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Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) created a post

Oct 3, 2021  
Sneak a peek at the middle grade historical fiction book ONCE UPON A CAMEL by Kathi Appelt on my blog, and watch an interesting short documentary about the US Army’s camel experiment which is referenced in the book. Enter the giveaway to win a signed copy of the book - three winners!

https://alltheupsandowns.blogspot.com/2021/10/book-blog-tour-and-giveaway-once-upon.html

**BOOK SYNOPSIS**
Zada is a camel with a treasure trove of stories to tell. She’s won camel races for the royal Pasha of Smyrna, crossed treacherous oceans to new land, led army missions with her best camel friend by her side, and outsmarted a far too pompous mountain lion.

But those stories were from before. Now, Zada wanders the desert as the last camel in Texas. But she’s not alone. Two tiny kestrel chicks are nestled in the fluff of fur between her ears—kee-killy-keeing for their missing parents—and a dust storm the size of a mountain is taking Zada on one more grand adventure. And it could lead to this achy old camel’s most brilliant story yet.
      
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Goddess in the Stacks (553 KP) rated Cinnamon and Gunpowder: A Novel in Books

Sep 19, 2018  
CA
Cinnamon and Gunpowder: A Novel
Eli Brown | 2014
9
9.5 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Cinnamon and Gunpowder reminds me a lot of Treasure Island. Or at least of my childhood memories of reading Treasure Island, as it's been decades since I read it. The book is told from the viewpoint of Owen Wedgwood, a chef who finds himself kidnapped by a famous pirate and forced to cook gourmet meals for her in exchange for his life. As a home cook who's had a small amount of actual training, I really enjoyed his descriptions of making do with only the cooking tools the ship has on hand and whatever rations he could lay his hands on. The creativity he displays in making amazing meals out of almost nothing is one of the best parts of the book. (And the descriptions of those meals - YUM.)

The formatting is set up as a kind of personal ship's log, each part dated and written down after the events happen. Wedgwood (or "Spoons," as the crew calls him) even mentions how he hides it and leaves out a decoy log, since he also writes down his dreams (and plans!) of escaping the pirates.

Some of the events in the book are incredibly predictable, but there are still a few surprises. I was a little disappointed when one thing in particular happened; I saw it coming but hoped that wasn't where the author was going with it. I know that's vague, but I don't want to spoil anything!

I enjoyed learning about Mad Hannah's background and why she's a pirate; she's fighting against the opium trade, and she actually gives Wedgwood a pretty accurate summary of the terrible things the opium trade was responsible for.

Any book that can combine sumptuous description of exotic meals with action and cannonballs will have my attention. And Brown does not shy away from proper action scenes. These are pirates, and fights get brutal. Men lose limbs if not their lives to storms and Navy bombardments. Keeping order on a pirate ship involves lashings and brute force. The book doesn't shrink from those, but it also gets philosophical with Wedgwood's description of flavors, and almost comedic with the images of using cannonballs as pestles for grinding herbs. It's that contrast and variety that makes this book so much fun to read.

You can find all my reviews at http://goddessinthestacks.com
  
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