Lumberjanes Vol. 1

Lumberjanes Vol. 1 by Noelle Stevenson and Brooke A. Allen

  Oh my Bessie Coleman, I love this comic!  Lumberjanes follows the adventures of five young campers at a summer camp for "Hardcore Lady Types".  When we meet Jo, April, Molly, Mal, and Ripley, they are smack dab in the middle of an adventure with a group of three-eyed foxes who warn them to "Beware the Kitten Holy".  And things just get weirder from there...

  This trade showcases the first four issues of Lumberjanes, as well as a gallery of cover images.  I'm in love with the artwork, the humor, and the feminist message of this comic, which can be enjoyed by boys and girls of all ages.  I've already bought a copy for my niece and another copy for my classroom.

  The Flannel Shirt is a drink that I imagine scout-master Rosie would enjoy at the end of a long day when all the campers have gone to bed (except for those earning their Up All Night badges).  This delicious Scotch cocktail is featured in Jeffrey Morgenthaler's The Bar Book, a must-own resource for any home bar enthusiast. 

Flannel Shirt

1 1/2 oz apple cider 

1/2 oz Averna
1/4 oz lemon juice
1 teaspoon demerara syrup (2:1, demerara sugar:water) 

1/2 teaspoon St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram
1 3/4 oz Scotch
2 dashes Angostura bitters

Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker. Add ice and shake until chilled. Strain into a rocks glass over ice.

Garnish with an orange peel. 

--Recipe by Jeffrey Morgenthaler

Saint Mazie: A Novel

Saint Mazie: A Novel by Jami Attenberg

 

  Saint Mazie is the story of Mazie Phillips, a Jazz Age good-time girl who reluctantly takes a job at New York City's historic Venice Theater.  From inside her ticket booth (or her cage, as she calls it) Mazie has a front row view of the effects of poverty and addiction in the Bowery.  She meets a nun, Sister T, and the two strike up an unlikely friendship.  Mazie eventually becomes a community fixture, helping out homeless men during the Great Depression. 

  The novel is made up of Mazie's diary entries, letters, and documentary style interviews from those who knew her.  I loved the format as well as the titular character.  Mazie is independent, big-hearted, and she tells it like it is.

"Rosie doesn't understand what it's like to love the streets. She doesn't see the shimmering cobblestones in the moonlight, she just wonders why the city won't put in another street lamp already. She doesn't see floozies trying to sweet-talk their customers, earning every nickel they get, working as hard as the rest of us. She just sees crime. She doesn't see the nuns and the Chinamen and the sailors and barkeeps - the whole world full of such different people. It's just crowds to her, blocking her way. She sees a taxi whisking by and she thinks, what's the hurry? And I think, where's the party?

That's what I want to tell her! There's a party."

  Mazie keeps a flask with her inside her ticket booth and likes to visit her favorite Speakeasy, Finny's, after work.  Mazie seems to prefer whiskey, unless it's one of those nights when "nothing but gin will do".  What you put in your flask, however, is up to you.  The nice thing about a flask is that it's discreet.  Go ahead and fill that thing with 99 Bananas if that's what you like.  No one will ever be the wiser.  

  I absolutely recommend this book.  I checked it out from the library but will probably end up buying a copy of my own. It would also make a great gift for anyone interested in this period of American history. 

M Train

M Train by Patti Smith 

  

    In her second memoir, punk-poet Patti Smith weaves a story of her past, her present, and her dreams.   Smith's M Train is a mental train of thought, stopping here and there to reflect on far flung travels, the creative process, her relationship with her late husband, and the mundanities of everyday life.

   Smith spends a lot of time in cafes, writing and drinking countless cups of black coffee.  Reading M Train is sure to trigger some caffeine cravings, so grab your favorite mug and hop aboard the Midnight Express.  This warming drink from The PDT Cocktail Book combines coffee with with an easy to make infusion. 

Midnight Express

3 oz freshly brewed coffee
1 1/2 oz walnut-infused cognac*
1/4 oz Amaretto
1/4 oz simple syrup

Build in a preheated mug.

Garnish with whipped cream and grated nutmeg.

--Recipe by John Deragon and Don Lee

*To make walnut-infused cognac, toast 115 g raw walnuts in a small saucepan at 175 degrees Fahrenheit, turning every 30 seconds for 8-10 minutes until edges are blackening.  Allow walnuts to cool, then combine walnuts and cognac in a large, nonreactive container.  Stir, cover, and let stand at room temperature for 48 hours.  Fine-strain and bottle.

Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage

Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami

 

When we are introduced to Tsukuru Tazaki, he can think of no reason to go on living.  He has no appetite, no sex drive, and has trouble sleeping. 

"When it was time to sleep, he’d gulp down a glass of whiskey as if it were a dose of medicine.  Luckily he wasn’t much of a drinker, and a small dose of alcohol was all it took to send him off to sleep.  He never dreamed.  But even if he had dreamed, even if dreamlike images arose from the edges of his mind, they would have found nowhere to perch on the slippery slopes of his consciousness, instead quickly sliding off, down into the void."

The narrator's depression was caused when his four best friends suddenly decided to cut all ties with him.  The group of friends met in high school and quickly became inseparable.  However, Tsukuru always felt like he somehow didn't belong.  He was the only one in the group whose last name did not include a color in its meaning, and Tsukuru himself felt colorless and unremarkable.   After high school Tsukuru moved to Tokyo to attend a Architectural Design school.  He kept in close contact with his friends until the day that they all mysteriously stopped taking his calls.  Years later, Tsukuru goes on a pilgrimage to confront his former friends and find out why they abandoned him. 

Like millions of other readers around the world, I am a huge fan of Japanese writer Haruki Murakami and have read most of his published work.  Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki is not as surreal as some of his other books, but it always maintains a dreamlike quality.  This is not a book you read for the plot.  This is a book you read for the fascinating characters and for Murakami’s minimalist yet profound style.  But what should you drink while enjoying the novel? Whisky.*

If you’re going to gulp it down like medicine as Tsukuru does, then any old bottle will do.  However, I suggest investing in a good Japanese whisky produced by Suntory or Nikka.  Nikka Coffey Grain Whisky is made mostly from corn and is distilled using a continuous “Coffey Still” imported from Scotland.  While most Japanese whiskys have a taste profile similar to Scotch, this whisky is somewhat sweet and is likely to please Bourbon drinkers.   

* Whisky or whiskey?  Different countries spell it differently.  Here's a trick:  if the English name of the country contains an “e” (The United States, Ireland) so does the “whiskey”.  If the country has no “e” (Scotland, Canada, Japan, India) it’s spelled “whisky”.  It doesn’t work for every country, but it takes care of the big producers.