On my nightstand

Still a slow going year so far...  anyway, I'm still making progress and book club keeps me chugging along ....

As I mentioned last time, February's book club choice was The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd.  I did indeed finish reading it a couple of weeks ago and we reviewed it last Thursday at the February meeting!  General consensus was that the story was much more powerful after discovering it was based on the real events of two women fighting for the rights of slaves and women.  Look for a review soon!

Next month's book club is Bel Canto by Ann Pratchett.  I'm excited to read this one as I'd read recently it was a good book club read, let's see if it lives up to my expectations.

As reported previously, I was finding The Dinner by Herman Koch difficult to read, and indeed my library subscription expired before I finished it.  To be honest, I don't think I'll pick it up again, to whiny, to complain-y... just depressing. 

I'm really enjoying my library subscription and have picked up two new books: Provence 1970: M.F.K. Fisher, Julia Child, James Beard, and the Reinvention of American Taste by Luke Barr and Longbourn by Jo Baker.  Unfortunately, my subscription to Longbourn lapsed after I had read  ~30%.  Three people had requested the book after my subscription ended, so now I'm on hold in order to finish it. Longbourn is a novel about the life of the servants in the novel Pride and Prejudice... the story itself is not unique (typical drama love story), but it's fun to put in perspective of Pride and Prejudice. Provence 1970 is a foodie book about the encounter and dinner event of great and arguably influential American culinary minds and chefs.  A bit slow going, but interesting to read and drool over the descriptions of delicious French food! 

Curry is still on my list, but with the discovery of this awesome library subscription I've been putting off reading actual physical books!  Since there's no time limit, it's taken a back seat, but I intend to get through it.

After these novels, I'm pretty open, but I have a lot of waiting list holds at my library.  For a few, I'm pretty far down the list, so in the mean time I'll have to find something new.  What are you reading?  

On my nightstand....

Well, let's see, it's been a while since I've updated what's on my nightstand!  Reading has been a little slow going this year, I've been catching up on many TV shows with our new subscription to amazon. Well, anyway, book club is underway again and as a result, I have updates on what I'm reading :P

Last month I reported that I finished The Son by Phillipp Meyer and you can find the review of this book here.

I also mentioned that I started Curry: A Tale of Cook and Conquerors by Lizzie Collingham.  I'm about half way through and put it down for a couple of reasons.  1) it's just not fair to read a book about food while you're detoxing and trying to cut out various foods (whine!) 2) book club started again (see below) and it seemed like the perfect excuse to set it down.  I still intend to finish it, but it will take longer than originally anticipated.

I recently started The Dinner by Herman Koch, (which I borrowed through my local library in MN, very exciting thing to finally figure out!)... which is completely depressing and such a downer of a book that I'm not at all motivated to read it.  My subscription ends on Jan 31 and I don't think I'll make it.  I'm only 20% of the way through, so I might pick it up later.... to be seen and maybe continued....

February's book club read is the latest book by Sue Monk Kidd, The Invention of Wings.  This is a very recent release, so I was excited to see it nominated and eventually chosen! This is a book set in the early to mid 1800's about a Southern bell and 'her' slave and the relationship that develops between the them.  I'm about 40% of the way through and it's a pretty easy read.  There are passages that are insightful and sometimes meaningful, but I'm often distracted by the Oprah highlighted portions that are included in the digital version of the book I purchased.  Oh well.  So far the book is keeping me interested and I'm always eager to pick it up in the evening or just before bed, but it's not an amazing read... yet.  To be continued... for sure!  

What are you reading?  Any new releases you're anticipating this year?

On my nightstand

I hope everyone had a lovely holiday season and rang in the new year joyously.  Do you have any resolutions?  Mine are pretty standard, eat healthy, loose some weight, but I haven't acted on any of it yet with the exception of emailing to sign up for a yoga course in town.... I'm hopeful I can maintain it.  I'm not sure if I would call it a resolution, but I plan to continue blogging book reviews and keeping up with the literary world, it's been a great 6 months or so and I'm loving it!

So, what's on my nightstand for the next couple of weeks?

Well, happy news to report... I've finished my first book of the year, The Son by Philipp Meyer!  Woot!  It doesn't really count, because I started it last year, but it's the first in 2014!  I do intend to write a review, so stay tuned for that one.

Next book, as previously reported will be Curry: A Tale of Cooks and Conquerors by Lizzie Collignham, can't wait to get into that one!

I didn't pick up anything for our Egypt trip, so I won't be digging into this topic specifically unless, by chance, something interesting comes my way.  After Curry, I'm pretty much open, nothing next in line specifically, but the reading list is long.  There are a lot of 2013 books I'm waiting to go to paperback before I'll pick them up.  One trip we are hoping to take this spring is to Naples, any recommended reading on this region in Italy that you recommend?

Happy Reading in 2014!

On my nightstand

Last time I posted, I indicated I was in the middle of two books, one for the London trip and one for book club.  I finished reading both and have posted reviews for Brick Lane and will be posting a review for The Orphan Master's Son soon.

During the Thanksgiving holidays I celebrated my birthday and received a lovely novel from my husband called The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri.  I absolutely love this book and highly recommend it to anyone.  A review of this novel will be posted in a couple of days.    

So, currently I'm back to reading the Son by Philipp Seymour, which has been on my list for a while, about 15% of the way through this one and its beginning to pick up.  After that I will be reading a book called Curry: A Tale of Cooks and Conquerors by Lizzie Collignham, which I picked up while in London at the Foyles book store (scored a little first weekend of Christmas shopping discount!), very excited to get into this one.  It appears to be a history of curry, how it's evolved through the influences of other geographies.  Right up my alley! 

 

After these, I've not selected any novels.  Of course there are many on the list, but I'd like to pick something up for our upcoming trip to Egypt for the Christmas holidays.  Any recommendations? 

Happy Reading!

On my nightstand...

Last I updated, my planned reads were The Favored Daughter by Fawzia Koofi, Brick Lane by Monica Ali, and The Son by Philipp Meyer.... so here's an update on where have I landed?

The Favored Daughter was the October book club read, I wrote a book review here.

I'm about half way through on this one.  Brick Lane is a book I chose for our upcoming London trip. While I'm not at all sure what makes this a good choice (provided on many online book lists) for a pre-read for a London trip, it's an interesting read, albeit slow.  There are lengthy portions that written in sub-par English from the perspective of the main character's sister who remains in Bangladesh (the main character is in London).  I don't understand why the author chose to use broken English for the sister, but not for the main character who has not managed to learn English despite living in London.  Maybe she did it to create a sense of the distance between them and provide a feeling of separation that can be difficult to achieve in writing.  Regardless, it makes it really difficult to get through these portions of the novel, and hence I find this a slow read.  To my surprise however, the novel has a lot of newer entertainment references that I was not expecting to find, I had the impression that this novel took place in the 1980's or so, but in fact it's more like the early 2000's.  The verdict is out as to whether or not I'll be recommending this one, I feel like I'm still waiting for something to happen... regardless, I intend to finish this novel and report on my thoughts.

The Son has taken a back seat (something always does with my planned reading!).  Instead The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson has been brought forward which was the chosen November read for book club. I'm almost 20% of the way through, and really struggling to get into it.  This novel won a Pulitzer prize and I first heard about it from a book review on NPR so I thought it was would be interesting and intriguing, but instead I'm finding it a bit dull and difficult to get into.  It will be interesting to see what my fellow book club members think, look for a review in the near future on this book too!

What's next?  Probably The Son will creep it's way back onto my list, but I'm also pretty sure my b-day will be bringing new books my way, can't wait to see which ones are coming my way! We'll also be choosing books for the next two months at the November book club meeting, so I'm looking forward to see what's next on our plate!

What interesting books are you reading?  Drop me a line and let me know what's new on your shelf.

Happy Reading!

Update and On my nightstand

I've been neglecting this blog ... a little over a month since my last post, eek!  Life has been a little blah lately, food is especially depressing in the Netherlands.  Lately, I've had more than one experience where the food I purchase from the main grocery store chain doesn't taste like anything, the cheese, the bread, the grapes even... blah.  I've realized that much of my happiness centers around food, it's taste and quality are absolutely central to how my general attitude will be for the day, the week, the month!  I don't know where it came from, I think this need always been there, but I feel it here in the Netherlands more than anywhere else I've lived in (which isn't saying much, I've lived in three locations in three decades, Minnesota, Italy and the Netherlands).  Anyway, it's definitely impacting my desire to be creative in the kitchen which results in a lack of food recipes on this blog.  Not sure if and when that will change....

Well, onto books which has kept me plenty occupied lately.  I've become completely engrossed with trying to read as many books as possible. There are so many great reads that have come to my attention recently and with the weather changing to fall, curling up with a new book and mint tea is just the right thing for me! I've received so many great recommendations from my book club friends and NPR is always reviewing a new book, or three (!) that my reading list just keeps growing and growing.  We're lucky here in Eindhoven to have a book store with English books, but I still find myself gravitating towards reading on the kindle or the kindle app on my phone.  Sign of times changing or just circumstances necessitating change?

Well anyway, rather than writing full reviews of the books I last told you about, I've (very briefly) summarized my thoughts on them here.

The House of Spirits - I actually wrote a review of this one.  See my review here.

The Unwinding: An Inner History of the New  America -  The Unwinding re-tells the tales of everyday and unusual (public figures, famous musicians, politicians) people in today's world through the economic downfall in 2009 (beginning in the 1970s through 2010-ish).   The book does not provide an analysis of these stories, George Packer leaves the reader to draw one's own conclusion.  Most, if not all stories do not end on an upbeat note, most are left in a state of despair with uncertain futures or in a spinning cycle of making poor or unwanted choices.  While I could not personally relate to these stories, I did find their perspective interesting.  I enjoyed learning about the housing crisis in Florida and also about Dean Price's quest to make fuel alternatives main stream. I found the story of Joe Biden's aide very depressing (also learned a lot about Joe Biden) and really wanted to shake him by the shoulders and wake him up from such a disappointing career.
This book is not a feel good book and I also never found myself reading it just before bed, it was a middle of the day read when I could squeeze it in (which is probably why it took so long to get through!).  Some story lines were especially dry and towards the end of the book I found myself reading it just to finish it.  While I think it's interesting and worthy of your time to be educated of the state of things, be aware that it's a slow read and not an enthralling read.

Half Broke Horses - Another novel by Jeanette Walls.  I picked up this book after reading The Glass Castle: A Memoir (which I previously reviewed here).  Half Broke Horses is a novel about the life of Jeanette Walls grandmother, Lily Casey.  Lily Casey's life centers around the South (Texas, Arizona) where life was hard, weather conditions were harsh, and making money was not easy.  This book is a decent and very quick read, but unlike The Glass Castle, it's not a stand alone brilliant novel.  I was interested in this book to understand Jeanette Walls' mother's upbringing, but this novel did not shed the light I was hoping it would bring.  Interesting novel, but I recommend The Glass Castle over this one.  

In the meantime between my last post and this post, I also read two more stories:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald) - Another book that came to my attention by a friend.  I was curious mostly because I love the movie.  As it turns out the short story is very different and less positive than the film.  In general a fun short story, one that has some interesting life lessons intertwined.  It's interesting to see that a three hour film could be generated from an ~20 page short story.

Those Who Save Us - A novel by Jeanna Blum about a daughter's journey to uncover her German mother's story during World War II.  This novel was another fast book club read, but I have to say I was conflicted with the book.  There were brilliant, eloquent quotes in this novel, but some of the writing was lacking depth and the same eloquence that other passages had.  The story line at times felt a little to convenient and forced.  On the other hand, I couldn't put the novel down, I read this book in less than a week, so there must have been something brilliant that kept me coming back.  The theme 'those who save us' is prevalent in the novel and each set of characters that interact play a role in saving each other.  In general I found this to be a good and fast read, but if you'v read World War II novels from the Germany perspective before, this one is probably not worth your time.

On my Nightstand:
I have started Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett, but to be honest, it's not begging for my attention and has therefore taken a backseat on my reading list.  Recently, our book club has chosen next month's book and I've become completely engrossed in this one, The Favored Daughter: One Woman's Fight to Lead Afghanistan into the Future by Fawiza Koofi.  So, that brings me to my next topic, what's on my nightstand?

Besides The Favored Daughter, next up are Brick Lane by Monica Ali and The Son by Philipp Meyer.  I chose Brick Lane for our upcoming trip to London over the Thanksgiving holidays (no, Thanksgiving is not celebrated in the Netherlands, but we will have friends visiting for the holiday).  The Son has recently been reviewed by some book blogs (here's one)  and I recommended it to my husband who has been reading it.  My hope is that he will finish it and I can pick it up after him.

  
All images from amazon.com

Well, that's it for now, until next time... Happy Reading!

On my nightstand...

Update 12 August: Turns out the Ken Follett book sitting on my nightstand is the sequel to The Pillars of the Earth, called World Without End, so this one will take a back seat until I purchase and read the former. Instead, I'm replacing this book with another book written by Jeanette Walls.  As part of book club, we read The Glass Castle (check out my review here).  She's written a book about her grandmother's life called, Half Broke Horses.  She calls this book a true-life novel ... I imagine she had to fill in some details while bringing the story together.  I also suspect some of the information is a retelling of her own mother's life experiences with her grandmother, Lily Casey.  

image taken from amazon.com

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Here's a quick review of books on my nightstand/in my iPhone/on my Kindle (geez... do I have enough ways to read a book?!) that I'm hoping to write about soon.

If you click on the image it should take you the amazon.com synopsis, where I also acquired these images from.  Just in case that doesn't work, I've added a link to the title in my discussion below.

 


The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende - I added this book to my list of reads after watching the movie on Netflix while we still lived in Italy and after reading Portrait in Sepia (during our trip home in between living in Italy and moving to the Netherlands) which is the sequel to Daughter of Fortune (which I also read, but well before our life in Italy - I remember it was a random Barnes and Nobel pick up in the discount section!). I'm almost through it, it's taken a lot longer than expected, but I have had some visitors in the last month.  In general I find Isabel Allende's books a very dense read and occasionally catch my mind wandering while reading her all too often run-on sentences.  Isabel Allende's books are jam packed with action, adventure, love and often cover generations of the family at the center of the book (all three primarily set  in Central America).  This book is completely different from the movie and really, both are great!  I can't wait to share my thoughts with you on this book.

The Unwinding: An Inner History of the New America by George Packer - This book was randomly added to my current reading list when I mistook it for the July Eindhoven book club choice, ha!  This is an interesting read about the state of things in the U.S. (since the early 60s/70s to 2010), but there's not a lot of interpretation of the stories George Packer shares.  I think the stories themselves could be great discussion topics for a book club, if you're willing to get political.  Mostly for now (at least of what I'm willing to share at the moment) I've realized that this is not a book I want to read before I go to bed, it's not a comforting read.  Right now this book has taken a back seat to The House of Spirits, but I'm about 70% of the way through and I plan to finish it before adding anything else to this reading list.

The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett - This is a book my mom set beside the door of the room my husband and I were staying in when we went home for the month between living in Italy and moving to the Netherlands as a slight nudge to read this book... it was very cute, I have to say.  Well, I brought it all the way over from the States, and now that I have heard enough about it and it has been recommended by others, it has made my current reading list.  TBD on  my initial thoughts on this one, I haven't even cracked a page!

Until the next book review...