Learning to Bow

Learning to Bow: Inside the Heart of Japan by Bruce Feiler


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Learning to Bow is Bruce Feiler's entertaining account of his year teaching English in Japan.  Having just returned from a year in Asia myself, it was easy to relate to his culture shock stories.  Learning to Bow also contains very interesting discussions of the Japanese education system and the difference between it and the American one.  Clearly there are ways in which Japan could stand to learn from us.  Equally clearly, we could profitable take some lessons from Japan.

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14 Cows for America

14 Cows for America by Carmen Agra Deedy


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This exquisitely illustrated picture book is a heart-warming (the more so because it is true) tale of a young Massai man who felt driven to do something to comfort the American people in the wake of September 11.  He tells his village elders what has happened and they, too, want to help.  And that is how the people of the United States come to possess a small herd of blessed Kenyan cattle still cared for on our behalf by the same remote village of Massai.  We all should learn from the generosity of these people half a world away who offered what they could to help people they'd never met in a place they could scarcely imagine.

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Half the Sky

Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide by Nicholas D. Kristof


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Half the Sky is simultaneously heartbreaking and inspiring.  Using the stories of remarkable women he has met around the world, Nicholas Kristof makes an impassioned plea for us to open our eyes, get engaged and take meaningful action to improve the plight of women everywhere.  The women Kristof profiles have been gang-raped, beaten, mutilated, sold into sexual slavery, often targeted by the very police, governments and other authority figures who should have been protecting them - even by other women.  But some of them have also overcome overwhelming odds to rescue themselves and to fight to help other women.  Kristof argues convincingly that "women's issues" are really people issues - that everyone benefits when women are safe, educated and productive.  He calls for us to get engaged - to step outside the safety of our homes and witness what too much of the world sees every day and to get involved.  Half the Sky should be required reading for everyone, everywhere and we should heed its call.

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What the Dog Saw

What the Dog Saw: And Other Adventures by Malcolm Gladwell


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
What the Dog Saw: And Other Adventures is a wonderful collection of (author: Malcolm Gladwell]'s New Yorker columns spanning more than a decade.  Gladwell tackles an enormous range of topics, each in an engaging and thought provoking way.  It never, for example, would have occurred to me that I might be drawn in to an essay on women's hair dye.  Gladwell, however, uses the topic as a springboard to explore how women's roles in society have shifted over the past half century and the interrelationship between advertising and culture.  Fascinating!

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Weekends at Bellevue

Weekends at Bellevue by Julie Holland


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
It's not entirely clear to me why Dr. Holland chose to tell her story, or, at least, to tell it as she did.  In a recent NPR interview she sounded a great deal more sensible and grounded than she sounds in Weekends at Bellevue where she comes across as the petulant, aggressive, badly-behaved doctor we all hope never to see.  Although she tried to illustrate her evolution from an immature, whiny, insecure resident to a caring, respected healer, she apparently never entirely overcame her aggressive tendencies.  Perhaps that makes this more honest than many memoirs, but it also leaves me wondering why she thought her story was worth telling. The book might have been more balanced had it included at least a few stories about the more ordinary patients that came through her ER, rather than focusing to exclusion on the most extreme cases.  It is clear that she is far more interested in extreme pathologies than in all of the people with more mundane, but just as painful to them, problems.  Reading this would certainly dissuade me from seeking Dr. Holland out for treatment in her private practice.  

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The Last Chinese Chef

The Last Chinese Chef by Nicole Mones


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I wish I'd read this book before I moved to China, not after I got back! Although the story was no better than ordinary, the wealth of detail about food, what's important about it, what makes it great, how it is perceived in the culture, etc. is fantastic. I was never really able to articulate what distinguished the great food we had in China from the not-so-great. This book did it for me. Now I wish I could go back with a more mindful awareness of what to look for in a dish and eat my way around the country.

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The Glister

The Glister: A Novel by John Burnside


My rating: 2 of 5 stars
[books: The Glister] starts out as a moderately interesting portrait of a teenager growing up in a left-behind, industrial wasteland. The book grows increasingly more improbably right up through the clumsy climax at the end. It is too bad John Burnside felt a need to force a silly, not-at-all-thrilling, thriller-style mystery story into what had the potential to be an interesting exploration of what happens when the company abandons the company-town to its fate.

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The Art of War

The Art of War by Sun Tzu by Sun Tzu


My rating: 2 of 5 stars
The main text of The Art of War was somewhat interesting especially in light of its age, but I found Giles's commentary distracting and difficult to follow. I will concede that the problem might lie more in the layout of the free Kindle ebook edition than in the commentary itself. Maybe at some point I'll give it another try.

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Indigo Awakening

Indigo Awakening: A Doctor's Memoir of Forging an Authentic Life in a Turbulent World by Janine Talty


My rating: 1 of 5 stars
By the time I was two pages into Indigo Awakening I knew I'd made a huge mistake. I can't quite figure out what possessed me to start this book in the first place, but I sure stopped it fast. Janine Talty lost me from the get-go, but I knew I wasn't even going to try when she started talking about the Galactic Center, the Source, etc. Never mind the child who cast his eyes into an orange which he sent to the classroom next door and was able to read what was written on the blackboard there. And no, you won't find it in the sci-fi section. It purports to be non-fiction. Utter garbage! Permanently deleted from my Kindle.

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The Blind Assassin

The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I can't entirely decide whether I liked The Blind Assassin or not. At times it felt very long; at other times it sucked me in and I couldn't put it down. At first I found Margaret Atwood's story-within-a-story-within-a-story experiment confusing, but as the characters started to emerge and their voices to become more distinct, it became a fascinating exploration of the main character's relationship to her own past and that of her sister. The interesting nesting of stories allows us to explore the narrator as she is at the time of the telling, as she was when younger and as her current self sees her younger self. It is a juxtaposition often attempted, but rarely managed as gracefully as Atwood has done.

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When We Were Orphans

When We Were Orphans by Kazuo Ishiguro


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I found When We Were Orphans to be a bit choppy. The tone was intentionally affected and over-sentimental. While I suppose I understand what Kazuo Ishiguro was trying to do, I thought it was a little over the top and somewhat distracting. The story itself was not bad and I did enjoy the scenes where the narrator recalled moments from his childhood. Maybe the narration would have been more effective if Ishiguro had more successfully differentiated the tone in the nostalgic reflection passages from that in passages relating the current story.

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Predictably Irrational

Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions by Dan Ariely


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Predictably Irrational is a fascinating survey of how and why human behavior fails to conform to the predictions of traditional economists. Dan Ariely asks and attempts to answer questions such as "Why don't we save as much money as we should?" "Why don't we eat as well as we should?" etc. We've all heard the somewhat moralistic answer "we succumb too easily to temptation/the desire for instant gratification." Ariely tries to go deeper. He discusses a series of experiments covering a vast array of behaviors. Each experiment seems to have been designed with several objectives: to demonstrate the existence of an irrational behavior; to explain why we behave in such an irrational way; and to explore methods of overcoming our irrationality to help us behave in the way the rational part of us wishes we could. The experiments illustrate a wide variety of apparently irrational behavior resulting from the desire for instant gratification, intense emotions, peer pressure, prior expectations and more. I love that Ariely not only demonstrates the existence of and reason for the behaviors, but also uses the opportunity to talk about how we can use foreknowledge of these tendencies toward irrationality to find solutions that actually work. My one small quibble with the book is that it doesn't always provide as much detail as I'd like...maybe I should go read the academic papers underlying this more accessible layman's survey.


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Flower Net

Flower Net by Lisa See

My review

rating: 2 of 5 stars
Definitely not one of Lisa See's best books. She should stick to the wonderful Chinese historical fiction she does so well. Flower Net is also set in China, but in almost-modern China (late 90s). The characters are flat and unbelievable and the story is stilted. Seriously, who is going to believe that an experienced attorney who has worked all over the world, who had planned to marry a Chinese woman and who has spent the last several years investigating Chinese mafia activity is really going to wind up in China looking like a bumbling idiot? As an American expat living in China, I know how opaque Chinese customs can be. I also know that a modicum of basic courtesy will get you by in almost any situation, even if you don't exactly know the appropriate behavior. The love story is equally absurd (not to mention extraneous). If the person you wanted to marry lied to you about plans to return from a trip, disappeared without a word, never responded to your letters and never told you the truth about his/her background, would you really pick up without even an explanation if you crossed paths again more than a decade later? Unlikely! Don't waste your time!


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This Republic of Suffering

This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War by Drew Gilpin Faust

My review

rating: 2 of 5 stars
This Republic of Suffering is a dry, academic treatise on death and dying during the American Civil War. If you are looking for an academic text, this might be the book for you. I found it dull and difficult going as general-purpose reading material. In fact, after several attempts I was unable to get very far and finally gave up. Save it for the classroom.


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The Zookeeper's Wife

The Zookeeper's Wife: A War Story by Diane Ackerman

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
The Zookeeper's Wife is the remarkable (true) story of Antonina Zabinski and her family who used their position as keepers of the Warsaw Zoo to help rescue several hundred Jews during the Holocaust. Unfortunately, the writing didn't really live up the story Diane Ackerman was trying to tell. I found it choppy and a little amateurish. Ms. Ackerman would have done better to pick a style and stick with it. Instead the book moves awkwardly from reasonably engaging story to clearly third-party biography to quasi-relevant digressions on everything from natural history to eugenics to Nazi policy. Most unfortunately, Ms. Ackerman's obviously careful research and access to excellent primary sources (notably Antonina's journals from the period) seem to hinder her ability to tell the story effectively. She takes great pains to inform the reader that when she says "Antonina thought [felt, believed, etc.:], ..." she is, in fact, quoting Antonina directly. The quotes sprinkled throughout break the flow more than help it. The story is not, for the most part, narrated as if by an involved party, eyewitness or invisible but present narrator, but rather as a report by a historian. The primary-source quotes, however, are interjected in a style that would fit much better with narration as a story rather than a historical report.



Although the writing left something to be desired, the story itself is incredible. The book was clearly well-researched. Best of all, I learned a lot that I hadn't known about the Polish resistance, life in Poland during the war, etc. It was nice to be reminded that amidst all the horror there were people who were neither victims nor victimizers and who put themselves at enormous risk to help the people who most needed.


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People of the Book

People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
One of the best books I've read recently! This carefully crafted narrative tells a fictional history of the Sarajevo Haggadah, a real illuminated Haggadah of mysterious origins which came to light in Sarajevo in the 19th century. Geraldine Brooks manages to intertwine the personal story of Hanna Sharansky a manuscript conservator with the history of the Haggadah as Hanna reveals it through her work on the book. As the history comes to light, we see reflected in it the history of the Jews of Europe as the flee one temporary safe-haven after another.


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A Child Called "It"

A Child Called "It": One Child's Courage to Survive by Dave Pelzer

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
A Child Called It is a horrifying story of the childhood abuse the author, David Pelzer, suffered at the hands of his mother. Surely this book is a must-read for anyone who deals with children, particularly those at most risk of being abused. The writing is clear but, despite its first-person perspective, seems slightly dispassionate. That little bit of dissociation might be necessary to protect both the reader and the author from an emotional intensity I can't even really imagine.


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Shantaram

Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
A long but fascinating portrait of an escaped convict as he builds a new life in a new place. This beautifully written novel contains just enough autobiographical detail to sound chillingly real as it poignantly describes the terror and torture the protagonist suffers while incarcerated. Shantaram paints a believable picture of a man plagued by his past and the self-doubt it engenders as he struggles to do good in the world and to rebuild some sense of self and self-worth. Well worth the time it took to read it!


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Cutting for Stone

Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
Although as I was reading it, it occasionally felt a bit long, by the end there was nothing I would have left out or changed. Cutting for Stone is beautifully written and so clear that it was sometimes hard to remember it's a novel not a memoir. The book traces the life of an Ethiopian-born Indian surgeon from the anguish of his birth until, in middle-age, he finally puts his demons to rest. Abraham Verghese manages to follow themes of religion, race, war, poverty, family and more all without ever being overbearing or preachy. I'd read it again.


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The Man Who Loved China

The Man Who Loved China: Joseph Needham and the Making of a Masterpiece by Simon Winchester

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
Fascinating biography of the man who wrote the definitive history of science in China. While I don't think I am too likely to read his (dozens of volume long!) history, he led quite an interesting life and the tidbits I picked up about science here in China were remarkable (did you know, for example, that the Chinese invented the printing press 100s of years before Gutenberg?).


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The Bondwoman's Narrative

The Bondwoman's Narrative by Hannah Crafts

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
I didn't find the novel extraordinary per se, but given its historical context it was well worth reading. The introduction, notes and appendices were quite fascinating. Don't skip them.


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Wedlock: The True Story of the Disastrous Marriage...

Wedlock: The True Story of the Disastrous Marriage and Remarkable Divorce of Mary Eleanor Bowes, Countess of Strathmore by Wendy Moore

My review

rating: 1 of 5 stars
Despite the glowing review in the Washington Post, this book was a disaster. I couldn't even read enough of it to judge for myself if the Washington Post accurately described the excellent research that they claim went into the book. The writing was simply dreadful. Someone should have used her editor's pencil a little more vigorously to remove the excessive and unreadable use of the past-perfect.


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Into Thin Air

Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster by Jon Krakauer

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
I would definitely NOT recommend reading this book 3 weeks before leaving for a trek that culminates on Mt. Everest. Although our plans only take us as far as the Tibet-side base camp, reading Krakauer's account of the catastrophic expeditions of May, 1996, has only increased my anxiety. If, on the other hand, you are not setting off for a grueling, high-altitude trek any time soon, then this gripping book is well worth a read.


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Eat My Globe

Eat My Globe: One Year to Go Everywhere and Eat Everything by Simon Majumdar

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
This is far more a travelogue than a food book, despite the title. For a book that purports to be a food book it really has remarkably little about the food. While it lists the dishes the author tasted and his reactions to them, the descriptions are too bland and repetitive to help me imagine what the food might really be like. In addition, the writing is distressingly poor, especially considering that the author left a publishing job to research and write the book. He and his editors should be ashamed of themselves. Nevertheless, the book has some entertaining qualities and if you read it not for its informational content but only as a way to pass an entertaining few hours, it does pass the time successfully.


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The Boy in Striped Pajamas

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
This book had a good idea, but rather failed in execution. I hated that the author portrayed the main character, a nine year old boy, as so clueless that by the end of a year away from home he'd forgotten even the names of his best friends. Just not realistic!


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Happens Every Day: An All-Too-True Story

Happens Every Day: An All-Too-True Story by Isabel Gillies

My review

rating: 1 of 5 stars
It happens every day which makes it pretty uninteresting to read about. Mediocre writing and a boring theme = a pretty lousy book. Don't waste your time.


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