Klara and the Sun served with Sundried Tomato Pasta and Sun tea

Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro served with Sundried Tomato Pasta and Sun Tea  

Sometimes everyone tells you how much they love a book and then you read it and you just don't get it.  That's how i felt about Klara and the Sun.  It was all over bookstagram and i kept hearing rave reviews.  I listened on audio and it just didn't click for me.  This is the story of Klara an AF (artificial friend). .  we are somewhere in the future and parents buy AF's for their children.  Klara is narrating this story of her hope for a child that she can help and then finally getting chosen by Josie a sick girl looking for a companion. 

 

Here's the thing, because Klara is telling the story, it feels very stiff.  She is a robot so she doesn't have real emotion.  She recognizes emotion and see's everything happening around her but it just felt stiff.  Plus, there are so many unanswered questions.  Some of the kids have been "Lifted" but they never explain what that means.  Josie's sister died and we aren't sure if it is related to the lifted or if it is what is making Josie sick.   Josie's neighbor and friend Rick was not lifted and is an outcast but we aren't sure why. What year is it?  where is the story taking place?   Plus, Klara gets obsessed with a piece of equipment that causes pollution and she believes is hurting the sun.  She thinks the sun can heal Josie.  The whole thing gets a little weird. 

I did like some of it and it was interesting enough that I finished it.   But, not sure it will be on my list of top books.  ⭐⭐⭐

At first I couldn't come up with a food item.  They talk about coffee and they mention eating but never say what they are eating.  I assume Klara doesn't eat.  And then...  I decided to make Sun Tea.  That then inspired me to do my own Sun Dried tomatoes in the air fryer.  and the...  Sundried tomato pasta.    The sun is such an important part of the story, this felt good. 

For the pasta, I kind of made it up after reading a few recipes on line.  

I had a handful of the small cherry tomatoes.  I put them in a baggie with some olive oil and italian seasoning.  I shook them up and dropped them in the air fryer .  Set the airfryer at the lowest temp-300 and checked them every 10 minutes.  It  ended up taking 35 minutes to get them to the right sundried spot.  

For the pasta, I had a small pasta called dilalini which seemed to work well.  I cut up 2 chicken breast and put them in a skillet with a little bit of olive oil.  Cooked them about 15 minutes until light brown.  Transferred to a plate and added some additional olive oil, and about a quarter cup of chopped up onions.  Cooked for a few minutes till soft.  from here i added 3 cups of chicken broth.  Once it start to boil, I added 1 cup of the pasta.  I let it cook for 10 minutes and then added in 1/3 cup of chopped up Sundried tomatoes, 1/4 cup of chopped up basil and the cooked chicken.  I let all of this cook for about 5 minutes and then served coated with parmesan cheese.  It was delicous!    

 Enjoy!