Love and Biology at the Center of the Universe
Title: Love and Biology at the Center of the Universe
Author: Jennie Shortridge
Pages: 400
Yearly Count b: 86
Mira in her attempt to create a perfect life, alienates those around her when her only wish is that the family would actually be a unit, a bonded whole. Her daughter acts like she hates her and she soon finds out that her husband is just not feelin' the love either. Her world is shattered and in her attempt to cope she heads for Seattle, a land of coffee and rain sheds light on where she is at in her life.
Jennie Shortridge's writing is so down to earth, so beautiful and yet so captivating. The whole book I felt captivated by her characters and moved and stirred with them. I love the cover, coffee art is incredible. Take a look at one amazing cup of hot chocolate I got while at the Bipartisan Cafe...on stark, or something (in Portland). It is an amazing leaf! I wish I had been watching them, I had no idea to expect something so beautiful, and the flavour was just as good.
I found myself so interested in the plot that it was what I thought about. When you want your life to be perfect, those in it to be perfect, will all the people involved be able to hold up under the pressure? Will you? I am not entirely sure she craved perfection though. But she did feel a need to control her surroundings. I know I do that, I like to have things be the way I like them. I could really relate to Mira, in her thoughts, desires and her desire to have things under her control. And I think most people, if not everyone have that fear that if someone really knows you, I mean really knows you that they would run as fast as they could. I really enjoyed reading this, as I said the writing is spectacular for its relatability and personal feel, Jennie does an exceptional job with character development. And the plot, is really good....I guess you'll just have to find out! A must read for sure!
I am the last stop on the TLC Tour, Hope you enjoyed the journey with us 
Happy reading!
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Off the Menu
Title: Off the Menu
Author: Christine Son
Pages: 368
Yearly Count b: 82
Initially I was really excited to read Off the Menu, then while reading the first chapter I wondered what I had gotten myself into, but from then on I was forever captivated. Off the Menu is a deep and satisfying read that was really hard to put down! I thought that I would have to try to work myself into a positive mood to enjoy the book, but it was so much better than that! I love Christine Son's writing, it is endearing, gentle and beautiful. She picks up and leaves off in each chapter with another one of the three valedictorian friends Hercules, Audrey and Whitney that have known each other since high school, and I found myself along for the whole thing. Once I hopped on, Christine did not ever disappoint.
I figured that Off the Menu would be a feminine book about being in love or finding love or something of the sort. I am a stickler for covers, sorry. I it really seems to put Off the Menu under a stereotype that I don't think it belongs in. It is so much more than a romance/ women's novel! It is filled with relationships, endurance, and high expectations placed by the oneself, or the parents, it is so much more than the cover would suggest.So beware that if you have avoided this book because of the cover...you are really missing out.
I will steer clear of generalizations, but the most of the Asian students and youth that I have known growing up do really have to battle between what the expectations their parents place on them, and their own fulfilled or unfulfilled dreams. Even in junior high in Korea kids get up ever earlier than school starts to go to tutoring, and then from that to school, from school they go to a different tutor. I had a roommate in high school that told me that she would get home at 11 pm from studying and then have to be there at 5 am again! I don't know about you, but my junior high days were no where near that complicated. Yes, I know that Americans do have expectations for their children as well, and that is obvious to me too, but not in the same way, to the level of intensity that I have seen it in the Asian and Asian American families that I know. The stakes somehow seem higher, like impossibility is expected, and respect for their parents wishes is the norm (where here it is certainly not). I enjoyed the character portrayals of the different types of women, and how they coped with these pressures in life, the busyness, the side jobs or side dreams, the reality that they were getting old and needed to marry. Each character was equally enticing to me, however I did enjoy Hercules the most but that was because somehow I related to her more than to anyone else.
I am in awe of Christine Son because Off the Menu was so much more than I had ever expected. I really enjoyed all of it (except somehow the first chapter??) and I would recommend it, highly. So it gets my funky award: The Happy Chicken enjoy!
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and remember to:
Off the Menu TLC reviews and interviews:
Estella’s Revenge e-zine (author interview)
Literarily (author guest post and giveaway!)
Beastmomma (author interview)
Book Nut
Ramya’s Bookshelf
Ramya’s Bookshelf (author interview)
Pop Culture Junkie
8Asians
Savvy Verse and Wit
In The Pages
She is Too Fond of Books
Planet Books
B&b ex Libris
The remaining TLC stops:
Wednesday, November 19th: DISGRASIAN
Thursday, November 20th: Booking Mama
Monday, November 24th: The Literate Housewife Review
Tuesday, November 25th: Feminist Review
Wednesday, November 26th: Diary of an Eccentric
Inhearitance of Loss
Title: Inheritance of Loss
Author: Kiran Desai
Pages: 357
Yearly Count: 60
Awards: Winner of the Man Booker Prize 2006
I have been searching for this book and didn't even know it was this book I searched for. I wanted a book of daily details, of life of the people of India, a book that would be not so much filled with Indians who live outside of India, but of those who are there. I know this is a novel, and that it is not fact. I also know that I fell in love with the small details of India, the way tea is prepared, the way the pastries and food are rambled about, the words used to display affection, desire, and hate. I loved the storytelling qualities of Desai, working little every day Indian details and descriptions up into a stunning form of art. I was interested in the story, the plot, the characters and in a dream-like way immersed in a culture so far away.
The Inheritance of Loss is a book that follows several different people, their thoughts and dreams laid bare to the reader, they are vulnerable and real. The silliness of the wealthy is shown, placed in obvious display of ridicule...which I found endearing, and at the same time sad in many ways. Desai filled her novel with current (when it was written) details, of uprisings, protests, violence and how the general joe lives. I haven't found a better glimpse into the society of India.
I have read several books about India, or mostly about Indians, I have read Interpreter of Maladies, The Namesake, Karma and Other Stories by Rishi Reddi I am not sure this is my favourite, because I really did like The Interpreter of Maladies, but it is about equal with that read for me. I enjoyed it because it was different, a deeper portrayal, a darker glimpse, and one of those who stayed in India. It filled in answers, explained rivalries, and political issues...I really did enjoy it. I will say that sometimes I found it a little hard to follow, or at times slow. It is certainly worth a read though enjoy.
Other blogger reviews:
Wendy at Caribou's Mom
Gentle Reader at Shelf Life
Have you reviewed this too??? Let me know and I will link to you
Run
Title: Run
Author: Ann Patchett
Pages: 304
Yearly Count: 58
Run, Ann Patchett's latest bestseller. The story of a family, and the process they go through when their mother dies, and leaves her mamma shaped hole, that is to be filled and not to be filled. The storyline is much more complex than that though, Doyle's young wife dies after recently adopting two children. Doyle will be the mayor, the kids will grow up, but what impact will the loss of their wife/mother have on them?
I enjoyed this book, it was fun to read. The language was so pretty and fluid and I found it new and refreshing. I haven't read anything else by Ann Patchett before, even though I do own Bel Canto. This book really stirred in me emotions, and feelings and I loved it enough to allow myself the vulnerability. Twists and turns made the story less predictable, and kept my interest really well. Run made me realize I should get on top of things and read Bel Canto for sure.
The characters felt real, deep and worth knowing, their situations intense and intriguing, and there was for sure a strong connection that I felt toward it all. A great read. Go for it!
Thank you Gayle ( from Everyday I Write the Book )for the opportunity to read this!!!
have you read it? give me your link!!
Other blogger views:
Softdrink at Fizzy Beverage
Anna at Diary of an Eccentric
Serena at Savy Verse and Wit
Dar at Peeking Between the Pages
Mary at Bookfan-Mary
Gayle at Everyday I Write the Book Blog
Katherine at A Girl Walks Into a Bookstore
Jessica at Bluestocking Society
Marcia at Printed Page
medieval bookworm
