Pamela

Midway through this novel—and enjoying it immensely—I mentioned it to Sarah N., and how I felt like I was sitting down with the author over a cup of tea and having a nice chat. And then I realized that is exactly what the author intended: we were having a little gossip. The lives of two women living in New York, who’ve been friends since boarding school, weave through the higher social circles of the city, both in truth and rumor. A sense of foreboding threads itself through the narrative, right up to its shocking ending.

Classics of literature should not be limited to the classroom! I read this book for the first time several years ago, and decided to re-read it after enjoying My Antonia. (I ADORED My Antonia beyond measure!) Cather describes the Great Plains with amazing accuracy; I can see those shadowy fields in my mind’s eye as I read along. She paints vivid portraits of her characters, too, and it felt rather like I knew them, whether I liked them or not. (And I definitely had strong opinions about that.) She has a beautiful, sharp way with language that will surely draw me back again.

If a crazed person stood in my kitchen and insisted I keep just one cookbook in my collection, it would be this one. It is practical, approachable, enjoyably readable, and, most important where a cookbook is concerned, absolutely delicious. Beginning and experienced cooks alike will find something to love and appreciate about this book. So please--forget The Joy of Cooking and get this instead!

Some people may sigh disgustedly when they see this novel is an "homage" to Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility, but I ask you to give it a chance. While the story is certainly framed similarly to Austen's classic, it has its own personality and surprises. I bonded with the characters—who are set adrift from their comfortable lives by outside forces as well as their own choices —and they felt like friends even if I didn't always approve of their choices.

I know farming is hard work, and this book illustrates it. It's not a tale of drudgery, however. Kimball has this magic talent of romanticizing the hard farm life she and her fiancee were living, but with clear eyes so you understand exactly how hard it was. The book is not just about the growing farm, however. The relationship between Kristin and her now-husband Mark is interesting, and certainly suffers a lot of strain through their first year together. It's not a fairy tale story, but it is beautiful and loving and, especially, REAL. I loved this book. I learned from it.

2011 PNBA Award Winner This memoir is about a young woman coming home central Oregon after years of running rivers across the globe. Her intent is to build her own house on the land where she grew up. What her story becomes is an examination of her relationship with her father and his own story. I found that it illustrates how our parents’ stories become a part of who we are, and how we learn from that. It was one of my favorite books of last year.

This book is based on a true story that Rock read in The Oregonian several years ago. It involved the brief tale of a homeless man and his daughter who lived in Forest Park, were discovered, then relocated to a farm to work and build a “better life” for themselves. Then they disappeared. Rock has imagined how the story might have ended. It’s creepy and disturbing, yet strangely enjoyable. I don’t regret reading it, and I strongly recommend it.

As the weather turns cooler, I want to curl into a ball and knit. Some days are still a little warm for that, so reading about a knitter is the next best thing. This book is about more than knitting, however. The author is able to map out the story of her life, and her relationship with her ex-husband, through her projects. The writing is warm and rich and just what I need this time of year.

Look at the cover this book. Delicious, right? I am SO happy I have strawberries in my garden. I fell in love with this cookbook because I love to bake, and I love surmountable challenge in my recipes. This book is also conveniently organized by occasion, so if I need something to take to someone else’s house for dessert, I flip to “I’ll Bring Dessert.” Angel Blueberry Muffins for breakfast? “Come for Brunch.” Really—come on over. I’ll do the baking.

Oh, how I do long to go to Italy. I'm not sure if reading the books of Frances Mayes makes it harder or easier to face the reality of an Oregon winter, but I do greet each new one with a joyful little shriek. Each one of her books lets me into her life in Italy, and this is no different. Her writing is warm and descriptive and inviting. It's (almost) as good as being there....

Katie Crouch creates wonderfully flawed and lovable characters with plenty of quirk. In her latest novel, Hannah Legare is still searching for the father who disappeared when she was 11 years old in Charleston, South Carolina. As an adult she escaped to the west coast, where she built a business and a life with her husband, but that falls apart in a spectacular, drunken fashion. Hannah returns home to recover and to face her ghosts, and to get on with life. There is no fairy-tale, pink-shoed ending here, but I derived great satisfaction from the world and people Crouch creates.

I have recommended books by Ree Drummond before ( The Pioneer Woman Cooks and The Pioneer Woman: Black Heels to Tractor Wheels—A Love Story), and that is because I am so completely won over by her writing, recipes, and photography on her blog. In her newest book, which is a picture book for children, she introduces her world to Charlie the Ranch Dog. When you think of dogs on a ranch, you probably don’t think of basset hounds, but Ree’s charming book will prove just how vital Charlie is her ranch!

This book is part travelogue, part literary criticism, and part author biography. McClure set out to revisit her memories of the beloved "Little House" series by Laura Ingalls Wilder, and to see if the "Laura World" she created in her head is based in reality. What transpires is an obsessive quest to learn all she can about the real Laura, visiting the actual locations that inspired the books, reading practically everything written about Wilder. It’s a comfy look back at the books of our past, that may make you want to visit childhood landmarks of your own, both literary and literal. (Little House in the Big Woods is waiting in my summer stack. . . )

Every now and then I like to revisit a book from my youth, and I recently decided to delve back into the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. My rediscovery was inspired by two recent books I've reviewed: Made for You and Me by Caitlin Shetterly and The Wilder Life by Wendy McClure. The first book lightly touched upon the memory of reading about Laura and her family's travels westward, and the second book immersed itself in the stories and their world, including the memory of the experience of reading. I remember reading these books at my Grandma Kelm's house, most likely in the summer. Playing pioneer was one of my favorite flights of imagination as a child, and reading this book took me right back. It is sweet and cozy, and I adore Laura for her imperfections, and I'm delighted by the illustrations. I heartily recommend a trip down memory lane, or a first reading if it's possible you missed them in your own youth.

I am a knitter. I'm not complicated or fancy about it; I mostly do simple scarves, lots of cotton dishcloths, and I'm working on the second half of my first pair of socks (a project spanning several years…). Despite this, I still feel welcomed into and embraced into the world of knitters, and Rachael Herron's book is an excellent reminder of WHY. Yarn becomes woven through an entire life, not just twined around a set of needles. The stories of our projects—why we took them on, what we were feeling as we worked on them, who inspired us to the creation—bring us all together, and when a knitter shares her stories as lovingly and delightedly as Herron, I feel like we're friends-in-needles.

This book just arrived this week, and I can’t keep my hands off of it. It is full of inspiration: designs, skills, color, designers and history are all knit together into one delightful book. I’m not sure if a dedicated knitter is ever at a loss for “what to do next”, but if they are, a leisurely thumbing through this book will introduce them to fibers and techniques they may be new to. It’s a fantastic gift for someone whose stash may be getting bigger than their project list.

Sarah Price is 35-years-old, the mother of two small children, and married to the man she has been with for 10 years. He has just confessed to cheating on her, and her stable, content life has just been turned on its head. There are a million stories of infidelity in the word, but I felt this story was more about how our lives change as we grow up and away from who we thought we would be in college. Sarah questions her whole identity throughout this book, not just her relationship with her husband, and it is that internal struggle—played out so well on the page—that I connected to in this book.

Have no fear: butter, salt, and sugar will always be good friends of mine. It has occurred to me, however, that I am not in fact impervious to their long-term effects, and that I sure as heck need to attempt a healthier diet at least some of the time. Since Mark Bittman’s comprehensive cooking tome How to Cook Everything is one of my favorite cookbooks ever, I decided to turn to him once again. I am not disappointed. Bittman continues to bring accessible and easily modifiable recipes to my kitchen, and the results are delicious, healthy, and better for the planet.

I admit that I’m a domesticity dork: I cook, I knit, I garden, I mend my clothes. Perhaps in most cases, it’s I ATTEMPT to mend my clothes. I can clumsily sew up the seam on a favorite sweater, and have messily patched up the pockets on my jeans, and I even sew the buttons back onto my coats and shirts. I always knew I could be a better mender, and then this book came along to confirm my suspicions. This is mending for creative people: solid technique with unique touches. Even if you don’t wear your clothes down to threads, this book can help give your favorite items a fresh look.

While I grew up on the western edge of the Chicago suburbs, I still found much of my own story of growing up on the pages of Findling’s memoir. Her youth is perhaps the one I imagined myself having, in a land of ocean beaches and pine trees. There is more to it than the scenery, however. Young Kim seeks her true self through a series of experiences and adventures, exploring the many sides of Oregon in the process: from a childhood on the southern Oregon coast, to college in Eugene, young adulthood in Portland, and eventually settling into the eastern side of the state.