Favorite Books of 2011

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I doubt anyone actually noticed but at some point during 2011 I slipped a little list into my sidebar to keep track of books I read throughout the year. This was mostly for my own benefit as, ever the efficient German American, I like lists and being able to look back and see what I was reading a year ago. Since reading is such a big part of my life I can often look back and see where I was as a person based on what I was reading at the time. Sometimes it's my life that directs my book selection; sometimes it's the book that molds my life.

Note that these aren't all books published in 2011, just books I read during the year.

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My Life in France
by Julia Child

I started the year off with a book I'm kicking myself for not reading sooner: My Life in France. I of course knew of Julia from reruns of her cooking show on PBS as I was growing up and my mother's own amused recollections of certain episodes, but this book shows how much more there was to her than just cooking. Her enthusiasm for life, her ability to roll with the punches and make the best out of every situation, and her spirit of adventure all shine through in this gem of a book. She was truly a marvel and a great role model for anyone looking to squeeze as much out of life as possible.

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Room
by Emma Donoghue

I follow a few literary prizes to get book recommendations and The Man Booker prize is one I rely on a lot. I carefully go through the list and read reviews and descriptions of each nominee before deciding to read one, and even with those precautions I occasionally wind up with an unenjoyable read. Happy to say that Room did not fall into that category. The basic premise is something we've recently seen in the news: a woman is abducted, held captive for years, and impregnated by her captor. What Donoghue does with that setup is clever, unexpected in many ways, and well thought out. Through her choice of narrator and her focus on the victims Donoghue takes a disturbing subject and keeps it from turning into something tawdry and exploitative. I'm avoiding describing the plot in too much detail as I think it's one of those books that's best to encounter without any prior information. I later had my book club read this and everyone came away feeling impressed by the book.

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The Hunger Games
by Suzanne Collins

2011 was the year I finally caught up to the rest of the world and read The Hunger Games. I'd been hearing people recommend them for over a year but dragged my feet for fear it was another Twilight-like series, i.e., popular without merit. Of course, once I broke down (partially based on hearing recommendations from friends with verified good taste in books) I couldn't stop until I'd torn through the entire series. It's one of the rare series I wouldn't mind re-reading and I find myself eagerly awaiting the movie along with what seems like everyone else in the world.

We Need to Talk About Kevin
by Lionel Shriver

Another book I can't wait to see as a movie is We Need to Talk About Kevin. A subtly creepy book that, like Room, takes a unique angle on the sort of thing we see in the news all too often.

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The Handmaid's Tale
by Margaret Atwood

As I write this post I'm seeing a trend. It seemed to be a year of catching up on books I should have read long ago. The Handmaid's Tale is another of those modern classics that turns up on "best of" lists all the time but I managed to ignore until last year. It actually wasn't the first of Atwood's books I'd encountered. I was introduced to Oryx and Crake as a book club read and loved her style of dystopian fiction informed by Atwood's knowledge about our current world, both its science and its society. They are two very different books and, despite The Handmaid's Tale's notoriety, I found I enjoyed Oryx and Crake a little more. Which isn't to say that The Handmaid's Tale isn't worth your time, just that you should read them both. As with any good dystopian novel it's easy to see how our world could end up in such a state with the path that we're currently on. Atwood is a brilliant writer and excels in creating these potential future societies in a way that makes them believable and chilling.

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A Novel Bookstore
by Laurence Cossee

A Novel Bookstore, translated from the original French, tries to be a bit like The Elegance of the Hedgehog but never quite succeeds. It was an enjoyable enough read for me as a bibliophile but some of the plot fell short. The premise is great: a bookstore is opened in Paris that promises to only sell "good" books. That is, books that teach us, enlighten us, enchant us, and, most importantly, move us.

"We have no time to waste on insignificant books, hollow books, books that are here to please. We have no time for those sloppy, hurried books of the ‘Go on, I need it for July, and in September we’ll give you a proper launch and sell 100,000 copies, it’s in the bag’ variety. We want books that are written for those of us who doubt everything, who cry over the least little thing, who are startled by the slightest noise. We want books that cost their authors a great deal, books where you can feel the years of work, the backache, the writer’s block, the author’s panic at the thought that he might be lost: his discouragement, his courage, his anguish, his stubbornness, the risk of failure that he has taken. We want splendid books, books that immerse us in the splendor of reality and keep us there; books that prove to us that love is at work in the world next to evil, right up against it, at times indistinctly, and that it always will be, just the way that suffering will always ravage hearts. We want good novels."
-A Novel Bookstore

The proprietors of the shop are ordinary people struggling with various issues in life who retreat to books for comfort. Who can't relate to that at times? What I got out of this was how far behind my reading education is as I'd only read a handful of the books they included in the store. I kept notes as I read and later discovered that the publisher has a website up listing many more "good" books.

A Frozen Woman
by Annie Ernaux

That list led directly to my next book selection: A Frozen Woman. I'm not usually so bold in my proclamations but I will say that I loved this book. That said, I can see how this could be a divisive book, that many readers wouldn't "get" it. I think one's enjoyment of the novel is dependent on where the reader is in life and she he/she has experienced. Heck, it might not be a book for men at all as the mind of a women is already such a strange and complicated place beyond their comprehension. And this particular woman makes some decisions and reacts to life in ways not every woman can sympathize with. Still, I have a hard time imagining that anyone but the most sheltered woman wouldn't find at least one passage, one stage of the character's life that she can relate to. It's a deeply emotional book full of the resentment and apathy that life can force upon us. Honestly, it's the sort of book that the twenty-year-old version of me wouldn't have liked. Amazing how living life a little more opens up a whole new world of understanding.

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The Magicians and The Magician King
by Lev Grossman

I heard The Magicians described as Harry Potter for adults, and while we won't even get into the issue of how Harry Potter is for all ages and has many dark themes, I have to agree that The Magicians seems a little more... mature. Perhaps because it's more explicit about things like sex and jealousy, perhaps because the characters are a little less lovable and affable, but the connection to Harry Potter will always be made because it too takes place at a school for, you guessed it, magicians. This particular school is for college-aged magicians and while there are elements of other-worldly things much of the book is about the struggles any kid would face at that age. It's less fantastical than your average book full of wizards and spells. It may not be a perfect book as even the main character started to irk me by the end, but both this and its sequel, The Magician King, are worth a read if you're into that genre. In fact, I found my opinion of the first book improved upon reading the sequel as I saw how certain plot points in the first set up the story in the sequel.

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Feynman
by Jim Ottaviani and Leland Myrick

What an interesting idea to present a biography of physicist Richard Feynman in a graphic novel format. If you or anyone in your life is unfamiliar with the genius that was Feynman and his unique way of looking at and explaining the world this would be a great place to start. He's long been a fascinating person to me between his role in the Challenger explosion inquiry and his work on the Manhattan Project so it was nice to learn a little more about him in this easy-to-read format.

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Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
by Ransom Riggs

I wanted to love this book so much. It's right up my alley what with a WWII subplot, the sort of characters you'd see in a circus sideshow, and funky vintage photos interspersed throughout of the peculiar children displaying their various peculiarities. My favorite scenes were the ones that took place at the school, encountering new peculiar inhabitants and learning their stories. The overall plot of the book, however, was a little dull and lacked in creativity. I also felt as if I was reading a YA book, which is usually not the case with the YA books I choose to read. This one felt simplistic, as if the language and story were deliberately dumbed down for that audience. Disappointing because I couldn't help comparing it to Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, which is also written for children/young adults but manages to do so in a way that elevates the reader, whatever his/her age. That said, I hope the author's writing improves in subsequent novels as I like what he was trying to do.

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The Night Circus
by Emily Morgenstern

Ended the year with a bang by reading our book club's latest selection. Now this is a book that sets up a fantastical, magical world and populates it with interesting characters and a compelling story. Reminds me a bit of The Prestige as two talented magicians battle it out but there are unique elements to The Night Circus that let it stand on its own. It's the kind of book that sucks the reader into its world, a world infinitely more interesting than our own. I don't even know how to describe the plot, which just means that you'll have to read it for yourself to figure it all out. A lovely, lovely book!


How about you? Read anything interesting lately?

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Books read in 2011:

• Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk

• My Life in France

• Salem Brownstone

• Dead End Gene Pool

• Room

• Bespelling Jane Austen

• The Hunger Games

• Catching Fire

• Lullabies for Little Criminals

• Mockingjay

• Zombie Raccoons & Killer Bunnies

• The Beach

• The Handmaid's Tale

• Out Stealing Horses

• The Gates

• My Last Supper

• A Novel Bookstore

• A Frozen Woman

• A Scattering

• The Magicians

• I Capture the Castle

• The Woman in White

• Vanilla Ride

• Infected

• The Psychopath Test

• We Need to Talk About Kevin

• Through Black Spruce

• Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

• The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

• Spiced

• How Hard Can it Be?

• Jane and the Canterbury Tale

• The Magician King

• The Hare with Amber Eyes

• A Jane Austen Education

• Packing for Mars

• The Sea

• Feynman

• The Night Circus

52 Week Photo Project [Week 1]

I am officially back in business! As you may have noticed, my photography adventures have been rather sporadic and sparse since the blissful day when I completed my 365 project. Now, I'm not big on making resolutions or huge goals for myself at the start of the year as I think I'm pretty disciplined and in tune with what needs to be fixed in my life throughout the year. Still, there's something nice about starting a new project with the new year. I've decided to join in the 52 week photography challenge at Paint the Moon. She'll have weekly themes to guide us and a Flickr group to share our pictures. I'm excited to have another project to work on and am looking forward to joining another photography community even though I can already tell I'm outclassed by many others in the group.

Feel free to join in yourself! Fifty-two photos for the year should be much more doable and less of a strain than 365.

This week we've been given two themes to choose from, "sharing" or "natural." I chose "natural," as in my fluffy 100% cotton towel and the strange figure in the background, presumably posing au natural. :)

A Photo A Day [Days 395-396] - New York City Edition

Day 395

The famous Radio City Music Hall. Didn't actually see a show there on this trip but I've done plenty of the Christmas shows in the past. To be honest, I'd much rather see a play than a singing/dancing extravaganza. Which is exactly what I did. Although tickets were pricey I treated my family to a viewing of the drool-worthy Alan Rickman in Seminar, which proved to be fun for the whole family. Well, that might only hold true if your family's as weird and highbrow as mine. *adjusts monocle*

Day 396

A stolen moment captured on camera. Two lovers embrace while a zebra looks on disapprovingly. A serial killer lurches into frame. You can only imagine what happens next. My camera will never tell...

Our hotel was conveniently located just half a block off of 5th Avenue, the shopping mecca of NYC. While most of the stores were beyond my budget it did make for some nice photo opportunities. The best part is, we were able to sneak out of the hotel at night once the stores were shut and the crowds were gone so I could take photos of the impressive window displays at Bergdorf Goodman. This is but a sampling of the oddities they had to offer:







This last shot was such a lucky one, snapped just before we got on the bus to return home. While waiting for the bus to arrive I started to look around to see what photography mischief I could get up to and the perfect New York scene presented itself. Goodbye, New York! For now.

A Photo A Day [Day 394]

You may say I'm a dreamer

Hope you all had a wonderful holiday season! I played host to my mom and little brother and we took a brief jaunt up to NYC for a few days after Christmas. Got to see Alan Rickman on Broadway where I managed to refrain from drooling. Did lots of shopping, hit my favorite book store (Strand), and ate so much delicious food in just two days.

This was taken on a walk through Central Park on our way to the Museum of Natural History. I didn't even realize it was the famous Dakota Building until later. I just liked the way it peeked through the bare branches of the trees up the winding path.

Mint Oreo Mocha Cupcakes

I'm back, baby! Back with the zany, madcap cupcake recipes. 'Tis the season for overindulgence, right? At least that's the excuse I'm going with for eating these cupcakes. When I saw Baker Royale's Peppermint Mocha Cupcakes I knew they'd be delicious. Of course, somewhere between deciding to make them and actually heading to the kitchen for an afternoon of baking I changed them up a bit to make them even more indulgent.



To start, I reused the idea from my Oreo Truffle Cupcakes to line the bottom of each cupcake with half of an Oreo, this time a mint Oreo for some of that holiday flavor, and nestled a mint Oreo truffle in the center of each cupcake before baking. This resulted in an ooey, gooey, minty center with a fun crunch from the cookie on the bottom. It was like eating a molten mint brownie. Since I lack the patience to make Swiss meringue buttercream and am not too fond of the stuff anyway, I substituted my favorite mint buttercream recipe, the same one that topped my world-famous Thin Mint Cupcakes. Ok, that famous claim might be a bit untrue but that is the most popular recipe on my blog. For good reason. Although I think these new cupcakes might be even better.

I also left the peppermint extract out of the cupcake batter as they were already overloaded with mint from the Oreos and the Andes baking chips. This was probably a good call as the mocha flavor is pretty much overpowered by the mint as it is. The coffee in the batter just seems to enhance the richness of the chocolate flavor rather than standing out as its own flavor. Which is fine with me. The original recipe calls for an extra drizzle of chocolate sauce on top, which looks quite pretty but seems unnecessary to me when there's already so much chocolate in the cake. So I omitted that but if you're up for consuming some extra calories and fat you can snag the recipe for that from Baker Royale.



In the interest of full disclosure, I'll also admit that even though I keep referring to them as "Oreos" I actually used a knockoff version that Aldi sells this time of year. Trader Joe's also has a similar seasonal cookie so anything that vaguely resembles an Oreo with mint flavor should work just fine.

I feel as if I've truly got my baking mojo back with these beauties. They were a hit with my book club tonight and since there are any left I might share one or two with my family. We'll see...

Mint Oreo Truffle Filling
Recipe adapted from Inside BruCrew Life

11 Mint Oreo cookies (or similar), finely crushed
2 ounces cream cheese, softened

Blend crushed Oreos and cream cheese until fully mixed. Shape into 1" balls, place on a baking sheet, and refrigerate while making the batter.

Mint Mocha Cupcakes
Recipe adapted from Bakers Royale

6 Mint Oreos (or similar substitute)
1 cup (4.5 ounces) all purpose flour
1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons (1.5 ounces) unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and warm
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (7.3 ounces) sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon instant coffee (recommended: Starbucks Via)
1/2 cup hot coffee
3/4 cup Andes baking chips

1) Preheat oven to 350 F and line 12 cupcake wells with paper liners.
2) Divide each Oreo into two halves and place each half into the bottom of each paper liner, frosting side up.
3) In a bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.
4) In a mixing bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until well combined. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat at medium speed about 40 seconds.
5) Scrape the sides of the bowl and add 1/3 of the flour mixture. Beat briefly until mixed in. Add 1/4 cup of hot coffee and 1/2 tablespoon of instant coffee. Beat and repeat with 1/3 of the flour mixture followed by the remainder of the coffee and instant coffee. Finish with the last 1/3 of flour mixture. Fold in Andes baking chips
6) Spoon a small amount of batter into the bottom of each well, enough to cover the Oreo cookie. Add one Oreo truffle to the center of each cupcake and top with enough batter to completely cover the truffle.
(You may wind up with a little extra batter as the original recipe didn't use the truffle filling. I made two extra cupcakes in a separate pan without any Oreo filling.)
7) Bake at 350 for 23-26 minutes or until tops spring back when lightly touched. Cool in pan on rack for ten minutes, then remove from pan and cool completely on rack.

Mint Buttercream
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 cups powdered sugar
3 tablespoons heavy cream
1/4 teaspoon peppermint oil
Red food coloring (optional)

1) In a large mixing bowl, cream butter for 45-60 seconds.
2) Add powdered sugar and beat at a low speed until the mixture comes together.
3) Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add heavy cream and peppermint oil. Beat until combined and then beat an additional 45 seconds. If necessary, add more powdered sugar for desired consistency.
4) If desired, divide the frosting into two separate bowls and add red food coloring to one. Using a spatula or flat butter knife, "paint" one side of a pastry bag with the red buttercream and the other side with the white buttercream and pipe evenly onto cupcakes.

A Photo A Day [Days 390-392]

Another one of those photos where it didn't turn out as I'd planned so I forced it to work with the aid of Photoshop.




Over the weekend I dragged my husband to go see a cabaret/burlesque version of The Nutcracker being performed in Philadelphia. It was a fun enough time that was sort of ruined by the misery we had to suffer upon returning home.

It was shortly after 10:00 PM on a cold winter's evening when we discovered that our front door no longer wanted to open. It was as if the doorknob wouldn't turn far enough to unlock. Called an emergency locksmith who, because our doorknob is old and weird like everything else in our house, was unable to use any of the usual methods to get the door open. In fact, every time we have someone out to repair something the worker always comments on how he's never had to work with a __ (fill in the blank) so strange and difficult to fix. Over the course of the next hour the locksmith wound up hacking the entire doorknob to pieces, bit by bit, using a drill, metal cutters, and a saw. I'm sure our neighbors loved us for the sound of power tools echoing through the peaceful neighborhood at midnight. Let's not even talk about how bloody cold it was locked out of our house as frost formed on the grass and cars. Let's really not talk about how much the entire thing cost us by the end of the ordeal. Still, I was never so grateful to see the inside of my house. The poor cats who were inside when this all went down were petrified beyond belief and didn't recover until the next day.





Hark! Glory to my new-found holiday-flavored milk! What to my wondering eye did appear while wandering the aisles of Target than this red velvet chocolate milk. Yes, it is as odd and tasty as you'd imagine. I simply couldn't resist buying it for my husband.

Gift Giving Guide for the Weirdos In Your Life

I know the posts around here have been few and far between lately. The truth of the matter is I've been keeping busy in real life and don't always find the time to blog. On top of that, I've been baking less and my crafting has mostly consisted of making presents for others. So I have to keep those under wraps.

Instead of a typical post I will share with you some of the holiday ideas that I've been enjoying this year. I'll begin with a helpful gift guide for any weirdos in your life. This list is, of course, based on the sorts of things I would like.


First up is this $24 cupcake cookie jar from Sourpuss. Sure, it has a skull on top but it's an awfully cute skull, right? See that tiny little bow? Not too threatening.


While you're there, you could also pick up some of these X-ray hand paper napkins for your upcoming holiday soiree. Very festive! At the very least they would get your guests talking. I could so go on a huge shopping spree at Sourpuss. My kind of stuff!

What girl doesn't love a bit of jewelry? Again, in keeping with the weirdo theme you could give the gift of one of these artsy skull pendants from Pamela Love for $70. That may seem like a lot but compared to the $920 talon cuff that first attracted me to her designs it's a bargain.

I have absolutely no idea what I'd do with my own personal library kit but as a librarian's daughter there's something appealing about it. It is a little scary that I grew up using libraries with card catalogs and checkout cards and now those things qualify as novelty vintage items. But oh, the power I could wield with my very own due date stamp!


If I had sassier co-workers I'd buy a batch of Bluntcard mousepads as fun office gifts. Heck, I'm tempted to get the one on the left for myself.


I am dying to get my hands on some of these dessert-themed chocolate bars from Dylan's Candy Bar with flavors like red velvet cake, banana cream pie, and tiramisu. At $8.50 for the set they're not badly priced but it's the shipping expense that kills me. Hopefully you're not as stingy as I when it comes to spending money on your loved ones.


Who in your life doesn't need Star Wars light saber chopsticks? Hmmm? Isn't $12.99 a pittance to pay for something this awesome? Available from Think Geek, another great site for a shopping spree.


It is a little-known fact that Christmas is based on a pagan holiday honoring the undead who have risen from the grave in search of tasty brains. Our tradition of leaving out cookies for Santa actually derives from the ancient practice of leaving tender morsels of brain matter out on December 24th in an attempt to sate the the zombies' hunger for another year. Back then, no one got so ridiculously caught up in the commercialism of the holiday as everyone's sole Christmas wish was that the zombies would stop eating the children of the village. There was no need for any other gift. Following that tradition, I present to you this zombie Christmas ornament from Neatoshop. They have a few other zombie-themed ornaments to choose from for those of us who remember the true spirit of the holiday.



Lastly, what Christmas season would be complete without a visit from some Gremlins? Yes, technically this is a Mogwai, the pre-Gremlin form, but odds are you'll accidentally spill some water on this adorable little ornament while watering your Christmas tree, the Mogwais will get loose late at night and eat the cookies you left out for Santa, and then you know what you'll wind up with. If you're willing to take that chance for an opportunity to display this cutie on your tree head over to Urban Outfitters to buy your very own Gremlin ornament. Pick up one for me too while you're at it!