Sweetbitter (aka: the Restaurant Life)

TASTE, Chef said, is all about balance. The sour, the salty, the sweet, the bitter. Now your tongue is coded. A certain connoisseurship of taste, a mark of how you deal with the world, is the ability to relish the bitter, the crave it even, the way you do the sweet.

Everyone who has ever worked in some part of service industry totally gets this book. Set in the hustle of NYC, you have a naive girl who wants to LIVE. So she becomes a server in one of the top restaurants and is thrust into the crazy lifestyle that is that restaurant life. Of course throw in a love triangle, learning, bad choices, and the understanding of the heart that makes up that restaurant and you’ve got Sweetbitter.

Tasting is a farce. The only way to get to know a wine is to take a few hours with it. Let it change and then let it change you. That’s the only want to learn anything – you have to live with it.

Fun to read, easy to understand. Felt like I had to take a shower by the end of the book. But I get it. It’s also now a show on Starz. Bet it’s good. It has high potential for a good show.

You. I know you. I remember you from my youth. You contain multitudes. There is a crush of experience coursing by you. And you want to take every experience on the pulse. I’m giving you permission to take yourself seriously. To take the stuff of this world seriously. And to start having. That’s abundance.

 

 

All We Ever Wanted

You know how they say, you can’t judge a book by its cover? What about the title then? Can you judge it by that? All I Ever Wanted lends itself to continue the fun, energetic, yet entertaining and heartfelt stories about love, hope, friendship, family, betrayal, and self revelation that we have come to know and love from our beloved author Emily Giffin. Except for The One & Only – that was not particularly a favorite, Emily. Sorry to say. However, whereas the title led me to believe I was in for an easy poolside summer read, this one strayed from the typical Giffins formula.

The story has her trademark family, turmoil, choices, chaos, but just really didn’t see it going in the direction of where it was going. I bet this one surprised a lot of her readers – she toed lines, but I will have to say, she should have just put her big girl pants on and dove right in instead of dancing on the edge. Maybe it was because I just had finished reading the Beartown books and the underlining topics are very similar – so therefore I expected MORE from Giffin. More depth, more than just dabbling at the surface of the topics of sexual assault, money, and privilege. But then again, is that what I even want from her books?

But I cherished our filterless relationship and considered it the truest measure of a best friend, greater than pure affection. Who was the person you trusted enough to be your most transparent self with, in both good times and bad?

The answer is yes. To address privilege is to talk about it. It was a unique perspective to dive into a story of a family with privilege and to understand how choices are made, mental models are created, reiterated, and privilege is continued for generations. It’s so tiny, over time, until you realize that to some, lies are truth, a reality.

Giffin crafts a beautiful story. It is an easy read as the action is simple, the story clear. Just maybe don’t read it after a book like Beartown. 

Us Against You

The saga of the tiny town of Beartown continues.

The worst thing we know about other people is that we’re dependent upon them. That their actions affect out lives. Not just the people we choose, the people we like, but all the rest of them; the idiots. You who stand in front of us in every line, who can’t drive properly, who like bad television shows and talk too loud in restaurants and whose kids infect our kids with the winter vomiting bug at preschool. You who park badly and steal our jobs and vote for the wrong party. You also influence our lives, every second.

Dear God, how we hate you for that.

What happens after tragedy strikes, after a whole town is divided, after accusations, physical, mental, and emotional harm are inflicted? After fingers are pointed, after life as they know it is never the same?  Well, in the town of Beartown, you play hockey. 

In this surprising delight of a sequel to one of my favorite books, Backman brings us back to the tiny hockey town of Beartown, picking right back up where he left us. I’m surprised because I didn’t know he was going to continue the story. Then I was worried – what would this one be about? Would it be as good as the first? I mean, I raved about the first one. I told EVERYONE to read it. What if this sequel doesn’t live up to my own hype? Don’t worry my three blog readers, Backman didn’t disappoint. I’m sorry Mr. Backman for ever doubting you.

Us Against Them gives us a chance to understand more fully the true depth of each character as they deal with what happened and what sides they chose. All while giving us a mirrored look at humanity, our lives, and the impact of the choices we make. And of course it’s about hockey, but of course it’s not just about hockey. Decisions aside, it’s still a town. A TINY town with heart and a sport that unites everyone. With the team fractured because the town is fractured, a rivalry between a neighboring town, Hed, and Beartown ensues. Certain players went to Hed (escaped to Hed?), and some players stayed in Beartown. Throw in a few new characters that really shake things up, plus a deeper look into families and characters – I was once again, easily swept up into this town, the feelings, and inevitably standing on my feet cheering when the great showdown came about.

It’s a beautiful story on it’s own. The fact that it’s a continuation of one of my faves, makes it that much better.