Aug 15 2012
Daily Deals: Julia Child special, Freebies, and a popular YA
Samhain has started a book club. The pick is Lakota Surrender by Karen Kay and is currently free at the Samhain store and at Amazon.
As Always, Julia: The Letters of Julia Child and Avis DeVoto by Joan Reardon. $1.99.
From Jacket Copy:
With her outsize personality, Julia Child is known around the world by her first name alone. But despite that familiarity, how much do we really know of the inner Julia?
Now more than 200 letters exchanged between Julia and Avis DeVoto, her friend and unofficial literary agent memorably introduced in the hit movie Julie & Julia, open the window on Julia’s deepest thoughts and feelings. This riveting correspondence, in print for the first time, chronicles the blossoming of a unique and lifelong friendship between the two women and the turbulent process of Julia’s creation of Mastering the Art of French Cooking, one of the most influential cookbooks ever written.
Frank, bawdy, funny, exuberant, and occasionally agonized, these letters show Julia, first as a new bride in Paris, then becoming increasingly worldly and adventuresome as she follows her diplomat husband in his postings to Nice, Germany, and Norway.
With commentary by the noted food historian Joan Reardon, and covering topics as diverse as the lack of good wine in the United States, McCarthyism, and sexual mores, these astonishing letters show America on the verge of political, social, and gastronomic transformation.
A Baby of Her Own by Brenda Novak. $Free.
From Jacket Copy:
What Delaney wants…
…is a baby. A baby of her own. At thirty, she longs to break away from the constraints of her life. Longs to reach out for her heart’s desire. She’d prefer marriage as well, but there’s no man in Dundee, Idaho, she’s interested in marrying.
Then one winter night she and her best friend, Rebecca, go to Boise with the intent of finding a man for Delaney. She meets a handsome stranger named Conner, a man who might be able to provide her with the solution she needs…and the baby she wants!
Afterward she thinks she must have been out of her mind. But it’s too late. Because she’s pregnant. And because the stranger isn’t a stranger anymore. Conner Armstrong is now living on a ranch just outside Dundee.
http://ebooks.harlequin.com/6694E7E4-9FA2-447E-B2A7-45358946A466/10/141/en/ContentDetails.htm?ID=7DD3A81B-E14B-461A-8797-2DA34ACF080C
Still Life With Murder by P. B. Ryan. $Free.
From Jacket Copy:
National bestseller Still Life With Murder is the first book of P.B. Ryan’s acclaimed historical mystery series featuring Boston governess Nell Sweeney and opium-smoking former battle surgeon Will Hewitt. Thought to have died during the Civil War, Will is arrested for murder, and Nell must prove his innocence. Originally published by Berkley Prime Crime.
“A beautiful combination of entertaining characters, minute historical research, and a powerful evocation of time and place. I’m very glad there will be more…
Last Apprentice: Revenge of the Witch (Book 1) by Joseph Delaney. $1.99.
From Jacket Copy:
For years, Old Gregory has been the Spook for the county, ridding the local villages of evil. Now his time is coming to an end. But who will take over for him? Twenty-nine apprentices have tried–some floundered, some fled, some failed to stay alive. Only Thomas Ward is left. He’s the last hope; the last apprentice. Can Thomas succeed? Will he learn the difference between a benign witch and a malevolent one? Does the Spook’s warning against girls with pointy shoes include Alice? And what will happen if Thomas accidentally frees Mother Malkin, the most evil witch in the county … ?
Send to Kindle
Aug 15, 2012 @ 14:58:47
Oh! I’ve read The Last Apprentice! I’m a wuss when it comes to horror, though, so it scared the ever-loving heebie jeebies out of me.
Aug 15, 2012 @ 16:13:20
I am all over a cheap Julia Child book like wine on Boeuf Bourguignon.
Aug 15, 2012 @ 18:14:00
Happy 100th Birthday Julia (and thanks for the extra butter)!
I was fascinated with that little tidbit from the movie that she and Avis were friends for years before they even met. I went looking for a review (after purchasing today’s deal, thank you) and found a wonderful one (with asides about ‘chic lit’) by DWIGHT GARNER in the December 10th issue of The New York Times. Well worth the search since I’m not sure about linking from the comments here on DA.
The P. B. Ryan series was quite good and the series ended with the best of all the books.
Aug 15, 2012 @ 18:14:52
@Joanne: Feel free to link. We love links.
Aug 15, 2012 @ 19:25:14
@Joanne: Links are always welcome. If you don’t know HTML, linking isn’t too complicated. To link, just use the following code with the spaces before and after the angle brackets removed.
< a href="put link URL in these quotes" >what you want to call your link< /a >
So for example
< a href="http://www.dearauthor.com" >Link to DA< /a >
Without the spaces, it looks like this:
Link to DA
Aug 15, 2012 @ 19:26:52
Oh, thank you so much for the link to the Julia Child book. Growing up in the Paleolithic Era, I remember watching Julia’s original B&W TV show after school (along w/ The Galloping Gourmet, Dark Shadows, and roller derby–a fun mix). And, of course, I’ve watched her other series as an adult. I think one of my favorite movies is Julie and Julia–if only I could totally cut out the Julie portions. Can’t wait to read the letters that were featured in the movie.
Oh, and I can also recommend the P.B. Ryan series. Enjoyable from start to finish.
Aug 15, 2012 @ 19:31:06
@Joanne:
Good to hear this about the P B Ryan books! I bought the full series some time ago though I have yet to read any of them.
I’ll pick up the Julia Child book, it looks quite interesting.
Aug 15, 2012 @ 19:35:16
@Janine:
Thanks for this! There’s been a few times I’ve wanted to add a link but couldn’t figure how to do so.
Aug 15, 2012 @ 22:20:48
Okay, I’ll give it a go just because the Julia quote from her letters about a ‘racy’ romance is a gem:
NYTimes Review
Aug 15, 2012 @ 22:25:37
Thanks for Julia Child’s book from me as well, and my friend kept talking about P.B.Ryan’s series so I guess no better to chance to try it than now. :)
Aug 16, 2012 @ 13:32:06
@Loosheesh: It’s a really good series – the Gilded Age and the very slow romance really work well. I bought them all from Smashwords ^^
Aug 16, 2012 @ 14:22:45
I really enjoyed the Julia book, especially the descriptions of the parties she and Paul gave. I’d recommend skipping most of the footnotes, though. Do we really need clarification of Richard Nixon’s identity?