Review: History of Wolves by Emily Fridlund

I have been in a pretty good reading groove this summer, plowing through my to-read list faster than ever. Starting this blog has really helped motivate me, even if I'm the only one who reads it. :) One of the novels on my list was History of Wolves by Emily Fridlund. I honestly didn't even remember adding this, but when I reread the summary I understood why I had.  The protagonist, Linda, is a lonely teenage girl growing up in a failed commune deep in the Minnesota woods. She doesn't have much to do and doesn't fit in with other kids her age. She becomes obsessed with a male teacher at her school who is accused of having an inappropriate relationship with one of her classmates and possessing child pornography. Linda is kept busy digging into her teacher's illicit activities until a young boy and his mother move in nearby. As she takes the role of the boy's nanny, it's obvious to Linda that things aren't as they seem with this little family either.
How promising does that sound!

Unfortunately, this book was a total disappointment for me. By the time I got to page 80, I was so bored. I found myself choosing to do other activities instead of picking it back up, which is why it took me a few weeks to read.  The story felt like it was going nowhere for the first two-thirds of the book. While Linda was a very interesting and real character, there was little driving the story forward. You learn from the first few pages that the little boy dies and the intensity goes downhill from there. The story had very little to do with the teacher, perhaps 3-4 chapters in the entire novel addressed him and his story, and more to do with religious extremism in the field of parenting. Had I known this was the heart of the story, I probably never would have picked it up in the first place. I was complaining about reading this book so much that my husband told me to just stop reading it. Usually I always stick it out to the end, but I was seriously considering abandoning this one.  After reading the ending, which left me confused and frustrated, I kind of wish I had listened to him.

The writing in this novel, as many other reviewers have already stated, is exceptionally beautiful. Fridlund does a wonderful job of painting the scene and while I have never been to the wilds of Minnesota, I was able to feel the frigid temperatures and see the thick forests. I could empathize with Linda's loneliness and awkwardness at points. That, however, was probably the only redeeming quality of this book. I would not recommend History of Wolves because I felt like the story that was advertised was not the story I read. It was very slow-moving and just really missed the mark for me.

My Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Review: Sheet Pan Suppers Vegetarian by Raquel Pelzel

Sheet Pan Suppers Vegetarian by Raquel Pelzel is a cookbook that advertises "100 recipes for simple, satisfying, hands-off meals straight from the oven." I'm always looking for new ways to cook veggies, so I thought I'd give some of these recipes a try.  Overall, I'm pretty happy I did!

There are two things I think consumers need to know about this cookbook right off the bat. First off, while the title may be a little deceiving, most recipes do call for the dirtying of multiple dishes, not just a single sheet pan. Less dishes to do after cooking is always a plus, but I found the recipes in this book to require several bowls, utensils, and pans on average. I'm not saying this is a bad thing, but the title left me expecting a little less clean-up.  And secondly, the recipes in this book are meatless with more than half being already vegan. The remaining non-vegan dishes could easily be adapted for vegans by just leaving out something simple, like an egg wash. I liked having that option!

This cookbook was visually appealing and had beautiful photographs. The food looked appetizing and that's not always easy to do when you're limited to plant-based meals. However, like I've complained about in other reviews, there weren't pictures for every main recipe. I'd guess maybe 90% of the meals did have photos, but I will never give a 5 star review for a cookbook that doesn't show me what every single dish looks like (excluding things like dressings and sauces).

There is a great variety of vegetables used in this cookbook! Some vegetarian/vegan cookbooks tend to overdo it on the beans, quinoa, and kale in my opinion, but this one had me wanting to branch out and try some new healthy combinations. The 100 recipes are organized into the following chapters:
Chapter 1: Bits, Bites, and Snacks
Chapter 2: Soups and Salads
Chapter 3: Veggies with a Side of Vegetables
Chapter 4: Grain Bowls and Beyond
Chapter 5: Beans and Legumes
Chapter 6: Pasta, Bread, and Pizza
Chapter 7: Breakfasts and Brunches
Chapter 8: Desserts

There were quite a few recipes I wanted to test out of this cookbook, so it was difficult just choosing three for this review. Keeping my husband's likes and dislikes in mind, I decided on the "Hoisin Eggplant, Spicy Brussels Sprouts, and Tofu" from Chapter 3, the "Zucchini Breakfast Cake with Pecan-Coconut Streusel" from Chapter 7, and the "Rustic Pear Galette" from Chapter 8.

I made the "Hoisin Eggplant, Spicy Brussels Sprouts, and Tofu" for dinner one night. I chose this recipe because we tend to like Asian-style dishes and to be honest, I don't cook eggplant or Brussels sprouts very often. We have an eggplant sandwich we really like, but other than that, I shy away from these vegetables. I considered this dish a success! I was worried because the sprouts were really charred, borderline burnt, but they tasted so darn good that way! I honestly told my husband I should try making Brussels sprouts chips instead of kale chips next time. This dish had a lot of in-your-face flavor, but it didn't store well. I would make it again, but cut the recipe so there's no leftovers. ★★★★☆

The breakfast cake was a no-brainer! I love zucchini bread and we had fresh zucchinis from the garden, so I knew I had to try this. It was really simple to make and it turned out so good! The cake is moist and sweet, the pecans give it a nice texture, and the zucchini flavor really comes through. This made a lot of servings and it stored well in the fridge throughout the week. I just heated up a slice each morning in the microwave for 30 seconds and it was good to go! I will definitely make this again. ★★★★★

Finally, I made the "Rustic Pear Galette" because I was craving a fruit-centered dessert. I like that Pelzel gave you options for the galette filling depending what was in season. I took her suggestion and added a handful of cranberries with the pears. This was one of those instances where a photo comes in handy because I have never "pleated" dough before and I might have just ended up making a traditional pie had the photo not steered me in the right direction. This recipe came together in a snap, but it was kind of a disaster for me. My crust hemorrhaged while in the oven and a lot of the delicious juices escaped, filling my kitchen with a horrible burnt smell. That's not the recipe's fault, but I thought I'd mention why the picture looks so messy. Taste-wise, this galette was a bit of a miss for us. It reminded me of an apple pie that was lacking in flavor. It just needed more spice of some kind. The cardamom was nice and did come through, but that was about it.  I definitely won't be making this pear/cranberry combination again without some tweaking. ★★★☆☆

I plan on trying a few more recipes from this book later on, but my experience so far has been very pleasant. I would recommend this cookbook to everyone, vegetarian or not. It can give you some new ideas on how to prepare vegetables that everyone will enjoy. If not for a main dish on a Meatless Monday, the majority of these recipes would make great side dishes for your usual choice of protein.

My Rating: ★★★★☆
This title will be available for purchase on October 3, 2017.

*Thanks to Workman Publishing Company and Netgalley for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review!