Book Club: March/April's Choice - The Kite Runner

Girl's Book Club has been over for a while. I had hoped it would go for a whole year, but we did manage to make it at least 6 months. The biggest struggle was finding time to meet with all our busy schedules conflicting all the time. So, I'm going to try and post about the rest of books we did read after February. The first of which, was The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (2003). This one was a March and April book because The Vagrant spilled over into March a little.

It's been months since I read this book, so writing about it is going to be interesting...

The very start of the book alludes to an incident that happened in the winter of 1975, but the details are not revealed. It then immediately starts building the relationship between main character, Amir, and his servant and best friend, Hassan. The boys are of different social classes, but still friends. Both boys have lost their mothers, but only Amir and his father's relationship is strained because of this. The tension between Amir and his father is a constant theme throughout the whole book and seems to dictate many of Amir's actions as he tries to impress and win his father's love throughout his life. This theme of having to "win" his father's love is a major factor in the two big plot points of the novel.

The first climactic turning point comes during the winter of 1975; for which the whole first part of the book builds up to. The character- and relationship-building all make sense once the incident takes place. In Kabul there is annual kite fighting tournament and Amir vows to win it for his father. After Amir cuts down the last kite, Hassan runs it down for him to take the kite as a trophy. But this is when we learn that Amir "sacrifices" Hassan and their friendship in the first major step to try and win his father's love. I am going to leave the details of that plot point as is, because any more detail would be MAJOR SPOILERS. And that's not cool.

What happens in that moment, and the aftermath, changes the relationships of all the characters in the book. Amir fails to make amends, and so Hassan and his father, Ali, leave the family shortly thereafter. It then cuts to 5 years later, and Amir and his father find themselves fleeing Afghanistan as the Russians invade in 1980. In America, years pass by, Amir's father gets sick (cancer), Amir marries an Afghan girl and she helps him take care of his dying father. At this point, there a glimpses that his and Amir's relationship might be mended, if only lightly. Amir and his wife, Soraya, have infertility troubles and in 2001 he receives a troubling call from his father's oldest friend in Pakistan that "there is a way to be good again".

The next part of the novel reveals lots of secrets that had been kept from Amir his whole life and they all lead up to the second climax of the story. Amir goes to Pakistan, and then back to Kabul to rescue an orphan boy. At this point, the Taliban have taken over in Afghanistan, and Amir describes being a "tourist in his own country." He risks his safety and life to find this boy that he has been tasked with rescuing. Everything comes to a head when he finds the boy and takes a severe beating, all in the effort to get him out of country and back to America. There would be MORE SPOILERS if I went into any more detail than that. Read the book to find out!

I can say that the book has relatively happy ending and, that as a whole, I enjoyed the book. I did find parts hard to relate to due to the cultural differences and the majority of the book being set in Afghanistan. But aside from that, I do recommend the read. The author does a good job of explaining things that may not be familiar to the general reader. I appreciated that I didn't have to look up too many things online to know what was going on in certain instances. The story has some twists and unexpected surprises that were page-turners when I came upon them. However, I would have liked a little more closer at the end. With it being a standalone, it didn't lend itself well as one of those books with ambiguity at the end.

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I also watched the 2007 movie The Kite Runner earlier this week in preparation for writing this post. The movie was just over 2 hours long, which I thought was a bit much, but I guess to try and fit in all the major plot points it would have to be a little on the longer side. More often than not, movies with this type of subject matter are 1 hour 30 min, maybe 1 hour 45 min. But it was a book adaptation, so.

The movie starts in the middle of the book and uses the first part of the book as more like a flashback. I got about ten minutes into it and realized that the majority of the movie was going to require subtitles and the one I had didn't have subtitles. I had to switch to Netflix so that I knew what everyone was saying. Now, this gave me some respect for the filmmakers, because they didn't just make everyone speak English, they actually kept all the parts in Afghanistan, and where appropriate, all in Farsi. Props to them for that!

I was surprised to find that the film didn't change the narrative of the first major plot twist that took place in 1975. It happens the same in both book and movie. I was sure they would have changed it due to the nature of what takes place. Again, props for that. However, the second one, was less intense in the movie than in the book. The book had me engrossed in what was happening, but the movie fell a little flat in those scenes. I also didn't like how the movie took out how much effort and struggle Amir went through to get the orphan boy back to America. I felt that part of the ending was crucial to show how much the characters had changed.

Still have three more Book Club books to post about... and all the rest of my upcoming ones from my Extended Reading Challenge! At least all the book clubs ones are read and I'm not adding to that struggle. Which is all too real right now. Things got busy again at work, which is making finding time for reading a little hard. *Phew* I will get things read, I promise!

Stardew Valley: Why I love farming sim games!

I post a lot of book reviews, especially recently, but I also LOVE playing video games. Particular farming sim games or sandbox games. I recently finished playing Stardew Valley on Steam and LOVED it! Mostly because, if you didn't know, Harvest Moon for Nintendo 64 is one of my all time favourite games. So, Stardew Valley is like the perfect PC game for me in that vein of game-play.

First of all, the graphics! Look at how friggin' cute that little chicken is?! Love it. Anyways, the game was developed by Concerned Ape, and was published by Chucklefish, the same lovely people who brought us Starbound. (Another game I really like.) It starts by you moving to the valley, Stardew Valley to be exact, to take over your grandfather's farm. Sounds exactly like Harvest Moon, does it not? WRONG. (But pretty much, yeah.) What I love about Stardew is that the main goal is 2 years to achieve, not one and after that is all over - the game is actually never-ending! You can just keep playing and playing and playing.

You start by making your character, male or female, customizing them and the like. Then you pick which farm you want out of five: Standard, Riverland, Forest, Hill-top or Wilderness. Each one is tailored to increase one main skill faster than the rest. I chose the Forest Farm for my play through.

Now basically, you get underway. You farm, you fish, you raise animals, you mine, and you fight baddies in said mine. You ride your horse around, you pet and  give water to your dog. You help out the townspeople by doing favours for them. You also have the option to side with the super-market chain Joja Mart, or with the town and work to revive the old town community center. I opted to revive the community center because it seemed way more satisfying. And it was fun completing the "lists" to get it up and running again.

The townspeople are the life-blood of Stardew Valley. Talking to them gives you insights, you help them out with jobs, and you develop friendships. As your friendships grow, you get cut-scenes that give you more in-depth looks at your new neighbours. You attend festivals and participate in fishing competitions. There is a race to the bottom of the mine north of town, and there is a secretive wizard who lives in the forest to the south-west. There is so much to do and see!

Also, another aspect in Stardew that is way better than Harvest Moon, is that there are WAY more people to romance. AND you get the option of both guys and girls no matter what sex your own character is! That is so awesome!

I romanced Elliott, the free-spirited and thoughtful writer who lives down by the beach.

I really enjoyed this game, and it is not hard to get a hang of the controls. I only played it on the PC, which uses both keyboard and mouse for controlling your character. I don't know what it is like on a console. Sorry. The only thing I found hard to get the hang of was the fishing. That took some practice and patience on my part to get good at it. Also getting a better fishing rod helps.

I like the freedom to set up your farm in whatever configuration you want (except your house and land formations). You can have as little or as many crops or animals as you want. You can spend all your time mining if you want. The season changes are nice in the way the graphics change with each one. I just really love the look, feel and play-ability of Stardew Valley. There is even an official wiki online where you can get tips and tricks to help you if needed: stardewvalleywiki.com 

They also recently released a multiplayer update for the PC version! I haven't played it with any of my friends yet, but I've seen some online game play and it looks like fun to run around with multiple people. Check out the Steam store page if you want to pick it up for PC!

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Now, with all this talk and reminiscing about playing and finishing Stardew Valley.... I really want to play...

This game is very Stardew Valley-esque, but so much, so-so much darker. But also there is some lightheartedness. Like the talking donkey!

It is also available on Steam now, but I haven't picked it up. I'm waiting for it to go on sale... plus I really need to finish playing Dragon Age: Origins first or my one friend will hate me. Ha. Anyways, there are some videos of online game-play out there, but here are some screen shots that show you what it looks like.

It just looks hilariously fun! Like you're seriously in charge of building and managing a graveyard. There is video out there of the player being able to throw bodies in the river, and a talking skull that comes around and gives you stuff to do. And of course, the talking donkey that I mentioned. He wants you to give him carrots in exchange for dead bodies. I can't stop laughing!

I am so looking forward to playing this game. You have no idea.

Supper in the Orchard

One of my co-workers recommended my husband I attend one of these special dinners held out at an orchard just outside our city. She said it would be right up our alley. I checked it out online and reserved two seats for Saturday, September 1st for our very first Supper in the Orchard.

Over the Hill Orchards and Winery is located just outside Regina on the way to Lumsden. Not a far drive at all, and very beautiful in the dusk. We arrived about an hour before supper was set to start at 6:30pm sharp. We "checked in", got our designated wine glasses with our choice of home-brewed beverage and found our seats.

The view was absolutely gorgeous and with the sun going down over the hills, you couldn't get a more picturesque Saskatchewan sun set than that. Albeit it was quite windy, it didn't ruin the mood or view.

We got a look at the menu before supper started, and my husband and I were anxious for it to start after we got a glimpse of what was going to being coming out of the kitchen for the remainder of the night. My husband even opted for the Wine Pairing option with his supper, which means he got a 2 ounce glass of wine that was paired to compliment each dish.

After a little chit-chat with our table-mates, we got an introduction to the whole affair from the hosts and owners of Over the Hill Orchards. The Supper in the Orchard events run from May to October and have being going on for three years. It is run in partnership with the Regina chapter of the Canadian Culinary Federation. Prominent chefs from all over the city partake in creating dishes for this culinary series and a percentage of the proceeds go to helping the federation mentor young chefs and send them to world-wide competitions.

Our chef for the evening was Jonathan Thauberger, the Executive Chef of Crave Kitchen+Wine Bar. He is distinguished as one of the best chefs in Canada and is a two time winner of the Gold Medal Plates competition.

Salad Course:

Local Heirloom tomato salad, buffalo milk mozzarella, 

balsamic pearls and cherry vinaigrette. Paired with an off-dry Pinot Grigio

Even though tomatoes are not a food I normally eat, this dish was fresh, colourful and flavourful. The balsamic pearls added a nice bite to the palette, but I felt the mozzarella could have been a little saltier. However that may have been due to it being made from buffalo milk. 

Starter Course:

Roast Chicken and Mushroom Terrine, pickled mustard

seed and swiss chard. Paired with an off-dry Peach Chardonnay.

This dish, although very flavourful and tasted good, was not one I could finish. I do not eat mushrooms; but I made sure to give it a couple good bites to get the flavour and texture so that I could accurately write about it. My husband graciously ate the rest for me. I'm not saying that I didn't like the dish, I very much liked the pickled mustard seed and the taste overall, I just don't eat mushrooms.
Terrine is not a common dish as it involves a lot of jelly to hold the ingredients together. This is not a texture and flavour profile that is common in North American so it was an almost exotic addition to the menu.

Main Course:

Braised beef shortrib, Popcorn Puree, Parmesan polenta, vegetable

pearls and natural reduction. Paired with an off-dry Pinot Noir. 

The smell proceeded this dish, and by the time it arrived we were all mouth-watering to get our forks into it. The shortrib was cooked so that it was falling apart with eat bite; and the polenta was cheesy and had the consistency of liquid-lava. Mix all the parts together and it was absolute perfection. I also enjoyed that the vegetable pearls were a little on the crunchy side, added a nice texture contrast to the rest of the dish that was so soft.

One of the vegetable pearls had everyone confused and it turned out to be zucchini! My husband said: "It's funny how you can really mess with your taste buds when food isn't in the shape that you're used to." 

Dessert:

Blue Cheese Pannacotta with Cherry Sauce.

Paired with a semi-sweet Moscato

Dessert was a bit of a test for us and our table-mates. I was a bit skeptical of the blue cheese, but it turned out to be sweeter than I expected. The cherry sauce was made with basil and mint, which for me over-powered the local sour cherries. With the pannacotta being more on the savoury side because of the cheese, I feel the sauce didn't also need to be quite as savoury.

Overall the meal was absolutely fantastic and would 100% do again. In fact, we're already planning to go in Spring 2019 so we can try one of these excellent supper events with a different ingredient and flavour palette. I highly recommend one of these suppers to all my foodie friends out there. Definitely try one. (Phone and website information in the image below.)