BBAW Day 4: Here's to Good Reads ~ Spread the Seeds of Love!!

 

Welcome to day 4 of Book Blogger Appreciation Week 2012! Today's topic is pimping a book that you feel needs more recognition! 

Geez, this is a tough decision to make mainly, because I've read way too many great books over the years that deserve more recognition. With that said, I am unable to select just a single book to "pimp" in today's post! 

Instead, I am choosing to focus on several books that I've read prior to 2012 and have not yet shared on my blog prior to today. 

The first three books are works of fiction and the last two books are nonfiction.

The Sacred Well by Antoinette May 

I read this novel in 2011 and it quickly became one of my favorite reads of 2011. The writing and storytelling are both superb! Do you love historical novels that weave the past and present day together? If so, then The Sacred Well may be the perfect novel for you! The following is an overview of The Sacred Well from the Barnes & Noble website:

A young reporter in 1923, Alma Reed accompanies archaeologists to the ruins of Chichen Itza, where a fortune in Mayan artifacts has been stolen from a sacrificial well. It's believed a curse was unleashed by the theft—yet the career-making story it offers the ambitious journalist seems a godsend. It also leads her to a passionate love affair with revolutionary governor Felipe Carrillo Puerto. But when fate darkens their lives and damns them as doomed political pawns, Alma can't help but wonder if the curse is not, in fact, very real.

In another century, another writer is fascinated by Alma's tragic story. Drawn restlessly to Yucatán—and away from the stifling needs of her desperately ill partner—Sage Sanborn is tempted by her growing feelings for David, a scientist who encourages her to delve deeper into Alma's history. And in this ancient place of mystery and spirits, Sage must make an impossible decision that will forever change the course of her life.

The School of Essential Ingredients by Erica Bauermeister 

I read this novel in 2010 and it quickly became one of my favorite reads of 2010. The writing and storytelling are once again superb! The following is an overview of The School of Essential Ingredients from the Barnes & Noble website:

A "heartbreakingly delicious" national bestseller about a chef, her students, and the evocative lessons that food teaches about life

Once a month, eight students gather in Lillian's restaurant for a cooking class. Among them is Claire, a young woman coming to terms with her new identity as a mother; Tom, a lawyer whose life has been overturned by loss; Antonia, an Italian kitchen designer adapting to life in America; and Carl and Helen, a long-married couple whose union contains surprises the rest of the class would never suspect..

The students have come to learn the art behind Lillian's soulful dishes, but it soon becomes clear that each seeks a recipe for something beyond the kitchen. And soon they are transformed by the aromas, flavors, and textures of what they create.

The Doorbells of Florence by Andrew Losowsky  

This was one of the quirkiest books I read in 2011! I loved this book because the author combines pictures of doorbells taken in Florence, Italy and then writes imaginary stories about who the occupants are and what they might be like. This makes for an interesting and unique subject/concept for a book.

Here's a link on Barnes & Noble for The Doorbells of Florence by Andrew Losowsky.
  
The Scent of God by Beryl Singleton Bissell 

This is an amazing memoir! I read it in 2009 and would highly recommend it!  The following is an overview of The Scent of God from the Barnes & Noble website:

When Beryl Bissell entered a cloistered convent in New Jersey, she believed that God had called her to this way of life. At first blissfully happy, within a year she became prey to obsessive compulsions. Her vocation at risk, she overcame these disorders, and persevered for another ten years until returning home to Puerto Rico to care for her ailing father. 

Thrust into this sensual environment, she was drawn to Padre Vittorio, a handsome Italian priest, and underwent a belated coming of age. For the next three years, she struggled to reconcile human desire with spiritual longing. In spare but lyric language, Bissell weaves a powerful story of love, death, guilt, and redemption-a pilgrimage that reaches beyond dogma to personal truth and evokes a transformation that changes not only Beryl but the lives of those whom she most loves.

Tea & Bee's Milk: Our Year in a Turkish Village by Karen & Ray Gilden

This is the real life adventure of one American couple's decision to ditch the rat race in the fall of 1995 and live abroad for an entire year in the country of Turkey!! 

Karen & Ray Gilden's year of living in Turkey is an amazing one that I'm quite envious of. Their story kinda makes me want to ditch the rat race myself and live somewhere foreign and exotic for an entire year. What a magical experience they had! 

I read this book on my Amazon Kindle in 2009. I believe there is a paperback version of this book through Amazon for those that don't have an eReader.

Here's a link on Amazon for Tea & Bee's Milk: Our Year in a Turkish Village by Karen & Ray Gilden.

Please share with us your one must read book!!