Alvah’s Books

Diamond Ruby: A Novel
Joseph Wallace
Simon and Schuster
464 pages
List price: $16.00; Amazon price: $10.88

[Editor's Note: This review appeared in Dan's Papers on July 1, 2010.]

Joseph Wallace’s debut novel, Diamond Ruby, would make a terrific movie. It has all the elements: a historically interesting setting (Brooklyn in the 1920s) a savvy, talented teenage heroine and baseball. Throw in a few shady characters, the Ku Klux Klan along with Babe Ruth and Jack Dempsey, and you have a blockbuster.

Wallace, an author of four non-fiction books (four on baseball), was inspired by the true story of Jackie Mitchell, a teenage girl and player for the all-male Chattanooga Lookouts in the all-male minors, who could throw a baseball hard and fast enough to strike out both Babe Ruth (four pitches) and Lou Gehrig (three pitches). What would have been a soaring career in the game came to crashing halt thanks to baseball commissioner Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis. Landis banned Mitchell-and all women-on the premise that the game was “too strenuous” for them.

Taking parts of this story, Wallace created the engrossing Diamond Ruby. Set a year before the Great War, we meet Ruby Thomas and her family at a baseball game at Ebbetts Field. Ruby’s early fascination with baseball is triggered by catching one of Casey Stengel’s foul balls. She later discovers one afternoon while playing with Stengel’s ball that her extra long arms (the neighborhood kids call her ‘monkey girl’) and her strength provided her with an incredible ability to throw a speedy and hard ball.

Baseball is set aside for several years, and life goes on for Ruby and her family until tragedy strikes three times with the loss of her brother, mother and father from the 1918 Spanish Influenza epidemic; her sister-in-law’s untimely death in the Malbone Street train wreck; and her widowed brother’s acute depression and alcoholism. By the time she’s 14, Ruby has become the primary provider for her nieces and her brother. However, with her pitching skills and sharp eye, Ruby manages to kill squirrels and birds to feed the family, but it’s not enough.

With the idea that her arms are freakishly long, Ruby offers herself as sideshow attraction at Coney Island, but the carnival’s owner is not overly impressed until he sees her throw a ball, and from there Ruby Thomas becomes Diamond Ruby-a major draw, but also a target of thugs, and the Klan. When the sideshow’s owner unexpectedly dies, his partner, (who also dabbles in rum-running) takes over and works Ruby to the point of exhaustion. With the help of some wealthy friends, Ruby escapes and is later hired to be the pitcher for the Brooklyn Typhoons. All seems well, until she finds herself embroiled with the underworld.

Some readers might be put off by the narrative tone of the book, which comes across as more young adult. Brooklyn, New York City and baseball history buffs will appreciate how beautifully Wallace weaves fact with fiction. The true gem of Diamond Ruby, though, is getting readers who have little or no interest in baseball intrigued with the physics of pitching. Who would have thought that throwing a ball could involve so much strategy and tactics? (Obviously this reviewer has no knowledge of baseball).

Wallace expertly weaves in celebrity with bigger than life (even in real life) characters like Babe Ruth, Jack Dempsey, and even Judge Landis. These historical figures are scene stealers, but although they appear in fiction, Wallace justly portrays them as they actually were: Landis, the autocratic and uncompromising commissioner; Dempsey, who was generous to a fault; and Ruth who addressed everyone as “kid,” and who had a soft spot for children.

Diamond Ruby is absorbing, fast-moving, and a hard to put down story, but it’s not perfect. Dialogue at times seems a bit stilted. Ruby’s young nieces are precocious and act older than their presumed ages. Wallace also introduces characters who have key supporting roles in the story, then disappear. Readers might want more answers concerning the relationship between Ruby’s friend Helen and her beau Paul. And in the case of Ruby’s brother, Nick, his story peters out too early within the narrative.

In spite of these distractions, how can you go wrong with a story that features real life sports heroes, a pretty and smart heroine, gangsters, Coney Island, and America’s national past time? Like the Wazier of Wham, Wallace has hit it out of the park with Diamond Ruby.

The Lion
By Nelson DeMille
Grand Central Publishing
437 Pages
List Price: $27.99; Amazon Price: $15.11

[Editor's Note: Review first appeared in Dan's Papers on June 17, 2010]

Anti-Terrorist Task Force officer and former NYPD detective John Corey is back in full force in Nelson DeMille’s latest release, The Lion-a sequel to the author’s 2000 blockbuster, The Lion’s Gate. The Lion essentially picks up the storyline three years later when the Libyan assassin Asad Kahlil, otherwise known as “The Lion,” disappeared. Before vanishing into thin air, Khalil promised to return one day and kill Corey and his new bride, FBI agent Kate Mayfield.

Like all psychopathic assassins, when Khalil makes his threats, people listen. So it’s not much of a surprise when he makes his way back to the United States and is hell-bent on killing the people he missed the first time around. The reason for the first murderous spree had to do with the Libyan bombing of Qaddafi’s compound back in 1986 in which Khalil’s entire family was killed. So it’s payback time and The Lion manages to avenge his mother, brothers and sisters by murdering each of the pilots who flew on the bombing mission, but he fails at one attempt, thanks to Corey and Mayfield’s intervention. Foiled by the two ATTF agents, Khalil promises revenge sometime down the road.

The Lion is character-driven and told from two points of view-Corey’s and Khalil’s. The story opens with Corey following an Iranian diplomat to Atlantic City during a routine surveillance tracking, setting the premise that Corey is still with the ATTF. In spite of his feelings for the FBI and the CIA, he’s happily married to Mayfield and everything is business as usual in early post-9/11 New York City. What he doesn’t know is that Khalil has returned and has already made two of his first kills in California-business as usual for the vindictive Libyan, who has finally made good on getting that last bomber pilot.

The story skips along nicely, with Corey and Mayfield sharing a life of catching bad guys and dealing with Homeland Security bureaucracy along with the typical trials and tribulations of married life. Mayfield, who enjoys dangerous extracurricular activities, convinces Corey to go upstate for a relaxing weekend of sky diving. And that’s when the fun begins. It’s an activity that makes Corey a little unsure but he goes along with it to please his bride (they have a quid pro quo sexual arrangement). DeMille implies early on that something will go awry with the jump. Sure enough, that sneaky terrorist has learned of the weekend getaway and has a dramatic first strike planned for Mr. and Mrs. Corey.

Readers who like this sort of quasi James Bond action will be thrilled about how the attack is pulled off. Khalil piggy-backs on Mayfield 14,000 feet in the air and struggles to kill her while Corey watches and tries to stop the terrorist from murdering his wife. The attempt backfires, but Mayfield is critically injured with a stab wound to the neck, but with some crazy parachute maneuvering Corey gets himself and Mayfield back on the ground.

As improbable as the scene may seem, it’s fun to picture and DeMille never lets up in the pacing. Once Mayfield is in the hospital, the question is whether she’ll survive and what will Corey, known to follow the beat of his own drum, do on his own to trap Khalil and put an end to the terror.

Anyone who likes police procedurals will enjoy the interactions between the FBI, CIA, and even a former KGB agent. However, for those who tend to be politically correct, Corey’s derogatory references to people of Middle-Eastern heritage along with the constant sarcastic banter and ruminations tend to get tiring. In spite of these irksome character traits, Corey is a compassionate and very likeable character when he acts like a smart cop, coming up with ways to outsmart a wily, well-informed and organized killer. As political thrillers go, DeMille tucks in enough twists and turns to keep readers wanting to know what will happen next. Sections of the story are somewhat predictable, but overall The Lion is a fast-moving and highly entertaining cat and mouse game

Spies of the Balkans: A Novel
by Alan Furst
Random House
288 pages
List price: $26.00; Amazon price: $17.47

(Editor’s Note: Reviewed appeared in Dan’s Papers]

Alan Furst is back with a powerful new espionage thriller, Spies of the Balkans. This time he ventures out of Eastern and Central Europe and transports readers back to 1940, to the port city of Salonika in Macedonia. It’s the Balkans and there’s no shortage of intrigue or spies.

Spies of the Balkans follows Costa Zannis, an honest senior police official, who has the knack to smooth out problems before they spiral out of control. Early on in the story, Zannis gets involved in helping Emelia Krebs, a German colonel’s Jewish wife, to organize an escape route for Jews from Berlin through Greece to neutral Turkey.

When Mussolini invades Greece, Zannis is called back into the reserve army and it’s there where be he meets his Croatian counterpart, Marko Pavlic. They soon become friends and allies in transporting German Jews to safety.

However, there’s a hitch when the British learn via an informant that Zannis has choreographed all the details of the escape. Zannis is then recruited by Francis Escovil, a spy who is working under the guise of a travel writer, to retrieve a captured British scientist from France. Working with French resistance fighters, the plan goes well until Zannis kills an SS officer in Paris and from there he has to rely on his own contacts and wits to get the scientist and himself safely back to Salonika. But once the Germans goose step into the Balkans, the British lure Zannis back to their corner.

Furst includes two subplots; a suspicious Gestapo officer who notices that his list of deportees have disappeared and who all seem to share a friendship with Emelia Krebs; and a love interest for Zannis, who coincidentally was a childhood neighbor and is now the wife of a wealthy Greek businessman who finances the Jewish escape operation.

One of the many pleasures of reading Furst’s novels is his talent of sending the reader to a distant time and place. He captures the essence of cities and their locales, whether it is a Parisian brasserie where one can almost smell and taste the choucroute served, or a dark, dank bar in Budapest where one can inhale the strong cigarette smoke. He elegantly writes of lively parties where everyone is not above suspicion, but he also writes of mundane, everyday events:

“Emilia carried a thermos of real coffee, hard to find these days, and a bag of freshly baked rolls, made with white flour. Stepping inside, she found the Gruen living room almost barren, what with much of the furniture sold. On the walls, posters had been tacked up to cover the spaces where expensive painting had once hung. The telephone sat on the floor, its cord unplugged from the wall-the Gestapo could listen to your conversation if the phone was plugged in. She greeted Frau Gruen, as pale and exhausted as her husband, then went to the closet in the hall and opened the door. The Gruens’ winter coats, recently bought from a used-clothing stall, were heavily worn, but acceptable. They mustn’t, she knew, look like distressed aristocracy.”

Furst expertly weaves in minor characters whose roles lead to major plot twists and turns, and for the most part, with the exception of the Nazis, many of these suspect characters manage to capture the readers’ interest and sympathy. The only weak point in the narrative is Zannis’ affair with Demetria, who is described by a former lover as the “Goddess.” The love scenes between Zannis and Demetria tend to be lackluster and slow down the urgency of the unfolding political drama in the Balkans. However, romance aside, the major player to all of Furst’s stories is history, and thankfully Furst doesn’t take artistic liberties with the facts to strengthen his story.

Spies of the Balkans is a stylish and intriguing story. For aficionados of  historical fiction, espionage thrillers, or even new readers to the genre, there’s something for everyone to keep the pages turning and  satisfied to the very end.

The Season of Second Chances: A Novel
By Diane Meier
Henry Holt and Company
304 pages
List Price: $25; Amazon Price: $16.50

[Editor's note: Review written for Dan's Papers]

If you’re in the market to remodel your home and need interior decorating ideas, Diane Meier’s The Season of Second Chances might be the book for you.

Schlubby and reserved, Columbia University English literature Professor Joy Harkness is not a happy woman. Readers learn via Joy’s narration that life in New York City and teaching at an Ivy League school has been a disappointment. When she is offered a prestigious and lucrative teaching position at Amherst College, Joy immediately accepts to be part of a group of progressive instructors who are developing an exciting new method of interdisciplinary teaching.

With her new job offer in hand, Joy sells her cramped Riverside Drive apartment, moves to western Massachusetts, and buys a rundown Victorian house that needs a major overhaul both inside and out. To help with the renovation, Joy hires Teddy Hennessy, a talented, but developmentally delayed handyman who is an expert on 19th century architecture, interior design and décor, and who later becomes Joy’s lover.

As the renovation of the house beautifully progresses, Joy also goes through her own transformation; she becomes less introverted and socializes more than she has in years, and grudgingly acknowledges the emotional benefits of friendship. However, in spite of the positive changes in her life, Joy feels on many occasions put upon by her new-found friends’ personal predicaments.

Meier wonderfully portrays Joy as woman who is an intellectual snob, but who is also angry, negative, and guarded. It’s these traits that easily put off the reader, but Meier skillfully softens Joy with humor and insight, and it’s in her moments of concern over Teddy’s potential future and his well-being that one finally warms up to Joy.

However, readers will have to suspend disbelief when it comes to the character of Teddy Hennessy, the man-child handyman who is enslaved by his widowed mother’s narcissistic needs, but who has a flair with paint, wall paper, and wiring. Teddy is an architectural genius with keen eye for detail and refined taste in décor. Yet what Teddy lacks is the maturity of a grown man, and Meier adds adolescent clichés to the character from the way he speaks to the way he dresses. Although Joy and Teddy are the primary characters, it’s the ramshackle Victorian that steals the story with it glorious renaissance. Meier lovingly illustrates Teddy’s sense of style:

He painted the little room sage green with the same creamy white paint on the trim and wainscoting that ran through the rest of the house. He hung a plain craft-paper window shade on the one long window and painted the shade’s bottom hem and irregular line of daubed-on sage green dots. An old wooden desk chair from a consignment shop was painted green … On the far side of the room sat my old bookshelves, now divided into four sections chair-rail high; Teddy had screwed them together, added a top and some moldings, and painted them the same color as the wainscoting behind them.

It’s in these descriptive scenes of home décor in which Meier truly shines, and perhaps it should come as no surprise because the author is the founder of a New York City marketing firm whose clients have included luxury icons such as Limoges China, Orrefors Crystal, and Neiman Marcus.

The heart of The Season of Second Chances is that it’s never too late to build a strong and lasting foundation among the people you’ve come to trust and love. It takes Joy several months to learn this important lesson and when she receives the symbolic whack on the side of her head, she finally grasps the need to change her attitude and that friendship has much to offer, or as she’s told, “there’s the family you’re born with and then there is the family you choose.” Good advice to take to heart-with some decorating tips.

Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, Second Edition: How to Edit Yourself Into Print
By Renni Browne and Dave King
Harper Paperbacks
288 pages
List Price: $13.99; Amazon Price: $10.07

At the Internet Writing Workshop’s writing list there have been several animated emails going back and forth about the best books for editing. One writer always writes about his three bibles: The Chicago Manual of Style, The Synonym Finder, and Self-Editing for Fiction Writers.

Since I am a bibliophile and love all sorts of reference books, it should not as a suprise when I admit that I own all three. I actually got The Synonym Finder and its been incredible.  And I agree with this particular writer concerning Self-Editing. It’s a marvelous book, and it will help shape your fiction.

Self-Editing is divided into 12 chapters ranging from “Show and Tell” to “Voice” Each chapter has exercises and the writers have included an appendix with the answers to the exercises, as well as a reading list pf other books on writing craft.

I’ve used this book, but not as often as I should. And now that I am rethinking my novel, I have the perfect opportunity revisit these chapters. Although I’m pretty good with dialogue even I need some points to make it crisper and to convey emotion through the characters words and not describe how they are feeling. In other words, if you’ve properly set the scene that a character is astonished and says “You can’t be serious,” you can easily drop the “she said in astonishment.” For Browne and King adding this tag is lazy writing. Or as they point out:

When your dialogue is well written, describing your characters’ emotions to your readers is just as patronizing as a playwright running onto the stage and yelling at the audience. And when you explain dialogue that needs no explanation, you are writing down to your readers, a sure-fire way to turning them off. The theatergoer might or might not walk out of a theater when the playwright runs on stage; the reader who feels patronized will almost certainly close the book.

Chapter 11 focuses on how to make your writing more sophisticated by using some stylistic tricks. Browne and King give the “as and ing” construction example:

Pulling off her gloves, she turned to face him.

or

As she pulled off her gloves, she turned to face him.

Although both phrases are grammatically correct and express the action clearly and ambiguously.  They write:

Both of these constructions take a bit of action and tuck it away into a dependent clause. This tends to place some of your action at one remove from your reader, to make the actions seem incidental, unimportant. And so if you use these constructions often, you weaken your writing.

Guilty as charged!

It’s advice like this that makes Self-Editing one of the best books on the market, and a valuable one to revisit often (note to self: practice what you preach). Now for those who have finished manuscripts, get editing with Self-Editing for Fiction Writers.

Bang the Keys
by Jill Dearman
Alpha Books, 2009
238 pages
List price: $16.95; Amazon price: $11.53

I received this book last summer and it was in my ever-growing backlog of books until I managed to dig it out from the pile this past January. I was in a rut and I thought perhaps Jill Dearman’s Bang the Keys might help me jump start my novel.

Described as “a writing workshop in a book for the concentration-challenged, twenty-first century writer,” Bang the Keys is a four step program based on the word “Bang, ” and each chapter offers a series of exercises to get the writing juices flowing. The first step “B” is for begin, and to begin with your strongest idea. She strongly advocates the use of writing and journals and recommends keeping two–one to keep track of your ideas and thoughts on your current writing project; the other is more of a personal diary. Other chapters in this section include meditating to help with focus, and using writers that you admire as muses.

Step two or “A” is for arrange or arrange your story into concrete shape. It’s in these chapters that Dearman writes about choosing the medium you want to tell your story. Is it a novel, play, screenplay, epic poem. Once you’ve determined the vehicle then it’s onto character development, structure, and what she calls PLOTWICH that include:

• Premise
• Links
• Obstacles
• Transformation
• Wants
• Impediments
• Conflict
• Heat

The last chapter in this section is an important one. It’s about making the time to write, setting goals, and avoiding distractions. Dearman offers ideas to help with ongoing interruptions (in my case barking dogs, incessant email checking, and just plain putzing about) and they work as long as you stick with them.

Step three is “N” for nurture or nurture your project with love so others may love it, too. Reaching this point for me has been difficult, and here Dearman provides a game for writers who are on the third or fourth draft of their stories and who have lost their way or vision ( oh, that is so me at the moment). Called the Fishbowl game, Dearman instructs the writer to do a quick and dirty character sketch and then ask pertinent questions about the character. The point of the exercise is that it helps the writer he’s uninspired, tired, or facing a blank page.  This can also work with plot and you might discover a golden nugget hidden in the answers. Other chapters include exercises that play on your unconscious. Dearman suggests keeping a dream journal and keeping track if your dreams. She also discusses anxiety and how to overcome it.

The last step “G” or finish your project and let it go, so it can exist in the real world. The theme of the first chapter is to do the opposite. This section neatly ties up the loose ends of your projec by staying and keeping organized.

Dearman writes in a very breezy enthusiastic manner that some readers might find a bit overwhelmingly peppy. Especially for those of us who are currently struggling with writing projects. However, her exercises are helpful and are worth repeating when lack of inspiration or doubt looms.

Bang the Keys is a must-have for writers of all types. Read it. Learn from it, and go write!

Handmade in India: A Geographic Encyclopedia of India Handicrafts
Edited by Aditi Ranjan and M.P. Ranjan
Abbeville Press
579 pages, 3500+ color photographs; 140 maps
List Price $65.00; Amazon Price: $40.95

[Editor's Note: This is a review I wrote for HAND/EYE Magazine. Below are the first two paragraphs.]

Clueless about the difference between a namda and a gabba?

Do you know how to identify sujuni and chinkankari (hint: they are not on the menu at your local Indian restaurant).  If not, fret no more because Handmade in India: A Geographic Encyclopedia of Indian Handicrafts provides succinct accounts of just about every handmade category in India. Anyone with a keen interest in craft—collectors, art students, academics, craft enthusiasts, and even writers—will be drawn to this mesmerizing and comprehensive guide to the art and crafts of vast India.

Originally published in 2007 by The Council of Handicraft Development Corporations (COHANDS) in New Delhi, Handmade in India is part reference book and part lavish coffee table book, celebrating centuries of Indian artisans’ mastery of technique and creativity. Surprisingly enough, it’s a real page-turner.

To read the rest of the review please go to HAND/EYE Magazine.

Gemma
By Meg Tilly
St. Martins Griffin
210 pages
$13.99

After quitting acting some years ago, Meg Tilly (Agnes of God, The Big Chill) turned to writing novels. Tilly who was a very good actress proves to be an even better writer, but let’s first get the unpleasantness out of the way: Gemma is disturbing; Tilly doesn’t pull any punches with any of the details, but that’s what makes Gemma such a gripping story.

Told from Gemma’s point of view, readers first meet the 12 year-old while she is still at school, telling us that  Buddy, her mother’s boyfriend, has arrived to pick her up. She’s surprised and says that it’s out of context for him to be there. From there we learn that Gemma enjoys going to school and studying. She likes learning new vocabulary and using the words. Although she has a bit of an edge to her, Gemma is a charming little girl.

However like most tweeners who like to talk, Gemma has a tendency to say too much; the reader discovers early on that Buddy has been molesting her since she was eight years old, telling her that if she says anything she will be going to jail. So Gemma has kept quiet, wondering if her mother even suspects of these nightly visits. Now Buddy feels that he can make an easy $100 and sells her for the afternoon to his friend Hazen Wood, who becomes obsessed with the girl.

A few days later, Wood kidnaps Gemma, throws her in the trunk of the car and embarks on cross-country trip a la Lolita. But Hazen is by no means the sophisticated and non-violent Humbert Humbert. Wood is a monstrous beast. He repeatedly rapes and beats Gemma, yet deludes himself to think that Gemma will eventually love him.

Tilly skillfully switches narratives often. From Gemma’s point of view, we read how she copes through “Gemma Travel,” imagining safe beautiful places where she’s far from the reaches of men like Buddy and Hazen, while Wood’s thoughts are twisted dreams of a child bride and family (Tilly includes a chilling passage that harks back to Lolita about fantasies of incest).

By the time Hazen and Gemma reach Chicago, the nightmare ends for the girl. Wood is taken into custody and Gemma goes to live with a sympathetic foster mother who was also sexually abused as a child. Tilly ends Gemma on cliff-hanger with Wood going to tria,l and Gemma telling her story to the jury.

Some readers will probably want more psychological drama, angst, and backstory, but there is no doubt that Gemma will leave readers raw, angry, and even dazed. Tilly’s characters jump from the pages in a realistically and frightening manner that overly sensitive readers might find the first half the book difficult reading, but given that 1 in 3 girls and 1 in 7 boys are sexually abused (U.S.Department of Justice Statistics, 2002) it’s a story that needs to be told often and read by many. Kudos to Tilly for writing such a heartbreaking book.

On Writing Well, 30th Anniversary Edition: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction
By William Zinsser
Collins Reference, 2001
308 pages
$14.00

About four years ago, I took a fabulous writing class to break into magazines and newspapers at the New School in Manhattan taught by Sue Shapiro. Sue is a prolific writer: She’s written five memoirs, a novel, hundreds of book reviews, and thousands of essays.If you take her class, she’ll give you realistic assignments that possibly can lead to publication in major newspapers or magazines like The New York Times or Newsweek in the sections that publish essays. Most of the reading assignments are in those sections, Sue’s published articles, in addition to what I consider an important book–On Writing Well by William Zinsser.

When we were told this was required reading because it would answer all our questions of how to write nonfiction, I was skeptical. However, good student that I was, I ordered it on Amazon. As soon as the book arrived in the post, and I started reading, I was hooked.

Zinsser offers clear and to the point advice on sharpening your writing style. Divided into four parts, Zinsser kicks it off with writing principles. Chapters include: how to simplify your prose, develop a style, get to know your audience etc. Part two concentrates on writing methods: How to construct a lede and conclude your piece, how to make your story cohesive. Part three is about the different forms of nonfiction: intervews, travel, book reviews, sports, humor, science and technology and so forth. The last part is about attitudes and these chapters include the sound of your voice, decisions you make as a writer, writing as well as you can, and the emotions and phases all writers experience–enjoyment, fear, and confidence.

After On Writing Well, Zinsser published Writing to Learn and this book has also been invaluable to me. Once again, he teaches you how to write clearly about any subject and how to use writing as a means of learning.

For anyone who wants to write non-fiction, On Writing Well is a must have. Buy it, read it, and refer to it often. You won’t regret it

Pure Simple Cooking: Effortless Meals Every Day
By Diana Henry, photography by Jonathan Lovekin
Ten Speed Press, 2007
192 pages
$21.95 

Yes, the cookbook reviews are back and with one little treasure that we discovered at our local library: Diana Henry’s Pure Simple Cooking! 

The title says it all. There’s no doubt that you will love how easy the recipes are to prepare, how tasty they are, and how beautiful the finished meal looks.

After testing out four recipes, I knew that this book was a keeper and I had to get my very own. So off I went to Amazon, bought it and I’m expecting my copy to arrive in the mail any day now. In the meantime, I am hoarding the library’s copy.

What’s to like about Pure Simple Cooking? Is it Jonathan Lovekin’s photography? Oh yes, and everything I made looks just like his photographs! This is a great feat for me because whenever I make something from a recipe it tastes good, but it always lacks the pretty factor.

For those not familiar with Diana Henry she is the food columnist for Britain’s Sunday Telegraph and the author of five cookbooks. In addition she co-hosts a popular UK television show and was also named Cookery Writer of the Year in 2007. Not too shabby, eh?

Pure Simple Cooking consists of 13 chapters that cover chicken, chops, sausages, leg of lamb, fish, pasta, greens and herbs and a good variety of the seasonal fruits and vegetables.  For the most part, it appears that Ms. Henry’s palate is inspired by cuisines of the Mediterranean, North Africa, and the Levant and that is fine here at chez moi since we do have a predilection to those types of recipes.

If you like sausage, specifically Spanish chorizo, then you’re in luck. Ms. Henry section on sausages has a handful of recipes that include this savory and smoky sausage. The one recipe that I we tried Spanish Sweet Pototato with Chorizo, Peppers and Fried Egg.  This was the perfect meal for a coldish night and because we had so much of it leftover, I discovered that it’s just as good for breakfast as it is for dinner.

Our actual first venture was an evening that we really wanted something light, but savory and healthy. I’m a big zucchini fan and so we decided that Zucchini with Ricotta, Mint and Basil would be the perfect dish. The mild flavor of the zucchini along with ricotta salata were perfectly combined along with a drizzle of olive oil and the juice of a lemon. Paired with some crusty bread the meal left you feeling more than satisfied. 

We’re big pasta eaters and so far we’ve repeated one dish: Trofie with Shrimp, Feta, Parsley and Lemon. Trofie is essentially gemilli—tight and thinner corkscrew pasta. The pairing of the shrimp and feta make a great combination and play off each other in a delightful way. There’s also enough garlic in the recipe to give it some bite, but it doesn’t overwhelm or upstage the feta’s flavor.

As someone with a notorious sweet tooth and a penchant for brûlée, I couldn’t resist the Summer Berry Brûlé. Easy as pie to make this dessert only required cream, Greek yogurt, berries and sugar. Combining the yogurt with the cream gave the dessert a wonderful consistency and cut down (a tad) the richness of the two ingredients. To get the sugary sheet that all brûlées share the only thing you need to do is to carmelize the sugar. One thing to note: make sure your broiler is very hot; if it isn’t you’ll have cream/yogurt soup.

As we wait for our copy to arrive, we’re already checking off what we want to try next. I’m already eyeing the Roast Lamb with Prosciutto and Garlic while my husband is making noises about Lamb Stuffed with Goat Cheese, Tomatoes, and Basil.

Tonight’s menu is the leftover Trofie, but maybe tomorrow’s dinner will be one of the lamb dishes.