“My first meal in Beijing is roasted duck, or kaoya as it’s called in Chinese.  Glossy and brown, with crisp skin and meltingly moist flesh, the bird is cut into over one hundred pieces, in the traditional way.”

Ann Mah’s novel is definitely a winner.  The first words left me salivating and, as I delved into Isabel Lee’s new life in Beijing, I found myself laughing and captivated.  The story begins with a twenty-something wannabe journalist, who gets herself fired from a New York fashion magazine.  With a sister already in Beijing, and enough of the Chinese language to get by, this American born Chinese girl gets talked into taking the great leap of faith and moving overseas.  Mah gives us a wonderful look into the life of a girl who struggles to navigate a very different culture than the one she was raised in, while at the same time establishing herself as a journalist and flirting with a romance or two.

This was an enjoyable read;  I savored every minute of it!

4 stars (out of 5)
Published in 2010
339 Pages

A Canticle For Leibowitz
The world ends in a nuclear holocaust. Human knowledge is cursed, but the church defies orders to destroy all books and hides scraps of knowledge by memorization and copying. The monks of St. Leibowitz hold on to it for hundreds of years until mankind is ready to rebuild civilization. The book takes place in three time frames: after the holocaust, 600 hundred years in the future and another 600 years in the future as mankind prepares for another nuclear holocaust.

The book is old (1961) but well written. It is listed 48th on a list of top 100 Science Fiction books. The book is written as a satire although I didn’t find it funny or amusing. The Catholic Church comes off pretty well- because the church is designed for the long haul. Considering the time frame the book is rather short. I thought there would be more stories: how the church found information and how science progressed to recover lost knowledge. Instead the book was about politics and war.

B
352 pages

My Kindle Notes:

The prothonotary - location 1540

1. The principal clerk in certain courts of law.
2. Roman Catholic Church One of a college of 12 ecclesiastics charged with the registry of important pontifical proceedings.

To all ages, all peoples-”Whoever exalts a race or a State of a particular form of State or the depositories of power… whoever raises these notions above their standard value and divinizes them to an idolatrous level, distorts and perverts an order of the world planned and created by God…” Where had that come from? Eleventh Pius, – location 4997-5000

When the world was in darkness and wretchedness, it could believe in perfection and yearn for it. But when the world became bright with reason and riches, it began to sense the narrowness of the needle’s eye, and that rankled for a world no longer willing to believe or yearn. Well, they were going to destroy it again, were they-this garden Earth, civilized and knowing, to be torn apart again that Man might hope again in wretched darkness. – location 5096-99

“You heard him say it? ‘Pain’s the only evil I know about.’ You heard that?” The monk nodded solemnly.
“And that society is the only thing which determines whether an act is wrong or not? That too?”
“Yes.”
“Dearest God, how did those two heresies get back into the world after all this time? – location 5314-18

“Mae Mobley was born on a early Sunday morning in August, 1960.  A church baby we like to call it.  Taking care a white babies, that’s what I do, along with all the cooking and cleaning.  I done raised seventeen kids in my lifetime.  I know how to get them babies to sleep, stop crying, and go to the toilet bowl before they mamas even get out a bed in the morning.”

The Help is set in Mississippi in the early 1960′s.  It’s the days of no air conditioning, steamy southern weather, plantation houses, ladies leagues and colored help.  And it’s also a time of civil rights marches and cross burnings and lynchings for those who dare to speak against the world of Jim Crow.

The main characters are Skeeter, a single white woman in her early twenties, who longs to be a journalist; and Aibelene and Minny – housemaids who agree to help Skeeter write a book about the lives of the colored help.  These women have a lot to say about working for white families, and they risk their lives telling it.  The book is full of warmth and humor and sadness and frustration.  It’s everything you could want in a good book, which is probably why it has skyrocketed to the top of the bestseller list, was made into a Hollywood film, and schools are already talking about how they can add it to their curriculum.

I’ve been wanting to read this book ever since it first came out, but was forced to be patient, since it was on our book club list.  It was certainly worth the wait.  In fact, I couldn’t put this book down.  I read it in just under three days.  I applaud Ms. Stockett’s bravery in writing the voice of a southern black servant.  I’m sure many authors wouldn’t have dared to do this.  But Stockett, drawing from personal memory of her own beloved housekeeper, had an important story to tell.  It’s one of our own American history, and I loved the fact that this book wasn’t entirely a downer.  It was also funny and charming and it showed the reality of life on both sides of the color barrier.

4 1/2 stars (out of 5)
Published in 2009
451 pages

When he was 11 years old, Li Cunxin was selected from his peasant community and sent to Beijing to study dance at the Beijing Dance Academy.  Mao’s Last Dancer is Li’s moving memoir of his rise from near starvation to being one of the top ballet dancers in the world.

Wow!  What can I say about this wonderful book.  I loved it from start to finish.  Li Cunxin’s life is like a fairy tale.  He was born into Communist China, taken away from his family at a young age, and given a gift that would change his life forever – dance.  Li understood the only way he could help his family was by working hard at the Academy. He  strove to be the best.  Then one day he received an important opportunity.  He was allowed to take part in a summer dance program in the United States.  The memoir shows the world unveiling itself to Li as he realizes the grand deception Mao’s government has forced upon its people.  He loves the freedom (and wealth!) of the West, and once tasting it, never wants to go back.  Li’s defection to the United States in 1981 made world headlines.

This is a memoir that has all the elements I could ever want.  It is gripping, inspirational and genuinely moving.  I cheered for Li and I cried for him.  This is a book I will definitely recommend to others.

4 stars (out of 5)
Published in 2003, 2009 (I read the updated version)
499 pages

Say You’re One of Them is a collection of short stories intended to tell the plight of children in Africa.  It is a heart-wrenching depiction of modern day life, but it is also intended to show their spirit, their hope and their resilience.

With the opening paragraph, the reader is transported to Kenya, where a young girl chooses a life of prostitution in order to help her younger siblings.  The parents are still part of the family, but drugs and alcohol have taken over their lives, usurping the place that their children should have held.

The second story Fattening for Gabon tells of an uncle who would sell his wards into slavery.  Akpan’s verbal finesse takes a dark subject and makes it bearable to read.  I truly appreciated the choice of inferences, rather than a direct ugly approach.

As I read these stories, I couldn’t help but question, “don’t Africans love their children?”  Of course they must, but as in our country, there are children who suffer from neglect and abuse.  The difference between the United States and Africa is, however, vast.  African parents agonize about keeping their children from violence, wonder how they are going to feed them, and strive to given their children hope for the future.

The author says that the world looks away from what is happening in Africa.  That may be true, but the solutions are not easy.  Violence and disease have ripped apart families, and family is where values are taught.  Young adult males have grown up without fathers, they are subjected to violence, and have been taught that might makes right.  The NGOs that help in African countries understand education is the key.  Young Africans must be taught these values in the classrooms, but it will not happen overnight.

In the meantime, the Western world can educate itself about Africa.  That’s why books such as this one are important.

4 stars (out of 5)
Published in 2008
360 pages

Suzanne is currently reading:

• New York by Edward Rutherford
• The Mercy Seller by Brenda Rickman Vantrease

Craig is currently reading:

• The Basketball Diaries by Jim Carroll
• Zone One by Colson Whitehead
• Stone Arabia by Dana Spiotta

American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History; co-written by Scott McEwen, Jim DeFelice

I found the stories interesting, but the book doesn’t seem to have a point. At least not one that I would subscribe to. Chris Kyle is a good-old-boy from Texas and comes across as such. The writing should have been much better. I won’t fault Chris for that, but what about his two co-writers. What I did enjoy were his wife’s counterpoints. Chris was smart letting his wife pop his balloon and bring him down to earth every couple chapters.
Chris ordered his life: God, Country, and Family. His wife wanted him home to raise his kids: God, Family, and Country. I was waiting for God to make an appearance. Chris called the enemy ‘Savages’, which from his view-point they were. The Insurgences have their own view-point; it’s probably identical. That said once this country goes to war, there are few rules, and I would rather have Chris laying protective cover for me than not.

C
400 pages

Some Excerpts From The Kindle

But I didn’t risk my life to bring democracy to Iraq. I risked my life for my buddies, to protect my friends and fellow countrymen. I went to war for my country, not Iraq. My country sent me out there so that bullshit wouldn’t make its way back to our shores. I never once fought for the Iraqis. I could give a flying fuck about them. – location 3080-83

Fallujah was bad. Ramadi was worse. Sadr City was the worst. The overwatches would last two or three days. We’d leave for a day, recharge, then go back out. It was balls-to-the-wall firefights every time. The insurgents brought more than just their AKs to a fight. We were getting rocketed every fight. We responded by calling in air cover, Hellfires and what-have-you. The surveillance network overhead had been greatly improved over the past several years, and the U.S. was able to make pretty good use of it when it came to targeting Predators and other assets. But in our case, the bastards were right out in the open, extremely easy to spot. And very plentiful. There were claims by the Iraqi government at one point that we were killing civilians. That was pure bullshit. While just about every battle was going down, Army intelligence analysts were intercepting insurgent cell phone communications that were giving a blow-by-blow account. “They just killed so-and-so,” ran one conversation. “We need more mortarmen and snipers… They killed fifteen today.” We had only counted thirteen down in that battle–I guess we should have taken two out of the “maybe” column and put them in the “definite” category. – location 5369-81

It was surprising how many idiots you had to kill before they finally got that point. – location 5436-37

After reading 1776, George Washington and John Adams, I was ready to expand upon my knowledge of our third President and writer of the Declaration of Independence.  Thomas Jefferson is an immortal hero for Americans, and often that status comes with a lofty purity that is difficult to actually live up to.  In R. B. Bernstein’s abbreviated biography, I felt I got to know the real person that Jefferson was, rather than the icon.

Jefferson was clearly a passionate man.  He had a love for learning and enjoyed erudite discussions with knowledgeable men of his time.  He even extended those discussion’s to Abigail Adams, but it is fairly clear that, like most men of his era, he felt that women were of an inferior mind to men.  His passions, however got him into trouble.  He would stand firm on an issue (for instance his belief in a very limited Federal Government), write scathing critiques of anyone who disagreed with him, and later, when he had to bend his own beliefs (for example, when he approved the Louisiana Purchase although many in Congress felt this power was not granted to the Federal Government)  his public would never let him live it down.  He clearly was not the pragmatic man that Washington or even Adams was.

Jefferson wrote much about his dislike of slavery and felt that it should be abolished.  Yet he owned hundreds of slaves and never set a single one free.  I believe it was likely a weakness of character.  Jefferson wanted to create an image of being one of the planter elite, and so he continually burdened himself with large debts.  The assets with which he could guarantee payment of those debts, included his slaves, and he likely felt that freeing them would make him appear untrustworthy (as opposed to the honorable gentleman he wished to be perceived as) to his creditors.

Regardless of his personal shortcomings, his gifts to Americans (and mankind) are immeasurable.  The concept of a republic, free from aristocratic rule, and freedom for all men is one that has spread like wildfire across the globe.  Jefferson didn’t come up with the idea, but he helped to promote it.  His words in our Declaration of Independence have been used to establish new democracies in other countries.  Thomas Jefferson was a Governor of Virginia, the first U.S. Secretary of State,and  our 3rd U.S. President.  He founded the University of Virginia, established lucrative trade treaties and more than doubled the size of the United States.

While this is by no means a definitive biography, it’s a good start.  There was a six volume biography written by a historian in the 1980′s, but given the fact that there are over 40,000 letters written by or received by Jefferson, it’s a monumental task for any biographer.

3 1/2 stars (out of 5)
Published in 2003
253 pages

This is a story about love, betrayal, loss and forgiveness.  The main character, Alice, is a British ex-pat who grew up in Florence, and married Claudio, a titled Italian, albeit a poor one.  Together they rescue a farm in Tuscany and raise their young son there.  As World War II engulfs Italy, Alice begins a foolish affair and was busy seeing to her own needs when her young son falls ill and dies.  Despairing, she believes she is being punished for her misdeeds, but still longs to reconcile with her husband, who disappears before she can do so.

I received an advance review copy of this book from the publisher.  I am free to say exactly what I think, and I am not required to write a good review.   That said, this book is so good, I can’t say enough positive things about it!  For starters, Olafsson chooses subjects that I really enjoy.  Tuscany, Europe during World War II, and Nazi art theft.  What could be more intriguing?  Then, he presents two amazing stories that intertwine and connect so adeptly.  I loved how the author presents the main character as a narrator, as if she is speaking to her missing husband.  The author uses wonderful imagery to place the reader in Tuscany and yet, as you’re relishing the place you have found yourself in, you are left disturbed and unsettled as the war encroaches upon you.

The only thing I would change about this book is the title.  While Restoration refers to a painting, the word itself has multiple meanings, and so might deter someone from picking up this book.  Also, when I tried to search for the book on Goodreads, there were so many other books that came up with this name, that it took quite a while to find it.  It would be too bad if this book were overlooked because of the title.  It’s definitely one worth reading!

4 stars (out of 5)
Published in 2012
307 pages

The Affair: Jack Reacher #16
Lee Child reaches back to 1997 for a prequel. A good story about a crime and a cover up in Carter Crossing, Mississippi. Jack Reacher is still a Major in the Army but this case is going to try his patience with the military. If the Army knew what he was doing in the field they might try him. Reacher’s love interest is the local sheriff- a former Marine and hot stuff…

B
416 pages

My Kindle Notes From The Book

Up close and personal I was prepared to concede that Elizabeth Deveraux was a seriously good looking woman. Truly beautiful. Out of the car she was relatively tall, and her hair was amazing. There must have been five pounds of it in her ponytail alone. She had all the right parts in all the right proportions. She looked great in her uniform. But then, I liked women in uniform, possibly because I had known very few of the other kind. But best of all was her mouth. And her eyes. Together they put a kind of wry, amused animation into her face, as if whatever happened to her she would stay cool and calm and collected through it all, and then she would find some quality in it to make her smile. There was still light in her eyes. – location 954-59