{"id":3919,"date":"2025-11-24T15:27:43","date_gmt":"2025-11-24T23:27:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/adult_services\/?p=3919"},"modified":"2025-11-24T15:27:43","modified_gmt":"2025-11-24T23:27:43","slug":"easy-light-and-breezy-reading","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/adult_services\/2025\/easy-light-and-breezy-reading\/","title":{"rendered":"Easy light and breezy reading for the Thanksgiving holiday"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Food is probably the first thing that comes to mind when we think of Thanksgiving. The holiday is rooted in American history that goes back to 1621 when the Wampanoag people and the Pilgrims came together for a communal feast celebrating the year\u2019s harvest. Since then, the tradition is celebrated with a big dinner with family and friends and the giving of thanks. Gratitude has always been what Thanksgiving is all about, but the focus in many ways is also about food and eating!<\/p>\n

The holidays are usually an occasion and an excuse to engorge ourselves with lots of good and tasty food. Thanksgiving is perhaps the perfect holiday for just that! It\u2019s a time to give ourselves a little break from whatever diet we\u2019re doing or to indulge in whatever food we\u2019re trying to avoid. On the table, there\u2019s the traditional turkey, mash potatoes, casseroles, rolls, pies, and a variety of other side dishes and desserts. It\u2019s all so tempting!<\/p>\n

So after filling your belly, many people might sit around and watch TV or chat with family and friends. But maybe you don\u2019t like watching football or socializing or maybe you just want to avoid talking about current affairs. I think the last thing anyone needs after a heavy meal is a heavy discussion about politics, religion, and the end times. If you ask me, the best thing to do after a heavy meal is to find a cozy place and read a good lighthearted book. That might help with digestion!<\/p>\n

During the Thanksgiving holiday, give one of these easy reads a try. They\u2019re graphic novels and are about food!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Relish: My Life in the Kitchen<\/em><\/strong><\/a> by Lucy Knisley<\/p>\n

This is a graphic memoir about the author\u2019s life and her memories growing up around food, cooking, and her family. Knisley loves food, in fact she\u2019s obsessed with it.\u00a0 Her recollections are stories about what food means to her. In each of the short chapters, she chronicles an aspect of her life and the food associated with the story. This is a lighthearted and humorous read with illustrated recipes at the end of each chapter.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Anthony Bourdain’s Hungry Ghosts<\/em><\/strong><\/a> by Anthony Bourdain and Joel Rose<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re a foodie, then you know who the author is. Bourdain is not just a food expert, but he\u2019s also a master storyteller weaving a narrative that combines food, culture, and people . In this collection of four \u201cHungry Ghosts\u201d stories, the premise is a challenge made by a Russian oligarch, who dares a group of international chefs to tell a terrifying tale with a supernatural theme that\u2019s centered on food and the goal is to survive the challenge. Each story is illustrated by a different artist whose talent depicts the frightening and the gruesome in a hauntingly beautiful way. Like many ghost stories, there\u2019s always a twist. This is a book that might help you transition from Halloween to Thanksgiving. Since it\u2019s about food, it also includes some original recipes from Bourdain. It\u2019s sure to spook and whet your appetite at the same time!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Umma’s Table<\/em><\/strong><\/a> by Yeon-sik Hong<\/p>\n

Thanksgiving is very much about cooking and family and recipes passed down from one generation to the next. This graphic novel touches on this theme of family and communal cooking. It\u2019s a beautiful story about Madang (who I think is supposed to be a cat) and his desire to build a happy life with his new family. However, his impoverished parents are old and need his help. He knows that his mother will die soon and rushes to learn her recipes and bring three generations together at the table before she passes away. This is a bittersweet sentimental story about family, food, and cooking, and it captures the essence of the Thanksgiving holiday.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The Secrets of Chocolate: A Gourmand’s Trip Through a Top Chef’s Atelier<\/em><\/strong><\/a> by Franckie Alarcon<\/p>\n

Do you like chocolate and gourmet desserts? This documentary graphic novel is all about chocolate\u2014particularly the French variety\u2014and what you can do with it. It\u2019s a fun and educational read about chocolate\u2019s history and how it\u2019s processed from roasted cocoa beans. It includes a few recipes, and maybe after reading this book you might go back into the kitchen and grab a piece of that chocolate cake you were trying to avoid.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Family Style<\/em><\/strong><\/a> by Thien Pham<\/p>\n

In this graphic memoir, the author shares his family\u2019s story about coming to America as refugees from Vietnam after the war ended. He talks about his experience living in a refugee camp in Thailand and then adapting to a new life in California in the context of food and their significance to him at different stages of his life. Food for Pham takes on new meanings as he associates a particular food with an experience. Strawberries signify struggle, as he recalls his parents picking them in the fields as one of their first jobs in America, and Salisbury steak signifies adaptation because it was one of the first America dishes he tried when he started school and tried to learn English. Each chapter in fact is defined by a different type of food that carries meaning for Pham. This is another quick and heartwarming read and great for a post-Thanksgiving meal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Food is probably the first thing that comes to mind when we think of Thanksgiving. The holiday is rooted in American history that goes back to 1621 when the Wampanoag […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"Layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["entry","author-youngp","post-3919","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-book-lists","category-recipes"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p71KTL-11d","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/adult_services\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3919","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/adult_services\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/adult_services\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/adult_services\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/35"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/adult_services\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3919"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/adult_services\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3919\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3930,"href":"http:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/adult_services\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3919\/revisions\/3930"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/adult_services\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3919"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/adult_services\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3919"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/adult_services\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3919"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}