bookblog

The Man Who Ate Everything by Jeffrey Steingarten

This book is fabulous. Food is one of my obsessions, and good food writing is surprisingly hard to come by. This is a collection of essays originally published in Vogue--seriously, who knew Vogue had a food critic? Let alone an excellent one?

I drove my sister nuts on the way home reading her excerpts--fascinating little tidbits about salt and organic fruit and excellent meals that could be had in the late 90s in the Pacific Northwest. I thought she might be inspired by Steingarten's brave quest to learn to love Greek food and clams, but alas it looks as though we'll continue to cook separate dinners for the time being.

It's My F---ing Birthday by Meredith Markoe

This is a chicklt novel written by a women who was the headwriter for the Letterman show for a long time. Each chapter is ostensible written on the main character's birthday and sums up the preceding year.

While there are some genuinely funny bits in here, in general it was pretty light. I liked it, as did my sister and mom, but the characterization was very thin and the lack of contractions drove me absolutely bonkers. I wondered if maybe it was meant to delineate something about the main character, that she never said "don't" or "won't" or "can't" but always do not cannot will not--but I think I was looking too deep.

The All True Travels and Adventures of Lidie Newton by Jane Smiley

I'd love to meet Jane Smiley. She writes these hige, sprawling novels about completely disparate places and people and events, and somehow each one rings true. Lidie Newton is a woman who is swept up in the abolitionist movement in Kansas Territory, and this is the story of what happens to her when she moves West. Because this novel is dependent on so much historical detail, it would be easy for it to fall prey to the dreaded Gump Factor (where the main character runs into every historical being and is present at every historical event. I hate that.) Smiley avoids that. Of course, this is a novel so there are some events that wouldn't have happened to your average 18th century woman, but that's OK because it's fiction.

This bogged down for me a little bit in the middle, only because I was really into the way the story was going and it abruptly changed course. I was loving it again by the end. I also learned some interesting historical factoids which I've been reminded of several times in the past few days, which is always cool.

Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six M.I.T. Students Who Took Vegas for Millions by Ben Mezrich

Even if you don't have a wee obsession with gambling like some people, this is a great book. I loved it even though they talk about math a lot, which usually makes me pass out in self-defense. I just love this kind of shadowy underworld stuff. For a minute, I even thought of teachiong myself to count cards and recruiting a team to go to Vegas...but then I realized that "counting" be defiunition involves "math" and I would be one busted criminal if I realied on my math skills to save the day. Still, excellent book. I read it in an afternoon.

Wedding Season by Darcy Cosper

This is one of those pastel covered girly books that are so hot right now. I read these books, and you should not disdain them because lots of very good books are being lumped into the chicklit category these days. This is one of them.

This is a smart, funny book about a woman who has to come to terms with her feelings about marriage while attending 17 weddings in one season. It's very enjoyable and quick. Sort of "comedy of manners" ish. I laughed out loud a couple of times, and almost teared up once. That is high praise.

More Like Wrestling by Danyel Smith

This is a richly detailed and wonderful book about two sisters coming up rough in Oakland during the explosion of the crack trade. The jacket copy all refers to the fact that the sisters live alone from the time they're in junior high, but that's not the most compelling part of the story. The real heart of the novel is the makeshift family the girls fashion for themselves and how their generation's plague, crack, plays out within the group. The narrative switches back and forth between the two sisters, which worked really well for me. Besides the two narrators, Paige and Pinch, the other main character in the book is Oakland, a city that all the characters and the author obviously love. The language is swingy, which isn't a very good word to describe a book but nonetheless the one that keeps coming to mind. Swingy in a good way; rhythmic.

Land of Women by Regina McBride

This is the sceond book I've read by Regina McBride. I really like her work; lots of mystical Ireland stuff that doesn't make the tragic journey into New Age-y and bad. This book is about a flawed mother-daughter relationship, and that relationship is compelling, but it's the peripheral stuff that's most interesting. Parts of the novel take place in Santa Fe, and a good connection between the Celts oif Ireland and those of Galicia is intertwined in the narrative..

I'd just asumed that McBride was Irish, but according to the jacket copy she is an American who lived in Ireland for a time (lucky girl.)

Special To My Book Club

Here's a few ideas I had for the comparative lit stuff we want to do for the next two months. We can decide at the meeting, but please feel free to discuss it here and add your own suggestions, especially if you won't be able to make it tomorrow night.

Two On Slavery:

The Known World by Edward P Jones

Property by Valerie Martin

Two out of Three on Jane Austen:

The Jane Austen Book Club

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Mr. Darcy's Daughters by Elizabeth Aston

Two on Autism

Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

Thinking in Pictures: and Other Reports from My Life With Autism by Temple Grandin

Coming Back To Me by Caroline Leavitt

This is a great book that I breezed through in one afternoon. It's the story of what happens to a family when a young mother falls ill after giving birth. The plot is good and compelling, but it's the characters that really make it a good read. Each one is so distinct and fully realized. You don't realize how much bad, lazy characterization is out there until you read something done so deftly. I loved the stuff about the neighborhood that the main characters live in, and also how the main characters fall in love based partly on an affinity in reading taste. Who doesn't know that feeling of liking someone a lot more based on the contents of their bookshelves?

Drinking Coffee Elsewhere by ZZ Packer

Another excellent debut short story collection. This is a strong collection, my favorote being the one about the church girl who runs away and gets in all kinds of trouble (that's a crappy description, but I don't want to spoil anything.) I wish that some of these were novels, though they're excellent as they are.