thecandlelightlibrary's Reviews (1.25k)

This book was so close to perfection. I LOVED the concept behind this cookbook, but I don’t think this author was necessarily the right one to successfully bring it into existence. Here are some reasons why: 

 

THE DEDICATIONS: Every state pie in this cookbook is dedicated to one of the author’s friends. While I’m sure her friends are fantastic, this addition to the cookbook really didn’t make sense and literally added nothing to the reading experience for everyone else. Especially since the author didn’t actually know someone from each state (although she came close) and almost every dedication was about the author’s partying experience with said friend and how miserably hungover they always were. Perhaps the author should have started with a cocktail recipe book and created a drink inspired by each of her friends. 

 

THE RECIPES: The recipes are really what holds this book together. For the most part I thought the pies were inventive and sounded interesting to try (in fact, I’ve marked 26 of the 58 pie recipes included to try). I liked the inclusion of both sweet and savory pies, but several of the states felt like odd choices. It would have been double the work, but including both a sweet and savory pie for each state would have better showcased the variety and rich culinary history of each state. In fact, this cookbook might have worked better if recipes for each state were created by someone who actually lives in each state (especially if they were immigrants to that state to keep with the theme of “An immigrant’s love letter to the United States through pie” which was the primary reason I picked up this cookbook). 

 

One other issue was the range of pies themselves: some were truly inventive and sound delicious (such as the Pear and Marionberry Pie with Olive Oil Ice Cream and Salty Hazelnut Crumble for the state of Oregon) while others feel like the author struggled to include (such as Florida’s very basic Key Lime Pie or Nevada’s All-You-Can-Eat Buffet Pie). The author also states she “has never met a pumpkin pie [she] liked (page 105)” but then decides to include several pumpkin pie recipes. Safe to say, with that…glowing…recommendation, I’m unlikely to ever make those recipes. 

 

THE KNOWLEDGE: Each pie recipe includes a title page and number, what the state foods are (if any - so many states don't have an official food and are missing out), some information about the state, information on how the pie was inspired, the pie recipe itself, a full page color photo, and the friend dedication. I LOVED most of these additions (except for the friend dedication, which I’ve already discussed), but some of the information included for the states was straight up incorrect and so, so easy to have fixed with a simple internet search. For instance, on page 178: “Montana is home to the first-ever National Park, Yellowstone” and on page 313: “Wyoming is…home to…the first national park (Yellowstone)”. Yellowstone is overwhelmingly in Wyoming, but the boundaries of the park do extend slightly into both Montana and Idaho. Having lived in Montana, we don't call Montana 'home' to Yellowstone but acknowledge that we have an entrance into the park.

 

One of the other inaccuracies I want to point out is on page 156, where the author describes the origin of breakfast cereal. John Harvey Kellogg did not revolutionize the way Americans ate breakfast in 1895: that was Charles Post, founder of Post Foods (later to become General Foods). Kellogg did invent corn flakes, which he used exclusively in his sanitarium in Battle Creek, Michigan. Post was a patient of Kellogg’s, and after his recovery he tried to convince Kellogg to market his invention to the public. Kellogg refused, so Post created a different version of the breakfast cereal, put it on the market, and Post’s invention was the one to take off and forever change American breakfast. It was only after Post’s incredible success that Kellogg began selling his recipe to the public. 

 

OVERALL: I’m still excited to try many of the pie recipes in this cookbook, but the author really didn't have the knowledge to pull off this scale of a project. With more contributors (and less shoutouts to people the reader will probably never encounter) we might have ended up with different recipes, but the cookbook would have been stronger and better showcased the variety and rich culinary history of each state.

Thank you to Bloomsbury for sending me an ARC of this title. I received this copy for free and this review contains my honest opinions. 

 

I Must Be Dreaming is a short collection of illustrated dreams based off of the author’s own dream journals. The dreams are organized by type (such as “Celebrity Dreams” or “Recurring Dreams”) and ends with a brief, but interesting, overview of dream theory and a list for further reading. This was a very quick read and while there was nothing I inherently disliked about it, every time I turned a page I was expecting something a bit more. Thank you again to the publisher for sending me a free ARC. 

Thank you to Macmillan/TOR Publishing Group for sending me an ARC of this title. I received this copy for free and this review contains my honest opinions. 

 

I’m always excited to see more urban fantasy (and everything about this book just sounded so good!) and I was secretly hoping this would be one of my top reads of the year. Unfortunately, Ebony Gate didn’t quite deliver on its promise for me. While Emiko was a promising character and I really enjoyed the world building and magic system, I think both the plot and the ways the characters interacted let this story down. At times the plot felt like it was trying to go in every direction at once and the pacing suffered, despite the story taking place over only a couple of days. Additionally, most of the other characters had only brief interactions with Emiko and their page time felt more like introductions for larger roles in later books, rather than helping the plot progress. I am hopeful this series will find its stride in the next book. Thank you again to the publisher for sending me a free ARC.