Title: American Wife
Author: Curtis Sittenfeld
ISBN: 9780812975406
Pages: 568
Release Date: September 2, 2008
Publisher: Random House
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Source: Publisher
Rating: 4.25 out of 5

Summary:

American Wife is the fictional story of the first lady of the United States, Alice Blackwell, formerly Alice Lindgren of Wisconsin.  The book starts with her in the White House, and then flashes back across the course of her life, revealing how she ended up as the wife of the President of the United States.

Review:

American Wife is the very thinly veiled (and of course, fictionalized) story of Laura Bush, wife of the former President George Bush.  Sittenfeld is very up front about the fact that she based the major facts of Alice’s life on Laura’s, fictionalizing the most dramatic events of her life in order to create this epic, yet quiet, story.

Knowing this book was based on Laura Bush was a bit difficult – at every twist and turn, I was wondering what was true and what wasn’t.  Of course, Sittenfeld didn’t interview the former first lady, so I went through the novel assuming that the vast majority of it was made up.  I figured the major, public life events were true and the others were from Sittenfeld’s active imagination.  I do wonder if that subject was addressed in the Author’s Note at the end of the book.  In the pre-release copy I read, that section was unfortunately blank.

This was a very quiet, contemplative book.  It was mostly introspection – what Alice thought about things, rather than what happened to her.  As you can see, though, it’s quite long.  This means that there are a lot of slow parts, especially towards the middle and end of the book.  The beginning third is actually the most interesting, as events in the young Alice’s life really do shape her.  That’s not to say the rest of the book isn’t good, because it really is.  It’s just that it has its quicker and slower moving parts, and they’re more noticeable here than in most books because of the novel’s length.

Alice herself was a fascinating character.  Sittenfeld did an excellent job, taking a real-life woman, knowing a few notable events from her life, and creating a three-dimensional person around her.  As I got to know Alice through this book, I really felt for her as her path led her through difficulties.  I often felt like she got the short end of the stick, yet she always had a positive outlook and made the best of every situation.  She was a really good, genuine person, and the fact that she was based on a real person made me feel that much more sympathy towards her.  I cannot express enough how well Curtis Sittenfelt developed Alice, and how real she was to me.

Despite its length, American Wife is a relatively quick read.  Because so much of it is introspection, it’s not heavy.  Overall, it’s a very good novel, though the ending comes abruptly and is a little bit of a let-down.  This is a book that sat on my shelf for a very long time before I finally got to it, and I’m so glad I gave it a chance.  If your book club doesn’t mind long books, this would make a great pick.

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Title: Beautiful Malice
Author: Rebecca James
ISBN: 9780553808056
Pages: 272
Release Date: July 13, 2010
Publisher: Bantam
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Source: Publisher
Rating: 4 out of 5

Summary:

Katherine Patterson is the quiet girl at her high school.  Once popular and outgoing, since the tragic death of her sister, she has switched schools and kept a low profile.  That is, until Alice Parrie, a beautiful girl in her class, seeks her out and decides to become friends with her.  Katherine is thrilled, until Alice’s self-destructive tendencies begin to show and Katherine becomes convinced Alice is going to take everyone close to her down with her.

Review:

Beautiful Malice is a book that’s hard to classify.  It isn’t a mystery, though there is the mystery of Alice’s behavior, Katherine’s sister’s death, and where Katherine has ended up in the present.  It’s not really a thriller, though it is a taut, suspenseful novel.  Contemporary fiction seems like the best description, since almost anything can fit into that catch-all category. 

Katherine is a sweet girl who bears tremendous guilt over the death of her sister.   She has tried to move on by switching schools, yet she is unable to face the gaping hole in her life and her role in it.  At first, it seems like Alice is helping Katherine deal with this difficult situation, but it becomes clear that Alice is only interested in helping herself.  Her narcissism makes her incredibly destructive; anything that isn’t about her isn’t really worth her time.

The novel is told using different timelines – there’s Katherine in the present, Katherine in the past with Alice, and even before that, Katherine’s sister’s death.  It does jump around a lot, and though it’s usually relatively easy to tell where and when you are, sometimes it can be confusing.  At the same time, though, James heightens the suspense by using this device; it’s done very effectively.

Beautiful Malice isn’t exactly a deep psychological study; it’s much more on the surface, though it is a very interesting portrayal of narcissism.  The subject matter is heavy, but the book itself is a relatively light, quick read.  If you’re in the mood for a suspenseful book whose pages will turn quickly, this novel would be a great one to pick up.  It would also make a good book club read, as it will provoke very mixed opinions and there is a lot to discuss within its pages.

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Title: The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook
Author: Ben Mezrich
ISBN: 9780307740984
Pages: 272
Release Date: July 14, 2009
Publisher: Anchor
Genre: Non-Fiction
Source: Personal Copy
Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Summary:

The Accidental Billionaires is the story of the founding of Facebook.  Primarily about Mark Zuckerberg, the story is told from three different points of view – Zuckerberg, Eduardo Saverin (the source of the funding for Facebook in its infancy), and the Winklevoss twins (who claim Zuckerberg stole the idea for Facebook while working on one of their projects).

Review:

With the release of the movie The Social Network, the founding of Facebook is on everyone's mind right now.  Though I do want to see the movie, I first wanted to read the book it was based on.  Aaron Sorkin of The West Wing fame was asked to write a script based on The Accidental Billionaires before the book was even released; that small tidbit of information told me that this would be a book worth reading.

Mezrich presents the story of the founding of Facebook from multiple points of view, but chronologically.  He doesn’t tell the entire story from one point of view, then switch, and switch again.  Instead, the story unfolds as one coherent whole, but we see it through different people’s eyes along the way.  It’s a very effective strategy because it gives the reader a bird’s eye view and helps them understand the different players, yet the story doesn’t get boring or repetitive.

So the question on everyone’s mind:  is Mark Zuckerberg a horrible, conniving thief who wanted everything for himself?  The book certainly doesn’t portray him that way.  Of course, it’s difficult to come away from the story thinking that he didn’t do anything wrong – it’s very clear that he did.  But his reasoning, and the way he thought, was very interesting and I appreciated the insight Mezrich gave.  Of course, there’s no way to tell for certain what someone was thinking and what their motivations were, but Mezrich presents a believable story that is easy to buy into.

The Accidental Billionaires is a fascinating look at the founding of Facebook.  It astonishes me that these guys were in college the same time I was – in fact, my university was among the first outside Harvard that Facebook was opened up to.  I remember joining it and only being able to find one person I knew on it outside my school, simply because it was open to so few colleges.  Therefore, this story was incredibly interesting to me, as these events happened so recently.

Even if you aren’t a fan of non-fiction, I’d recommend The Accidental Billionaires.  It reads like a novel, so it goes incredibly quickly.  On top of that, the book is well-written and incredibly interesting.  I can’t say for certain how accurate it is – some say that it’s exactly how it happened, while others (namely Mark Zuckerberg) claim there’s more fiction than fact within its pages.  Either way, Mezrich told a great story, and now I’m really eager to see the movie.

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Title: Earth (The Audiobook)
Author: Jon Stewart & The Daily Show
ISBN: 9780446579223
Pages: 256
Release Date: September 21, 2010
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Genre: Non-Fiction, Satire, Audiobook
Source: Publisher
Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Summary:

In this book, Jon Stewart and the writers of The Daily Show present a guide to the human race for aliens.  They picture a future in which the earth is still here, but humans have made themselves extinct.  This book serves as an introduction to human life for aliens.

Review:

I really enjoyed America (The Audiobook), so I was eager to give Earth (The Audiobook) a try.  Unfortunately, I discovered that, while Earth was amusing and held my attention, it wasn’t nearly as laugh-out-loud funny as America.

Once again, Jon Stewart and The Daily Show correspondents are the narrators of this audiobook, and they all do a wonderful job.  Sigourney Weaver joins them as a sort of overall narrator, which might seem strange but it works out well.  Her voice is actually very well suited to audio productions.  The audio version is unabridged, a nice change from America, which was abridged.  Its 3 and a half hours didn’t seem very long, though.  While I wasn’t necessarily left wanting more, I definitely would have been happy with another hour or two of material.

I definitely found Earth funny and was chuckling throughout the listen, but I came away from it with a “meh” feeling.  Perhaps it would have worked better in print, as other audio reviewers have stated.  I also wonder if America worked better because poking fun at the quirks in American government are a staple for Stewart and his writers know its ins and outs.  It’s also a finite entity – there’s only so much explaining you can do.  Earth seemed much more sketchy; it’s clear that he focused on some points for the sake of humor, but overall it just didn’t make as much sense.

Earth is a book that probably works better in print than it does on audio, which is a shame because the entire cast is talented at narration.  It’s an entertaining, short listen, so if you’re in the mood for something mindlessly amusing, this might be a great pick.  Overall, though, I was a bit disappointed in it, though curious enough to want to seek out a print version to see if my suspicions about print vs. audio are true in this case.

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Title: The Prince of Mist
Author: Carlos Ruiz Zafon
ISBN: 9780316044776
Pages: 224
Release Date: May 4, 2010
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Genre: Teen/YA, Mystery
Source: Personal Copy
Rating: 4 out of 5

Summary:

When Max’s family tells him they’ll be leaving their home because of World War II, he is devastated.  His family moves into an empty house on the coast, and to Max’s surprise, he almost immediately befriends a local boy named Roland.  It doesn’t take Max long to realize that the house his family is living in has secrets and he resolves to figure out what is going on around him.

Review:

I was a huge fan of The Shadow of the Wind and The Angel’s Game, so when I heard that Carlos Ruiz Zafon’s first novels were finally going to be published in the US, I was thrilled.  I looked forward to the first one with anticipation, and was very excited when my book club chose it as our “spooky” read for the year.

The Prince of Mist is definitely a creepy book.  It’s not really scary, it’s more unsettling.  There’s clearly more going on than meets the eye in this novel, and the fact that we don’t really understand its mechanisms makes it spooky.  There’s a haunting quality to this entire book, an atmosphere of loss and despair.  Even when Max is happy, it’s clear that something is coming, something that is too large for him to control or escape.  It’s easy to understand why Max feels like he must know what is going on, because it’s his only power against whatever is out there.

The writing in The Prince of Mist is melodic, but it’s not nearly as lush as Zafon’s prose in his adult books.  While a bit disappointing, this makes sense.  Zafon’s writing is very complex, and it’s natural that he would simplify it for a book whose main audience is supposed to be teenagers.  I was thrilled to see he worked with Lucia Graves for the translation; she did both of his previous novels and they seem to work together incredibly well, as the final product is always excellent.

Zafon has another of his early YA novels releasing in the next year, and I’m looking forward to it.  This book wasn’t earth shatteringly good, but it was entertaining.  It was short and easy to read, which appealed to me.  As long as you don’t go in expecting another The Shadow of the Wind and let this novel speak to you on its own merits, you’ll likely enjoy it for what it is - a simple ghost story.

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Title: Last Night at Chateau Marmont
Author: Lauren Weisberger
ISBN: 9781439136614
Pages: 384
Release Date: August 17, 2010
Publisher: Atria
Genre: Chick Lit, Women’s Fiction
Source: Library
Rating: 4 out of 5

Summary:

Brooke Alter has been supporting her husband Jonathan for years.  He’s a musician and hasn’t quite found his big break yet.  Brooke is happy to work two jobs as a nutritionist to pay the bills while Julian follows his dream.  But when Julian’s dreams come true and Brooke finds herself and her marriage in the spotlight, she begins to wonder whether her dreams are separate from her husband’s.

Review:

Last Night at Chateau Marmont had a lot going against it in my mind when I picked it up.  I don’t generally enjoy novels about superstars and celebrity culture – it’s just not the sort of thing that interests me. In fact, I didn’t even know what Chateau Marmont was until I read this novel (apparently it’s a famous hotel in LA where all the stars stay, and have stayed for years).  Additionally, I really didn’t enjoy Lauren Weisberger’s last book, Chasing Harry Winston.  But then again, it’s Lauren Weisberger – even though I haven’t loved any of her books since The Devil Wears Prada, I strangely feel like she’s a must read for me.  Therefore, it was with trepidation I picked up her latest, and happily, I enjoyed it much more than I expected.

I really liked the character of Brooke.  The reviews I read (mainly on Amazon.com) complained that Brooke was whiny and unsympathetic because she refused to quit one of her two jobs to spend more time with her husband once he became famous, but I didn’t see her that way at all.  In fact, I thought she was very realistic.  Brooke was caught like a deer in headlights.  Julian’s meteoric rise to rock star happened so fast, she barely had time to blink.  She refused to change her life to accommodate him because her career was all she had.  At a time she felt as though she was losing her husband to his new lifestyle, she was clinging to the only thing she felt like she had left.

Weisberger also did a wonderful job portraying the life of the person who gets left behind.  Brooke watches Julian get all the benefits of fame, but she is forced to partake in the negative consequences.  She has no privacy, and things that really should be her personal hurts and issues become tabloid fodder.  At the same time, though, she’s trying to be as supportive as possible of Julian’s dream.  The question that permeates the book is, in this situation, can a celebrity and a “normal” person actually make things work?

In the end, Last Night at Chateau Marmont has the same message as many books that revolve around marriage:  it’s all about compromise.  While Brooke doesn’t ask for the fame Julian finds, she has to deal with it as his wife.  However, she refuses to do so, trying to cling to a normal life when clearly, it is anything but.  Julian, on the other hand, finds exactly what he thinks he wants, and doesn’t take into account that it might not be what Brooke wants.  It’s only when these two start to consider what the other person wants and what’s best for the marriage as a whole, rather than their own personal wishes, that things can begin to work out.  The question is whether Brooke and Julian will be able to do that, or whether fame is just too much for their marriage.

Last Night at Chateau Marmont was a fun novel that I did enjoy.  It was a very quick read which didn’t disappoint, even though I had the expectation that it would.  If you’re in the mood for a light, quick read with heart, but one that won’t make you think too hard, this is a perfect book to pick up.

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Title: The Long Way Home
Author: Robin Pilcher
ISBN: 9780312354350
Pages: 304
Release Date: March 30, 2010
Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Source: Publisher
Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Summary:

When eleven-year-old Claire Barclay’s mother remarries, they move to Scotland in order to live in her stepfather’s large house, called Craich.  Claire adores her stepfather, Leo, though his children have made her feel less than welcome.  She finds a friend in Jonas, a local boy and they become inseparable until, one day when Claire is seventeen, Jonas stops speaking to her without any explanation.  Devastated, Claire leaves Scotland.  Years later, she is called back home because of Leo’s health and is forced to face the ghosts of her past.

Review:

If you’re even the slightest bit interested in The Long Way Home, I have one very important suggestion for you:  do not, under any circumstances, read the dust jacket cover or the publisher summary.  I was irked to discover that the summary gave away something that occurred almost 3/4 of the way through the book and this spoiled parts of it for me.

I’ve never read anything about Robin Pilcher but I’ve heard good things so I was eager to get started on The Long Way Home.  However, the book wasn’t what I expected.  From the description and the book’s cover, I expected a mysterious, almost gothic read, but that wasn’t what I got at all.  Instead, this book is a light, quick read.  It’s enjoyable, as the reader gets to know Claire and comes to understand her.  We see her through the years, and though the time jumping can be frustrating, it’s useful to see her at different stages in her life.  It really emphasizes how important Leo is to her.

The Long Way Home remains on the surface from beginning to end, which is really a shame.  Pilcher doesn’t really delve into the depths of any of the characters.  This keeps the book on the “light reading” level, when it could have been a lot more.  Additionally, many of the secondary characters (with the exception of Leo) were flat and cliché.  Claire’s step-siblings, in particular, reminded me of cartoons – the fantastically evil stepsister and brother who only want to make her life miserable.  There is no depth or dimension to their characters; they exist to be mean and to make Claire’s life difficult.  The lengths they go to and plans they make towards the end of the book only reinforce this stereotype.

While I enjoyed The Long Way Home for what it was, I can’t help but feel that it had a lot of unrealized potential.  Everything was so much on the surface that it was disappointing.  It was a light read when it could have been a thoughtful, provoking one.  Still, if you’re looking for something light and easy, you should definitely consider this book.  Claire is an endearing character, and Pilcher did keep me hooked until the very end with the mystery of Jonas and his plans.

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Title: Miss You Most of All
Author: Elizabeth Bass
ISBN: 9780758235107
Pages: 432
Release Date: May 1, 2010
Publisher: Kensington Books
Genre: Women’s Fiction
Source: Curled Up With a Good Book
Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Summary:

Sisters Rue and Laura Anderson live together on Sassy Spinster Farm in Texas, along with Rue’s middle school age daughter Erica. Though making ends meet hasn’t been easy, Rue and Laura have relied on a constant stream of paying guests, who come to stay at the farm and learn about how it works, in order to supplement their income. Rue is really the hostess, as Laura is bitter about almost everything in her life and isn’t exactly a welcoming presence. Rounding out the group is Webb, who moved to the farm to help out when things got tough and hasn’t left. Inexplicably in love with Laura, he’s running out of patience waiting for her to come around. Into this complicated web of relationships strolls Heidi, Rue and Laura’s ex-stepsister who is about as unwelcome as she can be. But Heidi is running from something in New York and needs to hide from life for awhile. Recognizing this, Rue invites Heidi to stay for as long as she wants to.

Review:

Miss You Most of All is a heartwarming women’s fiction novel that relies on the strength of its characters.  Rue is a generous, sweet woman who only sees the best in people.  The adversity she’s faced has made her strong, yet there is something delicate about her.  She’s easy to love, and the reader identifies with her from the very first page.

Laura, on the other hand, is a little more difficult.  She is surly, bad-tempered, and very unpleasant.  Reading the book, it’s easy to immediately dislike Laura and write her character off. But somehow, she worms her way back in. Despite her unpleasantness, the reader can’t hate her; she becomes a sympathetic, sad character who doesn’t know how to express herself. Elizabeth Bass tells the story from each major character’s point of view, so rather than just standing to the side and judging Laura, the reader gets to see some events through her eyes.  We gain an understanding of why she is the way she is; despite the fact that she’s a difficult person, the reader can’t help but root for her.

Heidi was another surprise.  Had Miss You Most of All followed a typical women’s fiction path, she would have been spoiled, ungrateful, and rude.  But instead, she reflected Rue’s kindness and generosity of spirit, though not necessarily her patience with Laura.  She adjusted easily to life on the farm, trying as hard as she could to be helpful.  Yes, she made some mistakes along the way, but she was a lovely character overall.

The last main character, Erica, was a little out of place.  Her story doesn’t mesh as well with the others.  Though she was a well developed character, and I don’t think the author should have neglected her, I’m not sure the reader needed to see things from her point of view and travel along her path, as it was so divergent from the other stories.

Miss You Most of All could have been cheesy and full of women’s fiction clichés, but Elizabeth Bass did an excellent job creating a fresh and surprising novel.  Kensington Books puts out a lot of quality women’s fiction, and this book is no exception.  Fans of the genre should definitely plan on picking this one up and falling in love with the characters and with Sassy Spinster Farm.

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Title: The Rainaldi Quartet
Author: Paul Adam
ISBN: 9781933397771
Pages: 201
Release Date: February 21, 2006
Publisher: Felony & Mayhem
Genre: Mystery
Source: Personal Copy
Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Summary:

Gianni Castiglione is a luthier, a violin maker living in Italy.  When one of his closest friends, Rainaldi, also a luthier, is murdered, he becomes involved in the investigation because of his expertise in violins.  Why was Rainaldi murdered?  Does it have anything to do with a famed missing Stradivarius violin?

Review:

I stumbled upon the book Paganini’s Ghost by Paul Adam when it was released in early 2010 and thought it sounded fascinating.  I was thrilled to learn it was actually the second in a series, so I decided to seek out the first, The Rainaldi Quartet, since I abhor reading series books out of order. 

I was hooked on The Rainaldi Quartet from the very first page.  Paul Adam has built an intriguing cast of characters, from luthiers to violin collectors.  Castiglione is a very endearing main character.  While he isn’t perfect and has made mistakes in his past, he’s a genuinely good person who wants to help.  When his close friend is murdered, Castiglione is at once devastated and enraged.  He wants to discover who would do such a thing and is determined to get to the bottom of the mystery.

Though the mystery is certainly intriguing and moves forward at a brisk pace, it takes a backseat to the information about violins dispensed in the novel.  That’s not to say anything bad about the mystery, but just that Adam worked the history of violins into the novel so well that it’s almost spellbinding.  I was completely riveted, eager to drink up as much knowledge as I could, and there was a lot to be had.  This book is a treasure trove of information about violins; I cannot say enough positive things about it.

The Rainaldi Quartet was a gripping mystery that I couldn’t put down.  It’s not a long book, so if you pick it up, plan on reading it in one sitting – it’s just that good!  I simply cannot wait to get to the next book in the series, Paganini’s Ghost, and I hope that these books continue into the foreseeable future, as this one was immensely enjoyable.

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I’ve been on a real mystery/crime fiction kick lately.  I feel like every other book I read is some sort of mystery, and I’m loving every second of it - I just can’t get enough!  Therefore, when I first heard about the TV show Hardcover Mysteries on Investigation Discovery, I was immediately intrigued.

In this series, Investigation Discovery talks to famous mystery and crime fiction authors about real-life cases that inspired their fiction.  Each one-hour episode is devoted to one author and their chosen case.  The series premiered on October 11 with David Baldacci and the murder of Washington, D.C. socialite Mary Meyer in 1964.  Since then, Hardcover Mysteries has focused on Lisa Scottoline, Sandra Brown, Linda Fairstein, Sara Paretsky, and Harlan Coben.

The penultimate episode of Hardcover Mysteries airs tomorrow (Monday) at 9 PM ET on Investigation Discovery.  I was thrilled when someone at the Discovery Channel contacted me and asked me if I wanted to screen the episode before it airs.  I immediately responded with a resounding “yes!”  I was even more excited when I found out that the episode featured Kathy Reichs.  I recently read the first book in her Temperance Brennan series Deja Dead, so I was completely intrigued by the episode.

Every week, I am very impressed with the quality of Hardcover Mysteries; it is a must for any mystery lover.  Kathy Reichs’ episode airs tomorrow, and I highly recommend that you tune in or record it on your DVR.  I can tell you that it’s a great episode, and I loved the role that Kathy personally played in the case she discusses. 

For more information, visit Investigation Discovery’s Hardcover Mysteries site.

Hardcover Mysteries airs at 9 PM ET/8 PM CT on Investigation Discovery

Title: Open: An Autobiography
Author: Andre Agassi
ISBN: 9780307388407
Pages: 400
Release Date: November 9, 2009
Publisher: Vintage
Genre: Non-Fiction, Memoir, Audiobook
Source: Personal Copy
Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Summary:

In this brutally honest and illuminating memoir, Andre Agassi takes the reader through his life, starting with the time he was just a child, yet his father forced him to play tennis.  It continues with his enrollment in Bollettieri Academy, a sort of sweat shop for young tennis hopefuls, and continues through his pro career until his retirement after the 2006 US Open.

Review:

I’ve been a huge fan of tennis all my life.  I grew up watching the Agassi-Sampras battles on TV and played the sport (badly) for many years.  I even managed to attend a weekend of the 2009 U.S. Open and loved every minute of it.  Therefore, last year, when I heard Agassi had a memoir coming out, I wanted to read it.  I didn’t feel any real sense of urgency because I’m not generally a celebrity memoir person, but it’s Andre Agassi, so I knew I’d want to see what he had to say.  But then, once it came out, I started hearing amazing things about this book, that it was like no other celebrity memoir you’ve ever read.  Convinced, I chose to consume it on audio and devoted a lot of time listening to this wondrous book.

I was so impressed by Open.  First of all, the writing quality is really unparalleled in a celebrity memoir.  This is actually a well written book – there is a full story, rather than merely vignettes.  The prose is solid and actually very impressive.  It’s funny that this should be so surprising, yet it is.  Agassi chose a very talented writer to partner with (whoever that might be) in order to tell his story.

I absolutely loved Agassi’s candor in Open.  He puts a lot of trust in the reader, baring his soul for us to see.  Rather than physical battles on the court, most of Andre’s demons were in his head.  As he grows, the thoughts change but they are always still there – the voice of his father, forcing him into a sport he hated.  I was really impressed with how, while Agassi seemed completely candid, this book didn’t have the feel of a tell-all.  Agassi didn’t say anything in order to make waves, he merely told the story as he saw it.

The insights into the life of a professional tennis player were also fascinating to me, as they will be to anyone who enjoys watching the sport.  The constant travel, the aches and pains – Andre was perpetually at war with his body, trying to make it cooperate when all it wanted to do was rest.  He also addresses the struggles of trying to keep a relationship going – Andre is honest about his well-publicized relationship with actress Brooke Shields and why it didn’t work out.  He also discusses such tennis greats as Pete Sampras, Jim Courier, and Steffi Graf and it’s really interesting to see them through his eyes.

One thing I did appreciate about Open is that it isn’t a blow-by-blow of Andre’s tennis matches.  He does discuss some of his pivotal matches in depth, but generally he provides an overview.  With the amount of tennis Andre played from the beginning of his career to the end, that is definitely appreciated. 

I listened to Open as an audiobook, a choice that worked very well for me.  The audio production is a bit of a commitment – it is unabridged and runs about 18 hours.  But Erik Davis, the narrator, was so expressive and talented that the time flew by.  He does a great job with the different voices, such that you can tell who’s talking by the voice he uses.  Admittedly his Steffi Graf voice is a little grating, but you can’t have everything!

I have rambled on about Open, yet I still feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface.  There is so much to read, absorb, and analyze in this book.  I’m not sure I’d recommend it if you have absolutely zero interest in or knowledge about tennis, but if you are like me and enjoy the sport, you will love this book.  Agassi is so open and honest, you can’t help but feel for him as he struggles to make his way through the tennis world.  It’s a marvelous book that I thoroughly enjoyed, from beginning to end.

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Title: Goddess for Hire
Author: Sonia Singh
ISBN: 9780060590369
Pages: 320
Release Date: June 29, 2004
Publisher: Avon A
Genre: Chick Lit, Multicultural Fiction
Source: Personal Copy
Rating: 4 out of 5

Summary:

Maya Mehra has just turned 30 and is considered an old maid by her parents and relatives.  She still lives at home and doesn’t have a job, relying on her parents’ money rather than figuring out what she wants to do with her life.  But when she is told she is the incarnation of the Hindu goddess Kali, will Maya embrace her role or will she run away from it, like she has everything else?

Review:

Goddess for Hire is a cute but completely unbelievable chick lit novel.  However, it’s not really supposed to be a novel the reader completely buys into.  The premise is fantastical from the very beginning – a young woman finding out that she is the modern incarnation of a goddess isn’t exactly normal.  As long as you can just turn off that inquisitive part of your mind and go with it, though, this is an amusing book.  As a result, it’s really good at the end of a long day when you just want something light and fun.

Maya was a complicated character who was a little frustrating at the beginning of the book.  She coasted by on her parents’ money, unmotivated to make something of herself on her own terms.  As the novel progresses though, the reason for Maya’s lethargy becomes clearer.  She assumes her parents will never be proud of her, no matter what she does, so why try?  She learns, though, that it’s important to do things for herself, rather than for the approval of others.  I appreciated that she grew and learned what was important, though I wish she wasn’t handed a job (being a goddess) on a silver platter.

I appreciated the depiction of the goddess Kali in this novel as well.  To be honest, Kali has always freaked me out a little.  She’s associated with violence and death, and let’s be honest, she’s pretty freaky looking.  I don’t know much about her, as we don’t worship her, but I appreciated learning about Kali in Goddess for Hire.  Singh delivered her creation story and depicted a gentler Kali.  Powerful, yes, but not a bringer of death.  I appreciated this little tidbit of Hindu mythology, and the fact that Singh is trying to teach her readers something.

Goddess for Hire wasn’t perfect, but it was fun and easy to read.  It accomplished what it set out to do, entertaining me for a few hours and keeping me interested.  I also appreciated that it didn’t go where I predicted and that Singh keeps the reader guessing. I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for Singh’s other books.

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Title: Shaking the Family Tree
Author: Buzzy Jackson
ISBN: 9781439112991
Pages: 256
Release Date: July 6, 2010
Publisher: Touchstone
Genre: Non-Fiction, Memoir
Source: Publisher
Rating: 4 out of 5

Summary:

In this memoir, Buzzy Jackson chronicles how she became interested in tracking the genealogy of her Jackson relatives.  She uses different methods, attending genealogy conferences and cruises in order to learn more about it.  She learns valuable lessons about genealogy in her quest to uncover the truth about her relatives and ancestors.

Review:

I’m always interested in memoirs that contain a personal story while also teaching the reader about something, so when I was offered Shaking the Family Tree for review, I my curiosity was definitely piqued.  I know almost nothing about genealogy, though when I was young, we (of course) learned about it in school in our lesson about Ellis Island.  I remember feeling jealous that my ancestors didn’t come through that famed immigration port, and that I couldn’t go there to discover when my family arrived in the United States – after all, I already had that information.  With that amusing memory at the back of my mind, I started Shaking the Family Tree, curious and eager to learn.

Though I can’t say that I’m now inspired to go trace my family’s entire genealogy, Shaking the Family Tree was definitely an engrossing read.  Jackson did a great job overlapping her personal quest for history with the overall information about genealogy.  There is a nice balance between the two, and it keeps the book interesting.

The tidbits Jackson chooses to focus on are also very intriguing.  I’ve heard of the rising popularity of genealogical DNA tests; Jackson takes one and takes it upon herself to learn what they are useful for and what they aren’t.  She visits the Mormon genealogy archives in Salt Lake City, apparently one of the best sources for genealogical information in the world.  Her cruise put her in contact with many of the top genealogical figures, and she relates much of what she learns from that experience to the reader.  As a result, the reader gets a comprehensive overview on what embarking on a search for family history might entail, without having to pay the costs.  If you have a passing interest in genealogy but haven’t gone all out, this is the perfect book for you because it will help you see where you should take your search, and whether you want to put the time and effort into it.

Whether you’re interested in genealogy from a personal point of view, or whether, like me, you just find the topic interesting and like to learn, Shaking the Family Tree is a book you should seek out.  It’s not long and goes very quickly, which keeps it from ever really being dry.  It’s a great introduction to genealogy and I enjoyed accompanying Buzzy on her search for her Jackson relatives.

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Title: The Hundred-Foot Journey
Author: Richard C. Morais
ISBN: 9781439165645
Pages: 256
Release Date: July 6, 2010
Publisher: Scribner
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Source: Publicist
Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Summary:

Hassan Haji has been enamored of food all his life.  As a young boy in Bombay, he was always around the family restaurant started by his grandfather.  But after unexpected violence and tragedy, the family leaves their home and settles in England, but Hassan’s father is not content.  It’s only after they find a house in France and open a restaurant that Hassan begins to grow into the a true food artist.

Review:

I’m a huge fan of books about food, so it was with delight that I picked up The Hundred-Foot Journey.  This is a book filled with tantalizing descriptions of mouthwatering food.  It made for a really nice change, as I’ve noticed that most of the books in foodie genres are about Italian cooking.  Reading about Indian cooking in fiction was something unique and new, and I enjoyed the experience immensely.  If you aren’t that familiar with Indian cuisine, you’ll still likely find this book delicious, as Morais’ descriptions are really universal.

I loved the story of Hassan.  He was an appealing character, eager to learn and desperate to better himself.  In fact, this entire book is about rising above one’s circumstances in the dream of something better.  Hassan learns this lesson very well from his father.  It’s only when he settles and is no longer trying to improve himself that Hassan stagnates.  It’s a great message - no matter what you have, it’s good to work towards a goal and to try and constantly better yourself.

The Hundred-Foot Journey was remarkably easy to read, and for that I credit Morais’ prose.  It’s wonderfully lush, taking the reader through Hassan’s life easily.  My interest never waned while reading this book.  Morais shows the reader many different cultures in this book, and they are wonderfully depicted.  Sometimes I forgot he wasn’t Indian, as he managed many of the nuances of the culture very well.

As I was reading The Hundred-Foot Journey, I have to admit that I often wanted more.  More descriptions, more plot, more meat.  I don’t say this often, but this is a book that could easily have been 100 pages longer without suffering a bit.  Morais could have fleshed out more of the story that he passes over in intervening pages.  That’s not to say the book isn’t good without that, just that, as a reader, I would have loved the elaboraiton.  Also, a very minor quibble, but I found an error in one of his food descriptions - daal, an Indian staple, is made with lentils, not chick peas.

With these issues, people might think I’d knock The Hundred-Foot Journey down to 4 stars, rather than 4.5, but I couldn’t bring myself to do that.  I enjoyed this novel too much to even think about giving it less than 4.5 stars.  It was a fun, heartwarming book that I highly recommend to those interested in food, culture, and anyone just looking for a well-written and interesting story!

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Title: The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer
Author: Siddhartha Mukherjee
ISBN: 9781439107959
Pages: 592
Release Date: November 16, 2010
Publisher: Scribner
Genre: Non-Fiction, Science
Source: Publisher
Rating: 5 out of 5

Summary:

In this ambitious book, Siddhartha Mukherjee, a cancer specialist at Columbia University, takes on the daunting task of writing a biography of cancer.  He takes the reader from the first mention of cancer, by ancient Egyptian physician Imhotep, and traces it through history.  He chronicles different treatments and shows the reader how cancer, in its present incarnation, came to be.

Review:

I can’t imagine how difficult the process of writing a book like The Emperor of all Maladies must have been.  But I know it must have been time consuming and frustrating because, having read it, I don’t even know how to begin to review it.  This book is so epic, so expansive that it deserves better than the hesitant, cloudy description above.  I’ll do the best I can with this review, but keep in mind that, as good as this review says this book is, it’s actually better.

The Emperor of All Maladies has so many different facets.  It’s a look at some of Mukherjee’s individual patients.  It’s a glimpse into the life of researchers and doctors so desperate to save their patients’ lives that they’re willing to poison them, to increase the toxicity of their bodies to the breaking point.  It’s a peek into the motivations of activists for cancer, the people who brought the disease out of the shadows and put the spotlight on it.  These people raised money for the disease and helped the American public to understand how much of an epidemic cancer is.  Above all, though, it’s the story of a murky, twisting, incomprehensible disease and its ability to defeat almost everything we have thrown at it thus far.

Mukherjee highlights the variable nature of cancer and how one word isn’t really able to capture the breadth of this disease.  Different cancers respond to different treatments – doctors won’t use the same thing to treat leukemia (cancer of the blood) as they would use to fight breast cancer.  Some cancers have high, encouraging 5 year remission rates, while others are death sentences.  It’s so difficult to use just one word to describe all these diseases.  Mukherjee helps the reader to understand the nuances and insidiousness of cancer.

The author also takes the reader through different treatments for cancer, including some horrific ones.  He delivers the information in a fascinating way, showing how treatments evolved and built upon previous discoveries.  He also presents the difficulty of trial and error methods when lives are at stake, especially when researchers try out their ideas on human patients.  And this is where the book shows some ray of light, where Mukherjee ensures that the reader knows all is not hopeless.  There are some amazing discoveries within this book’s pages.  Mukherjee chronicles the setbacks, yes, but also the wonderful advancements in medicine as scientists fight to find a cure for cancer.

Mukherjee’s patients give this epic story a human face.  The reader learns about their situations (of course, their names have been changed to protect their privacy) and their prognoses.  As the book progresses, so does the disease in these patients, as well as the course of their treatments.  The book doesn’t focus on them by any means, but through these few people, Mukherjee reminds the reader that cancer isn’t something “out there” to be studied – it’s affecting real people, right now. 

I feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface of The Emperor of All Maladies.  There is so much to this wonderful book; Mukherjee is a talented writer and he presents information, even when it is very technical and scientific, in an easily digestible way.  This book is long, yet never for a second did it lose my interest.  It’s not a book you want to read when you’re disengaged, but if you try, it will likely pull your brain into the story, making you think as you’re consuming the information Mukherjee presents. 

When I started with The Emperor of All Maladies, I didn’t think that a biography of cancer was possible – it was just too big, with too much history.  Yet Mukherjee accomplished his goal admirably and gracefully.  This is a book that everyone should pick up, in order to understand this vicious disease and what has been, is being, and can be done to halt its rampage.  I hope that Mukherjee continues to write books, as clearly, treating cancer patients is not his only talent.

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Hammock at the beach, Hawai’i

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Title: Luka and the Fire of Life
Author: Salman Rushdie
ISBN: 9780679463368
Pages: 240
Release Date: November 16, 2010
Publisher: Random House
Genre: Literary Fiction, Fantasy
Source: Publisher
Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Summary:

Luka and the Fire of Life is the story of Luka Khalifa, younger brother to Haroun of Haroun and the Sea of Stories.  Luka is envious of Haroun, as he got to go on an adventure to Earth’s second moon in order to save their father’s storytelling abilities.  Even though this happened before he was born, Luka is frustrated - when will he get to go on an adventure?  Luka gets more than he bargained for, though, when his father Rashid Khalifa falls ill and it’s up to Luka to save him.

Review:

I thought Haroun and the Sea of Stories was an adorable little novel, so it was with much anticipation and excitement that I picked up Luka and the Fire of Life.  Once again, the reader is plunged into the World of Magic, hoping that Luka can act quickly enough to save his beloved father.

Though Luka and the Fire of Life is a sequel, it easily stands on its own two feet.  The two novels do have common elements, but reading one is not necessary to understand the other.  Rushdie gives the reader a quick summary of the events of Haroun and the Sea of Stories; as a result, you know all you need to going into the story.  Still, though, I do recommend reading both books, if only because they are both adorable and have their own quirks and strengths.  That being said, it is definitely not necessary to read them in order, though if you are going to read both, I’d strike down the more conventional path in order to avoid spoilers.

Luka and the Fire of Life actually has the feel of a video game.  Luka gains and loses lives throughout his adventures, and the World of Magic has different levels he must get through before he can reach his final goal.  There are even save points, so if Luka “dies”, he won’t have to repeat what he’s already done.  As someone who enjoys the occasional video game, this really appealed to me.  I thought it was incredibly creative to take something that is huge in popular culture and make it literary.  As this book is easy to read and a lot of fun, I do wonder if that aspect will make it appeal to younger readers who are more likely to play games than read a book.

If you aren’t familiar with video games or don’t enjoy them, I don’t think that will preclude you from enjoying the novel.  Just like Haroun and the Sea of Stories, Luka and the Fire of Life is easy to read.  It’s not laden down with literary devices and heavy prose; in other words, it’s a wonderful introduction to Rushdie’s writing.  While Salman Rushdie is an amazing author, his works can be very daunting, especially if you are unfamiliar with his writing style.  Luka introduces the reader to his love of magical realism, but is short and will appeal to many different age groups.

The message of Luka and the Fire of Life is a wonderful one.  The entire book is a bow to the amazing gift of storytelling and how powerful it can be.  And Rushdie himself is a wonderful teller of stories, drawing the reader into a charming world.  While this novel isn’t quite as hefty or deep as Rushdie’s other works, it’s a great reminder of why he’s such a celebrated author.  I definitely enjoyed it, but am already looking forward, hoping to see another wonderful book from Salman Rushdie soon.

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Title: Haroun and the Sea of Stories
Author: Salman Rushdie
ISBN: 9780140157376
Pages: 224
Release Date: September 27, 1990
Publisher: Penguin
Genre: Literary Fiction, Fantasy
Source: Personal Copy
Rating: 5 out of 5

Summary:

Rashid Khalifa is a famed storyteller, known for his ability to create magical stories.  However, after his wife left him, he lost his touch and can no longer spin these wonderful tales.  As he tells his son Haroun, the stream of stories that supplies his imagination has gone dry.  Haroun, determined to find the stream of stories and restore it to his father, embarks on a fantastical quest to save Rashid’s storytelling abilities.

Review:

Haroun and the Sea of Stories is a wondrous fable that centers on the young boy, Haroun.  Desperate to save his father’s livelihood, he embarks on his quest and finds himself whisked away to Kahani, where the ocean of stories actually exists.  However, Haroun discovers that there are bigger problems than the cessation of his father’s subscription to the stream of stories.  The ocean of stories has been polluted, and it’s up to Haroun to save it.

Through this small book, the reader gets a wonderful introduction to the magical realism that characterizes most of Salman Rushdie’s more complex novels.  Because this is a simple fable, it’s a perfect way to become acquainted with Rushdie without becoming overwhelmed by his complicated and layered narratives.  Haroun and the Sea of Stories is a simple, straightforward book, but is characteristic of Rushdie’s other works.  If you’re looking to read Rushdie but don’t know where to start, this book is the perfect place to do so.

Rushdie creates a magical world for Haroun (and the reader) to get lost in.  Through this world, though, he relates such important themes as the importance of fiction and the power it has over its readers, the conflict between democracy and authoritarianism, and how creativity and imagination cannot be stifled, no matter how hard people try to smother it.  If you have room for the light and want to let it in, it will find a way to shine through, no matter how much others may try to block it.  Rushdie cloaks these ideas in such a fantastical and enjoyable narrative that it’s pure joy to read between the lines to discover the messages he is trying to deliver.

I cannot covey how delightful of a read this little novel is.  From beginning to end, it is a sweet and fun.  Haroun is an appealing and bright main character who really captures the reader’s heart.  Rushdie also plays with language in this book, showing how whimsical he can be.  In fact, whimsical is the perfect word to describe this literary adventure.  It’s such an adorable story, and what’s more, it can easily be read in one sitting.  Readers will find themselves laughing out loud as they embark on the journey that is this book.

I can’t recommend Haroun and the Sea of Stories highly enough.  I’m only sad it took me this long to read it.  It’s such a unique, imaginative read and showcases the author’s talent in an easy-to-read book, which is very rare for Salman Rushdie.  It’s also a book that can be read over and over again; though it is a simple book, there are many layers and themes, and there is much to discover within its pages.  This is a wonderful little piece of literary fiction that I highly encourage people to pick up and read.  Trust me, you won’t regret it!

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Happy Sunday everyone!  This has been a slow, leisurely weekend for us, which is really nice.  With the holidays coming up, things are going to pick back up very quickly, especially since we are traveling for both Thanksgiving and Christmas.  I’ve been enjoying the quiet time, using it to get some reading done.  Today, I’m planning on spending some time with a few books.  One of the books I’m currently reading is Breaking Night, a memoir by Liz Murray about her journey from growing up with drug addicted parents, dealing with homelessness, and eventually ending up at Harvard University.  It’s an impressive book, though difficult to read at times.

I did finally get my laptop back at the end of the week, and it’s working beautifully!  I’ve spent some time catching up on blog reading, though I have more to do.  I’m so relieved to have it back, as, sadly, I felt lost without it. 

This week, I wrote about the shortlist for the  DSC Prize for South Asian Literature.  I also posted the F.A.Q. for the South Asian Challenge for 2011.  The lowest commitment level is just one book for the entire year of 2011, so I hope you’ll consider signing up, even if reading challenges aren’t really your thing.

This week, I finished a few really great books.  The Lost Flamingoes of Bombay by Siddharth Dhanvant Singh really sticks out - it’s a book that tries to be many things at once and succeeds beautifully.  I finished the audio of Bonobo Handshake by Vanessa Woods.  It was difficult and heartbreaking at times, but was a very interesting listen overall.  How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming is a book by Mike Brown, the discoverer of “Planet X” that spurred the whole Pluto planet status debate.  It was engaging and charming, so I can’t wait for my review to post.

Reviews posted this week:

Title: Medium Raw: A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who Cook
Author: Anthony Bourdain
ISBN: 9780061718946
Pages: 304
Release Date: June 8, 2010
Publisher: Ecco
Genre: Non-Fiction, Memoir, Audiobook
Source: Personal Copy
Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Summary:

Medium Raw is a collection of Anthony Bourdain’s thoughts on disparate subjects such as the New York food industry, working for The Food Network, and his fellow chefs. 

Review:

I’ve always had a love-hate relationship with Anthony Bourdain (needless to say, it’s one-sided.  Clearly Tony Bourdain has no idea who I am.)  I think he’s smart, funny, and incredibly entertaining.  But on the other hand, he can be really mean and unpleasant, and has a tendency to insult things I like, such as The Food Network.  Therefore, I approached his latest book, Medium Raw, with some trepidation – I was excited to read it, yet I hoped he had toned down the sarcasm and general meanness.

Luckily, that turned out to be the case.  Medium Raw is not the Anthony Bourdain of Kitchen Confidential, but a wiser, gentler, somewhat chastened Anthony Bourdain.  Don’t get me wrong – he still rants, going so far as to have a chapter about “heroes” and “villains” in the food industry (and let me tell you, he is not nice about the villains!)  I appreciated that he discusses some of his prejudices and dislikes, and while I don’t necessarily agree with them, at least I know where he’s coming from now. 

This book deals with incredibly varied topics, from Bourdain’s overseas eating adventures to the effects of the economic downturn on the New York food scene.  And I have to say, I found most of the book fascinating.  While I do enjoy food, I’m not much of a foodie.  I don’t know a lot about the hippest restaurants in New York or the best chefs.  But despite that, I didn’t get bored when Bourdain focused on David Chang for an entire chapter.  Bourdain’s insights are always interesting and his commentary has a lot of merit.  And if that weren’t enough, he’s really funny.  He’s completely honest and self-deprecating, and I enjoyed it immensely.

I chose to listen to Medium Raw in audio rather than reading it in print, and I’m so glad I did!  It’s narrated by Bourdain himself, and the way he does it, it makes it seem like he’s right next to you, giving you his personal commentary on chefs, restaurants, and food.  He did an incredible job with the narration; I can’t say enough good things about it.  The audio production runs around 9 hours long and is unabridged.

I thoroughly enjoyed Medium Raw and highly recommend it to anyone who’s a foodie or interested in being one.  I didn’t agree with all of his opinions, but I very much enjoyed listening to them and absorbing what Anthony Bourdain had to say.

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Title: Because All Is Not Lost: Verses on Grief
Author: Sweta Srivastava Vikram
ISBN: 9781615990474
Pages: 36
Release Date: July 16, 2010
Publisher: Modern History Press
Genre: Poetry
Source: Author
Rating: 4 out of 5

Summary:

In this chapbook, Sweta Vikram writes poems on different kinds of grief.

Review:

I know what you’re thinking.  It’s the same thing I’m thinking.  How in the world do I have the knowledge and experience to be able to review poetry?  After all, I’ve never really reviewed it before, and have barely read it since high school.  But when Sweta Vikram contacted me, asking me to review her poetry chapbook, I was intrigued.  She’s a South Asian author after all, and I was curious to see if I enjoy reading poetry.

Vikram’s poetry was very beautiful and touching.  Though her chapbook was inspired by the deaths of her aunt and grandfather, she addresses all kinds of grief in her poems.  A mother, a sibling, a child – her narrators are all different people in different situations.

I appreciated the messages of Vikram’s poems:  don’t grieve endlessly.  Don’t let it take over your life.  At some point, you have to accept your grief, face it, and move on.  Don’t let your life stop just because someone else’s ended.  I imagine this would be a very relevant chapbook if you recently lost someone and are trying to deal with your sadness.

I enjoyed reading Vikram’s poems and exploring a new genre.  I’m sorry that I don’t have more experience in reviewing poetry, and thus, am not sure how worthwhile this review actually is, but I can say that it is worth reading or giving as a gift, especially for someone who has recently experienced a loss, regardless of culture or background.  I’m glad I found a new South Asian author, and will be following Vikram’s work closely in the future.

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Title: Don’t Sing at the Table: Life Lessons from My Grandmothers
Author: Adriana Trigiani
ISBN: 9780061958946
Pages: 224
Release Date: November 9, 2010
Publisher: Harper
Genre: Non-Fiction
Source: Publisher
Rating: 4 out of 5

Summary:

In this short book, author Adriana Trigiani introduces the reader to both of her grandmothers, Viola and Lucia, and details their lives.  She then tells the reader about the different things she’s learned from her grandmothers and how they have affected her throughout her life.

Review:

I’ve become a fan of Adriana Trigiani in recent years (reviews of Very Valentine, Brava Valentine, and Big Stone Gap), so when I heard she had a non-fiction book coming out about her grandmothers, I was intrigued.  It sounded like a fun book and I was eager to give it a try.

Don’t Sing at the Table begins with Trigiani’s outline of both her grandmothers’ lives.  She painstakingly recounts them, eager to convey to the reader the type of people both Lucia and Viola were.  Trigiani’s love for her grandmothers leaps off the page.  In each word, you can see Trigiani’s admiration, deep love, and respect for each of these women, and it makes the reader want to get to know them as well.  It’s a beautiful tribute to two women who clearly changed the author’s life for the better.

The lessons in Don’t Sing at the Table are wise ones that no mother or grandmother could argue with.  The second half of the book is devoted to these nuggets of wisdom, each with its own section explaining its origin or application.  From “There is no beauty without intelligence” to “Waste not,” these are smart and important pieces of advice that any woman would do well to follow. 

Don’t Sing at the Table is a cute little book with a lot of heart and an enveloping warmth.  Perhaps, when you are reading it, you will be reminded of the lessons you have learned from your own grandmother.  This is a book that would make a perfect gift to any women - grandmother, mother, sister, daughter.  It’s one of those that we all should have on our shelves, ready to help out at a moment’s notice.

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Complete Tour Information:

11/9 - Booking Mama
11/10 - 5 Minutes For Books
11/11 - Bookin’ With Bingo
11/12 - S. Krishna’s Books
11/15 - She is Too Fond of Books
11/16 - Bermudaonion’s Weblog
11/17 - Devourer of Books
11/18 - Presenting Lenore
11/19 - My Friend Amy’s Blog

Title: The Spice Necklace
Author: Ann Vanderhoof
ISBN: 9780618685370
Pages: 480
Release Date: June 23, 2010
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Genre: Non-Fiction, Memoir
Source: Publisher
Rating: 4 out of 5

Summary:

Ann Vanderhoof and her husband Steve are a little bit in love with the Caribbean.  That’s why they decide to wrap up their affairs and day jobs and spend three years sailing around the Caribbean, living on their boat.  Along the way, they get to know the locals and sample the varied cuisines of the amazing islands they visit.

Review:

I love travel memoirs, but I don’t think I’ve read one yet about the Caribbean, so when I first heard about The Spice Necklace, I was really intrigued.  Sailing around the islands, getting to know the locals?  It sounded like a lot of fun, and I was eager to give it a try.

I really enjoyed The Spice Necklace for multiple reasons.  First, Vanderhoof and her husband visit many different islands.  The reader really gets a sense about how divergent they are, how they have their own distinct cuisines and cultures.  Often, the Caribbean is painted with a broad, singular brush, so it was a lot of fun to see how varied the region really is.

Another aspect of The Spice Necklace that I really enjoyed is how Vanderhoof and her husband seek out locals on each island they visit.  Playing tourist isn’t enough for them; they really want to immerse themselves in the cultures they find.  Vanderhoof wants to learn how to cook each island’s cuisine from the people that do it best.  She learns about the ingredients and the processes and then tries to replicate the experience in the tiny galley of their boat.  She includes the recipes she learns in the book, including substitutes for harder-to-find ingredients.

Getting to know the locals, rather than just playing tourist, makes this book a much more personal memoir.  It works wonderfully as a travelogue and as a foodie book, as Vanderhoof describes the food she is eating in mouthwatering detail.  I definitely recommend this one to those of you who enjoy either of these types of memoirs.

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I have two pieces of news to share with you guys about the DSC South Asian Literature Festival.  First, they have a survey about South Asian book markets.  They want to measure public views on books with South Asian settings, characters, etc.  The survey ends tomorrow (I know, I’m posting it kind of late) so please take a few minutes and fill it out!  I’m very curious about the results!

Consumer survey: http://bit.ly/b0jtMP

The second tidbit I have to announce is that the shortlist for the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature has been released.  The lucky shortlisters:

Immortals by Amit Chaudhuri
The Story of a Widow by Musharraf Ali Farooqui
Atlas of Unknowns by Tania James
The Immigrant by Manju Kapur
A Life Apart by Neel Mukherjee
Home Boy by HM Naqvi

I’m very excited about this list because I’ve already read one of the books and have two (The Immortals and The Immigrant) on my shelf waiting for me!  I can’t wait to see what the final result is.

Title: Strangers at the Feast
Author: Jennifer Vanderbes
ISBN: 9781439166956
Pages: 352
Release Date: August 3, 2010
Publisher: Scribner
Genre: Literary Fiction
Source: Publisher
Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Summary:

Strangers at the Feast follows the Olson family over the course of one fateful Thanksgiving Day.  Ginny Olson is a professor who has just returned from a trip to India, surprising her family by adopting a seven year old girl from an orphanage there.  Her brother Douglas is wealthy but invested his family’s money badly and has been in some financial trouble; his wife, Denise, seems to despise him for these missteps.  Meanwhile, on the other side of town, two young men are making preparations for an event that will bring these two groups together in a startling way.

Review:

I absolutely adored Jennifer Vanderbes’ debut novel, Easter Island, and have been waiting not-so-patiently for her sophomore release.  I loved the historical mystery presented in that novel, as well as the exotic setting of Easter Island.  Strangers at the Feast is such a different novel that it’s difficult to remember that they are by the same author.

There is a sense of foreboding that hangs over this entire novel.  Vanderbes hints at it multiple times, keeping it at the forefront of the reader’s mind as they consume the book.  As a result, the reader is constantly guessing – what’s going to happen?  Is someone going to die?  If so, who?  It provides a driving force other than the characters’ stories and development to propel the novel forward.

The characters in Strangers at the Feast are beautifully rendered.  Ginny is an uncertain new mother, hopeful she can provide a good life for Priya but unsure if she is capable of doing so.  She has also been unlucky in love.  She is trying to cook Thanksgiving dinner for her family, to bring them together, but it appears she can’t even do that correctly.  Meanwhile, Denise, Douglas’ wife, watches coolly but critically over the entire situation.  Her wry observations provide this serious novel with welcome humor.  Gavin, Ginny’s father, is a former Vietnam vet who has never quite recovered from his experiences.  Not from Vietnam itself, but from the aftermath – from his return and the discovery that soldiers were neither respected nor wanted.  His trouble finding a job and the rudeness he encountered in his community, just because he was a veteran who chose to serve his country, haunt him to this day.

Indeed, Strangers at the Feast is a veritable feast (no pun intended) of themes and messages.  Ginny wrote an entire paper on the emasculation of the American male soldier, which Gavin finds and reads.  The demise of the male warrior is a major theme that runs through this book, as is class and racial warfare.  Vanderbes deftly explores the differences between whites and blacks, haves and have nots and makes them very stark.  The placement of money above all other values is also a central focus of this book, the loss of American values as we pursue monetary wealth with increasing abandon.  Vanderbes weaves a running commentary through her novel, but never bludgeons the reader with it.  The messages of the novel are subtle and easy to ignore if the reader just wants to focus on the characters.

Strangers at the Feast was not what I was expecting after Easter Island.  It’s so different, but I’m glad that didn’t prejudice me against this novel.  Strangers at the Feast is a beautifully written portrait of one family, and the things that can bring them together and tear them apart.

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Saturn V rocket at the Johnson Space Center

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Hello everyone!  As the year is quietly slipping away, I wanted to go ahead and let you know about the 2011 South Asian Challenge.  For those of you who participated in 2010, I hope you will agree with the changes I’ve made and sign up again.  For those of you who didn’t participate, I hope you will want to learn more about South Asia through this challenge!  And for those of you who don’t have a blog and have no idea what a reading challenge even is?  It’s simple: I challenge you to read books about South Asia and by South Asian authors during the calendar year of 2011.  Read on for more information.

What books are eligible for the 2011 South Asian Challenge?

There are two ways for a book to qualify for the South Asian Challenge

(1) A book must be by a South Asian author.  For these purposes, South Asia includes the following countries: India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, and the Maldives.  There are no limitations on what the book can be about.  Some examples:

• Secret Daughter – Shilpi Somaya Gowda
• Watermark – Vanitha Sankaran
• Modern Spice – Monica Bhide
• In Other Rooms, Other Wonders – Daniyal Mueenuddin
• The Emperor of All Maladies - Siddhartha Mukherjee (review posting on 11/17)

(2) A book must be about South Asia.  In this case, it can be set in a South Asian country or be about South Asians living abroad.  It can also be a biography or memoir of a South Asian, or of a non-South Asian traveling or working in South Asia.  In this case, the author does not need to be South Asian, as long as the subject matter focuses on the region, peoples, or cultures in some way.  Some examples:

• The Blue Notebook – James Levine
• In the Land of No Right Angles – Daphne Beal
• Dreaming in Hindi – Katherine Russell Rich
• The Case of the Missing Servant – Tarquin Hall
• The Last Mughal: The Fall of a Dynasty, Delhi, 1857 – William Dalrymple

Any type book qualifies, as long as it meets one of the two guidelines above - a cookbook, short story or essay collection, travel guide - I’m not picky!

Do I need a blog to participate?

No!  Everyone is encouraged to participate.  There will be instructions on how to participate on each related post if you don’t have a blog.

Do we have to write reviews of what we read for the challenge?

No, though I’d love it if you did.  The South Asian Review Database is my attempt to collect reviews of South Asian authors from across the web - I’d love new reviews for it! 

I’m not sure whether this book qualifies or not.  How can I tell?

If you can make a case for it, then it qualifies.  There are some situations that are difficult though.  For example, Michael Ondaatje was born in Sri Lanka, but isn’t ethnically Sri Lankan and doesn’t write about the region.  Does he qualify?  I wouldn’t count him, but if you want to, that’s fine.  This challenge isn’t meant to be strict or difficult; it’s meant to broaden your reading worldview!

Additionally, sometimes it is difficult to tell whether an author is from a South Asian country because that information isn’t publicly available.  In this case, I go on instinct - if their name sounds pretty South Asian, I’d count it.

If only part of a book is about South Asia (for example, Geoff Dyer’s Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi), it still qualifies.

How do I participate?

On December 1, 2010, I will put up a post instructing people on how to sign up for the challenge.  You will indicate your level goal when you sign up.  I will also introduce the buttons for the challenge at that time.

EDIT: You can sign up here.

What dates does the challenge run?

January 1, 2011 - December 31, 2011

What are the levels?

South Asian Encounter - 1 book

South Asian Wanderer - 3 books

South Asian Explorer - 5 books

South Asian Adventurer - 7 books

South Asian Hero/Heroine - 10 books

South Asian Guru - Over 10 books (you can set your own goal)

Where can I find books by South Asian authors and about South Asia?

The South Asian Review Database is a good place to start.  For all my reviews of books that will qualify for the 2011 South Asian Challenge, click here.

I thought you said movies were going to be part of the challenge. What happened?

I did want to expand the scope of the challenge, and movies seemed like a good way to do that.  However, I realized that I really am passionate about people reading books rather than watching movies, so I decided to expand the challenge in another way, through the lifting of the restriction that books must be set in South Asia or be about South Asians.

If you have a question that isn’t covered, feel free to leave it in the comments!