Joanne Fluke

Gingerbread Cookie Murder – Joanne Fluke

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Just in time for the upcoming Holidays (which I cannot wait for!) is a great murder-mystery without all of the blood-and-gore, full of laughs, and even boasts some great recipes.

Gingerbread Cookie Murder

Joanne Fluke has quite the market for her Hannah Swensen mystery books. Hannah owns her own bakery, and seems to come across dead bodies almost as much as she has customers in her shop!

This story begins when Hannah finds her neighbor dead in his condo, with a box of her gingerbread cookies on the floor next to him. Who did she sell those cookies to?

Joanne Fluke has dozens of these types of stories written around Hannah, and they are all good reads. I have not tried any of the recipes in the books, but they seem to be fairly straight-forward without a lot of complicated steps. This particular book also contains 2 more stories; one by Laura Levine, and the other by Leslie Meier. Gingerbread is the theme here, and I think you will enjoy these stories as well.

As we get through October and into November, I am going to be having a few different give-aways; books, gift cards, etc. Stay tuned, the details will be out soon!

Some New Books

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Some New Books

I love Joanne Fluke’s stories, and have read most of the mystery series with recipes (great reads and funny too!). So I thought I would grab these 3 books the last time I was in B&N. The question now is, when will I be able to read these? Hopefully sooner, rather than later.

Book Winner and The Book I REALLY Need To Read!

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The lucky winner of Joanne Fluke’s “Lake Eden Cookbook” is Adopting James! Congratulations and if you can email me where you would like this sent I will take it to Fed-Ex Friday, and let you know it is on the way. And the reason I need to read the book shown below is because I did not realize that if I was not using wordpress.org I could not communicate via email through wordpress.com. So, I apologize for my error there and if you could send the information to cyclerider321@yahoo.com, I will send you the book. This is MY email address that I opened this summer to sell my motorcycle on Craigslist. Yes, I rode a motorcycle 🙂 It was pretty too! If you are not comfortable doing this, leave a comment here, I completely understand, and as soon as I flip my 2 blogs over to wordpress.org, which will be soon, you can communicate with me that way and feel more secure. I will hold the book for you.

Sooooo, the book I should have read 4 months ago when it showed up at my door?

I need to stop reading everything else and read this book!
I need to stop reading everything else and read this book!

YEP. WordPress for Dummies. I have started it numerous times, thumbed through different chapters, but never really read it because from what I could see, all of the fun stuff can only be done when you use wordpress.org. So I would just read it when I switched to that.

I should have read it when I got the book! I will be reading it and doing some improvements this weekend, and hopefully moving everything over to the wordpress.org system.

Happy Reading, and Happy It Is Almost Friday (Even if it is snowing here!)

The Most Wonderful Place in the World!

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The Glass Floor
The Glass Floor

Yes. One of many libraries near me. I generally do not frequent this library, but I thought you would all like to see the section with the glass floor. A little freaky to walk on, but unique none-the-less.

Don’t forget, I am drawing on Thursday to send one lucky reader Joanne Fluke’s “Lake Eden Cookbook”. If you missed my previous post, it is more of a storybook, less of a cookbook. This one just seems to be full of recipes from numerous books. Confused? Me Too!

1) follow my post

2) Leave a comment of your favorite book and its author

I am in dire need of new reading material. I will be drawing a name Thursday, and sending this book on its way this weekend.

Happy Monday, and Happy Reading!

What a beautiful building!
What a beautiful building!

Here It Is!

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Joanne Fluke's Lake Eden Cookbook
Joanne Fluke’s Lake Eden Cookbook

Not only did I find one, but I got two! Which means you have a chance to get this book sent to you, for free! What could be better than that? You just need to do two things.

1) Follow this blog

2) Post a comment of your favorite book and the author

That’s it! What could be more easy, right? I am in desperate need of some new books to read, and I want to read some books that you have enjoyed.

If you aren’t familiar with Joanne Fluke’s series, here is a quick run-down: The Heroine of the story is Hannah Swensen, owner of The Cookie Jar and detective in the making. She is apparently the only person in the town of Lake Eden, Minnesota that is capable of solving the numerous murders that seem to happen in this small town. Her overbearing but endearing mother is full of quips that will have you laughing, and Hannah’s continuous problem of juggling two boyfriends (in the cleanest, G-rated way possible) makes for a great read without being heavy in drama. A little cheesy (no pun intended)? Yes. But her books are an easy read with descriptions of the scenery as well as recipes that will have you feeling like you are sitting in The Cookie Jar with a fresh-out-of-the-oven-cookie from Hannah herself!

This book is loaded with recipes from numerous different stories, with very minimal back information about Hannah herself. With the upcoming Holiday season upon us, I thought this would be a great surprise for someone, or a gift for a dear one if this isn’t your normal type of read. And who knows? It may just have you looking for the next Joanne Fluke book! From Heavenly Eggnog Cookies to Razzle Dazzle Champagne Cocktails, there is something in here for everyone.

be prepared, as I read through this, I will be testing out some recipes and posting them on here, as well as my other blog http://readerofallthings.wordpress.com/

So that’s it! Follow this blog, and give me a book and author 🙂 I am looking forward to reading what you enjoy reading! I will gather all the names on Thursday, and draw one and let you know who the lucky reader is. Good Luck! 🙂

Happy Sunday, and Happy reading!

I Actually Finished It!

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I finished “Killing Jesus“, a week later than I planned. I have to say I was much more interested in it once it got to the life of Jesus and his eventual crucifixion.

It was as graphic as I expected it to be, with a few things left out that really surprised me. I don’t think they were left out because they were considered myths, because they are in every single other story or show about Jesus’s life, including the 4 gospels in the Bible.

the first of these was when Jesus was betrayed by Judas, and as he is being captured. Peter takes out his sword and cuts off Malchus’s ear. It is at this point that Jesus tells him to put the sword away, and reattaches Malchus’s ear. On pages 223-224, the chopping off of the ear is mentioned; but not the reattachment.

The other thing that was excluded was when Peter is inside the temple walls and he denies knowing Jesus 3 times, before the rooster crows. I was very surprised that neither of these things were mentioned, when I find them vital to showing not only the loyalty of Jesus’s disciples, but also the fact that they were scared of their own upcoming punishment for following Jesus and believing in his ministry.

A passage that I found very interesting was when Jesus was criticized by the Pharisees for eating with person’s who were considered unclean. “Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth enters into the stomach and then out of the body. But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man unclean. For from within, out of men’s hearts come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance, and folly. All of these evils come from inside and make a man unclean” (O’Reilly, B., Dugard, M., 2013, Killing Jesus, pp -160-161).

So, on a lighter note, I think it’s time to find a more upbeat book to read next 🙂 I have a couple books on my bookshelf that I have not read yet, but I think I am going to bypass those for now,  go to Barnes and Nobles, and pick up a Joanne Fluke book. If you have never read her books, she includes recipes in her book as the main character runs a bakery. After reading several of her books, I think it’s time to try out some of those recipes!

Oh, and they are always based on someone’s murder, and I know that isn’t upbeat, but the stories have a humorous side to them and always ends with the good guy winning. Who can’t like that in a story? 🙂