Celebrating a very bookish birthday one slice at a time

Last week, my birthday arrived and no,I'm not about to give away my age(let's just say I hit one of the big numbers) but I am willing to talk about all of the great books that I received as gifts.

First off, my wonderful little sister gave me a trio of Joanne Fluke's Hannah Swenson culinary mysteries,along with a DVD featuring some of the Hallmark channel Murder, She Baked movies based on a few of them.

Ever since I happened to catch the first of these adaptations(Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder,which I'm currently reading),my craving for these sinister sweet tales of baker Hannah Swenson and her assembled family and friends,plus a love interest or two, has been strong. Yes, it's light hearted entertainment but very tasty indeed.

While I did get the second and third books in the series, I did ask for one that is a little further down the line due to having seen the movie version already.

Peach Cobbler Murder has Hannah being accused of killing a rival baker in town, Shawna Lee, owner of the new bake shop Magnolia Blossom, who is not as proficient at pastry as she claims to be.

Other suspects include Shawna's sister Vanessa, whose finances are a tad shady, but that still doesn't drop the tensions between Hannah and her police detective boyfriend Mike. Fortunately, her dentist beau Norman is more than ready to offer her back-up.

No doubt there will be plenty of changes from book to screen yet that makes the reading all the more fun. Sampling a few different flavors in story telling makes for a savory sweet experience on page, if you ask me:

That gift pack from my sister was a pre-birthday surprise; on the actual day, I went to the library. I did have a few returns to make(while renewing a couple of titles as well) but did borrow two books to enjoy on this occasion.

While that Hannah Swenson Christmas themed tale, Plum Pudding Murder, is slightly out of season(do have the movie though!), the time for a Dorothy Parker themed story is as eternally fashionable as a little black dress.

 In Dorothy Parker Drank Here, Ellen Meister follows up her delightful ghost romcom(Farewell,Dorothy Parker) with another charming haunting by the title blithe spirit. Her target this time is disgraced writer Ted Shriver, whose life span is quickly growing short.

If Dorothy can get him to sign the Algonquin guestbook that caused her afterlife residence on earth, he would be most congenial company indeed. However, she faces competition from a rather lively and alive source-TV producer Norah Wolfe, who has some career minded reasons for seeking Ted out. In order for both of these ladies to get his attention, they must work together to clear him of that charge of plagiarism which toppled his literary legacy.

Meister's earlier Dorothy Parker novel was a true cocktail of wit and emotion and while I may not be a drinking sort of gal, ordering another round of this salty goodness sounds good to me:

Meanwhile, the birthday fun continued into the weekend, as my sister and I went to see Avengers:Infinity War(which was amazing and I'll discuss it another time in depth) and after the movie, made a trip to a nearby bookstore.

One of my instant must haves was My Dear Hamilton by Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie, about Eliza Schuyler Hamilton, wife of Alexander. Their romance and marriage came with many obstacles,some of which were of her husband's making, but their love for one another held that special bond of theirs firmly together.

Dray and Kamoie have teamed up before with another historical fiction about an unsung woman of history( America's First Daughter) and this latest literary collaboration promises to be quite the educational/entertaining encore:

Also, I was happy to add the debut YA fantasy novel that everyone's been talking about to my birthday pile of presents. Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi sends it's leading lady Zelie on a quest to bring magic back to her homeland of Orisha.

Aided by runaway Princess Amari and her own brother, Zelie is determined to stay as many steps ahead of Prince Inan,sent by his cruel father King Saran to stop them, so that she can use the stolen scroll in their possession to awaken her own powers.

This book is already being compared to J.K. Rowling's now classic Harry Potter series and plans for two more entries in this saga are under way. I may save this one for that Sci-Fi Summer readathon coming in June but that sweet anticipation will only make my first reading of such an inventive epic all the more wonderful:

Much thanks to my family and friends who made this birthday so wonderful for me this year. I'm especially grateful for the sugar free chocolate cake that my mother baked for me(sugar free is a necessity in my life) that goes well with those Hannah Swenson books and certainly looks better than any of the crazy cake wrecks on Nailed It!, that's for sure.

Books, family and a slice of cake are just right for any birthday to be special, even as the number of candles goes up too much to be put safely on top of that sweet treat indeed: