Summer Reading List 2012

June means school is out and it’s time for summer reading again. Last summer’s reading list got truncated quite a bit by a little something called “moving into a house that needs a lot of work”. While I still have lots of house projects to work on, this summer feels more stable and I feel more capable of finishing a few of the books that I didn’t get around to reading last year.

Also exciting, by way of book news, is a new development in my life: a book club! Last month I did something I have wanted to do for many years, but always been afraid to try. I hosted a book club, complete with a Paris-themed party and lively discussion of The Paris Wife. After a great turn out and a positive response, I am planning my next book club party already. This time we will be reading The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom and doing a Southern theme. (See plot description below!)

Here are some of the books that I plan to read this summer, all written by female authors (unintentional), with plenty of history to stimulate the mind, rich settings to satisfy the most hardcore escapists, and a sprinkling of magic for the dreamer inside of us all. What is summer for, if not for a bit of much-needed indulgence?

Blackbird House/ Alice Hoffman: An evocative work that traces the lives of the various occupants of an old Massachusetts house over a span of two hundred years. I am reading this at the moment and completely immersed in the gorgeous prose, magical realism and vivid sense of place. Summer on Cape Cod? Sounds lovely, thanks!

The Kitchen House/ Kathleen Grissom: Set on a Southern plantation in Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia in the early 1800's, the story is told from the perspective of a white Irish orphan, Lavinia. While working as an indentured servant in the kitchen house of a plantation, Lavinia discovers the dark secrets of the white family members and slaves alike. She finds herself torn between two worlds: one of the white plantation owner and his family, with whom she shares a racial identity; and the Negroes with whom she works, associates and shares a vocational identity.

The Kitchen God’s Wife/ Amy Tan. Like The Joy Luck Club, this novel focuses on a dysfunctional relationship between a Chinese-American mother and daughter. Dying matriarch Winnie shares with her daughter the story of her upbringing in China in the 1920-1940s, and traces the happy and desperate events that led to her immigration to America. No doubt family secrets will be revealed and new understanding will be built between the two, but it's the journey that makes it all interesting.

Daughter of Fortune / Isabelle Allende. Historical fiction relating the story of a pregnant Chilean woman who follows her beloved to the rough streets of San Francisco, California in the the Gold Rush era of the 1850's. Can you believe it used to be a hard-knock collection of greedy bachelors, prostitutes and East Coast outcasts? Perfect prerequisite reading for a day trip to my favorite foggy coastal city!

The Giant’s House: A Romance / Elizabeth McCracken. In 1950, a small-town librarian meets a 11-year-old giant and the two loners eventually find their lives intertwined in ways that neither one could have predicted. Also set in Cape Cod with magical realist elements, this quirky read has received a lot of praise from other readers and made me curious enough to pick it up myself (finally, since I didn't get to it last year).

2011 Best Reads (So Far)

I can’t believe that it is almost May. Realizing how far into the year we are made me reflect on all of the books I have read this year so far. Some were amazing and absorbed all of my attention for a time. Others were overrated and mediocre- but you won't find them here. Here are some of my favorites of 2011 so far, with a short snippet about each. Coming soon: Summer reading list!

New Must Read

Room/ Emma Donogue: Riveting novel about a mother and son in living in captivity and the world they create for themselves in the single room they occupy. Told from the perspective of 5-year old Jack, this one is making a big splash for being in turns horrifying and inspiring.

Classics

Atlas Shrugged / Ayn Rand: I’m still making my way through this one, just in time for the movie release as it turns out (although I admit this was not planned). As influential as this work has been, it is one probably one that everyone should read. While I kinda hate the philosophy of objectivism, I admire Ayn Rand’s skill as a writer and her ability to force me to see the world through new eyes.

The Enchanted April / Elizabeth Von Armin: Four Englishwomen, near strangers, are brought together by a shared desire to stay for a month in a castle on the Italian coast one April. I could practically see the flowering wisteria, smell the acacia, feel the sea breeze in my hair. Timeless escapism at its best.

Funny

I Feel Bad about My Neck: And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman / Nora Ephron. A love song to living in New York City along with humorous thoughts on aging, from the writer of “You’ve Got Mail” and “When Harry Met Sally”.

Social Conscience

Nickel and Dimed: On Not Getting By in America/ Barbara Ehrenreich. What one educated woman learns when she goes undercover to investigate the lives of the working lower class. She travels all over the US and works as a maid, a waitress at a Denny’s, and a Walmart employee, seeing what it really takes to make ends meet without relying on welfare.

Cookbooks

Good to the Grain: Baking with Whole-Grain Flours/ Kim Boyce. This book, written by a pastry chef who knows her stuff, introduced me to the wonders of all new whole grain flours: oat, buckwheat, spelt flours and more. The Peach Ginger Muffins and Oat Molasses Bread were top notch!

Canning for a New Generation: Bold, Fresh Flavors for the Modern Pantry/Liana Krissof. A quirky take on canning with unique, updated recipes (Chinese Plum Sauce, North Indian Carrot Pickle, Raspberry Jam with Mint and Lavender, etc.) including both preserved foods, and delicious dishes in which to use them later. If you have a flourishing garden, this would be an excellent resource for preserving your bumper crops in creative new ways.

Historical Fiction

 

These Is My Words / Nancy Turner: I dove into this coming of age tale of a strong woman settlor in the late-1800's Arizona Territories. Fantastic love story and interesting historical information. Truly enjoyable reading, and everyone who reads it seems to love it as much as I did.

Snow Falling on Cedars / David Guterson: A who-done-it mystery written with unusual beauty, and set against the backdrop of anti-Japanese prejudice on a small island in the Puget Sound in the pre- and post-WWII era.

Food Writing

How to Cook a Wolf / M.F.K Fisher. You have to love M.F.K. Fisher, the voice of a past era that reminds me of my grandma - in a good way. She combines frugality and practicality with joie de vivre and her love of everything that a good meal can bring to humanity.

A Homemade Life: Stories and Recipes from My Kitchen Table/ Molly Wizenburg. A fine example of a successful blog-to-book memoir, laced with tempting recipes and finely written anecdotes from the author’s life.

Fall Reading

Who says that reading lists are only for summer? Here are some of my ideas for fall reading.

The Spice Necklace: Remember how I was promised this book for free? I finally received a copy by mail from Houghton Mifflin a couple weeks ago. I have only read a few pages, yet already the exotic descriptions of life in the Caribbean are making my mouth water and appealing to my sense of adventure. I am all about vicarious living, and can’t wait to read more... especially since I could use one last summer vacation.

Tess of the D’Urbervilles: I recently reviewed my goals for the year and remembered that I still have one great classic novel left to read in order to meet my goal of three for 2010. I chose this one, which has long sat on my shelf. I confess that in all of the British Literature classes I took in college, I never was assigned anything by Hardy. Once the weather turns chill, I look forward to a warm cup of tea and a walk with Thomas Hardy through the vicissitudes of Victorian England. When I finish, I will reward myself with a viewing of the 2008 BBC version. Lovely!

The Help: This story of the complex relationships between white residents of Jackson, Mississippi and their black domestic servants in the 1960's has completely absorbed me. I checked out the audio book from my library and am about halfway through. I look forward my daily commute because I know I can listen to the next part unfold. (It doesn't get better than that, does it?) The storytelling is excellent and I feel like I am immersed in the middle of every personal conflict, not to mention the Civil Rights Movement. I am pummelling through it and plan to finish soon.

Squeezing the Last Drops From Summer

Summer in Sacramento usually means 101 degree days followed by nights that retain the heat of the day. Because the weather has been unusually mild (high 80's, low 90's), I find myself towards the end of summer without having really felt like it was summer at all. Now I’m seeing kids go back to school and wondering where the time went.

Nevertheless, since I’m not in school anymore, I am giving myself the license to squeeze the last drops out of summer for a while yet. Here is what I plan on accomplishing yet this summer:

*3 more BBQs (2 this week, 1 next week)

*A trip to the Davis Farmer’s Market, where I will purchase my worms to kickstart my Worm Factory (vermicomposting device). I have come to the realization that Sacramento weather, even at its mildest, is still too extreme to keep the worms outside, which means I'm going to have to share my habitat with them. Living with worms- a true test of my desire to be green!

*Finish Madame Bovary (the last novel left on my original summer reading list)

*A look at Mars on August 27^th from 10pm-3am (Science web sites say it will appear as a bright red pinprick of light. Maybe I’ll even see a shooting star while I’m looking!)

*A trip to San Francisco for lunch and museum-going with good friends

*Lastly, a day trip to the Sonoma-area for small town exploration, farmer’s market, Wild Flour Bread, and dining at cafés

Any other must-do summer suggestions?

Things I Want to Do This Summer

1. Visit the seashore

2. Attend the Gilroy Garlic Festival- Looking forward to some things (garlic chicken stir fry sounds good, plus normal foods like BBQ, funnel cakes, etc.) Others just sound like a horrible idea - Conagra will be there giving away free garlic ice cream. As a lactose intolerant person, I can't imagine a worse thing for me to put into my body, and I will probably not partake.

3. Watch an opera at the Met (Carmen or La Boheme, preferably both). I have been wanting to see another opera for several years, and my local movie theater will be showing two classic operas in July! I hope it will be like a trip to New York without a plane ticket, and with a better view than I would have even if I saw it at the Met in person!

4. Go to the California State Fair. I love the exhibits, even the commercial ones. Ok, let's be honest- especially the commercial ones. It's not summer unless you've been ripped off by a guy named Ted selling Ginsu knives. But what is up with the powers that be changing the ever-stable date? Our state fair traditionally runs the last weeks of August through Labor Day, but this year the fair will take place in July. I wonder how this will effect things? We'll find out!

5. See the Impressionist Exhibit in SF. With masterpieces from the Musee D'Orsay in Paris by Manet, Degas, Monet, and Renoir, this De Young exhibit looks like a must-see! It runs through September 6th.

6. Start a thriving compost pile. I got my bin and this Saturday, out I go to mix my kitchen scraps with dirt and various natural materials.

7. Read as many books as possible. I am already 99% done with my original summer reading list and need to come up with a new one...

8. Make my own reusable bags. I already sewed 3; now to decorate them as desired!

My Summer Reading List 2010

With Memorial Day weekend ahead of us, I wanted to share a list of a few books I intend to check out this summer, either in book or audio form. The summaries are adapted from Goodreads. Feel free to share your comments if you have suggestions or have read any of these! What's on your reading list?

Sister of My Heart: Set in Calcutta, this novel follows two "sisters", beautiful Sudha and passionate Anju, bonded together by love yet torn apart by a family secret. This one was recommended by a dear friend and I am already reveling in the author’s gorgeously lyrical prose.

School of Essential Ingredients: Highly rated by a fellow foodie on Goodreads, the plot of this novel is set up as follows: "Once a month on Monday night, eight students gather in Lillian's restaurant for a cooking class... Over time, the paths of the students mingle and intertwine, and the essence of Lillian's cooking expands beyond the restaurant and into the secret corners of their lives, with results that are often unexpected, and always delicious." Sounds delightful!

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie: Murder mystery set in Britain, anyone? "In his wickedly brilliant first novel, Debut Dagger Award winner Alan Bradley introduces one of the most singular and engaging heroines in recent fiction: eleven-year-old Flavia de Luce, an aspiring chemist with a passion for poison. It is the summer of 1950—and a series of inexplicable events has struck Buckshaw, the decaying English mansion that Flavia’s family calls home..."

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil: Or how about a trip to a hot, steamy Southern city? "John Berendt's Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil has been heralded as a "lyrical work of nonfiction," and the book's extremely graceful prose depictions of some of Savannah, Georgia's most colorful eccentrics... "

Prodigal Summer: I recently found a copy of this one at Goodwill. It seems to be the sort of literature that asks to be read in the seasonally appropriate period. I haven’t read anything by her since Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, but I’m excited to revisit this author. "Barbara Kingsolver's fifth novel is a hymn to wildness that celebrates the prodigal spirit of human nature, and of nature itself. It weaves together three stories of human love within a larger tapestry of lives amid the mountains and farms of southern Appalachia. Over the course of one humid summer, this novel's intriguing protagonists face disparate predicaments but find connections to one another and to the flora and fauna with which they necessarily share a place."

Madame Bovary: I need to read another great work this summer, as my goal was to read three this year. This classic French novel sounds a lot like Kate Chopin’s The Awakening, which I found very interesting in school. Furthermore, it's so famous that I feel obligated to see what all the fuss is about. "One precious quality distinguishes Flaubert from the more or less exact observers who pride themselves on conscientiously reproducing reality, and nothing but reality: he has style." --Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve

Best Restaurants in Sacramento

Tower Cafe wins for both Best Theater and Best Dessert

Every year, locally-based Sacramento Magazine comes out with a "Best of Sacramento" list, as voted by for the apparently generally ignorant masses. I do not often find their picks to be particularly enlightening, but rather predictable, overrated, and ordinary. (Example: Best Chinese - PF Chang’s. Really, people?!)

So I am going to publish my own list of favorite spots in the greater Sacramento Area. If a certain business is not in the city of Sacramento itself, I will note the specific location in parenthesis. (My reviews of these and other places, and my reasons for choosing these particular establishments as the winners, can all be found at sweetiestace16.yelp.com.)

Best Chinese: Frank Fat’s

Best Thai: Bangkok Garden

Best Laotian: Vientiane (West Sac)

Best North Indian: Pooja Indian Grill (West Sac)

Best South Indian: Kaveri Madras

Best Hamburger: Squeeze Inn Best

Pastries: Ettore’s

Best Desserts: Tower Café

Best Italian: Il Fornaio

Best Dim Sum: New Canton

Best Sandwich: Corti Brothers

Best French: La Bonne Soupe Café

Best Trip-Tip Sandwich: My BBQ Spot

Best Socially-Responsible Café: Magpie Café

Best Spot to Hold a Wedding Reception: Arden Hills Country Club (Based on attending many weddings and my own!)

Best Place to Pretend You’re in Europe: Le Petit Paris

Best Cultural Dining Experience: Casablanca (Moroccan restaurant. On Friday nights - belly dancing!)

Best Place to Hang Out on a Saturday Morning: Davis Farmer’s Market (Davis)

Best Theater: Tower

Best Used Bookstore: Time Tested Books

Best Mexican: Q’Bole (Folsom)

Best Place to Buy Honey: Sacramento Beekeeper’s Company

Best Bread (tie): The Bread Store and Grateful Bread

Best Grocery Store: Nugget Market

Any suggestions, contributions, or comments?

Best Small Towns in Northern California

The town of Mendocino, California

I love it when travel magazines publish lists of the best small towns to visit, because exploring such towns is one of my most enjoyed past times. Yet it’s always disappointing when one of these tempting little towns turns out to be, say, in the Catskill Mountains of New York, or the heart of Montana. Like I’m going to travel all the way there to visit a remote village! I understand that a magazine must appeal to a wide geographical range of readers.

But, since most of my readers are in the West, and more particularly concentrated in Northern California (and those who aren't hopefully intend to visit me soon!), I will share my personal list of best small towns to visit. In no particular order, they are:

1) Mendocino: With gorgeous views of the coast, this former hippie colony has maintained the laid-back vibe, lovely architecture, and environmental consciousness that was present when it was first established. Mendocino boasts lots of B&B’s; more organic restaurants and stores than you know what to do with; Mendocino Jams, offering housemade jams, mustard and marmalades; and Gallery Bookstore, a wonderful independent establishment where the sun shines in through the multitude of ocean-framing windows, and the soft sound of waves crashing on the cliffs across the street lull you into a state of nirvana. I hope to spend my birthday here this year... (December 28th, people!) :-D

2) Sebastopol: Not on the coast but near enough that you can smell the salty fresh ocean in the breeze. Features utterly quirky stores, such as East West Café - completely organic, largely vegetarian and bohemian as all get out. I dare you to find one local eating there who wears makeup! There's also an adorable pie shop on the outskirts of town specializing in pies made from locally grown Gravenstein apples. (Apparently, Gravensteins are an endangered species of apple. Poor little guys. The local are trying to save them from extinction by feeding them to tourists.)

3) Sutter Creek: In Amador County, this is my favorite stop. With relatively affordable B&Bs, quirky home decor shops, loads of antique stores, and the ever wonderful Susan’s Place for lunch or dinner, this town makes a great weekend getaway.

4) Nevada City: A wonderful town where gorgeous Victorian-style houses still abundantly dot the local neighborhoods. Fantastic shopping, including Degroot’s Truffles and Desserts, where one may procure the most sinfully pleasureful chocolate truffles ever created by human hand. The truffles alone are worth the trek, but there’s also a great café for lunch and toy store that will entertain kids and adults alike.

5) Marysville: This town hosts the Peach Festival every summer. Grab some tri tip sandwiches, enjoy the local musician performances, snag a piece of fresh peach pie with peach ice cream, and don’t leave without a few bags of locally grown white and yellow peaches to eat or freeze for peach cobbler later! Also has a very unique specialized bookstore that made for fascinating browsing and a much-needed respite from the summer heat. If you head back to Sac-town, make sure to stop at Stephen’s Farmhouse for the ollalieberry pies, jams, and handmade crafts! (If you’re full from the peaches, they offer frozen pies.)

6) St. Helena: Perhaps the least pretentious town in the Napa area, St. Helena has some lower-key spas, creative cafes, local olive oil, a chocolate store that is the equivalent of Tiffany’s for chocolatiers, an awesome bakery, and of course the famous burgers from Taylors Automatic Refresher (featured on the Food Network’s "Drive Ins, Diners and Dives).

Any other ideas or suggestions? I’m itching to discover someplace new...