Rice, Noodle, Fish - Matt Goulding

A little off my normal YA, fantasy, sci-fi, fiction path.


In the next year or two, we are planning a month long trip to Japan.  As such I have been scouring the internet for ideas/recommendations etc for anything about Japan.  One website I came across was www.boutiquejapan.com.  And they had some excellent book recommendations.  So off to the library I went to find some of them, and at the moment this was the only in.

This isn't like your normal tour guide book.  It's filled with tons of useful information like phases you should know, full page color pictures and the like but what's the most interesting is the author's take and experiences.  He takes you into the side streets, the small family run izakayas (japanese pubs) and the behind the scenes fish markets.  He talks about the food culture in Japan and how it isn't just about sushi (don't get him or me wrong - Japanese sushi is/would be the best in the world) but it's about the dying art of the Shokunin (craftsman) and how these people have dedicated themselves.  It isn't about the food business or money, it about the individual ingredients.  These men and women have studied individual ingredients for decades and their understanding far surpasses just putting a piece of tuna on a bed of rice.  You may have heard it said that sushi apprentices spend 4 years or more just learning how to make rice.  And oh how the Japanese are obsessed with rice!  In Japan rice isn't about buying it from the grocery store and cooking it.  There it's about what region the rice came from, what was the weather like when that particular crop was growing, how does this particular facility process the rice THEN once the rice has been scrutinized that way it's about cooking it - rinsing it so many times, at the right temperature, with the right seasoning, cooling it to the right temperature etc etc etc.  Rice is a religion in Japan and they take it VERY seriously.  I have a newfound respect for rice now and see it in a new light.

I digress, this book was more like literary storytelling for both the intrepid traveler and armchair reader seeking adventure.  It was informative, enlightening and one I will most def be picking up and adding to my repertoire not only for my trip but also to keep coming back to re-read.  Even tho I've haven't been to Japan (yet) this book took me to the country in a way that was all encompassing - I could hear the greetings entering the establishments, shouts of kampai (cheers) from various patrons, almost smell the sizzling hot oil cooking tempura and feel the smoky coals broiling various bits meats.

If nothing else, pick up this book and make the journey.  So worth it.

The Skies of Pern

The Red star that has plaque those on Pern has been moved into a harmless orbit, and the current Threadfall will be the last.  Technology is changing the very structure of Pern society.  The dragonriders must find themselves a new way to make themselves useful.  And they are diligently working toward that.  But not everyone on Pern views the change as good.  There are some that will stop at nothing to keep Pern in the old ways.

Then once again a formidable danger threatens Pern.  And once again Pern looks to the dragonriders to answer the call.  Will F'lessen and his new friend Tia be able to survive the tragedy foreshadowing them?

I enjoyed this book but I feel in some ways that moving ahead with technology, the world of Pern loses some of it's charm for me.  I don't want them to be completely devoid of it but what drew me to the Pern series in the first place was well the rustic charm of the world.  I absolutely loved the F'lessen and Tia story line.

I will continue to read Anne's last books and her son Todd's continuation on - as I believe he wrote more going BACK and fleshing out the timeline.  This book was meant to be more of the final of the timeline - not that they couldn't write more, but when you read the last bit of the book and the final page it "feels" more like a finale.

The Fire Rose - Mercedes Lackey

The Elemental Masters series form Mercedes Lackey is one of my favorite series - I own what I thought was all of them.  Little did I realize that this book is actually book 0.  So I was pretty excited to take this book on my vacation with me and read it on the beach.

Enter Mercedes elemental world of the early 1900's retelling of Beauty and the Beast -  Rosalind is a budding medieval scholar at her wits end.  Born into a  well to do family she's always had the run to do whatever she wanted.  She turned her energies to being the scholarly type - learning medieval dead languages and the like.  But when her father passes away (her mother had passed many years previous) and the debt collectors strip everything out from underneath her, she realizes she is in dire straits.  What is a woman in her position to do?  She has no other family that she can turn to and her particular set of skills doesn't translate into marriage very well.

Jason Cameron, a well off rail baron and firemaster is in a predicament.  His arrogance has gotten him into a bind and he is now half wolf half human.  Unwilling for the world around him to know his situation he dismisses his servants, leaving only his salamanders to carry on with his needs.  But salamanders cannot help him decipher ancient texts to find a way out of his dilemma.   And his apprentice is of no help at all, being a lazy arrogant man himself, Jason doesn't trust him.  Jason sends out his salamanders to find someone who will assist him with ancient texts and Rosalind is in the perfect situation to respond to Jason's call.

But will Jason's arrogance drive a wedge between their working relationship?  Just how much is he willing to show/tell her?  And when she arrives how does Jason's apprentice feel about Rosalind?

I was quite happy with this book.  It was a nice throw back to the original books in the series that played off fairytales, combining them with her elemental story line and world.   Lots of character development and action.  Classic telling of the fairytale in a new way.  I would def recommend this one.  If possible read this one before all the others.

Crystal Singer - Anne McCaffrey

Ah Anne McCaffrey.  One of her side series, non-PERN related.

Killashandra Ree spent 10 grueling years training for a musical career until the fateful day in her senior year when her final test they told her her voice had a unpleasant burr in higher registers that would prevent her from being a soloist.  Unpleasant burr?!??!  After all the encouragement she received.  If she couldn't bea top soloist she would walk away from it all.  At the space port she runs into a crystal singer on leave.  Pulled into his wonderful world she forgets about her unpleasantness for awhile and starts to think maybe crystal singing might be her calling.  Or is it?  Why is it that Ballybran, the only world with crystals on it, is rated a class 5 and extreme caution is needed.  Why is it that only crystal singers leave the planet and no one else?  Is she brave enough to change her destiny despite everyone urging her not to?

This is another favorite series of mine that Anne wrote.  Only 3 novels (really, really wish there was more!) it's one of those series that you can't put down.  I have read this series so many times I've had to replace the books multiple times.  And yet no matter how many times I read it, Killashandra is still a new but old favorite character.  Her journey is amazing especially as once again Anne creates this whole not just world of Ballybran but also universe where the crystals being cut on Ballybran make communications, interstellar travel and other things just as amazing.

So, so worth it to pick these up.

After You - Jojo Moyes

Second book that occurs after Me Before You (same author).

After Will is gone, Louisa is meant to break out of her tiny little world and truly live.  Can she do as Will wished?  Will she be able to make it?  Will she be able to move on?

After reading Me Before You and the emotional coaster that book put me on I was a bit trepidatious about this one.  I said before that between the book and the movie it was a great story but Louisa drove me nuts in the book.  Well the Louisa in After You...honestly this one was not nearly as emotionally charged as the first book.  I appreciate that moving on from the death of a loved one is difficult and that trying to find your way is even harder and Louisa was no exception to this.  She joins an emotional support group because her parents forced her to.  She has an accident which brought her back to her parents house.  New characters walk into her life some of which she has no control over.  I didn't enjoy this one nearly as much as the first one however I needed to know what happened to Louisa after Will.  This book still left me on a cliff, however the ending of this book, just like Me Before You left me with open possibilities.  I feel like this was more of an extra chapter than Louisa's ending.  You see her emotional struggles, Will's parents struggles and the trickle down affect his death left on everyone around him.  Louisa is the type of character that I don't think will ever get it together (like of all of us in a small way tho) but it's about family, support and coping with things.

If you're really curious about how she is after Will, then pick this up.  If you want the reader's digest version - give me a call and I'll spill.

Catacombs - Anne McCaffrey & Elizabeth Anne Scarborough (Book Two)

A continuation on where Catalyst left off.

Chester and Jubal arrive on Mau, Pshaw-Ra's home planet where cats are worshipped as gods.  But the welcome Pshaw-Ra was expecting does not appear and not is all as it seems for his latest scheme.  How will Chester, Jubal, the crew of Ranzo and the rescued Barque cats fit in on Mau?  Out of the frying pan and into the fire?

Once again this one fell short for me.  I just cannot put my finger on it.  What I didn't enjoy or where it was lacking - story was there, characters were good and it had good exciting things happening.  But it was just...flat.  It got to the point that will a few chapters to go I just didn't feel the need to read to the end.  I skipped to the last page with the happily ever afters and it was as I suspected.  This has only happened to me with one other book.  And I got through The Simarillion!!

Anyways I don't think either of these two books are worth picking up and reading.  

A Court of Mist & Fury - Sarah J. Maas (Book Two)

Second book in the Court of Thorn & Roses series.  Seriously Sarah is KILLING ME!!  I loved the first book, had a tough time waiting for this book and I think I will die in agony for books 3 thru 6 (not currently out).  I would recommend NOT picking this series up until um about 2020 I believe that is when book 6 is due out.  But then again you would be missing out on the continuation of what I recommended you to read in A Court of Thorns & Roses.  Mwahahahahahaha yes I am evil.

Feyre survived Amarantha's clutches and returns to the Spring Court and to Tamlin.  But at what cost?  What of the bargain she struck with Rhysand?  What cost will it be in becoming a High Fae?  Will she lose herself in the twisted courts of the fae?

Alright so just like the first one I enjoyed this one.  It went in directions I never dreamed possible and ended with well you'll just have to read it to find out how this one ends.  But the more I read of this series the more addicted I am to.