My life in France by Julia Child

I finished this book a while ago, but did not know how to review it (together with having basically no time at all!). The reasons are two:  the first book a reviewed on this blog was about Julia Child (you can find it here), so I grew very attached to her life and (or maybe that's why), I bought this book on a special day, in order to reconnect with France, and with the little things that I love of Paris.
It is a simple book that describe the life of Julia Child from her moving to France with her husband Paul and her first steps in the cooking career. So be prepared to that, but it is somehow so engaging that you cannot stop reading it.

Since I can still not find the right words to describe it, I found a review on goodreads by Kelly that describe exactly why I loved this book (and this woman), and I cite here a part:

"You love her because she always brings things back to this place of happiness and, “oh well, the show must go on!” no matter what- but the way she told the stories and negotiated herself to that place was very realistic. This was not an unrelenting “always look on the bright side of life,” montage. There were difficult people in her life, difficult spots in her marriage, difficult moments in her career- the fact that she still remembers verbatim quotes and fights from forty years earlier is telling- and she’s clear about it when she doesn’t like something or someone and why. She doesn’t have an American sense of everything will turn out all right in the end, but rather this very French tant pis acceptance that shit happens and life is shit and oh well, wade through it like a big girl. She doesn’t try to deny anything or erase it or obsess about appearing perfect when she wasn’t- which is something I find irritating about American self-help books and TV fantasies. Her philosophy about serving your food even if it comes out bad and not apologizing for is sort of the epitome of this rejection of the hide your dirty laundry ideals of the mid-century. She’s perfectly frank about her fights with Paul Child, her problems with her co-authors on the book, her difficulties with her Republican father, her failures in the kitchen and on her TV show. It isn’t in the exhibitionist way that you see so often these days either. She’s a good girl, but she won’t let herself be walked all over- she is going to have her say and that’s just fair. I don’t know if I am doing a very good job describing this voice, but believe me when I say that it is as captivating in print as it is on television."

If you wonder if the book helped me in the reconnection process, I can definately give you a positive answer. Thanks Julia, I needed it!!! 

Alabarde alabarde by José Saramago

The book you wish you never had to read. The last incomplete book Saramago wrote before he died, it is only 3 chapters with few note of the author but somehow you already love the characters.
It was a very hard reading, because every page I was hoping I would turn the page and there would  still be many more to read...but eventually it had to end, incomplete with a quite clear idea of where he wanted to go, but with lots, too many questions of how he would have gone on with the writing.

In the Italian version (I am not even sure it was translated in English) there is a note from Roberto Saviano, the author of Gomorrah, at the end of the book. The note is full of love, admiration and hope and this made the book even more intense.
You are missed Saramago, you are so missed...

A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again by David Foster Wallace

On the line that connect people through books, I got this as a gift from somebody  I do not know in person, but that seems to know quite well what I like to read.

I wanted to read it for a while, fascinated by the title mainly, being quite ignorant on the magnificence of the author and all his fame.

This book is a reportage of the author's life on a fancy cruise in the Caribbean. where he is suppose to explore the "fun" the cruise promised.
We understand from the beginning that he is not the cruise-type, and the way he describes the people and the situations on this huge ship, will put a constant smile on your face.
The highlights of the book are the author's footnote, that become actually the main part of the book, the most clever, sharp and funny.

Perfect book to read on a trip, which is exactly what I did.

Wake Up, Sir! By Jonathan Ames

When I have friends over I always bring them to Shakespeare and company. It is my little Parisian treasure. This time was not different, I had a dear friend visiting, during a very tough period for this city and for all of us, so I brought her there to show her this place of peace. We straight decided to buy a common book to read "together" in distance. The choice was literally like this "tell me a letter and I will show you which book will decide to be read by us". The letter was the A, this book "jumped out" from the crowd to be read (with her big amaze).

I thought it was the perfect book, light but not ordinary.

So we started it together in two different countries. I have just finished it, she is almost there. During the all reading we would share impressions and quotes.

Alan Blair is an alcoholic and a writer, in this order. One day he decides to start a trip with his valet Jevees. The initial intentions are very good, they will get a bit of fresh air and he will eventually find the concentration to finish his second novel. However, things get an unexpected turn from the beginning of the trip and Alan will start to display all the strange aspects of his temper. You might think the book is all around Alan, but I found the main character being his valet, Jeeves, the detached but caring man who helps Alan to face all his adventures (mostly turning into problems).

I found the book very enjoyable, easy to read but never predictable, and it made me smile all the time ( and I really needed that in this period!). Critics say Jonathan Ames is the modern Wodehouse, I found this book being in between Jonas Jonasson's books for this series-of-unfortunate-events' s style  and the Barney's Version by Mordecai Richler for the on-the-edge- effect of alcohol (both books I actually think were written after this, so the inspiration might be reverse).

He walked me to the door. He said, "I'll miss you until I see you again."

SLEEP by Haruki Murakami

Me and Murakami have a very difficult relationship.  It started few years back when a friend gifted me "Norwegian wood". It is like this: I read him, I don't dislike him, or his writing, but when I finish his books I am always like: and so?. I also created a book club to read "Kafka on the shore" to try to discuss with others on what I was missing of this writer.  If you are asking why I tell you it is because I really want to find what people love of him, and I don't.
So I had given up, untill my mum gave me this little book full of nice drawings, and I decided to give him another try. I started the book and I really liked it, I was so much into this magic story, these nice drawings making you live in a dream.  Then I reached the last  page and I wanted to scream at him:  you did it again  Mr. Murakami, you cheated me!!. One thing is to finish with an open end, another is to not finish a book,   'cause this is exactly what he does for me.
I am sorry, I just can't see it, I just can't!
Actually from today I stop to be sorry about it, he is just not for me...

Everything Is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer

Just finished to read the book, and mixed feeling are crossing my mind right now, from "wow nice book!" to "what was that?". And I really don't know which one is going to win.
I started this book couple of times and every time I would stop it 'cause I wouldn't really understand what I was reading; Then this time I decided to give it a more serious chance. I still didn't understand what I was reading for half of the book, then, all of a sudden, I was not able to put the book down: literally! I missed my stop on the metro, I sneaked a read during the breaks at work, I read while walking....till today it ended, on my bed, while I still had the coat on 'cause I just didn't want to waste time removing it.

It made me think at times, cry at others, laugh really little, most of the time it kept me wondering, till the end, when I thought it would finally be all clear...and it wasn't, or maybe yes...

“Once you hear something,
you can never return to the time before you heard it.”

Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China by Jung Chang

I think heavy books in respect to smaller books have a bigger responsibility. More than others they have to be worth the reading and the carrying, since they imply generally you have to carry an extra bag just for the book. So I think writers should put extra care.

This is absolutely the case here! A heavy book, but more for its content than for the weight. A heavy, hard-at-times, reading about one century history of China pre- and post-Mao. All of this is explained through the life of three strong women of the same family: the grandmother, the mother and the daughter.

The story is told by Jung (the daughter) and the events are explained for what they are, but also for what they were thought to be: a critical explanation of Communism, with its advantages and disadvantages. 

Jung's parents were both actively  involved in spreading Communist's propaganda and its settlement. This meant that all the actions of the all family were fully controlled and checked to be sure they were not going against the Party. With almost-absent parents and a climate of indoctrination, Jung, at the beginning without realising, then more openly, tries to understand and discover what really freedom means and what could be the best way to reach it. This was not at all easy, in an environment where information was censored and bias and hard work was thought to be the only way to support the cause and fully devote to Mao and the Party.

An important book and testimony of China's history!

I read many reviews charging the book for the flat writing, almost without emotions, however, for me this is what I liked most of the book. A book that goes straight to the point, without fripperies, but that still has the power of emotions. Great reading!