Post on a long wintery weekend...

It’s snowing this morning, as I sip my steaming cup of chai tea, but I don’t care, as I am warm and snug, and looking forward to a day of reading, with a bonus day off tomorrow.  What could be better?!  As a bit of an aside, I wanted to mention that my husband and I went out to eat last night at an Indian restaurant that was recommended to us, Bombay Grill in Cambridge (http://www.thebombaygrill.ca/index.html).  The decor left something to be desired, but I hardly noticed that once the food began arriving.  The food was excellent, and so very reasonably priced.  I ordered a Masala Chai tea afterward, and while it was frothier than my own chai, it was not as delicious.  But it was still a wonderful dining experience.

I finished reading the book I mentioned last week, That Part Was True by Deborah McKinlay, which was one of the books I received for review for my local paper.  This little gem of a book offered a story filled with emotional depth and richness.  It opens with a short letter written to best-selling author Jackson Cooper by Eve Petworth, praising him on a passage in one of his novels.  Jackson is an American writer with a colourful, but often conflicted, love life.  Eve is a British woman, a single mother who is dealing with her own past as well as facing ongoing challenges with her soon-to-be-wed daughter Izzy.  They discover a mutual love of food and cooking, and share, through their correspondence, the details of their lives, along with recipes and cooking tips.  Although they have not yet met, they form a unique friendship in which they offer support and encouragement, a friendship that Eve describes as “decadently sumptuous.”  As the novel unfolds, the reader follows Jack and Eve on their individual journeys of self-discovery.  Although it may sound like a familiar story, this delightful novel is anything but predictable, and led this reader to a surprising, heartwarming conclusion.  I would highly recommend this short novel to anyone who enjoys domestic or realistic fiction.  Although there are two main characters, Eve and Jack, and the novel is told equally from both points of view, I think that this might not be enjoyed by male readers… it is more of a “woman’s book”.

Since tomorrow is Family Day, I thought I would make a list of some good Domestic Fiction titles I’ve read in the past year  (I’m a librarian, so I will jump at any chance I get to make a Book List!)  These titles are not all “feel-good” books, but they deal mainly with family dynamics.  

Peace Like A River by Leif Enger
Lady Chatterey’s Lover by D.H. Lawrence
The Space Between Us by Thrity Umrigar
The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen
Tell It To The Trees by Anita Rau Badami
The Silent Wife by A.S.A. Harrison
Cinnamon Toast and the End of the World by Janet Cameron
Big Brother by Lionel Shriver
Family Album by Kerry Kelly
Songs of Willow Frost by Jamie Ford
The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O’Farrell
I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith

There are others, of course, but these are my favourites. You can find more information in previous posts about each of these titles.

That’s all for today.  Enjoy the long weekend!

Bye for now…
Julie