In November 2013, I was still a reading machine, getting through a dozen books, although two were cookbooks, and two were picture books. I guess that means I’m not much of a machine after all, doesn’t it?

The two mystery books that I read are detailed in a separate post.

 

1. THE LIBRARY by Sarah Stewart, illustrated by David Small (Children’s picture book, Bibliophilic)

Elizabeth Brown loves to read and leaves her home as a library for the town. A charming story and delightful illustrations.

Read this if: you love books; or want to engender a love of books in a little person. 5 stars

2. IN THE LAND OF BIRDFISHES by Rebecca Silver Slayter (Fiction, Literary, Canadian)

Blinded in childhood, two young sisters are separated for treatment and lose contact with each other. As an adult, Aileen decides to search out her sister in the Yukon Territory, Canada.

This is a brilliant depiction of the long summer nights of the short northern summer near the Arctic Circle. Add an unreliable narrator (but who?) and it’s a smashing story.

Read this if: you’re looking for a literary summer read; or are interested in new Canadian literary talent. 4½ stars

 
3. ZELDA AND IVY by Laura McGee Kvansnosky (Children’s picture book, Series)
 
Zelda and Ivy are sisters who make me glad I was the eldest of my siblings. I hope I was a better big sister than Zelda.

Charmingly illustrated, this book kicked off a popular series of Zelda and Ivy adventures.

Read this if: you’re helping a child deal with sibling relationship issues. 4 stars

4. THE BURGESS BOYS by Elizabeth Strout (Fiction, Contemporary, American)
 

With The Burgess Boys, Elizabeth Strout continues her tradition of fine fiction (see my notes on her Amy and Isabelle.) Her writing is beautiful and the stories are memorable.

Read this if: you want a literary summer read (another one!) 4 stars

 
 
5. BREAD BAKING MADE EASY by “Rita Martin” and Robin Hood Multifoods

This small gem, published by Robin Hood in 1953, illustrates step-by-step breadmaking. You need not have any prior experience nor even exposure to yeast, kneading, or doubling. This book explains it all.

It’s an interesting aside that Rita Martin was invented in 1938 as a corporate character for Robin Hood flour. According to Culinaria: “with a name equally pronounceable in English and French, Martin was one of the faces of Robin Hood [Canada] until around 1970.”

The test, of course, of any cookbook is what kind of bread I made using the directions: it was light and even, and I felt that it was a “properly made” loaf.

Read this if: you want to learn how to make basic bread. 4 stars

6. A WILDER ROSE by Susan Wittig Albert (Fiction, Biography, Book-related)

Many of you have read and loved the pioneer stories of Laura Ingalls Wilder. Some of you are aware of the controversy surrounding her stories—allegations that it was, not Laura, but Laura’s daughter Rose Wilder, who wrote the Little House books.

Witting Albert makes this case, rather convincingly, in this novel based on Wilder’s life between 1928 and 1939.. She uses some artistic license to imagine the communications between Laura and Rose.

Read this if: you’ve read and enjoyed Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House books. 3½ stars

 

7. VW BLUES by Jacques Poulin (Fiction, Canadian, Quebecois, translated)

I’ve wanted to read this since Rock Carrier championed it in CBC’s Canada Reads in 2005.

Translated from French, VW Blues is the story of an impulsive road trip from Gaspe in Quebec to Las Vegas, Nevada to find the protagonist’s brother, with whom he has had no contact for 20 years.

I thought it dragged in spots although, in the end, everything tied together.

Read this: if you’ve thought about going off to find long-lost relatives. 3½ stars

 

8. TRAIN OF SMALL MERCIES by David Rowell (Fiction, Historical, American)

I was an impressionable 13-year-old when Robert Kennedy was assassinated and I’ve had an interest in RFK since then. So when I heard that this book centred on the train carrying Kennedy’s body from New York City to Washington D.C. for burial, I was intrigued.

Alas, although there was potential, there was no story.

Read this if: you enjoy very low-key anecdotes about everyday life. 3 stars

 
9. THE THIEF by Fuminari Nakamura (Fiction, Contemporary, Japanese, translated)
 

I understand that this is a Japanese modern classic. But either it loses greatly in translation, or my sense of “classic” is off. I did persevere to the end, but it was almost painful.  

Boring, not much point. 3 stars
 

10. 1 BATTER; 50 CAKES: Baking to Fit Your Every Occasion by Gina Greifenstein (Cookbook)
 

This recipe book sounded promising but really was just a compilation of recipes that purportedly followed a basic pattern.

As with the breadmaking booklet, the test is in the tasting. We tried only one recipe, that produced a “cake” that wasn’t even edible.

The half star is for explaining the basic composition of cakes.

Don’t bother to read this. ½ star

P.S. The links are affiliate links so I will receive a small percentage of any purchase you make after clicking through from this blog.