Books On My Bedside Table

Food.  Books.  Family.  But not necessarily in that order.

These are without doubt the reigning interests in my life, with the first two informing the way the third takes shape.  

So far I've only written about children's books (see here and here).  Time for some grown up entries.

Here is a snapshot of what's sitting on my bedside table right now.  The bedside table is where all my recent reads wind up (when they haven't been loaned out).  Happily, all recent selections have been eminently recommendable.  Here's a quick summary:

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrow  

On a spontaneous visit to my favorite bookshop last weekend, I must have looked a directionless as I felt.  Seeing me pick up and put down a quick succession of books, the shopgirl came out from behind her desk to put this in my hands.  She said, "This won't change your life, but it's fantastic for reading in bed at night and it will leave you feeling happy."  She was right.  

The story behind the making of the book is just as compelling as the story itself.  It is a first novel from 70-year-old former librarian Mary Ann Shaffer, who was goaded into writing it by members of her writing group.  Sadly, Mary Ann became seriously ill before the book was published (though she had completed and sold her manuscript).  Enter her niece, writer Annie Barrow.  Annie made the changes required by the publisher, and got the book to publication.  Mary Ann died in 2008 without seeing her book in print, but with the satisfaction of knowing that it would be published.  It is a stunning legacy, from two gifted women.  

Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali

This book is, by turns, inspiring, harrowing, challenging and unnerving.  It was a struggle to put it down each and every night.  It left me with more questions than answers.  After reading it, I proposed it to my book group and it inspired (I think) our most robust discussion to date.  

From the book jacket:  "In this profoundly affecting memoir from the internationally renowned author of The Caged Virgin, Ayaan Hirsi Ali tells her astonishing life story, from her traditional Muslim childhood in Somalia to her intellectual awakening in the Netherlands, to her life under armed guard in the West."

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

If I had to chose my favorite books of all time, this would be in the top five. Or top three.  Possibly number one.  It is deeply original and achingly beautiful.  

From the book jacket:  "It is 1939.  Nazi Germany.  The country is holding its breath.  Death has never been busier, and will become busier still."

The Man Who Ate Everything by Jeffrey Steingarten

It really isn't fair that this much wit and eloquence should be allocated to a single man.  Jeffrey Steingarten is the food critic for Vogue and the food correspondent for Slate.  I would love to sit next to him at a dinner party.  I dip in and out of this book, for a bit of deliciously comic relief following heavier fare.  

As the Los Angeles Times enthuses "Only a reader with ... an incurious stomch or a hopelessly dormant sense of humor will fail to charmed."

The Spare Room by Helen Garner

Helen Garner's unflinching exploration of the dynamic between two friends - one dying and the other caregiving - is stunning, humorous and brutal in its honesty.  Her prose is surgically precise - not a word is wasted.  It left me feeling bruised, and in awe of Helen Garner's talent. 

From Peter Carey: "How is it that she can enter this heart-breaking territory - the dying friend who comes to stay - and make it not only bearable, but glorious, and funny?  There is no answer except: Helen Garner is a great writer; The Spare Room is a great book."

Garlic & Sapphires: The Secret Life Of A Restaurant Critic In Disguise by Ruth Reichl

Whenever I read Ruth Reichl, I know exactly what I'm going to get: a witty romp and cravings for foie gras.   And while she writes enticingly about food, she never descends into mere gastro-porn.  Her stories are about so much more: her life.  

From the book jacket: "When Ruth Reichl signed up to be The New York Times restaurant critic, her picture was posted all over town.  She received special treatment whether she like it or not.  Yet to be a good critic, anonymity was surely a prerequisite....  Reichl adopted a radical way of eating incognito....  The resulting reviews were her "adventures in deception' - hilarious and sobering, full of fascinating insights and delicious gossip."