Bookshelf

April Bookshelf

FICTION

Astrid Sees All, by Natalie Standiford

Set in New York City in the 1980s, two young girls arrive after college. Carmen is a native New Yorker with connections, confidence and charisma, while Phoebe is from Baltimore, enamored with Carmen, and desperate to find her place in the city, its art scene and the underground. She lands a job at a club as Astrid, who reads fortunes from movie ticket stubs. All the while, a serial killer stalks the city, and girls are disappearing. Astrid Sees All has a fabulously seedy vibe: music, fashion, art, drugs, danger and sex.

The Girls in the Stilt House, by Kelly Mustian

The Natchez Trace in Mississippi is a place that is deep, verdant, and ripe with stories and secrets. It is also a place where, in the 1920s, many scratched out an existence through sharecropping, bootlegging, trapping, fishing and hard labor during a time of racism, segregation and social disparity. In Mustian’s magnificent novel, mostly written at Weymouth, a violent act inexorably binds the lives of two teenage girls of different races. They struggle to survive, harbor their secrets, and protect those dear to them as their individual stories unfold. Readers will be held in this novel’s grasp from start to finish, experiencing the power and sensitivity provided by a great new voice in literary fiction.

Gold Diggers, by Sanjena Sathian

In a marvelous marriage of coming of age, magical realism, immigration, ambition and history, Gold Diggers is a blazingly brilliant novel stretching from the East Coast to the West Coast. Neeraj is an awkward young Indian American teen. Anita is his neighbor and childhood friend. With the help of her mother’s family recipe of an alchemical solution derived from stolen gold, the two are given powers of achievement and abilities to reach their previously unattainable goals and the thought-provoking consequences that follow them for years to come.

The Last Bookshop in London, by Madeline Martin

August 1939: London prepares for war as Hitler’s forces sweep across Europe. Grace Bennett has always dreamed of moving to the city, but the bunkers and blackout curtains that she finds on her arrival were not what she expected. And she certainly never imagined she’d wind up working at Primrose Hill, a dusty old bookshop nestled in the heart of London. Through blackouts and air raids as the Blitz intensifies, Grace discovers the power of storytelling to unite her community in ways she never dreamed — a force that triumphs over the darkest nights of the war.

The Elephant of Belfast, by S. Kirk Walsh

Inspired by true events, this vivid and moving story of Hettie, a young woman zookeeper, and Violet, the elephant she’s compelled to protect through the German blitz of Belfast during WWII, speaks to not only the tragedy of the times, but also to the ongoing sectarian tensions that still exist in Northern Ireland. Dodging the debris and carnage of the Luftwaffe attack, Hettie runs to the zoo to make sure that Violet is unharmed. The harrowing ordeal and ensuing aftermath set the pair on a surprising path that highlights the indelible, singular bond that often brings mankind and animals together during terrifying times.

Good Company, by Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney

In a follow-up of her bestselling debut novel The Nest, Sweeney explores the strains and deep bonds that mark longtime marriages and friendships. Flora Mancini is a voice actor; her husband, Julian, stars in a cop show. Margot, her best friend since college, is a longtime superstar on a hit TV show, married to a gentle doctor. The women and Julian came up together as students in New York City, scraping to find work in theater and participating in Julian’s small theater company, Good Company. Twenty years later, they all live in Los Angeles, and dote on Flora and Julian’s daughter, Ruby. When Margot stumbles across an envelope containing her husband’s wedding ring — the one he claims he lost one summer when Ruby was 5 — all of their lives are upended.

The Drowning Kind, by Jennifer McMahon

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Invited and The Winter People comes a chilling new novel about a woman who returns to the old family home after her sister mysteriously drowns in its swimming pool . . . but she’s not the pool’s only victim. A haunting, twisty and compulsively readable thrill ride from the author Chris Bohjalian has dubbed the “literary descendant of Shirley Jackson,” The Drowning Kind is a modern-day ghost story that illuminates how the past is never really far behind us.

NONFICTION

World Travel: An Irreverent Guide,
by Anthony Bourdain and Laurie Woolever

A guide to some of the world’s most interesting places, as seen and experienced by writer, television host and relentlessly curious traveler, the late Anthony Bourdain. In World Travel, a life of experience is collected into an entertaining, practical, fun and frank travel guide that gives readers an introduction to some of his favorite places — in his own words. It features his essential advice on how to get there, what to eat, where to stay and, in some cases, what to avoid. Supplementing Bourdain’s words are a handful of essays by friends, colleagues and family that tell even deeper stories about a place, including sardonic accounts of traveling with Bourdain by his brother, Chris, and a guide to Chicago’s best cheap eats by legendary music producer Steve Albini.

Broken Horses, by Brandi Carlile

The critically acclaimed singer-songwriter, producer and five-time Grammy winner opens up about a life shaped by music in this candid, heartfelt, intimate story. Though imperfect in every way, her dysfunctional childhood was as beautiful as it was strange, and as nurturing as it was difficult as her musically gifted but impoverished family moved 14 times in 14 years. Carlile takes readers through the events of her life that shaped her very raw art — from her start to her first break opening for the Dave Matthews Band, to sleepless tours over 15 years and six studio albums while raising two children with her wife and, ultimately, to the Grammy stage where she converted millions of viewers into instant fans.

CHILDREN’S BOOKS

More Than Fluff, by Madeline Valentine

Cute, adorable, fluffy Daisy duck just can’t take it anymore. Everyone wants to HUG her, and all she wants is for everyone to stay out of her personal bubble. When her subtle hints don’t quite do the trick, Daisy boldly asks her friends for wing bumps, pinky shakes and high-fives. The perfect choice for those kiddos with personal space issues or just someone needing a little “me” time, More Than Fluff gives young readers words to ask for what they need. (Ages 2-5.)

Beast in Show, by Anna Staniszewski

Of course, everyone thinks their pet is the best, but Julia is sure Huxley will win top prizes in the dog show. They arrive to find it’s not an ordinary dog show at all and the talent portion is really out of this world. A wonderful tale of giving your all and doing your best no matter what, Beast in Show is just perfect for anyone who loves someone furry. (Ages 3-6.)

G My Name is Girl: A Song of Celebration from Argentina to Zambia,
by Dawn Masi

A playful celebration of everything girl, G My Name is Girl is also a wonderful worldwide journey and a fun way to honor the characteristics that strong, confident young women possess. Clever parents and grandparents will recognize the format as that of a classic travel game and enjoy sharing the rhyme with a whole new generation. (Ages 3-8.)

Mars! Earthlings Welcome,
by Stacy McAnulty

Humor and fun facts bring nonfiction alive for the youngest readers in McAnulty’s Our Universe series. In the newest installment, Mars! Earthlings Welcome, budding scientists learn that Mars may have once had rivers and streams, is Earth’s closest neighbor, and has 37 whole minutes longer in its day than Earth. For classrooms and curious kids (and parents), this series is a great way to learn more about our great big universe. (Ages 4-8.)

Peter Easter Frog, by Erin Dealy

Who says bunnies should have all the fun? Hippity hoppity Peter the Easter . . . frog is here to help out Easter Bunny any way he can. A fun holiday story of kindness, sharing and friends with a few giggle-inducing surprises along the way. (Ages 3-5.)  PS

Compiled by Kimberly Daniels Taws and Angie Tally.

Good Natured

Apricot Power

A little tart and a little sweet

By Karen Frye

An apricot-a-day may replace the apple-a-day theory. A little tart and a little sweet, they’re high in nutrients such as potassium and vitamins A and C. They’re also rich in fiber.

Apricots are loaded with antioxidant flavonoids. In fact, just a handful can neutralize the free radicals that damage cells in the body. Apricots contain the nutrients lutein and zeaxanthin — found in the retina, macula and lens of the eye — and help keep your eyes healthy. The apricot ranks low on the glycemic index, so they’re OK for most folks with sugar imbalances.

The vitamins A and E in the apricot build collagen, keeping your skin healthy, and protecting it against sun damage.

Fresh apricots are seasonal, and the best ones come from California. Dried apricots are easier to find year-round and have all the same benefits as the fresh ones — just make sure to get the ones without sulphur.

While fresh apricots are delicious, you can also make an apricot puree by cooking them in some boiling water for 10-15 minutes, then putting them in the food processor. You can add the puree to oatmeal, yogurt, or eat a few spoonfuls a day.

Before you throw away that pit in the center of the apricot, take a second to remove the seed and eat that, too. The apricot kernel contains a very nutritious substance called amygdalin, commonly known as B17. It’s naturally occurring in many fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds and grains. Apricot kernels contain abundant amounts of amygdalin.

The apricot kernels themselves are slightly bitter, but I find them delicious. It is possible to find some sweeter seeds, but the B17 is greatest in the bitter ones. The California variety has the highest potency and are the bitterest.

There is a small endocrine gland, the pineal gland, located in the center of the brain at about eye level. It looks like an eye and even has tissues and fluids much like our eyes. René Descartes believed the pineal gland was the “principal seat of the soul.” It produces melatonin, the hormone that induces sleep. While apricots help keep the pineal gland healthy, it calcifies as we age. Some people find that taking a melatonin supplement about an hour before bedtime helps to induce sleep.

Eating apricots and their seeds may also lower blood pressure, reduce pain from inflammation, and aid the immune system. Maybe an apricot a day will keep the doctor away.  PS

Karen Frye is the owner and founder of Nature’s Own and teaches yoga at the Bikram Yoga Studio.

The Kitchen Garden

The Cutting Garden

Man does not live by vegetables alone

By Jan Leitschuh

What is a kitchen garden but food for the soul? No need to be a vegetable purist. We can add a few flowers to the mix, rendering the entire process far more soulful.

I’m not talking about interplanting a six-pack of bedding marigolds with your tomato plants for pest control. Although those are nice, the stems of bedding plants are too short for most vases.

No, we are dreaming of armloads of garden blossoms for cutting — a true cottage garden profusion.

With certain sown flowers, you’ll draw essential pollinators to your kitchen garden and the vases in your house will spill over with colorful blooms. Your yard will pop with floral eye candy and, since many thrive with regular cutting, you will have plenty of extra flowers to surprise and cheer up friends.

The quiet joy and pride of place is purely incidental.

It usually starts like this:

One chilled, sodden January, I stop before a local display of seeds and tubers. Instantly, the colorful reds, yellows, purples, pinks and oranges vanquish the gray day. In my mind, it becomes late June, and along with plucking ripe tomatoes, yellow squash and snap beans, I’m also gathering loads of cut flowers to bring into the house and share with friends. Bees buzz. The sky is blue, the morning breezes soft.

More than a few bucks later, I come home with many packets of zinnia, poppy, sweet William and cosmos seed, sacks of candy-colored dahlia, a peony tuber or two and several varieties of caladiums.

Come late February to early March, I’m sowing a few trays of my treasures, to get an early start. The remainder will be sown directly in the garden.

While some gardeners plant bulbs especially for cutting — early daffodils and Dutch irises and gladioli and lilies — why not keep it super simple? Let’s not over-complicate the process. A few packets of seed may be all you need to cultivate joy this summer.

You’ll need some sure-thing Sandhills winners.

The suggestions below can be planted directly into your garden. That couldn’t be easier — scratch out a shallow trench, seed lightly, then rake or cover with a sprinkle of soil and pat down for the critical seed-soil contact. Moisten with a gentle spray so that the tiny seeds aren’t disturbed, and water regularly through germination and early growth. Thin or transplant seedlings to the distances stated on the packet, so they have space to develop.

For diehard gardeners, a few trays seeded indoors in late February or early March can give you a jump on the season. I like to sow a six-pack of each variety, then seal the rest of the seeds in a plastic bag, for later direct sowing. This lengthens my growing season and spreads out the likelihood of good blooms.

Some of my favorites do very well here in the Sandhills, thriving with regular cutting, kicking out more blooms. Here are three can’t-miss flowers:

Glorioso Daisy: Practically foolproof. You may have to order these seeds or obtain from a friend. I haven’t seen them on seed racks yet this year, but they are well worth seeking out, and you can save the seed of your favorite blooms to replant next year.

This is a rugged, deer-resistant type of flower with great good cheer, sure to light up an informal summer bouquet. You may also find the seeds under the botanical name rudbeckia hirta.

These daisy-like, tetraploid cultivars are larger and showier than their wild cousins. As a sturdier, more eye-catching type of black-eyed Susan, rudbeckia hirta has blooms that may be golden yellow with dark chocolate centers, or a rich red-mahogany, or a bicolor golden with a mahogany base to each petal.

Another showy type of rudbeckia hirta is called Irish Eyes. This tall strain produces large, single golden-yellow daisies with a bright green eye and makes an outstanding cut flower.

Glorioso daisies also come in doubles. They will bloom through the fall, when their rich autumnal colors add to the season. Deadheading prolongs the bloom season, but gloriosa daisies will re-seed themselves readily.

Sow seeds directly in the ground sometime in April. Consider a second planting in May for longest bloom season. If you’ve planted too close for the optimum 12-inch spacing, the seedlings do transplant well when young, especially if moved on a cloudy day and watered in well.

Glorioso daisy is fairly drought resistant once established and will produce masses of cheerful blooms.

Zinnias: So easy. Again, as simple as seeds come. And the colors! The flower shapes! Possibly my favorite cut flower of all. There are three types of zinnias, so if cutting is your aim, choose well.

1. Short. Avoid these for a cutting garden. You can find potted zinnias at the garden stores in late spring, but most likely they will be these decorative dwarf types, running under 10 inches or so. You might enjoy these cuties at the front of a flower border, but their stems are too short for good cutting. Some of the common dwarf types are the Thumbelina, Magellan and Dreamland series. They are terrific, long-blooming bedding plants but, again, not very useful for vases and arrangements.

2. Medium. The next type are bushy, landscaping zinnias, up to 20 inches and best for bedding plantings. Look for names like Zahara and Profusion series.

3. Tall. The classic cutting garden zinnia eventually grows skyward, with long, strong stems for vases. You’ll have to start these from seed, most likely, but that is not difficult. Either direct seed into the garden when the soil has warmed — later April or May here — or start some seeds early indoors with plenty of light. By fall, your cutting garden zinnias can be 4-feet tall and will need support. I use a floral net, a kind of open, light string fishnet that steadies growing stems. Your garden center may carry them. You can also corral the patch with some twine and a few stakes.

Choosing your colors, shapes and varieties is the most fun, making for a delightful perusal of the catalogs and seed racks. There are spiky cactus types, full dahlia-looking blooms, newer bicolors, and every pastel shade or bold crayon color except blue. (Yes, even green, pale zinnias called Envy or Queen Lime.) Some of my favorites include the Benary Giants (be sure to order a good strong red, and perhaps an orange), Giant Cactus, California Giants, Uproar Rose, Queen Red Lime, Burpeeana Giants, and the 30-inch Cupcake series. A good strong white bloomer like Polar Bear adds a poignant accent to a colorful arrangement.

Or just buy a packet of mixed colors and be done with it.

Cosmos: You remember the movie The Color Purple, don’t you? Those stunning fields of airy, floral glory were cosmos. Another easy seed to sow directly, cosmos comes in purple, white, pinks, lavender, magentas, gold, orange and even a pale lemon.

Cosmos tolerates heat, drought (once established) and poor soil. Sounds like a Sandhills flower, yes?

Cosmos is a worker. Productive plants will produce masses of delicate, colorful beauty. The sizes range from the 18 to 26-inch dwarf, ruffly Apollo series to taller varieties. The Pop Socks series offers interesting shapes, singles and doubles. Both the Sonata and Sensation series are fairly easy to find and are lovely. The red-and-white striped Velouette is quite striking and can grow 26 to 34 inches. Cups and Saucers, with their fun shapes, can reach to 3 to 4 feet. Bright Lights and Ladybird are the salsa of the cosmos world, spouting hot orange, golden and yellow flowers.

Plants get very bushy. They’d appreciate a little extra room to spread out, so space plants 12 to 18 inches apart. Be sure to stake or corral them early, while they are still young. Cosmos also benefit from a technique called pinching, as this will encourage the already highly productive plants to branch even more vigorously.

There are many other flowers to include in a seeded cutting garden. Coreopsis, sunflowers, bachelor’s button, larkspur and sweet William are just a few that look lovely in vases and can be grown from seed. But you won’t go wrong in the Sandhills with the easy three above.

Don’t forget to water during dry spells, especially when plants are in bloom. Deadhead fading blooms. Carry a clean bucket with a little water out to the garden and cut in the mornings before the sun gets hot. Zinnias, in particular, benefit from a change of water every day or two. They can get a little stinky otherwise.

For an arrangement, use what you’ve already got. Slim stems of flowering trees or shrubs, shiny foliage like photinia, hellebore or camellia for filler, sprigs of purple basil. Perennials such as a sweet-smelling phlox, lilies, a peony, a few strands of ivy, perhaps the odd rose could also creep into the bouquet.

April showers can bring a little soul to your kitchen garden. May the fleurs be with you!  PS

Jan Leitschuh is a local gardener, avid eater of fresh produce and co-founder of Sandhills Farm to Table.