Bookclub and another recipe
January 12th, 2010
Our bookclub discussed The Mistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin. Only one attendee enjoyed it. A couple of us were so-so, and then there was me. I really didn’t like the book one bit.
I found it not very focused and I can sum it up as Friday the 13th for people with half a brain. Really - that bad. I’m so sorry I wasted time reading this when there are just so many other books out there. It’s very rare I read a book that I just can’t stand. I do have a 50-page rule. If I’m not hooked by page 50 and see no hope of becoming hooked and can find no one to tell me a hook is coming, I abandon the book. This has only happened a handful of times. Had it not been for bookclub, The Mistress of the Art of Death would have been added to the list of abandoned books. As it was we met for two and a half hours and discussed the book for ten minutes of that time.
I usually try to theme the food for our bookclub around the book in some way even if it’s a bit of a stretch. This time, I wasn’t concerned. I just made whatever came to mind. I served a lemon poppy seed cake as well as these spiced nuts:
They were super easy, but they were a titch odd tasty but highly addictive. I roasted two types of nuts and some pumpkin seeds.
I mixed up some spices including sugar, garlic and cumin. Sounds odd, doesn’t it? I was very suspect. However, the recipe came from The New Best Recipe book put out by Cooks Illustrated. The second recipe for those following along!
I tossed the nuts into melted butter then put them through the spice mix
and voila! Bizarrely yummy.
Enjoying the journey, Amanda
Entry Filed under: This N That
4 Comments Add your own
1. Hilary | January 12th, 2010 at 12:31 pm
That does sound intriguing… the recipe, not the book. I think the older we get, the less time we’re wiling to dedicate to a book that just isn’t grabbing us. You’re far more generous than I am (not to mention much younger). I’ll give it one chapter or 25 pages - whichever comes first.
I have a lot of trouble loading your blog.. it’s painfully slow for some reason, and often the photos won’t load at all. Any idea what’s up with that?
H
2. Lauren | January 17th, 2010 at 10:09 am
So sorry you didn’t enjoy the book, Amanda. I did like the read myself though it was quite bizarre and a little bit disturbing. I have followed the character all the way through another book, also bizarre. It has only been the past couple years that I’ve put books down that don’t grab me, previously I suffered through them. It was a Barbara KIngsolver book that taught me to put a book down if I was not enjoying it in the least (lasted only 20 pages).
The nuts look tasty!
3. Amanda | January 17th, 2010 at 9:07 pm
Hi Hilary! Nice to ’see’ you here. Apparently my photos are large and that’s why you are having trouble. We are looking into why it is since I think I compress them before publishing, but I guess not enough. I’ll let you know when we have it figured out.
4. Amanda | January 17th, 2010 at 9:36 pm
Animal, Vegetable, Mineral was one of the first books I didn’t finish. It was so highly recommended and I really tried to tell myself I was enjoying it, but at the end of the day I had to put it down. Even though it’s a topic I’m really interested in, I just didn’t find this book captured me at all.
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