Review of "Food: A Love Story" by Jim Gaffigan

Review of "Food:  A Love Story" by Jim Gaffigan

This book is not about high cuisine.  It's a lot closer, in a self mocking way, to low cuisine, to everyday eating as much as everyday food and to everyman.  Jim travels the low road to food everywhere including restaurants, restaurant chains, at home, at BBQ's and at football games.  I found him to be very often laugh out funny so be careful not to read this book in public places.  It's a lighthearted book with its heart in the heartlands of today's American food heartland. 

Review of Fifty Mice by Daniel Pyne

Fifty Mice plays with memory and what is real. It is the story of a man who is unwillingly put into the Witness Protection Program but doesn't know why. He has to try to figure out what information the people who abducted him want. The man has a fiance but has commitment issues and hasn't set a wedding date. He slowly comes to care about a little girl who is also in the Witness Protection Program and eventually her mother.  Through sessions with a psychiatrist he recalls an incident in his life having to do with a mermaid/dancer at a sex bar that he had visited. His memory of that night is hazy at first. He was drunk and doesn't remember the details. Eventually he does remember and the story moves forward quickly after that.  I enjoyed reading this book. It presented a puzzle to solve that had me hooked until the end.

Review of "Bitter" by Jennifer McLagan

Review of "Bitter" by Jennifer McLagan

 

They say you can't judge a book by its cover.  In this case, you can judge the publisher really cares about the texture or feel and imagery of the cover of "Bitter".  The six letters in the title word 'Bitter' are engraved or inset into the hardcover and the spine.  The topic, cooking bitter foods or ingredients, is different and interesting from that angle.  The author brings in many aspects of bitter foods including the  historical background [did you know the grapefruit is the only citrus not originating in southeast Asia?, sometimes the science of the sensation of bitter or the chemistry [e.g. of phytochemicals]].

The recipes are interesting and  although I have not tried many of them.  My only complaint with the book is that it covers a fair number of ingredients that are either hard to obtain or very expensive.  Expense is especially a problem in the realm of bitter where one often needs to acquire a taste for some foods and without knowing if you will truly like it in the end this can be an expensive bet of money, time and effort.  Examples include Tobacco Chocolate Truffles and a whole chapter of recipes using cardoons [member of the thistle family].

Overall an interesting read and a well produced book.

Review of "North - The New Nordic Cuisine of Iceland" by Gunnar Karl Gislason & Jody Eddy

"North  - The New Nordic Cuisine of Iceland"

This is a sumptuous book.  It starts with the jacket cover with an enticing "nouveau" dish on the front and on the back a photo of  waters chock full of blue ice.  Both are inviting and stunning. The stories, photographs and recipes are very engaging and maintain the same standard of quality throughout.  Icelandic cuisine has a lot of novel and broadening aspects for an American palette and cook.  Though this is the 'new' cuisine there are many fairly simple recipes that any cook can approach.  Read this book for any number of reasons:  the stories of people and food, photographs or recipes.

Review of The Underground Girls of Kabul: In search of a hidden resistance in Afghanistan by Jenny Nordberg

This book provides a revealing look at females living as males in Afghanistan. Families with only girl children may designate one of the girls to be a boy. She will be dressed in boy's clothing and allowed to interact with outsiders as a boy. She will have much more freedom in movement and contact with boys and men than her sisters will. Girls (and women) have very little status in Afghanistan. Designating a child to be a male gives a woman more status to the outside world. Women with only female children risk the threat of having their husbands take a second wife so that the family will have a male heir.
Many of these girls will revert to being a female when they reach puberty and are of marriageable age. But some remain in their status as males to the outside world because it gives them much more freedom. Since they have grown up being able to speak and think for themselves they don't want to give this up.
Afghanistan is not the only country in which the practice of dressing girls as boys is done. It has been done in places where the status of women is low. The author states that the situation of women in these places will only change when men support women having equal status and rights.

Review of The Harlem Hellfighters by Max Brooks

This graphic novel covers an important part in our country's history that is too little known about. It tells the story of the 369th Infantry Regiment, an all black unit, that fought in World War I. They faced racial discrimination at home and abroad. This unit was called "the "Harlem Hellfighters" by the Germans. They were known for their bravery and willingness to give all they had to the fight. Canaan White's illustrations of the horrors of war really make an impact on the story. They bring home the conditions that these men had to survive under.

Review of The Witch by Jean Thompson

The stories in this book were a mixed bag for me. Some of them were engaging and interesting, others less so. I liked the fairy tale element in them. Some were easy to identify. Others were more obscure. The characters in these stories were well drawn but not people that I would readily identify with.