Sheet Cakes! More than 50 Exceptional Cakes to Make in One Pan by Zola Gregory

 

Reviewed by Jeanne

As we all know, I don’t cook or bake.  Part of the reason is clean-up, which seems to take longer than cooking and eating combined.  Naturally, the “one pan” aspect caught my eye, so I decided to investigate this book as sometimes someone will ask me to bring something to a gathering.  (This is not a mistake they make twice. The second time I will be asked to bring napkins and plates.)

The first section of the book has some helpful information about the various processes, including how to combine ingredients (stirring, creaming, or foaming), tips (after pouring the batter in, tap the pan on the counter a couple of times to eliminate bubbles), and definitions.

Recipes come next and they range from simple to complex.  Rolled cakes are included as are concoctions with fruit. The book is divided up by “Sweet and Subtle”, “Fresh and Fruity”, “Sugar and Spice”, “All Things Chocolate”, and “Layer and Stacked”.  I liked that the cakes titles give hints about the cake itself (“Stir-and-Bake Raspberry Cake”) rather that some clever or cutesy name that doesn’t really tell you what sort of cake it is. 

The instructions seem clear and the author gives the number of servings, which is helpful when baking for a crowd.  The book is illustrated with clear color photographs.  Calorie counts are not given, which is probably just as well.

This would be a good choice for someone preparing for family and friends, and who would like to debut a new dessert. There’s a wide selection, from fun and easy to sophisticated.

Me, I’ve been asked to bring napkins and plates.

Nevermore: Wartime Journal of a Georgia Girl, Calamity Club, Partita

 

Nevermore 10-20-26                  Reported by Rita

The Wartime Journal of a Georgia Girl, 1864-1865 by Eliza Frances Andrews

In the fall of 1864 General Sherman and his army cut a ruinous swath across Georgia, and outraged Southerners steeled themselves for defeat. Threatened by the approach of the Union army, young Eliza Frances Andrews and her sister Metta fled from their home in Washington, Georgia, to comparative safety in the southwestern part of the state. The daughter of a prominent judge who disapproved of secession, Eliza kept a diary that fully registers the anger and despair of Confederate citizens during the last months of the Civil War. Traveling across Georgia, Eliza observes Sherman's devastation. A lively social life is maintained at her eldest sister's plantation, where she and Metta take refuge, but Eliza's sense of doom is clear. Rumors are rife-the fall of Richmond, the surrender of General Lee, the imminent approach of the Yankees. On returning to the family home, she sees the Old South crumble before her eyes.

It was striking how challenging travel could be at that time. It was a very interesting story and eye-opening.     -CD     5 stars

 

The Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett

In 1933 Oxford, Mississippi, Prohibition is on the wane, and the Great Depression is tightening its grip. Poor and rich folks alike have fallen on hard times, even as the old social order remains. For women on the margins, the options are few and the price of dignity and self-determination is unbearably high. Eleven-year-old Meg, one of the unadoptable “big girls” at the Lafayette County Orphan Asylum, fights each day to keep her spirit unbowed. Birdie, unmarried and outspoken, has come to Oxford on a mission to ask her social-climbing sister to help the struggling family she’s left behind. And Charlie is a woman with a past, running low on luck but driven by fire, fury, and grit. When their fates converge, they come up with an audacious plan to take back control of their lives. Together, they form an unlikely sisterhood--but in a place and time where hypocrisy is rife, women’s freedom is fragile, and making an enemy can have dire consequences, will the price they pay for their outrageous risk-taking be too high?

This book was fun and funny. What a ride!     -VC     4 stars

 

Partita by Barbara Kingsolver

Livia Cable has made her peace with her marriage and modest livelihood in the farm country where she grew up, until a shocking phone call from an old lover shakes her to the core. Decades earlier, this man knew her as Livia Bohusz, a music conservatory student estranged from her home and family, uncertain of anything except her passion for music and promise as an extraordinary pianist. His request, now, to see her again stirs up ghosts she’s kept at bay for a lifetime. Shifting between past and present, Livia’s decision to meet or reject the reunion means confronting step by step, in memories framed as musical dances, the traumas of childhood loss, abandonment, self-immolating passion, and perilous attachment to a man who broke her belief in love and ruptured the course of her life.

This was a really good book. I learned a lot about music.     -CW     4 stars

 Other Books Mentioned 

Our Brains, Our Selves by Masud Husain

Letters Home - A Collection of Original Civil War Soldiers' Letters / Antietam - Gettysburg - Chancellorsville - From the Collection of Alan Sessarego

Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy: Four Women Undercover in the Civil War by Karen Abbott

Caramelo by Sandra Cisneros

Cavedweller by Dorothy Allison

Under the Dome by Stephen King

Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard by Kiran Desai

Looking for Me by Beth Hoffman

Come From Away by Genevieve Graham

The Day the World Came to Town by Jim DeFede

The Daisy Chain Flower Shop by Laurie Gilmore

Violet Thistlewaite Is Not a Villain Anymore by Emily Krempholtz

 

New Books

Agrippa: A Novel of Ancient Rome's Descent into Dictatorship by Robert Harris

Hiroshima, 8:15: The Lost Memoir by Kiyoshi Tanimoto

10 to 25: The Science of Motivating Young People: A Groundbreaking Approach to Leading the Next Generation--And Making Your Own Life Easier by David Yeager

The Memory Bookshop by Song Yu-jeong

Fetal Position by Carolyn Huynh (Advance Review)

 

Fetal Position by Carolyn Huynh (publication date 12-1-26)

Reviewed by Kristin

Imagine if in just a few generations the global birth rate plunged. You really don’t have to imagine that; the current rate is less than half what it was in the mid-20^th century. Imagine that governments and private corporations also wanted to influence people’s personal and reproductive decisions. Again, do we really have to imagine?

In this dystopian near future scenario, Lena Do is a successful professional woman. Men no longer hold many leadership roles, as they have been found to be the weaker gender. In order to combat the “male loneliness epidemic” the United States government even arranges and financially supports dinner dates between men and women. Robot assistants are common, both domestic and in the workplace.

Amidst all the corporate grind and the grim prospects in finding a partner, Lena is burnt out. She begins seeing advertisements for a company called Hatch which promises a leisurely and well paid life to “high-value” women in exchange for just one little task—being human incubators and saving the world population.

Lena has no family. Her mother died suddenly many years ago, and Lena was one of the early embryos conceived using lab grown sperm. No father, no siblings, no cousins. No one.

Lena takes the leap and joins Hatch. The new recruits are transported to their new community in luxury, and everything looks promising. Of course they can leave at any time they wish. Consent is everything. But the utopia is not entirely as it seems, and Lena starts asking questions. As women disappear and others begin to forget their former lives, Lena fights through her own mental fog to discover the true motives of the Hatch leadership. Will she succeed? No spoilers here.

I highly recommend this book.

Thanks to NetGalley and publisher Atria Books for an advance copy!

Some People by Parini Shroff

 

Reviewed by Jeanne

Nathan Whitlock is startled to receive a call from the hospital about his mother-in-law, Malti Patel.  Well, soon to be ex-mother-in-law. With her daughter Kavya studying in India, Nathan is the only contact they can find and he dutifully goes to check on Malti.

Trouble is, Malti and Nathan have never really gotten along.  From Nathan’s point of view, Malti is stubborn, judgmental, and unreasonable.  Of course, from Malti’s point of view, Nathan is the same.  Can these two possibly stand each other for a week?

I love good characterization and this book relies on exactly that.  It’s pretty much just these two characters trying to navigate a constrained space, butting heads, and coming to some interesting realizations.  Shroff uses these two to provide some thoughtful commentary about gender divides, cultural divides, and even generational divides, and does so in a delightful manner.  There is so much humor in the book, which is a great disarming technique.  I found myself agreeing with both characters, even as they gradually let down their guards to consider another point of view, and to examine assumptions they have made. It’s quite the feat for the author to have created two sympathetic characters who are so at odds. The one thing they both agree on is that they love Kavya, and that both of them have let her down. They also realize that they are more alike than is comfortable. Malti even says at one point that she was so determined to keep Kavya from marrying a man like her father that she didn’t notice she married her mother.

The other thing that I love is that even as the two learn to view each other differently, it doesn’t make everything all hunky-dory. They still butt heads and get on each other’s nerves; they’re also just a little more open—maybe because they are also both aware that when the divorce is final, they won’t have any ties to each other. They can feel free to say what they like, because soon it won’t matter.

It also gave me food for thought about my own relatives and, well, I guess myself. Because Shroff isn’t into pointing fingers or declaring one thing right and another wrong, it’s all but impossible to get defensive.  As Nathan points out, we are more than the sum of our mistakes. And we can’t control what other people perceive or remember.

Funny, moving, and wise, this is a real gem.  And did I mention funny?

Nevermore: Lost Souls Meet Under a Full Moon, Bandit Queens, Secret Society of Librarians

 

Nevermore 10-13-26           Reported by Rita

 

Lost Souls Meet Under a Full Moon by Mizuki Tsujimura, Yuki Tejima (Translator)

When a young woman from Tokyo contacts the Go-Between to request a meeting with a deceased TV star who once helped her, she doesn’t expect a teenage boy to show up. Dressed in a designer duffel coat and carrying a tattered notebook, Ayumi Shibuya, our mysterious intermediary, offers an extraordinary service: he reunites the living with their dearly departed. Meeting his clients at a luxury hotel, Ayumi lays down the ground rules: each reunion is a one-time arrangement that the dead can refuse; the service is entirely free, and the meeting must take place during a full moon.

I found this book to be enchanting, very well-written, beautiful, and thoroughly enjoyable.     -MS     5 stars 

 

The Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff

Geeta's no-good husband disappeared five years ago. She didn't kill him, but everyone thinks she did--no matter how much she protests. But she soon discovers that being known as a "self-made" widow has some surprising perks. No one messes with her, no one threatens her, and no one tries to control (ahem, marry) her. It's even been good for her business; no one wants to risk getting on her bad side by not buying her jewelry. Freedom must look good on Geeta, because other women in the village have started asking for her help to get rid of their own no-good husbands...but not all of them are asking nicely. Now that Geeta's fearsome reputation has become a double-edged sword, she must decide how far to go to protect it, along with the life she's built. Because even the best-laid plans of would-be widows tend to go awry.

I enjoyed learning about another culture. I also liked the interaction of the women and how they watched out for each other despite their differences.     -MH     4 stars

 

The Secret Society of Librarians by Kate Thompson

The Secret Society of Librarians is a heartbreaking yet heartwarming wartime library-set novel, inspired by real people, real stories, and extensive research. Meeting through real-life Secret Society of Librarians in London, two women form a close bond. When WW2 hits, they take their libraries underground, creating create a roaming underground library. But when one of them is taken to Poland and a concentration camp, they think there is no chance of ever being reunited again... This is an inspirational, true and compelling story about friendship, everyday bravery and the power of books, with a dual narrative set between London and Poland in the 1940s.

I didn't care for the dual timeline, but it was still really interesting.     -WJ     5 stars

Other Books Mentioned

The Hocus Pocus Spell Book by Eric Geron

If You Didn't Bring Jerky, What Did I Just Eat?: Misadventures in Hunting, Fishing, and the Wilds of Suburbia by Bill Heavey

Worse Than Slavery: Parchman Farm and the Ordeal of Jim Crow Justice by David M. Oshinsky

Off the Record: A Vietnam War Nurse's Journal by Fay Ferington

When Ghosts Come Home by Wiley Cash

The Skeleton and the Cat by Brandon James Scott

Astarion: Baldur's Gate 3 by T. Kingfisher

 

New Books

The Birthing Tree by Amanda Peters

Siren Says by Jennifer Michelle Herrera

Fallingwater photos: Christopher Little, editor: Lynda Waggoner

The Ghost of the Mountains: Unraveling the Secrets of the Snow Leopard by Kulbhushansingh Suryawanshi

The Everest Mystery: Sandy Irvine, George Mallory, and the Truth Still Buried on Everest by Julie Summers and Jochen Hemmleb

New in November!

 

Fiction

Armstrong, Jess The Lost Souls of Saint Oda’s (Ruby Vaughn)

Baldacci, David  All In  (6:20 Man)

Battles, Brett Stuart Woods’ Hostile Intent

Borgos, Bruce  The Riddle Maker (Beck Porter)

Bowen, Rhys  To Crown It All (Royal Spyness)

Boyd, William Cold Sunset  (Gabriel Dax)

Bradley, Alan Numb Were the Beadsman’s Fingers (Flavia de Luce)

Coble, Colleen  She Will End This

Cussler, Dirk Clive Cussler Obsidian Sky (Dirk Pitt)

Deaver, Jeffery  The Collateral Heart  (Lincoln Rhyme)

Estep, Jennifer  Queen of Foxes

Evanovich, Janet  Split Second (Stephanie Plum)

Finch, Charles  Midnight in the House of Commons (Charles Lenox)

Graham, Heather  Destiny Rising

Greenwood, Kerry  Murder in the Cathedral (Phryne Fisher)

Griffiths, Elly The Killing Time (Ali Dawson)

Hamilton, Laurell K. A Glimmer of Death (Merry Gentry)

Harkaway, Nick The Taper Man ( John Le Carre’s Circus)

Jance, J.A. The Taken Ones (Beaumont)

Jensen, Danielle L. Defy the Dusk

Johnson, Craig  Have Courage: Longmire Stories

Klune, TJ Murmuration

Krempholtz, Emily Prudence Marsh Is Not a Nobody Anymore

Lupica, Mike Robert B. Parker’s Framed (Spenser)

Margolin, Phillip Conspiracy Theory

McFadden, Freida The Gift  (short story)

Paretsky, Sara Bad Company

Patterson, James The Murder Trial

Peterson, Tracie  Devoted to Love

Rankin, Ian  The Heights

Roberts, Nora  Birth of the Witch (Coven of Three)

Scalzi, John Monsters of Ohio

Score, Lucy Heist Before Christmas (Riley Thorn)

Shaara, Jeff The Unfinished Work:  A Novel of Abraham Lincoln

Steel, Danielle  Celebration

Williams, Niall  O Now!

Woodward, M.P. Tom Clancy the Coldest War (Jack Ryan)

Wrobel, Stephanie Revenge Plot

Yarros, Rebecca Peculiar Stars

Nonfiction

Burton, LeVar  Take My Word for It: A Memoir

Cameron, Julia Blasting Through Blocks: An Artist’s Way Guide to Unleashing Your Inner Creativity

Dench, Judi  Is It Too Late to Make a Run for It?

Gleick, James The Telephone: A New History

Greene, Robert The Law of the Sublime

Hansen, James R. Solo and Together: Charles and Anne Morrow Lindbergh, an Enigmatic Life and Marriage

Hoffman, Dustin Look at Me

Lembke, Anna Radical Surrender: Letting Go in a World Addicted to Control

Sinise, Gary Graceful Warrior: The True Story of a Son, a Father, and a Family Who Carried Each Other Through

Hard Candy Christmas: A Talbot & Andrews Investigation by Susan M. Boyer

 

Reviewed by Jeanne

Liz Talbot, her husband Nate Andrews, and Liz’s family are at the airport seeing her brother and his family off for Christmas in Italy. It’s an emotional send-off, but nothing compared to what happens next:  an officer shows up to inform them that Frank, Liz’s father, has been accused of murder.

It’s not a recent murder, either. The bones that turned up in the swamp had been there for decades, maybe since the 1990s.  They belong to Paul Miller, who was married to Frank’s sister Sharon.  It’s safe to say Frank was not a fan.  He was heard arguing with, and threatening, Paul in 1998—and Paul was never seen again.

Although Liz’s mother Carolyn had forbidden Liz and Nate from resuming their careers as investigators, she’s willing to make an exception now.  Fortunately, Liz has Colleen, her best friend for life—and afterlife.  Colleen died when she was 17, but hangs around to keep a watchful eye on the island they both love and call home.  While Colleen can’t intervene, she can offer advice, cryptic though it may have to be.

The problem isn’t just that the murder happened so long ago. Paul Miller had a checkered past, to put it mildly: one that included drug running, violence, intimidation, and who knows what else. A lot of people weren’t sorry to see the last of Paul Miller.

With an arrest looming, and her father in fragile health, Liz and Nate are racing against time to find the real killer or else this could their last family Christmas together.

I’ve read and enjoyed entries in both of Boyer’s other series, the Liz Talbot Mystery series and the Carolina Tales series. She creates memorable characters, none more so than Colleen, the ghostly best friend with a sense of humor. Colleen who acts as a sort of guardian angel for Stella Maris, the fictional South Carolina island the characters call home.  Colleen is a treasure.  The setting has a wonderful Southern vibe to it, and I really appreciate Boyer’s gentle sense of humor.

I particularly enjoyed the plot in this one.  I freely admit that I didn’t see the answer coming but the solution felt plausible and satisfying.  The ends were tied up just right, including some I didn’t know need to be tied until I read it. While there can be tough times and unlikeable people, there is an underlying sweetness that has a great attraction for me.

There is a list of characters in the front of the book which appears a bit daunting but don’t let that deter you.  This book brings together characters from her other series, but you needn’t have read all of them to enjoy this book.

Fun note: the title is a Dolly Parton song, and each chapter has the title of a different Christmas carol.

I’m very much looking forward to Liz and Nate’s next adventure!

Full disclosure:  I was sent an Advance Reader’s Copy of the book but the opinions expressed are my own.