The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender

Reading Level: Adult

I haven't read this book but I hope to in the future, once I'm done with all of Diana Palmer's books. From the cover it sounds like a really good book. On Rose Edelstein's ninth birthday she discovers that she has a magical gift. Upon the first bite of her mother's homemade lemon-chocolate cake she discovers that she can taste her mother's emotions in the slice. Her mother's emotions aren't happy ones. Her emotions taste of despair and desperation. From then on food becomes a peril and a threat to Rose. Every food she encounters has an emotional story, not all good. This gift forces Rose to confront the hidden truths about her family. As she grows up she realizes there are some secrets that even her taste buds cannot discern.

As a lover of food I would not want to have that gift. The best tasting food can be made by people who are not happy and eating something laced with despair or rage would ruin my food experience. Although that might help me on my diet :).

This looks good so check it out. If you read it before me let me know what you think of it.

Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

Reading Level: Adult Non-fiction

This is a book by Malcolm Gladwell that cannot be put down. Unlike, "The Tipping Point," which gets bogged down in minutia, this book is an easy read. Unfortunately, the information in it is life-changing, as Gladwell joyfully debunks the myths we have about talent and success. In it, step by step, he shows how nurture not nature creates sports stars and musical geniuses. It makes it difficult to read any other biography after this, as, if we accept Gladwell's examples as fact, than the only think that made Mozart a better musician than Salieri was the amount of time he practiced. Reading the book makes it difficult to say that a child is "talented" or "has an aptitude for" anything, but causes the reader to look more deeply into the factors that contributed to someones skill.

He uses examples from various realms, from the Canadian soccer leagues, to the boy billionaires of the computer age, and explains why certain people are pre-determined to succeed. While it is disheartening to read, it is also uplifting when combined with the new book about "Tiger Mothers," for both reinforce the message that it is only hard work and the magical "10,000 hours" that make for success in a particular field.

Submitted by Gertrude

Time flies when you're doing a reading marathon!

Wow, I didn't even realize it has been almost a month since my last post. I have been on a Diana Palmer kick lately and have been breezing through her books pretty quickly. I didn't want all my posts to be about the same author. I really do enjoy Diana Palmer but her books have similar themes. The main male character hates women while the main female character not so secretly loves him but is skittish around men. The man is overbearing while the female is shy but has some spunk. Eventually they wear each other down and fall in love. Sometimes I think the male character is a little harsh. If a man seemed to have that much contempt for me and always hurt my feelings I would tell him to take a hike but that could just be me. I like when the characters have animosity but only when it's not harsh. For the most part it's a playful animosity because the man really does love the woman but he's not ready to admit it to himself or to her. But there has been an occasional character that I would have left and found someone else. I do enjoy her books. They have romance, action, and humor which I love.

So while I'm on my Palmer kick I do have some book reviews to post from patrons and I'll be posting about books that I think would be good to read.

Don't forget that if you send a review my way you can get a free book out of our book sale room. Free is good!