Celebrated memoir author, food writer and former editor of Gourmet Magazine, Ruth Reichl’s first novel is for foodies as well as anyone who has lost someone they love. Here is my book review Delicious by Ruth Reichl.

Billie Breslin has a most discernible palate – a talent to pull every spice and flavor from a recipe with just a taste. But Billie refuses to cook….why?

Billlie’s abrupt decision to flee her home in Santa Monica for the big city of New York has her family flummoxed. She lands a job with Delicious, a well known food magazine. She is the new assistant for the editor, and to her surprise the quirky collection of staff become her new family.

But when Delicious is suddenly closed with no warning, Billie is the only staff kept on to continue to serve Delicious readers with the “Delicious Guarantee”. Alone in the old historic building that once housed the magazine, Billie discovers a hidden room, that opens a world of history to Billie and sets her on a quest to discover a World War II girl named LuLu and understand LuLu’s relationship to renowned Chef James Beard.

Along the way Billie will face her own ghosts, grief and past, and open her heart to the possibility of love and cooking again.

****Four stars for Delicious by Ruth Reichl.

Thank you for reading my book review Delicious by Ruth Reichl. See last week’s book review Gallant by V.E. Schwab.

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My second book by V.E. Schwab, I loved The Invisible Life of Addie LeRue a couple of years ago. And this week’s haunting novel has a similar feel, with Schwab’s talent for the gothic story unfolding beautifully. Here is my book review Gallant by V.E. Schwab.

Olivia Prior never knew her father and still hopes her mother will return for her at the Merilance School for Girls where she has spent most of her life. Olivia is a loaner at the school, has a gift for seeing the dead walking about, and understands she is “unusual”. But all she wants is a home and a family.

When a letter arrives inviting her “home” to Gallant Olivia is stunned. But when she arrives no one in this strange mansion is expecting her. But Olivia immediately feels a pull to this house.

But strange things are lurking, two shadows are battling, and Olivia knows she must unravel the mystery of the mansion, and its twin just beyond the crumbling walls. Who or what inhabits it? Has she been called to make amends?

A haunting novel that does not feel like a violent horror story, this book is in the vein of Neil Gaiman, one of my favorite authors. Excellent and compelling characters carry the novel forward and keep you turning the pages. Thanks for reading my book review Gallant by V.E. Schwab.

Read last week’s book review The Night Ship by Jess Kidd

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This was an audible book for me while we were on the island of Maui. It was an easy and interesting story that would work well in audible, kindle or paper. I enjoyed it. Here is my book review The Night Ship by Jess Kidd.

Parellel Storylines

Like many historical novels, The Night Ship is told in two parallel storylines. First we meet 9 year old Mayken in the year 1629. Mayken’s mother has recently passed and she is about to set sail to find her father who she has never met. Her guardian Imka is sailing with her on board the Batavia as they leave Holland heading to the Dutch East Indies (now Jakarta Indonesia) . Mayken has had an interesting childhood so far…with an unconventional mother, Mayken is curious, feisty and intelligent. She is naive about the coming long voyage, and her imagination, fueled by Dutch folklore propels her into lots of adventures onboard the ship.

In alternating chapters we follow 9 year old Gil in the year 1989. Gil is a lonely, young boy struggling with his gender identity. His mother has recently passed after a battle with substance abuse and mental illness. Gil is sent to live with his grandfather on Beacon Island off the west coast of Australia. The tiny island doesn’t offer much for a nine-year old boy, and friends are hard to make particularly because many of the islanders dislike his grandfather. Gil’s one friend, is an ancient tortoise named Enkidu who offers a humorous respite to this grim story.

The Batavia

The real life wreak of the Dutch East Indies flagship The Batavia in 1629 is the basis for this fictional novel. Wreaked near Beacon Island, the horrifying experience of the survivors of The Batavia is some of the most barbaric ever recorded. Kidd brilliantly chronicles the events in both fact and myth through the eyes of two small children in The Night Ship. I enjoyed this book very much. Thank you for reading my book review The Night Ship by Jess Kidd.

Four stars for The Night Ship by Jess Kidd.****

See last week’s book review The Whiskey Creek Water Company by Jan Walker

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Jan Walker is an author from my home town of Gig Harbor Washington and this is the second book I have enjoyed of hers. I really liked this story, and admire Jan for her self-published works and her love of writing. Here is my book review The Whiskey Creek Water Company by Jan Walker

Pacific Northwest

Last summer I enjoyed Jan’s book Rain Shelters and Ghost Gods which was based in two places I love; Hawaii and the Pacific Northwest. This novel, The Whiskey Creek Water Company is also based in the Pacific Northwest, and in fact in the small county where I grew up.

Set during prohibition, the small fictional town of Burke Bay is loosely based on the area of Kitsap County called Brownsville. The people of Burke Bay are primarily of Scandinavian heritage and work off the land and sea for their livelihood.

Small Town

The heroine of the story is local school teacher Maeva Swanson. Determined and hardworking Maeve keeps herself and her mother afloat with her teaching salary. But the small town has new residents in bachelor brothers Hauk and Lang Nordlund, and another new more sinister guest Farley Price. Though Farley’s wife Eleanor and his daughter Hannah are warmly welcomed by the community, Farley is an angry firecracker on the verge of exploding. And when he does, all hell will break loose.

The character development in this story is really well done, from illegal distillery operator Orval Blevins to arrogant brother Jonas and all the cast of people who make Burke Bay the friendly town it is. How will all these folks come together to keep everyone safe when violence erupts? Find out in The Whiskey Creek Water Company by Jan Walker.

And if you are from Kitsap County and of Scandinavian heritage, I think you will particularly enjoy this story. Thanks for reading my book review The Whiskey Creek Water Company by Jan Walker.

See last week’s book review Less is Lost by Andrew Sean Greer.

A follow up story to the Pulitzer Prize winning novel Less, Andrew Sean Greer once again takes this lovable character out of his comfort zone and on an unexpected road trip. Here is my book review Less is Lost by Andrew Sean Greer.

Arthur Less, gay and moderately successful, finds his world turned upside down once again when his former lover dies and with the death come financial hardship. Less must earn some serious cash and seriously quick and so he takes on some literary gigs that send him road tripping around the USA.

Running from or into his problems it’s hard to tell with Less, as he packs up and leaves behind his current love Freddy, his reasonable sister and his ghost of a father. Less finds himself escorting a sickly author who doesn’t seem to know who Less is, then following theatrical troupe who are performing one of his works, all while regularly “zooming” online with a literary critique group. All because he needs money to save his home.

But along the way from New Mexico to the South then on to the mid-Atlantic, Less begins to find himself. With Pug Dolly in tow in the old camper van called Rosina, Less learns a lot about the world outside the small box he has hidden in for years. And in the process, he learns a lot about himself and the demons he faces.

Funny and profound Less is Lost shows the enigma of America through the eyes of this quirky character who like all of us, just wants to be loved.

Four stars for Less is Lost by Andrew Sean Greer.****

Read last week’s Book Review The Guncle by Steven Rowley.

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