Elsa Watson Dog Days by Elsa Watson offers a lightly amusing take on the ‘Freaky Friday’ premise – but with a woman and a stray dog swapping places. I was willing to suspend belief for the story, but found myself getting impatient with the characters and their dialog so I skipped chunks to get to…
Author: Penelope Gordon
Historical Romance Novels
‘Historical Romance Novels’ are set in bygone eras other than ‘Regency’. Thirteenth Century Maya Banks (Note: ‘Neamh Alainn’ is ficitional.) Never Seduce a Scot by Maya Banks is both entertaining and eye roll inducing – likable characters once you get past the (supposedly) thirteenth century Scottish Highlander gender-appropriate behavior. I liked the story a lot…
Bay Area Chocolate
A compendium of places to buy, eat, and learn about chocolate and chocolate production in the Bay Area. Also see Bay Area Food, Bay Area Restaurants, and Bay Area Sightseeing posts. Feb 2024 KQED Bay Curious podcast on SF’s chocolate history. The featured chocolatiers are Socola and Formosa Chocolates. 2014/03/04: Per tablehopper, “Noted San Francisco…
Bay Area Food
A compendium of places to buy, eat, and learn about food and food production in the Bay Area. Also see Bay Area Chocolate, Bay Area Restaurants, and Bay Area Sightseeing posts. Alameda / Oakland / Berkeley / Greater Alameda County Alameda County Foodie Tour Alameda Natural Grocery (organic food and healthcare), 1650 Park St, Alameda,…
Miscellaneous Adult Fiction
War and Its Aftermath Nine Stories Nine Stories by J.D. Salinger, though much less well-known today than Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye, was quite popular at the time of its publication in 1953 – particularly the semi-autobiographical story “For Esme – with Love and Squalor”. This story was notable for its handling of recovery from…
Sci Fi and Fantasy
Books by George R.R. Martin Windhaven CNP couldn’t get into Windhaven, written by George R.R. Martin and Lisa Tuttle – though at 336 pages in hardback it is considerably shorter than Martin’s A Song of Fire and Ice series. A Game of Thrones The graphic novel Volume 1 & 2 version of A Game of…
Manju Buns
Manjū – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. In Volume 51 of the Japanese manga One Piece Luffy, Chopper, and Brooks consume mass quantities of the Sabaody version of the manju bun.
Bay Area Sightseeing
The Bay Area consists of the nine counties directly surrounding the San Francisco Bay – though technically Napa County touches the slough separated from the Bay proper by a strip of Solano County. See Northern CA Sightseeing for activities in the 39 counties outside of the Bay Area, Bay Area Restaurants for dining in the…
Teen Friendly Fiction
Finishing School Series Tofa Borregaard under the pen name Gail Carriger writes Regency romance, steampunk, and paranormal fiction. (See the discussion of her The Parasol Protectorate series in the Romance Novels post.) In the Finishing School series she adds a school setting and teenagers to the mix. This new series which starts in 1851 England…
Food in Fiction
Contemporary Lady of Magick by Sylvia Izzo Hunter Set in an alternate Regency England, Chapter 6 opens on the dessert course of a fancy dinner party. “Joanna prodded irritably at the spun-sugar cage of glazed profiteroles on her plate. What was the use of a dish which one could not eat without first attacking it…