Who Ate The First Oyster?

Who Ate The First Oyster? The Extraordinary People Behind the Greatest Firsts in History- Cody Cassidy
Penguin Books
Release Date: May 5, 2020

Rating:
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Synopsis: Who invented the wheel? Who told the first joke? Who drank the first beer? Who was the murderer in the first murder mystery, who was the first surgeon, who sparked the first fire--and most critically, who was the first to brave the slimy, pale oyster?

In this book, writer Cody Cassidy digs deep into the latest research to uncover the untold stories of some of these incredible innovators (or participants in lucky accidents). With a sharp sense of humor and boundless enthusiasm for the wonders of our ancient ancestors, Who Ate the First Oyster? profiles the perpetrators of the greatest firsts and catastrophes of prehistory, using the lives of individuals to provide a glimpse into ancient cultures, show how and why these critical developments occurred, and educate us on a period of time that until recently we've known almost nothing about.

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It's a question we've all pondered at some point:  Who first decided to . . . ?  In Cody Cassidy's new book Who Ate the First Oyster? Cassidy's research helps give us a better understanding of some of the most important firsts in human history- and why they are so important.  From eating the first oyster to drinking the first beer, riding the first horse, or first getting smallpox, each chapter covers a different period in human evolution and the "first" that propelled us onward.  Even more important, and interesting (to me anyway), he personalizes the discoveries and inventions by bringing the anonymous people responsible for these "firsts" back into the limelight they so richly deserve.

Cassidy's writing style is casual and full of humor, yet the reader has no doubt that this is an author who has done his research and isn't just making everything up.  While the actual person Cassidy credits the "first" to isn't necessarily a historic figure, they are the general figure.  For example, 'Oyster Girl' may or may not have been what the person who ate the first oyster was actually called, but Cassidy describes what her life would have been like based on archaeological evidence, why the chance is good it was a woman, why eating oysters hadn't been done before, and why we should care.  The science is presented to the reader in an understandable manner, making it accessible to anyone instead of Ph.Ds only.  Each chapter was both entertaining and informative and I found myself wishing I'd be able to remember more of the factoids than I inevitable would- but also thinking this was a book I would enjoy re-reading to remember more with each pass.  

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

The Life & (Medieval) Times of Kit Sweetly

The Life and (Medieval) Times of Kit Sweetly- Jamie Pacton
MacMillan
Release Date: May 5, 2020

Rating:
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Synopsis: Working as a Wench—i.e. waitress—at a cheesy medieval-themed restaurant in the Chicago suburbs, Kit Sweetly dreams of being a Knight like her brother. She has the moves, is capable on a horse, and desperately needs the raise that comes with knighthood, so she can help her mom pay the mortgage and hold a spot at her dream college.

Company policy allows only guys to be Knights. So when Kit takes her brother’s place, clobbers the Green Knight, and reveals her identity at the end of the show, she rockets into internet fame and a whole lot of trouble with the management. But this Girl Knight won’t go down without a fight. As other Wenches and cast members join her quest, a protest forms. In a joust before Castle executives, they’ll prove that gender restrictions should stay medieval—if they don’t get fired first.

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Kit Sweetly is a medieval history buff, a senior in high school, and a Wench at her local Castle (i.e. a server at a medieval themed restaurant).  But she dreams of being a Knight and jousting like her brother, Chris.  It's cool, it's fun, and it's a better paying job, which would help the family pay bills and college tuition, since Kit just got accepted to a dream college.  But company policy is that only men can be Knights and her boss (also her uncle) is a company man.  Kit takes Chris' place in a joust, beats the Green Knight, and then reveals that she's a girl- a stunt that almost gets her fired but also makes her an internet sensation.  Along with her brother, fellow serving Wenches, and other Castle employees, Kit is determined to change the company culture, challenge gender restrictions, and save the day- if they don't get fired first!

I don't normally read books with a YA label, although I couldn't really tell you why.  I just never really branched out that way.  But when Jen DeLuca (Well Met) tweeted that she was Instagram chatting with Jamie Pacton on all things Ren Faire and mentioned the upcoming Life & (Medieval) Times of Kit Sweetly, I, of course, needed to know more.  After reading the synopsis, I was hooked.  And good news- the book is just as fun as you think it should be.  Kit Sweetly is full of plans, energy, sass, and the desire for more out of life.  Her dad walked out on the family a few years ago, taking his drug and alcohol addiction with him, but also taking all of their money including college funds.  Now her mom works two jobs and her brother Chris works as a Knight in the Castle- a job he got by training with Kit.  Kit wants to be a Knight too and refuses to accept company policy that only men can be Knights when she knows she's just as capable as any guy.  Kit is known for her plans and when she makes a plan to show Corporate that the public wants equality in the Castle her BFF Layla, BFF/crush Jett, and other members of the Castle join in.  It's a quest of friendship, discovery and empowerment, and if someone doesn't make a movie out of this book they should be slapped.

What I really loved in Kit Sweetly was how the emotions pour off the page without Pacton pushing anything too hard.  You empathize with the characters every step of the way.  You feel Kit's shame and determination as the family has to 'make do' when the power company turns off the electricity over the weekend and she doesn't want her friends to know. You want to shake her over her bad habit of putting off anything bad until later, because she doesn't know how to handle it alone. You share her disgust and fear when the trolls start bashing/threatening her cause.  You want to cry for Kit when the inevitable happens and the group finds out they'll be fired if they go through with their plan and those friendships seem to be broken.  And it's hardly a spoiler to say you'll be cheering as they triumph at the end.  

Kit Sweetly is full of sweet moments, medieval trivia bits, and plenty of humor.  Personal identity to Kit comes down to if you're a decent human being, not how you identify, and that if you work hard and stick together, maybe you can change things.  And that's something everyone should huzzah about.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Heiress for Hire

Heiress for Hire (A Duke's Heiress Book 1)- Madeline Hunter
Zebra Books
Release Date: April 28, 2020

Rating:
📚📚📚📚

Synopsis:  Minerva Hepplewhite has learned the hard way how to take care of herself. When an intruder breaks into her home, she doesn’t swoon or simper. Instead she wallops the rogue over the head and ties him up—only to realize he is Chase Radnor, a gentleman and grandson of a lord, and a man who makes it his business to investigate suspicious matters. Now he’s insisting that Minerva has inherited a fortune from his uncle, a wealthy duke. Only one thing could surprise her more: her sudden attraction to this exasperating man . . .

  Chase can’t decide whether Minerva is a wronged woman or a femme fatale. Either way, he’s intrigued. Maddeningly, with her unexpected inheritance, she has set up a discreet detective business to rival Chase’s own. She may be the perfect person to help him uncover the truth about his uncle’s demise. But as proximity gives way to mutual seduction, Chase realizes he craves a much deeper alliance . . .

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Heiress for Hire starts a new series where three unconnected women receive generous legacies from a duke they never met.  It's Chase Radnor's job to find them and get the inheritances started. But Chase, as both a family member and an inquiry agent for the army and Home Office, wants to know who these women are, why they received inheritances, and if they could have murdered the old duke.  Because Chase believes his uncle was murdered- and much better the villain be a stranger than a family member!

Minerva Heppelwhite has been struggling to survive for years- first with an abusive husband, and after his death, as a woman with little money.  The inheritance would allow her to live comfortably and to establish her dream: an investigation business.  And it makes sense to her that her first official investigation be into the possible murder of the man who left her the money to make it all possible.  She and Chase clash from the beginning- he doesn't want her investigating and thinks she might have done it, she has no intention of being blamed for something she didn't do.  Eventually they have to work together and grow closer as a result.

Heiress for Hire is a bit odd because the theoretical point of the book- discovering a murderer- becomes secondary to the characters.  The end result is officially calling it an accident, and the reader is left to assume that the mystery will in fact be solved only by the end of the last book in the series.  But the character development and growth of both Chase and Minerva are satisfying to watch, and the extended Radnor family is both amusing and opportunistically awful enough to mean lots of fun encounters.  Not quite Knives Out in their reactions when they end up without the expected inheritances, but there are moments!

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review

Mosquito Supper Club

Mosquito Supper Club: Cajun Recipes from a Disappearing Bayou- Melissa M. Martin 
Artisan
Release Date: April 14, 2020


Rating:
📚📚📚📚📚

Synopsis: For anyone who loves Cajun food or is interested in American cooking or wants to discover a distinct and engaging new female voice—or just wants to make the very best duck gumbo, shrimp jambalaya, she-crab soup, crawfish étouffée, smothered chicken, fried okra, oyster bisque, and sweet potato pie—comes Mosquito Supper Club.
 
Named after her restaurant in New Orleans, chef Melissa M. Martin’s debut cookbook shares her inspired and reverent interpretations of the traditional Cajun recipes she grew up eating on the Louisiana bayou, with a generous helping of stories about her community and its cooking. Every hour, Louisiana loses a football field’s worth of land to the Gulf of Mexico. Too soon, Martin’s hometown of Chauvin will be gone, along with the way of life it sustained. Before it disappears, Martin wants to document and share the recipes, ingredients, and customs of the Cajun people.
 
Illustrated throughout with dazzling color photographs of food and place, the book is divided into chapters by ingredient—from shrimp and oysters to poultry, rice, and sugarcane. Each begins with an essay explaining the ingredient and its context, including traditions like putting up blackberries each February, shrimping every August, and the many ways to make an authentic Cajun gumbo. Martin is a gifted cook who brings a female perspective to a world we’ve only heard about from men. The stories she tells come straight from her own life, and yet in this age of climate change and erasure of local cultures, they feel universal, moving, and urgent.

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Every hour, Louisiana loses a football field's worth of land to the Gold of Mexico.  Soon, the people and culture of South Louisiana, where chef Melissa Martin was born and raised, will disappear.  In Mosquito Supper Club (named after Martin's restaurant in New Orleans) Martin combines traditional Cajun recipes with explanations of ingredients and the traditions behind them.

This book was a delight from start to finish.  A combination of gorgeous photographs, easy to understand recipes, and stories of the people and traditions behind the food, "Mosquito Supper Club" takes 'cookbook' to a whole new level.  From how to properly clean a crab to shucking oysters, from dancing the shrimp to the story behind gumbo, readers will learn the truth behind the Cajun traditional way of life. Melissa Martin gives readers unfamiliar with the land, culture, and people of South Louisiana a perfect introduction to her home and the ways it has both changed and stayed the same over the generations.  She encourages you- as a reader and a cook- to think about your ingredients and where they come from, to question the impact they have on the farmers, and fishermen.  As a novice cook, I greatly appreciated how her recipes sounded like she was standing right there, talking to me about what to look for in a pot- from the color of the onion to the texture of a dough, these descriptions took the guess work out of what to look for and how to tell when something was ready.  As a native of New Orleans, I greatly appreciated her discussions of the impact humans have had on the environment and how that has changed the resources and culture people experience today.  Anyone who glances as just one photograph in this book will be drawn to discover more, and before you know it you'll be both reading and cooking while enjoying a whole new world.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review