Monday Coffee Klatch: Comfort Books

Some people have comfort foods. I have comfort books. 

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy would be my primary comfort book, if I had to pick just one. Brett is traveling in the US right now, and told me he found my "Hitchhikers book" in the storage tub at his brother's house, and will bring it back home to me. 

Bearing in mind that I have here in the house my leather-bound Hitchhiker's "trilogy", plus a paperback of the 5th book, plus a copy of the original radio scripts, I had to ask which book had been left in the States. 

Turns out, it was a big coffee table book I'd purchased - thin, but huge - with color photos (not from the show or movie) and a fun iridescent dust cover.

 

I had to tell him not to bring it back. Sell it, donate it, find it a good home, but I don't need it with me here in Vietnam.

My love for The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy made me buy this beautiful book, but we no longer live the "Coffee Table Book lifestyle™!" 😆

I have the text of the book here in the first version I'd ever owned, complete with inscription from my parents (who gave it to me), paint stains, and my own penciled notes in margins. 

So that's my go-to comfort book.

And here's where we get back to the coffee part of Coffee Klatch.

In The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Arthur Dent's comfort beverage of choice is tea. He goes on about it almost as much as I launch poetic about coffee. 😆

Maybe tea is just too British for me first thing in the morning. Either way, it seems that even a stranded Earthling trying to make sense of the universe appreciates a reliable brown beverage.

So the questions of the day are:

What's your go-to comfort book? (If you have one.)

And what's your go-to comfort beverage?

Monday Coffee Klatch: To All the Books I've Loved Before

Just for variety, I want to introduce you to a coffee shop I don't love. This place is a back-up coffee shop for me. The coffee is ... okay. Croissants are good. Apparently, their specialty is churros, which I haven't yet tried. 

On the plus side, they have comfy seating and a super-convenient location if I was going to meet someone. 

But really, I only come here when I've walked down to my favorite place only to find that it is closed for some random reason, which, as a mom and pop shop, is a respectable choice even if a little inconvenient for me sometimes. This place is around the corner and a few doors down, so I haven't wasted my walk.

Less cute view, wimpier coffee, but comfy.

Now, regarding The Books That Got Away!

I've complained before about losing books due to moving overseas. It's one of those critical, difficult decisions. They're heavy, they take up space, and with internet access, it's hard to convince yourself the physical book is critical.

In years past, I've given away a LOT of books.

Sometimes I tried to make sure they went to someone who would really appreciate them. If I had a whole collection by an author, I'd post online: Does anybody love this author? I've got the complete set and I'd be happy to send it to you! Because if someone loves the books, I'd much rather see them go to a good home than break up the set.

I've also donated plenty to thrift stores, and later to the library where my sister worked.

And honestly, I'm glad most of those books found new homes.

But every now and then, I wish I still had certain ones.

The recent culprit is Gregory Maguire. After watching Wicked and Wicked: For Good, I found myself wishing I still had my collection of his books. I'd read all of them at least once, and they're wonderfully written, although VERY different from the light, funny version presented in the stage musical. Maguire's version of Wicked is dark.

Those I could replace fairly easily, since I could get them electronically and put them on my Kindle.

I also had a biography of Alec Guinness that I'd ordered through a book club. I never actually got around to reading it before I gave it away. Now, every time I watch a movie with Alec Guinness in it, I think, I wish I still had that book.

I know I could replace that one, too.

But then there are the books I can't really replace.

I once had a hardcover edition of Beowulf, with a new English translation on one page and the original Old English on the facing page. I think it was published sometime in the 1990s. I love multi-language books. (I have several English+Chinese ones now, and used to have a copy of Faust in English+German.) I think the dual language gives me hope that I'll up my linguistic game.

But for me the biggest loss is my original Star Wars trilogy written as Shakespeare plays. My sister gave me one of these lovely hardcover books for Christmas or my birthday three years in a row. They were beautifully illustrated, and the language was part of the fun. (Sci-fi iambic pentameter except Yoda, whose lines were written in haiku.😄) I could probably find electronic versions somewhere, but I don't think I'd enjoy them nearly as much that way. 

Because sometimes it's not just the book you miss.

It's that book.

The particular edition. The illustrations. The feel of it. The memory of where it came from.

The hard fact is that when you have to reduce your possessions to what is genuinely practical, you sometimes end up giving away things that weren't practical, but were precious.

Have you lost a favorite book to time or location or circumstance? What do you miss about it?

Coffee Klatch - Beer Edition!

Coffee and books are a natural pairing. Give me a quiet garden, delicious coffee, an uninterrupted hour or two in the morning, and I'm happy.

But sometimes it's evening, and coffee isn't what I'm after. Sometimes I want a beer. And I want to take my book with me.

There's something comfortable about reading at my local. My usual seat faces out toward the street, where I can catch the breeze, watch the world go by, and enjoy being out in public while staying in my own little world.

No Kindle in this picture, but you get the idea

 

Which brings me to one of my favorite inventions for an international traveler: the e-reader. I happen to use a Kindle these days, but I'm not particularly loyal to the brand. The important thing is that it holds a library without weighing anything like an actual library.

A big advantage of bringing your e-reader to a bar? Anonymity.

A physical book invites conversation, and as much as I enjoy bookish chats at times, I do not crave that kind of attention in a bar. With my Kindle, nobody knows what I'm reading, and nobody asks.

Now, I know a lot of women feel self-conscious about going out alone, so allow me to suggest one more big bonus of the e-reader: it acts as a sort of social shield! Bar, restaurant, coffee shop, wherever you are - with your Kindle, you're not alone, and you don't look it. You're reading.

Nobody questions it. 

At least, I don't think they do. I'm too busy reading to notice what anyone else is doing. And maybe that's the point. 

There are plenty of reasons to go out alone. You don't need an excuse or companion. All you need is a good book, drink of your choice, and if you're lucky, a seat with a breeze. 

Monday Coffee Klatch: Odd Combinations

I don't remember what made me try salted coffee the first time, but it quickly became one of my favorites.

Salted coffee sounds weird, right? Ew!

Now, don't go dumping a bunch of Morton's into your coffee grounds. That's not it at all. The coffee doesn't taste salty. The salt is in the salted cream.

Less "Ew!" and more "Oooh!"

And not just a little cream, either. A nice, unapologetic dollop of it, floating on top of coffee that's already been lightly sweetened with condensed milk.

My favorite salted coffee back in Hoi An tasted almost like salted caramel. A sweet and creamy treat for the tongue. Definitely more of a once-in-a-while cup o' joe.

At the nice places, there's a bit more production to it. Coffee on the bottom, creamy layer on top, smoothed out and finished with a dusting of cocoa. 

It's pretty. It's indulgent. It's utterly unlike what the name brings to mind.

...Because at no point does it taste like "salt + coffee."

Which got me thinking about other combinations that shouldn't work, but somehow, for me, they do.

Like Stephen King and Terry Pratchett.

In the past year I've fallen into a pattern of alternating between them. Have you read either one?

King, of course, is known for horror. Pratchett is, well... fantasy, absurdity, social commentary, and a view of humanity through a cracked lens. They couldn't seem more different.

And yet, I've discovered two things they have very much in common:

They both have a VAST catalog.

And, once I'm reading one of theirs, the story just carries me along.

Since The Shepherd’s Hut by Tim Winton, I've gone King > Pratchett > King: 

Revival, The Light Fantastic, and now The Sun Dog. 

When I'm out with my Kindle and finish a book, it's easiest to pop into a familiar style. I guess that's what I like in my go-to authors: that confidence that there are plenty more good books where that came from.

So, who's your go-to author? Or do you bounce around like me? (I do have others, too.)

I'd love to know whose book you pick up as "comfort food" for the brain. I'm always looking for my next book.

Monday Coffee Klatch - A Midsummer Night of Richard and Henry

Today we're settling in for a couple of hours at a place I go for coffee semi-regularly. Not actually a coffee shop, this is a public food court in town. I love it - burgers, curry, tapas, all in one place - and a full bar that serves coffee and smoothies and offers western breakfast dishes until 1:00. Basically, if I get hungry while I'm reading, I have options. 

It's a little farther from home, which is why I linger longer than at a local coffee shop. Plus, the salted coffee is on par with my regular place, only bigger. Bonus! 

Salted coffee at Dong Vui Food Court

Today, let's talk Shakespeare!     Wait! Come back!     

Don't run away! 

I get that he's intimidating. (Is he still required reading in high school?) 

I had read The Biggies: Midsummer, R&J, Hamlet, Macbeth, Much Ado, Othello. Comedy and Tragedy. But a few years ago I realized I was lacking in knowledge of his Histories. 🙄 So I decided to read one play a month, focusing on the histories. 

I'm an actress, and for decades I've had the embarrassing experience of being around theater people talking about plays they've been in - King Lear, Richard III, Henry IV - and thinking, I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about.

The first year I did this, it was almost all histories broken up with a couple of lighter, familiar ones. By the end of the year, I had read a whole bunch of Shakespeare's histories and could no longer remember which Richard had done what to which Henry. So I started an ongoing Shakespeare book report. Now every year gets its own document, with a section for each play. All I really do is briefly summarize what happens in each scene. It's not scholarly analysis. I'm trying to write approachable summaries. This is my personal Shakespeare survival guide: What the hell was happening here again? Now I don't have to go back to SparkNotes every time I encounter a play I've already read. 

For a while I had a chat group for people who were interested to try the challenge, but most people tapped out. The two who stayed in had already read most of his catalog so they became my Shakespeare lifelines whenever I needed the benefit of someone who had actually read the introduction. 

By now, monthly Shakespeare has become a habit. There are still plenty of plays to go, but some months I revisit one of the more confusing ones, and sometimes I choose a play I particularly like - like Macbeth every October - just to keep the fun in the challenge. 

And now, when someone quotes Richard III, I might even remember the reference!

Monday Coffee Klatch - Back Alley Beaches

Welcome back to the corner of Book Street and Beverage Boulevard. Today I'm introducing you to my second most common coffee hangout.

Last week I compared the rock garden café with the rice paddy overlook I used to frequent in Hoi An. Today we've downgraded from "rock garden" to "slightly green-ified alley."

This cafe actually caters to tourists with a lovely air-conditioned interior, but because it's right on the main drag, there's no room for tables out front. Instead, they've created little ledge gardens and tucked a few tables into the adjacent alley. Today I ordered a salted coffee and a strawberry-and-cream croissant to enjoy in the meager shade while looking out at the ocean. See it?

My view from the alley.

Just a little peek.

There, up and to the right of the trash can.

Notice I didn't say beach. Along this stretch of Vietnam's coast, there isn't much of one - it's mostly embankment. But when the tide cooperates, I can still wriggle my toes in the sand.

Not much going on here.

But enough about the coffee. On to the books!

Since last week, I finished The Shepherd's Hut. Awesome. Better than I expected, to be honest. Winton isn't an author who spells everything out for the reader, and I really respect that.

After finishing that one I started Revival by Stephen King. There was a preview chapter tucked into the back of another King novel I read months ago, and I immediately added it to my "want to read" list. Now I'm finally in it. I'm no speed-reader, but I'm already nearing the climax. In typical King fashion, the words fly by. It makes him very easy to read.

A lot of people avoid Stephen King because of the "horror" label. For years, I was one of them. But they're not all like that. Even as far into this book as I am, nothing supernatural has actually happened. Nothing more horrific than the very real horrors of life, death, and addiction. There have been subtle hints that something far stranger may be waiting at the end, though, and I'm looking forward to seeing how it all unfolds.

Have you ever read Stephen King? What did you think?

I tried one of his books when I was about 12 or 13 - a big one, possibly a short story collection - and it creeped me out enough that I never finished it. I waited far too long to pick up another.

These days, he's one of my go-tos.

Monday Coffee Klatch: Gardens and Slang

Welcome to today's Coffee Klatch! ☕

Where are we meeting today?

This is my favorite coffee spot in town. So far.

I've always loved a garden café. My favorite one in Hoi An overlooked rice paddies.

Lush. Green. Complete with a proper lotus pond (not visible here).

Mui Ne tells a different story. It's drier, so "lotus pond" gives way to "rock garden." 

But... a rock garden is still a garden, and beautiful in its own way. The one in the top photo has a magnificent mango tree in the middle. You can't really tell, though; I seem to have missed mango season.

In both pictures, I have a salted coffee on my table. What's your pleasure? Coffee? Tea? Juice? Or, if you're reading this later in the day... Wine? Milo? A sleepy cup of warm milk?

I promised Mondays would be about books and coffee, so let's get to the books.

This week I'm reading The Shepherd's Hut by Tim Winton, a well-known Australian author. I'm about three-quarters of the way through, and I genuinely have no idea where it's going. If you've read it, please don't spoil the ending! 

The story is a bit dark. Raw. Following a kid who's been through some rough stuff. But the thing that surprised me most wasn't the plot - it was the language. There's so much Aussie slang!

You know those books that seem to have their own dialect? (I'm looking at you, A Clockwork Orange... and you too, Terry Pratchett's Tiffany Aching books!) This is one of those.

I'm lucky enough to have several Australian friends, so I don't get completely lost, but I still find myself looking things up on a regular basis. Thankfully I'm reading it on my Kindle. Some of the more common slang can be explained with a quick underline. The rest? Google and my Aussie pals to the rescue!

For example: 

Flash = good, healthy, or in decent shape. 
Crook = "sick or unwell", or alternatively "angry, cross, or telling someone off"
Bricking it = being extremely scared/terrified

So... what are you reading at the moment? What makes that book unique for you?