Review: A Gathering of Days: A New England Girl's Journal, 1830-32

A Gathering of Days: A New England Girl's Journal, 1830-32 by Joan W. Blos

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



I'm not sure how I missed this during my "Little House" years but I would have enjoyed this diary.

It's a good book, if a bit dull. The 'author' is a 14 year old New Hampshire farm girl and it touches briefly on farm life, slavery, school, family life, factory workers and other themes of the day but it fails to go in depth in any. I would have enjoyed the book more had there been a focus on any of these topics.

I was surprised to see a recipe from my collection in the book. I originally found it in a cookbook from the 1850s so it was definitely appropriate to the story - just a surprise to see it in print again!

For a tween that enjoys autobiographical accounts of life in other times, this would be a good book. It's easy to read and brings history more to life. For instance, she might know that children worked in dangerous conditions in factories but to 'know' someone that was being sent to do the job to help support her family helps them see how it would feel.



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Review: Curtain

Curtain by Agatha Christie

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



Poirot's last case? It was inconceivable. Surely Agatha Christie wouldn't kill off one of the greatest detectives of all time! Alas, that is exactly her intent.

This is one of my favorite Christie books. It's a return to Styles and includes both Poirot and Hastings and it shares the quaintness that all her books have gained over the decades. It's so difficult to write a review for a mystery so I will say only that I was completely surprised by the end of the book - both the revelation of the murderer and the last thoughts of Poirot.



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Review: 5-Minute Recipes

5-Minute Recipes by Authors & Editors of Instructables

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



Love this. To be fair, this is more of a compilation than a cookbook and everything in the book can be found online...but it's fabulous to have the recipes pulled and organized without having to find them! Everything in here can be made with kids and you need only supply supervision and control the mixer.

Each recipe is fully illustrated, which if my preference for cooking books, and includes pics for each stage of preparation. They also label pics to explain things that new cooks might not know, such as a picture of egg whites that have been formed into peaks. After each recipe, they provide links to similar recipes and each of those include a picture of the final product. In addition, the table of contents in the ebook links to each recipe, making this book easier to use. You can scroll through the table, find a recipe for dog treats, click on it, then see the recipe and also find links to other recipes that might interest you.

This is one that I will keep in iBooks indefinitely. When the kids are in the mood to cook or I need to whip up a snack in a hurry, I will have inspriation at my fingertips.



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