Reading recaps are condensed reviews of the books I’ve read each month.

While it may sound strange to read a cookbook from cover to cover, Dirt Candy is a great one for that. This is not only a cookbook but also a comicbook and memoir of being a chef working in & opening a restaurant in nyc. Amanda Cohen sure has earned what she has and Ryan Dunlavey’s illustrations really bring everything to life.

There was little non-fiction this month but Goodbye Berlin was close enough. The author’s diaries of living in Berlin were not only intriguing from a character perspective but it was quite interesting to see the third reich slowly creep into society.

Charles Burns artistic style in Black Hole is brilliant and I love that he goes places some artists & writers don’t want to delve into. If you’re looking for a dark + creepy book, give this one a chance. It creeped me out far more than House of Leaves ever did.

During my 6-hour layover at Denver airport, I finished up Mort then started Neverwhere. I get Terry Pratchett’s sense of humor but I’m just not sure how I feel about the discworld series. This is only the second book I’ve read as part of it though, so I won’t give up just yet.

Neverwhere turned out to be a great read for travel. Gaiman knows exactly how to move the plot along right when it needs it. This is the third Gaiman work I’ve read and the only one I’ve enjoyed so far, so I’m looking forward to trying some of his others.

Pick of the Month

Dirt Candy
Author: Amanda Cohen & Ryan Dunlavey
Genre: Cookbook / Graphic Novel
Source: Own
Rating: 4/5
Summary: The recipes are great but the best part is the quasi-memoir of being a chef and the challenges of opening a restaurant in nyc.

And The Rest…

Songmaster
Author: Orson Scott Card
Genre: Fantasy / YA
Source: BPL
Rating: 3/5
Summary: People live a very long time and nothing really happens.


Canada
Author: Richard Ford
Genre: Coming of Age
Source: NYPL
Rating: 3/5
Summary: Part I is excellent. Part II is boring. Part III is weird.


Black Hole
Author: Charles Burns
Genre: Graphic Novel
Source: Borrowed
Rating: 3/5
Summary: An open-ended dark sci-fi-ish story with naked people.


Goodbye Berlin
Author: Christopher Isherwood
Genre: Novel
Source: Own
Rating: 3/5
Summary: Based on the author’s diaries of living in Berlin in the 1930′s.


Mort
Author: Terry Pratchett
Genre: Fantasy
Source: Borrowed
Rating: 3/5
Summary: First of Discworld’s Death novels involving the character Death & his apprentice Mortimer.


Neverwhere
Author: Neil Gaiman
Genre: Fantasy
Source: Own
Rating: 4/5
Summary: Excellent writing + pacing save a predictable ‘hero’ storyline of underground London.