Nantucket Blogworks

Spelling Bee Beatdown and other news

Posted on February 7, 2010 by Bookworkers

Here it is… the trophy that slipped thru our fingers. We were so close. Literally, it was right in front of us on the stage at the Nantucket High School. The same stage where we misspelled “dissect.” d-i-s-s-e-c-t d-i-s-s-e-c-t d-i-s-s-e-c-t d-i-s-s-e-c-t d-i-s-s-e-c-t d-i-s-s-e-c-t d-i-s-s-e-c-t d-i-s-s-e-c-t d-i-s-s-e-c-t.

We won’t misspell that again! Cristina, Dick and I, collectively known as Teem Bukworx, had a great time anyway. Although I have a strange feeling that Dick had Citizen Kanesque nightmares where “rosebud” was replaced with “dissect…D-I-S-S-E-C-T!”Although we’d have loved first place and that blinging trophy we were happy to see the NES teachers rally for the win. ’Schottische‘ I never would have gotten that, although Dick said he knew it. Those apt teachers, aside from being brilliant spellers, I’m sure they’re wonderful folk dancers. Kudos on the rockin’ win!

In other news..

Friday afternoon was going to be our first Crafternoon, but we didn’t get the word out as well as we’d like, Saturday’s Storytime also. But next week we’ll be here and hopefully so will you. My resourceful pals did such a great job collecting wine corks (thanks Carmen and Cristina) that we’ll make our fancy, earth-friendly stampers this coming Friday. We made a few examples…

They’re really fun and way easier than I thought. I also found a great use for the little foam creatures my mom sent me awhile back. They’re perfect for this.

Last Tuesday I had the honor of decorating the V-day window. Suzanne had the brilliant idea, as if her ideas could be anything but, to make the window all red, filled with random objects. She pointed out the fire extinguisher and the Coke cans in the back room and I went from there.

and when Melanie came in she pointed out how perfectly it fit with Chinese New Year… Yahtzee!So if you’re in the neighborhood, come check out our sweet red window and the blank space where our spelling bee trophy could have been. Thursday would be a good day to pencil in a visit, not only is it Wendy’s first day back from her trip to sunny California, but it’s the return of Wine Down.

Filed under: By Dani, Events | Leave a Comment »

Audio Audit “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close”

Posted on February 7, 2010 by Bookworkers

This week I’m so excited to blog about my overwhelming love for the audiobook Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer. Cristina told me multiple times how awesome this book is and I have to admit I wasn’t super jazzed to read. The blurb on the back did not pique my interest… A boy hunting down his already deceased father in the wake of 9/11. Not really my cup of tea. The author, however, I do enjoy..I saw the movie Everything is Illuminated and absolutely love it. I know, the book is soooooo much better, at least that’s what I’m told, and is factly true in 99.9% of the cases. But I haven’t read that book yet, I did however stumble upon the audio of Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close and thought, “Okay, I’ll give it a go.”

Right away… and I mean instantly, I was sucked into Oskar Schell’s world. He’s such an amazing character to focus on … In the most beautiful way to convey an event that’s so horrific, Foer gives you this eccentric little boy who’s manner of speaking and acting are so captivating you can focus on nothing else. I would literally just sit and listen, mounds of work in front of me, listening intently to the lives of three people, pasts being unearthed and futures being unfolded. Oskar’s segments were easily my favorites especially when he’s joined by his elderly upstairs neighbor whose cooky wisdom compliments Oskar’s naivety perfectly. Searching for anyone who knows about his key, asking for kisses, spreading knowledge about elephants, and overcoming his fear of public transportation, Oskar makes you believe in humanity in the wake of terrorism.

There are three narrators( and if you’ve read my reviews before you know how much I love more than one narrator); Oskar, read by Jeff Woodman, his Grandmother, read by Barbara Caruso, and the Roommate, read by Richard Ferrone. (click there names to get a little preview of their voices)

I give this audio book an A. solid, fully deserved A.

Foer has a new book, this one non-fiction…Eating Animals explores the many fictions we use to justify our eating habits-from folklore to pop culture to family traditions and national myth-and how such tales can lull us into a brutal forgetting.

Filed under: Audio Revies, By Dani | Leave a Comment »

Events Events Events

Posted on February 5, 2010 by Bookworkers

Six more weeks of winter doesn’t have to be a bad thing. Shake off your cabin fever at Bookworks. This Friday we’re picking up where we left off with Crafternoons. This week we’ll help you prepare some cards for the ones you love and do a little recycling too.

We’ll be making wine cork stamps so you can make your own hand-made valentine’s. Nothing gets closer to the heart than something from your own hands. Dani will start at 3pm and will craft it up til 4:30 so come hang out with her in the kids room.

We’re also warming up our voices for a little storytime with the kiddies. We’ll start at 11am Saturday morning and read til the little hearts are content. Parents are obviously welcome and we have some coffee, tea and juice on our Coffee Table.

And our last bit of news this week is the Spelling Bee. Cheer on Teem Bukwerks as we sound out our way to victory… fingers crossed! This battle royale starts at 5pm, Saturday at Nantucket High School.

Filed under: By Dani, Events | Leave a Comment »

February 2nd…

Posted on February 3, 2010 by Bookworkers

Groundhog’s Day(My buddy, Larry, made this postcard… thanks Larry!)

For being 123 years old Punxsutawney Phil has eyesight enough to still see his shadow. That means six more weeks of winter. If you’re wondering what Groundhog’s day is all about, click here. (you can learn great little facts like Phil’s full name… Punxsutawney Phil, Seer of Seers, Sage of Sages, Prognosticator of Prognosticators and Weather Prophet Extraordinary)

Or if you want more info on other weather predicting rodents click here. Don’t forget about Cape Cod Quahog Day?

So we’re celebrating, or mourning, Groundhog Day at Bookworks on our ‘coffee table.’ Stop by, grab a coffee and cookie, and peruse the store.

Check our selection of “shadow books” displayed on our Coffee Table

The Poe Shadow by Matthew Pearl

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

The Shadow Catcher by Marianne Wiggins

Shadow Divers by Robert Kurson

The Shadow Rising by Robert Jordan

Happy Birthday James Joyce

Dick is celebrating February 2nd for a far more literary reason…not only is it Joyce’s birthday, but also the anniversary of the publication of Ulysses, what many consider his masterpiece.

A complete list of his publication dates is found here.

One more thing….

The New York Times Book Review had an article on Patti Smith’s Just Kids. Smith notes Mapplethorpe’s love for Andy Warhol, one of the few things the pair didn’t share. She says “I hated the soup and felt little for the can.”

After sharing this with me, Dick adds, ” I think she and I could have had a great life together.” He’s probably right…He usually is.

Filed under: Book Reviews, By Dani, Events | Leave a Comment »

Cookworks “The Italian Slow Cooker”

Posted on February 2, 2010 by Bookworkers

This weeks pick was actually singled out by two Bookworkers at two totally separate times. The cover certainly doesn’t turn you away. Without further adieu, I give you The Italian Slow Cooker by Michele Sciolone.

Beef in Barolo

prepared by Cristina Blank

he Italian Slow Cooker by Michele Sciolone caught my eye… I am an Italian with a slow cooker and I love to use it, but only have about two recipes. I found that most slow cooker recipes involve using cans of Campbells soup (usually cream of mushroom) which I am not interested in using or eating.

This particular book is full of great recipes which do not involve cans of anything.I have tried two so far, one being the Peppercorn Beef Stew which was lovely and the other the Beef in Barolo which is delicious and perfect for a cold winter night. I am not usually good at following recipes and much to my husband’s delight only made a couple of small changes to this one(Beef in Barolo).

As I usually have a couple of bottles of my favorite Cabarnet in stock, I opted to substitute it for the Barolo, concluding that any dry red would do. I also left out the pinch of ground cloves as I dislike cloves intensely and find their taste taking over any other flavor. The rest of the recipe was easy as pie! easier actually. The ingredients are all basic and easy to find. We all know the Nantucket Stop and Shop is not exactly a food mecca. A few minutes to flour and brown the beef and in it went……six hours later and an amazingly scented house, I was ready for my guests.

I made some delicious mashers with all the “accoutrements” sour cream, butter, salt, milk, some set aside water from boiling the potatoes (whole of course) and a lemon rind. In Italy the person who finds the lemon rind on their plate or in their mouth is the lucky one. Che fortuna!

A side of sauteed baby artichokes, good wine, good friends and a few rounds of Liebrary (game)………priceless!

P.S. Liebrary created by Darryl Hannah and her sister is a board game in which the players are given the title and synopsis of a book and asked to write the first line. The “librarian” must then read all the first lines including the real one and the players must vote on which is the actual real one.

Chicken Ragout
prepared by Suzanne Keller
What can I say… slow cookers rule! This took about 15 minutes to put together. Not that Campbell’s cream of mushroom soup (again…)

kind of book which is hard to find in slow cooker recipes. Nice fresh veggies here. Lots of onion, celery, carrots and garlic

along with tomato puree and paste.

Cook until the chicken falls off the bone,

remove skins and bones and serve over brown rice.

Next week some kind of dessert… hhmmmm?

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Audio Audit “The Thirteenth Tale”

Posted on January 31, 2010 by Bookworkers

Okay ladies, this one’s for you. Although it’s not a love story, Diane Setterfield’s The Thirteenth Tale, is a throwback to our favorite gothic novels; Jane Eyre,

Wuthering Heights,

Northanger Abbey

and Rebecca
…

I was drawn in immediately by the mystery that surrounds one of the main characters, Ms Vida Winter, and her true identity. The narrator, Ruthie Henshall, (Margaret Lea)has a captivating voice, but I love when they have more than one reader for a book. So I was stoked to hear a second voice ring into my earbuds; Lynn Redgrave (Vida Winter)

Quick intro to the story from Wikipedia…

Vida Winter, the most famous novelist in England and quite possibly the world, has never been forthcoming when it comes to her past. Her entire life is a secret, and for fifty years reporters and biographers have attempted to discover the truth. With her health quickly fading, Ms. Winter enlists a bookish amateur biographer named Margaret Lea to bear witness to the tragic story of the Angelfield family, their eccentric beginnings as well as their demise. Margaret, who has family secrets of her own, must unravel the mysteries of the past in order to reconcile not only Miss Winter with her ghosts, but also Margaret with her own.

I spent the last two CDs, almost in their entirety, sitting on my bed totally focused on the words that were pouring into my ears. And countless other times, I would find myself at my desk staring out the window focusing on the Angelfield twins instead of the work in front of me. It’s not life-changing by any means, but it is a captivating and beautiful escape. It’s as charmingly written as it is read.

I give it a solid B… I could even be talked into a B+. It’s definitely worth listening to, especially for the rockin’ price of $14.99!

Other books of a similar vein…

Obviously the aforementioned Northanger Abbey, Jane Eyre, and Wuthering Heights… I love love love the sweet new cover by Ruben Toledo and click on his name to read an article about other classics he’s clad.
Lists of more recent Gothic Novels are found here and here.

Filed under: Audio Revies, Book Reviews, By Dani | Leave a Comment »

Not another Unbirthday!

Posted on January 27, 2010 by Bookworkers

Happy Birthday Lewis Carroll, the British author best known for Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. We tip our Mad Hats to you like this…by having a sweet tea party at Bookworks. And boy do we mean sweet…we have tea, juice, coffee, hot cocoa and cookies.

Stop by anytime Wednesday, the only way you could be late for this important date is if you show up after 7pm (that’s when we close up shop, incase you didn’t know).

Literary works by Carroll…

A Tangled Tale
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
Facts
He thought he saw an elephant
Rhyme? And Reason? (also published as Phantasmagoria)
Pillow Problems
Sylvie and Bruno
Sylvie and Bruno Concluded
The Hunting of the Snark
Three Sunsets and Other Poems
Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There (includes Jabberwocky)
What the Tortoise Said to Achilles
The Walrus and the Carpenter

More Lewis Carroll info…

Cambridge Center for Western Esoterism article

Lenny’s Alice in Wonderland Site

Lewis Carroll North American Homepage

and I wanted to share this great site I stumbled upon in my search to find Alice…

Crooked House she has some quirky blog posts… I dig it.

Surely check out the trailers for Alice’s most recent close-up directed by Tim Burton.

Trailer 1

Trailer 2 ( not the one I’ve seen on TV, I like this one better)

This little shindig is the first of many on our Bookworks calendar. February we’re really kicking it up a notch. Here’s a start…

February 5th(friday) we’ll be kicking off another session of our Crafternoons. Join Dani and Evelyn from 3-4:30. The theme will be shadows.

February 6th(saturday) is the reason we’ve been drinking all our lemon tea with honey… that’s right… it’s story time. We’ll ease in with some board books and work our way up til our little listeners lose interest. Feel free to make suggestions.

–Dani

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Cookworks “The Barefoot Contessa: Back to Basics”

Posted on January 27, 2010 by Bookworkers

Our bookworms were back in the kitchen and this week they whipped up some tasty, and might I add photogenic, soups.

Suzanne, our seasoned veteran and co-pioneer of cookworkery, hopped back in the saddle and rounded up yet another tasty tome.

The Barefoot Contessa’s Cream of Fresh Tomato Soup

Quick and easy. I did not have a food mill so I used my cuisinart to puree all the veggies and left the soup kind of chunky.

I didn’t add the cream but garnished with a spoonful of sour cream. The baguette came from Something Natural which I sliced, brushed with olive oil then sprinkled with salt and pepper before I put on the cheese.

When she says to sprinkle a thick layer of Parmesan she means thick. I had to put more on after the Parmesan Toasts had been in the oven for a few minutes and stuck them back in until nice and brown.

Yum. Thank you Contessa. –Suzanne

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup & Curry Condiments

The Barefoot Contessa. I inwardly groaned when I heard the cookbook for the week’s cooking blog. When I hear Ina Gartner’s name I think of expensive specialty ingredients and overly-fussy recipes for someone who likes to spend hours preparing a meal. But to play nice I thought I’d give it a whirl. The soup section in Back to Basics has about half-a-dozen options, I immediately gravitated towards the butternut squash soup; and, knock-me-over-with-a-feather, no fancy, hard-to-find, over priced ingredients – even for shopping on Nantucket. I decided to make it for my house mates and serve it with a salad from the same cookbook.

The soup is almost entirely roasted squash. So I began by diligently peeling, seeding, and cutting my raw squash into chucks. Only one severeminor cut later (use caution when cutting raw squash) I had assembled a veritable army of cubed squash with onion and apples ready to roast. Into the oven it went, I roasted with a taste for cut-finger revenge.

Once roasted, I continued my revenge on the finger-cut-causing squash by brutally pureeing it. A few cups of chicken broth and a dash of curry powder (ah, Ina, of course you said “good curry powder” for all your followers who buy shitty curry powder) completed this simple soup.

The soup recipe calls for several condiments to be served with the soup, to be thorough I served them all: sliced scallions, toasted coconut, chopped cashews, and diced banana. Yes, banana. Kim and Julie joined me to eat my squash feast; everyone loved the soup (and the salad) and enjoyed the added scallions, coconut, and cashews, but none of us liked the banana.

The next day the soup re-heated nicely and made my cubicle mates mighty jealous. The changes I might make next time: roast the squash halved and seeded to avoid injury and shave a good 15 minutes off the prep time.

Ok, I’m sorry for my assumptions about you, Ina, the soup is a home-run and I’ve added it to my recipe box. – Beth

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Eating to Live

Posted on January 23, 2010 by Bookworkers

Over 50 people packed into the Great Hall of the Atheneum Wed. night to hear Tamara Grenier’s lecture “Eating for Life”. Tamara posed the question: Are you living to eat or eating to live? She stated that a thyroid problem and allergies no longer afflicted her when she chose a better diet of predominately raw foods. In a very convincing discussion, Tamara warned listeners about the lobbyists who try to sell you on “healthy” foods, which are all but good for you. She concluded the event with an eye-opening demonstration on how to read labels of the food you purchase, and emphasized that the foods without labels are always the better choice.

–Melanie
The books Tamara suggests are The China Study, by T. Colin Campbell PhD

Diet for a New America, by John Robbins

Disease-Proof Your Child & Eat to Live by Joel Fuhrman, MD

Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease, by Caldwell B. Esselstyn, Jr. MD

and Mad Cowboy by H. Lyman.

All books available at Nantucket Bookworks.

For more information contact Tamara Grenier at tamrack@comcast.net

Tamara even sent us the recipe for the delicious kale chips she made for the lecture…enjoy!

CHEESY KALE CHIPS

1 C. raw cashews, soaked 2 hours and drained

1 red pepper

juice of one lemon

2 tsp agave (optional)

1 Tbs nutritional yeast (health food store carries it)

½ tsp salt

Blend all above in blender (preferably a high speed like a Vita- Mix)

Rinse, pat dry and tear into bite-size pieces one large bunch of kale. Place kale in large mixing bowl and cover with sauce, “massaging” sauce into kale with hands until well-coated.

Place on teflex sheets on dehydrator screens and dehydrate at 115 degrees 4-6 hours, or overnight, until crispy.

(alternatively can dehydrate in conventional oven on “dehydrate” setting, or lowest temperature available, but remember that heating above 119 degrees destroys enzymes and many nutrients)

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Audio Audit

Posted on January 23, 2010 by Bookworkers

Thanks for joining me for our first installation of the “Audio Audit.” It’s a review of books in their audio form… but you’re very intelligent… I’m sure you were putting that together already. :) About a year ago I became addicted to audio books… aside from working at Nantucket Bookworks, I like to fancy myself an artist and I definitely do a great job of busying myself with art projects and not leave myself much time for reading. So to keep myself in the loop with the written word, I listen to audio books. When I’m painting, sewing, going for a run, walking to work, making dinner… basically, whenever I want thanks to my trusty iPod. Sooo…

Last week I finished listening to “The Lovely Bones,” by Alice Sebold.

This book is back in the spotlight with the release of it’s movie version on January 15th. I’d heard mixed reviews about the book… people loved it or hated it. Well we had the audio book, so I gave it a go.

Alice Sebold, the author, reads it and as a little bonus gives an interview. Sebold remembers, growing up in the 70s and hearing about young girls going missing… all with mousy brown hair and blue eyes. She’d ask her mother who these girls were… what happened to them? She explains that this book is her way of telling their story, collectively. I was sold.

The story is captivating. It hits the ground running and keeps up a steady pace. The narrator is dead when the story starts and watches as her brutal murder tears her family apart. The mother’s role in the family’s weathering is an aspect I found refreshing… a mother that puts herself before her family in the 70s.

The concept. Loved it! I’ve always been into afterlife, out of body experiences, spirits and ghosts. I’m not a religious person but the heaven that Suzie, the main character, lives in is so beautifully created, I found myself really getting into it. The fact that it’s different for everyone, is filled with each spirit’s individual desires, even smells, is a great place to settle my lost loved ones.

The few things I didn’t love were…

The author’s voice. She’s pretty monotone, which doesn’t lend itself well to audio books so much. It was a give and take… loved the interview… liked sort of getting to know the author… wished for more inflection.

The crazy out of body experience. I don’t want to give anything away, so I won’t throw out details. But, for those of you who have read it you know what I’m talking about. The book was great, the “heaven,” the family struggling after losing a child, the skeevyness of the murderer… all copacetic. The Ruth/Suzie flipflop blindsided me.

The intervention at the end. The timing seemed a little strange to me. That’s all I’m saying.

Overall I give it a C+.

(since this is the first review, I feel I should explain my rules. I’m judging on overall story, narrator(s), and how captivated I seem to. i.e. if I find myself staring off into space, doing nothing but focusing intently on the words that are coming out of my computer, then I’d call that a good audio book.)

Other books of a similar vein…

The Remember Me series by Christopher Pike.

I read all three of these books when I was in Junior High. It’s a murder mystery written from the point of the high school girl who dies mysteriously.

Hotel World by Ali Smith. Loved this book! Jeanne recommended it to me and I absolutely fell head over heels for Ali Smith. Her writing isn’t for everyone. Wendy and Cristina didn’t dig her… but come to the store, read a few pages and see what you think.