Comfort Food, by Kate Jacobs

This is not a very book-cluby type of book, but I wanted to write about it anyway.

When I first heard of this book, I thought it was a cooking book, because of the title. But it is a novel, by the same author of The Friday Night Knitting Club. I didn't have a chance to read that book but some of my knitting friends said it was good, so I was glad to have the opportunity to read her next novel.

It is the story of Gus Simpson, the most famous cooking celebrity in the Food Channel. Gus is going through some changes in life and is forced to evaluate who she is and what she has done so far with her life, including her family and her professional life.

It is nice and agreeable read. Jacobs's style is best-selling type, easy to read and entertaining to follow. It has a lot of pop-cultural references and I wonder if she based any of her characters on real people, not that I would know who they are, but sometimes insiders recognize someone they know in this type of books.
The book has really good character development and an easy to follow story. It is in the chick-lit style but I believe it appeals to a wider demographic, from mothers and grandmothers to young women.
I have to confess that I developed a fondness for the characters and I even shed a couple of tears when I was reading their story. I read the whole book in less than a week and I kept looking forward to reading, I wanted to know what would happen to these people.

I recommend this book as an easy, agreeable read, again, not the book club type.
Also, although it talks a lot about food (and a lot about Spanish food, which I looooooove!!) it has no recipes.
Kate Jacobs has a website and a blog.

Keep Toronto Reading and Redhill's Consolation

Hey guys! There are tonnes of book events happening this week, mostly to do with this year's Keep Toronto Reading Program, which continues until the end of the month. I'm gonna try my damndest to get to one of the Consolation events... I'd really like to go to the events focused on the history of Toronto. Anyway... here's a link to the events listing:

http://www.blogto.com/books_lit/2008/02/bookmark_this_february_5th_to_february_11th_2008

This Week's Literary Events...

Summarized. Here's a link!

http://www.blogto.com/books_lit/2008/01/bookmark_this_january_22nd_28th_2008/

New Flickr Group

I don't know why I didn't do this earlier!

I've created a group on Flickr for any photos taken at our meetings, or just any photos you'd like to share between us. Here's a link to the group:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/werkingtitle/

I've added photos from the weddings, Tequila Bookworm, WOTS, etc.

Hey You Guys!!!

We're meeting tomorrow! At Rustico Pizza... mmm... Pizza. Which reminds me. I should review the book right now. And oh! Here's a link to this weeks book events:

Bookmark This! January 15th - 21st, 2008

It's Been A While

Holy smokes! Has it ever! Well, I might as well start off with a link to this week's literary events...

Bookmark This! January 8th - 14th, 2008

I'm gonna make a true effort to keep this updated on a regular basis. We'll see how that works. LOL

Bookmark This! June 19 - 25th, 2007

Check out what's happening this week...

http://www.blogto.com/books_lit/2007/06/bookmark_this_june_19_25th_2007/

Bookmark This! June 12 - 18th, 2007

Literary events going on this week, listed over at blogTO:

http://www.blogto.com/books_lit/2007/06/bookmark_this_june_12_18th_2007/

The Two Best Quotes From Timequake So Far

"At the time of their invention, books were devices as crassly practical for storing or transmitting language, albeit fabricated from scarcely modified substances found in forest and field and animals, as the latest Silicon Valley miracles. But by accident, not by cunning calculation, books, because of their weight and texture, and because of their sweetly token resistance to manipulation, involve our hands and eyes, and then our minds and souls, in a spiritual adventure I would be very sorry for my grandchildren not to know about."

"They [colons] don't do anything, don't suggest anything. They are transvestite hermaphrodites."

LOLOLOL... only Vonnegut could write these two sentences in one book, four pages apart.

Madness, I Say!

Take a look at this:
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/05/28/book.burning.ap/index.html

A book store owner in Missouri is burning his unwanted books!

Tom Wayne, with the eloquence of an American book store owner, explains himself:
"After slogging through the tens of thousands of books we've slogged through and to accumulate that many and to have people turn you away when you take them somewhere, it's just kind of a knee-jerk reaction," he said. "And it's a good excuse for fun."

Yep. That's what I do for fun... burn some books. I find it extremely hard to believe he couldn't find anywhere to donate these books. What a waste. Not to mention the smoke being released into the atmosphere probably isn't good for the neighbours.

More Events for Literary Types

Here are my picks for this week's bookworm social calendar:

http://www.blogto.com/books_lit/2007/05/bookmark_this_may_29_june_4th_2007/


Enjoy!

Lit Events Posting

As you all know, I'm going to be doing a literary events posting each week for blogTO. To make it easy for us, I'll try and remember to post a link to it on here! This blog needs a bit of excitement, don't you think? Links = excitement. Yes, indeedy.

Here's the first one:
http://www.blogto.com/books_lit/2007/05/bookmark_this_may_2329_2007/
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Baricco's Silk Made Into Movie...

As if! We were just talking about this, and I saw a preview for it on a DVD... Crazy!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0494834/

Kurt Vonnegut Dead at 84

Vonnegut, one of my all time favourite authors, passed away on Wednesday in his Manhattan home. I went to visit his website, and this is all there was. It's the saddest thing ever. He'll be missed.

Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
1922 - 2007

There's a excellent opinion piece written by New York Times columnist Verlyn Klinkenborg; in it he says:

"He is not only entertaining, he is electrocuting. You read him with enormous pleasure because he makes your hair stand on end. He says not only what no one is saying, but also what — as a mild young person — you know it is forbidden to say. No one nourishes the skepticism of the young like Vonnegut. In his world, decency is likelier to be rooted in skepticism than it is in the ardor of faith."

Generation X at Jason George

Here are the photos I took at the bar... they're not so good- it was really kinda dark in there- I should've used a flash! Ah well... sometimes they're interesting this way: