What are you reading?

The book club I belong to chose a light read for January — "The Last Chinese Chef" by Nicole Mones. ... It's a contemporary book about contemporary times, but it's also about the imperial Chinese kitchen, which, because I'm a foodie, was kind of interesting to me. I'm also between books right now. I just bought "Three Cups of Tea" (Greg Mortenson's book on a mission to build schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan) ... And I've been reading some nonfiction, a new book by a Hawai'i doctor about the Hawai'i healthcare system, "Healthcare Hawai'i Style" by Dr. Frank Tabrah.

What stands out most about the "The Last Chinese Chef"?

I think the contemporary Chinese and how China has changed is interesting because I'm a little older and I remember thinking of China as this gray place with food rations almost. So it's just a really different view of China today and what's modern and yet how they always seem to refer to their past, even when they go forward.

In Hawai'i we also look to the past to guide us going forward — do you do that when writing about living well today, as in your new book "Party Hawai'i"?

"Party Hawai'i" is a very contemporary book. ... I think in deciding what I was going to do for it, I looked to mostly our cultural heritage — by choosing chapters, for instance, on A Girls' Day party as a reference to a Japanese holiday, or a Chinese New Year dinner but updated to be contemporary and for people who are busy. I always think people should use what they have, what they inherited. That's the best stuff. Use it and enjoy it and incorporate it into today.