Liar’s Bench by Kim Michele Richardson

2 of 5 stars

Muddy Summer’s seventeenth birthday went straight to hell. Her mama Ella has been found and it appears that she has hung herself. Muddy refuses to believe Ella would do such a thing and knows that her mama’s husband beats her ever chance he gets. Once she starts digging she realizes that the whole town has secrets and lies.

Set in the early 1970’s this book pretty much centers itself around the town landmark. The Liar’s Bench.

The Liar’s Bench came into being a century before when a slave named Frannie Crow was hanged based on her mistresses lies. Her son dismantled the gallows and built the bench.
If you read this book get used to hearing about that bench. I think it’s only mentioned in every chapter at least twice.

Muddy’s sorta boyfriend is Bobby Marshall who is a mixed race descendant of Frannie Crow’s. So into the story you have some racism and bigotry. The thing is I felt that Muddy even showed signs of it. I think I would have liked her better if she hadn’t been so wishy-washy. He’s the only person that sticks up for her and she sorta whines her way through any confrontations that pop up.

The story line is not bad for this book. I love southern fiction. I have lived in the south my whole life and one of the big things that sticks out in this book is the language. I have never heard of a southern person using the language that gets used in this book.
It’s one of those things that I felt demeaned southern people. We have slang and we have some southern drawl but I don’t think I’ve ever heard the phrase…..It doesn’t do anyone any good to pluck their chickens in the wind.
Huh?
It completely threw the book off for me. The whole book is written in the oddest language.

Food 52: Genius Recipes by Kristen Miglore

Genius recipes surprise us and make us rethink the way we cook.

I’m not really feeling that with this cookbook. I love the Food 52 blog and really thought this cookbook would be outstanding. There are a few of the recipes I will try including Nigella Lawson’s dense chocolate cake. I’m wishing I had chocolate in the house right now for that one. Michael Ruhlman’s Rosemary-Brined Buttermilk fried chicken caught my eye too.

This cookbook to me is definitely not a beginner book. It’s fun to look at though. My copy may just be the weird one but it kinda smells funny.

Here’s some pretty pictures from the book:

(Whole Roasted Cauliflower with whipped goat cheese)

(Kale Panini)

(Classic Guacamole-because I love the stuff)

We Are all Completely Fine by Daryl Gregory

2 out of 5 stars

Dr. Jan Sayer decides to begin group therapy on a group of “different” individuals.
You have Harrison-who was a child hero for slaying the monsters that threatened a town. Martin-who never takes off his sunglasses, Stan-who survived a group of cannibals and loves to talk, Greta-the quiet one of the group who hides a major secret and Barbara-who has messages left by a Scrimshander on her very bones.

Once I asked if it hurt, and she said, “Of course it does, honey. Everything beautiful hurts.”

No one really believed any of their stories until they met with each other. They have all survived.

Once you know there are monsters under the bed, closing your eyes becomes a foolhardy act. So, we paced. We stared into the dark. We listened for the creak of the opening door.

For me this book just didn’t work as well as I had hoped. Most of my Goodreads friends liked it though so I think it’s a case of it’s not you it’s me.

Trisha’s Table by Trisha Yearwood

I have Trisha Yearwood’s other cookbooks and I think I much prefer them to this one. It states that this is a lower calorie way to explore the mantra of 80/20, which means you eat healthy 80% of the time and splurge some the other 20%.
I’m not seeing that.

I’d eat the dang cheesecake in a heartbeat.
Not that the recipes are bad. Her recipes are always easily followed and the images throughout the cookbook are gorgeous. It just didn’t seem to be what was advertised on the blurb for the book.
I’m definitely up to trying several of her recipes though.