Book Review: Re Jane by Patricia Park

Re Jane by Patricia Park

Published by: Pamela Dorman Books
Published on: May 5, 2015

Page Count: 352

Genre: Fiction

My Reading Format: ARC ebook for Kindle provided by NetGalley

Available Formats: Hardcover, Kindle ebook, Audible

My Review:

Jane is a college graduate living in Queens, NY, with her uncle and his family, and working in the family business, an international grocery store, while she is job hunting. As she is unappreciated and brushed aside by her uncle and his family, they are the only family she has outside of Korea. When a friend shows her a want ad for an au pair in Brooklyn, she puts her dreams of a job on finance on hold and applies for the job. This live-in job will ensure that she can quit her job at the family business and move out from under her uncle's roof.

In her new role, Jane is caregiver for Devon, the Chinese adopted daughter of Ed Farley and Beth Mazer, two professors. In their home, she is out from the watchful eye of her uncle and his high expectations that she'll act according to her Korean upbringing. Jane feels freer to be herself and forms a friendship with Ed over late-night conversations in the kitchen, which develops into a deeper relationship. As Jane is falling more deeply in love, she and her New York family are summoned to Seoul for a family funeral.  

Jane stays in Seoul longer than expected, and while she is gone, September 11, 2001 happens in New York City, changing everything. She finds a job teaching English and makes new friends. In Seoul, Jane also becomes more self-assured. Her time in Korea makes Jane's attempt to balance the two parts of her life (Korean and American) and her family's wishes with her own even more difficult.

Overall, I liked this modern interpretation of Jane Eyre. As a modern woman, I wished Jane had a stronger resolve against her attraction to her boss. I was disappointed that she was so intrigued with Ed without getting a connection from his end. I found their relationship to be creepy, as Beth wasn't the madwoman in the attic but a very present parent in the same household as this developing romance. Ed went back to Beth, which I expected. Becomes more self-assured once she spends time in Seoul. She's tired of doing what's expected of her. Jane leaves Ed. She knows she can do better for herself. He knows it too.

I very much enjoyed watching Jane navigate her world, which included living in two cultures and balancing what she wanted to do with her life with what she was expected to do. By the end of the book, I was satisfied with the decisions she made for herself. And, even though she dreamed of a job in finance, she made a good au pair and I liked watching a warm relationship with Devon develop. 

Three and a half out of five stars

If you liked this book, you’ll like Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte (of course!), The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan, Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford and Clara and Mr. Tiffany by Susan Vreeland. 

Book Review: The Ice Cream Queen of Orchard Street by Susan Jane Gilman

The Ice Cream Queen of Orchard Street: A Novel by Susan Jane Gilman

Published by: Grand Central Publishing

Published on: June 10, 2014

Page Count: 512

Genre: Fiction

My Reading Format: Advanced reading e-book provided by NetGalley

Available Formats: Hardcover and Kindle e-book

My Review:

Don't be fooled by the cover of The Ice Cream Queen of Orchard Street. It's brightly colored and shows a woman's feet in a fabulous pair of heels next to an upside down, melted ice cream cone. The cover reminds me of a Mary Kay Andrews book cover (not knocking Mary Kay Andrews - personally, I'm looking forward to her latest, Save the Date). Ice Cream Queen is not a girly, cutesy, pretty story. It's a story about a little girl who grows into a woman in a life filled with abandonment and setback. This main character, first named Malka and later Lillian, just gets tougher. As life gets harder, so does she.


Malka is a young Jewish Russian immigrant with her family in Germany with plans to immigrate to South Africa to be near family. Instead, Malka's father, who seemed suspicious to me from the start, exchanges their tickets for passage on a ship to New York City instead without telling Malka's mother. Malka's father forces her to keep it a secret from her mother and her other three sisters. This is just the beginning for Malka of a life of getting let down by those around her who are supposed to love and care for her.

The story, which opens early in the 20th century, shows the dismal life of poor immigrants living in crowded tenement houses in the city, and those who rise above those conditions to move themselves out of them, and those who don't. Very early on, Malka is told by her mother that to be able to eat she must bring home money. Malka and her sister put together a singing and dancing act, earning them a few pennies per day, and which helps them stay in their mother's good graces. Malka has to draw upon that experience of putting herself out there to survive day after day for the rest of her life, even after she has made it as a successful businesswoman. In Chapter 2, Malka learns to "Be shameless. Be different. And appeal to the emotions -- never the head."

After an accident Malka is abandoned by her family and taken in by an Italian Catholic family, the Dinellos. Malka's name is changed to Lillian. The Dinellos are trying to make it in the ice cream business, and Lillian learns all she can from them before she marries and is ousted from the Dinello family. Abandoned but determined to take what she learned and create a successful business herself, Lillian and new husband Bert Dunkle slowly but surely build an ice cream empire together that lasts through the book's ending in the last quarter of the 20th century.


Besides just being a good story, Gilman's writing style is fun to read. Ice Cream Queen is filled with fantastic description: "Fumes of queasy-sweet gasoline billowed from new cars rattling noisily up the avenues. And since none of the tenements had bathtubs, these odors, in turn, mixed with the gamy smell of thousands of strains of human perspiration. Yeasty, fungal skin. Rose water. Decaying teeth. Dirty diapers. Sharp, vinegary hair tonic" (Chapter 2).

As I read, I anticipated the moment that this girl with gumption would become the business-savvy woman. But there wasn't one moment, just a progression. That ability to be this kind of a go-getter was part of Malka's personality all along.

I think what I liked most about this book though is the way that Gilman doesn't just give us a rags-to-riches feel-good story. Lillian is flawed. She does the best she can but she makes plenty of mistakes. Lillian knows how to learn from those mistakes and she's thick-skinned enough to keep moving forward and ignore what people around her are saying about her. Her career ebbs and flows, as do her marriage and her relationship with her son, who come second to that career. She faces addiction. Gilman has painted her as human rather than perfect. We all have our faults. Life isn't as sweet as the cover of The Ice Cream Queen indicates.

Four out of five stars

If you liked The Ice Cream Queen of Orchard Street, you'll like Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt, Kisses on a Postcard by Terence Frisby, Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell and Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser.

Book Review: A History of Food in 100 Recipes by William Sitwell

A History of Food in 100 Recipes by William Sitwell

Published by: Little, Brown and Company

Published on: June 18, 2013

Page Count: 360

Genre: Cookbook, history

My Reading Format: Advanced reading copy in e-book provided by the publisher through NetGalley

Available Formats: Hardcover, Kindle book

 

My Review: 

William Sitwell, food writer and television personality in Great Britain bid on several 19th century cookbooks at an auction in 2010 and won them. While reading through them later, the idea for this book was born. What he discovered was that even centuries ago, those who wrote down recipes became authorities on food, and therefore, in some cases, also culture and hospitality, either in his or her own circle of friends or to a larger audience. Things haven't changed much over the years. With more research, Sitwell chose 100 recipes written down by cooks that we may already be familiar with or have never heard of. Either way, those recipes, in some way, shaped the food culture of its time. (He makes the disclaimer early that a recipe from centuries past may not be cookable by someone in a modern kitchen today, but that some of his chosen recipes would be.) Starting with ancient Egyptian bread, the recipe for which was painted on the wall of a tomb in 11 BC, Sitwell takes us through food history, all the way to modern-day recipes by cooks that are a regular part of our lives through their books or television shows today.

Though the 100 recipes are from a wide range of countries and cultures, Sitwell's cultural references are heavily British assuming in places that his readers will know exactly what he's talking about. I didn't always. However, that didn't take much away from my enjoyment of the book. 

I enjoyed reading about recipes I'd never heard of and never realized what a major impact some of them had in their time. Some of those were very interesting, such as John Evelyn who was the first person to advocate for salads and create a dressing for them in the 1600s and Mary Eales, who invented ice cream in 1718. As an American, the buttered apple pie recipe from Amelia Simmons' American Cookery in 1796 was an important one, as was Eliza Leslie's cupcake recipe from her 1834 book Miss Leslie's Behaviour Book: A Guide and Manual for Ladies. Also included were other fun things like the evolution of the cocktail party in the mid-20th century, the start of Gourmet magazine and epicurious.com, and today's TV food personalities like Emeril, Mario Batali and Jamie Oliver, and food personalities we'll never forget (i.e. Julia Child).   

If you're interested in food culture and its history, both ancient and modern, you'll like A History of Food in 100 Recipes. 

Four out of five stars

If you think you'll like this book, I also recommend Eating by Jason Epstein.

Book Review: Manners in Emily Post's Digital World: Living Well Online

The Emily Post Institute, the authority on all things etiquette, has just published an up-to-the-minute guide called Manners in Emily Post’s Digital World: Living Well Online. In keeping with the times, it’s the first-ever e-book to come out of the organization. The book’s author, Daniel Post Senning, has been at the helm of technology at the Emily Post Institute for years, building their first website, figuring out analytics and e-newsletters, and a WordPress blog to answer etiquette questions from the general public, among other things.

In a relatively short book, Senning covers a lot of ground. The book effectively targets the social media/mobile device novice as well as the more experienced user. It suggests the right way to coexist with technology as well as the people you interact with offline: family, friends, coworkers and even store clerks. It discusses in-depth the circumstances under which it’s acceptable to play a game on your mobile phone in public (sometimes OK), take a phone call in a public bathroom (never OK), friend an ex or a coworker online (sometimes OK), or stir up trouble in a chatroom or forum (never OK) .

The book outlines the wonderful advantages of touting your business on Facebook and other social media platforms. It gives advice on determining a website’s credibility. It suggests ways you and your family members can make rules about turning off mobile devices in favor of quality time together.

Perhaps the most power takeaway from the book appears in Chapter 4: Facebook: “You can always delete something you decide you don’t want on your wall [or on Twitter, in an email, on a dating profile, etc.], but you can’t take back the impression it made while it was visible.”

You can follow the Emily Post Institute on Twitter @EmilyPostInst and see what others are tweeting about with the #etiquette hashtag.

Free Books!

I could never afford to read all that I do without borrowing books from friends and public libraries, and other good resources that are out there. One of my favorite ways to get a free audiobook is through LibriVox. I've listened to countless classic novels (many of which I'm revisiting for the first time since high school) on my iPod while exercising or cleaning the house. I've particularly enjoyed blogger Annie Coleman's versions of Pride and Prejudice and Anne of Green Gables, two of my favorite novels. LibriVox seeks volunteers to read and record stories like these.

Project Gutenberg is also a volunteer organization that provides free ebooks for download to computer, Kindle or Android phone. I don't often read books on my computer (preferring the handheld, old fashioned method or reading, or listening to a book best), but if I wanted to, this is where I'd go.

Free books! It just doesn't get any better.

What will you be reading over Thanksgiving break this week?

My Take on E-Readers

I get asked on a fairly regular basis if I have an e-reader and how I feel about them. I don't have one, and as of right now I don't have any plans to get one. I remember thinking last year on the plane to London how nice an e-reader would be for a trip like that when space is limited but a lot of reading can get done. I also would like to be able to easily borrow books from libraries with an e-reader whether I end up with a Kindle, a Sony, an iPad, a Nook or anything else. I'm sure a software person could tell me why if I really wanted to know, but I still just think these things should all just be universal. I hope one day that will be possible.

I've heard some proponents of e-readers talk of the products' environmental friendliness. Recently, in a weekly email newsletter from Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh, the store's owner said, "But--if I heard one more time, 'Well, e-books are more environmentally sound than paper books because they save trees,' I'll....I'll....well, I won't scream, because you can't hear me. So I'll quote an article about this instead." And she linked to this article.

Besides, how cute are my library shelves at home going to look if they no longer have books on them? I like the feel and smell a book provides much more than I'd like to have the convenience of multiple books on one electronic device. If I get one, I'll let you know, but in the meantime and probably even after I'm the owner of an e-reader, I'll still prefer to do my reading from physical books.

The Debate over E-Books

A few weekends ago I was in North Carolina and had a chance to stop by my very favorite book store, Quail Ridge Books. I'm always able to pick up a paperback there that I haven't yet heard of to enjoy later. This time, Robert Darnton's The Case for Books: Past, Present, and Future caught my eye. I just finished reading it the other night.

I expected the book would talk more about how e-readers are changing and will change the face of libraries and the needs of their patrons, and the publishing and bookselling industry. I made this assumption because there is a picture of an e-reader on the book's cover. However, Darnton talked a lot more about how Google's e-book bogarting has brought about lawsuits, and particularly how university libraries and the academic world will be affected (good and bad) by making more books accessible online. So, interesting, yes, but not exactly what I expected.

So far I've resisted purchasing an e-reader for several reasons: 1) They cost a lot and a library card is free, 2) I like to hold books in my hand, 3) I like the way books smell, 4) I like the way books look on the shelf of my library, and 5) I almost never buy books.

Earlier this summer, my husband did ask me if I wanted an e-reader. I answered that until I was able to borrow library books via an e-reader, it was of little use to me. Well, recently my home county's library system in North Carolina started this, and each week they are growing their downloadable e-books. The library system is looking at this as a way to stay current with changing technology and save money. The library system also lowers the risk of losing loaned physical books, a great thing since the cost of replacing books adds up fast.

Attention, Fulton County, Georgia: Where is your e-book program? If you get one, I might consider purchasing an e-reader, especially since they've recently come down significantly in price. Here's hoping you'll have a program soon.