books – Page 9 – My Friend Staci

Reading

Every year I have the personal goal of reading 50 books, and I usually get somewhere around 25-27, but this year I haven’t finished a single one so far. This is distressing. So, yesterday I got two books from the library! And somehow I’m already halfway through the first one. I’m impressed with myself, mostly because lately it’s been hard to focus on one thing for such a long period of time.

Right now I’m reading Empress Orhid, by Anchee Min. I read Min’s memoir, Red Azalea, after I heard her speak at PLNU’s Writer’s Symposium By The Sea a few years ago and I like her writing style. She uses detailed descriptions but doesn’t let it bog down the movement of the book.

Next is a book I saw reviewed a while ago in Vogue or Vanity Fair or some magazine, it’s called The Life and Opinions of Maf the Dog, and of His Friend Marilyn Monroe by Andrew O’Hagan. Evidently it’s a peek into Monroe’s life through the eyes of her dog. Sounds cute and I can’t wait to finish Empress Orchid to begin this one.

What are you reading these days?

Good Reads #4

Today’s GREAT read will change the way you eat and the way you think about food.

In In Defense of Food, Michael Pollan makes the claim that most of what we eat today is not, in fact, food but instead “edible foodlike product” engineered by science. It makes sense, if you think about it, when it comes to most boxed meals a person can get in a grocery store–dehydrated this, enriched that, most things we eat go through so much processing that even something that appears simple has an ingredient list (mostly unpronounceable) that takes up half of the side panel on the box.

He narrows down his “Manifesto” to this easy-to-remember slogan: “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” He adds another rule of thumb–shop around the perimeter of the grocery store, that’s where the actual vegetables, the fresh meat, and the fresh bread are located… makes sense, doesn’t it? As a former adherent of the “I can’t cook!” crowd, I would encourage anyone skeptical about using actual ingredients to give it a go. Ask a friend who is good at cooking for help… healthy cooking is in fact easy!

Monday Good Reads #2

Today for my Monday Good Reads I appeal to the testosterone-side of my readers and present for your consideration Dispatches, by Michael Herr.

This was another book assigned to me for a class (I will break this trend eventually I promise). Thing is, I ultimately dropped the class and read this book anyway, it was that good. This memoir was written after Herr, a war correspondent in Vietnam for Esquire, returned from the front and was published in 1977. At the time, as well as now, many veterans from this era are reluctant or unable to talk about their experiences–this provides a glimpse (at times graphic) into one of America’s worst foreign interventions. As a result of the critical acclaim of this memoir, Herr was consulted and credited as a writer in Vietnam War films Full Metal Jacket and Apocalypse Now.

Actually, I have 2 copies of this book (mistake in ordering them back when I was in school). Anyone want to borrow one?

What are you reading these days?

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