Runaway

Traditionally known for his Scottish mystery series, award-winning Peter May’s latest, Runaway, is a standalone, a superbly executed story of five friends who have to relive the past in order to resolve their regrets and guilt. In 1965, Jack Mackay is a headstrong 17-year-old, ready to leave his unhappy life in Glasgow, Scotland, with his […]

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The Locavores are Coming

Kitchens of the Great Midwest’s Pat Prager lovingly crafts her Peanut Butter Bars to compete at her local fair. After some success, friends convince her to apply for a more elite competition. When she arrives, she is greeted by perhaps the most negative stereotype of the foodie snob and uber locavores. Her competition seems obsessed […]

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The Science of Taste

One of the enjoyable factors to Kitchens of the Great Midwest is the change in perspective and narrator that each chapter brings. In the only chapter that is from Eva’s point of view, she is a young girl, experimenting in the growth of chili peppers and breeding for the hottest possible. In her bedroom closet. […]

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Dontcha know where the Midwest is?

Location, location, location. In some books, the sense of place becomes its own character. The location provides a meaning and impact all its own, contributing to the actions of the characters as well as the readers’ understanding of them. Kitchens of the Great Midwest is one such book. The first giveaway, of course, is the […]

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2016 One Book, One Mesa County kicks off celebration of “Kitchens of the Great Midwest”

The 2016 edition of Mesa County Libraries One Book, One Mesa County will present a tasty  lineup of special events in February and March centered on “Kitchens of the Great Midwest,” the debut novel of author J. Ryan Stradal. The novel is a coming-of-age story about an orphaned girl with extraordinary culinary abilities. Mesa County […]

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Before the Grand Mesa National Forest Existed

Many residents of western Colorado recognize the Grand Mesa as one of the dominant landmarks in the Grand Valley.  It rises to over 10,000 feet in elevation and contributes to the overall beauty of our region. The Grand Mesa National Forest was established on March, 11 1924 but it didn’t always go by that name. In […]

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