Book Beginning Thanksgiving: The Other Oregon by Thomas R. Cox

BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAYS
THANKS FOR JOINING ME ON FRIDAYS FOR BOOK BEGINNING FUN!

MY BOOK BEGINNING

In 1863, as gold miners poured in to newly discovered digs around Canyon City in Oregon’s John Day country, Brigadier General Benjamin Alvord, in charge of the army’s District of Oregon, worried that major clashes with Paiute bands inhabiting the area would soon erupt.

The Other Oregon: People, Environment, and History East of the Cascades by Thomas R. Cox, new from OSU Press.

From the publisher's description:

With a staggering variety of landscapes, from high desert to alpine peaks, Oregon east of the Cascades encompasses seventeen counties and two time zones. Although this vast region defies generalization, its history is distinct from the rest of Oregon. The interrelationship between its people and the land has always been central, but that relationship has evolved and changed over time. Regional economies that were once largely exploitive and dedicated to commodity exports have slowly moved toward the husbanding of resources and to broader and deeper appreciations.

Please join me every Friday to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires. Please remember to include the title of the book and the author’s name.

EARLY BIRDS & SLOWPOKES: This weekly post goes up Thursday evening for those who like to get their posts up and linked early on. But feel free to add a link all week.

SOCIAL MEDIA: If you are on Twitter, Instagram, or other social media, please post using the hash tag #BookBeginnings. I try to follow all Book Beginnings participants on whatever interweb sites you are on, so please let me know if I have missed any and I will catch up. Please find me on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

YOUR BOOK BEGINNING




TIE IN: The Friday 56 hosted by Freda's Voice is a natural tie in with this event and there is a lot of cross over, so many people combine the two. The idea is to post a teaser from page 56 of the book you are reading and share a link to your post. Find details and the Linky for your Friday 56 post on Freda’s Voice.

MY FRIDAY 56

Control of the land was not the only thing bedeviling Harney County's ranchers – newcomers in old-timers alike. Hard winters, especially that of 1889–1890, battered the open-range system.

List: Cookbook Library

Heading into the holidays always puts me in the mood to cook more elaborately, which has me poking around in my cookbook library this week. Of course, just when this mood to cook fancy dishes strikes, time evaporates.

I have a moderate-sized cookbook library, mostly kept on open shelves we had built in the kitchen for the purpose, with overflow in a cupboard. And I like to cook. For a while, I was making a halfhearted effort at making one recipe from each cookbook. Then I started my own law firm about six years ago and that project got set aside.

I still make dinner most nights, but I make things I know how to cook. Some things I make are specific dishes I learned to make from these books, but I don’t need to look at the recipe anymore. Most things I make are based on cooking techniques and skills I learned from my cookbooks, or my mother, or trial and error.

My cookbooks are now there for consultation -- for when I need inspiration or a detail like how long to boil a crab (I can NEVER remember that one). And I need a cookbook when I bake anything other than a fruit pie. But I don’t use them very often.

There is little rhyme or reason to my cookbook collection. There are old standbys, like The Joy of Cooking; splashy coffee table "food porn"; kitschy, often politically incorrect, vintage favorites; ethnic and regional books reflecting a series of passing fancies; and quite a few "ladies' auxiliary" type cookbooks from Junior Leagues, civic organizations, and the like, just because they comfort me.

Here is a list of the cookbooks on my shelves. Titles in red link to posts about that book. This is a work in progress, because I know there are cookbooks missing from this list. 

The ABC of Canapes by Edna Beilenson

All About Braising: The Art of Uncomplicated Cooking by Molly Stevens

Amber Waves, published by the Omaha Junior League

American Cookery by James Beard (notes and recipe here)

The American Everyday Cookbook by Agnes Murphy

America's Best Lost Recipes: 121 Kitchen-Tested Heirloom Recipes Too Good to Forget, from the Editors of Cook's Country Magazine

The Amish Cook at Home: Simple Pleasures of Food, Family, and Faith by Lovina Eicher (reviewed here)

Appetizers, published by Bon Appetit Magazine

The Ark: Cuisine of the Pacific Northwest by Jimella Lucas

The Art of Grilling: A Menu Cookbook by Kelly McCune

Baking with Julia by Dorie Greenspan

Barbecuing the Weber Covered Way by Carol D. Brent

Bayerisch Kochen by Brigitta Stuber (from my Bavarian cousins)

Beard on Birds by James Beard

The Best of Martha Stewart Living: Weddings by Martha Stewart

The Best of Scanfest: An Authentic Treasury of Scandinavian Recipes and Proverbs by Cheryl Long

Betty Crocker's Cooking Calendar (A Year Round Guide to Meal Planning with Recipes and Menus)

Betty Crocker's Cooky Book

Betty Crocker's Hostess Cookbook

The Beverly Lewis Amish Heritage Cookbook by Beverly Lewis

The Cafe Brenda Cookbook: Seafood and Vegetarian Cuisine by Brenda Langton (notes and recipe here)

Cafe des Artistes : A Pictoral Guide to the Famed Restaurant and Its Cuisine by Fred Ferretti

The Cake Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum

Cape Collection, published by the Association for the Preservation of Cape Cod

Casserole Treasury by Lousene Rousseau Brunner

Caviar, Truffles, and Foie Gras: Recipes for Divine Indulgence by Katherine Alford

The Chafing Dish Cookbook by John and Marie Roberson

Charleston Receipts, published by the Charleston Junior League

The Cheese Plate by Max Mccalman

Chez Panisse Menu Cookbook by Alice L. Waters

Chopsticks, Cleaver and Wok by Jennie Low

The Christmas Cookie Book by Judy Knipe

Classic Crafts and Recipes: Christmas with Martha Stewart Living by Martha Stewart

Classic Crafts and Recipes Inspired by the Songs of Christmas by Martha Stewart

Classic Home Desserts: A Treasury of Heirloom and Contemporary Recipes from Around the World by Richard Sax

The Classic Italian Cookbook by Marcella Hazan

Classics From a French Kitchen, by Eliane Amé-Leroy Carley

Classic Spanish Cooking: Recipes for Mastering the Spanish Kitchen by Elisabeth Luard (reviewed here)

A Collection of Traditional Amana Recipes: Family-Size Recipes of the Foods Prepared and Served in the Amana Villages, published by the Ladies Auxiliary

Connecticut a La Carte by Melinda M. Vance

Consider the Oyster by M. F. K. Fisher

A Cook's Tour of San Francisco: the Best Restaurants and Their Recipes by Doris Muscatine

The Cooking of Germany, published by Time Life Books

Cooking with a Foreign Accent, published by Sunset Magazine

Cooking With Caprial: American Bistro Fare by Caprial Pence (reviewed here)

Cooking with Wine and High Spirits: a Lighthearted Approach to the Art of Gourmet Cooking by Rebecca Caruba

A Cordiall Water: A Garland of Odd and Old Receipts to Assuage the Ills of Man and Beast by M. F. K. Fisher

Crafts and Keepsakes for the Holidays: Christmas With Martha Stewart Living by Martha Stewart

Creme De Colorado Cookbook, published by the Junior League of Denver (discussed here)

Cucina Rustica by Viana LA Place

Desserts: Our Favorite Recipes for Every Season and Every Occasion: The Best of Martha Stewart Living by Martha Stewart

Easter Treats: Recipes and Crafts for the Whole Family by Jill O'Connor

English Bread & Yeast Cookery by Elizabeth David

The Escoffier Cookbook and Guide to the Fine Art of Cookery for Connoisseurs, Chefs, Epicures by Auguste Escoffier

The Esquire Cook-Book, published by the Editors of Esquire

The Esquire Party Book by Scotty and Ronnie Welch

Esquire's Handbook for Hosts, published by the Editors of Esquire (1949 edition)

Esquire's Handbook for Hosts: A Time-Honored Guide to the Perfect Party, published by the Editors of Esquire (1999 edition)

Fabulous Foods, published by the Assistance League

Favorite Greek Recipes, published by the Daughters of Penelope

Favorite Recipes from Great Midwest Cooks, published by Midwest Lving

Finger Food by Elsa Petersen-Schepelern

Fishes and Dishes: Seafood Recipes and Salty Stories from Alaska's Commercial Fisherwomen by Kiyo Marsh, Tomi Marsh, and Laura Cooper (review and notes here)

Flavor It Greek by Maria Boyer

Fog City Delights, published by the Letterman Auxiliary (notes and recipe here)

The French Laundry Cookbook by Thomas Keller

A Fresh Taste of Italy: 250 Authentic Recipes, Undiscovered Dishes, and New Flavors for Every Day by Michele Scicolone

From Julia Child's Kitchen by Julia Child

The Frugal Gourmet Celebrates Christmas by Jeff Smith

The German Cookbook: A Complete Guide to Mastering Authentic German Cooking by Mimi Sheraton

Gifts from the Herb Garden by Chris Mead

Glorious American Food by Christopher Idone


Good things: The Best of Martha Stewart Living by Martha Stewart

The Gourmet Prescription for Low-Carb Cooking by Deborah Friedson Chud

Great Beginnings and Happy Endings: Hors D'Oeuvres and Desserts for Standing Ovations by Renny Darling

Great Parties: Recipes, Menus, and Ideas for Perfect Gatherings by Martha Stewart

Greek Island Cookery by Rena Smith and Linda Salaman

The Greens Cookbook: Extraordinary Vegetarian Cuisine from the Celebrated Restaurant by Deborah Madison (discussed here)

Grill Cookbook by James McNair

Hawaiian and Pacific Foods by Katherine Bazore

Hors D'Oeuvre and Canapes by James Beard

The How to Keep Him (After You've Caught Him) Cookbook by Jinx Kragen and Judy Perry

Italian Casserole Cooking by Angela Catanzaro

The Italian Country Table: Home Cooking from Italy's Farmhouse Kitchens by Lynne Rossetto Kasper

Jacques Pepin Celebrates by Jacques Pepin

Jake's Seafood Cookbook, published by McCormick & Schmick's

Theory & Practice of Good Cooking by James Beard

Japanese Country Cookbook by Russ Rudzinski

Jean Anderson Cooks: Her Kitchen Reference & Recipe Collection by Jean Anderson

Joy of Cooking by Irma S. Rombauer

The Joy of Eating: A Simply Delicious Cookbook by Renny Darling

Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home by Julia Child

Key to Greek Cooking by Barbara L. Christou

La Cucina Siciliana di Gangivecchio by Wanda Tornabene

License to Grill: Achieve Greatness At The Grill With 200 Sizzling Recipes by Christopher Schlesinger (notes and recipe here)

Lost Recipes: Meals to Share with Friends and Family by Marion Cunningham

Louisiana Kitchen by Paul Prudhomme

Louisiana Tastes: Exciting Flavors from the State that Cooks by Paul Prudhomme

Malcolm Hillier's Christmas by Malcolm Hillier

Marcella's Italian Kitchen by Marcella Hazan

The Martha Stewart Cookbook: Collected Recipes for Every Day by Martha Stewart

Martha Stewart's Christmas: Entertaining, Decorating and Giving by Martha Stewart

The Martha Stewart Living Christmas Cookbook: A Collection of Favorite Holiday Recipes by Martha Stewart

Martha Stewart's Hors d'Oeuvres Handbook by Martha Stewart

Martha Stewart's Pies and Tarts by Martha Stewart

Martha Stewart's Quick Cook by Martha Stewart

Master Recipes by Stephen Schmidt

Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Vol. 1 by Julia Child

Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Vol. 2 by Julia Child

Metropolitan Cook Book, published by the Editors of the Metropolitan Life Company

Mexico's Feasts of Life by Patricia Quintana

More Remarkable Recipes by Antoinette Kuzmanich Hatfield

Naples at Table: Cooking in Campania by Arthur Schwartz

The New Basics Cookbook by Julee Rosso

New Casserole Cookery by Marian Tracy

The New Complete Book of Cookery by Anne E. Marshall

New Fish Cookery by James Beard

The New Making of a Cook: The Art, Techniques, and Science of Good Cooking by Madeline Kamman

The New York Times Cook Book by Craig Claiborne

New York Times Heritage Cookbook by Jean Hewitt

Pacific Flavors: Oriental Recipes for a Contemporary Kitchen by Hugh Carpenter

Papas' Art of Traditional Greek Cooking by George and Chrisoula Papas

Parties and Projects for the Holidays by Martha Stewart

Party Receipts from the Charleston Junior League: Hors d'Oeuvres, Savories, Sweets by Linda Glick Conway

Paso Robles Main Street Family Cookbook, edited by Russ Restine

Pasta Classica: the Art of Italian Pasta Cooking by Julia Della Croce

Pasta Cook Book, published by Sunset Magazine

Patio Daddy-O: '50S Recipes With a Modern Twist by Gideon Bosker

Patricia Wells at Home in Provence: Recipes Inspired by Her Farmhouse in France by Patricia Wells

Paul Bocuse in Your Kitchen by Paul Bocuse

Picnics: Over 40 Recipes for Dining in the Great Outdoors, from Mercedes Benz, edited by Heidi Cusick

Popular Greek Recipes, published by the Ladies of the Philoptochos Society

Pork, Sausage and Ham Cookbook, published by Better Homes and Gardens 

The Prudhomme Family Cookbook: Old-Time Louisiana Recipes by the Eleven Prudhomme Brothers and Sisters and Chef Paul Prudhomme

Real Cooking, by George! by George Jacobs

Remarkable Recipes: From the Recipe File of Mrs. Mark O. Hatfield by Antoinette
Kuzmanich Hatfield

Rick Bayless's Mexican Kitchen: Capturing the Vibrant flavors of a World-Class Cuisine by Rick Bayless

San Francisco Encore, published by the Junior League San Francisco

San Francisco Firehouse Favorites by Georgia Sackett

Sauces: Classical and Contemporary Sauce Making by James Peterson

Sausalito: Cooking with a View, published by the Sausalito Woman's Club

Seasoned America by Paul Prudhomme

The Silver Palate Cookbook by Julee Rosso (notes and recipe here; review here)

Simply Simpatico: The Home of Authentic Southwestern Cuisine, published by the Junior League of Albuquerque

The Slow Mediterranean Kitchen: Recipes for the Passionate Cook by Paula Wolfert

Southern Accent, published by the Charleston Junior League

Special Occasions by John Hadamuscin

The Splendid Table: Recipes from Emilia-Romagna, the Heartland of Northern Italian Food by Lynne Rossetto Kasper

Star-Spangled Cooking, published by Chateau Ste. Michelle

Stews, Bogs and Burgoos: Recipes from the Great American Stewpot by James Villas

The Stinking Rose Cookbook: The Layman's Guide to Garlic Eating, Drinking, and Stinking by Jerry Dal Bozzo

The Sunset Cook Book; Food With a Gourmet Touch, published by Sunset Magazine

The Tapas Cookbook: Seventy Delicious Recipes to Capture the Flavours of Spain by Adrian Lissen

Tapas: The Little Dishes of Spain by Penelope Casas

A Taste of Oregon, published by the Eugene Junior League (discussed here)

The Top One Hundred Pasta Sauces by Diane Seed

Trader Vic's Book of Mexican Cooking by Victor Jules Bergeron

A Tuscan in the Kitchen: Recipes and Tales from My Home by Pino Luongo

Veneto: Authentic Recipes from Venice and the Italian Northeast by Julia della Croce

What's for Dinner? Dinner Menus with Some Very Special Recipes by Maryana Vollstedt

Wildwood: Cooking from the Source in the Pacific Northwest by Cory Schreiber

Williams Sonoma Complete Entertaining Cookbook by Joyce Esersky Goldstein

With a Jug of Wine by Morrison Wood (discussed here)

With Bold Knife and Fork by M. F. K. Fisher

With Love from Darling's Kitchen: Treasured Recipes for Family and Friends by Renny Darling

The Wok: A Chinese Cookbook by Gary Lee

World in Bite-Size by Paul Gayler

OTHER COOKBOOK LISTS

(If you would like your cookbook list included here, please leave a comment with a link to the post and I will add it.)

Mailbox Thanksgiving Monday: Two New Books

Holiday festivities are in full swing at my house, with family in town and pie baking begun. I almost forgot to post about the books that came into my house last week.



The English Country House by James Peill, with Foreword by Julian Fellowes and photos by James Fennell. I've had my eye on this and Hubby got it for me for an anniversary present.

From the book description:

Stately, grand, and a testament to the generations who have cared for them, the 10 English country houses featured in this volume are architecturally distinctive and filled with evocative family memorabilia, from commissioned portraits to monogrammed heirloom dinner services to the bells that once summoned the downstairs staff. Like the fictional Downton Abbey, these real homes are still in the hands of descendants of the original owners.

The Other Oregon: People, Environment, and History East of the Cascades by Thomas R. Cox, new from OSU Press. Eastern Oregon is geographically and historically different than the soggy stretch of Oregon from Portland, down I-5 to California. This new book explores the culture and history of this "Other Oregon" and its relevance to the larger world.

From the back cover:

Written in clear and engaging prose and informed by extensive research, The Other Oregon is a multidisciplinary work that ranges widely through a diverse and often underappreciated land, drawing on the fields of environmental history, cultural and physical geography, and natural resource management to tell a comprehensive and compelling story.

Thanks for joining me for Mailbox Monday, a weekly "show & tell" blog event where participants share the books they acquired the week before. Visit the Mailbox Monday website to find links to all the participants' posts and read more about Books that Caught our Eye.

Mailbox Monday is graciously hosted by Leslie of Under My Apple Tree, Serena of Savvy Verse & Wit, and Martha of Reviews by Martha's Bookshelf.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING FOR ALL THOSE WHO ARE CELEBRATING THIS WEEK! GOBBLE! GOBBLE!

Review: The Preserve by Steve Anderson

The Preserve by Steve Anderson, published by Skyhorse/Simon & Schuster

Steve Anderson’s new book is a post-WWII thriller set on the Big Island of Hawaii in 1948, when Hawaii was still a US Territory. Wendell Lett, war hero turned deserter, seeks treatment for combat trauma at an isolated facility called The Preserve. Instead of a cure for his jangled nerves, he finds himself caught up in an assassination plot that runs all the way to General Douglas MacArthur.

The Preserve is a first-rate historical thriller. It is fast, dark, and complicated without becoming ridiculous. There are plenty of characters, with relationships and side-stories that enrich the main plot. And Anderson clearly did his research. He salts enough historical fact throughout the book to give it flavor without weighing down the action.

The Preserve is Anderson's second book featuring Wendell Lett, who first appeared in Under False Flags. The two Lett books can be read as stand-alone novels, but are even better read back to back.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR

In addition to his two Wendell Lett books, Steve Anderson is the author of three WWII novels featuring the Kaspar Brothers (The Losing Role, Liberated, Lost Kin), a contemporary thriller (The Other Oregon), a crime novella (Rain Down), and other works of fiction and nonfiction. Anderson was a Fulbright Fellow in Germany and is a translator of bestselling German fiction as well as a freelance editor. He lives in Portland, Oregon with his wife and two adventure cats.

Read more about Steve and his writing on his Steve Anderson website. There is an interview of Steve with links to other interviews, including an interview he did for Rose City Reader back in 2010. Among other topics, Steve discusses why he is drawn to historic fiction:

My books tend to involve some overlooked historical theme. I like researching and using historical detail when it helps the story and including a degree of duplicity, often in the form of espionage or crime. I always aim to set up a clear sense of place for the reader. And there has to be loss. If a character is to gain something, something also has to be lost. It’s sad but true and I like realism. There’s truth there, if you can find it.

Book Beginnings: When a Toy Dog Became a Wolf and Shedding Our Stars

BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAYS
THANKS FOR JOINING ME ON FRIDAYS FOR BOOK BEGINNING FUN!

MY BOOK BEGINNINGS

I have two books today, both Holocaust memoirs:

You are seven years old and have never known your mother to be anything but disciplined and in control, even when interrogated at gunpoint, so why is she suddenly marching through the house flipping on every light switch?

-- When a Toy Dog Became a Wolf and the Moon Broke Curfew: A Memoir by Hendrika de Vries.

Hendrika de Vries was a child in Holland when her father was deported to a Nazi POW camp and her mother joined the Resistance. Her new memoir tells the story of the tragic events of Amsterdam during WWII, as seen through the eyes of a young girl, and reflects on the wisdom she gained from her experience.

I was only five years old when Hitler became Chancellor of Germany on January 30, 1933.

-- Shedding Our Stars: The Story of Hans Calmeyer and How He Saved Thousands of Families Like Mine by Laureen Nussbaum with Karen Kirtley.

Laureen Nussbaum and her family lived in Amsterdam during the German occupation of the Netherlands. Hans Calmeyer was a lawyer appointed by the Germans to adjudicate "doubtful cases" of people trying to leave the country. He saved at least 3,700 Jews from deportation to Nazi camps, including Nussbaum and her family.

Laureen Nussbaum was a childhood friend of Anne Frank in Amsterdam. She was a professor of Foreign Languages and Literature at Portland State University. Since retiring, she lectures on the Holocaust, Anne Frank, and her experience during World War II.

Both these new memoirs are published by She Writes Press, one of my favorite independent publishers. I admire their business model and their impressive book list! The Spring 2020 Catalog, as well as back list titles, are available on the She Writes Press website.

Please join me every Friday to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires. Please remember to include the title of the book and the author’s name.

EARLY BIRDS & SLOWPOKES: This weekly post goes up Thursday evening for those who like to get their posts up and linked early on. But feel free to add a link all week.

SOCIAL MEDIA: If you are on Twitter, Instagram, or other social media, please post using the hash tag #BookBeginnings. I try to follow all Book Beginnings participants on whatever interweb sites you are on, so please let me know if I have missed any and I will catch up. Please find me on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

YOUR BOOK BEGINNING




TIE IN: The Friday 56 hosted by Freda's Voice is a natural tie in with this event and there is a lot of cross over, so many people combine the two. The idea is to post a teaser from page 56 of the book you are reading and share a link to your post. Find details and the Linky for your Friday 56 post on Freda’s Voice.

MY FRIDAY 56

From When a Toy Dog Became a Wolf and the Moon Broke Curfew:

But from the biblical stories my mother shared with us, it seem to me that people had been doing horrible things to each other forever and ever. I asked her why people couldn’t learn to be kinder to each other.

From Shedding Our Stars:

On the heels of the relocation ordinances came the decree that as of May 3, 1942, all Jews above the age of six had to wear a yellow Star of David whenever they left their home. The star, with the word Jood (Jew) printed on it in Hebrew-like characters, had to be sewn with small stitches onto the left front of outer garments.

Favorite Author: P. G. Wodehouse

Pelham Grenville ("P. G.") Wodehouse is the master of comic fiction. He wrote close to a hundred novels and books of short stories, as well as plays, essays, letters, and other works.

Wodehouse was born in England in 1881 and published his first book in 1902. He spent the years of World War I in New York, mostly writing Broadway plays, and went back and forth between America and England after the war. This created tax problems which he resolved, but then tried to avoid by moving to France in 1934.

When the Germans invaded France in 1940, Wodehouse was taken prisoner at Le Touquet and interned for nearly a year. After his release he made five broadcasts from German radio in Berlin to his fans in the US, which had not yet entered the war. The talks were meandering "whimsy and hokum," but his broadcasting over enemy radio prompted outrage in Britain and a threat of prosecution.

Wodehouse never returned to England. After the war, he moved permanently to the US and took dual British-American citizenship in 1955. He died in 1975, at the age of 93, in Southampton, New York.

He is best known for his Jeeves/Bertie Wooster and Blandings Castle series of novels and stories. But he has many stand alone books and several other minor series.

I would like to read all of his books if I can find them. I particularly enjoy reading Wodehouse with my ears because audio book editions make the comic language come alive. There is a free Wodehouse Omnibus of 36 of his earlier books available on Kindle that I downloaded to the Kindle App on my phone. I read those when I need an emergency book.

Those I have read are in red; those on my TBR shelf are in blue.

The Pothunters (1902) (reviewed here)

A Prefect's Uncle (1903)

Tales of St. Austin's (1903) (short stories)

The Gold Bat (1904)

William Tell Told Again (1904)

The Head of Kays (1905)

Love Among the Chickens (1906)

The White Feather (1907)

Not George Washington (1907)

The Globe 'By the Way' Book (1908) (essays, out of print)

The Swoop (1909)

Mike (1909)

Gentleman of Leisure (1910) (US: The Intrusion of Jimmy 1909 serialized edition, The Gem Collector)

Psmith in the City (1910)

The Prince and Betty (1912)

The Little Nugget (1913)

The Man Upstairs (1914) (short stories)

Psmith Journalist (2015)

Something Fresh (1915) (US: Something New)

Uneasy Money (1916)

The Man With Two Left Feet (1917) (short stories)

Piccadilly Jim (1918)

My Man Jeeves (1919) (short stories)

A Damsel in Distress (1919)

The Coming of Bill (or The White Hope, 1920) (US: Their Mutual Child, 1919)

Jill the Reckless (1921) (US: The Little Warrior, 1920)

Indiscretions of Archie (1921)

The Clicking of Cuthbert (1922) (US: Golf Without Tears, 1924) (short stories)

The Girl on the Boat (1922) (US: Three Men and a Maid)

The Adventures of Sally (1922) (US: Mostly Sally, 1923)

The Inimitable Jeeves (1923) (US: Jeeves)

Leave It to Psmith (1923)

Ukridge (1924) (US: He Rather Enjoyed It, 1925) (short stories)

Bill the Conqueror (1924)

Carry On, Jeeves (1925) (short stories)

Sam the Sudden (1925) (US: Sam in the Suburbs)

The Heart of a Goof (1926) (US: Divots, 1927) (short stories)

The Small Bachelor (1927)

Meet Mr. Mulliner (1927) (short stories)

Money for Nothing (1928)

Mr. Mulliner Speaking (1929) (short stories)

Summer Lightning (1929) (US: Fish Preferred)

Very Good, Jeeves (1930) (short stories)

Big Money (1931)

If I Were You (1931)

Louder and Funnier (1932) (essays)

Doctor Sally (1932)

Hot Water (1932)

Mulliner Nights (1933) (short stories)

Heavy Weather (1933)

Thank You, Jeeves (1934)

Right Ho, Jeeves (1934) (US: Brinkley Manor)

Enter Psmith (1935)

Blandings Castle and Elsewhere (1935) (US: Blandings Castle) (short stories)

The Luck of the Bodkins (1935)

Young Men in Spats (1936) (short stories)

Laughing Gas (1936)

Lord Emsworth and Others (1937) (US: The Crime Wave at Blandings) (short stories)

Summer Moonshine (1937)

The Code of the Woosters (1938)

Uncle Fred in Springtime (1939)

Eggs, Beans and Crumpets (1940) (short stories)

Quick Service (1940)

Money in the Bank (1942)

Joy in the Morning (1946) (US: Jeeves in the Morning)

Full Moon (1947)

Spring Fever (1948)

Uncle Dynamite (1948)

The Mating Season (1949)

Nothing Serious (1949) (short stories)

The Old Reliable (1951)

Barmy in Wonderland (1952) (US: Angel Cake)

Pigs Have Wings (1952)

Ring for Jeeves (1953) (US: The Return of Jeeves)

Performing Flea (1953) (US: Author Author, 1962) (letters)

Bring on the Girls (1954) (autobiography, with Guy Bolton)

Jeeves and the Feudal Spirit (1954) (US: Bertie Wooster Sees It Through, 1955)

French Leave (1956)

Over Seventy (1957) (US: America I Like You, 1956) (essays)

Something Fishy (1957) (US: The Butler Did It)

Cocktail Time (1958)

A Few Quick Ones (1959) (short stories)

Jeeves in the Offing(1960) (US: How Right You Are Jeeves)

Ice in the Bedroom (1961)

Service With a Smile (1961)

Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves (1963)

Frozen Assets (1964) (US: Biffen's Millions)

Galahad at Blandings (1964) (US: The Brinkmanship of Galahad Threepwood)

Plum Pie (1966) (short stories, poems, essays)

Company for Henry (1967) (US: The Purloined Paperweight)

Do Butlers Burgle Banks? (1968)

A Pelican at Blandings (1969) (US: No Nudes Is Good Nudes, 1970)

The Girl in Blue (1970)

Much Obliged, Jeeves (1971) (US: Jeeves and the Tie that Binds)

Pearls, Girls and Monty Bodkin (1972) (US: The Plot that Thickened, 1973)

Bachelors Anonymous (1973)

Aunts Aren't Gentlemen (1974) (US: The Cat-Nappers, 1975)

The Uncollected Wodehouse (1976) (short stories, essays)

Sunset at Blandings (1977) (unfinished)

NOTES

Updated June 28, 2021.

Many of the early novels and short stories are available in free Kindle editions, either separately or in omnibus editions, like this one. I keep an omnibus on the Kindle app on my phone so I always have a book in case of emergency.
 

OTHER WODEHOUSE FANS

If you are reading Wodehouse's books, please leave comments with Wodehouse-related links and I will add them here.

 

Teaser Tuesday: The Preserve and Choosing Diversity

I'm doubling down on the teasers this week, with one from a new historical thriller and another for Nonfiction November.

They traveled south for two hours, the truck's headlights finding only green tropical forest, brown streams, and an unending line of steep hills and surely mountains beyond. The last signs of civilization they passed was a village called San Mariel, just a junction of huts, their tires thumping on old cobbled road.

-- The Preserve by Steve Anderson. This post-WWII thriller is set on the Big Island of Hawaii in 1948. Wendell Lett, war hero turned deserter, seeks treatment for combat trauma at The Preserve, only to get caught up in an assassination plot that runs all the way to General Douglas MacArthur.

The Preserve is Anderson's second book featuring Wendell Lett, who first appeared in Under False Flags. They can be read as stand-alones, and are even better read back to back.

From the book flap: "Based on on of history's darkest secrets, The Preserve is a fast-paced historical thriller that will leave you breathless."

And that is the secret of charter schools – their ability to use the autonomy granted to them to create education programs that are very different from the regular public schools and very different from each other, but which responded to the individual demands of families. No one has to go to a charter school, but parents and their children vote with their feet because, as Moskowitz says, "There's a problem with the system and what it's delivering for children."

-- Choosing Diversity: How Charter Schools Promote Diverse Learning Models and Meet the Diverse Needs of Parents and Children by Lance Izumi. In celebration of Nonfiction November, I've been reading and featuring many nonfiction books this month, including this book that profiles 13 charter schools around the country.

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by The Purple Booker. Participants share a two-sentence teaser from the book they are reading or featuring. Please remember to include the name of the book and the author. You can share your teaser in a comment below, or with a comment or link at the Teaser Tuesday site, where you can find the official rules for this weekly event.

Mailbox Monday: Bitter Cry, Perfect Meals, Tana French

Mailbox Monday! A show and tell for the books that came your way last week. I got three new books, what about you?



Bitter Cry by S. L. Stoner, a Sage Adair historical mystery. This is the eighth mystery in the series set in 1902 in Portland and the Pacific Northwest, featuring Sage Adair, a secret operative in the early days of organized labor.

From the back cover:

Night fog drives a young newsboy into a seedy saloon where his appearance catapults Sage Adair into a world of painful memories, child exploitation and frantic searches for missing loved ones.

In Search of the Perfect Meal: A Collection of the Best Food Writing of Roy Andries de Groot, edited by Lorna Sass. I haven't come across de Groot before, but I love vintage food writing, and this sounds like my perfect cup of tea!

De Groot was a cookbook author, book writer, and gourmet in residence" on the Today Show. The book description says: "Essays describe the author's childhood, exotic foods, favorite restaurants, secrets of dining, wines and spirits."




The Trespasser by Tana French. I've only read the first novel in Tana French's Dublin Murder Squad series, so it will be a long time before I get around to The Trespasser, the sixth book in the series. But I found a copuy on the Take One/Leave One shelf at the BnB we staued in on our New Englang vacation last week, so I left the book I finished and took this copy because it was so tempting. It inspires me to read The Likeness, the second book in the series.

Thanks for joining me for Mailbox Monday, a weekly "show & tell" blog event where participants share the books they acquired the week before. Visit the Mailbox Monday website to find links to all the participants' posts and read more about Books that Caught our Eye.

Mailbox Monday is graciously hosted by Leslie of Under My Apple Tree, Serena of Savvy Verse & Wit, and Martha of Reviews by Martha's Bookshelf.

Favorite Author: Jim Harrison

I found Jim Harrison when he wrote a food column for Esquire magazine called The Raw and the Cooked. I thought he was a genius. When I figured out he wrote novels, I gobbled them up like his characters go through brook trout and whiskey. I had a small clique of similarly obsessed friends and have happy memories of discussing the characters and ideas over long, Harrison-inspired dinner parties when we were all in our late 20s.

The Road Home is in my permanent Top 10 Favorite Novels list. It is one of the very few book I've read multiple times (three). Harrison will always be high on my list of favorite authors, at the top on any given day. 

A few of his later books (True North and Returning to Earth) didn't "rattle my brainpan" (to use a Harrison expression) like the earlier books did. They were repetitive and a little tired. Still, I enjoyed them the way I enjoy music from a favorite band even if some of the songs sound the same. Variations on a theme sound sweet, especially when they are familiar. And his more recent "faux mysteries," The Great Leader and The Big Seven, were much more lively.

Here is the list of Harrison's prose books, from most recent to oldest. I have read them all and am now making my way through a very big book of his collected poetry.

A Really Big Lunch: The Roving Gourmand on Food and Life
The Ancient Minstrel
The Big Seven
The River Swimmer 
The Great Leader
The Farmer's Daughter (reviewed here)
The English Major (reviewed here)
Returning to Earth
The Summer He Didn't Die
True North
Off to the Side: A Memoir
The Beast God Forgot to Invent
The Road Home
Julip
The Raw and the Cooked: Adventures of a Roving Gourmand
Just Before Dark
The Woman Lit By Fireflies
Dalva
Sundog
Warlock
Legends of the Fall
Farmer
A Good Day to Die
Wolf

Book Beginning: A Cup of Holiday Fear by Ellie Alexander

BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAYS
THANKS FOR JOINING ME ON FRIDAYS FOR BOOK BEGINNING FUN!

Apologies for not getting my post up yesterday evening!

MY BOOK BEGINNING

They say that the holidays bring people together. Nothing could be truer than in my hometown of Ashland, Oregon, which looks like a scene straight out of a picture postcard.

-- A Cup of Holiday Fear by Ellie Alexander. This is the latest in Alexander's Bakeshop Mystery series featuring baker, cafe owner, and amateur sleuth Jules Capshaw. A Cup of Holiday Fear is decked out for a holiday cozy, with all the favorite characters gathered at a local inn for a holiday Dickens Feast, only to have one guest end up dead.

From the book description: "It’s Christmastime and everyone is heading to Torte, the most cheerful bakery in town. There’s no place like home for the homicide…"

Please join me every Friday to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires. Please remember to include the title of the book and the author’s name.

EARLY BIRDS & SLOWPOKES: This weekly post goes up Thursday evening for those who like to get their posts up and linked early on. But feel free to add a link all week.

SOCIAL MEDIA: If you are on Twitter, Instagram, or other social media, please post using the hash tag #BookBeginnings. I try to follow all Book Beginnings participants on whatever interweb sites you are on, so please let me know if I have missed any and I will catch up. Please find me on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

YOUR BOOK BEGINNING




TIE IN: The Friday 56 hosted by Freda's Voice is a natural tie in with this event and there is a lot of cross over, so many people combine the two. The idea is to post a teaser from page 56 of the book you are reading and share a link to your post. Find details and the Linky for your Friday 56 post on Freda’s Voice.

MY FRIDAY 56

"I think we're on to something here. If bacon grease coffee shows up on the Merry Windsor menu after Richard tries it at Torte we'll have hard evidence that he only lurks around the bakeshop to try and pilfer our ideas."

Now there's a funny plan.

Teaser Tuesday Trifecta: Two Memoirs & a Beer Cozy

I missed teasing last Tuesday because I was visiting family in Brooklyn. So I'm making up for it with a Teaser Tuesday Trifecta this week.

First, to celebrate Nonfiction November, I have two memoirs:

Maybe just the practice of coming here has been my transformation. Somehow my long personal aversion to all the apparatus of preaching and saving has fallen away, and I'm able simply to sit here and receive.

-- The Mountains of Paris: How Awe and Wonder Rewrote My Life by David Oates. Oates spent a winter and spring living in Paris. In his new memoir, he writes about how the art, music, architecture, and Notre Dame in particular shifted the trajectory of his spiritual journey.

From the back cover:

In long years of mountaineering, Oates fought the self-loathing that had infused him as the gay kid in the Baptist pew. And in The Mountains of Paris, he ascends to a place of wonder.

The next night at the Easter Vigil after Father had sung the Exsultet, and I approached the lectern to read, I looked in his eyes. It was a split second, but I could see how excited he got.

-- Celibate by Maria Giura. Giura fell in love with a Catholic priest and writes about their complicated, angry relationship in her new memoir.

From the back cover:

Celibate focuses on her ten-year struggle to let go of this priest, to heal from her childhood, and to finally embrace her true calling.

And, as we head into the holidays, a cozy beer-themed mystery set in the Bavariana town of Leavenworth, Washington sounded perfect.

After the tour, I poured the group a tasting tray and had them put their newfound beer education to the test. I smiled as they took turns holding each tasting glass to their nose before sipping.

-- Beyond a Reasonable Stout by Ellie Alexander. This is the third mystery in Alexander's Sloan Kraus series featuring a brewer Sloan and her sidekick Garrett Strong.

From the back cover:

Alexander has created an appealing cast of characters and a lovely setting for them to live in. Best of all, she treats the reader to a fascinating look at the skill and artistry involved in brewing craft beer.

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by The Purple Booker. Participants share a two-sentence teaser from the book they are reading or featuring. Please remember to include the name of the book and the author. You can share your teaser in a comment below, or with a comment or link at the Teaser Tuesday site, where you can find the official rules for this weekly event.