I feel like I've been reading some "heavy" stuff lately, what with After Etan, The Forest of Hands and Teeth, The Hunger Games, etc. Then, because After Etan didn't freak me out quite enough, I watched Changeling (which is actually very similar to After Etan). What I'm trying to say is that I felt like I needed something a little lighter to even out my "heavier" reading. I immediately thought of Joanne Fluke's culinary mysteries starring Hannah Swensen.

Now, this series is not completely new to me. A few years ago, a copy of Sugar Cookie Murder was circulating through my family. I read it, thought, "silly, predictable, and why does the 30ish main character talk and act like a 60-year-old?" I set the book aside, vowing not to bother with the rest of the series. Fast forward a few years. A few months ago, my friend called asking if I wanted to go with her to The Poisoned Pen (a cozy little indie bookshop, which specializes in mysteries) in nearby Scottsdale to meet one of her favorite authors. Guess who? Joanne Fluke. I told my friend about my experience with Sugar Cookie Murder; she replied, "Oh, I know they're the cheesiest mysteries ever, but they're fun, clean and the recipes are sooo good." Duly convinced, I accepted the invite. And had a great time. Joanne was interesting, gracious and very personable (Don't believe me? You can check out the video of her interview at The Poisoned Pen's blog. Click on the video player on the right sidebar, then click "On Demand" and scroll down until you see Joanne's name. BTW: My friend is the one who asks Joanne why she decided to write "clean" mysteries.) Because I'm all about supporting indie stores, I bought a copy of the newest book - The Creampuff Murder - and had the author sign it.


You know me and series' - I can't start with the last book, or even one in the middle, I have to begin at the beginning. So, I decided why not make this into a reading challenge? It's going to be a personal reading challenge, although you can join me if you'd like. The best part about it is this - you can win prizes just for following along. This is how it's going to work: I'm going to read each book; write a review; then do a "Cookin' the Books" feature, where I make one recipe from each story. Here's where you come in: If you comment on the posts, you will receive one entry (even if you comment on one book review multiple times, you will only receive one entry/review) into my giveaways, of which there will be two. I will draw one name when I reach the halfway point (Book 7) in my Hannah Swenson adventure, and one when I complete the challenge. The first prize will be a new (unsigned) copy of Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder; the second will be my signed, hardcover, brand-spankin'-new copy of Cream Puff Murder. I can't give you a deadline for the challenge's end, because it will depend on the availability of the books at my local library as well as how fast I can read. Here's a rundown of the books in the Hannah Swensen series (which I will post on my sidebar, so you can follow my progress):

1. Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder

2. Candy for Christmas (a novella that appears inside special editions of Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder.)

3. Strawberry Shortcake Murder

4. Blueberry Muffin Murder

5. Lemon Meringue Pie Murder

6. Fudge Cupcake Murder

7. Sugar Cookie Murder (this will be a re-read)

8. Peach Cobbler Murder

9. Sugar and Spice (novella/short story - part of a collection)

10. Key Lime Pie Murder

11. Carrot Cake Murder

12. Candy Cane Murder

13. Cream Puff Murder

14. Plum Pudding Murder (to be released October 2009)

Easy Cheesy, as my 7-year-old likes to say. I call it "Light & Fluffy." Any way you describe it, it should be fun. And who couldn't use a little lightheartedness these days, eh?/

So, it's 2:36 a.m. and I'm awake with an upset stomach (note to self: Mountain Dew and Reese's is not the best combo to partake of before bed). I am exhausted, too, since my 3-year-old woke me up at 5 a.m. yesterday morning. Ugh. Oh well. The house is quiet, and what else do I have to do but blog surf (fold laundry, clean off my desk, unload the dishwasher, polish my toenails ... )?

I found this on Marg's blog and thought it was interesting:

Entertainment Weekly has come up with a list of the 100 best reads from 1983 to 2008. Just for fun, I highlighted the ones I've read in blue.

1. The Road , Cormac McCarthy (2006)

2. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, J.K. Rowling (2000)

3. Beloved, Toni Morrison (1987)

4. The Liars’ Club, Mary Karr (1995)

5. American Pastoral, Philip Roth (1997)

6. Mystic River, Dennis Lehane (2001)

7. Maus, Art Spiegelman (1986/1991)

8. Selected Stories, Alice Munro (1996)

9. Cold Mountain, Charles Frazier (1997)

10. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, Haruki Murakami (1997)

11. Into Thin Air, Jon Krakauer (1997)

12. Blindness, José Saramago (1998)

13. Watchmen, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons (1986-87)

14. Black Water, Joyce Carol Oates (1992)

15. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, Dave Eggers (2000)

16. The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood (1986)

17. Love in the Time of Cholera, Gabriel García Márquez (1988)

18. Rabbit at Rest, John Updike (1990)

19. On Beauty, Zadie Smith (2005)

20. Bridget Jones’s Diary, Helen Fielding (1998)

21. On Writing, Stephen King (2000)22. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Díaz (2007)

23. The Ghost Road, Pat Barker (1996)

24. Lonesome Dove, Larry McMurtry (1985)

25. The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan (1989)

26. Neuromancer, William Gibson (1984)

27. Possession, A.S. Byatt (1990)

28. Naked, David Sedaris (1997)

29. Bel Canto, Anne Patchett (2001)

30. Case Histories, Kate Atkinson (2004)

31. The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien (1990)

32. Parting the Waters, Taylor Branch (1988)

33. The Year of Magical Thinking, Joan Didion (2005)

34. The Lovely Bones, Alice Sebold (2002)

35. The Line of Beauty, Alan Hollinghurst (2004)

36. Angela’s Ashes, Frank McCourt (1996)

37. Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi (2003)

38. Birds of America, Lorrie Moore (1998)

39. Interpreter of Maladies, Jhumpa Lahiri (2000)

40. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman (1995-2000)

41. The House on Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros (1984)

42. LaBrava, Elmore Leonard (1983)

43. Borrowed Time, Paul Monette (1988)

44. Praying for Sheetrock, Melissa Fay Greene (1991)

45. Eva Luna, Isabel Allende (1988)

46. Sandman, Neil Gaiman (1988-1996)

47. World’s Fair, E.L. Doctorow (1985)

48. The Poisonwood Bible, Barbara Kingsolver (1998)

49. Clockers, Richard Price (1992)

50. The Corrections, Jonathan Franzen (2001)

51. The Journalist and the Murderer, Janet Malcom (1990)

52. Waiting to Exhale, Terry McMillan (1992)

53. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, Michael Chabon (2000)

54. Jimmy Corrigan, Chris Ware (2000)

55. The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls (2006)

56. The Night Manager, John le Carré (1993)

57. The Bonfire of the Vanities, Tom Wolfe (1987)

58. Drop City, TC Boyle (2003)

59. Krik? Krak! Edwidge Danticat (1995)

60. Nickel & Dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich (2001)

61. Money, Martin Amis (1985)

62. Last Train To Memphis, Peter Guralnick (1994)

63. Pastoralia, George Saunders (2000)

64. Underworld, Don DeLillo (1997)

65. The Giver, Lois Lowry (1993)

66. A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again, David Foster Wallace (1997)

67. The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini (2003)

68. Fun Home, Alison Bechdel (2006)

69. Secret History, Donna Tartt (1992)

70. Cloud Atlas, David Mitchell (2004)

71. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, Ann Fadiman (1997)

72. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Mark Haddon (2003)

73. A Prayer for Owen Meany, John Irving (1989)

74. Friday Night Lights, H.G. Bissinger (1990)

75. Cathedral, Raymond Carver (1983)

76. A Sight for Sore Eyes, Ruth Rendell (1998)

77. The Remains of the Day, Kazuo Ishiguro (1989)

78. Eat, Pray, Love, Elizabeth Gilbert (2006)

79. The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell (2000)

80. Bright Lights, Big City, Jay McInerney (1984)

81. Backlash, Susan Faludi (1991)

82. Atonement, Ian McEwan (2002)

83. The Stone Diaries, Carol Shields (1994)

84. Holes, Louis Sachar (1998)

85. Gilead, Marilynne Robinson (2004)

86. And the Band Played On, Randy Shilts (1987)

87. The Ruins, Scott Smith (2006)

88. High Fidelity, Nick Hornby (1995)

89. Close Range, Annie Proulx (1999)

90. Comfort Me With Apples, Ruth Reichl (2001)

91. Random Family, Adrian Nicole LeBlanc (2003)

92. Presumed Innocent, Scott Turow (1987)

93. A Thousand Acres, Jane Smiley (1991)

94. Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser (2001)

95. Kaaterskill Falls, Allegra Goodman (1998)

96. The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown (2003)

97. Jesus’ Son, Denis Johnson (1992)

98. The Predators’ Ball, Connie Bruck (1988)

99. Practical Magic, Alice Hoffman (1995)

100. America (the Book), Jon Stewart/Daily Show (2004)

Wow! I've only read 16 out of 100. In my defense, a lot of these books are on my TBR list. Has anyone made a challenge out of this yet? It would be a good one. In the meantime, I think I'll make it a personal challenge (of the open-ended-no-pressure variety).

How many of these have you read? Which ones do you consider must-reads? Which could you have done without?

It's amazing how much better a nice, long list of books makes me feel. I think I'm ready to go back to bed. Let's just hope my toddler lets me sleep in until at least 5:30!

Thanks for the early-morning diversion, Marg!