novels - tally: 6
how to get filthy rich in rising asia by mohsin hamid
told in second person AND in the present tense, this story grabs at you and pulls you into the centre.
sure, the author could be accused of a gimmick style, but it's appropriate for his subject matter, which is often death. and he ends the book in a chilling way, foretelling our own (singular) death. i may never read about a character's death in the same way again.
and the mountains echoed by khaled hosseini
i was almost halfway thru when i realized this was going to be series of characters addressed in each chapter, and not a true narrative. and i really like that.
i've read this author before and, to be honest, feel like i've read enough about afganistan through A Thousand Splendid Suns (i enjoyed it immensely) and The Kite Runner (felt both repepitive of his first novel, and far fetched). (not to mention Three Cups of Tea, The Breadwinner, and the CBC radio drama, Afganada). so i was glad to rediscover afganistan through fresh eyes: not all his characters are afgans, but have ties to the place. by encompasing this wide range of characters, we are able to see afganistan from the 50s to the post-war present.
the rosie project by graeme simsion
charming comedic romance (no wonder they are turning it into a movie) that takes advantage pop culture's current obsession with sheldon cooper's character from The Bing Bang Theory. the main character, hillariously unaware that he has asperberg's syndrome, starts a search for his ideal partner and accidently gets involved in a paternity quest. i laughed out loud many times, and that doesn't happen often.
granted - the book does bend the character traits at times in order for the plot to move forward, but if you read the book to simply enjoy yourself (and not look for truths) then it's a great read. i read that the author is going to write a sequel, and get paid TONS i'll bet :)
the invention of wings by sue monk kidd
a book that mixes the struggle for freedom from slavery with the a young feminist movement. i liked the earlier parts better - the description of life in the south - and i liked the alternating narrators (one black, one white) but i never got a sense of the purpose of the book. to equate the women's movement with slavery is an insult to the barbarism of slavery, and i can't help but notice the author is white and i'm a little sick of white authors inserting themselves (and their great white hope characters) into essentially black stories/narratives. i'm sort of surprised that oprah would put it on her bookclub list...
major Pettigrew's last stand by helen simonson
a funny book set in pure fantasy land: a regimented and widowed old fart in the countryside finds himself breaking british class taboos when he takes up with the village shop's east indian proprietor who happens to also be well-read, a widow, and amenable to his advances. while the overarching story is implausible, the details of the local elites, foreign interlopers, village life (being encroached upon by new developments), and interactions with adult children (that haven't truly grown up at all) make the book highly entertaining. I laughed aloud in numerous spots.
(actually, the major is so quick with a well-honed barb that his character HAD to be one with a deep library and a love of the classics)
lastly, I found a gem within the pages that should apply to all my future apologies, if I have any hope of being sincere: "The best way to prove our remorse is not to compound the injustice with a lie."
hotel on the corner of bitter and sweet by Jamie ford
clumsily told, this apologetic novel tells the story of the Japanese interment during WWII and the especially caustic relationship between Japanese Americans and Chinese americans that originated from their own countries' history. unfortunately, a lot of it reads like a history lesson (and perhaps its true that many Americans are ignorant of this time in their history) but I need no such primer.
as a love story, it baffled me that we were supposed to take the murmurings of 12 and 13 year olds as worthy of a lifetime's obsession.
graphic novels - tally: 3
persepolis by marjane satrapi
i must admit i know very litle about this time in iran, when the people forced out the shah and then the supposed 'new' republic got hijacked by the islamic fundamentalists. each chapter acts as both a history lesson and a childhood memoir. i know it was turned into an animated film, an i'm curious to see it.
the tale of one bad rat by bryan talbot
graphic novel addressing childhood sexual abuse - probably really cutting edge when it came out in the 90s.... but felt too old fashioned to me. maybe that's a good thing - all the tropes like not wanting to be touched by anyone, keeping this most dreadful of secrets, and feeling like the abuse was YOUR fault have been addressed over and over. but this must have opened up a dialogue 20 years ago.
i guess i'm too jadded to be its audience - i long for less abstract and more personal memoirs that involve abuse, like Blankets.
hyperbole and a half by allie brosh
this is a book that future pepper should have written. well, except for the depression parts. actually the depression parts were so bleak and so convincing that I changed my mind about showing this book to her (even though it is a great example of writing in your own voice, and drawing in your own style) - I truly fear that being exposed to the topic (the way she writes/draws it) might permanently skew her to that mindset. so yes - very powerful stuff.
it's too bad I won't show it to pepper b/c this woman is also brutally honest about the tricks and lies we tell ourselves to cover up our bullsh*t. my only problem? she basically ends her self discovery by just admitting to herself that she's a crappier person than she'd like to be. I'd have preferred an attempt to really change; saying 'it is what it is' might make you feel better because you don't need to apologize for being less than perfect, but it also means you aren't sorry whenever you let someone down, and I prefer some hope in my endings.
non-fiction - tally: 4
gnostic gospel by elaine pagels
how ironic that i started this book just after a 'hedwig and angry inch' binge. and lo - that creation story that forms the song: The Origin of Love is in this book.... a greek-influenced story passed down thru rabbis. so it's a real thing. hmm.
also, the ideas (which were contrary to orthodox christianity) that are contained in the gnostic gospels seem to have dripped into the religion after all: the inclusion of women in the church, the concept of god the mother as well as god the father, the encouragement of seeing god everywhere and finding the god within you, the idea that christ doesn't have to even be divine to inspire the movement...
initially, i was quite attracted to the ideas presented, but ultimately i chafed at the idea of 'secret' knowledge that can and will only be provided to the rare initate of gnosis. if there is alvation to be had - it must be available to all.
the everything store: jeff bezos and the age of amazon by brad stone
either this author is GREAT, or that adage 'live long enough and you'll change your mind about everything' is true because i LIKE business now!
i found this a fascinating read. there was nostalgia in remembering my own first forays into the internet and netscape and ebay. there was juicy gossip: bezos' screaming tantrums, his weird space race fixation, cloak and dagger meetings as they poached walmart's and microsoft's best people.
there were brilliant business strategies: offering free shipping as the base level of service with a higher tier for those wanting to pay for faster delivery. (then gambling on their 'prime' membership of a paltry $79/year for free 2 day shipping of anything - customers bought twice as much as before, AND started buying from new categories). amazon used their 'marketplace' platform to allow 3rd party selling but really it was a way to closely watch HOW to be successful in whatever business someone came up with - passive, no-risk learning - and then they beat them at their own game.
there were shakespearian manuevers: they emptied toysRus' online store of the hottest toys that xmas in order to meet their own customer demands and screw the competition. they offered free 2 days shipping and unlimited returns in their new online shoes store in order to force the (more visible competitior) Zappos to take a similar hit - except most of the traffic went to Zappos and they lost tons more money than amazon. (at least enough money that they couldn't resist amazon's takeover) same tactics with other businesses like Quidsi. the threats - dropping a product's 'buy' buttons when they didn't get their way; orchestrating competitor products to show up when doing a product search from a non-compliant vendors. nasty, nasty stuff. and i haven't even started about their dirty tricks with respect to ebooks and their continuing stranglehold on the publishing industry.
my boyfriend barfed in my handbag...and other things you can't ask martha by jolie kerr
just another 'handy's helpul hints' for 20 and 30-something year old women, packaged with humor... sure: keep on top of slowing drains with a half cup of baking soda, followed by a half cup of vinegar (soak 30 min then flush with hot water), know your floor composition BEFORE you start a cleaning process, and woolite & vinegar for your stinky gym clothes - but these things are easily condensed in a magazine article. mostly, this book grossed me out as it shone an unwelcome light on all the filth of our lives (my disposable razor went straight into the trash, yuck)
wherever you go, there you are: mindfulness meditation in everyday life by jon kabat-zinn
still kicking around after 10 years of being published, this book was supposed to be a bible of sorts for meditation. too bad I'm not ready to actually start meditating yet. this book is really meant to be an aid as you start up your practice and contains lots of imagery (which I sort of hated) to help in the meditation process. I found him too goofy at times, too medical at others. and certain phrases he loves to use trigger me to think blah-blah-blah.
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