The Small House at Allington Readalong

Book number five, we're getting close to the end! The plot summary of The Small House at Allington (below) is the first one that sounds like something I'd pick it up with no prior knowledge. 

"Engaged to the ambitious and self-serving Adolphus Crosbie, Lily Dale is devastated when he jilts her for the aristocratic Lady Alexandrina. Although crushed by his faithlessness, Lily still believes she is bound to her unworthy former fiance for life and therefore condemned to remain single after his betrayal. And when a more deserving suitor pays his addresses, she is unable to see past her feelings for Crosbie. 

Written when Trollope was at the height of his popularity, The Small House at Allington contains his most admired heroine in Lily Dale a young woman of independent spirit who nonetheless longs to be loved and is a moving dramatization of the ways in which personal dilemmas are affected by social pressures." 

Up next on the schedule: 

October: The Last Chronicle of Barset

Share your wrap up post with all of us at the end of the month and tweet your thoughts at #Trollope2014.

Cook it Up: The Mediterranean Slow Cooker Cookbook

 
Cook it Up – A Cookbook Challenge

Trish is hosting a fun event to encourage us all to dig a bit deeper into our cookbooks. So I decided to join the fun and check out a Mediterranean cookbook.

 

The Mediterranean Slow Cooker Cookbook

by Salinas Press

★★★

 

I am a huge fan of my slow cooker. When everyone in your household works full time, having a slow cooker can be the difference between a stressful night and a relaxing meal. Lately I’ve been on a Mediterranean food kick, so this was a perfect pairing.

 

There are 101 recipes split into different categories. I love that the ingredients focus on fresh vegetables, fruits, fish, whole grains and heart-healthy fats. I love using my slow cooker, but I am not a fan of recipes that tell you to dump in three cans of condensed soup and a stick of butter. Eating a meal that I cook fresh in the evening lets me control the ingredients I’m using, so I love that this slow cooker cookbook does too.

 

(Sausage Fennel Minestrone)

Now the down side to that is that from what I saw most of the recipes require a lot of prep work. For me, this isn’t a deal breaker, it just depends on my mood. If I make a slow cooker recipe that has lots of prep, I make the whole thing the night before and pop it in the fridge. Then in the morning I just start up the slow cooker. 

One aspect I loved about the book was the inclusion of slow cooker tips at the beginning of the book. I’m new enough to the world of cooking that I learn something new every time I read one of those. One thing I disliked was the prep time and cook times were not included in each recipe. I also wish that I’d had a hardcopy of the cookbook instead of an e-book. I like to make notes on my recipes while cooking and I really like seeing photos of the finished product with each review. I definitely don’t think cooking with e-cookbooks works well for me.

There were a ton of soup recipes that looked great, but the first one I tried was the Sausage Fennel Minestrone. It turned out well, great flavor and consistency. It did take a ton of prep work and in the end the Huz and I both thought it was good but not worth the work. I did love that it got me to use a few ingredients that are outside of my comfort zone like fennel and orecchiette pasta.

BOTTOM LINE: A good cookbook if you love Mediterranean food, which I do. A little too much prep work for some people and it would definitely work better as a hardcopy cookbook instead of an e-book. I'm looking forward to trying more recipes from it.

 

I received an ebook version of the cookbook for an honest review.
 

Photo of minetrone by moi.

In Certain Circles



In my quest to read books set in Australia and New Zealand before my trip there next month I have encountered some interesting books. When I was sent a copy of In Certain Circles I realized the story behind the novel is almost more fascinating than the book itself. Decades after it was written, this quiet novel is finally seeing the light of day.

In Certain Circles
by Elizabeth Harrower
★★★

Set in Sydney, we meet two sets of siblings, Zoe and Russell, a wealthy pair whose lives are brimming with possibility and then Stephen and Anna, who are from a lower class and recently orphaned. We follow the four characters through a few decades of their lives. Despite their best efforts their paths cross and crisscross again and again. Zoe and Russell both leave for Europe, but eventually find themselves back in Sydney. Anna and Stephen must work to make ends meet, their options much more limited because of their situations. 

The book has a distant feel that radiates from every page. Even when I was reading about what a character was thinking I still didn’t feel like I understood why they felt that way. It was also odd that all the major action of the book, falling in love, weddings, death, etc. seems to happen off screen. All we see as the reader is the aftermath and the quiet reflection of the decisions. That’s not always a bad thing, but in this case it just felt like you were missing crucial parts of the story.

BOTTOM LINE: Some of the writing was beautiful and profound, but the stiff nature of the novel left me feeling cold. I wished I’d had the chance to get to know the characters better. I felt like I was never welcome into their certain circles. 

“When you head anyone rave on about the problems of youth, you want to say: wait till they’re adults! As if “growing up” finished when you were twenty-one. Or forty.”
 
“Social behavior was just another way of telling lies.” 
 
“She wrote: I wish –  And crossed it out. She wrote: I hope –  And crossed it out. She wrote in very small letters, as though she meant to hide them even from herself: Goodbye.” 

**I received a review copy for an honest review.