Ah yes, the waning days of summer. For educators especially I think the quote is something like “August is the Sunday of summer” or for me it can be adequately summed up (as everything can) with a frame from Calvin and Hobbes.
August was another full month of at least a book a day so there are many books to choose from. I’ve settled on My Life in France by Julia Child for several reasons. First, I was waiting for the right time to read it. I’m very much a mood reader: I keep multiple books stacked and ready and choose the next book based on what I’m feeling, not to check a box or meet a deadline. This book had been sitting on my shelf since about April.
When I began it, I was going slow, like savoring one of the most delectable meals which is how I know a book is good. But then, I found out that as I was getting closer to the end that that specific day, August 15th, was the anniversary of her birthday and I knew I needed to finish it. And finish it I did, with the gusto of a great flip of the pan to create an omelet.
Every sense is awakened when reading about Julia’s life in France where she discovered the verve for cooking and fell into the sweetest routine of life with her husband, Paul. Whether it was a mundane task or cooking for a party, it was a full sensory experience for her and she and her great nephew, Alex Prud’homme make it one for the reader in the book.
I’ll close the post with the 10 thing I know after I finished the book (as I shared on Instagram):
- I would have liked to know Julia Child and tour France with her.
- Paul and Julia had something special (my undying affection for their Valentine’s Day card bubble bath picture!)
- I want to take a boat to a faraway place as the mode of transportation.
- Food really is magical and special.
- I must now read and watch everything related to Julia Child and try at least a few recipes from the book.
- Cooking and baking IS joy.
- “No one’s more important than people”.
- This book is a beautiful experience and I confess to tearing up simply from the connection to it on a cellular level.
- I love having a husband who loves good food adventures like Paul did with Julia.
- I want to name my house and my car and everything else like Pulia did.
Nothing beats a book that makes you make lists of its amazingness.
May’s winner is… End of Days: The Assassination of John F. Kennedy by James L. Swanson.
Moving on to an informative picture book, this one details the life of Ruth Wakefield, inventor of the chocolate chip cookie. Ford provides the three versions of how people think the cookie was created and has fun providing you with a well-rounded tale of her passion for food and how her toll house became part of the “Nestle’s Toll House Cookie” recipe stamped on each chocolate chip bag you buy.
Faruqi and Shovan are publishing A Place At the Table next month and I couldn’t be happier that this book exists. When I read it, I felt a warmth for the characters and the food that filled me up with love. Sara is Pakistani American and Elizabeth is Jewish and they both end up in the Southeast Asian cooking class run by Sara’s mother after Sara moves to the school. They befriend one another and find that their connections run a bit deeper as both of their mothers are not naturalized American citizens. But as the title implies, the girls work through typical middle grade angst by finding a place for each other at the table.
And last is an adult title that was recommended to me by a friend. While the book is over ten years old, it will resonate with those who can appreciate all the ways that food affects our lives be it romance or in mourning, friendship or solitude. It’s a series of vignettes that are all centered around Lillian’s cooking school “The School of Essential Ingredients” that she runs on Monday nights. It follows the attendees in various parts of their lives and how they all came to be together in the class. The languid storytelling is part of the appeal, like savoring a meal, and enriches the understanding. I also found myself pausing and re-reading lines that hit me to my core as a cook, baker, lover of food. As said by two participants in the class: “Here’s to kitchens. And here’s to what comes out of them.”
Maybe it’s because I’m a woman or maybe it’s because I’m a librarian, but either way, I want to take a moment to celebrate books about periods. They’ve been kind of having a moment. And I knew I wanted to share a post about periods two days ago when I finished Lily Williams and Karen Schneeman’s graphic novel published by First Second this past January called Go With the Flow. It’s a celebration of menstruation and friendship alongside actively advocating for rights.
But let’s also give it up for the most memorable scene where Sasha’s blood-stained pants are showing as the girls usher her to the bathroom and why the book works so well in its graphic novel format. Most can empathize or sympathize with her situation and it’s the kind of thing that is discussed in other books discussing periods: the truthful portrayal.
Readers Be Advised 