Koreatown

Title:  Koreatown

Author:  Deuki Hong, Matt Rodbard

Publication Information:  Clarkson Potter. 2016. 272 pages.

ISBN:  0804186138 / 978-0804186131

Book Source:  I received this book through the Blogging for Books program free of cost in exchange for an honest review.

Opening Sentence:  "You're holding a Korean cookbook in your hands, and there's a bright, unapologetically funky, sometimes spicy, oftentimes bubbling, impossibly interesting future awaiting you."

Favorite Quote:  "Today, Asian flavors are hybridizing modern cuisine. It's not 'fusion.' It's bigger than that, as these cultures have just become an everyday part of our culinary language."

Koreatown. The name says it all. This book is a survey Korean American cooking with recipes and stories gathered from around the country. As such, it is an introduction to both Korean American food and Korean American culture.

A disclaimer before I share my thoughts on this book. I am familiar with Korean flavors only through food served at local Korean restaurants. I am experienced in the kitchen and enjoying cooking and trying foods from different cultures. I do not know and have not cooked with many of the ingredients unique to a Korean kitchen, but I want to learn. That is precisely my reason for picking up this book. I am looking for an introduction and a greater understanding.

This book is successful in doing that to an extent. It does provide an introduction to culture and foods. This book is, however, very busy in layout and organization which at times makes it seem a little overwhelming even for an experienced cook.

The organization of this book is difficult to categorize. The book does provide a table of contents, an index, and a glossary. Each chapter has a different focus as is common in many cookbooks. In this case, the areas of focus differ between ingredients, methods of cooking, and course of the meal, and occasions. The chapters in the book are as follows:

• Introduction
• Ingredients and equipment
• Kimchi and banchan (small plates)
• Rice, noodles and dumplings
• Barbecue:  Grilled, smoked & fried
• Drinking food:  pojangmacha
• Soups, stews and braises
• Respect: guest recipes
• Sweets and desserts

The ingredients and equipment section of the book is about eleven pages long and goes through "some products you might not know, as well as touch on some common items that are used slightly differently in the Korean kitchen." This is the textbook component of this cultural tour, providing a helpful list of ingredients and their Korean names and a short list of online list to purchase them. Also included on the list are things like more familiar items disposable plastic gloves and a MagicBullet because they form an integral part of this cuisine.

The most surprising of the sections is "Drinking Food." According to the book, eating and drinking alcohol go "so hand in hand that it's often hard to separate the two," and a pojangmacha refers to a place to eat and drink. Thus, you may think this section becomes the equivalent of snacks or bar food.  It isn't. The recipes range from a dish including Fritos to a whole roasted chicken to a hangover stew. Fascinating but the organization makes it a little difficult when I go looking for a recipe for dinner.

The layout of the book is also a little overwhelming. Different color pages. Different color fonts. Different fonts. Photographs. Photographs that look like illustrations. Illustrations. Side articles about ingredients, restaurants, or people's experiences with Korean food sprinkled throughout the book with no visual offset differentiating them from the recipes.

The recipes themselves are consistent - a title in Korean and English, an ingredient list set off to the side of the page, a story to introduce the recipe, and numbered paragraph instructions. I appreciate the  expected recipes for foods like kimchi and bulgogi and am intrigued by the more "fusion" oriented recipes like a barbecue marinate including coke and Kimchi White Chocolate Snickerdoodles. This tour of Korean food includes a lot to explore.

Overall, the book is interesting but a little difficult to navigate. Perhaps like Koreatown itself for a novice?

Please share your thoughts and leave a comment. I would love to "talk" to you.

Modern Girls

Title:  Modern Girls

Author:  Jennifer S. Brown

Publication Information:  NAL. 2016. 384 pages.

ISBN:  045147712X / 978-0451477125

Book Source:  I received this book through the Penguin First to Read program free of cost in exchange for an honest review.

Opening Sentence:  "My lower back ached as I sat, shoulders rounded, hunched over like a number 9, on the wooden stool at my desk at Dover Insurance."

Favorite Quote:  "It was possible, I found, to both mourn a loss and yet be grateful it happened."

Two women. Two unplanned and unwanted pregnancies. Two months - August and September 1935. Two agonizing decisions.

Rose and Dottie are mother and daughter. At age 42, Rose is happily married. She has birthed and raised her children; she has unfortunately had to bury some of her children. She has been the dutiful daughter, wife, and mother. At this point, she is ready for the next chapter in her life and has no wish to start over with a new baby. She thinks her days of motherhood are over and is completely surprised when she finds herself pregnant again.

Dottie is only nineteen. She has just been promoted to head bookkeeper at her job. She is in a stable relationship which she hopes will soon lead to marriage. She is a dutiful daughter and a "good girl." Her mother dreams of college and a career for her. Her life is just beginning. One argument and one careless night lead to an unexpected, unplanned, and unwanted pregnancy.

Both women are at a crossroads. What choice will they make?

As the story alternates between their two perspectives, I respond more to Rose's story. She exudes a quiet strength and fortitude that perhaps comes only with age and experience. Her worry is for herself and for Dottie, who, no matter what, is her baby girl. Dottie's thoughts and actions, particularly towards her mother and towards her fiancé Abe, demonstrate a self-centeredness. Perhaps, that stems from her youth. Perhaps, that is her character. Perhaps, that stems from the fact that those appear to her to be the only available choices.

This book is set into the cultural context of Depression Era New York City. This aspect of the book is implicitly critical for in that time and place, choices for women, even the "modern" girls, are limited. Marriage is the only road to respectability. Any impediments must be quietly, secretly dealt with and can only be dealt with in the back alleys and basements. A girl's life is staked on her reputation and her virtue.

This book is also set into the Jewish culture of the Lower East side. This context is highlighted throughout the book. Yet, for me, this cultural construct is not central to the book. This book could just as easily be set in an entirely different culture for the idea of the "good girls" is a universal one, occurring across cultural heritages and religious beliefs. The book does not really get into the moral/ethical decision Rose and Dottie must make; it focuses instead on the pragmatic decision. What is their best choice for moving forward with life? What is the choice they can live with?

Beyond the cultural commentary, this book covers only a short period of time and focuses solely on the immediate decision Rose and Dottie must make. As such, the book feels like a prelude to a bigger story. The ending feels like the beginning of something new. As such, the story is not completely satisfying because it feels incomplete. It feels as if a sequel or a series is planned. Wonder if there is?

Please share your thoughts and leave a comment. I would love to "talk" to you.

The Rejected Writers' Book Club

Title:  The Rejected Writers' Book Club

Author:  Suzanne Kelman

Publication Information:  Lake Union Publishing. 2016. 272 pages.

ISBN:  1503934144 / 978-1503934146

Book Source:  I received this book as a publisher's galley through NetGalley free of cost in exchange for an honest review.

Opening Sentence:  "'Come and live in the country; you won't regret it!' The advertisement in a glossy real estate periodical improved us."

Favorite Quote:  "Verbal tennis is about the most exercise we get."

A family secret meets small town life meets Thelma and Louise is the essence of this book. I picked this book solely because of the cover and the title. For an avid bibliophile, the combination of authors (rejected or otherwise) and book clubs is hard to resist. The fact that the book makes a perfect, light-hearted beach read is an added bonus.

Meet Janet Johnson and the Rejected Ladies. Janet is a librarian (the book theme continues!) and a relative newcomer to Southlea Bay, Washington. She is looking for friendship and a place to belong. In her life are her husband, who seems to spend his time with household projects, in particular trying to capture raccoons on their property, and her daughter, who seems to be a bit high maintenance.

The Rejected Ladies are a club of Southlea Bay women who bond over two things. One, they are all storytellers. Second, publishers have rejected their manuscripts (more books!) multiple times, a fact that they have turned into a cause for celebration.

The adventure starts when a founding member Dorie violates the basic premise of the club. She is no longer a "rejected lady." Some publisher has the audacity to accept her manuscript. Worse, Dorie discovers that she has inadvertently included a secret in the manuscript. She needs to get that manuscript rejected and back because she must protect her secret and because her bond with the rejected ladies is more important to her than being published. She asks Janet and the Rejected Ladies for help.

Cue the road trip in a car crammed with people and a trunk full of frozen meals for the road. The road trip of course leads to further misadventures. Cue road closures, car breakdowns, forced hotel stays, and new relationships.

The book includes a lot of characters, from the Rejected Ladies and Janet to their families to the cast of characters they meet along the way. After a while, I stopped keeping track of who is who except for the two main characters - Janet and Dorie. The adventures of the rest tumble together, creating the community and warmth around Janet and Dorie. Some of the situations they find themselves in are sweet, and some are laugh out loud funny.

What happens in this book is not nearly as important as how it happens. The community and the bonds of family and friendship that stem from the Rejected Ladies are really what is at the heart of this book. Janet and her husband are a comfortable old married couple; shared love but separate refrigerators are the keys to their marriage. Janet is realistic about her daughter and loves her, aggravations and all. The Rejected Ladies come from different backgrounds and different perspectives; their friendship is their bond. They are tolerant of each other's foibles and stand behind each through everything. This book is full of the kind of friendships that, if you are lucky enough to find the, you hope you will hold on to throughout your life.

A sweet book that will leave you smiling.

Please share your thoughts and leave a comment. I would love to "talk" to you.

Hard Red Spring

Title:  Hard Red Spring

Author:  Kelly Kerney

Publication Information:  Viking. 2016. 448 pages.

ISBN:  0525429018 / 978-0525429012

Book Source:  I received this book as a publisher's galley through NetGalley and the Penguin First to Read Program free of cost in exchange for an honest review.

Opening Sentence:  "The cave in Father's mountain was just big enough for a little girl to walk inside, though Evie had never done so."

Favorite Quote:  "History repeats itself, but revolutions always think they're different."

Hard Red Spring is a history of a country told not through the eyes of its citizens but through the eyes of expatriates. Each of the four sections of the book centers on an American. The first is young Evie in 1902, an eight year old girl brought to Guatemala by her parents who dream of riches. The second is Dorie in 1954, the wife of the American ambassador to Guatemala. The third is Lenore in 1983, a missionary coming to Guatemala to do God's work. The fourth is Jean in 1999, a mother looking for the roots of her adopted daughter. All four women are connected through their history with Guatemala.

When I first realize the narrative voice, I am not sure. How do you tell an effective history of a place through the eyes of outsiders? However, then, the story takes over. When names and references to the past come come up, these "outsiders" may not recognize them, but I, as the reader, do. The information comes slowly and casually for the characters recounting it do not recognize the significance of a name or a place. The reader does. Sometimes, the connections startle, and sometimes they shock. Sometimes, I want to warn the characters of what I know. Of course, I can't, but that leaves me completely engaged in their story; this approach puts the reader at the heart of the story.

It is quite a story. For young Evie, it is the story of an adult world that she does not understand; it is a story of innocence lost. For the other three women, it is the story of despair, sorrow, loneliness, violence, and ultimately, love. For each of them comes the realization that the reality of life is nothing like what they expected it to be. It is harsher and darker than their vision; what is left to them is what they make of it or how they manage to deal with it.

The Guatemalan history surrounding them is a hundred years of economic instability, political unrest, racial strife, revolutions, and guerrilla warfare. Tied into these domestic upheavals is the contribution of foreign, particularly, US influences. This book confronts the political and fundamentalist religious beliefs that contribute to the unrest. It tackles the prejudices and clash between cultures - American, Guatemalan, and Mayan/Indian. It personalizes this history by placing it as the context of the story of these women. It turns factual history into an emotional story.

Note that the last few pages of the book present a historical time line. My recommendation would be to read this timeline first. I know very little about Guatemala's history; the timeline provides the historical context for this book. Having that brief introduction to the actual history serves to enhance the fiction that relates the history in such a personal way.

At times, the style of the book reminds me of the books of James Michener and Edward Rutherford. This book covers a century of history; the pace of the book is dense and slow at times. The connections between the people follow through all four sections, keeping the story line going, but the focus throughout remains the place. The symbolism and mythology of the mountain, the corn and the wheat fields, and the quetzal bird carries throughout the book and ties the story to the land  - Quetzaltenango or Xela, Guatemala. A memorable story.

Please share your thoughts and leave a comment. I would love to "talk" to you.

The City & The City

Title:  The City & The City

Author:  China Miéville

Publication Information:  Del Ray. 2009. 336 pages.

ISBN:  0345497511 / 978-0345497512

Book Source:  I read this book for a book discussion at my local library.

Opening Sentence:  "I could not see the street or much of the estate."

Favorite Quote:  "We are all philosophers here where I am, and we debate among many other things the question of where it is that we live. On that issue I am a liberal. I live in the interstice yes, but I live in both the city and the city."

I did a double take when I realized that the name of the book is not The City but rather The City & The City. How unusual. Having read it, the title is perfect. For the setting - the cities of Beszel and Ul Qoma - is the main feature of this book. The setting is what I find the most captivating, much more so than the story itself. The setting is what I will remember from this book, much more so than any character or any aspect of the plot.

For, Beszel and Ul Qoma are like no other cities ever seen. The descriptions make them sound as if on the other periphery of Europe. Not unusual. One is old and decrepit; the other seems much more vibrant. Again, not unusual. What is unusual is the fact that the two cities appear to occupy the same physical space. However, the two are distinct, unique, and very separate - in language, in culture, and in politics. Between them lies a border - a real, imagined, or perceived boundary that both sides work very diligently to maintain.

How is this possible? The book describes a system of crosshatches. Picture a grid of a geographic area. Specific squares lie completely and totally within one city. However, where the squares of the two cities touch, a "crosshatch" develops. Citizens of each city stay within their designated squares but may be together in a crosshatch. However, even within a crosshatch, both sides profess not to see the other. "It works because you don't blink. That's why unseeing and unsensing is so vital. No one can admit it doesn't work. So if you don't admit it, it does." If someone - anyone - crosses from one city to the other, a breach occurs. And, it is firmly dealt with.

This book may have a deeper philosophical point to make about the real world. The naming of the characters and places and the differences in languages overall hint at similar, real life situations. The politics of nationalists and unificationists can also be interpreted to apply to the real world. However, as a reader, I choose not to see any deeper association, taking the descriptions as an imaginative creation of a world apart. This allows me to sink into the descriptions and the fantasy of the story.

The layers of the city, the different languages between the two, and unusual names makes this a multi-layered story that is sometimes challenging to follow. Remembering which character originates in which city and which city the action is taking place in at any given time means that this book takes some getting used to. The fantasy world takes some time to visualize; that becomes even more challenging when the layers of the city are itself part of the mystery of this book.

Really, the setting of this book is the story. The plot line involves the murder of a young woman. The body is found in Beszel, but the investigation leads much much further. From the appearance of the young woman, the initial thought is a prostitution transaction gone wrong; the investigation goes much deeper into politics, research, power, and an understanding of what truly lies between the two cities. On the face of it, the book is a crime novel with its police investigations and procedures. Underneath is a weird, imaginative, ruthless, and memorable fantasy world.

Please share your thoughts and leave a comment. I would love to "talk" to you.

Liar

Title:  Liar

Author:  Rob Roberge

Publication Information:  Crown. 2016. 272 pages.

ISBN:  0553448064 / 978-0553448061

Book Source:  I received this book through the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program free of cost in exchange for an honest review.

Opening Sentence:  "You have your first girlfriend and you are, as far as your ten-year-old self knows, madly in love."

Favorite Quote:  "Knowing something may make it a fact, but feeling something makes it a truth."

Our memories are not linear. Our memories are not fact, but they are our truth. Our memories are a compilation of the big things in our lives and of all the ordinary minutiae of our lives. Our memories are of events that happen to us and of the events of the world that impact us. Our memories, to some extent, define who we are.

These are all concepts most of us realize and understand. The question to think about is what would happen if we were to lose those memories? Who would we be? If we knew we would lose our memories, which ones would we try and preserve?

Rob Roberge's memoir Liar is his answer to these questions. This book represents the memories he seeks to preserve, knowing that he has a progressive disorder that may over time destroy his memories.

Memory is not linear, and that fact is abundantly clear in the style of this book. The book is divided into chapters although I am not sure why; the chapter don't seem to serve a purpose. Within the chapters are short, dated snapshots of events and thoughts. These are not chronological and not even topical. They drift as memories and thoughts do. This does make the book difficult to follow. A chronological story would not have the same impact as this one, but at the same time, I wish I had a chronological cheat sheet to put some of the snapshots into context. A picture of life emerges from these snapshots, but I wish I had a frame to put around that picture.

Memory is often the rose-colored glasses through which we see our lives. Not in this book though. If you have the choice to preserve memories, would you preserve the most joyous moments of your life or the painful ones or both? Rob Roberge has lived most of his life with mental illness and a drug addiction. His struggle is clearly the focus of this book, and many of these memories are not happy, pleasant ones.  Rather, much of the content is dark and disturbing. These are memories he is choosing to preserve and share. So, this book is not just about saving all his memories; it is about selectively presenting the memories that document his challenges with mental illness and addiction.

Reflecting on a memory is sometimes like watching a movie play in your head; you watch your own self in that past. This book has somewhat the same feel. Rob Roberge chooses to tell his story in the third person - "you" - reinforcing that point. You are the topic of this book; you are the main character. This is your life. At the beginning, I am not sure this approach will work for an entire book, but it does. The writing style serves to pull the reader into the book and the situation. I know that the book is not about me, but, at the same time, I am personally engaged by the word "you."

We know that memories are not fact but only our truth. With Rob Roberge's history of mental illness, his memories tinged by drug-induced phenomena, and his illness, he realizes that not only are his memories only his truth but also that he is even unable to see them as true. They may be or not. Hence, in seeking to preserve his truth of life, Rob Roberge's book becomes Liar.

Please share your thoughts and leave a comment. I would love to "talk" to you.

At the Edge of the Orchard

Title:  At the Edge of the Orchard

Author:  Tracy Chevalier

Publication Information:  Viking. 2016. 304 pages.

ISBN:  0525953000 / 978-0525953005

Book Source:  I received this book as a publisher's galley through NetGalley free of cost in exchange for an honest review.

Opening Sentence:  "They were fighting over apples again."

Favorite Quote:  "... sometimes that's what you have to do - go back to go forward."

A story of a marriage trying to survive in difficult living conditions, a story of a young man escaping his past, a history of a young United States, and the beauty of trees are the four main elements of this book.

First is the story of James and Sadie Goodenough in northwest Ohio in the 1830s. Coming from Connecticut, they find themselves in a swamp in Ohio, settled where their wagon broke down. They are two incompatible people struggling in an inhospitable environment. The swamp closes in on life with its oppressive mud, its inability to be farmed, and the diseases it brings. James is a dreamer but also abusive. Sadie is an alcoholic, an abuser, and an unhappy person. Neither the environment nor the characters are likable. Yet, the characters, the story, and the environment show depth and leave a lot to be explored.

Second is the story of Robert, one of the Goodenough children. As a child, he is depicted as different, as a sensitive soul. As an adult, his story is much flatter and much more ordinary. He is a man running from a troubled childhood. He is a wanderer until something and someone catches his passion and interest. Eventually, his past comes to catch up with him. The characters in this part of the story are much more likable but lack the shadows and depth of James and Sadie.

The third element of this book is the history. James and Sadie's story brings to life the history of progression west, settlement, farming, revival meetings, survival, and John Chapman better known as Johnny Appleseed. I know the history of Johnny Appleseed; it is interesting to see him as a man with a pretty major role in Sadie's story. Robert's story is set in the history of the Gold Rush and of California.  The history in this book forms the background of the book; it is the setting for the story, but it is not the story. This story is all about these characters and their individual lives and actions.

Finally, this book is all about the trees - the apple trees of James' childhood, the seedlings that Johnny Appleseed brings, the apple trees that become a bone of contention between James and Sadie, and the redwoods and sequoias that become Robert's life work. The nature of these trees and the appreciation for their beauty and their fruit adds a beautiful environmental element to this book.

The story line of the book starts with James and Sadie. About a quarter of the way, it suddenly switches to letters from Robert showing his journey from the family farm in Ohio to California. The story winds its way back to the reason Robert leaves the farm, but not until much later in the book. The conclusion to James and Sadie's story comes abruptly but not until about two-thirds of the way through the book. It brings with it a greater understanding of Robert's actions, but it comes a little to late to elicit that emotion for Robert. Robert's story is the focus of the book, but James and Sadie's story is the more interesting one.  That's the one I wish I read more about.

Please share your thoughts and leave a comment. I would love to "talk" to you.