I have read many of Ruth Riechl's other memoirs and was looking forward to reading this new book.
It did not disappoint. Save Me The Plums was a fascinating description of the world of magazine publishing and a look into the world of Gourmet magazine in particular.
Ruth has had a varied, interesting, and exciting career. Her travels eating her way around the world and meeting the most famous chefs and authors made me envious as I read the book. She has been a food critic for the New York Times and worked at newspapers in California, but the best job ever seems to have been her ten years as the editor of Gourmet magazine.
I remember subscribing to the magazine in the years she was the editor. I was a newly married young mother, staying home and wanting to cook delicious dinners for my family. So many of the ideas Ruth talks about in the book were directly aimed at me during those years. So this book was very easy to relate to.
Her descriptions of food and cooking are mouthwatering. "There's something soothing about peeling apples, about the way they come whispering out of their skins. Slicing them is another pleasure, and I listened for the juicy crunch of the knife sliding through the flesh. I cut into the lemon, treasuring the scent of the aromatic oils as they flew into the air." You can feel the slippery apple skins, and hear the juicy crunch and smell the lemon as you are reading the passage. It is beautiful written.
She talks about her personal life and how the decisions she makes in her work life are influenced by her family and friends. There were two very important lessons she learned along the way and shared with her readers. I want to remember them and use them as I go forward in life. One was, "...one of life's secrets: Luxury is best appreciated in small portions. When it becomes routine it loses its allure." As she travels through Paris in search of a story about Paris on a low budget, she is reminded that it is exciting "to abandon security and run toward the life that is waiting." That is important advice to us all, enjoy everyday and every experience and don't worry about the rules and the to do list. The other important quote is, "Every world has its extraordinary side. It's just that so few of us know how to find it." Take nothing for granted, I think is the message.
There are some entertaining antidotes and some delicious recipes. I wish had continued to subscribe to Gourmet magazine while it was still be published and I also wish I could go out to the newsstand and pick up a copy right now.
Sunday, June 30, 2019
Sunday, June 23, 2019
Where The Crawdads Sing
I cannot stop thinking about this book. For a first time novel it has hit the ball out of the park. It is one of those stories that stays with you long after you have put the physical book down. I hope Delia Owens can do it again.
Kya is eight years old, living in a swamp backwater of North Carolina, in a broken down shack. For a minute you believe this could almost be a true story, with a father who is a violent alcoholic and a mother who has lost her bearings. It could be reminiscent of Educated or The Glass Castle which were each explanations of real lives that seemed like this novel. But slowly the story unravels as Kya explains her life. Her mother just packed her suitcase and put on her best clothes and walked away one day. She barely remembers two older siblings who also left when she was young. Her final brother, four years her senior, who taught her how to hide in the swamp, from Dad when he is on a violent rampage, left soon afterwards. Within a few years of trying to keep house for her father, who comes and goes in a drunken state, he finally goes off one day and never returns. The only thing he really taught her was to fish before he disappears.
Kya grows up wild, feeding herself on mussels found on the beach and grits she figures out how to cook in a pot on the stove. She rarely goes to town to interact with other townspeople. When the truant officers come and try to put her school she hides in the swamp. One day at school with other children teasing her made it clear that was not somewhere she wanted to be.
As she grows through her teen years she learns to forage for nettles and berries. She catches fish and mussels both to feed herself and sell to Jumpin, a black man who runs the marina and sells her gas for the boat and other supplies. His wife brings her used clothes and teaches her about menstruation and becoming a woman. The rest of her knowledge of sexual relationships she learns from the birds and the bees.
As she matures into a beautiful young woman, she gets involved with two young men. Tate is the quiet studious young man who comes from humble means and teaches her reading and mathematics.
Chase is the rich, high school football star, who takes advantage of Kya's naivete.
But Kya also shows us that she can overcome obstacles and becomes quite learned in the area of nature and science.
This is a story set between 1952 and 1970 in the south. It shows the country's attitude for that time period toward African Americans and the poor. Prejudice, with a Colored Town area and separation of people and fearful of what they could not understand. Kya is labeled "marsh girl" and is ostracized for being uneducated and different.
Of course there is a mystery running through the novel. As Kya tells her story, we are also following the story of a body that was discovered dead in the swamp. The book begins with a prologue of two young boys out playing and discover the body. Whose body and how it got there are revealed as a police investigation is laid out in contrast to Kya's story.
A wonderful slice of life, reminding us of the way we dressed, ate and socialized. The competition of boys to show their masculine prowess and the division of social status. All of this can be compared to where we are on all these topics today.
Kya is eight years old, living in a swamp backwater of North Carolina, in a broken down shack. For a minute you believe this could almost be a true story, with a father who is a violent alcoholic and a mother who has lost her bearings. It could be reminiscent of Educated or The Glass Castle which were each explanations of real lives that seemed like this novel. But slowly the story unravels as Kya explains her life. Her mother just packed her suitcase and put on her best clothes and walked away one day. She barely remembers two older siblings who also left when she was young. Her final brother, four years her senior, who taught her how to hide in the swamp, from Dad when he is on a violent rampage, left soon afterwards. Within a few years of trying to keep house for her father, who comes and goes in a drunken state, he finally goes off one day and never returns. The only thing he really taught her was to fish before he disappears.
Kya grows up wild, feeding herself on mussels found on the beach and grits she figures out how to cook in a pot on the stove. She rarely goes to town to interact with other townspeople. When the truant officers come and try to put her school she hides in the swamp. One day at school with other children teasing her made it clear that was not somewhere she wanted to be.
As she grows through her teen years she learns to forage for nettles and berries. She catches fish and mussels both to feed herself and sell to Jumpin, a black man who runs the marina and sells her gas for the boat and other supplies. His wife brings her used clothes and teaches her about menstruation and becoming a woman. The rest of her knowledge of sexual relationships she learns from the birds and the bees.
As she matures into a beautiful young woman, she gets involved with two young men. Tate is the quiet studious young man who comes from humble means and teaches her reading and mathematics.
Chase is the rich, high school football star, who takes advantage of Kya's naivete.
But Kya also shows us that she can overcome obstacles and becomes quite learned in the area of nature and science.
This is a story set between 1952 and 1970 in the south. It shows the country's attitude for that time period toward African Americans and the poor. Prejudice, with a Colored Town area and separation of people and fearful of what they could not understand. Kya is labeled "marsh girl" and is ostracized for being uneducated and different.
Of course there is a mystery running through the novel. As Kya tells her story, we are also following the story of a body that was discovered dead in the swamp. The book begins with a prologue of two young boys out playing and discover the body. Whose body and how it got there are revealed as a police investigation is laid out in contrast to Kya's story.
A wonderful slice of life, reminding us of the way we dressed, ate and socialized. The competition of boys to show their masculine prowess and the division of social status. All of this can be compared to where we are on all these topics today.
Tuesday, June 18, 2019
Lost Roses
Usually a book is so good you cannot put it down. This time I was having a hard time picking it up. I really was enjoying the writing and most of the plot line, but whenever we read about Varinka and her story line it was so disturbing that I wanted to return the book to the library unfinished.
I did finish the book though and really enjoyed most of it. This is a novel starts in 1914 and is about the lead up to World War One. We follow the lives of Eliza Ferriday, who lives with her daughter, Caroline and her mother in New York. They are members of the upper class and have an apartment in the city, a home on Long Island and her husband has just purchased a small farm with a house in Connecticut.
Eliza goes to visit her close friend, Sofya Streshnayva, a cousin of the Romanov family, royalty in Russia. they had met years before as students in Paris and she is excited to visit her in St. Petersburg.
But as Austria declares war on Serbia and Russia's imperial dynasty begins to crumble, Eliza sails back to America, promising to help Sofya and her family. Danger moves quickly through Europe and the entire continent is engulfed in war. Russian royalty are threatened by the working class and many are killed.
Vacrinka is a member of the working class and lives with her mother under very poor conditions. She is emboldened to Taras who is taking advantage of the her and the times they are living through. He rises in the army of the people's resistance and moves up in rank as a leader killing the Russian leadership and taking over Streshnayvas country residence. Vacinka has brought intense danger into the family's life.
Meanwhile in America Eliza is helping to settle Russian women and children who have managed to escape and are seeking refuge. She finds them jobs and safe places to live. She also starts a fundraising campaign to send money to Paris to help Russian refugees there. She asks everyone she meets if they know her friend Sofya. Eventually after the war ends in 1919 the war is over and Eliza travels to Paris to look for her friend and for the man she shamed into enlisting.
All in all the book is fascinating and very uplifting in the end, but along the way it was disturbing and I am not sure some of the detail was necessary.
I did finish the book though and really enjoyed most of it. This is a novel starts in 1914 and is about the lead up to World War One. We follow the lives of Eliza Ferriday, who lives with her daughter, Caroline and her mother in New York. They are members of the upper class and have an apartment in the city, a home on Long Island and her husband has just purchased a small farm with a house in Connecticut.
Eliza goes to visit her close friend, Sofya Streshnayva, a cousin of the Romanov family, royalty in Russia. they had met years before as students in Paris and she is excited to visit her in St. Petersburg.
But as Austria declares war on Serbia and Russia's imperial dynasty begins to crumble, Eliza sails back to America, promising to help Sofya and her family. Danger moves quickly through Europe and the entire continent is engulfed in war. Russian royalty are threatened by the working class and many are killed.
Vacrinka is a member of the working class and lives with her mother under very poor conditions. She is emboldened to Taras who is taking advantage of the her and the times they are living through. He rises in the army of the people's resistance and moves up in rank as a leader killing the Russian leadership and taking over Streshnayvas country residence. Vacinka has brought intense danger into the family's life.
Meanwhile in America Eliza is helping to settle Russian women and children who have managed to escape and are seeking refuge. She finds them jobs and safe places to live. She also starts a fundraising campaign to send money to Paris to help Russian refugees there. She asks everyone she meets if they know her friend Sofya. Eventually after the war ends in 1919 the war is over and Eliza travels to Paris to look for her friend and for the man she shamed into enlisting.
All in all the book is fascinating and very uplifting in the end, but along the way it was disturbing and I am not sure some of the detail was necessary.
Miss Pym Disposes
Writing under the pen name, Josephine Tey, Elizabeth MacKintosh wrote two different mystery series. The Miss Pym series included this mystery Miss Pym Disposes written in 1947.
Interestingly written this plot continues on with Miss Pym visiting a women's college as a visiting guest lecturer for 180 pages of the short book before there is any untoward behavior. Usually a mystery sets up the scene and then someone is killed or something is stolen and the rest of the book is trying to solve the crime. In this novel, Miss Pym comes to the school and gives a talk. Then there are all kinds of developments that entice her to stay on campus. The story is setting the scene and introducing the reader to all the characters in quite a bit of detail. You know the school setting and all the different women involved in the story long before any incident happens.
Then quite quickly the crime is uncovered and Miss Pym wrestles with her conscience and decides who she thinks is guilty and deals out her own form of justice. The novel comes to an as she feels all the pieces are tied up. OF course there is a twist at the end that leaves the reader wondering as Miss Pym takes the train back to London.
Such a different style of mystery writing.
Interestingly written this plot continues on with Miss Pym visiting a women's college as a visiting guest lecturer for 180 pages of the short book before there is any untoward behavior. Usually a mystery sets up the scene and then someone is killed or something is stolen and the rest of the book is trying to solve the crime. In this novel, Miss Pym comes to the school and gives a talk. Then there are all kinds of developments that entice her to stay on campus. The story is setting the scene and introducing the reader to all the characters in quite a bit of detail. You know the school setting and all the different women involved in the story long before any incident happens.
Then quite quickly the crime is uncovered and Miss Pym wrestles with her conscience and decides who she thinks is guilty and deals out her own form of justice. The novel comes to an as she feels all the pieces are tied up. OF course there is a twist at the end that leaves the reader wondering as Miss Pym takes the train back to London.
Such a different style of mystery writing.
Monday, June 17, 2019
The Pianist of Syria
The Pianist of Syria is a memoir written by Aeham Ahmad. It is a story of growing up in a refugee camp in Syria. Aeham is a second generation Palestinian growing up in a suburb outside Damascus.
Aeham is the son of a blind violinist, who plays at wedding receptions. His father fled Palestine in 1948 during the Naqba. His love of music lead him to try and open a music store, which he runs with Aeham and his brother. It is filled with guitars, pianos, violins and about 200 ouds.
His father is very talented and has also taught himself carpentry to make a living. Later on, when he decides that his son should learn to play the piano, he gets a second hand instrument. When he cannot get a piano tuner to come to their neighborhood, he teaches himself to tune the piano.
Aeham's mother is a school principal at the school Aeham attends early on. She makes a point to treat him equally with all the other students and not play favorites. He has a rough time in school. But then he discovers music and attends a special music school. He does much better there, though there are many incidents described in the book about how hard it is for him. The school is mainly populated by children from wealthy families. He has to travel by public transportation that can take two hours to get each way. He overcomes many obstacles to continue his music education.
He attends The Damascus Music School and then graduates to studying music pedagogy at Al Baath University in Homs. Then everything changes. Ahmad describes the difficulty of living as a Palestinian in Syria, writing about how beginning in July 2013 the refugee camp of Yarmouk was without electricity or hot water. He is thirty years old, he and his new bride have had their first son when Syrian tanks role through Yarmouk. The city was then completely sealed off, with no water, food or electricity, and was besieged by the Syrian Army as they hunted for rebel forces.
Though his hand is injured while serving falafel to his neighbors, and then repaired by a carpenter, he continues to love music and wants to play his piano and also writes songs. He puts the instrument on wheels and two friends help him move the piano out into the streets. He plays in the streets with the idea of playing the piano amid the wreckage of war as a way to protest against the actions of President Bashar Al Assad’s regime. Appalled at the carnage around him, he says he wanted to “counter violence with art”. He says in the book, "I'm a pianist, not a political activist. My revolution is music. My language is music. Music was going to be my form of protest, even if no one heard me. It was January 28, 2014."
Then he has to escape Syria and after an incredible ordeal arrives in Germany, leaving his family behind. After his picture and music videos are uploaded to YouTube and published in newspapers, then photographer is arrested. His piano is burned by ISIS and Ahmed realizes it is time to leave the country. When his family tries to escape they are caught and arrested. After they are released, Ahmed travels to Germany and then later his family emigrates. They all live in Germany now and Aeham Ahmed continues to perform bringing Syrian music to a wider audience.
Aeham is the son of a blind violinist, who plays at wedding receptions. His father fled Palestine in 1948 during the Naqba. His love of music lead him to try and open a music store, which he runs with Aeham and his brother. It is filled with guitars, pianos, violins and about 200 ouds.
His father is very talented and has also taught himself carpentry to make a living. Later on, when he decides that his son should learn to play the piano, he gets a second hand instrument. When he cannot get a piano tuner to come to their neighborhood, he teaches himself to tune the piano.
Aeham's mother is a school principal at the school Aeham attends early on. She makes a point to treat him equally with all the other students and not play favorites. He has a rough time in school. But then he discovers music and attends a special music school. He does much better there, though there are many incidents described in the book about how hard it is for him. The school is mainly populated by children from wealthy families. He has to travel by public transportation that can take two hours to get each way. He overcomes many obstacles to continue his music education.
He attends The Damascus Music School and then graduates to studying music pedagogy at Al Baath University in Homs. Then everything changes. Ahmad describes the difficulty of living as a Palestinian in Syria, writing about how beginning in July 2013 the refugee camp of Yarmouk was without electricity or hot water. He is thirty years old, he and his new bride have had their first son when Syrian tanks role through Yarmouk. The city was then completely sealed off, with no water, food or electricity, and was besieged by the Syrian Army as they hunted for rebel forces.
Though his hand is injured while serving falafel to his neighbors, and then repaired by a carpenter, he continues to love music and wants to play his piano and also writes songs. He puts the instrument on wheels and two friends help him move the piano out into the streets. He plays in the streets with the idea of playing the piano amid the wreckage of war as a way to protest against the actions of President Bashar Al Assad’s regime. Appalled at the carnage around him, he says he wanted to “counter violence with art”. He says in the book, "I'm a pianist, not a political activist. My revolution is music. My language is music. Music was going to be my form of protest, even if no one heard me. It was January 28, 2014."
Then he has to escape Syria and after an incredible ordeal arrives in Germany, leaving his family behind. After his picture and music videos are uploaded to YouTube and published in newspapers, then photographer is arrested. His piano is burned by ISIS and Ahmed realizes it is time to leave the country. When his family tries to escape they are caught and arrested. After they are released, Ahmed travels to Germany and then later his family emigrates. They all live in Germany now and Aeham Ahmed continues to perform bringing Syrian music to a wider audience.
Saturday, June 8, 2019
The Sentence is Death
Building from the Word is Murder to the The Sentence is Murder, Anthony Horowitz has topped the list of my favorite mystery writers. I have watched all the Midsomer Murders and Foyle's War episodes on television and loved everyone of them. I really must expand and read all his other books, including Alex Rider and the books written in the style of other writers whose estates have requested Horowitz to write for them. he is extraordinary.
These mysteries though light, humorous and entertaining like a cozy mystery are so much more.
The usual cozy mystery has become so popular and sometimes so formula and the dialog is repetitious , Horowitz has created such a clever, creative series for his detective series.
An ex police officer turned detective, Daniel Hawthorne is a difficult person for Horowitz to understand. Horowitz writes, "But on a personal level I found him extremely trying. He was dark and solitary, refusing to tell me anything about himself even though I was supposed to be his biographer....If I had to choose to pluck a hero from real life, it certainly wouldn't have been him."
Horowitz plays Watson to Hawthorne's Holmes and mixes reality with fiction.
He writes as if he is telling you about his real everyday life, working on the set of a Foyle's War taping when Daniel Hawthorne turns up and informs him there is a death they need to go investigate.
Incredible dialog is also a part of this great writing style. Where other mysteries have mundane conversations that build on the formula to solve a crime, Horowitz creates well crafted intelligent dialog that makes the story move forward to is engaging on its own. For example, a quote of creative dialog, "It was a joke." "Not a very funny one." "I don't think a joke has to be funny, Detective Inspector. In my books, I use humour only to subvert the status quo. If you've ever read the French philosopher Alain Badiou, you'll know that he defines jokes as a type of rupture that opens up truths. I actually met him at the Sorbonne, by the way. He was a remarkable man. By ridiculing my enemy, I defeat him. That was, the insight that Alain gave me and although I see no need to justify myself, that was precisely the mechanism I was using ..."
This is such creative, clever and caustic repartee, that it bring the barebones mystery novel to a higher level.
Off goes Horowitz following Hawthorne as he interviews suspects and witnesses. Taking notes to write about how he solves the murder before the police can and Horowitz insisting that he is giving the reader all the information needed to solve the crime. But, even though he is meticulously trying to keep track of all the clues and figure out the answer before Hawthorne, Hawthorne always seems to notice something or interpret something differently and come to the real conclusion when no one else does.
So of course there are many red herrings and misdirections through out this mystery novel. The plot unwinding and twisting beautifully in many directions. A few subplots revealed as the book progresses that reader guessing until you think, "eureka, I've got it", and then as the final answer is uncovered you realize that Horowitz led you astray purposely and there is one more terrific twist.
These mysteries though light, humorous and entertaining like a cozy mystery are so much more.
The usual cozy mystery has become so popular and sometimes so formula and the dialog is repetitious , Horowitz has created such a clever, creative series for his detective series.
An ex police officer turned detective, Daniel Hawthorne is a difficult person for Horowitz to understand. Horowitz writes, "But on a personal level I found him extremely trying. He was dark and solitary, refusing to tell me anything about himself even though I was supposed to be his biographer....If I had to choose to pluck a hero from real life, it certainly wouldn't have been him."
Horowitz plays Watson to Hawthorne's Holmes and mixes reality with fiction.
He writes as if he is telling you about his real everyday life, working on the set of a Foyle's War taping when Daniel Hawthorne turns up and informs him there is a death they need to go investigate.
Incredible dialog is also a part of this great writing style. Where other mysteries have mundane conversations that build on the formula to solve a crime, Horowitz creates well crafted intelligent dialog that makes the story move forward to is engaging on its own. For example, a quote of creative dialog, "It was a joke." "Not a very funny one." "I don't think a joke has to be funny, Detective Inspector. In my books, I use humour only to subvert the status quo. If you've ever read the French philosopher Alain Badiou, you'll know that he defines jokes as a type of rupture that opens up truths. I actually met him at the Sorbonne, by the way. He was a remarkable man. By ridiculing my enemy, I defeat him. That was, the insight that Alain gave me and although I see no need to justify myself, that was precisely the mechanism I was using ..."
This is such creative, clever and caustic repartee, that it bring the barebones mystery novel to a higher level.
Off goes Horowitz following Hawthorne as he interviews suspects and witnesses. Taking notes to write about how he solves the murder before the police can and Horowitz insisting that he is giving the reader all the information needed to solve the crime. But, even though he is meticulously trying to keep track of all the clues and figure out the answer before Hawthorne, Hawthorne always seems to notice something or interpret something differently and come to the real conclusion when no one else does.
So of course there are many red herrings and misdirections through out this mystery novel. The plot unwinding and twisting beautifully in many directions. A few subplots revealed as the book progresses that reader guessing until you think, "eureka, I've got it", and then as the final answer is uncovered you realize that Horowitz led you astray purposely and there is one more terrific twist.
Thursday, June 6, 2019
Murder in the Balcony
Ok so this is yet again another mystery series, but there is a new twist on the amateur detective. This time she is the manager of the local historic movie theatre, that only shows classic films.
Murder in the Balcony is complete with murder, ghosts and old black and white movies that Nora and the other employees love.
Another cozy mystery series. Though this is not the first in the series, it was easy to figure out the back story. Nora Paige has left her husband who is a movie producer/director and is having an affair with a starlet. She goes north to a friend in San Francisco. She is given the guest cottage to live in and a job at the Palace, a historic movie theatre that shows classic films. Of course there is a ghost on premises to make the novel light and entertaining.
This time Nora invites a Real Estate conference to use the theatre for their meetings. She handles the catering and logistics to help the theatre earn more money. But when a real estate broker is killed, Nora decides to help the investigation to speed up the reopening of the theatre. Juggling running the theatre, trying to find out the killer and negotiating with husband to see if they will patch up their marriage or not is keeping Nora busy and on her toes.
This is an entertaining mystery novel. It holds your attention, but there are so many.
Interesting is the detail about many old movies that I did not know. I even figured out which movie my mother-in-law has been trying to remember.
Murder in the Balcony is complete with murder, ghosts and old black and white movies that Nora and the other employees love.
Another cozy mystery series. Though this is not the first in the series, it was easy to figure out the back story. Nora Paige has left her husband who is a movie producer/director and is having an affair with a starlet. She goes north to a friend in San Francisco. She is given the guest cottage to live in and a job at the Palace, a historic movie theatre that shows classic films. Of course there is a ghost on premises to make the novel light and entertaining.
This time Nora invites a Real Estate conference to use the theatre for their meetings. She handles the catering and logistics to help the theatre earn more money. But when a real estate broker is killed, Nora decides to help the investigation to speed up the reopening of the theatre. Juggling running the theatre, trying to find out the killer and negotiating with husband to see if they will patch up their marriage or not is keeping Nora busy and on her toes.
This is an entertaining mystery novel. It holds your attention, but there are so many.
Interesting is the detail about many old movies that I did not know. I even figured out which movie my mother-in-law has been trying to remember.
Wednesday, June 5, 2019
The Cobbler's Tale
Neil Perry Gordon has taken the story of his family's travels from Eastern Europe to a better life in America. He has based the bones of the story on facts and created some suspense around the reality of bringing a family to the new world.
This novel is the story of a young Jewish immigrant, Pincus Potasznik, a cobbler who leaves his pregnant wife Clara and children behind in Eastern Europe’s Galicia region in search of a better life on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. It is a year or so before the first great war begins and Potasznik leaves his wife, mother-in-law and children behind. The Rabbi advices him that going to America will be good for his family and that he also should start a Landsman Society of Krzywcza, in New York for other villagers who will travel there to help them get settled.
On the boat to America, he meets a man who will become his lifelong friend, Jakob Adler. Without knowing it Jakob worked for the crime boss in Warsaw and is escaping after running into trouble back in Poland. He becomes a good friend to Pincus, helping him get ahead in New York, but also becoming a partner-in-crime. HE changes the immigrant's story forever. It is interesting how each occurrence in your life and alter the direction you were going.
It takes Pincus four years to return to Krzywcza to bring his wife, Clara and their children to New York. He has been unaware of the turmoil and hardships they have faced as a result of the war. Also there is a side story of Moshe, the eldest son, being recognized as a tzaddik, one of the 36 righteous individuals that Kabbalah believes live at any one time.
Though this for the most part moves at a slow pace of everyday life, switching between chapters of Pincus' life in America getting settled and setting up his business and Landsman Society and then Clara and the kids living in a small shtetl as war approaches, there are scenes interspersed that create a sense of tension and pick up the pace of the story. Just when you may say I have read enough, something grabs your attention and you want to find out how it will end.
I listened to this novel as an audible book. Read by Michael Fischbein, it also seems that he is reading very slowly and clearly, enunciating and seemed to make the story also drag, until he would read one of the more suspenseful sections and the story would be more interesting. you could almost hear the suspenseful music in your head as you reached those parts of the book.
This novel is the story of a young Jewish immigrant, Pincus Potasznik, a cobbler who leaves his pregnant wife Clara and children behind in Eastern Europe’s Galicia region in search of a better life on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. It is a year or so before the first great war begins and Potasznik leaves his wife, mother-in-law and children behind. The Rabbi advices him that going to America will be good for his family and that he also should start a Landsman Society of Krzywcza, in New York for other villagers who will travel there to help them get settled.
On the boat to America, he meets a man who will become his lifelong friend, Jakob Adler. Without knowing it Jakob worked for the crime boss in Warsaw and is escaping after running into trouble back in Poland. He becomes a good friend to Pincus, helping him get ahead in New York, but also becoming a partner-in-crime. HE changes the immigrant's story forever. It is interesting how each occurrence in your life and alter the direction you were going.
It takes Pincus four years to return to Krzywcza to bring his wife, Clara and their children to New York. He has been unaware of the turmoil and hardships they have faced as a result of the war. Also there is a side story of Moshe, the eldest son, being recognized as a tzaddik, one of the 36 righteous individuals that Kabbalah believes live at any one time.
Though this for the most part moves at a slow pace of everyday life, switching between chapters of Pincus' life in America getting settled and setting up his business and Landsman Society and then Clara and the kids living in a small shtetl as war approaches, there are scenes interspersed that create a sense of tension and pick up the pace of the story. Just when you may say I have read enough, something grabs your attention and you want to find out how it will end.
I listened to this novel as an audible book. Read by Michael Fischbein, it also seems that he is reading very slowly and clearly, enunciating and seemed to make the story also drag, until he would read one of the more suspenseful sections and the story would be more interesting. you could almost hear the suspenseful music in your head as you reached those parts of the book.
Lady in the Lake
Lady in the Lake: The Mysterious Death of Sphinx Barmaid Shirley Parker is the real story that author Laura Lippman has based her book Lady in the Lake on.
Lippman took a 1966 unsolved mystery and created a novel around what may have happened. Madeline "Maddy" Schwartz is unhappy in her everyday life. Married with a teenage son, she feels like something is missing. Not sure what she is looking for she leaves her marriage of almost twenty years, her son and the upper middle class suburbs for inner city Baltimore.
Leaving behind a pampered lifestyle, Maddie is trying to recreate herself, bring back some of her youthful passions and leave a mark behind when she is gone. Also working through some deeply held secrets from her past, she sets out to become a journalist. Fighting her way into a male dominated business, she uses some of the techniques she developed as a young ingenue.
She defies logic and the norms of the time, having an affair with a young black policeman, she meets in the neighborhood. She helps to solve a murder of a young girl, finding the body and informing the police., which leads to her first job at the Star, the city's afternoon newspaper.
Twisted in between the chapters about Maddie Schwartz are the reflections of a woman speaking to us from the beyond. Looking down and watching Maddie, Cleo's ghost wants Maddie to leave her alone, to stop her poking and prying.
Wanting to make a name for herself, Maddie hears about the recovery of the body of a young woman who has been missing. It seems to be Cleo Sherwood, an African-American cocktail waitress about whom little is known. Sherwood's body was found in a lake in a city park months after she disappeared. Maddie realizes this could be her big break. She names her the Lady in the Lake and starts to investigate. It seems that no one is really interested in the case, so she throws herself into the inquiry at full speed, disregarding how it will affect others around her. Her failure to listen to the people around her will lead to tragedy and turmoil in her ambitious, driven, rush to prove herself.
This is a story of what life was like racially, socially, politically and sexually during the 1960s. Blending fact and fiction, Lippman has created a story which is much bigger than the crime being solved.
Lippman took a 1966 unsolved mystery and created a novel around what may have happened. Madeline "Maddy" Schwartz is unhappy in her everyday life. Married with a teenage son, she feels like something is missing. Not sure what she is looking for she leaves her marriage of almost twenty years, her son and the upper middle class suburbs for inner city Baltimore.
Leaving behind a pampered lifestyle, Maddie is trying to recreate herself, bring back some of her youthful passions and leave a mark behind when she is gone. Also working through some deeply held secrets from her past, she sets out to become a journalist. Fighting her way into a male dominated business, she uses some of the techniques she developed as a young ingenue.
She defies logic and the norms of the time, having an affair with a young black policeman, she meets in the neighborhood. She helps to solve a murder of a young girl, finding the body and informing the police., which leads to her first job at the Star, the city's afternoon newspaper.
Twisted in between the chapters about Maddie Schwartz are the reflections of a woman speaking to us from the beyond. Looking down and watching Maddie, Cleo's ghost wants Maddie to leave her alone, to stop her poking and prying.
Wanting to make a name for herself, Maddie hears about the recovery of the body of a young woman who has been missing. It seems to be Cleo Sherwood, an African-American cocktail waitress about whom little is known. Sherwood's body was found in a lake in a city park months after she disappeared. Maddie realizes this could be her big break. She names her the Lady in the Lake and starts to investigate. It seems that no one is really interested in the case, so she throws herself into the inquiry at full speed, disregarding how it will affect others around her. Her failure to listen to the people around her will lead to tragedy and turmoil in her ambitious, driven, rush to prove herself.
This is a story of what life was like racially, socially, politically and sexually during the 1960s. Blending fact and fiction, Lippman has created a story which is much bigger than the crime being solved.
Transcription
This is a fun spy novel written by Kate Atkinson. I have not read other books by Atkinson yet so I do not know if this is her usual writing style. But this book was so entertaining that I will go pick up some of her other books to find out.
Transcription is a wise, funny quick paced spy thriller. It is a novel starts out 1981 as Juliet Armstrong looks back on her days as a young woman. People in England still live with the proud sense of patriotism and love the pomp and circumstance. A royal wedding is about to happen.
Back in 1940 after her mother's death, Juliet is scooped up by the MI5 to assist with the war effort. In the mist of the war, Juliet is employed to transcribe meetings that are being recorded between a group of fascist sympathisers and a man named Godfrey Toby, whom the fifth columnists believe is a Gestapo agent but is actually a British spy monitoring his informers.
As things get more complicated Juliet herself is recruited to spy and given an alias. She learns to shift between different names and persona. Life becomes a game of deception even in the most mundane experiences. "It was a Saturday afternoon and here they were, Juliet thought, Englishwomen doing what Englishwomen did best wherever they were in the world - taking tea and having cozy chats..."
Then there are some scenes after the war when Juliet now working for the BBC runs into Toby again and some of the tragedies of the war are brought to light. A clearer view of what they were fighting for.
In another instance, as Juliet goes about her business of spying and transcribing she thinks,
"The future was coming nearer, one relentless goose step after the next. Juliet could still remember when Hitler had seemed like a harmless clown. No one was amused now."
This is so appropriate to that time period and so eerily relevant to our current times. Reading this book and thinking about our current world situation and questioning personal freedoms and patriotism .
Transcription is a wise, funny quick paced spy thriller. It is a novel starts out 1981 as Juliet Armstrong looks back on her days as a young woman. People in England still live with the proud sense of patriotism and love the pomp and circumstance. A royal wedding is about to happen.
Back in 1940 after her mother's death, Juliet is scooped up by the MI5 to assist with the war effort. In the mist of the war, Juliet is employed to transcribe meetings that are being recorded between a group of fascist sympathisers and a man named Godfrey Toby, whom the fifth columnists believe is a Gestapo agent but is actually a British spy monitoring his informers.
As things get more complicated Juliet herself is recruited to spy and given an alias. She learns to shift between different names and persona. Life becomes a game of deception even in the most mundane experiences. "It was a Saturday afternoon and here they were, Juliet thought, Englishwomen doing what Englishwomen did best wherever they were in the world - taking tea and having cozy chats..."
Then there are some scenes after the war when Juliet now working for the BBC runs into Toby again and some of the tragedies of the war are brought to light. A clearer view of what they were fighting for.
In another instance, as Juliet goes about her business of spying and transcribing she thinks,
"The future was coming nearer, one relentless goose step after the next. Juliet could still remember when Hitler had seemed like a harmless clown. No one was amused now."
This is so appropriate to that time period and so eerily relevant to our current times. Reading this book and thinking about our current world situation and questioning personal freedoms and patriotism .
Kosher Chinese
So excited to read a book about Kosher Chinese food.
SO not that book!
Interesting memoir of a young man who joined the Peace Corp and taught English to Chinese students in China. Not so much about food except that he does give up his vegetarian and kosher ways to experiment with different Chinese foods.
Mainly this is a travelogue memoir of his experiences while living in a Chinese province for two years.
Michael Levy leaves his easy American suburban lifestyle to spend two years in Guiyang, the largest city in southern China's relatively rural Guizhou Province. He has left home as a Jewish, kosher vegetarian but know that while he away that will be very hard to stick to. "From day one, I decided that I was going to be as good a guest as I can, and that meant saying yes to anything they put in front of me."
Through this book we are enlightened about China as Michael experiences many different obstacles in his path. First of course is the language difference. He has lessons and thinks he is speaking correctly, but in many interactions he has mangled the pronunciation or the sentence structure. Then there are times where he is actually speaking correctly and the people do not want to think that an American can speak their language so they refuse to understand him even when he is right.
There are the funny interactions with his students. They have taken on English names based on things they have heard in American music or on television. So Michael tries to carefully without insulting them help them change their names to more acceptable words. When he explains he is Jewish, the student become fascinated and start a Friday night Shabbat Club, where they cook dinners of "Jewish food" together. They are eager to learn as much as they can from him. The students are always challenging Michael to explain why what they have learned from books provided by the Chinese government about America and Americans, other religions and the world could be incorrect.
Michael Levy's experience is entertaining but also very educational for the reader to learn what life is like in China for the people who are average working class citizens. He shows us how restricted their lives can be. We can live vicariously through Michael and then decide if we want to travel to China to taste the foods and even try the toilets for ourselves.
SO not that book!
Interesting memoir of a young man who joined the Peace Corp and taught English to Chinese students in China. Not so much about food except that he does give up his vegetarian and kosher ways to experiment with different Chinese foods.
Mainly this is a travelogue memoir of his experiences while living in a Chinese province for two years.
Michael Levy leaves his easy American suburban lifestyle to spend two years in Guiyang, the largest city in southern China's relatively rural Guizhou Province. He has left home as a Jewish, kosher vegetarian but know that while he away that will be very hard to stick to. "From day one, I decided that I was going to be as good a guest as I can, and that meant saying yes to anything they put in front of me."
Through this book we are enlightened about China as Michael experiences many different obstacles in his path. First of course is the language difference. He has lessons and thinks he is speaking correctly, but in many interactions he has mangled the pronunciation or the sentence structure. Then there are times where he is actually speaking correctly and the people do not want to think that an American can speak their language so they refuse to understand him even when he is right.
There are the funny interactions with his students. They have taken on English names based on things they have heard in American music or on television. So Michael tries to carefully without insulting them help them change their names to more acceptable words. When he explains he is Jewish, the student become fascinated and start a Friday night Shabbat Club, where they cook dinners of "Jewish food" together. They are eager to learn as much as they can from him. The students are always challenging Michael to explain why what they have learned from books provided by the Chinese government about America and Americans, other religions and the world could be incorrect.
Michael Levy's experience is entertaining but also very educational for the reader to learn what life is like in China for the people who are average working class citizens. He shows us how restricted their lives can be. We can live vicariously through Michael and then decide if we want to travel to China to taste the foods and even try the toilets for ourselves.
Tuesday, June 4, 2019
Murder From Scratch
Leslie Karst has started a new murder mystery series involving a restaurant and cooking.
This is not the first novel in the series so I will have to go back and read her earlier mysteries.
Sally Solari has inherited a restaurant which I know I will find out the story behind that in an earlier plot. Now she signing . the papers to become a co owner with her head chef and keep the restaurant going. This time a long forgotten relative is murdered and her newly discovered cousin needs a place to stay while the house is a crime scene.
Her cousin Evelyn comes to live with her and together they try to uncover who is behind the murder of Evie's mother's death. Though it looks like a suicide Evie is sure her mother would not do that and leave her.
This is a bit of a formula mystery and a bit slow moving, but still entertaining enough that I read through to the end. There are also discussions about Italian food and restaurant kitchens that keep the pace of the book moving.
At the end there are a few of the recipes for dishes referred to in the story. They do look good.
This is not the first novel in the series so I will have to go back and read her earlier mysteries.
Sally Solari has inherited a restaurant which I know I will find out the story behind that in an earlier plot. Now she signing . the papers to become a co owner with her head chef and keep the restaurant going. This time a long forgotten relative is murdered and her newly discovered cousin needs a place to stay while the house is a crime scene.
Her cousin Evelyn comes to live with her and together they try to uncover who is behind the murder of Evie's mother's death. Though it looks like a suicide Evie is sure her mother would not do that and leave her.
This is a bit of a formula mystery and a bit slow moving, but still entertaining enough that I read through to the end. There are also discussions about Italian food and restaurant kitchens that keep the pace of the book moving.
At the end there are a few of the recipes for dishes referred to in the story. They do look good.
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