Read it

This week I am reading Like Water for Chocolate. It is... delicious. hehe. I found a copy on the "give-away" bookshelf in the laundry room of the apartment building where I am staying for the month. It was buried amongst Danielle Steel and Tom Clancy, and a disturbing supply of "end-times" themed Christian fiction. I know this book has been around for a while... they even made a movie out of it!... but somehow I missed it. Shame on me. It is lovely. A modern fairy tale. I love the writing, I love the characters, I love the recipes buried in the prose. I don't want it to end.

Here is a review/synopsis I borrowed from Amazon.com:

From Publishers Weekly
Each chapter of screenwriter Esquivel's utterly charming interpretation of life in turn-of-the-century Mexico begins with a recipe--not surprisingly, since so much of the action of this exquisite first novel (a bestseller in Mexico) centers around the kitchen, the heart and soul of a traditional Mexican family. The youngest daughter of a well-born rancher, Tita has always known her destiny: to remain single and care for her aging mother. When she falls in love, her mother quickly scotches the liaison and tyrannically dictates that Tita's sister Rosaura must marry the luckless suitor, Pedro, in her place. But Tita has one weapon left--her cooking. Esquivel mischievously appropriates the techniques of magical realism to make Tita's contact with food sensual, instinctual and often explosive. Forced to make the cake for her sister's wedding, Tita pours her emotions into the task; each guest who samples a piece bursts into tears. Esquivel does a splendid job of describing the frustration, love and hope expressed through the most domestic and feminine of arts, family cooking, suggesting by implication the limited options available to Mexican women of this period. Tita's unrequited love for Pedro survives the Mexican Revolution the births of Rosaura and Pedro's children, even a proposal of marriage from an eligible doctor. In a poignant conclusion, Tita manages to break the bonds of tradition, if not for herself, then for future generations. ---Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

What have you read lately that surprised you? Leave a comment so I can read it too!