Review: Breaking Her Fall

Breaking Her Fall
by Stephen Goodwin

What would you do if you got a phone call in the middle of the night that your 14 year old daughter was drunk and acting inappropriately at a party that you didn't even know she was attending? That is the opening premise of Breaking Her Fall. Action, tension, and inter relational conflict. It fell short of the first two and ran long on the last.

The book was mostly about how Tucker relates, or not, with his daughter, Kat, after she makes a mistake that affects her reputation among her peers, her family and herself. It was interesting to see a man's perspective of fatherhood, especially that of a single father who is the primary guardian. The realization that she is no longer his little girl is as violent emotionally as it ends up being physically. Kat may have made a possibly life changing mistake but Tucker's rash reaction causes more damage and is just as life altering.

I didn't like Tucker or Kat. I didn't care for any of the secondary characters. The only one I did like was Lily, Tucker's closest friend, until she too threw her respectable nature out the window. While the characters that people this book are presented as good, they all lack morals. No wonder the children behave the way they do. I'm so glad my own kiddos don't act even remotely like these ones do.

This was the second to last leg of the Take a Chance Challenge. I won't bother looking up anything else by this author.



I am so disappointed that I will miss completing this challenge by mere days. I am reading the last book now but it is too long for me to finish it by the end of the month, especially since I am driving home from visiting out of town family and I continue to work on The Novel for NaNoWriMo. But this challenge was a hoot. HOOT HOOT! I loved creating the list and working through it. Thank you so very much to Jenners from Find Your Next Book Here. If you have a Part 2 of this challenge, Jenners, I want to be notified of it.

Review:Love Finds You in Lonesome Prairie, Montana

Love Finds You in Lonesome Prairie, Montana
by Tricia Goyer & Ocieanna Fleiss

Have you ever heard of the term "chocolate read?" It describes a book that you read just as a treat. A guilty little pleasure. You don't read it out of obligation or for its "nutritional value" but just because sometimes it is just right for the moment. I adore books that make me ponder life and question my ideals but every once in a while I crave a simple love story with a guaranteed happy ending. In Lonesome Prairie, Montana I found my love story, though it wasn't always so simple; and I got a reminder of some of the deeper spiritual lessons that I have learned along the way. That's like organic chocolate. :D

Julia Cavanaugh travels from New York to Montana on the orphan train in 1889 to deliver a group of young girls she's been caring for to their new families only to find out that she's been secretly set up as a mail-order bride to an uncouth miner. Having never left the city before she finds it hard to adjust to life on the prairie. The young Parson, Isaac Shepherd, can offer protection, friendship, and spiritual guidance, and maybe his heart too, but only God can direct Julia to her true home.

With a number of less than satisfying novels under my belt in recent months, I was in sore need of some good, clean fun. This Christian romance came just in time. It had everything I crave in a "chocolate read"; pleasant characters, lively adventure, and a happy ending. I even detected just a touch of Jane Austen shadowing. One can never go wrong with Ms. Austen as a guide.

Lonesome Prairie is unapologetically Christian. That means no unrealistic and unhistorical smut involved. This novel is pure. I like that. It means the good are good and the bad are treated judiciously. Forgiveness is promoted and so is repentance. It has just the right mixture for a relaxing afternoon chocolate read.

I almost forgot! There's a contest for some great treats from Montana. Click the button to find out how to enter.


Thank you, LitFuse, for providing a copy of Love Finds You in Lonesome Prairie, Montana for me to review.

Adventures in French Cooking

I'd like you to meet my culinary BFF. Dude, it rocks! Not only does it rock but it also chops, slices, grates and kneads in just seconds. Gone are the days of chopping and slicing by hand for 20 minutes. This food processor is one of the best Christmas presents I ever asked for.

But it has its limits.

First I shall share the fancy nom français of our meal(Google Translator is oh so helpful):

Bifteck Sauté Bercy
Purée de Pommes de Terre à l'Ail
Tomates Grillées au Four

That's pan-broiled steak with shallot and white wine sauce, garlic mashed potatoes, and whole baked tomatoes.

I started by doing something new; I rewrote the recipes in the style that we modern Americans are used to using, meaning the list of ingredients followed by orderly instructions. As I went along I left out all the parts that weren't necessary, like an entire paragraph describing how to tell when the steaks are cooked to the perfect à point(medium rare). This took about half an hour for all three recipes but it saved me so much frustration as I was cooking. And I was never caught off guard by a sudden "refer back to the master recipe but leave out this and add that." It is the beginning of my collection of Petunia's Semi-Homemade Julia Child Cookbook. Look for it in a book store near you in 2015.

I have made the pan-broiled steak before so it went smoothly but still, here is what I learned this time around: buy a good, thin cut of meat. The sauce may sound awesome but it is mild. It's not like adding salt to your food; it's more like adding parsley. You don't really taste it. And the meat needs to be thin in order to cook all the way through. Either start with a thin cut or pound that baby down. We don't like pink meat so there was a piece of steak that didn't get eaten. :(

And now is where I share the food processor's limits. While making the potatoes I thought I would use the processor with the chopping blade to "mash" the potatoes since I was missing the requisite potato ricer. Bad idea. Do you know what happens when you chop boiled potatoes at turbo speed for a couple of minutes? They become paste, like the kind of paste we all used to taste use in kindergarten. And this paste tends to work its way into all the crevices of the food processor's bowl and blade taking at least three days to clean properly. Needless to say I will be asking of a potato ricer this Christmas. Still the potatoes were good if hard to swallow. Btw, there were 2 heads of garlic in there. Not cloves, heads. The flavor is milder than you would guess but still.

Lastly I made the tomatoes. This was the easiest thing I have made so far and I loved them. Loved. Them. If you are a tomato lover you have to try this. Put a bunch of cherry or grape tomatoes in a baking dish. Sprinkle on a little olive oil, salt and pepper, and bake at 400* for 10 minutes. They are so hot and juicy. Just make sure your mouth is closed tightly before you bite into them. Tomato seeds stain. (Who knew?)

So I continue on my trek through France by way of MtAoFC. Stay tuned next time when I attempt Chocolate Soufflé for the Thanksgiving Buffet.

The Sunday Salon

Literature
Books-I have been reading Breaking Her Fall by Stephen Goodwin all week but I plan to finish today. I'm also finishing What-the-Dickens, a read aloud for my kiddos. We are at a cliff hanger with only 25 pages left to go. It's been a fun ride. Next week I will be reading Lake Wobegon Days, a book I haven't a clue about. Should be good.

Challenges-One week left for the Take a Chance Challenge with two sections left to complete. I will make it. There is also only one week left for the Clear Off Your Shelves Challenge which is good because I have 2 new ARCs and a slew of library books slated for the next month that would bring down my average below my challenge goal. I scored another 15 points for the Four Month Challenge with The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, bringing my score up to 35 points. I have yet to read anything for the Really Old Classics Challenge but that should change in Dec.

Life
Cooking-I gave another go at French cooking. I tried something a little different to prepare that made a big difference in the kitchen. You can read all about it tomorrow.

Writing-NaNoWriMo is on its final leg and I don't know if I will make it. I try to write each day but I am coming in below the daily word count goal quite often. I may not have 50,000 words by Dec. 1st but I will have the skeleton of a story with lots of potential and 30 days worth of intensive writing practice. I consider myself successful already. (Btw, I posted a snippet of the prologue here if you want a peek.)

Homeschool-We are taking the whole week off. Yay! I am just as excited about the break as the kids are. We will visit with family all week, eat until we feel sick and then eat some more. I love vacation time.

NaNo Sneak Peek

One of the best challenges for the Take a Chance Reading Challenge was #8:

"Lit Riff (inspired by the book Lit Riffs by Matthew Miele.) Choose a song and then write a brief story that is inspired by or further explains the lyrics of the song."

I knew instantly which song I was going to use but the more I thought about it the more elaborate my idea got. It became the inspiration for my NaNoWriMo novel. So here is a sneak peek of my thus far nameless novel followed by Norah Jones singing Wish I Could.

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

“And your dog? What's his name?”

Catherine considered lying about that but after having told so many of them she just couldn’t. Besides, this was all part of her self imposed punishment. “James. His name is James.”

She saw the look of anguish that swept across Cissy’s face as it did every time they had this conversation. Cissy’s eyes turned red with tears that she refused to let fall. “My husband was named James, bless his heart. He was the most gentle and kind man I ever met, next to Ben in there.” She indicated with her hand that Ben was inside, manning the cafe. Catherine looked in and saw Ben wiping down the counter top. He knew she was there and he knew why. He had told her many times that she should stop putting herself through this. She had paid for her part in what happened but she felt compelled to keep it up. Her guilt must not be allayed. What she had done to Cissy was unforgivable even if Cissy didn’t know anything about it.

“He died in the war you know? The first war. The Great War. We were so happy but he felt he had to go help the troops to fight for freedom. He would say, ‘Those boys out there are dying Cissy. They need our help and I am able. I’m a good shot. I can’t let boys of 19 and 18 and some younger fight when I could stand next to them and defend them.’ He was always thinking of others like that.” Her expression changed to grief. “I miss him everyday.”

“I understand,” was all the comfort Catherine could offer.

“Did you lose someone close to you too?”

“Yes I did.” She didn’t elaborate and Cissy didn’t push the matter. She never did. She was always sensitive about such things.

“Yes," Cissy continued after a few moments, "they took my husband. He fought along side those young boys and he defended them. It cost him his life but he would have given more if he could have. His act of heroism saved Ben’s life. And Ben has in turn devoted his life to taking care of me. He’s a good man, Ben is. Solid and able bodied. And he understands my grief.”

Catherine looked in the window again to see Ben watching them. Catherine waved but he only nodded his head once in acknowledgement. Catherine knew that Ben had suffered too; and suffered more now than ever since Cissy had come down with dementia. Cissy rarely remembered Catherine and sometimes she mistook Ben for James who had been Ben’s closest companion. It wasn’t Cissy’s fault. It was no one’s fault that Cissy’s brain just went back to the time when she was the happiest and then the most anguished. It was Catherine’s fault though that James had joined the Army in the first place. Catherine had been in love with James and he returned her affection but it was wrong. He felt guilty. He was trying to gain some distance from Catherine as well as wanting to help with the war. He had hoped that distance would bring an end to their relationship but that was never the way it worked. The distance only made her long for him more.

Cissy had never known about the affair. James' death had almost crushed the very life out of her as it was. Catherine had suffered her own pain in silence. Cissy's need for support and Catherine's guilt had demanded it. She couldn’t fall apart and she could never ever tell Cissy what had happened.

Now she had spent the rest of her life trying to atone for her sin and never feeling the relief of forgiveness.

Note that all content published on this blog is the property of the blog owner. Please don't steal my work. But feel free to link to it.

Superior Scribbler

Flying in from one great blog, this prestigious award was granted to me from DogEar Diary. Thank you Jeane for your high regards. My self esteem has jumped up a notch. In turn I pass the award on to some of my favorites:
A Reader's Respite
Hey Lady! Whatcha Readin'?
Book Chatter
KyusiReader
In THIS Life

There were a list of "rules" to go with the award but they took all the fun out of the process so the only rule I followed was to pass the award on to 5 other great blogs. Love to you all!

Review: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
by Jean-Dominique Bauby

What an incredible accomplishment! For a man in this state to have written such an eloquent book is astonishing.

At the age of 42, Jean-Dominique Bauby, the editor-in-chief for the French Elle magazine, suffered a stroke leaving him in the almost completely paralyzed state known as locked-in syndrome. With the use of only his left eye, Jean-Do was able to blink his way through the French language frequency-ordered alphabet, an alphabet set in the order of letters most commonly used to the least, in order to write his memoir. It took him 10 months working 4 hours a day with an assistant to write this 131 page book.

Within its pages there is some truly lovely prose. There is poetry in his descriptions when he writes about his struggles after the stroke and some of his life before. It's not always cohesive but that is more than forgivable. And Bauby has a sense of humor too. I felt that it was okay to laugh at this passage because he was laughing along with me:

"Having turned down the hideous jogging suit provided by the hospital, I am now attired as I was in my student days. Like the bath, my old clothes could easily bring back poignant, painful memories. But I see in the clothing a symbol of continuing life. And proof that I still want to be myself. If I must drool, I may as well drool on cashmere."

This book is not exactly life altering but the story behind it is inspirational.

But I have to back up a little bit here. Before I read the book, I watched the movie; and before the movie was glowing review of the book that I read at Bending Bookshelf. When the movie arrived in my mailbox I was surprised to find that it was a French film but some of my favorite movies have been foreign films so I hunkered down to read my way through the movie.

It started off really disorienting. The beginning depicts Jean-Do waking in the hospital and realizing what condition he is in. It is viewed from his perspective so it is foggy with flashing scenes that don't make much sense. There is a really gross scene of one of his eyes being sewn shut but it gets better as it goes. Throughout the movie it moves back and forth between being inside his head and what happened the little while leading up to the stroke.

The movie was moving and very effective in showing what life must have been like for Bauby. However, upon further investigation it seems that the movie took some liberties. The mother of Bauby's children (I'm not sure if she is in fact an ex-wife) is made to be the "butterfly" that keeps his spirits up with her loving devotion but according to his friends she had little to do with him during his last year of life. This was disappointing but it doesn't change my adulation for the film. It was beautifully done.

I would recommend the book and the movie to anyone. They compliment each other and should be viewed and read as companions. This is a case where watching the movie first enhanced my experience with the book.

This review of both a movie and the book it was based on is another challenge completed for the Take a Chance Challenge, the Movie/Book Comparison. I am so grateful to have been exposed to such a life affirming duo. Thank you Jenners for the challenge and Charley for the recommendation.

It's Tuesday...Where are you?

Has a book ever transported you to a new land or experience? Share where your reading has taken you this week. Visit An Adventure in Reading to participate.

I am a father, from Washington DC, distraught at the news of what my young daughter did at a party. My actions have farther reaching consequences than hers.

Breaking Her Fall by Stephen Goodwin

The Sunday Salon, Monday Edition

Literature
Books-Since the read-a-thon I've read two books. My long and not-so-encouraging review of The Hidden can be found directly below. And I read The Diving Bell & the Butterfly, which I loved. Can't wait to get a review up about both the book and the movie, which I also loved. I'm currently reading Breaking Her Fall by Stephen Goodwin. I'm reserving judgment til the end.

Challenges-The Take a Chance Challenge is almost at an end and I still have a few parts to finish it but I will finish it on time. It's all planned out. As for the Clear Off Your Shelves Challenge, it seems I misunderstood part of it, but it works to my benefit. My percentage is now at 70% instead of 50%. What a relief! I've done nothing towards the Really Old Classics Challenge yet; and I have 20 points so far for the Four Months Challenge with another 15 estimated by the end of the week.

Life
Writing-As you know I am doing NaNoWriMo this month. I love my book concept and the progress I've made so far is exciting but I'm way behind in my word count. I need a few 3K word days to make it up if I hope to be successful. But I have some exciting news for you. I plan to share some of the first chapter with you before the end of the month. Watch for it and tell me what you think. I expect honesty but praise and awe at my natural ability are always welcome. :D

Sewing-I have a strict policy against posting photos of my family but with a little cropping I can show off the Alice in Wonderland costume that I made my daughter for Halloween. When we walked down the street a little girl said excitedly "There's Alice!" My daughter was glowing with pride. It's too bad you can't see the black shoes and black headband in her long blond hair but I did leave her beautiful smile. She made the perfect Alice.


Homeschool-We have been learning about the pilgrims. I'm astonished at how much I didn't know about them. I just remember sharing a meal dressed up as Indians and Pilgrims from my school days. Did you know that less than half of the people on board were not in fact seeking religious freedom? They were just along for the ride to help colonize the New World for the British Empire before Spain or France or the Dutch could claim it for themselves. We also learned about the colony that became New York. I didn't realize there was so much history there or that it went back to the same period as the pilgrims. I have gained such an appreciation for learning since I've been homeschooling my children. It's fascinating stuff.

What about you? Are you learning anything new lately?

Review: The Hidden

The Hidden
by Tobias Hill

It seems unnanimous so far that book bloggers are less than enthusiastic about The Hidden. I'm not about to disagree. What was hidden in The Hidden was interesting storytelling, engaging characters and appropriate puncuation.

Let's start with story. Ben Mercer, running from a failed marriage, becomes entangled with a mysterious team of archaeologists trying to uncover the glories of ancient Sparta. There is history, mystery and danger. Sounds intriguing, yes? Not so much. Actually, the history parts were interesting. The details of archaeology were alright also. It was the wreck of Mercer's life that was like trudging through a mucky swamp. His obsession with his ex-wife was pathetic. His endless questions and need to be a part of the group of folks he was warned away from was tedious. There was no substanse and nothing to compel the reader to continue reading. The action finally picks up near the end but the contents of the action were bewildering. They seemed out of place for this particular story. There were some attempts at foreshadowing but not enough.

Now the characters. I didn't like any of them. Ben Mercer was the worst. He was a whiny, snivelling child. He let everyone walk on him. I could never get a true sense of who he was. Maybe that was the point, to show that even Mercer didn't know who he was but, again, it fell short for me.

Lastly, puncuation. Was this an attempt to push the restrictive bounds of literature? Was there a deeper reason for leaving out quotation marks? All dialogue was confusing. I could never be sure who was talking to whom. There is a reason we follow standard puncuasion rules: clarity.

To be fair, there is a great deal of research into many different subjects from ancient Spartan history to archiology to the more recent history of the specific regains of Greece dealt with in the novel. The characters, while unsympathetic, were unique and distinc. The themes all followed each other smoothly. The Thesis chapters were effectively revealing about Mercer's mental state, moreso than his inner thoughts. Unfortunately, it was all for nought due to the book's confusing and boring nature.

Tobias Hill is a man of some scholarly statue in England. He is an accomplished poet and writer of short stories, a winner of some few honors. I would be interested in reading some of his shorter works. I believe he could be interesting in a more concise writing style. The Hidden might be more up the alley of men who read fiction since their tastes seem so different from those of women.

Go check out what others are saying about The Hidden at TLC Book Tours. There are some interesting comments, not all of them as prickly as mine.

Adventures in French Cooking

One of my favorite cooking shows on cable is Semi-Homemade with Sandra Lee. She's so pretty and the colors in the background of her kitchen match the mood of whatever she is cooking and she decorates the table so adorably; and best of all, she creates wonderful food by cutting corners without sacrificing flavor. She saves us time by showing us what we should do for ourselves and what can be 'borrowed' from other sources. It's like Martha Steward for real women.

As you know from my previous adventures in French cooking, Julia Child doesn't cook semi-anything. She is down and dirty, food flung all over the kitchen, 3 sinks full of dirty dishes, and hunker down 'cause it's gonna be a long ride. In the end the food is usually really good but I am learning where corners may be cut that would not make any difference to the food. I am going by the advice of first do it the right way, then adjust it to suit your needs.

What I need is for Sandra Lee to come out with a book based on Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

I haven't cooked a full meal in a couple of weeks because of a readathon and a flu followed by a cold but I did try to squeeze in this little dish because asparagus was in sale:

Asperges au Naturel avec Sauce Hollandaise

In case it is not completely obvious, that's boiled asparagus with Hollandaise sauce. I was surprised when I read through the recipe. First, she tells you how to peel the asparagus. I have never peeled an asparagus before. I had no idea it needed to be peeled. But, as I said, first do it the right way. Second, Hollandaise sauce is essentially egg yokes blended with two cups of butter. That's it?

Guess how long it takes to peel two dozen or more thin asparagus? Guess! Forty five minutes!! You can't just use a potato peeler either. I'm grateful that Julia tells us that up front. Once they are peeled and placed in the boiling water I was ready to start the Hollandaise sauce.

The process for the sauce looks something like this: whisk, dribble in melted butter, whisk whisk, dribble, whisk whisk whisk, dribble dribble, whisk some more. Fifteen minutes later I realized that I would be using the electric mixer with the whisk attachment next time. I also realized that my hand had a major cramp going on. French cooking is a contact sport.

So pour the sauce over the boiled spears and there you have it. It tasted just like when I boil my spears and add a big dollop of butter. An hour for this? Oh well. I like asparagus and I like butter. But I will never peel an asparagus again.

Next on the menu:

Râpée Morv Andelle

Gratin of shredded potatoes with ham and eggs and onions. OH EM GEE! This was the best recipe so far. It was easy to make and tasted like heaven in my mouth. Can you see the foamy bubbles around the edge of the dish? That's what butter looks like when it has been baked into a gratin.

Real men may not eat quiche but they DO eat gratin. And they ask for more. You can't tell from the photo but this is a smaller sized casserole dish. It makes about six smallish portions. When we all realized how little gratin there was we almost cried. So I made it again the next week, doubling the recipe and cooking it in a regular sized casserole dish but it didn't turn out as yummy as the first one. I will just have to buy another smaller casserole dish. Yes, I would spend money on another dish just for this gratin. It's worth it.

Hey, I thought of something that Sandra and Julia have in common: they both suggest the appropriate type of alcohol to go with any meal. No wonder I love them both so much.

You can read more of my Adventures in French Cooking here.

Missing You

Poor blog. All neglected and alone. Rejected and dejected. But I have returned to free you of the dust and boredom that have o'ertaken you. I am here at last. I am the prodigal blogger.

Dear dear blog. You don't know what it's like to read and blog for 24 hours straight. It makes one not want to read or blog again for many long days. Or weeks even. Not to mention the cooties. I've had oh so many mucus cooties. They have run amuck (and I do mean a-muck) in my head and chest. I couldn't let them infect the keyboard. That would just be gross.

But I can't stay beauteous blog. I only stopped by for a moment to tell you that I am abysmally busy this month. Did I not tell you? Why, I am writing a book. There is nothing like writing your own book to cure you of Read-a-thon-itis. Applied for one month it will leave me fresh and clean, ready to take on the lofty responsibilities of blog care. So hold on just a wee bit longer most beloved blog. I will returned anew sometime in December to guide you in the way you should go. And if you're really patient maybe I can make a brief appearance a couple of times between now and then.


It is NaNoWriMo time again. It seems like some kind of sick joke that it comes so close on the heels of the readathon. As if writing blog posts once an hour weren't enough, now I have to write 1667 words a day on a novel that I didn't have time to plan or research because I was too busy reading for pleasure. What's a girl to do?

For those keeping score (there are NaNo spies everywhere) I am at about 4100 words in five days. That's half par. But we fear not. We have the weekend to write until our fingers are bloody. And when we are done we will have one poorly written, piece o crap novel to show for it. So there!

It's Tuesday...Where are you?

Has a book ever transported you to a new land or experience? Share where your reading has taken you this week. Visit An Adventure in Reading for more details.

I have just run away from my problems to Metamorphosis, Greece. There is an archaeological dig near by that I am trying to get on to take my mind off my failed marriage.

The Hidden by Tobias Hill