"The Joy Luck Club" by Amy Tan
Published in 1989
My rating: 4 out of 5
"The Joy Luck Club" was recommended by a friend (indirectly, when it came up in a conversation about movies) and though I desperately wanted to like it, I came away with mixed feelings.
The novel centers on four mothers and four daughters. Tan tells each character's story through chapter-long vignettes; the mothers' stories, which start off in China and chronicle how they all ended up in San Francisco in 1949, are sad ones of unhappiness, abuse, bad luck and heartbreaking situations. The American-born daughters' tales are of unhapiness, fizzled-out dreams, bad husbands and meddling mothers. The mothers, who escaped terrible situations in China, were determined to give their daughters everything they didn't have, to give them a perfect life in their new home of San Francisco. But, now in their 30s, the daughters are ungrateful of their mothers' advice, efforts and guidance, and unappreciative of their Chinese heritage.
It's one of those deep, thought-provoking books that will affect every reader differently, and there are a variety of different themes at play. For me, the overarching theme of the book is the relationship between mother and daughter. That's something that transcends time period, ethnicity and social class. There are messages about respecting your mother, understanding that there are facets of her life --perhaps horrifying, perhaps blissfully happy -- that she has never told you, that she is (or, at least, was at one point) an individual separate from being a mother. And most importantly, that you should learn all you can from your mother while she's here and, no matter how many eye rolls or heated arguments her presence causes, appreciate her if for no other reason that she gave you a piece of herself when she brought you into this world.
I did like the theme and I enjoyed the stories, which involved fascinating Chinese superstitions and mythology, interesting depictions of growing up Chinese-American and accurate and engaging dialogue especially from the mothers. But what I didn't like was the disjointed feel of the book. While all the stories were joined together by a common thread, it was very hard to keep eight characters' stories straight throughout when Tan kept jumping back and forth. I constantly had to refer to the guide in the front to check which daughter went with which mother, and by the end I had gotten the mothers' experiences in China all mixed up. But perhaps there is a symbolism in the fact that all the stories run together.
I did enjoy the book overall but I'm looking forward to watching the movie, which I'm sure will be easier to follow. I wasn't able to imagine the story playing out in my head as much as I usually do with novels. I think that's mostly because it took a long time to get a good idea of each character's personality, since Tan switches up the story so often. For once, I can say I will really enjoy seeing a filmaker's perspective on the story.
What better place to read a book about Hawaii than on the beach in Hawaii? I'm reading "Moloka'i" by Alan Brennert right now and there was a passage that really struck me. I love the appearance of the moutains here but I could never really put their unique appearance into words.
When describing Hawaii's mountains, Brennert writes: "...the imposing Ko'olau Range -- high jagged peaks with faces like those of worried old men, deep vertical furrows worn by the passage of time and water."
Thursday
Saturday
Monday
To welcome Jarrod home on Saturday, I decided to bake a cake. There's really no need for me to bake when he's not here (which is a bummer because I love to bake!), and I'd been salivating over a recipe for a cannoli cake in this month's Taste of Home magazine.
The recipe called for a boxed mix (I generally shy away from those in favor of homemade, but the rest of the cake was rather time-consuming so the convenience of a boxed mix was a relief). The second step is to prepare the cannoli filling, consisting of ricotta cheese, chopped chocolate, powdered sugar, rum extract, almond extract and vanilla.
The frosting calls for two containers of marscapone cheese, but my eyes bulged out when I saw that it was $5.99 per carton at the commissary. (No way am I making $12 frosting.) So I did a quick check for substitutes and went with the option of 8 oz. of cream cheese plus 1/4 cup cream. The frosting also contains almond extract and I thought the combination of that with cream cheese was divine. I'll probably use it on more cakes in the future. It would even be magical on a simple chocolate cake.
The least fun part about baking is cleaning up the mess left behind by the tornado (a.k.a. me) that blew through the kitchen.
But the best part is enjoying all your hard work, one mouthwatering forkful at a time. This cake was definitely a winner! 
He selected French and sourdough, and the heavenly scent immediately set my mouth to watering. Instantly, I knew we had to have soup for dinner.
For ages, I've been trying to find a really good potato soup recipe, but none ever compares to my favorite from Chili's (that's because a small cup of Chili's baked potato soup probably exceeds my daily requirement for sodium, fat and calories). I did a quick Google search and thought this recipe from Allrecipes sounded promising.
I followed the recipe pretty closely, but with a few exceptions.
"The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins
Today I made a cannoli cake to celebrate Jarrod's homecoming tomorrow after his month at pre-deployment training. One of the best parts of baking a cake is licking the beaters after making up the frosting, and sometimes even Conan gets to partake.
