(Dolen Perkins-Valdez, hardback). From the title you might think this is a book about the s-x word. It’s not. By a long shot. But the story, set in about 1852, is about a black slave woman, and her somewhat misguided “love” for her master. About the children she bore him, under the eagle eye of the master’s wife. But it’s all tied together with a yearly journey made to a place called Tawawa House, a rural inn of sorts in southern Ohio (a free State), that for some years allowed white slave owners to stay at the resort in rustic cottages with their black slaves, as couples. This place existed, according to the author’s afterword, and finally closed because some of the regulars (white couples who stayed in the main house) didn’t fancy this concubine business going on out in the woods. It’s about Lizzie’s relationships with the other slave women, about their desire to run to safety through the local underground, about them secretly meeting some free blacks, finding out more about abolition, and about the hardships all these black mistresses endured, and how little their lives were valued. A real stunning book. (I was sent this book as a perk from Harper Collins – because I had mentioned The Help. No strings attached – I could choose to mention this book, or not, here on my blog. I’m glad to because it’s a very good read.)
(Jamie Ford, on my Kindle). A poignant story about a Chinese-American, growing up in Seattle at the beginning of World War II. Henry falls in love with a young Japanese girl before her family is interned in a relocation camp. It a very secretive relationship because his parents would highly disapprove. The story goes back to the 40’s and forward to the 1980’s when Henry is in his 50’s and his wife (not the Japanese woman) has just died of cancer. The story pulls you in from the first page, especially when some artifacts are found in the basement of an old hotel which contain personal belongings from several Japanese families who were suddenly taken away back in 1942. You can see where it’s going, can’t you? I heard criticism of this book that it was just a little bit contrived. Halfway through I’m enjoying it very much.
(Kathryn Stockett on my Kindle, an excellent read); 
by Jetta Carleton (Kindle edition, eh); 
by Susan Richards (Kindle edition, good book); 
by Sally Gunning (Kindle edition, very good read)
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(Mario Batali & Gweneth Paltrow); 
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I have the itch to take a trip at the moment, but all things considered, the economy and all, the status of our investments that we live on, well, it’s not in the cards. So I live vicariously through the travel magazines I subscribe to. And in December’s Travel & Leisure they offered a list of “BEST TRAVEL WEBSITES.” So many of them sounded good that I needed to go enter most of them into my bookmarks. But why not share them with you, too. Herewith:
Farecast.com – Predict the ideal moment to buy a ticket
yapta.com – get your money back if a fare drops (only if you have booked a fare directly through an airline)
delaycast.com - find on-time flights at 60 U.S. airports
seatguru.com – snag a seat with the best legroom (I’ve used this site for a couple of years)
insidetrip.com - increase your odds for hassle-free flight (trip quality)
aboutairportparking.com - prime parking at 500 international airports
kayak.com and sidestep.com - get best deals on flights and hotels (both companies now owned by kayak
wegolo.com - book low-fare carriers within Europe
traffic.com - avoid roadblocks in 100 U.S. cities
radio-locator.com - from your PDA or iphone punch in your ZIP and download a list of stations in the area where you are - 14,500 in U.S. and 6,000 international
opentable.com - make reservations here and abroad (8,500 restaurants) – I’ve used it even for local restaurants
seriouseats.com – stay current on the local food scene – an obsessive community of about a million foodies talk about restaurants, recipes, chefs, local markets
tripadvisor.com -reviews of hotels, restaurants, attractions plus 1.3 mil photos too (I’ve used this site for several years when blocking out a trip, mostly for hotel and restaurant reservations)
tvtrip.com - compare hotels in a destination (8,000 properties) via short videos
tripkick.com - pinpoint the best room in a hotel (450 hotels in U.S. only)
uptake.com – search U.S. hotels for theme (romantic, cheap, pet-friendly)
insidetrip.com - organizes flights by price and creates scores based on 12 “pain points” including likelihood of a delay, minimum legroom, etc.
travelpost.com - similar to tripadvisor – user-generated ratings and rankings of hotels, restaurants
urbanspoon.com- only if you have an iphone – provides restaurant recommendations in your neighborhood
ilingo.com - also only for the iphone – download hundreds of useful phrases in foreign languages
i-escape.com – boutique properties with about 1,000 reviews
unusualhotelsoftheworld.com - quirky hotels like igloo in Switzerland, castle in Australia, prison in Turkey, using a colorful interactive map
zicasso.com - custom trip plans (you receive a trip itinerary from a travel agent)
triporama.com - coordinate group travel – great for planning a group or family trip – everybody gets “on board” at the site to make to-do lists, chat, build itineraries
lastminute.com – package deals one week out
tripit.com - create no-fuss online itineraries which can be forwarded via email (includes car, hotel, flight, restuarants, maps, weather conditions and driving directions)
luxurylink.com - bid on over-the-top hotel stays and cruises
quintessentially.com - fulfill singular requests ($1,800 annual membership)
maps.google.com - overall directions (the best of all the competition)
viamichelin.com - driving directions, suggested routes for 61 countries, and in some cases it can be sent to your own GPS
hopstop.com - navigate major U.S. transit systems (bus, subway and taxi) in 6 major U.S. cities
flipkey.com - vacation rentals – 50,000+ listings with photos, maps, ratings and reviews
tripbase.com - destination ideas
luggageconcierge.com - ship your luggage in advance (6-10 days in advance of your trip)
And, the tried and true sites with some new options:
expedia.com - new fare alert tool downloads to your desktop, tracks flights for your desired destination and price range
orbitz.com - new price assurance policy – they monitor any flights you’ve booked up until the day of departure . . . if anyone books the same itinerary at a lower price, Orbitz will send you a cash refund
travelocity.com - new insider’s guide shows you how to find best deals on airfare, hotels, cruises and car rentals with flexible-date shopping and dateless hotel searches
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A year ago: Chocolate Scones (oh yum, yes!)
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