Good Reading

I've been on a reading binge lately -- perhaps because of the cooler weather.  Here are my latest reads. . .

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver was an amazing book!  So amazing that every night I would read a chapter and then go on and on about it to Pete.  I couldn't help myself!  The whole locavore movement is so interesting to me that I just ate this book up greedily (no pun intended).

I have been a fan of Kingsolver's fiction for years but wasn't sure how she would translate to non-fiction.  I needn't have worried -- her voice is frank and honest.  You almost feel like you are sitting down to a meal with her and having a chat.  I feel like I learned so much and am now questioning many things since I read this book. 

If you are at all interested in eating local, in season or organic, give this book a read.  If nothing else, it will really get you thinking!

Peony in Love by Lisa See was a no brainer for me.  I absolutely loved Snow Flower and the Secret Fan and recommend it to people any chance I get.  So when I saw that she had a new book out, I was quite excited.

Peony in Love is a love story based on two actual Chinese works -- "The Peony Pavilion" which was an opera first published in 1598 and The Three Wives Commentary which was published in 1694 and is the first known work to survive which was written by women (and actually published).  This is historical fiction that will transport you back to a time and place that you may know nothing about.  It gives you a glimpse of what life was like for women during this time in China when they found a brief period of freedom.

If you liked Snow Flower and the Secret Fan I think you'll like this book also.  If you haven't read Snow Flower and the Secret Fan yet -- well, what are you waiting for!

McEwan has done it again in his most recent work of fiction -- On Chesil Beach.  Once again, I am a huge fan.  I really enjopyed Atonement, Saturday and Amsterdam.

McEwan is master of taking a single moment in time and examining it in such detail that it seems as if this moment were the fulcrum of his characters lives.  This is true of his latest novel, set on the wedding night of a couple just on the cusp of the sexual revolution.  What I love about this book is it's simplicity.  It focuses on one moment, but in exploring that moment we are led to think about issues in the context not only of the times in which they are set, but in the society, and more broadly as universal truths.  He makes you believe that one moment can change the outcome of a life.

This is a very quick read (I read it in a day) and I think that if you haven't read any McEwan, this is a good place to start.

The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick is one of those rare books that breaks the mold and is unclassifiable.  I suppose you could call it a graphic novel, but it's so much different from any graphic novel you have probably seen.  An illustrated book?  That doesn't capture the unique way in which illustrations are used here.  I suppose it is a children's book, since I found it in that section at that library, but at 37 I enjoyed it immensely.

While the book is quite heavy, it took me only an hour to read.  It's printed on thick paper and includes many pages of illustration and also quite a few pages with only a paragraph or two.  The feeling is cinematic -- from the opening pages where you zoom in on the main character to the decorations at the beginning of each chapter that bring to mind silent film captions.  The story is everything you could want in a children's book -- an orphan, magic, mystery, stealth and in the end, belonging.

Pick this one up for your favorite niece or nephew -- or maybe your own child -- and read it with them.  It's really a fun book!

Whew!  I think that brings my reading log up to date.  Right now I'm more than half-way though The Nasty Bits: Collected Varietal Cuts, Usable Trim, Scraps, and Bones by Anthony Bourdain -- love his raw look at the restaurant/chef world.  His voice is awesome -- fells like you & him are sitting down in a grungy bar with a good stiff drink and swapping war stories (although he is the one with all the stories and you just sit open mouthed, staring with fascination -- or is it horror?)  More on this book soon.

Comments

[jessie]

I have definitely been moved by Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. I have been looking a lot closer at WHERE my food is coming from instead of just what's in it. I have been paying much closer attention to how food tastes instead of how convenient it is. Yesterday I almost bought some vegetable stock (for a certain soup recipe) at our natural foods store. It was organic and lovely and all that, but when I read the label, I saw it was from CA. 3,000 miles. So... I made my own with, naturally, local vegetables. I also made pumpkin pie from local pumpkins, and that pie was ten times better than when I use the canned stuff. And, coolest of all, I made a loaf of crusty bread using LOCAL organic stoneground wheat.

I'm not ever going to be militant about eating local, but the FLAVOR of good, fresh food is so amazing. Why have I been buying canned corn when local frozen corn is available and it is sooooo much yummier?

1. My garden will be bigger next year. 2. I will never look at a food label the same way again.

[Thomas]

I totally agree with you about On Chesil Beach. What a fantastic yet devastating read.

[Shelley]

I have been reading Barbara Kingsolver's non-fiction too! I'm about 2/3 through it and very enthralled. It's funny because I keep talking on and on about it to my husband (and also one night with knitting group) and everyone is just like...."Huh? What are you talking about? You already knew that us Montanans have food shipped in. We have to. What's the big deal?" I find her family's experiment fascinating and think it would be "fun" to try...for about 2 weeks.

[Judy H in NC]

Loved Animal, Vegetable, Miracle and like you, I would read some and then tell everyone. Especially loved the whole "turkey" information and their sex life, or lack of it.
Has made me more aware of what I eat now.