The Bell Jar

Author: Sylvia Plath
Rating: 4.5 Stars

Why, why, WHY did it take me so long to discover this book? Seriously, why? Plath's writing style is enviable, her ability to describe so fully the intricacies of the human mind is remarkable, and Esther's slow descent into madness leaves me wondering how exactly anyone is classified as certifiably "crazy". I have done some research on Sylvia Plath herself, and her story is as heart-breaking and complicated as that of her main character, Esther.

I saw so much of myself on these pages, so many of my own thoughts; I began to simultaneously encourage and doubt myself as an individual. I'm not really even sure if that is the best way to describe that feeling, I will probably have to re-read this book before I can really grasp everything that is going on.

...

I wish I had more to say; I could describe the basic plot, but it is covered on the back cover of the book and really has little to do with the brilliance of this book. And simply stating that The Bell Jar is a "coming of age" novel doesn't do it any justice. Do yourself a favor and pick up this book on your next trip to Barnes & Noble, Amazon.com, or the public library and give yourself the chance to be changed.

Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress

Author: Dai Sijie
Rating: 5 Stars

One of my favorite quotes comes from the classic 1984 by George Orwell; "Once a mind is expanded by a new idea it can never again return to it's original size." I love the idea of an ever-expanding mind, constantly taking in new ideas and adding to their knowledge base. Balzac tells the story of two friends in rural Maoist China who manage to acquire a treasure trove, a suitcase full of classic books. As they devour the forbidden text they change their minds on a variety of topics. However, it is not until they bring a young seamstress into their circle of ideas that they realize the power of books.

Of course I will love a book that details the "why" of my own love affair with pages of printed words, ideas and stories bound together. Reading this book reminded me how much I love reading (particularly when this reading immediately followed the near-disaster of 1776).

Additionally, having studied China and her history, I was fascinated by this Maoist period story of regular people trying to survive and trying to remain untouched (or broken) by an oppressive communist dictator. I was also both saddened and encouraged by the affect Western culture had on China. Some parts of Chinese culture have been forever lost, squelched by an ever advancing capitalistic culture. However, other aspects of subservience and little (or no) education for citizens I am thrilled to see being chipped away in this novel. I know I will be reading and re-reading this book again and again.

Weekend in Paris

Author: Robyn Sisman
Rating: 3 Stars

One of my favorite chick-lit books Just Friends was also written by Robyn Sisman, so when I saw this book I immediately picked it up and assumed that the same witty writing, unpredictable plot twists and charming heroine would have me falling for "Weekend in Paris" within the first 50 pages. Not so much. The heroine, Molly, is whiny and co-dependent and can't do anything without checking in with her mother. Ok, fine. I assumed that her taking a whirl-wind, spontaneous trip to Paris would reveal some kind of independent streak, or even a blip. Again, not so much.

I began hating this book, hating the characters, and predicting every "plot twist" probably 30 or 40 pages before it twisted. Which, needless to say, is incredibly frustrating. Remarkably, Molly's crazy-Paris, weekend left me without any desires to hop on a plane to France. A girl can get too drunk and crazy, morally loose and act like a whiny, selfish brat without quitting her job and jumping on the tube to a different country.

This novel has every possible cliche that I would expect in a first attempt at writing; a missing father, an uptight main character who loses her head and her self in a new city, a brooding handsome stranger who has a secret and a crazy, independent new friend who, at the end of the day weekend has not rubbed off on the heroine whatsoever. Frankly, I'd be more inspired and intrigued after reading a French cookbook.

The Bookseller of Kabul

Author: Asne Seierstad
Rating: 4.5 Stars

I don't remember where I picked this up, but it was definitely a last-minute "eh, that might be interesting" type of purchase, the type that sometimes end up populating the junk pile of your home. Luckily, I loved it! Asne Seierstad is a journalist who spent several months living with a family in Afghanistan and has written a brilliant book that details so much of Afghan life that, for the most part, has remained fairly secretive to outsiders.

The details of home life in a traditional Muslim family were sometimes incredibly frustrating to me; the subservience of women, the ultra-dominance of a patriarch, the hundreds of rules that have been in place for generations at times completely distracted me from the actual story. I realize that this is a different culture, a completely different way of life; I understand that. However, from where I sit that doesn't necessarily make it any less frustrating. It actually hurts my heart to imagine so many thousands of women cloistered in their homes, forbidden from a basic education I so often take for granted. And, in this particular family, their patriarch owned several book shops and was responsible for printing thousands of volumes and distributing them around the country. The oxymoron lies in the fact that he would not allow his own children, male and female, to attend school. Instead, his sons were required to run the shops and his daughters to keep after the house.

That being said; I still loved this book. I loved how the author was able to weave politics and family life into a single book without jarring at the seams. The writing is brilliant, the stories compelling, the characters are given depth and personality that resonate against a backdrop of tradition, political dissent and terror. The laws imposed by the Taliban, the changes it brought to society, and the additional changes that occurred when the Taliban fell; it was all completely fascinating.

If you have any interest in politics, the Middle East, or women's rights, The Bookseller of Kabul is a "must-read."

1776

Author: David McCullough
Rating: 2.5 Stars

Admittedly, I was all sorts of excited to start this book. I had only heard fantastic reviews across the board. Umm... apparently you need to be in a particular mood to love this book. After 200 pages I still felt like I was waiting for the "great" part to begin. I wanted to laugh and cry and somehow feel like I was in touch with the Founding Fathers and the war they waged for independence. However, I felt like I was reading a history book; a meticulously researched history book with a bit of a plot line, but simply a history book.

1776 lovers, please don't hate or shun me, but I ended up tossing this book across the room without finishing it, and there it has remained in a heap.

Lolita

Author: Vladimir Nabokov
Rating: 4.5 Stars

I have two completely seperate althouth equally intense opinions on this classic. The first: I have not ever read a book, as an adult, where I kept a dictionary with me. Nabokov fully utilizes the English language, and his mastery of it is particularly impressive when one takes into account that it is not his native tongue, or even his second language (that would be Russian and French, respectively). His ability to fully draw his reader into the story, the characters, the inner workings of their sometimes sick and twisted minds, their hopes and desires and despair...it is truly remarkable. Part of me wants to sit down and reread this book, cover to cover, and bask in the usage of so many fantastic, but often overlooked, bits of a language I grew up speaking. The Afterword describes Nabokov's obsessions with America, the West, literature and, specifically, the English language. I believe this novel is tangible proof of his love affair with English; it is all-consuming, inconvenient and heart-wrenching in it's language, grammar and descriptions. If that isn't love, then I don't know how else love could be defined.

Secondly: I hated this book, it made me physically sick. Humbert Humbert's soddomistic character, his thoughts and actions kept me from eating for nearly a week. I cannot imagine a more twisted man. And the worst part, as with all truly insane individuals, is his justification and absolute acceptance of his own monster. Humbert is obsessed with young girls; he calls them nymphets and his all-encompassing life mission is to be near one, to touch one, and ultimately, to keep one as his sex-slave. Only in Humbert's mind it isn't abuse; it is love. When he finds Dolores -also called Dolly, Lo, Lola and Lolita- he quickly falls for her and his life mission is to somehow be near her. So, when the opportunity presents itself, he marries her mother - who died in a freak accident a few weeks later, and becomes the sole guardian of the 10-year-old. He packs up their things and takes off on a one-year joyride across the country, having sex with his Lolita several times a day, constantly controlling her and incessantly using her. In his own mind he loves her, she loves him, and this is a perfectly natural relationship.

Sick.

Nabokov uses his writing skill to steer this book away from a porno; he is not crass, or crude, nor does he describe with any kind of anatomical verbiage the goings-on of Humbert Humbert and Lola. However, his mastery of the language leaves little to the imagination. This is why I love and hate this book. Nabokov's genius at creating a truly insane character is brilliant, Humbert is completely crazy. His mind is warped and twisted and rotten to the core; his character is despicable; on several occassions I actually threw this book across the room in disgust. However, I am a sucker for justice and I kept hoping that Humbert would finally feel some kind of remorse or shame at his actions... so I would pick up the book and continue reading.

I am looking for additional books by Nabokov; hopefully I will find something that showcases his writing talent and leaves the child molester out of the picture. This earned a 4.5 rating because, as far as writing and story-telling are concerned, this book is absolutely flawless. The fact that I wanted to tear the main character into pieces is only further proof of the brilliance of the author.

Istanbul

Author: Orhan Pamuk
Rating: 3.5 Stars

Istanbul is the ultimate novel from Turkey written by a man who has spent his entire life within the walls of the ancient city. Pamuk explains the ultimate differences between East and West, and the dichotomy of attempting to blend the two worlds in politics, art and everyday life in the Gateway to Asia, Istanbul. Pamuk's descriptions of the crumbling city, a relic of a once-expansive and impressive Ottoman Empire, bring the ruins to life. He discusses the importance of the Bosphorous, the cultural icons and barometers, and how his family fits into the mix.

I must say, I was a bit surprised by this book; it seemed to ramble on and on without any real point. It is part coming-of-age story and part dry history of a city. Every page is dripping in melancholy and quasi-depression. Granted, I realize that many cities, particularly ones in a state of decline, are not exactly sunshiney type places. But it is difficult for me to read 350 pages without a single ray of true hope. Even family, friends and love are classified with a distinctive depressing tone. I was hoping for something different than what I ended up reading; and therefore was a bit disappointed.

This book, I believe, truly explains Life in Istanbul, the struggles and disappointments of growing up and forever living in this trade-route city. And perhaps I was niave to believe that the city held some kind of magic, mystique or merriment. Or perhaps, in my Western thinking, I assume that any locale can provide it's own magic with just a little bit of searching.

I only recommend this book for someone serious about traveling, history or human geography. The average reader would, more likely than not, become frustrated and give up within the first few chapters.

Talk to the Hand

Author: Lynne Truss
Rating: 3 Stars

A few months ago I read and absolutely loved Eats, Shoots & Leaves, so when I saw another book by Lynne Truss at Barnes & Noble I picked it up without even flipping through the pages. Perhaps I should have.

While this book on social norms, manners and the utter rudeness of modern society was slightly entertaining, it was by no means on par with her first rant on grammar and punctuation. Truss's outrage at the inconsiderateness of the general public is not nearly as funny as her rage on the misplacement of an apostrophe. I'm not quite sure of the mechanics behind the difference; but I imagine it has something to do with my own attitude towards the overly rude, general public. Most of the time I simply try to ignore them. I say please and thank you and apologize when necessary; and most of those I frequently associate with do the same. I live in a big, small city out West, as opposed to a booming metropolis on the Atlantic. Manners and politeness in my world are more-or-less intact.

Yes, people still cut others off on the freeways with nothing more than a wave of their finger. Yes, the teenagers working behind the counter of many establishments are completely oblivious to the polite mannerisms that are widely accepted and touted by the adult world. Yes, people riding on the buses and trains or gulping coffee at Starbucks are yabbering non-stop on their cell phones and bluetooths (blueteeths?) with blatant disregard to the population around them...but that doesn't really bother me. True, I would rather not hear about the sexual escapades or medical history of the guy waiting for his tall latte with extra foam, but I simply assume that is the trade off for having a coffee shop on every other corner with free WiFi.

And I am fully aware that I am just the type of placated individual that Truss is trying to rile up into action; and while I recognize that fact I simply do not care enough to react. Or, in other words, her writing just wasn't convincing enough. Humorous, a quick read, and with a few great parallels and quotable lines; but not something I'll read again. No wonder there were several stacks of Talk to the Hand on the "$4.99 or less" table at the bookstore.

Ahab's Wife or, the Star-Gazer

Author: Sena Jeter Naslund
Rating: 4 Stars

There is a short mention in the classic Moby Dick of the wife of Captain Ahab of the whaleboat Pequod, and that short paragraph is the basis for this slightly fictitious book. Naslund has written a memoir from the point of view of that woman and, in my opinion, has very nearly succeeded in her quest. I absolutely loved the first 550 pages; they are filled with adventure and drama, daring travels and a feisty, independent heroine. My type of book. However, the last 100 pages is where "Ahab's Wife" becomes "The Star-Gazer" and, if you ask me, lost the identity she had worked so long and hard to maintain. Naslund gives us hints that Una is settling down in her role of widow and mother, however it seemed to me that the author was getting tired of her writing and was desperately trying to find a way to end the book.

If you have no idea what the story of Moby Dick entails, here's the two sentence version. There is this whaler, Captain Ahab, who spends his entire life trying to hunt and kill the Great White Whale, Moby Dick. He turns all his energies and thinking to that pursuit and, like in the Count of Monte Cristo (the book, not the movie), his unending quest for revenge on the whale leads to his ultimate demise. Ok, so before I began reading I knew sort of what would happen. This woman would marry Captain Ahab and he would eventually die. The events leading up to that union and directly following the loss are the primary reasons for my picking up this book. And, to her credit, I loved the precipitating stories, events and emotions.

Una has a tumultuous childhood in Kentucky and when she is twelve years old her mother sends her to Rhode Island to live with her relatives, hoping for a fresh start and a new life. When she is a little older Una begins to fall in love with adventure and at sixteen she disguises herself as a boy and signs on to a whaling ship as a cabin boy. The adventures of her time on the whaling ship were perhaps the most descriptive bits of the book, and I was hoping she would stay there longer than she did. But, after a little Life of Pi incident, she gives up the sailing and whaling life for a time. And this is where I think the title heroine's spirit began to die.

I won't give you details of the entire book; but I thoroughly enjoyed the incredible descriptions of life on and near the sea, the travels and the historically appropriate writing style. Granted, at times it is a bit wordy, but that has never really bothered me. I keep a blog for heaven's sake, words are my friend.

It was interesting to me to see how several life-changing events can alter a personality, but what was more interesting to me is Una's acknowledgement of the loss and her decision to mourn but not take action. To me it seemed uncharacteristic, and perhaps that is the point the author was trying to convey; that some characteristics, once gone, are impossible to get back because the act of retrieving them is intrinsically tied to the now-lost characteristic. Does that even make sense? I hope so. It works itself out in my head, at least.

Night

Author: Elie Wiesel
Rating: 4 Stars

When Elie Wiesel was a teenager his small Romanian town was invaded by the Nazi's and all the Jews were removed to ghettos. As the war progressed so did the inh7umanity of the solideherded onto cattle cars and taken to Auschwitz; Wiesel never saw his mother or sisters again and in the following months saw his father reduced to a sack of bones and finally beat to death by an officer. Miraculously, Wiesel survived until the Russian army liberated the camps; this is his story. I had a bit of a hard time with this book, and I'm not quite sure how to describe it without sounding calloused, but here it goes. One of my all-time favorite books, Man's Search for Meaning by Victor Frankl, is about a Jewish concentration camp survivor and how his time in Nazi hell changed his way of thinking. Subsequently, this experience changed the way of thinking and feeling for thousands of individuals after Frankl founded a new form of psycho-therapy called logotherapy.

While both Frankl and Wiesel published their experiences, and both had incredible stories of survival; after reading Night I was left feeling empty and disturbed, I felt like Wiesel's survival had absolutely destroyed his life, I felt his bitterness and his blackness. And perhaps Wiesel wanted it that way, for the reader to feel a teeny, tiny bit of his despair. I don't know. I appreciated this book, and the incredible struggle it must have been to write these experiences and then submit to an editor to "fix." And perhaps I am being too niave here, perhaps my wanting a resolved ending is asking too much, or, asking for something that sometimes just does not exist. I don't know. Perhaps. Wiesel's account uncovers so much of the personal darkness of surviving one of World War II's concentration camps, and his descriptions have such a jaded feel to them, the hopelessness permeates the book. I'm not saying that I was imagining a plucky, cheerful hero, not at all. However, to have the sheer will power and determination to survive such conditions, I think, a certain degree of hope and belief are required.

I would recommend this book, because I think that in order to not relive past events we must not only be familiar with the events, we must also understand the series of events that led to such a horrible climax. And only when we understand the psychology and political processes behind such a war on humanity can we recognize those signs as they are cropping up around our current world; and, hopefully, have the ability to call for them to stop.

Surrender or Starve: Travels in Ethiopia, Sudan, Somalia and Eritrea

Author: Robert D. Kaplan
Rating: 4 Stars

Kaplan is an award-winning journalist who spent the bulk of a decade writing about the political turmoil and government spurred famines in the eastern Horn of Africa. His book details the political chain of events throughout the 1970's and 80's that were the precursor for the current civil wars and genocide tearing apart that part of the world. Kaplan describes the inefficient governments filled with corrupt politicians whose allegiances lie with the Soviet Union. The USSR continued to pump money, weapons and armies into the Horn, further splintering the region and leaving the peasants and nomads in extreme poverty. The government would relocate the tribal peoples from their thriving farms to lands without water or decent soil, destroying their cultures and decimating their villages. The disease and death that ravaged the arid and impossible-to-get-to regions of these countries went largely unnoticed by the developing world. Relief campaigns and Red Cross workers were stalled and eventually expelled from the areas that needed them most by governments who could not have cared less about their dying citizens.

Guerrilla armies and their governmental opponents continued to destroy the network of tribal villages and small towns across the desert, driving the starving people from their homes and leaving them to die in refugee camps. The developed world sent mountains of aid to these countries, however the corrupt governments saw to it that those who were starving did not receive the grain and medicine they so desperately needed. Kaplan argues that while there was a drought in these areas, it was actually the governments that caused the extreme famine that brought death to millions of people. The Sudanese civil war and the mass genocide occuring in the Darfur region are the remnants of the wars and famines of a few decades ago.

This book was mostly informational, without a clear plan for change. However, it was information that I was fascinated by and was fairly easy to ingest. If you are interested in the political troubles and desperate state of many people in Africa, I think you will learn a lot from this book. If that sort of language seems to put you to sleep, you may want to skip this one.

19 Minutes

Author: Jodi Picoult
Rating: 2.5 Stars

When I was a junior in high school the Columbine High School shooting stunned the entire country. My high school had a many similarities with the Colorado school, and our school district took major action to try and prevent such a situation from happening in my town; as did many school districts across the country. In 19 Minutes, Picoult describes a school shooting in rural Vermont and explains how this event ripped a town apart and turned neighbor on neighbor. Despite having a gripping plot and excellent attention to detail, I was not captured by this book. I couldn't help but think of the school shooting in Amish Pennsylvania less than a year ago and the response of that small, religious community and how their immediate forgiveness affected individuals across the country. This book focused primarily on the dark and disturbing side of such a tragedy, and hardly acknowledged the side that can turn such a terrible event into something uplifting and inspiring. I suppose at the end there was a bit of forgivness between the mother of the shooter and the mother of one of the victims; however, to me it seemed like a bandaid at the end of a depressingly hateful book. An almost Hollywoodized ending to make it sell better or something. I got the sense that these individuals will continue on as they have for the bulk of the book; hating each other on inside but putting on a good face for the neighbors, the strangers and the news cameras. Not my favorite book.

The Time Traveler's Wife

Author: Audrey Niffenegger
Rating: 3.5 Stars

I mostly enjoyed this book, I thought the plot and idea were incredibly creative, and I liked the flash backs and flash forwards employed by the author. Usually I hate a ton of flash backs, I like the story to be chronological (actually, I'd prefer alphabetical, but I'm OCD like that and I realize most people don't write novels alphabetically so I'm content to settle for chronologically), however in Time Traveler's Wife I think the jumping around in lives actually works really well - I particularly think this because each segment is neatly labeled with time, place, and age of all characters involved. (Thank you Ms. Niffenegger.)

For those of you who have not yet read this book, here's the basic story: He is a Time Traveler. She has a "Normal Life". They meet at various times throughout her completely sequential life, he is at varying ages and stages of his absolutely non-sequential life... but in the end they get married and start a pseudo-normal relationship, albeit one where he still jumps in and out of the present with no warning whatsoever.

The relationship between Henry and Claire is the congruent stream of this book, with all events and sequences of time travel (or not) somehow relating back to how Henry and Claire care for each other and how their out-of-time life affects that care. Perhaps I am not so much into love stories as I ought to fully relate to this book, but to me their relationship seems a bit unhealthy and borderline obsessive. Granted, they obviously care about each other more than anything or anyone else, and will do anything and go anywhere for each other. And in a lot of ways I pity their desperately seperate lives; it is the long-distance relationship from hell.

This is not my favorite book, but it is a good read.

Life of Pi

Author: Yann Martel
Rating: 3.5 Stars

I realize I am several years behind in reading this book -and still no one told me the disturbing bit; it actually reminds me of the time (3 years ago) when I saw The Sixth Sense FOR THE FIRST TIME and I was still shocked when Bruce Willis turns out to be A Dead Person. That's correct - the twist ending was still twisted to me. Same kind of thing for this book. I loved it, until the last 5 pages. (If you have not read Life of Pi yet and don't want me to ruin the ending for you - stop here. Seriously. Stop reading. Because I have full intentions to discuss the ending.)

A boy, an orangutan, a hyena and a zebra and a tiger walk into a bar lifeboat...Can you think of a better premise for a novel than a young boy stranded in the middle of the Pacific on a lifeboat with a starving 450-pound Bengal Tiger? Yeah, me neither. It's brilliant! And for the first 300 pages I was completely drawn in; hook, line & sinker (no pun intended.) How will he feed the Tiger? How does he catch fish? How does he feel, being a vegetarian and all, about eating raw sea turtle? What about water? And what about that Tiger? I actually stayed up reading this book until 4:30 in the morning, because I knew I just couldn't put it down without knowing in full detail how Pi Patel survived. I was aching to know what became of Richard Parker (450-pound Bengal Tiger, lifeboat companion,) and I literally could not allow myself to fall asleep until Pi's lifeboat left the carnivorous island (what? are you serious? an Island that eats fish and meerkats and people? awesome!) and landed on the western shore of Mexico. And as soon as Richard Parker disappears into the jungle, Pi is taken to the hospital and the Japanese officials show up and demand a better story -my story was immediately ruined.

Pi's second account of how he spent seven months at sea, in all it's cannibalistic lechery made me sick; and I suppose that is because somehow I believed that version. I am convinced that young Pi quickly went crazy from dehydration, loneliness and despair. I believe that his Richard Parker is actually a schizophrenic version of himself - that the doings of the massive, carnivorous Bengal Tiger is actually the doing's of a half-crazed Pi. That in order to survive he invented a boat-mate to push his horrific, inhuman thoughts and actions upon. And I believe that Pi truly did find a forgiving God to confess to - a mixed up Christian-Hindu-Muslim God that is all-forgiving and encompassing. Does this seem crazy? Perhaps. But take a psychology class in repressed memories and then tell me how crazy it sounds. Surely it is no stranger than a 16-year old Indian boy taking a life-boat from the Philippines to Mexico with a Bengal Tiger for company. I mean seriously.

I would love to know what you think of this book. I would love to know your reaction. And I am dying to know which version of Pi's story you believe. Please discuss amongst yourself and leave me comments (or send me an email: heidikinsblog[at]gmail[dot]com.

Eats, Shoots & Leaves

Author: Lynne Truss
Rating: 4.5 Stars

If you have been reading this blog for even a limited time, you probably know that I am a self-professed nerd, the type who reads economics books for fun. What you probably didn't realize is that I willingly purchased a book on punctuation and spent several hours laughing out loud, surprising flight attendants and airport goers alike. To my defense, this book is hysterical. Seriously. I never knew that apostrophes, commas and dashes would bring a genuine smile to my face -but it's happened, repeatedly. If you are a teacher, or a writer, or a nerd, or have OCD tendencies you will love this book. Truss brings such a fresh take to grammar and punctuation you can't help but have a little crush on her. She explains the tormet she went through when Two Weeks Notice came out and billboards and posters and bus wraps descended on London - all without an apostrophe. To be correct, the title should read Two Week's Notice. Did you realize that? Did it drive you to the brink of insanity? Did you carry a Sharpie in your purse and add the apostrophe to each and every advertisement you came across? Neither did I; but to hear Truss describe her outrage and horror is so funny I desperately wish I could go back in time and follow her around London as she did just that.

Truss has aligned herself with punctuation sticklers world-wide and spanning several centuries, even volunteering to have the babies of Aldus Manutius the Elder (1450-1515), inventor of the italic type-face. Her book is dedicated to striking Bolshevik printers of St. Petersburg, who, in 1905, demanded to be paid the same rate for punctuation marks as for letters, directly precipitating the first Russian Revolution. Truss is a fanatic - but she keeps you completely drawn in with her brilliant prose and hilarious found-mistakes.

On that note, perhaps the most endearing part of this book -yes, punctuation can be endearing- is the fact that Truss has included a Punctuation Repair Kit. That's correct, she has four pages of stickers in various sizes of commas, apostrophes, colons and semi-colons, ellipsis (dot dot dot), question marks and "white out" stickers so her readers are fully armed to correct the punctuation of the world, one apostrophe at a time.

The Power of One

Author: Bryce Courtenay
Rating: 5 Stars

It took me several weeks to get past the first 20 pages of this book, and now I wish I would have just given myself the chance to get into this book as it has quickly become one of my favorites. Peekay is a young English boy in rural South Africa before World War II. Courtenay has an incredible writing style, and after a few chapters I was so completely absorbed in this story I found it ridiculously inconvenient to take the time to sleep. Peekay spends a year at boarding school when he is five, a horrific, cruel experience that will shape him for the remainder of his life. In his young, five-year-old mind, Peekay resolves that the answer to life's most complicated problems lies in his becoming the boxing welterweight champion of the world. And for the next 15 years that dream shapes him, motivates him and inspires him to greatness. He is lucky enough to have people in his life who support and encourage him, teach him, love him and give him the emotional reservoir that he draws from for his strength. I love the characters, I love Peekay's descriptions and perspective, I love the mix of the unimaginably horrible and indescribably wonderful components that make up most of our lives. I love the emotion in this book, I found it difficult to remember that this is just a story, a fictious novel about an imaginary boy. I kept wanting to look up the various historic fiction characters on Wikipedia just to learn more about the world that Courtenay depicts. But I think my favorite part is how Peekay loves the individuals who come into his life, regardless of race or title - which in mid-century South Africa is even more remarkable. His world is populated with prejudice and hate and somehow he manages to rise above it and bring individuals to a better understanding of peace. I don't know if that is the intention of the author, but reading this book I couldn't help wonder why we are so quick to despise peoples or cultures we do not understand. Underneath it all, aren't we all about the same?

the curious incident of the dog in the night-time

Author: mark haddon
Rating: 4 stars

Despite the lengthy title, this was a quick read and both heart breaking and hysterical - all at the same time. Chris is an autistic teenager trying to solve a murder mystery, and with encouragement from his teacher decides to write it into a journal sort of book, each chapter being written as it happens. To Chris, the main plot is always trying to uncover clues to figure out who killed the neighbor's dog. But to the reader there is so much more going on; from family struggles and secrets, neighborhood gossip and typical teenage thought processes. Chris is so misunderstood by those around him, yet to read his mind he seems like such a simple child. He loves red things and hates yellow and brown things. He likes his regular schedule and hates ot be touched. He has an insanely brilliance in math and deductive reasoning, but somehow cannot understand some of the most simple emotions. This book brought me a new understanding of autism and how it can affect the family and friends of an individual with autism. In some ways I see some of my OCD characteristics in Chris, and I wonder how different he really is from me. For example, I think my favorite part is the fact that Chris loves prime numbers, so the chapters in his book are ordered 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, 23... it just seems so deliciously eccentric! Coincidentally, it also seems like something I would do. We all have our quirks, and while I am in no way trying to downplay the severity of autism; I wonder if a little less selfishness and a little more patience aren't the cure for a whole barrage of societies "issues."

Abundance: A Novel of Marie Antoinette

Author: Sena Jeter Naslund.
Rating: 4 Stars

Last fall I went to see the movie with Kirsten Dunst and fell in love with the story of the young, misunderstood French Queen. I realize that every story has different view points, and if I read Les Miserables I may get another viewpoint (don't worry, it's on my list) but I love how this book delvs into the intimate thoughts and personal character of the queen. Sent away from her mother and native Austria when she was 14, Maria Antoine rose to become one of the most beloved and then most hated women in the French Empire. As the dauphine of France, everything she did and said was scrutinized by the newspapers and the gossipers to pass along to the people. Even in her extreme youth and niavity, Marie Antoinette quickly had the entire court and empire adoring her. Everyone except her new husband, who had little interest in her. Naslund's descriptions of the enormous pressure this young woman was under to produce an heir to the throne of France; pressure from her new French family, the French people, and through letters from her beloved Austria. It is incredible. Her rise and fall in the minds of the French people seems so innocent, so natural, and so heartbreaking.

I could get into a lot of political debate here about the beginnings of rebellion and revolution - but I don't think that is what this book is about. I'll read Les Mis for that sort of view. I think this book is about a girl quickly leaving her childhood and facing a rather frightening and uncertain adulthood with such conviction that she became a legend in just a few short years as queen. This novel follows Marie Antoinette from the day she leaves Austria for France, to the moment she is beheaded at the guillotine. I laughed, I cried, I felt pity with her, yearned with her; I definitely recommend this book! Fantastic!

London is the Best City in America

Author: Laura Dave
Rating: 4 Stars

Steph loaned me this book almost a month ago, and I read it in just a few days, and then I read it again. And both times I cried through the last 100 pages. Allow me to explain the title, and then I'll explain the sob-fest. "London is the best city in America" basically means that you have to make a choice between your available options, not between options that do not exist anymore. There is a relatively short passage from the book that explains it very well (again, thank you Steph for taking the time to type this in, I heart the copy-paste!) This conversation is between the main character and her mother and takes place towards the end of the book.

"When you were little, you were always saying that Josh got to make all the choices because he was older. 'Why does he get to make all the decisions around here, Mom?' you'd say. 'How is that fair?' So for your seventh birthday, your father said you could pick where we went on the summer trip. You could pick any city in America as far away as Seattle, as close as Manhattan. You know which city you picked?"
I knew it without her even saying that much. I'd always known it, and I was starting to understand something else too--where she was going with this. What I wouldn't allow myself to see before now.
"London," I said.
"London," she repeated. "And the thing was, it didn't matter how many times I told you that we weren't paying for four plane tickets to London. That a driving trip was the only option. It was like you couldn't see anything else. And when even Dad took out that map and tried to explain to you that London wasn't even in America, you just kept arguing with him. "But I want to go to London. It's the best city in America. I'll only go there.' For weeks around here. You were like a broken record."
"Where did we end up going instead that year?" I said, trying to remember. I couldn't recall it.
"Hershey, Pennsylvania...which you loved. You turned to your father the very first day there and said , 'Dad, I think Hershey, Pennsylvania, is even better than London would have been.'"
Hershey. All I could visualize with any certainty was the car ride up there, sitting behind my father in the backseat, staring sullenly at the back of his head. "Really? I said that?"
"No." She shook her head. "You complained the entire time. 'This restaurant isn't London. This candy store isn't London. Over here, this isn't London either.'"
"How can I not remember?"
She shrugged, picking up her fork again, fixing a bite for me this time. "You were too busy complaining."
...
She shrugged, "What happened the day I met your father," she said, "is that you have to choose. For better or for worse. You have to choose what your life is going to look like."
I tried to swallow, tried to think of what I wanted to say, what I was really thinking. "I just don't feel like I have good choices yet," I said. "It makes it hard to give up the old ones."
She waved me off. "Well. You're behind all that anyway," she said. "You're still stuck on the same part you were stuck on at seven."
"What part is that?"
"The part where you need to choose among the choices that are there, and not the ones that aren't anymore. At least not how you need them to be. You're still suck on some imaginary idea you have of how it could have been. You need to think about how it is now. And how you want it to be."

Incredible. How often do we mope and groan about past opportunities we didn't take, relationships we gave up on too early or too late, and other stories from our past that we refuse to let go of and move on? It's kind of amazing and depressing to think about, all at the same time. And prompts the decision to come clean and let it go. At least for me.

The rest of the book, plot wise, was quite difficult for me to read as well. It was a good kind of difficult, but it reminded me of a heart-breaking time in my life, and to remember brings up many old hurts and fears. The story follows Emmy and her brother Josh as they try and tie up some loose romantic ends days before Josh's wedding, romantic ends with someone other than Josh's fiance. This reminds Emmy of the day she decided to leave her fiance because she felt he just didn't love her anymore. And all sorts of inner reflection and complicated decisions ensue. I would definitely suggest reading this book, however I also suggest you keep a box of tissue and a box of chocolate nearby.

The End of Poverty

Author: Jeffrey D. Sachs
Rating: 5 stars

A friend of mine recommended this book to me at a book club a few months ago. I must warn you, it is not for everyone. This book is written by a Harvard economics professor and Economic Advisor to governments around the world. The pages are full of statistics, numbers, economic theory, worldwide economic relief policy and both successful and failed economic strategy. If you aren't an economics nerd like me, you probably won't make it past the first page or two. But, if you can - I highly recommend this book. Jeffrey Sachs provides countless examples of failed governments and the people that suffer through extreme poverty around the world. He provides chilling descriptions of their livlihood, their sicknesses and diseases, their struggles every day for a little food and polluted water. Sachs spent time in Bolivia, Poland, Russia, India, China and several countries in east Africa working with government officials to come up with viable economic solutions that would provide basic amenities to the billions of people that are barely surviving on less than a dollar a day.

Sachs has petitioned world relief organizations and lending institutions (the UN, the World Bank, the IMF) to try and get some kind of cohesive plan for helping the poorest of the poor. He has given speeches and lectures across the United States, Europe and other developed areas to try and convince the richest of the rich of their responsibility to the destitute. In several cases (Bolivia, Poland) Sachs arguments were so persuasive, that major lenders forgave massive debts to try and jump-start an unsteady economy. And it worked! The amazing thing about this book is the brilliant successes Sachs has orchestrated around the globe. Under his guidance entire countries were able to steady their hyper-inflation, and solidy their currencies. Hundreds of thousands of people have benefitted from his academic expertise, and frankly, I would love to sit down with him and pick his brain on how he just knows those sorts of things.

One of Sach's arguments is that individuals that are fed, clothed and in safe housing with access to medicines for their children and fertilizers for their crops are less likely to revolt, less likely to engage in violent behavior against their governments, their neighbors and even themselves. And governments who grant their citizens the basic rights to an education, to basic medical care and provide the means for their food and shelter are the types of governments that will not repress or torture. It's amazing how that works, isn't it?

Sachs has layed out a plan to end extreme poverty throughout the world within a decade. Yes, it's possible. No, it's not going to be convenient for the richest of the rich (both individuals and countries). Yes, it is necessary. The one thing I really wish was included in this book was some kind of "Do You Want To Help?" section... I would love to write letters or send funds to an organization with such an important mission. So, if you are still reading this and know of something - leave me a note!