Books #128-#131: history, plants, manners, and Jim Carrey

Book #128: Don’t Throw it, Grow It! by Deborah Peterson & Millicent Selsam

I read this book out of boredom one day and it sort of inspired me to want to actually plant things and watch them grow. When I was younger, I used to enjoy growing beans, but I lost interest. Anyway, about the book, it’s easy to understand and it’s filled with great ideas for experimenting with gardening.

Reminds me of my dear gardening friends, Luda and Reema. 😄

There are no photographs, but illustrations which is fine by me, but I think the authors could’ve added a bit more information about the plants. Overall, this book is worth .

Book #129: First In Trinidad by Michael Anthony

I love this book! It was easy to read and I enjoyed discovering more historical facts about my country such as the first survey, the first few streets of Port-of-Spain, how the French made education a thing, the first time we got television service, and the first time the telephone rang which was 1885. 

It’s a really informative book and I’ll read it again when the time permits. While reading, I was inspired to write a story using ‘old’ Trinidad as the backdrop setting, so it looks like I’ll be reading more historical books like these soon. 

I’ll strongly recommend this book for Trinidadians who are not aware of their history: 

#Yay4History

Book #130: Multicultural Manners: Essential Rules of Etiquette for the 21st Century by Norine Dresser

This book was written with the American in mind. The author reminds her fellow Americans that they should know another’s culture before doing things the “American Way”, but at the same time, she is defending the “American Way” in some instances.

We all should do a bit of research before visiting a foreign country. A few interesting things I noted:

^ Never call a Mexican the ‘s’ word. Even if you’re correcting a Mexican child, never use the word ‘stupid’ for it’s the worst possible insult to a Mexican.

^ Some Puerto Ricans will not eat pineapple in combination with other foods. 

^ Yellow flowers hold negative connotations for people such as Mexicans, Peruvians, and Iranians so it’s safer not to gift them such color flowers. Meanwhile, Chinese and most Asian people respond negatively to white flowers because it’s often associated with death. 

Overall, I enjoy learning about so many cultures: 

Book #131: How Roland Rolls by Jim Carrey

First, the illustrations in this children’s book (recommended for 4-8-year-olds) is SLAMMING!

It makes you want to go on a sea adventure. It makes you want to surf and do all water sports. Jim posed for many of the Roland faces throughout the story which is written in rhyme and it flowed well. Roland is a wave and we’re rolled along with his adventure even when he can’t find his friends. Later, Roland will learn that waves cannot make it past land. 

It’s about the importance of friendship, leaving old friends behind and making new friends.

Hmmm… I wonder how Jim Carrey rolls? 

Books #122-#124: Patterson, history and something cozy

Trying to read around the World Cup is proving to be doable. Also, I’ve acquired tons of new books and I am itching to read them, but I must finish at least another third of my TBR. I know I said that I was going to get around to doing some tags, but it’s highly unlikely at the moment. When the tournament winds down a little, I’ll get to them. 

But I’m immune to coffee so let’s do some reviews. 😄

Book #122: The Murder House by James Patterson

I am skeptical of characters called Noah. This one got a pass for his Matthew McConaughey hair. Wait, does Mc C even have nice hair? However, there was no need for the crucifixion reference on page 158 so I took away a coffee for that.

This book was peppered with too many F-bombs and Detective Jenna Murphy got her Irish up too many times.  I don’t think the book was particularly great. David Ellis could’ve done better and JP could’ve looked at the work before slapping his name on the cover. 1/5.

Book #123: Historic Landmarks of Port of Spain by Michael Anthony

Although Spanish, POS has more of a French touch.

Imagine a Port of Spain in which trams ran and where horses were ridden into town. This is the POS that I wished I had known! Trinidad became an independent nation in 1962 and over the years, they’ve grown into their independence. 

This book covers the Great Fire of POS, however, POS was gutted by lots of fire over the years. It covers famous landmarks such as Woodford Square, the beautiful Magnificent Seven buildings, Globe Cinema and the Treasury Building. My utmost favorite part of POS is the Maraval area given that it’s rich in French history.

The book is divided into 10 parts so it is easy to navigate and the pictures are beautiful! 

A FEW HISTORICAL NOTES:

^ The 31-metre (103-foot) Colonial Life building on lower St Vincent Street was our first ‘skyscraper’. It was opened in 1954.

^ Fort Picton was built in 1803 on the Laventille Hill, but it was never used to defend POS.

^ The Church of the Holy Rosary is POS’s most outstanding example of late Victorian Gothic architecture. 

^ The Lapeyrouse Cemetery is on part of an old sugar estate established by Picot de Lapeyrouse after arriving from Grenada to Trinidad.

#Yay4History

The book was a 6/5 for me. 

Book #124: Meet Your Baker by Ellie Alexander

Okay, first, I want to look at this bit in the plot summary:

The silver lining? Jules’s high school sweetheart, Thomas, is the investigator on the case. His flirtations are as delicious as ever, and Jules can’t help but want to have her cake and eat it too. But will she have her just desserts? Murder might be bad for business, but love is the sweetest treat of all…

This was one big lie. Although one can tell that he is indeed smitten with his ex, Thomas did not flirt deliciously with Juliet and Juliet did not want to have any type of cake and eat it too because she was married to Carlos. These two characters have no sort of chemistry. Thomas is her ex-high school sweetheart and she is married. It doesn’t matter if she left her job on the ship because she had some problems with her Catalan husband, but she is married and she does nothing to state otherwise. She does not have any fantasy thoughts about Thomas and he doesn’t try to kiss her or touch her at any point during my speed reading.

That out of the way, this story is a tribute to Shakespeare *rolls eyes* and I think authors need to stop riding on the backs of old authors for attention. I am no fan of Shakespeare, but I read it anyway. To write a cozy mystery, you’ll need a small town (fictional if possible) where everyone knows your name.

The town is Ashland, Oregan and everyone knows Juliet Capshaw’s name. 

The story starts off slow and eventually builds, but then it was back to slow again bordering on boring because most of the book was spent cooking. You know? Adding an ingredient to this, mixing things, pouring things, baking things! And when Jules isn’t baking, she is accusing EVERYONE of murder when she could’ve asked me for when I read the very first chapter I knew exactly who the murderer was no matter how hard the author tried to throw me off the train. So let us recap shall we?:

* Everyone in this story moonlights as a theatre actor even Thomas!

* Too much talking and showing how to bake or cook fancy dishes; less mystery.

* This line: The man in black had to be a man. (Page 170) I don’t like it. ‘Person’ would’ve been a better fit. I laughed out loud because like I said, Ellie tried her hardest to throw me off the train. 

* This fool (Juliet) never locks the door to the bakeshop.

* The “Romeo & Juliet” reference. Know what? One day, I’m going to sit down and read some of this man call Shakespeare’s work and see what the hype was all about. Solomon was a better writer, of this, I am certain.

* It was annoying whenever Jules asked her mom about Torte (the name of the bakeshop) financially, someone/thing cut in avoiding the reply. This went on for about a million or so chapters. Also, Jules teased about why she left her husband Carlos for the entire book. Of course, it’s only natural for the reader to think that cheating was involved when she talked about letters she found and declined to elaborate further until the dying chapters. It turns out that Carlos had a son who was writing to him and he didn’t tell her and when she found the letters, she left him. I could understand why she left, but I thought it was selfish. As his wife, she should’ve stayed and listened to what his reason was behind in not telling her about his son. 

2/5. I am beginning to think that maybe Cozy Mystery is not for me. 

Day 10: A book that reminds you of home

Any book by Michael Anthony!

He is a local author (Trinidadian). His books take me back in time to when my country was under the rule of English, the Spanish, with the French leaving the most notable influence on Trinidad. He takes me back to my mother’s time when the country actually had a tram. I learned the meanings behind the names of our towns and villages. I am currently reading some of these historical books right now and learning even more where it concerns the first World War.