The Little French Bistro by Nina George

I’ll stay with the Comic Sans type font; it is appropriate for this delightful story. This book is only recently out in translation, summer 2017, although first published in Germany in 2010.  The 7-year gap to English reflects last year’s popularity of a translation of “The Little Paris Bookshop” first published in 2013 as “Das Lavendelzimmer”.

This is an enjoyable read.  The plotline is simple and her characters are big and bold.  This was the lead in book to -Paris Bookshop-.  She has developed her writing talents noticibly between the two books.

The author of this Bistro book has incorporated throughout a strong feminist viewpoint: self-actualization, powerful roles, gender co-support.  She goes as far as the lady of the lake and mystical/spiritual powers.

There are many plot lines: the protagonist’s coming of age (60), many love relationships, food, art, the sea, and love 'toujours l'amour'.

This book has interesting take-aways: knowledge of the Breton coastline of Brittany, its Welsh-type language, its Celtic history and links to Merlin and King Arthur, lots of cooking tips and recipes.

A book that makes the reader laugh and cry.

Brain Rules by John Medina

If I were still reviewing books with Pat Nolan, he would have been into this book with double-energy.  Not only is it non-fiction, it’s about the brain and how the brain functions, written by a molecular biologist.

Professor Medina hits exactly the right note for my liking.  I don’t think there is anything new here, but for me, he reinforces all those ingrained homilies about a good night’s sleep, balanced diet, and a reasonable amount of exercise.  It also helps, we all know, to never cease to push oneself into social, physical, and intellectual activities.

Here’s a sample of why I like his writing.

On the next page, I’ll show a reprint of his Contents page

The Reason I Jump by Naoki Higashida

An interesting and significant short 5000 word story hits your desk.
On its own with no context, the reading public will never recognize it for what it is.
So you dress it up with 20,000 words of Q and A interrogative dialogue to explain the context.  You add in:
-     An Afterword
-     A Few Illustrations
-     A Note from the Illustrators
-     A Postscript
-     A Conversation between … ..
-     Questions for Discussion
-     A Bio
-     An About the Translations
-     An About the Illustrators
-     A Preface
-     An Introduction
-     A few “Praise For” Pages
-     Massive white space, fewer than 200 words per page
And it still only weighs in at 160 small pages.
However, I’m happy they got it out there! !! !!!
It’s a great short story.  Not a new plot theme, but well done.
A story we will all remember.  The Q and A will serve as a good reference guide.

Can't we talk about something more PLEASANT?

GOOD CHOICE this month ! !

I liked this book so much, I bought a copy to share with:

 

my kid sister, with whom I shared death duties;

my ex-wife, who also played a role;
& my daughter, whose turn will soon come.

I have read a few graphic novels.  This one was especially good because:

-  I’ve been there, done that, forgotten memories;
-  Ros Chast is an accomplished author
    {many books, professional cartoonist);
-     It’s the answer to dyslexia (heard on NPR).

-    Graphic books level the playing field for reading.

-    Dyslexia or not, reading is an elite class distinction.
-    Movies were the first leveler, bringing stories to billions rather than millions.
-    We have moved into the age of podcast, utube, & graphic novel.
-    Next is 140 second downloaded multimedia – binge-watched or one segment at a time.
-    Trump would love this media if only he had an art director.