Food: A love story, by Jim Gaffigan

Tags

Jim Gaffigan

I saw this title and thought to myself, ‘oh, I also have a love story with food, so I’m sure this is my book’. Besides, I must confess that, to me, one of the most difficult parts of studying English is the vocabulary around food – I get so overwhelmed with names of fruits, vegetables, spices, etc., that I can’t remember a single word. I don’t even know what they are in Spanish, so you get the idea.

So I started this book with… hunger.

The first thing I want you to know is that my knowledge regarding food has widened enormously, and I want to share a glimpse of my recently acquired vocabulary:

• Frappuccino
• Dunkin’ Donuts

By now you should be bedazzled by my wisdom, but wait, because this doesn’t finish here.

I think Jim Gaffigan wanted to talk about food in North America, and hey, I love to learn about other cultures (as if Hollywood movies and TV series, which is all we watch here, weren’t enough). And I learned, people: this author really knows what he is talking about, because he has eaten it all and loves to explain all the details to whoever is listening.

Among the ton of new information about the North American food culture and traditions, I found remarkable the fact that you have invented a laxative that has to be microwaved before its oral intake! (I’m talking about “Hot Pockets”, of course). It’s amazing, really; here we only have pills for that (so boring).

The book also provides practical advice and recipes: for example, Gaffigan explains how to cook a precooked hot dog in the microwave! I wonder why no one thought of this before.

But the crucial moment of the book came when I realized I’m adopted: I agree with the author in most of the issues discussed – salads are good only when you add things that make it stop being a salad; shellfish are sea bugs and, therefore, they are not supposed to be human food; you can improve everything by adding bacon and/or cheese to the dish; and, most important, I find cooking stressful… I mean, I’m sure I was born in the States! I’m probably a distant cousin of the author; every word of the book was already written in my genes!

Summarizing, this book was the ultimate essay about food.

Talking seriously, it was really funny 😀 It’s full of food – I think he talks about every thing that you can eat, even vegetables!!! – and jokes, and I had a great time reading it. I didn’t know the author, who apparently is a popular comedian with his own TV show, so you can discard the book if you have watched him and don’t like his humour, but if you do, just grab the book and become a food expert, like I am now.

PS: In case you didn’t know, I live in a small Spanish town where there aren’t any Starbucks, Dunkin’ Donuts, Taco Bell or Wendy’s. We have only two McDonald’s and one Burger King, and our first KFC opened like 3 months ago and it’s so far in the outskirts of town that I’ve been too lazy to go.

I guess that we can be considered lucky for not being experts in fast food in the place where I live, right?

Me before you, by Jojo Moyes

Tags

Jojo Moyes

Please, readers, don’t judge this book by its cover. I did think this was an easy chick-lit read full of funny situations, probably about a girl trying to get the man of her dreams, but I was totally wrong – behind the frivolous cover you see there is a deeply sensitive story, and one of the best I have read this year.

Will Traynor is a successful and wealthy business man, whose hobbies are mainly extreme sports, who has an accident that leaves him a quadriplegic. At the third page of the book.

After this shocking start, we meet Louisa Clark, a girl who has just lost her job as a waitress and the only one she is able to get – considering she has no higher education – in the little village where she lives is taking care of a quadriplegic man: our Will. They don’t get on well with each other at the beginning because Will has become grumpy and bad tempered, but Louisa is capable of looking through all that resentment and try to make he see that there are still things that can bring joy to his life.

This is my sister, performing acrobatics with the book (hanging from aerial silk), in memorial of Will’s love for risky sports 🙂

The story is about Louisa’s efforts to come up with plans for Will – plans that are not always welcome by him, but thanks to her perseverance the readers find themselves committed to Louisa’s cause, praying for that idea to turn out well or feeling sorry when she doesn’t succeed, having she worked so hard.

The cast of secondary characters is also remarkable, and they bring touches of amusement and sorrow to some parts of the story. For example, there is Louisa’s boyfriend and his obsession with triathlons – taking into account that Louisa is not very good at sports, they make a funny couple; or Louisa’s father, who has also lost his job and now their only income is her daughter’s job, so they behave like she is the head of the family, a role she doesn’t want. All these characters make the story more enjoyable, adding what we can called mundane issues (compared to Will’s disability, I mean) to the story.

I would really like you to give Me before you a chance and help Louisa to show Will that his live isn’t over yet; that he can still love, learn and have fun regardless of his condition.

P.S. I lent it to my grandmother and she loved it as well.

P.S2. Now I’m looking forward to reading more books by this author.

P.S3. There will be a film based on this book, with Emilia Clarke playing Louisa!

Me before you
Jojo Moyes
Viking, 369 pages
Penguin Books, 400 pages

Apocalypse next Tuesday, by David Safier

Tags

David Safier

I suppose you have some knowledge of the Scripture, regarding the part in which it is said that there will be an End when every one of us will have to prove our faith in the Final Judgment and so on. Well guys, now you must know that this insignificant part of the Bible is scheduled for next Tuesday! 😀

Apocalypse next Tuesday intruduces us to Jesus Christ, who has come back to Earth again. As you should already know, there will be a Final Battle between good and evil (Jesus is obviously on the good side) in Jerusalem at the end of times, and the Messiah is currently in Germany trying to get to know the people of our time better, to check their faith and see if we keep the Ten Commandments, as God requires. Summarizing, the typical things Jesus would do.

Satan is also on Earth – under George Clooney’s appearance – in order to recruit his four Horsemen of the Apocalypse and began the battle. Even Archangel Gabriel is here, but the problem is that he is in depth study of the mysteries of tantric sex and it is not much interested in going back to Heaven right now.

Our main character in the book is Marie, a woman in her thirties who has just broken up with her boyfriend (he doesn’t find her weight appropriate) only to go back to live in her father’s house and feel sorry for herself. She meets Jesus (Joshua in his original name) when he is required as a carpenter to fix the roof in Marie’s bedroom, and well, let’s say her first impression is that he has a good ass. He is also very gentle and polite, of course; don’t you think she is that superficial!

Marie gets a date with the Son of God and, when she finally finds out who he really is, she tries desperately to make him see that people nowadays are nice, since the perspective of watching her nearest and dearest burning forever in Hell is not appealing, don’t you think?

This is the second book I read from this German author, David Safier, and I absolutely recommend it to you if you want to read something funny. I found myself laughing out loud at every page of his books because all the characters’ adventures are hilarious. Safier’s kind of humor is perfect to cheer people up; it’s fresh and amusing, and I promise his books will make you live longer since laughing increases your lifespan, or so it is said.

Do you need more reasons to read this author?

Apocalypse next Tuesday

David Safier

Published by Hesperus

269 pages

Miss Pettigrew lives for a day, by Winifred Watson

Tags

Winifred Watson

I had no idea this book existed until Leander gave it to me some months ago, despite the fact that this is a well known classic and there is even a film based on it (which I will watch soon, although I have read it is far removed from the plot of the book).

Miss Pettigrew is a middle-aged lady and not so skilled governess who is looking for a job, when the agency sends her to go to Miss LaFosse’s apartment because the latter has been asking for an employee to take care of her children. But the woman who opens the door to Miss Pettigrew that morning looks like an actress, is with a lover in the apartment, and there are not any children in sight. Before Miss Pettigrew has any changes to speak in order to introduce herself, Miss Delysia LaFosse asks for her first request: to get the man out of the apartment in case Miss LaFosse’s other lovers appear there.

This is the first of a succession of scandalous tasks Miss Pettigrew manages to solve for her new employer while her virginal mind deals with all those disgusting hot kisses Miss LaFosse dispenses among her lovers. And this is only the beginning of an intense day in which Miss Pettigrew will get to know how the other half live; a life that might not seem very virtuous, but which is undoubtedly more exciting.

I have had a great time with Miss Pettigrew: in the first part of the book there are many amusing situations owing to the misunderstandings that take place in the apartment since Miss Pettigrew never has the occasion to explain why she is there and she is suddenly involved in parties, clubs and alcoholic drinks. Besides, had I not read this book I would never have known that plastic surgery was available in the twenties! Don’t worry: Miss Pettigrew doesn’t have an operation 😉

This breathless day has a happy ending for everybody, except for some of Miss LaFosse’s lovers, so this is definitely a delightful tale, perfect for cheering up a couple of evenings.

Book on Goodreads