Author Archives

Melissahttp://www.missmeliss.comWriter, voice actor, dog-lover, and bathtub mermaid, Melissa is the Associate Editor-in-Chief at All Things Girl. To learn more about her, visit her website, or follow her on Twitter (@Melysse) or Facebook. You can also listen to her podcast, "Bathtub Mermaid: Tales from the Tub" at Bathtub Mermaid or on iTunes.

The Earth Knows My Name: Food, Culture, and Sustainability in the Gardens of Ethnic America: Books: Patricia Klindienst

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The Earth Knows My Name: Food, Culture, and Sustainability in the Gardens of Ethnic America: Books: Patricia Klindienst

Poignant and relevant, Patricia Klindienst’s first book is a collection of essays, portraits of different immigrant gardeners and how they have retained their unique cultures through seed and soil, while blending into American society at the same time. The book takes us from Connecticut to California, from the Low Country to land-locked New Mexico, introducing us to vibrant individuals whose passion for the earth is only rivaled by the author’s own.

Herself a master gardener, Klindienst’s voice is much more akin to Studs Terkel as she shares these stories, and while there is an undertone of politics, and the importance of sustainable food use, it is the humanity that shines in this book.

The only flaw is a lack of photographs – gardens are meant to be seen, after all – and one wonders if a coffee-table style presentation might not have been more effective.

The trade paperback edition of The Earth Knows My Name will be released in April, 2007.

The Earth Knows My Name

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The Earth Knows My Name: Food, Culture, and Sustainability in the Gardens of Ethnic America

Patricia Klindienst: The Earth Knows My Name

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In the early 1970’s Studs Terkel traveled across the country interviewing people about their work, and eventually compiled the interviews into the book Working. In the early 2000’s, Patricia Klindienst took a similar approach, traveling around the USA to interview ethnic gardeners, immigrants who maintain their cultural identity through their connection to the earth.

While The Earth Knows My Name will never be a musical, it is a marvellous testament to the importance of earth and water, seed and plant, and in sustaining not just our ethnic roots, but also our whole selves. Her words bring to life the feeling of warm sun on your back while you plant corn, or crisp autumn mornings harvesting beans. She lets you smell the scent of flowers, but also taste the flavor of language, in her profiles of 15 gardeners.

This book is well written, it is poignant, and it is gently honest, with the author’s love of gardening, and sincere respect for her subjects masking the inevitable political undercurrents.

My only complaint is that there should have been more pictures – I craved a coffee-table presentation, with Klindienst’s words matched to lush photographs.

But maybe the mind’s eye is the better viewing choice. Buy the book, and decide for yourself. Better yet, buy the book, and plant a garden.

My Keyboard for a Cutting Board

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My Keyboard for a Cutting Board

Laura Pauli: My Keyboard for a Cutting Board

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Part luscious food-porn and part letter home from abroad, Laura Pauli’s first book is both engaging and compelling, telling the story of her initial experiences cooking in France after leaving a corporate cubicle job in Silicon Valley. Culled from her blog, and letters she actually wrote to friends and family, it shares her story – including descriptions of food that make the mouth water, and far less appetizing descriptions of things like the shoebox apartment she rents, that could fit inside one room of her former residence in the Bay Area.

Dragon Moon

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Dragon Moon

Alan F. Troop: Dragon Moon

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In the second Dragon Delasangre novel, Troop continues his novel approach to dragons, introducing us to new powers, new breeds, and also weaving in a family drama – his new romance with his deceased wife’s sister. Still in dire need of a better editor, but good bathroom reading.

The Dragon Delasangre

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The Dragon Delasangre

Alan F. Troop: The Dragon Delasangre

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When Fuzzy brought me this book I looked at the cover and said, “What is it, a new vampire novel?” Oh, how wrong I was. Author Alan F. Troop’s first novel about a shapeshifting race whose natural form is that of the dragon was compelling and entertaining, though poorly edited. The title character, Peter Delasangre, is, when we meet him, a human being living on an island off the coast of Miami – only when he devours (literally) the young waitress who was hitting on him hours before in a restaurant do we see the reality of his natural form.

The first in a series of (currently) four novels, this book introduces us to Peter, his human employees, and his eventual wife Elizabeth, and her family.

Mind candy, but fun mind candy.

The Whole World Over

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The Whole World Over: A Novel

Julia Glass: The Whole World Over

Greenie is relatively happy in her New York life, with four-year-old son George, and psychotherapist husband Alan, except that the latter seems distant lately, and even the fact that her bakery business is going really well, doesn’t deflect the sadness that they don’t seem to talk any more.

When the larger-than-life governor of New Mexico invites her to audition to be his personal chef, and then to actually take the job, Greenie decides to go for it, hoping the change of pace will help her family. She and George have a lovely summer together, but she and Alan grow ever more emotionally distant with that many miles between them, and when a childhood flame turns up at the governor’s ranch, she tumbles into an affair.

Filled with interesting characters both in New Mexico and Manhattan, this book is the story of a year in one woman’s life, and that of all her friends, a year that culminates, not with the turning of the calendar pages, but the destruction of the twin towers – for it’s the events of 9/11/01 that finally cause Greenie and Alan to move back toward togetherness.

An easy, comfortable book with three-dimensional characters.

Bitter is the New Black

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Bitter is the New Black : Confessions of a Condescending, Egomaniacal, Self-Centered Smartass,Or, Why You Should Never Carry A Prada Bag to the Unemployment Office

Jen Lancaster

I’ve read Jen Lancaster’s blog for years, so I was eagerly awaiting her first book, “Bitter is the New Black,” and after reading it (in fits and snatches over the last week) I can say I was not disappointed.

If you’ve ever been faced with the choice between re-doing your roots or paying the electric bill, if you’ve ever found yourself committing couch envy, if you’ve ever been between jobs and unable to support yourself in the lifestyle you’d become accustomed to, this book is for you.

Jen makes no apologies for her snarky, funny, manner of living, and while some of her choices aren’t the same I would make, reading about her fall and subsequent struggle to rise again made me nod my head (at times), laugh out loud (a lot), or cry real tears.

If you liked The Devil Wears Prada, if you enjoyed The Nanny Diaries, you will LOVE Bitter is the New Black.

Scenes from a Holiday

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Scenes From A Holiday : The Eight Dates Of Hanukkah\Carrie Pilby's New Year's Resolution\Emma Townsend Saves Christmas (Red Dress Ink Novels)

Laurie Graff, Caren Lissner, and Melanie Murray

I picked this up from the bargain table at Barnes & Noble because the imprint, Red Dress Ink (a division of Harlequin) features quirky romantic tales about eccentric women, and because I wanted something light and cozy for the holidays.

This trio of short stories (two Christmas, one Hanukkah) was just what I needed – snarky, sweet, and a little sexy, it made me smile, and kept me sane.

Wait til next year though – holiday romances are way less fun when the season is over.

Everyone Worth Knowing

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Everyone Worth Knowing

Lauren Weisburger

Everyone Worth Knowing was exactly what I needed to read in during December. I’d been on a book hiatus, not reading much of anything new for a couple of weeks, and then I’d started a new job, and needed light reading to pass the time during lunch (I’m determined NOT to get in the habit of expensive restaurant lunches), so when I saw that Lauren Weisberger (author of The Devil Wears Prada) had a new book out, I HAD to have it.

I was not disappointed. Targetting the PR industry instead of the publishing this industry, this time, Weisberger gives us quirky characters who could be people we actually know, too much coffee, and just enough trendy brand- and name- dropping to make even a soccer mom feel like she’s in the know.

I’m sending my copy off to a friend, and I can’t wait to hear what he thinks of it.

Harriet the Spy

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Harriet the Spy

Louise Fitzhugh

Harriet the Spy is the reason I became a writer. Well, not entirely, but she’s the fictional sister of my soul. With her ratty jeans and tool belt full of spy stuff, her endless number of notebooks, and her love of observation, she snuck into my life when I was eight or ten years old, and lingered thereafter.

I had occasion to re-read this book in late November, because I bought two copies of it, one to replace my own, lost years ago, and the other to send to a stranger as part of a book exchange. (Adults were to share their favorite children’s books).

Even though the book is short, and the language is juvenile, I still love the characters and the story. I credit Harriet for my recent habit of wearing belts again.