Jewish Holiday Cookbook by Joan Nathan

Let me start this review by saying that you don't have to be Jewish to enjoy this cookbook, just as you wouldn't have to be Christian to enjoy a book on Christmas cookies. I'm not Jewish, but found so many of the recipes perfect for the current needs of my family, that I had to buy a copy after checking this out from the library. Several of my family members have mild allergies, and this cookbook provided great recipes for those with that allergy in particular, since the Jewish religion has rules governing kosher, parve, and unclean foods and food combinations, among them being the combination of milk and meat. So this recipe book works perfectly for our family, with each recipe not only being delicious, but rich in cultural and religious context.

Nathan is a renowned scholar of Jewish cuisine, and this book provides seven chapters on holidays: Rosh Hashanah, Sukkot, Hanukkah, Purin, Passover, Shavout and even Israeli Independence day. There is also a long chapter on the Sabbath meal. Besides the recipes themselves, I found the book an excellent study in the history of the Jewish people, and their migration throughout the world, as recipes found here bear a resemblance to recipes from the Middle East, but also mirror the cooking styles of various parts of Europe. I found it fascinating that European recipes in this book were very similar, in name and ingredients, to those passed down by my German grandmother, showing that people from different religions are not that very different after all in the way they celebrate and live their lives. In short, this book is a fabulous find, whether you're looking for a great meal or snack, or a look at the history, festivals, and dietary prohibitions of the Jewish people.

Submitted by Gerti

City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare

When I found out that Ms. Clare was coming out with three more books in the Mortal Instruments series I was excited. Then when I started thinking about it I got scared. I loved her first three books and I liked the way the trilogy ended. I had closure. The bad man had been put down and love was in the air. Jace wasn't Clary's brother and you knew Simon might be getting his groove on with Isabelle or Maia. So for me to read three more books and have my beloved characters thrown back into chaos I wasn't sure about that. All I have to say after reading the fourth book is that everyone better have a happy ending by the end of the sixth book.

Then I was curious as to why Ms. Clare decided to write three more books and I found the answer on her website.

Taken from Ms. Clare's FAQ page:

"How did you go from having decided to write the Mortal Instruments as a trilogy, to deciding that it would be four books and then six?

I had indeed initially planned not to write more Mortal Instruments books after City of Glass. Two things happened to change that: One, I had written a plot for a graphic novel about what would happen to Simon after the events of Glass. When the graphic novel didn’t work out, I was left with this storyline and nothing to do with it — it wasn’t enough for a whole book on its own. However, while I was writing the first book in The Infernal Devices, Clockwork Angel, which deals with Jace, Clary, and the Lightwoods’ ancestors, the way events played out in it gave me the idea for a new villain and conflict that might beset the cast of characters from The Mortal Instruments, and connect up to the plotline from the planned graphic novel. I’ve always liked stories where the distant past comes forward to affect the future, so, without being spoilery, when I realized I could connect the events of Infernal Devices to the few loose ends left at the end of Glass, I realized I wouldn’t want to pass up writing that story, especially considering how much chaos I knew it would bring to the lives of Jace, Clary, Simon, Alec, Magnus, Isabelle and the rest!

Then, in October of last year, I sat down to start writing the story of City of Fallen Angels. I had a detailed outline based in part on the graphic novel idea I had had, but when it came to expanding the outline and writing the story, it just wasn’t working for me. I was on a writing retreat in Mexico with a number of other writers, and when we sat down to go over the issues I was having, I realized that the story I had thought I was telling was really a much bigger story — that my smaller, Simon-centric story had morphed into something much bigger, much more epic, and deeply involving the whole cast of characters from the first three Mortal Instruments books. I realized that what I had on my hands was not a single book that would wrap up the story begun in The Mortal Instruments, but rather the beginning of a new trilogy about these characters. (The fun part was calling my agent and editor to explain “You know that one book I was going to write? Well, actually, it’s three books!” I like to think I could hear heads hitting desks all through Simon and Schuster. But when I submitted the outlines for the new Fallen Angels, City of Lost Souls, and City of Heavenly Fire, they were thrilled with the idea of the new trilogy — and I hope readers will be as well!"

These three new books in the series have a lot more to do with Simon but the rest of the cast of characters are present. I am excited to read more about these characters but there is something nice about a series ending and then as the reader you can just fantasize about what happened to your favorite characters. Fans of Ms. Clare won't be disappointed. City of Fallen Angels was an excellent read.

Crossfire by James Patterson

Reading Level: Adult Fiction

This is the latest of Patterson's series about Alex Cross and his family. He is a policeman who lives and works in Washington DC. Alex again meets his nemesis and finally overcomes him in one of the most exciting stories. He finally marries his girlfriend.

Submitted by Rose

The Sisters Who Would Be Queen - Mary, Katherine, and Lady Jane Grey: a tudor Tragedy by Leanda Delisle

Reading Level: Adult Non-Fiction

Like most people who care about Tudor history at all, I have to admit that I have always loved the character of Elizabeth I. I have spent a lifetime admiring her courage in the face of such adversity - seeing her mother (Anne Boleyn) get her head cut off by her father (King Henry VIII) for a start, and then having to survive her siblings (Edward VI and Mary I) time on the throne. One would think having to live through all those hardships would have made Elizabeth a more empathetic, softer person. However, if this history of her cousins, the Grey sisters, is to be believed, it instead gave Elizabeth I a will of iron and a heart of stone.

The three girls in the title - Lady Jane Grey and her younger sisters, Katherine and Mary, were brought up in the shadow of the throne, and yet only one, Jane, would ever sit on it, and that for only a short period of time. However, due to their kinship to Queen Elizabeth I, the Queen kept the other two sisters locked up for most of their lives, along with their husbands. The book has totally changed my opinion of Elizabeth, and lost her much respect in my eyes. While Elizabeth was not responsible for the death of Lady Jane Grey, her older sister Mary did that while she was queen, Elizabeth did go out of her way to make the lives of the younger girls miserable. Both girls married without the Queen's permission - a mistake, for sure - but neither deserved the harsh and cruel punishments for that which the Queen metted out. And to lock up their husbands, too, and send their children to others to raise... it is shameful behavior on the part of Elizabeth.

A fascinating look at Tudor times, and the struggles that put and kept various figures on the throne. Leanda DeLisle does a good job of debunking various myths about the romantic but reluctant girl who would be Queen, Lady Jane Grey, and also about the Queens who followed her to the throne. Brilliant scholarship, if hard to read at times.

Submitted by Gerti

Leprechaun in Late Winter by Mary Pope Osborne

Age Range: 7-12 Lexile: 500L

“Leprechaun in Late Winter” by Mary Pope Osborne, is #43 in the Magic Treehouse series. In this story, the main characters Jack and his sister Annie are whisked away from their tree house in Frog Creek woods to Galway, Ireland. They are on a third Merlin mission to “help a creative person give their special gifts to the world”.

The person Jack and Annie help in Gallway is Miss Augusta (a real person in history officially named Isabella Augusta Persse who later became, as an adult, Lady Gregory, the wife of a knight named Sir William Henry Gregory). Miss Augusta’s special gift is her love of stories and her ability to remember the exact speech or dialect of the storytellers.

Later in her life, as Lady Gregory, she became known for the folklore she collected from the Irish. She was also a good friend of Ireland’s most famous poet, William Butler Yeats and together, in the year 1904, they founded Dublin’s Abbey Theatre, which is the national theater of Ireland.

I enjoyed this story. It was short but well written. It presented information on Lady Augusta and the fairies or, as they call them in Ireland, si (pronounced shee), in a fun way. There is also a Magic Treehouse Research Guide, you can read, with more information on the subject, called “Leprechauns and Irish Folklore”. This guide, also in our library system, is written by Mary Pope Osborne and Natalie Pope Boyce.

Submitted by Karin

Giving Up the Ghost by Sheri Sinykin

Lexile Level: 600

Age Level: 10-14

“Giving Up The Ghost”, written by Sheri Sinykin and published by Peachtree Publishing in 2007, is about a thirteen-year-old girl named Davia who travels with her parents to Louisiana to help great-aunt Mari who is in the process of dying from cancer. Mari lives at Belle Foret, an old plantation home that has been passed down in the family for generations. From the first that Davia arrives there, she thinks the place feels scary. It turns out that there is a ghost named Emilie, a French Creole girl, who is haunting it and that great-aunt Mari can speak with her. Then Davia also finds out that she too can see and speak with Emilie, eventually be-friending her. Meanwhile, even though her great-aunt Mari is sharp-spoken, Davia is becoming close with her as they work together in figuring out how to release Emilie’s ghost from “Belle Foret” before Mari dies. Besides all of this, Davia is also working through the fear of her mother’s cancer returning. This book is a 2009-2010 Young Hoosier winner for grades 6-8. It is basically an emotional novel about overcoming fear. Written in an easy to read manner, I think it is a great engaging story that gives the reader a lot to think about.

Submitted by Karin

Covet By J. R. Ward

Reading Level: Adult
(4 out of 5)

So I have been a little obsessed lately with J. R. Ward. It's probably due to the fact that I read her latest book in two days and the next one won't be out until next year. Then it dawned on me that she did have another series of books that I could read. When the Fallen Angels Series came out I wasn't sure if I would like them, but since I needed a Ward fix I gave it a shot. It was very silly of me to think I wouldn't like these books. Very, very silly of me. What I really liked was that some of the characters are from the Brotherhood books.

Jim Heron is a guy just trying to live his life when he dies. He wakes up to four British guys that tell him that the fate of the world rests on him. That his mission is to save seven souls from the seven deadly sins. Failure is not an option. Jim's first soul to save is Vin diPietro. Vin has surrendered himself to his business until he meets Jim and a woman who questions his destiny. The woman is Marie-Terese which if you follow the Brotherhood series you will recognize her from those books. Trez is in this book also. I'm looking forward to reading book two called Crave and the third book Envy comes out September 6.