January Reading List

No sciatica confining me to my reading corner this month, thus a shorter reading list. Bright's Passage - a first novel by song writer Josh Ritter. Returning WWI veteran is directed by an angel in the care-taking of his infant son after his wife dies in child birth. At times very dark; at times uplifting. Rated 4.0.
Finding Casey by Jo-Ann Mapson. Teen age girl in California has difficult time dealing with the abduction of her younger sister. She is adopted and moves to Santa Fe where a piece of Native American pottery leads to information about her missing sister. Rated 3.5. Liked this author. Will read more of her books from our library.
The Painted Drum by Louise Erdrich. Stories relating to the loss of daughters all connected through the spirit healing of a Native American drum. Rated 3.5.
The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse by Louise Erdrich. I checked out the last two of my unread books by Erdrich. I could only rate this one a 2.0. Either it was too ambiguous or too ambitious for me. The story of a woman disguised as a man in order to be a priest on a remote reservation in Minnesota covers the long life of the former Sister Agnes. I found the parts about Agnes most interesting, the other characters not so much. For some reason this book reminded me of One Hundred Years of Solitude - hard to keep straight and interested.
Beneath The Shadows by Sara Foster; Rated 2.5. A modern gothic set on the North Yorkshire Moors. One blurb says: "Another Minette Walters" - trust me, this author is no Minette Walters.
Some Kind Of Fairy Tale by Graham Joyce. Another 'young girl goes missing' story. This one a teenager who turns up on Christmas Day after having been gone for twenty years. She looks the same as she did; tries to explain that "the faeries took her" which no one believes save one elderly woman who has a similar tale to tell. I liked this modern fairy tale. Gave it a 4.0.

A Sunless Sea - such a pleasant surprise to realize Anne Perry's latest William Monk mystery had been in the library for four months and I had missed checking it out. This is the 17th in the series. I give it a solid 4.0. I love these characters and the series.

My mother loved reading cook books - a trait, along with her cooking skills, I did not inherit. However, when it is a cook book given by one's good friend and written by her brother, it changes the desire to read.
Tried And True is a collection of Mary Stenberg's and David Knutson's favorite recipes. David is the brother of my friend, Kristina Young. He is a trained chef. I expected his cook book to be 'above my head', i.e. not recipes I would want or be able to follow. The opposite is true - these recipes are ones I will try - even Flying Jacob, which Kristina swears is delicious, - ingredients of which combines chicken, bananas, bacon, peanuts, curry powder, cream and chili sauce. I'll let you know if I like it.
As I said, I don't read a lot of cook books, but I'll give this one a 4.0. I like the remarks the authors make about the recipes - where/who they're from, where/when they made/make them; especially David's remarks as I know or at least recognize some of the people/places he is referring to.