25 books and sushi
june 24, 2002
i'm finally sitting my ass down and getting around to answering linda's question about the 25 most influential books in my life. sorry for being so tardy in supplying my list but it does take a certain amount of time for me to collect my thoughts and to narrow down which 25 i ought to list out. i can't say that all of the books i'm about to list are actually "influential" (said with an exaggerated echo) but they are books that i really enjoyed in one way or another and have retained their place firmly in my memory. so here they are in no particular order.
01. longtime californ' a documentary
study of an american chinatown by victor g. and brett de
bary nee
02. mrs. piggle wiggle
(the entire set) by betty macdonald and hilary knight
03. starring sally j. freedman as herself
by judy blume
04. japan: it's not all raw fish by don
maloney
05. wuthering heights by emily bronte
06: siddhartha by herman hesse
07. james and the giant peach by roald
dahl
08. where the red fern grows by wilson
rawls
09. charlotte's web by e.b. white
10. wild meat and the bully burgers by
lois-ann yamanaka
11. chat, crash, connect (trilogy) by
nan mccarthy
12. all she was worth by miyuki miyabe
13. the world of suzie wong by richard
mason
14. this book is not required by inge
bell
15: inside out: reflections on a life so far
by evelyn lau
16: the bluest eye by toni morrison
17: native son by richard wright
18: shoal of time, a history of the hawaiian islands
by gawan daws
19: city of darkness, life in kowloon walled city
by greg girard and ian lambot
20: the accidental office lady by laura
kriska
21: tess of the d'urbervilles by thomas
hardy
22: 8 ball chicks: a year in the violent world of
girl gangsters by gini sikes
23: flowers in the attic by v.c. andrews
24: np by banana yoshimoto
25: little match girl by hans christian
anderson
i know i know, what a mixed bag that is eh? sure, they aren't all true literary classics by the cliff's notes definition but i can say that all of them in some way or another triggered either feelings, emotions, enlightenment or passion about a certain issue in me. feel free to comment.
:::
if you haven't eaten yet today, you may not want to read ahead. this is a warning, especially for matti2d! ;)
this week's new japanese haunt is:
sen
nari sushi
18220 s. western ave.
gardena, ca 90248
310.324.1970
sen nari sushi is one place that specializes in sushi and nothing but. well that's not really correct....they do have appetizers as well that are cooked foods but you shouldn't go there expecting something like teriyaki chicken on the menu because they won't have it. fishpimp turned me onto this place and thought i'd enjoy it as much as she does and boy, was she right on. we started off with the oyster on half shell appetizer. 3 oysters for $8.00 and they were HUGE and not to mention super fresh. the taste was absolutely sublime and even better than the ones i've had at oyster bars! we were all tempted to get a second order of it.
next up was the thing they called "special #4" which at first glance looks like some burnt mushroom when it arrived at the table. but once you broke it open (see below), inside is a mixture of two kinds of fish meat and crab meat all melded together in a sort of roll without the rice. a very tasty treat that comes 4 to an order. i apologize for the blurry photos but i was really hungry!
we also got the fried calamari that was probably not as spectacular as the other items we ordered but was good nonetheless. the good part about the calamari was the light breading on the squid since most of the time, in italian restaurants, they are just way too overbreaded.
and finally, the two plates of sushi. i found their sushi to be way better than tsukiji (also in gardena) with the fish resting lightly on a lukewarm bed of rice. the only thing i didn't think too highly of was the spicy tuna roll which really wasn't spicy at all. i've had better. but everything else was sliced to perfection, the size was adequate and the quality was unmistakably above par. be sure to check out sen nari if you're around that area. they have a decent sized sushi bar with tables and special tatami rooms for dining as well.
happy monday.
hi cyn! :D *wink*
