Monday, July 30, 2012

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?!

                 
               



What I Finished Last Week




Two more Paris books



Paris, I Love You But You're Bringing Me Down
(Review coming soon)




Le Road Trip
(Review coming soon)






Two more 1001 Children's Books You Must Read



The Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis
(Review coming soon)



Teddy Robinson by Joan G. Robinson
(Review coming soon)





What I Might Read Next

I've got all these books awaiting me.
Who can choose?!
      

               











What are you reading today?!


It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is where we share what we read this past week, what we hope to read this week…. and anything in between!  This is a great way to plan out your reading week and see what others are currently reading as well… you never know where that next “must read” book will come from!

I love being a part of this and I hope you do too! As part of this weekly meme Book Journey loves to encourage you all to go and visit the others participating in this meme. Book Journey offers a weekly contest for those who visit 10 or more of the Monday Meme participants and leave a comment telling BJ how many you visited.

Saturday, July 28, 2012

Pain Français




We're off for one last weekend in Paris.
I couldn't resist sharing with you
the recipe I love most and make most:
Pain Français.


If you are not a baker,
you are thinking,
Non, non, non!
Pain? Non!
Trop difficile!


Shhh! Come here. Now I'm going to let you in on a secret:
Baking bread is the easiest thing you will ever do. Shhh!

Any book on baking will have great ideas to help you.
I used this book, Baking, by James Peterson.


Here's all it takes to make two wonderful loaves of French bread:
6 cups flour
.75 ounce active dry yeast
1 1/2 tsp. salt
2 cups warm water
That's it.


Just flour, yeast, salt, water.
What could be easier?


I stir some of the flour with some of the water and the yeast
and let it sit until it bubbles a little (an hour?)
Then I stir in more of the flour and water
and add the salt.



I knead it for about ten minutes.
It will feel smooth when it is just right.

I let it rise until it doubles,
punch it down, and knead it again.

After it has risen again,
I roll it out into long lovely loaves and
let it rise for a little on the baking pan.

Then I pop it into the oven at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

(Sometimes I slash the tops of the loaves
before I put it in the oven,
and sometimes I place a glass bowl of water on the bottom rung of the oven
to give the bread a beautiful crust.)

Then it is out of the oven
and I slice enough for our meal,
and add lots of butter.



Yum!


Weekend Cooking is hosted by Beth Fish Reads and is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend.You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page. For more information, see the welcome post.

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Top Ten Most Vivid Settings In Books



Radioactive
This book is all about the setting,
with danger in everything,
even the smallest particles.


Buddha in the Attic
America in the time leading up to and during WWII,
America afraid.


1Q84
Another Murakami world
of secrets and mysteries,
where nothing is certain.


The Yearling
I never knew what Florida Crackers were
until I read this book.
Think Florida Crackers = Early Wal-Mart People.


Game of Thrones
If you are a woman and you've ever been talked into playing Risk
with a bunch of men,
and you ended up running away from the table, in tears...
well, that's basically this book,
only you won't just leave the table in tears.


Window
It's inevitable, we know,
but it hurts anyway.


Paris to the Moon
It's Paris.
It's the most vivid spot on earth.
It's the book that makes me think of moving there every day.


Watership Down
I was a rabbit, living among rabbits,
for days as I read this book.


Children on the Oregon Trail
No water. Hunting for food.
Cold. Seven children,
one an infant, headed for Oregon.
In winter. Alone.


Zeitoun
New Orleans after Katrina.


Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because we are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

Each week we will post a new Top Ten list that one of our bloggers here at The Broke and the Bookish will answer. Everyone is welcome to join. All we ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND add your name to the Linky widget so that everyone can check out other bloggers lists! If you don't have a blog, just post your answers as a comment. Have fun with it! It's a fun way to get to know your fellow bloggers.

Monday, July 23, 2012

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

                 
               



What I Reviewed Last Week
(Paris Books)


Paris My Sweet
by Amy Thomas

Amy Thomas (get ready for the swell of covetousness that is about to overtake you)
goes to Paris to write ad copy for Louis Vuitton....more




The Sweet Life in Paris
by David Lebovitz

The Sweet Life in Paris is 
the moving-and-starting-over story of Lebovitz’s venture into Parisian life. 
It’s a story we have heard many times before...more




A Town Like Paris
by Bryce Corbett

Australian Bryce Corbett somehow finds himself in the most bewitching, 
the most bewildering of towns, Paris. He bungles his way through working at his...more




(1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up books)



Parvana's Journey by Deborah Ellis

Parvana is a girl in midst of a terrible war in Afghanistan. 
Her father has just died and she desperately wants to find her mother and siblings. 
She...more





Figgie Hobbin by Charles Causley

I’m not sure whether children in America these days read...more





The Little Horse Bus by Graham Greene

There are some books that I really, really wonder 
how they made the 1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up list. 
This is one of those....more





The Lighthouse Keeper's Rescue 
by Ronda and David Armitage

There comes a time in every reader’s life when she finds she must bend the rules. 
Of course we want to read all of the 1001 Children’s Books You Must...more





Clever Polly and the Stupid Wolf
by Catherine Storr

Wolf is quite annoyed that Polly won’t fall for his tricks. 
All Wolf wants, really, is to eat Polly, but she manages to elude him every time. 
You must...more




The Incredible Adventures of Professor Branestawm
by Norman Hunter

How is it that this book has eluded me all my life? 
It should be in every library in the world. 
Yes, a worthy choice for 1001 Children’s Books You Mus...more







What I Finished Last Week



The Light Between Oceans
by M. L. Stedman

This is a sad, sad story. 

I was pretty sure it was going to be a sad, sad story when 
I saw it on the list of recommended books in the August issue of...more





The Fault in Our Stars
by John Green

You told me this was a great read, but I ignored you, 
thinking John Green was just another author of Sad Teenager Stories. 


I was wrong....more





 
What I'm Reading Now
(Chicago Books)


Insurgent
by Veronica Roth

    City Walks: Chicago


                                                                                                      




What I Might Read Next



I'm back from Chicago this week,
and I have a giant stack of possibilities to read next.
Which do you recommend?


      
      
      







What are you reading today?!


It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is where we share what we read this past week, what we hope to read this week…. and anything in between!  This is a great way to plan out your reading week and see what others are currently reading as well… you never know where that next “must read” book will come from!

I love being a part of this and I hope you do too! As part of this weekly meme Book Journey loves to encourage you all to go and visit the others participating in this meme. Book Journey offers a weekly contest for those who visit 10 or more of the Monday Meme participants and leave a comment telling BJ how many you visited.