What I read in April...

Oh April, you can and went so very, very fast. Alarmingly so. Hoping May slows down a bit because man alive, this year is FLYING! 


When I write my end-of-month reading recaps, I use a 5 star scale because sometimes you need that extra middle star as an anchor. I would highly recommend the 4 and 5 star books and sort of recommend the 3 star books depending on what you like to read. I'd recommend them in this order, even within the same number of stars, I'd rate some better than others. Occasionally I reserve the right to not assign a star value on the basis that some things need to be read no matter the quality of the writing or controversial subject matter. 


Animal Vegetable Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver Rating withheld. Food writing. Alright, let's talk about this book. First- I'd never read anything by Barbara Kingsolver, and I had high expectations given her level of popularity and the fact that this book was on the NYT Bestseller list FOREVER. Also, her parents were at our wedding and I absolutely adore them. They are the humblest, most down to earth people I've ever met and I'm so glad to know them. So I read this book. And was so, so disappointed. The information about growing seasons, animal raising, big ag business, canning was so interesting but it was overwhelming marred by the smug, self-righteous attitude the author had about her project. Would I love to be able to have my own chickens and only buy local, organic vegetables? Of course. However, I'm not a multimillion dollar author (who lectures about the dangers of carbon emissions of my fruits and vegetables while flying to her private house in Italy).  I couldn't honestly give it a rating: the information and process of what goes behind growing all your own food was great, like I said, but the attitude behind it was so smug that I couldn't get over it enough to appreciate what she was actually trying to say.


Medium Raw by Anthony Bourdain ***** Food writing. I absolutely adore this book and not just because of the star power of the author- I started reading it while AC was working on a paper and before I realized it, I had read 131 pages and had no intention of stopping. It's rare that I find a book so high in quality that I don't want to take a break, but Bourdain's unapologetic view on what's going on around him, his wit, his ability to tell a story and expose the inner workings of a kitchen and/or chef in the way that he does is just plain fantastic writing. It's shameless in who Bourdain loves, hates, or is indifferent (not many) to and yet he tries to right wrongs in Kitchen Confidential without being overly apologetic. My personal favorite chapter was 18, in which he goes behind the scenes of my favorite restaurant, Le Bernardin, with the guy who cuts the fish day after day. The fish there is utterly fantastic and it was amazing to learn about the guy who does such an amazing job with it, seeing the restaurant through his eyes as he eats there for the first time. Seriously, I can't say enough good things about this book, the writing quality or the entertainment value it provides to someone who is clueless about the subject at hand.  


Stuff: Compulsive Hoarding and the Meaning of Things by Randy O. Frost & Gail Steketee ***** Psychology. Okay so I've never seen the TLC show on Hoarding (we don't own a TV), but this book was about the same subject and it was INTENSE. I really, really liked this book- it gave a ton of examples from the authors' own experiences and combined it with science that (even) I could understand You could tell that the authors have a lot of compassion for their patients instead of looking down on them for their issues, which was refreshing considering it could have gone a completely condescending route.  It was so interesting, but even though I'm going through a "throw EVERYTHING away" phase, it made me a little paranoid about some of my own personality quirks (I NEVER throw away cards or letters). Definitely worth a read if you're interested in psychology, the TV show Hoarders or if you just want to freak yourself out a little bit.


The United States of Arugula by David Kamp **** Food writing. I loved this book. Loved loved loved. It was informative, interesting, sometimes funny and answered questions I had been too lazy to look up myself (Who was James Beard and why is he important?). It interwove the impact of James Beard, Julia Child and Craig Claiborne with  a healthy dose of gossip, the innerworkings of famous restaurants such as Chez Panisse and Le Cirque, and the stories behind namesakes such as Williams Sonoma, Dean and Deluca, Starbucks and Whole Foods. Wolfgang Puck, Thomas Keller, Emeril Lagasse and Mario Batali also make appearances. My only complaint about the book is that, at times, it was information overload if you're anything less than fully on your game (i.e. if you're tired). Definitely worth a read!


One Day by David Nicholls *** Fiction. Yup, fiction; my one fiction book for the month/ two months. I have mixed feelings about the book, honestly. I think one of the reasons I liked it is because there are certain characters/ situations, that anyone can relate to and it makes some of the story seem so very plausible. You get to know the characters well enough that you feel attached without knowing too much but there are such huge chunks of time missing that there's something missing. It was a good (but unlikely) story, some of the writing felt forced, the characters' interactions stressed me out to no end and yet I still enjoyed reading it. Well, until the end. The end is HORRIBLE- I haven't felt this let down by an ending in a long time and yet I still recommend reading it. Go figure. Overall, worth reading, especially if you like fiction, but be prepared to  be frustrated!


My Korean Deli by Ben Ryder Howe *** Memoir about a guy that helps buy his in-laws a deli in Brooklyn and the trials and tribulations they went through. Started out kind of slow but it rapidly improved and overall, I really, really liked it. Great "character" development and story telling and I liked the secondary storyline about his job outside the deli working at a literary magazine. I can appreciate the parental guilt involved to an extent, but have to disagree with several of the financial decisions they made on the whole but it helps make the story. Overall it was definitely worth reading.


Not Buying It by Judith Levine * I wanted SO badly to like this book, since I'm in the middle of a minimalist phase, but it was just awful. In theory the premise was great- the author wasn't going to buy unnecessary items for a whole year. Love the idea! But this author just. didn't. get. it. Instead of fully embracing the project, she came across as just BARELY HANGING ON throughout the year, making some dumb slip-ups (why walk into a store if you don't intend to buy something? That's just setting yourself up for failure) and failing to understand that having 2 homes and 3 cars isn't embracing the idea of reducing your carbon footprint. Halfway through the book she starts a random rant against the Republican party and George W (and eventually religion)... completely lost me since I was reading the book with the idea that the book was about abstaining from buying stuff and not politics. She tried to redeem herself at the end of the book, but by that point she was so off topic, so out there in left field that I was gone. Not going to lie, it was a serious struggle to finish this book.