Munjeli Cookbook
Book Reviews
Water for Elephants, by Sarah Gruen
The story begins in a nursing home, narrated by a ninety-three year old retired veterinarian recalling his first experience working in a Depression era circus. Rich with historical detail and possessed of a lively, complicated plot, the book captivated me enough to be a twenty-four hour read. That’s a book I pick up and only [...]
Oryx and Crake, by Margaret Atwood
Honestly, I’ve never been fond of chicken. As a child I refused to eat it after I read that birds were the modern relatives of dinosaurs. If you wouldn’t eat snake or lizard why would you eat a chicken? My mother still refers to it occasionally by my label when I ask what she’s making: [...]
The Wind Up Bird Chronicles, by Haruki Murakami
The first experience I had with Japanese literature was when I was thirteen. I was away at summer camp on a college campus, and their bookstore had a clearance shelf that included a defectively bound copy of Yukio Mishima’s The Sound of Waves for a dollar. I was hooked not so much by the writing [...]
Neuromancer, by William Gibson
I can’t say why exactly, but I do prefer William Gibson’s more recent work. Maybe it’s obvious that a writer gets better with practice, but in his case I would suggest the reason is a ‘less is more’ sort of evolution. Neuromancer, like The Difference Engine, is so packed with ideas and descriptions the effect [...]
Animal Farm, by George Orwell
Somehow, I had always missed reading the whole thing. I knew the plot, several of the catchphrases, but had never actually read the book. It was worth it. An easy read, bit of a fable, with a sly straightfaced narration, the book describes a politic inevitable in communes and corporations: the ascent of power, the [...]
Love + Sex with Robots, by David Levy
I haven’t been reading much, and this book took me forever. A brilliant compilation of research on attachment, technology, and sexology, I skipped through it and doubled back. I don’t know why. A few laborious passages on pets or prostitution left me cold, but in the end I think I got it. I certainly discussed [...]
In Defense of Food, by Micheal Pollan
The hard part is the follow through. We hear all the time about the dangers of processed foods, and many of us have experienced first hand the benefits of a healthy diet, at least a healthy meal or two, and the satisfaction of real food. I feel better physically if I eat my vegetables and [...]
A Wolf at the Table, by Augusten Burroughs
Augusten Burroghs is a talented writer with a tormented past. His memoirs have made best-seller lists; he is riding the cutting edge of literary trendiness. Memoir! You should write a book! Its all the rage these days; I hear it myself at cocktail parties. How flattering to think we could finally be recognized for all [...]
Cloud Atlas, by David Mitchell
Here is a book that knows what the modern novel is about: a postmodernist classic. David Mitchell makes skillful use of his writer’s bag of tricks. The storyline is chronologically creative; a series of short stories link through coincidence and theme. The characters are unique, while the theme develops historically and ideologically. By the end [...]
The Girl Who Played With Fire, by Stieg Larsson
When I say I liked it, that doesn’t necessarily mean it was a good book. It was just a good read, at the right time, and had some redeeming qualities. Like the first book in the trilogy, The Girl Who Played With Fire is an intentional blockbuster. It reads like a screenplay (and immediately became [...]
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