What I've Been Reading

I've had a few books on the go lately and thought I should share.
(All images from www.amazon.com)

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

This was a compelling read.  I've heard great reviews of the movie but wanted to read it first.  It may have been because we are here in the southwest, but I could 'hear' the voices of all the characters so clearly.  I'm glad we live in more enlightened times (comparatively), but I fear there are still echoes of these relationships still sounding.

Canning for a New Generation by Liana Krissoff

A girl after my own heart.  As I've been looking for canning / preserving recipes over the summer I have been restricted by the lack of variety in recipes, and that many of them call for way more produce than I can deal with (i.e. start with 100 lbs tomatoes).  This beautiful book has adventurous recipes (cardamom plum jam, cumin and paprika pickled turnips, etc.) alongside more traditional ones (strawberry preserves, grape jelly, all-purpose tomato sauce, etc.), and uses a variety of preserving methods (fermentation, freezing, water-bath, freeze-drying, overflow).  It also deals with smaller batches, which is ideal for me.  I hope this copy is available in the library next time I find I have a glut of something from our food co-op.  The tomato sauce is really good, by the way!

Agatha Christie and the Eleven Missing Days by Jared Cade

I love reading Agatha Christie mysteries and thrillers.  She is definitely the 'Queen of Crime' for me, so this biography was interesting to read.  I had completely missed the fact she was a 'missing person' for 11 days in 1926.  The book is an account of her life and draws deeply from family sources and Christie's books.  It was a bit sad in places, and given her dislike of any reference to her disappearance, I felt a little guilty to be reading about it in such detail!  It has made me want to go back and re-read some of her mysteries and find some more of her pseudonymous works (under the name Mary Westmacott).

Extra Yarn by Mac Barnett

And something lighthearted to finish with.  Extra Yarn is a picture book with delightful illustrations by the conceptual artist for Coraline, Jon Klassen.  It follows the knitting of Annabelle, whose box of yarn always has some extra.  And it has a little moral for the greedy too. ;o)