Kitchens of the Great Midwest

Kitchens of the Great Midwest by J. Ryan Stradal
Published by Viking on July 28, 2015
Genre(s): Fiction, Food, Adult, Contemporary
Format: Paperback
Pages: 310

Goodreads synopsis: 

When Lars Thorvald's wife, Cynthia, falls in love with wine--and a dashing sommelier--he's left to raise their baby, Eva, on his own. He's determined to pass on his love of food to his daughter--starting with puréed pork shoulder. As Eva grows, she finds her solace and salvation in the flavors of her native Minnesota. From Scandinavian lutefisk to hydroponic chocolate habaneros, each ingredient represents one part of Eva's journey as she becomes the star chef behind a legendary and secretive pop-up supper club, culminating in an opulent and emotional feast that's a testament to her spirit and resilience.

Each chapter in J. Ryan Stradal's startlingly original debut tells the story of a single dish and character, at once capturing the zeitgeist of the Midwest, the rise of foodie culture, and delving into the ways food creates community and a sense of identity. By turns quirky, hilarious, and vividly sensory, Kitchens of the Great Midwest is an unexpected mother-daughter story about the bittersweet nature of life--its missed opportunities and its joyful surprises. It marks the entry of a brilliant new talent.

I have had this book on my "to-read" shelf for such a long time and could never get ahold of a copy through the two sources I regularly use- PaperbackSwap and Audible. So when I was in NYC last week and I saw a copy at The Strand, I immediately bought it and began reading on my next subway ride.

The book tells the story of Eva Thorvald as she grows up in the midwest, gathering experiences that help to shape her future in food. Each chapter revolves around a different food and person that has an impact on Eva's life. It's unique in that each chapter tells a story from the perspective of another character, sometimes with Eva only appearing at the end or not at all. I loved how Stradal did this. It's an interesting way to construct a plot, but it worked. The layout and design of the story flowed smoothly, and learning about Eva through the eyes of multiple other people that have impacted her life really helped to develop her character as well as each supporting character involved.

Another thing I really enjoyed about the book was how it all pieced together at the end so deliberately. There were a couple of things that occurred throughout the book that were left unanswered, but I believe that was likely intentional, and the mystery to each of these pieces of the plot didn't take away from understanding the flow of the story in any way. However, at the end, in the final chapter, each chapter- having seemed so independent up until the end- finally came together in beautiful and natural way. It felt as if I, as the reader, had been leading up to the final "Dinner" all along, and the previous chapter in this book was all I needed to read in order to understand the complexity of each dish, each guest, and every other detail involved in the final story...Like there was so much more to these characters, as there is to everyone in life, but having read each of their chapters and seeing it all come together at the end, I was able to understand each of them a little better, and appreciate life and how it has a unique way of happening.

I laughed out loud more than once while reading this book, and there were parts that even brought tears to my eyes, of both happiness and sadness. It sparked so much emotion, left my mouth watering, and left my mind racing every time I had to put it down. It was a quick and easy read, but not one I will soon forget. I definitely recommend it to anyone interested in a coming-of-age tale about life, love, family, and food.

Rating:

Read More

Into The Water

Into The Water by Paula Hawkins
Published by Riverhead on May 2, 2017
Genre(s): Mystery, Thriller, Fiction, Crime, Suspense, Adult, Contemporary
Format: Audiobook
Pages: 388

Goodreads synopsis: 

A single mother turns up dead at the bottom of the river that runs through town. Earlier in the summer, a vulnerable teenage girl met the same fate. They are not the first women lost to these dark waters, but their deaths disturb the river and its history, dredging up secrets long submerged.

Left behind is a lonely fifteen-year-old girl. Parentless and friendless, she now finds herself in the care of her mother's sister, a fearful stranger who has been dragged back to the place she deliberately ran from—a place to which she vowed she'd never return.

With the same propulsive writing and acute understanding of human instincts that captivated millions of readers around the world in her explosive debut thriller, The Girl on the Train, Paula Hawkins delivers an urgent, twisting, deeply satisfying read that hinges on the deceptiveness of emotion and memory, as well as the devastating ways that the past can reach a long arm into the present.

Beware a calm surface—you never know what lies beneath. 

I was hesitant to start this book because I was less than impressed by Hawkins's first novel, The Girl on the Train, but after thinking about it, I decided that was unfair. In the beginning, the story starts out pretty straight forward, giving background to the eerie history of the town setting and the deaths of women that seem to always have mystery associated with them, but always involve the water. As things move forward, you learn that the lives of the people in the town are all entwined...to an overwhelming extent.

Hawkins writes each chapter from the perspective of a different character, which in most novels adds a lot of value to the plot and to the progress of the story for the reader. However, there are so many characters that at times, the story feels so confusing, and remembering who is who becomes daunting. This made it extremely difficult for me to get through the book. I didn't want to stop reading, because I really did want to discover how the multiple twists and mysteries would unfold, but the confusing nature of the book's organization hindered my focus and interest.

Toward the end, the story got a little annoying in how things began to pan out. And, in my opinion (obviously) the final twist of the book was completely unrealistically far-fetched. This may be because I didn't really feel a connection to the character involved, but I blame Hawkins for that due to the excessive amount of characters in the story. A few storylines seemed to remain a mystery in the end, never fully explaining what happened, which was definitely disappointing, even if I did lack a connection to the character involved.

This was an easy enough read, so anyone looking for a simple, quick beach-read or otherwise will likely enjoy it. However, for my high expectations in terms of mystery/thriller/suspense, it wasn't my favorite.

Rating:

Read More

The Good Girl

The Good Girl by Mary Kubica
Published by Harlequin MIRA on Jul. 29, 2014
Genre(s): Fiction, Suspense, Mystery, Thriller
Format: Audiobook/Kindle
Pages: 352 

Goodreads synopsis: 

I've been following her for the past few days. I know where she buys her groceries, where she works. I don't know the color of her eyes or what they look like when she's scared. But I will.

One night, Mia Dennett enters a bar to meet her on-again, off-again boyfriend. But when he doesn't show, she unwisely leaves with an enigmatic stranger. At first Colin Thatcher seems like a safe one-night stand. But following Colin home will turn out to be the worst mistake of Mia's life.

When Colin decides to hide Mia in a secluded cabin in rural Minnesota instead of delivering her to his employers, Mia's mother, Eve, and detective Gabe Hoffman will stop at nothing to find them. But no one could have predicted the emotional entanglements that eventually cause this family's world to shatter.

An addictively suspenseful and tautly written thriller, The Good Girl is a propulsive debut that reveals how even in the perfect family, nothing is as it seems.

This book was recommended to me- as it likely was to many others- preceded by the question, "did you like Gone Girl?" I decided to give it a try because I did like Gone Girl, but I also liked Gillian Flynn's other novels of the same Suspense/Thriller genre, so I guess I was kind of hoping this story would fall in line with those...It didn't.

From the moment the story started to unfold, The Good Girl was predictable in almost every way. The mystery genre was lost on this one when nearly nothing was surprising. The characters had depth, but in a very far-fetched way such that the author described many of them to be one way, yet in their actions, they appeared completely- almost unbelievably- different. This definitely added to the unreliability of the suspense and shock-factor. Characters were doing and not doing things that just plain didn't fit to the point where it wasn't surprising because apparently anything goes.

The pace of the novel was slow, which also didn't help the suspense factor. On the other hand, the slow pace might have been the only reason I kept reading. Even though the story was boring at times, chapters were short, making it easy to keep going. Before I knew it, the book was over. I read a portion of the book on my kindle, which shows percentage in the bottom corner. At about 91%, I could tell things were wrapping up, and there was still so much unexplained. However, by the time the book ended, those explanations were somehow thrown in. Needless to say, the last 9% of the book is where things got a bit fuzzy for me. For how much was supposedly going on in between pages, trying to thoughtfully explain the plot from the beginning in one last chapter just didn't work out. I found myself rereading sentences because it was that unbelievable-- not the explanation itself, that I did see coming, but the way the author wrote it off in a few short paragraphs.

Overall, the story was highly predictable for me, but because it was short with quick chapters, it was still an enjoyable read. With more nuanced characters and plot details, I think it could have been a lot better.

Rating:

Read More

The Night Circus

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Published by Doubleday in Sep. 13, 2011
Genre(s): Historical, Romance, Fantasy, Fiction
Format: Audiobook/Kindle
Pages: 400

Goodreads synopsis: 

The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it, no paper notices plastered on lampposts and billboards. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not.

Within these nocturnal black-and-white striped tents awaits an utterly unique, a feast for the senses, where one can get lost in a maze of clouds, meander through a lush garden made of ice, stare in wonderment as the tattooed contortionist folds herself into a small glass box, and become deliciously tipsy from the scents of caramel and cinnamon that waft through the air.

Welcome to Le Cirque des Rêves.

Beyond the smoke and mirrors, however, a fierce competition is under way--a contest between two young illusionists, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood to compete in a "game" to which they have been irrevocably bound by their mercurial masters. Unbeknownst to the players, this is a game in which only one can be left standing, and the circus is but the stage for a remarkable battle of imagination and will.
The premise of this novel is captivating, and definitely keeps you interested; however, the author incorporates tedious detail throughout the story, making for a very long read. The plot unfolds rather slowly, as well, threatening to be boring at times, but I never wanted to stop reading- I had to know what would happen next. Because of the intricate aforementioned details involved in the magic and fantasy of The Night Circus world, the events that occur are hard to understand at times. I found myself flipping back to earlier chapters to comprehend something being discussed pages later. Even at the end, I found the way things concluded to be complex and a bit far-fetched, even by magical standards.

There are a lot of story lines entwined within each other, and the organization of the novel was hard to follow at times, as well, as subsequent chapters often occur years before and after one another, rather than in chronological order. This definitely added to the suspense of the tale, but again, if you aren't mindful of the date of the chapter you are currently reading the entire time reading it, a lot of backflipping occurs, here, too.

If you like a story about magic, fantasy, and romance, and don't mind working a little to stay focused on the complex plot lines, you'll love it. Suspenseful and surprising at times, The Night Circus was definitely interesting and overall, an enjoyable read.

Rating:

Read More

South and West by Joan Didion

South and West by Joan Didion
Published by Knopf Publishing Group on Mar. 7, 2017
Genre(s): Nonfiction, Essays, Memoir, Travel
Format: Kindle
Pages: 160

Goodreads synopsis: 

From the best-selling author of the National Book Award-winning The Year of Magical Thinking two extended excerpts from her never-before-seen notebooks--writings that offer an illuminating glimpse into the mind and process of a legendary writer.

Joan Didion has always kept notebooks: of overheard dialogue, observations, interviews, drafts of essays and articles--and here is one such draft that traces a road trip she took with her husband, John Gregory Dunne, in June 1970, through Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. She interviews prominent local figures, describes motels, diners, a deserted reptile farm, a visit with Walker Percy, a ladies' brunch at the Mississippi Broadcasters' Convention. She writes about the stifling heat, the almost viscous pace of life, the sulfurous light, and the preoccupation with race, class, and heritage she finds in the small towns they pass through. 

And from a different notebook: the "California Notes" that began as an assignment from Rolling Stone on the Patty Hearst trial of 1976. Though Didion never wrote the piece, watching the trial and being in San Francisco triggered thoughts about the city, its social hierarchy, the Hearsts, and her own upbringing in Sacramento. Here, too, is the beginning of her thinking about the West, its landscape, the western women who were heroic for her, and her own lineage, all of which would appear later in her acclaimed 2003 book, Where I Was From. 

This book is an intimate look into Joan Didion’s thought process during her time spent traveling in the South in the 70s. Joan spends a month traveling through Lousiana, Missisippi, and Alabama in the hopes that gaining a further understanding of the South will help her to better understand the West and her place amongst it.

The style of the book is a sort of collection of essays, or notes, from the notebook Joan kept while she moved through her journey. Only a last ¼ of the book is devoted to the West, centering around Joan’s involvement with the Patty Hearst trial.

As she does in all of her writing, Joan is a perfect craftsman of words, capturing every detail- spoken and unspoken- to truly place the reader within the story. Her writing is effortless, making the art of story-telling seem easy. It’s always enjoyable to read her words and this piece of work was a unique glimpse at how her brilliant mind works.

Rating:

Read More

Born A Crime

Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah
Published by Doubleday on Nov. 15, 2016
Genre(s): Nonfiction, Biography, Memoir, Cultural, Adult, Humor, Historical
Format: Audiobook
Pages: 304

Goodreads synopsis: 

The compelling, inspiring, and comically sublime story of one man's coming-of-age, set during the twilight of apartheid and the tumultuous days of freedom that followed. 

Trevor Noah's unlikely path from apartheid South Africa to the desk of The Daily Show began with a criminal act: his birth. Trevor was born to a white Swiss father and a black Xhosa mother at a time when such a union was punishable by five years in prison. Living proof of his parents' indiscretion, Trevor was kept mostly indoors for the earliest years of his life, bound by the extreme and often absurd measures his mother took to hide him from a government that could, at any moment, steal him away. Finally liberated by the end of South Africa's tyrannical white rule, Trevor and his mother set forth on a grand adventure, living openly and freely and embracing the opportunities won by a centuries-long struggle. 

Born a Crime is the story of a mischievous young boy who grows into a restless young man as he struggles to find himself in a world where he was never supposed to exist. It is also the story of that young man's relationship with his fearless, rebellious, and fervently religious mother: his teammate, a woman determined to save her son from the cycle of poverty, violence, and abuse that would ultimately threaten her own life.

The eighteen personal essays collected here are by turns hilarious, dramatic, and deeply affecting. Whether subsisting on caterpillars for dinner during hard times, being thrown from a moving car during an attempted kidnapping, or just trying to survive the life-and-death pitfalls of dating in high school, Trevor illuminates his curious world with an incisive wit and unflinching honesty. His stories weave together to form a moving and searingly funny portrait of a boy making his way through a damaged world in a dangerous time, armed only with a keen sense of humor and a mother's unconventional, unconditional love. 

I never really had much interest in Trevor Noah. I wasn’t even aware of him until he replaced Jon Stewart on the Daily Show. Once I saw a couple episodes around the 2016 election, I started to like him, so once I saw that he was releasing a memoir, I knew I had to read it.

By now, it’s probably obvious that I love a good memoir, and a humorous one nearly always makes for an enjoyable read. I listened to Trevor Noah's book during the peak of the semester when I was too busy to be able to actually read, turning it on each time I got in my car. As I said, I never really knew much about him as a person before picking up his book, but now, I definitely have a new respect for him.

He starts out his story by discussing bits of his childhood, growing up in South Africa, born to a black, South African mother and a white, German father, making him a product of interracial relations, a crime punishable by law under apartheid. His story moves mostly chronologically throughout his life, with the exception of tales he inserts about his mother's past prior to his birth.

Integrating his wit whenever possible, Noah tells a beautiful story about a young man's journey through a life plagued by racism & poverty, and how the bond between a mother and child can withstand all of that and worse.

Even if you've never heard of this comedian before (catch his show weeknights on Comedy Central), his tales of a South African childhood will leave you laughing, crying, and in awe of the beauty in human differences.

Rating:

Read More