Beastmomma - Reading List

It has been awhile since I have participated in the Weekly Geeks. This week, our challenge is to create our own gift giving guide. Here are the rules for this week:

1. Think about the books that you and people in your life love. It’s best to use more obscure books, because we’ve all heard plenty about the more popular ones.

2. Come up with categories, based on relationship, personality, or whatever else you like. I think this is easier to do once you have your books in mind; you can then just assign categories to those books.

3. Post your own gift giving guide! Add short blurbs about the books, just enough so that your readers can determine if it’d be a good gift for people on their list. Don’t forget to come back and sign Mr Linky.

4. Visit other Weekly Geeks, and if you like their guides, maybe add links to the bottom of your own.

** All the links below are to reviews of the books that I mention. Also, I am not sure if I am going to have time to link to the other geeks; however, you can see a full list of people that participated here. **

For food lovers who want to be mindful about what they eat:

All Over Creation--Complete : In general this book is about genetically modified food; on a more personal level, the book is about family coming together.

Alone in the Kitchen with an Eggplant : A collection of essays in which writers discuss what they eat when they are by themselves and the experience of dining out alone. Several of the essays made me laugh hysterically. At the end of most essays, there is a recipe.

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle : A book about the adventures of a family who try to grow as much of their own food as possible while trying to eat local. My favorite section is about turkey mating.

Garlic and Sapphires: A memoir about a former food critic at the New York times. There are also recipes in between the chapters.

Kitchen--Complete : A collection of short stories set in Japan in which food places a major role.

For folks who enjoy personal narrative with their history:

I'jaam: An Iraqi Rhapsody: An insightful and incredibly honest book about life in an Iraqi prison during Saddam’s reign.

Killing Time: My War in Iraq: A soldier's look into being in the midst of war.

Maps: A book about the intersection and conflict between family and national identity.

Memoirs from the Women's Prison-- Complete: A memoir of a doctor who is imprisoned in Egypt for being "unnecessarily direct."

Memoirs of a Geisha-- Complete : A look at pre-war Japan through the eyes of Geisha.

Midnight's Children-- Complete : As India becomes independent, the book follows the lives of children who are born at midnight on the first day of Independence.

Persepolis: A coming of age story set in Iran about a spunky and outspoken girl who blossoms into a young woman.

Remembering Babylon: It touches on themes of identity, belonging, and which way of being in the world is correct.

What The Body Remembers: Set in India in 1937, this is the story of two women who are wives to the same man and how both find their own voices.

For people who enjoy bi-cultural or bi-worldly experiences:

Karma and Other Short Stories-- Complete : A collection of short stories about first generation Indians.

Queen of Dreams-- Complete : A novel about first generation Americans set in the United States just after September 11th.

Wind Up Bird Chronicle: A story about a man who is loses his cat and while searching for it finds so much more.