Book Recommendations

I’ve been binging the work of Chris Ware of late. Maybe because it’s been a depressing summer in a relentlessly depressing year but his craft of masterfully illustrating the minutae of life, frame by frame, through happiness and heartbreak has provided a strange sense of solace as the days of our lives start to feel both repetitive yet unpredictable.

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Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid On Earth

This is Chris Ware’s first work and is often regarded as revolutionizing the graphic novel medium. The tale centres around a meek, awkward character fearful of change and the unknown who lives a routine life of social isolation (outside of the relationship with his overbearing mother). As the story unfolds, Jimmy receives an invitation to meet his father who we learn abandoned him years earlier. The impacts of intergenerational trauma are explored against a time-travelling backdrop that goes back to the gorgeously illustrated Chicago World’s Fair of 1893. Jimmy Corrigan is probably my least favourite of Ware’s output but presents a good starting point to truly appreciate the later achievements of Rusty Brown and his magnum opus Building Stories.

Favourite line: “One’s memory, however, likes to play tricks after years of cold storage. Some recollections remain as fresh as the moment they were minted. While others seem to crumble into bits, dusting their neighbours with a contaminating not of uncertainty.”

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Building Stories

Whenever someone asks me for a book recommendation, this is at the top of my list. It’s not so much a book, as it is an experience – a completely immersive visual, tangible and emotional journey through the lives of several individuals who at one time lived in the same apartment. At one point, the narrative is even told from the perspective of the building itself. I reviewed this back in February 2014 but bought it again after sharing my copy because it is THAT good.

Favourite line: all of it is a masterpiece. It is one of my top three books of all time.

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Rusty Brown

Rusty Brown is Chris Ware’s latest and continues his study of regular people living regular lives, the secrets we keep and the unspoken desires we covet. It is a collection of comics about a few different characters who all intersect for a short time at a high school in Omaha, Nebraska, and how their interwoven journeys carry forward in time. There is a palpable ennui emanating from these pages; as with all of his work, the artwork is stunning but the emotional impact of the story itself is what remains with the reader. You don’t read Chris Ware when you want to feel good. You read his work when you simply want to feel.

Favourite line: the tale of “W.K. “Woody” Brown” and the soul-crushing glimpse into settling into a life of longing and regret.

Book Recommendations

Open Book
Written by Jessica Simpson

Pop culture in the early naughts was epic. It seemed like a more innocent time when we could all be scandalized by what Britney was up to, make questionable fashion (and romantic) choices without record of social media, and not be ashamed to hum “tell me why” to ourselves while grocery shopping. Seriously though, that song is timeless. While I was never really a fan of Jessica Simpson, I was looking forward to reliving my youth while reading the first of the pop star autobiographies of this era. This book definitely delivers and I was surprised by how candid it was about everything from abuse to addiction to having an emotional affair with Johnny Knoxville as her first marriage crumbled. The book also confirmed that my intuition is finely-tuned as I always suspected John Mayer was a dick.

Favourite line: “Get down the box from the top shelf of the emotional closet and marvel at the things that used to mean so much. The keepsakes of our mistakes, the souvenirs of lost years. But you know when to start making new memories with people who deserve the you that you are now.”

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A Good Wife: Escaping the Life I Never Chose
Written by Samra Zafar

Arranged, sometimes forced, marriage is a foreign concept to most in the West. Acknowledging my own ignorance, up until a few years ago I didn’t realize it was still in practice. This autobiography details the high pressure and coercion faced by the author at the age of seventeen to marry a man she hadn’t previously met and the subsequent aftermath of years of abuse she endured all to maintain appearances in a community led by caste and societal interdependence. Her strength and perseverance win out at the end making this a tough read with a (thankfully) happy ending.

Favourite line: “But I’ve learned that diminishing my own fire does no one any service. I will get from my life what I feel I deserve. And if nothing else, I’ll be happier being myself than trying to fit into a box to satisfy others.”

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Under the Banner of Heaven
Written by Jon Krakauer

This is the third book I’ve read by my new favourite author. The story and tone are different than his most famous works of individuals attempting to conquer the wild, but this is no less immersive a tale — the focus of Under the Banner of Heaven is the inception of the Mormon faith, its violent history across the landscape of an evolving nation, the belief that polygamy is the right of men, and how it all has influenced religious belief and zealots in the modern age. This is not a light read, but definitely one that will have you pondering the nature of religious belief.

Favourite line: “I was just on a quest,” he insists. “A quest to find the truth.”

Kill Your Idols

During a recent trip back to my hometown, my carry-on luggage brimmed with gifts including several bags of dried sardines for my dog that I half-expected to be questioned by airport security about (alas, any judgement on their behalf was reserved). For personal items, I always keep it strictly to the essentials of phone, wallet, keys and a book. A book for the wait. A book for the journey. Between this and a favourite playlist, any environment becomes instantly more enjoyable.

For this excursion, I wanted something light and a bit mindless as my energy and focus would be spent taking care of my mother and also at least three dozen sessions of fetch per day with my dog Monty. Taken from the shelves of my growing home library, I selected a book I acquired over a decade ago during a time when I was still enchanted by the mystique of the rock star and their extravagant lifestyle of excess. For those who watch the clock with a regular 9 to 5, reading about fame, wealth and unapologetic debauchery can allow our id to live vicariously through the antics of others. Also, as a woman, there is another psychological aspect to it; that innate attraction to a bad boy, of which I have been guilty. Whether sparked by Elvis’ gyrating hips or Michael Hutchence’s raw magnetism, there is something transfixing about a man on a stage singing a song potentially about you - at least in your own mind.

The book I selected though is one that now told a different story as I read it through the lens of maturity. ‘Let’s Spend the Night Together: Backstage Secrets of Rock Muses and Supergroupies’ (2007) by iconic groupie Pamela des Barres is a book I expect will never be republished as the contents of which would destroy the canonization we have built up around some of our idols.

It’s an explicit read.

I originally bought it for insight into the other side of the story that was being told in music biographies popular at the time. These were mostly written by (or about) men and narrated from a position of influence and ego. ‘Let’s Spend the Night Together’ was a different take with stories told by those whose admitted purpose was to “service the craft” rather than directly evolve it. Sex is involved, as is the currency of this particular muse, but reading between the lines to understand the culture behind it offers greater perspective on the changing mores of society (before and after), as well as the complexity of appreciating an artist’s body of work while remaining objective over their choices in life.

There is a chapter on Cassandra Peterson who started out as a Vegas showgirl and parlayed her talent into a career better known as Elvira, Mistress of the Dark. A section on the, erm, “art project” of Cynthia Plastercaster is particularly entertaining. As is the tale of Pleather, a rare male groupie. But other parts of the book spoke of lived experiences that weren’t as glamorous as they were illusory. In an era when women have opened up more about their experiences with men, of assault and abuse that are all too common, some of the stories shared in giddy detail are unintentionally depressing.

Lori Lightning—the most disturbing chapter of the book as she was known as a “baby groupie”—talks of having Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin make her smoke entire packs of cigarettes until she would gag and had his entire tour crew complicit in hiding his illegal relationship with the teenager after the FBI started investigating. The author glosses over this instead focusing on how hurt and jealous she was when Page left her for Lori (rather than calling him out for statutory rape): “I wanted to blame her, but she was only thirteen-years-old.”

It’s hard not to compare to my own life of suburbia on the Canadian prairies, where the driving force of my middle school existence was to level up on Super Mario World.

The aforementioned Cynthia Plastercaster was so distraught from her experience with other members of Led Zeppelin that she refused to talk about it, beyond describing feeling “used and abused”.

And there’s a lot of Iggy Pop, including this story from Dayna of the Texas Blondes contingent: “I was with Iggy Pop for awhile … I was very young when he took me on tour, and finally his manager said, ‘You cannot be dragging a fourteen-year-old girl across state lines’ … I look back and think ‘What a pedophile!’.

I haven’t bothered to comment on the antics of those no longer with us.

A once thought-to-be light read instead got me rethinking my relationship with music, with whom I appreciate and place on pedestal, with how different stories—and different perspectives—change the narrative and legend of any one person’s life. During the past five years, tales such as these would have have resulted in public shaming and the probable demise of career (in their time, they felt accepted … and even encouraged). But music seems somewhat untouchable for the cultural conversation. We do not reflect on these instances in the same light that we do, say, Roman Polanski, Woody Allen or Harvey Weinstein. Unlike a film, music weaves through our life on a much more personal level which might be the reason we don’t confront the concept of our idols in the same way. Even though we should.

When I was finished, I placed the book back on its shelf to wait and see how it would read in another decade.

Iggy Pop pictured with Lori Lightning.

Into The Wild

Stories about disappearance and protagonists who seek an alternate purpose in life beyond what society prescribes have always intrigued me. I live through the words on the page, imagining myself in their shoes and being brave enough to live without the comfort of predictability. I daydream of a life unbound.

In his youth, my father exhibited this carefree spirit and I feel some of his determination to tread his own path runs through my blood as well. In the seventies, before this became commercialized by the tourism industry, my father and two of his friends got on their 10-speed bikes and peddled from Winnipeg to the west coast camping on the side of the road or in forests shadowed by the Canadian Rockies. When he’d tell me stories about the adventure, about the physical hardship, the encounters with wildlife—including a pack of curious wolves that trailed them for a bit down the Icefields Parkway near Jasper—and the connection to nature that he experienced, I sat in awe. I could sense the feeling of accomplishment and fulfillment emanating off him and longed to lead a life where I could feel the same sense of purpose, if only briefly.

Living off radar for a bit can be incredibly recharging. I’ve experienced this on an elementary level during my solo travels but these have only been a few weeks at a time (and, sadly, never as disconnected as I probably need). Traveling to a new world, one in which I don’t understand the custom or language, forces me to be present, receptive and sharp. Being reliant solely upon my faith in the affability of strangers and the power of my intuition connects me to a deeper sense of humanity and realization of my own strength. But even on these escapades, I am still safely ensconced in a metropolis built for the comfort of man. The older I get, the more I (like my father) want a challenge and to reconnect with nature.

A few months ago, a book I read made me tumble into a deep rabbit hole of exploration on this pipe dream and people who were brave enough to choose an unconventional path in life. “Into Thin Air” by author/mountaineer Jon Krakauer is one of the most riveting, well-crafted works of non-fiction I have ever read in my life. So awestruck was I by his tale of climbing Mount Everest that I started researching my own possible adventure in the Himalayas and immediately went out to buy as many of his other works as I could. This included the work he is perhaps most known for - “Into The Wild”.

Since that book’s release, the story of Chris McCandless has become legendary; although his legacy is polarizing. Leaving his home, family and life savings in pursuit of the open road and a life far removed from capitalism and other societal constructs, Chris lived his dream while navigating the United States in pursuit of deeper meaning in life. Based on the journals and connections he left behind, it appeared he found it in places as varied as Arizona, South Dakota and, the place he perished, Alaska. His tale had an abrupt, heartbreaking end that some critics say underlines his naïveté. But another camp of idealistic dreamers has elevated him to myth-like status, making the backcountry of the 49th state, in particular the location of Bus no.142, a spot for pilgrimage. “Into the Wild” is a short book with a big impact detailing his brief, albeit well-lived, life.

If we live a life where we only see few things, visit few places, and meet few people, we pass through existence having only covered a few measures of distance - but to live a life well lived, with many perspectives and experiences, is to touch upon every part of the tapestry of what it means to be human. As I enter a new decade, I no longer aim to be the girl with the most cake. Instead, I crave authenticity. I search for meaning in script and the stars. In that regard, I admire Chris McCandless for his rejection of what society has become and his pursuit of his own destiny. We should all be so lucky to realize our purpose.

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“Don’t settle down and sit in one place. Move around, be nomadic, make each day a new horizon. “

Book Recommendations

Inside Out
Written by Demi Moore

Demi Moore was one of the most famous actresses of my adolescence. Her looks set a standard for beauty. Her roles aimed to challenge convention and what it means to be a woman, in effect influencing the (pop) culture in which my own ideas and perceptions about life were forming. This book gives interesting insight into what it looked like on the other side, of a life of struggle and heartbreak with those closest to her (including her mother and second husband) breaking her trust and confidence. I also found it interesting as autobiographies with a story like this—of rising to the top without connections, power or wealth—may be a thing of the past in increasingly nepotistic Hollywood.

Favourite line: “My story is mine alone; I’m the only one who was there for all of it, and I decided to claim the power to tell it on my own terms.”

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Face It
Written by Debbie Harry

I always felt cool by-proxy that Deborah (Debbie) Harry and I shared a first name. After all, the lead singer of punk band Blondie is one of THE coolest people of all time. Her voice, her image, are iconic and gave me many memories of my own in life as her music provided soundtrack to it. This beautifully designed autobiography tells her story in a relatable, conversational (but sometimes detached) tone that includes both the darkness and light of achieving success in the music industry. One disillusionment I was left with though surrounded the passages dealing with sexual assault and objectification (when, during a meeting, a record exec just stares at her breasts, Debbie relates that it is because she is too powerful to look in the eye rather than calling out the behaviour for what it was). It is especially odd relating these experiences but then, near the end of the book, stating that she never felt she had hardship just because she was a woman. Deborah also uses her book as a gallery to display numerous pieces of fan art she’s collected over the decades.

Favourite line: “Like most girls of my generation, I’d been programmed since childhood to look for a strong man to carry me off and look after me. I bought into those fantasies as a kid at least to some degree, but by the time I was in my mid twenties I was done with that. I was wanting to have control, and as Dad always said, I was too damn independent for my own good. I looked for adventure and new experiences instead of settling down.”

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Catch and Kill
Written by Ronan Farrow

Ronan Farrow was one of the pivotal journalists who broke the #MeToo story in 2017. This book documents the first rumblings that a well-known Hollywood producer had a long history of sexually assaulting his clientele (and even built his business and staff to act as accomplices) and then veers into the scary world of private surveillance and the lengths the rich and powerful will go to in order to maintain a social structure that most benefits them. If you ever question why women don’t come forward, this book will tell you all you need to know.

Favourite line: “I remembered us, as we positioned these pewter kings and dragons, and a grown-up voice sounded, calling her away.”

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Brave
Written by Rose McGowan

After reading ‘Catch and Kill’, I picked up Rose McGowan’s autobiography for another angle of the story. Rose was one of the instigators of the #MeToo movement, bravely sharing her story of being raped by studio head Harvey Weinstein and in the aftermath becoming a feminist icon. This book is an intense, angry read and she holds nothing back when sharing stories of everyone from Marilyn Manson to Adam Sandler. This book is so lined with fury, actually, that I can’t see Rose working in the industry ever again. Which ultimately may be what she wants. I agree with a lot of the points she makes and feel her voice is best served with her own thoughts and words rather than a script.

Favourite line: “The adults I met were dedicated in their pursuit of beige, not all, but most.”

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Into Thin Air
Written by Jon Krakauer

Every so often I come across a book that so captivates my imagination I become completely consumed, seeking to learn and experience everything I can about the subject matter in all forms. The compelling ‘Into Thin Air’ has drawn me further into the world of high altitude mountaineering, sharing the gripping, ultimately tragic, story of the 1996 Mount Everest disaster in which eleven people lost their lives. As this past climbing season ended with eleven more deaths, it seems that nothing was learned and the mountain is still open for commodification. I cannot praise ‘Into Thin Air’ enough; it is one of the greatest books I’ve ever read in my life.

Favourite line: “Above 8,000 metres is not a place where people can afford morality.”

Book Recommendations

Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup
Written by John Carreyrou

An HBO documentary on Theranos, a company that promised leading-edge technology for the health care industry, raising billions in funding before being exposed as completely fraudulent, piqued my interest in learning more about how a scam of this magnitude could unfold. Bad Blood does a great job of that, delving deep into founder and CEO Elizabeth Holmes’ history and psyche and includes numerous first-hand accounts from insiders who tried to raise alarms but were ignored or silenced by means of threats and intimidation. The story is truly a wild ride, parts of which feel like scenes cut from an action movie starring Tom Cruise (coincidentally, a movie is in development). Highly recommended. I couldn’t put this book down.

Favourite line: “It was all beginning to make sense: Holmes and her company had overpromised and then cut corners when they couldn’t deliver. It was one thing to do that with software or a smartphone app, but doing it with a medical product that people relied on to make important health decisions was unconscionable.”

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How To Be Alone: If You Want To, and Even If You Don’t
Written by Lane Moore

I know what it’s like to be alone having spent the majority of my life in the realm of it. I am an only child and quickly learned how to entertain myself with stuffed animals and pets rather than siblings. I’ve always preferred a small, close group of good friends rather than being an acquaintance to many. And at one point, I left a life behind to start fresh in a city I hadn’t even visited prior. At times, I’ve felt the this solo strength veer into loneliness and that is what this book journals in a series of mini essays; the realities of navigating an increasingly connected world you don’t always feel you have a place in, by choice or circumstance. It is, perhaps, my most dog-eared book of the year, every chapter containing writing (and emotion) that is way too relatable. Lane Moore is a gifted writer and I highly recommended this book.

Favourite line: “I will never understand how, just as quickly and intensely as she entered, she could and would exit my life as though she’d never said a word to me. Never felt anything for me or because of me. And I’d just become a girl she knew once, kind of, from a distance.”

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Bibliophile: An Illustrated Miscellany
Written and illustrated by Jane Mount

This illustrated book is for the true book lover - it offers groupings of books, authors, genres, even book stores and libraries that any true aficionado should check out.

Favourite line: there was a section that detailed pets who’ve provided inspiration to authors.

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Weird Oregon
Written by Al Eufrasio and Jeff Davis

This is the second book in the “Weird” series that I’ve purchased (the other being ‘Weird Illinois’). It is a unique travel series that focuses on sights not covered by Lonely Planet such as local legends and fables, peculiar properties, the paranormal and other strange phenomena. Oregon likes to market it’s reputation for being a bit odd, even running a marketing campaign that begs to “keep Portland weird”, so I knew this would be a great read. Some of my favourite sections included an explanation on why there are so many Paul Bunyan statues, learning of a widow who created a self-cleaning house, and a concise history of the viral whale-exploding incident from 1970 that has taken a second-life on the internet.

Favourite line: During a recent road trip down the state’s I-84, I wondered about the dozens of “mounds” at an army base I passed. This book explained they—all 1,001 of them—once stored 12% of America’s chemical munitions, such as sarin and VX! I had passed the Umatilla Chemical Depot.

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Pablo Escabar, My Father
Written by Juan Pablo Escobar

Narcos and now Narcos, Mexico are some of my “must watch” television. I ordered this book while invested in the first two seasons, hoping to learn more about Pablo Escobar from someone who had unfettered access—his son. I could only force myself through a few chapters though before needing to give up. This book is horrible.

Favourite line: none.

Book Recommendations: Paris Edition

A Day with Marie Antoinette
Written by Heléne Delalex

I picked this up in the gift shop at Versailles and it is a fascinating read filled with beautiful visuals. Love her or hate her, Marie Antoinette led one of the most fascinating lives in history that still pulls influence today (although I am glad that Pantone is the modern colour matching system for designers and industry and not, as this book describes, inspired by royals such as “Caca Dauphin”—or princely poop—a hue once in vogue).

Favourite line: “Kings lack for nothing but the pleasures of a private life: their sole consolation for this great loss may be the charms of friendship and the loyalty of their friends.”

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30-Second Napoleon

A great, quick reference to everything about Napoleon Bonaparte from the context of French society and culture leading up to his reign, major milestones in his life, victories in battle (and defeats) as well as secondary characters that propped or foiled his legacy.

Favourite line: I always enjoy learning about Napoleon’s Egypt campaign.

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We’ll Always Have Paris: Trying and Failing to Be French
Written by Emma Beddington

Based on the title and synopsis—which was misleading—I assumed this book was a travelogue on trying to integrate into French society after relocating there from English shores. This apprised approximately a third of the book (the portion I managed to complete). The remainder turned into a memoir on the author’s struggle with untreated mental illness and how it affected her life, family and career. The book is certainly well written and I applaud the author for laying herself bare, warts and all, but the seemingly unending negativity (especially how terrible French people are, which has been my opposite experience) got grating after awhile and I became disengaged. There was something missing from her words, perhaps a self-realization, that prevented me from viewing her as anything but that antagonist in her own life. Not recommended, unfortunately.

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WTF?! What the French
Written by Oliver Magny

The first few chapters of this book started out as a tongue-in-cheek look at stereotypical French life with sections on beauty, sex and dating, and the consumption of bread (so much delicious bread). But as I continued, there was a darkness that ruined it for me such as support for Marine Le Pen and the far-right National Front party and repeated passages on how immigration is ruining the country. This may provide insight into a sliver of the French population but it isn’t well-written enough to be regarded as actual anthropological data.

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Paris
Written by Jean-Claude Gautrand

The hardcover version of this book has rested on my coffee table for years and is one of my all-time favourites for when I need a jolt of inspiration (or a bittersweet reminder of travels past). With images chronicling the last three centuries of its history and development, the viewer is carried through an immersive, glorious photographic essay on the City of Light and its citizens.

Book Recommendations

Reefer Madness
Written by Eric Schlosser

After reading (and absolutely loving) Schlosser’s ‘Fast Food Nation’ last year, I ordered more of his books including ‘Reefer Madness’ which investigates the far-reaching influence of the American black market—specifically pot, porn and illegal immigration. These three areas, which the government consistently seeks to regulate, all contribute substantially to the national economy. The book is a few years old, and a lot of information outdated, however it’s interesting to see the current outcomes of how these areas evolved. As Schlosser writes “no deity that men have ever worshipped is more ruthless and more hollow than the free market unchecked.”

Favourite line: “Many of the social and economic trends of the past two decades seem remarkably similar to those described in Frederick Lewis Allen’s classic history of the 1920s, ‘Only Yesterday’. The sex scandals, stock swindles, and celebrity murder trials, the youthful hedonism and religious fundamentalism, the Big Bull Market, thriving black markets, fondness for literary irony and political apathy of that era have strong contemporary echoes.”

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Real Food, Fake Food
Written by Larry Olmsted

I’ve eaten “kobe” beef several times in my life, always somewhat skeptical that it was the real thing as it is a relative rarity outside of Japan and notoriously expensive. After reading this book, my suspicions were confirmed but not only for that - there are numerous food products we consume every day, from olive oil to various cheeses, that may not really be what you think they are. One fascinating fact Canadians may not know is that Maple Leaf Meats trademarked the name “Prosciutto di Parma” in 1971 and duped consumers into believing it was the authentic Italian dry-cured ham. Only in 2013 was this rectified with a new trade agreement in which both actual Parma producers and Maple Leaf Meats can still can sell the product, real and fake, in Canada. This is a great book that will get one thinking while shopping for groceries.

Favourite line: “Meat marketers use what is known as modified atmospheric packaging, or MAP, to make products look artificially fresh. Basically, they fill the package with small amounts of carbon monoxide, the same stuff unhappy folks use to kill themselves in garages.”

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Maze
Written by Christopher Manson

I’ve collected gamebooks since I was a kid. I am exposing my nerd side but I have spent significant coin on old, weathered, well-used copies of the Fighting Fantasy series on eBay just for nostalgia. Paired with hot cocoa and a comfy couch, reading them comprises a perfect Sunday afternoon for me (especially with current temperatures in the -40 degree celsius range). Billed as “the world’s most challenging puzzle”, ‘Maze’ was a popular gamebook aimed at adults during the eighties. I hadn’t heard of it before and it is, indeed, very hard. I could only complete part of it, the main quest of navigating through the maze; for the other, visual puzzles—which were coupled with a publisher-sponsored prize back in the day that no one rightfully claimed—I resorted to cheating (and honestly probably wouldn’t have figured them out anyway).

My notebook while attempting ‘Maze’, the world’s most challenging puzzle.

Book Recommendations

Am I There Yet? The Loop-de-Loop Zigzagging Journey To Adulthood
Written and illustrated by Mari Andrew

Listed in the "comics & graphic novels" category, the description is an inaccurate representation of what this book actually is—a beyond brilliant collection of introspective and inspiring illustrations & stories that are more like a visual self-help guide for those navigating through adulthood and all it entrails from romantic rejection to grieving the loss of a parent. This book resonated with me long after I put down its 192 pages; I felt like every word, every vulnerability expressed, was something I have also gone through recently. That kind of empathic insight can be both jarring and reassuring. This is a book that will linger in your heart and soul for days. 

I, along with nearly a million others, originally discovered this artist on Instagram and I highly recommend a follow (and picking up her book). One of the best I've read this year. 

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I, Bificus
Written by Big Naked

I love a good memoir. My personal motto in life is "my future memoir is going to be amazing" and I live each day with that in mind. This one written by Canadian punk chanteuse Bif Naked is one of the best I've ever read. It is engaging, heartfelt and raw, detailing a rich tapestry of life experiences from her parent's missionary work in India (where she was adopted in 1971) to being female in a male-dominated industry to diagnosis and survival from breast cancer. There are years where I felt Bif could've written more but that might be pure greed on my part because I didn't want the book to end. As someone whom I've always perceived to be strong and fearless, it was especially helpful for me to read of her vulnerabilities (and, sadly, relate to the unfortunate circumstances that have resulted because of them). Strength and resilience comes in many different forms. This is a must-read. 

Favourite line: "I was silenced, hearing what a broken heart sounded like."

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Kitchen Confidential
Written by Anthony Bourdain

I was deeply saddened this summer when news spread that Anthony Bourdain committed suicide at the age of 61. He was one of my favourite celebrities; a no-nonsense, occasionally brash, but always genuine person who showed sincere interest in the people and cultures he encountered while traveling the world for programs such as "The Layover" and "Parts Unknown". Anthony definitely had a talent for the written word; his prose is infinitely eloquent  and engaging. While parts of this book lagged, the majority offered intriguing insight into the world of professional cooking.   

Favourite line: "If you are easily offended by direct aspersions on your lineage, the circumstances of your birth, your sexuality, your appearance, the mention of your parents possibly commingling with livestock, then the world of professional cooking is not for you."

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In contrast to the above, I also recently picked up 'Wildflower' by actress Drew Barrymore which she notes is not a memoir but rather a collection of essays about her life. She's certainly led a fascinating one ... but this book didn't shine any light on it. I could only make it partly through the second chapter before deciding that my time was better spent elsewhere. This was a cash-grab on behalf of the author and a complete waste of time for the reader. 

I also purchased ‘Eating Korea’ by Graham Holliday, a book about the history of Korean cuisine and how it’s evolved over time (for better … or worse, according to the author). It’s marketed as “An Anthony Bourdain Book”, but it didn’t muster the same level of engagement as ‘Kitchen Confidential’. The drudging writing style failed to connect and I admittedly couldn’t be bothered further with a foreigner’s lamentations of change in a country he fell in love with decades prior. I had to put it down after completing chapter six. I think one of my other main complaints is that this is a book about food but it has no pictures. After all, food is as much what you see as what you taste. This title may have been greatly improved if designed and marketed in a different way.

Book Recommendations

Meet Me In The Bathroom
Written by Lizzy Goodman

I was never a huge fan of The Strokes but other bands of the early noughts rock scene were a huge part of the soundtrack of my youth (and continue to take up space on playlists today). Interviews with key players of the era from Jack White (of The White Stripes) to Mark Ronson (Producer) to Rob Sheffield (Journalist for Rolling Stone magazine) fill this addicting read and give great insight into what makes a rock star from the raw talent and ambition required, to the behind-the-scenes mechanisms of the industry. I couldn't put it down and got through all 600+ pages in record time. 

Favourite line: "From the beginning, we wanted to write those songs, you know, those songs that change people's lives, a song that encapsulates a moment for people, rather than, like, "Oh, I like this song. I hear it on the radio sometimes."

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Salt, Sugar, Fat
Written by Michael Moss

Food can be a drug. Often, it is engineered that way. ‘Salt, Sugar, Fat’ explores how General Mills, Nestle, Kraft, et all do just that by hiring teams of scientists, researchers and marketers to propel their goods from a mixture of processed additives into something humans can’t help but crave. Containing interviews with those in the industry—notably none of whom admit to actually eating the food they produce and/or market—this book is at turns a fascinating and disturbing read on modern grocery habits and how much influence Wall Street has on them. I recommend this book as a pairing to ‘Fast Food Nation’.

Favourite line: “It is a shame entire generations have lost the ability to cook a good meal from local ingredients because money was shifted to corporate farms to underwrite the growing of energy dense, nutritionally deficient grains that require supplementation to justify its inclusion in the guidelines, unpronounceable preservatives to last on the shelf, and sugar/HFCS [high-fructose corn syrup] to be palatable.”

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The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck
Written by Mark Manson

This book came as recommendation from several friends and I can see why. In an era of increasing stress and an inferiority complex exacerbated by social media, apathy has a certain desirability. This self-help book embraces that in a healthy way, offering readers a glimpse into a "counterintuitive approach" to life. It's funny, it's profane, and it was relatable enough that I saw myself in the author's shoes. I especially liked the final chapter, "...And Then You Die"; we are all truly fortunate to have lived. It's never too late to start living well. 

Favourite line: "But while investing deeply in one person, one place, one job, one activity might deny us the breadth of experience we'd like, pursuing a breadth of experience denies us the opportunity to experience the rewards of depth of experience."