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3.94 AVERAGE
3.94 AVERAGE
If you are thinking about sailing to the Caribbean, this book is for you. In addition, this book gives you recipes using ingredients that you can obtain along your journey. I don't know if I would be ready for this type of adventure but I do know that if I was, I would definitely be cooking and eating what the locals eat.
This was a delicious book, in ever sense of the word. Even though the thought of eating conch and assorted other ocean creepy crawlies was not appealing, the food described so lovingly throughout the book was mouthwatering. some of the recipes even seem able to be replicated here on mainlain. Ann and Steve were clearly depicted, and thoroughly likable, throughout the book. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to relate to a pair wealthy enough to own a boat and worry about fine wine and liquor, but as depicted, they are pleasant and down to earth, easy to relate to. I have no desire to cruise around the Caribbean myself (I don't care for boats or water, so it is a no-brainer for me.) but thoroughly enjoyed getting to know a little piece of the world I may never go to, with people I may never know, but think I would probably like if I did know them. I definitely recommend this book--it is charming and well written, not to mention appetizing.
Who hasn't dreamed of quitting their day-job, buying a boat, and cruising the Caribbean for a couple of years? Author Ann Vanderhoof did it with her husband in the late 1990s, and this book is the result.
The book reads a bit like a travelogue at times, and the action seems mostly centered on one or two islands. It seems more like the chronicles of a mid-life crisis (see: Under the Tuscan Sun) than a blow-by-blow of a Caribbean life interlude, but I found it passably entertaining as a reading interlude between other books. And as we plan our own Caribbean vacation, it was interesting to get a glimpse of "island life." However, the book bogs down about 2/3 through and never really gets back to the excitement of the early pages again, and I found the descriptions of the "cruisers" to be, well, at times rather obnoxious. Maybe that's how they really are -- I wouldn't doubt it.
A nice, if slightly unsatisfying, read.
The book reads a bit like a travelogue at times, and the action seems mostly centered on one or two islands. It seems more like the chronicles of a mid-life crisis (see: Under the Tuscan Sun) than a blow-by-blow of a Caribbean life interlude, but I found it passably entertaining as a reading interlude between other books. And as we plan our own Caribbean vacation, it was interesting to get a glimpse of "island life." However, the book bogs down about 2/3 through and never really gets back to the excitement of the early pages again, and I found the descriptions of the "cruisers" to be, well, at times rather obnoxious. Maybe that's how they really are -- I wouldn't doubt it.
A nice, if slightly unsatisfying, read.
Oh this book had me longing to go back to the Caribbean.
I really liked this book, but there's a sort of tiresome arc of the under-prepared (female?) adventurer that this book exemplifies (see also: Wild; A Blistered Kind of Love; etc.).
First, the hero in question sets a goal for which she is incredibly under-prepared and under-experienced. If you've never backpacked, try the 10-day Wonderland Trail around Mt. Rainer, not, say, the entire PCT. If you've never long-haul sailed, try a short two weeks around Maine, not heading for the Caribbean from Toronto. It just seems prudent to start small - but I know that doesn't make for a good story.
Second, various challenges - things go wrong, lessons learned, life is hard, but it gets easier as the character learns more skills. Believable, I'll admit, but, well, had the person started as more prepared, perhaps all of this would be less surprising.
Third, there's a moment where the heroine catches a glimpse of herself and she reflects her environment - tan, strong shoulders, crazy hair, etc. She's not conventionally beautiful anymore, but, oh, she's so proud of who she's become. I don't dispute this and would probably do the same, so perhaps I'm just grouchy.
Fourth, the reluctant return to civilization, the dilly-dallying and finding finding reasons not to cap the adventure, which, ultimately, has a sort of under-stated ending.
Fin.
First, the hero in question sets a goal for which she is incredibly under-prepared and under-experienced. If you've never backpacked, try the 10-day Wonderland Trail around Mt. Rainer, not, say, the entire PCT. If you've never long-haul sailed, try a short two weeks around Maine, not heading for the Caribbean from Toronto. It just seems prudent to start small - but I know that doesn't make for a good story.
Second, various challenges - things go wrong, lessons learned, life is hard, but it gets easier as the character learns more skills. Believable, I'll admit, but, well, had the person started as more prepared, perhaps all of this would be less surprising.
Third, there's a moment where the heroine catches a glimpse of herself and she reflects her environment - tan, strong shoulders, crazy hair, etc. She's not conventionally beautiful anymore, but, oh, she's so proud of who she's become. I don't dispute this and would probably do the same, so perhaps I'm just grouchy.
Fourth, the reluctant return to civilization, the dilly-dallying and finding finding reasons not to cap the adventure, which, ultimately, has a sort of under-stated ending.
Fin.
My Rating: 4 awesome stars!!
Book Name: An Embarrassment of Mangoes (A Caribbean Interlude)
Author: Ann Vanderhoof
Genre: Non Fiction/Travelogue/Culture&History/Caribbean food recipe guide
Before I start my review, here is some trivia. Did you know (because I didn't, before I read this book):
Receta means recipe in Spanish?
Conch is a popular seafood in the Bahamas?
Luperon is called a 'Hurricane Hole'?
Gugua - are not a strange species of insect but actually what the public minivans are called? Lol
Lambi is not lamb, but the Creole word for Conch?
Fig, is not Fig, but actually a Banana in the Caribbean - who knew!!
And many many more such little facts- if you've found this interesting, I would say, you don't even have to read the rest of the review, just read the book!! hahah
Ok, so as part of the 2017 book club reading challenge, we have a travel/tourist challenge where the moderator will select a place/region for each month as the topic, and we have to select a book that is either set in that place/location or whose author is from that location and read and review it for that month. So, for January, the location was Caribbean islands and after a lot of skimming over the internet on various options, I chose to read this book, just because the description and the author seemed very real to me and what better way to travel (if not really traveling) than by reading a good travelogue?! ;)
I don't read a lot of non fiction to be frank, so I wasn't sure how to rate this book. But I figured I did find the book interesting and amusing and I also did learn a whole lot of things, so this definitely qualifies for a 4 and above rating!
The book is written by Ann Vanderhoof, about how she and her partner, Steve, decided and planned to take a 2 year break from their daily 9-9 jobs in Canada and go sailing in their own sailing boat across the Caribbean islands. It talks about her fears, her anxiety in the beginning since she has never sailed that long before in open ocean, her amazement and pure joys of trying out all the local fruits, vegetables and seafood that they catch fresh out of the water, her loving interactions with the locals, her huge list of recipes (that I really want to try but can't because I don't have most of those ingredients or cooking tools available with me yet), her test of strength and grit during the storm nights manning the sailboat, her joys of finding delight in the nature and in minimalism and her disappointment when the journey is over.
I've never sailed, nor have I visited any of the Caribbean islands, but reading this book, I felt like I was on a virtual tour there and now I've added a visit to the Caribbean - at least to one of the islands to my list of travel destinations now..lol! :D
So, I'd recommend this book if you like reading travelogues that are real, filled with real stories, humor and lots of facts on sailing, fishing, history, culture, and my favorite touch to the book - the recipes at the end of each chapter :)
Book Name: An Embarrassment of Mangoes (A Caribbean Interlude)
Author: Ann Vanderhoof
Genre: Non Fiction/Travelogue/Culture&History/Caribbean food recipe guide
Before I start my review, here is some trivia. Did you know (because I didn't, before I read this book):
Receta means recipe in Spanish?
Conch is a popular seafood in the Bahamas?
Luperon is called a 'Hurricane Hole'?
Gugua - are not a strange species of insect but actually what the public minivans are called? Lol
Lambi is not lamb, but the Creole word for Conch?
Fig, is not Fig, but actually a Banana in the Caribbean - who knew!!
And many many more such little facts- if you've found this interesting, I would say, you don't even have to read the rest of the review, just read the book!! hahah
Ok, so as part of the 2017 book club reading challenge, we have a travel/tourist challenge where the moderator will select a place/region for each month as the topic, and we have to select a book that is either set in that place/location or whose author is from that location and read and review it for that month. So, for January, the location was Caribbean islands and after a lot of skimming over the internet on various options, I chose to read this book, just because the description and the author seemed very real to me and what better way to travel (if not really traveling) than by reading a good travelogue?! ;)
I don't read a lot of non fiction to be frank, so I wasn't sure how to rate this book. But I figured I did find the book interesting and amusing and I also did learn a whole lot of things, so this definitely qualifies for a 4 and above rating!
The book is written by Ann Vanderhoof, about how she and her partner, Steve, decided and planned to take a 2 year break from their daily 9-9 jobs in Canada and go sailing in their own sailing boat across the Caribbean islands. It talks about her fears, her anxiety in the beginning since she has never sailed that long before in open ocean, her amazement and pure joys of trying out all the local fruits, vegetables and seafood that they catch fresh out of the water, her loving interactions with the locals, her huge list of recipes (that I really want to try but can't because I don't have most of those ingredients or cooking tools available with me yet), her test of strength and grit during the storm nights manning the sailboat, her joys of finding delight in the nature and in minimalism and her disappointment when the journey is over.
I've never sailed, nor have I visited any of the Caribbean islands, but reading this book, I felt like I was on a virtual tour there and now I've added a visit to the Caribbean - at least to one of the islands to my list of travel destinations now..lol! :D
So, I'd recommend this book if you like reading travelogues that are real, filled with real stories, humor and lots of facts on sailing, fishing, history, culture, and my favorite touch to the book - the recipes at the end of each chapter :)
fast-paced
Non-fiction travelog-y account of a couple's decision to quit their jobs in Toronto, buy a sailboat, and sail around the Caribbean for a couple of years. Interesting in a low key kind of way, with lots of recipes for seafood and tropical fruits. And rum. I must run out and buy the fixings for rum punch, now.
It didn't make me want to live on a sailboat, though. It sounds like hard work.
It didn't make me want to live on a sailboat, though. It sounds like hard work.
Ann and Steve work hard at their jobs in Canada. They like what they do and fortunately for them they get to work together as well as be married to one another. They have carved out a good life for themselves. However, they have come up with a plan that will change all that - they are going to escape wintery Toronto with a sailboat adventure.
This is the story of a dream. And it is a book for anyone who worries about whether they should attempt their dream. Without giving away the tale that Ann tells, I think she would say go for it.
I have no desire to do what Steve and Ann do in this book, but it was a fun read. For a couple of days, I got to visit the Caribbean and live the dream of sailing away from "regular" life.
This is the story of a dream. And it is a book for anyone who worries about whether they should attempt their dream. Without giving away the tale that Ann tells, I think she would say go for it.
I have no desire to do what Steve and Ann do in this book, but it was a fun read. For a couple of days, I got to visit the Caribbean and live the dream of sailing away from "regular" life.