If I didn't know better, I would think that this book was actually an inside joke between myself and the author! It's not so much that it is a funny book (although there are some humorous scenes) - it's about the "AHA-- FINALLY there is someone who knows how it is!" It's all about eating the amazing food that everyone else thinks is "weird" and not knowing where exactly you belong. Finally, someone else who knows that eating shouldn't be about plain sustenance, but about being a true experience. People are always looking at me funny when I say that I have eaten food that has almost moved me to tears, but the characters in this book know it is true.

This is a fictionalized memoir based on the author's life, her father's life, and focused on food and its role in her (large, extended) family. I enjoyed the story and the characters very much, and this is an interesting take on the experience of immigrants and their first generation children. Recommended. Also, interesting recipes.

I absolutely loved everything about this book: the stories, the writing, the characters, the recipes, even the cover! I enjoyed Crescent very much, but I think this one is even better.

This book makes me hungry, even if a huge number of the recipes center on lamb, and therefore I wouldn’t make them...... It does go on a bit too long in the later chapters, but mostly I really enjoyed this.

Several years ago, I read two novels by Diana Abu-Jaber: Arabian Jazz and Crescent. I really enjoyed both books and found them unique from other novels that were out at the time since they focused on the Arab-American experience. Both books were big hits in the book clubs that I read them in. My friend Amanda still cites Crescent as one of her all-time favorite book club books. In her memoir, The Language of Baklava, Abu-Jaber share her memories of food and family and growing up between cultures. Abu-Jaber’s father is from Jordan and her mother grew up in America and is of western European stock.

I found the book really interesting from a personal perspective since I am an American of European descent and my husband is from Pakistan. We are definitely a food-centric household. Many of our memories are built around food and we both love to cook. Our future children may face multiple culture clashes… food-related, tradition-related and definitely religion-related.

Abu-Jaber’s memoir was funny and insightful as to what it felt like to grow up in such an environment. Her observations about the influence on members of both sides of her family on her life were humourous and heart-felt.

There are recipes interspersed throughout the chapters. These recipes are related to the memories relayed in the chapter. Some of the recipes are for Jordanian food and others for more American fare.

I recommend this book to those who enjoy foodie memoirs or coming of age memoirs.

This is one of those books that makes me appreciate my book club so much. I probably would have never read this book if we hadn't been in search of something food related to read for our annual anniversary potluck. The Language of Baklava was such an interesting look at the author's life growing up with a Jordanian father and American mother. At the core of her life is the wonderful food from her father's heritage. As an added bonus, the recipes for the various dishes are included in each chapter. I'm really looking forward to our upcoming meeting now!

Oh. What a beautiful book.
A beautiful combo of a memoir and a recipe book, this one is going to be on my kitchen bookshelf forever!

A detailed review here - http://thegreenteaevenings.blogspot.com/2012/01/language-of-baklava.html

Awesomely readable memoir by Diana Abu-Jaber, a woman growing up in both the US and Jordan, with a Jordanian dad who loved to cook, and an american mom. Each chapter includes yummy looking recipes, and food is mixed into each story about her life. It's so interesting to see the way her dad and uncles try to fit into american society, and then how the tables are turned for her and her sisters and mom when they go to live in Jordan a while, then the adjustment back to the US. I loved reading about the difference between the fake type food americans eat vs the real type food they eat in jordan. i just loved the writing style and the stories. The only bad thing is that the book was so great at the beginning and middle, but by the end, when she has grown up, it starts to get boring and blah. i liked her more as a kid than i did as an adult. still a really great book though and highly recommended for everyone!