It's Monday! What are you Reading?

Jen & Kellee over at Teach Mentor Texts host a meme every Monday that invites people to share the children's and young adult books they have been reading over the past week and what they plan on reading the following week.

You may find more complete information about what I am reading at Goodreads or by clicking on the Goodreads widget along the side of my blog.

The Past Week:

Young Adult

I read Huntress first and then Ash and it didn't seem that it makes a difference for the order (that is the opposite of the publication dates) since they are companion books. I enjoyed both. I loved the uniqueness of the plots and the fairytale flavor. I am a sucker for fairytale re-tellings. Especially in this case since Malinda Lo adds more texture to the surroundings and depth to the characters. I also enjoyed reading the second book of the Tankborn series. I reviewed Awakening over at the blog Rich in Color. It is part of a great sci-fi series.

Graphic Novels

Netgalley was definitely my friend this week. I was able to read several graphic novels that I wouldn't have had access to otherwise. A Match Made in Heaven was quite a fun diversion. I did laugh out loud several times and had a smile on my face throughout. 

Saints and Boxers on the other hand was much more serious. I know that I have read novels that take place during the boxer rebellion at least several books by Pearl S. Buck, but otherwise I didn't have a ton of background knowledge about the time period. Afterward, I checked out Gene Luen Yang's blog and found out more about this tumultuous time. I will write a review about them both either here or on Rich in Color closer to the release in September.

Middle Grade

A Tangle of Knots was a fun and entertaining mystery that happened to include recipes. See my post from yesterday for more on that. 

Non-fiction

So creepy and icky!! Loved it. The Book of Blood is exactly what non-fiction should be: informational AND absorbing. Who knew that cockroaches can live up to several weeks after having their head severed? Maybe you, but not me. I now know things about blood that I never learned in school. It was pretty fascinating.

For the Coming Week:

I am listening to Legend by Marie Lu and I am reading The Savage Fortress. I still have a ton of books sitting by the bookshelf and I have no idea which ones will grab my attention this week. Have a great week of reading.

Lime Pound Cake from A Tangle of Knots

image from IndieBound

This week I had the pleasure of reading the middle grade novel A Tangle of Knots by Lisa Graff. It is a book with many layers (didn't truly mean to drop in a cake pun). It is certainly about family and is a mystery, but has a thread of fantasy too. In addition, it has RECIPES! I love it when a book comes complete with a mini-cookbook. Another great excuse to bake. The first one that tempted me was the Miss Mallory's Peach Cake -- see video instructions below.

But then I saw the Lime Pound Cake and that was so different, that I would have to try it as soon as possible. The recipe is in the book, but is also here. I had everything but limes since it has a fairly short list of ingredients. So after I ran out to the store for those, I was in business.

To get ready, I set up the audio book I have been listening to and made a pot of tea. Then I gathered the seven ingredients.

What took the longest was the zest. I really need to get a little gizmo for doing that. I just have a grater, but it is a tricky and slightly messy process. You know what I love though, using my little juicer. The smell of the limes when they are juiced is fantastic.

And, I got to whisk. I love whisking. I feel all official when I get to use a whisk. 

Lotsa butter!

Ready for the oven. Smells yummy!

And finally, my afternoon snack.

This isn't the first time a book has led me to cooking or baking. We moved back to Ohio when I was 11 or 12. Since we finally had snow (after living in southern CA for years), I made the maple syrup candy that Laura told about in Little House in the Big Woods. Later when I taught third grade, we made homemade butter and bread after reading that book too. I have tried several recipes in The Little House cookbook. One I remember was truly wonderful, but oh, so bad. It recommended frying up your chicken in bacon fat. I made that for my husband years ago. Not on the healthy menu. I've also made strawberry jam and honey butter from Winnie-the-Pooh's Teatime Cookbook. Excellent with a nice cup of tea. I made a lemon chess pie when I read Sarah Weeks' book Pie last year too.

Do you have any favorite cooking/baking associated with a book or know of any other book related cookbooks that you would recommend?