Off topic: A Word About Baking

Baking success!

It may not come as a surprise that I, a blogger about books (and the owner of a Master’s degree in English), am not much of a science girl. But there is one kind of science that I love…baking! But baking, dear readers, is an exact science. And sometimes one learns that lesson the hard way. A few weeks ago, I decided to make gingersnaps, which I made last year (I have such a sweet tooth…I’m sure it makes my dentist happy). Now, the recipe I used called for baking soda. But I mistakenly added baking powder. And can we say, baking FAIL? Instead of yummy gingersnaps, I ended up with overly sweet blobs of sugar and molasses. It broke my heart. Well, yesterday, I made gingersnaps again—successfully. And, since I did everything correctly, they were scrumptious. And I was happy…as were my mom and stepdad, with whom I shared the gingersnaps. The end.

Atonement, Part 1

Snuggle up

Author: Ian McEwan

Category: I tried to read this about seven or eight years ago, and couldn’t get into it. Then I saw the movie on which it is based, and decided to give the book another chance.

My thoughts: Ok, I’m going to write about Atonement in two stages. Because I saw the movie (which is really good), I know how this story turns out, but I still think this is a great read. The first part of the story documents a very eventful summer day in the Tallis household in the English countryside in 1935. At the beginning of the story, Briony Tallis, who is thirteen, is preparing for a play that she wrote for her brother Leon, who is visiting the Tallis home with a friend, Paul Marshall. Briony intends for her visiting cousins—fifteen-year-old Lola, and nine-year-old twins Jackson and Pierrot—to be in the play with her. Briony, I should mention, is one of those girls who is always in her head, and too attached to the world of make-believe had happily-ever-after.

During the course of the book's first part, we also learn that there is a simmering attraction between Cecelia, Briony’s 23-year-old sister, and Robbie Turner, who is the son of the Tallis family’s housekeeper. Cecilia and Robbie were both at Cambridge together, but did not mix in the same circles. Briony misinterprets situations that she witnesses between Cecilia and Robbie (children…they just don’t know about grown folks’ business), and at one point believes that Robbie is assaulting her Cecilia. Later, the twins run away, and during the search for them, Lola is assaulted. Briony convinces herself that the assailant was Robbie, and accuses him of the crime. With this act, she seals the fates of Robbie, Cecilia, and herself.

It’s a sad story, Atonement, but it is beautifully written. I am reminded of my experience reading Maud Martha—rereading certain passages, drinking in the language. I am also reminded of The Portrait of a Lady. I think it’s because of the sort of slow but purposeful pace of the two novels. Neither book feels rushed. I have never read anything by Ian McEwan before, and I wonder if his other books are this good. Anyway, back to the plot…I once saw a quote from The Tale of Despereaux that has stuck with me: “Every action, reader, no matter how small, has a consequence.” This is a lesson that some adults forget, and children are often too young to understand. But it is so very true.

Great passage: She would never be able to console herself that she was pressured or bullied. She never was. She trapped herself, she marched into the labyrinth of her own construction, and was too young, too awestruck, too keen to please, to insist on making her own way back. She was not endowed with, or old enough to possess, such independence of spirit. An imposing congregation had massed itself around her first certainties, and now it was waiting and she could not disappoint it at the altar.

The Newlyweds

Not the best book/food pic, but what are you going to do?

Author: Nell Freudenberger

Category: I’ve wanted to read this for awhile because I’ve seen several intriguing reviews, and I’ve heard good things about Nell Freudenbeger.

My thoughts: Well, I was really into this book for the first 200 or so pages, then it went a bit downhill, and I had to push myself to go ahead and finish it. The Newlyweds is about the relationship between Amina, a young Bangladesh woman, and George Stillman, a thirty-something American, who connect with each other on a site called AsianEuro.com. Amina moves from Bangladesh to Rochester, New York, marries George, and tries to settle in with her new husband, family, and country. Like many people, Amina has to deal with nutty in-laws, including her aunt-in-law Cathy, and Kathy’s wacky adopted daughter Kim. Kim is one of those relatives who make family gatherings complicated, and who seeks to dominate every social situation. George, who seems kind of boring, turns out to have an interesting secret that affects Amina’s life, and devastates her when she finds out. This is all complicated by the fact that Amina has a plan to bring her parents from Bangladesh to live with her in Rochester. Things become even more complicated when Amina returns to Bangladesh and reconnects with Nasir, a family friend. Nasir is like the Bangladeshi version of Kim—someone whose presence renders every situation more complicated.

My favorite part of the book was when Amina was getting acclimated to America. She has a fish-out-of-water feeling with a lot of interactions with others, and it reminded me how tricky American idioms can be to those who aren’t native English speakers. But she’s determined to make a success of her choice. The Newlyweds shows how meddling in-laws and complicated family histories are not relegated to just one country. It had some good moments, but I don’t think I’ll be reading this one again, though. And for some reason, I don’t have a whole heck of a lot to say about this book.

Great passage: Amina still thought she knew her cousin better than anyone: even as a teenager she could see that Micki was obedient not out of a desire to please but because she’d already concluded that it was the only road to happiness—at least if you were a girl. Micki might have had the opportunity to leave the village as Ghaniyah and Amina had, especially if her father had stayed at home, but she would never have talked the way they did, mocking its backwardness in order to distance herself from her own place and people. Surely God loved someone like that better than he loved a person like Amina, who spent so much energy trying to escape the very spot where he had seen fit to bring her into the world.

Up next: Atonement

Looking Ahead…

I thought I’d compile a list of books I’d like to read in 2013. Who knows if I’ll actually get around to reading these—you know what they say about the best laid plans of mice and men. But, just for fun, here’s my list:

Thinking in Pictures by Temple Grandin
There Are No Children Here by Alex Kotlowitz
Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys
Kindred by Octavia Butler
Summer Sisters by Judy Blume
Speaking Likenesses by Christina Rossetti
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Bound for Canaan by Fergus Bordewich
Roots by Alex Haley
Maud Martha by Gwendolyn Brooks
Atonement by Ian McEwan

I’d also like to write more about food and cinema (I think the word “cinema” sounds a bit classier than “movies”). We’ll see. Que será será, as they say.