Dilemmas of Life...

So intially I thought that the books I was reviewing today had nothing in common, other than my reading them. But in actuality, this is not the case. They are all (except for the "Dummies" one) people-oriented. They are about lives, feelings, and growth. Only one is fiction.

The first is Salman Rushdie's Luka and the Fire of Life. This was a magical book, in many ways, but will appeal most to people who have an understanding of the Far Eastern/Persian tradition, although lovers of the classics will enjoy it too. What I found truly enjoyable were his little allusions to popular culture within the scope of the novel..as well as some phrases that are obviously meant to be read in a British accent.It is a rich tapestry of a novel, and one I found highly enjoyable.

The second is called The Dirty Life by Kristin Kimball. I found this fascinating. This woman went from living in New York City to owning a farm with her husband. Plowing with horses, bringing in the crops, milking, just absolutely fascinating picture of one woman's growth and change.

The third is Dilemma by Father Albert Cutie. This is a unique book. The father is a man who was a Catholic priest, who fell in love. He left the Catholic Church for the Anglican, got married, had a family. His book is, to a certain extent, and understandably so, a little defensive. But it is also a look at the interior workings of the church, from one man's POV. It is also an exploration of celibacy and its role in the church, and a questioning as to if celibacy is necessary. He argues that a lot of the Church's issues would be eased if it allowed priests to marry and to be at ease with their sexuality. Which does, to a certain extent, make some sense. Priests do tend, even in this country, to become priests young, because they are expected to. And it does seem that most people have a story about a priest who left, who got married. Priests in most other traditions are allowed to get married. Many of the Apostles were married. And clergy in the Catholic tradition were allowed, once to get married. He argues that this needs to happen again.... and some points were valid. Some of the book, I felt, was a cry of frustration, and of loss... and some of it felt a little hastily written, not well-edited, perhaps. It could use a rewrite, definitely, but it does bring up some valid points about the church, which does need to forge ahead, into the 21st Century.

And speaking of the 21st Century...bringing me to the final book, iPad for Dummies. Its not that helpful. Get it from the library. Other than a chapter on Apps, it really wasn't that well-written or useful. The iPad is pretty self-explanatory.

Chhaaaaaaarrrrgggge!

Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother is an interesting book. Its not what I was expecting from the reviews, certainly. And its definitely a story, not only about parenting, but expectations, and 'different strokes for different folks'. Its a great book, not only about where we've gone wrong with our children, but how a lot of people go wrong with their kids... Not only about the issues of "Western parenting" (which she tars with a broad brush), but also some of the issues in so-called Chinese parenting. Its about knowing your limits, your children's limits, but also standing up as a family and as a parent.....

And its about how an approach can succeed with one child, but be wrong with the other. At the same time, its a defense of being a demanding parent....

Bittersweet Book

Ok, initially, I loved this book, until I got about halfway through. I loved it so much I put a hold on it for a library patron whom I thought would appreciate it. I suggested it to my sister as an idea for a fictionalized movie...

And it is a great book, I still love it, but no longer want to own it, reread it... Its called Day of Honey, by a woman named Annia Ciezadlo. Subtitled A memoir of food, love, and war. Its fascinating reading, because its about the Middle East, about Baghdad and Beirut. I recognized some of the foods she mentioned, just because of my own personal history...

Its a wonderful book, showing the human side of the conflicts, the people enmeshed in the conflicts.... the people trapped in war zones, and also showing how war affects people, not only journalists, but everyday citizens who are trying to go about their lives.

She frames the book with food. The foods of her childhood, mostly Midwestern, but with a salting of Greek, the food of her husband's family, the foods of Baghdad, of Beirut... So she talks about kibbe, about tea, about the foods of war and the foods of peace, and how the foods changed with the times and events...

She has recipes at the end. She has a great index as well. And this book is not only a memoir of the external, but you see how much she has grown and changed as a person through the book.... My one issue is that she seemed to get a little long-winded/rambling in the second half of the book. The first half was perfectly framed, then it started to get a little off-kilter...but got back on track again...

I would still highly reccommend this book.

The Distant Hours of My French Table...

Two very dissimilar books, reviewed in one swell foop. The first, a non-fiction, a cookbook, is by the legendary Dorie Greenspan. Around My French Table. This is a fantastic cookbook. I've already gotten some wonderful ideas from it. She has little notes alongside the recipes for: making ahead (which components can be), storage (and reheating), and then something (or sometimes more than one) called a Bonne Idee, or Good Idea, which is either a riff or reimagining of the recipe. I've got this cookbook on my to-buy list (it was a library checkout, already terribly overdue...) My one issue with it is as a celiac. There are a lot of recipes with flour. Things where the meat is dredged, but otherwise its free of flour... or its got 1/2 cup somewhere in it. And, of course, being Dorie, she has a lot of baked goods. But there are also a lot of recipes that can be modified to be completely gluten-free. Again, because the meat is only dredged in flour, one can skip that, or use cornstarch or a gluten-free blend. She also uses bouillion cubes. Other than that, most of the recipes are easily adaptable and sound wonderful! I'm looking forward to Vanilla vegetable salad or crab avocado "ravioli" (am I the only person in the world who ends up with too many avocadoes at once?).. and maybe finish with a citrus-berry terrine. The thing I love about this is not only the personal stories, but also the Bonne idees. Because these give you some different directions in which to play around...

The fiction book here is The Distant Hours, by Kate Morton. Wow. If you have ever read The Forgotten Garden, by the same author, you will also love this book. It is so richly layered, that even if you think you know the answer, it will surprise you by the end. She intersperses eras, people, generations... in a wonderful, satisfying story. I didn't recall any sour notes, although, just to warn you, there is a section, near the end, which was a little stomach-turning. I was completely engrossed in this book, which is a rarity for me these days.

I have actually been reading....just not posting about it.

Sorry, its been a long, strange winter of my discontent... So I thought I'd share a few things that I've been reading, and my thoughts about them...

Right now, I'm reading The Lost Gate, by Orson Scott Card, which is decent. Its a light, escapist read, without much depth to it, but its well-written enough that I don't feel the urge to hurl it across the room, screaming loudly, which is what happens usually when I try to find something escapist.

I'm also reading Jim Butcher's Changes. This is an example of an author where I love one series and detest the other. I love poor Harry Dresden. I love the snippets of modern culture, the one-liners, the build-ups to jokes... but I cannot STAND his Alera series.

I just read the letters of the Mitford sisters to one another. What a fascinating bunch. They were all highly intelligent, strong women. One fell under the shadow of Hitler, another migrated to America, one was a writer, (actually many of them wrote, but one is well-known for writing), they suffered incredible losses, squabbles, etc... and yet you see the family ties in the letters.

Looking back over what I've read, its quite an assortment:
the Blind Contessa's New Machine
The Seasons of Second Chances

I seem to have also read a lot of affirming books and cookbooks...hmmmm

And there were a lot that I picked up and just couldn't finish. They just rubbed me the wrong way... and really, a tremendous amount were like that. Sheesh. It seems to be harder and harder to find a good book....

All About Her? Two biographies of modern women

Recently I read two interesting biographies, Perfectly Imperfect by Lee Woodward, and Dead End Gene Pool by Wendy Burden. Both reflected very different women, but both were fascinating and resonated in different ways with me.

Lee Woodward is the wife of Bob Woodward, and writes incredibly well. Its a mix of humor and seriousness, about raising kids, finding out her daughter is deaf (guess which part was hard for me, personally, to read?), and about the agony of how her life was changed when her husband was injured. She writes about some things that are almost tradition, that you wouldn't even think about until later, like a jewelry box, and how it can show not only who you were at different stages in your life, but how you can pass that on to your children, and how it can create a link, even when its not there. She writes about some of the myths and truths of modern women, and it was just very good, and very uplifting. A portrait of a warm, close-knit family.

Burden's memoir reflects a very different childhood and life, that had some strange echoes of my own, in some ways. While I enjoyed it, I felt she took some cheap shots and was very superficial about the memoir. There were fart jokes in there (which I felt were unnecessary), and I found it very depressing. There is having a sense of humor, and then there is bitterness, and this oozes a caustic bitterness, anger, and loss.

Another Burning, and Second Chances..

The Heretic's Wife, by Brenda Rickman Vantrease, is a fabulous historical novel. She switches between various viewpoints to tell the story, but it is primarily the story of Kate Gough. It is seamless, and very well written, but unfortunately there is, as in so many historical novels, flames. (I have to confess, I'm not through the book, but I can tell foreshadowing when I read it, plus I skipped around when the foreshadowing started smacking me in the face). I loved her previous novel, the Illuminator, which is why I picked this one up... It has a little bit of sex in it, but not graphic, for those to whom it matters (tasteful sex! What a concept!), but the character building is fabulous...

The Season of Second Chances, by Diane Meier. This was an amazing book. For once, it was one where romance did not solve everything, and the heroine was not married off happily by the end of the book. We need more books like this, with a middle-aged heroine discovering herself and putting down roots. I very much saw myself in this, in many ways (I'm a little bit younger, so am still dealing with the biological clock tick-tocking), and it was so refreshing to read something where the heroine discovers herself, make mistakes, and is NOT redeemed by an 11th hour romance. Where she screws up, as so many of us do. (Sorry, this one just resonated particularly poignantly with me because of some personal issues). And yet it ends with the possibility, the hint, of a second chance. The book is just a fabulous summer read.