REVIEW: Come, Thou Tortoise by J. Grant

Title:  Come, Thou Tortoise

Author:  J. Grant
Genre / Pages:  Fiction, Humour / 432
Publication: Knopf Canada, 2010
Rating:  Top shelf 
Source:  borrowed from sis
lj's plot in one pot: With help from her pet tortoise, Winnifred, Audrey (a.k.a. Oddly), a hilariously punny twenty-something, comes to deal with tragedy in her own unique (and full of word play) way.

 

I love this book!  The narrators (Audrey and Winnifred) are hilarious, sweet, and real.  They fear things that I fear, but more importantly, they rejoice in things I love - word play and puns :)

Although the subject matter is actually quite dark (all the more realistic for the majority of us), this book is full of mirth and had me laughing out loud in bed.  Audrey's trials, though sometimes heart-wrenching,  often end up with hilarious results.  The case of the missing mouse (cheeky souris) and the neighbour's biography stood out the most to me as being something I could get caught up in (both as a child and now).  Her occasional use of French (as in Pardon-moi - not as in ****) brought a smile to my face - especially in the case of the douze-aout (or rather the Doozoo - LOVE IT!).

Anyway, enough of me ranting.  Seriously, stop reading this and please read this lovely book.  For realsies.  Scram.

"That's why he didn't fly.  He was about to get on the plane at Heathrow, but then he was sick in the bathroom.

Heathrow-up airport.

I think about how I would like to cut down the legs [of Uncle Thoby's chair] ... so that when and if Uncle Thoby ever shows up, only his head will be visible over the table." p.211

For more info on Jessica Grant, click here.

For more info on the book, click here.

REVIEW: Julia's Kitchen Wisdom by J. Child

Title:  Julia's Kitchen Wisdom
Author:  J. Child
Genre / Pages:  Nonfiction, Cooking / 160
Publication: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2009
Rating:  3rd shelf 
Source:  borrowed from Mom
lj's plot in one pot: Julia's "basic" methods for no fail "simple" cooking.

Hardy har har.  I love Julia Child, I really do.  I think her "Mastering the Art..." cookbooks belong in a museum, let alone in the kitchens of people everywhere.  However, let's not kid ourselves that ANY of this is simple or basic.  For pete's sake her recipe for making hard boiled eggs is almost a page long!  That being said, she is still adorable and her love affair with food is definitely admirable, if not contagious.

So this book is not the "cooking for dummies" that I thought it might be, but that is just a marketing problem.  Julia's little tips come alive in this book, you get the sense that you are once again little, watching t.v. in the rec room and have stumbled upon this hilariously large enthusiastic woman playing with geese carcass.  Her words are truly hers, and if you love her, you'll love this book.  

"[This book] is aimed at those who are tolerably familiar with culinary language..." p.ix 

For more Julia, check out the PBS website, here .

BOOKS IN FILM: The Pillars of the Earth by K. Follett

Just a heads up to anyone who doesn't know...The Pillars of the Earth 6 part miniseries is airing on the movie network (click here for showtimes / schedules).

We've PVR'ed the first 2 episodes and I'm waiting until I have them all to watch in a huge marathon of awesomeness...Here's the trailer if you're not hooked yet :)

PS - Check out some of the casting!

Rufus Sewell as Tom Builder

Eddie Redmayne as Jack Jackson

Donald Sutherland as Bartholomew

Comments - Rufus is usually the bad guy...can we love him as Tom Builder?  Jack is way too handsome to be the awkward young man in the book.  And Donald??? Right on :)

REVIEW: Hollywood Stories by S. Schochet

Title:  Hollywood Stories
Author:  S. Schochet
Genre / Pages:  Nonfiction, Short Stories / 312
Publication: Hollywood Stories Publishing, 2010
Rating:  bottom shelf  
Source:  Publisher Copy
lj's plot in one pot: A collection of tales about Hollywood's stars.

I was initially really excited to read this book...I am a big fan of celeb magazines, blogs, etc.  However, I couldn't really get into this book.  It might be because a lot of the stories are about movie and television stars from before my time, or it might be because the writing doesn't draw the reader in, or it might be the lack of connections/transitions.  

I did see later, that the "stories" are actually scripts from the Hollywood Stories One Minute Radio Feature and at that point, I realized why the transitions were absent.

Anyways, I have no doubt that the author is probably an excellent tour guide, and that the tour would be lots of fun, I just wouldn't recommend the book.

"...Gollum's garbled voice in The Lord of the Rings:  The Two Towers came from the sound a cat would make by coughing up a hairball...The personality was based on the actor's observations of heroin addicts." p.96

For the book's website, click here.

REVIEW: The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

Title:  The Catcher in the Rye
Author:  J.D. Salinger
Genre / Pages:  Fiction, Young Adult / 224
Publication: Little, Brown and Company, 1991
Rating:  3rd shelf  
Source:  Chapters Indigo
lj's plot in one pot: A coming-of-age story featuring Holden Caufield, a troubled young man, trying to face his demons after his younger brother dies of leukemia.

Well, I know I said that I would put a hold on this one while I read some other pressing books...but, well it was such an easy read and I was just so eager to be done with it and my shame for not having read it before.

And do I feel the sense of accomplishment...or satisfaction?  Well not so much.  I didn't really enjoy the book all that much.  Obviously it is from another time, and so the language/terms/slang used often jarred me.  I also kept waiting for the climactic moment where things either change for Holden, or he at least perceives himself in a more realistic light.  It never happened...not in any sort of satisfying way.

This is my struggle with reading "classics".  I want to like them, I want to be able to appreciate them for what they are, but I usually have a really hard time getting into them.  I plowed through Salinger, because I had to, not because anything in the book made me want to.  

What do you think?  Are there classics that transcend time?  I don't doubt it, but I've yet to come across one - so please, give me suggestions.

"There's always a dumb horse race, and some dame breaking a a bottle over a ship, and some chimpanzee riding a goddam bicycle with pants on.  It wouldn't be the same at all.  You don't see what I mean at all" p.133

PS - I really want a red hunting hat :)