Some books and some eateries

I have been reading like a fiend lately. Once The Return of the Native picked up, it really picked up (as is the way with all of Hardy's novels, I think). I thought this was the weakest of the three of his I've read though. I can't believe Holden would steer me wrong!

Then I read a very short but very fun and then very sad book, Penelope Fitzgerald's The Bookshop. I think if I had not just read the less-witty Hotel du Lac by Anita Brookner, I would have appreciated it even more, but that slightly precious English lady voice gets a bit cloying. However, Fitzgerald is also a razor wit and a great champion of economy of language.

Now I've just started Xiaolu Guo's Twenty Fragments of a Ravenous Youth. This is part of the China blitz (you should see my Netflix queue! In other news, words I find really difficult to spell: queue). The novel was originally written in Chinese (and translated into English) before the author, who splits her time between London and Beijing, decided to rewrite the whole thing in English herself. It's a quick read so far and gives you some feel for modern-day Beijing--though it is not a novel where the city itself is the star, the author being much more content to let youthful angst take center-stage.

Not sure where this blitz of reading energy came from. I've certainly been doing plenty else. Mostly eating. (However, by way of not eating, the Library of Congress is totally interesting to visit--good exhibits--and has a pretty, yet uncrowded tree perfect for holiday photo opps.)

Okay, and as long as we're here, our weekend in food:

-Friday night at Kushi Izakaya, which was a bit of a disappointment. The charcoal grilled food was INCREDIBLE, and the sushi was very strong, despite it explicitly not being their focus. But the things off the robata (wood grill) were uniformly terrible. And the whole place was trying to be really stylish and of-the-moment, trying to be all things to all people, and I just didn't feel like it succeeded as much as I hoped (and expected, given the reviews).

I guess it's CRITICISM day. Sorry, restaurant.

-Burgers at Good Stuff Eatery. Those were some solid burgers and fries. Would I go all the way to Capitol Hill just for that? No. But after you work up energy feeling smart at the Library of Congress, it works.

-Dim sum at China Garden--the closest to home right in Rosslyn, and the most satisfying restaurant meal of the weekend. Yum. If you don't hold me back, I may be there every weekend. Nothing like those porky buns...

There we go, my thoughts on everything. You're welcome.

P.S. Your reward: SOOOOO GOOD.