The Secrets We Kept by Lara Prescott

This is a fictionalized version of the story of Doctor Zhivago and the CIA's use of it--funnily enough, there is a non-fiction book about part of this story, The CIA Book Club that you can follow up with if you want the more factual version. This is two stories, one from the Russian side and one from the American side, and they are woven together. At the height of the cold war, the CIA ran an initiative known as “cultural diplomacy”. Following the premise that “great art comes from true freedom”, the agency seized on painting, music and literature as effective tools for promoting the western world’s values, and funded abstract expressionism exhibitions and jazz tours. But when it came to the country that produced Tolstoy, Pushkin and Gogol – a nation that, might value literature like the Americans value freedom (or at least we used to) – the focus was always going to be on the written word. And her subject, the part the CIA played in bringing Boris Pasternak’s masterpiece Doctor Zhivago to worldwide recognition, was the jewel in cultural diplomacy’s crown. In 1955 rumours began to circulate that Pasternak, hitherto known largely as a poet, having survived a heart attack and Stalin’s purges, was ailing and politically compromised but had nonetheless managed to finish his magnum opus. The sweeping, complex historical epic – and simple love story – that is Doctor Zhivago had been a decade in the writing under the most adverse circumstances imaginable: the imprisonment of Pasternak’s lover, Olga Vsevolodovna Ivinskaya; the death in the gulag of his friend and fellow writer Osip Mandelstam and the suicides of two others in his circle, Paolo Iashvili and Marina Tsvetaeva; constant surveillance and his own ill health. Because of its subversive emphasis on the individual and its critical stance on the October Revolution, no publishing house in the Eastern bloc would touch it. It was smuggled out by an Italian publishing house and this is the story of what happened to get it back into Russia. It is a well told story, and one that lays out why women who were of great use during the war and then discarded in the peace might have been tempted with becoming double agents for oh so many reasons.

Bacira, Madrid, Spain

This was absolutely the best deal of the trip, and an excellent meal. The tasting menu was an excellent deal and the wine pairing was even bettr--well chosen wines, generous portions, and all from Spain. I would highly recommend you add this to your Madrid itinerary. It is a Bib Gourmand restaurant, which is often our favorite type of restaurant, and here is from the Michelin website: A perfect example of friendship, hard work and, above all, an unconditional love for cooking. Here, the three owner-chefs at the helm, Carlos Langreo, Vicente de la Red and Gabriel Zapata, each specialise in a different type of cuisine (traditional Mediterranean, Japanese and Nikkei) but who are receptive to new trends and an inclination towards fusion cooking. The atmosphere here is both welcoming and informal with a vintage decor that includes slender wrought-iron columns. There are two tasting menus and we went for the long one--perhaps erroneaous as we could barely move afterwards, but overall a spectacular meal.

The Intuitionists by Colin Whitehead

There are a few living authors who are still writing whose work is so compelling that I seek out their new work, and in this case, am working on the books they wrote before I fell hard for them as a reader. The first book I read was Sag Harbor, and while it didn't knock my socks off as a work of fiction per se, it was so unusual in terms of the setting and subject, an entry into a world that is likely well known to African Americans but was completely unknown to me. So when I saw this on a "Staff Picks" table at my local library, I picked it up, and I would encourage you to do so as well. This book, his first, is set in a steampunky alternate mid-20th century, where elevators are the most important public conveyances in the world, and the people who inspect them basically run the city. There are two types of elevator inspectors: the first is the Empiricists (i.e. the traditionalists), who use close physical examinations to make their inspections, measuring and checking and confirming with evidence. The second type of inspectors are the Intuitionists, who inspect elevators (lifts) not by measuring anything, but by riding the elevators and feeling, sensing, knowing, what is happening to the machine in the parts they cannot see--there is some allegorical magic to be had here, as well as some manipulation for political gain. The protagonist of the novel is Lila Mae Watson, the first black woman to be employed by the city as an elevator (lift) inspector. She is also an intuitionist. As a “representative” of three different types of progressivism within the city, she is constantly being watched. To be an intuitionist is to be in the minority, to be black and an intuitionist is to be in a tiny minority, but to be black, female and an intuitionist makes her a truly unique individual. The corrupt, conservative, boss of the inspectorate want to make an example of her failing, and likewise their rival factions are keen for her to succeed.

Interaction of Color by Josef Albers

If you are going to take one color theory book with you to a deserted island, this is the one. Designers tend to think of Josef Albers (1888–1976) only as a color theorist because Interaction of Color is a classic design school text. However, outside of the design world, Albers is better known as an abstract painter. His work, particularly his Homage to the Square series, influenced Op-Art artists who furthered his explorations in human perception or “the discrepancy between physical fact and psychic effect.” He was the first living artist to have a solo show at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC. This book was originally published in 1963 and it still stands up as the best way to think about the relationship between colors. Here is a quick summary: 1. Color is the most relative medium in art. 2. Experience is the best teacher of color. There is no shortcut to your 10,000 hours towards mastery of this subject. Unless you experiment with colors in the manner in which Albers prescribes, you will not fully grasp how the exact same color can look different in a small quantity than it does in a large quantity or how the same color looks different surrounded by another color. Color is constantly related to its neighbors and to changing light conditions. 3. It is difficult to visualize specific colors. Visual memory is very poor by comparison to auditory memory. 4. People have strong preferences in regard to colors. No way around it, other than to try to add in a color you don't care for and see if you can change your mind. 5. Few people are able to distinguish tonal value in different hues within close intervals. There are apps to try to help you develop this skill. 6. When two colors have the same value, they “vibrate.” Because the eye reads value more than hue, vibrating colors compete for the eye’s attention and are uncomfortable to look at. 7. While there are innumerable colors, in most of the world’s languages, there are only about 30 names for different hues. 8. Any color can “go” or “work” with any other color, it is principally a matter of in which proportions they are used. Albers often required students to use colors that they disliked in order to have them realize this relational aspect of color. You might say there are no ugly colors, only ugly uses of color. These principles are astoundingly useful in modern quilting, and I cannot believe that I have been quilting for 50 years and never read this book--my only defense is that I have zero design background!

The Mortal and Immortal Life of the Girl from Milan by Domenico Starnone

The book opens with a retelling of the myth of Orpheus and Euridice. Euridice dies young and Orpheus, who loved her desperately, goes to the Underworld to bring her back--the only thing he has to do is to not look at her while he is escorting her out--but he fails to follow that one rule and Euridice is doomed. In this book a young boy in Naples named Mimí sees himself in Orpheus. As a child, he watches from the kitchen window as the girl from Milan dances on her balcony. He resolves that, should the girl fall to her death, he would go to the underworld and rescue her. His obsession with her infects his friends and they have great fights over who she belongs to, despite them never speaking to her or knowing her all. She is almost literally mythical for him. The next layer in this book is one of class. The author reminds us that not so long ago Italy was not one country but many regions that were united under one language, which is not the one he grew up speaking. Since Mimi grew up speaking the Neapolitan dialect at home, Italian is his second language and he is desperate to join the ranks of the great poets he reads in class. It is only once he grow up, becomes educated, and learns the girl died shortly after she left his neighborhood that he want to transport the girl from Milan's story from the Neapolitan, where it lives in his head, to Italian, where others can hear it too. This is short and fascinating.

Xolo, North Liberty, Iowa

We are always on the hunt for a new Mexican restaurant. We like La Mexicana in Coralville, but we feel we could do better. Unfortunately, this is not the place. To start with the pluses: The fish ceviche was good--a large portion, and we would have liked an appetizer portion, but strong citrus and no off flavors. The menu is enormous and there are far more choices than at other local Mexican restaurants--including Chicken Milanesa and Huaraches, which are favorites of mine. The chips are very good, maybe the best locally, and the choriqueso dip was excellent. The choripollo was excellent, the best part of the meal. Now for the not so great news: It is pretty expensive for Mexican food (although the portions are large), and the service is quite slow--we previewed the menu, ordered quickly, and it was 45 minutes from sitting down to getting our main courses. The rice and beans were not good--underseasoned and the rice did not have a great texture--this is a deal breaker for me--we love rice and beans and if they are not really good, we might as well not go. The guacamole is not good, and probably not made in house. The restaurant itself if very nice and can accomodate large groups, but as a weeknight dining option, we wouldn't go back.

Universality by Natasha Brown

This book is smartly written and while short, it is not an easy read--don't be fooled by it's weight. The reason it doesn't rate more highly for me is that it is whip smart satire, but as I currently live in a country where The Onion is hard to distinguish from the actual news, it all makes it harder for me to appreciate. It begins with the kind of viral long-read article you might DM your mates, featuring an illegal lockdown rave by an anarchist collective squatting on a banker’s farm, an activist bludgeoned with a solid gold brick during the proceedings, and said banker – who wants his missing ingot back. Chaos, clicks and conspiracies ensue and it isn't even clear if it is real or fake. After a run at the privilege of living off your connections and your parent's cash, the novel’s focus shifts to Miriam ‘Lenny’ Leonard, a middle-aged, girl-bossing white lady columnist who rides the tide of demagoguery, seizing the opportunity for fame, riches and eyeballs at any cost. Lenny’s provocations are all too familiar in the present moment. Language becomes muddied, skidding from hot takes to fresh outrage all over again as she says the unsayable to feed the ghoul of populist opinion. Like I said, it is well done. and she isn't wrong, but I didn't appreciate it--bad timing on my part!

Dolce Villa (2025)

This is a lifeless script with adequate acting--except for the town mayor, Francesca, who is fun from start to finish. The real draw here is the charming Italian town where they are selling houses for $1 in the hopes of revitalizing a village where the population is shrinking to the point of not being sustainable. This is actually happening-two of my kids studied abroad in Sicily and a town nearby, Gangivecchio, had such a deal. The scenery is spectacular, and the house they are renovating is gorgeous. The story here is that a duaghter who is wandering aimlessly in both Italy and life happens upon this village and embarks on a plan to renovate a broke down palace using money that her Italian mother who died recently left her and her father, who used to be a chef but quit when his wife got ill, goes after her to stop her. Stop her he does not, and they both find love, love of land, and love of food and making it. No surprises.

Daisy Jones and The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

I read a review that described this a a mockumentary without an emphasis on the Mock--another described it as an earnest look at the music scene of the 1970's. Having been a young person at that time, in college and traveling quite a lot to see music myself, this up close look at the inner workings of a band that is in the midst of a meteoric rise in popularity does ring true. If this is a part of rock and roll history that you want to look more closely at, and have not been satisfied with the available memoirs and non-fiction books that document actual bands, or not particularly interested in any one band but want to experience the inner workings of a fictional band, this is a good rendition of that era. The other motivation might be the inner dynamics within the band, and in that context this is a pretty tame depiction. The book may have had a resurgence in interest because there is an Amazon Prime mini series based on the book tht has been well received.

Lisa Thorpe: Backyard Bird Fabric Collage

I went to the Minnesota Quilters show in St. Cloud last month and took a workshop from Lisa Thorpe doing collage with birds as the central theme. The one on the right is hers and the one below is the collage I made. There were so many things to love about this workshop, not the least of which was that I finished what I started that day and I was very happy with it. I also left inspired to do it again, and the teacher provided all the tools to make that happen, from how to create my own fabric with pictures of birds to selling a do-it-yourself kit.

I have taken a number of classes from great teachers over the years, but rarely have I had a teacher who came so prepared to make her students successful. The first ingredient to that was that her supply list was detailed enough that I actually packed well for the class. I brought things that I had that had bird themes, adn I brough fabric that would work in the background. If that wasn't enough she literally had enough materials with her that if you had packed 100% incorrectly (as has often happened to me) you could be successful because she brought lots of bits and pieces to do collage with, may that she had printed or hand stamped herself. Finally, if you just did not want to make choices, she has wonderful kits that you can assemble. It had beginners, intermediates, and advanced crafters all covered, everyone left with a project well on it's way to completion, and they were all different even though we had the same shared class.

The House On Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros

This is a novella which reads like a memoir that really packs a punch--and you know that it does because it was reissued for the 25th anniversary of it's release. It has staying power. I loved the Introduction of this novel just as much as I love the actual novel itself. Cisneros explains how she came to write this book, explaining that she felt ostracized when she moved from Chicago to Iowa for graduate school because she is Mexican American. Eventually she realized that she should write the book that none of her classmates could, the book that would encapsulate her childhood and the childhoods of so many other Mexican Americans that faced discrimination and “othering” because of the color of their skin or the language they spoke at home or where their parents were born. While it was written in 1983, it is so true today, almost 50 years after they were written. I no longer find this surprising, as we are coming up on 200 years since America could import people to sell, and yet the racism that scaffolded slavery is alive and well in the 21st century. When the book opens, we meet our narrator, twelve-year-old Esperanza Cordero. She and her family has moved around a lot, but most recently — and it will turn out to be her home for the next several years — they have moved into a house in an impoverished Chicago neighborhood on Mango Street. It’s not all she’d hoped for and she goes on to tell us why.

MS Tiramisu

This is the easiest and most delicious tiramisu when you look at effort to result. The secret is Italian ladyfingers and mascarpone. Gli Ingrediente 7 large egg yolks 71 g (1/3 c) granulated sugar Two 8-0z containers mascarpone cheese, cold 1-1.5 c espresso 24-26 ladyfingers (8x8 dish; 18 if individual portions). [An excellent choice is Savoiardi Lady fingers available from Amazon Cocoa Powder, dutch-processed, for dusting Le Indicazione 1. In a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, beat the egg yolks and sugar on high until the mixture is pale, puffy, doubled in volume, and falls in a thick ribbon when the whisk is lifted, about 10 minutes. Reduce to low and add the mascarpone a large spoonful at a time. After all is added, scrape the bowl and mix on low for 10-20 seconds until just homogenous. Pour coffee into a bowl 2. To assemble in a baking dish, dip a lady finger in coffee for a few seconds, then place in the bottom of an 8” square baking dish. Repeat until the bottom of the dish is fully lined. Spoon on half the mascarpone mixture and spread in an even layer. Rap the dish to settle it, then cover the mascarpone with a second layer of coffee-dipped ladyfingers. Scrape on and spread the remaining mascarpone mixture. 3. To assemble individual portions, you will need 6 8-oz ramekins. For each portion, soak 2 ladyfinger halves in the coffee and place in the bottom, spoon on ¼ cup mascarpone mixture; repeat 2 more times for a total of 3 layers each of ladyfingers and mascarpone. Rap the ramekin so the layers settle. 4. Cover and refrigerate for at least 6 hours or up to 2 days. Remove from refrigerator just before serving. Sift cocoa onto tiramisu and serve right away.

The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong

There is a lot and almost nothing going on it this novel, which one review I read called aspirational fantasy and a treatise on self-deception. There is a complex tension that runs through this book between nothing happening and everything falling slowly apart. It is also about dead end minimum wage jobs, desperation, and the family you choose. Hai is a mess. He is caught up in the expectations of Vietnamese immigrant families to assimilate and succeed and his complete inability to inhabit that dream. He won a scholarship to go to college and yet flamed out spectacularly. He is emerging from rehab, clean but more of a dry drunk than a straight ahead success and on one fateful night he meets Grazina, a Lithuanian immigrant who survived the war but lost her husband and she needs someone to take care of her. A match made in poverty. Hai has no ambition for himself, but he doesn't want Grazina to starve, so he gets a job in another roadside diner, and there he makes a family of sorts out of others who are hanging on, not the same as he, but they are more similar than they are different. It is heart breaking, predictable, and somehow lyrical and unexpected. The lies we tell ourselves to go on and the ones we tell others to get by. It is all here, and beautifully rendered at that.

Rock The Block by Joe Cunningham

I am a year and a half into what I like to call my formal education in Modern Quilting. It started with goign to QuiltCon in 2024, where I experienced the closest thing I could imagine to having my mind blown in a positive way. Sadly, I have had quite a bit of wexperience with tragedy but this was spectacular. I have been doing a modern twist on traditional quilting forever, even though I did not know it. However, using a pattern was pretty much the norm--I do the color and I might change up the layout, but I never considered just winging it.

So this is my second year in and I was ready to try classes outside of those at QuiltCon--I have never packed things for a class there that I have been happy with, and it is hard to recover from that when trying to learn a new thing. So when the Minnesota Quilters Quilt Show list of classes and teachers came up, I was motivated and excited to give it a try. Joe Cunningham is a teacher that quilters in my guild really like, asn so I picked the least "out there" of his design classes and took the plunge. I really had a great day, and even though I didn't totally follow directions, I ended up very happy with what I made. Not to mention that I used a fabric I had had for over a decade and was very pleased with how it performed.

Flesh by David Szalay

I am not sure what to make of this book, but for me there were messages that I did not see written about in reviews. There is general agreement that the book follows the life of István, whom we meet as a psychologically isolated and taciturn teenager and follow until he is a psychologically isolated and taciturn middle-aged man. The thing that is less clear is how did he get that way, how did he fail to emotionally launch? It is true that he is a teen who doesn't quite fit well in his own skin, who doesn't easily fit in well socially, but truly, that describes the majority of teenaged boys. He is initiated sexually by a middle aged neighbor who continues to have sex with him even when it is clear that this is predatory on her part, and as is almost always the case, it ends quite badly. The reverberation of this across his life, in the choices he makes and the way he fails to emotionally connect is never resolved. He is quite lucky in some respects, especially financially, but that is a hollow victory for him. The writing is as spare and flinty as István is. The cumulative effect is one of controlled, austere minimalism, a series of thumbnail sketches that suggest precisely the needed amount of detail. This was a disturbing read for me, the parent of four boys and a mental health professional, as I suspect it will be for many, but very well done.

The Life List (2025)

When my spouse is on call or I am traveling for work I like to watch very light weight movies that he would not much enjoy, and this is just that. The difference is that for the most part these play the same role that reading murder mysteries do for me--something that I can wind down to that don't take too much in the way of attention. This one is quite formaulaic--a 30-something woman, Alex, is playing it safe by working for her mother and living at home while she is taking a pause, including being involved with someone who she is more biding her time with than in love with. It all changes when her mother's cancer comes back. Her mother elects comfort care and when Alex finds out that her mother gave her job to her sister-in-law and leaves her with the task of completing a Life List that she wrote when she was 13 years old in order to hear what she inherits. Yes, we know what will happen from the get go, and yet, it was a very enjoyable journey for me. I am not one to micro-manage, as Alex's mother saw fit, but watching it unfold was quite entertaining for me. There are literally no surprises, which is kind of the point of this genre and I definitely got what I was hoping for from it.

A Thousand Threads by Neneh Cherry

I have very mixed feelings about this memoir, and the whole thing made me feel old. Reviewers describe this a joyful, and all I could really feel at the end was sad. Neneh Cherry is a mixed race woman who's Swedish mother raised her after her father, from Sierra Leone, left them. Her mother later married jazz trumpeter Don Cherry, And she was raised in Sweden, New York, and London. Her mother her mother, Monika Karlsson, was the constant in her life--she worked as a painter, textile artist, musician and set designer. She was and needed to be thrifty, picking up raw materials at flea markets, creating colorful and fantastical work that augmented folk traditions with cosmic, almost visionary motifs. So her childhood was chaotic, creative, and unpredictable. This book was always going to be interesting even if I didn't love it. Cherry has had a fascinating life – she was brought up by a jazz musician and an artist, has lived in different countries and experienced both real hardship and enduring success. She could just have listed it all and that would have been enough to sell plenty of copies, but she has taken the opportunity to produce something that’s beautifully written – it’s thoughtful, considered and deliberate. She talks about many incredibly tough experiences (a parent with a drug addiction, rape, alcoholism and the grief that led to it, teenage pregnancy, and more), and what’s striking is her tone. She often seems brutally honest, but without ever becoming lurid or undignified. She avoids harsh judgements – even where they’d be pretty understandable – instead acknowledging and describing pain with grace and tenderness, in a way that makes it real and tangible. I am not sure really what to make of it, but it is a remarkable story and reasonably well written.

Codes of the Underground Railroad

There is a fair amount of disagreement about whether quilts were used as codes on the Underground Railroad. The evidence in the affirmative comes from oral history, passed down through families over time. We know that stories that families tell are like a game of Telephone, you hear what you want to hear and disregard the rest, but on the other hand, slave stories were largely oral history. They were not taught to write and they weren't allowed to be literate so while there were those who defied that, the majority could not.

There is agreement that spirituals were important as communication of the railroad to the north and that there were codes within them that helped in planning and navigating your way northward. The North Star pattern at least reflects the importance of the Big Dipper in helping escaped slaves navigate at night. The destination for many slaves was Ohio. Cleveland was known as 'Hope', but was also a crossroads for slvaes traveling from the south and from the west to get passage northward--I know this pattern as Jacob's Ladder, and made it over 35 years ago for my eldest son. I also made him a Monkey Wrench quilt, another symbol stemming from slavery. The blacksmiths on plantations were slaves, and they were the slaves who were afforded more privlege than field workers--it is plausible they were the local communicators. There is so much we don't know.

Connie Martin spoke to my quilt guild, and she tells the stories passed down to her great-grandmother Lizzie of how her family survived the antebellum period through trials and tribulations, and how they used quilts that contained hidden codes and secret messages to assist abolitionists–white and black–to guide enslaved people to freedom through the Underground Railroad to Canada. During this presentation, Connie shared eighteen different quilt patterns in replica quilts and refers to a book her mother, Dr. Clarice Boswell, wrote about their family called Lizzie’s Story: A Slave Family’s Journey to Freedom.

Hotel Du Lac by Anita Brookner

This was written in the early 1980's which is when I was transitioning from college to medical school and still had little idea of exactly what constraints women had been burdened with for centuries. It is set at or around the turn of the 20th century, judging by the all encompassing focus on Edith getting married. She is a self-reliant author who really doesn't need a spouse to get by, so it is confusing as to why she would marry any man that she does not love, but that does seem to be the expectation. The book opens with Edith contemplating her future with the man she is about to marry, who does not want her to work, and it is becoming abundantly clear to her that he desires to control her. He seemed harmless at first, but the more she hears him talk about their future together, the more she realizes that her career as an author will come to an end if she goes through with it, so she doesn't. She is then forced into temporary exile in the quite conventional Swiss hotel on Lake Geneva after abandoning her fiancé at the altar-- that act has so outraged her friends that they have ordered her away to have a good long think. So she does, and we do so with her as we read this quiet book that reflects on the value of a solitary life and the virtues of reflecting on it. This won the Booker Prize the year it came out, so it resonated with the committee, and it is well written, a hallmark of that prize, where the writing is paramount, valued over the story and the ending often.

The Quilters (2024)

This short documentary was short listed for the Oscars in 2025, but it did not make the final cut. I love the short list though, because many of the documentaries are as good if not occasionally better (in my opinion) than what makes it to the nomination phase, and this is one such example. It is not because it is about quilting and that I am a quilter--it is about finding purpose in a place where there isn't much of that. The quilters are in prison, many of them for decades, and the quilts they make are for children in foster care--which is a place many of them are familiar with. The fabric is donated, and while they do not focus on this, they seem to be quilted by one long arm quilter--very fascinated about how he chooses designs and watching that process, but that is not included. They have very entry sewing machines and have to design with the fabric they get that is donated. They know very little about each kid they are making a quilt for, and yet they put a lot of thought into what they are going to do, and why. It is well worth watching and even better, think about the threads that it pulls in terms of what it means to all of us as we think about incarceration.

Counterfeit by Kristin Chen

This is a multi-layered book that has a lot more to it than meets the eye. The uncomplicated summary is that Ava Wong, a strait-laced Chinese American lawyer, reconnects with her one time college roommate, Winnie, and becomes entangled in a scheme that involves importing counterfeit luxury handbags and passing them off as the genuine article in a unique, hands on, and dodgy way. When their operation is uncovered, Winnie disappears, leaving Ava to deal with the consequences. The book opens with Ava telling her story to a detective, so from the get go you know that they get caught. The subtext is where it gets interesting. Ava followed her family's ambitions for their children--she worked hard, got good grades, went to high powered schools, worked for a competitive law firm, and married a doctor. Then she stepped out of most of those roles to become a mother and the unraveling began. She has a child who pretty clearly needs to be evaluated for developmental delays, feels out of her depth and doesn't know how to ask for help. Winnie stepped in and there are a lot of ways to see what she provided for Ava. The book is told in a pretty linear fashion, but the undercurrents it plumbs are anything but straight forward. This seems like fluff but I found myself thinking a lot about it in the days after I finished it.

The Water Museum and the History of Sanitation, Buenos Aires, Argentina

This is also known as El Palacio de las Aguas Corrients, or the Palace of Running Water, and it is spectacularly beautiful inside and out. In the mid-19th century, Buenos Aires was experiencing massive population growth and several epidemics, including cholera and yellow fever. So the city decided to fix the water supply. It took 7 years to build, finiahws in 1894, and it contains 12 water tanks (provided by a Belgian firm) with a total capacity of 72 million liters of water. The style of this building is quite eclectic and is yet another example of the upper classes of Argentina fancying everything European. Almost everything was pre-fabricated in Europe. There are over 300,000 tiles making up the exterior of the building, each individually numbered to enable easy placement. In addition to being a water and plumbing museum, it is also where you go to pay your water bill.

The Lotus Shoes by Jane Yang

I enjoyed this book on two levels. It is set in the 1800's in China, at a time when the role of women was shifting. Tightly bound feet, or “golden lilies,” are the mark of an honorable woman, eclipsing beauty, a rich dowry and even bloodline in the marriage stakes, but they are also like chains, as bound feet made it very hard to walk, and so women were almost literally tied to home. The book is set in the time between when bound feet were valued and when they were seen as ancient rather than modern. This is the story of two women and gives some insight into the corrosive effects of power over another has on both parties. When Little Flower is sold as a maidservant—a muizai—to Linjing, a daughter of the prominent Fong family, she clings to the hope that one day her golden lilies will lead her out of slavery. Not only does Little Flower have bound feet, uncommon for a muizai, but she is extraordinarily gifted at embroidery, a skill associated with the highest class of a lady. Resentful of her talents, Linjing does everything in her power to thwart Little Flower’s escape. The only thing she has that puts her at an advantage over Little Flower is that she owns her--and she clings to that in a very Mean Girl way. When scandal strikes the Fongs, both women are cast out to the Celibate Sisterhood, a charitable institution where Little Flower’s artistic prowess catches the eye of a nobleman. His attention threatens not only her improved status, but her life—the Sisterhood punishes disobedience with death. It is a book where the issue of power and control are repeatedly utilized to worsen the lives of those who have it and those who do not.

The Wedding Banquet (2025)

I really liked this and my only regret is that I did not watch it during PRIDE month, when I should have been celebrating that while women are now second class citizens in terms of personal autonomy, being gay and married is still allowed. This is an homage to Ang Lee’s ahead-of-its-time classic of the same name and retains some of the basics of that wonderful movie. They are both the tale of a queer couple and one of the life partners’ arranged marriage to their female tenant to both trick his conservative parents and help the bride with her green card. This version first and foremost recognizes that a lot has advanced in America when it comes to the LGBTQ+ community, cultural representation, and the country’s multi-racial construct--at least for now--anything the Nazis hated the current GOP party feels similarly about, but for now we rejoice in the gains. And in that vein (the celebration, not those who seek to queel it) it also understands that the core of everyone’s shared humanity hasn’t changed: love still matters, families (especially chosen families) are worth fighting for, and generational relationships are as complicated as ever. Don't miss this one, and if you haven;t seen the original, see it first!

The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin

I did not know that this author was originally an illustrator and that she drew the original 'Wrinkle In Time" cover--so she is a multi-talented person. Instead, I read this in search of a challenge on Goodreads, and and picked this amongst other choices because it is Newberry medal winner. One review that I read called it a baby "Knives Out", which I think is an apt description. Samuel Westing, a reclusive man who had been a humble immigrant before becoming a union-busting paper-products magnate. Westing is found dead, presumed murdered, and sixteen letters are quickly delivered from his estate, inviting the inhabitants and workers of his engineered apartment complex called Sunset Towers to a reading of the tycoon’s will. A lawyer divides the group into eight pairs and announces that they are all potential heirs to Westing’s two-hundred-million-dollar fortune. He distributes eight envelopes filled with seemingly nonsensical clues and instructs the guests that the objective of the unexplained game is to win. There is a lot left unsaid, and the trick is to figure out not only how to stay in the game, but what exactly winning entails.

Benito Quinquela Martín Museum

Benito Quinquela Martín was a painter of ports. This arts museum in the heart of La Boca was donated to the city by the artist--he is the man responsible for the bright colours of La Boca neighbourhood. His intention was to create an educational and cultural centre in the neighbourhood. As I learned from reading a biography of the city, Buenos Aires did not have an exceptional port. The river is too shallow and it was never the thriving port of other Latin American cities--but because of the enormous wealth coming out of Potosi in the form of silver, there was money to be made and and the port thrived despite it's failings. The museum's collection is representative of the history of Argentine art and features several key figurative artists working from the late 19th century to the present day. It houses the largest collection of Quinquela Martín’s oil paintings and etchings in existence, all completed between 1922 and 1967. There’s also a unique collection of ship figureheads, and, on the terrace, a display of Argentine figurative sculptures. Temporary exhibitions are held in the Sívori room, and on the third floor, the Casa Museo Benito Quinquela Martín exhibits some of the artist's personal possessions.

Did You Hear About Kitty Karr by Crystal Smith Paul

I do a lot of reading of lists. The Booker Prize long list, the New York Times notable books list, the National Book Award short list to name a few. On a lighter note, I have been reading the Reese Witherspoon recommendations--I find these enjoyable, thought provoking, and they are stories written by women about women, which is an added plus. This is one such book. This is a story about blacks passing as whites. I get why in a racist society that would hold an attraction. What I didn't get is what the downside is, and this story really fleshes that out. This is a grand, epic tale that spans multiple generations. Kitty Karr was a white actress and celebrity icon. When she passes away, the world is shocked to find out she left her massive multi-million dollar estate to her next door neighbors: the St. John sisters, three young, wealthy Black women. This tells the complicated why of it. The denying of who you are, where you are from, and how you got to be who you are is soul sucking. That becomes very clear in this story, as it did in Passing (both the book and the movie). This is a good read.

Moana 2 (2024)

Let's just say that while we all love animated feature films in our house, and we have had a long love affair with Disney, which really, I do not want to have to explain or think too deeply about but it is definitely true and will likely always be true, even if there are more than a few cli=unkers. Of which thisis one.Don't get me wrong, it is visually stunning, the action is pretty much non-stop, there are songs where songs should be in a Disney movie worth its salt, but it just was not for us. The follow up to the original does bear a burden--with the exception of Toy Story and Paddington 2, the follow up usually carries a bit of disappointment along with the diversion. This had a heaping helping of that and while we watched it through to the end, we would not recommend it. Even the presence of the delightfully charming Duane Johnson could save it for us.

The Postcard by Anne Berest

May their memories be a blessing. This is s story that swings between the time before the Nazi's, the time of the Nazi's and more modern times. The take home message, besides these were horrible people who committed horrible acts through out the war, even when no one was looking, is to demonstrate generational trauma, how it happens, what it consists of, and how to work on confronting it and getting over it. The book opens on a snowy Paris morning in 2003. The protagonist is Anna and her mother, Léila, steps outside for her first cigarette of the day, only to find a mysterious postcard in the mailbox. On it are four names: Ephraim, Emma, Noémie, Jacques. Her grandfather, grandmother, aunt and uncle – all killed at Auschwitz. No signature, no explanation. For Léila, the postcard is a threat, a provocation. For Anne, it poses a question: why does she know so little about those ancestors? Her quest to find the sender will open rifts between mother and daughter; it will also unearth the family’s origin story. Their early years of wandering; their fate under Vichy France and the Nazis; the risks her grandparents undertook in the Resistance. And then afterwards, the pain of survival; the long reach of the Holocaust through the generations. Two things I liked about this book--one is the nomadic existence of many European Jews before the war and the other is the perspective looking back from the 21st century. We are undergoing another round of "othering" in the United States, and it is more important now than ever to remember how frightful that was for all involved, bot the perpetrators and the victims. Nobody wins, it is just ugly.

The Othering of America

It is unacceptable. Our neighbors are being taken and we don't know where they are being taken. As we start our 249th year as a country, we are in the midst of a movement of "othering" black and brown people in general and immigrants specifically. ICE agents, wearing masks, tactile gear, semi-automatic weapons, and dark glasses, operating without badges or warrents are very similar to kidnappers. The "process of othering" involves categorizing people into groups and emphasizing differences to create a distinction between an "us" and a "them," often leading to the marginalization and stigmatization of the "them". This process frequently involves assigning negative stereotypes and reinforcing power imbalances. Here's a breakdown of the process: 1. Categorization: . Individuals or groups are categorized based on perceived differences, such as ethnicity, religion, gender, or other characteristics. 2. Othering: . This categorized group is then positioned as fundamentally different from the "in-group" or "us". 3. Dehumanization: . In extreme cases, this can lead to dehumanization, where the "othered" group is seen as less than human, potentially justifying discrimination, abuse, or even violence. 4. Reinforcement of Identity: . The process of othering helps solidify the identity of the "in-group" by defining itself in opposition to the "out-group". Othering can have serious consequences, including human rights violations, prejudice, and social exclusion. It is a common tactic used to justify conflict, discrimination, and violence. Understanding the mechanisms of othering is crucial for promoting inclusivity and challenging these harmful practices. Having just watched "I'm Still Here" about the disappeance of people the government wanted to silence in Brazil, I am struck by how many times history has repeated itself. The Nazi playbook holds a lot of appeal for the Republican party. It is time to do what they do, which is othering those who do not agree with them, calling them by labels that largely don't fit--as a twist on their playbook, just be truthful. Their policies are racist. They are White Supremacists. They are fascists. They disregard the Rule of Law. They are terrorists. Call your congress people and ask them to do their jobs, but know who they are. Morally bankrupt. There is no healing this, there is only protesting for the country that my ancestors founded.

Black in Blues by Imani Perry

This is such an unusual way to approach race and racism, and I would be even more surprised than I am if I hadn't read her last book. She won the 2022 National Book Award for South to America, in which she meditates on the history of racism in the South as she is traveling through the South as a black woman in 21st century America, and how it reveals the very character of the nation. If you haven't read that, I recommend it. This book, which meditates on the color blue and what it means to black people, is breath taking. It is a series of stories, and they span from the days of colonialism right up to the present, highlighting the work of contemporary artists like vanessa german, Lorna Simpson and Firelei Báez, who all use blue dye and blue objects in their work. And, of course, there is a discussion of the blues, as both a musical genre and an ineffable sound that resurfaces again and again in Black music. She weaves this tapestry of Black life across five centuries, moving seamlessly among historical records and the diaries of white explorers to enslaved peoples’ testimonies, close readings of African American fiction and vignettes from he own family's relationship with the color. The sheer breadth and depth of this mosaic telling speaks to the power of Perry’s craft as both scholar and storyteller, illustrating the beauty of the very culture about which she writes. The near closing line sticks with me: "May we haunt the past to change the present and claim the future."

Paddington in Peru (2025)

Unlike the very enjoyable movie The Marching Band, which I also watched on a long haul flight (and when my bar for enjoyment is at an all time low--I like almost everything in that situation) this was very disappointing. My chagrin is based not so much of the Paddington books and how they have been translated to the big screen, but rather on just how much I loved Paddington 2 and how I hoped the same for what is essentially Paddington 3. No such luck. And it has a new director, which may explain the discrepency. The quest at hand takes Paddington to Peru, where he hopes to find his beloved Aunt Lucy. Lucy was living at a Home for Retired Bears when she began behaving oddly. A letter from the establishment alarms Paddington into deciding to visit her. Paddington’a adoptive family The Browns accompany him in solidarity and off they go, with one after another misadventure befalling them, but none quite so charming as those that occurered in previous films. This is not awful, it just doesn't have the same je ne sais quoi about it.

Einstein: His Life and The Universe by Walter Isaacson

I admit, tackling the life and science of Albert Einstein is a gargantuan undertaking. Conveying the magnitude of Einstein’s scientific achievements is tough enough, but that’s just the start. His geopolitics, faith, cultural impact, philosophy of science, amorous affairs, powers of abstraction and superstar reputation are all part of this subject. While the science was hard for me to follow completely and a lot of the personal details were less than fully divulged, overall I would say this is a satisfactory biography, elevated in my rating based on the degree of difficulty in handing the subject matter. The book is heavy on the science, maybe 1/3 of the 700+ pages detail Einstein's life as a scientist and what he contributed to our understanding of how the universe works. If you are interested only in the personal side, I would suggest a different source. The fascinating thing for me was how much what he discovered came from him alone, and came about mostly through thinking it through rather than pouring over the math or grueling laboratory experiments. He was a force to be reckoned with, who was not 100% correct, but whose papers propelled his field forward almost at the speed of light. I wondered how a biographer could have such a knowledge of the science, and found that he leaned heavily on physicist Brian Greene in explicating the series of revelations Einstein brought forth in his wonder year, 1905, and the subsequent problems with quantum theory and uncertainty that would bedevil him. He was at the time working in the patent office in Switzerland, a job that provided him with enough income to live on and enough time to think. The personal aspects of Einstein's life are less interesting to me--he was a flirt, chronically unfaithful, twice married, and an inconstant parent. He was charming and unpredictable socially, at least as portrayed here. His political views shifted across his lifetime, and are also of little interest to me, but Isaacson does a good job of following them and Einstein shifted from a pacifist to a supporter of the war against Hitler and Nazis. Overall I would recommend this, although it takes some time and energy to get through.

Oh Canada!

Happy Canada Day! It seems especially important to state the obvious, that I respect Canada's sovereignty. It is a great big beautiful country that is all it's own, and nothing like the United States. While it wasn't always so, they embrace their French past, and bilingual signs are seen coast to coast. You do not see that in the United States, not even in the seven states that were part of Mexico until 1848. We get why you are boycotting us. I would too. I am on a commerce diet altogether, in fact. My personal spending on goods is down. My confidence in the economy is at an all time low. The Guardian reported that 64% of Canadians now hold unfavourable views of the US, and nearly 40% say they hold very unfavourable views of their neighbour, up from 15% who felt that way last year. Sixty-four percent of Canadians now hold unfavourable views of the US, and nearly 40% say they hold very unfavourable views of their neighbour, up from 15% who felt that way last year. Only one-third of Canadians (34%) think positively of their southern neighbour today, compared with 54% last year. Canadian wariness towards the US is also reflected in new travel data from Statistics Canada, which found return trips by air fell nearly 25% in May 2025 compared with the same month in 2024. Canadian-resident return trips by automobile dropped by nearly 40% – the fifth consecutive month of year-over-year declines. It is amazing how quickly your brand can be damaged when you try mess with sovereignty. So celebrate your day, and according to the Pew Research Center, 74% of Americans have a favorable view of you.

Buenos Aires: The Biography of a City by James Gardner

I discovered this book when I was doing some last minute preparation for a trip that I did not plan, so knew very little about the places we were going as a result. I had been to Buenos Aires over two decades before, on a trip with my parents, who neither speak Spanish nor were much interested in Latin American history, which is to say that I did not plan that trip either, and therefore did not get as much out of it as I might have. I did not read the book until I had gotten back, but the city was quite fascinating to visit and I came home wanting to know more--this book is a great antidote to that desire, because it takes you step by step through the long history of a resilient city. Buenos Aires was settled early in the Spanish colonization of the New World and like a number of South American cities, it played a secondary role to Potosi, the Bolivian mountain city out of which enough silver came to build a bridge from there to Spain. The story of how it began and then changed over time is pretty fascinating and also unique--the history of South America is one that I am less familiar with, and this is a good story well told.

The Mesmerist by Caroline Woods

My spouse got this book out of the library as an e-book and it came up in his search of murder mysteries. It does chronicle a murder, but it is by no means a book that I would put in that genre--it is more like historical fiction. He thought I would like it more than he, but in the end, it went the other way around. The book centers on a place that really did exist. Founded by a group of elite Quaker women, the Bethany Home for Unwed Mothers opened its doors in 1876 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Amidst the glitz of the Gilded Age Twin Cities, the Bethany Home provided unmarried and outcast women and mothers with food, shelter, work, and a second chance at life. This book tells the story of three women within the walls of the Bethany Home in 1894: the real-life Bethany Home treasurer Abby Mendenhall, the naive and lovestruck resident May, and the mysterious and mesmerizing new resident Faith. As these women each fight to overcome the hardships dealt to them, they must also learn to survive perhaps the gravest danger of all: what is right in front of our eyes. Underlying their individual struggles there is a gruesome, bone-chilling, and immensely puzzling murder that overlays all that happens in the book.

Marching Band (2024)

I did not watch a lot of great movies on my long haul trips so far this year, but this is the winner. French film-maker Emmanuel Courcol has a nice touch with this dramedy. Benjamin Lavernhe plays Thibaut, a distinguished and sensitive orchestra conductor who collapses mid-rehearsal in Paris and is told he has leukaemia and needs a bone marrow transplant donor. Thibaut is adopted and this means tracking down his biological brother out in the boondocks: factory worker Jimmy, played by the formidable Pierre Lottin, whose gift for deadpan comedy really only gets free rein at the very beginning of the film. Thibaut has the tricky task of asking someone who is a total stranger if he wouldn’t mind donating his bone marrow. But this fraught situation reveals – a little programmatically, perhaps – that Jimmy has a real musical talent, like him, plays trombone in the raucous factory band and nurses a passion for jazz on vinyl. Thibault sees in Jimmy a vision of what his own life could have been without his adoptive mother’s comfortable middle-class background, and sees Jimmy and himself through the lens of class, politics and society, and not the supposed destiny of pure talent. It is a great story well told, and it has the subtext of what the affirmative action of class provledge affords those who are born into it.

Food For Thought by Alton Brown

I liked this but I did not love it. That also sums up my feelings about Good Eats, which was a show that my family--five men--liked more than I did. I think the science of cooking was a great hook for them and it did almost nothing for me, although I did not find him annoying, which is not a given for this sort of show. Same can also be said about this book, which really is a collection of ruminations and expositions on a wide range of topics mixed in that mostly adds up to a bit of a memoir. There is a fair amount about what it was like to be him as a child, growing up in the South and largely without a father, how he really struggled in a traditional classroom and he repeatedly tells us this, that he barely got out of high school, but never seems to realize that the way he learns is not the way others learn, and that is where public education failed him. He strikes me as a kinesthetic learner--maybe he has since figured it out. There are a few details about his current life, and the story about what they did during COVID and what he learned about his wife and himself is charmingly told. Then in between there is the part about how he came to be known by all of us, how he more or less stumbled in to what he is now widely known for. This is a better book once I reflect on it, because the story telling is non-linear, but at the end you do emerge with a sense of things about him. If you like food memoirs, this isn't really that, but it is food adjacent and enjoyable with that lens.

Crizia, Buenos Aires, Argentina

We had some spectacular food on a recent trip to Argentina, and this was my favorite meal. While Argentinian beef is world reknowned, it really isn't my thing, and what you might forget in all the hype about the parilla grill, the gaucho, and the grasslands is that it has hundreds of miles of coastline. This restaurant is all about things that come out of the water. Owner-chef Gabriel Oggero works with small-scale independent producers, fishermen and farmers in order to source the very best seasonal ingredients (the restaurant also has its own rooftop city garden). Oysters are a particular speciality and fish-lovers will delight in a menu which is completely focused on seafood and shellfish.

I live in a very land-locked place, so having a dozen small plates of this kind is amazing to me, and then there is the presentation--there is an emphasis on natural things, with stones and wood featuring prominently as the vehicle for each dish, and then the ceramic plates and bowls are impressively gorgeous as well. The attention to detail is special, and I would definitely return here should we be in Buenos Aires in the future. As a bonus, it was a few minute walk from our hotel, where I would also return.

Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan

I have been completely absorbed in getting all my badges for teh Goodreads challenges, and this fulfilled one of them. A satire and an indulgent romance tale, this is the first book in a trilogy penned by Kevin Kwan, starting in 2013-so this is a throwback, but also has the advantage that if you get into it, you can read the whole thing, you do not have to wait for the next two books to come out. I would usually advocate reading the book before seeing the movie, which is not what happened in this case--luckily I liked the movie, despite it's somewhat off putting title, and saw it long enough ago that I did not remember it clearly enough to be off put by the inconsistencies between the two. The book takes an in-depth look into the immense wealth, lavish lifestyles, culture, family expectations and innuendo that swirls around the rich families of Asia. With a specific focus on the heir of one of Singapore’s most well regarded families, Nicholas Young, the author considers the problems that arise when a son of old money in Asia, brings his Chinese American professor girlfriend back home. The complications of this potential ill match in the marriage stakes is set against another grand high society wedding. The upcoming nuptials of Colin, a close friend of Nicholas Young, provides Kevin Kwan with the room to explore the jetting setting life of the elite set of Singapore and surrounds. A story of wealth, love, family, honor, duty and culture, this book could either makes you stop and think for a moment what it would be like to live in this absurd world of affluence or it could make you grateful for your own flawed family.

Champions (2025)

This is a very enjoyable and entirely predictable romantic comedy. I watched this while I was traveling, and one plane landing while I still had about a quarter of the movie to go. While I was switching planes and waiting to board, I played out what I thought would likely happen and while I was not 100% correct, I nailed about 92% of it. That, in my mind, is what makes a successful movie in this genre--that you know exactly what will happen and you can't wait to watch it unfold. This is also a very likable sports comedy – what I did not know until I read a review of the movie is that it is a remake of the 2018 Spanish film Campeones (inspired by the real-life story of the Aderes basketball team in Burjassot) that delivers belly laughs and heartfelt charm in equal measure. Woody Harrelson plays Marcus Marakovich, an irascible assistant coach working in minor league basketball whose life unravels when he fights with his superior Phil (Ernie Hudson) on court and then drunkenly rear-ends a cop car on the road. To avoid prison, Marcus accepts 90 days’ community service coaching “adults with intellectual disabilities”. He is not what you would call enthusiastic about this, in fact he is rude and narrow minded, but as you might predict, they win his heart, and it is just a fun movie to watch.

I Leave It Up To You by Jinwoo Chong

I am usually not one for the gimmicky story line, but I have to say that I did enjoy this book--I did not read his first book, but it was apparently in the sci-fi genre, and this one gets extra points for breaking out of that mold as well. Jack Jr. wakes up from a coma after almost two years. He missed COVID altogether. He slept through it, which is maybe what a lot of people wished they could do. Prior to all this he had turned his back on his family and their Japanese restaurant run by his Korean family in Fort Lee, New Jersey. He had not seen them for quite some time when he had the accident that left him unconscious, but in the end they were the ones that stuck by him. While he was out, everyone else gradually evaporated, including his fiancé, and what he was left with was his family and their restaurant. So, reluctant as he had been to stay on, he returns, and it turns out that you can go home and lo and behold, he has quite the talent as a sushi chef with a knife. So much so that when his nephew makes videos of him preparing food he becomes a TikTok sensation. At the end of the day, this is a crowd pleaser. It kind of veers into YA territory in that respect, because usually when things are going too well for the characters, in an adult fiction piece of work you would expect a wrench in the works, but for the most part things progress smoothly and positively for the characters. It turns out we also want the best for Jack Jr. and his post-coma, post-COVID life as he picks up the pieces of what he left behind and re-examines how he lives, so a lot can be forgiven.