Therapy: A Novel by Harrie Rose

As she daily sinks deeper and deeper into a depression, Barbara's husband Joe finally insists that she seek professional assistance.  She turns to Alex, a therapist seventeen years her junior.  While he is helping her rebuild her life, Barbara can't help falling in love with him. 

Barbara is a very successful woman; she is a professor at the local campus, and admirable cook, house keeper and an excellent gardener.  She is not happy and she doesn't know why.  She has no confidence in herself even with her many accomplishments.  She feels that no one likes her.  She feels that they think she is too smart, too Jewish, to good a cook, even too good a hostess.  Personally, I think Barbara tries too hard to please everyone else and fails to please herself.  She is too concerned with everyone else's perception of her.

For the first time in her life, She has someone listening to her.  That is what a therapist is supposed to do, but in the depths of her depression she grabs onto this lifeline and won't or can't let go.  I can totally understand why she falls for Alex,he's a light in that tunnel that she didn't even know she was in,  but she is such an intelligent woman, she must know that it's wrong.  I can respect the character of Barbara for all her accomplishments, but I don't really like her.  I wonder if she ever took the time to get to know any of the people she invited to her house, or was she too busy trying to impress them.  Was Alex the first person that she really wanted to know.

I enjoyed this book.  I felt that it truly captured the feelings and mixed up thoughts of a depressed person.  The one thing Barbara could control in her life was her gardens, so she worked at them in almost a frenzy and they responded to her in a like manner.  She needed a therapist to help re-gain her perspective of her self and to re-direct her energies back to making herself happy.

Thanks to Nurture Your Books for my review copy. 
Visit Harrie Rose's blog.

Waiting by Ha Jin

It is post revolutionary China, and Lin Kong is a doctor in the Chinese Army.  Years earlier his parents arranged a marriage for him to peasant woman Shuyu.  While she has remained on their farm to raise their daughter and plant and then harvest the crop, Lin is not happy with his marriage.  He has met a Manna Wu, a nurse at the hospital, and wants to divorce Shuyu.

This book had no wild chase scenes, no dramatic outbursts, yet somehow it managed to keep me finding errands to run so that I could get back in my car and turn on my ipod and listen in on a few more minutes of the story.  I kept hoping that Lin would make some dramatic action toward ending his marriage, or that Manna Wu would give him an ultimatum, but it didn't happen.  I didn't find this disappointing as much as I found it totally in keeping with their characters.  I didn't want a doctor and a nurse who could take such spontaneous actions.  By nature they both should be much more methodical and process driven.

I found myself rooting for Shuyu.  She was the backbone of the whole tale.  She kept the farm going, cared for her ailing in-laws and daughter, and provided the family stability the Lin needed for his reputation with the Army.

I don't think that I would want to know Lin Kong.  He never gave a chance to his marriage, didn't try to make it work.  Right from the start he was embarrassed by his wife's bound feet and didn't want it to affect his career.  He used Manna as an excuse to keep from dealing with his failure as a husband.

Spoiler Alert

The final chapters in the this book brought the story round circle.  I can imagine that after Manna passes away, Lin will turn to the only person he can count on to help raise his sons.  He will return to Shuyu who will care for them as though they were her own.

End of Spoiler Alert

I borrowed this Brilliance Audiobook from my library.  It was read by Dick Hill.  Mr. Hill has a steady, clear voice that was quite in keeping with the feeling of this story. 

Ha Jin is the pen name of Xuefei Jin, professor at Boston University.

Waiting won the National Book Award for Fiction in 1999
The PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction in 2000


Cover photo from Brilliance Audio, Brilliance Audio also has a blog titled: AudioBookStand.

This is my 18th book for the Read, Remember, Recommend Fiction Challenge hosted by Bibliobabe.  Visit to find links to dozens of reviews of award winning novels.

Weekend Cooking: Cooks Illustrated Magazine

Back in May, Rob at Books are Like Candy Corn, wrote about a birthday cake he baked for his partner.  I was intrigued.  The recipe had come from something called 'Cook's Illustrated'.  After learning from him that this is a magazine devoted to cooking, I decided to give it a try.

I signed up for a one year membership.  I have now received four editions and wanted to share some of my thoughts on this publication.

• It contains amazingly detailed information.  You don't just get a recipe, you get a complete and understandable explanation of why you need to make the recipe in that particular way.  For example, why it's important to beat the butter and sugar together for several minutes when baking a cake, or why you need to saute your onions for ten minutes on medium heat.
• Multiple tested and re-tested recipes.  The chefs don't just settle for a recipe the first way it turns out, they re-vamp it to make it the best of the best even if it takes dozens of variations.  This way I am ensured that if I follow their directions, my dish is bound to turn out wonderfully.
• Detailed cooking instructions, often accompanied by a series of photos at various stages of preparation.
• Product comparisons.  Both in cooking utensils and ingredients.  I have learned that Baker's Chocolate does not top the list of recommended ingredients as I had been led to believe.  Too bad that few of the recommended products are readily available in my area, but the few that are have been added to my shopping list.

 Unfortunately, on the whole, it is a small thing that derailed this magazine for me.  It mixes all the different types of dishes together.  In one issue you get meat, veggies, baking, all thrown together.  Chances are I won't go back to search out a meat recipe buried in one magazine.  I'd rather go to a cookbook that has two dozen to chose from.  I was all set not to re-new this magazine when I learned that they have special edition magazine. 

I went to the store and bought the "2010 Holiday Cookies" edition and the "Holiday Baking" edition.  Each of these is filled with just one type of dish.  Much more to my liking.  Sixty-four cookies recipes and thirty-two assorted baking (cookies, cakes, pie, fudge, rolls) to indulge my sweet tooth and flour bins.

Now that I have found these special edition magazines, I'll be looking for them throughout the year when ever they become available.  Who knows, I might even venture and purchase a main dish type one.

Please note that I haven't cooked anything from these magazines yet.  Next week I do plan to bake the "Red Velvet" cake shown on the cover of the "Holiday Baking" edition for my niece for her birthday.

Thanks to Rob for the tip off to Cook's Illustrated.

Margot at Joyfully Retired has also posted a review of Cook's Illustrated.

Weekend Cooking is hosted by Beth Fish Reads.  Visit to read all sorts of food related posts.  You are invitied to add your current post to Mr. Linky.

The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck - Audio Book

  Published in 1931, this story is set in rural, pre-revolution China.  Author Pearl S. Buck was born in the United States but moved with her family to China while she was still an infant.  She lived most of her first forty years in China.

This book tells the story of a poor farmer named Wang Lung.  He wants to marry, yet doesn't have to money for a match maker.  His father goes to the local wealthy family, the House of Hwang, and asks for a slave to be the wife for his son. 

From his wedding day forward, the fortunes of Wang and his new wife O-Lan change, mostly for the better.  Not only does O-Lan run the house most efficiently, she also helps with the old father and with the farming.  Two sets of hands in the fields lead to increased crop yields and money. 

As I was listening to this audio book, I wondered if Mrs. Buck had accurately presented the lives of farmers in China at that time.  Several reviews that I checked confirm my impressions.

Spoiler Alert

The other thing that struck me about this book was how the author was able to portray the desperation of the people during the various hardships.  The stoic acceptance by O-Lan  of the death of her second daughter, born during the drought.  I couldn't imagine what Wang went through when he took his newborn daughter from O-Lan, knowing that he would have to let her die so the rest of them could survive, but I could feel his anguish.

Alert Over

I loved this book.  It didn't matter that it was published almost 80 years ago.  It still came across as fresh material and still relevant.  There are still many areas of this world where people farm and try to eke out a living.

Blackstone Audio produced this audio book in 2007.   It was read by Anthony Heald.  Mr. Heald has a very enjoyable reading voice and it added to my enjoyment.

A brief biography of Pearl S. Buck post by the University of Pennsylvania

The Good Earth won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1932.
It was selected for the 2004 Oprah's Book Club.

Book Photo from Wikipedia

This is my 17th book for the Read, Remember, Recommend Challenge hosted by Bibliobabe.

Jane Austen's Birthday - Free ebook offer Thursday, December 16 only

Update: December 16, 1:30 pm
Due to technical difficulties, availability of these products was delayed today.  For that reason the offer has been extended to include Friday, December 17.  Be sure to visit Sourcebook, iBooks, Google Books, Barnes & Noble and Sony to download your copy.

I received the following email Tuesday evening and wanted to pass along the heads up.
Heather


Hi there!!


I wanted to let you know how Sourcebooks is celebrating Jane Austen’s birthday on Thursday – and hopefully you will let your followers know about this great offer!

Thursday, December 16th is Jane Austen’s 235th birthday!

Sourcebooks, the world’s leading publisher of Jane Austen fiction, is offering a unique deal to readers who want to celebrate Jane by reading special editions of all six of Austen’s beloved novels in a 21st century format.

Special e-book editions of Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Sense and Sensibility, Northanger Abbey, Persuasion and Mansfield Park will be available for free for one day only. These celebratory editions include the full novels, plus the legendary color illustrations of the Brock brothers, originally created to accompany the books in 1898.

In addition to the Jane Austen classics, readers can also enjoy these bestselling Austen-inspired novels. The following bestselling e-books will be free on December 16th in honor of her birthday:

Eliza’s Daughter by Joan Aiken
The Darcys & the Bingleys by Marsha Altman
Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife by Linda Berdoll
What Would Jane Austen Do? by Laurie Brown
The Pemberley Chronicles by Rebecca Ann Collins
The Other Mr. Darcy by Monica Fairview
Mr. Darcy’s Diary by Amanda Grange
Mr. & Mrs. Fitzwilliam Darcy: Two Shall Become One by Sharon Lathan
Lydia Bennet’s Story by Jane Odiwe
Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy by Abigail Reynolds

Available wherever eBooks are sold.

Please let me know if you have any questions!
Thanks!

Beth Pehlke
Sourcebooks Publicity

Needlework Tuesday - Snowflake Afghan Finished

During the summer I showed a series of pictures while I was working on this afghan.  Now it's finished and I am so happy.  I had to stop for a while as the pattern didn't call for sufficient variegated yarn to finish the project and I couldn't find any more.  My sister came to the rescue and found some for me.  

There are a few corrections to the pattern which I'll be sending to Red Heart.  Here's the link for the pattern.

Corrections:

This pattern needs 2 balls of white and 6 (not 5) balls of Variegated.  The variegated balls are shorter than the plains.  I did weigh my finished afghan with all the ends, and left over balls and there is no way that I only used 5 balls. 

In the section 'Joining Rnd 7' in line 2, the reference to the 'ch-3 space' should read 'ch-2 space'.

Under Filler Motif, Joining Round 3.  In the 4th line, starting "in next space" should read "In next ch 1 space". 

The border instructions didn't work at all.  I gave up when it told me to work in the chain 5 space.  Well, there are no chain 5 spaces anywhere in the whole project.  I did 5 single crochets in each chain 3 space and 3 in each chain 1 space.   The instructions didn't consider how to deal with the joining between two blocks, so I treated them much like a chain 3 space. 

As you can see from my picture, my version of the border worked out.  As I have told you before, I am not a great crocheter, more a functional one, so there may have been mis-interpretations on my part.   I still need to work in about 300 ends and then I can give it to my niece.

Needlework Tuesday - To Block your Knitting or Not

 I find that it is not always required to block a project once you finish knitting.  In this case, I really needed to do as the scarf was all curled up and didn't look good at all. 

What scarf am I talking about.  It's the one called "Nana Fascinator" from the Mission Falls: East + West book.  I amde this scarf using the 1824 wool from Mission Falls.  I have used it in several projects previously and loved knitting with it.

 Here's one end of the scarf pinned on the towel covered ironing board.  I then steamed it with the iron, being careful not to touch the surfact of the iron to the knitting.  Then left it pinned out over night to dry throughly.

 In this photo you can see the difference that blocking makes.  The left side has not been blocked and is all crumpled up, whereas the right side is lying flat.  The lacy diamonds show up so much better after blocking and the fringe is tidier also.

I didn't get the lighting correct on these photos and the true green is somewhere between the two colours shown. This is a gift for a friend.