littlelotte

I decided to do the 50 books in a year, and since I just discovered this near the end of October my year is running November-November. It's really just a good excuse to chronicle what I read in my LJ. The books so far:

Book #1
Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly, 307 pages
by Anthony Bourdain

A very amusing and informational look at the life of a chef. Anthony Bourdain started out as a dishwasher at a small restaurant in Provincetown, and followed it with a stint at the CIA (Culinary Institute of America). He's gone on to work in, run and open many kitchens since and this is a very down-and-dirty view of his life and of the industry. I'm in the restaurant industry myself (though more on the FOH side), and found it to be ridiculously accurate in many respects. Very worth the read.

Book #2
The Perfect Manhattan: a novel, 440 pages
by Leanne Shear and Tracey Toomey

Another industry book, but on the bartending side. Fictional and amusing. I read it in just over a day--it's a little too chick-lit for my tastes, but there's plenty of industry truth to be found throughout the story. I'm not really a bartender, and I've never worked a scene like the one this one portrays in the Hamptons, but some things are just universal.

...I feel like I should have prefaced this entry with "I don't do drugs, I swear!" because it just struck me (even though I already knew) how many drugs people in the restaurant industry do.

Book #3
Only Revolutions, 360 pages
by Mark Z. Danielewski

I was a little bit heartbroken by the end of it. You've all already heard so much about this one, though, that I'll leave those entries to speak for it. I adored this novel, and it may have just become my all-time favorite book.

Book #4
The Djinn in the Nightengale's Eye: five fairy stories, 272 pages
by A.S. Byatt

This is a really lovely collection with a few retellings and a truly unique original. AS Byatt is huge on discription and is very wordy, but her stories are always lovely and worth it. I want to pick up more of her short story collections after reading this one, as I've only read novels of hers before.

I started Beast by (not sure of her first name) Jo Napoli last night, and it's okay, but not great--I'm already about two-thirds into it, actually. The way she'll use a Persian word and then give the English translation makes it really jumpy to read. I'm tending to just skip the Persian words entirely. I'm hoping work will work out for me tomorrow so that I can get to the library tomorrow between my two jobs. My books that I have out (the first two plus another random one) are overdue as of yesterday, but work and the holiday have been conspiring against me getting there while still open :-P This is why I'm reading this last one, actually. It's been sitting on my bookshelf for two or three years now.

Cross-posted to