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Showing posts with the label food

Middle Grade Monday: Seed Savers #2: Lily

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  Title: Lily (Seed Savers #2) Author: S. Smith Publication Info: Published 2012, 184 pages. Source: Either a purchase or a giveaway Publisher's Blurb: It’s definitely not what she had in mind for summer vacation. When her friends disappear under mysterious circumstances, thirteen-year-old Lily sets out to discover more about the secret organization with which they had become involved. Her investigation unearths a disturbing secret from her own past, unsettling her world even more. In the meantime, Lily makes a new friend and falls for a mysterious young man, even as she remains unsure about whom she should trust. As her world crashes down around her, Lily struggles to decide what to do next. Lily is volume two of the Seed Savers series but can easily be read out of order. It is is a suspenseful and reflective book with themes of self-empowerment, trust, acceptance of diversity, gardening, and politics.   
 My Review:  First: I shared space in the BookElves Anthology, Vo

Friday Flash: The Tomb of the Strange Feast

The Wendig Challenge this week was to write a story that had something to do with food. I'm still neck deep in prepping our house for sale (looking at every. single. book. to decided if it goes or stays...), so there was no time or mental energy to write a story. But I remembered this one, which fits the requirement, though it feels a little odd to post humor in response to a memorial sort of thing--Wendig's call for stories was inspired by the death of Anthony Bourdain. Still: food. And I don't think many of you saw if the first time around, in 2013! This one is meant for the kiddies. Well, and the grownups. The Tomb of the Strange Feast Mom never was a good cook, but that night she really outdid herself.  Her smile when she brought in dinner didn't convince even Lily, and she's only five. "Brussels sprout-tofu casserole, with non-fat cheese," Mom announced, all bright and enthusiastic, the way grown-ups sound when they are trying to convince kids of the

Mystery Monday: Honey-Baked Homicide by Gayle Leeson

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Title: Honey-Baked Homicide Author: Gayle Leeson Publisher: Berkley, Dec. 5, 2017. 288 pages, paperback. Source: Great Escapes Book Tours electronic ARC Publisher's Blurb:  The owner of a delightful Southern café tastes the sharp sting of suspicion in this delectable comfort food mystery . . . It’s fall in Winter Garden, Virginia, and business at Amy Flowers’ Down South Café has never been better. So when struggling beekeeper Stuart Landon asks Amy to sell some of his honey, she’s happy to help. The jars of honey are a sweet success, but their partnership is cut short when Amy discovers Landon’s body outside the café early one morning. As Amy tries to figure out who could possibly have wanted to harm the unassuming beekeeper, she discovers an ever-expanding list of suspects—and they’re all buzzing mad. She’ll have to use all of her skills—and her Southern charm—to find her way out of this sticky situation… My Review:  Honey-Baked Homicide is a good read--a setting that works wel