Like Water For Chocolate by Laura Esquivel

I've had this book on my e-reader for almost a year and I think I found out about it through a recommendation from John Green (I might be REALLY wrong, though). I don't know why I didn't get around to reading it earlier. If you're putting it off just like I was - stop right now and go read it, it's fantastic.

I will try to summarize the plot but beware: it will sound like a quite bad soap opera, haha :) The story takes place at the beginning of the 20th century in Mexico on a farm owned by the De La Garza family, which consists of women only. The main character is Tita. She's the youngest daughter and as such is doomed by tradition to never marry in order to take care of her mother until she dies. This is all very unfortunate, because Tita finds out about this tradition just when her sweetheart, Pedro, comes to ask for her hand. Tita's mother tells him that yes, he can marry her daughter, but a different one. And Pedro agrees! 

Now you might think - what the hell? I hardly believed my eyes when I read that and it was within the very first pages. If it was about the plot itself I would probably have finished there and abandoned the book. But there are quite a few absolutely great things about this book which will make you want to go on reading no matter how absurd the plot gets.

One of those things is the fact that this is magic realism. For me that's one of the best genres out there and I tend to love everything I read from it. What is it all about? It incorporates magic elements into the otherwise normal and realistic environment. Example? When Tita is born, she cries so much that once her tears dry up there's a few pounds of salt left :)

Another great thing is that the book is divided into twelve parts and each part tells the plot through a recipe from the Mexican cuisine. Cooking is an essential part of this book - Tita prepares all the food for her family and the mood she's in while cooking has an influence on how people feel after eating (for example they feel excited, if not aroused, after she thought of Pedro while cooking). I love books that have to do with food so it made the whole thing even better, although I probably won't have enough courage to try any dishes mentioned in this one :)

On the whole - I loved this book. It had a lot of things that I like in books in general and on top of that was quite short and to the point. The only thing I actualy felt was off with it was the fact that it was a translation and not the best one in my opinion. But still - I highly recommend it!