Really Random Tuesday #57: Two Book Winners, Homemade Yogurt, and Mailbox Monday

Two books are better than one!  In celebration of this month's paperback release of Crazy Enough by singer-songwriter Storm Large, Kristin from Simon & Schuster offered to give away two copies of this bold and absorbing memoir.  Please help me to congratulate my two randomly chosen winners, hkmichellec87 and Lainy from So many books, so little time (so many of us can relate to that!). Congratulations to you both! 

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There are many recipes in Jamie Oliver's Great Britain that I'd like to try, but this one sounded so good and easy, and I had the two ingredients required on hand to make homemade yogurt--milk and some yogurt or "starter"--so I quickly mixed some up this morning.  I've made yogurt in my yogurt maker numerous times, but I liked the idea of mixing it up in a bowl and just letting it sit and become yogurt, fresh and homemade, without using a machine of any sort.  It's a very simple recipe (I think this is how my grandmother made yogurt), and I hope Jamie doesn't mind if I highlight it here.  Basically, I just added four heaping tablespoons of yogurt to 2% milk that I'd heated up slowly to a simmer.  I let the milk cool a bit and then I mixed in the starter (since I have a yogurt maker thermometer, I used that to make sure the time was right).  I'll leave this bowl out to "incubate" until I go to sleep tonight, then I'll put it in the refrigerator.  Tomorrow morning, I'll try a dollop or two of this yogurt on top of my oatmeal. 

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Although I don't get a ton of books in the mail each week, Mailbox Monday is one of my all-time favorite memes.  Originally created by Marcia from The Printed Page,  Mailbox Monday has been on tour for the past couple of years, and I'm honored to be the host for the month of December.  I hope you'll join me as we share our new books during the holiday season.
 

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Appearing on random Tuesdays, Really Random Tuesday is a way to post odds and ends--announcements, musings, quotes, photos--any blogging and book-related things you can think of.  I often announce my book giveaway winners in these posts.  If you're inspired by this idea, feel free to "grab" the button for use on your own blog, and leave a comment so I'll know to stop by.

Your comments are welcomed, as always. 
 

Crazy Enough Giveaway

Yes, you are seeing double!

In January of 2012, I read and reviewed Crazy Enough, a memoir by singer-songwriter Storm Large.  To celebrate the release of this book as a paperback, Kristin from Simon & Schuster is offering a special giveaway to my readers (U.S./Canada only).  Two randomly chosen readers will win a copy of this book!

• To enter this giveaway, simply leave a comment.
• For another chance at winning, become a follower of this blog, or let me know that you're already a follower.
• For one more entry, read my review and leave a comment here about why you'd like to read this memoir.
• For an additional chance, post about this contest on your blog, Facebook, Pinterest, or Twitter.

Enter by 5 PM PST on Monday, November 26.  One winner will be selected randomly and announced on Tuesday, November 27.
 

Crazy Enough

To be honest, I hadn't heard of Storm Large before I was contacted about reviewing this book,  Crazy Enough: A Memoir,  but I looked her up online right away to find out more.  The first thing I noticed, of course, is her striking beauty.  She's tall and very attractive (although in the book as she is growing up she does not see herself as attractive).  I then played a few clips to get a sense of her voice and personality,  and decided that this was a memoir I had to read.

"People think I'm nuts. They think that I am a killer, a badass, and a dangerous woman."

~Crazy Enough, Storm Large

Published in January 2012,  Crazy Enough is the story of her life so far.  As I began the first chapter (you wouldn't believe the opening line), I was flung out of my "comfort zone",  hard and headfirst.  Storm is very troubled by her mother, Suzi's, frequent bouts of mental illness and hospitalizations, and understandably worries about her own future when a doctor tells her that she, too, will be "crazy" like her mother when she's older (in her twenties).  I was discomfited the entire time I was reading this book, and often on the verge of tears; I felt that Storm desperately needed a mother to guide her through childhood, but her mother was absent, often in the hospital or institutionalized for months at a time, being treated for various, nebulous mental illnesses.   As a consequence, as a child in the town of Southborough, MA, Storm was left to her own devices, and unfortunately drawn to dangerous things, such as sex and drugs.   Her father, Henry,  tried to be a good parent to Storm and her brothers, John and (also) Henry, but he had to work long hours in order to support his family and his wife's expensive, never-ending health care. 

While I found some of the language hard to take, this book is so real and honest and funny that it won me over almost immediately.  Storm doesn't sugar-coat anything in her memoir, and is truthful about her experiences and feelings.  Her early bouts with sex and her hypersexuality, as well as her experiences with alcohol and drugs (including heroin!) were strange and fascinating to read about.  I could not put this book down, and finished it over the course of a few days.

"You know her life was saved by rock 'n' roll."

~Rock 'n' Roll,  Lou Reed, The Velvet Underground

After a tumultuous childhood, Storm attended acting school in NY, turned to music, and gradually achieved success as a singer (her powerful rendition of Where is My Mind is breathtaking),  fronting bands and releasing albums, and landed a part on the TV reality show Rock Star: Supernova (which I'd love to see),  and a role in the musical, Cabaret.  Eventually, she created her hit one-woman show, Crazy Enough (which I'd also love to see).  This bold book tells her story candidly, and while it was disturbing to read at times, Storm's story is one of determination, survival, and triumph, and one that I will not be able to forget.

Special thanks to Kristin from Simon & Schuster for sending me a copy of Crazy Enough.

Mailbox Monday

Like many book bloggers, I receive an extraordinary amount of books in the mail; I'll highlight just the most recent books for Mailbox Monday, a meme created by Marcia from A girl and her books, hosted this month by Alyce from At Home With Books.

From TLC Book Tours, I received All There Is, stories compiled by Dave Isay, for an upcoming blog tour.  I've read StoryCorps before, and look forward to reading these love stories next month.

Simon & Schuster sent me Crazy Enough by Storm Large.  I'm in the middle of reading this memoir now, and plan on reviewing it soon.

Yay!   I found out today that I won a fabulous $25 gift card from Amazon on BookQuoter's blog, a thousand Books with Quotes.  Thank you very much, BQ! I'll spend some of it to get Sing You Home by Jodi Picoult, my third selection for The Jodi Picoult Project.  After I reach my goal--to read and review three books by this author--I'll be hosting a giveaway, so be sure to stop by then for a chance to win.

What new books arrived in your mailbox, or otherwise, recently?