It’s Time Travel Tuesday where we revisit old reviews…

From June 13, 2012:

1) The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown. Decent book. Worth reading but hardly mind blowing. It is the story of three sisters, all names after Shakespearean characters, as their father is a Shakespeare expert. Of course, there is a ton of references the Great Bard and his works. The book is easy to read, enjoyable but is a bit contrived for my taste.
2) The Night Strangers by Chris Bohjalian. FANTASTIC!!! I loved his book Midwives, which is one of his first books. Since then, I haven’t loved any of his subsequent works as much since. Until now. This book is wonderful. It is engaging, very well written, and a fascinating topic. I was throughly engaged throughout the entire book.. I read it in 2 days and loved it from start to finish! Highly recommend!!!

It’s Foodie Pen Pal Reveal Day!

What is Foodie Pen Pal, you ask??? It is a fabulous program created by Lindsay over at TheLeanGreenBean.com

Every month, each Foodie Pen Pal (FPP) is paired with another FPP from anywhere in the USA.     You send a package of food (after corresponding with your penpal to see if they have allergies, interests, preferences or dislikes) to your penpal and someone else sends one to you.

This month my FPP was Elise from LittleMissFit.  She sent me a fabulous package full of wonderful treats!!  Here is the first picture that I attempted to take of her awesome package (that is my nine year old son photo bombing the picture!)

I particularly loved this package because there were lots of wonderful things that I could put into my kids’ lunches.  Mr. Photobomb loves fruit leather and the ones she sent are usually the ones that I would purchase, so between the photobomber and his older sister, those were gone in less than 48 hours.  Photobomber also LOVES fig bars, so, those two were gone within a few days.  My husband ate most of the chocolate (he did let me share) and I consumed almost the entire bag of kettle corn the very first night the package arrived (kettle corn and Survivor is a great pairing!!!)  I don’t know how she knew that I love kettle corn… the woman is psychic.  She also sent some yummy nut butters, which I LOVE, and some packages of hot cocoa and hot cider, which I will save for the 3 days a year that it gets cold here in Florida  Thank you Elise for a fantastic FPP package.

Here is a better picture of Elise’s amazingly psychic package!

Awesome April FPP Package from Elise!

If you want to see what I sent to my April FPP, go to click here.  Jennifer has a really cool blog called gritsandmoxie.  Check it out!!

Here is some more info on the Foodie Pen Pal program!

-On the 5th of every month, you will receive your penpal pairing via email. It will be your responsibility to contact your penpal and get their mailing address and any other information you might need like allergies or dietary restrictions.

-You will have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail. On the last day of the month, you will post about the goodies you received from your penpal! 
-The boxes are to be filled with fun foodie things, local food items or even homemade treats! The spending limit is $15. The box must also include something written. This can be anything from a note explaining what’s in the box, to a fun recipe…use your imagination!
-You are responsible for figuring out the best way to ship your items depending on their size and how fragile they are. (Don’t forget about flat rate boxes!)
-Foodie Penpals is open to blog readers as well as bloggers. If you’re a reader and you get paired with a blogger, you are to write a short guest post for your penpal to post on their blog about what you received. If two readers are paired together, neither needs to worry about writing a post for that month. 
-Foodie Penpals is open to US, Canadian & European residents.  Please note, Canadian Residents will be paired with other Canadians only. Same with Europeans. We’ve determined things might get too slow and backed up if we’re trying to send foods through customs across the border from US to Canada and vice versa. 

If you are interested in FoodiePenPals, sign up at theleangreenbean.com!  Try it, you’ll like it!!!

It’s Wednesday and it’s time for… What’s in My Bookshelf???

Today’s post will explore the Top 10 favorite Classics, that I still keep in my bookshelf because I love them so much.

My  Favorite Classics list, in no particular order:

1) The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne- classic story about love, shame, sin, adultery, revenge and death.  All HBO series can trace their roots back to The Scarlet Letter.  Even though the language can be challenging at times, this is an amazing book, full of fascinating characters and sinfully intriguing plot lines.  Don’t just read the spark notes (or the Wikipedia summary), read the book!

2) Rebecca by Daphne DuMaurier – This is an amazing book, full of psychological intrigue, mystery and love.  Rebecca is narrated by the second Mrs. deWinter, who, due to the deeds of her housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers, feels drastically inferior to the first (and now-dead) Mrs. deWinter, Rebecca.  Over the course of the story, we begin to learn the truth about the character, the life and death of Rebecca deWinter, who, of course, was not as she seemed.  All is revealed in the end, but it is not the ending that makes the book great; rather it is the journey that leads you there.  If you like psychological thrillers, put down your latest Jonathan Kellerman novel and pick up Rebecca.

3) East of Eden by John Steinbeck – I know I said this list was in no particular order, but if I had to pick my all time favorite classic novel, East of Eden would be it!  This book doesn’t read like a classic, the language is current (at least current for a girl who grew up in the 80s) and the story is timeless.  Based on the story of Cain and Abel, East of Eden tells the tale of two brothers, Caleb and Aron, and their struggle for the affection of their father (not surprisingly named Adam), as well as the backstory of Adam and his brother Charles.   There are a host of other interesting characters, including the mother that abandoned the boys (Cathy/Kate… her backstory is fascinating too), Aron’s love Abra, a cook named Lee and so many more.    Most people consider Grapes of Wrath to be Steinbeck’s finest work, but I would argue East of Eden every time.

4) My Antonia by Willa Cather  Classic novel of the American west, written as a novel in five books.  The book tells the story of Antonia (accent on the first letter), through the eyes of the narrator, Jim Burden, with some of the story focusing primarily on him.  I read this book in ninth grade (long time ago.. I’m old) and it has stayed with me ever since.

5) Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell – My mother’s favorite.  This book isn’t actually in my bookshelf, as it has been in my daughter’s closet for years as I have been begging her to read it (she is now 16 and she still hasn’t read it, sigh..)  I believe I have previously discussed how I read this book in the 6th grade as a deal with my mother.  I would read Gone With the Wind and then she would let me read Forever, the soft-porn novel by Judy Blume.  I read GWTW in 3 days… all 1003 pages of it, just to get to Forever as fast as I could.  Frightening.  Despite this auspicious beginning, I must admit I love GWTW.  It was a much better book than Forever.  And.. it was WAY better than the movie.  Good movie, great book.  A must read for all!

6) Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut – I can’t have a top 10 classic list without a Vonnegut novel, as I have read everything he ever published.   I know that Slaughterhouse 5 is considered his masterpiece but that was one of my least favorite Vonnegut works.  Breakfast of Champions is my all-time favorite.  I read this in my late teens, while visiting my grandparents and I can still picture myself lying on in the blue room, on the bed, laughing out loud.  Any book tht regularly inserts the phrase, “wide open beaver”, is the book for me.  Whether you love Vonnegut or not, read Breakfast of Champions.  But not with your breakfast, for if you are like me, you might choke on your food as you laugh and snort out loud.

7) Exodus by Leon Uris –  I’m Jewish, so it is almost a requirement for me to love Exodus, a novel about the founding of the state of Israel.   What nice Jewish girl doesn’t love the story of the dashing and very masculine, Ari Ben Canaan, as he hatches a plot to lead a group of Jewish refugees from a British detention camp in Cyprus to Palestine. Played by Paul Newman in the movie (a decent adaptation, in my opinion), Ari Ben Canaan is the ultimate in Jewish hotties.  He is the kind of guy you want on your kibbutz!  Exodus is even more relevant now than when I first read it twenty years ago, as the threat to the state of Israel from its neighbors continues to become more pronounced.  Jewish or not, read Exodus, then grab some falafel, watch the movie and toast the state of Israel.

8) To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee – Amazing novel by one-time author Harper Lee.  The classic story of Scout, Atticus Finch, Boo Radley and Tom Robinson, To Kill A Mockingbird is a courtroom drama, psychological thriller and study in racism all rolled into one.  A timeless classic.  If you haven’t already been required to read it sometime in your schooling, read this immediately.  (The film is quite good too! Gregory Peck in his heyday… awesome!)

9) Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte – An epic novel telling the story of the eponymous main character, from her abusive childhood, to her education, to her time as governess at Thornfield, where she falls in love with her employer, Rochester, to her time with the Rivers family, and finally to her ultimate reunion with her star-crossed love, Rochester.  All works out in the end, but not before some fire-induced drama.  Considered a novel ahead of its time when published, Jane Eyre, now can seem outdated in its language and themes, but at its core, it is a beautifully written, timeless love story.

10) In Cold Blood by Truman Capote – Move over Kitty Kelley, In Cold Blood is by far the best true-crime novel ever written.  Telling the story of senseless murders in Kansas, In Cold Blood goes far beyond the tabloid-like writings usually surrounding media heavy murder stories to delve into the facts of the murders, the details of the crime, the stories of the killers and the aftermath of this senseless act.  It’s hard to love a book with such a disturbing topic, however, in In Cold Blood, Capote delivers a riveting story, without exploitation of sensationalism.  I’m not usually a true crime fan (or any kind of crime fan), but In Cold Blood in still one of my all time favorite books.

If you are ready to move beyond the Twilight series and into the classics, I hope the above list will help you choose which book(s) will be right for you.  Feel free to leave a comment as to which are your favorite classics, whether or not they are on my list!  Would love to hear your favorites!

****  I can’t believe that I forgot to put Chinua Achebe’s classic novel about African culture in my list!  Achebe died recently and his book, Things Fall Apart is one of my all time favorites.  It is an amazing story of African culture and the changes brought about by Western intervention.  READ THIS BOOK!!!

It’s a short one today….

From March 11, 2012:

I have read 2 books in the last week. 
1) Full Service by Scotty Bowers… Interesting memoir about a man who lived in Hollywood during the heyday of the film industry and basically was the Heidi Fleiss of his time. I won’t go into too much detail about his exploits, but the book certainly exposes a lot of sexual dirt about a lot of dead actors and actresses. Poorly written, but a good tabloid read!  
2) Elizabeth Street by Laurie Fabiano. A novel based on the life of the author’s grandmother. Set in the lower east side of NYC and Sicily in the early 1900s. Another one of my kindle deals, this book was surprisingly enjoyable and easy to read. I loved the setting and I loved that it was fiction based on fact. It had very likable and well developed characters and there was a realism to it that is often missing in novels. I recommend it, especially to people interested in historical fiction, or for people interested in the history of Italian-Americans. 

It is a comprehensive Time Travel Tuesday Today!  5 Reviews from August 8, 2012…

Book Review…. 5 books in 5 days while cruising from Bayonne, NJ to Bermuda and back!

1) Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness by Alexandra Fuller – I guess I thought that this book would be appropriate given the inordinate amount of cocktails consumed by people on cruises, however, I don’t drink and the book turned out to be a memoir, not a guide to frothy, fruity cocktails, so maybe not the best choice?!?! Evidently this book was the follow up memoir to Fuller’s popular first memoir, Don’t Let’s Go To the Dogs Tonight. I never read this one, and therefore, was sometimes confused as to some of the relationships in the story. I would say that this book was decent, moderately well written; it is set in Africa and is the story of the author’s childhood and family, which makes it somewhat interesting. Maybe if I had read the first book, I would have enjoyed it more???

2) The Rules of Civility by Amor Towles – Great book! This book is on my book group’s list of potentials for the coming months so I say to the ladies in my book group…yes, yes, yes!! We should all read this!!! Rules of Civility is set in NYC (my fave, as you, all my friends should know) right around the time of the Great Depression. Narrated by a young unmarried, working woman, the book details her complicated friendship with her roommate, Eve, and a young man that they meet out one evening. I won’t go into more detail, except to say that the book is engaging, well-written, and truly delves into the intricacies of love and relationships. Read this!!

3) Poser: My Life in 23 Yoga Poses by Claire Dederer. Well… I am a yoga fan so I really enjoyed this book. Written in the same style as Eat, Pray, Love, this memoir details an approximately 10 year period in the author’s life, as well as some flashback stories. She uses different yoga poses as metaphors for different events, traumas or celebrations in her marriage, as a mom or young children, in her work environment, etc. I really enjoyed seeing how she wove yoga into her life, wove her life around yoga and brought yoga into the lives of others. This is NOT a crunchy, super spiritual, everybody love each other book. This is the story of a real life woman, struggling with juggling career, marriage and mommyhood (sound familiar, anyone???), who uses yoga and a means to escape for a few hours a week. That’s what we say in yoga… “this is your practice and your time!” So, to all my fellow yogis out there… check this one out!!

4) Shadow of the Night by Deborah Harkness. This is the sequel to the highly popular and utterly fantastic novel, The Discovery of WItches. Unfortunately, this book was not as utterly fantastic as the first. In following with most book series that I have read, each book gets progressively less interesting, more verbose and intricately and unnecessarily detailed as the series goes on (see The Outlander series as a good example). Shadow of the Night picks up where Discovery of WItches left off, with the protaganists (one witch and one vampire, who are a couple) time traveling back to Elizabethan England. Despite the number of historical figures present in the novel (Christopher Marlowe has a starring role.. as a daemon), the book is medicore and plodding at best for the first half. If you can make it through to the second half of the book, it does get much more interesting.. Interesting enough that I will probably read Book Number 3. Sigh…

5) Garden of Lies by Eileen Goudge. This book was a surprisingly pleasant read. I would have to file this book under my personal classification of “toilet reading” (known as airplane reading by people with more class than I…) In other words, one would read books such as this just for fun, a quick read, with no real interest in gaining anything from it other than mindless entertainment (such as Jackie Collins, etc..) This is a “switched at birth” story with of course, painful consequences and, because this is toilet reading, tons of coincidences that bring all the main characters together in unrealistic situations and somehow, everything ends up in a neat little box in the end. A woman is pregnant, there is a fire at the hospital where she gives birth. She escapes the fire with someone else’s baby and because she doesn’t want her husband to realize her baby is the product of an affair, she takes the other woman’s (who conveniently dies in the fire) baby. Chaos (but neatly tied up chaos) ensues… A pleasant read, if not the most intellectually stimulating. 

The best of the five… The Rules of Civility, by far!  Read this first.  Then, if you are a yogi, check out Poser; anyone who loves yoga will love this book

I am my mother.  I have her eyes, her body shape (but lucky for me, in the large version…sarcasm), her annoyingly endearing habit of repeating herself 800 times on any given topic, and now, her fascination with The Holocaust. In my past reviews, I have made mention of my mother’s obsession with all things Holocaust related.  Evidently, I am my mother’s daughter as I currently seem to maintain some fascination with the topic (although, in my defense, I share a Kindle account with my mother, so I have access to all the books that she downloads).  Today’s Random Review feeds this obsession.  Crossing the Borders of Time: A True Love Story of War, Exile and Love Reclaimed is a biography of sorts, a star-crossed love story with the Holocaust as a background.  Written by Leslie Maitland, Crossing the Borders of Time: A True Love Story of War, Exile and Love Reclaimed is as the title suggests, a love story, beginning at the cusp of World War II and continuing into the present.  Maitland tells the story of her mother, who, as a young Jewish girl in Europe at the beginning of WWII, meets and falls in love with a young Gentile man.  This religious rift would have been enough to eventually tear them apart as the war progressed.  However, as fate would have it, Maitland’s mother, Janine, and her family, were one of the last families to successfully leave her country at the outset of the war, and therefore, she was separated from her love, Roland, by more than religious faction. Janine and her family fled to Cuba, and then to America, while Roland stayed behind in Europe.  War made communication difficult and through many miles, mishaps and misunderstandings, Janine and Roland, despite their original youthful pledges to each other, both moved on, married other people and carved out their own lives.  Many decades later, Maitland herself decided to go on a search for her mother’s one-time love and (SPOILER!!!), amazingly, finds him.  SPOILER!!!!  As the title suggests, love was reclaimed.  And that’s all I am going to say about that.

All in all, I enjoyed this book.  It was fairly well written, and the story was intriguing.  Especially for those of us that love a good love story with the Holocaust as a backdrop.

It’s Fantastic 4 Friday!  In true Fantastic 4 spirit, today I will reveal my favorite book (so far) in each of the Fantastic 4 categories!

Drum roll please……

1. Food:  Tender at the Bone by Ruth Reichl.  My all-time favorite food-related memoir (and on my top 20 list of all-time faves as well!), Tender at the Bone is the first book in a trilogy of memoirs by Ruth Reichl, former New York Times food critic.  The story of her life is so crazy, so funny and so interesting that even if she had never become a well-regarded food personality, her memoir would still be fascinating.  Reichl is an accomplished and adept writer; she writes with humor and pathos, and she intersperses her chapters with recipes for delicious food.  All three books in her memoir series are fabulous, but Tender at the Bone is still my all-time favorite.
2. Fitness (and Health):  Crazy, Sexy Diet by Kris Carr.  This is my current favorite book to recommend to my clients (I am a fitness/yoga instructor and Holistic Health Coach in my non-book reviewing life).  This book book is a creative, hilarious treatise on how the author has kept cancer at bay (she was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer at age 31) by living and eating clean.  Although the book contains recipes and menu suggestions, this is way more that a cookbook, or even a diet book.  Crazy, Sexy Diet goes into in depth detail (but in an amazingly readable and understandable manner) about how are bodies work and why eating and living clean treats and fights disease and contributes to a more healthy and vibrant life.  Kris Carr writes with such intelligence and wit, that if she weren’t an author and advocate, I believe we would be seeing her on Comedy Central.  Move over Chelsea Handler, here comes Kris Carr!
3. Flirty:  Fifty Shades of Grey.  Enough said.  Click here for my original review.
4. Film:  In my recent review of Life of Pi, I gave a short list of books that, in my opinion, have had the best film adaptations to date.  I believe that The Godfather by Mario Puzo should top the list.  The Godfather, and its sequel, The Godfather, Part 2 both won the Academy Award for Best Picture, and are generally regarded as classic films.  While many people have seen the movies, the book is less well known.  The book The Godfather, however, is a fantastic novel.  It is wonderfully written, with fascinating characters (mostly the same characters that are in the movie), and a compelling and engaging plot line.  In the book, as opposed to the movie, Puzo was able to provide more detail into each character and plot, some of which was inevitably lost in the movie translation.  If you are a fan of The Godfather movies (you know who you are!), read the book.  You won’t regret it.

Bare Pairing!!!

In the movie, The Godfather, the character of Clemenza shows Michael how to make spaghetti sauce.  Here is the recipe (courtesy of food.com):

2 tablespoons olive oil
3 garlic cloves, chopped
2 (28 ounce) cans tomatoes (whole, crushed or chopped)
2 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste
3 Italian sausages, grilled and sliced
1 lb meatball, cooked (use your favorite recipe)
red wine, just a splash
1/4 cup sugar (or to taste)
Directions:

Heat the oil over medium heat in a large pot.

Add garlic and cook for a few minutes. Do not let the garlic burn.

Add tomatoes and tomato paste. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring continuously so that a relatively smooth consistence is reached.

Add sausages and meatballs and stir until the meat is coated.

Add a splash of red wine, then the sugar according to taste.

Reduce heat to medium-low and let simmer for a minimum of 20 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent scorching.

Serve by ladling over cooked pasta.

Tip: It’s not in the movie, but a teaspoon each of basil and oregano is suggested.

Tip 2: If you’re using canned whole tomatoes, draining them and then crushing them by hand will result in a chunky sauce. Canned crushed tomatoes will create a slightly thinner sauce, while canned chopped tomatoes will result in a thicker sauce.

So far, I have kept my promise to complete a review everyday this week.  New day, new review….

Today’s review is covers The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult.  I must admit, I am a Jodi Picoult fan.  I recognize that some of her books are better than others (at least in my opinion), but like Sue Grafton, I consistently enjoy every tome that she writes.  Her genre is unique; she writes novels in which the core conflict addresses some contemporary issue, with the characters usually having to make some sort of ethical and often, life-changing decision.  She has written about school shootings, infanticide, designer babies, molestation, family dynamics, faith, ad infinitum.  In The Storyteller, Picoult tackles the issue of euthanasia, interspersed with long-held secrets, family guilt and forgiveness and my mother’s favorite topic, The Holocaust.  Sage Singer is a baker, a non-practicing Jewish, grandchild of a Holocaust survivor, and survivor of an accident that killed her mother and left her scarred.  She works nights to avoid human contact, and when she meets an older German gentleman in her grief support group, she is surprised at their burgeoning friendship.  When this gentlemen, Josef, confides in her his Nazi past and then asks her to kill him, Sage is forced to walk the line between punishment and justice, between absolution and clemency.  What makes this Picoult story unique is that is it told in three interwoven parts; the story of Sage Singer in present time, and the story of Josef’s background,  and fantastical tale of a girl, demons. magic and love.  Brillant!  I loved it, my mother loved it (and not just because it was a Holocaust story, but I am sure that helped….)

So… What’s in my Bookshelf??  I know you are all curious as to what books I have hanging out in my bookshelf; which books amongst all that I have read over the years have I liked and valued so much that they have escaped the biannual purges for Goodwill.  This week’s pick is Expecting Adam: A True Story of Birth, Rebirth and Everyday Magic by Martha Beck.  This book is an extraordinary autobiographical tale of a young, Harvard-educated couple who discover that they are having a child with Down’s Syndrome.  Martha Beck’s pregnancy was difficult from the start.  She struggled with extreme nausea and dehydration, and upon learning that her baby has Down’s Syndrome, is forced to fight the academics at Harvard as they try to convince her not to carry to term.  As her complicated pregnancy continues,  she (and her husband) begin to experience strange occurrences, odd coincidences and even paranormal happenings.  Beck experiences what she calls “The Seeing Thing”, where she can visualize and almost experience things that are happening to her husband at that moment while he is half a world away on a business trip to Asia. She has a craving for something and miraculously, a friend shows up with a bag of goodies, filled with things about which she had been dreaming.  She feels a spiritual presence during a potentially fatal apartment fire, which leads her and her young daughter to safety.  A self-proclaimed academic and atheist prior to her pregnancy with Adam, the extraordinary experiences that she had during her pregnancy and the extraordinary child (and now man) to which she gives birth challenges everything that she had previously believed to be true.  Focusing primarily on the story of her pregnancy and the remarkable spiritual phenomena that occurred therein, but also depicting   the amazing presence that Adam is in her life at present, Martha Beck’s beautifully written and  heart-rending story is a must read for all.  Whether you are faith-based or science-based, whether you are a skeptic or a believer, whether you are a parent or not, Expecting Adam will draw you in with its incredible message.  This is not some funky, new-age, let-me-tell-you-what-to-believe book. This is a true story of a woman, pregnant with an extraordinary child, who, in a heartfelt, down-to-earth and funny memoir, tells the tale of her miracle.  Amazing… read this!

It’s Time Travel Tuesday, where we revisit old reviews that I posted previously on Facebook.  This week’s entry is from January 22, 2012.

Just read The Paris Wife: A Novel by Paula McLain. I read it for one of my (two) book groups. It is about the first marriage of Ernest Hemingway and his time in Paris, the writing of The Sun Also Rises, and the noted luminaries with whom he and his wife socialized. My critique: it is not the most well written book I have ever read, but it is engaging, the characters are interesting (especially since they are based on real people) and the time period is fascinating. I would recommend it as a pleasant read, certainly interesting to Hemingway fans or anyone interested in that era in literature.

I stand by this review.  Decent book.  Worth reading.  Not terrible noteworthy in its writing.  Kind of like cold pizza, good enough but not as good as a pie right out of the oven.  So, next time you are having a lazy day and eating good pizza right from the fridge, pick up The Paris Wife; it’s enjoyable enough and you won’t miss anything if your pizza-sauce laden fingers blot out a few words.  

It’s April Fools Day and here at barebookreviews we are celebrating the new month with Foodie Pen Reveal Day!  What is Foodie Pen Pal, you ask??? It is a fabulous program created by Lindsay over at TheLeanGreenBean.com

Every month, each Foodie Pen Pal (FPP) is paired with another FPP from anywhere in the USA.     You send a package of food (after corresponding with your penpal to see if they have allergies, interests, preferences or dislikes) to your penpal and someone else sends one to you.

This month my FPP was Heather from FrugalSouthernLiving.  She sent me a fantastic package, filled not only with yummy goodies, but also a plethora of coupons for healthy items!  I told Heather that I need help in the frugal department (anyone who knows me, knows that frugality is not my strong suit), so she sent me a whole envelope of fabulous coupons!!

And…she sent all my goodies in a fabulous pink box!  It was like receiving a designer package!  I had told Heather that I was a “clean eater” and she worked really hard to create a “designer” package just for me!  The fruit chips were (notice the “were”, my daughter and I ate them the minute they arrived) dried pineapple pieces.  So delish!  I haven’t tried the V8 drinks yet, but my nine year has been begging for them (I really don’t want to see my already very overactive nine year old boy in the aftermath of an energy drink!) The granola bars were very good and I LOVE LOVE LOVE the dark chocolate peanut butter from Peanut Butter & Co.  One of my faves!  I love their products.  She also sent exotic potato chips (also one of my faves, I usually get the TerraChips, but this is a different brand… I can’t wait to try them!!), and awesome Newman’s Own Pineapple Salsa.  I had mentioned that chips and salsa were one of my guilty pleasures and Heather must have really wanted me to indulge this month!!  Thank you Heather for a phenomenal package!!

Here are some more details about the program, taken directly from Lindsay, the Lean Green Bean!

And now it’s time for some details about Foodie Penpals.  In case you’re a new reader, here’s a reminder of what the program is all about:

-On the 5th of every month, you will receive your penpal pairing via email. It will be your responsibility to contact your penpal and get their mailing address and any other information you might need like allergies or dietary restrictions.

-You will have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail. On the last day of the month, you will post about the goodies you received from your penpal! 
-The boxes are to be filled with fun foodie things, local food items or even homemade treats! The spending limit is $15. The box must also include something written. This can be anything from a note explaining what’s in the box, to a fun recipe…use your imagination!
-You are responsible for figuring out the best way to ship your items depending on their size and how fragile they are. (Don’t forget about flat rate boxes!)
-Foodie Penpals is open to blog readers as well as bloggers. If you’re a reader and you get paired with a blogger, you are to write a short guest post for your penpal to post on their blog about what you received. If two readers are paired together, neither needs to worry about writing a post for that month. 
-Foodie Penpals is open to US, Canadian & European residents.  Please note, Canadian Residents will be paired with other Canadians only. Same with Europeans. We’ve determined things might get too slow and backed up if we’re trying to send foods through customs across the border from US to Canada and vice versa. 

If you are interested in FoodiePenPals, sign up at theleangreenbean.com!  Try it, you’ll like it!!!

As a personal challenge this week, I plan to attempt to write a book review each day!  So, make sure to check out BareBookReviews everyday this week and look for something special on Sunday!!