Tuesday Intro: High Rising by Angela Thirkell

The headmaster's wife twisted herself round in her chair to talk to Mrs. Morland, who was sitting in the row just behind her. 

"I can't make it out," she said reflectively, "why all the big boys seem to be at the bottom of preparatory schools and the small ones at the top. All those lower boys who got prizes were quite large, average children, but when we get to the upper forms they all look about seven, and undersized at that. Look at the head of the Remove for instance - he is just coming up the platform steps now." 

Mrs. Morland looked. In front of her was the platform where the headmaster stood behind a rapidly diminishing pile of prizes. On each side were the assistant masters, wearing such gowns as they could muster. A shrimp-like little boy in spectacles was coming up to get his prizes.

High Rising
by Angela Thirkell

This is the book that ended the TBR Double Dog Dare a few days early for me. The first novel of Thirkell's Barsetshire series sets the stage and introduces many characters that will appear again and again in later installments. Angela Thirkell has a small, but very loyal group of fans in my blogging circle. I'm enjoying High Rising  immensely and can feel my opinion on series in general shifting.

Have you read Angela Thirkell? What do you think of the opening?

Every Tuesday, Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea posts the opening paragraph (sometime two) of a book she decided to read based on the opening. Feel free to grab the banner and play along.

It's All Over...

...the TBR Double Dog Dare, I mean. Three months of reading from my shelves met with mixed success this year.

Success #1:  I did not 'stock up' on new books in December.

Failure #1:  Fall of Giants  by Ken Follett
Discovered on the bookshelf in our Florida condo last January. Hey, that's somebody's TBR shelf, right? Besides, the 1,000 page novel was already on my wish list. I ended up purchasing the e-book to finish on the way home... a perfect vacation read.

Success #2:  Mudbound  by Hillary Jordan
My book club selected a book from my TBR pile. Mudbound  is my favorite novel so far this year, and my only 5-star read. Our discussion, originally scheduled for February, was postponed until last week. I'll post a few final thoughts soon.

Failure #2:  A Glass of Blessings  by Barbara Pym
Another slip occurred in February when I received an email from Open Road Media asking if I'd be interested in reviewing a new electronic edition of a Barbara Pym novel. How could I refuse? Of course, that meant joining NetGalley and subjecting myself to a whole new form of temptation, the e-galley! I'm not apologizing though, the novel was excellent.

Success #3: Vanity Fair  by William Makepeace Thackery
With encouragement from my read-along buddies, I was able to remove this 800 page classic from the 'to be read'  shelf. There were ups and downs, but I ended up enjoying it quite bit.

Failure #3: High Rising  by Angela Thirkell
Thirkell has been on my radar for quite some time, but I finally made the purchase after reading Audrey's irresistible review. By last Friday evening, I could resist no longer and had to start reading. The TBR Double Dog Dare came to an end a few days early.

I could go on like this for a couple more rounds, but these highlights certainly give you the general idea. Successes and failures aside, my third year participating in the TBR Dare has proved every bit as challenging and rewarding as the previous two. Thanks again, James.

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#EstellaGram Wrap-Up: Days 22 - 31

Our March #EstellaGram has sadly come to an end...

Day 22| library... On the road today, but I can still visit my local branch

Day 23| e-reader .... I never leave home without it!

Day 24| food... Hubby rules the kitchen tonight -a delicious seafood pasta dish coming soon!

Day 25| cozy

Day 26| reading nook 

Day 27| reading music... I usually prefer quiet, but sometimes choose these.

Day 28| snuggle...The mudroom is a mess, but all my girls are home for Easter. We'll snuggle in for the SU game tonight. 

Day 29| growing... The garden is covered with snow, but I can still plan for summer.

Day 30| yellow ....my favorite book so far this year

Day 31| fluff ...This is the best I can do. Maybe the afghan helps?

It's been fun experimenting with instagram this month and I'd already begun looking around for another photo-a-day challenge, when #Estellagram April was announced. I'm not sure whether April photos will be posted on the blog, but they will be on both twitter (@lakesidemusing) and instagram (lakesidemusing). On we go!

Easter Weekend Begins Now!

It's 5 PM. I really thought I might be able to squeeze in just one review before the house filled up. After all, I finished my Classics Spin book, The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, several days before the April 1 deadline. But instead, I have planned menus, gone grocery shopping, and cleaned the house. Now we are five again, so I'll take a break this long Easter weekend and just enjoy our time together.

I'll be back next week with a review or two, a wrap- up of #EstellaGram and The TBR Double Dog Dare, and a Weekend Cooking post. In the meantime, I have a couple of new books to start, March Madness to watch, and Easter bread to bake. I hope you all enjoy the holiday weekend. Happy Easter!

Top Ten Tuesday: Most Recommended

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week we're talking about the books we recommend most often. I've broken mine into categories... regular readers will find no surprises here.

Classics:

Pride and Prejudice  by Jane Austen

East of Eden  by John Steinbeck

The Good Earth  by Pearl S. Buck

Literary Fiction:

Crossing to Safety  by Wallace Stegner

The Easter Parade  by Richard Yates

Olive Kitteridge  by Elizabeth Strout

Mudbound  by Hillary Jordan

A Darn Good Story:

The Help  by Kathryn Stockett

The Homecoming of Samuel Lake  by Jenny Wingfield

Non-fiction:

Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake  by Anna Quindlen

What books do you find yourself recommending over and over again?
Visit The Broke and the Bookish for more Top Ten Tuesday posts.

Happy Birthday, Fannie Farmer!

image credit

Today we remember the woman responsible for starting a cooking revolution in America. For centuries, words like "dash", “pinch,” “handful,” or “heaping cup” were used when preparing and sharing recipes. In 1896, the newly published Fannie Farmer Cook Book began to change all of that. It was the first cookbook which applied a standardized measurement system to cooking, and is still popular today, more than a century after its original publication.

From The Writer's Almanac:

It's the birthday of Fannie Merritt Farmer (books by this author), born in Boston (1857). She's known for publishing the first cookbook in American history that came with simple, precise cooking instructions. 

She compiled all the recipes she had ever learned, along with advice on how to set a table, scald milk, cream butter, remove stains, and clean a copper boiler. At first, all the publishers turned her down because they reasoned that these were all things young women could learn from their mothers. Finally, Little, Brown agreed to publish the book if Fannie Farmer would pay for the printing of the first 3,000 copies. It has sold millions of copies since.

Strangely enough, I don't think I've ever owned a Fannie Farmer Cookbook. Nor do I remember my mother using one. I was raised in a Betty Crocker and Better Homes and Gardens kitchen. How about you - did you grow with Betty or Fannie?

Weekend Cooking, hosted at Beth Fish Reads, is open to anyone who has a food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, fabulous quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up over the weekend.