It’s hard to plan a good dinner party in the age of Facebook.
We’re all so carefully casual about our plans. Cell phones have taught us everything can be last minute—a quick text directs your friend to “meet us here” or “I’m running late.” Facebook has taught us that every occasion is best RSVPed to with a “Maybe Attending.”
So I plan not a real dinner party—“just a few people over for wine and food” and get a few positives and a handful of “Maybe Attendings” in return.
Then there’s the menu. Hard to plan without a certain guest list, but the main problem here, for me, at least, is overstimulation. I’m surrounded by food porn—glowing from the TV, a click away on the internet, making me drool from the glossy pages of cookbooks, which I’ve started checking out of the library (even memoirs are trending towards food porn these days). I don’t know where to begin. Simple, tried-and-true recipe or something new, complicated, dazzling (as long as it turns out, that is)? Exotic or plain (really depends on the crowd)? Indian, Cajun, Italian (depressingly, I have a friend who doesn’t like cheese), Tapas, French, Asian, Moroccan, Noveau-American?
Tonight, I’m thinking something light, summer fare. Maybe an array of appetizers (starting with bruschetta, of course) followed by a light, citrusy spinach salad with chicken. Washed down by a couple liters of wine.
Then again, there’s that lamb dish I’ve been longing to try. I’ve never cooked lamb before.
Friday, June 12, 2009
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Third Reading List- June 2009-?
I have decided that reading lists will contain twenty books only. Then it's time for a new reading list. Official blog policy from now on. So without further ado...
1- Bloodhound
by: Tamora Pierce
Classification: YA
This is Pierce's second book in what, I believe, is set to be a trilogy. Beka Cooper has all the ingredients of a typical Pierce heroine: courageous woman in dangerous man's job, super-intelligent animal friends, favor of the gods, inability to fit into polite society, relationship with King of Thieves that is bound to blossom into romance...Still. Not my favorite of Pierce's series. I enjoy it. And I'll gobble up the entire thing. But something's missing. I think it may lie in Pierce's switch to first person narrative for this book. We're inside Beka's head for the entire story, and I think it limits both the reader and Pierce. Pierce can do more in third person limited, and I hope she returns to it for her next plucky heroine.
2- Welcome to Temptation
by: Jennifer Crusie
Classification: Chick Lit, ReRead
If my reading lists haven't made it clear by now, let me spell it out: I can't get enough of Jennifer Crusie. I love her characters, plot and dialogue. She's a writing role model and that's one of the reasons I'm (re)reading so much of her right now. Inspiration, baby. Here she makes good use of the rich boy meets girl-from-the-wrong-side-of-the-tracks trope.
3- Dogs and Goddesses
by: Jennifer Crusie, Anne Stuart, Lani Diane Rich
Classification: Chick Lit Collaboration
Thus far, I have the same complaints I had about the last collaboration: 1) the reader does not get enough time with any of the characters to really get to know them, especially the three male romantic leads and 2) it feels like a Nora Roberts trilogy (a formula with which I've become disenchanted).
4- Airhead
by: Meg Cabot
Classification: YA
An awkward looking teenage outsider technically dies and has her brain transferred to a teen supermodel's body! But she can't tell anyone outside her family, according to a contract her parents signed before the operation! So she has to live her life as a teen supermodel! Hijinks ensue! Actually, it's an effective way for Cabot to examine the relationship between identity and physicality in a very literal way that teens and preteens can easily identify with.
5- The Runaways Comics
by: various
Classification: Comics, YA
I am surprised that this series has not been made into a TV show or movie yet. It's kid-friendly and accessible, character driven, action-packed, and suitably comic book geeky (it incorporates a lot of old Marvel characters, for example). Definitely a light read but a fun one.
6- Laura Rider's Masterpiece
by: Jane Hamilton
Classification: Literary Fiction
This has been on countless booklists lately, so I thought I'd give it a try. I really enjoyed it. Hamilton's sophisticated prose was a nice trade-up after all the YA I've been reading, the characters were complex and interesting, and the plot was right up my alley. It's all about writing and identity and how we create our idenities and human relationships and genre. Good. Worth a read.
7- One Hundred Years of Solitude
by: Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Classification: Classic, IN PROGRESS
so far, so good
1- Bloodhound
by: Tamora Pierce
Classification: YA
This is Pierce's second book in what, I believe, is set to be a trilogy. Beka Cooper has all the ingredients of a typical Pierce heroine: courageous woman in dangerous man's job, super-intelligent animal friends, favor of the gods, inability to fit into polite society, relationship with King of Thieves that is bound to blossom into romance...Still. Not my favorite of Pierce's series. I enjoy it. And I'll gobble up the entire thing. But something's missing. I think it may lie in Pierce's switch to first person narrative for this book. We're inside Beka's head for the entire story, and I think it limits both the reader and Pierce. Pierce can do more in third person limited, and I hope she returns to it for her next plucky heroine.
2- Welcome to Temptation
by: Jennifer Crusie
Classification: Chick Lit, ReRead
If my reading lists haven't made it clear by now, let me spell it out: I can't get enough of Jennifer Crusie. I love her characters, plot and dialogue. She's a writing role model and that's one of the reasons I'm (re)reading so much of her right now. Inspiration, baby. Here she makes good use of the rich boy meets girl-from-the-wrong-side-of-the-tracks trope.
3- Dogs and Goddesses
by: Jennifer Crusie, Anne Stuart, Lani Diane Rich
Classification: Chick Lit Collaboration
Thus far, I have the same complaints I had about the last collaboration: 1) the reader does not get enough time with any of the characters to really get to know them, especially the three male romantic leads and 2) it feels like a Nora Roberts trilogy (a formula with which I've become disenchanted).
4- Airhead
by: Meg Cabot
Classification: YA
An awkward looking teenage outsider technically dies and has her brain transferred to a teen supermodel's body! But she can't tell anyone outside her family, according to a contract her parents signed before the operation! So she has to live her life as a teen supermodel! Hijinks ensue! Actually, it's an effective way for Cabot to examine the relationship between identity and physicality in a very literal way that teens and preteens can easily identify with.
5- The Runaways Comics
by: various
Classification: Comics, YA
I am surprised that this series has not been made into a TV show or movie yet. It's kid-friendly and accessible, character driven, action-packed, and suitably comic book geeky (it incorporates a lot of old Marvel characters, for example). Definitely a light read but a fun one.
6- Laura Rider's Masterpiece
by: Jane Hamilton
Classification: Literary Fiction
This has been on countless booklists lately, so I thought I'd give it a try. I really enjoyed it. Hamilton's sophisticated prose was a nice trade-up after all the YA I've been reading, the characters were complex and interesting, and the plot was right up my alley. It's all about writing and identity and how we create our idenities and human relationships and genre. Good. Worth a read.
7- One Hundred Years of Solitude
by: Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Classification: Classic, IN PROGRESS
so far, so good
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