Tag: books

Books of vacation (in three formats)

With vacation comes time to read…

David Sedaris: Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls book coverWe went through David Sedaris’ Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls in audiobook form, read by the author himself. David Sedaris may be the only author for whom I will tend to wait until I have time to listen to the audio version, rather than just read. Since they are all personal essays, something is added by hearing the stories through his distinct voice.

If you’ve enjoyed past books by David Sedaris, I don’t see why you wouldn’t like this one, too. If you haven’t read him before, you might want to start with an earlier one. Not that they’re chronological essays of his life, exactly, but still.

And if you don’t want to do the audio thing, the books do work fine in print as well.

The Reason I Jump: The Inner Voice of Thirteen-Year-Old Boy with Autism by Naoki Higashida was the last book club book, which I finished up at the start of vacation. I got the ebook for this one.

We all felt this book wasn’t quite all it was cracked up to be: a major revelation, fascinating, mesmerizing. Not that it was terrible, by any means, but… Well, it probably is different if read by someone who has a child with severe autism. For the rest of the us, it’s kind of interesting, but not earth shattering. Quite short, though, so don’t hesitate to read it if you’re curious.

Jonathan Tropper: One Last Thing Before I GoThe other audiobook we listened to, Jonathan Tropper’s One Last Thing Before I Go, was recommended by the owner of Wordsworth Books as the best book of the summer. We definitely enjoyed it. It’s the story of a musician, a drummer, who had one big hit song with his band and then had been on a downward spiral ever since. When he’s diagnosed with a fatal-if-untreated illness, he’s not so sure he has much to live for, anyway. His family doesn’t take so kindly to his response.

The novel deals with serious issues, but often in a humorous way. Some parts were laugh-out-loud funny. The story was engaging, and not entirely predictable. Partway through, we both tried to guess how it would go. Neither of us were exactly right. It was resolved satisfactorily, yet somewhat open-endedly.

I had read any Jonathan Tropper books before this. I would try them again.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks coverFinally, in good old-fashioned paper, I read the fascinating The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. This is the true story of the woman whose cancer cells were taken and cultured, and found to have the remarkable ability to reproduce endlessly: they are “immortal” cells. These “HeLa” cells proved very important to medicine and biology, but the woman herself and her family knew nothing of this for many years. In this book, Rebecca Skloot tells how she become interested in Henrietta as a person, and gradually came to know the members of the Lacks family (who are still with us). The cross-section of personal and medical history is just fascinating. It may not sound like the kind of book that’s hard to put down, but it really is.

The Who’s Tommy at Stratford

Seated in the third row of the Avon Theatre at Stratford, engrossed in our conversation, Jean and I were nearly jolted from our seats by the extremely loud opening chords of “The Overture”.

Judging by the nervous giggling all around us, we weren’t the only startled patrons. Welcome to The Who’s Tommy, live on stage at Stratford, Ontario.

The Who books in literary display, Stratford
Spot The Who amongst the literature at a Stratford bookstore

I enjoyed it very much, of course. Having seen it back in the 1990s in Toronto, I suspected I would. This version has more complex staging, more special effects. I couldn’t tell you what the differences are; I don’t remember well enough. But I can tell you this is one of the most elaborately staged musicals I’ve ever seen. There were always things to look at, all around the stage. (And from the third row, that sometimes made for a sore neck.)

So the one critique this production has received is that the effects and all are too much; that they overwhelm the excellent cast. Jean and I would disagree with that. Tommy is big rock musical with big themes. It and its cast are only enhanced by staging that matches those ambitions. And I, for one, did not find that it diminished the play’s emotional impact. I remain touched by Tommy’s situation.

As I know both the album and the movie inside and out, I found it interesting to see how the story was adapted for the stage.  I had recalled, from the Toronto production, that the story is somewhat softened from the movie version, both necessary (to not restrict the play to those 18 and over) and a relief, given that the Uncle Ernie, Cousin Kevin, and Acid Queen happen to the 10-year-old Tommy in the play, unlike the Daltrey-aged Tommy in the movie. (And no, little Tommy is not left alone with a hooker; his father merely toys with the idea before coming to his senses.)

But I had forgotten tons of things, like the interplay of Tommy at ages 4, 10, and 20something, which both dramatizes the character’s extreme self-imposed isolation, and allows us to enjoy the performance of lead actor Robert Marcus in the first half, before Tommy grows up; the very different handling of the Sally Simpson story (at least compared with the movie); and the much bigger role of Cousin Kevin—which is great, as he’s played by the wonderful Paul Nolan (Jesus in last year’s Jesus Christ Superstar).

Most especially, I’d forgotten that lyrical changes that turned “We’re Not Gonna Take It” into Tommy’s refusal to lead his followers into his world of isolation, whereas both album and movie had Tommy trying to do just that, and them rebelling. (Of course, the followers reject him here as well—only for a completely opposite reason.)

There are many other lyrical changes (for example, “21” refers to the mother’s age rather than the year), but only one new song appears in this production: “I Believe My Own Eyes”, which provides the segue into “Smash the Mirror” (without any need of the movie’s baked beans and melted chocolate). It’s very much a Broadway song, more so than a Who tune, but having bought the soundtrack, I do find myself humming it at times, which is interesting.

As I’ve already suggested, I thought the cast was very good, and on a shallow note, I found young Mr. Marcus very attractive, looking rather better on that stage than he did in his publicity photos. Jean was similarly struck by the lovely Kira Guloien as Mrs. Walker.

Gotta say that one thing really lost in the stage version is the power and potency of the “Listening to You” final chorus that you get from hearing The Who play that live.  But a play is a different animal than a rock concert. And this one is also worth experiencing, in my opinion.

Select quotes

“At least now I know why Tommy was deaf, dumb, and blind. I never understood that before.” — Jean

“I was hoping that I would know at least one song. Just one. But I didn’t recognize any of them.” — My Mom

“Oh my God. The music is by Pete Townshend? Of The Who? Oh my God. This is terrible!” — Lady sitting behind me

Après theatre dining

If you do go to Stratford, for Tommy or other, I might suggest dinner or lunch at La Taverna, which is a new section of Pazzo restaurant, as we very much enjoyed our meal there. It’s pretty small, but a pleasant room, with a comfortable feel. Sound level would have been fine, except we had a big Italian family dining next to us! 🙂 And the service was very good.

Oysters at La Taverna
Appetizer

We started by sharing oysters, and a bocconcini bruschetta with figs and prosciutto (not pictured, but very nice).

Gnocchi and fish
Main course

Jean had a very nice gnocchi dish as his main, while I went with the fish special of the day.

Rice pudding and baked vesuvius
Dessert

And we concluded with an arborio rice pudding for Jean and a “baked vesuvius” for me, that being a limoncello-soaked cake with lemon gelato and cardomom meringue. Delish.

Who I Am

No, this won’t be a philosophical statement of my essence; it’s just my reaction to Pete Townshend’s 500-page autobiography, Who I Am (now out in paperback).

Who I Am book coverI read a lot of reviews of this, both before and while reading it. And clearly a number were disappointed to find out what a flawed human being this very talented artist is.

Personally, I had never looked up to him as a personal hero in that sense, so I wouldn’t say I was disappointed in him. But I was very struck by his extremes, by how he would so frequently repeat destructive patterns of addiction, overwork, isolation, speaking out unwisely. In one chapter he would be mourning the loneliness of being the only band member trying to stay monogamous; a few later, he would be brazenly chasing younger women, even in front of his daughters. Here he’s giving up drinking, then he’s drinking daily, possibly with a side of cocaine. Then sober again, then taking a test drink.

You’re getting the idea. My most frequent synopsis, after finishing another section, was “Wow. Pete is really messed up.” I ended up straggling the reading of this over a number of months, as his life wasn’ always the happiest one to travel through.

So if you needed more proof that genius, creativity, success, and money doesn’t always bring inner peace and satisfaction, here it is.

While some biographies have wide appeal, I do think this one requires a pre-standing interest in the man, in his band, or at least in the music of that time. Though it should be noted that often doesn’t spend a lot of time on some of the best-known events of the band’s history, only mentioning these perfunctorily, as though obliged, sometimes with reference to websites for more information. This would be true, for example, of their literally explosive appearance on the Smothers Brothers; details of the creative process behind Tommy; the incident where Roger knocked him out cold at Quadrophenia rehearsals; the death of 11 fans in Cincinnati… Even Keith Moon and John Entwistle’s deaths don’t take as many pages as you might think. In some cases, I can see why he might feel he’s already said enough about that elsewhere. In others, I think he may just have been unwilling to delve too deeply into it.

Naturally, I had a particular eye out for what he’d have to say about Roger Daltrey. And mostly, it was positive, complimentary stuff. Some of the many personal conflicts they’ve had through the years are mentioned, but definitely downplayed. Despite the self-censorship, I did learn some things:

  • While I knew that originally Pete was supposed to sing much more of Tommy than he did, I didn’t realize the breakthrough came because Roger deliberately worked very hard to develop that beautiful, high, falsetto tone that we hear in “See me, feel me”. [Both Pete and I are relieved that he did.]
  • The usual story of the Who By Numbers album is that Pete wrote a bunch of really personal songs that Roger had to be persuaded to sing, indeed refusing to in some cases. Here Pete writes that he actually had many songs available for that album, and it was Roger who personally picked out those more personal and bleak ones. [Hmm.]
  • Becoming a bigger star in his own right, Roger started showing up at band events in his personal helicopter, which Pete found weird and which made Keith Moon very jealous. [That’s just funny.]
  • Pete thinks that Roger’s vocal performances  on the little-known (but lovely) “One Life’s Enough”, from It’s Hard, is one of his best. [I agree. Listen for yourself.]
  • Pete says wrote “After the Fire” (1985) about South Africa, and that it’s Roger’s interpretation that turned into a dirge for their lost youth of being rock stars [the latter, I admit, is how I’ve always interpreted that song!]
  • Pete hesitated to appear at Roger’s Daltrey Sings Townshend concert (1994), not, he says, because he was angry about the whole idea (as had been reported), but because he was afraid that performing again would threaten his newfound sobriety. [I love Pete’s appearance, and indeed that whole concert. Glad he did it.]
  • There was a lot of pressure on him to make his Iron Man solo album a Who album, but he was sure Roger would hate singing these songs. So sure, I guess, that he has completely forgotten that Roger did sing “Dig” on that album. It’s never mentioned. (Only, in passing, that he did have Roger sing and John Entwistle play on a cover version of “Fire” on that record.)

Video proof of something Pete has apparently forgotten ever happened…

As for the whole child pornography investigation, it’s a bit amazing that it’s received so much attention in book reviews and interviews, as it, appropriately, makes up so little of the book itself. Pete did nothing wrong. Can we move on now?

But it was nice to hear that he received many letters of support related to that and that he even made an effort to respond to many. And that he does seem happier as an older man than he was a younger. As an appendix, he includes a fan letter from 1967. He comments how he realizes now, as he couldn’t then, that this fan, his fans, love him in a genuine. And thinks how different his life would have been if he could only have learned to see and accept love earlier.

Busy week

Some weeks are quiet, and others, you have something on every night. This past week was the latter.

Monday night we were out for ballroom dance practice, and there isn’t much more to say about that.

Brain on Fire coverTuesday night I had book club meeting (and Jean braved the grocery store all by hisself!), to discuss Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness by Susannah Cahalan. It was definitely a quick and interesting read, an account of  how a 24-year-old suddenly gradually became more psychotic, to the point of spending a month in such a state of delirium that, to this day, she cannot remember that time. Yet most testing showed nothing wrong with her; a medical mystery. To write the book, she had to rely on eye witness accounts by her family, friends, and boyfriend, along with medical records and some hospital video footage.

So it made for some good discussion. Two of us had only the eBook version, and we both reacted the same way to seeing the physical hardcover: Picking it up in fascination at its surprising “heft” in “real life”. “I feel like I’ve brought in an ancient artifact,” friend-with-actual-book remarked.

Wednesday night we were off to see Jeans’n’Classics / KW Symphony rendition of “The Music of Annie Lennox”. But before that, we went out for dinner to Niko Niko Roll & Sushi. The level of service was a little weak, and the lack of a wine list a bit disappointing, but the food was pretty good. Not quite up to Watami Sushi level, but better than most “all you can eat” places. And, for the first time I can recall, we were actually at Centre in the Square a full half hour before concert start! That speed of service was much appreciated.

(I was told my speed of walking may have contributed, too. It was chilly out!)

The concert itself was very enjoyable. They had six different female singers covering the various Eurythmics and Annie Lennox solo songs, so you got to hear them interpreted through a variety of voices and singing styles. They all wore dresses in the first half, and men’s wear in the second, in tribute to Annie Lennox’s own range of fashion.

Thursday, we had a Jean work event at the Culinary Studio, to celebrate some achievements (that this isn’t the place to describe). Children and spouses were welcome to join. What we did was move from workstation to workstation, preparing a different appetizer at each: soup, spanakopita, crepes, spring rolls, and bruschetta. (The kids made chocolate chip cookies.) It was a lot of fun—and I’ve learned I’ve been chopping vegetables incorrectly for 25 years. (Gonna be a hard habit to break.)

Spring rolls
We learned how to make spring rolls much like these

Then, we all ate what we had made. It was surprising how filling a small number of appetizers (and cookies) can be!

Friday we stayed home and watched a movie called Secret Things. There will be a separate post on that.

And Saturday we were out for a very special dinner, which will also merit its own post.

 

Join the Quiet revolution

I finally got around to reading Susan Cain’s Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Won’t Stop Talking, which is just out in paperback. I didn’t really need the book to confirm that I was an introvert, but if you’re not sure, she does include a quick test. I answered true to almost everything.

Cover of QuietThings became a little murkier as she explored related but not identical concepts such as shyness and sensitivity. Isn’t shyness the same thing as introversion? No, actually, though many individuals are both of these. But introversion, generally, means gaining energy from your own mental devices rather than from other people (who tend to tire you out), while shyness is a fear of being judged by others. I happen to be both introverted and shy, but it’s entirely possible to be a shy extrovert (which must be a special kind of hell, I would think).

Sensitivity, though, characterizes people who are “highly reactive”; who tend to get overwhelmed by stimulus. This is another characteristic that is often but not always associated with introverts, and I finally concluded that I’m not all that sensitive, really. Sure, I avoid ultra-violent movies because I find them too disturbing, but I can’t say I’m super empathetic, have great depth of feeling, or notice subtleties in my environment. (I’m a bit of a self-centered, shy, introvert, I suppose.)

But apart from helping you to understand yourself and others better, the manifesto behind the book is that North American society idealizes extroverts, making it difficult for introverts to find their way in the world, and particularly, to attain power. She argues that not only would it benefit introverted individuals if society recognized the strengths and abilities they brought to the table, but that society as a whole would as well.

At first I was somewhat resisting the idea that I had suffered prejudice all my life due to my temperament, but she did bring some valid points. The years of complaints about me “not participating in class” during school (and thank goodness I went through before “group work” became such a thing); the low cubicle walls at work so we can better “collaborate” (which results in so many being head down in earphones as they work); and the louder ones, rather than the smarter ones, tending to get their way at meetings.

And she gives advice for what you can do, from acting more extroverted than you are in certain circumstances to building in “down time” for yourself for rejuvenation to changing seating arrangements at your parties to make them more comfortable. (I’ll add one of my own: Apparently introverts are less likely to exercise, which I found confounding, because I quite enjoy it. People, you can do that alone in or around your house, to your own tunes, in your own way. You don’t even need that much space or equipment. Exercise does not have to mean sports or gyms.)

So yes, with nearly half the population in this boat, I can see why this book has had a lot of legs. Any thoughts on how to get the extroverts to read it? Hmm?

eReading

Not sure what it was, but this year in the wider family, three of us—including me—got eReaders. Specially, various of us gave the other’s Kobos, based on the recommendation of the one person in the family who already had an eReader.

Kobo eReader

Now, I already have an Android tablet, which I had already been using to read ebooks. (Or, ebook, really, since I’ve read only one on it so far, with two more on deck.) I wondered if it would tire out my eyes to read on the tablet, but didn’t find that to be the case. Still, I was interested in the plain, eInk eReader because:

  • It’s not backlit (bad for sleep, so they say), but does have a built-in book light, making it better for reading in bed.
  • It can be read in the sun, which tablets can’t.
  • It’s quite a bit smaller and lighter than my tablet—which makes it (to me) not nearly as suitable for magazine and newspaper layouts—but much better to hold for reading a book.
  • The battery life is dramatically longer than a tablet’s. (It also seemed to charge very quickly in the first place.)

In my few days of experimentation, I found that while it doesn’t come with any books, you can wirelessly connect to the Kobo store and buy some. What I had more trouble wrapping my mind around was how you could do anything else with it—like add ebooks from other sources. (I mean legal ones, like from Google Play.)

I’m just so used to the tablet, you see, which is truly a standalone device (at least, Android ones are). I can load pretty much anything I want to right onto my tablet; no need to tether it to a PC and drag things on there. Whereas with the browser-less Kobo, I eventually figured out, you really have to connect it to a computer to do anything other than buy from the Kobo store. In fact, I actually have three desktop apps installed for this thing now: the Kobo one, Adobe Digital Editions—required for at least some of the books from Google Play, and in case I want to borrow ebooks from the library—and one called Calibre, which helps with finding and loading legal unlocked ebooks.

But enough about the technical stuff. How is it for reading?

Maidenhead coverMy sister had downloaded two books within an hour of charging her Kobo. I, on the other hand, took about a day to decide what to buy first. Since they say Shades of Grey is partly responsible for the rise of eReader popularity, I got—no, not that book, since I don’t want to read badly written erotica inspired by freakin’ Twilight—but Maidenhead by Tamara Faith Berger, which is often touted as a better-written alternative to the Grey trilogy.

And due to our trip home taking much longer than expected (I won’t get into why), I have already read the whole thing. So I can confirm the Kobo Glo worked quite well. I had to read mostly in the dark, and the built-in book light was effective. I did not have to futz around with font sizes and zooming; it just worked. Navigating through the pages was simple, and I appreciated that it always gave me an idea where I was up to in the book (which my tablet doesn’t, at least not as visibly).

As for the book itself, it was incredibly engaging. I would warn that it is an erotic novel involving a teenage girl obsessed with a Rastafarian man twice her age who has a somewhat violent girlfriend, so it’s likely not everyone’s cup of tea. But it is very well-written, stimulating to both mind and other body parts. And Jean liked it, too, so it’s not just a woman thing.

Only bummer is, having given Maidenhead a good rating, what do you think Kobo’s big recommendation for me is now? Hint: It rhymes with Braids of Day…

Québec City!

I don’t really have that much to say about our recent, quick visit to Québec City as all we did—apart from the concert—is what we always do there: amble about, do a little shopping, look at art, enjoy the romantic “old city” feel of the place, and eat at great restaurants. We were not bored, but it’ not much to write home about. But Jean took such great pictures there, I have to say something!

Quebec City street

Accommodations

It did strike me, this time, how we never, ever seem to stay at the same place twice when we visit. We were spotting our past hotels all over. This time out, of course, was a new one, Hotel le Grande Allée, just outside the gates of Old Quebec. Having achieved cost reductions by using travel points, it was by far the biggest room we have ever had in Québec City: It featured not only a sitting room, but two full bedrooms. Interesting, but rather more than a couple requires.

Gates to Old Quebec

Gates to Old Quebec, just down from our hotel

It was on a super-busy street, teaming with bars, cafes, and restaurants that were going strong Saturday night. So can affirm the hotel had pretty good sound proofing. Steep to park there, though.

Weather

The weekend weather could not have been better for our visit: Sunny both days, with a high around 21.

Hotel Frontenac and field

The weather, she be perfect

Food

For meals, we went to the reliable Crémaillère for dinner before the concert, and found it still had excellent service and very fine food. I shall have to contact Where to Eat in Canada to see why they don’t list it.

Sunday lunch was at a randomly selected place where I had a great platter of antipasto’s like duck pate, house-smoked salmon, roasted red peppers, prociutto, and olives. Jean had the cheese platter (no surprise).

Quebec terasse

We had lunch on a térasse something like this. (And yes, this is a photo of Jean’s)

Sunday dinner was the coolest, though, as we went to restaurant Toast!, which was entirely enjoyable. We were able to dine in their recently “open for the season” covered patio, which has a very neat atmosphere. Service was great but not stuffy, as evidenced by the staff uniform of a red plaid shirt over black pants. And their menu is just appetizers—no main courses. Which was perfect, because we weren’t starved, but everything sounded so good.

So we were able to share four: An amazing mushroom crostini; very nice asparagus and crab; le foie gras, specialty of the house; and a lamb and gnochi creation. Each with a matching glass of wine. The small serving sizes left plenty of room for dessert, which was (big surprise) chocolate for me, cheese for Jean.

Shopping

We did look at art, seriously considering one painting (which we’re still considering), but made only small-ticket purchases while there, of items such as chocolate truffles. And shoe laces. (Really.)

Street art

This piece of street art was not for sale

Students

We had two near encounters with the student protestors: we heard their pots clanging away nearby while having lunch, then after visiting the Assemblée Nationale at night. We returned to our hotel room, turned on the TV, and saw a “live” shot of protestors at the Assemblée Nationale. Meaning they must have arrived five, ten minutes after we left.

Assemblee Nationale fountain

Assemblée Nationale shortly before being overrun by student protestors

I admire their tenacity, but jeez I wish they would put it toward something actually worth fighting for!

Entertainment

Our audiobook for the journey was Sacre Bleu: A Comedy d’Art by Christopher Moore. It was the first book of his either of us had read, and we both really liked it. Very interesting weaving of all these Impressionist painters with a fantastical element. It also allowed us to great enjoyment out of lines such as “Accident. Couldn’t be helped.” and “Not that Prussian shit!”, which no one understood but us. That’s always fun.

More photos in the gallery

Some quick ones

Other issues have been getting in the way of blogging lately. Let’s see if I can cover a few items with some brevity (not always my strong suit).

Politics: NDP leadership

It’s been interesting to read the views on Thomas Mulcair, but I haven’t formed my own opinion of him yet. Me, I liked Nathan Cullen. To the point where I was almost wishing I had joined the NDP, just so I could vote for him.

Politics: Robocalls

Yep, I’m still following this issue pretty closely and may rant more about it later. In the meantime I will say that Rick Mercer’s 2-minute rant this week summed it up nicely for me. The MPs themselves don’t really know what happened, but someone does. Several someones, higher up. We know it’s rotten. We know the government won’t investigate itself, but someone must.

Rick suggests the G-G. I don’t have much faith that he would do; he’s really not the shit-disturber type, which is probably why Harper picked him. Still, I don’t have a better suggestion. And like Rick, I want to something to happen on this, and sooner rather than later.

 

Books: What not to read

On fairly short notice, we ended up having to take a somewhat long road trip. So I tried to find an audiobook. A novel called Mine Are Spectacular! looked kind of fun, and had pretty good reviews.

People, it was so ridiculous. It was intended, I think, as a kind of wish fulfillment novel for middle-aged women. Everyone was rich, richer, and richest, and their was no end to the designer labels being dropped into the prose, as though every paragraph had a sponsor. We started mockingly repeating each as they went by: Louis Vuitton! Gucci! Dolce Gabana!

And though not that old (2006), it seemed so dated. AOL buddies. The cutting-edge concept of metrosexuals. And frankly, all that reveling in the luxury goods, which seemed a bit wrong, post-recession.

And then there was Kurt. Gorgeous, smart, successful, (rich!) Kurt, in his 20s, who nonetheless has so little life of his own that, of course, all he wants to do is hang out with a bunch of women in their 40s. He’s what “the girl” usually is in action movies–a bit of eye candy for our heroines, who has no apparent existence outside of them.

Food: New ways to drink ice wine

We did the Niagara-on-the-Lake thing recently. Like a lot of people, we kind of like ice wine, but it is so thick and so sweet, we don’t really drink it that often.

But on this trip we purchased a wine that was a mix of Riesling and ice wine. The result was a sweet wine, but one that was much less thick and sweet. Much more approachable.

Then at a wine pairing dinner we went to, we were served sparkling wine—with a dash of ice wine in it. That made for a slightly off-dry sparkling (reminiscent of Peller Estates’ Ice Cuvee) that went really nicely with the pumpkin soup.

That got us thinking that we could do our own blending here. A touch of ice in a cabernet franc. Our own blend of ice cuvee with some other sparkling wine. You know? So that bottle of ice doesn’t just sit for months in your fridge after you’ve had your one glass of it.

Sugar in my Bowl

Sugar in my Bowl is a collection of essays edited by Erica Jong. The subtitle of the collection is Real Women Write About Real Sex.

Sugar in my Bowl coverI somewhat dispute that subtitle, as most of the women represented here are writers by profession, some of them somewhat famous (Suzie Bright, Gail Collins, Eve Ensler, Liz Smith). Not that women who write for a living aren’t real, but only that a particular subsection of womanhood is represented here.

So, a lot of the essays here are about writing. The embarrassment of having written an erotic novel—and it being your best selling work, ever. The problem of editors wanting to soften your sex scenes. Your personal difficulty in including sex scenes in your novel. And there’s even one about reading a novel—The Story of O, to be precise, in one sleepless but exciting solitary night.

And, not everything is about real sex, either, if you’re going to be literal about it. Some are works of fiction. One’s a mini play.

Of course, there are definite upsides to including professional writers: The writing is very good! And the collection is quite varied. You never know quite what you’re going to get. It could be slightly erotic tale about a teenage encounter with an older man. It could be a rather sad story about a marriage nearly devastated by loss of desire after the birth of a child. (That one doubles as a pretty good form of birth control.) It could be a graphic fantasy (i.e. comic). An analysis of why one’s sex life is so very mainstream, despite being raised by free-loving hippies. An admission of having trouble using the proper anatomical terms with one’schildren. A recollection of a tryst that nearly but didn’t happen, and years later, is still being thought about.

I quite enjoyed this, and I zipped through it. It suited my reading habits, broken into short but complete chunks that I could easily read before going to sleep. It contained much that was interesting, and nothing that was (to me, anyway) disturbing. As Erica Jong says, sex is life.

And a delicious new year

We followed the usual traditions, spending New Year’s Eve at Verses…

New Year's Eve 2012 at Verses

(There might have been wine involved), only this time with a friend. A lovely four-course meal, the highlights of which were probably the cold foie gras we all started with, and the champagne-poached oyster appetizer I had to follow.

We spent a mellow New Year’s Day (well, I did—Jean actually went canoeing in the rain).

Then on Monday, we did that slightly crazy multi-course cooking thing we do. The Monday actually being the day before we had to go back to work, though, we did scale it back a little, starting the dining at an earlier time, and only attempting three courses this year.

Appetizer: Mussels and clams with lemon grass

This was from a book by Christine Ingram called Appetizers, Starters and Buffet Foods, which I took out of the library. (Did I mention we have library in walking distance now? Me likie.) Though the ingredients sounded delicious—the seafood steamed in a broth of lemon grass, white wine, lime, and coconut cream, the instructions didn’t really make sense. It said to put in the wine with seasonings and cook it until it was almost gone, then add the seafood, then take out the cooked seafood, and reduce what was left by half. How can you reduce nothing by half?

Anyway, so this ended up a free-wheeling improvisation, especially since I also had to use lemon grass in a tube, fresh limes rather than “kaffir lime leaves”, and coconut milk with coffee cream rather than coconut cream. And since we were also in the middle of cooking the main course when we had to start this (it’s just how these meals work), it was a little stressful.

Fortunately, it turned out delicious!

Mussels, clams, and lemon grass with wine

A few of the mussels and clams might have ended up a bit overcooked, but most had a really nice texture, and the broth tasted amazing. We had about three pounds of seafood here, and we ate every bite.

The wine it cooked in was an Oyster Bay Sauvignon Blanc, but for serving, we went with a Stratus 2006 White, which is a rich white blend. It was nice and complex, and definitely involved some Chardonnay. (Website says: Also Sauvignon Blanc, Gewurztraminer, Semillon and Viognier.)

Main course: Cider and honey roast leg of lamb with crisp roasted potatoes and caramelized Brussels sprouts

Three recipes here. The meat was a Gordon Ramsey offering (and also a library acquisition), and never having cooked leg of lamb before, I followed the recipe pretty much exactly. It basically involved roasting the leg with garlic, thyme, and apple, and basting it with honey and cider. Really not too difficult; you just have to allow 2—2.5 hours to get it done.

The only thing that didn’t particular work was the gravy, which he claimed could be produced from the leftover cider with added chicken broth—with no thickener. He claimed that it cooked down to the proper consistency, but there was a ton of liquid! So we just used it runny. It tasted good, but was definitely more bouillon than gravy, to me.

The potato recipe was from Cook’s Country magazine. In their usual method, they had tested and experimented until they came up with the perfect technique for producing a crispy texture on the outside, and a creamy texture on the inside. But we couldn’t follow that, because we had only one oven, and I decided that it was more important that the meat cook at the proper temperature than the potatoes.

And the Brussels sprout recipe was courtesy of Gwyneth Paltrow’s My father’s daughter, a Christmas gift. It was a quick recipe we could do after eating the seafood, while awaiting the meat: You basically steam the Brussels sprouts for seven minutes, then cut them in half and sear each side in olive oil, and serve with lemon juice, more olive oil, and coarse salt.

Lamb, potatoes, and brussel sprouts with red wine

We had a good year; this all turned out well also. (Though I couldn’t eat that entire plate, above.) Despite their lack of perfectly crispy exterior, the potatoes were very good—Jean thought they were the highlight. The meat was tasty and tender. And strangely, it tasted even better the next day, when we had it as a leftover.

The Brussels sprout recipe was intended to make converts of those who don’t like Brussels sprouts, and I could see that. As Jean said, they kind of ended up not tasting like Brussels sprouts very much. They were good, but since we actually like Brussels sprouts, maybe they didn’t need all the disguise.

We served it with a wine that we picked up in California, a 2004 Bartholomew Park Cabernet Sauvignon. It was very nice, full and fruity but still with some tannins.

Dessert: Praline cream pie

This is from Cooking Light magazine. It wasn’t difficult, but it was involved, as you had to make the crust, then let that cool, then make the praline layer, and let that cool, then make the cream, and (you guessed it) let that cool, then put the whole thing together and chill it for a long time. So I started that in the morning, and we ate it around 8:30 or 9:00, and it still wasn’t completely set.

On the other hand, it was nice to have dessert out of the way early, so that last part of dining could be quite relaxed. And slightly runny or not, it was really very good. Like a lighter sugar pie, maybe?

Praline cream pie with Ice cuvee

We had that with a Peller Estate Ice Cuvée, a lovely blend of ice and sparkling wine.