I got into a reading funk this August. Really lost my mojo or could be perhaps that I’d set a target to rejuvenate so the first few weeks I travelled to Cornwall and rested. Then I received a bookclub read in the post and it all changed. Result? I read some great fiction to see off the summer. I really do not think I was in the mind space to read anything too involved dealing with scientific, political or non-fiction genres. Therefore, there is no recommendation and reviews in those categories this month.

Always Home is wonderfully personal memoir with a strong focus on the foods that shaped her and her relationships with her parents but particularly her famous mother, Alice Water, the founder of Chez Panisse restaurant. The book doesn’t really follow a specific timeline, instead she tells the stories from her life through the foods she ate growing up. It is interlaced with recipes.

Her writing is lyrical and I really enjoyed that there was a strong emphasis on emotions. You feel you are with her in all these places, walking away enticed to make the dishes at home. My only criticism is that I wish the accompanying photographs were in colour.

This a great read for those who enjoy good food and good memory sharing.

The Most Fun We Ever Had by Claire Lombardo was sent to me by Desmond & Dempsey as part of their Sunday Reads bookclub. Its a fictional story of David and Marilyn and their life from their first meeting to present day where they have four adults daughters all dealing with life’s complexities in their own way. It jumps timeline from present to previous decades relating the past to present. The book deals with themes of family, relationships and love through the genrations all dealing back to the couple.

This is the book that got me out of the funk. I read it feverishly in the space of 2 days. Ever once in a while there is a book where you become engrossed in the tales of its characters, this was such a book. Lombardo writes in such a way that it felt like a warm hug on a cold day. One of the cosiest book in a long time.

The Object of my Affection by Stephen McCauley.

The Object of My Affection by Stephen Mcauley. George is in a toxic relationship with his university lectures. He meet Nina at a party and two immediately hit it off. They are the perfect match for each other and when Nina becomes pregnant and asks George to raise the baby, their friendship becomes complicated.

The story explores the complexity of male and female friendships, human relationships and the transition time between your 20s and 30s. When most people start to settle down and make longer life investments in work and relationships.

Mcauley’s book was adapted into a film in the 90’s and it happens to be one of my favourite films. I had the book on my reading list for a while but I could not get hold of it. The film and book are very different but both deal with the same themes. If you enjoy endearing stories of human relationships you should definitely try and get a hold of the book. Just a word of warming that its is bitter sweet love story.

A story of New York’s restaurant scene at the turn of the millennium. A fictionalised story of the intoxicating yet delicious world of the food world based on Danler’s own experiences. Her writing is such that the words and sentences linger in your mind for sometime after. It is actually a re read because I learn a little sometime with each read. Her words her superb. Although the story is dark, the writing makes you so engrossed that you start to become a part of the world and NYC as the backdrop serves a excellent side dish of pure fictional escapism. I highly recommend!

August in Books