Jackie; the adventures of a little boy trying to grow up by John Tammela

You really have to ignore the cover on this one. The melancholy boy gives the impression that the book is about overcoming some kind of childhood trauma or abuse, but it's not. This is a memoir of a 1930-40's childhood. You know, snowballs, appendicitis, chewing gum, visiting the dentist, porridge for breakfast, that kind of thing. Nothing angsty at all.

In fact, I'm a little confused as to who the projected audience is. Again, the cover looks like its for an adult audience but when you open it up and see the font size (it's quite large) and the pencil sketches at the beginning of each chapter, as well as the simple sentence structure it feels more like a book for 10-14 year olds.

Anyway, if you are in the 10-14 age range I think you would enjoy this, especially since things have changed so much for youngsters these days. Reading this book is kind of like having your grandpa (or great- grandpa) sit down with you and talk about the good ol days "when I was a boy..."

However, there is one thing I would like to lay on the table; it may or may not affect your decision to let your child read this. There is one hospital scene where Jackie is getting a bed bath by a nurse and it appears that both he and the nurse are enjoying it too much. It borders on inappropriate and personally I would feel a little uncomfortable giving this to a young boy to read.


Overall, a pleasant memoir.

*I received a free copy through the author in exchange for my honest opinion.

The Feast by Margaret Kennedy

If you look at the dust jacket you'll see a small hotel at the base of a huge cliff. The cliff has been undermined by an errant mine that washed into a cave at its base and exploded. No ill effects are noted for some time. But then cracks appear at the top edge of the cliff and they get wider..and wider...a note is sent to the owners of the hotel urging them to abandon the building for safety but the letter goes unopened in a pile of correspondence and rubbish...

Meanwhile, life goes on in the little hotel. There's the petty squabblers,the mopers, the heroes, the innocents as well as the seriously deranged "monsters" and even a love interest or two. Margaret Kennedy develops characters with such depth of insight into the human psyche that I felt that if she was sitting in a room with me she could pick my brain apart and tell me a thing or two.

Such an unusual but fascinating book. The only other book I've read similar in style to this is Dorothy Evelyn Smith's The Lovely Day, a book where no one character steals the show but every member of the village is given a slice of the story.

Well worth a read!

CONTENT:

SEX: None shown to reader
VIOLENCE: None
PROFANITY: Very Mild

MY RATING: G

Sergeant Joe by Mary Jane Staples

3.5 Stars

Sergeant Joe is another fun read with some surprising twists and turns by one of my favorite authors, Robert Tyler Stevens (a.k.a. Mary Jane Staples). In this story you'll find a lot of cheeky banter, a sprinkling of romance and a mystery involving Russian Reds and an attempt on the German Kaiser during the Queen's coronation in London.

So basically, an ex- Dragoon, self named Sergeant Joe, is out walking during a thick "pea souper" when he crashes into an orphan cockney woman (think Eliza Doolittle) on the run from pinching a man's wallet. She stumbles in the collision and sprains her ankle; Joe, being the gent, takes her under his wing while she heals.

Really, they're two peas in a pod, Dolly the pickpocket and Joe, who has his own dubious dealings concerning literary forgeries,(which serve him some amusement while feathering his nest). But while we are chuckling at the witty bantering between them, there are more serious events forming, and complications arise in the form of a Russian beauty, a question of identity and the safety of the Monarchy and the Tsar of Russia.

By the way, fans of Robert Tyler Stevens will be pleased to know that Alexandra Petrovna (from The Summer Day Is Done) appears in this story as well.

CONTENT:

SEX: None, although there's some flirting and innuendos
VIOLENCE: A murder is committed
PROFANITY: Liberal sprinkling of British slang/cusses

MY RATING: G-Mild PG

Olivia and Jai by Rebecca Ryman

What a weird, twisted book. Wow, I can't believe how much I hate this! And yet I still read 300 pages in hopes that I was mistaken, in hopes that Jai wasn't a psychopath and Olivia really did have a brain in her head ...nope

OK, I read my share of misunderstood heroes. But this nut case really takes the cake! Jai is constantly berating, criticizing, scorning and snubbing Olivia and the more abusive he is, the more she swoons over him.

Example: (warning slight spoiler)

"What I will not accept, Jai, is the devaluation, the denial, of your feelings for me. You lie to hide your own delusions..You fabricate a hate that does not exist. You do love me, jai..."

"Get out!" His voice was tight in his throat.

"I will! But not before you admit you have lied!"

The final thread of his control snapped. With a snarl he sprang at her and two enormous, powerful hands circled her neck. Distorted into a mask of virulence, his features turned maniacal, barely human. Thumbs pressed against her windpipe, he shook her with the fury of a mastiff...

Basically, he strangles her until she passes out.

"Don't love me, Olivia...I could have killed you. What further proof can you want of my worthlessness?"

"It is also proof of what you deny..."

Oh.My.Goodness. So really, the more he hurts you the more he loves you! My husband has never strangled me or screamed at me, I guess he doesn't love me afterall. Wow. Ive been disillusioned for 21 years...

So many people loved this book. And I really wanted to. Oh well.

Bottom line: too much melodrama, not enough story. Yes yes yes, I know there's more story to come after page 300, 300 pages in fact! but I. am. so. DONE.

By the way, I guessed the "great whoopsie". *book crashes into wall*

The gavel has fallen. verdict: Hero is a jerk. Heroine is TSTL. They deserve eachother. I award them a life of misery together

International Night: A Father and Daughter Cook Their Way Around the World *Including More than 250 Recipes* by Mark Kurlansky, Talia Kurlansky

3.5 Stars

I love the whole idea of this cookbook. A journalist father and his daughter play "spin the globe" and wherever the finger lands they cook up a four course meal from that country. The father has been to beau-coup countries in his line of work and has experienced food and culture in a very grass roots way, through jungle treks amidst gorilla warfare to train journeys across Russia. So I was pretty excited to read this.

But why...WHY...WHY  do you sit down to compile a chunkster of a world recipe book and not even bring your camera??? Where are the pictures of the dishes?? Seriously, what a disappointment!

Ok, lets be fair. There are sketches. But not of meals. You'll find sketches of things like chili peppers, squid, calaloo but no dishes or locations. Such a missed opportunity. Because this book is more than a recipe book. It is a travelogue and I loved that. At the beginning of each recipe, the author shares his experiences visiting the country, why he was there, the food he ate, a little bit of history etc.The experience would have felt more complete with pictures. Just sayin'.

On to the recipes themselves. There's a lot of them (at least four dishes per 52 countries so over 200 recipes). Some sounded intriguing and I bookmarked them for reference. Others, I found a little simplistic but I do understand that that is what most people will want so they can recreate "something similar" at home. Personally, I'm into ethnic cooking in a fairly large way so I was most interested in the sections involving India, Sri Lanka and Ethiopia; places of strong flavors and contrasts. But the recipe choices were pretty bland for those areas.

Overall, an interesting cookbook. One I enjoyed reading.

* I received a free ebook from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Nor The Moon By Night by Joy Packer

I saw this on a Goodreads friend's  to-read list and was intrigued. They had it on open library so I downloaded it "just for a taste", got engrossed and read it all in two days. (despite reading two other books~ welcome to my world! :)

In a nutshell, Alice is a nurse and WW2 is over. After caring for her terminally ill mother for four years she is free and looking for a change. Andrew, her game warden penpal invites her to South Africa to pursue their relationship and she immediately sets off. Not everything goes to plan and Andrew is unable to pick Alice up when she arrives. Instead, Andrew 's brother, Rusty takes her under his wing.. .

Sounds like a pretty straightforward romance, right? Wrong! It's much more....African.

There are poachers, game keepers on the "wrong side " supplying the locals with guns, rogue elephants, 'pet ' lions, mambas, and a mystery surrounding a native game keeper who has been found with his tongue cut out and blinded...

Also there is a mystery surrounding Alice herself and the 'convenient' demise of her ill mother...

There's lots to love here. I thought it was a really well rounded book with the focus evenly distributed between adventure, romance and mystery. The writing is solid and engrossing and the characters felt real. This is the first Joy Packer book I've read but I really want to check out her others after reading this one!

CONTENT:

SEX: None
PROFANITY: Mild. D, B, H
VIOLENCE: Animal attacks and poacher pursuit. Nothing too graphic
PARANORMAL ELEMENTS: village chiefs and witch doctors. "paper lion" spells.

MY RATING: PG

In Search Of Staswewski by Kenneth Fedzin

I got 28% into this but just lost interest. The story itself is a fascinating one but I got bogged down in detail, background info and statistics. I also never fully felt 'in the skin' of the characters which stunted my emotional response.

Still, it deserves at least the three stars I gave it for thorough research and personal family history that the author was willing to share with us.

*ebook provided by Netgalley