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Reading Wednesday
Dec. 18th, 2013 02:47 pmWhat did you just finish?
Indian Takeaway: One Man's Attempt to Cook His Way Home by Hardeep Singh Kohli. I love travel books! I love books about food! I should, therefore, have enjoyed this book a lot more than I actually did. Kohli is a young man from a Punjabi family, but was born and raised in Scotland. He decides to take a trip to India to "find himself" (with all the ironically Western connotations of that phrase), with his particular gimmick being that he will cook British food for the Indians he meets. So, fine, not a bad idea for a book or anything, but this was just a bit too shallow and not particularly well-written to be worthwhile. There's plenty of other books that are very similar but better, if you want to read something on this topic.
I also found him to be strangely paranoid, given that it's not his first trip to India and he has plenty of family there still. Eating rajma chawal from a dhaba is a perfectly safe activity, and one my Western stomach has survived many a time without ill effect; I might not eat pani puri from the same place, but seriously rajma? Jalebis? Bhel puri? No need to dedicate pages to whether or not you should do this.
Komarr by Lois McMaster Bujold. Continuing the Vorkosigan series. This book is more of a mystery than any previous ones, and I think I like mysteries more than military sci-fi, so that worked out for me. I like the new characters here, particularly Ekaterin, and her painful but recognizable relationship with her husband. Tien is a dick, and yet his plot has just the right amount of regret and hurt and difficulty. I liked seeing Komarr up-close a lot, and the world-building is very interesting. The ultimate plot is genius; I was surprised by it, but in retrospect it makes total sense. I liked this book a lot, but I have less to say, because my brain is taken up with how much I LOVED its sequel.
A Civil Campaign by Lois McMaster Bujold. OH MY GOD SO GOOD. I think this might be my favorite book in the series. I failed in my effort of working on reading more books-on-India because I couldn't put this one down, and devoured it in about two days. There's just so much amazingness here:the butter bugs! The Vorkosigan-liveried butter bugs! The lost colony of butter bugs! The butter bug fight! Enrique! Writing sonnets for his dissertation! Mark and Kareen! On the Orb! Cordelia sitting Kou and Drou on the couch! LORD DONO OMG! Ivan and Dono! Dono/Olivia! Martya/Enrique! The dinner party! "She's getting away"! The kittens! Nikki calling Gregor for rescue! The dowries for the 100+ baby girls! Lord Midnight the horse! "Go mamma go"! Ekaterin proposing to Miles!
There are more serious parts too. I did really like the Miles/Ekaterin romance, and found it very believable, if a bit rushed. I liked the rumors surrounding Tien's death, and Gregor's discussion of it with Nikki; I liked Kareen trying to figure out who she was; I liked seeing Mark and Ivan and Ilyan and Cordelia and Aral and Duv and all the characters. I also now have a strange desire for Ivan/By. IT WOULD TOTALLY WORK.
But my favorite parts were the funny ones. This book made me laugh out loud so many times. I can't wait to reread it.
What are you currently reading?
The Black Count: Glory, Revolution, Betrayal, and the Real Count of Monte Cristo by Tom Reiss. Eventually I will manage to return to this book.
Born Confused by Tanuja Desai Hidier. YA novel about a teenage American-Indian girl in New Jersey.
Indian Takeaway: One Man's Attempt to Cook His Way Home by Hardeep Singh Kohli. I love travel books! I love books about food! I should, therefore, have enjoyed this book a lot more than I actually did. Kohli is a young man from a Punjabi family, but was born and raised in Scotland. He decides to take a trip to India to "find himself" (with all the ironically Western connotations of that phrase), with his particular gimmick being that he will cook British food for the Indians he meets. So, fine, not a bad idea for a book or anything, but this was just a bit too shallow and not particularly well-written to be worthwhile. There's plenty of other books that are very similar but better, if you want to read something on this topic.
I also found him to be strangely paranoid, given that it's not his first trip to India and he has plenty of family there still. Eating rajma chawal from a dhaba is a perfectly safe activity, and one my Western stomach has survived many a time without ill effect; I might not eat pani puri from the same place, but seriously rajma? Jalebis? Bhel puri? No need to dedicate pages to whether or not you should do this.
Komarr by Lois McMaster Bujold. Continuing the Vorkosigan series. This book is more of a mystery than any previous ones, and I think I like mysteries more than military sci-fi, so that worked out for me. I like the new characters here, particularly Ekaterin, and her painful but recognizable relationship with her husband. Tien is a dick, and yet his plot has just the right amount of regret and hurt and difficulty. I liked seeing Komarr up-close a lot, and the world-building is very interesting. The ultimate plot is genius; I was surprised by it, but in retrospect it makes total sense. I liked this book a lot, but I have less to say, because my brain is taken up with how much I LOVED its sequel.
A Civil Campaign by Lois McMaster Bujold. OH MY GOD SO GOOD. I think this might be my favorite book in the series. I failed in my effort of working on reading more books-on-India because I couldn't put this one down, and devoured it in about two days. There's just so much amazingness here:
There are more serious parts too. I did really like the Miles/Ekaterin romance, and found it very believable, if a bit rushed. I liked the rumors surrounding Tien's death, and Gregor's discussion of it with Nikki; I liked Kareen trying to figure out who she was; I liked seeing Mark and Ivan and Ilyan and Cordelia and Aral and Duv and all the characters. I also now have a strange desire for Ivan/By. IT WOULD TOTALLY WORK.
What are you currently reading?
The Black Count: Glory, Revolution, Betrayal, and the Real Count of Monte Cristo by Tom Reiss. Eventually I will manage to return to this book.
Born Confused by Tanuja Desai Hidier. YA novel about a teenage American-Indian girl in New Jersey.
