Foodies Read 2

I've felt like they have been giving out crazy pills at work for the past two weeks, but no one offered me any, so there I sit--the only sane person within view.  I'm thinking, "I would at least like to have had a choice." 

What helps me retain my sanity is reading and writing, as you probably know by now, and frankly lots of time spent by myself (with Ricky near-by, of course).  Exercise helps, too.  After riding my stationary bike this morning, I decided to mow the front lawn. Mowing with our lawn mower constitutes exercise, even though our yard is small.

Our Old School Lawn Mower--I love it!

I also relaxed earlier this week by doing some quick and easy reading.  While looking through the stack of books I purchased at the annual Centenary College Book Sale, I found a book that fit into my Foodies Read Book Challenge and read it in one sitting.  The Friendship Cake, by Lynne Hinton is about five women from the fictional town of Hope Springs, North Carolina who come together to develop a church cookbook.  The author Lynne Hinton is the pastor of a United Church of Christ Church, and she uses this relatively short book, the first in her Hope Springs (eternal?!) book series, as a platform to touch on universal themes,   There is diversity as one woman is African-American and must deal with latent bigotry that surfaces with teen pregnancy and mixed marriage; one of the group loves a woman though no labels are used here to depict gender diversity; and there is age diversity. 

Hinton also incorporates themes of life and death, giving and receiving, loneliness and loss--all faced and dealt with as the women bond, while reluctantly pursuing the cookbook project.  The recipes given in the book are extremely basic, but maybe they are so familiar because I'm from Virginia where recipes, such as sweet potato souffle casserole, boiled custard, banana pudding are standards.

Hinton's writing is adequate, she has some big names doing promotional blurbs for her cover, and her books have been successful.  This is the first book in a series about Hope Springs.  Readers of Judy Christie's Green series might also like this series, though I think Christie is the better writer.  For more information about Shreveport author, Judy Christie, click here.