Mini Reviews: Canterville Ghost, Lullaby, and Everything Alice

Title: The Canterville Ghost

Author: Oscar Wilde

Publisher: Unknown

Publishing Date: February 23rd, 1887

Pages: 126

Audio Length: 1 Hour and 12 Minutes

Genre: Classic Short Stories

TW: N/A

Series: Standalone

Source: Audio

 

This is Oscar Wilde's tale of the American family moved into a British mansion, Canterville Chase, much to the annoyance of its tired ghost. The family -- which refuses to believe in him -- is in Wilde's way a commentary on the British nobility of the day -- and on the Americans, too. The tale, like many of Wilde's, is rich with allusion, but ends as sentimental romance...

Mini Review:

I in general do not like Classics. There's very few I enjoy. I saw that this was a short book and decided that I wouldn't be wasting a ton of time if I didn't like it.
But I really liked it! The ghost was sassy and funny. The family was like "whatever we have a ghost" and it was all just like "Yepp this is my life now." And I really enjoyed it. It made me laugh and I for some reason really related to this ghost. I kept saying "Same!" whenever he got frustrated or what not. 

Title: Lullaby
Author: Jonathan Maberry

Publishing Date: October 4th, 2018

Pages: 14

Audio Length: 37 Minutes

Genre: Horror

TW: Death of an infant

Series: Standalone

Source: Audio

 

The fears and horrors of being a new parent take on a shocking dimension in in this heart-stopping original story, only from Audible. A young married couple, Matt and Gillian have just bought a gorgeous house located next to a lake in the Catskills. They want to escape the hustle and bustle of the city to raise their baby girl, Hope, in relative peace and quiet. When night falls, however, their dream home becomes a house of nightmares. Matt and Gillian soon learn that darkness takes many forms. And sometimes, darkness is hungry.

New York Times best-selling author and Bram Stoker Award winner Jonathan Maberry delivers a haunting Audible Original that will give listeners the Halloween creeps all year round. Scott Brick, the man with the golden voice, perfectly captures the experience of hearing a classic ghost story told around the campfire.

Mini Review:

I was super excited when I heard about this book. I wasn't expecting it to be so short so that was a shock. 

I had a hard time listening to this, because of losing my boys. I felt like it was a good short story though. There wasn't any reason to be any longer. It was kind of creepy still.

Title: Everything Alice: The Wonderland Book of Makes and Bakes
Author: Hannah Read-Baldrey, Christine Leeach

Publishing Date: January 1st, 2011

Pages: 143

Audio Length: N/A

Genre: Arts and Crafts/ Recipe book

TW: N/A

Series: Standalone

Source: Book

 

Welcome to Wonderland
Enter the magical world of "Everything Alice," where nothing is quite as it seems! The tales of Alice in Wonderland provide the inspiration for a charming and original collection of 50 makes, ranging from a hand-sewn rabbit toy and pompom-decorated slippers to a papercraft party invitation tea set and cut-out-and-keep dress-up dolls. Who wouldn't be seduced by a red polka dot frilly apron to wear while baking cupcakes fit for a king or a heart-shaped pinboard to house precious keepsakes, all designed and made by Christine Leech and Hannah Read-Baldrey. This book is the creative must-have for any Alice lover, whatever their age.

Mini Review:

Oh my goodness I freaked out when I got this for Christmas. Forget everything else I got that day, this was the best. I thought it was going to be just recipes. NO! It has crafts and recipes and everything and I love it. It's easy to follow, has patterns you can follow. And pictures! I love pictures. 

Literary Noms: Prim's Sweet Goat Cheese Salad and Propos Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Literary Noms is a feature where we make a recipe based off a book, from a book, or a recipe that makes us think of the book and then we review it.

This week's Literary Noms is from my Hunger Games cook book. We made two recipes from it.

The Recipe: Prim's Sweet Goat Cheese Salad
What's in it: 
2 Cups fresh romaine lettuce
1/2 cup fresh blueberries
1/2 cup fresh raspberries
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/4 cup pecans, chopped.
1/2 cup goat cheese, crumbled
1/4 cup white balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup olive oil

Serves 4

What we thought:

Jenn:
The salad was very colorful and yummy. It was a flavor explosion in my mouth. So yummy. I love fruit in salads and the dressing used was just super good with the fruit. It was tangy and sweet. The goat cheese always is a welcome addition and helped with the sweet in the salad. The pecans were the crunchy, always need a crunchy. It was an excellent summer meal. Easy and fast and so satisfying.

Ash-

We changed things up a bit, as we do with most recipes. Instead of the white balsamic vinegar, maple syrup and olive oil we got a creamy balsamic sauce that was amazing on the salad.

Not going to lie, I didn't like most of what was in the salad, so I made me on of lettuce, goat cheese, sunflower seeds, and blueberries. And holy cow it was absolutely delicious. Everyone else had everything in their salads and they seemed to really love it. 

The Recipe: Propos Grilled Cheese Sandwich
What's in it: 
4 Slices sourdough bread
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, softened
4 slices sharp cheddar cheese

Serves 2 

What we thought:

Jenn:
It was good. Nothing special, but very good. 

Ash:
I absolutely love grilled cheese sandwiches. This one was delicious on the sourdough bread. The taste difference between the cheese and the sourdough. So yummy! Do suggest.