One Summer in Savannah by Terah Shelton Harris

This is the choice for my home town's "The Community Reads", and while I read a lot, sometimes I miss getting the memo on what the book is, so I do not have a sense of what books are chosen. The reason I am belaboring this point is because this is a book that covers a tough subject, especially now that abortion is no longer uniformly available throughout the United States. The main theme in this is a woman from a tight knit community in Savannah who was raped by the son of a prominent family. The case went to court, she prevailed, he went to prison, and she was blamed by almost everybody for ruining someone's reputation. Legally she was found to be credible but her reputation was in tatters. She left town to prevent anyone from knowing that she became pregnant from the assault--she moved out of Georgia, where the perpetrator has rights to custody and contact with the child and to Maine, where they do not. As an aside, I did not realize that there were such disparities (not sure why it surprises me, but it is yet another example of how women are disrespected), and the book does make a memorable argument for why that is such a factor. Also covered is the bonding problem, which she experiences and overcomes. She comes back to Savannah because her father is terminally ill, and has to confront all the things that she escaped by leaving. Even though much of what happens to her is clearly fiction (ie. not believable), I found this very enjoyable to both read and think about and would recommend it).

Chả Rươi Gia Ngư, Hanoi, Vietnam

The very best places that we ate on our trip to Vietnam were those where they serve mostly one dish, the tables are low and the chairs are lower, and for the most part, only Vietnamese people are eating there. This is one such place, found in the Old Quarter in Hanoi. The dish here is Bún chả. Bún chả is served with grilled fatty pork and a pork meatball (chả) over a plate of white rice noodles (bún) and herbs with a side dish of dipping sauces and a fish sauce broth that you put the noodles in and take them out, but do not consume it. It is thought to have originated from Hanoi, Vietnam.The dish was described in 1959 by Vietnamese food writer Vu Bang (1913–1984), who described Hanoi as a town "transfixed by bún chả." It is well worth seeking this out, either here or in any one of a dozen places nearby that serve it.

Here you can also get bánh tôm on the side--a shrimp fritter.

You Dreamed of Empires by Alvaro Enrique

I read a review that noted this is the author's first book written for adults, and that makes a lot of sense, it has a Young Adult feel to it both in content and tone. Pragmatic, serious Sadie and flighty, creative Alice have been best friends since high school—really one another’s only friends—but now that they are through with college and living on opposite ends of California, there has been some drift. Alice is appearing in a play and Sadie cannot make it work in her schedule, so she sends her mom instead. Celine is a professor of women’s and gender studies at UC Berkeley, whose landmark treatise on sex and identity made her notorious, but she’s struggling to write her new book in a post-second-wave feminist world. So, when Sadie begs her to attend Alice’s play, she relents, if only to escape writer’s block. But in a turn of perplexing events, Celine becomes entranced by Alice’s performance and realizes that her daughter’s once lanky, slightly annoying best friend is now an irresistible young woman. And so the trouble begins. This is another take on one of your parents sleeping with your best friend and where does that leave you dilemmas. Nowhere good is the usual answer, followed by "what were they thinking" and all those questions and more are answered in this enjoyable to read book.

David Holmes: The Boy Who Lived (2024)

This is an emotional documentary about David Holmes, now 40, was Daniel Radcliffe’s stunt double on the Harry Potter movies until he broke his neck during the filming of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1. The two were children when the filming began and as the filming of the books was more or less continually over a decade, the cast and crew knew each well, and some formed friendships. This is a look back over how that happened and then a sobering look at what the present holds. First, there are the extraordinary good times, when a short kid from Essex found his way, via youth gymnastics, to movie stunt work. Holmes was a few years older than Radcliffe when they began work on the Potter franchise, so he became a cross between an elder brother and a personal trainer, schooling Radcliffe on how to make his physical work more convincing, while also teaching him and everyone in earshot how to enjoy life to the maximum by hurling yourself at it at full speed. The side-by-side footage of Holmes performing a stunt, then Radcliffe doing a safer version of it, is a fascinating insight into how action sequences come together. Then disaster strikes and Holmes has a severe accident on set and is left paralyzed. The film then shifts to the relationships that Holmes’s has maintained since then. Radcliffe is open and articulate on the challenges of rebuilding a relationship when the shared experience it has been built on has not just been brought to an abrupt end, but has been tainted too. The film is neatly wrapped up, but it also doesn’t shy away from the reality of what happened, and what the aftermath brought. Well done.

Sadie Alice Celine by Sarah Blakley-Cartwright

I read a review that noted this is the author's first book written for adults, and that makes a lot of sense, it has a Young Adult feel to it both in content and tone. Pragmatic, serious Sadie and flighty, creative Alice have been best friends since high school—really one another’s only friends—but now that they are through with college and living on opposite ends of California, there has been some drift. Alice is appearing in a play and Sadie cannot make it work in her schedule, so she sends her mom instead. Celine is a professor of women’s and gender studies at UC Berkeley, whose landmark treatise on sex and identity made her notorious, but she’s struggling to write her new book in a post-second-wave feminist world. So, when Sadie begs her to attend Alice’s play, she relents, if only to escape writer’s block. But in a turn of perplexing events, Celine becomes entranced by Alice’s performance and realizes that her daughter’s once lanky, slightly annoying best friend is now an irresistible young woman. And so the trouble begins. This is another take on one of your parents sleeping with your best friend and where does that leave you dilemmas. Nowhere good is the usual answer, followed by "what were they thinking" and all those questions and more are answered in this enjoyable to read book.

Old Quarter Streets, Hanoi, Vietnam

This was our introduction to Hanoi--where crossing the street can feel like risky business. We stayed at a hotel that overlooks Hoàn Kiếm Lake, which is right on the edge of the Old Quarter, and an easy if confusing walk away. The 36 guild streets of the Old Quarter were named for 36 trades or craft that set up in this area north of the lake, and created high-quality goods to supply the royals in the Thang Long Citadel, just steps away. Today only a few streets sell the same products they once did. Some streets, however, have kept the traditions of the past; and these can be great fun to explore on foot, and with your camera in hand.

Hàng Bạc (Silver Street), where silversmiths once made money and jewellery for the palace, still houses jewellery stores and money changers. Hàng Mã is where Hanoians go to buy religious goods and festival decorations. Hàng Gai, now known as Silk Street, was named for the pinkish dye this street famously sold and used in clothing. Shops here now trade in fabrics and custom-made suits and dresses. Lãn Ông is a fragrant street filled with traditional medicines and herbs.

Ô Quan Chưởng Gate is the only gate left of the wall that once protected the area surrounding Thang Long Citadel, not far away. The gate as you see it was re-constructed in 1817, although originally it was built in 1749. The gate is named for the rank of a Vietnamese soldier who showed great courage in defending the gate and citadel against a French attack in 1873. Today, it's an important marker and symbol of Vietnamese spirit. While you explore the historic center, keep a lookout for the many pagodas built by ancient traders. The Old Quarter was partially settled by Chinese immigrants who also chose it as a location to do business. To get a glimpse into the lives of these Chinese merchant families in the past, visit Mã Mây House, a UNESCO-protected heritage home.

Landfill by Tim Dee

I am not familiar with this author, but this is not his first book that looks at the effect of man on the world around him in general, and more specifically on birds. He highlights gulls as the bird of choice, and the ubiquitous nature of this particular shore bird makes it a good subject. This is a treatise about the damage that people wreck upon the animals around us--which reminds me of the documentary All That Breathes, which is about 2 brothers in Delhi who rescue Black Kites, birds that can drop from the sky due to poor air quality. In addition to that, the urban kites eat human discard food and have different metabolisms than their rural brethren. Gulls have become increasingly familiar in our towns and cities. They are infiltrating our urban worlds, and as their behavior evolves, so does our view of them. Scavenging discarded fast food from gutters, snatching chips from tourists’ fingers, picking over rubbish dumps for food waste, gulls are not highly valued. These gulls are less healthy than gulls that feed at sea--no surprise, but fast food is not good for people and it also is not good for gulls either. The author documents his experience reading about, watching, and actively banding and studying gulls. It is not all gulls as victims--they have also become emboldened to go directly to the source, grabbing food directly from people before they discard them. Dee’s book is a wonderfully thoughtful and gently ironic meditation on “gull-life and gulling-life”, as well as our changing relationship with nature in the Anthropocene.

Anyone But You (2024)

This is one of those combative romantic comedies, where there is a lot of chemistry involved but balanced by the impulse to protect oneself from being hurt in a relationship (to the point of not being in a relationship). Ben and Bea have a chance meeting that goes quite well, and then sours almost immediately, largely due to better single than vulnerable phenomena. A few months later, Ben and Bea cross paths again when Ben’s best friend’s sister Claudia begins dating Bea’s sister Halle, and again a year or so later when they’re both invited to the women’s destination wedding in Australia. The squabbling duo make such a mess of things that the wedding party plots to get them together just to keep the peace. The couple decide to play along with the poorly executed ruse so that Bea’s parents will stop trying to get her back with childhood sweetheart Jonathan and make Ben’s ex Margaret jealous. But, as they say about best-laid plans, things go awry, and, eventually, “true love” prevails. Yes, it is as silly as it sounds, but as the genre goes, it passes the time enjoyably.

Beyond the Door of No Return by David Diop

The author won the International Booker award with his first novel, and this was a finalist for the National Book Award. He is that good! Michel Adanson, a dying French botanist, leaves his daughter, Aglaé, a notebook. The notebook is hidden; Aglaé will only find it — and in it, the most important story of her father’s life — if she goes looking for it. To receive her father’s secrets, Aglaé will have to accept his belongings days after his death in 1806. Michel Adanson really existed — he was an 18th-century botanist, as well as a figure of the Siècle des Lumières, the Age of Enlightenment--but the story itself is engaging fiction. In Senegal, a young Adanson hears the tale of Maram Seck, the niece of a village chief — according to her uncle — was abducted three years earlier and sold into the slave trade. Maram eventually escaped to the peninsula of Cap Vert, unbelievably escaping from slavery in America. She has been hiding out there ever since, Adanson is told, and he travels to Cap Vert to learn the whole story, which is relayed here. It is engaging, though-provoking, concise, and well written.

The East, Hanoi, Vietnam

The Micheline Guide gives this a Bib Gourmand rating, and that is a level of the guide that we have really enjoyed. The fact that Vietnam is amongst the countries that get ratings is a puzzle (other than it is a former French colony, and maybe that is the beginning and end of it, I do not know). In any case, after a night haunting multiple restaurants that were not exactly street food but were inhabited almost solely by locals, we went the other direction.

The meal was quite reasonable by Michelin Guide standards--$50 that included a beer for each of us (the wine in Vietanm is crazy expensive and we did not have any the entire trip), we were disappointed. The food looked far better than it tasted, and we were left to wonder if it was trying to gear towards non-Vietnamese diners. The seafood was fresh but the flavors were almost bland, and so overall it was a miss for us. We went back to places where we couldn't eat the uncooked vegetables nor have ice in our beverages, but the food was undeniably more richly flavored and a fraction of the cost.

The Seabird's Cry by Adam Nicolson

I really loved this book. I have spent the last year making up for a previous lifetime of largely ignoring birds and trying to learn more about them. I spent three days of exceptionally bad weather at the San Diego Bird Festival in 2023 finding out what I had been missing, and since then have read about 20 books devoted to birds, and this is one of my absolute favorites. This glorious book is a poetic, soaring exploration of 10 species of seabirds: gull, guillemot, gannet, albatross, puffins, auks, and so on – which revels in the way they “float like beings from the otherworld”. I love how it includes the good, the bad, and the ugly, with a humorous eye and a sense of wonder about just how extraordinary sea birds are. This is also a visceral book, full of hardy, bloodthirsty birds. The author opens with how he came to love birds--it began with his father, who himself had an early love affair with sea birds. His father actually bought the Shiants, the Hebridean islands teeming with puffin, razorbill and kittiwake – so he comes by it naturally. If you only read one bird book let it be this one.

What Happens Later (2023)

This movie is about what happens if you have a serious love affair in college, and it ends. There are a lot of what ifs that remain unanswered, and unfortunately, this movie doesn't go very far when it comes to answering that. Willa and Bill had a long term relationship that resulted in a pregnancy and that ended in a miscarriage. Is that what broke them up, or was it something else? THat (and many other questions) are raised but left dangling. Decades laster they are snowed in at an airport that is strangely deserted and they tepidly talk with each other. They realize they're still attracted to each other -- but they are also still quite annoyed with each other, which doesn't quite ring true. Usually the perceived snubs and annoyances that end a relationship soften into nostaligia over the years, but not here. As they unpack the riddle of their mutual past and compare their lives to the dreams they once shared, they begin to wonder if their reunion is a mere coincidence or something more enchanted. The empty airport is another hint that all is not as it seems, but in the end this doesn't dig into the past in an interesting way, despite strong actors playing the leads.

The Biography of X by Catherine Lacey

This is a disorienting and shape shifting of books. The novel is set in an America that divided into three parts in 1945—the Northern, Southern, and Western Territories. The Southern Territory has become a theocracy, divided from the Northern and Western Territories by a huge wall, which only comes down in 1996, just ten days before X’s own death. In this divided America, people we recognize appear in an uncanny fashion, out of place and weirdly different enough in politics or personality to give the world a slight sheen of confusion. Lacey reimagines Emma Goldman, the writer and anarchist who went unmentioned in most high school history texts, as one of the most pivotal figures in American politics, helping to usher in policies encouraging same-sex marriage, prison abolition, and immigrant rights before being assassinated in 1945. Ronald Reagan runs as a Green Party candidate. Bernie Sanders becomes president in 1990 after a bitter campaign against Jesse Jackson. So the alternative history component is strong, but more in the background than the foreground. X is part of the fabric of this world. She is either a genius or grifter, or both: born Caroline Luanna Walker in the Southern Territory in 1945, she escaped from the region and a traditional marriage, spending the rest of her life adopting various identities and careers, disappearing and reappearing at will. So there is a little bit of 'Groundhog Day' about it--in any case, the novel is disorienting, and for me, too much so.

Vietnam Ethnologic Museum, Hanoi, Vietnam

With a population of about 86 million people Vietnam comprises 54 ethnic groups: the Viet (Kinh) which make up 80-85% of the population, and 53 minority groups. Many of these include numerous local groups. The language of ethnic groups in Vietnam is also diverse with five linguistic families: - Austroasiatic - Thai - Kadai - Hmong - Yao - Sino - Tibetan - Austronesian Each ethnic group has its own cultural identity while still sharing certain similarities. The culture of the ethnic groups is a continuity of tradition, of mutual exchanges and mutual influences across and within national borders but also regionally, especially the influence of China, India, and Southeast Asia. Traditionally, most of the groups rely on wet rice agriculture or swidden farming, combined with raising poultry, collecting, hunting, and fishing; handicrafts (weaving, forging, making pottery, carpentry) and on commerce of different levels. Most ethnic groups consider the village as the most important social unit; however, village organization, house styles, family, society and religious traditions are diverse. Beliefs of spirituality and remembering ancestors are the basis for many ritual activities of the majority of ethnic people. Only 25% of Vietnamese identify with a religion, with half of those identifying as Buddhist, and then Catholicism a distant second. Above is a Bahnar communal house.

Viet House—Originally this house belonged to a wealthy family who lived in the early 20* century in Tho Loc commune, Tho Xuan district, Thanh Hoa province. Mrs Hoi's family's main house, built in 1906, had 5 rooms including a living room where they received guests, worshipped ancestors, and the head of the household's space. This room was passed down to Mrs Hoi's eldest son, then to her grandson and great-eldest son. The ancestors! altar was carved with stylized flowers, dragons, and phoenixes. Chinese characters are engraved on the walls and along the beams and lintels.

Some People Need Killing by Patricia Evangilista

This is a fascinating book that chronicles what happened during the rule of President Rodrigo Duterte in the Philippines from 2016 to 2022. The ran on the platform that he would rid the country of drug gangs, something that sounds like it might be a good idea, and yet the devil is in the details, as they say. As it turns out, everyone felt empowered to take the law into their own hands, to act as judge, jury, and executioner of neighbors and enemies alike--it is the story of state sanctioned vigilantism and what that looks and feels like. The author covered Duterte’s drug war at great personal risk as a reporter for the online news service Rappler, whose CEO, Maria Ressa, was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize in 2021. Evangelista describes the killings in gruesome detail and portrays the grief of the victims’ families. In 2016, as Duterte launched his bloody crackdown, he derided his targets: “Are they human?” he asked. Evangelista shows that they were. Her larger theme is the complicity of the Filipino public in Duterte’s lawlessness. She describes the ecstasy with which crowds welcomed his profanity- and threat-laden speeches at election rallies and the complacency of citizens who were sure that other people, not they, were the targets of his wrath. Sound familiar? Just this week in the United States an elected GOP member advocated for the same sort of vigilantism towards Democrats, elected officials and private citizens alike.

Next Goal Wins (2023)

We watched this move on the long plane ride from Saigon to Tokyo, and enjoyed it. This is a movie that the critics pan and autdiences enjoy, meaning that it is a feel good story that critics find irritating. The screenplay is based on events that actually happened: In 2014, Dutch-American coach Thomas Rongen was sent to American Samoa to train their team so that they could qualify for the FIFA World Cup 13 years after suffering the worst loss in World Cup history (31-0) against Australia. The end product works despite itself, almost inexplicably so at times. It may, in fact, be the most persuasive example yet of the indestructibility of the underdog sports movie template, which has served untold numbers of films. From a fourth-wall-breaking prologue in which Taika Waititi (as the narrator, a local priest) mugs for the camera and tells us that this is a true story with embellishments and you'll never know what's what, through the expository montage about the American Samoan team's complete humiliation and demoralization, through the arrival of the depressed, alcoholic, antisocial Rongen and the assembly and betterment of the team and the portrayal of American Samoa as the South Pacific version of the cornball eccentric small towns in '90s American comedies (and maybe also of New Zealand as well). Rongen is a broken person in so many ways, and his path to redemption is (unusuall) threaded through his relationship with one of the players, Jaiyah Saelua, a fa'afafine (the "third gender" in American Samoa, typically transgender or nonbinary). Saelua, like everyone else in this story, is based on a real person: a center back for the American Samoa national team who eventually transitioned to female and was the first openly non-gender binary player to compete in a FIFA qualifying match. In other words, a person unlike any you've seen in a sports movie and a true pioneer. So, all told, this is worth a watch, despite what the critics say.

The Language of Baklava by Diana Abu-Jaber

My spouse and I have been reading chef memoir's lately, and came upon this in that search--it is a memoir from someone who is not a chef, but for whom food was a frequent and important component of life growing up. This is the author's personal story as a child of two cultures (her mother is a non-immigrant American and her father is an immigrant from the Middle East), and the absorbing of everything around her, the people, events and aromatic dishes prepared by her father (recipes and context included). Moving from America to Jordan and back, she speaks to the cultural ambiguity of a schoolgirl in America, with a father who has his own ideas about the behavior of adolescent daughters, which is completely in step with conservative views and out of step with how young adults view their social norms. The author introduces her extended family in all their eccentricities; as generous and expansive as they are unconventional, the Abu-Jabers draw outsiders into their circle, unable to resist the tempting aromas that waft from the kitchen. Food, family and celebration go hand in hand, the rich tastes that bring memories of Jordan, the flavors of home. Food is memory, triggering the tastes and places of youth, familiar and comforting. It feels real and complicated at the same time.

Bánh Mì Lãn Ông, Hanoi, Vietnam

It is a very long way from Iowa to Hanoi, and after giving it a lot of thought, I opted for the travel route that had us arriving at night, figuring that no matter how much or how little we were able to sleep en route that it would be okay to go to bed more or less upon arrival. I had arranged a tour of sorts, which included a guide when we were seeing sights and a driver, and luckily both greeted us at the airport that first night. Despite having been fed along the way, we were a bit hungry when we approached our hotel, and given the late hour, little was open.

Fear not, though--street food is the last thing to shut down, and our guide steered us to this shop, which made an excellent sandwich! The bread was perfect, just the right balance between a crunchy outside and a soft inside, and the fillings were spot on. It was the perfect first food to have in Vietnam, one of our favorites that we can get in the United States, and it hit the spot, topping us up in order to get a (relatively) good night of sleep, ready to get up and take on the challenges of finding our way in the Old Quarter in Hanoi.

How To Say Babylon by Safiya Sinclair

This is a story of growing up, one that centers on power and control--as all to often happens, when you have no control outside your home, you run an oppressive regime within it, and as a woman, she was demeaned, beaten, and repressed. The author grew up in Jamaica, first-born to young parents who looked to the Rastafarian faith as an antidote to corruption, racism and political posturing on an island where luxury hotels claimed the best beaches and fenced them off from ordinary people, while employing reggae musicians to entertain their wealthy guests. She and her siblings lived in near poverty, cut off from their extended family, and her father became ever more strict and violent. He forbade them to cut their hair, eat meat or go beyond the gate, lecturing them on "Babylon", representing the west and western ideas, and his very personal and militant version of Rastafari aggravating already hostile public attitudes to the ganga-smoking, polygamous, anti-establishment religion. His children felt they were walking on eggshells and dreaded the hours he spent at home. So this is the story of getting out, escaping the oppressor, and for her, how poetry made that possible. It is a difficult read, but beautifully and unflinchingly written.

Jerry and Marge Go Large (2024)

Jerry somewhat reluctantly retires from his job on a factory line that used his exceptional math skills to their advantage, but he was never going to get rich doing it, and their retirement savings are on the sparse side. He is not a risk taker--not even having money in the stock market, so when he discovers a loop hole in the lottery math, where with big money they can literally win every time, he takes the plunge. Marge has been hoping to rekindle their relationship now that Jerry is not going in to work every day, so while at first he sneaks around, he confesses what he is up to and she jumps in with both feet. Once they develop a system, they get their whole town invovled, and everyone is pouring money into rejuvenating the town, and it is all a feel good thing until a rich spoiled Harvard kid discovers the same loophole, as well as that he could make more money if he took Marge and Jerry out of the game. College kids do not come off looking good, hard working folk do, and when the Boston Globe breaks the story and the lottery changes the game, it makes for a nice ending to a mostly true story.

French Lessons by Peter Mayle

And we are off to France! Again! I love Spain and I love Italy, but France is the place that I am drawn most to as a visitor. Reading this again, I am struck differently by it. My MIL sent this to my spouse for his recent birthday and we both read it between then and our next trip to France. She was responsible for my first trip to France, when many years ago my spouse has a meeting in Switzerland and when asked what we should do for fun afterwards she said "Leave Switzerland. Go to France." And with that trip I went from Francophobe to Francophile. When we stopped for gas on the interstate, my very first venture into a French place of business, I understood why the French were so disappointed with America--yes, we have some spectacular natural beauty, but we are decidedly not a place where food comes first. The French interstate gas station had a bakery-like selection of food you could eat with your hands, an espresso machine, and duck confit. Wowza! This author grew up in post WWII Britain, a particularly sparse food culture, and so when at nineteen he was exposed to French food and French culture on a business trip, he was similarly blown away. The book goes on to delineate the things about France that emphasize this aspect of the French culture, and while it is not great literature, it does capture what is truly great about being a visitor there.

Green Dirt on Oak, Kansas City, Missouri

Green Dirt on Oak Let me start by saying that I have been a fan of Green Dirt Farm from its inception in 2002. The award-winning cheeses are exceptional, the philosophy of humanely raising sheep and sustaining the land while doing so resonates with me. It does not surprise me at all that their new restaurant, Green Dirt on Oak, is housed in a century old building that has been beautifully renovated and serves as a new place to showcase their delicious food. If you are looking for a dining experience that celebrates local flavors and quality ingredients, look no further than Green Dirt on Oak. Their commitment to farm-to-table cuisine shines through in every dish, including their exquisite charcuterie board, which is where I recommend you start. The charcuterie board is a masterpiece of artisanal craftsmanship, showcasing an array of house-cured meats and pates, Green Dirt Farm cheeses, and thoughtfully selected accompaniments. Each component offers a delightful variety of tastes and textures and is a testament to the chef's dedication to quality and flavor. But what truly sets Green Dirt on Oak's charcuterie board apart is its attention to detail. Freshly baked bread, tangy pickles, whole grain mustard, and dried fruits and nuts are all carefully arranged to complement the meats and cheeses, creating a harmonious palate of flavors. There are several ways to continue a cheese journey here, but I want to put a plug in for the cheese croquettes. They are made with cheese that has reached it’s aging perfection, and for me, this was the dish that I kept thinking about days later.

If you're a lamb aficionado seeking a dining experience that elevates this succulent meat to new heights, look no further. From the moment you take your first bite, it's clear that the chef takes lamb seriously. Each dish is a masterclass in flavor and technique, showcasing the versatility of this beloved protein in ways you never imagined. The menu contains a celebration of the season's bounty, with each vegetable dish thoughtfully crafted to highlight the natural flavors and textures of locally sourced produce. Of course, no review would be complete without mentioning the warm, inviting atmosphere and impeccable service. The dining room is large, but the spaces have been divided up into intimate dining areas and the noise is manageable despite the size. Even the bathrooms are amazing! The staff are knowledgeable and attentive, always on hand to offer recommendations or accommodate any dietary preferences. In sum, if you're looking for a dining experience that celebrates the freshest, most flavorful vegetables of the season, look no further than Green Dirt on Oak. With its commitment to farm-to-table cuisine, impeccable presentation, and warm hospitality, it's a culinary destination that I would highly recommend.

Land of Milk and Honey by C Pam Zhang

This author has a unique voice that is lyrical in her explores themes of gender identity, migration, and loss of innocence in both of her books, this one included. This book investigates a bleak context, a post-apocalyptic wasteland in the near future. Land of Milk and Honey presents, ironically, a planet ravaged by climate change and a dwindling food supply, forcing its people to concentrate on survival. A pleasure-seeking chef protagonist signs her autonomy away for the chance to work with long-forgotten delicacies, a decision that proves costly for the chef and everyone in her orbit. The chef takes on strange employment as the French chef for a wealthy research household in Italy. When catastrophe ultimately strikes and we are left with the legacy of the chef and her employers, how their decisions ultimately shape food and consumption around the world dealing with a not-so-far-off reality. The underlying focus on food as pleasure and culture, and not just sustenance. Food for thought.

Freud's Last Session (2023)

This is one more movie that has an elderly man as the main character, acting as a vehicle for the great Anthony Hopkins to perform in yet another movie and show the breadth and depth of his talent. The central premise of this movie is based on a great piece of speculative fiction. That two figures, Sigmund Freud and C.S. Lewis, so diametrically opposed should cross paths, is is the old cliché of the irresistible and the immovable. It’s a few days after the start of World War 2 and Freud is in his London chambers locked in a good-natured verbal stoush with author C.S Lewis (a very good Matthew Goode) over why he insists on the existence of God, along with a few asides. It is a lengthy, varied conversation that balances friendly chat, intellectual discussion, and verbal fencing match. The primary conflict is between Lewis’ position as a Christian apologist and Freud’s as a longstanding atheist. Even when they speak of other things, the divergence of faith with disbelief seeps into all their discussions. These differences eventually give way to arguments and accusations, which bring out both men’s secrets, past traumas, and hidden fears heightened by Freud’s terminal illness and considerations of suicide. The script explores the possible sources of two very different views of the world. In addition to their disagreement about faith is the inescapable conclusion that Freud is dependent on his daughter Anna, to her great disadvantage, and his obliviousness extends to denying it to be true when confronted with it directly also checks out with what is thought to be true and not true about his work today.

Absolution by Alice McDermott

To me this felt like "and now for something completely different"--it is a story that is centered in the convoluted thinking about why the US enters conflicts, which from the government side is almost exclusively to protect business interests, but it is hard to rally support and the loss of American lives around that, so there is the "white savior" motif that is sold to those on the ground, and that is where this book is nestled. This is a brief and caustic look at what this looks like in retrospect. It opens in Saigon in the early days of American involvement in Vietnam. The docile and conventional Patricia is the newest addition to a cabal of expat wives of soldiers and engineers, led by the charismatic Charlene. Charlene is a chain-smoking dynamo of caustic put-downs, vulpine glamour and a barely concealed tranquillizer habit. Impressionable Patricia goes along with her charitable fundraising scheme to sell Barbie doll-sized áo dài, the Vietnamese national garment rendered in perfect miniaturized detail by a talented local house girl, Ly--who gets paid a fraction of the profit for doing all the work. The book is filled with moral lessons as seen from a distance, a different way to present those paradigms, as well as the relative lack of agency that women were allotted at the time--strangely prescient of what was to come in the U.S. with the unthinkable overturning of Roe and the relegation of women of childbearing age in Red states to second class citizens in the 21st century.

Art At The Apricot Hotel, Hanoi, Vietnam

This is a beautiful hotel, but the really striking thing about it is the art. It is everywhere, and it is strikingly beautiful. The hotel reception desk sports a large painting by Bui Huu Hung, who has several other works hung throughout the ground floor and other public areas. There are numerous bronze statues of various sizes, from life sized down to bust that adorn furniture in the halls, this one by Nguyen Thanh Le. The story begins from the reputable Apricot Gallery, located in a central street of the Old Quarter, whose owner is a well-known art collector in Vietnam. The long-stand Apricot Gallery was famous for its huge collection of artworks from Vietnam leading artists, as well as for its successful exhibitions. Later, the Gallery’s owner used his passion for Vietnamese art, culture, and heritage to build Apricot Hotel, with the vision to share his love with international travelers, visitors, and residents.

In 2015, Apricot Hotel was the first living art gallery that came to life in the form of a luxury hotel in Hanoi. Celebrating the country’s finest artists and honoring local art and heritage, the hotel takes pride in cultivating a truly local identity. Apricot Hotel is the only hotel in Hanoi that introduces refined Vietnamese touches and authentic experiences to its guests.

All My Rage by Sabar Tahir

This is aimed at Young Adults, and is a powerful look at the effects of poverty, racism, the pervasiveness of substance abuse and domestic violence, and how all of this echoes across generations, which makes happy endings unlikely. It is a contemporary novel that ricochets across time and place. In past Pakistan, Misbah weds Toufiq in an arranged marriage that results in a move to California after upheaval at home. Now they run a small hotel in the Mojave Desert. Their son Salahudin and dear family friend Noor hold a connection bound by their history and the challenges they face due to Islamophobia, racism, and more. When his mother’s health fails and his father battles alcoholism as he grieves, the financial and maintenance aspects of the hotel fall to Sal, who takes drastic measures to save the hotel his mother loved so very much. Simultaneously, Noor is striving to leave her uncle’s grasp by planning to go away to college, but finds herself caught up by Sal’s choices. The prose unpacks both the beautiful and the brutal and the author deftly captures the layers of grief, rage, family, examination of faith, and forgiveness, while managing to inject levity into dire situations and provide a semblance of hope.

The Taste of Things (2023)

I cannot say what it is like to watch this movie if you do not like to cook or to eat, but as someone who loves to cook and also to eat it is immensely pleasurable. And you know it from the opening scene--why? Because it is 38 minutes long and it shows two people, and their two young assistants, preparing a meal in a big country kitchen. The meal is intricate, and multiple courses are being prepared simultaneously. The camera glides through the kitchen, following the characters as they bring a handful of vegetables to an already hot pan on the stove, circling back to the chopping on a nearby table. The camera never stops moving. What we are doing, for 38 minutes, is watching these people cook, and, naturally, drooling over the meal being prepared before our eyes. This scene is an amazing feat, so much so that there's satisfaction when you watch the guests in the dining room taste the food, savoring every bite, not even needing to say a word. The pleasure is palpable. It extends to the growing of the food as well--there is attention to detail at every step, from where the food starts to ending up on the table and being consumed. This is also a love affair between two people--Dodin and Eugénie have been companionably working side by side for twenty years. Their story unfolds in its own time, in its own way. Nothing is pushed. Nothing is heightened artificially. The devotion to food is both real and metaphor: how we prepare food, the care we take, indicates how we feel for each other. But it's also the thrill of the preparation in and of itself.The kitchen feels like a place you know, or at least a place you'd like to enter into. The details of cooking without electricity, without plugged-in appliances, is attended to in great detail. This is so so good, do not miss it. I see why France picked this as their International Film submission, it captures what I love about the French food culture.

My Name is Barbra by Barbra Streisand

This is a very long book, one I think she wrote herself, and should you not be daunted by the sheer weight of it and open it up, be aware that there are a lot of details shared within. There is a lot of name dropping and if you are one who wants to have rumors about the star confirmed or denied, you won't be disappointed--she does kiss and tell, and more importantly, she reveals the misogynists. For all the complaints about female directors not getting their due, her story is groundbreaking in the ways she was belittled and shunned. The first half of the book, the story races along with all the charm and energy of its protagonist. Her back story may startle when reminded of her improbable rise. Born in 1942 into a middle-class Jewish Brooklyn family, Streisand’s life was sharply altered at the age of 15 months when her father, a teacher and by all accounts a wonderful man, died suddenly of respiratory failure. The family was plunged into poverty, moved to the projects, and Streisand’s mother got remarried to a man who was cruel to her. Louis Kind ignored and belittled his stepdaughter, mocking her looks, while her mother was scarcely less abusive. Out of such conditions a great stars was born--despite a profound lack of support at home. She was on Broadway while still in her teens, and it was her exceptional voice that provided that entrée. Her mother appeared more jealous than maternal, but she found mentors from early on and as we know, she soared. She describes herself as a perfectionist and her own harshest critic, but her charisma shines through at every turn. She was late to find her perfect mate, but she was otherwise quite lucky from early in her career. This is long on details, and could use a good editor, but I read it through and through--but even if you just flip through the multitude of pictures, you will find something to enjoy within.

Monarch, Davenport, Iowa

Since my father died and my youngest grandson approached one, we have been taking my mother and going to the Quad Cities to meet my eldest son and his family for a meal in the middle of the day. Much like all our meals with them, the timing revolves around our work and their kid's napping schedules and so we do a big meal, a kind of classic midday meal that suffices as the main meal, but exactly where it falls in the day varies. My mom has been enjoying this, especially when we pick her up and drop her off, and the restaurant is mostly picked by our son and DIL, occasionally by us, but usually not with my mom in mind--she has enjoyed the most unusual of places we have gone, and it is clear to all of us that she would not have chosen some of them (nor would I) unless we chose them out of a hat. So this restaurant, named not for the butterfly, nor for royalty, but rather for a patented device that the owner's grandfather developed, is an exception to that rule, at least sort of. This restaurant has a lobster roll on the menu. It is pricy, but just about the price we paid when we were last in Vermont, and let's face it, lobster is expensive and right now it is also scarce--so not out of bounds, and if you were thinking should I get this locker aged steak or the lobster roll, cost neutral. The food was good, but the lobster roll was spectacular--and notable because we couldn't think of another place that has one on the menu anywhere near us, so kind of a find in that respect. The roll itself is a brioche bun, grilled in butter, and jam packed with chunks of meat in a light mayonnaise dressing (they offer one that is hot lobster drenched in butter, but for us, that is not a lobster roll). We would go back for that alone! My parents are from Maine, and lobster is the taste of home for them--I just wish we had known about it before my dad died, he would have so appreciated it.

Kantika by Elizabeth Graver

This is a book that highlights the long history across Europe and Asia of Jews being marginalized and in the extreme, forced to leave countries. This is a portrait of one family's displacement across four countries. The word Kantika means "song" in Ladino, the language of Sephardic Jews—the book of the same name follows the joys and losses of Rebecca Cohen, who is a part of Sephardic elite of early 20th-century Istanbul. When the Cohens lose their wealth and are forced to move to Barcelona and start anew, Rebecca fashions a life and self from what comes her way—a failed marriage, the need to earn a living, but also passion, pleasure, and motherhood. Moving from Spain to Cuba to New York for an arranged second marriage, she faces her greatest challenge—her disabled stepdaughter, Luna, whose feistiness equals her own and whose challenges pit new family against old. There are wins and loses at every step along the way, but the most memorable part is the resiliency of the characters even when adversity is the norm rather than the exception.