Book Geeks: Smaller and Smaller Circles

This weekend, the Book Geeks braved a horrid hazy Saturday to attend F.H. Batacan's appearance at Books Kinokuniya before adjourning to my place for the book discussion and dinner.
I read the first chapter and found it way too gory and stopped reading. (Gore really is not my thing at all unless it's in a TV show about snotty sorority girls getting stalked by a killer or killers *SCREAM QUEENS*  shout out.)

But kudos to Batacan who first started writing the book in her  20s and finally managed snag a coveted publishing deal in her 40s through her agency, Jacaranda. Set in the Philippines, two sleuthing catholic priests attempt to track a serial killer before he/she commits another gruesome murder.
Since I didn't finish the book, I helped out with dinner instead. Rilla told me that she wanted to learn how to make Roti Jala months ago so I convinced my mum to teach her.  Now Mum only cooks occasionally but since Rilla made the request and since I was hosting the Book Geeks,  Mum made an exception and she dusted off her antique Roti Jala maker for the occasion. 


But...at the last minute Rilla had to go for a photo shoot and she cancelled! "Please don't kill me," she implored.  At that point since it was too late for me to read the  book for some ideas, I watched an episode of 'How to get Away with Murder' instead. 

Catherine and Benjamin kindly apologised for being unable to make it. And as for Emma, well, she just plain forgot about it until I asked if I could expect her. The answer was no!
Cooking for the evening meal started right after lunch. On the menu: roti jala, chicken curry and beef rendang. Claire agreed to make her amazing corned-beef curry as well.


SNOB Family dinner. Doesn't this look like a Chinese family portrait

I didn't make it to the book event at Kinokuniya for the reading to presumably help out at home. It's needless to say I didn't do much helping in the kitchen so I just stayed out of the way.

Dave was the first to arrive with a bottle of wine in hand. Amelia, Felicia, Myra, Adan and Ken traipsed over from Kinokuniya with chocolates, chips, dips, chocolates, tiramisu, moscato and more drinks to start off the evening. Oh they brought flowers for Mum too! Claire, in the mean time, was still desperately trying to hail a cab in the haze.

I tried to usher all the women in the kitchen to finish up the cooking but they were adamant that they didn't want to play any traditional domestic roles. So we all settled at the dining table to start discussing the book.  While our family helper, Marylene, finished prepping dinner, we discussed the book for a bit.



Dinner ©Ken Quek

Then Claire, who also hadn't read the book, arrived with her really yummy corned beef curry which was really delicious as was the moscato! Over dinner, we discussed the book and how the murders and gore were just devices used to highlight other social issues such as abject poverty etc. 

Dave and Claire kept a diplomatic silence on the matter.  Like me, Amelia didn't seem to like it and kept comparing it unfavourably to The Alienist.  Truth be told,  this was the second book that Felicia picked that I did not like--the first was Terry Pratchett's 'The Colour of Magic" which I refer to as the 'magical book of boredom'. I was originally planning to propose a motion that she be banned from picking another story. Amelia was prepared to second that.

But since  Myra, Ken, and Adan loved it, I guess I'm willing to give the book another shot. For now, Felicia has a reprieve from a SNOB book selection ban.


After dinner we just sort of chilled and chatted about a host of other things.  I would tell you what we talked about but that's private! :P Thanks for a fun evening everyone. Can't wait for Catherine's book discussion on Halloween.