Friday, April 6, 2012

Mini Reviews: Kitchen Counter Cooking School, Ramona Forever, and The Kitchen House


The Kitchen Counter Cooking School
by Kathleen Flinn
Viking, 2011

Summary in a Sentence:

Writer Kathleen Flinn, who graduated from Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, shares stories and lessons to inspire home cooks.

Read it if...

you like to cook but often don't due to lack of confidence or lack of knowledge about which knife to use. 5 stars.

by Beverly Cleary
HarperCollins, 1984

Summary in a Sentence:

A lot happens during Ramona's year in third grade, highlighted by the arrival of Howie's rich uncle, a change in her after-school situation, a surprise wedding, a death and a new arrival in the family, and her father's getting a job.

Read it if...

you're a lifelong Ramona fan like me! I'm revisiting all the Ramona books this year and hoping to introduce Ramona to a great many of my students at the library.  4 stars.


The Kitchen House
by Kathleen Grissom
Touchstone, 2010

Summary in a Sentence:

After seven-year-old Lavinia is orphaned on the journey from Ireland to the United States, she begins work in the kitchen house of a tobacco plantation and bonds with the slaves who become her adopted family, but when Lavinia is accepted into the big house, her loyalties are challenged.

Read it if...

you enjoy historical fiction mingled with a little too much tragedy and histrionics. It was a veritable soap opera of disaster. Please remember I am in the minority on this opinion. Most reviews were glowing. Me, not so much. 2.5 stars.


5 comments:

Gerbera Daisy Diaries said...

I only got about 40-50 pages into Ktichen House before I gave up...so the fact you only gave it 2.5 stars makes me glad I didn't expend any more reading time to it.

A Bookshelf Monstrosity said...

You were the smart one! Wish I had done the same. Oh well...

Alyce said...

I haven't read the Ramona books since I was a kid - how fun!

Lisa said...

Totally agree about The Kitchen Counter Cooking School. I've got to pull my copy back out and refresh myself on so many of the great tips in it!

Barbara R. said...

Thanks for The Kitchen House review. The cover art is irresistible! The premise sounds intriguing but a "soap opera of disaster"--moving on.

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