Jocelyn's Reviews

Claire Thomson has managed to do something new yet obvious in bringing us New Kitchen Basics—a book of staples built around 10 key ingredients everyone will know, but for the 21st-century American kitchen, where comfort food includes tacos, curries, and pho’ as much as it does roast chicken, pancakes, and burgers. Written specifically for accessibility and accompanied by beautiful photos and clear, simple instructions, this is one you will start cooking from right away. - Jocelyn

Black Sea is a truly beautiful book, a most lovely marriage of cookbook, travel writing, and photography. Caroline Eden winds her way along the coast of the titular sea, exploring not just food and history but people and spirit. Open these pages for a breath of clean salt air and ancient flavors (with accessible, modern twists), and a journey you may never take yourself—but may not need to, with Eden having paved the way with words. - Jocelyn

Chef Kwame Onwuachi partners with Joshua David Stein to present his life on the page rather than in a dish—though we’ve got those too. His early days affected by love and violence, the Bronx and Nigeria, and a lucrative career dealing drugs, Onwuachi shows with reflective and unflinching honesty a journey shaped by family and heritage, and a food-centric destiny embraced with talent and hustle. Fully satisfied, I look forward to the next taste Onwuachi will share. - Jocelyn

In telling the story of the French Resistance through the perspective of a handful of women (among many) recruited as operatives and spies to work behind enemy lines, Sarah Rose adds a chapter that had been missing from the written history of World War II. Dropped by parachute to lead missions of espionage and sabotage, they let nothing stand in the way of defeating Hitler and freeing France. Pick this one up for an engrossing, true narrative and for inspiration from women who never backed down. - Jocelyn

Autumn Light is not so much a long-time expatriate reflecting on his chosen home, as a rumination on life. Iyer tells a story not finished but set: the joys of spouse and children poignantly framed against memories of the dead, and the ache of loving those leaving us. Japan’s relationship with aging and death—as well as love, marriage, and parenthood—is different from what we see in the West, but Iyer writes an affecting picture of the universalities of being an aging human. -Jocelyn

Chen Qiufan’s award-winning novel reads like classic science fiction, though first published in China in 2013, with prescient relevance to 2019 America. Combining cyberpunk, biopunk, and mecha, Qiufan’s story (in a thoughtfully done translation by Ken Liu) takes place on the fictional Silicon Isle, where the world’s waste is recycled under hazardous conditions by itinerant workers made second-class by the isle’s native population. Waste Tide takes you along for the ride, throwing in clan warfare, industrial espionage, ancient rituals, an uprising, a love story, and a mystery or three.

Uzma Jalaluddin’s debut novel is billed as a modern-day Muslim Pride and Prejudice, but any Elizabeth-and-Darcy-esque plot points pale in comparison to the real romance and individuals Ayesha at Last finds in the Toronto community. Khalid and Ayesha navigate the myriad definitions of love, faith, friendship, family, marriage, and more in this resonant 21st-century tale, flavored lightly with Indian cooking, spoken-word poetry, and tech-world shenanigans, that does not disappoint in either its characters or its heart.                          —Jocelyn

Nicola Yoon’s incredible award-winning novel starts with the complexity of the universe and continues with two teens—an immigrant and the child of immigrants, both American—on a single day in New York City. A love story and a story of choices, this book is more real and consequential than most you will ever read. Natasha and Daniel and all the lives they intersect made my breath catch and my mind soar, and made me feel like a piece of the greater wonder. - Jocelyn

Eolo, a transgender warrior, accompanies his prince, Mawat, to claim his role as Lease of the Raven, leader of their people, only to discover a death, a betrayal, and a mystery. As Eolo searches for the truth, an unseen narrator relays his own ancient history, the two tales combining for an epic of politics and gods, power and revenge, loyalty and friendship, in an engrossing fantasy world and story unlike any being written today. - Jocelyn

Part memoir, part cookbook, each page radiates with feeling and flavor. Beautifully written vignettes of Shaya’s life and the people who shaped his cooking lead into clear and visceral recipes. Simple instructions powerfully evoke flavor, texture, aroma, and heat at every step of the dish. This book is warm and delicious and will keep you reading and, (hopefully) eating. - Jocelyn