Miss Eliza's English Kitchen

Miss Eliza's English Kitchen: A Novel of Victorian Cookery and Friendship by Annabel Abbs

Read April 2024

Miss Eliza's English Kitchen

This was an enjoyable book.  Although, as with some other historical fiction novels, I sometimes feel an author works too hard to add ‘personal intrigue’ when the book would have been quite good enough without it.  I will say that I was intrigued enough by the character/real person of Eliza Acton to go searching for more information about her upon completing this book.  So perhaps the author was doing it correctly all along!  :D  

The story is told in two voices - Eliza Acton and Ann Kirby.  Eliza Acton is a young woman of privilege in Victorian England.  She is a poet and is disappointed when a publisher wants her to write a ‘cookery book’ instead of publishing her volume of poetry. When her father goes bankrupt she decides to write the cookery book after all.  She and her mother open a boarding house for upper class travelers in Tonbridge.  There Eliza meets Ann who is hired as a scullery maid.  Eliza recognizes that Ann has real talent for cooking and coming up with recipe ideas.  Together they work to create a cookery book for a domestic audience - a revolutionary idea in upper class Victorian England where all cooking was done by servants and the ‘ladies of the house’ never even entered a kitchen, so were completely inept in cooking.  Eliza Acton is credited with being the first person to include a list of ingredients and even suggested cooking times for each recipe.  Her cookbook, Modern Cookery for Private Families, was released in 1845 and was so popular that parts of it were plagiarised by Isabella Beeton in her 1861 book Mrs. Beeton’s Book of Household Management.  :( 

Throughout the dual voice storyline, we learn more about not only Eliza’s life and past but also Ann’s.  While Ann (and many other characters) are not based on ‘real’ persons, they are illustrative of the times and provide a picture of the lower class living conditions of Victorian England.  I did love the way the author developed a lovely friendship between the two women, which allowed for both storylines to feel fully developed. 

I rated this book a 4. 

Here are a few websites that provide more information about Eliza Acton and her cookery book.  I enjoyed looking through them. 

Eliza Acton: Victorian Cookbook Author

https://www.cooksinfo.com/eliza-acton 

Eliza Acton: Cookery writing pioneer

https://www.tastesofhistory.co.uk/post/eliza-acton-cookery-writing-pioneer 

This site, especially, intrigued me.  The author of this site recreates historic recipes as they are written.  She has many that are tagged as ‘Eliza Acton’. 

https://history-in-the-making.com/tag/eliza-acton/ 

Miss Eliza's English Kitchen: A Novel of Victorian Cookery and Friendship by Annabel Abbs

Read April 2024

A Body on the Doorstep

A Body on the Doorstep - London Ladies' Murder Club #1 by Marty Wingate

Read April 2024

A Body on the Doorstep

This is the first book in a new series by one of my favorite cozy mystery authors, Marty Wingate.  I have read all of her 3 other series and love them.  The Potting Shed series features Pru Parke, an American gardner transplanted to England.  Great stories!  Her Birds of a Feather series features Julia Lanchester, a bird lover, who runs the local tourist office in her quaint Suffolk, England town.  Her third series, The First Edition Library series, features Hayley Burke as the curator of The First Edition Society’s library in Bath, England.  There were only 3 books in this series, but I enjoyed each one.  I am seeing that the earlier two series have recently been re-released and I would heartily recommend them for sure!  

In A Body on the Doorstep Mabel Canning moves to London to pursue a life as an independent woman and takes a job working for the ‘Useful Women’s Agency’ doing various jobs for gentlewomen from washing dogs to accompanying young, unruly charges to the railway station.  At one particular job she opens the front door to discover a dead body.  Mabel’s curiosity leads her to investigate, along with some newfound friends including a former detective and his dog.  :) 

This turned out to be a really enjoyable book.  I am looking forward to more in this new series.  While I figured out who the killer was pretty early in the book, that did not detract from my enjoyment one bit.  Marty Wingate creates such engaging characters and I am looking forward to reading more books in this series and ‘getting to know’ those characters even more.  

I rated this book a 4+

A Body on the Doorstep - London Ladies' Murder Club #1 by Marty Wingate

Read April 2024

The Lions of Fifth Avenue

The Lions of Fifth Avenue by Fiona Davis

Read April 2024

The Lions of Fifth Avenue

I listened to this as an audiobook while working on puzzles.  It was a good book to listen to as it went quickly and the narrator was good.  I started out really enjoying the story - a typical dual timeline story between 1993 and 1913.  The two women who are front and center to the story are Laura Lyons, who is married to the superintendent of the New York Public Library so lives on site with her husband and two small children, and Sadie Donovan who is the curator at the New York Public Library eighty years later - and also the granddaughter of Laura Lyons.  A series of thefts from the library cause Sadie to begin digging into her own family's past, and learning more about her mysterious grandmother in the process.

I don’t mind back and forth timelines in stories - in fact, I rather enjoy them.  I felt invested in Laura’s story rather quickly and grew to like Sadie more and more.  Both are strong women who push at boundaries that are thrust on them.  Laura’s glimpse of what a woman ‘could do’ and her determination to push through those limitations and boundaries that she encountered simply because of her gender made for interesting reading.  In the end, though, I think maybe I grew a bit bored with the story?  I enjoyed it, and finished it, but it wasn’t a favorite read as I had initially thought it might be.  I would rate it a 3.5 to 4.

The Lions of Fifth Avenue by Fiona Davis

Read April 2024

Death at a Scottish Wedding

Death at a Scottish Wedding by Lucy Connelly

Read April 2024

Death at a Scottish Wedding

This was the next installment in the Scottish Isles mystery series.  We read the first one for Zoom Reading Circle and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  This second one was just as enjoyable.  I listened to this one (and had listened to the previous one, too).  I love the Scottish accents and the narrator makes each characters voice sound true.  

This time the main characters (from the town of Sea Isle, Scotland) gather in a highland castle, owned by constable Ewen Campbell, for the wedding of their friend Angie.  Dr. Emilia Roy is excited for the experience (a real Scottish castle!) and for her new friend's happiness.  But things get off to a rough start when there is an unexpected guest and a murder.  Add in a snow storm that keeps all the people trapped in the castle with the police unable to get to them, and you have a grand adventure of a different type than Emilia was expecting.  A fun Scottish mystery and not the last I will read in this series, for sure!  I rated it a 4.  

Death at a Scottish Wedding by Lucy Connelly

Read April 2024

The Tour

The Tour by Jean Grainger

Read April 2024

The Tour

I picked up this book because it was about Ireland and looked like an easy read and that was exactly what I was looking for.  It was both of those things.  I did really enjoy it, but it wasn’t exactly great literature.  :)  It also wasn’t Maeve Binchy, which was one description I read about it.  (There is no one like Maeve Binchy, unless you look at the great Rosamunde Pilcher!)  

The book follows a tour guide in Ireland named Conor as he takes a group of Americans through a week long tour.  Along the way we learn more about him and about the tourists.  Conor is the perfect guide in that not only does he entertain and tell great stories while leading guests to interesting places, but he is quite good at helping folks with their own problems and issues that have nothing to do with the tour.  So you have a tiny bit of soap opera, but it all made sense and worked well together.  Some of the characters were written a bit over the top, but in the end everything worked out well and we had a happy ending for all, including dear Conor.  Sometimes you just need a book like that.  :)  I rated this book a 4. 

Quotes from The Tour...

“You can please some of the people some of the time, but not all of the people all of the time. To my mind, people decide either they are going to have a great time or a miserable time, and there’s very little anyone can do to change it once they have decided on that. I hope you decide you are going to have a great time and that you don’t give a damn what anyone else thinks.”

“The opportunity of a lifetime must be taken in the lifetime of that opportunity”

“The only difference between an Irish funeral and an Irish wedding is that there’s one less drunk.”

The Tour by Jean Grainger

Read April 2024

So I enjoyed The Tour well enough that I decided to read the next book in this series, Safe at the End of the World.  Yes, Conor O’Shea is in it - he is again the tour guide for a group of American tourists, but this wasn’t a feel good story about people ‘finding themselves’ in the Irish countryside.  This was a mobster story with all the awful cliches and devices.  If I had wanted a mobster story, I would read Mario Puzo.  I was slogging through it and really disliking the angst that was coming with the storyline then finally realized I didn’t have to finish it!  So I stopped.  I have no idea what happens to the characters and I honestly don’t care!  I would definitely read another book about Conor O’Shea but I will be treading much more carefully with this series moving ahead.  Rated the part I read at a 2.  :( 

Tom Lake

Tom Lake by Ann Patchett
Read April 2024 - Well Read Book Club

Tom Lake

Oh, this book.  Goodness, how I loved it.  I listened to the audio version - narrated by the incomparable Meryl Streep.  Perfection!  This book really resonated with me - some very familiar themes.  It also didn’t hurt that the main character is named Laura.  Although early on she drops the ‘u’ and becomes just Lara.  ha!  I, on the other hand, have spent the better part of my life sounding out the ‘au’ sound for folks!  :D  

The story takes place on a family cherry orchard in Michigan during the pandemic.  Laura and her daughters are tending to the cherry crop and her daughters start asking her for stories from her youth.  Specifically, from the time in her youth when she was an aspiring actress and had a romance with her then leading man, now major (just deceased) moviestar.  As the days go slowly/quickly by, Laura opens up and shares her story with her girls.  We get to hear the story as they do but we also get to hear Laura’s inner monologue where she considers what to share and what to keep to herself. And as she contemplates her daughters personalities and strengths and even weaknesses, alongside her own. 

Along the way we learn not only about Laura’s romance with Duke, but about how she met her husband, the girls father, and what brought her to this life on a cherry orchard in Michigan.  Laura unveils the story layer by layer, watching as her girls take it in - seeing how they process it and what conclusions they come to.  Nell is the most adept at fully understanding what a situation really meant, which leads us to consider what is/has been happening in her life, as well.  (would love a book!)  We ultimately learn more about Laura’s past than even her daughters do.  A decision I completely understand. 

The theme of children feeling that their parents lives really only began upon their birth, and so disregarding or not even having curiosity about their pasts before them, was an interesting one.  Of course, I grew up on all the stories of both my parents lives - from their birth to their meeting and beyond.  And I was always curious to know more - to learn more about what makes them tick.  I am confident I do not know ALL the stories... and I know my children, while not nearly as curious about my life before them, certainly do not know all of mine. 

There were lines that put me into tears and they were mostly about the deep gratitude Laura had for her dear husband, Joe.  Oh yes, I completely get those feelings!  How the life Laura ‘thought’ she wanted would have been not nearly as good as the life she actually has been able to live on the cherry farm in Michigan with Joe and her girls.  That overwhelming sense of gratitude for what actually IS, instead of what could have been.  Yes, I get that most of all.  

I loved this book so much that I bought my own audio version to keep - long after I returned the first one to the library.  What a stunningly beautiful book, for me, anyway.  

Quotes from Tom Lake...

“I put on my nightgown and crawl in beside him, covering the hand that covers his heart. Live forever, I say to myself.”

“There is no explaining this simple truth about life: you will forget much of it. The painful things you were certain you’d never be able to let go? Now you’re not entirely sure when they happened, while the thrilling parts, the heart-stopping joys, splintered and scattered and became something else. Memories are then replaced by different joys and larger sorrows, and unbelievably, those things get knocked aside as well, until one morning you’re picking cherries with your three grown daughters and your husband goes by on the Gator and you are positive that this is all you’ve ever wanted in the world.”

“We clump together in our sorrow. In joy we may wander off in our separate directions, but in sorrow we prefer to hold hands.”

“The rage dissipates along with the love, and all we’re left with is a story.”

“It’s not that I’m unaware of the suffering and the soon-to-be-more suffering in the world, it’s that I know the suffering exists beside wet grass and a bright blue sky recently scrubbed by rain. The beauty and the suffering are equally true.”

“I look at my girls, my brilliant young women. I want them to think I was better than I was, and I want to tell them the truth in case the truth will be useful. Those two desires do not neatly coexist, but this is where we are in the story.”

“Days are endless and the weeks fly by.”

“I am fifty-seven. I am twenty-four.”

“Watching her face is like going to a movie.”

“Or maybe they are children looking at their parents and so our lives began when they began and everything else they colored in with fat crayons any way they wanted”

Here is an excerpt of the audiobook narrated by Meryl Streep. 

Ann Patchett on the inspirations for her latest novel, Tom Lake.

Tom Lake by Ann Patchett
Read April 2024 - Well Read Book Club

The Road Back To You

The Road Back To You: An Enneagram Journey of Self-Discovery by Ian Morgan Cron and Suzanne Stabile

Read April 2024 - Books With Friends

The Road Back To You

This book turned out to be fairly interesting.  Although it just gets you started on the Enneagram journey... it provides a solid chapter on each of the 9 numbers of the Enneagram, each chapter giving information about characteristics that should be recognizable (at least to oneself).  In fact, the book stresses the importance of NOT trying to determine what number anyone else is... that it is truly about motivation, not just outward appearance, thus we can’t really know where someone else falls on the Enneagram scale.  

The author provides us with various information sections starting with bullet points highlighting “What’s it Like to be a Nine?” and so on.  Those are terrific to quickly read through as you are trying to find a chapter that resonates with you.  Then each chapter takes you more in depth on healthy aspects of your number, as well as traits that can come out in less healthy situations and deep stress.  There is also a section highlighting a ‘danger’ point and suggesting ways to deal with that effectively.  Other sections include information on each number during childhood, in relationships and at work.  

I would like more information about interactions with others.  I feel like this book has given me some very useful insight into myself and my own traits, but I would like to delve deeper into how I can better interact with, and build stronger relationships with, other numbers on the Enneagram.  I do think this book is a great first step in discovery.  There is also a study guide to accompany the book, but we didn't go through that.  As for delving deeper into relationships and interactions with others, there is a second book that should accomplish that... I will need to look into getting The Path Between Us.  This one is authored only by Suzanne Stabile. 

Interestingly, in our book club discussion, the only people who felt sure that they had identified their ‘number’ were 2’s and 9’s.  The rest were completely unsure.  I have to wonder if there is something about the 2 and 9 personalities that helps them figure things like this out?  :)  Anyway, just thought that was interesting.  

Here is a list of the ‘types’.  The list starts with 8 and ends with 7 - you will have to read the book to find out why that is.  :) 

Eight - The Challenger

Nine - The Peacemaker

One - The Perfectionist

Two - The Helper

Three - The Performer

Four - The Romantic 

Five - The Investigator

Six - The Loyalist

Seven - The Enthusiast

The Enneagram is a spiritual tool and most resources you will encounter have a Christian perspective.  But it is not ‘in your face’ and in fact, some in the Christian faith view it with disdain.  That is too bad, in my opinion.  As one pastor quoted in the book states...

“To know oneself is, above all, to know what one lacks.  It is to measure oneself against Truth, and not the other way around.  The first product of self-knowledge is humility.”

And here is another quote from the book that I like...

“The purpose of the Enneagram is to develop self-knowledge and learn how to recognize and dis-identify with the parts of our personalities that limit us so we can be reunited with our truest and best selves, that “pure diamond, blazing with the invisible light of heaven,” as Thomas Merton said. The point of it is self-understanding and growing beyond the self-defeating dimensions of our personality, as well as improving relationships and growing in compassion for others. 

Finally, I also read that the Enneagram can be seen as representing the face of God.  It contains all the attributes of God and each number contains facets of who God is.  All the numbers have value and worth and all are part of the character of God that has been given to us.  I like that, a lot!

The Road Back To You: An Enneagram Journey of Self-Discovery by Ian Morgan Cron

Read April 2024 - Books With Friends

The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out a Window and Disappeared

The 100-year-old Man Who Climbed Out a Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson

Read April 2024 - Zoom Reading Circle

The 100-year-old Man Who Climbed Out a Window and Disappeared

I’m liking this one but not just loving it yet.  I was reading it and it felt like it was taking a long time to get through.  Have switched to listening and that has made it much more enjoyable.  Funny how some books are just better in print or in audio - and it really makes a difference.  

I finished the book.  Audio version was better than reading it, I do believe.  By the end I would say it was enjoyable, but not a favorite.  It has been compared in many ways to Forrest Gump and I get that comparison - if Forrest Gump were a far less likable human.  ha!  :) 

Alan Karlsson is not a bad man, but he is also not a ‘good’ man.  He has no distinct sense of honor or morals - just believes that everything ‘is what it is’ and he takes no sides - like a human ‘Switzerland’.  That can appear somewhat admirable at first, but really, I feel it is a cowards view... never having to delve deeply and consider important issues - simply being willing to do whatever for whomever in pretty much any situation.... Not a man of deep character, to say the least. 

Yet throughout his life he has found himself in situation after situation that helped shaped history around the world.  Chance encounters with various world leaders from Harry S. Truman to Winston Churchill to Mao Tse Tung... and beyond... and then snippets of how HE actually influenced world events associated with each of them.  

So overall the story is slightly intriguing, quite farcical (which I realize is the point) and mildly entertaining.  I would have to say that I am also ‘Switzerland’ on this in some ways... I neither despise nor like Alan Karlsson.  But that doesn’t make for a favorite read.  I would rate it 3.5 stars.  Zoom Reading Circle group rated it 3.6 stars. 

Quotes from The 100-year-old Man...

“People could behave how they liked, but Allan considered that in general it was quite unnecessary to be grumpy if you had the chance not to.”

“Never try to out-drink a Swede, unless you happen to be a Finn or at least a Russian.”

“It had been exciting, the entire journey, but nothing lasts forever, except possibly general stupidity.”

“It was tough to think in new ways and equally tough to remember the old.”

The 100-year-old Man Who Climbed Out a Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson
Read April 2024 - Zoom Reading Circle

Britt-Marie Was Here

Britt-Marie Was Here by Fredrik Backman

Read April 2024 - Zoom Reading Circle

Britt-Marie Was Here

I absolutely LOVED Fredrik Backman’s book The Man Called Ove and so was excited to read this one.  It was also good (although I have to say Ove is still my favorite of his!).  This time the main character is a woman ‘of a certain age’.  She truly believes there is a ‘right way’ and a ‘wrong way’ to do most anything.  Not that she would ever be one to judge, mind you.   ;) 

When her husband’s affair becomes impossible to ignore, she determines to leave and find a new life, even if it is in the midst of a run-down community with an odd assortment of ne’er do wells (in her estimation).  However, as she settles in to the tasks at hand, she discovers that she has more love to give than perhaps she realized, and that these crazy folks around her bring her great joy and satisfaction - and they ‘need’ her just as much as she ‘needs’ them.

You do find yourself rooting for Britt-Marie.  The neat thing is you find yourself rooting for most of the other characters, too.  They truly do form a beloved little community and you can’t help but cheer them all on.

I rated this book a 4.  Zoom Reading Circle rated it 4.5 stars. 


Quotes from Britt-Marie Was Here...

“One morning you wake up with more life behind you than in front of you, not being able to understand how it’s happened.”

“At a certain age almost all the questions a person asks him or herself are really just about one thing: how should you live your life?”

“If you can be heard then you exist.”

“A few years turned into more years, and more years turned into all years. Years have a habit of behaving like that.”

“You have to understand that when one is just standing there looking, then just for a second one is ready to jump. If one does it, one dares to do it. But if one waits, it’ll never happen.”

“The winter requires whoever is doing the watering to have a bit of faith, in order to believe that what looks empty has every potential.”

Britt-Marie Was Here by Fredrik Backman

Read April 2024 - Zoom Reading Circle