Food Rules

Title: Food Rules
Author: Michael Pollan
Genre: Non-fiction
Published: 2009

Recommendation: A few quick rules on eating healthy.
Rating: 7/10

Summary + Reactions: The book is really tiny. It literally took me an hour to read the whole thing aloud. And in general it tries to bring across 3 ideas: one that you should eat non-processed foods, second that you should emphasize veggies and healthy foods in your diet, and third that you should eat slowly and avoid snacking too much.

I don't feel that any of the three rules are universally true or should be taken literally. Fortunately the book says as much itself, telling the reader to take the message to heart and not saying that unhealthy food will kill you at the first bite.

Still the book expounds on buying fresh fruits, vegetables, meats in a store (or even better at a local farmers market) and cooking them yourself to avoid preservatives and in general other things you wouldn't typically find in your pantry. One of the first rules of the book is "Don't eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn't recognize as food". There are also some interesting and perhaps less intuitive rules for staying away from low-fat food alternatives because they often make up for the lack of fat with carbohydrates and it's actually more healthy to eat the regular version in moderation. They bring up margarine as one such example.

I think it's actually pretty difficult for a modern American person to change their diet to the extent where they could avoid all non-processed food. Some things are just too darned convenient (e.g. canned chicken broth), but I do find that I can often cook meals out of raw ingredients at home that taste much better than anything I've ever bought as a prepackaged meal.

Eating in moderation, chewing slowly, stopping before you are full, and avoiding snacking is also advices we've all heard before, but often they are easier said than done. Even though I felt the book relied quite a bit on the arguments of the type "our ancestors did it and they didn't get cancer", there are some interesting studies quoted as well to support the claims. I do wish more of the research was cited, it's not a particularly in-depth study.

Overall, an interesting quick book on healthy eating that gives some practical suggestions that are easy to incorporate at least to some extent in your daily eating habits.

Against a Dark Background

Title: Against a Dark Background
Author: Iain M. Banks
Genre: Science Fiction
Published: 1993

Recommendation: Well written space opera slightly reminiscent of Firefly.
Rating: 7.5/10

Summary: Lady Sharrow is a leader of a once-military team that re-assembled to help her escape the persecution by the Huhsz. The latter is a military religious order that is given a one year hunting license for Lady Sharrow, unless she can return to them the last Lazy Gun stolen 6 generations ago by her great-great-great-grandmother.

Reactions: I came across this book because Lady Sharrow was mentioned as one of the most memorable heroines and I decided to give it a try since I've heard of Iain M. Banks, but have never read any books by him previously.

Overall, there is a surprisingly poetic tone to the book. Banks inevitably spends the first page of every chapter describing the setting and the atmosphere. The language is well-used, but eventually I found myself skipping over the descriptive parts. Here's one such beginning:

The antique car hissed every now and again and leaked steam. Behind it, beyond the shells of the ruined warehouses, mists rose perpetually from the warm waters of the inlet, climbing and re-climbing the frost-gray planes of a lifeless sky. Thrial was a red fruit wrapped in tissues of mist.

The plot itself progressed pretty well. There were a number of dark and even depressing parts to the story, but there was plenty of upbeat action and dialogue as well. Banks deals very ruthlessly with some of the characters, but that only adds to the suspense of the book. Overall the plot flowed quite well, except perhaps for the ending which was rather abrupt and didn't tie up the story as well as I hoped.

Upon finishing the reading and searching the web, I found many other readers found the ending less than satisfactory as well and that an epilogue to the book has been published separately a year later. If you end up reading the novel, I also recommend reading this epilogue.

Lady Sharrow's character, as promised, was rather unique. She is the heroine of the book, but at the same time very flawed. It made her feel very realistic even if I didn't feel sympathetic with her all the time. Other characters were a pretty colorful set also. My favorite was an android named Feril who joins the crew later in the novel. Here's a sample of Sharrow's dialogue with Feril:

She put her hand out to the machine. "I hope you will not have cause to regret this," she said, smiling.
It gripped her hand gently. "Regret is for humans," it said.
She laughed. "Really?"
The machine shrugged and let go of her hand. "Oh, no. It's just something we tell ourselves."

Overall, it was a good read that I have enjoyed despite some slowness in parts of the book and a somewhat disappointing ending. I would definitely recommend the book to anyone who likes these types of stories.

August Recap

And the summer is almost over. August was a pretty non-eventful month reading-wise. I spent most of my time slogging through the beginning of Before They Are Hanged and didn't get a whole lot of reading done overall. I did watch 3 seasons of Nip/Tuck instead on the Netflix. That show started out quite interesting, but has been going downhill as the seasons progressed. Still it's entertainment while I am waiting for the fall shows to come back.

I hope in September I'll catch up on some book reading and do less TV watching. My reading pile is running dangerously low now, anyone got good suggestions for fun books to read to get back into the reading gear?

Reading

Books read: 2

1. The Passage by Justin Cronin
2. Before They Are Hanged by Joe Abercrombie

Favorite book: The Passage by Justin Cronin

Before They Are Hanged

Title: Before They Are Hanged
Author: Joe Abercrombie
Series: The First Law, Book 2
Genre: Fantasy
Published: 2008

Recommendations: Read it if you liked the first book and still remember what happened.
Rating: 7/10

Summary: The epic story of various heroes continue unfolding. Bayaz and his company travel to the edge of the world through various dangers. Glokta is appointed the Superior of Dagoska, which is besieged by King Bethod. Colonel West and others continue fighting against Bethod's army in the north.

Reactions: I've read the first book of this series in 2008 and managed to forget almost everything about the first novel other than the unforgettable characters of Glokta and Ninefingers and the fact that I enjoyed reading it. However, picking up Before They Are Hanged in early August proved to be slow reading. It was difficult to get back into the story since I didn't remember what happened before and I must have spent almost 3 weeks just getting through the first 100 pages of the book.

Eventually I picked up on the thread of the story and the reading went much livelier. The highlight of the story are definitely the characters. They are bright, individualistic, and unusual. Several of them end up transforming quite remarkably throughout the book and such changes in character I find interesting to read about. Their rather complex relationships are fun to follow as well.

Plot-wise though, not a whole lot happens in the book. Some progress is made in all story lines, but nothing resembling the conclusion has been reached. The events will definitely continue unfolding in the final book of the series.

Overall, it's a well written fantasy, which I had some trouble getting into as a stand-alone book. I haven't quite decided yet if I want to pick up the next book either. We'll see.

The Passage

Title: The Passage
Author: Justin Cronin
Genre: Horror
Published: 2010

Recommendation: A long meaty read for those who enjoy character-driven stories and apocalyptic fiction.
Rating: 8/10

Summary: In the uninhabited jungles of Bolivia, American military discovers a virus that would make a person stronger, more long-lived, but sensitive to light and with an appetite for blood. The virus is tested on 12 convicts from the death row and finally on a little girl, named Amy. The "virals" escape into the wild, killing and infecting the world that quickly succumbs to the virus. What follows is the story of the survivors.

Reactions: Every review I've read mentions one fact upfront. This book is heavy. It's heavy in two ways -- one literal -- the tome of almost 800 pages must weight a few pounds at least. It's heavy with suffering and despair and conflict too, though not as grim as it could be given the contents of the book.

The book starts out with introducing a number of characters, all moving along their paths which soon become mingled together leading to the escape of the virals. The narrative is fairly wordy, but it doesn't bore. There is plenty of action alongside with descriptions and characters' backgrounds. The reader has plenty of time to learn all about the characters, the what's and the how's and the why's. The book splits off into 2 parts, the second taking place almost 100 years later where virals have overrun the world and a small colony of surviving humans are living under the lights still powered by wind turbines as long as their batteries hold.

What I did not expect was the lack of conclusion to the book. Only a small part of the story is resolved at the end of it and plenty of questions left unanswered. After finishing the book I learned it was the first book of a planned trilogy. The ending now makes sense, though it's still rather disappointing given the length of the book, I'd have hoped more of a story arc could have been covered.

Overall, it's an enjoyable read with rich characters and heart-wrenching narratives. There are parts of the book where the events feel as somewhat of a stretch, but overall it flows rather well. Yet, I have seen the overly-glowing reviews of the book, calling it the book of the year, but for me it's not. Enjoyable, but it didn't quite cut through the way my previous read The Windup Girl did.

Still, highly recommended to everyone looking for a good read.

July Recap

And the summer is flying by oh-so-quickly. I am reading The Passage by Justin Cronin right now and enjoying it, but that will be a book to discuss in August. I finished July with only 3 books completed, but the last one took some time to read.

Reading

Books Read: 3

1. Clockwork Heart by Dru Pagliassotti
2. Naamah's Curse by Jacqueline Carey
3. The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi

Favorite Book: The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi

Overall, it was a good reading month. All three of the books being quite enjoyable in different ways. The Windup Girl was without doubt the best book I've read last month. Waiting to see if The Passage will top it with its own post-apocalyptic adventure.

The Windup Girl

Title: The Windup Girl
Author: Paolo Bacigalupi
Genre: Science Fiction
Published: 2009

Recommendation: An apocalypse novel of great strength.
Rating: 9/10

Summary: Oil has been all used up and a series of plagues left the world grasping for every possibility of growing food and looking for energy resources. After the Contraction and ethnic purges, economy is looking to expand once more. In the Kingdom of Thailand a group of people may change the country's course.

Reactions: I have seen many positive reviews of The Windup Girl prior to picking up the book. The novel has definitely lived up to it's hype. The Windup Girl places the reader in a very atmospheric post-apocalytpic world of Thailand and introduces you to a wonderfully real and diverse cast of characters.

The characters in this book are probably my favourite aspect of it. We first meet Anderson Lake who is an American "calorie-man". He lives in Thailand undercover as a factory owner, but in reality he is searching for a way to access Thai's innovations in plague-resistant food production. From the very first pages his behaviour showcases that he is not a nice man, but as the book goes on, he actually becomes the anti-hero against a backdrop of characters who do some very questionable things.

The title of the novel refers to a genetically engineered human girl. Her kind is despised and feared in Thailand, while being cultivated in Japan. She has been abandoned in Thailand by her Japanese master and is now kept as a novelty in a brothel.

There are several other rather unique characters whose lives end up connected throughout the book. The plot involves political upheaval as well as personal struggles by many of the characters. The book is very well paced and kept my attention very well despite its considerable length.

The world that Bacigalupi draws feels surprisingly real and possible. There's depth to the narrative and twist of the story. The mood of the story is grim and there are many rather gritty scenes in the book, not to mention adult content. However, none of it is gratuitous and together it presents a powerful message. Definitely a book with a punch behind it.