Vase of Broken Flowers is coming this fall!
What would you do in the name of love for a perfect stranger?
When Alexander Villasenor is forced to flee a ruthless military junta, the handsome man must forge a new life in the US. He meets and falls in love with Rose, a beautiful young woman. When trouble follows him to his new haven, he must make painful decisions that will reverberate for decades through the lives of those near and dear.
I’m assembling a small advance reader team for The Vase of Broken Flowers. If you’d like a complimentary advance eBook in exchange for an honest review, please reply and tell me:
• Whether you’re on Goodreads.
• Whether you review on Amazon.
• What historical fiction authors you enjoy.
Send me an email at Gordcope@gmail.com
Preorder the Vase of Broken Flowers eBook on Amazon!
Recipe; Chicken Quesadillas
This is a quick and easy recipe that helps turn leftover chicken into a delicious meal!
Ingredients
1 tablespoon oil
1/2 cup diced red bell pepper
1 clove garlic, minced
¼ cup chopped red onion
1 cup chopped cooked chicken (a rotisserie chicken works great for this)
2 Tsp taco chili seasoning.
3 Tsp water
2 Tsp softened butter (or oil spray).
4 large flour tortillas
3/4 cup shredded cheese
Fresh lime wedges, guacamole, sour cream, for serving
Instructions
Heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add in the red bell pepper, garlic and red onion. Sauté until just tender and fragrant, about 5 minutes.
Add in the cooked chicken, taco seasoning, and water. Bring to a simmer, and cook until just thickened, about 2 minutes. Remove the chicken mixture from the skillet and set aside.
Heat oven to 400 F.
Take a large flour tortilla and fill one half side with chicken filling. Add a layer of cheese. Fold and coat outside with butter or oil spray. Place on a baking tray. Bake the quesadillas for 5 minutes on one side, then flip and bake for another 5 minutes.
Remove from the oven and immediately cut into wedges using a pizza cutter or sharp knife.
Serve with fresh lime wedges, guacamole and sour cream.
Book Review
The Book Thief
By Markus Zusak
The book is set in Germany, in a poor suburb in Munich. It begins in the 1930s as Adolph Hitler and his minions are gaining power, stripping away the last vestiges of democracy and building a ruthless dictatorship.
The folk of Himmel Street care little for the machinations of state; their principal goal is to feed themselves and their families as best they can.
The Hubermanns, Hans and Rosa, take in an orphan girl named Liesel in order to gain a pittance of state support. The girl was abandoned by her impoverished mother so that the child could eat. Hans and Rosa grow to love the girl like a daughter.
Liesel grows up as her country descends into war; the army comes first for the adults, and then for the children. Liesel takes comfort from stealing books; she starts with a gravedigger’s manual, and then numerous novels from the house of the village mayor.
Liesel also learns to write, taught by a Jew sheltering in the Hubermann basement. His freedom defies the might of the Nazi Party; he whitewashes over the pages of Mein Kampf and creates his own narrative.
Did I mention that the entire book is narrated by Death? In spite of the macabre premise, the story is both gripping and engaging. I highly recommend The Book Thief!
TV Review
Spider Noir
Streaming on Prime Video
I was a huge fan of Spiderman when I was a child; back in the 60s, my fix was limited to monthly comic books and a very cheesy cartoon.
That all changed, of course. Comic book heroes are now a staple of modern film, earning their owners billions of dollars churning out endless (Bam! Pow!) drivel.
So it was with more than a pinch of skepticism when I sat down to watch Spider Noir. In fact, I probably wouldn’t have even bothered if it weren’t for the presence of Nicolas Cage as the hero.
What I discovered was not a rehash of Spidie theology. Certainly, the tropes are there; webs coming out of his wrists, bad guys vying to take over New York, etc. But the series (also based on a comic book offshoot of the original Spider Man universe), is a mashup of genres, with a hard-boiled gumshoe and a bevy of unlikely superheroes battling a crime boss.
Cage, a big comic book fan, had previously done voiceovers in the franchise and was attracted to the role by the opportunity to resurrect the classis 1930s characters played by the likes of Humphrey Bogart and James Cagney.
He brings his own quirky sense of artistic expression to the role of PI Ben Reilly, along with a wise-cracking secretary, a tray full of cigarette butts and a bottomless mickey of scotch. This definitely isn’t for every taste, but if you’ve ever spent a rainy Sunday afternoon buried in a pile of comic books, I highly recommend Spider Noir!