The Story/Book-Rachel

I'm so excited to be featuring Rachel today. She is a writer, photographer, graphic designer and two time business owner of both elephantine, a lovely jewelry shop, and Mignon Kithchen, which has "cute" (that's what mignon means in French), and unique items for making and sharing food. And since shiny things and pretty food are my favorite, I love perusing Rachel's shops.
She lives in Seattle—my husband's hometown—and I would love to meet her in person someday, but for now I enjoy reading her flash fiction on Fridays and reading and looking at the beautiful, simple images that she captures and shares on her blog, elephantine, which shares it's name with her jewelry shop. 

Thanks Rachel, for being a part of The Story/Book.

The Story~
I've loved reading as long as I can remember. I've also wanted to be a writer as long as I can remember, so when I read, part of me is always dissecting the language and characters and scenes, trying to figure out why something works (or doesn't work). I'll forever be grateful for the authors who have written my favorite books.

The Book~
Two types of books I'm really drawn to are coming-of-age stories and family sagas, and Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides is a combination of both. It's the coming-of-age tale of a hermaphrodite and the story and secrets of his Greek family. From the very first sentence, I was completely absorbed. ("I was born twice: first, as a baby girl, on a remarkably smogless Detroit day in January of 1960; and then again, as a teenage boy, in an emergency room near Petoskey, Michigan, in August of 1974.") It's one of my favorite books because of the depth of the characters, the beautiful writing, and the humor.

Other Recommendations~
Interpreter of Maladies Jhumpa Lahiri, Rabbit, Run John Updike, The Collected Stories of Amy Hempel Amy Hempel

Thanks Rachel, for being a part of The Story/Book.