Shanghai Girls

By: Lisa See 5/5

Lisa See of course does it again! Loved loved loved the book that kept me engulfed in the story of Pearl and May the two sisters that find their way to America.

WOW!

Lisa See has to have a deep understanding of women’s bonds, and especially of sister bonds. She did her research and worked hard to portray the trials and the difficulties experienced by Chinese during those times. Every moment of the book had been in that place and that time, and there was never a dull moment.

The descriptions of China and the process to that brought them to America was so heartfelt and endearing, that I could almost feel physical pain from reading all those descriptions.

As an immigrant myself, I can understand the torment of keeping traditions and wanting a new life. I was more like Joy, than Pearl or May, as I came to America young, but I can see the struggles that my mother faced trying to deal with a new way of thinking and holding on those things that were most dear. Another similarity is the communism factor, we ran away from it too, to a country of opportunity, the difference was that our faces didn’t betray us right away, the racism wasn’t as hard as the Louie family had. That is not to say that we didn’t experience racism.

Love the book and I am glad that Lisa See wrote it, as Peony in Love wasn’t nearly as good as Shanghai Girls or Snowflower and the Secret Fan! 

Dracula

By: Bram Stoker 4/5

This book has had a daunting pressure on me to read as it is one: considered one of the classic must reads and two: as a Romanian you must read what it portrays us as.

The last pressure is probably the greatest as I am a former descendant of Vlad Tepes aka the former ruler of Romania, aka Dracula. So before going into my dialogue on Dracula the book a little Romanian history.

Vlad Tepes as a fierce ruler and was also known as Vlad the Impaler for his very industrious techniques in impaling the know Turkies people when invading his land. He ruled from 1456 to about 1462 at the age of only 25! He was tough and as soon as he got his hands on a TURK he killed him, took his body and put a stake through their bodies and put the stakes on the street, where bodies would line the streets. This technique didn’t only apply this to the invaders, but to his own people that stole, raped, lied and were treacherous. During his rule, a money bag could be found on the street and no one would pick it up for fear of being considered a stealer. This is how he earned his name … Dracula. The name derives from dracu which in Romanian means devil, and the –ula at the end is assigning the devil name to him.

This bring us to Brahm Stoker many many many years later when he wrote Dracula in 1897, almost 435 years later than Vlad Tepes. Upon hearing of the devilish and romanticized Transylvania (which coincidently is where I am from), he wanted to set a book on it. So he wrote Dracula.  Stoker did well in researching this book and the beliefs of the time, especially because rumor still followed in the late 1800s. So upon reading the book I was pleasantly surprised to hear the names of the towns from my childhood, and the  descriptions of the land which were very vivid and accurate even though Stoker never went to Transylvania himself. The descriptions of the Carpatheians  (Carpati) Mountains were wonderful. This book must have sent chills to people reading it at the time. It is filled with awe and with the darks beliefs of devils and religion.  So my expectation in reading the book was that I would be terrified to the core!

Not so… It was amusing, it was a nice story but did it terrify NO! That might be in part one, I was listening to it on audio, and two, that in today’s society what we fear is very different than based on the religious superstitious of those days.  The very beginning was great where Jonathon Hawker’s story, though I think it dwindled because there was a lot that just didn’t captivate me, and that again might be in part due to audio. The story does pick up again and you become engrossed in the ploy of the book, and Dracula’s play.

Things that I found interesting is that they called Dracula a count, and they didn’t say the name Dracula till the very end.

SPOILER

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I don’t know if Vlad Tepes is buried in a grave that is labeled Dracula, but it might have been possible that the Romanian Orthodox would have buried him in a Christian way and named the grave as that.  According to Wikipedia “He was taken back to Wallachia and buried. In the early 1900's Vlad was unburied for research. The researchers found nothing. Remains were found around his grave, and was thought to be the prince's remains. He was reburied and then left. When another dig took place years later, his grave was found destroyed and no remains were found.[17] The other theory is that Vlad is buried at Snagov, an island monastery located near Bucharest”. From childhood I feel like I remember visiting both grave site possibilities with the first one being very well gated. 

Basic Black

By: Cathie Black 4/5

Not so much a how to book, but a self reflection on the subtleties of the work place. Cathie Black is President and CEO of Hearst Magazines, which include Oprah, Cosmo, Cosmo Girl, and a ton of others. She talks about her work life throughout the years… from graduating college and expectations in the work place to her life now and how she got there.

One of my favorite stories includes her roommate and the difference of being told what to do specifically and knowing yourself what is expected of you. While your job and your boss can explain things, there is a point that you should know as a grown adult and the position you have what is expected of the job without being micro managed. (This particular part came at a time in my work place where I felt like I had to micro manage). 

I also think that I have learned a lot, especially the importance of having a mentor in your workplace that can help guide you. At the same time, I do believe that there are many things that I already do in my work life, this being common sense to me, but not a lot of other people. This of course brings me to my next point, are there different expectations in the workplace now with my generation such as; graduating college and expecting at 80K plus job right out of school? I think times have changed, especially with technology and the easy of working from home. I also think that we have moved from a society of social work interaction to barely speaking on the phone. The ease of email and texting has moved us to place where you don’t have to ever see anyone; meetings are done via teleconference and even beyond that gotomeeting where you don’t even have to speak with anyone, just type in your screen and see what they are doing 10,000 miles away with the same screen.

What is the same, the expectations of respect, being at work on time, and proper channels of communication. Cathie Black puts all this into prospective, speaking of taking risks and challenging yourself while understanding your self worth. I think every woman in the work place that strives to achieve higher standards should be reading this book.

Way to go Cathie!

If You Lived Here I'd Know Your Name

By: Heather Lende 4/5

Of course I liked this book. This a book to my heart, like most non-fiction books that I like. The books is great, like many authors that I have read that speak to small town America. The difference is that this is small town America in Alaska. Alaska on its own is a strange place and to speak to small town Alaska is even better.

Heather Lende speaks about her life in Haines, Alaska. She speaks in a clear easy read style that comes from her work in the newspaper world. Haines is Alaska through and through with crazy characters where tree huggers and gun slingers cohabitate together peaceably. Lende shows us through the obituaries she writes, lives of people who will never be forgotten and her daily life. The worst part was the last chapter where she talks about dealing with death. The theme of the book is about beginnings and endings.

I think you only “get” this books if you live in Alaska, but can be appreciated by others as well. Makes me want to visit Haines.

Jane Eyre

By: Charlotte Bronte           

4.8/5

I read this right after I finished her sister’s epic tragedy novel, Wuthering Heights, which happens to be one of my all time favorite books. I can not believe I didn’t read this easy going love novel.  I of course loved the story of the sad poor girl that achieves greatness.  Jane Eyre is your likely heroine, is in all purposes the good girl that you cheer for!

Like typical of stories from that time, there is a lot of death and sadness and a series of unlikely events. It would have been a great book to read when I was younger in the tweens! Fantastic!

Wuthering Heights

By: Emily Bronte 5/5

About the 10th time I have read this book and I still like it, even though it has changed for me. I still love Heathcliff and his crazy self, loving Catherine. I love that this book still astounds me, of course when I was younger I was so taken by the love that Heathcliff had that I was willing to forgive his meanness, now I feel more guilty for liking him as a character and feeling his pains.

It was great to read the book with people and learn about the background of the Bronte sisters and their horribly tragic lives. No wonder their books were tragic. I also think the society then saw such tragedy as part of their lives and willing to live with those kinds of issues.

I still recommend this book as it inspires great discussions.

Reading Lolita in Tehran

By Azar Nafisi 

5/5

Wow what a terrific book! I don’t even know where to begin on the many facets that this book has .

First, as the book takes you through the four sections of Nabokov, Fitzgerald, James and of course Jane Austen… you can not take your own trip back to the memories you had when reading each of those books that Nafisi discusses. It brings you back to the emotions and the feelings you had while reading those books. If you hadn’t studied these books, it also takes you back to rethink those books and see if you can see them in a different light. This also makes me think that maybe I should re-read Lolita, or The Great Gatsby or even some Henry James books that I have never opened.

The books also takes you into the memories of a group of women between the 1970s and today. Unlike, my nice memories of sitting in bed, or hiding in the closet at night to read for fear of staying up to late, these women dealt with the fear of death resulting from the BANNED books they were reading.  After the 1970s, Iran went through much political turmoil with changing from the “un Islamic” shah to the very religious Ayatollahs that changed Iran to the “Republic of Islam”. This book is a biography with many other biographies laced with a population of people that have been beaten and defeated not only physically but mentally and emotionally as well.  During this new regime, women were made to wear the chador and the veil, to show their innocence, to make men not want them, and not be held responsible for their rapes. People were not allowed to drink, listen to music, smile, watch movies, or in any way have a human life. Much of this “de westernization” had to do with readings and books. Most books were either banned and or re-written to fit the Islamic standard.

In a private class, Nafisi takes her life in her hands and decides that her love of books needs continue and be shared.  At any moment her house can be searched, without a warrant, and these women be sent to jail for reading banned book, where their bodies will never be recovered.

This book is lesson in Iran history, in women’s view of the world from the religious and the liberal side, it is an emotional roller coaster as you suffer through their emotional pains and embarrassments they are made to deal with daily.

I highly recommend this read to all that live in today’s world, as better understanding of a population of people in the middle east.  I salute those women who stood up, to show their daughters that someone has to stand up. I bow to Nafisi for her courageous words and tears she must have shed while writing such a personal history of her life and the country she loved!