Q is for Queen of the Damned

Title:  Queen of the Damned

Author: Anne Rice

Original Publication Date: 1988   

Date I First Read: 1994

Basic Category: Fiction

(Of course, I just had to pick this one!)

Basic Summary: The third Vampire Chronicle . . . it picks up where The Vampire Lestat leaves off.  Lestat is going to perform his rock concert, and every vampire is going to be there for good and for bad.  His goal is to wake up Akasha, the queen of vampires.  Meanwhile, there are the dreams of the twins.  What do they mean?   Maharet tells the surviving vampires the story, while Akasha sets out to bring peace to the world by killing off men.     

What I Remember About the Book:  I still re-read parts of this book regularly, but what I loved most about this book is all of the vampires that we’ve gotten to know in the previous two books, plus some that are new to readers, get together in a grand meeting.  I loved reading the descriptions of each vampire, particularly as Marius comes into the room and looks at them all in turn. 

What I Took Away From the Book:  If I am a vampire, it pays to know Lestat personally (you know, since Akasha generally spared those that Lestat loved.)  If I am not a vampire . . . well, don’t go to Lestat’s concert!

Rating (1-5 stars):  5

P is for the Princess Diaries

Title:  The Princess Diaries (Vol 1)                                            

Author: Meg Cabot

Original Publication Date: 2000

Date I First Read: 2000

Basic Category: Teen/YA Fiction / Humor

Basic Summary:  Mia discovers she is a princess, even though she does not really want to be one.  The story is told in various formats (diary, IM, etc.) 

What I Remember About the Book:  I remember when it arrived, brand new, at the library where I worked.  I started reading it in the staff room during my fifteen minute afternoon break.  I didn’t want to put it down.  I remember laughing out loud.  I remember Mia’s mother painting.  Her friends.   Princess lessons!

What I Took Away From the Book:  It would be fun for a while to find out you are a princess. 

Rating (1-5 stars):  5

PS:  I had the opportunity to meet Meg Cabot in 2004, and also heard her give a most energetic presentation.  I had so much fun.  She took a picture with me.  This was before I had a digital camera.  I need to find the print, and scan it once and for all. I also got a couple of  books signed by Ms. Cabot.   I wore a dress to this conference, and felt like kind of a dork.  A couple of week later I wore the same dress to my great-aunt's funeral. 

O is for One-Way to Ansonia

Title:  One-Way to Ansonia

Author: Judie Angell

Original Publication Date: 1985

Date I First Read: 1988

Basic Category: Juvenile/Teen Historical Fiction

Basic Summary: Rose immigrates to the US from Russia or Eastern Europe at age 10 in the 1890s.  It is the story of her growing up in difficult circumstances in New York City.

What I Remember About the Book: I remember really liking this book.  I loved historical fiction, so this one was perfect for me.   I remember most that she got married really young, and had a baby.   She went to English classes. 

What I Took Away From the Book:  Don’t have a baby really early. Wait.  (Um, yes, I actually waited until my 30s.)  Work hard and you make things happen.      

Rating (1-5 stars):  4 (at the time – I need to re-read it!) 

N is for New Food of Life

Title:  New Food of Life: A book of Ancient Persian and Modern Iranian Cooking and Ceremonies

Author: Najmieh Batmanglij

Original Publication Date: 1992

Date I First Read: 2006

Basic Category: Nonfiction / Cooking / Culture

Basic Summary: This book presents recipes and how they are related to Persian culture (celebrating holidays and weddings in particular.)

What I Remember About the Book: The photos of the food are excellent . . . they make my mouth water.  This is true even the pictures where tree nuts (particularly pistachios) are involved – I am allergic to tree nuts.  This book, for me, is “food porn.” 

The recipes themselves are easy to follow and quite clear. 

What I Took Away From the Book:  I have learned how to cook Persian-style several recipes from this book.  My spouse tells me if they taste good AND correct, or if I was close.  I do alter some recipes sometimes – no nuts, no fenugreek, less oil, etc.   Some of my favorite recipes include the albaloo polo (cherry rice) and esfanaj o portagal (spinach and orange) khoresh.  

Rating (1-5 stars):  5 

M is for The Man Who Didn't Wash His Dishes

(For the 2013 A to Z Blogging Challenge, I will be featuring one book each day, that begins with that day's letter, that made an impression on me.  This means that for some reason, I didn't just read that book and forget about it.  No, I still think about it after some period of time has passed.)

Title: The Man Who Didn’t Wash His Dishes

Author:  Phyllis Krasilovsky  Illustrated by Barbara Cooney

Original Publication Date: 1950

Date I First Read: 1980ish (My mom probably read it to us first, and then I read to my brothers.)

Basic Category: Picture Book / Children’s Fiction

Basic Summary: A man doesn’t feel like washing his dishes, so after he runs out of clean dishes, he eats from things like a soap dish and ash trays.  Soon, he is out of everything from which he can eat.   Luckily for him, he has a pick-up truck.  When it rains, he piles them all in!

What I Remember About the Book:  I pretty much remember the whole book as it is pretty silly, actually.  It made an impression on me, though, that dishes should always be washed on a regular basis! 

What I Took Away From the Book: Wash the dishes unless you have a pick-up and it going to rain hard outside. 

Rating (1-5 stars): 4.5 

L is for A Little Princess

(For the 2013 A to Z Blogging Challenge, I will be featuring one book each day, that begins with that day's letter, that made an impression on me.  This means that for some reason, I didn't just read that book and forget about it.  No, I still think about it after some period of time has passed.)

Title: A Little Princess

Author: Frances Hodgson Burnett

Original Publication Date: 1905

Date I First Read: 1986

Basic Category: Juvenile Fiction / Classic Fiction

Basic Summary: Sara Crewe’s father takes her to England from India to get an education at Miss Minchin’s Select Seminary.  As he is very wealthy, she has her own suite (no roommates for her!) of rooms and a private maid.  Before he leaves to return to India, he buys her the perfect doll to be her friend.  Sara makes human friends as well at the school, and is kind to everyone, even Becky, the young scullery maid.  Miss Minchin doesn’t care for her, in part because Sara already knows French.   When Sara’s father dies, seemingly penniless, big problems lay ahead for Sara.  

What I Remember About the Book: I was in fifth grade when I read this the first time, and sorry that I hadn’t read it sooner.  I re-read it five times at least the following summer (I have memories of reading it on a lawn chair at a campsite, and later in my sleeping bag with a flashlight.)  I had never seen a movie version before, either.   I watched the PBS Wonderworks version later that year when it aired.  I remember most from my first reading of the book was the buying of the doll (named Emily), Lottie’s tantrums, and of course, the night when Sara’s dreams came true.

What I Took Away From the Book: How to be a good friend.  Not to count on money always being there.   Don’t go away to a boarding school for girls.  Sometimes unknown men creeping into a girl’s bedroom doesn’t always mean something bad . . . um, I don’t know if that’s a good lesson.   

There is a sequel, Wishing for Tomorrow, by Hilary McKay that was published in 2010.   I’d always wished that there could be a sequel, but then worried that whoever wrote it would not write it correctly.  I have re-read the sequel twice since the first time I read it.  I love the sequel.  It’s perfect! 

Rating (1-5 stars):  5

K is for Keepsake

(For the 2013 A to Z Blogging Challenge, I will be featuring one book each day, that begins with that day's letter, that made an impression on me.  This means that for some reason, I didn't just read that book and forget about it.  No, I still think about it after some period of time has passed.) 

Title:  Keepsake: A Novel 

Author: Kristina Riggle

Original Publication Date: 2012

Date I First Read: 2013

Basic Category: Fiction 

Basic Summary:  A single divorced mother solves her emotional issues by shopping.  She might lose her children because her younger son was injured in a pile of falling stuff in their house.  She has a hoarding issue, but so did her mother (and the hoarding issue killed her mother.)   It is all a matter of keepsakes  . . . and there is a lot more to the story than first meets the eye.  

What I Remember About the Book:  I just read this book a month ago.  I pulled it off the new book shelf at the local library thinking it looked like something I'd like.    I couldn't put it down, and I had no urge to peak at the ending, either.  (Sometimes, in the middle of a book, if I am vaguely bored, or embarrassed or turned off by a character or situation, I will peak at the end to see if it worth it to continue reading to the end.)   I had to know how things were going to work out.   The author unrolls all of the emotions for each member of the family slowly and deliberately, but it is all very clear, even when things don't seem clear specific characters themselves.   It is well-done.  

I have thought about this book every day in the last month . . . whenever I see myself making a pile or not wanting to get rid of something, I remember this book.  That is why I think this will be one that lingers in my mind as some of these other books have.  

What I Took Away From the Book:  Clean!  Throw away! Do I really need to purchase that now?  Save money! Things aren't  always the memories.  Save a few things that mean the most, and get rid of the rest.  

Rating (1-5 stars):  5