Tucson Book Haul, Part I

I bought a lot of books in Tucson, which is blessed with many bookshops. In fact, I bought so many that I had to mail three boxes back to me (Layla mailed one back to herself), and this is not even the complete list of what I bought. It does not, for instance, include any of the books from Bookman’s, a huge used bookstore. The register had Trump’s book Art of the Deal standing up. I turned it over so I wouldn’t have to look at his face. The woman at the register righted it, explaining apologetically that she’d get a bonus if she managed to unload it on someone!

From Book Stop, a used bookstore which proved to be a treasure trove of children’s books, some from my childhood which I lost and then never saw again for 30 years:

Haunting of Cassie Palmer, by Vivien Alcock. Ghost story recommended to me on DW.

The Fire Eaters, by David Almond. Magical realism, I think. I really liked his novel Kit’s Wilderness.

Project Cat, by Nellie Burchardt. Kids find a lost kitten. I hope it doesn’t die.

Winged Colt of Casa Mia, by Betsy Byars. FLYING HORSIE. I hope it doesn’t die.

Katie John and White Witch of Kynance, both historicals by Mary Calhoun. She wrote two of my favorite children’s books, The House of Thirty Cats and Magic in the Alley.

The Lost Star, by H. M. Hoover. (On Kindle.) I’ve never read anything by her but lots of people have fond memories of her books. Her books all seem to be on Kindle now.

Veronica Ganz, by Marilyn Sachs. (On Kindle.) Written in 1969, I remember this book as a serious look at bullying from the perspective of a girl bully, but what I was mostly interested in was the then-current but by my time of reading (early 80s) now-historical details of daily life.

From Antigone Books, a new indie bookstore:

The Chicken: A Natural History, by Joseph Barber. A gift for my step-mom, who raises chickens, but I’m going to read it first.

Pirate's Fortune (Supreme Constellations Book 4), by Gun Brooke. They had a shelf of F/F romances by Bold Strokes Books, which I don’t often see in their print incarnations, and I was so excited that I bought three of them.

Notorious pirate and mercenary Weiss Kyakh works as a reluctant double-agent for the Supreme Constellations. Her mission is to infiltrate a cutthroat band of space pirates along with a sentient bio-android, Madisyn Pimm.

Hopefully the books in this series are standalones because I have not read books 1-3. The prologue had Madisyn waking up in an android body and begging for death, but I’m guessing things look up from there.

Cool in Tucson (A Sarah Burke Mystery) , by Elizabeth Gunn. A mystery set in Tucson which Layla recommended; heroine is a cop.

Ghost Trio, by Lillian Irwin. An F/F Gothic! With a somewhat less-than-scary mansion name.

Lee Howe, a professional pianist, believes that if she can see the site where her beloved Devorah met her death, she will begin to accept that she must move on with her own life. Devorah Manikian had been rehearsing for a starring role in Carmen and was living in Eggerscliffe, a 1920s-style pseudo-castle belonging to wealthy and eccentric impresario, Annajean Eggers. Devorah was gone only a few weeks before Lee was notified that she was dead—killed in a tower fire at Eggerscliffe. But as Lee stands alone below the castle, she hears Devorah singing...

Endurance: My Year in Space, A Lifetime of Discovery, by Scott Kelly. A space memoir by Gabby Gifford’s husband.

The Cooking Gene: A Journey Through African American Culinary History in the Old South, by Michael W. Twitty. The bookshop person said the author had done an event there and was really nice.

You Make Me Tremble, by Karis Walsh. F/F romance.

Animal rescue worker Iris Mallery thinks she has created a stable and secure home for herself, but when her small town is battered by an earthquake, Iris needs to rebuild not only her own life, but the lives of the displaced dogs and cats now filling her shelter.

The last book I read by her inspired me to go to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and I had a wonderful time. Hopefully this one will not inspire an earthquake.

Anyone read any of these and/or have opinions on what they’d most enjoy seeing a review of?

Farmer's Market Month, Day 0: Beer (Bread) Bad

I just got home from an absolutely wonderful Tucson trip this afternoon and my first farmers market is tomorrow, so I'm only partially counting this as a day (hence Day 0.)

For those who missed my earlier post, I'm experimentally spending a month eating only what I buy at farmers' markets, certain cooking-necessary staples not found there like flour and milk, and anything already in my pantry. Also, I am trying to bake bread for the first time in my life, so I attempted that tonight via this beer bread recipe.

Beer bread was very disappointing: nice cakey texture, and a flavor which combined extreme blandness with a slight weird/unpleasant tang. I didn't care for it even fresh out of the oven and with butter, and had rice with garlic and Chinese sausage for dinner. Maybe I should not have used Budweiser? That was the only beer I could buy as a single can at the corner store.

ETA: Oh wait. I just checked my flour, and it says it's best by April 2018. That may have had something to do with it. I will buy yeast, better beer, better and also new flour, and try again.

ETA II: Also failed to add the salt - I misread the recipe regarding to do and not do if you are using self-rising flour, which I was not.

Considering the multiple things I did wrong (old flour, no salt, possibly inferior beer) I have hopes that I could do better if I just use better ingredients. And also remember to put all of them in.

Dear Hurt-Comfort Exchange Writer...

Thank you so much for writing for me! H/C is my favorite thing, so I'm very excited about this exchange and I really look forward to whatever you create for me.

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