A Super Upsetting Cookbook About Sandwiches

A quick enjoyable cookbook, full of fun anecdotes, great pictures, and amazing recipes. I will admit upfront that I have not made any of the recipes (YET!) but I definitely want to try some of these delectable sandwiches. They are all wildly unique and involve ingredients that you don't normally think have any place on a sandwich (broccoli, asparagus, cauliflower, etc.) and as such can require a little more prep than most people normally put into making a sandwich. Over half the recipes involve meat, but with some imagination it would be easy to substitute vegetarian replacements for a weirdo herbivore like me. The Shadiest One is the recipe I'm dying to try out the most, it involves avocado, ricotta cheese, lemon, bread, cheddar cheese, cucumber muchim, and fried shallots. Tell me that doesn't sound amazing?!?!? Some others that sound like heaven on earth are: The Battle of Shanghai (general tso's tofu, spaghetti squash salad, pickled ginger, shiso, mayo), Zucchini Parm (fried zucchini, fontina, onion puree, pickled jaleponos, bbq potato chips), Taken 2 (broccoli falafel, fennel puree, muchim pickles, tomatoes), among dozens others. Seriously, what an awesome cookbook from the owner of the No. 7 shops in New York.

I received this book for free from Blogging for Books in return for my honest, unbiased review.

The Rector

When I picked up and saw that this was a "Christian murder mystery" my first thought was that it was going to be boring as sin, because we all need some salacious details, gossip, and gore to make it a little more interesting. Thankfully, I was quickly proven wrong. Michael Hicks Thompson does a great job of bringing small town southern gossip, church drama, and quirky characters to life. Yes there is a religious slant to it (beyond all the priests getting murdered), but it's honest and not too preachy. The story isn't 100% squeaky clean, one of the church goers is a former prostitute that gets raped and adultery comes up a few times, but overall this story will appeal to those that prefer clean Christian reads and those that like quirky mysteries. Martha McRae is a widow operating a boarding house in a small Mississippi town in the 1950s. When their priest unexpectedly dies a new rector comes to town to take his place. He takes lodging at Martha, but she quickly suspects that something isn't on the up and up. She puts her sleuthing skills to work to try and uncover whatever it is that's going on. Funny, lighthearted and filled with easy bits of theology, this book will appeal to a wide array of readers.

I received this book for free from Book Crash in return for my honest, unbiased review.

Lady Killer

The illustrations in this comic are fabulous! My eyes were glued to the page. It was a fun story line (for great insight read the introduction, you won't regret it!) enhanced by the amazing graphics. Female assassins aren't exactly known for getting their hands dirty. Suffocation and poison are the general favorites, but this comic turns all that around. A doting housewife and mother LOVES killing and loves getting her hands dirty. She'll take any job as long as she's back in time for dinner. Her superior is becoming annoyed that she isn't available at any time (because you know, kids) so he starts to think about cutting her loose, but they may prove to be  very very dangerous idea. Lots of fun! Worth a read!

Unwind

Crazy unique concept, I loved it! Parents aren't allowed to have abortions; children are protected from conception to the age of 13. Between 13 and 18 parents can "unwind" their kids, letting all the parts go towards medical implants and grafts. Instead of advancing medicine or curing cancer they just replace bad body parts with unwind ones. When Conner accidentally finds out that his parents have filled out the paperwork for him to unwind he goes on the run and encounters other misfit unwinds trying to stay alive like himself. It really makes you question a lot and it is surprisingly deep for a teen novel.

End of Watch

A satisfying and inventive conclusion to the Bill Hodges trilogy. Brady Hartsfield (our villain from the first in the series, Mr. Mercedes) isn't completely braindead. Thanks to some highly illegal drugs provided by an overzealous doctor, Brady is coming to. His body will remain broken but he's discovered telekinesis and the ability to enter into other people's minds. Over the years he has been honing his talents in order to exact vengeance on Bill Hodges for thwarting his master plan. Brady finds a way to manipulate a hand held game to make it a hypnotic entrance into unsuspecting minds. His sinister pleasure is convincing them to kill themselves. No one could ever believe what he is capable of, perhaps not even Bill Hodges; it's an evil so deep that it almost escapes detection, almost. A sad, but believable ending. Stephen King at his best!

The Infidel Stain

I read the first in the Avery and Blake series last year so it was very fortuitous that I won the audiobook of the second installment. Rather than taking place in India like the first one, this one is set in the grimiest parts of London. Jeremiah Blake and Captain Avery haven't seen each other in three years, but their daring exploits in India made them very popular and a wealthy aristocrat wants to hire their services. Two printers have been murdered in rather gruesome ways and the police are doing nothing about it. He wants Blake and Avery to look into the matter and find the killer. Things quickly go awry and the plot thickens as deep as the smog. An enjoyable romp through the underbelly of nineteenth century London and full of unforgettable characters. The narrator does a great job with voice accents and it is definitely worth a listen.

I received this book for free from Librarything.

A Walk to Remember

Admittedly not as good as the first time I read it in sixth grade, but this teenage sick-lit romance (spoiler!) still kinda holds up. I honestly almost like the movie better than I do the book. Which is blasphemous I know. But the modern day version of it is more intriguing than the 50's version that takes place in the book. Long before John Green there was Lurlene McDaniels and Nicholas Sparks writing "sick-lit" romances that made teenagers cry, this is a prime example. The bad boy falls for the good girl, and he later finds out (spoiler!) that she's dying. A sappy tear jerker that will always be popular.