Wrap Up of What's in a Name 2020 Challenge

The What's in a Name Challenge has 6 categories of elements that book titles must have included in them.  This year the categories were:

an ampersand

an antonym

4 letters or less

A given/first name

reference to children

one of the 4 natural elements: water, air, fire and earth

My book choices were: 

Sweet & Slow

Fasting Feasting

Saga

Sabina

The Stolen Girl

Rosewater and Soda Bread

My favorite book was Saga, a science fiction and fantasy graphic novel that was based on Star Wars.  The version of Saga that I read included comic strips 1 through 54, which is the entire Saga series to date.  I was hooked on the story from the first page and had a hard time putting it down. With 1,300 pages to read I did have to take a breather but I got it done in two days.

Sweet & Slow

When you look at the book cover for Sweet & Slow you expect a beverage cookbook. However, more than half of the recipes are for appetizers, dips, soups and desserts. Within the pages of this book you will find recipes for 8 hot chocolate beverages, 11 ciders, 6 teas, 7 coffees and 17 wine and alcohol recipes. All are made in a crockpot with cooking times that vary between one to seven hours.

The beverage recipes are in the back of the book, another anomaly for an advertised beverage book. Before buying this book I had never heard of baking a cake or pie in a crockpot. It's an ingenius idea and although I purchased the cookbook for beverage ideas it is impossible not to want to try at least some of these 150 dessert recipes. There are not only cake and pie recipes but also puddings, brownies, crisps and cookies.  I tried several recipes and my favorites were Fudgy Peanut Butter Cake, Lemon Lime Pudding, S'Mores Brownies and Vanilla Bean Caramel Custard.

The beverage recipes are not phenomenal but rather just OK. I made a few recipes from each category and liked only one tea, Cranberry Spice Tea, while 3 ciders caught my attention. They were Cherry Cider, Pomegranate Cider and Maple Bourbon Cider. In addition, the Caramel Hot Chocolate was tasty. I didn't like any of the coffee recipes.

Sweet & Slow is basically a dessert cookbook. The beverages that I liked were mainly ciders. Most people can find these in a general cookbook without the need for buying a "beverage" cookbook. I don't know why the book is advertised as such since only 50 of the total 350 recipes deal with beverages. If a reader is searching for beverage recipes it would be better to find a different book. If you want to make desserts in a crockpot then this book is for you. However, the book does not stand as a beverage cookbook.

3 out of 5 stars.

Fasting Feasting

The title of Anita Desai's 1999 novel uses food as a metaphor.  The first half of Fasting, Feasting takes place in India where food is celebrated. The second half takes place in America. There are two families who are primarily featured in the book.  The Indian family, which includes Mama, Papa, Uma, Aruna and Arun, use food as a way to commune with each other and with their friends. When son Arun travels to Massachusetts to attend college, he stays in a dormitory during the school year and with the Patton family during summer vacation. The Pattons are a typical American family who use food as an isolation tactic, never sharing a meal.

The theme of the novel is family relationships. The Indian family contrasts sharply with the Pattons. Their story is mainly concerned with Uma, the oldest, who is used as a servant by her parents. She has not been able to make a successful marriage so she stays at home with her parents raising her brother Arun, ordering around the cook and has plenty of house cleaning to do.  Arun, on the other hand, does not seem to fit in anywhere. He prefers to be alone, his own isolation tactic, after a lifetime of having to do whatever his family decides that he will do.  The Pattons, by contrast, have no bonds of connection.  Each member of the family does whatever they want to do and whenever they want to do it.

Fabulous reading!  5 out of 5 stars.

Rosewater and Soda Bread

Rosewater and Soda Bread is the story of three Iranian sisters who lived in a small village in Ireland. The lives of Marjan, Bahar and Layla Aminpour are continued from Pomegranate Soup, the author's first novel. Unfortunately, author Marsha Mehran died a recluse six years ago at the age of 36. The Aminpour sister novels were intended to be a seven book series but only two were published.

The book begins one year after the sisters arrival in the tiny Irish town called Ballinacroaugh. Their restaurant, The Babylon Cafe, is a huge success, offering customers the spicy, fragrant fare of their Persian heritage. Marjan, the oldest, is mainly in charge of the cafe with middle sister Bahar waiting on customers. Layla is only 14 but helps with cleanup and waiting tables. When Marjan's friend Estelle finds a young woman unconscious and bloodied, the woman's pale skin, webbed hands and awful secret send the villagers into an uproar.

I loved this story! The unfolding of the young girl's secret fit seamlessly into the setting of the cafe where food is always being prepped. Food is a big theme here. Almost every page contains mouthwatering descriptions of how to blend ingredients together into a perfect recipe. The reader always finds the sisters in the kitchen blending their magic while discussing the day's events. It took me back to a time when I was very young, spending time with my mother as she made dinner.

The characters were engaging, from the sisters to the secondary Irish characters who made the village a pleasurable place for the sisters and readers alike. Some were definitely stereotypes of Irishmen but these characters brought a sense of neighborliness to the story. Again, the author took my mind back to my youth and the small Illinois town that I grew up in. All small towns are alike with everyone knowing your business but you don't care because when you're down your neighbors will take care of you.  I laughed at the older women who participated in the weekly Bible study but gossiped about their neighbors instead. I know these church ladies well.

Rosewater was an enjoyable read. 5 out of 5 stars!

The Stolen Girl

The Stolen Girl is part one of The Veil and the Crown series featuring Aimee de Rivery as the heroine. Aimee is a young French convent girl who is kidnapped by pirates and given as a gift to the Sultan of Turkey for his harem.

Aimee Dubucq de Rivery and her best friend and cousin Rose Tascher de la Pagerie are born on the French island of Martinique in 1763. Their story in the book begins when they are 14 and on their way to visit an African witch in order to have their fortunes told. Both are told that they will be queens.  When Aimee is 18, she sails for France to enter a convent but also to spend a month with relatives in Paris who can help her find an aristocratic husband. Rose follows her one year later to marry an aristocrat. They both believe that they are on the path to be queens until life stops working out so well for them.

With a title promising a stolen girl, I thought the girl would be stolen early in the book. Aimee isn't "stolen" until 2/3 into the story. However, this anomaly did not affect the readability of the book. The author packed her novel with interesting historical facts such as the prediction of Euphemia David. Euphemia was the African witch who told Aimee and Rose's fortune. The prediction was published in France in 1820 because Rose eventually became Empress Josephine. The latter third of the book is erotic as Aimee gives up her Catholic training to pursue riches as a concubine. Her eyes are on the clothes and the jewels and she will do anything to get them but the truth is that she really likes sex.

The story abruptly ends at awkward place. There is no denouement. The reader is supposed to automatically begin reading Part 2 of the series, The French Sultana. I felt uncomfortable with the ending and it affected my rating of the book. As far as the sexual content is concerned, if I paid attention to the publisher's warning I probably would not have purchased the book. I am not interested in reading explicit sex but it's not the author's fault that I missed the warning. However, when I am searching for books on Amazon I only look at the listed genre. Why should I have to do an Internet search to determine if the book is X rated?

4 out of 5 stars. 

Saga: Compendium One

Saga is a science fiction and fantasy comic book that is based on Star Wars. Compendium One contains serialized comic strips 1 through 54 in a gigantic, 1,328 page, 5 pound book.  Saga was written by Brian K. Vaughn, with Fiona Davis creating the artwork. Vaughn stated in an interview with Entertainment Weekly that Issue 54 was the halfway point for the comic strip and that 108 total issues were planned for this story. It took him seven years to write these initial 54 issues.

This romance story opens with the birth of Hazel, who narrates the book as an adult character. Saga centers around her life. She is the child of Alana and Marko. Alana was born on the planet Landfall, has black skin and wings. Marko was born on Wreath, Landfall's moon, has white skin and horns. Wreath and Landfall have been at war for a long time as has the entire galaxy. Both Marko and Alana are considered AWOL from their military assignments and are being hunted by their respective militias not only because they are AWOL but because they breeded together. However, it is difficult to run with an infant and this new family runs across a few unusual characters while on the run to find a safe place to live.

Saga covers a few social issues such as interracial marriages, racism, gender identity, and violence. Marko and Alana are not the only soldiers to leave their military posts. The main reason they are being sought is because they broke society's rule against having sex with someone who is not like themselves and having the audacity to have a child together. If they are found, they will be killed but both sides want possession of Hazel. Several of the characters they come across while on the lam have gender identity issues. Some are gay. It seemed bizarre to be discussing this issue concerning nonhuman characters. Fiona Davis did a fabulous job drawing these creatures. They were entertaining to look at but to think of them as transgender, gay or something else was more humorous to me than being social commentary by the author.  There was alot of violence in the book but as far as the illustrations were concerned, this was science fiction violence. The social commentary on violence comes into the plot with Marko grappling with his military past. He hates that he has been violent and wants to promote peace. His problem is that to protect his family he may have to be violent.

I LOVED Saga. I am not a science fiction or fantasy fan but this story gripped me from the beginning and I binge read it this weekend. Unfortunately, Issue 55 is not out yet. The author and illustrator took a year sabbatical on writing this comic and nothing new has been published yet. It's killing me because Issue 54 ended with a cliffhanger. 

Definitely 5 out of 5 stars!

Sabina

Sabina is a historical fiction novel set in Florence beginning in 1477 when Sabina Rossi is twenty-years-old. The Rossi family is a noble Tuscan family who have become penniless. When her father arranges a marriage for her with an older but wealthy man, Tommaso Caravelli, he is trading her gorgeous looks for a dowry. However, Sabina is in love with Marco Alfani, a poor boy her age whom she has been sleeping with. Marco's request for her hand in marriage is denied by her father as Sabina has already agreed to marry Tommaso. After her marriage Sabina tries to live a respectable life. Her brashness could get her into trouble but her good looks seem to smooth things over with Florence's elite Medici family, especially Lorenzo de Medici. After her new husband suddenly dies, Sabina finds herself extremely wealthy with plenty of options on how to live her life. The question is will her headstrong nature take over or will she adapt to living in a man's world? This story is a three generation saga that ends with Sabina's death at age 80 and includes her daughter and granddaughter.

I LOVED this novel! The setting descriptions were delicious, from the bucolic surroundings to the grand architecture and exquisite fabrics that adorn the walls of homes and churches. The reader feels like they have been transported to Renaissance Italy.  The characters were extraordinary.  Sabina is a great heroine. She begins life as a spoiled girl but grows up learning how to live as she wishes under the restraints of fifteenth century Florence. Her sister Cecelia is her opposite. Cecelia becomes a nun after her husband and son pass away. She is subserviant whereas Sabina is willful. These two sisters still manage to get along despite their different lifestyles. You know that one will always back up the other. Marco is interesting. He enters the story as a lustful boy but later enters the priesthood and becomes lustful for power. His desire for sex has never waned though. The men whom Sabina has relationships with are dreamy. I am personally not opposed to meeting Tommaso Caravelli, Lorenzo de Medici, or Sabina's other men. She chooses them well. All have plenty of money to lavish upon her, are good in the bedroom and do not care that she is an independent woman with a sassy tongue.

Historical fiction and romance fans simply must read Sabina! Passion drips off its pages; passion for sex, romance, art, political power, religious power, and personal possessions. 5 out of 5 stars!

What's In a Name 2020

I participated in this challenge the first couple of years it was held. I am coming back to the challenge next year.

The challenge runs the 2020 calendar year. Readers must choose 6 books with titles containing one of the following:

• an ampersand
• an antonym
• 4 letters or less
• a given/first name
• a reference to children
• one of the 4 natural elements, i.e., water, air, fire, earth

Books cannot overlap each other in more than one category. I think it might be difficult  to find a book for the ampersand category. As I write this post I can't recall any book with one in the title.