been reading: My Life in France by Julia Child

I was inspired to read this book after seeing the movie Julie & Julia. I had read the book by Julie Powell on which the film is based, but I hadn't realized that Julia Child's memoir also informs the movie, perhaps even more so than Powell's. The best parts of the film are the ones centered around Julia, and I was curious to learn more about this woman and to relive the time she spent in her beloved France.

I have always been rather taken with the idea of moving to a new place, with the romanticism of fashioning a life out of new surroundings, of making the unfamiliar familiar. When we travel, I almost always decide I want to make that destination my permanent home, and more than once I've come across an available property while traveling and nearly begged Rob to let us move there. Although even if he agreed (which he never does), I love my life here too much to actually go through with it. I think. And yet, it remains a dream I can't quite shake. Someday...

This book did nothing to quell that desire. Julia first arrives in France knowing no French and very little about the country, but she is immediately charmed by it and sets about making Paris her home. She befriends the butcher, gossips with the ladies at the market, and frequents her favorite restaurants. She takes language lessons and then, in a decision that will change everything, cooking classes. She makes friends, throws parties, and creates a true community around herself. The fullness with which she lives life is inspiring. As is the verve with which she throws herself into cooking, the life passion she discovers at the age of 37.

One of the most notable aspects of her memoir, and the movie as well, is her marriage. Her relationship with Paul epitomizes partnership. They cheer each other on, embrace each other's projects, and delight in exploring life together. They have a sincere mutual respect, which is what I believe causes some relationships to rise above the rest. And theirs soars.

This book is a pleasure to read. Julia's love for life leaps off the page; her charm and enthusiasm are contagious. And knowing that celebrity awaits her, it is fascinating to witness the path she takes as she finds her purpose. Not to mention that the way she describes food will absolutely make your mouth water.

Consider this the catch-up post. (There are more, but I'm not sure the others are even worth reviewing. Maybe someday.)

People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks

This was recommended to me by Charlotte. I think she knew it would appeal to both my love of books and the delight I find in details. The premise of the plot is that the protagonist is a book expert who is asked to restore a very old, sacred text. In the process, she discovers tiny clues within the pages (an insect wing, a wine stain, a hair) that help her piece together the incredible history of the book. As readers, we are zoomed into the timeframe of each artifact, meeting the people who have created and read and protected the book along the way.

It is a rich, dense tale. It took me a long time to read this one, mostly because there is much more story to it than its 368 pages suggest. And yet, I was so immersed in the lives on the page that I often forgot I was reading a book and not watching the scenes unfold before me. And to forget you're reading while reading a book about a book - well, that's saying something.

When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris

I took this on our trip to Alaska. I find that books comprised of humorous essays are great for travel since they are lighthearted and can be read in small excerpts. And, if the author is David Sedaris, there's also the guarantee of great writing, which is important to me.

I felt that some of these essays fell flat, but others had me guffawing and elbowing Rob while saying, "Just let me read you one more section." Much of this book focuses on the time Sedaris spent in France and Japan, and the cultural idiosyncrasies and misunderstandings in particular are priceless.

Home Cooking by Laurie Colwin

I came upon this book through a bit of happenstance. Laurie Colwin was mentioned as a favorite of a writer I respect. I wasn't familiar with her, so I researched her books only to realize that I own one. I had bought Home Cooking at a yardsale a long time ago. It must have caught my eye for some reason, but sadly it had ended up in a box in the basement, unread.

While Laurie Colwin is also known as an accomplished novelist, Home Cooking is a compilation of columns she wrote for Gourmet magazine. This book is beloved by her fans, but frankly I don't know that it would appeal to most of you. I found it charming, but then I have been going through an intensely domestic phase lately.

In general, her kind of cooking isn't my kind of cooking so, with a few exceptions, I didn't find the specific recipes very compelling. But her attitude towards cooking and entertaining is spot on, and the infusion of voice and humor on every page kept me reading.

Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott

Talk about funny. Anne Lamott is outright hilarious, although instead of causing a constant chuckle like Colwin, she slips a howl-worthy statement in there every so often. Even better, these comments are almost always self-deprecating. Maybe I enjoyed her style so much because I can relate to the paranoia and, in her words, "mental illnesses" that she describes. I can even believe, incredibly, that this woman may be more neurotic than I am.

The subtitle of this book is "Some Instructions on Writing and Life." As a successful writer and writing teacher, she shares her thoughts on how to write and the rewards and pitfalls that come with it. While perhaps much of what she says can relate to both writing and life, her advice leans quite heavily towards writing, and the writing life. Again, not sure how interesting this might be to most, although to anyone who considers herself a writer, or a wannabe writer, or who is even remotely interested in writing, this is a fascinating glimpse into the wonder, woe, and wherewithal of being a writer.

been reading: Yarn Harlot by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee

So I'm giving knitting another go. I started a scarf back in 2004 only to get frustrated and declare myself a complete knitwit. I became, if you will, a bit unraveled. But lately I've had an itching for wool, been needled with an urge to pick knitting back up. Because seriously, the puns alone make it worth it.

Last time around, I was given a five-minute lesson by a coworker. I only learned knit stitch, and had no clue about needle sizes, yarn weights, or any of that. The yarn I chose wasn't a good match for my needles, and although I finished about one-third of the scarf, it was not fun or relaxing and so I stopped.

This time, I got a proper lesson at my local yarn shop. On the way to the shop, I drove behind a truck hauling sheep. Woolly yarn-bearing sheep. I considered this a blessing on my knitting endeavor.

And so far, it has been. Sure, over the weekend I ripped out my first several attempts and almost declared myself a yarn moron again, but I persevered with shear determination. (Shear? Get it? Yeah okay, I'll stop.) My starter project is simple, but more complicated than the scarf, and so far it's going well. And last evening I even dug out that scarf again and it's actually knitting up quite nicely.

With the knitting has come the desire to re-read Yarn Harlot. I read it when I started the first time, and it has been just as delightful the second time through. This is a blog turned book, so it's filled with short, silly stories. About knitting. And this woman is crazy for knitting - emphasis on crazy. For example, her yarn stash is so huge that she keeps skeins in the freezer and stuffs them in the empty spaces of her piano. It's a fun, frivolous read. Great gift for the knitter in your life.

been reading: Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin

"The first time you share tea with a Balti, you are a stranger. The second time you take tea, you are an honored guest. The third time you share a cup of tea, you become family..." (p. 150)

You need to read this. I don't often (ever?) suggest one book for everyone, but this time I'm going all English teacher on you guys and giving a reading assignment. In fact, it was my former English teacher, and dear friend, who insisted I read this book.

It is not a novel, although it pretty much reads like one. It is the story of a man who has devoted his life to building schools. In Pakistan. Here's how it all began: the people of a tiny Pakistani village named Korphe gave shelter, food, and friendship to a weary, broken mountain climber named Greg. And in return, he built a school for their children. For their boys and girls. It was, of course, much more complicated than that. And also much more successful than he'd ever imagined. And so he built another school in another Pakistani village. And another. And another. He's still going today, in Pakistan and Afganistan. He believes that education, especially for girls, is the most powerful way to secure the future and prosperity of the region's residents and to combat its religious extremists. (This PARADE article describes his mission in more depth.)

He's had fatwas issued against him. He's been kidnapped. He's risked his life in many ways and sacrificed nearly all that he has. And as a result, one young woman - the first in Korphe to be educated - is going to medical school. And there are many more like her.

I read this during our recent trip; Rob was simultaneously reading Hot, Flat, and Crowded. He soon decided that Thomas Friedman's book was perhaps not the best choice for vacation reading material, given its thorough (and thoroughly depressing) accounting of the immense challenges we face, nationally and globally. Rob would relate discouraging tidbits at dinner that left us all deflated. And so I would feel compelled to counter with an uplifting account from the book I was reading. Together, I think these books create a powerful view of today's world, of both the problems and the potential.

The value in reading Three Cups of Tea is threefold. First, simply as a story, it is remarkable. The unlikely friendships Mortenson forges and the situations (equally dangerous and hilarious) he finds himself in throughout his quest are reasons enough to read.

The book also provides a more accurate, complete portrayal of Muslims, including the compassion inherent in their culture. We need to be reminded of that so we don't continue to lump everyone together, to judge an entire group of people by the actions of a relative few who do not, in fact, represent the whole.

And finally, the book provides something else we need, I think, even more desperately: inspiration. As our challenges loom larger and larger, there are many experts willing to expound, prioritize, research, and suggest solutions. And there is certainly value in this contribution to the conversation. I have respect for Friedman and all the rest. But there is something to be said for tackling a problem oneself, for making it personal in the best possible way. For seeing that education and empowerment are worthy alternatives to oppression and overpowering. I don't believe one person, not even Greg Mortenson, can change the world alone. But who can say where one person, one school, one cup of tea might lead?

been reading: Once Again to Zelda by Marlene Wagman-Geller

This was another gift from JLD & HFD. I'd heard of this book and had wanted to read it at some point, so I was delighted that they happened to buy it for me for Christmas.

In the book, Wagman-Geller shares the stories behind the dedications of various works of literature. For example, the book takes its title from the dedication in The Great Gatsby, in which Fitzgerald recognizes his wife, Zelda. Most people who have studied Fitzgerald know that the life he shared with his wife was fascinating, exuberant, and tragic, much like the couples who populate his writing.

But I was not familiar with most of the tales revealed in this book. Interestingly, nearly all of them involve tragedy. Surely Wagman-Geller chose to relate the most interesting stories, but the commonality of personal suffering among the writers was still rather surprising.

The other common component did not surprise me, however. Dedication. On the part of the writer, of course, but also on the part of the writer's partner. In many, many cases, a writer's wife would work full-time to support the family while he stayed home to write. This was a leap of faith, considering there was no certainty that he could write or that even if he could, he would ever profit from it. That kind of believing in and supporting someone is admirable, and certainly worthy of being immortalized in the dedication of a classic work of literature.

Lots of interesting tidbits in this book. Like the curious circumstances surrounding Lewis Carroll's relationship with a little girl named Alice, for whom he names his Adventures in Wonderland. Or that Mark Twain had many cats, whom he carried on his shoulders and named things like Lazy, Pestilence, Famine, Satan, and Sin. Actually, I was surprised by much of what I read about Mark Twain. I've always thought him a gruff, sharp-witted, intimidating man. Which he very well may have been, but the things I learned in this book altered my perception a bit. Of him and many others.

I will say that Wagman-Geller cannot resist a cheesewad ending and she wraps up each essay in a truly unforgivable eyeroll-provoking fashion. But I thoroughly enjoyed the book, and I will never again jump into a novel without reading, and wondering about, the dedication.

been reading: Stuff White People Like by Christian Lander

JLD & HFD gave us this book for Christmas, and it immediately became our favorite gift. I'd actually heard of the blog (as well as various spinoffs), but hadn't read much of it. The book is basically the blog in print, although there are additional entries and also some that are revised or entirely different.

The book is amazingly accurate. Horrifyingly, hilariously accurate. For example, scarves and grammar. THAT IS ME. Then there's yoga, David Sedaris, and threatening to move to Canada. Me, me, and me. But what sent a chill down my spine was kitchen gadgets. This entry mentions that the KitchenAid stand mixer is the ultimate kitchen gadget for white people. It goes on to say "They will match this mixer to their kitchen's color scheme and it will make up the focal point." Well, shit. Do you remember this post, in which I totally talk about how the KitchenAid is the focus of my kitchen? I am SO WHITE.

The "public radio" entry in the book (which is entirely different from the online version) is also completely dead-on. And here is where I admit that for Christmas I bought Rob an NPR Station Locator map. It is a US map that shows, for each city or region, which numbers to tune your radio to in order to hear NPR. Because nothing makes Rob and me grumpier when we're driving than to be listening to an NPR interview (or "Car Talk" or "Wait! Wait!" or "This American Life" or, yes, even "A Prairie Home Companion") and then start getting static because we're driving out of range. And by the time we search around the dial to find another NPR station, we've missed stuff. God forbid. And so I bought him the map, which he was entirely too excited about. As was I. Because we are SO WHITE.

We started bringing the book along to various family holiday events in order to read excerpts to our white families. We soon realized, though, that only one side of Rob's family would relate to the book and get the jokes. They are the people who wear outdoor performance clothes and shop at Whole Foods and begin all their conversations with "I heard the most interesting thing on NPR..."

We decided the book would be lost on the rest of our relatives, his and mine. Especially those family members who consider exploding an old washing machine to be a worthwhile holiday bonding activity. No, really. Blowing up a fucking washing machine. These folks are what the book refers to as "the wrong kind of white people."