"The School Of Essential Ingredients" by: Erica Bauermeister

"The School of Essential Ingredients" by: Erica Bauermeister was a breath of fresh air. It was first recommended to me by my mother. Her book club had read it and loved it, and then my best friend actually ended up borrowing my copy before I read it and also loved it. So needless to say it had been on the list of books to read for a while. 

I finally picked it up actually about a month ago. Having now finished the book I can now tell you that the best way to read this book is to never rush it. I read it a chapter or two at a time myself. Relishing the world that I was invited into. 

This perfectly lovely book is about life and learning to love yourself and the wonderful people that come into our lives. It is centered around a cooking class. In the process though we get a little snap shot into each person's personal story. We get a glimpse into their hearts and dreams. 

This is a book that you read outside in the shade on a warm sunny day.. not a hot day... or in a comfy chair on a drizzly day. 

This book was unique for me. i took my time with it. I read many other books in between its chapters. I enjoyed these easy glimpses into lives that are so normal. I felt like this all could be happening to people in the restaurant across the street. 

I recommend this book to adults. I loved it and will be giving it to a few friends. 

11 Day Book Challenge

Well, I have been in New England for the entire summer now, and it is time to go. Not that I didn't have fun selling arguably crappy footwear. One must know when the tide is changing though, and mine is changing quickly. 

With another move I am yet again going through everything that I own and deciding if I do actually still wish to own it. I have accumulated mostly clothing and books. The clothing doesn't matter though, because I have already filled one garbage bag full of clothes and shoes to donate to good will. 

The books are another matter all together however. 

You see my problem is that I buy them exponentially faster than I read them. I happen to be a pretty fast reader, so you can imagine how many books I have. I go through times when I have no inclination to read as well. My major problem however would be that I have iBooks on my iTouch and have found more than a few free books that have captured my attention and have taken me away from the ever growing pile of actual books. 

It is times like this that I wish I had a car. Then the weight of my bags would not matter. I am flying out to Phoenix on the 29th. I can fit everything I own in my luggage, but not under the weight. So my master plan is to ship my parents, who currently have a corner of the garage dedicated to my stuff that is mostly books, a box of the books that I have already read. When I went to gather all of them up though, I realized that I had only read six actual, physical, real books. This does not help with the weight issue all that much. 

So in an attempt to boost these numbers I am issuing myself a challenge. 

The Challenge: Read one book for the next ELEVEN days

Admittedly I am choosing books that are mostly small. I did put in one big book in the mix to be read on the only day off work I will most likely have between now and then. 

The Chosen Few: 

1. "The Time Machine" by H.G. Wells

2. "The Old Man and the Sea" by Ernest Hemingway

3. "The Invisible Man" by H.G. Wells

4. "The School of Essential Ingredients" by Erica Bauermeister

5. "The War of the Worlds" by H.G. Wells

6. "The Silent Sea" by Clive Cussler

7. "In a Witch's Wardrobe" by Juliet Blackwell

8. "Finding the Angel Within" by Pamela H. Hansen

9. "Paper Towns" by John Green

10. "Why God Lets Us Choose" by Stephen D. Nadauld

11. "The Screwtape Letters" by C.S. Lewis

I am pretty confident that I can achieve this. It will be  a lot of reading all at once, but I think that only taking thirty or so books to Arizona is better than taking forty or so. 

Wish me luck!!! 

And keep an eye out for all of the reviews.