Good Reads: The Year of Fog

"Here is the the truth, this is what I know: there is a girl, her name is Emma. We were walking on the beach, it was cold and very foggy. She let go of my hand; I looked away to take a photograph. Seconds passed. When I looked back, Emma was gone."

This passage is the haunting refrain echoed again and again in this memorable book. The story is of a young soon-to-be-stepmother, Abby, whose fiance's six year old daughter disappears on her watch. The first time I read this book, Bill and I were merely dating. The synopsis of the book pretty much sounded like my worst nightmare, and who doesn't love a good safe trip down "What If" lane, when you know it's all fiction anyway? Or so I thought.

And indeed, it is a nightmare-inducing kind of book, for anyone who has seen the Missing Child posters or heard on the news of a kidnapped child and felt a twinge of "thank God it's not my kid/niece/best friend's child". The story is beautifully written, haunting, captivating, heartbreaking, a trifle wordy, and in a strange way, uplifting all in one. It was as if Abby, in many ways, was myself, in this indescribably unspeakable situation (I think the author has captured the agony well, and I truly wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy). The story captivated me so strongly that I have since dreamed several times about the characters, as if they were real people whom I know. I even wrote to the author and received the nicest response from her.

Back to the book: dipping my toes into my worst nightmare, through Abby, knowing I would have similar feelings as she, should such a horrible thing befall me, was both terrifying and mesmerizing. I loved every word of this book, and I have since read it three more times. Even though I know the ending, it never fails to bring me chills and even tears.

Many of the reviewers on Amazon have panned the long discussions about memory, and I will admit that those did at first bore me, but I think they have a very important role to play in Abby's incremental awakening. I am glad the author included them.

I could not put this book down; I had to know what happened to Emma. I won't spoil any secrets but I will say you DO get an answer. I highly recommend this book!

And as an aside, whenever I am out alone with my stepkids, I never fail to think of Abby and Emma. I can hardly let them get two feet away from me. Goosebumps...

Excellent Reads: The Forgotten Garden

Like Frances Hodgson Burnett's beloved classic The Secret Garden, Kate Morton's The Forgotten Garden takes root in your imagination and grows into something enchanting--from a little girl with no memories left alone on a ship to Australia, to a fog-soaked London river bend where orphans comfort themselves with stories of Jack the Ripper, to a Cornish sea heaving against wind-whipped cliffs, crowned by an airless manor house where an overgrown hedge maze ends in the walled garden of a cottage left to rot. This hidden bit of earth revives barren hearts, while the mysterious Authoress's fairy tales (every bit as magical and sinister as Grimm's) whisper truths and ignite the imaginary lives of children... --Mari Malcolm, Amazon.com


This absolutely ranks as one of the very best books I've ever read. I enjoyed it so much I've read it three times and loved it even more with each read.

I adored Frances Hodgson Burnett's classic The Secret Garden as a child, and this book is a clever re-imagining from an adult perspective. Ms. Burnett even makes a cameo appearance!

I'll be honest: the first couple of times I picked this up I failed to "get into it"...the length alone was daunting. But my mother was persistently persuasive for me to keep at it, and I'm so glad she was! About a 1/4 of the way through the book I simply couldn't put it down, and spent many nights reading way later than I should have!

The characters in this story have stayed with me and I often find myself thinking about them. Their tale is simply haunting! Ms. Morton has a beautiful way of writing, and I am eagerly anticipating her next project. I have recommended this book to everyone I know who enjoys a wonderful story. You will not be disappointed!

Good Reads: Stepmonster

Since Bill and I are kind of sick of creative juicing we're taking a little break in that for a bit, but don't worry, "Adventures in Juicing" will be back soon!

I thought I'd take a chance to review some of my favorite and not-so-favorite books. Those of you old-timers who were on my old blog a few years ago may recognize some repeats, but those are so good I think they're worth repeating.

I'm blessed that I have been a voracious reader since a very young age. I started reading Nancy Drew in the second grade and reading has always been one of my greatest pleasures. I'm fortunate that I'm also a very fast reader. My local public library must also be glad of my reading speed as I nearly always have multiple books checked out at once: my current count is 12!

I like to read a variety of both fiction and non-fiction. My tastes can be rather...eclectic. I hope my blog readers will enjoy the variety as I post reviews!

To start with, my very favorite stepparenting book: Stepmonster, by Wednesday Martin.

I have read pretty much every single stepmom/stepparenting book on the market. This is far and away hands down THE BEST of them all. Wednesday Martin absolutely nails every aspect, every thought, every feeling I've had as a stepmom but somehow couldn't articulate. She puts into words, and so eloquently, stuff I haven't been able to even wrap my brain around much less talk about.

This is not your typical rah-rah cheerleader stepmom book where they say if you'll just do this, everything will be fine. This is not even an advice book. It's fascinating not only from a personal level of being in the trenches (I often felt as though Wednesday had been in my head), but it's also fascinating from a bigger picture historical and cultural context as well. She has done an amazing job of amalgamating a large body of research into a concise, interesting, and relevant read. She talks a lot about the stereotypically evil fairy-tale stepmothers in literature: their origins, their sociological myths, and what information we can glean from their presence.

As I read this, I underlined parts that are particularly relevant to me and my feelings about being a stepmom. Bill was eager to read it when I was through. I'll be honest: Stepmonster dares to reveal uncomfortable truths about stepfamilies that no other book I've read had the guts to talk about. Although sometimes our conversations about what we read were kind of painful, this book opened the doors to excellent, deep, important communication about being a blended family. Bill and I are both better members of our stepfamily for having read and talked about it together.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough---if you are thinking of being, or are a stepmom, if you are married to a stepmom, have kids that have a stepmom, or are a stepchild yourself, READ THIS BOOK. If you read no other book about stepparenting or stepfamilies, make sure it's this one!

Adventures in Juicing: The Reviver

Today's juice is "The Reviver." This is made with Galia melon (hybrid of a cantaloupe and honeydew), celery, and blackberries. Our author describes it as:

"Refreshing and rehydrating, cleansing and calming, and rich in vitamin C to boost the body's resistance, this juice is a perfect reviver after a hard day at the office."*

Bill didn't get a chance to try this one, so I was the lone ranger tester. I liked this a lot: it was very sweet, but at the same time also slightly tangy. Just like a blackberry but with a twist. For once this was a juice containing a melon that didn't taste overwhelmingly "melony" to me. Fabulous.

I gave it a 7.



*Super Juicer by Christine France (Love Food/Parragon Books), 2009

Adventures in Juicing: One For the Girls

Featured today is "One For The Girls." This juice is made of apples, carrots, celery, and fennel bulb. I had never known what a fennel bulb was before I made this! Here is what the author of our juice recipe book has to say:

"This super juice promotes female hormone balance and is a great treatment for PMS. It also has a calming effect on digestion, and is good for reducing bloating and flatulence."*

First of all, Bill would never have touched this if I had read the name or description to him first...oopsie, tee hee. I absolutely loathed this, I thought it was disgusting. I didn't know this, but fennel bulb is similar in taste and smell to black licorice, and and this tasted to me like carroty black licorice. Yuck. Bill didn't think it was as bad I did, but he wasn't overly impressed either. He'll probably be less impressed when he reads this. Heh. :)

I gave it a 1, Bill gave it a 5.



*Super Juicer by Christine France (Love Food/Parragon Books), 2009

Adventures in Juicing: Green Goddess

Featured today is "Green Goddess"--what an interesting name! This juice calls for Galia melon (hybrid of cantaloupe and honeydew), spinach, mint, and parsley. The author of our fancy juice recipe books says:

"A cooling, cleansing drink, good for liver and kidney function, that helps lower cholesterol and relieves tension and insomnia. It's high in iron and in chlorophyll, which is good for the eyes and for maintaining healthy blood vessels."*

Bill and I both found this to be very sweet and very "melony". Similar to Wake Up Juice, lovers of cantaloupe should really enjoy this. I think it would taste a lot better if the mint were increased, or possibly less of the melon.

Bill gives this a 5 and I give it a 6.



*Super Juicer by Christine France (Love Food/Parragon Books), 2009

Adventures in Juicing: Bright Eyes

Today's juice is called "Bright Eyes." For this we used green tea, carrots, apples, and parsley. The author of our fancy juice recipe books writes:

"The carrots and parsley in this are packed with carotenoids to brighten the eyes and skin and help cleanse the liver. It's also full of antioxidants, which regulate blood pressure, lower cholesterol, and fight heart disease and cancer."*

I thought this tasted light, refreshing, and not too sweet, in a good way. I definitely tasted the tea, which I liked. It didn't taste "carroty" at all to me, which I had kind of expected. I liked this one quite a bit, Bill's only comment was "it wasn't bad." Heh.

He gives it a 4, I give it a 7.



*Super Juicer by Christine France (Love Food/Parragon Books), 2009

Adventures in Juicing: Cucumber Cooler

Today's juice is called "Cucumber Cooler." It is made of cucumber, apples, and cilantro. The author describes it thus:

"Cucumber is high in water content so it's great for rehydrating and refreshing the system, and is a very good diuretic. Apples contain natural sugars for an energy lift. Cilantro promotes good digestion and can remove toxins. It also helps the circulation and is good for healthy eyesight."*

Bill and I have wildly differing opinions about this, probably due to the cilantro. I love the way cilantro smells but it just doesn't taste good to me; Bill on the other hand adores it. This juice is Bill's favorite so far, and probably my least favorite.

I give it a 3 out of 10, Bill gives it an 8.



*Super Juicer by Christine France (Love Food/Parragon Books), 2009

Adventures in Juicing: Rapid Recharge

The next juice on our to-try list is called "Rapid Recharge." It has zucchini, celery, baby spinach, alfalfa sprouts, and apples. Here is the author's description:

"This is a treasure trove of  B vitamins, iron, healing phytochemicals, calcium, and protein, plus fruit sugars for a quick energy boost. It regulates blood pressure, reduces fluid retention, and helps to strengthen tissues and bones."*

This one was definitely...interesting. It tasted strongly of alfalfa sprouts to me. Now I really like alfalfa sprouts on my salads, but drinking it? Eh, I wasn't all that impressed. It had a slight sweetness to it as well, I guess from the apples. Bill thought it was really good; he mentioned it had a refreshing aftertaste. He definitely wants to make it again.

I gave this one a 4 out of 10 and he gave it a 7.



*Super Juicer by Christine France (Love Food/Parragon Books), 2009

Adventures in Juicing: Wake Up Juice

So the first fancy juice that Bill and I decided to try from our fancy juicing recipe book is called "Wake Up Juice". It contains oranges, cantaloupe, and mint. Here is the author's description:

"A light and refreshing drink for a fresh start after a late night, packed with vitamin C. Melon juice is diuretic and rich in healing beta-carotene. The aromatic oils in mint aid and soothe the digestion and help to calm the nerves, while at the same time refreshing the breath."*

This was very good if you really like cantaloupe. I thought it was refreshing, sweet, and tasty, but I quickly tired of the strong cantaloupe flavor. I like cantaloupe alright but it's not my favorite fruit. I think I would have liked this more if I had used more mint or oranges.

One a 1-10 rating scale we both give it a 5.



*Super Juicer by Christine France (Love Food/Parragon Books), 2009

Adventures in Juicing: The Beginning

Hooboy, it's been a while! We've been so darn busy lately I haven't had a chance to update. But I came across something so fun I had to share. Bill and I have for many months now been making a concerted effort to eat much healthier than we had been, and to give more thought to the kinds of foods we are putting into our own bodies and providing the children. We're all eating a lot better and I can say for myself feeling a lot better for it too!

A few weeks ago I came across this fun book about juicing, Super Juicer by Christine France. The pictures were so lovely and the juices so enticing that we decided to buy a juicer and give it a try. At the very least we'd be getting more fruits and vegetables, right? There are 37 juice recipes in her book, and Bill and I agreed to challenge each other to try each one, no matter how weird or gross it might sound.

So here we are, the beginning of our adventure in juicing! We decided to start easy with plain old orange juice:

Man, was it amazing! So much sweeter than store-bought orange juice, and it really wasn't all that much work to peel the oranges and throw them in the juicer. We've been making it regularly ever since. I love the fact that it's not loaded with preservatives and sugar like store-bought.

The next one we tried was apple juice:

Before we started it, the kids thought it would be fun to save the leftover pulp and make applesauce out of it. Well that sounded really good but didn't quite work out...the pulp was nothing like "applesauce", looked extremely gross, and none of us would touch it, including me. I am sure there are lots of little Suzy Homemakers out there who know exactly how to turn apple pulp into wonderfully smooth and delicious applesauce, but I'm not one of them.

As for the juice, it wasn't exactly a hit either: it was thick, pretty pulpy, and very dark. Bill and I gave it a try and didn't care for it at all; quite naturally the children wouldn't even try it. First big miss.

Next we did blueberry juice from blueberries we'd picked fresh off the bushes and then frozen:

YUMMY! The only complaint I have about this is that it took a LOT of blueberries to make not-very-much juice, but boy is it worth it! This is the favorite of all. It's super sweet and absolutely delicious! Recently I happened upon huge tubs of gigantic blueberries for $5 at Sam's...I was so excited until I got home and started washing them and realized a lot of them were crushed inside the tub. Oh well, we just made a ton of blueberry juice out of them: bliss!

Next up: some of the fancy recipes in the book I found...stay tuned!