Thursday, November 19, 2015

Kitchens of the Great Midwest Giveaway Winner!

Kitchens of the Great Midwest Giveaway Winner!

J. Ryan Stradal was the Minnesota Author in the Spotlight here on Booksnob for the month of October.  Stradal and his publisher, Penguin Random House are giving away one copy of his awesome book, Kitchens of the Great Midwest to one lucky winner from the United States.  Yay!!
And the lucky winner is ........

Karen D. from Michigan

Congratulations Karen!!

I know you will enjoy and love this book.

Here is an excerpt from my book review:

Kitchens of the Great Midwest is an enjoyable read, one that is delectable, delightful and delicious. It has inspired me to start a cooking club with friends.  This book is creative, daring and fun.  Stradal has embodied the Midwest and the people who live there in a book and it is splendid.

Book lovers, foodies and wine connoisseurs, Kitchens of the Great Midwest is calling your name.

Monday, November 16, 2015

Good Night, Mr. Wodehouse Giveaway

Good Night, Mr. Wodehouse Giveaway

Faith Sullivan is the November Minnesota Author in the Spotlight here on BookSnob and she, along with her awesome publisher, Milkweed Press, are giving away 3 hard cover copies of her book to followers in the U.S. and Canada.  Yay.  You should be jumping for joy. If you have never read Faith Sullivan before you are in for a treat.

Here is the synopsis from Goodreads:

Throughout her life, Nell Stillman has struggled to find meaning in an increasingly chaotic world. A complicated marriage to a boorish husband; an early widowhood spent longing for her congressman lover; the loss of her child, a shell shocked WWI hero — her road has not been easy. But somehow she manages to find moments of grace, more often than not through the genial voice of P.G. Wodehouse, the beloved British novelist. Spanning the first half of the twentieth century, Good Night, Mr. Wodehouse celebrates the power of great novels — from Austen to Chekhov — to transform, console, and teach us the value of friendship and love.

We first traveled to Harvester, Minnesota, twenty-five years ago in the bookclub favorite and New York Times best-selling novel, The Cape Ann. This new book, which brings us home to that small town on the prairie along with all of the wonderful characters who live there, is sure to be a classic.

Rules:
To Enter please fill out the form
Must be a resident of U.S. or Canada
Contest ends Dec 13th at midnight


a Rafflecopter giveaway



Monday, November 9, 2015

October Author in the Spotlight Wrap-Up + Giveaway

October Author in the Spotlight Wrap-Up + Giveaway

October is over and November moved in.  I had a good month of October.  The weather was joyful and I was able to take my dog to the dog park several times and hike in the woods by our house.  My dog, Titus, had surgery in March and he is finally healed enough that he can run and walk long distances.   It has been wonderful.  The first quarter of the school is over already. I'm planning a trip to Spain and Morocco with my students in June and I'm super excited for this.  I love traveling so much.

Another thing I really love is food.  I am an adventurous eater for sure and J. Ryan Stradal, the October Minnesota Author in the Spotlight has written an awesome novel for people who love great characters, good storytelling and food.

If you would like to win a copy of Kitchens of the Great Midwest enter here: Kitchens of the Great Midwest Giveaway
Hurry it ends at midnight eastern time.

Please check out my book review of Kitchen of the Great Midwest.  Kitchens of the Great Midwest is a delicious book full of wonderful food and recipes and dinner parties.  The food is Midwestern favorites, State Fair bake-offs and your mouth is going to water. Stradal's book is a well written novel about midwestern characters that grab your heart or make you want to punch them in the face. Welcome to Minnesota nice (which really means passive-aggressive)

Kitchens of the Great Midwest Book Review

Next check out J. Ryan's Author Interview.  J. Ryan is the Minnesota Author in the Spotlight here on Booksnob for the scary month of October and he has written a delicious book called Kitchens of the Great Midwest and it really, really good and you are going to love it.  I had the chance to ask J. Ryan some questions during his busy book tour, about his book, his life and his love of food and books.

J. Ryan Stradal Author Interview

I am so thankful that I had the opportunity to meet J. Ryan Stradal and that he agreed to be featured on BookSnob.  I cannot wait to read what he writes next and I hope we can work together in the future.  I hope you get a chance to read J. Ryan's book and check out his website at http://www.jryanstradal.com

Have a great reading month.












Friday, November 6, 2015

Kitchens of the Great Midwest by J. Ryan Stradal

Kitchens of the Great Midwest by J. Ryan Stradal

Eva Thorvald is a Midwestern woman with a once-in-a-generation palate.  Kitchens of the Great Midwest is the story of Eva's life as told from the perspectives of everyone seated at the dinner party of her life.  Eva's biological father Lars is a great chef who falls in love with her mother, a wine expert who cannot handle being a mother and runs away.  His love of food is passed on to Eva.  At an early age, Eva has fallen in love with hot and spicy peppers.  She grows them in her bedroom, makes her own pepper jelly and hot sauce and tortures her tormentors with her spicy creations.

Eva is such an interesting character. You get to figure out the puzzle of Eva's life.  Each chapter is a snapshot into who Eva is and how she became this amazing chef who hosts the most creative and interesting dinners in the world and people are on the waiting list for years.

Kitchens of the Great Midwest is a delicious book full of wonderful food and recipes and dinner parties.  The food is Midwestern favorites, State Fair bake-offs and your mouth is going to water. Stradal's book is a well written novel about midwestern characters that grab your heart or make you want to punch them in the face.  Welcome to Minnesota nice (which really means passive-aggressive).

Kitchens of the Great Midwest is an enjoyable read, one that is delectable, delightful and delicious. It has inspired me to start a cooking club with friends.  This book is creative, daring and fun.  Stradal has embodied the Midwest and the people who live there in a book and it is splendid.

Book lovers, foodies and wine connoisseurs, Kitchens of the Great Midwest is calling your name.

Read this book,  your palate will thank you.






Thursday, November 5, 2015

Announcing the November Author in the Spotlight

Announcing the November Author in the Spotlight.

Happy November!  Wow, November in Minnesota has started out warm, with 60 degree weather.  It's great.  November tends to be the busiest month of my whole year.  First my daughter turns 15 on Friday the 13th, then my student teacher leaves so I'm teaching 3 preps and one college class (it's a crazy schedule).  I'm also taking a poetry class this month from the Loft Literary Center and trying to write my YA novel for Nanowrimo and of course I am cleaning my house from top to bottom to get ready for the 35 people who come to Thanksgiving dinner.  Phew, I'm exhausted just thinking about it.

This month Booksnob's blog is featuring one of my all time favorite authors. In fact, her book, The Cape Ann is one of my top ten all time favorite books ever!!  So I am pleased and excited to tell you that Faith Sullivan is the Minnesota Author in the Spotlight here on Booksnob.  Yay!  I own all of her books.  Her new book, Good Night, Mr. Wodehouse goes back to the small town of Harvester, MN where The Cape Ann and The Empress of One also take place.  I cannot wait to read it.

Here are some of her books and the synopsis from Goodreads:

Good Night, Mr. Wodehouse
Throughout her life, Nell Stillman has struggled to find meaning in an increasingly chaotic world. A complicated marriage to a boorish husband; an early widowhood spent longing for her congressman lover; the loss of her child, a shell shocked WWI hero — her road has not been easy. But somehow she manages to find moments of grace, more often than not through the genial voice of P.G. Wodehouse, the beloved British novelist. Spanning the first half of the twentieth century, Good Night, Mr. Wodehouse celebrates the power of great novels — from Austen to Chekhov — to transform, console, and teach us the value of friendship and love.

We first traveled to Harvester, Minnesota, twenty-five years ago in the bookclub favorite and New York Times best-selling novel, The Cape Ann. This new book, which brings us home to that small town on the prairie along with all of the wonderful characters who live there, is sure to be a classic.

The Cape Ann
Lark Erhardt, the six-year-old narrator of The Cape Ann, and her fiercely independent mother dream of owning their own house; they have their hearts set on the Cape Ann, chosen from a house catalog. But when Lark's father's gambling threatens the down payment her mother has worked so hard to save, Lark's mother takes matters into her own indomitable hands. A disarmingly involving portrait of a family struggling to stay together through the Great Depression, The Cape Ann is an unforgettable story of life from a child's-eye view.

The Empress of One
From Library Journal
In Sullivan's second novel about the small Midwestern town of Harvester, Minnesota, spanning the years 1935 to 1950, Sally's mother is disgracing the family by losing her grip on reality in a case of what would now be diagnosed as depression. This stigma attends Sally's every move in grade school. She tries to lead a normal life with the help of her family and friends, but the fear that her mother's condition is hereditary haunts her. As she enters her teens, Sally's flair for the dramatic emerges?both on and off the stage. The death of her mother, the breakup with her insecure boyfriend, and the suicide of her beloved drama coach drive Sally to the brink of her physical and mental endurance, where she hovers, undecided. This beautifully written and exquisitely readable book transports readers through
time and space. Highly recommended. Joanna M. Burkhardt, Univ. of Rhode Island Coll. of Continuing Education.

What A Woman Must Do
Set in the Midwest in 1952, Faith Sullivan’s novel follows the interconnected lives of three women of three generations: Bess, 17, Harriet, 39, and Kate, 59. All have been affected by the death of Bess’s parents in a car accident. As Bess prepares for college, and Harriet for marriage, Great Aunt Kate holds the trio together. In writing knowingly and appreciatively of small-town life, Sullivan, winner of the Milkweed Editions' National Fiction Prize, addresses the universal themes of family, love, and loyalty. “What a Woman Must Do draws the reader in.” — Washington Post Book World

                                                         Gardenias
A month after the United States enters World War II, the country is in upheaval — and so is the Erhardt family. Nine-year-old Lark, her mother Arlene, and Aunt Betty are heading for San Diego, far away from Harvester, Minnesota and Arlene’s shiftless husband. In the booming wartime economy, Arlene and Betty are soon at work, leaving Lark alone to explore their new neighborhood, a wartime housing project full of others with similarly uprooted lives. Away from prying eyes and small town expectations, the two women begin to forge new lives and new dreams — dreams that Lark isn’t always comfortable with. This richly detailed novel, told through Lark’s observant eyes, reflects the era’s tumultuous events in the everyday dramas of its memorable, finely nuanced characters.

This month you can expect a giveaway, a book review, an author interview and if we are lucky a guest post.  Please check out Faith Sullivan's books and her website at www.faithsullivan.com

Happy Reading!