Welcome again to Third Thursday Treasures! This is where we give OFPL staff members to write about some of their favorite books. This month, Circulation Assistant Andrea B. shares a couple of her recommended titles. Thank you, Andrea!!
Impostors by Scott Westerfeld was a really great trip back to the world of Uglies and a fantastic start for the four books we have been promised that will all take place in that world. It tells the story of the bond between two sisters, and how strong that bond can be. With his impeccable storytelling Westerfeld again paints us a picture of a dystopian world with technology we can only dream of. I have always loved his books and this is no different. I can’t wait for the next three in this series!
Publisher’s Summary:
In a world that is rapidly descending into chaos, Frey and Rafi are twin sisters, but few people know of Frey’s existence, because she has been raised to be her sister’s body double and lethal bodyguard, while Rafi has been raised to further the family’s political power. When their father sends Frey in her sister’s place as collateral in a tricky deal, Col, the son of a rival leader, gets close enough to begin to suspect something, and Frey must decide whether to deal with him violently or finally assume her own identity.
I was interested in Under the Table : Saucy Tales from Culinary School by Katherine Darling because it is a memoir about the author’s adventures in the student kitchens of the legendary French Culinary Institute (now renamed the International Culinary Center) and eventually I plan to go to culinary school. The author expertly describes her experience in a very entertaining and witty way. She does not leave out her insecurities, fears, or mistakes and that is what makes the book easy to read even if you are not planning to go to culinary school. At times I found my fiancé reading over my shoulder because he enjoyed her writing too.
Publisher’s Summary:
To anyone who has ever dreamed of life in a French kitchen, Katherine Darling serves up a savory dose of reality in this funny, fascinating, and altogether delightful account of her time spent slaving over a hot stove, wrestling with veal calves, and cleaning fish heads at The French Culinary Institute.
As she goes from clueless amateur to certified chef, Katherine and her quirky fellow students frequently find themselves the objects of scorn as their teachers wage psychological warfare over steaming pots of bisque. It’s a cutthroat world, and no one ever made a soufflé without breaking a few eggs—or cracking a few heads together.
Filled with delicious food lore and trivia, and including dozens of classic and original French recipes, Under the Table takes readers deep into the trenches of one of the world’s most prestigious cooking schools—and shows what really goes on behind the doors of every great restaurant kitchen.
You might also enjoy:
Uglies by Scott Westerfeld – Everybody gets to be supermodel gorgeous. What could be wrong with that? Tally Youngblood is about to turn sixteen, and she can’t wait. In Tally’s world, your sixteenth birthday brings an operation that turns you from a repellent ugly into a stunningly attractive pretty and catapults you into a high-tech paradise where your only job is to have a really great time. In just a few weeks Tally will be there. Anticipating this happy transformation, Tally meets Shay, another female ugly, who shares her enjoyment of hoverboarding and risky pranks.
But Shay also disdains the false values and programmed conformity of the society. She’d rather risk life on the outside and urges Tally to defect with her. When Shay runs away, Tally learns about a whole new side of the pretty world, and it isn’t very pretty. The authorities offer Tally the worst choice she can imagine: Find her friend and turn her in, or never turn pretty at all. The choice Tally makes changes her world forever.
Give a Girl a Knife by Amy Thielen – A food memoir chronicling one woman’s journey from her rural Midwestern hometown to the intoxicating world of New York City fine dining–and back again–in search of her culinary roots. Contents – My kitchen affliction — Sugar and color — Home cooking — Meat versus vegetables — Herring dares and chicken turtles — Twenty-five pies — The sweet smell of home fries — Give a girl a knife — The perpetual popcorn pot — Old five-and-dimers — Are we going to bake this bread in my lifetime? — The old time of my youth — If you don’t look you don’t see — Circus of the ridiculous — Good neighbors — Chef salad, no eggs — Pounds and pennies — Morbid sugar — Stalking the beast called dinner
Thanks again, Andrea, for the great suggestions!
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