Her Fearful Symmetry

When Elspeth dies, she leaves her London area apartment to her twin nieces, Julia and Valentina. These girls are American and have never met their aunt, who also happened to be their mother's twin. The only rule Elspeth sets for the twins to get the apartment is that their parents can never set foot in the place and after a year of living there, they can sell it or do what they want. Julia and Valentina are about 20yrs old and have been to several colleges and have dropped out of each one, they do not have any drive or determination to get on with their lives, they are very happy living at home in a suburb of Chicago. They go to live in the apartment which is on the other side of the wall from Highgate Cemetery. They meet their neighbors along with their aunt's lover who also lives in the building. This book is about sisters, mothers, love, hate, live and death. It is also a ghost story which seems right since it is set next door to a cemetery. There are a couple of twists, one you can figure out pretty easily, the second one you sit back and think to yourself, man, that's f'd up. I liked it, but it is no Time Traveler's Wife.

My Horizontal Life, A Collection of One-night Stands by Chelsea Handler

Let me just say, I love Chelsea Handler. I think she's hilarious. I don't know if that biased me towards this book, maybe, but probably not. I laughed out loud reading this book. It is what it says it is, short essays and stories of her various sexual dalliances. If you are offended by vagina, big penis, little penis, midgets, drugs and vodka, this is not your kind of book. She writes like she is in the room talking to you, telling you the story of her latest night out. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how you look at it, I could relate to more than one of the stories. It really is an easy read, and a nice palliate cleanser after Push.

Push by Sapphire

The movie that is out right now, Precious, is based on this book. I haven't seen the movie, but the book is pretty intense. It follows Precious Jones, and illiterate 16yr old who is pregnant with her second child by her father. She is kicked out of school in part to her pregnancy and sent to an alternative school where she meets a teacher who inspires her to learn to read and write her feelings down in a journal. She also meets classmates who don't judge her or her situation. Through Precious and her journal, we learn about her home life, the repeated rapes by her father and the brutal abuse by her mother. Since it is Precious' story and her words, the language and text is not something we are used to seeing, she should be in the twelf' grade but she is in the ninfe grade, she likes her maff class.

I think I was expecting more because the movie has gotten such acclaim, but it was a good book and grabbed you within the first few pages. It isn't a big novel, but the subject matter is such that it isn't an easy read. It is intense, brutal, repulsive, ugly, depressing, and compelling. I think the thing that really got me was that even though this is a work of fiction, I know that sh*t like this happens more that we want to admit.

Unwind by Neal Shusterman

This book was intense! In a time after the Second Civil War which was fought between the pro-lifers and the pro-choicers, there is now the Bill of Life which states that life is inviolable from conception until the age of 13. Once a child has reached thirteen years they may be retroactively aborted by unwinding. This satisfied both sides because the Unwinds life does not technically end because all of their parts are distributed among others who need or can afford them. This story follows three Unwinds who have escaped and are simply trying to live until their eighteenth birthdays when they can no longer be lawfully unwound.

This book is incredible. It is difficult to read because of the subject matter and impossible to put down at the same time. Even with the terrifying story I would highly recommend it. It is in the same league as The Giver by Lois Lowery and Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. Wow!

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher is a look at teenage suicide through the eyes of the deceased. Hannah has committed suicide and she has thirteen reasons why she chose to end her young life. She has made audio tapes and mailed them to her "reasons" in order of their influence. We spend the night with Clay as he listens to her tapes and remember how viscous and cutthroat high school can be. Two things struck me while reading this book: 1) I never heard a good enough reason for her to commit suicide, is there ever one? and 2) I wish I had known as a teenager what I know now and simply ignored all of the gossip and backstabbing, I would have been much happier. It is an interesting book. I definitely would have picked this one up in high school.

Book Exchange/The Christmas List

I think we all agreed that The Christmas List was a trite piece of trash but we were thankful in the busyness of the season that it was a quick, easy read.

The Book Exchange and Potluck was AMAZING!!! The food, the company, the hilarity! You ladies are all incredible! We had some of the most amazing food...Shrimp Scampi, Antipasto platters, artichoke dip, italian sausage and peppers, spagetti, bruschetta, french bread, wine, tiramasu, coconut cake, gingerbread...it was all wonderful! I am sure I forgot something but I know it was all delicious!

I am looking forward to another incredible year. Look to the left for the new list of Book Genres for the year. That's right, I said it, g-e-n-r-e...deal with it! Ciao!

Joy School by Elizabeth Berg

Do you ever sit down to read a book and decide to like it before you even read the first page? I did this with Joy School. It is written from the perspective of a 13 year old girl who moves to a new school and falls in love with an older man. Her love is unrequited and never once through the entire book did I question that the story wasn't written by a thirteen year old. I liked this book. It isn't earth shattering but Berg is an insightful and comfortable writer which made this story enjoyable.

Shrimp Scampi Gambino Style

Sorry, but I don't have a picture of the scampi. I do have a picture of the cover of the book I got the recipe from, The Mafia Cookbook, by Joseph "Joe Dogs" Iannuzzi. This is more than a cookbook, it is full of stories both inside and outside the mafia, he eventually testifies in eleven different mob trials and goes into the witness protection program. These recipes are tested on the mobsters and the FBI agents assigned to protect Joe. It's a fun book! This recipe he made for Anthony "Fat Andy" Ruggiano, a Gambino capo, Checko Brown, a Colombo family soldier, and Skinny Bobby DeSimone, who after eatting this could no way be skinny! Here is the gut busting buttery goodness that is Shrimp Scampi Gambino Style:

2lbs shrimp

3/4lb (3 sticks, yikes!) softened butter

3 shallots chopped fine

4 cloves garlic , crushed & chopped fine (I used a few more)

Juice of 1/2 lemon

2tbls chopped fresh parsley (I used basil instead)

1/2c plain bread crumbs

1 egg yolk

2tsp Red Devil hot sauce (I used Franks Red Hot)

Salt & pepper to taste

Clean & devein shrimp, place them in a large flat pan. Mix butter, shallots, garlic, lemon juice, parsley, bread crumbs, egg yolk, hot sauce & salt/pepper in bowl (I used my hands). Spoon over raw shrimp. Place under broiler for 3-5min, checking occasionally so they do not overcook. Spoon excess melted sauce (BUTTER!) over shrimp & serve. I warmed this up the next day over pasta...mmmm, butter & shrimp & pasta & wine....