Welcome to the newest weekly feature here at Bookshelf Fantasies… Shelf Control!

Instead of looking ahead to upcoming new releases, Shelf Control focuses on already released books that I want to read. Consider this a variation of a Wishing & Waiting post… but looking at books already available, and in most cases, books that are either on my shelves or on my Kindle!

Want to join in? See the guidelines and linky at the bottom of the post, and jump on board!

My Shelf Control pick this week is:

Title: Cinnamon and Gunpowder
Author: Eli Brown
Published: 2013
Length: 336 pages

What it’s about (synopsis via Goodreads):

A gripping adventure, a seaborne romance, and a twist on the tale of Scheherazade—with the best food ever served aboard a pirate’s ship

The year is 1819, and the renowned chef Owen Wedgwood has been kidnapped by the ruthless pirate Mad Hannah Mabbot. He will be spared, she tells him, as long as he puts exquisite food in front of her every Sunday without fail.

To appease the red-haired captain, Wedgwood gets cracking with the meager supplies on board. His first triumph at sea is actual bread, made from a sourdough starter that he leavens in a tin under his shirt throughout a roaring battle, as men are cutlassed all around him. Soon he’s making tea-smoked eel and brewing pineapple-banana cider.

But Mabbot—who exerts a curious draw on the chef—is under siege. Hunted by a deadly privateer and plagued by a saboteur hidden on her ship, she pushes her crew past exhaustion in her search for the notorious Brass Fox. As Wedgwood begins to sense a method to Mabbot’s madness, he must rely on the bizarre crewmembers he once feared: Mr. Apples, the fearsome giant who loves to knit; Feng and Bai, martial arts masters sworn to defend their captain; and Joshua, the deaf cabin boy who becomes the son Wedgwood never had.

Cinnamon and Gunpowder is a swashbuckling epicure’s adventure simmered over a surprisingly touching love story—with a dash of the strangest, most delightful cookbook never written. Eli Brown has crafted a uniquely entertaining novel full of adventure: the Scheherazade story turned on its head, at sea, with food.

How I got it:

I bought it.

When I got it:

Earlier this year.

Why I want to read it:

Our local public library system picked Cinnamon and Gunpowder as a city-wide discussion book earlier this year (part of the library’s “On the Same Page” program) — and while I didn’t jump on board in time to actually participate in the conversations and activities, I did make a note to myself that I had to track down a copy of the book! I love the sound of a Scheherazade story at sea, and even though I’m not myself much of a foodie, the idea of a master chef and a female pirate captain seems too good to pass up.

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Want to participate in Shelf Control? Here’s how:

• Write a blog post about a book that you own that you haven’t read yet.
• Add your link below!
• And if you’d be so kind, I’d appreciate a link back from your own post.
• Check out other posts, and have fun!

 

For more on why I’ve started Shelf Control, check out my introductory post here, or read all about my out-of-control book inventory, here.

And if you’d like to post a Shelf Control button on your own blog, here’s an image to download (with my gratitude, of course!):