Showing posts with label Books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Books. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

BGBW Travel Book Club

Hello Everyone! I know it's been such a long time since I've written a post. Well I'm back! I've had the idea to start a travel book club for some time now. Mainly because I read tons of travelogues and have no one to talk about them lol but also because I was first introduced to travel through books and most times when I can't get away (like now) I revert back to my childhood days of living my adventures through a book or food. This is where you all come in.

I've received some interest in this idea of mine so it's time to get things rolling. Below you will find descriptions of 3 different books compliments of goodreads.com . I'm asking that if your interested in participating in the book club that you leave a comment with which book you would like to be our first read. Of course I could just pick the book myself but I really want this to be a collaborative effort. Prospective start date would be Thursday Aug. 1st. Of course if you all would like to start sooner I'm down!

1. Crazy Rich Asians : Culture read  (My preferred pick lol)


The link below directs you to the amazon page that offers a free preview!


Crazy Rich Asians is the outrageously funny debut novel about three super-rich, pedigreed Chinese families and the gossip, backbiting, and scheming that occurs when the heir to one of the most massive fortunes in Asia brings home his ABC (American-born Chinese) girlfriend to the wedding of the season.

When Rachel Chu agrees to spend the summer in Singapore with her boyfriend, Nicholas Young, she envisions a humble family home, long drives to explore the island, and quality time with the man she might one day marry. What she doesn't know is that Nick's family home happens to look like a palace, that she'll ride in more private planes than cars, and that with one of Asia's most eligible bachelors on her arm, Rachel might as well have a target on her back. Initiated into a world of dynastic splendor beyond imagination, Rachel meets Astrid, the It Girl of Singapore society; Eddie, whose family practically lives in the pages of the Hong Kong socialite magazines; and Eleanor, Nick's formidable mother, a woman who has very strong feelings about who her son should--and should not--marry. Uproarious, addictive, and filled with jaw-dropping opulence, Crazy Rich Asians is an insider's look at the Asian JetSet; a perfect depiction of the clash between old money and new money; between Overseas Chinese and Mainland Chinese; and a fabulous novel about what it means to be young, in love, and gloriously, crazily rich


2. Wanderlust- A Love Affair with Five Continents: Travelogue (International)

 The link below directs you to the amazon page that offers a free preview!
 
 
Spanning 15 years of travel, beginning when she is a sophomore in college, Wanderlust documents Elisabeth Eaves’s insatiable hunger for the rush of the unfamiliar and the experience of encountering new people and cultures. Young and independent, she crisscrosses five continents and chases the exotic, both in culture and in romance. In the jungles of Papua New Guinea, she loses herself—literally—to an Australian tour guide; in Cairo, she reconnects with her high school sweetheart, only to discover the beginning of a pattern that will characterize her life over the long-term: while long-distance relationships work well for her, traditional relationships do not.

Wanderlust, however, is more than a chronological conquest of men and countries: at its core, it’s a journey of self-discovery. In the course of her travels, Eaves finds herself and the sense of home she’s been lacking since childhood—and she sheds light on a growing culture of young women who have the freedom and inclination to define their own, increasingly global, lifestyles, unfettered by traditional roles and conventions of past generations of women.


3. Black Girl in Paris: Travelogue

  The link below directs you to the amazon page that offers a free preview!

 
Black Girl in Paris wends its way around the mythology or Paris as a city that has called out to African-American artists. Like James Baldwin, Langston Hughes, and Josephine Baker before her, Youngblood's heroine leaves her home, in the American South, nurturing a dream of finding artistic emancipation in the City of Light. She experiments freely, inhabiting different incarnations - artist's model, poet's helper, au pair, teacher, thief, and lover - to keep body and soul together, to stay afloat, heal the wounds of her broken heart, discover her sexual self, and, finally, to wrestle her dreams of becoming a writer into reality.
 
That's it people! Comment below!
 

Monday, September 10, 2012

Book Review: Like Water for Chocolate


Like Water For Chocolate has been a classic for decades now however if you have yet to read this book or waiting to get around to it (like I was) GO READ IT NOW! If you want to jump right to it go watch the 1992 movie rendition! 



Like Water For Chocolate is a tale of magical realism. Set against the backdrop of the most important modernizing force in Mexican history, the Mexican Revolution of 1910-17,the book follows the life of Tita De La Garza. Born the youngest of three sisters her destiny from birth was to take care of her mother until she died which ruled out all opportunities for love, marriage, and a family of her own. The story surrounds the forbidden love of Tita and her one true love Pedro who marries Tita’s sister Rosaura at the request of Tita’s aging widowed mother. Pedro only agrees to be closer to Tita which only makes matters all the more tense on the De La Garza ranch. The book is divided into twelve chapters for each month. Each chapter is introduced with a recipe of Tita’s as cooking was the only way she knew how to express her emotions. The recipes are so central to the plot of the story because each one tells a part of the story and each recipe will have you craving Mexican with its intense detail to flavor!  




Why do I love this book?

Because it’s SPICY!!! The title itself describes anger and passion.  “como agua para chocolate”. In Mexico, hot chocolate is made with water, not milk. Water is boiled and chunks of chocolate or chocolate tablets are dropped in to melt. The saying "like water for chocolate," means to be hot like the water is hot enough to receive the chocolate. It means to be at a boiling point and is a metaphor for describing a state of anger, passion or sexual arousal.

There is so much sensuality throughout the entire story, between the love, war, and food everything is sizzling! This is a tale for anyone who has had issues with their mother, anyone who has questioned traditions, and anyone who dreams of true love. This book captivates the reader so much so that you will find yourself crying with Tita as Pedro marries her sister and smiling with Tita as she makes her favorite Christmas rolls. 

Have you read this book before or watched the movie? What are your thoughts? Do you have any favorite travel reads or movies?