Alisa Smith

Lieutenant Lena Stillman is stunned when she receives a message from a man she thought was dead. She's working in Alaska as a code-breaker and now her old lover Bill wants her to come to Siam. Not only that, he may be able to help her locate Corporal Link Hughes who she felt she betrayed. Now it seems that Bill knows where Link is. But what are his motives? And can she abandon her position in Alaska? What will her boss, spymaster Miss Maggie, say about that?

READ THE REST OF THE REVIEW OVER AT FRESH FICTION!… (meer)

One year, a couple was inspired to try to eat locally for a year. They defined locally based on their geographic surroundings and ended up drawing a boundary that allowed them to eat food withing 100 miles of their home in Vancouver, BC.

This book is the story of the challenges they faced and the lessons they learned. A year of trying to eat only locally grown and produced foods was difficult. Some of these difficulties were due to their geographic location; the area around Vancouver is just not fit for producing sugar or citrus. Other difficulties were more humorous; their 100 mile area included parts of northern Washington. They visited and found that the area produced a variety of wonderful foods, but then realized that they would be hampered by restrictions on taking food over the border (they decided it was worth the risk to smuggle home a wheel of cheese).

One of the most important lessons that the authors learned about food is that you can grow a lot more than you think in the climate of the Pacific Northwest. Our stereotypes about what can grow well are extremely warped by where things can be grown with the absolute highest yield. However, in reality most climates can support a much larger variety of food than they are known for, albeit at a smaller scale. Thus, even eating locally in Vancouver, BC, the authors were able to have a varied and interesting diet all year round (although it did take some preserving and finding wheat was a pain).

The other lesson the authors learned was to appreciate their food more. Spending a year eating locally caused Smith and Mackinnon to really think about the food they ate and helped them to appreciate the simple joys of fresh fruit or the first greens of the season. They learned, emotionally not just intellectually, that our food connects us to the earth and that holds true whether the food comes from your windowsill, a small farmer, or a giant farm.

The main thing I have taken from the book is to just think about my food, where it comes from, and what its production method may be denying me. I am not going to start only eating food that comes from within 100 miles, but I am going to take distance into account when given the choice. I am not going to stop buying lemons, but I am going to acknowledge that a strawberry shipped from California is less tasty than one picked fresh and ripe in Marysville. Mainly, I am going to acknowledge that our food production system is not without real social and environmental cost and try to take that cost into account when I am looking at price differences.… (meer)

I received a free advance e-copy of this book and have chosen to write an honest and unbiased review. I have no personal affiliation with the author. This is an extremely well written piece of historical fiction about a fascinating time in our history with a great plot and excellent character development. Alisa Smith is a great storyteller. This is a story of Prohibition gangsters, the ‘Clockwork Gang,’ who are notorious bank robbers and also a story of WW II code breakers. It is told from two different points of view; that of the gangster’s girlfriend, Lena, who escapes the gang and becomes a proficient code breaker and also from the point of view of the accountant, a member of the gang, who is in love with Lena from a safe distance. ‘Speakeasy’ is action packed with twists and turns, full of thrills and suspense. I couldn’t put it down. It drew me in right from the start. Lena is constantly looking over her shoulder afraid that someone will discover her past and report her to the authorities and she will be sent to prison. She is proficient at language and breaking codes and has become one of the top ranking women in a Canadian unit of code breakers during WW II. I can’t wait to read the sequel as I’m left with several unanswered questions. This is a great story and well worth the read and I look forward to reading more from Alisa Smith in the future.… (meer)