Beyond the Beautiful Forevers

Are you up to date on your Prozac, therapy and/or brownies? Because if you're not, don't even think about reading this book. Beyond the Beautiful Forevers is a non-fiction book about living in a Mumbai slum. More heroes die in this book than in a season of Game of Thrones.

Even before I read this book I sometimes wondered if a little Bangladeshi kid could survive on all the stuff I throw away. The water when I wash my garden stuff and all the food when I clean out the fridge.  I am trying to be more mindful of the food I waste but I still think a kid could live on what I toss.  He may not enjoy eating less than active yeast with a Worcestershire sauce chaser.

Beyond the Beautiful Forevers is written in a compelling narrative style.  It's less about explaining how and why these people are so poor but more about their own personal stories.  It's like a depressing Housewives of Beverly Hills.  Well, that's depressing too, actually. This is depressing in a different way. It's not a bad book but I think this would work better as a documentary. Even better would be a Werner Herzog documentary. We'd be sad, thrilled and scared in one weird emotion. Let us call that Herzoged.

If you interested in this kind of thing, I would recommend Peter Menzel's book Material World (you've probably seen it) where the families put out all of their possessions in front of their house.  It turns out people in poorer countries have a lot of bowls. I feel like Apple is developing an iBowl.  It holds, scoops, measures, stores and is both wireless and portable. (It's just a bowl with an Apple logo that costs $60).

Drinks: I picked this recipe up from a English language based Indian website which had metric measurements. I did the conversions for you... Green Leather: Muddle a slice of ginger and three sprigs of cilantro to release the juices. Then add 1.5 oz gin, 1/4 ounce of lime juice and 1/4 oz of simple syrup and fill the glass with crushed ice.  Add a dash of orange juice and Sprite (I say that is optional--I would use club soda).  Or read this with whiskey and brownies in hand...and keep 'em coming.

State of Wonder

Cactus People Book Club. I would love a book club where people like weird and crazy books. I'm quite sure they have such groups but I'm afraid they might attract a strange element.  You know the type, they argue about everything while simultaneously biting their toenails.  Anyway, this book would be fine for your boring normal book club. The one where they talk about reality TV shows and how they haven't been to Vegas in a while (man, that last time was awesome! oh, you've never been...but you'd love it!)

State of Wonder is a Heart of Darkness shout out, as our protagonist must go into the Amazon rain forest to find out what is up with the brilliant but insane and narcissistic Dr. Swenson. Our jerk doctor is trying to develop a new fertility drug from Amazon tree bark but it's taking a really long time. The fictional drug allows women to be fertile their whole lives. No thanks. Can they develop a drug that lets me eat brownies and not get fat? I'm on board. Don't say they did with Olestra, because oily anal discharge is an unacceptable side effect.  Please be advised that you can only eat these brownies on the toilet. I want more than Toilet Brownies.

I'm not a fan of normal or boring so while this isn't a bad book, it's nothing special.  I was surprised as people really like this author.  Sometimes I feel like grumpy cat when I review books....so I made this for you.

The most famous Brazilian drink is the Caipirina, which is delicious, but I don't know about you but I don't have any Cachaca around and apparently there is no appropriate substitute. Why not drink with this fun El Diablo cocktail: Combine 2 ounces of reposado tequila in a highball glass with ice. Top with 3 ounces of ginger beer and slowly pour a teaspoon of creme de cassis which will sink to the bottom. Garnish with a lime wedge.  

The City & the City

Ah, China Mieville (if that's is your real name...I feel like it is probably Neil Shufflebottom) I get it, you like a challenge. You want to write a book in each genre, which probably helps you with writer's block. I get it...must write detective novel...do not know how to write detective novel.... Well, buddy, like I would tell a 3rd grade soccer kid, good effort, good effort.  I like your hustle.

The City & the City is, yes, a detective novel, but it's not a particularly good detective novel.  It is a kind of interesting political novel with sci-fi type elements. I've seen this put in the category of fantasy. That's not right though. It's much more like 1984 than 1Q84. There are zero wizards. Zero. Giant Spiders? Zero. That's kind of shame as Mieville is really good at writing fantasy.  This is the literary equivalent of Usain Bolt deciding to start a singing career. 

The best part of this book is the setting. Twin cities, which consider themselves separate countries, live without a physical border but all of the citizens are forced (by training as children) to "unsee" everything in the foreign country. Getting a falafel on the other side? That's a paddlin'. Actually it's worse than a paddlin', the secret police come for you and you disappear. Luckily this city weirdness is the focus of the book--the murder mystery seems more like an afterthought. Sometimes I wonder if rich people "unsee" my 16 year old car. That would explain a lot. It's either that or I got the last of the Nissan Romulan models. 

Whenever I see a mojito or mint julep cocktail, I choose to unsee it.  I'm just not a huge fan of mint. I'll admit it limits my drinks. So, I found this Orange Mojito recipe and I'm like Hey! Muddle a half of orange, half of lime (cut into large chunks), with 2 teaspoons sugar and a few sprigs of mint (I say this is optional) in a large rocks glass. Add two and half ounces of light rum and ice.  Cover this with a cocktail shaker and shake or stir until cold.  

             

Blue Sword

♫ Do you ever feel...like a plastic bag...drifting through the wind...hoping to get a sword and an awesome horse? ♫

If I had magic I would use grow potion to get some of Katy Perry's assets.  Of course I mean her net worth. The Blue Sword is a classic epic fantasy. Orphan girl living in a boring muggle world feels like she could be so much more. Don't we all? I've read a bunch of Robin McKinley books and I like them, but for some reason she won't finish her Pegasus series she started five years ago. She probably just got stuck doing Pinterest for the last three years. It happens.

I've had this on my shelf for years.  I just noticed it said for ages 10 and up.  Way to make me feel like a loser. But this is one of those my-life-is-stressful-can't-even-deal kind of books.  It's called fantasy.  It's like a prescription book. You're not flexing a whole lot of brain muscles.  That's what NOVA is for. Or maybe FRONTLINE. I never realized that PBS' titles are shouting at us. PBS, we are totally in your face. Deal with it.

If you haven't read this and you like epic fantasy, this is a good one. One thing I thought was weird is that there is a character named Dickie Crewe.  That sounds like a LARP team name.  And our female heroine is named Harry Crewe.  How is that even possible? I think her given name is Ermahgerd. With a name like that you are destined for something great.

It's still summer so drink this kid's book with a sophisticated adult drink. Peach Bellini: Make a peach puree with 2 peaches, 1 tablespoon lemon juice and 1 teaspoon of sugar. Process these in your food processor and strain the pulp.  Put 2 tablespoons of peach puree in a champagne flute and top with cold prosecco. (makes about 6 drinks...I guess you could share).

Sharp Objects

Brain too hot, must read thingy...easy words.  Drink drink. Hey, it's summer reading time. Time for a thriller. Sharp Objects, authored by Gillian Flynn, is the same author as Gone Girl. This is not a prequel or sequel, it's a stand alone freaky book.  Keep in mind this is more of a thriller, with some horror aspects rather than a mystery. Think more Silence of the Lambs than Twin Peaks. Whoa, I went totally 90's there....buuddy.

Ok, this is not quite as good as Silence of the Lambs, but it's fine. It is what it is.  Some people hate this book because it is disturbing. THIS IS WHAT YOU'RE SIGNING UP FOR, FOOL. Don't give something a bad review because you can't handle the genre. Amateurs.

If you regularly read this blog (thank you by the way) then you know that I try not to put any spoilers. So the plot is simply a reporter who goes back to her hometown to investigate some murders. She takes some time out to reallocate her investment portfolio, do some yoga, and go on a cleanse.  Actually she does none of those things--because this is a thriller.  Although talking about how great you feel on your cleanse might put someone into a killing rampage. It might put me in a killing rampage.

Some of the people in this book have a drinking problem, but we don't, so we can have something fun and summery. Tabernacle Crush: 1/2 large peach sliced, 6 basil leaves, 1/2 ounce lemon juice, 1&1/2 ounces of gin, 1 ounce Lillet, 1/2 ounce simple syrup. In a tall glass, muddle the peach, basil and lemon juice, then add the gin, Lillet, and simple syrup. Next add some ice, top with club soda and then garnish with a little basil sprig.    

Anubis Gates

Want a time-travelling urban fantasy set in the olden times, kind of like Dickens meets Indiana Jones?  Be warned, this book has more twists than your DNA. There are a few jokes peppered throughout but they aren't lame (by that I mean they aren't dad jokes and no puns). Use a lot of puns around me = Berserker.

Granted, this book is confusing.  Time-travelling books often are. This one uses a mix of real historic figures, real events, crazy magic, fictional poets and....it's just cuckoo bananas.  Anubis Gate's only flaw (besides that weird title) is that it's very confusing. Like how on earth was Two and Half Men on the air for twelve seasons confusing.

Anubis Gates was republished in 1997 and won some fantasy awards back in the 80's. Even though I was working at a bookstore when it was republished, I had never heard of it.  Granted it was a feminist bookstore (think the feminist bookstore in Portlandia meets a gay pride parade) so maybe that's why I don't remember it.  I think instead of carrying this title we might have been carrying: Hiking Antarctica Alone with Your Dog or How to Knit a Working Bicycle.

Drinks: There are plenty of drinks in this book like scotch, beer, port and lots of brandy. Brandy in coffee, brandy straight and brandy in punch.  Most of this book is set pre-cocktail era but there are a lot of fun cocktails with brandy.  The Embassy: 3/4 oz brandy, 3/4 good rum, 3/4 oz. Cointreau, 1/2 oz. lime juice and a dash of Angostura bitters. Put those ingredients into a cocktail shaker with ice, shake strain and pour into a chilled cocktail glass.  Garnish this with a lime wedge.

Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight

Want a twist on the my-crazy-parent-alcoholic memoir? What about having some colonialists for parents? No, not African missionaries. Colonialists. Rhodesian colonialists that would cheer when a land mine went off because it was either an African rebel or a baboon. What?

I had been meaning to read Alexandra Fuller's memoir for years, and yes, the writing is excellent. 2003 was the tail end of the weird memoir era. You didn't know there was a weird memoir era? Running with Scissors, Liars Club and then A Million Little Pieces kind of ruined things as people were just making stuff up. Hey, every family is crazy enough that you don't need to make stuff up. You just need a good memory and the wherewithal to realize that not all families, say... go through a period where when any member of the family farts, you all have to knock on wood for some reason. The last person to knock was the so-called "loser." (Who started this, I'm not sure.) This game was so popular in my family that for an nine month period all of the artwork on the walls was crooked. (We discovered that the picture frames were often the closest source of wood within reach). I still have no idea why we did this as we all suffered the consequences. 

Fuller does mention farts in this memoir, albeit briefly.  This book wasn't as good as I had hoped, it's a little sad and it covers death, disease and war-like unrest.  Vastly different than my family.  The most traumatic thing that happened in my family is when our beloved parakeet drowned in the upstairs toilet. I'm sure he wanted to take a bath, poor guy.

Even though the title of this book is from a quote...there are a ton of dogs in this book, When the dogs got worms and scraped their butts across the floor they called it "sailing." Drink with a variation of the "dog drinks": Greyhound: 1&1/2 oz. vodka, 3 ounces grapefruit juice, serve over ice, garnish with lime. Salty Dog: Same as above but replace the vodka with gin and put a salt rim on your glass.  Salty Chihuahua: same as the Salty Dog but replace the gin and use tequila.