Book Cooking 2012

I have an idea.

A wonderful, terrible idea.

And I need your help.

That's right, YOU! Now pay attention.

For some bizarre reason that I'm not even going to begin to try making sense of, I love to bake in the summer. When the weather is 90 degrees and up, and the only air conditioning in my house is the overhead fan and a breeze through the open porch door, I love to crank up the oven and bake delicious sugary treats and taunt my friends with. And this year, I already know which recipes I want to experiment with.


For my birthday, I got a copy of The Unofficial Hunger Games Cookbook. It looks fantastic and I've been squealing over recipes for Annie and Finnick's wedding cake and Katniss' chesse biscuits for weeks now. In my haze of culinary nerdiness I got to thinking; why don't I bake things from a bunch of different fandoms?

I mean, why not? I could make lembas bread from Lord of the Rings or pretty much anything from Harry Potter (except fire whiskey because I think I need a magical still for that). There are Cult Smoothies from Going Bovine. Brian Jacques' Redwall series regularly made my mouth water as a preteen and I fondly remember goofing off with Roald Dahl's Revolting Recipes in grade school. Plus, I just took a quick look around Goodreads and discovered a plethora of fiction-inspired cookbooks.

My wonderful, terrible, and fattening idea has book-accomplices.

This summer, I want to start a blogging series where myself and (hopefully!) others will bake/cook/assemble recipes inspired by some of our favorite books. I need help, though, hence the hope for other participants. While I'd love nothing more than to spend my summer baking, I really doubt my boss is going to give me paid leave to indulge my inner geek, even if I offered to share the fruits of my labor with her. Plus, I need that paycheck to get ingredients with. A catch-22, that is.

The tentative plan is to get people signed-up to bake something and help them schedule when their post is due to go up. Ideally, this would be a weekly feature, traveling around a whole slew of blogs, but if only 2 or 3 people join my madness, well, we'll improvise something else.

Rules More Like Guidelines

• I don't care if people cook things from the same book or series, but I would like to get as much diversity in sources as possible. Diversity is the spice of life, you know, and spices are delicious.
• Give credit to the source so readers can look at what else they have to offer.
• If you don't want to post the full recipe, please give readers an outline of what was involved in the process and what the difficulty was in your opinion.
• Pictures or it didn't happen! ;)

 Please comment below or email me if you want to participate or have any questions. Spread the word! Summer 2012 shall be the summer of book cooking!

Book Review: Dead in the Family

There is more going on in this cover than I'm aesthetically comfortable with.

From Goodreads

 After enduring torture and the loss of loved ones during the brief but deadly Faery War, Sookie Stackhouse is hurt and she's angry. Just about the only bright spot in her life is the love she thinks she feels for vampire Eric Northman. But he's under scrutiny by the new Vampire King because of their relationship. And as the political implications of the Shifters coming out are beginning to be felt, Sookie's connection to the Shreveport pack draws her into the debate. Worst of all, though the door to Faery has been closed, there are still some Fae on the human side-and one of them is angry at Sookie. Very, very angry...

In the interest of full disclosure, I really enjoyed this book - the Sookie Stackhouse books have always been one of my guilty pleasures. However, there are a lot of reasons why this isn't a good book. If this review starts sounding schizophrenic, please don't be frightened. It's just my Inner Fan and Inner Critic are screaming obscenities at each other in my mind.

The Good:

As always, Charlaine Harris has written a book that is dark, morbidly funny, and in its own way thought provoking. I reviewed the series a few years back and what I said there still holds true. Sookie still has a strong voice, the characters are still compelling, and the increasingly tense political and social climate surrounding Supernaturals is getting more and more interesting.

The fan favorites - Eric, Pam, Bill, and Alcide - were in attendance, most of them with more than the short cameos that we've been treated to in past books. It was a treat to find out more about Eric's past, and as a history geek and all around awful human being, I got a cheap enjoyment out of turning one of the Romanov's into a vampire.

The Bad:

Dead in the Family read like two books shoved together and only one of those books got finished. I respect the theme Harris was trying to follow in this book - Sookie's family, Eric's family, Bill's family, and the families of pretty much everyone in Bon Temps - but we went from a possible murder conspiracy and took a hard left into the realm of dysfunctional family reunion. I was interested in both tales, but I would have liked them separately or at least better integrated with one another.

In a recent interview where Charlaine Harris announced the end of the series, she said, "I find myself wanting to bring back random people, just so I can say, 'Here they are. Here's what happened.' And then I think, it's not going to be a very cohesive book if I have all these guest appearances. I really have to stick to the core of the book[.]" I think this struggle is evident even in this earlier book. Of course, there was a time when this book was supposed to be the last. I suspect that parts of this book had been left as it was when it was still the finale instead of just another book in the series.

The Rest:

At the end of Dead and Gone, Sookie had been kidnapped and tortured by sadistic faeries as part of a war. Her physical injuries were extensive, as were her emotional and psychological trauma. We get glimpses of this at the beginning of Dead in the Family, but overall Sookie is -mostly- the same Sookie we've been reading with and about since 2001. Normally, this would bother me, the way an important character development is mentioned and dropped. Frankly it would piss me off...if not for that mostly. Sookie is Sookie. It's a fabulous testament to her character, which has always been resilient in the face of opposition, that she carries on. It's part of what readers and the other characters love about her. But whether it's immediately noticeable or not, she has changed.

Her experiences have hardened and hurt her, and she is more callous, more calculating for it. While it may help keep her alive, the growing ease with which she can consider killing someone and follow through on it disturbs even her. She suffers a moral problem which is very human and also very animal - she doesn't want to hurt people or cause death, but she will if her life or the lives of the people she loves are on the line.

This is an evolution of the character I've been wondering about for a long time and I'm glad that Harris has followed through on it. Even a character as bright, strong, and obstinate as Sookie can't remain unchanged in the face of all the darkness and death she's seen. Yet Sookie isn't the sort of person to succumb to that darkness either. Harris has respected the need for development while also knowing her character, convincingly showing the change in personality and morality as it affects this particular character, and I applaud her for it.

Final Thoughts:

Personally, I really enjoyed this novel and I'm looking forward to the rest of the books in the series, however there are a few technical problems in plot construction that I can't get over.

My Rating: 3/5 Mushrooms

Book Review: Welcome to Bordertown

From Goodreads:

Bordertown: a city on the border between our human world and the elfin realm. Runaway teens come from both sides of the border to find adventure, to find themselves. Elves play in rock bands and race down the street on spell-powered motorbikes. Human kids recreate themselves in the squats and clubs and artists' studios of Soho. Terri Windling's original Bordertown series was the forerunner of today's urban fantasy, introducing authors that included Charles de Lint, Will Shetterly, Emma Bull, and Ellen Kushner. In this volume of all-new work (including a 15-page graphic story), the original writers are now joined by the generation that grew up dreaming of Bordertown, including acclaimed authors Holly Black, Cassandra Clare, Cory Doctorow, Neil Gaiman, Catherynne M. Valente, and many more. They all meet here on the streets of Bordertown in more than twenty new interconnected songs, poems, and stories.

Yes, yes, this is my second anthology review in as many weeks. Shut up, I've been finding some really good ones.

I'm not quite sure why I didn't pick up Welcome to Bordertown when it first came out, other than A) I was busy with finals and I forgot about it, and B) I'm occasionally really stupid and doubt the awesomeness of authors. Thankfully, Cassandra Yorgey saw that I was blind and showed me the light. Namely, she did this by scoring me a pass to FaerieCon East where I got to meet AND HAVE TEA with Ellen Kushner and Delia Sherman (Guys! Ellen Kushner bought me tea!) so that I would understand their awesomeness, and then she lent me her ARC to read. Now I keep this book next to my bed, beside my Ultimate Hitchhikers Guide, in case of emergencies.

The Good:

Beautiful writing by a ton of authors, many of whom I know and others I am looking forward to reading more from. Welcome to Bordertown really explores and makes use of the best aspects of writing in an anthology. There is a world - Bordertown - that has established rules, geography, history, which must be obeyed by everyone. But working within those rules, writers can do whatever they want. And that leads to a collection of stories as varied as the dwellers of Bordertown themselves. Characters of every ethnicity, gender, species, age, sexual orientation, etc can find a place and a voice in the stories of Welcome to Bordertown - which, by the way, is a great way to make readers feel welcome.

The stories progress in a sort of chaotic order. In the first few stories, we're introduced to this hopeful new world, where the misfits and unorthodox have a place and anything is possible. More stories expose us to everyday life in Bordertown and the risks it poses to its' occupants, both old and new, stripping away some of the promise of Bordertown and turning into a place like any other. Full of dangers. Full of opportunities. Just like everywhere else. Finally, as we near the end, we see the darker side of Bordertown, with its injustices and the people willing fight against them. It's a beautiful storytelling arch, showing us that even with magic and faeries, you can't run away from your problems forever. Happily ever afters must be fought for constantly.

The Bad:

There's not so much Bad in this anthology as there are personal requests. More comics. Fewer poems. More poems. No comics at all. Why is there a motorcycle on the cover?

The Rest:

My standard warning for anthologies applies here: Not all stories are created equal. It is more than likely that readers are not going to like every story in here. But you're going to like an awful lot of them, I promise.

Final Thoughts:

Beyond being great YA, this is just a great book period. I would recommend it to anyone interested in fantasy, and frequently do. I sincerely hope it won't be another 13 years before the next Bordertown book comes out.

My Rating: 5/5 Mushrooms.

Book Review: Steampunk!

This cover is even more impressive in person.

From Goodreads:

In the first major YA steampunk anthology, fourteen top storytellers push the genre's mix of sci-fi, fantasy, history, and adventure in fascinating new directions.

Imagine an alternate universe where romance and technology reign. Where tinkerers and dreamers craft and re-craft a world of automatons, clockworks, calculating machines, and other marvels that never were. Where scientists and schoolgirls, fair folk and Romans, intergalactic bandits, utopian revolutionaries, and intrepid orphans solve crimes, escape from monstrous predicaments, consult oracles, and hover over volcanoes in steam-powered airships. Here, fourteen masters of speculative fiction, including two graphic storytellers, embrace the genre's established themes and refashion them in surprising ways and settings as diverse as Appalachia, ancient Rome, future Australia, and alternate California. Visionaries Kelly Link and Gavin J. Grant have invited all-new explorations and expansions, taking a genre already rich, strange, and inventive in the extreme and challenging contributors to remake it from the ground up. The result is an anthology that defies its genre even as it defines it.

I picked this baby up at the Baltimore Book Festival last September, during Libba Bray's book signing. I'm still fairly new to Steampunk as a genre and in some cases a lifestyle. However, it's an area that I've been finding increasingly comfortable, and when I saw this anthology, with so many authors I already love, I jumped on it. If you doubt the awesomeness, check out this list of authors who are in here:

M. T. Anderson
Elizabeth Knox
Ysabeau S. Wilce
Delia Sherman
Christopher Rowe
Garth Nix
Kathleen Jennings
Dylan Horrocks
Cory Doctorow
Cassandra Clare
Libba Bray
Holly Black
Shawn Cheng
Kelly Link

Lookit that list. Isn't it a nice list? That is one fine list.

The Good:

This is one of the best anthologies I have ever read. Out of 14 stories, almost every one is in the 4-to-5-star range. The big name authors don't disappoint. Libba Bray, Cory Doctorow, and M. T. Anderson probably have my favorite stories. However, some of the lesser know authors have their shining moments too, like Delia Sherman, Kathleen Jennings, and Elizabeth Knox. I won't say that everyone brought their A-game, but I never felt like anyone was coasting, happy to settle for a passing grade.

While I've been developing a growing love affair with steampunk lit, I love that this anthology is filled with authors who haven't written in this genre before. Or if they have, it hasn't been their first choice. Where so many steampunk writers seem to think of the world before the story, these are simply authors who have taken on the concept of steampunk - however they interpret that - and used it to accent a plot or a character. And for that, I feel that the impact and depth of the world is so much more potent, giving steampunk an emotional resonance that the casual steampunk reader may overlook.

The Bad:

The flaw of all anthologies applies here; simply, not all stories are created equal. Though they are few, a few of the stories just felt out of place with the rest of the collection. I won't name names, as I think some of them are still fine stories if not exactly right, but I think readers will be able to spot the odd man/men out.

The Rest:

The stories rise and fall in merit based largely on personal preference. I'm certain that a few will stand out to everyone, the rest will probably find their rating in the tastes of the readers and their vision of steampunk.

The vision of steampunk is a big part of what this collection captures. The stereotypical steampunk story is set in Victorian London and features women in corsets and men with fabulous coats and secret agendas. This is a very fun stereotype in the hands of the right writer. But the stories in this collection go well beyond the known and accepted boundaries of the genre, taking it from Ancient Rome to Australia and Appalachia and the future. I'm not going to say that Steampunk! breaks any new ground. However, it introduces young adult readers to a genre they may think only applies to nineteenth century England and shows them that it can be anywhere through the writing of authors they already know, love, and trust.

Final Thoughts:

I think fans of steampunk and readers who are new to the genre will find this a fantastic collection. I like to think of it as a gateway drug to the world of steampunk. It certainly helped me find my feet and dive in.
 
My Rating: 5/5 Mushrooms