Channeling Cleopatra by Elizabeth Scarborough

Leda Hubbard has been offered a chance to live the life she's always wanted - to be an archaeologist. The reason? A top-secret, very expensive experimental procedure called blending, in which the DNA of two people are mixed. The kicker? Only one of them needs to be alive. The hunt is on for the remains of the famous Queen Cleopatra.

( A quote. )

This book is a madcap ride with lots of witty dialogue, skeezy jerks, family ties, and strange personality transfers. It's light and fun. It would make good beach reading. If you are not previous familiar with Elizabeth Scarborough, it would be a fine place to start, although I like her Godmother books better. Three stars.

welcome!

I seem to be experiencing a popularity surge this month (or have I just not been getting new reader notifications lately?), mostly folks from book review communities. Welcome to new readers aurillia, caffyolay, lavendarbloom, muse_books, rbachfan1, thelovelygypsy, writer_girl14, and yobubba. Gosh, there are a lot of you! I would love to hear where you're from and why you chose my blog to subscribe to, if you feel like chiming in. I hope you'll all find what you're looking for. :)

terminally hip

I just finished reading The Happy Hour of the Damned by Mark Henry.

Heard of underground nightclubs? Not like these, you haven't. The undead are among us, and when they're not snacking on humans, they drink froofy cocktails, wear designer clothes, and snark like there's no tomorrow. Their exclusive hot spots put the most pretentious goth clubs to shame.

( Read more... )

Ooh, boy, is this book ever funny. Funny and creepy and weird. Henry as a writer is not entirely unlike MaryJanice Davidson, whose hilarious Queen Betsy series many of us enjoy, but his style is a bit darker and more complicated. If you have ever been a club regular, or mocked someone pretentious, or if you want a new twist on the dark urban fantasy genre, you should pick it up as soon as possible. Three and a half stars. Especially recommended for teratomarty (who was reading it over my shoulder on the subway last night) and omnia_mutantur.

This book will be followed by a sequel, The Roadtrip of the Undead. Don't you just love that title?

carrot cake - I mean, warm carrot salad

This weekend I made the best carrot salad I've ever made. Possibly the best carrot salad I've ever had. If you've ever wished that carrot salad would be more like carrot cake, this is the recipe for you.

1/2 bag baby carrots
handful golden raisins
handful walnuts
2 T dried unsweetened coconut
1/2 cup water
olive oil
raw apple cider vinegar
Dijon mustard
ginger
salt
honey

Slice the carrots finely into a bowl. Microwave or parbroil in water for 30 seconds. Pour water into a small saucepan. Add olive oil, vinegar, mustard, ginger, salt and honey to taste. (I know that's imprecise, but these things are personal! I probably used 1 Tbsp of olive oil, two of vinegar, a teaspoon each of mustard and honey, and just a sprinkle of salt.) Add raisins, walnuts, and coconuts to carrots. Cook down dressing mixture until it is a thickness and flavor you like. Add to salad and serve warm. Serves two as an appetizer. Prep time is around 15 minutes.