Book Festival, Book Club, etc.

I've had a really book focused weekend. Among other things, the highlights of this weekend were going to the National Book Festival and joining a book club. On Saturday, I met up with my old friend Jenny who I hadn't seen in years. The book festival was the perfect place to reconnect--it was free, there was enough time walking around that we could catch up, and the festival provided lots additional things to talk about. Jenny and I went to see Julia Alvarez speak and she was amazing. I had only read one of her books, In the Time of Butterflies, which I had loved and now I really want to read her newest adult fiction book, Saving the World. Alvarez really did not spend that much time talking about her books, the talk was focused on her love of reading and how powerful books can help us all live in another world, if only for a few hundred pages.

Then, today, I met up with another old friend, Gwen, and we went to a book club sponsored by the Women's Information Network. The book club was discussing Time Traveler's Wife which I read a couple months ago, so this was the perfect chance to meet new people and talk about I book I really liked. For sure, talking about it made me question if I really loved it as much as I thought I did. Time Traveler's Wife is a great read, but I realized as we talked about it that there is a lot of questionable focus on the role of women. For example, Clare who is the time traveler's wife seems to be defined by that role--she is only a time traveler's wife and very little else. That being said, there is a lot to like about this novel and overall I really enjoyed it.

Book I want to read:
Saving the World by Julia Alvarez

Books I've already read (and liked):
In the Time of Butterflies by Julia Alvarez
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffennegger

National Book Festival, Today!

Heading to the National Book Festival with a friend from high school today. I'm super excited about the whole thing and there are several authors I'm looking forward to hearing. Hoping to see Judy Blume, Gwen Ifill, and Julia Alvarez--three completely different authors who I'm sure will have interesting things to say.


2009 National Book Festival

in the kitchen

i read about in the kitchen by monica ali at the beginning of the summer in the chicago tribune book section. although I was never able to complete ali's earlier novel, bricklane, this one had a more appealing (and seemingly creative) storyline. my roommate recently checked it out of the library and this seemed the perfect time to give the newest monica ali book a chance. as i began to read, the story seemed to simply tell the story of gabe lightfoot, the head chef at a fancy london hotel. this first half of the novel highlights the many frustrations of gabe's life: his job, his ambition, his family, his girlfriend, his international coworkers.

overall, i found liked the book but it seemed at times to lack direction. the first two hundred pages slowly builds to the second half of the book where the plot develops more quickly and strangely. as the book progresses, ali addresses more serious topics than simply the life of a chef as she attempts to incorporate issues of bipolar disorders, prostitution, and the role of human trafficking in modern london. while these turns are fairly surprising and seem a little out of place, the characters are so well developed that i felt compelled to keep reading despite the somewhat disjointed story line.

in the kitchen is a pretty easy read and certainly held my attention, but the trajectory of the story line may leave the reader surprised and a little confused. i recommend the book for anyone interested in cooking, multiculturalism, or london but the treatment of human trafficking is light and perhaps incomplete. if you're looking for a serious discussion or appraisal of trafficking, look else where.

In the Kitchen
by Monica Ali

getting started

i love to read. i love to talk about books. i love the internet.

hopefully, this will be my space to talk to the world (or a couple family members/friends who decide to read this) about what i'm reading. mostly, i'll review novels, but i plan to also write about articles, short stories, and nonfiction that catches my attention. sometimes i like books, sometimes i don't--that will be a major theme of this blog.