About Books and Such

No Sunday Salon, no It’s Monday, What Are You Reading?, just a Tuesday update on Gnoe’s reading.

Fiction

After I needed about a month to plod through Roberto Bolaño’s 898 page chunkster 2666 for Leeswammes’ readalong, I honestly feel like picking up something easy like a Carol O’Connell mystery.

But there’s another deadline coming up: the 25th of this month discussion starts on the Japanese Literature Book Group read of Kenzaburo Oë’s novel The Silent Cry. The Dutch translation has been waiting on my shelf for quite a few years now so I really want to grab this opportunity to join. That I haven’t taken it up before has mostly to do with the title: Voetballen in 1860 (something like ‘Soccer in 1860‘). I’m not a sports person (ha! you can say that again ;) and since the name is about the only thing I know of the book — and I haven’t read anything by this author before — I feel quite reluctant. Still, Tony Malone mentioned on twitter that Oë has been an inspiration to Haruki Murakami and pointed out the similarity of the latter’s book title Pinball, 1973. So now at least I do look forward to discovering Murakamish things in The Silent Cry. ;)

Non-fiction

My current non-fiction reads are all food-related… Could that have anything to do with the fact that I recently turned into a newbie vegan (or rather ‘strict vegetarian’)? Or is it just the Foodie’s Reading Challenge, or maybe the Whip Up Something New! challenge that gets me this obsessed focussed? Anyhow, I (virtually) picked up the Vegan Family Meals: Real Food for Everyone cookbook by Ann Gentry this week. It will be released on June 14th but I received an early e-book for preview through Netgalley in February. I normally don’t request review copies but it seemed a smart thing to do in my Quest to find a good vegan cookery book. Of course I could not know I’d get one soon for my Birthday! ;) My sister-in-law presented me with La Dolce Vegan! Vegan Livin’ Made Easy by Sarah Kramer. I’ve read it from A to Z and made at least (!) one dish from each of the sections so I hope to write a review soon. I usually don’t actually read cookbooks so it says a lot already that I did now! ;)

I’m also still reading about food in film in Verraad, verleiding en verzoening: de rol van eten in speelfilms by Louise O. Fresco and Helen Westerik. It’s taking me much longer than I thought, just because it’s not as interesting as I had hoped. It seems only to touch the subject of each film instead of going further into the aspects relating to food. Of course I’ve only read about a quarter of the book so I really can’t have an honest opinion yet. Anyway, the booklet is just 144 pages thin so I should be able to finish it soon, right?! I guess I’ll have more time for it once my course on film reviews has ended. ;)

Other Bookish News

Last but not least I received a sweet seasonal present from my friend elm@: The Cherry Blossom Festival: Sakura Celebration, by Ann McClellan. It’s a book about the cherry blossom trees surrounding the Tidal Basin in Washington D.C. (been there, seen it, done that — but have to go back sometime when the sakura is blooming ;) that were planted in 1912 as a gesture of friendship from Japan. Every year the National Cherry Blossom Festival is held, just like Hanami Matsuri in Japan. And like my personal ‘Holland Hanami‘. ;) The book covers not only the history of the park and its festival, but also their roots and traditions in Japan. If you want to have a look yourself, check out this Google preview or a YouTube video on the festival.

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Foodie’s Reading Challenge Admission Post

Of course I’ve already told you all that I joined the 2011 Foodie’s Reading Challenge — and nobody was surprised at that. But I didn’t write an actual admission post, deciding on a level of participation plus books to read. Making up for that now!

Can’t do any better than being a nibbler, meaning I’ll read 1-3 books from the world of food writing.

Proposed titles:

• Verraad, verleiding en verzoening: de rol van eten in speelfilms, by Louise O. Fresco & Helen Westerik
  Dutch non-fiction about the significance of food in film, demonstrated with the help of several well-known movies like Babette’s Feast, Big Night, Marie Antoinette, Julie & Julia, The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover etc.
  Wow: my love for food, books and movies combined. :) I bought it from the authors themselves on a night about Foodies, Foodporn and Food Blogs in September, so I have a signed copy.
• Bento Box in the Heartland: My Japanese Girlhood in Whitebread America, by Linda Furiya
  “While growing up in Versailles, an Indiana farm community, Furiya tried to balance the outside world of Midwestern America with the Japanese traditions of her home life. As the only Asian family in a tiny township, her life revolved around Japanese food and the extraordinary lengths her parents went to in order to gather the ingredients needed to prepare the meals. [..] Furiya’s story begins with her first memorable meal as a kindergartener and concludes when she graduated from high school. Her story revolves around food. The preparing of it, the eating, and congregation surrounding sustenance serves not only as a backdrop, but demonstrates how it comforts an immigrant’s homesickness and aids the family through their challenges.”
  Sounds like another perfect book for Gnoe, right? ;)

I might add titles to this list or change my mind on what to read, so feel free to give me any suggestions you might have! For now I really feel like doing these two. :))