Free in May! Accounting for Taste: the triumph of French cuisine by Priscilla Parkhurst Ferguson

The University of Chicago Press is offering the e-book, Accounting for Taste: The Triumph of French Cuisine by Priscilla Parkhurst Ferguson, for free during the month of May.

2014 Reading Challenges

These are the same challenges I participated in last year. They were so much fun, that I decided to do them again.

0/50 books

The goal of this challenge hosted by Book Journey is to try to read a book set in each of the 50 states of the US between January 1, 2014 - December 31, 2014. Sounds fun, right?

Alabama
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Connecticut
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming

0/13 books

For the Foodies Read Challenge I hope to finish at the Sous-Chef level which is 9-13 books read between January 1, 2014 - December 31, 2014. A food book is a book which is centered around food and/or drinks. It can be a cookbook, a food biography or memoir, a nonfiction book focused around a specific food, wine, chef or restaurant. Also allowed is fiction in which food plays a major role.

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13.


Check out A Novel Challenge, it is the most comprehensive list of challenges available I've ever seen. And I need to send out a very heartfelt thank you to The Book Vixen for the very easy-to-follow tutorial on coding the reading challenge progress bars.

Do you have any personal reading challenges this year? I'd love to hear about them.

Happy reading,
Angela

Review: The Blue-Ribbon Jalapeno Society Jubilee by Carolyn Brown

The Blue-Ribbon Jalapeño Society Jubilee
by Carolyn Brown
Sourcebooks Landmark, March 2013
Paperback, 336 pp.
Genre: Contemporary/ Women's Fiction

Bestelling author Carolyn Brown makes her first foray into women's fiction with this poignant and hilarious novel about four friends in Cadillac, Texas—where the best jalapenos in the world are grown. 

Everything is calm in Cadillac, Texas until Aunt Agnes declares war on Violet Prescott, the president of the Blue-Ribbon Jalapeno Society, just in time for the annual jubilee. But after the festivities—and the hostilities—are over, it's four friends who are left standing, proving once again that friendship is forever.

Miss Clawdy's Café has won the Jubilee blue ribbon every year since the dawn of time. This year, town matron Violet Prescott is going after that ribbon with an iron-clad determination only thinly disguised by her perfect coiffure and flawless manners, bless her heart.

It's time for café owners Cathy and Marty and their best friend Trixie to pull out their secret weapon. And this is where a lifetime of friendship, combined with just the right recipe at just the right time, might carry the day—or blow everything to smithereens.

Welcome to Cadillac, Texas, where the jalapeños are hot, the gossip is hotter, and at the end of the day, it's the priceless friendships that are left standing...

2013 Reading Challenges

These will be my first reading challenges that I've participated in, and I'm pretty excited. I've only chosen two, I don't want to set myself up for failure right out of the gate of 2013. So without further ado.

6/50 books

The goal of this challenge hosted by Book Journey is to try to read a book set in each of the 50 states of the US between January 1, 2013 - December 31, 2013. Sounds fun, right?

Alabama
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas
California -

• (Fresno, CA) Mennonite in a Little Black Dress: a memoir of going home by Rhoda Janzen

• (San Francisco, CA) Mom and Me and Mom by Maya Angelou Colorado

Connecticut
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts - (Cambridge, MA) Expecting Adam: a true story of birth, rebirth, and everyday magic by Martha Beck
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey - (Central New Jersey) Child of Mine by Judy M. Walters
New Mexico
New York - (upstate New York) Cover of Snow by Jenny Milchman
North Carolina
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas - (Cadillac, TX) The Blue-Ribbon Jalapeno Society Jubilee by Carolyn Brown
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming

1/12 books

For the Foodies Read Challenge I hope to finish at the Sous-Chef level which is 9-13 books read between January 1, 2013 - December 31, 2013. A food book is a book which is centered around food and/or drinks. It can be a cookbook, a food biography or memoir, a nonfiction book focused around a specific food, wine, chef or restaurant. Also allowed is fiction in which food plays a major role.

1. The Blue-Ribbon Jalapeno Society Jubilee by Carolyn Brown
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.


Check out A Novel Challenge, it is the most comprehensive list of challenges available I've ever seen. And I need to send out a very heartfelt thank you to The Book Vixen for the very easy-to-follow tutorial on coding the reading challenge progress bars.


Happy reading,
Angela