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Books and Bites
JCPL librarians bring you book recommendations and discuss the bites and beverages to pair with them.
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Carrie: [00:00:00] Welcome to the Books and Bites podcast. Each month we bring you book recommendations and discuss the bites and beverages to pair with them. I'm Carrie Green, and I'm here with my co hosts, Michael Cunningham and Jacqueline Cooper.
Michael: Hello.
Jacqueline: Hello, everyone.
Carrie: So this month is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, and we're discussing books by AAPI authors.
It's one of the prompts on the Books and Bites Bingo Reading Challenge. And according to the website, asianpacificheritage. gov, the purpose of this month is to, quote, reflect and celebrate the important role that Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders have played in our shared history.
So we're excited to help you celebrate this month, and we also have, in addition to the books that we're going to be talking about today, we have [00:01:00] a really long list of books that you can find by , AAPI authors. It's on our Books and Bites webpage, so if you just go to our website, jesspublib. org / books - bites, you'll find it there.
What are some of the other books that you all recommend that you maybe put on that list?
Michael: One of them, I added was Nothing But Blackened Teeth by Cassandra Khaw. You might recall I did a book, one of her books earlier this year, called The Salt Grows Heavy for , Romance Month in February.
Carrie: Mm hmm.
Michael: This one is a Japanese ghost story.
It's a novella. It's a
Carrie: Mm hmm.
Michael: Pretty good. A little trippy, too.
Carrie: Is it also horror? Well, I know that was kind of gothic romance, though, the one that you did on Books and Bites.
Michael: Yeah, this is definitely more horror, more, a little more psychological.
Carrie: Okay. [00:02:00]
Michael: And then, let's see, another one that was also horror is called Anybody Home by Michael J.
Sidelinger, and it's a home invasion story told from the perspective of the home invader.
Carrie: Oh, interesting.
Michael: And it is very brutal and very scary because, you know, home invasion happens, so it's pretty terrifying.
Carrie: So it's like a reverse, kind of?
Michael: Yeah.
Carrie: Well, I'm just kind of scrolling through the list and there's a few
that I put on there, , one is called The Wangs vs. the World by Jade Chang and I talked about that on Books and Bites before, so if you didn't get to it then, I highly recommend it. I looked at the record on NoveList for this book to pick the book that I chose for today. So if you, if this one sounds interesting, you might check out The Wangs vs.
the World. And it [00:03:00] is, just the description reads, it's an outrageously funny tale about a wealthy Chinese American family that, loses it all, then takes a healing, uproarious road trip across the United States. So it is, I think I actually did it for the road trip prompt a while back.
Michael: Yeah, that sounded familiar.
Carrie: And then another one that I really liked was the Book of Form and Emptiness, which I did, I think pretty recently on Books and Bites. That's by Ruth Ozeki, and she's a wonderful writer. I love everything by her that I've read, and that one takes place in a library. That's one of the settings. It's in California.
I can't remember. I don't remember if it was San Diego or LA, but that's a really good one. And there was another one on here. Oh, yeah, Two Brown Dots by Dani Quintos. She [00:04:00] is actually a local poet who lives in Lexington, so if you're, if you're interested in poetry or want to read more poetry, which I think everyone should, I recommend Two Brown Dots.
She was also a guest on Prompt to Page, the writing podcast. How about you, Jacqueline?
Jacqueline: I haven't really read any on this list, but I am looking forward to reading Tracy Chee's Kindling. She's a best selling author and this is a standalone fantasy where there's war and of course elite magic wielding teenagers and outlaws and it's supposed to be really provocative and so I think that might be a good one for me to choose next.
Carrie: And then we have been getting some recommendations from Books and Bites participants. Remember, one of the, one of the squares is to share a book that you enjoyed, either on the Books and [00:05:00] Bites Facebook group, or by emailing it to podcast @ jesspublib. org. And so one of those recommendations that we got, it doesn't qualify for this prompt because the writer is not Korean American, but Courtney, the participant, recommends the YA novel Snow Globe.
by So Young Park, which was recently translated from the Korean. And Courtney says, " It's a duology, but the first book can almost be read alone. It's Snowpiercer meets The Hunger Games, and I couldn't put it down. Not to mention the physical book itself is gorgeous, with a shimmering foil inside the covers and an intricate snow globe under the cover flaps.
Highly recommend." So, hopefully, you'll find something to help you mark off this square if you haven't already.[00:06:00]
Michael: Taking a break from the dark and the macabre this month, I dug deep into my TBR pile for my recommendation, The Thousand Crimes of Ming Tsu by Tom Lin. The story begins of Ming Tsu traversing the salt flats of the Utah Territory, making his way to a Union Pacific camp to kill a man. The past couple years, Ming Tsu had been laboring up in the mountains for the railroads after being captured and sentenced to labor all because he made the mistake of falling in love and marrying the daughter of a railroad baron.
After making his escape, he creates a list of names of people that either took part in his kidnapping or responsible for separating from his beloved wife Ada and then begins to hunt them down one by one with a sharpened railroad spike. We learned quickly that the name Ming Tsu instills fear in people because before he married and settled down, he was a feared hit man [00:07:00] for criminal organizations in California.
Now, as he kicks off his revenge tour, that'll take him back home to California and hopefully to his wife, Ming Tsu starts accumulating some interesting companions. There's the prophet, a clairvoyant old blind man that he knew back from his days at the labor camp in the mountains. Then there's a troupe of traveling performers, who all have special abilities, kind of like an Old West version of the X Men.
A mute boy who can only speak telepathically. A woman who is impervious to fire. A shapeshifter, a Native American man who can make people forget, a Mexican man who's extremely lucky at gambling, and then their ringmaster who, every time he dies, wakes up back in 1858 Omaha. Ming Tsu, while facing all the adversity the world can throw at him, while at the same time, having a bounty on his head, will stop at nothing to find his way back to his wife Ada in California.
While this action packed cinematic adventure tale is full of [00:08:00] brawls, gunfights, showdowns, betrayals, and ambushes, it also gives us a peek at the xenophobia and racism experienced in the Old West by Chinese immigrants and marginalized folks like those of the traveling troops. Highly recommended for any fans of Westerns or revenge tales.
It's also a very versatile book for the Books and Bites Bingo. You can use it for the Adventure Prompt, Book with a Map, AAPI, like I am for this month, or Book Set Outdoors. And then my pairing is a hearty dish of pit beans, which is perfect for any cowboy. Found on meatchurch. com, my go to site for all things barbecue, this recipe calls for Bush's Baked Beans, ground meat, a sweet smoky barbecue sauce, onions, bell peppers, and seasonings.
So you cook the vegetables and then add the ground beef and your seasonings, then add the sauce, beans, and then a little more seasoning. And then if you have one, put it on your smoker for two hours uncovered, either [00:09:00] with the hickory or pecan wood. But if you don't have a smoker, you can cook it on the stove just as easy.
Carrie: Sounds like you could cook it over a campfire, too.
Michael: You could, yeah.
Carrie: That's quite a cast of characters that are, that's in that book.
Michael: Yeah, it's like you have this kind of Old West revenge tale and then you kinda get some supernatural magic realism stuff going on in there. But it all really works and, and goes together pretty well.
Carrie: And the railroad spike is really the, the clinching detail.
Michael: Oh yeah, that's how he takes it out. He's always sharpening it and then.
Carrie: And does that have to do with, I mean, because, Chinese rail workers were responsible for most of the railway expansions to the West. Is that related?
Michael: Yes.
Carrie: In the book?
Michael: So when he fell in love with his, the daughter of the railroad baron, he got [00:10:00] sent to labor in a railroad camp up in the Sierra Nevadas and was blasting and, making the way for the the rails through the mountains and then he makes it escape and I guess he uses that as a symbol.
Carrie: Mm hmm. Nice.
Michael: To finally take this guy out.
Jacqueline: That's a unique Western.
Michael: It is. It
is.
Carrie: Yeah.
Michael: Like you don't see hardly any Westerns with any people of color at all.
Jacqueline: Mm hmm. That's true.
Michael: But it's very good. I would highly recommend it if you like Westerns even a little bit.
Carrie: Cool.
Jacqueline: Yeah.
The book I read for the month is Mary K. Choi's debut young adult novel, Emergency Contact. This contemporary novel is about two young people whose awkward meeting results in them exchanging numbers and promising to be each other's emergency contacts. [00:11:00] When Penny, an 18 year old Korean American writer, meets 21 year old Sam, she is immediately smitten.
Penny is shy and has a tough time relating to people and making friends. Raised in a single household family, she's mature beyond her years because she's had to be her own mother. Her mother Celeste is irresponsible, leaving young Penny a ketchup bottle as their only defense against would be murderers.
Penny plans to pour ketchup on herself if anyone breaks into their home. They are close when Penny is young. Her mother teaches her about clothes, boys, and makeup. But as Penny grows older, she feels she cannot turn to Celeste when she is hurt or when someone hurts her. Penny's life takes a drastic turn when an older boy takes advantage of her.
She becomes resentful of her irresponsible mother and pushes her away because she believes that she must face the aftermath of this event alone. The event alienates mother and daughter. Sam is an artist baker who's struggling financially to pay for [00:12:00] college. He works in a cafe, sleeping in the storeroom on a mattress.
He cannot get a college loan or replace his laptop because his mother, Brandy Rose, ruined his credit by running up his credit card debt in his name. His mother then rejects him because he reported the identity theft. Sam is emotionally, financially, and literally stuck. He spirals out of control when he learns he might become a father.
Penny comes upon Sam having a panic attack and helps him through it. Because neither of them has a reliable parent, Sam and Penny decide to exchange numbers in case there is another emergency. Sam and Penny immediately begin texting one another after they exchange numbers. Their friendship grows via text as they find themselves texting one another nonstop.
They go easily from lighthearted banter to deep philosophical discussions. They can get to know one another by sharing their past, confronting their anxieties, and discussing their dreams with each other without all the awkwardness of [00:13:00] meeting in person. The more they get to know each other, the more Penny believes she's having romantic feelings, but she's afraid if she tells Sam about her feelings, he might not feel the same way.
Penny cannot stop imagining worst case scenarios. This novel addresses many issues that teens raised in single family homes must face. I think fans of Jenny Han's To All the Boys I Loved Before will love this novel. Both novels have a fresh Asian American voice and a similar story arc. Choi captures your imagination with these two characters.
Readers will root for these two teens to have a happy ending. This realistic novel deals with tough subjects that might be triggering for people with adverse childhood experiences. I chose to pair this with a flat white espresso recipe from A Couple of Cooks. They recommend using oat milk for those who prefer a vegan option.
According to them, oat milk is the best non dairy milk in terms of frothing ability. It easily beats out almond, coconut, and [00:14:00] soy.
Carrie: And I would say I agree with that. It also tastes better than almond and soy. Like, it's more neutral tasting, I think.
Jacqueline: Yeah, I think so, too. I usually drink, I eat it on my, I pour it on my cereal and stuff, so, and in my coffee.
Carrie: Mm hmm.
Michael: I just drink cow's milk.
Carrie: My book is The Chinese Groove by Catherine Ma. The funny, engaging voice of main character Zheng Xu Lie, who goes by Shelley, immediately pulled me into The Chinese Groove. Shelley is an 18 year old Chinese student who's eager to seek his fortune in the United States, where he plans to win back his girlfriend Lisbet by becoming a famous poet.
He's perhaps been somewhat misled by [00:15:00] his cousin Deng, who told Shelley, " that poets in America got fancy cars and special housing, revered as they were by their fellow citizens as keepers of the famous American freedoms." Shelley's mother died when he was young, and he and his father still grieve for her.
Though his father doesn't want Shelley to leave, he relents because it's what his mother wanted. Shelley believes the Chinese groove, an unspoken connection between kin and countrymen, will ease his move to America, but his " foolproof plan," hits some snags as soon as his flight lands in San Francisco.
The rich uncle he'd planned to stay with indefinitely is actually Ted Cheng, his second cousin once removed, a freelance reporter. He and his Jewish wife, Aviva, live in a tiny house on the outskirts of San Francisco. They are grieving, too. [00:16:00] Five years ago, their son Eli and his grandmother were killed in a robbery at her convenience store.
They're not ready to let Shelley stay in what used to be Eli's bedroom, so he's relegated to the couch. And he's only allowed to stay for two weeks, tops. Shelley's optimism persists despite these and other challenges. He enrolls in a language program at the community college, makes a friend, finds a job in a Chinatown restaurant, and a bed in a sketchy boarding house.
But when he's fired and can no longer pay rent, he finds himself homeless. Then Shelley learns that the elderly Chinese man who lives next door to Ted and Aviva is Ted's father, Henry. Ted and Henry have always had a difficult relationship, but even more so since the family tragedy. Ted and Aviva want Henry to hire someone to help with his daily tasks.
Shelley volunteers for the job, a win win for [00:17:00] all as he sees it. Thus, Shelley becomes the "resident sponger," as he calls himself, though he's an excellent caretaker. Henry, in turn, helps Shelley with his English and pays for his classes. Shelley becomes a full fledged member of this fractured but loving family.
There's a lot more plot that follows. This book is both character driven and intricately plotted, but I'll leave the rest for you to discover. Though the characters are all grieving, Shelley's comic and somewhat satirical voice keep the tone hopeful. The language is delightful and surprising. I marked numerous passages with post it notes, like this one about his beloved high school English teacher from Sussex, England:
"We loved Miss Chips with her hoarfrost hair and flabby Churchwillian dewlaps. She gave me the name Shelley, her favorite poet. Hoarfrost, she taught us. [00:18:00] Dewlaps. Farting. Hugger mugger. Bric-a-brac." And the juxtaposition of this new immigrant saying these words is just hilarious. And some of them are like, I think Aviva says at one point in the novel, why does he have an English accent?
One of the dishes Shelley cooks for Henry is steamed fish. It's also a dish Shelley's father used to promise he'd make. "We'll have a whole fish tonight and fresh clams and turtle," he'd say to Shelley, who'd reply, "And mother will sit with us at the table and the food will make her well." Tap into the Chinese groove with Steamed Seabass with Ginger and Spring Onion, a recipe from Every Grain of Rice: Simple Chinese Home [00:19:00] Cooking by Fuchsia Dunlop.
Dunlop says it's "one of the easiest dishes to prepare, and yet is greeted with more delight at the dinner table than almost any other. " And if you're intimidated by the thought of steaming a whole fish, she says you can use the same method with fillets.
Michael: I love sea bass, but that's, that's a big fish too.
Carrie: Yeah. I don't really know how, she talked about like you could cut it in half and then put it in there, but like a steamer, like a, you know, she's talking about a bamboo steamer basket and those aren't that big. I don't think so. Yeah, you would have to, maybe, or maybe there's just smaller versions of them, but you could also use different kinds of fish, it didn't have to be a sea bass, there were some other kinds listed, but the recipe sounds really good.
I, I, it's one that I want to try for sure, if I can [00:20:00] figure out. I have the steamer basket, but I don't know if I have, like, like, the dish has to go in the steamer basket and have, like, room around the sides. So it's going to take a little figuring out.
Michael: Yeah, might do some fillets.
Carrie: Mm hmm, yeah.
Jacqueline: I have one that you can layer it, like, you can put layers in.
Carrie: Yeah, that's what mine is.
Jacqueline: I wonder if that would be helpful.
Carrie: But you have to, well, cause you still, you need a, yeah, I guess, I mean, if you wanted to have two different layers of it, maybe, but you need a, I don't know if that would work because you'd need a dish that the sauce can kind of pool underneath it while it's steaming, so yeah, anyway.
Jacqueline: Maybe she cooks it and like, you know, cooks one at a time.
Carrie: No, the recipe calls for it to cook it whole.
Jacqueline: Oh, okay.
Carrie: Whole fish, but. I don't know. [00:21:00] Anyway, I think it might be worth it to figure it out.
Jacqueline: Oh yeah, it sounds good.
Carrie: Because it sounds really good.
Thanks for listening to the Books and Bites podcast. To learn more about Books and Bites Bingo, visit us at jesspublib. org/books-bites. Our theme music is The Breakers from the album In Close Quarters with the Enemy by Scott Whiddon. You can learn more about Scott and his music at his website adoorforadesk.com