Blog — A World Adventure by Book

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Which Book Should We Read from Thailand?

Thailand is such an interesting country & I’m so glad it was selected this month! The last time we tried to read this country, there weren’t enough books available translated into English in order to choose it. But I’m happy to say the US is now embracing more books from other countries & publishers are now finally translating them.

Before we get to that list of books to vote on, here’s a great Thai cookbook I just picked up which really immerses the reader into Thailand & makes Thai food cookery seem achievable.

“Growing up in Thailand, Pailin spent her childhood with the kitchen as her playground. From a young age, she would linger by the stove, taking in the sight of snowy white coconut being shredded, the smell of lemongrass-infused soups, and the sound of the pestle pounding against the granite mortar. 

Years later, as a Cordon Bleu–educated chef in San Francisco, Pailin vividly remembered the culinary experiences of her youth. And so, on YouTube, Hot Thai Kitchen was born. Combining her love of teaching with her devotion to Thai food, Pailin immediately connected with thousands of fans who wanted a friend and educator.

In this much-anticipated cookbook, Pailin brings her signature warmth and impressive technique to Thai food lovers everywhere. She begins by taking readers on a beautifully photographed trip to Thailand to explore the culinary culture and building blocks central to Thai food. With foolproof and easy-to-follow instructions, Pailin breaks down the key ingredients, flavours, equipment, and techniques necessary to master authentic Thai cooking. Then, she shares her must-make recipes for curries, soups, salads, and stir-fries, including entire chapters on vegetarian and vegan dishes, dips and dipping sauces, and sumptuous Thai desserts. With QR codes to video tutorials placed throughout the book, you’ll be able to connect with Pailin online, too. Both a definitive resource and an extraordinary exploration of Thai cuisine, Hot Thai Kitchen will delight and inspire you in your Thai cooking journey.”

View on Amazon | Bookshop.org

THE VOTING

Since we’re running a little late this month, you can vote from now until Tues., July 2 11:30PM on which book you’d like the club to read next. (That's NYC time. See this converted to your local time below.)

Time converter at worldtimebuddy.com

To participate:

1. Review the books.

2. Then, click here to vote.

We'll publish the anonymous results afterwards so you can get the book in advance.

Time to Pick Up June's Global Pride Book!

There’s a clear winner from the book vote this month, but before we get to it I wanted to share an LGBTQIAP+ travel memoir named a Most Anticipated Book of 2024 by Elle, Them, Book Riot, LitHub, Stylecaster, and Chicago Review of Books in addition to being named One of Esquire‘s Best Memoirs of 2024!

A memoir given the highest of praise:

“Phenomenal…. A memoir that opens into the world, with brilliance, courage, and elegant prose…. This is a book to read, read again, and remember.” —Imani Perry

“Bursting with humor and life, it will do more than transport readers; for many, it will be transformative.” —Esquire

In their new book, Shayla Lawson reveals how traveling can itself be a political act, when it can be a dangerous world to be Black, femme, nonbinary, and disabled. With their signature prose, at turns bold, muscular, and luminous, Shayla Lawson travels the world to explore deeper meanings held within love, time, and the self.

Through encounters with a gorgeous gondolier in Venice, an ex-husband in the Netherlands, and a lost love on New Year’s Eve in Mexico City, Lawson’s travels bring unexpected wisdom about life in and out of love. They learn the strength of friendships and the dangers of beauty during a narrow escape in Egypt. They examine Blackness in post-dictatorship Zimbabwe, then take us on a secretive tour of Black freedom movements in Portugal.

Through a deeply insightful journey, Lawson leads readers from a castle in France to a hula hoop competition in Jamaica to a traditional theater in Tokyo to a Prince concert in Minnesota and, finally, to finding liberation on a beach in Bermuda, exploring each location—and their deepest emotions—to the fullest. In the end, they discover how the trials of marriage, grief, and missed connections can lead to self-transformation and unimagined new freedoms.

View on Amazon | Bookshop.org

BUT WHAT BOOK ARE WE READING for the club?

Acclaimed by Cosmopolitan Magazine, the LA Times, Out Magazine, and many others, “this is a unique and devastatingly hopeful story about the paradox of love: even in the midst of war, and in a world dominated by violence and prejudice, still, love transcends.” (Mia Couto)

Inspired by Nigeria's folktales and its war, Under the Udala Trees is a deeply searching, powerful debut about the dangers of living and loving openly.

Ijeoma comes of age as her nation does; born before independence, she is eleven when civil war breaks out in the young republic of Nigeria. Sent away to safety, she meets another displaced child and they, star-crossed, fall in love. They are from different ethnic communities. They are also both girls.   When their love is discovered, Ijeoma learns that she will have to hide this part of herself. But there is a cost to living inside a lie.       
 
As Edwidge Danticat has made personal the legacy of Haiti's political coming of age, Under the Udala Trees uses one woman's lifetime to examine the ways in which Nigerians continue to struggle toward selfhood. Even as their nation contends with and recovers from the effects of war and division, Nigerian lives are also wrecked and lost from taboo and prejudice. This story offers a glimmer of hope—a future where a woman might just be able to shape her life around truth and love.  

A special thank you to book club member, Linda Varick Cooper for the suggestion.

View on Amazon | Bookshop.org

Happy reading! (If you want to read & discuss the winning book together, join our online book club on Facebook.)