Bean Books

After 13 years of teaching preschool, Angus Thought He Was Big is still one of my favorites! It is ideal for ages 2 to 4. Children can enjoy it first for the wonderful art, and as they get older they can enjoy exploring the concept of size.

Candid, personal revelations are just two of the things said of the weekly radio and television series 'dialogue', held weekly from the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington D.C. "The Art of Conversation: Dialogue at the Woodrow Wilson Center" is a compilation of twenty four favorite interviews presented in a neat, easy to read text format. The interviews cover various figures such as Robert McNamara, President Chissano, Bill Bradley and many, many more. Highly recommended to American history collections in general and any one who enjoys prime information right from the people themselves.

A trip back into the Old West. Learning how to cook like the chuck wagon cooks did, whether it's Dutch oven, Pit cooking, or cooking by campfire...it's all there! Cooking for one or two up to a thousand, whatever you wish! Great ideas about how things have been done in the past in handling food, even alternative refrigeration without electricity in the hot Arizona summer days. Great variety of recipes and good 'how to's' along with great humor and lore about the Old West.

I bought this book for a friend, but I wound up reading the whole thing before I gave it to her. The author provides stiking examples of the Old West fetish with French naming, the Chinese influence on SW fare, and dietary superstitions of the time.

This book gives you a glimpse not just of the food, but the life that shaped it and the way food shaped life on the frontier and in mining towns of the Sierra Nevada.

Unexpectedly, this novel was richer and smoother than the other 5, in narrative style and in the dichotomies of small-town, trivial-tensions etched through the welcoming warmth of familiarity and intimacy. In the pilot to the series, THE COOKING SCHOOL MURDERS, it seemed that Rich was writing with all cylinders primed and pumping. At retirement age at the time, possibly she had harbored a long banked dream of writing this type of novel, and she was giving it all she had saved in her writer's soul through a rich lifetime. See my review (link page).

In BAKED BEAN SUPPER MURDERS, the second book in the series, the author's style seemed more relaxed. She seemed to have settled her author's hat comfortably on her head, and to feel she would be allowed by her publisher and readers to take time setting the foundation of an extensive collection of characters, which were her neighbors and friends with a few newcomers to the community mixed into the brew, most of whom would become suspects. Rich wasn't just developing depth into an intriguing group of characters to carry a "still waters run deep" plot. She was developing various types of Character from ethical, philosophical, sociological, and psychological perspectives. And she was "doing" an edgy Norman Rockwell portrait of small town life, this time with a slightly bitter twist (booze slurped tastefully, and socially tended), which eloquently exposed the dynamics of greed and offensiveness which can fester within a small community, especially when wide spreads of class structures, and a variety of social attitudes attempt to mix (or not) within a small, seasonally lush geography.

Below is a paragraph from my review of COOKING SCHOOL MURDERS, in which I noted the warmth Rich dramatized about another small town area, that of her own point of origin in Iowa:

You might expect a more simply sophisticated version of Mrs. Pollifax, a version of that feisty, restless, elderly spy; a version which is contented to settle into her last chapters of life by leisurely honing the luxury of cooking, of nurturing the body and soul by being comfortably in and seeing the significance of The Basic Life within small-town-communities existing in various places on "The Route 66 Literary Continuum" from Sinclair Lewis's MAIN STREET to Grace Metalious's PEYTON PLACE, with Joanne Fluke's Hannah Swensen cookie jar series taking the cake for the sweetest, perkiest view of small town life (warm hearts in cold places; see my Listmania).

THIS time many of Eugenia's friends and neighbors, with those among them who were neither, treated her like an old-lady-widow who should be done with the vital part of her life. Poor souls. They should have been warned. In one scene Mrs. Potter was rendered speechless several times, by this group, and each time I smiled, knowing this cattle rancher (her other home was in Arizona), horse riding lady would eventually get her feet under her (or in the stirrups), and the cow pies would fly. Loved that scene. Loved how Rich had Potter work herself out of the offensive affronts.

Since this # 2 in this sequence was my last novel in this series to read, I applied ginger to my reading recipe. I've reviewed the other two novels, by Virginia Rich, and those by Nancy Pickard who successfully published three Mrs. Potter novels after Rich's death. Possibly I had left this one to read last because I hadn't felt the pizzazz for THE BAKED BEAN SUPPER MURDERS title, as I had the others. I wondered if that might have been because baked beans, though I love them, didn't hit my palate as anything special in the currently jazzed-up culinary world. When Rich composed this one (probably during the transition from the 1970's to the 80's), especially from her secondary home setting in a lobster fishing village near Bangor Maine, brown bread and baked bean recipes were treasured and held close by the old guard cooks in the community.

While you're drooling over the opening supper entrees and ingredients, allow yourself to read leisurely through the character setting space in the early plot. I doubt any reader could have more trouble than I do with remembering a slew of names. I was helped by knowing that Rich doesn't just drip them and let the water run out without containment, she continues (underwater basket?) weaving names, faces, bodies, and social styles, through each other and throughout the mystery, completing several tangy tapestries which will thoroughly incorporate not only each name mentioned, but will add the reader into the design, from his complimentary side.

"Here's looking at you, kid."

This was an unusual mystery, in warm, spicy, and feisty ways. In this one I felt the characters' grief for the loss of each murdered character. I felt a deep disgust for some of the potential perpetrators.

Long live the soul of a true novelist who happened to have a plethora of mystery spices with which to season ... A Great American Novel.

Richness was achieved here, and shared well.

Thank you, Virginia. You've risen perfectly to your current residence and its unlimited views of many oceans. No old lady, you. Lady of the first water.

Holding a crystal water-goblet in both hands, looking through prisms of multi-colored light, I see not a cozy culinary. I see a true author, Virginia Rich, and a true novel with a tangy, tasteful mystery included.

Linda Shelnutt

This was one of my favorite books when I was a kid. I own the book under its alternate title: Secret Summer. It's about two children, a brother and sister, who are disappointed because their parents are taking a trip to Europe without them instead of taking the family to the lake like they usually do in the summer. Worse still, their babysitter favors their younger siblings and is very hard on them. So, the two of them decide to go to the lake by themselves. They leave a note for the babysitter saying that they are going to visit their grandmother and take a bus to the lake. Thus begins the adventure! The children camp out in the woods, trying to avoid people who know them and might tell their parents or babysitter where they are. However, what will happen to the children when an emergency rescue means that their secret will be discovered? This book would appeal to elementary school children, especially those who enjoy the Boxcar Children, another story about resourceful children who are trying to get along and survive without help from adults.

Bald as a Bean: The Experience of Sudden Hair Loss is at the top of my must read list. The author, Nancy Parsons, draws the reader into a world turned upside down when she is diagnosed with the disease, alopecia areata totalis universalis. (total hair loss over the entire body)

Nancy shares her intensive and sometimes agonizing physical and spiritual struggle when faced with this disease. From the initial shock of finding large clumps of hair on the shower floor, to the overwhelming diagnosis, Nancy chronicles the medical and holistic treatments, as well as the emotional and physical obstacles that she fights to overcome.

By revealing her most intimate thoughts, Nancy eloquently affirms the statement,
"Although alopecia areata is not life threatening, it is most certainly life altering."
We become aware of how much society values hair, and when one loses it, the emotional loss is as significant as the physical loss.

One notable theme throughout the book is that of our natural world, particularly the change of seasons. Loss and rebirth in nature entwines itself with Nancy's physical and spiritual being, and with that comes inspirational hope.

How others react to Nancy's hair loss shapes her internal struggle. Not only do her present interactions with others affect her, but her childhood experiences with her hair are discussed. Through comical reflections we see how the importance of hair is instilled in all of us at a very young age. Nancy's humor is an important defense against this disease. We see this humor when she talks about her wigs affectionately known as "the girls."

A disturbing statistic about alopecia areata is revealed. One study indicated that "forty eight percent of alopecians had considered suicide." By sharing such a personal struggle, Nancy shows us that through perseverance and self reflection, one can find the strength to live with the disease. The journey of shock, denial, fear, anger, and depression, is a journey worth taking.

Not only do I recommend Bald as a Bean, The Experience of Sudden Hair Loss to those suffering from alopecia or hair loss due to a treatment such as chemotherapy, but as well, to those who enjoy reading true stories about the triumph of the human spirit.

Tracy Roberts, Write Field Services Reviewer

When I first started reading this book (since the earlier ones weren't as good) I thought: "Well, George Herriman is great, but he made over 30 comics, they can't ALL be top-notch, can they?" Wrongo! These comics are so funny, you could well rank them up there with The Family Upstairs, Stumble Inn and even Krazy Kat itself! Baron Bean is a poor Baron who mooches other peoples' food at resteraunts and has an assistant named Grimes (for Krazy Kat fans {like me} Krazy and Ignatz make a cameo inside Baron Bean's head when Bean decides to throw a brick at Grimes).

This book is a delight for adults and children alike. Easy-to-follow instructions with incredible and colorful photographs. The clothes are so simple to make you'll end up making several for friends and collectors. There are even recipes for the holiday themes. I gave this book to my mom and to my niece who is 12 - they had fun making things together.

James R. Peva and his family have been a regular fixture at each and every June festival since the event's inception in the 1960's. The Peva family knew Bill Monroe, and many of the artists that performed at the park, personally.
Filled with excellent photographs and fascinating recollections related by the author, this is a valuable resource for fans of the music. Told in an accessible style that is conversational, this is a fun read. It felt much more like sharing a chat over the campfire with Col. Peva (while the bluegrass pickers played Mr. Monroe's music in the background!) than sitting at a history lecture, though the content was no less credible.
This book is a treasure!