Mstrust- A Thread As Cold As My Heart

Hello, hello, glad you've found my thread, which has the fitting theme of icy conditions.
I'm Jennifer, I live in Phoenix, so I live through rough Winters vicariously, although it's raining here right now.
I will have my 15th Thingaversary in March, and I'll be hosting several Kits this year.
I live with husband Mike, anxiety-ridden Boxer, Coral, and frequently go to Las Vegas to see my family. I have somewhere over 3000 books in the house and I'm a slow as molasses reader. I return to the same genres: mystery, travel, horror and humor, but I have a whole bunch of authors that I intend to read for the first time this year. I have goals! They include new-to-me authors, a more productive garden ( I grow what vegetables, flowers and cactus I can), and I write a Substack called Autumn Lives Here, dedicated to Halloween, horror, true crime and weirdness and fun in general. My goal there is to double my readership this year. Come visit: https://jennifermorrow.substack.com/


Doorstop of the Year: Well, I did not complete last year's, A Confederacy of Dunces, so that's rolling over. When I complete that, and I will, I think I'll start the brick my sister loves The Crimson Petal and the White.


Kits I'll be hosting in 2023:
April: Food Related/Horror Cookbooks- ScaredyKit
May: True Unsolved Crimes- MysteryKit
September: Haunted Houses- ScaredyKit

I hope to see you around here a lot on 2023. Happy New Year!

2023 Reads

1. Tales From the Haunted Mansion Volume II- 4 stars
2. Mr. Monk and the Two Assistants- 4
3. Paul Is Undead- 3.5
4. The Mystery Writers of America Cookbook- 4
5. You Are Not So Smart- 3.5
6. Epic Tomatoes- 4.5
7. Such Sharp Teeth- 4
8. Mary Jane- 3
9. Shelf Respect- 4
10. The Facts in the Departure of Miss Finch- 3.5
11. Black Dahlia by Rick Geary- 4
12. The Last House on Needless Street- 4.5
13. I Am Half-Sick of Shadows- 4
14. Eat, Memory- 4
15. Hell House-3
16. The Red Green Book- 3.5
17. The Sun Down Motel- 5
18. The Forgotten Skills of Self-Sufficiency- 3
19. The Complete Kitchen Garden- 3
20. The Bob's Burgers Burger Book- 3.5
21. Charles Dowding's Veg Journal- 3

Yes, occasionally it snows in Vegas. Come in out of the slush.


Welcome!

Happy 2023 thread and Happy New Year to you, Mike and Coral!
Looking forward to another year of extremely interesting and somewhat frightful (I know you like it that way) posts :0)

You found me, Lynda! I do like to get a fun fright in now and then :-D
Thank you, and I'm wishing you and Will a happy 2023!

Dropping a star, Jennifer! Happy New Year to you!

Happy New Year to you, Mamie!

Okay, everyone grab a snowball cookie and pass the plate. Numi, numi!

Welcome back, Jennifer!

Thanks, Jim!

Wishing you a comfortable reading year in 2023, Jennifer.

What a great thread opener. The mischief in me makes me watch that one time after time!

Thanks, Paul, and happy reading in 2023 to you!
I know, that poor lady- first she's hit with a wall of snow, then someone makes a gif that I find hilarious.

ED again!!

Hi Jennifer. I'll never "keep up" but I'm dropping off my star, looking forward to following along for another year. Happiest of new years to you, Mike, and Coral!

Happy New Year, Jennifer!

Now I’m curious Horror cookbooks?? In April?

Happy new year Jennifer!

Enjoy your 2023 reading!

>12 Berly: Hooray! Happy new year, Kim!

>13 EBT1002: You banged on the window and showed your face, so that counts! Thank you for the well-wishing, and I hope you have a great year!

>14 EllaTim: Happy new year, Ella! Yes, there are lots of creepy cookbooks out there, put out by The Walking Dead, Disney, movie themed cookbooks...it's going to be fun. I'm also putting together a piece on these weird cookbooks for ALH.

>15 quondame: Happy new year, Susan! Fingers crossed it's a better one!

>16 thornton37814: Thank you! Happy new year!

Happy New Year! Happy Reading!

Happy new year, Nicole!

Star has been dropped! Happy new year :)

Happy New Year. I hope 2023 is a good year for you.

>20 rabbitprincess: I hope to see you here often, Princess! Happy new year!
>21 BLBera: Happy new year! Boy, do I hope your wishes come true!

Happy New Year and New Thread!

>23 CassieBash: Thanks, and Happy New Year to you!
>24 Berly: Thank you, Kim! Happy new year!

First of 2023!



1. Tales From the Haunted Mansion Volume II: Midnight at Madame Leota's by Amicus Arcane. The second in the series sees Haunted Mansion librarian Arcane bringing a grieving young man into the mansion because the stranger insists on a meeting with Madame Leota, whom he's heard was the best medium to have ever lived. The problem is that Madame Leota supposedly died years before, and the young man is searching for someone who can verify that she was genuine. That someone is Arcane, who is compelled to tell his visitor the life stories of several of the mansion's residents, such as the young girl who refuses to speak, or the "man" who lives in the mansion's graveyard.
This is the third I've read in the series (I've jumbled the order a bit), and each is sinister and fun, as Arcane can't stop himself from breaking into his own stories with asides for the reader. 4 stars

>26 mstrust: Well, that sounds like fun! Onto The List it goes, but I'll start with the first in the series.

They are fun! And while I started with the first, each seems to be a complete stand alone premise, so it won't matter if you read them out of order.

>26 mstrust: Sounds like a good one!! And congrats on #1. I am still trying to finish up two books from last year.....

Happy New Year! You're off to a great start with one book completed already!

>29 Berly: I also have my doorstop from last year that I haven't gotten halfway through.

>30 cbl_tn: Happy new year! I admit that my Kindle books sometimes go faster because I don't get tired of holding it. Just prop it up on my tablet pillow and slide my finger...

The first 2023 volume of Autumn Lives Here is up, with a look at movie tropes, true crime podcasts, and a red champagne cocktail. Come have a look: https://substack.com/inbox/post/94443966

Happy New Thread!! And Happy New Year!!

Thank you very much, Harold, and to you!

Happy New Year and Happy New Thread, Jennifer!
In the dark night my star also shines for your thread...

Happy new year, Thomas, you're so poetic!
Okay, Polar Bear shots, ready? One, two, three!



Everyone's is welcome to join in, it's just peppermint schnapps and creme de cacao liqueur.

Polar Bear shot - You know how to create true horror....

Ha! I know, peppermint schnapps is the most divisive of liqueurs, probably because so many teens got hold of that first and it left bad memories.

>36 mstrust: Hmmm....thanks for sharing but hard pass on that one! LOL.

>37 SirThomas: Exactly!!

>38 mstrust: And also true.

Dang, now I have to drink all these shots myself...waste not, want not.

2. Mr. Monk and the Two Assistants by Lee Goldberg.

Natalie and her daughter Julie, with Monk tagging along, end up in the ER to have Julie's broken arm set. The nurse happens to be Sharona, Mr. Monk's former assistant, who had left Monk without a good-bye and returned to New Jersey to re-marry her ex-husband. Now, she's left her husband again, but this time it's because he's murdered one of his landscaping clients and is sitting in jail in L.A.
Natalie, Monk's current assistant, begins investigating the case herself, determined to find Sharona's husband innocent, because if he's guilty, Sharona is back for good and likely taking Natalie's job. 4 stars
The Monk book series is fun, especially the ones written by Goldberg. I read this for the MysteryKit, but just realized it's also a ROOT.

I made a dee-licious cheesy mushroom and tomato quiche for dinner last night and finished watching the sunny horror movie Old.
Mike came home from work with five bags of citrus! Tangerines and grapefruits from a friend whose trees must be bending over from all this fruit. We love tangerines, so there's lots I can do with them, and Mike promised the friend a tangerine cake from me. Grapefruit isn't so versatile. I'll juice some and maybe make some body scrub. Not really a fan, though.

>36 mstrust: I think it sounds good, maybe because I've never had either? It would taste like mint and chocolate, right? In any case, I never let a friend drink alone.

>41 mstrust: Used to love that show. Haven't read the books. Will have to look for them.

>43 PaperbackPirate: Yes, it tastes just like a peppermint patty, which I do love, and I'll admit that it hasn't been so long ago that I did some Polar Shots and enjoyed it!

>44 hredwards: If you loved the show (I did too), you'll like the books. I consider them "extra" Monk.

3. Paul Is Undead by Alan Goldsher. Taking place in an alternative reality that is very much like our own, with the exception that zombies and vampires are a part of the population, The Beatles are still an iconic band of the 60's and early 70's. The major differences are that though they broke up, they are all still around because they are, with the exception of Ringo, zombies. Ringo is a ninja, and he was chosen to be their drummer because the others felt they needed to have at least one living member to be palatable to the audiences, what with their fingers tending to fall off during guitar solos, and they wanted someone with the skills to fight, because not everyone likes zombies.
This is the story of the rise of a "zombie" band, which angers the band The Zombies so much that their singer stalks The Beatles and regrets it. Mick Jagger also follows The Beatles, but that's because he's a trained zombie killer. And Roy Orbison is some kind of galactic creature whose sunglasses are tempering his mighty power. Yoko is a higher level ninja than Ringo.

The story is wild, and some passages are funny. I found the style, that of events being gone over from multiple angles as an investigative reporter interviews everyone involved in the band's history, to make the story drag quite a bit. It isn't what's being said, it's having to keep who's speaking straight because it jumps from character to character so much. But a pretty outrageous tale. 3.5 stars

I read this for the ScaredyKit theme of "comedy-horror".

I've added them up, and I'm currently juggling five books, so I'm back to my old ways.
Mike had an early start this morning, so I was up at quarter after five this morning to make his breakfast and lunch and get him out the door, then a laid on the couch watching "Castle" until I fell asleep again. For maybe ten minutes.
We were supposed to finally have Christmas with Mike's mom yesterday but the two of them couldn't get it together. I was supposed to get presents.

The newest Autumn Lives Here is up and it includes a chocolate cocktail, a slew of short horror movies, and the tragic story of Opal Petty. This week's is for paid subscribers only.

>26 mstrust: I'm putting these volumes on my tbr list soo. Sounds fun and not too scary.
>47 mstrust: Yikes! I hope you receive your prezzies soon.
>48 mstrust: It arrived in my email box this morning but haven't had a chance to read it. Chocolate Cocktail!? Hold the presses!

Hi, Lynda!
Yes, I think you can handle the Haunted Mansion books. They're enjoyably creepy.
I really don't know when we'll have Christmas with her, between her migraines, Mike's light bout of food poisoning and then he's going back to Vegas in a few days. Maybe we'll be opening presents in February.
Why, Lynda, I didn't realize you were one of my subscribers! I looked through the emails and I've picked you out. Thanks for subscribing, I appreciate it!

Belated happy reading in 2023, Jennifer!

Thank you, Anita, and to you!

4. The Mystery Writers of America Cookbook edited by Kate White. A textured hardcover with many full page photos, and recipes from the most famous mystery writers alive today. Some are family recipes, some were inspired by fans who want the recipe for a dish their favorite characters enjoyed, so the author worked it out. The categories include breakfast, salads, entrees, even cocktails. Authors who provided recipes include Brad Meltzer, Sara Paretsky, Lee Child, Harlan Coben, and about sixty more. There pages that discuss the writer's trade and mystery tropes. 4 stars

Jennifer,
Have you read any Craig Rice?
I am about halfway through Lucky Stiff and am enjoying it so far. She wrote during the 40's and this book is kind of a classic mystery/screwball comedy mashup.
Think you might like her books. Nothing fancy but so far I'm wanting to read more.

No, I've never heard of the author, but I'll look for her. It sounds good!

Happy Friday the 13th!

>47 mstrust: Okay, that tree is too funny, but I am sorry your presents are so late.

But as Fig said, it is Friday the 13th!!

>56 figsfromthistle: >57 Berly: Thank you, ladies! I have to admit that yesterday was so busy that I didn't even realize the date until sometime in the afternoon. I can't say that the day was all bad...yeah, that's the best that can be said for it.

>55 mstrust: I was thrown off by the name Craig Rice, but then I looked her up on the internet and found out why she went by that name.
Enjoying it so far, would be interested in more of her books.

Glad you're enjoying it!

5. You Are Not So Smart by David McRaney.
Explaining terms such as "Introspection", "The Affect Heuristic", "Extinction Burst" and "Hindsight Bias", the author then explains why our memories are untrustworthy, why we go along with things that we know are wrong, why fortune tellers still exist, and how easily we are manipulated. 3.5 stars

It rained for a short time yesterday but remained gray all day. So I started on Wednesday on Netflix and it's lots of fun.
I moved all my container plants from the backyard, either under the RV port or the more delicate ones are inside listening to Beethoven. The rain has been coming down pretty hard for awhile and is expected to continue all day.

>62 mstrust: Rainy days are great for binge watching and binge reading!!

I'll check in here, but I won't repeat my comments from the Category Challenge.

I loved the Wednesday series on Netflix and I am happy there is going to be a second season!

>63 hredwards: Definitely. I intend on getting a lot done and then I end up on the couch with a blanket.
>64 thornton37814: Okay!
>65 Berly: Netflix did greenlight the second season very quickly!

The newest Autumn Lives Here is up, and it's full of monstrous music, the real Twin Peaks murder, and Dexter.
https://substack.com/inbox/post/97274289

6. Epic Tomatoes by Craig LeHoullier.
The author is a well-known gardener who specializes in tomatoes, growing up to 5,000 tomato plants a year.
Besides offering advice about growing, he also provides an extensive trouble shooting section for all the things that can go wrong. The majority of the book is focused on varieties, the author's experience growing that variety, and in-depth instructions that are specific to tomato plants.
If you have an interest in growing tomatoes, well, this book likely has the answer, unless you live in the low desert. There were sections for growing in different regions, even Alaska, but nothing for the particulars of the low desert. 4.5 stars

This is my cold-themed thread, and I remembered that I need to deliver, so:


To those of us in warmer climates, this is amazing.

Happy Friday!

Brrr - Even Cleveland isn't that bad
Have a super duper weekend.

Have a good weekend, Lynda!
I think that house looks almost like it's covered in fur!

>69 mstrust:

>69 mstrust: YOWZA!

>72 Berly: >73 Crazymamie: Exactly! It makes me wonder if they had to climb out that little upstairs window.

7. Such Sharp Teeth by Rachel Harrison.
Rory has temporarily returned to the town she grew up in to help her pregnant twin sister out for a while, but she soon needs help herself. While walking alone at night, Rory is attacked by a giant creature, and there's no denying that it was a werewolf. The symptoms develop right away and Rory wonders if she'll be able to control her transformations, because she'll soon be living with a newborn, and she doesn't want to close the door on her new kinda boyfriend.
Part horror, part romantic angst. 4 stars

The latest Autumn Lives Here is up, and this week is just for paid subscribers. We're going through a bunch of creepy cookbooks, Lovecraft's lesser known stories, and a visit to Lizzie Borden's house.
https://jennifermorrow.substack.com/p/autumn-lives-here-735

And my brother sent us another King cake yesterday, just out of the blue! This time it came from Sucre, has a center of cinnamon and cream cheese, and had a little purple baby sitting right on top.

>69 mstrust: It is amazing what nature can sculpt. An hours drive from where I am, there is a beach and this year produced some amazing ice formations

Wow, those almost look like wings! Seeing the results of both intense snow and wind is so interesting.

>79 mstrust: Wings?!? Is that the Angel of (freezing to) Death I see??? ;D

Yes, someone actually got a pic of the Gates of Hell on the day it froze over. Cool!

Another topic that sends me down a rabbit hole is "frozen Niagara Falls". There are so many amazing pics.

8. Mary Jane by Jessica Anya Blau.
In Baltimore in 1975, fourteen year old Mary Jane has been hired to be the Summer nanny to five year old neighbor Izzy Cone. Mary Jane and Izzy come from very different households, with the Cones living in a mess, Mrs Cone not bothering to cook and Izzy's coloring book is of human anatomy. Mary Jane has grown up in a strict religious household where her mother controls her every move, which is why Mary Jane knows she has to lie to her mother in order to keep her job, especially when Dr. Cone moves two famous people into the house to treat the rockstar husband for drug addiction.
A coming of age story that focuses on the permissive and sometimes thoughtless parenting of the 70s. The reader has to wonder why the Cones would put a fourteen year old in charge of their daughter, and very quickly, the whole household, as level-headed Mary Jane becomes the housekeeper, cook and sounding board to the four adults in the house. I liked the story more in the beginning when I thought it would focus more on Mary Jane becoming independent of her parents, but it was much more about how the adults in the Cone household were too selfish to protect the children from their disastrous lives. At one point, Mary Jane is forced to take part in a group therapy session about infidelity. I also started focusing on how often these adults were touching her, kissing her forehead, asking about her feelings. Not a winner for me, but I didn't hate it. 3 stars

The pictures are beautiful, but make me shiver.
Thank God the sun is shining right now and we were able to enjoy a nice walk.
All the best for the new week, Jennifer!

Hi, Thomas! I hope your week is starting off right.
I know you often experience the snow yourself, but I can only live vicariously through these pics. We're in the high 50s most days right now.

It's warmed up to the 40s at night here, so we went ahead and planted the bareroot trees we bought last week, in whiskey barrel sized containers, so they can be moved around. We have a Desert Gold peach and a Goldmine nectarine.
I watched "The Banshees of Inisherin" over the weekend and highly recommend it.
And the wife of one of Mike's good friend is doing pretty badly, having serious health problems and can't chew, so I'm going to be making her puddings and regular meals for her husband.

My little tiny garden has been supplying us with lettuces and tomatoes for dinner for a week straight, and finally, finally, I've defeated my nemesis and produced some French radishes, whether they wanted to grow for me or not. I've had TWO so far and I'll pull up a third tonight for dinner.

The new Autumn Lives Here is up. Come have a look at The Melon Heads and learn about the curse of the Salem Sheriffs!
https://jennifermorrow.substack.com/

Good luck, Jennifer!
We are just over 30 at the moment and the little bit of snow we had is gone - The crocuses are growing already.

Oh, much warmer there than I thought it would be at this time. Crocuses are beautiful!

9. Shelf Respect by Annie Austen.

A collection of short essays and lists about books and bibliophiles. Topics include "Is It Compulsory to Finish A Book Once We've Started It?", "In Praise of the Bookcase", in which the IKEA Billy bookcase is discussed, the topic of merging book collections by new couples, and "Strange Things Found in Books". A fun little read for book lovers. 4 stars

>88 mstrust: And again I am hit by a BB from you, thank you - you can aim very well ;-)

>85 mstrust: Giles Corey may not have been a witch but from what I’ve read, he was certainly not likable. While we’re covering Salem witchcraft lore, don’t forget my favorite legend, that Sarah Good told one of the judges “…if you take away my life God will give you blood to drink”; legend says he died choking on his blood, and Nathaniel Hawthorne (who changed the spelling of the family name supposedly to distance himself from the Puritan relatives he despised so much) as an important plot point in The House of the Seven Gables

>89 SirThomas: Happy to hit you with that one! I enjoyed it (even if it listed Sleepy Hollow as a fictional place).

>90 CassieBash: Yes, Corey had some major personality flaws, which I discuss in the article. I've heard of Good's curse too, and of Hawthorne's name change. There's an awful lot to unpack about Salem, and I find that time period fascinating.

Read but not counting as it's a short story:



Bake Off: A Granny Horror Short Story by D.M. Guay.

It's the yearly baking competition in Happy Hollow, and the usual contestants have lined up to have the judges, lead by Ida Mae, taste their entries. Issues arise immediately when the cherry pie begins fighting back, followed by the vegan carrot cake, and then nearly every entry, forcing everyone in the tent to battle for their lives.
This is available on Kindle.

Happy February! Sigh we won't see a crocus till March :0(

We'd like a bit of snow in winter sometimes, Lynda.
I took this picture on 29 January, it's not very good, but maybe it will help you to shorten the waiting time a bit...
Happy February from me too.

>93 Carmenere: Awww, then you have something to look forward to still. Hope your February is starting out well!
>94 SirThomas: Pretty little things! Thanks, Thomas!

I've started my Spring seeds. I've sowed orange bell pepper and green onions, lettuce and marigolds, and a pot of red khuri squash. I'm trying it again. This Spring will mark a full year as a new gardener for me. It's been a lot of struggling through the heat, but last Spring was my most productive, easy time. I intend on planting strawberries this year too.

10. The Facts of the Departure of Miss Finch by Neil Gaiman and Michael Zulli and Todd Klein.

A graphic novel about a writer who has agreed to come along with a couple of good friends because they are obligated to take Miss Finch out for an evening and want the writer to be a buffer. Miss Finch turns out to be a joyless biogeologist who lectures everyone about what is and isn't correct. The group end up at a weird circus of the macabre, and it's here that Miss Finch is separated from the others, possibly forever.
I'd known about this one for years but finally came across it. 3.5

I've spent the last three days cleaning, organizing and weeding from the upstairs library in preparation for the huge VNSA book sale in two weeks. I've weeded out 38 books that I've read and know I won't read again, or that I never read and lost interest in. I need to go through the bookcases on the second and first floor now. Those are completely stuffed.
I've also spent the last three days sowing seeds: red beans and Tunisian hot pepper today. I'm soaking the calima beans to sow tomorrow. I think we'll be buying a blackberry bush this weekend.

And my brother had a THIRD king cake delivered yesterday, this one from Gambino's, which has been around since the 40s.

>97 mstrust: Weeding the library is something I am particularly poor at doing.

I don't do it that often, but I knew I'd need the room when the new haul comes in, so I was more ruthless than ever. I went through the whole house and ended up weeding at least 50 books. It also gave me that chance to see lots of books that I forgot I owned.

Homemade snowballs:


Not mine, but I wish they were.

>97 mstrust: Haha why is it I also get excited when the VNSA comes around?! Glad you made some space for your impending purchases.

Taking a pass on the snowballs - coconut and I do not agree with each other.

A Third king cake?! Lucky girl!

Ha, I don't know why you get excited about the booksale, but I can tell you that people fly in from all over the world for it, so maybe you'll make it someday. It's VERY exciting!
I know, coconut is divisive, but I like it and really like Hostess snoballs. I can say that I don't eat them that often though.
Yes, a third king cake from a third bakery, and I can say that I've tried king cake and don't really care for it.

Mike spent Saturday night putting together my newest rolling garden cart. The first one, different brand, went together in about 30 minutes. This one took two and a half hours and lots of cussing because the holes that the screws went through didn't line up, so he was having to fight the whole time. But it looks great and I've sown green onions, broccoli, Jamaican hot pepper Evil Olive tomato, May Queen lettuce, Easter Egg radishes and red carrots. I also planted the bareroot blackberry I bought yesterday.
And I continue with finally watching movies that everyone saw decades ago. I saw "Babe" last night and it was very cute.

>102 mstrust: Babe is a favourite film in our household. Glad you liked it!

That sale looks amazing!!
Half Price Books had a big warehouse sale here several years ago and I loved it. It looked kind of like that picture.

The new Autumn Lives Here is up. I've got the curse of Macbeth, I've got Stephen King news, and I've got a listing of upcoming maple festivals!

https://jennifermorrow.substack.com/p/autumn-lives-here-735

11. A Treasury of XXth Century Murder: Black Dahlia by Rick Geary.

I've read just a few of Geary's graphics and they are meticulously researched. This is the case of Elizabeth Short, the Black Dahlia, who was found murdered and cut in two in Los Angeles in 1947. Elizabeth's family and childhood years, her years of waiting tables and dating soldiers are chronicled, and her multiple stays in L.A. in the hopes of becoming a movie star. There is the discovery of her body, and the investigation that had big holes in it, then the various suspects and accusations of police cover-ups.
I've read, listened to, and seen the case, not really studying it, so this book had several aspects I'd never heard of, such as Short's disapproving father briefly being a suspect. I also didn't know about the eventual shake-up in the L.A. police department. 4 stars

I actually took a good pic of my viola yesterday.

It's been a few years, but despite the mountains of unread books around here I think I'm going back to VNSA this year!

Also, pretty flower!

>108 PaperbackPirate: Despite knowing that I don't need more books, I can't miss the sale. It's too exciting, ha!
>109 PaperbackPirate: Thanks! I also took a pic of my white snapdragon, but this viola shows up so well.

I was just scrolling up and see that I accidentally ignored some visitors! Sorry!

>103 rabbitprincess: It was a really fun movie! I knew it was popular but didn't expect it to be so quirky, which I like.
>104 hredwards: The VNSA sale is the largest used book sale in the region. It's so massive! I can't remember how many books they have, something like 200,000? That pic in >102 mstrust: isn't even a quarter of the space.
Here's another view:

So there's another huge section on the right of the photographer. This used to be the building that the livestock was held in during the fair. It took years, but the smell of pee is mostly gone now!

Gaaaaah! I'm meeelting! DC hasn't had a book sale that large in many, many years, and Central Virginia where I now live probably never. I don't know, I need to check it out. I am in the Preppy College belt, so 🤔?

I'm with you, I don't care how little book space I've got, I'd still go to the sale.

Larry is alive!!! Run through the streets and shout it: Larry is alive!!! Somebody hand me a diaper, I haven't been this excited since Mike left me alone with a box of doughnuts!
Try going to booksalefinder.com and see if there's a sale near you. Maybe not this awesome, but it would be cruel and unfair if there wasn't.
And I will just keep shoving in new books no matter how overstuffed my shelves are. I think I was rather ruthless in my recent weeding. Grrrrr. (That's me being ruthless. Picture nails and teeth.)

12. The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward. When Dee was barely a teen, she and her family spent the day at the lake. It was crowded and Dee met a boy she wanted to hang around with, so she told her six year-old sister Lulu to go away, a decision she has now spent over a decade regretting, as the loss of Lulu made the family fracture. Now Dee is the only one left, and her one focus is to find Lulu, whom she believes is still alive.
Ted lives in his childhood home with his teenage daughter Lauren, who isn't allowed to leave the house. He also has his cat Olivia, who doesn't leave the house because she's been in the dark so long that she can't take the sunlight. Ted provides everything Lauren and Olivia need to barely survive, but Lauren hates Ted and always looks for a way to escape.

A horror throughout, but it turns on its head 3/4 of the way through and become a different story. Though tense and involving child abuse, it's still a page turner. 4.5 stars

>113 mstrust: Ooh, you got me with this one! Going to look for a copy…

Happy week!

Karen O

I hope you like it too! Ward is definitely an author I'll read more.
Thank you, and have a great week yourself!
We're expecting two days of rain starting today.

>110 mstrust: That's a good thing.

I agree, the sale is one of the happiest days of the year!

The Valentine's Autumn Lives Here is up, but you know I can't do sweet romance, now don't you? I've got murder!
Btw, if you read ALH on the computer, it's misaligned. Subscribe, get it on your phone, and it's in perfect order. Just in case you've always wondered why it's a little wonky.
https://jennifermorrow.substack.com/

We've got our tickets for the April Tiki Oasis seminars! On Friday, we'll go to a Space Age architecture/Googie seminar, followed immediately by a tropical cocktail seminar. On Saturday we'll split up for two seminars that are happening at the same time- I'm going to one about Mid-Century home decor and Mike will go to one about cocktail and cigar pairings.

>119 mstrust: Sounds like a great weekend -- have fun!! And report back. : )

>119 mstrust: Have Fun!

>91 mstrust: I enjoyed it too - and travelled straight afterwards to another fictional city - Bibliopolis!

Have a wonderful weekend, Jennifer.

>120 Berly: I'll have pics and a report. It's always a fun weekend!
>121 SirThomas: Thanks! And you got hold of Shelf Respect very quickly, you have very admirable hunting skills. I wish you a great weekend too!

Plowing Lake Mille Lacs, Minn.

Hey Jennifer, your events for Friday sound so cool. Looking forward to what you've seen and heard!
Have a great weekend!!

Thanks, Lynda! We're looking forward to it. The weather in April is always breezy and on the verge of being hot. It's held at a great location, a MidCentury hotel that has lots of open, outdoor walkways and a big pool and bar area.

13. I Am Half-Sick of Shadows by Alan Bradley. The fourth in the series. It's Christmas time and Flavia's father has had to rent out part of their crumbling ancestral home, Buckshaw, to a film company. To everyone's delight, the movie being filmed will star Phyllis Wyvern, the most famous movie actress. She even agrees to give a charity performance of a scene from Romeo and Juliet that captivates the audience of locals, who then find they've been snowed in during the festivities, making Flavia's discovery of a dead body a narrow pool of suspects.
Brilliant and self-confident Flavia is always fun, but who would have guessed that an eleven year-old would be so comfortable handling a corpse? 4 stars

>126 mstrust: I just read the first Enola Holmes book, and it reminded me so much of the Alan Bradley books. I think I might have to reread them! Oh, darn! 8>)

Karen O

>126 mstrust: I loved that series. Looks like you have quite few left to enjoy :)

>127 klobrien2: >128 figsfromthistle: I just found out that there's a movie version of The Sweetness At the Bottom of the Pie!
>128 figsfromthistle: Yes, something like eight more? I'm sure I'll enjoy them all, Flavia's so much fun.

We're hitting the chocolate festival later this afternoon!

>126 mstrust: Sounds like Flavia is a fun one!

She is! I find her brilliance and arrogance a great combination.

I Brought Home A New Pile of Books

Today's event was the VNSA book sale, the most wonderful day of the year! Though the prices went up yet again and for the first time, there were empty tables at opening. The mysteries were slim pickings, and both horror and history were about bare. I still managed.

Mystery/Thrillers
Escape from Five Shadows
Mr Monk on the Road
Mr Monk is Miserable
Mr Monk in Trouble
Mr Monk is a Mess
The Secret of Annex 3
Strip Tease
Squeeze Me
In a Dark, Dark Wood
The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag
Cold Storage, Alaska
The Burglar in the Closet
Watch Me Die
Morse's Greatest Mystery
Changeless

Non-Fiction

A Good Month For Murder
You Are Awful (But I Like You)
Shadows in the Vineyard
The Castle on Sunset
The Truffle Underground
Norwich by Karen Crouse
The Sweet Life in Paris
Previous Convictions
Family Man
It Looked Different on the Model

Fiction

Four Past Midnight
The Eyeball Collector
Headhunters
The Obituary Writer
The Free-Lance Pallbearers
The Unbearable Bassington
Flash for Freedom!
Rules of Civility
Lori
Christmas Pudding and Pigeon Pie
Lost in a Good Book
The BFG
Going Solo
Major Pettigrew's Last Stand
The Sea Beast Takes A Lover
The Library of Lost and Found
The Unbearable Lightness of Scones
The Black Album
Cell
The Broken Girls
Dead Connection
Bark
Choke
Diary
V.S. Pritchett's More Collected Stories

and two for Wade:
Debt of Bones and Robot Visions

Sounds like a good haul!!
I love to look at estate sales for books but I've noticed the pickings getting pretty slim. Not sure why that is.

Those Flavia books sound interesting. Have to check them out!

I'm happy with what I brought home, though I normally find more travel and a few more history, maybe an art book or two. I don't know why there were significantly fewer books this year.
I encourage you to give the Flavia de Luce books a try!

I wanted to be noble and overcome my sickening jealousy I feel about your book sale, but apparently I'm not that good a person and the most I can do is be grateful that if it weren't me, then I am glad that it was you. As soon as I get my hands on enough peyote I'm going on a Navajo spiritual quest and everybody says that I'll be a good person after that. At least the woman who does my highlights says that I'll be a good person. It's probably only a coincidence that her boyfriend sells peyote.

I love those Flavia De Luce books! I download the audio version from the Fairfax county lie-berry and listen to them while I want on road trips to points unknown. Good times!

Have you seen the movie Barbarian on HBO Max? I totally recommend it. In my short happy life, three movies have truly horrified me - Night of the living Dead, Halloween when I saw it in the theaters when it first came out, and now Barbarian.

"Oh, I didn't mean to make you jealous. Hee hee hee..."

I've been piecing together the Flavia books. I have maybe eight of them, but not all in order, and I insist on reading them in order.
I haven't seen Barbarian but I've seen it listed, so now I'll have to check it out. Sounds super scary.
I've been watching "The Last of Us" on HBO. I also recently watched two comedies, "I Used to Go Here" and "Queenpins" on HBO. Queenpins is the better. On Prime, I watched "Vengeance", which was a very good murder mystery in Texas. Biggest surprise was Ashton Kutcher as a philosophical Dwight Yoakum type. He was really good and I never expected to write a sentence like this. And still on "Wednesday" on Netflix.

Barbarian is super scary, it's the only really scary movie I've seen since Halloween and 1979. Is 'The last of Us' that good? I've seen that it's got a lot of good press, but when I see the zombies they just make me itchy.

Ashton Kutcher is what Brad Pitt would be, if Brad Pitt didn't have It. A good looking and agreeable guy.

Gosh, I've never even heard of Queenpins or I Used to Go Here. I've been doing that digital detox thing for a few months now. It's fine, as far as I have no idea what TV shows the BBC has put out recently, but I also have no idea what's going on in the world. So yeah, it's win-win.

Gosh, can you believe it? The last major book sale I went to, the last major sale that was held in Northern Virginia, was in June of 2019? Ho-lee cow!

I swear to God, if Ebola becomes endemic and Central Virginia I am still going to go out to bars and restaurants and museums. I am never going to shelter in place for 10 months ever again. That s*** is over.

>132 mstrust: That's a great haul!

>126 mstrust: My favorite book in a favorite series! I didn't know there is a movie version! I hope it lives up to the books.

>132 mstrust: I also thought there were fewer books and higher prices, yet I came away with the most books at the cheapest price per book so far?! 28 books for $53. It was good to be back.

The new Autumn Lives Here is up. This is a paid week and we're talking about the horrors of Jordan Peele, an update on the Delphi murders and books that need to be filmed, pronto.
https://jennifermorrow.substack.com/

>137 SomeGuyInVirginia: I was looking for Barbarian on the listings but I guess I'll have to google it for a time. Queenpins stars Kristen Bell and is a comedy about two friends who figure out a way to get thousands of grocery store coupons. They set up an illegal business selling them online.
Yes, The Last Of Us is very good. Like The Walking Dead, the biggest threat is other people and there are communities of helpful people and horrible people. But the zombies here can run and leap, and some of them have mushroom heads, like Hen of the Woods mushrooms.
I understand the digital detox. When I go the day without the news, it's great. When we go to Vegas we hardly see tv at all and I'm only on the computer if Mom needs something looked up.
People here are wearing masks if they want to, most aren't, and it isn't mandatory anywhere except at Mike's podiatrist office, ha! But I'd wear a mask if I worked there too.

>138 cbl_tn: Thanks, Carrie! It's a great series, and I need to look around and see if the movie is available.

>139 PaperbackPirate: I usually come home with more travel books, and at least a few history or nature books, but dang, they were almost bare.
We ended up with 56 books, two vintage magazines and one cd for $87.

>141 mstrust: Oh yes, I walked by the travel section and it was pretty picked over. Looks like you had a good haul too though!

Mike pointed out how erratic the pricing was and I agree. Lots of paperbacks priced at $2, then some of the same size at $4, then others of the same size at $7 or $8. It's like whoever had the pricing gun got to make up their own price.

We had some hard rain this morning, and so windy. The rain has stopped and it's sort of sunny, but the wind is still blowing hard. My little peach tree has a small pink flower on it, and some green buds. Hopefully they won't be blown away.

I abandoned Nobody Dies in a Casino. The writing style wasn't for me, and it turns out that I don't like books where the author repeatedly refers to a handsome man as "a hunk".

>143 mstrust: Yes, totally! I got 2 old Dean Koontz hardcovers priced $9 each. I think that's the highest I've seen so far.
I also found books that were priced lower when they were in the suspense section, but the exact same book in the fiction section or Oprah's Book Club section priced at $1-$2 more.

>144 mstrust: She must be a big Elvis fan, lol!

>132 mstrust: That is a very fine book haul despite the weird pricing tactics.
How joyful to be surrounded be new books. Enjoy!

>144 mstrust: …”a hunk”? Do women even still use that term?

Congratulations on the haul!

>145 PaperbackPirate: I wonder what the deal was. Did the person in charge just yell out, "Use your imagination!" then hand out pricing guns?
It's a fairly recent book set in present times, but calling a guy a hunk sounds so old-fashioned, like calling a woman a tomato.

>146 Carmenere: I'm happy with it, and since I had weeded a few weeks before, shelving them was fairly stress-free. I am smug.

>147 CassieBash: I don't think so, at least I've never heard "hunk" come out of anyone's mouth.
Thank you! Book Day is always a fun day!

We're running over to mom's for her birthday this weekend. She's chosen Mexican food for her big dinner because nachos are her favorite meal. We've ordered both a strawberry cake and a layered chocolate cake for her so that she doesn't have to decide between them. We have presents and we'll pick up flowers there.
We may be seeing snow. My sister called a while ago to say she couldn't come because her road from California is expected to have snow and she's never driven in it.

>148 mstrust: I'm sorry your sister will miss the party, but yes, Californians and snow can be a bad combination. We've had hail in my neighborhood which is quite near the coast, so driving is not standard for the next few days.

>148 mstrust: Sorry about your sister’s absence but better safe than sorry. Enjoy the Mexican food and cakes. I can’t think of a better way to celebrate a birthday!

>149 quondame: >150 CassieBash: Yep, sister didn't make it, but Mike and I took Mom everywhere and she had her giant plate of nachos. She had presents, and we took her out for her birthday breakfast and linner, and bought her a big bouquet of flowers. I think she had a good time.

The latest Autumn Lives Here is up! Featuring monster artist Basil Gogos and the Sourtoe cocktail, plus books that need to be filmed.
https://jennifermorrow.substack.com/

14. Eat, Memory: Great Writers At the Table Edited by Amanda Hesser.
A compilation of essays by a selection of international writers, all discussing pivotal moments in their lives that involved food. Ann Patchett discusses a trip to Paris with her boyfriend, sitting in a romantic restaurant and nearly breaking up because he didn't understand a word game she tried to teach him. Gary Shteyngart writes of growing up in Queens on a bland Russian diet that didn't satisfy him, and Chinese author Yiyun Li writes of the American drink Tang coming to China and becoming a status symbol. British author Pico Iyer discusses the importance of the local convenience store in the Japanese neighborhood, and George Saunders has a very funny essay called "The Absolutely No-Anything Diet", in which food is replaced with alcohol.
4 stars

>126 mstrust: Thank you for drawing my attention, Jennifer.
The series got a little out of focus for me, but I'm back on track!

>153 mstrust: Literature and food, what a wonderful combination.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Thanks for dropping by, Thomas, and have a great weekend yourself!

The new Autumn Lives Here is up, and I have a discussion about the horror roles of Bette Davis, and my top true crime documentaries.
https://jennifermorrow.substack.com/

15. Hell House by Richard Matheson.
A group of four people, selected and paid an enormous amount of money by a dying man, enter the infamous Hell House, site of dozens of murders and other strange deaths in the 1920s. It's known as the most haunted house. Staying there is a parapsychologist, his wife, a well-known medium, and a man who was a famous medium and survived Hell House as a teen 30 years before, but has stopped using his talent. He's there solely for the paycheck, which will come after spending a week living in Hell House and either proving or disproving that the afterlife exists.

Matheson has created an atmosphere of evil, as the dead who roam Hell House died from madness after months of non-stop orgies and death. The man who owned the house had the ability to control others, and that may have continued in the afterlife.
Published in 1971, the story features some spooky episodes, and the characters are pretty well mauled. Something that began drawing my attention away from the story was that the author had that 1970s male author way of writing female characters. The two women in the house are sexualized in a way the male characters aren't. By halfway through, the women are ripping their clothes off whenever a man is around. And Edith, the wife of Dr. Barrett, has apparently been involved in his work for years as an assistant, yet she hasn't retained any information at all. They don't have conversations as equals, instead, she asks questions about his work and health non-stop while he explains everything and gives her instructions. So, this was so-so for me just because I could predict how the characters would react. 3 stars

157 I read this a while back, looking for a good haunted house story.
Agree with your review.

Hi, Harold, and thanks for backing me up! I had high hopes for liking it but found I was being annoyed.

16. The Red Green Book: Wit and Wisdom of Possum Lodge by Steve Smith and Rick Green.

I was in the mood for something lighter after my last one, and this book was on my shelf and provided some nostalgia. I was a fan of the show and its weirdly clever tips for life. This book adds on that, with advice for getting a first job that includes "Be sociable. Ask your co-workers what they are eating. Ask to try some." "Get on a winning team and let them carry you."
The Possum Lake Lodge also has activity badges that can be earned, such as a Book Lover's badge that is earned by 1. buying a thick book and 2. explaining the plot and characters to the tester by just glancing over the blurb on the back cover.
A fun read for fans of the show. 3.5 stars

Just delurking to say Hi!

>160 mstrust: Art and I are big fans of Red Green! I had to go to ILL to find the book, but it is coming my way. Thanks for the heads-up!

Karen O

>161 Berly: Glad you did Kim! Hi!
>162 klobrien2: Such a good show, and I hope you're happy with the book too! I did a double take when I saw it on my library sale table, 'cause that means someone around here was also a fan. It played on our PBS for a few years, but that was so long ago.

For anyone unfamiliar, it ran in Canada for something like 15 years. Here's a little taste:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJt2dnRQXmM

>163 mstrust: We used to watch Red Green on PBS and it just recently showed up on one of the streaming channels on our roku.
Very funny!!

>163 mstrust: We've got a boxed set of ALL of Red Green! And we have only to watch a few specials to be able to say we've seen them all.

There were a few clunker seasons, but I think they got all of the bugs out and most of the seasons are very entertaining.

Karen O

>164 hredwards: Thanks, I'll see if it's on any of our streaming channels!

>165 klobrien2: I happened to be in Toronto during the filming of the last season, for a family wedding, but missed my chance.
One thing I got from the book was that Harold was meant to be a teen. I don't know if I just missed that on the show because I always that he was just a very nerdy adult.

Harold started out as a teen, with Red as his uncle. But later seasons had him going to college, and then he was in the business world for a season or so. But, always pretty nerdy!

The early seasons had a “poetry” section called “The Winter of Our Discount Tents” that was so funny. This reminiscing has got me needing to watch some again!

Karen O

You'll be happy with all the poetry in this book then. The majority start with "It was winter".
Thanks for the history of Harold, I've forgotten some, but I don't know which seasons played on my PBS.

Today is laundry day, also working on my Substack articles, and if time permits, I want to start a spooky tv series on Prime called "From". I've already sowed some buttercup seeds and I have an urge to try a new cake. I have a bowl full of plums.

Right?

Here's the plum, blueberry and lemon cake I made yesterday. Just put it together like an upside down cake and it turned out really well.

A friend of mine, with impeccable horror chops, recommends 'The Last of Us.' I've put 'From' on my watchlist.

I can see to type on a 'puter for the first time since early last fall. Yay!

Was ist 'Substack', bitte? I've really been over the rainbow for a very long time!

Yeah, that friend was me, I told you to watch 'The Last of Us' and I stand by my recommendation. The writing is superb.
And "a friend of mine with impeccable horror chops" recommended "Barbarian" to me, and I watched a few days ago. Wow, that was intense! I never would have looked at it if you hadn't said so. Justin Long has made some really disturbing little movies. Thanks for pointing me towards it!

Have you been blind? Congrats on getting your sight back! I just thought you were off having fun with antiques and bourbon salesmen. I hope to see more of you here.
What you mean "what is Substack"? It's a home for all my strangest travel plans and research into terrible events! And cocktail recipes!

The new Autumn Lives Here is up, and we're going to the scariest motel in Nevada, remembering a tragic night out with Keith Moon, and I have some recs. Come by and look at the spectacle.
https://jennifermorrow.substack.com/

I'm hosting April's ScaredyKit and it's food horror month!
https://www.librarything.com/topic/349399

17. The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James. In 2017, 20 year-old Carly drives cross-country to the little town of Fell, New York, to look for answers to a family mystery. In 1982, Carly's aunt Viv left home to go to New York City. She got to Fell without money or a car, and just landed the night shift at the Sun Down Motel. It doesn't take long for her to realize that really sinister things have happened at the motel and that the little town has an inordinate number of women who have been murdered.
She begins investigating the murders and the motel deaths.
In 2017, Carly is investigating the disappearance of Viv, which leads to the creepy motel happenings and the multiple murders.

One of the best books I'll read all year, and I already know it will be in my Top 5 for the year. The mystery within a mystery was so expertly done, and Viv and Carly, and their various accomplices, are so smart. I'm glad I already have another from St. James on the shelf. 5 stars

We were expecting rain to start at 8am yesterday, and it started right on schedule, raining all day and night.

>177 mstrust: I added The Sun Down Motel to my TBR—looks great!

Karen O

Happy to point you towards it! Now I kick myself for letting it languish on the shelf for as long as I did.

18. The Forgotten Skills of Self-Sufficiency Used by the Mormon Pioneers by Caleb Warnock.

Didn't see this one coming, did you? I am neither Mormon nor a pioneer, but my mom picked this up for me somewhere because of the gardening chapters. Published in 2011, before the homesteading movement really took hold, this has lots of info on building a garden from traditional crops such as lettuce, grapes, beets, squash, etc. Also beneficial flowers, and how to hand-pollinate certain plants as well as how to long store and make cuttings, types of Mormon heirloom crops, and how to make beet sugar. There are also a couple of chapters on how to keep and care for chickens, if that's your thing. 3 stars

Yeah, where I work no one dares pinch. That’s asking for a Title XI. I did wear green—but about a quarter of my wardrobe is green so that’s not unusual, lol!

>160 mstrust: In middle school I had a friend who was obsessed with red green. She got me to go and see him and I too, began watching. Needless to say I had cool friends ;)

Happy weekend!

>172 mstrust: That looks delicious!
>176 mstrust: Horror and food, both I love, I'm excited to see the combinations
>177 mstrust: and another BB!
Have a wonderful Sunday, Jennifer!

>177 mstrust: wow, this book sounds great and so is your review! On the wish list it goes!

>177 mstrust: Got me with that one!

>183 CassieBash: People are so prickly these days. Oh, the joy we took in pinching people on St. Paddy's when I was a kid. It was delightful!
If I forgot to wear green I always argued that I have green eyes and that took care of it.

>184 figsfromthistle: Lucky! I believe Steve Smith (Red) has a podcast now.
I had a good weekend, and hope you did too!

>185 SirThomas: Thanks, the cake was really good! Sometimes I'm giddy from something like that turning out the way I had in mind.
I hope to see you in the group, it should be fun!
You are very good at finding your BBs very quickly, so I'll see your own review soon.
Have a great week!

>186 Carmenere: >187 EBT1002: Hooray, I got two more!

We did a bunch of shopping yesterday, including going to the hipster once-a-month salvage and a vintage shop. I was looking for vintage planters but ended up with nothing. Somehow I did manage to get a big orange pastry from a German bakery, and a big cold brew. For dinner Mike grilled a flank steak that had been marinading for two days, and I made mango jalapeno guacamole and spicy black beans.

19. The Complete Kitchen Garden by Patrick Bowe.

It suddenly occurred to me that I should be actually designing my backyard rather than doing this spur of the moment, "dig a hole here" that I've been doing. I got a stack of garden planning books from the library which included this one. Lots of pretty garden pictures of English, French and Colonial kitchen gardens, but not much for the regular peasant homeowner who is working with less than 100 acres. 3 stars

20. The Bob's Burgers Burger Book by Loren Bouchard.

You know the funny burger names on Bob's chalkboard? Well, a fan started making recipes for those punny burgers, cooking them up, and blogging about it. So the show writers got involved, providing the fan with the back-up of two professional cooks, and this book is the result.
A few of the burgers are too out there for most people, like the "Edward James Olive-Most", which has strips of zucchini, yellow squash, black and green olives and garlic cloves, and I don't know about the couple of recipes that call for blueberries on the burger, but I bought the ingredients for the "Bleu is the Warmest Cheese", a Buffalo wing-style burger. The recipes are so creative and they will definitely get a lot more vegetables on your burger. 3.5

>188 mstrust: My public library is very well stocked, but unfortunately it doesn't have this one, but it does have The Broken Girls.
But I have this year Thingaversary (That seems to return every year), there I can also buy a book, or 2...

Awww, sorry your library doesn't have it, I'm surprised.
Happy Thingaversary to you! Which reminds me that mine is next week. But I've already bought myself 50 books recently, dang.

The new Autumn Lives Here is up, and we've got monster breakfasts, a French ghost story and a visit to the scariest island I could find.
https://jennifermorrow.substack.com/

>192 mstrust: There is still time, my Thingaversary is not until May.
But as you know, you can never start buying books too early.

And we can buy books for any reason at all, one of the better things about being a grown-up. It's Tuesday, I liked the cover, and I had the wants. All valid reasons!

I've got a new rule- no more books until I have shelves in place to put them on. My living room looks like a book hoarder lives here or something! And by new rule I mean, 'Minted last Thursday and already broken.' Cookbooks don't count! Nor do books I order when I'm day drinking and forget about so that when they show up it's like Christmas.

I finally found a Southern cookbook that isn't full of cacadoodie. Most that swear the recipes are typical Southern fare are chock full of overly complicated tid-bits. One had a recipe for onion cornbread but not real cornbread. In my entire like I've never had onion cornbread. I had onion hushpuppies once but that was in Massachusetts.

Anyway, The Blue Willow Inn Bible of Southern Cooking is the real deal- delicious food, simply prepared, that is only spared a government health warning because no Southerner is going to eat dinner without collard greens. And a thick slice of hot buttered cornbread.

Cookbooks are necessary, you can have as many as you like, and nearly all have one or two recipes you can't find anywhere else. So you have to have a ridiculous number of them. But I think I'm housing equal numbers of cookbooks and cocktail books now.

Glad you found the Holy Grail of Southern cookbooks. I have a small collection of Southern Living cookbooks that I use, and I subscribe to the magazine. Yes, the magazine is still going and has lots of recipes and travel. One of the postal employees enjoys it too, as I receive it already out of the plastic cover the majority of the time.
My mom has always made yellow, thick cornbread that, I believe, has just a tsp of sugar in it. Little on the bitter side and I've never developed a taste for it, but Dad loved it. He would smash it up in a milkshake glass and pour buttermilk over it, then eat it with a long spoon like ice cream. Absolutely disgusting, ha!

21. Charles Dowding's Veg Journal by Charles Dowding.

From the well-known British gardener, this is a month-by-month guide to what should be done in the garden, if you live in the British climate, which I do not. Dowding favors the no dig method, which means laying the soil and composts on top and gardening from there, rather than digging a raised bed.
Because his zone is so opposite to mine in the low desert, I couldn't use much of the advice and I'm not dealing with the same obstacles, such as badgers. But I did find lots of vegetable and fruit varieties I'd never seen before. 3 stars

>197 mstrust: I haven't a clue as to what recipe my mother used for cornbread, though it must have been commonly available in the 1940s, but it wasn't sweet at all - not bitter either.

Since I haven't eaten Mom's cornbread in years and years, it could be that it tasted bitter to a kid's palate. She still makes it, but when I'm there we eat in casinos and restaurants. Maybe I would like it now. I know that she disapproves of the sweet cake-like versions of cornbread.

>196 SomeGuyInVirginia: You say book hoarder like that's a bad thing. ;)

I think books and paintings are vying for room in Larry's beautiful home.

My new thread is up, come look at what I've done now.