Bookish Review: An Everlasting Meal

An Everlasting Meal  is part cookbook, part cooking philosophy, with a sprinkle of memoir. Tamar Adler firmly believes that cook good, nourishing food need not be difficult, and doesn't need explicit recipes so much as mastery of a few techniques. This book should be encouraging to anyone who is unsure in the kitchen or thinks cooking is difficult or just doesn't know where to start. Allen encourages repurposing leftovers, and using every bit of a meal, from the beet tops that might be discarded to the pasta water that might be poured down the drain. It is a wonderful way to think about food--honoring ingredients and not being wasteful. It's also thrifty and smart. This was a really enjoyable and empowering read--I recommend it to anyone who could use a little confidence in the kitchen.

Bookish Review: Unbroken

My book club selected this book, and I am so glad they dad. Louis Zamperini, the protagonist of this amazing true story, just passed away yesterday at the age of 97, and as it is July 4th, I think sharing the story of an American hero is very appropriate. Unbroken is Zamperini's life story, including his misspent youth, his rise as a track star, and his service in the Pacific theater during WWII. Most of my knowledge of WWII is focused on what happened in Europe, plus Pearl Harbor, and the atomic bombings, of course. I really didn't know that much about the Pacific theater otherwise, so beyond Zamperini's incredible story of survival, I found the book very interesting for the history lesson alone. Frankly, what happened to Zamperini and others in the war reads like fiction--how could these men have survived? It's very inspirational, and Zamperini's struggles after the war give some insight into PTSD for soldiers. The book is long and meticulously researched, but it's definitely a page turner. Read it before the movie comes out!

Bookish Review: Mistakes I Made at Work

 

As a professor of Organizational Behavior at a university, I thought this book was a fantastic collection of true stories from women's careers. My undergraduate students (particularly the women, but probably the men as well) could really learn a few things from this book. I feel like most young people have to figure things out for themselves and have no idea of the workplace dynamics that they are getting themselves into. This book could constitute a "realistic career preview" to let young women (and men) that they will make some mistakes but can still be very successful. They'll also read stories about not letting others stand in their way or make career choices for them. I think this could be beneficial for older readers as well as these lessons are not easy to learn and these inspirational stories can help encourage people in their career dreams.

I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher through the First to Read program, which did not affect the content of this review

Bookish Review: Between Man and Beast

Between Man and Beast is a really interesting true story about the discovery of the gorilla. I had no idea that for many years the gorilla was considered a mythical creature. Paul Du Chaillu was the intrepid explorer who ventured into parts of Africa that had never been explored by non-natives before. The information and specimens he brought back shed light on the true nature of the gorilla, but even as he gained slight celebrity, he also faced intense scrutiny, and many questioned his tales and his findings. His discoveries came at the height of the evolutionary debate spurred by Darwin, and the discovery of the gorilla was feared by many for what it might mean for the debate. Since he was not really a trained explorer, he didn't have the precise measurements and pinpoint accuracy the scientific community demanded, and more and more people questioned whether he made it all up. Determined to clear his name, he ventures back to Africa once again. Monte Reel brings to life an extraordinary and under-appreciated explorer. It's a really interesting read.

Note: An e-ARC of this title was provided by the publisher via NetGalley, which was much appreciated, but did not affect the content of my review.

Bookish Review: Homeward Bound

The subtitle of the book is "Why Women Are Embracing the New Domesticity," but the book is actually more balanced than that, as it explores why both women and men are feeling a pull to domestic life, moving away from the corporate life to homesteading, small goat farms, knitting, homeschooling, organic cooking--and blogging about it along the way. Emily gives a nice historical perspective of various women's movements and incarnations of feminism over the years and how some see some women's desire to stay home, cook, and take care of family as a step backward and how some of these women see feminism and the promise that women can have it all as a lie--and if we can't have it all, then maybe I want to choose baking a pie over trying to climb the corporate ladder. Emily nicely elucidates how laws in the United States do little to help working mothers--or working fathers--balance working and family and how, given how the economy is today, people don't see the security or the promise of a good future in their jobs, and some would rather scrape by doing what they love and have the time to spend with their families than make more money and have their whole lives be work. Emily covers Etsy, mommy blogs, the rise of DIY, homesteading, etc. I thought her analysis was nicely balanced, covering multiple sides of the issue. I thought it was a really interesting read.
Note: An e-ARC of this title was provided by the publisher via NetGalley, which was much appreciated, but did not affect the content of my review.

Bookish Review: Learning to Breathe

Memoirists face the danger of coming off as self-absorbed, neurotic, or both. In Learning to Breathe, Priscilla comes off mainly as neurotic, but I don't think she'd argue too much with that description. She's mostly more likable than Elizabeth Gilbert (Eat, Pray, Love), though the book is not quite as compelling. Priscilla struggled for most of her life with panic attacks, and the book covers her exploration into meditation (among other things) to try to gain control of her life and her breath. My own prejudices gave me a hard time deciding how I felt about this book. On the one hand, Priscilla has a pretty great life and I was often thinking, "Suck it up!" or "What do you have to be panicking about?" On the other hand, although I have never had a panic attack, I have had asthma attacks, and the inability to breathe is a VERY scary feeling. To have that come on suddenly and frequently such that you felt you could not trust your own body and felt somewhat hijacked in your own life--that is nothing to scoff at. In addition, I sometimes have trouble reading about the granola-crunchy benefits of meditation and chakras and yoga, while at the same time, I practice yoga semi-frequently and find that it can do amazing things. I don't know if it is my Western mentality struggling with Eastern ideas, or if I am too much of a pragmatist most of the time to be thinking about clearing energy channels (which requires more openness and imagination) without rolling my eyes. Still, I think Priscilla's story might be helpful for those who suffer from panic attacks or who are looking for a source of calm. Definitely not a must-read, but it could be beneficial for some.

Bookish Review: The Bucolic Plague

The Bucolic Plague is a memoir about a couple of New Yorkers who buy up a mansion in rural New York and try to start a farm, which they only tend on weekends. The Fabulous Beekman Boys also apparently have a reality show, but it comes on "planet green," which is a channel that I did not even know existed, let alone ever watched. The book is a very good read--funny and touching. This is not Kilmer-Purcell's first memoir, and I will probably pick up the other one--the guy has had a very interesting life, to say the least. In this one, readers get to experience the hard work that goes into running a weekend farm with goats and a vegetable garden whilst still working full time. The village depicted is quaint and homey, with an excellent cast of characters, including more gay couples than one might expect in a farming community in upstate New York (more than the author and his partner expected when they first stumbled upon the hamlet). The story probably would have been very different if not for the economic collapse and both Beekman Boys losing their high-paying Manhattan jobs. Though more fortunate than many, I think their plight is one many people can relate to, and the deterioration of their relationship, though hard to read, is very real. (Fear not, they bounce back!) You can read more about their projects and products on beekman1802.com. The book was quite enjoyable, and I wish I could watch the show.

Bookish Review: Zeitoun

Zeitoun was a hard read for me. I lived through Katrina and I remember what it was like returning to the city nearly a month after--it was like coming to a third world country. I know what a nightmare it was and how horrific the devastation was, but even so, I was shocked at the story recounted in the book. Abdulrahman Zeitoun stayed behind in New Orleans during and after Hurricane Katrina, though his family left. He was arrested--in a house that HE OWNED--and wrongfully imprisoned and was not even allowed to call his wife. She assumed he had been killed. If you were not living in New Orleans before, during, and/or after the storm, you really can't imagine what it was like, but this story gives good insight. You will be horrified and shocked that such a thing happened on American soil. The book was not as enjoyable or hopeful read as Finn McCool's Football Club, another Katrina memoir, but it is an important and interesting one. It is always difficult for me to read about Katrina, and I think this story would be difficult to read for anyone to read this story, as we would like to believe that something like this could not happen here, but it did, and that is important for everyone to know.

Bookish Review: I Live in the Future, and Here's How it Works

The Children's Book Council sent me a copy of Nick Bilton's new work when I missed the annual meeting. I found it to be an interesting read. Nick focuses on the fact that technological change has always been met with skepticism, fear, and even panic--and nothing has changed about that.

Nick is an advocate of embracing this change and utilizing new technologies to create richer experiences. After all, we're certainly not going back--no one's making 8-tracks or VHS tapes anymore and it's not as if everyone's going to suddenly stop using the internet.

I thought Nick had some interesting points, though his repetition of the phrase "bytes, snacks, and meals" was extremely annoying to me. Also, Nick emphasizes that people will pay for experiences, which is not untrue, but he seemed to completely discount the fact that people will also pay for content--his point seemed to be that good content is not enough, but he almost took it too far, as if good content was meaningless. I'm not willing to go that far; I believe people will pay for content and expertise as much as experience, but the book did make some good points.

Bookish Review: Eat, Pray, Love

Eat, Pray, Love follows Elizabeth Gilbert in her world journey to find herself. First, she spends months in Italy, eating her way through the country, learning the melodic language, and immersing herself in the culture. Next, she travels to India to live in an ashram and practice yoga and meditation. Gilbert already practices yoga and already has a guru when she goes to the ashram (it is the guru's ashram, though she is not there at the same time). Finally, she spends months in Indonesia, trying to find balance, and spending time with a funny, happy medicine man she met years prior.

When Gilbert starts this quest, her life is in a shambles and she is trying to recover from an ugly divorce. She luckily finds a publisher who basically wants to fund her quest around the world in exchange for a book about it (I'll take that deal, if anyone wants to offer. The countries and timeline are negotiable. Let me know.)

The journey is interesting and Gilbert does have some enlightening moments. She also has some annoying moments and can come off as a whiner with little reason to whine. Overall, it is an interesting read, though what I really came away with was "Why doesn't someone pay me to do that?"

Bookish: The Omnivore's Dilemma

So, I read the Young Reader's Edition of Michael Pollan's much-lauded manifesto on the state of food. Why? Because I got a free ARC at a conference, and the information is the same as the adult version; it's just written on a lower level. The book was great--compelling, interesting, and truthful. It didn't read like propaganda; rather, like Pollan had set out to find the truth, and he found it. Agriculture in America is not a pretty thing these days. It is extremely unusual to find Ma and Pa Farmer working their land, raising animals and different crops--it just doesn't work that way anymore. These days, with government subsidies and the insane dependence on corn, it doesn't pay off to grow multiple crops or raise multiple animals. Pollan visits big corn farms, big cow farms, big organic farms--which are better because of the lack of pesticide, but still not as great as you might imagine--an industrial farm raising "free range" chickens that never leave the coop, and a small, local farm that works the way farms used to work--the way they SHOULD work. Pollan even hunts and gathers his own food, to get the full picture of how food can be obtained.

Warning to parents: your kids may want you to change the way you shop after reading this book. But if you read it too, you may want to change the way you eat. An interested, eye-opening read. Recommended, in either version.

Bookish Review: Julie & Julia

This book follows Julie Powell as she decides to cook her way through Julia Child's first cookbook in a year. That's over 500 recipes, people. Was she a little bit insane? Yes, yes, she was. The book was born from her blog, and I just found out that it is going to be a movie as well. (I found that a bit surprising.)



So, I'm not usually that much into memoir, but this was pretty good. It's about cooking and craziness and it's pretty funny. There are some disgusting parts, and her blind hatred for Republicans was a little annoying, because it doesn't really have anything to do with anything that is going on in the story. For the most part, though, the book is humorous and sweet, and it really is a rather amazing feat--I mean, could you bring yourself to cook brains and kidneys in aspic and all kinds of other revolting or unnecessary preparations, and then actually eat it? I think I'll pass!