Two for the Road: Jane Stern and Michael Stern: Nonfiction
The authors of Road Food travel the country looking for bbq, mashed potatoes, pie, and other comfort foods in cafeterias and diners off the beaten path. They share their adventures in eating and divulge their best recipes and tips (restaurants with plastic animals on the roof or pictures of Jesus as part of the décor always have the best food). I'm a sucker for memoirs with recipes.
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: Barbara Kingsolver: NonfictionThe author and her family moved from Arizona to a farm in Virginia, where they lived for one year eating only what they produced themselves or what they could find locally produced (mostly). Interspersed with tales of raising turkeys and growing asparagus are short essays from Kingsolver’s husband about agriculture and ecology and recipes and meal plans from Kingsolver’s older daughter. PACKED with information that will send you off to your local farmers' market. Read it with The Tightwad Gazette for maximum lifestyle impact.
Just Listen: Sarah Dessen: YA Fiction
The most recent from YA author Sarah Dessen. I love Sarah Dessen's later books, especially This Lullaby and The Truth About Forever. Just Listen is about a high schooler who's estranged from her best friend (and, consequently the entire school) because of an incident at a party during the summer. She comes back into her own after Owen, another outsider at her school, befriends her. Lots of similarities between this one and Laurie Halse Anderson's brilliant YA novel Speak. If you care, this one does have brief strong language. (I know that because of my notes.)
Anahita's Woven Riddle: Meghan Nuttall Sayres: YA Fiction
In 19th century Iran, 15-year-old Anahita weaves a riddle into her marriage rug to test her suitors' wit and find a suitable husband. Have a copy of Rumi's poems handy while you read.
More Home Cooking: Laurie Colwin: Nonfiction
I read this one (and More Home Cooking) frequently. Laurie Colwin is a delightful essayist. I don't always like her recipes, but I love her writing. It's one of the books I curl up with when I'm sick or tired or sad. A book of food essays from various writers called Alone in the Kitchen with an Eggplant was just published and includes her essay of the same title.
The Memory Keeper's Daughter: Kim Edwards: FictionA doctor in the 1950s delivers his own twin son and daughter. The daughter, Phoebe, suffers from Down's Syndrome, so the doctor gives her to the nurse to take to a group home and tells his wife that the baby died at birth. Instead of leaving the baby, the nurse takes Phoebe to another city and raises her as her own. The story follows the lives of both children. This book was so well-written but it did drag toward the end. If you don't mind the pacing of books like Gilead, you'll enjoy this one.
I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You: Ally Carter: YA Fiction
Fun, light, high school spy book with a protagonist you won't want to throttle for being an obnoxious teenager (sometimes a problem in contemporary YA lit). Can't wait for the sequel that's coming out next week.
Keturah and Lord Death: Martine Leavitt: YA Fiction
When Keturah becomes lost in the woods and meets Lord Death, she's given a one day reprieve to find her true love and escape Death's claim on her. Old fashioned structure and style. Very satisfying fairy tale.
Nineteen Minutes: Jodi Picoult: Fiction
Seventeen-year-old Peter Houghton walks into Sterling High one March morning and, in 19 minutes, kills 10 people and wounds many more. Alex Cormier, the judge on the case, struggles to remain objective, although her daughter, Josie, was injured in the incident when she passed out next to her murdered boyfriend. Chapters alternate between the present and the past, where Josie and Peter were childhood friends, to examine the crime and its causes from the perspectives of the shooter and the victims. Jodi Picoult is such a talented writer. She's able to write about things in really thought-provoking ways without bludgeoning a point (or even explicitly making one at all). Read with Shooter by Walter Dean Myers and Before You Know Kindness by Chris Bohjalian. Also, not for Grandma.
Kabul Beauty School: Deborah Rodriguez: NonfictionDeborah Rodriguez, a hairdresser from Holland, Michigan, joined a humanitarian mission to Afghanistan in 2002. Initially, no one knew how her skills as a hairdresser could benefit a war-torn country, but she soon discovered that the beauty industry was one of the few professions open and empowering to Afghan women. After her initial trip to Afghanistan, Rodriguez returned with the help of corporate sponsors to assist in running a beauty school and became the close friend and confidante of the women in her classes. Read this one with A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. It's hard to keep in mind that this is a story of contemporary life in Afghanistan. It seems unreal. Probably don't let your grandma read this one. PG-13.
Runners-Up
Pride and Prejudice--I know! I'd just gotten home from London, though, and had to read lots of Jane Austen and everything we had in the library about Westminster Abbey and spend all my free time thinking about how I could live in Bath without being a beggar. It's SUCH a romantic book even though Mr. Darcy's badly behaved.
All Creatures Great and Small--Especially good if you're planning to move to Norway and be a vet's wife (which I wasn't at the time I read it--apparently, sometimes things just line up serendipitously for you if you're living right).
Secrets of Peaches--YA readalike for Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants; sequel to Peaches.
The Murder of Bindy Mackenzie--One of Jaclyn Moriarty's YA epistolary novels. New one coming out this week! Hurray! I like The Year of Secret Assignments better, but this one is cleaner and still amuses.
The New Policeman--YA fantasy from the UK, where it won the Whitbread and Guardian Children's Book Awards
9 comments:
The only life-alteringly good book I read this summer was the only one where our lists overlapped: Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. Not quite as preachy as Harvest for Hope by Jane Goodall, and informative about our relationship with food and how it affects the environment. It made me want to tap my Mormon roots and try canning sometime.
As for recommendations, I've been on a non-fiction science kick lately and the best I've read is A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson. Great for people who don't know much about science and would like a general overview of how we know what we know about science.
If you haven't read it already, I recommend "Reading Lolita in Tehran." I liked it better than "Kabul Beauty School," which I also like.
Instead of teaching cosmetology, the woman in "Reading Lolita" holds a secret book club where the women discuss Western literature.
Who knows? If the situation is as dire in your neck of the woods as you say, you may have to do the same thing!
So I just checked on Goodreads and you have read "Reading Lolita" so . . . never mind.
But I'm still all for starting the underground book club. Anything so thatI can don a hat and a trenchcoat.
well, I just requested 3 books from my library. Sadly, they do not have Kabul Beauty School. I may have to go talk to them about being more progressive. And having read Emily's comments, I am going to request Reading Lolita in Tehran. What a well rounded mama!
Mom
My mom used to read us James Herriot when we were little. I love cows, I love green grass, I should move to England.
I will take your suggestions into consideration.
PS -- We need to have a lifestyle pow-wow this week.
CK--I'll have to try A Short History of Nearly Everything. I've read some of Bryson's other stuff and liked it.
Emily--I'm sure we could think of something secret to do involving trenchcoats.
By the way, CK Rock is my husband Chris, if you can't tell. I hope you don't mind him reading, we both love your blog!
Alyssa (and Chris)--I did know it was Chris, and I don't mind who reads the blog. I love it when people read and leave comments. In fact, the more people who read, the quicker I can achieve world domination and have Britain annexed by the US for my dating pleasure.
I know it's been a while since you posted this, but after you put this on your list I added Animal, Vegetable, Miracle on my wish list on Amazon to remind myself to get it sometime. Shane actually bought it for me for Christmas. I just finished it, and now I am so excited to get moved into our new house, with lots of room to grow a garden. I even ordered seeds from the Seed Savers Exchange! I know I'll probably never get to her stage, but like she says every little bit counts.
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