I don’t know about you, but I always find the time just before the holidays a challenge. You know, it’s that time in November where you can glimpse the weeks ahead unfolding into a series of events–work, family, dinners, friends, cold, and of course, the shopping frenzy. It feels a bit like I am poised at the top of a roller coaster. I can hear the gears of the tiny metal car click clack clicking beneath me, and I know we are about to plunge over the side. Just at this moment, right at the top, before the descent, my mind goes somewhere else. It escapes just for a moment. That’s what my bookshelf looks like at the moment—an escape. So bear with me, and the fun and frivolous group of books I have to offer this round.

Saffron Kitchen by Yasmin Crowther

Saffron Kitchen tells the dual journeys of a mother and daughter, one caught in a loss decades old, and never resolved—the other is enmeshed in a current tragedy, that is mysteriously intertwined with her mother’s secret past. The mother, an Iranian-born woman, traveling and marrying in England after the Shah’s fall from reign, must return to her homeland to recover a life that seems only half-lived in her adopted home. The central mystery keeps the narrative moving, as peeks at Iranian culture and traditions are revealed. This is a great airplane book (I hope the author will forgive me for saying). I mean it in the best way. It’s engaging, a fluid read, and best yet, compact!

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz

A great book. An uncommon and hopeless hero. An unexpected narrator. A wonderfully odd glance at the lives of first generation Dominican children, and their families. In turn funny and tragic. A surprising book. Hmmm, is there a pattern here? I’m reading lots of first-generation-immigrant-family books, eh?

The Serpent’s Tale (Mistress of the Art of Death, #2) by Ariana Franklin

This is the second in a series of mystery novels by former British journalist Ariana Franklin, set in Medieval times. The first book I read ages ago—enjoying its central, brainy heroine, strange cast of characters, and quick pace. It always nice to return to beloved characters that you came to know in a first novel. However, the mystery of Serpent’s Tale is a bit more predictable in this go round, than the first novel. Still enjoyable. A great departure from the day-to-day.

I Am Legend (And other stories) by Robert Matheson

Okay, okay, I have fallen victim to the latest vampire craze, I suppose, and picked up I Am Legend. Though, in my defense this vampire book was written in 1954, and has nothing to do with star-crossed lovers. Many perhaps know the title from the movie starring Will Smith. The original story itself is quite different. Our hero is not the key to a cure, and the salvation of human kind; he is the lone survivor, and hold out against an evolving species. This book had my mind twirling, wondering what it must be like to be the last vestige of a species, fighting against the tide, unable to face that the world has changed, and there is no room for you in it any longer. Chilling in a totally different way than the typical creepy vampire novels. Sometimes sited as the first modern vampire novel, I Am Legend and Matheson first popularized the notion of a disease apocalypse. And both are credited by director George Romero (Night of the Living Dead) and Stephen King as being fundamental influences on their work.

Ok, this month’s ‘Books on the Nightstand’ comes with a confession. I strayed from my usual fare (fiction set in other cultures or the immigrant experience in the U.S.) and followed the herd. Where? To Julia land. After several weeks of resisting, I finally succumbed to the brilliant marketing of the two Julia Child books – “My Life in France” (J.C’s autobiography) and “Julie & Julia” by Julie Powell, on which the current movie is based. I say ‘brilliant’ because I haven’t seen such a well-coordinated book/movie campaign in some time. The books are everywhere you look, and are cleverly being marketed together. While I liked ‘Julie & Julia’, I have to admit that ‘My Life in France’ was a bit of a let down. Not being a ‘foodie’, the excruciating detail in which she recalled each meal and bottle of wine took a toll on me. In any event, after being peppered with descriptions of fish and fowl being butchered, tortured (poor lobster) and otherwise mutilated, I veered back on course to my usual reading habits.

Well, almost. For some reason, (my inner Julia?), I picked up two other books by chefs. “The Sharper Your Knife The Less You Cry” by Kathleen Flinn, recounts her experience as a corporate middle manager who gets ‘riffed’ by her employer and embarks on a different path - to Le Cordon Bleu.  Who of us hasn’t wondered what they would do if they had to change career direction? Ms. Flinn took a serious detour and seems to have picked the right one! But hands down the best memoir I read this month was John DeLucie’s “The Hunger” – an interesting and irreverent look at the NYC restaurant scene. If you like Anthony Bourdain, you’ll like this book.

Back on the road to my more typical fiction choices, I would highly recommend Ha Jin’s “A Free Life” - a beautifully written story about a Chinese family seeking the American Dream. I did have to keep reminding myself, however, of the young age of the characters. Ha Jin speaks with a more mature voice and has such depth to his writing that it’s easy to slip into thinking his characters are much older.

“The Blue Notebook” by James Levine, MD is an extraordinary piece of fiction.  The author is a doctor from the Mayo Clinic who tells the story of Batuk, a child sold into prostitution by her parents in India.  It’s disturbing to read in the context of her situation, but well worth the journey.  And Dr. Levine is donating all the U.S. proceeds from the book to the International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children, so if you are up for the subject matter, it your purchase contributes to the solution.

And finally, my favorite, “Into The Beautiful North” by Luis Alberto Urrea. I loved this book! It’s a story set in a small Mexican town where most of the men have left to find work in ‘El Norte’, and the resulting chasm is filled when the drug dealers start to move in. After seeing the classic movie ‘The Magnificent Seven’ at her local cinema, 19-year-old Nayeli decides to go to the US to find her own ‘Siete Magnificos’ to bring back to defend her town. It’s funny, immensely entertaining, occasionally sobering, and gives an interesting perspective on how Mexicans view their own country as well as the U.S.

So, what’s on your nightstand? We’re always looking for good recommendations. So many books..so little time.

Have you ever had one of those dates where someone comes over and spends the first 20 minutes perusing your music and book spines? It can be a nail biting experience. So I’ll confess, I get shifty about sharing my bookshelf. And yet, I love gifting someone a good story—whether that story comes as a book, a CD, or a film. And so (deep breath), here goes:

A Bit of Whimsical Reading

The Shadow Catcher, by Marianne Wiggins
Where auto-biography meets fiction. The Shadow Catcher tells the twin stories of real-life photographer Edward Curtis (who chronicled the disappearing faces of Native America) and a re-imagined version of the author herself.

The Floating Opera and The End of the Road, by John Barth
I’ve only read the first of these two novelettes, packaged together in one book. The meta-obsessed narrator takes you back and forth between his “last day on earth” and all the myriad days that came before.

Water for Elephants, by Sara Gruen

This could be a simple story about a guy running off and joining the circus. But instead, it’s a complex story of grief and growth, of  love and violence, and of the strangest of fringe communities scraping by in Depression-era America. It’s a stay-up-in-bed-reading-until-the-wee-hours book.

Food for the Brain and Heart

The Omnivore’s Dilemma, by Michael Pollan
Pollan tracks four meals backwards from his plate to the field. I’m reading this slowly, picking it up to imbibe a chapter at a time. I can say it’s already affecting the way I make my dinner.

The Transition Handbook: From oil dependency to local resilience, by Rob Hopkins
My neighbor passed me this as a must read for anyone thinking about sustainability at the community level. It’s a model, a guide book–and all with a hopeful, not desperate perspective.

Cortés by Christian Durveger
Hernán Cortés has taken on such mythic proportions here in Oaxaca. It’s hard to distinguish the man from the history he shaped. Cortés relays history and fact with narrative flare. Let’s see if my grammar holds up as I chug through.

Meg’s picks for June 2009:

I read so many books and used to keep a list to refer to when friends would ask if I’ve read anything good lately…..that habit died some time ago along with other good intentions, so this part of the blog not only helps me remember, but will also provide suggestions to you as well!  You’ll generally find a stack of 10 or so books on my nightstand - @ 8 are generally fiction set in another country (outside the U.S.) since I am interested in other cultures, but find regular historical non-fiction books a bit too dry for my taste  (we’ll have other contributors who can assist if that’s your area of interest)…There’s usually 1 business related book and if I’m lucky, 1 that is a good compilation of short stories.

Let us know what’s on your nightstand as well.  What books have inspired you lately? We want to hear what you are excited about reading!

So, here we go - here’s a peek at what’s currently in the stack…

The Blue Sweater ~ by Jacqueline Novogratz ~ memoir by the founder of the Acumen Fund, a nonprofit venture capital firm for the poor that invests in sustainable enterprises involving healthcare, alternative energy, safe water, low income housing.

English ~ by Wang Gang ~ novel set in Northwest China during the Cultural Revolution

The Writing on My Forehead ~ by Nafisa Haji ~ novel whose main character is a Muslim American girl of Indo-Pakistani descent.  When she visits Karachi for a wedding she learns many of her family’s secrets

A Good Indian Wife ~ by Anne Cherian ~ novel set in San Francisco ~ a doctor goes home to India and comes back with a bride from an arranged marriage

Music Through the Floor ~ by Eric Puchner ~ short stories ~ a friend recommended this book some time ago and I loved it ~ am re-reading for the sheer pleasure