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Whatcha Reading, Wednesday?
Mar. 20th, 2013 09:30 amYou may have guessed, from my posts and others, that this week was a little busy. There was a school auction. There was stuff with OUSD. There was stuff with Mills College Children's School. There was G.'s mom's news that she has lung cancer. (Sorry to drop that one in the middle here.) I don't know what-all else. It's kind of hazy at this point.
So I am about halfway through The Illegal Rebirth of Billy the Kid. I like it! The Cold War stuff is so odd now (the book was published in 1991), but it's very background, at least at the moment. I have a soft spot for clone stories, of which this is a variant -- Billy the Kid isn't a clone, he's a chimera, with non-human DNA and implanted "memories." He's a very expensive toy used to live out sex-and-death fantasies. So here I have a novel all about problems of agency and identity, with a dash of problems of history -- Billy the Kid's history being rather famously disputed along all sorts of axes. Perfect. Happy. May be awhile.
Also this week came a cookbook I have been waiting for with great anticipation -- Vegetable Literacy by Deborah Madison, her first book with new publisher Ten Speed Press. They did good by her, and vice versa. I like the gardening notes at the beginning, especially as she admits she's a beginning gardener with more enthusiasm than skill. Like me! It's not chock full o'recipes but the ones I see look good and not at all repetitive of her previous work; I'll be giving one a test run tonight.
My only annoyance: she swoons over something called "coconut butter," which she says is a new product and which I looked for out of curiosity on the shelves of our local grocery (hi, I live in the East Bay, I can do this). I found it, but I cannot figure out how it's any different than good old coconut oil with a marketing spin. Like maybe someone thought oil that is solid at room temperature is confusing? Butter sounds more luxurious? I expect Deborah Madison to be more sharp, though, and let me know herself.
In the on-deck circle: well, the college basketball tournaments (note plural) are upon us so I may not get to anything before next week. But if I do...hell, I have no idea. Stay tuned.
So I am about halfway through The Illegal Rebirth of Billy the Kid. I like it! The Cold War stuff is so odd now (the book was published in 1991), but it's very background, at least at the moment. I have a soft spot for clone stories, of which this is a variant -- Billy the Kid isn't a clone, he's a chimera, with non-human DNA and implanted "memories." He's a very expensive toy used to live out sex-and-death fantasies. So here I have a novel all about problems of agency and identity, with a dash of problems of history -- Billy the Kid's history being rather famously disputed along all sorts of axes. Perfect. Happy. May be awhile.
Also this week came a cookbook I have been waiting for with great anticipation -- Vegetable Literacy by Deborah Madison, her first book with new publisher Ten Speed Press. They did good by her, and vice versa. I like the gardening notes at the beginning, especially as she admits she's a beginning gardener with more enthusiasm than skill. Like me! It's not chock full o'recipes but the ones I see look good and not at all repetitive of her previous work; I'll be giving one a test run tonight.
My only annoyance: she swoons over something called "coconut butter," which she says is a new product and which I looked for out of curiosity on the shelves of our local grocery (hi, I live in the East Bay, I can do this). I found it, but I cannot figure out how it's any different than good old coconut oil with a marketing spin. Like maybe someone thought oil that is solid at room temperature is confusing? Butter sounds more luxurious? I expect Deborah Madison to be more sharp, though, and let me know herself.
In the on-deck circle: well, the college basketball tournaments (note plural) are upon us so I may not get to anything before next week. But if I do...hell, I have no idea. Stay tuned.
