Bunches of Books & Bunches of Basil
An EXTRA Mid-Month Newsletter To Catch Up On My Book Recommendations & A Quick Story With A Recipe
Greetings, my friends! The Sierra spring weather continues to serande me, luring me out into the fresh air with a siren call to walk among green plants and beside still and flowing waters. I trust you are finding beauty where you seek it, too!
“Reading in the Wild” on ACTV!
I have a very special announcement to make: I just recorded my first ever TV show! That’s right, a monthly show with Auburn Community Television (ACTV) that will be available to everyone via ACTV’s YouTube channel. Studio manager, videographer, and director Philip Jacques was instrumental in creating what I think is a very fun and interesting show. In “Reading in the Wild” I will share books (but, you guessed that already, right?) that have a nature-centered theme, including titles from all across genres. Each month, I’ll spotlight two or three books, discuss them, give background information, and even provide book club discussion ideas. I’m selecting the books from my April 2024 Earth Month Book Project list, and I know the readers amongst us will really enjoy it. I would be honored if you would check it out!
Ten Book Reviews from February and March - Flashback!
Somehow, with all these springtime distractions, I fell way behind in sharing my reading recommendations and reviews with you. I know some of my readers have been pining for those reviews, so I’m adding this extra mid-month Book Catch Up edition of my blog It’s Dawning On Me!
I loved them all, except the one I just couldn’t even finish. Two adventure memoirs. Two contemporary adventure thrillers. Five historical fiction novels, all with more than a hint of a mystery. And one dud. Not bad!
A Walk in the Park by Kevin Fedarko was recommended to me by a dozen different friends, and it lived up to all that hype! The true story of two young men’s adventures while attempting to walk the length of the Grand Canyon, a feat few have accomplished and made difficult by their inexperience and lack of preparation. The audacious trek continued more successfully after they teamed up with real experts, but still, the lack of easy water or an actual trail for much of the canyon’s length made for some wild adventures. I loved the gorgeous descriptions of the canyon in all seasons. I enjoyed learning the history of the canyon and the National Park. But most of all, I was moved by the author’s personal journey of self discovery. 5*****
Tales From a Rogue Ranger, a memoir by my friend and colleague, Rosanne S. McHenry, is a recently released collection of short stories from her years serving as a California State Park Ranger right here in the Sierra Nevada Foothills. Some stories are funny (think attack-goose on the loose), others scary (think armed men in the canyon), still others heartwarming (think guiding visitors in the park). I interviewed McHenry as a part of my monthly OLLI at Sierra College Local Author Spotlight series last month. Reading her stories is a lot like sitting down for a comfortable chat with this interesting and adventurous woman. 5*****
The second in a series of modern adventure stories by Alice Henderson, A Blizzard of Polar Bears, is a “grab you by the throat” adventure thriller. Her main character, a woman scientist out in the field studying endangered polar bears finds herself alone and in great danger, not from the wild animals or the wilderness, but from villainous humans! She’s a beautiful female version of the classic Macgyver character, who, thanks to her mother, is also trained in survival techniques and the martial arts. I was sad when it was over, but fortunately, there are several more books in this series! 5*****
Amity Gaige’s new book, Heartwood, came out in April to much fanfare. Jenna Bush Hager chose it for her book club’s April book of the month. It’s a suspenseful story about a lost hiker on the Appalachian Trail, that’s inspired by a true story. One woman, hiking the AT disappears as she enters the final state, Maine, along the 2000-mile trail. Just disappears! Maine’s game wardens, who are charged with finding her, are led expertly by a second woman, who has a reputation for finding lost hikers quickly. A third woman, an elderly resident of a retirement home, becomes obsessed with using maps and tools on the internet to search for her, too. There are more twists and turns in the story than switchbacks on the trail. I inhaled this book! 5*****
Justice For Emerson, by my friend and colleague, Karen E. Osborne, weaves together two timelines, one dating back to the Vietnam War Era and one set in contemporary times. It begins with the surprising murder of a beloved volunteer at a homeless shelter and food pantry. The investigations uncover long held secrets, rivalries, and relationships in this fast-paced, thoughtful novel. By the end, I felt like I knew these characters like my dear friends. 5*****
I first read books by Victoria Christopher Murray when she collaborated with Marie Benedict on The Personal Librarian and The First Ladies. Since then, I’ve read everything I can get my hands on by both authors. Harlem Rhapsody, another historical novel with a strong woman at its center met my high expectations of Murray. It is a novelized version of the life of Jessie Redmon Fauset, a Black author and editor who worked closely with W.E.B. DuBois at The Crisis, a powerful literary magazine, during the Harlem Renaissance. Another woman lost to history until now, she “discovered” and promoted many young authors and poets who went on to be quite famous. Her personal life was equally mysterious and fascinating as her professional life. 5*****
The Queens of Crime by Marie Benedict is a fun historical novel turned murder mystery. At it’s center is Agatha Christi and several other female members of club made up of mystery-solving detectives in London. The women, who have been sidelined by their male counterparts, are determined to prove themselves by unraveling a real unsolved case of murder languishing in the hands of disinterested police. They travel around Europe and North Africa, don disguises, befriend victims’ families, and… I shan’t tell you the rest, other than to say it’s a fun romp with these brilliant women! 5*****
The Truth of Who You Are by Sheila Myers, includes two of my favorite things: historical fiction and national parks! I couldn’t help but love it! This coming-of-age story is set in the Appalachian Mountains during the Great Depression, on land that is destined to become the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The struggle to acquire private land and create the park with the help of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) plays out in the lives of one teen-aged boy, his family, and their home and small farm in the hills. 5*****
Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai’s historical novel, Dust Child, came to me as a gift given in anticipation of my recent trip to Vietnam and Cambodia. It’s a beautifully written, award-winning, piece of literature that is also an eye-opening historical novel about the plight of Amer-Asian children left behind by the US military after the war. “A suspenseful and moving saga about family secrets, hidden trauma, and the overriding power of forgiveness, set during the war and in present-day Việt Nam.” I ended up leaving my copy of this wonderful book in the hands of the amazing tour leader “Zoom” who led us around Vietnam and Cambodia for two weeks in February. 5*****
Last, and least, is a spy novel by noted author John Le Carré, A Perfect Spy. Try as I might, I could not get through this famous novel. I stuck it out over halfway, but I never really cared one way or the other about any of the characters or their problems, so finally, I set it aside and moved on. I love an intriguing spy story as much as the next person, but not this one. 2**
See all my book reviews on Goodreads.
A Bunch of Basil
Once again, this spring I signed up for a CSA box—a Community Supported Agriculture box—from the local Foothill Roots Farm, just a hop-skip-jump down the hill from me. I think this is the fourth time I’ve done this. Each week on Tuesday evening, I pick up a big box of just-picked farm produce grown right in the neighborhood. This past week, there have been broccoli, green onions, salad turnips, red and purple radishes, dinosaur kale, leaf lettuce, kohlrabi, and more. This week, I see sweet peas and fennel are on the list! Despite splitting a “Partial Share” with friends, I have to hustle to finish the contents of one box before the next one is ready for pickup! It has me eating more veggies and trying new recipes.
The first year I did this—using a different farm that no longer does CSAs—I think of as the year of the Great Bag of Basil! I received an email from the farm saying they had produced and harvested an overabundance of fresh basil, so they were offering an extra bag for only $15. I took the bait. When I arrived for pickup, I was expecting a grocery bag full of aromatic leaves. What I found instead was—and I kid you not—a giant black trash bag filled to the brim with basil! I’d planned to use it to make a huge batch of pesto, so had purchased pinenuts and olive oil and garlic—not enough for this big bag of basil, though.
Plan B took over. I invited friends to a Pesto-Making Party! That turned into four Pesto-Making Parties! I’m sure we made gallons of that savory green sauce. I froze lots in ice cube trays, storing the cubes of frozen pesto in bags in the freezer. It lasted for months and months! My guests went home each time with huge containers of pesto. Despite our Herculean efforts, some of the basil still went into the compost pile.
Thanks for reading my blog/newsletter, It’s Dawning on Me. I’d love your feedback and I’d be honored if you would sign up for a free or paid subscription.
I always knew you could be a TV star!! That is so exciting, and I wish you well with it.
Thanks Joan for launching this fun and interesting book journey. Have read your book and LOVED IT. Looking forward to discovering more 'reading in the wild" with the other books you have curated for us. What's next?? Linda D