A Work in Progress

German Literature Month: Book Choices

Tomorrow, November 1, kicks off the month long German Literature month hosted by Caroline and Lizzy.  So I have created a stack of books to choose from and we'll see what I can manage in the coming four weeks.  I am hoping to read a short story each weekend (and hope also to give one day over each week to my short stories--maybe Mondays) and then perhaps a crime novel and a novel.  And hopefully that will not be too ambitious.

So, running from top to bottom:

The Duel by Heinrich von Kleist -- It looks like I already read this one several years back, but classics are often well worth revisiting.  It seems I enjoyed it the first time around and the instant (or quicker) gratification of reading something reasonably short is always nice.

Nightdrive: Modern German Short Stories edited by Klaus Humann -- I found this while browsing my library's shelves.  It is a collection of stories by new-to-me German writers.  Many or possibly all the stories are by writers previously untranslated into English.  Shall I read the bios first and choose a story accordingly, or just open the book and start with wherever I happen to land?

The Country Road by Regina Ullmann -- I had my eye on this one when it first crossed my desk at work.  Ullmann is a Swiss writer and these are "nineteenth-century village tales" reminiscent of Adalbert Stifter and Robert Walser (forgot to add him to my pile, but I will be working in earnest on the NYRB book I received in my subscription).

Five by Ursula Archer -- Caroline suggested this one, and as it is written by an Austrian writer, I am hoping it is set in Vienna.  I was very fortunate to have lived in Austria and 'know' (or 'knew' in any case) the city.  I would love to revisit it through the pages of a book, though I think this crime novel might verge on the gruesome with victim's body parts showing up in a "cat and mouse"-type tale.

On Tangled Paths by Theodor Fontane -- I've read and liked Thedor Fontane, and lord knows I need to read more classics.  This is a favorite theme in literature--love across social classes.

The End of Days by Jenny Erpenbeck -- This was longlisted for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize and imagines one woman's live, or rather "lives" in a variety of situations and places--very much in the vein of Kate Atkinson, I think.

The Bridge of the Golden Horn by Emine Sevgi Ozdamar -- I'm leaning heavily towards this one, not least as it has long been on my bookshelves (I think it is not currently in print as well).  The author was born in Turkey but now lives in Berlin and as far as I can tell this was written in German.  "In 1966, at the age of 16, our unnamed heroine leaves our native Istanbul and signs up as a migrant worker in Germany.  Lying about her age, she gets work on as assembly line in West Berlin making radios, and lives in a women's factory hostel."  It sounds like an interesting time, place and experience and would be an interesting look at what I think is a large ethnic group living in the country now.

And this is a little bit of a cheat since Berlin: City of Stones is by American author Jason Lutes but it is not only a graphic novel (I've been trying to add graphic novels into my reading in any case) but it would tie in nicely with my reading this coming month and with my run ins in October with Weimar Germany.  This is the first volume in a planned trilogy (I think the last one is in progress now).  The setting is the last years of Weimar Germany (from September 1928 to May Day 1929).  It focuses on art student Marthe Muller and journalist Kurt Severing.  I think it might complement my other reading nicely.

Now the difficulty of choosing.  I'll be starting with a little crime and a short story and going from there!  I wouldn't mind reading a story set in the former DDR if I can find something that looks interesting and easily obtainable.  Any suggestions?  Otherwise I think I have a nice variety of reading head of me.

A Suitable Boy: Part 2

Okay, so why do my UK friends get a Kindle version of Vikram Seth's A Suitable Boy (and for a mere £1.99 even!) and we have no ebook access over here in the US?  I am not much of a fan of ebooks (not that there is anything wrong with them, I just prefer paper books), but I would happily download a Kindle version to read in conjunction with my massive paper copy (see photo above!).  I know it all comes down to publishers and licensing, but I can't even get the UK version on my tablet here.  It would make life so much easier not to have to carry such a big book around.  {Insert martyred sigh here}.  But I shall continue.  I am really determined this time.  I am going to finish A Suitable Boy.  And I have been taking it with me every day to work and yes, enjoying it very much, too.

I am finished with Part 2 and ready to press on to new territory.  On track as planned.  This weekend I will finally be reading past my former attempts.  I have just finished read those pages I managed on my first two attempts.  That alone is a feeling of accomplishment for me. 

Part one was mostly about introducing characters and a wedding and focused mostly on the Mehra family.  Part two was mostly about the Kapoors.  Lata Mehra's older sister, Savita, married into the Kapoor family.  Her husband Pran teaches English at the university where Lata studies literature.  But it is Pran's younger brother, Maan, who takes center stage.  The section opens with the festival of Holi which occurs in the spring.  The idea of a festival brings pictures in my mind of celebrations and  happiness and parties and Holi sounds especially colorful and exuberant.  Also known as the festival of colors or of sharing love and there is a lot of that in the pages I read.  Much dousing of bright colors on one another and partying and imbibing of inotxicating substances--at least in the case of Maan and his friends Firoz and Imtiaz (twins).  They indulge in glasses of thandai laced with bhang.

The Kapoor family celebration includes a musical evening with a famed singer and her musicians performing.  Saeeda Bai arrives at Prem Nivas, the Kapoor family home with much fanfare.  She is beautiful and talented and a singer of Ghazals, which seem rather complicated to me.  Just the right words are used in just the right order.  A talented or knowledgeable singer (or listener) knows the right refrain or response.  It seems like poetry set to music and it can be quite romantic, and all the young men sit listening to Saeeda mesmerized by her talent and beauty.

Maan falls for Saeeda hard.  She is, however, a courtesan and perhaps an older woman, too.  He sends her a book of poetry and comes to her house hoping for entry.  She is an interesting character.  She obviously must take care of herself on her own and has to put up with the attentions of wealthy men of less than attractive habits.  Eventually he does get inside the door and impresses her in more ways than one.  Saeeda must take care of her family, which means a younger, by some fifteen years, sister called Tasneem who has an admirer of her ow--one of Saeeda's retinue of musicians.  He even buys her a parakeet.  I foresee some potential heartache one way or another--either Saeeda will break a heart or Tasneem will have hers broken.

I love all the cultural bits--hearing about festivals and poetry and clothing and how and where the characters shop.  There is a lot of interesting detail and I am noting down words to look up later.  It is also interesting seeing the interaction of families and peripheral characters.  I am trying to keep track of who is Hindu and who is Muslim and what languages each speak.  The Kapoors seem to be Hindus and Saeeda and her sister Muslim.  Saeeda can read the poetry in Urdu (from the book given to her) and Maan reads the English translation.  At one point they sit side by side to read the book as it is a parallel text.  Hmm.  Almost like an appetizer, if you will.

In a way this all reminds me of a play by Shakespeare or a modern social comedy.  There is an exoticism to it all as well.  And a fair bit of drama, too, which moves it all along quite nicely.  Even if I do have to lug it about every day (we'll see the state of my paper copy when I finish!) it is a nice even pace I feel like I am going at and so far, never boring.

Part three starts with a phone call answered by Pran who shockingly tells Savita and her mother Rupa that Lata has eloped . . .  (am winking at you here . . .).  Check back next week to see what happens next!

Tidying Up: End of the Year Reading

This is going to be me for the rest of the year.  Wishful thinking perhaps, but if I actually try and meet my end-of-the-year-must-tidy-my-reading-piles ambitions, I had better try and emulate the woman in this painting.  My mind has been all over the place lately and my reading has really suffered, so perhaps a more thoughtful approach with an eye towards a little Fall cleaning and putting my "house in order" will help me settle and get back on track so I can start 2017 all fresh and new.  I tend to like making an end of the year list of books I want to complete, but I think I will try something a little different.  No list of books I 'must finish this year', rather some projects that I hope to complete or chip away at.  My reading table will be cleared off one way or another--either I will finish in progress books or quietly let them find their way back to my bookshelves for later enjoyment.  I know I will be starting some new books, finishing in progress books and letting others go, and wherever they end up will be just fine.

So, I have those kicking off 2016 plans still in the very (very, very) back of my mind, some of which I have actually managed to, mentally at least, cross off the list.  A few books ended up in that languishing pile and so now I must decide which way they'll go (into my bookbag or back on the shelves).  And then there was the midway update which has ended up being more wishful thinking than anything else.  Some finishes, some reshuffles and a few to still be determined.  I think a few will likely be on next year's hopeful list.  I actually quite like reassessing.  I like the idea of clearing off one way or another, it is refreshing starting anew or to return to plans I was so excited about at the time.

There are four things I know I do want to do yet this year.  One is read some German Literature in November.  Handily some of my NYRBs (see below) can be included in that pile.   I'll share my potential read pile this weekend. 

I want to try and get to as many of my 2016 NYRB subscription books as I can yet this year: The Continuous Katherine Mortenhoe, Zama, Girlfriends, Ghosts, and Other Stories, and The Invisibility Cloak (and whatever comes in November and December).  The Walser is quite short and will fit in with my German Lit books (and I should be finishing Vicki Baum's Grand Hotel in just a few days), and I have already started Zama, which is quite slender.

That leaves tidying up the books I have finished but never written about.  In some cases the books were read at the beginning of the year.  I have been remiss in writing about my finishes this year.  I like to have some sort of record of my reading, so I hope to write something, however brief, about these stragglers:

Journey to Munich, Jacqueline Winspear (and to think a new Maisie Dobbs novel will be out early next year!)
Beyond the Glass, Antonia White
Life Class, Pat Barker (with an eye to reading the third book in the loose trilogy soon)
Moon Tiger, Penelope Lively
The Lawyer's Secret, M.E. Braddon
Some Luck, Jane Smiley (another trilogy I will be very soon revisiting)
Indignation, Philip Roth
This Must Be the Place, Maggie O'Farrell
Family Life, Akhil Sharma
A Sensible Life, Mary Wesley
The Namesake, Jhumpa Lahiri

As a few of these are favorites I hope to start writing about them very soon. 

One other small plan, or rather a habit I want to get back to.  I love my short story reading, but I tend to be more regular about it when I know I will write about it each week.  I may give my Mondays up to short stories and have a collection of stories translated from German to end the year with. 

So, this should all keep me busy.  I can now mentally tick the books off as I tackle each small 'goal' and now I have a place to keep track of my progress.

Bits and Bookish Bobs for a Wednesday

The great book hunt was on last night as I think about books to read for November's German Literature Month.  Seeing as November is just a few days away I've been thinking of what I might incorporate into my current reading.  Of course my potential reading pile will end up being bigger than my reading time will allow, but it is always good to have choices, right?  I'll share my choices in the next few days.

Since I spent a chunk of my evening shifting books to find the missing title . . . actually I knew where it was, but of course it was on the bottom of a pile and in the pile least accessible . . . I am going to cheat today and just share some bookish things I have come across in the last week or so.

I've been so off in my own little world that I forgot that yesterday was the Booker Prize announcement.  Paul Beatty is the first American to win the award for his novel The Sellout.  It is a book I have picked up and contemplated reading but so far have not managed it.  This should give the book a 'little boost (though I think he has already won a number of prizes, or been longlisted in any case).

I love this article on a Reader's Journey Through Transition and the reflections on a lifetime of reading.  I'm glad to know that I am not alone in my search for meaning and understanding of myself and the world around me can be done (granted trial and error, but then, that's life) through the pages of books.   

Another list of Women Writers We Should Know.  Some of them I do know but I am thrilled to see some new to me authors.  The world has just widened a little bit more.

Perfect timing on this--women crime novelists working to change the genre, as I am just now embarking on a crime-reading-spree and the lady sleuths and authors will be joining me.

How many of these Must-Read Feminist Books have you gotten to?  Me?  Far too few.

I plan on reading Henry Green very soon and already have my first NYRB reissue on my bedside pile.

Did I ever share these bookish pins with you?  I have been hoarding the link in my email inbox.  I really want one.  I am leaning towards Little House on the Prairie or 100 Years of Solitude (a book I really must reread and have been thinking about lately).

I renewed my NYRB Classics book subscription.  Another year chock full of good book mail is forthcoming I am delighted to say!  They already sent my freebie read for renewing, which is The Jeffersonian Transformation: Passages from the 'History' by Henry Adams.  Maybe this will give me the little push that I need to finally embark on a little US history/Colonial Literature binge/project in the new year (it's probably too soon to think of 2017 reading projects . . . ?). 

I am still determined hopeful that I can clear off that NYRB 2016 subscription backlog of books.  I will make a valiant effort in any case.  I am wondering which two books are on their way as we close out the year.  I am wondering which is the November book, and I think this one might be the likely choice.  If so, less than 300 pages and a novel translated from the German as well as a WWI novel.  Promising. 

I have some end of the year tidying to do--in more ways than one--blog-wise and reading-wise.  A few last days of October to take a few deep breaths and then roll out my end of the year plans (such as they are).  Two months left in the reading year.  Yikes.  Where does that need for tidiness come from anyway?  I can't help myself.  A little realistic (?) assessment of what I want to achieve in the next 61 days . . .  (Do you think about these things, too, or am I just a little OCD when it comes to books?).

Teaser Tuesday: The Saint-Fiacre Affair

Wasn't it thoughtful of M. Simenon to write so very many books?  Something in the order of 500, I think?  I wonder how many are in print these days and how many translated into English?  I had to look, and according to Library Thing I have fourteen of his novels on hand.  In actuality I know I have more as I have been terribly remiss about adding new books to my LT account.  I have read both his Maigret novels and his romans durs and have enjoyed both. 

All this to say I did indeed start reading Georges Simenon's The Saint-Fiacre Affair and it clicked with me.  Happily I am immersed in the goings-on in the village of Moulins where Inspector Maigret was born.  It's been a good thirty years since he's been back.  It's something of a fluke that he is here now as he received a note, unsigned: "I wish to inform you that a crime will be committed at the church of Saint-Fiacre during the first mass on All Souls' Day".  Anyone else might have thought it a silly joke and pitched the note into the wastepaper basket, but Maigret is back to see what turns up.  

Curiously there is a death.  Now living in genteel poverty, the Countess of Saint-Fiacre, is at her place in the church at the first mass of the day.  She is alone.  No one has come near her, no shot has rung out and there is not a mark on her body.  Yet she failed to stand up at the end of the service and when someone went to tap her, she quite literally fell over.  Collapsed in a heap.  The life gone from her.  And all right under Maigret's very nose!

And now comes the best part of the novel, which is moving swiftly along.  The dissection of the crime.  It's even more interesting with Maigret's reflections on the time and place and more, the history of the village and this esteemed resident.  He can pull out of his memory bits and pieces of the place and the Countess.  My teaser is just that--Maigret's memory of the Countess from when he was a young boy:

"He knew the chateau better than anyone.  He had to take only a few steps to see the estate manager's house, his birthplace."

"And perhaps it was the memories that troubled him so much!  Especially the memory of the Countess of Saint-Fiacre as he had known her: a young woman who had personified, to the working-class little boy that he was, femininity, grace, nobility . . ."

But the Countess is rather different now than what he remembers.  Who would want her dead?  Her young lover?  Her son?  And is it murder even?  The body shows only signs of a possible embolism and she did have heart troubles.  The first clue is her missal, now gone from the pew in church . . . Maigret is on the case.  I am sure he will connect the dots soon enough.  And if memory serves me right, he might have a glass of wine or two along the way.  

It's been a while since I spent time in France (or America as the case may be) with Maigret/Simenon.  I've read The Bar on the Seine, Red Lights (one of his roman durs), and Maigret in Holland.  There may well have been the other odd book here or there that I read but never wrote about here.  Now I think I will gather up all my other Simenon's (that are not packed away in my bins) and leave them bedside.  With less than 150 pages I think I will make quick work of this mystery and might have a little binge.  Besides I feel like staying in France for a while . . .  Maybe it is just a nice change of scenery that I need to get me out of my reading slump.  

October 24: Reading Notes, Mystery Edition

A round of applause, please (I say this tongue in cheek and only because this has been such a wonky disappointing reading month for me), but I finally finished a book over the weekend.  Why as readers (and maybe this is my own quirk and no one else's) is it so disconcerting to feel like I read and read and read yet never actually finish a book or feel as though I make any progress.  Well, diligence seems to have won out in the end.

I finished a RIP read, Kate Riordan's Fiercombe Manor (or in the UK, The Girl in the Photograph).  It turned out to be a somewhat uneven read for me.  Perhaps, since initially I was so enthusiastic about it, it didn't quite click in the end due to my bad reading month in general.  It was certainly atmospheric yet the story turned out to be less a ghost story than a story about postpartum depression and the Victorian's misunderstanding on how to deal with women's psychology.  This novel had two narrative threads that very much paralleled each other.  I found I was enjoying one thread less and less and the story seemed, therefore, to sag in places.  I'm not sure if I will write more about it or not.  I always feel bad when I get to a place in a book where I simply want to finish it and the enjoyment wanes somewhat.  That said, I read many very good reviews about it, so I think it was more me than the story and we simply got out of step along the way.

So, two RIP reads down, no short stories, but there is still one week left to squeeze one in.  I'm happy to have managed two RIP reads, but now the question is whether it is time once again to reshuffle my reading pile and move on to something new.   I started Shuichi Yoshida's Villain, which I am looking forward to getting back to now and have picked up Laurie King's The Game once again.  In part I am swinging back into a mystery/crime/thriller reading mood and I want to try and chip away at that pile of partial reads in order to clear those books away as the year nears the end.  I never start a new year with a totally clean reading plate, but it is nice to start with a "smaller" reading pile and not have so many hangers-on.   

A couple of other mysteries I want to get back to are Maurizio de Giovanni's second Commissario Ricciardi mystery Blood Curse.  Yesterday as I was finishing those last few pages of Fiercombe Manor all I could think of was how much I would love to be in Italy, if not in reality then in the pages of a book.  Also I love that quiet longing between the Commissario and his neighbor, Enrica.  Anthony Quinn's Curtain Call is not exactly a traditional mystery, but the story involves a character having an affair with a married man who on one of their illicit rendezvous sees an attempted murder.  Besides it is set in 1930s London and in the theatreworld both of which have a serious appeal to me right now. 

As for the "something new" to take the place of RIP, I am thinking now of Caroline and Lizzie's upcoming 6th Annual German Literature Month.  It takes place in November and I have a few books in mind for it (more on those later).  Caroline suggested reading Ursula Archer's Five, which Karin Slaughter calls ". . . a terrifying journey.  This is a superior psychological thriller with twists at every level."  Archer is Austrian and I believe this is her first novel to be translated into English.  I have it next to my bed already.   

Yesterday's errands ended in a stop by B&N to look at their new books tables and use the discount coupon they keep waving in front of my eyes.  I didn't let myself browse too much, but I found two promising mysteries.  One is one of those very appealing reissues of Georges Simenon's Inspector Maigret novels.  I decided on The Saint-Fiacre Affair originally published in 1932.  "The last time Maigret went home to the village of his birth was for his father's funeral.  Now an anonymous note predicting a crime during All Souls' Day mass draws him there, where troubling memories resurface and hidden vices are revealed."  It was the mention of All Souls Day, which is coming in a mere week that made me bring the book home.  I like the idea of this book being a nice transition from October into November.  All Souls Day is like Mexico's Day of the Dead, which I have to say I rather look forward to since I love Pan de muerto (I have been thinking about it all month . . .).  So Simenon is going to find a place in my bookbag this week. 

My other bookstore find is M.C. Beaton's Introducing Agatha Raisin, which I see has been made into a TV series in the UK.  I have never read any of the Agatha Raisin books but I see them all over.  The book I found has the first two mysteries in one volume: The Quiche of Death and The Vicious Vet.  She sounds like fun.  One of the blurbs on the cover says: "Beaton has a winner in the irrepressible, romance-hungry Agatha."  So I shall give her a try.  I also indulged in the Winter issue of Mystery Scene, which I think will be my bedtime reading later.

I've got a nice variety--mysteries in translation, British 1930s crime, Mary Russell, a Commissario who sees dead people and even a cozy mystery.  I think I am only missing something along the lines of a thriller/suspense.  I always look at books by the likes of Tammi Hoag or Lisa Unger or Karin Slaughter or C.J. Box--a US writer, maybe a FBI story, but I always put them back, unsure about which to choose.  I am fairly predictable when it comes to my mysteries.  If anyone has a suggestion for something with a US setting, more thriller-ish I am always open to reading ideas. 

Even though I am reaching for books that have been in my reading pile for some time, I am excited about something "new".  I still have a current NYRB that I am chipping away at, my chunkster and a good library read (all books that were neglected over the weekend--perhaps absence does make the heart fonder since I can't wait to get back to the stories).  Curious how a meh sort of finish will make everything else look so very appealing.

Hmm.  How to pack my bookbag for work this week . . .

My Handiwork on Display

Remember all those weaving (and other fiber) classes I took this summer? My finished projects are hanging up in the hallway outside the classrooms at the museum along with the other students' work.  Here's a little peek at my work (and you can see some other beautiful pieces by other students, too).

The classes were offered in conjunction with the last traveling exhibit, Sheila Hicks: Material Voices, which I enjoyed immensely.  The photos above show Sheila weaving as well as some of the works that were shown or that appear in the exhibit catalog.

Does this look familiar?  It was my second weaving project.  I used a slightly thicker cotton thread in two different colors in order to see where the warp and weft showed up.  Definitely a learning piece.

You can see my first weaving project to the right as well as a Sheila-Hicks-inspired "wrap" (the work in grey) just to its right.

This is one I never did get a chance to share as it really never came home with me.  It was in a Devoré class that I made this, but to be honest I cheated a little.  It was more weaving (tapestry style, not done on a backstrap loom) than "burning" which is what the devoré process is.  I tried to use some natural fibers (local grasses) in my weaving, but it is hard to tell from this photo.

And this is the last class I took, which was a textile wrapping class making fiber sculptures.  Another learning moment.  I liked the process though I think I would do it differently given another chance.  Mostly it was just fun being creative in a social sort of environment (this is also the class where I made the baby boules).  And yes, that yarn is just as soft as it looks--you do want to just grab it in your hands and run your fingers through it.  It is wool from a Nebraska company in the western part of the state.

I love the white and blue textile wraps you see here.  It was great fun taking the classes and hopefully there will be more opportunities in the future, though I am not taking anything at the moment.  I am, however, still very slowly working on another backstrap weaving project.  I will have to take progress photos to share again soon!  It is still a little fantasy of mine to buy a table top rigid heddle loom.  I am trying to save my pennies with that wish in mind.  Until then, there are still lots of needlework projects keeping me busy, too. 

Food in Fiction: A Thursday Thirteen

Reading Louise Miller's The City Baker's Guide to Country Living makes me hungry.  That's how "into the moment" I am when reading it.  Some books do that to you.  There is a certain pleasure factor to reading generally, of course.  But it takes on a whole new dimension when a writer is particularly adept at describing food.  This made me think of other good books that have meals in them that I have enjoyed or have on my bookshelves for future enjoyment.  You know what that means . . . nothing like a good book list to have at hand.  So, in honor of a good meal, here are a baker's dozen (of course) novels that might make your mouth water. 

Chocolat by Joanne Harris -- "In tiny Lansquenet, where nothing much has changed in a hundred years, beautiful newcomer Vianne Rocher and her exquisite chocolate shop arrive and instantly begin to play havoc with Lenten vows. Each box of luscious bonbons comes with a free gift: Vianne's uncanny perception of its buyer's private discontents and a clever, caring cure for them. Is she a witch? Soon the parish no longer cares, as it abandons itself to temptation, happiness, and a dramatic face-off between Easter solemnity and the pagan gaiety of a chocolate festival."  **One of my all-time favorite books**

Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquival -- "Like Water For Chocolate, a poignant love story told from a woman's point of view, takes place on the De la Garza ranch in turn-of-the-century Mexico. Cooking and eating play a central role in the tale. The heroine, Tita, a master chef, was literally born in the kitchen. Following tradition, her tyrannical mother decrees that Tita as the youngest must not marry but must instead care for her mother in old age. Unable to communicate freely, Tita concocts recipes so magically potent as to convey her emotions to all who eat her creations- even the chickens-with often hilarious results."

Kitchens of the Great Midwest by J. Ryan Stradal -- "When Lars Thorvald’s wife, Cynthia, falls in love with wine—and a dashing sommelier—he’s left to raise their baby, Eva, on his own. He’s determined to pass on his love of food to his daughter—starting with puréed pork shoulder. As Eva grows, she finds her solace and salvation in the flavors of her native Minnesota. From Scandinavian lutefisk to hydroponic chocolate habaneros, each ingredient represents one part of Eva’s journey as she becomes the star chef behind a legendary and secretive pop-up supper club, culminating in an opulent and emotional feast that’s a testament to her spirit and resilience."

The Coincidence of Coconut Cake by Amy E. Reichert -- "Set in the lovely, quirky heart of Wisconsin, The Coincidence of Coconut Cake is a charming love story of misunderstandings, mistaken identity, and the power of food to bring two people together."

The Irresistible Blueberry Bakeshop & Cafe by Mary Simses -- " This charming, tender first novel emphasizes the power of simple pleasures, comfort food, and undeniable chemistry."

Delicious! by Ruth Reichl -- "When Billie Breslin abandons college to work as assistant to the editor of Delicious! magazine, she’s immediately known for her superhuman palate: she can taste any dish and list its ingredients and suggest the flavors it needs. She’s known for another trait, too: Billie does not cook. When Delicious! is unceremoniously folded by its parent publisher, Billie is the sole employee kept on to honor the magazine’s guarantee: “Your money back if the recipe doesn’t work.” Between phone calls from wacky subscribers, alone in the yawning old mansion headquarters, Billie discovers a hidden room and a cache of quirkily cataloged letters from a young girl to Delicious! writer James Beard during WWII. In the search for each letter and the young letter writer herself, Billie finds a purpose and a heroine, and gathers the courage to face the past she’s running from." (Booklist)

Bread Alone by Judith Ryan Hendricks -- "The life of 31-year-old trophy wife Wynter Morrison suddenly changes course when her husband announces one evening that their marriage is over. Emotionally devastated and desperate for a change of scenery, Wyn moves to Seattle where she spends aimless hours at a local bakery, sipping coffee and inhaling the sweet aromas of freshly-made bread. These visits bring back memories of her long-ago apprenticeship at a French boulangerie, and when offered a position at the bakery, Wyn quickly accepts -- hoping that the rituals of baking will help her move on."

Babette's Feast by Isak Dineson -- "It tells the story of a French cook working in a puritanical Norwegian community, who treats her employers to the decadent feast of a lifetime."

The Emperor of Paris by C.S. Richardson -- "Like his father before him, Octavio runs the Notre-Dame bakery, and knows the secret recipe for the perfect Parisian baguette. But, also like his father, Octavio has never mastered the art of reading and his only knowledge of the world beyond the bakery door comes from his own imagination. Just a few streets away, Isabeau works out of sight in the basement of the Louvre, trying to forget her disfigured beauty by losing herself in the paintings she restores and the stories she reads. The two might never have met, but for a curious chain of coincidences involving a mysterious traveller, an impoverished painter, a jaded bookseller, and a book of fairytales, lost and found . . ."

The Discovery of Chocolate by James Runcie -- "Diego de Godoy sets off for South America in 1518 with Cortes and the Conquistadors. During his travels he falls in love with Ignacia, a native woman who introduces him to the secrets of the most delicious drink he has ever tasted: chocolate. Tragically, their passionate affair is cut short by the chaotic conquest of Mexico.  Diego later discovers that his lover had secretly added the elixir of life to his chocolate. Unable to die, he lives on through history -- Paris during the time of the Revolution, Vienna in the 19th century, late Victorian England, and Hershey, Pennsylvania -- accompanied by his trusty greyhound, Pedro. All the while, he searches to recapture the magic of Ignacia's chocolate -- and to learn to love life just as fully."

The Edible Woman by Margaret Atwood -- "Ever since her engagement, the strangest thing has been happening to Marian McAlpin: she can't eat.  First meat.  Then eggs, vegetables, cake, pumpkin seeds--everything!  Worse yet, she has the crazy feeling that she's being eaten.  Marian ought to feel consumed with passion, but she really just feels...consumed.  A brilliant and powerful work rich in irony and metaphor." (Reverse treatment in this one . . .).

Pomegranate Soup by Marsha Mehran -- "Beneath the holy mountain Croagh Patrick, in damp and lovely County Mayo, sits the small, sheltered village of Ballinacroagh. To the exotic Aminpour sisters, Ireland looks like a much-needed safe haven. It has been seven years since Marjan Aminpour fled Iran with her younger sisters, Bahar and Layla, and she hopes that in Ballinacroagh, a land of 'crazed sheep and dizzying roads,' they might finally find a home."

The Mistress of Spices by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni -- "Magical, tantalizing, and sensual, The Mistress of Spices is the story of Tilo, a young woman born in another time, in a faraway place, who is trained in the ancient art of spices and ordained as a mistress charged with special powers.  Once fully initiated in a rite of fire, the now immortal Tilo--in the gnarled and arthritic body of an old woman--travels through time to Oakland, California, where she opens a shop from which she administers spices as curatives to her customers.  An unexpected romance with a handsome stranger eventually forces her to choose between the supernatural life of an immortal and the vicissitudes of modern life."  (This is one of my most recent acquisitions!).

Well, this list should keep us all busy (and full!) for a while.  Do you have a favorite "delicious meal" of a read?

A Suitable Boy: Part 1

Time for a Suitable Boy update and progress report.  Part one finished and only eighteen more parts to go!  That kind of sounds like a lot, doesn'it it?  If I read only one part a week I will finish by the arrival of spring!  That sounds so far away, though it always comes sooner than you think.  I hope I can manage to read it faster than a section a week, but even if it does take that long (since I am spending time with other books as well as with this one) it's not a bad thing to think I will be spending those coming cold wintry months in sunny, hot India.  There is nothing like an epic read to capture my attention and help keep my mind off bad (coming coldness and snow . . .) weather.

So, part one is all about the marriage of Savita, Lata's older sister, to Pran.  We meet the Mehras and some of the Kapoors, Khans and Chatterjis.  I think I mentioned that Lata's elder brother is married to the beautiful but shallow Meenakshi?  They have a very cute yet very indulged three-year old daughter named Aparna.  Being around such parents she is demanding, usually gets her way and has a very adult way of asking for/demanding and getting things.  She knows, however, that Lata will not give in always holds her ground.  Sometimes kids respect that even more. 

As for Meenakshi?  This is how shallow she is.  Her mother-in-law gifted to her as a wedding present two gold medals that her deceased husband earned as a student.  She parted with them with sadness but their value has always extended beyond the mere wealth that gold will bring.   Meenakshi is lusting after some gold pear drop earrings that she simply must have but does not have the money for.  How convenient to have gold medals so easily melted down and made into something else.  Even the jeweler is hesitant to take on such a commission.  When Arun, her husband hears what she did, he berates her, tells her she must not sell the second medal, yet callously mentions it in passing in a brief letter to his mother.  I can see already that they both will be problems.  More so since Lata's mother has asked him to help her find a suitable boy for her youngest daughter. 

At the close of the first section, however, Lata meets a young man in a bookstore.  So, already the plot thickens.  She is not especially impressed by him, but I know he will make another appearance soon enough.

"After classes, Lata and Malati, both dressed casually in their usual salwaar-kameez, went to Nabiganj to wander around and have a cup of coffee at the Blue Danube coffee house.  This activity, known to university students as 'ganjing', they could afford to indulge in about once a week.  As they passed the Imperial Book Depot, they were magnetically drawn in.  Each wandered off to her favorite shelves and subjects.  Malati headed straight for the novels, Lata went for poetry.  On the way, however, she paused by the science shelves, not because she understod much science, but, rather, because she did not."

It's almost like one of those set pieces--boy and girl meet eyes across a bookstore?  A tall young man with wavy black hair and rather aquiline looks also happens to be looking at the science books.  She can feel his eyes on her, to her annoyance.  And then his attention shifts to poetry, so a shared interest.  Too bad Lata gives him a withering look and cuts him to the quick when he tries to chat her up.  As yet no names are exchanged but I am sure we will meet him again. 

I love the conversation Lata has with her friend Malati after.  Of course Malati wonders who he is and remarks on his good looks, despairing of her friend's utter disregard for him.  Lata gently castigates her friend and says, "Seriously Malati, he just came up and started talking nonsense . . . don't add chillies to boiled potatoes."  I really need to remember that line--isn't it great?  And if you clicked on the link to the salwaar-kameezes--aren't they beautiful?  If I ever had a reason to wear one, I would, but I suspect I won't so will admire them from afar. 

Onwards to part two, which is already underway in my reading.  We've switched courses slightly with the festival of Holi upon us and a concert at Pran and Savita's home.  More about it next week.  I am getting a nice work out carrying my book about by the way.  I have already put thick protective tape on the corners and spine as it is also going to get quite a workout!

Teaser Tuesday: The City Baker's Guide...

I have this really awful habit of borrowing books from the library (sometimes, dare I admit it, multiple times), dragging them home, reading the dust jacket, maybe flipping through the book, and then leaving them in piles unread until the due date all of a sudden arrives (and how quickly those due dates arrive) and then dragging them back to the library and popping them into the curbside drop box.  I really mean to read the books, or at least dip into them enough to decide whether I am the right audience and the moment is right.  But best intentions and all that.  You know how it goes. 

For the better part of this year I have actually avoided checking out books from the library, but I finally caved in and am back to my old habit, though definitely in a more abbreviated manner.  So the requests tend to be much more selective and limited in the hope I have more of a chance of reading the few I bring home.  One of the books in my current library pile caught my eye and I couldn't resist a peek, which has turned into an irresistible temptation and after reading it yesterday, an all out enjoyment of what I have read so far.  Pages have turned fast and furiously and now I am sucked in and must find out what is going to happen. 

Louise Miller's debut novel, The City Baker's Guide to Country Living, is turning out to be quite a delight.  It's a very good thing that reading about food doesn't add any calories to my diet or I might have to spend more time at the gym.  So I guess I can describe it as quite delicious and let it have double meaning.  The story is like a warm, comforting, piece of hot apple pie with French vanilla ice cream melting on top.  (I fear I might even have to partake of some apple pie a la mode before I finish the book as a matter of fact).   This is a case of the right book at the right time with the added autumn-ambience that comes with a story set in Vermont in the Fall in a country inn. 

Olivia (or Livvy as she is known) Rawlings accidentally sets the exclusive dinner club where she works on fire, though I suspect it will be the best accident she will ever have.  Baked Alaskas have a way of lighting up a room, though the mischief hers causes isn't quite the effect she's going for.  It was meant to be a special anniversary dessert, a particular favorite of the club president.  His wife won't allow him such sweet treats.  In the end he doesn't get a piece and neither do any of the guests.  It's one of those 'hanging head in shame' moments, all the more so when it's suggested she take a little break from the club's kitchen.  What does an out of work pastry chef do?  Heads northward where her best friend lives and gets a job at a rustic Vermont Inn called the Sugar Maple Inn.

This has (sorry, no pun intended but I can't help myself) all the right ingredients for a perfect fall read.  Light hearted and amusing, the story totally sucks you in.  I mean how can you not see yourself there when Livvy gets to live in the Inn's "sugar shack", otherwise known as the one-room shack used for boiling tree sap into syrup.  Small town Vermont means lots of local color, both literally since the story begins in September (each new chapter progresses a month), and the personality kind.  Livvy has also met a most intriguing local who also lived elsewhere but has returned home to Vermont.  I have yet to 'suss' him out, but the journey will be a most enjoyable one. 

My teaser is one you might not want to read if you are hungry.  Go grab an apple and then come back and read on!  Livvy's friend is Hannah and the two grew up together and were almost inseparable.  One of their favorite excursions was the local county fair, one of the oldest in the country.

"I had been at the fair every year with Hannah.  It had always been one of my favorite weekends--a perfect new England autumn getaway--apple picking, a drive farther north to see the first leaves change color, then a night of fried dough and riding the Zipper at the county fair.  We had just been there a few weeks earlier."

If I could click my heels and wish myself there, I would do so right now.  I could use a little New England color.  But living vicariously through Livvy's adventures will have to do.  That excerpt is literally just a little taste since there are plenty more foodie descriptions that are very mouth watering.  Only the one I just read goes into several pages and so is too much to type out here. 

I didn't mean to go on so very much about a book I just started, but the idea of apple pie does this to a person.  It is going to be my gym book.  Needless to say, totally engrossing and better to keep busy while reading or I risk robbing the cookie jar.