FF: Food, Scripture, and Inspiration
Persephone Reaches Out
The Friday Fragments lists what I’ve read over the past week. Most of the time I don’t include details of either short fiction (unless part of a book-length collection) or magazines. The Fragments are not meant to be a recommendation list. If you’re interested in a not-at-all-inclusive recommendation list, you can look on my website under Neat Stuff.
Once again, this is not a book review column. It’s just a list with, maybe, a bit of description or a few opinions tossed in.
I’m enjoying hearing what you folks are reading, too!
Recently Completed:
Mister Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan. Audiobook. Slow build based around a puzzle reminds me quite a bit of Ready Player One. A lot fewer fight scenes, less Eighties trivia, replaced by computer trivia.
Kebra Nagast edited by Gerry Hausman. Interesting balance of anecdote and Rastafarian scripture.
Jerk From Jamaica: Barbecue Caribbean Style by Helen Willinsky. Food and how it is prepared is a terrific window into a culture. Helen Willinsky’s introduction alone would make this book a great find, but each section, sometimes each recipe, has a little write up that makes this a gem. When winter comes, I want to try some of the recipes.
In Progress:
Sourdough by Robin Sloan. Audiobook. Another slow story, very introspective, but I’m enjoying the internal journey of Lois.
The Complete and Original Norwegian Folktales of Asbojornsen & Moe, translated by Tiina Nunnally. I’ve read many of these stories in the older translation, but Tiina Nunnally’s translation removes the British interpolations and provides a greater sense of the Norwegian roots. The various introductions include a lively foreword by Neil Gaiman, as well as the original introductions to various editions by Asbojornsen and Moe. The latter provide a lovely perspective on the evolution of the text.
Also:
I’m not a great fan of post-apocalyptic fiction or film. One exception is A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr. When we were invited to a post-apocalyptic themed Halloween party, I pulled out this favorite, re-read parts, and have resolved to attend as a booklegger—complete with a chest of books to share.
