The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender

Read by Aimee Bender

8 hours, 53 minutes

Published June 2010 by Doubleday

Publisher's Summary:

On the eve of her ninth birthday, unassuming Rose Edelstein, a girl at the periphery of schoolyard games and her distracted parents' attention, bites into her mother's homemade lemon-chocolate cake and discovers she has a magical gift: she can taste her mother's emotions in the cake. She discovers this gift to her horror, for her mother - her cheerful, good-with-crafts, can-do mother-tastes of despair and desperation. Suddenly, and for the rest of her life, food becomes a peril and a threat to Rose.

The curse her gift has bestowed is the secret knowledge all families keep hidden-her mother's life outside the home, her father's detachment, her brother's clash with the world. Yet as Rose grows up she learns to harness her gift and becomes aware that there are secrets even her taste buds cannot discern.

My Thoughts:

This book has been on my TBR for probably almost since it was published in 2010. At the time it was all over Goodreads so on to the TBR it went. To be honest, I had no recollection what it was about when I found that my library had it on audiobook. To be honest, since 2010, I've developed a much better idea of the kind of books I like and the kinds that don't work for me. Books with things like a magical gift of tasting emotion in food would likely have steered me away from this book had I read the summary before I started listening to the book. 

You know how sometimes I tell you that I'm happy I didn't read the summary of a book and get scared off by it or how I'm happy that I pushed myself to read something that's outside of what I normally pick up? I'm sorry to say that this was not one of those times. It's an interesting premise. I just wish it would have gone in a different direction, been more about how Rose was able to use her gift. Instead it's much more about how she learns to stifle it and also much more about Rose's brother, Joseph, the golden child who descends into the unknown. It's an unknown only Rose is first aware of and it will, eventually, tie into Rose's own gift. That felt like it's own story to me. 

But let's go back to 2010, when this book was published and Goodreads was all aflutter about it. They weren't alone. Jane Ciabattari, writing for NPR, was impressed with what Bender crafted, as was Susan Salter Reynold, writing for the L. A. Times. So maybe I should have read that summary, passed on the book, and spare you my opinion of this one. Clearly it wasn't for me (at least not at this time) but it certainly has worked for so many others. Perhaps you'd be one of them. 

The Descendents by Kaui Hart Hemmings

The Descendents by Kaui Hart Hemings

Read by Jonathan Davis 

9 hrs, 13 mins

Published May 2007 by Random House

Publisher's Summary: 

Matthew King was once considered one of the most fortunate men in Hawaii. His missionary ancestors who came to the islands were financially and culturally progressive-one even married a Hawaiian princess, making Matt a royal descendant and one of the state's largest landowners. But now his luck has changed. His two daughters are out of control-10-year-old Scottie has a smart-ass attitude and a desperate need for attention and 17-year-old Alex, a former model, is a recovering drug addict. His thrill-seeking and high-maintenance wife, Joanie, lies in a coma after a boat racing accident, and will soon be taken off life support. The King family can hardly picture life without their charismatic mother, but as they come to terms with this tragedy, their sadness is mixed with a sense of freedom that shames them-and spurs them into surprising actions.

My Thoughts: 

Like so many movies I've seen, I wasn't aware, when I watched the movie adaptation of this book (which starred George Clooney, Matthew Lillard, and Shailene Woodley and which was directed by Alexander Payne) that it was a book adaptation. In fact, I only realized much later when I came across the book in the store and picked it up for my husband. He has never read it. Neither have I. Not because we didn't both enjoy the movie; we did. But it just got buried. So when I found it in audio at my library, I grabbed it up. 

First up: I'm sure Jonathan Davis does a fine job of narrating this book. I mean, he does do a fine job of narrating this book. It's just that I so badly wanted George Clooney, who played Matt King in the movie and narrated the movie, to also be narrating the book. I have no idea what it would have cost to have had him do that but it would have been worth every penny. Well, at least I think so. 

As for the adaptation of the book: it's an exceedingly good adaptation of a book. All of the characters in the book appear in the movie, very much as they appear in the book, although they are, understandably more fleshed out in the book. It's a good movie and I highly recommend it. But watch the movie first and then read the book; because, well, you know if you've ever read the book before you see the movie, it's never exactly what you expect. 

Now, as for the book itself: I'm a new fan of Hemmings. This book is a marvelous combination of humor and sadness. The humor is often dark but sometimes it's just plain funny. Watching Matt King come to terms with his failures as a father and a husband is a lesson in how character development should be done. Hemmings covers a range of subjects, as you can tell from the summary: marriage, infidelity, drug abuse, parenting, family dynamics, dying and death. Into all of that, she's also managed to craft the tale of the descendants of the last Hawaiian princess as they navigate what should be done with the land they have inherited, land most of them are eager to sell, particularly in light of the amount of money being thrown at them. Matthew is all for it, the decision is just which buyer will he recommend to his family. But life sometimes throws things our way which make us rethink everything. 

Now that I've finally "read" this one, I'm ready for a rewatch of the movie. And to find more of Hemmings writings! 

Life: It Goes On - July 10

Happy Sunday and happy birthday to my great-nephew, who I used to call The Little Prince except now we have three little princes on my side of the family!

Last night The Big Guy and I did the stupidest thing. Well, maybe not the stupidest thing (I'm sure we've done stupider things - like buying a mauve sofa in 1984); but this was right up there. Mini-him gave us a give us a gift certificate to a nice (read expensive) steakhouse so off we headed to finally use that gift. Sometime after we'd ordered, we realized that neither of us had remembered to bring the gift certificate. Always nice to spend $100 more than you were planning on spending! Where's that slapping hand over face emoji when I need it?! I'd like to say this is the first time we've ever done this but it's not. 

Last Week I: 

 Listened To: The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake, which I finished and I got back to Quiet by Susan Cain, which is making me feel much better about my introversion. 

Watched: My doc has me on a higher does of the med for my nerve pain and it's making me so sleepy that every time I sit down to watch tv, I fall asleep! 

Read: Eleanor Brown's latest, Any Other Family. Speaking of reading, I say on CBS Sunday Morning, a piece about Delia Owens, who wrote Where The Crawdads Sing. Did you know she is now 73 and that it took her 10 years to write that book? Maybe there's still time for me to become the writer I dreamed about being for so many years!

Made: Strawberry rhubarb crisp, two kinds of flatbread pizzas, and, of course, salads.

Whiskey and Bone on the left

Enjoyed: Last night we went to a grand opening of a salon where they had invited a number of vendors to help them celebrate, including Miss H's roommate who owns the incredible Whiskey and Bone. BG might tell you I have a little problem with spending money with Whiskey and Bone - I now own 17 of her stackers and I'm not even sure how many pairs of earrings. But I would just call it doing my bit to support small business! 

This Week I’m:  

Planning: On finishing a project I started yesterday - spray painting a baker's rack my friend gave me that lives on my patio. So excited to finally be working on "projects" again! 

Thinking About: Tomorrow will the 17 months since my mom died and I have been thinking about her so much lately. She loved the Fourth of July - the breakfast, the fireworks and watching her grandchildren enjoy them, the history, the gatherings. 

Feeling: So much better! I started physical therapy Wednesday and while I'm not yet ready to call my therapist a miracle worker, that might just be what he is. 

Looking forward to: Continuing to see improvement with my back so that I can also look forward to getting another project knocked out next weekend. I have a table that was BG's great-grandmothers that I think won't take too much work (although I can't tell you how often I've thought that before and been so wrong!). 

Question of the week: Ok, this is a weird one. Last night we walked from the celebration to the restaurant (a walk, I might add, I was not planning on making and had not dressed accordingly for, given the heat). By the time we got there, my hair was sopping with sweat and it was rolling down my face. Am I the only one whose head sweats so much more than the rest of my body?! Please tell me I'm not alone!

The Children On The Hill by Jennifer McMahon

The Children On The Hill by Jennifer McMahon

352 pages

Published April 2022 by Gallery/Scout Press

Source: my copy courtesy of the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review

Publisher's Summary:

1978: At her renowned treatment center in picturesque Vermont, the brilliant psychiatrist, Dr. Helen Hildreth, is acclaimed for her compassionate work with the mentally ill. But when she’s home with her cherished grandchildren, Vi and Eric, she’s just Gran—teaching them how to take care of their pets, preparing them home-cooked meals, providing them with care and attention and love.

Then one day Gran brings home a child to stay with the family. Iris—silent, hollow-eyed, skittish, and feral—does not behave like a normal girl.

Still, Violet is thrilled to have a new playmate. She and Eric invite Iris to join their Monster Club, where they catalogue all kinds of monsters and dream up ways to defeat them. Before long, Iris begins to come out of her shell. She and Vi and Eric do everything together: ride their bicycles, go to the drive-in, meet at their clubhouse in secret to hunt monsters. Because, as Vi explains, monsters are everywhere.

2019: Lizzy Shelley, the host of the popular podcast Monsters Among Us, is traveling to Vermont, where a young girl has been abducted, and a monster sighting has the town in an uproar. She’s determined to hunt it down, because Lizzy knows better than anyone that monsters are real—and one of them is her very own sister.

My Thoughts:

In 1818, Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus, essentially creating a new genre and making her readers rethink what the word "monster" really means. This year, Jennifer McMahon, who always manages to keep me on the edge of my seat and is one of the only horror writers I will read, puts her own spin on that idea. 

In The Children On The Hill, we're introduced to Lizzy Shelley, a modern day monster hunter, the kind you'd find in shows on the Travel channel. She doesn't entirely believe in the kind of monsters that she's hunting but she does believe in monsters because she's seen them in action. As we meet her, Lizzy is off on another chase to research a legendary monster who her sister may be using as the foil for her own monstrous acts. 

Throughout the book, we move back and forth in time, between the children's search for the truth about Iris's past and Lizzy's search for her sister. McMahon also weaves in pieces from the children's Book of Monsters, excerpts from a book called The True Story of the Hillside Inn, and the voice of the monster, herself. Throughout, McMahon keeps building the tension, as she slowly reveals the truth about what happened in 1978 and the truth about the monster. All of it builds to first one big surprise and then a final twist I never saw coming. I know, I know, you're thinking that it's not the least bit unusual for me not to see the twists coming. But I promise you that you won't see that final one coming, either. 

It's been a long time since I've read one of McMahon's books, although I've been meaning to pick them up again for years. This book did not disappoint and has been more eager than ever to pick up more of McMahon's books. They are just the kind of horror stories I can handle - loads of tension but not a lot of gore and always plenty to make readers think. But even if you're not a wimp like I am, I think you'll enjoy this one. 

Life: It Goes On - July 3

Happy Sunday! I hope you all are getting to enjoy a 3-day weekend! What are your plans for the Fourth? We are going to have friends for dinner tonight and then will watch the fireworks display our neighbor puts on every year. It's really impressive. In the morning we'll head into Lincoln to watch my dad give his annual talk at his neighborhood's 47th annual Fourth of July breakfast. This I'm celebrating revolting against tyranny.

Last Week I: 

 Listened To: The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake, which has been on my TBR for years. Sadly, I'm not loving it but I'm not yet half way through it so I'll see if it can change my mind. 

Watched: College World Series baseball, some HGTV, and last night, with Miss H, we watched Dear Evan Hansen, which she had not seen yet. 

Read: Eleanor Brown's Any Other Family. The jury's still out on this one, too. It has promise and there's a lot to like about it. 

Made: Um, yeah, not much again. Tonight I'm going to make a strawberry rhubarb crisp and we're going to try making watermelon gin and tonics with rhubarb bitters. 

Enjoyed: The Big Guy's brother and sister-in-law made the move from their home in Iowa to the condominium they've owned in Lincoln for several years so we went in to offer them encouragement and a little help. His kids had come in to help so we were excited to see them and Miss H and Mini-him came with us so it was a big old reunion as the "kids" hadn't seen each other in quite a while. 

This Week I’m:  

Planning: Surprise, surprise - we came home from Lincoln yesterday with some new things so I'm planning on a little rearranging around here. Miss H actually grabbed an end table that was destined for the Goodwill because she saw potential in it and has a plan. Which means that we have to store it until she has time to work on it and room for it. But I'm pretty proud that she's inherited my eye for how to remake things into pieces you can use and love. 

Thinking About: Work. More on that next week. 

Feeling: Happy. I got a weekend with my girl, including pedicures, we got to see lots of family, and I got to have dinner with my Tier Ones last week. 

Looking forward to: Starting physical therapy this week. 

Question of the week: