something for your mind’s eye.

The year is 1845 when naturalist Eliot Saxby sails forth on the Amethyst in an attempt to find surviving specimens of the Great Auk, a large bird/duck creature hunted to extinction. Captain Sykes is at the wheel of the ship, and heads a crew of rough and tough sailors. An Englishman named Edward and Saxby’s gorgeous distant cousin Clara are also on the adventure, each member carrying a secret. No one has any idea that Captain Sykes’ secret is to change the course of their mission until the crew discovers a remote island where a small colony of great auks inhabits, and crazy Captain Sykes voices his plan to kill them all.

The Collector of Lost Things by Jeremy Page is much more than a sportsman’s novel. The descriptions of the nature surrounding the Artic are incredibly beautiful. But, if you’re squeamish about hunting for sport, killing for the thrill of it, or wanton disregard for animal life, this is not the book for you.

take gluten-free bread to the next level.

So I accidently made a grilled cheese sandwich on gluten-free bed that my mom had sitting around at her house the other day, and I have to say, I didn’t notice a thing. I mean, I do double the cheese on such a classy entrée, but I don’t think one had much to do with the other. Whatever brand it was, it was tasty. Now, I love homemade bread much more than store bought, so you can imagine my excitement when I received Gluten-Free on a Shoestring Bakes Bread by Nicole Hunn. I mean, I’m not eating any bread until I’m at my wedding weight, but at least I’ll be prepared for when I can properly feed myself again. 

Hunn doesn’t only include recipes for loaves of bread in this recipe book, obviously. She doesn’t even stick to one flour; more than just the basic all-purpose gluten free flour is used in most of her recipes. There are recipes for crescent rolls, monkey bread, sticky buns, ALL the good stuff. And I love me some Nicole Hunn monkey bread. Also, this cookbook is serious. It is incredibly well-researched and tested, it has to be. The chemistry is already done for you. All you need to do is follow the instructions and make some fab carbs that won’t make your bellyache.

advice from America’s first bachelorette.

Aw, Trista Stutter is so cute, and I just love me a happy ending, especially for the underdog. This Bachelorette fell in love and chose her gorgeous husband Ryan all on live television and they are still married TEN years later. She’s like a unicorn.

In her book, Happily Ever After: The Life-Changing Power of a Grateful Heart,  readers come to find that Trista is just as sweet on paper as she is on the television screen, as she tells us how she stays positive in her everyday life. The main focus of this book is that no matter what messes are going on in your life, there are always ways to reduce stress, laugh more, and feel grateful for all that you have. Trista honestly makes you love her more than you already did as she shares her personal struggles. It’s rare that a person wakes up feeling grateful when things are going bad, showing gratitude to the people in your life AND yourself as a person is a conscious decision you have to make. You’ll walk away feeling grateful for the reminder of what’s really important in life.

Win a FREE copy of Happily Ever After!

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1. Follow this blog :)

2. E-mail your name and this book title to: jenileerose@yahoo.com to enter!

3. Contest ends 2/8!

  

a family’s world history.

So many people think they have fantastic lives. Some of them even write a book about it. 50% of these people shouldn’t. I am not one of them, and neither is David Laskin. In his nonfiction narrative titled The Family: Three Journeys into the Heart of the Twentieth Century, Laskin tells the story of his family and to make it interesting, the story spans over 150 years. Wise choice, Mr. Laskin. Our characters are Jewish family members from Europe (Russia and Poland), Israel, and America, and their three separate stories are told in chronological order, through WWI , WWII, and beyond.

Laskin followed his family history through decades of births, marriages and deaths. We meet each person born in each generation and learn of their hopes and dreams. Some became entrepreneurs, some traveled to the Holy Land, and most endured war and depression. The Family is a book about survival, and between its history and Laskin’s writing, it will pull you right in.

the queen nobody knows about.

Alison Weir’s biography on Queen Elizabeth of York titled Elizabeth of York: A Tudor Queen and Her World is actually quite good considering there hasn’t been much written on this woman’s life, thus not much to go on. There were a few more “may have’s” than I would have liked, leading me to believe that no one really knows exactly who this queen was, but really how well do we know anyone from the past?

Personally, I enjoy how Elizabeth of York reads like a Life & Style magazine article about the Queen, her children, husband, and the times they lived in. Some historians may not enjoy the abundance of details and Weir’s literary writing style, making this history lesson much less of a bore, but I appreciate it!

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1. Follow this blog :)

2. E-mail your name and this book title to: jenileerose@yahoo.com to enter!

3. Contest ends 2/5!

a social and architectural biography.

The Chelsea Hotel has been a fixture in New York since 1884. I have seen the popular hotel in passing, but have never stayed there, and was completely unaware of its history. It doesn’t surprise me though, that it was the creative and literal home to artists and vagrants, from Bob Dylan to Andy Warhol.

Sherill Tippins educates readers on the history of the Chelsea Hotel in her history read titled Inside the Dream Palace: The Life and Times of New York’s Legendary Chelsea Hotel. From its founding in 1884 to present day, Tippins has created a bit of a memoir, one the hotel itself would have written (if hotels could do such things) about the lives and accomplishments of its notable guests over the past 125 years. The history is slowly uncovered, and the stories are divulged in chronological order filled with sexcapades, murder, along with literary and musical genius. The Chelsea herself would be pleased.

a delightful holiday read.

Since manfriend and I still have our Christmas tree up because we missed the designated trash day and now have to wait until the end of the month, it’s Christmas at our house all through January, which makes my next review totally appropriate.

Christmas Bliss, a novel by Mary Kay Andrews is a super cute story about an antique dealer named Weezie Foley who is preparing for her Christmas Eve wedding which is only days away. As a follow up to Blue Christmas (which is another crowd pleaser, and should be read first), this series is set in Savannah, Georgia and revolves around besties Weezie and BeBe who will do anything for each other, and have.

While Weezie is up to her eyeballs in wedding details at home, her fiancé, Daniel, is serving as a guest chef in a trendy Manhattan restaurant. Weezie decides to surprise Daniel with a visit to NYC. Out on Tybee Island, a very pregnant BeBe is overseeing the construction of her new home when she gets some unsettling news about her ex-husband, which she hides from her boyfriend and baby daddy, Harry as to not upset things further. We all know that secrets and surprises lead to trouble, but not too much trouble as this is a light and fun read.

Win a FREE copy of Christmas Bliss!

Contest Rules:

1. Follow this blog :)

2. E-mail your name and this book title to: jenileerose@yahoo.com to enter!

3. Contest ends 2/1!