Book: Night Walker by Lisa Kessler

Pages: 266 in Paperback, Published by Entangled

Night Walker is about Calisto Terana and Kate Bradley.  Calisto was a priest 250 years ago, while Kate was a Kumeyaay Indian.  They fell in love and Kate got pregnant.  Calisto decides to leave the priesthood but an overzealous has Kate killed, so Calisto becomes a Night Walker in order to have a second chance at loving Kate. 

250 years later, Kate leaves Reno after discovering her fiance was cheating on her.  She meets Calisto, and is determined to not get involved with anyone.  She finds herself drawn to Calisto, and eventually they get together.

The mysterious Fraternidad Del Fuego Santo want to prevent Kate becoming a Night Walker, and will stop at nothing to do so.  However, their attempt at preventing it threatens to destroy the relationship they have, but it fails, resulting in Kate becoming a Night Walker in order to save her life.

I really liked the book.  I was rather surprised that there was a paranormal romance for adults, since that seems to be something usually associated with 15-year-old girls.  But all the same, it was an enjoyable read. 

One thing I absolutely loved was the fact that it’s set in San Diego!  The Gaslamp Quarter was mentioned several times, as was the Mission de Alcala.  The beach was also a pretty common location.  The fact that I live in the place that the novel is set in really brought it to life since I could picture all of these places so well.  Okay, part of it is set in Reno, but that’s just a blip on my radar.

I liked the characters, but Kate was irritating at times, with her whole thing about not wanting to get involved with someone but getting involved with someone anyway.  Calisto was interesting, especially where the Fraternidad is concerned.  They were definitely mysterious, and I really wanted to know more about them. 

I give it a 4 out of 5.  Definitely intriguing, and I can’t wait to see who was watching them at the end of the novel.  I can’t wait for the next book!

Book: Cook 1.0 by Heidi Swanson

Pages: 192 in Hardcover, Published by Stewart, Tabori, and Chang

For the last month or so, I’ve been reading and cooking from Cook 1.0 by Heidi Swanson.  I’ve made about 4 recipes and I wish I had more time to cook a couple other things that look really good.  But since I’ve had for 6 weeks, I think it’s time to return it to the library.

I really like Heidi’s blog, 101 cookbooks.  So when I saw that she had a few cookbooks, I knew I had to check them out from the library. 

I can honestly say that I LOVE how her cookbook is set up and organized.  It’s divided into different sections: chapter like breakfast, lunch, dinner and sides.  Each chapter is further divided into sections, which is cool.  It’s thought out very well, and it’s very easy to find recipes.  And the recipes themselves?  Everything is in table-format.  There are no long lists of ingredients or paragraphs for the recipes.  A quick glance, and you know where you should be and what you need to do next.  It’s very intuitive and it’s such a good vegetarian cookbook.  As much as I like tofu, it’s nice to see a cookbook that doesn’t rely a lot on tofu.   

The recipes are simple, with a lot of fresh ingredients.  I love that they don’t seem to take long to make- no more than 30 minutes for the ones I’ve made, and a lot of the recipes seem to be around the 30 minute mark. 

I also like the different variations that she has.  There are some basic recipes, and the variations of stir-fries, vinaigrettes, and flavored butters (amongst others) build on those basic recipes. 

 I give it a 5 out of 5.  It’s well-thought out, with good recipes.

Book: The Wives Of Henry VIII by Antonia Fraser

Pages: 482 in Hardcover, Published by Knopf

I really liked it.  Fraser was relatively unbiased, and it was a very impartial look at each of his wives.  Henry is rarely mentioned, and it’s a great look at each of his wives, with their own identity and personality.  It gives you a good overview of their lives and who they were as people.  I really appreciate the fact that it was more about the women as individuals as opposed to the men surrounding them. 

But in all honesty, I had some trouble sitting down and reading it.  It’s nothing against the book or Antonia Fraser, but this is the 3rd different book I’ve read about Henry’s wives, so at times, it was pretty repetitive.  However, it is the most readable of the 3 I’ve read, so I’m not sure if I could pick between Fraser’s book and Alison Weir’s book.

Fraser attempted to break down the stereotypes and myths of each woman, which I thought was an interesting take on them.  It worked okay, and for the most part, her telling seemed to be pretty standard. 

The narrative itself flowed pretty well, and it was also organized fairly well.  Some of the chapter divides were somewhat strange, and things included in one chapter (or section in some cases) were better suited being in the previous one. 

Overall, it gets a 4 out of 5.  It’s well-researched and pretty unbiased.

Book: Fruits Basket, Volume 13 by Natsuki Takaya

Pages: 190 in Paperback, published by Tokyopop

In Volume 13, Yuki has his parent-teacher conference, in which we meet his mother.  His mother is intent on deciding Yuki’s future, when Ayame shows up.  This gives Yuki the strength to tell his mother that he’ll decide his own future.  Tohru goes to the Sohma estate to see if Kureno Sohma is the same Kureno that Uotani is interested in.  While trying to find Kureno, she comes across Momo, who is Momiji’s little sister.  Tohru finally finds Kureno, who tells her that he has no intention of seeing Uotani.  They also go on their class trip, and a girl tells Kyo she likes him, but he pushes her away. 

With each passing volume, it seems like there’s more that happens.  Tohru’s relationship with Yuki is questioned by Kakeru, and when Kyo pushes away that girl, she wonders if he’ll push her away eventually.  I feel like this is the volume when things start to change between Kyo, Yuki and Tohru.  And since there are only 10 volumes left, things will start happening at a more rapid pace.

Like with every other volume, I love the artwork.  It really is getting better with each volume, and I love that you know what’s going on, even when there are no words.  Plus, seeing the fan art is cool, and we learn about the year of the horse. 

It gets a 5 out of 5, and it will only get better!