Books:
Food related ...
If you're a fan of good eats and molecular gastronomy or just a foodie science nerd in general, this is a great book for you. There are lots of interesting recipes interspersed between the various chapters on commonly asked questions about food, cooking and all things kitchen-like.
Next,
Michael Ruhlman's followup to his book on the CIA (no, not the central intelligence agency ;P), Culinary Institute of America called "The Making of a Chef". This books is split into three sections actually.. the first follows several chefs who are taking the very difficult Certified Master Chef (CMC) test at the CIA. The second chronicles Michael Symon.. the chef of Lola in Cleveland. You may remember him from some of the shows on the food network like Iron Chef and Dinner Impossible. Last section covers Thomas Keller of the French Laundry fame. It's a very very good read... a must read for all foodies :)
As for fiction.. I recently finished "The Inheritance of Loss". This is a rather sad and poignant book that follows the stories of a few individuals immigrant experiences. Both new immigrants to America, and those who left and came back to their home country, feeling like they don't quite know where they belong. It also follows the stories of a group of people who have been transplanted in India and who after many decades living amongst Indians, are made to feel like they are outsiders. I really enjoyed this book.
I'm currently reading these books, in no particular order.
I sense a weird theme here ;) "Beauty Tips from Moose Jaw" is a collection of short stories by Will Ferguson about his childhood and travels in general in Canada. It's got some history in it.. a pretty good and easy read if you're interested in Canadiana. "Blindness "is translated from Jose Saramago's critically acclaimed portuguese novel.. I've never had much liking to translated novels, but we'll see if I like this one. "The Emigrants" is a book about Swedish immigrants in the new world and follows their journey here to North America. Should be interesting!
Happy 2009. :)

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