the HQ of a Food Magazine - but with links back to both the Second World War, and the Underground Railroad/Anti-Slavery Movement. Lots of plotlines, but I think [with some simplifications] it might make a good film. Wonderful food descriptions, enough to make you want to go and get a sandwich whilst reading [but a gourmet one - crayfish tails and crisp lettuce with Marie Rose Sauce on granary bread - not  a slathering of Nutella on white sliced...] . If you enjoy Joanne Harris' Chocolat  I think you may like this too.****

Another Man's Poison by Ann Cleeves. I have watched Vera [with Brenda Blethyn] and Shetland [with Dougie Henshall] on TV and really enjoyed reading the Shetland series of books. This one is not about a 'professional' copper- but a husband and wife team. Rather more like Christie's 'Tommy and Tuppence' - but older! The cover picture is confusing- didn't spot a lighthouse anywhere in the book. It is the 5th in the series - I shall check out the others, as they may become more interesting once I get into them. It was OK - but I have to admit, I prefer Jimmy Perez on his wild Scottish Islands to this motherly retired social worker and her dapper husband. ***


Murder In Picadilly is another of those reissued 1930s Crime Classics. However this is no exquisitely written Wimsey-cal piece by Ms Sayers. I found it incredibly hard going. At page 42, I declared "I don't really care who died or whodunnit, I have other things to read!" I thought the prose turgid, and the storyline confusing. Dorothy Parker is supposed to have said of another novel "This is not a book to be tossed aside lightly, it should be thrown with great force" I don't feel that strongly - and furthermore, I do not throw library books, or any other books for that matter [especially if reading them on a Kindle] but this one didn't do it for me at all, sorry ** [it gets 2 stars simply because I rather like the cover designs in this series, nothing to do with content]
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8 comments:

  1. Fat Dormouse4 January 2016 at 07:36

    That first one sounds tempting...I'll keep my eyes open for it.

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  2. Sooze4 January 2016 at 09:08

    When you get a book from the library, which you've picked because it looks interesting based on the cover picture and a quick glance through the pages, and then it turns out to be not what you were expecting at all....it's just so disappointing isn't it? Happens to me all the time! Perhaps all books should have plain covers....that way I couldn't be seduced by the picture!

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    1. Angela4 January 2016 at 09:47

      The original cover of "Delicious!" was even better, with a cool bicycle on the front propped against the window of a deli, [but I don't remember any bikes in the book] I love to remove the paper dustjacket, and see what the hardcover underneath is like- sometimes it is better. Even if the books had plain covers, would you not be seduced by the titles? but I should hasten to add, I have not been aware of any seduction in progress whilst visiting my local libraries!

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  3. Elizabethd4 January 2016 at 09:13

    Very interesting reviews Ang! I love 'food' books and have been reading The School of Essential Ingredients'. It's good.

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    1. Angela4 January 2016 at 09:49

      Thanks for the recommendation - I just checked up on tne internet, and it seems that in the UK it is also published under the title of "The Monday Night Cooking School" Looks like a good read, and has other positive reviews. Thanks for this suggestion

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  4. Kezzie4 January 2016 at 21:27

    That's such a shame about the whodunnit- I got two of these 1930's ones for Christmas and loved them!x

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  5. Nearly Martha4 January 2016 at 22:54

    I bought one of the British Crime Classics and it wasn't very good. I usually love 1930s mysteries as well.

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  6. Daisy Debs5 January 2016 at 07:54

    I,m just enjoying reading all my seed and gardening catalogues ( no not cantaloupes, spell checker ! ) at the moment . : ) lol !

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