I read  Stephen King's " 11/26/63".  A great novel for the beginning of the summer.  It was filled with fantastic characters, and of course a story line based on the true story of the assassination of JFK.


King knew how to bring much attention to the character of Lee Harvey Oswald, (according to the government investigations, he was the sniper who killed JFK) King introducing him in the middle of the novel and Oswald is portrayed as a working class man, nothing particularly interesting or great about him, although he was was a US marine and was defected to the Soviet Union in October 1959, where he lived until 1962, and returned to the US with his Russian wife.

I liked how the main character Jacob, (code name George) is able to build a short term career as a teacher , all the while going back to the past as prime investigator,  in search of the truth of JFK's assassination.  His modern research and clues into the case, give him an edge to preventing the assassination.  It also allows him, to delve into Oswald's inter sanctum, as readers are introduced to some of the key players of Oswald's life including: Margaret Oswald, (his wife), Marguerite Frances Claverie (his mother) and friend George de Mohrenschildt, amongst many other associations. 

"Where the Red Fern Grows" by Wilson Rawls

 

"Where the Red Fern Grows" by Wilson Rawls. The most memorable part of this book is when Billy Colman, the main character wears his father's raccoon hat and goes hunting with his  hound dogs: Old Dan and Little Ann.  He gets into fights with the Pritchard brothers, and he dreams of getting his dogs to hunt in the coon hunting contest, which will have him training his dogs around the clock, hunting raccoons and rodents alike. The book's climax is when Billy Colman sets out to get the "ghost coon".  This final hunt will intrigue readers and have them wandering if Billy's dog will reach the same demise as "Old Yeller" (a story  which most kids, born after 1990 have no recollection)

Many dog enthusiasts will conjure up sympathetic emotions in the final act of "Where the Red Fern Grows".

My second read-through of this book came when I was an assistant teacher in a middle school class, in the inner city, and this was there book of the month to read.  I enjoyed the book discussions with these middle school kids in particular , because they commented on the book so freely (that is if you,the teacher, asked the right questions.)  For example a popular discussion question was:What is your favorite part of the book?  A middle-schooler response was "I like the dog fights", this was usually punctuated with a middle school teacher asking him or her, if they ever been to a farm or been hunting? If they ever seen a dog's role on the farm? Most likely a kid in the inner city, would respond "no" they never been to a farm, and plain in simple, they thought a dog's role, is "to be a dog". The Global Dig

"Beautician of Kabul" by Deborah Rodriguiz

    

"Beautician of Kabul" by Deborah RodriguezDeborah Rodriguiz dishes up another clumsy, American introduction to the middle east.  Her initial impressions of the culture seem shallow but when she, herself, decides to marry an Afghani and become a second wife, that is when I'm bewildered.  What a way to show an obvious traditionalist an extremist life style?  (Not all wives in Afganistan participate in polygamy) Nonetheless her inside jokes and interest in the world of beauty is obnoxious.  She writes about the lengths a women will go through to make their wedding fantastic, from the making of the dress to their hair, (being groomed to perfection).  She explains the numerous bottles of hair spray necessary to make an Afghani bride as beautifully put together as a bridezilla from an American reality show. The Global Dig

"The Murder of a Century:The Gilded Age Crime That Scandalized a City & Sparked the Tabloid Wars" by Paul Collins

 

 

"The Murder of a Century:The Gilded Age Crime That Scandalized a City & Sparked the Tabloid Wars",  by Paul Collins. This novel had a slow introduction, the only event that captured the audience from the beginning had to be the fact that a body is found severed in half, the head is no where to be found and the abdomen is found laying in a river with its arms still attached.

 I could of done without the details, leading the detectives to whom the body belonged to, (we get it), there was no forensic evidence in the nineteenth century.  The only thing that could dictate how long a body had been deceased was the heat of the body, and the only thing that identified the status of the person and his or her occupation was the money in their wallet and the softness/roughness of their hands, telling whether they worked in the mine friends or they had higher status jobs that didn't have them work much with their hands. 

"The Clan of the Cave Bear" by Jean M. Auel

   

"The Clan of the Cave Bear" by Jean M. Auel.  Don't let the hardcover of this novel intimidate you, its nowhere near the length of Ann Karenina. This novel is unlike any other, here we have a beginning of civilization story which embeds cavemen with modern characteristics. 
 A cave woman struggles to show her independence, as a woman, in the stone age when modern conveniences, like houses, grocery stories and social networking are out of the picture.   

The cavemen and cave women in this story were separated according to clans and how evolved each clans physical appearance seemed to be.  Some clans would literally have more hair on their backs, seeming more cavemen like then other clans, some clans would also lack language skills. Some clans would use women as sexual objects and would exchange their women mates readily according to their desire. (discographies)
The female cave woman, Ayla, proves to be the strongest: abandoned by her original clan at a young age Ayla came to live with the clan called "the others".  Her blue-eyes and pale skin would contrast with theres, and "the others" would use her as a slave and abuse her; calling her names and pairing her up with the worst man in the tribe.  Ayla's strong demeanor gave her a willingness to never give up, in order to survive for her daughter's sake.(the global Dig)

"Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer

"Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer

    I read this book while working alongside Tibetans (in a hospital) whose knowledg of K2 made me appreciate the mountain more than ever. In this memoir, one man's goal in climbing K2 becomes an obsession and a dream, but there is much more to climbing the mountain than just the right gear.  According to Krakauer, one must have knowledge of the climate, one must know what time of year to climb, and lastly, one must know which Sherpas you can count on to help you track the mountain.
You may also need a plan, to determine how you'll climb, and the stamina you'll exert throughout your journey.  (assuming that weather prevails).  The writer talks throughout the trip; giving insights into whose climbed K2: bringing in to the limelight the real mountaineers, along with the multi-millionaires whose only agenda in climbing is to check off one more item from their bucket lists.
John's interaction with Sherpas on this adventure turns Tibetan mountain guides into Heros. The Global Dig

"Let the Great World Spin" by Colum McCann

"Let the Great World Spin " by Colum McCann, a combined-story novel.   I enjoyed this novel, and the way McCann spins the stories of characters who have unlikely chances of meeting one another.  One of the stories discusses two Irish brothers, Corrigan and Ciaran who are on two different wave lengths, but end up both leaving Ireland and eventually living together in the Bronx.

We are introduced to Corrigan, who as a child empathizes with the poor, and who will do absolutely anything he can for the poor. He tells his mother that their situation is not that bad in comparison to those who have absolutely nothing.  He meets the poor under bridges as they warm their hands, Corrigan listens to their stories.  When the father of the brothers walks out of their lives, Corrigan brings the poor people his father's clothing, and his brother Ciaran merely watches as he gazes onto random strangers walking on the beach with his father's suits on.

McCann also tells the story of Philippe Petit, the French acrobat who is a  tight-rope walker.

Its my belief that McCann introduces such a factual story into the plot of the book so as to raise the drama of novel and cast a story that readers can automatically visualize:The Twin Towers. 

 Petit decides to walk the lengths of the former TWIN TOWERS just to see if he can do it; adding to his collection of buildings he's walked across.  His walking between the TOWERS brings the attention of the New Yorkers who look up at him, in astonishment and see only a tiny speck in the sky, wandering who could possibly have the gall to do such a thing, admiring him, and at the same time holding great fear for this man's life.(the Global Dig)

"The Second Empress: A Novel of Napoleon's Court " by Michelle Moran

   

"The Second Empress: A Novel of Napoleon's Court," by Michelle Moran. 

 

This novel reads with a feminist point of view, of the French Revolution.  Although the second empress is characterized as being weak and without much power over her destiny and over her new Kingdom in France, Michelle Moran does an excellent job in her research of Napoleon.

 

Napoleon takes a second empress, Marie Louise.  Louise will have a task keeping France together as she is left in charge while Napolean begins one of France's worst Revolutions.The empress convinces French citizens to take refuge at the Chateau de Rambouillet.  Once its obvious that Russia is winning, Napoleon makes a retreat to France while his Army is still fighting Russia and, so as not to draw attention to his self, Napoleon dresses like an Austrian when he visits his sister Pauline.  How cowardly is that?

Marie Louise is worried about her solitary son whom she has, had with Napoleon.  Napoleon wrote a letter to Joseph, a former king of Spain telling him his hopes for his son: "Id rather see my son's throat cut than imagine him brought up as an Austrian prince in Vienna. 

 

The fact that Napoleon would rather cut his son's throat, than have him live in Austria tells the empress that she'd better make like a bandit and get her and her son out of Napoleon's line of vision.  She decides to take her son, against the father's will to live in  Austria with her family.  When Napoleon flees France, his carriage is stalked by villagers on his way out of Paris, and the people throw rocks at his carriage.  He tries to win the people over one more time, by giving the people a speech: telling them he wasn't a traitor for leaving Russia with his army still there, that he was helping the dying by returning to France. (the Global Dig)

  

Bossy Pants (A Memoir) by Tina Fey

   "Bossy Pants (A Memoir) by Tina Fey". Writing with as much confidence as the best of them, it's of no surprise that Tina Fey can come up with the best Sarah Palin impersonation ever thought possible.    

But its hard being a female comedian, Tina makes this clear, in her memoir when talks about photo shoots and just what women are trying to eliminate when it comes to their looks and photo shopping.  These are just some of the funniest women body parts she mentions: lunch lady arms, crotch biscuits, spider veins, bad nail beds, too thin lashes, saddle bags, breasts too big, breasts too small, one big breast bigger than the other, one breast smaller than the other  (how these two are different she doesn't know) nasal labia folds, calves too big, no calves, kankles, .  

When she is discussing improvisation and acting, Fey says "don't be afraid to contribute, its your responsibility, make sure your contributing something to the discussion, your interests are worthwhile."  

I'm reminded of my own improvisation classes, in high school, and I showed up to these stage practices with the other nerdy theatre kids, and how I watched a kid named Sanders try to turn a hulla-hoop into something hilarious, and it was so funny watching him stumble with this task.  (this kid is now teaching as an assistant professor at Alabama University- go figure)

I enjoyed when Tina talks about the first time she was called a CU^T by a coworker and she yells back, "Nope, I have two parents who love me, and I was not born into an alcoholic home, so you don't have a right to call me that."  This is just one of Fey's principles that helps her cope with adversity.(the Global Dig)

"The Good Earth" by Pearl S. Buck

"The Good Earth" by Pearl S. Buck.  The writer, Pearl S. Buck, writes a novel that is totally memorable, you wouldn't get this impression from the novel's front cover. Picture this year : You're a farmer working with your hands in a plantation and you want to expand your plantation and your

profit? How will you do this?

Well, start by buying out- all the nearby farmer's land; making yourself the envy of all the farmers in your village. Then have tons of kids, so they can help you harvest your land. This will ensure that you're no longer a peasant, but in fact, a successful farmer who has plenty of power. You'll have so much power, that you'll be able to buy your own wife from her servant hood. So she can in turn come back to the home of her servant days and show off her own child, richest baby in the kingdom, festooned with silk clothing and shiny fat from eating the stuff of the "Good Earth". (the Global Dig)

"The Journal of Dora Damage:A Novel" by Belinda Starling

   

"The Journal of Dora Damage:A Novel" by Belinda Starling.  Finding this book at a bookstore is difficult enough, Barnes and Noble does not carry it on their shelves, but just imagine trying to find it in a library.  I went clear across town to St. Paul library,in Minnesota borrowing it under a pseudo name, because I didn't have book barrowing privileges considering that I didn't live in Saint Paul.  (Just kidding,-a friend of mine barrowed it under her St. Paul library card).

When Dora Damages' husband becomes sick, it will be up to her to continue her husband's book binding business, at a time when women didn't commonly work, and they certainly did not run businesses.  This would prove to be a difficult task for Damage.  Nevertheless, Damage takes it upon herself to uphold the business. 

The whole process of finding and locating this book made me appreciate the novel  and its contents even more. The novel introduces the subject of book binding and its value in the nineteenth century. This seems interesting enough, but what was even more interesting is that a lot of book collectors, during that time, chose to bind books whose contents delved into erotic fantasy:bizarreeeeee. (The Global Dig)

  

"Rosa Lee:A Mother and Her Family in Urban America" by Leon Dash

   

 Rosa's Lee's story reads much like a biography going from bad to worse.  Not in the sense that it is written badly, but in the sense it's hard to imagine how humanly, bad a person could have it.  Lee's life as a mother of eight children doesn't go smooth sailing into retirement, in fact, her golden years are down right bumpy.  Lee will support her childrens' drug habit by faking illness in order to get narcotics, she will donate blood for money, sell food stamps (which I recently found out is called trafficking food stamps, a popular crime that can lead to incarceration).  Lee will work on the corner; selling drugs for local drug enthusiasts, who buy at will. 
Lee's  resolve in understanding that what she is doing is downright wrong came when Leon Dash, the writer asked her if she thought it was right to ask her granddaughter to steal clothing from a thrift store.  This had a powerful effect on Lee, for which she realizes that she is teaching her own grandkid to steal. 

Fortunately, Ms. Lee does have success at raising two of her sons who escape a life of drug abuse. The writer, himself, is stunned at the amount of information, Rosa Lee releases, she tells him about her involvement in various crimes.  He even questions whether he should hand over Lee for her various criminal acts, and he stops his interview periodically, reminding Lee that she is leaving her declarations open for public scrutiny.

  

"A Year in Provence" by Peter Mayle

"A Year in Provence" by Peter Mayle

Mayle's writes a memoir, that in my belief, reads very smartly. Mayle is a British writer and he commemorates upon his move to Provence and the struggles he undergoes; learning the language and day to day cultural norms that seem very bizarre to his own. 

Mayle's first introduction to the world of Provence comes with his decision to buy and reconstruct his first home in Provence. He hires French masons whom he believes will transform his ancient home into a functioning Parisian home that will suit his many Parisian guests.  The Masons break out with sledge hammer on their very first day working on his kitchen effortlessly for hours at a time before the sun even rises.  They up level floors and reconstruct new ones.  This sprint like effort of the French will amaze Mayle until he realizes that after a couple of days of hard work his masons are no where to be found.   Mayle's first lesson: The French have an elasticity when it comes to how they view time.

I like the way Mayle describes his introduction to his new neighbors in France.  He says that they speak with an incomprehensible French drawl, adding the "ong" sound to words in French that normally don't necessitate this suffix.  He says they spoke words in a fast, chattery way for which he could barely grasp. 

This British writer talks about the bitter cold during his stay in France during the winter season. 

And like most weather enthusiasts, I merely gaff at this notion of exaggerated cold weather in France; thinking to myself "these French people don't know anything about the cold," with my new profound pride in Minnesotan weather. 

I also think "The French know nothing of snow blizzards and negative-twenty-degree-Fahrenheit wintry days like we have in Minnesota."

  This writer, likewise, has his own objections to the "Wimpy French"; comparing the cold days in France to his days in Britain for which he battled the wind that came up from the British channel.

One of the most strategic moves the writer made, was a trick to get Parisian contractors to finish his house, by hosting a Holiday dinner (knowing full well that food would draw the contractors to his house).

 For his dinner, Mayle decides to invite the wives of his contractors so that they could admire the work of their husbands.  This plot had the desired affect.  The contractors readily showed up the following day to finish the house they started.

  Lesson number two:If you want Parisians to get things done: Always bribe them with food.

"The End of Your Life Book Club" by Will Schwalbe

 "The End of Your Life Book Club" by Will Schwalbe.  I started reading this novel after it caught my attention in the library's three day, book rental shelf.  Like most book lovers, I am part of a book club( I admit this) and my book club has been meeting once a month for the last ten years, albeit, I have only been a member for, four years. Either way, this novel was a definite hit home for me!
Author, Will Schwalbe has been working in publishing for 21 years, and it was Schwalbe's admittance to his 73-year-old mother that he had not read a book on her list which would begin this two member book club
"Crossing to Safety" was the book on his mother's list.  For which she exclaimed "I'll give you my copy" Schwalbe was getting David Halbersam's book on the Korean war ready for publication but  he found time to meet his mother while she was in the hospital dying from cancer. There we have it "The End of Your Life Book Club."

Mary Anne's, Schwalbe's mother had done many accomplishing things in her seventy three years old life span, for which Schwalbe talks about admirably.   His mom helped to establish libraries in Afghanistan.  She went there in 1995, going across the Khyber pass from Pakistan to report on the condition of refugees.  She went back to Afghanistan 9 times for the women's commission on the international rescue committee (the mothers keeps in contact with all the refugees she has met in Afghanistan).

"My mother was always introducing, scheduling, weighing in, guiding advising and counseling" says Schwalbe. He connects this with the fact that, his mother had taken a job at Harvard and Radcliffe University and was appointed associate dean of admission and Financial aide.

One funny story Schwalbe shares about his mother's career at Harvard is when she received a fortune cookie from an eager student awaiting admission in to the college and the fortune cookie read "You will admit Bella Wong"-the daughter of the local Chinese restaurant owner. 

Mary Anne would later work at Cambridge University for which Schwalbe comments that during Thanksgiving "we invited anyone we knew who lived afar away and couldn't get home, we often had Iranian and Pakistani students come...perhaps this is where my mothers interest in the region began".

"The Art Forger" by B.A. Shapiro

"The Art Forger" by B.A. Shapiro.  Forgery is a crime, but according to some painters  "the criminal part doesn't come until a copy is put up for sale as the original. Ergo, the seller, not the painter is the crook. "
 This is how the character, Clair, a painter initially blocks the guilt from her conscious, when she takes up an art seller on his his offer to duplicate Degas' work and showcase it as an original. She tells herself "There's no crime in copying a painting."
Readers are introduced to Clair, an amateur artist, as she is sorting through her paintings deciding which decides ones she should display on Common Wealth Avenue.  Her paintings include "Woman Leaving Her Bath" and "The Tower"  Reproductions.com pays her to repaint them and sells the paintings online as "perfect replicas" unfortunately this only pays a few thousand dollars per painting.  Not nearing enough to pay for rent, painting supplies and her tab at a local bar.

Not only is Clair barely surviving on an artist' wage but she also fails to win at the Art World Trans contest to another painter.  Clair will do anything to seek revenge on this painter, and when Markel, a rich art seller, tells her that he'll get her work showcased at a One-Woman Show at Markel 6, Clair is entranced by this offer, knowing this is exactly the revenge she seeks.   She becomes even more allured when Markel offers  $50,000 to Clair, to paint for him one of Degas' original work.  Markel plans to sell it as an original, which is illegal, but he counteracts this term of illegal, by saying "there is illegal, and then there is illegal."

"The Kite Runner" by Kaled Hosseini

"The Kite Runner" by Kaled Hosseini.  Two boys living in Afghanistan are best friends at a time when war lords reign and threaten the classes.

I enjoyed the novel's great characterization of the two young boys: Amir and Hassan, and the initial love Amir shares with his servant/brother.  Amir takes the time to read to Hassan as Hassan does not know how to read, nor is he allowed to receive a proper education, as it is not extended to Hazaras.  I enjoyed this novel as it discusses the meaning of what it really takes to uphold a promise.

 The character of Amir upholds a promise by leaving America, even though he is a successful writer there, in order to save his best friends son.  He agrees to go back to a dangerous and complicated land after receiving a call that explained to him that his best friend died, and the warlords had captured his son. He must go back to a land to retrieve the son.  

How many of us would have taken such a risk like the character of  Amir does?

In my belief, most of us wouldn't.  In fact, many of us deny our own family members safety.  Even those people that are within our own communities.  Those people who don't even live hundreds of miles away are not  even granted safety and security.  Yet here is this man who goes back to a land, for which he is unfamiliar with; A land for which he only knew as a child, in order to save his best friend's child. 

The movie "Kite Runner" does great justice to the novel, in that the setting of the movie allows the audience to know the extreme conditions revalent in Afghanistan.  The setting shows the hot desserts and the women in Burqas (the arabic meaning of garment that covers a woman's body)The setting shows the remote conditions for which one must travel on unpaved roads, in rusty jeeps and cars that can barely be called "get-away-cars). 

 The setting depicts an arena in Afghanistan similar to the historical, Greek Colloseum, in that like the Greek gladiators who were thrown to fight to the death, similarly Afghans were thrown into the arena and humiliated in front of their peers and society where they would later be tried and punished for crimes.

"Intuition" By Allegra Goodman

"Intuition" By Allegra Goodman

    When a science lab is up for investigation after, Cliff Bannaker, a scientist, is said to have adjusted data in his cancer research, Bannaker must go back into his data, checking his experiment and delve into his relationship with Robin, the very person who gave him up as a faulty scientist. Robin, a scientist in the same lab will be scrutinized for her judgement for questioning Bannaker's research and she will question herself  for she becoming a traitor to the entire lab.  The lab is a small and isolating workplace, where being in good relationships with your cohorts can be the difference between you getting promoted and your research making the public eye.
 I enjoyed the scientific research involved in this novel.  Rarely do we see the insides of a scientific lab and the unique characters involved.  Rarely do novelists explore the going-ons of a lab unless it involves forensic evidence.  Goodman does an excellent job in her exploration of the scientific world, and the common repetition of scientific experiments in this novel is not mundane, in fact it sheds light on a topic that bring more and more prominence in the  public with TV stars as scientists, in sitcoms like "The Big Bang Theory" and other notable movies.

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"The Girl with No Shadow:A Novel" By Joanne Harris

   

 "The Girl with No Shadow: A Novel" by Joanne Harris.  This novel had a slow opening but like all things French, I thought I would give it a chance. Harris continues the story of the mother :Viane Rocher (Rosh-ay), Teenage daughter Anouk, and youngest Rossette. This is a sequel to  Harris' previous novel "Chocolat". 

 The novel starts starts getting interesting with the introduction of the character of Zowsie, who comes to work in Viane Rocher's chocolate shop.  Zowsie is a mystical character with witch like features, and when the daughter, Anouk confides into Zowsie about her personal life, revealing all of the intimate details of school life, and bullies, Zowsie uses the details to wrap a string around Anouk and tells her she can use powers to fend off bullies all the while becoming a confident young woman. 

 Readers are introduced to the life of a typical teenager, seems boring, (but oh, not quiet)   Zowsie connects with this teenager and tells her that being a freak is okay, because Zowsie is a freak herself.  She shows Anouk exactly what freaks can do, she triggers a rude, French waitress to spill her lemonade all over her customer, with a simple snap of Zowsie's fingers. 

 I enjoyed the mother's french lullaby to her baby daughter " Layla boom boom, Layla boom boom"(If I find the actual name for this song, I'm going to keep it for myself). A reader can walk away from this novel with a quiet innocence of a story and the easy culmination of French wrapped up into a small lullaby.

 But Harris uses a little too many metaphors in her novel.  She used the wind as a metaphor , for, foreshadowing problems that happen to this family.  It seems overdone.  In fact, when Viane Rocher  mentions "the black man"  periodically throughout the novel, as the father of Viane's illegitimate children (even though the father is not black).  This has an undertone of prejudice.  Why couldn't Harris just called this man, "the Man of Wind?"  Like her over use of the metaphor.

""Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?" by Mindy Kaling

  

"Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling

 I began reading this memoir after Kaling's face started popping up everywhere.  First it was in "The Office", than I seen her in a magazine, which expressed that she was an writer for the sitcom  and not just an actress.  Than, a friend text me about whether I had seen the "Mindy Show"  and she described it to me briefly.  (I barely watch TV). Finally, I decided to listen to Kaling's memoir  which was very enjoyable. 

 Kaling talks about her upbringing in Massachusetts and briefly describes sentiments that she lives up to and how following the crowd is something she just didn't do as an adolescence.  The introduction to the memoir was a bit too self conscious, in comparing her memoir to Tina Fey's and how she felt that she didn't have much to say in comparison to the bigger stars.  But nonetheless, I found her memoir to be something she didn't have to apologize over.

 Kaling knows how to make something more funny than it really is, like she says "my apartment was the size of a handicap bathroom" .  Here she is describing her first apartment in New York. Kaling begins screen writing at a Barnes and Noble, in the Lincoln Center, in New York. 

 How many of us writers out there, can identify with a particular space where all of our writing really got started, and I mean realllllly.

 I enjoyed when Kaling says she began to look taller when she started having friends who were 5'10 or higher.  I am short myself, so I can connect with the idea of how having tall friends makes you forget about how short you really are.

 Her biggest comedian she'd like to be like when she is famous is Conan O'Brien whom she claims is always himself on his show.  

  

Paris, My Sweet: A Year in the City of Light (and Dark Chocolate) by Amy Thomas

   

 "Paris, My Sweet: A Year in the City of Light (and Dark Chocolate)" by Amy Thomas.  This is a great Paris memoir for those food lovers out there. Thomas, the author, is initially indecisive about whether she should take an opportunity to live in Paris and work at Louie Vuitton, a fashion corporation, or if she should stay in New York. When she takes the plunge and moves to France, Thomas will ponder which city is better, New York or Paris? 
She spends her time in Paris; looking at houses and eating at all the dessert shops.  She rides her bike to work, in hopes of keeping her Butt the same size as it was before.
Thomas is filled with smart quips about French culture, and she'll throw them in where she sees fit.  One that caught my attention, is when Thomas was observing a French woman who was quite attractive.  When the woman glances back at Thomas, she says that she rolled her eyes, Thomas notes that "the French don't smile at strangers, if they do, their retarded."

 I like how the author describes her indulgance in American sweets as a kid.  She said that she ate anything from Ho-Ho's to Kit Kat's to Twix to strawberry whips, to gummies, to licorice, etc.  But these treats, she says have nothing on the french desserts, she tasted. 

When she goes into a French bakery, she criss-crosses the menus in french,(with descriptions she can barely read) with what she saw in the showcases.  

 You'd think Americans were indecisive when they walked into a foreign Starbucks, just topple that with a chocolate shop containing many more options.  

 I liked when the writer describes the real sign of her becoming a Parisian, Whens someone stopped me in the street to ask for directions, (She responds in French), "I look like a Parisian?

I, myself, (the writer of the blog) had the same experience, when I went to France, and I felt overjoyed when someone mistakened me as a Frenchy.
Throughout Thomas' stay, she'll contemplate renewing her contract in France and at one point she makes a list of her favorite things in both US vs France, which include:

 America/France

Manolo's/Rapettos

oversize sunglasses/oversize scarfs

diner/cafe

downtown/left bank

Carie Bradshaw/Charlotte Gainsbourg

NY/Paris

 Thomas has a brief scare with a cyst attached to her ovary and she questions her direction in life, and whether she is wasting her time, and aging instead of raising a family, before she's too old.  When she sees a French specialist, she is surprised by the woman's dispositions and her matter of fact attitude, Thomas says "I should have known better, I had been living there, the french and their all business demeanor, their eye rolling, shoulder shrugging, their mmm attitudes".

 Here are just some of the Dessert shops that she says exists in NY and what their famous for:

 vanilla Carmel Venice Coffee cupcake at "Spot" bakery

butterscotch pudding with bread surbee at "Grammar C Tavern"

crack pie at "Mama Fukoo" bakery

Peanut butter cookies at "City Bakeries"

Chocolate Blackout donut at "Donut Planet"a restaurant

banana creme cheese cake at "Billies" restaurant 

 Thomas dines at a resturant in France, where Hemingway, Picasso, and Fitzgerald had dined, she says, "I was thinking that Hemingway or Picasso had been in the very seat where I was;just left of the bar."

Banker to the Poor:Microlending and the battle against world Poverty by Muhammad Yunus

 

Banker to the Poor:Micro lending and the battle against world Poverty by Muhammad Yunus

    When Mohamed Yunus, founder of Grameen bank has an epiphany: he follows his instincts by going into poor villages in Bangladesh, to help the locals get out of poverty. The program requires a group of five to operate. As required by Grameen, an interested borrower must first pass an exam and also enlist others by explaining the program to them. Once they form a group, a chairman and secretary are elected. Then, two of its members requests a loan, typically for $25 each. Grameen encourages these groups to deposit 5% of each loan in a group-fund that can later be loaned out to members interest-free. After six weeks of successful repayment two more members may request a loan.( Justin Belkin )
 Yunus' bank comprises of 95% of women lenders, as its Yunus' belief that he can some how make a difference to the women who otherwise have no chance to work, and have no chance to support their children with husbands who cannot support them, because they are either dead or have a habit that consumes a lot of their money.  

The most memorable part of the memoir had to been when a young woman makes bread baskets so that she can trade them in the market, and have enough money to buy a small bowl of rice for her children.  When Yunus is told the cost of how much money she uses to buy the supplies to make the baskets, he realizes that she will never be able to make a profit and therefore she will never have enough money to buy more than a measley cup of rice for her family.  This same women would eventually join Grameen bank against her husband's wishes and later be able to support her family on more than a cup of rice a day.    

Shark's Fin and Sichuan Pepper: A Sweet-Sour Memoir of Eating in China by Fuchsia Dunlop

Shark's Fin and Sichuan Pepper: A Sweet-Sour Memoir of Eating in China by Fuchsia Dunlop.
 This cooking memoir was memorable because readers are introduced to a European chef who packs her bags and moves to China. While there she will research the cooking styles of many chefs, but specifically the style of the sichuan.
Dunlop goes into many Chinese kitchens, inviting herself to the counter tops and tables of many restaurant to learn Chinese cooking and so that she'll have somewhere else to go besides her lonely apartment.  Why not?  she's in in a country with few friends and without a strong Chinese background.
I liked the books exotic foods like turtle soup and bird dishes.  Dunlop pays a Chinese one month's worth of salary for her delicious dinners and hire illegal bird hunters, so she can examine their methods of retrieving these birds and cooking them.  She'll expose the rich Chinese man's food fetishes and their extraordinary enjoyment for unique Chinese cuisine.
You'll bicycle yourself through the Chinese districts where even a European traveller can take notice to the drastic change of climate and architecture that exists in China, combined with how once desolate restaurants districts are changed into cities of multi growing high rise complexes which will later suit China's growing needs to house their population.
You'll laugh along with Dunlop, as she discusses that after a month in china, she is in need for a a friend,  and how her confidence grows after making a few Chinese welcoming friends who invite her to eat and and discuss food and calligraphy. 

Pastry Paris: Everything looks like a Desserts by Susan Hockbaum

 




Reading, Pastry Paris: In Paris, Everything looks like a Dessert, by Susan Hockbaum.

Even though I say I'm reading this marvelously illustrated book of nonfiction.  Its more like I'm devouring the pages.  Hockbaum takes the French desserts and makes them her own comparing desserts like the Religieuse, a paair of cream puffs sitting on top of one another to a a military complex: Les Jnvalides, that houses Napoleon's burial ground.She mentions the following desserts:

French pastries like dolled up eclairs ,gateau caramelmacaron a l'anciennetartframboisier

everest pistachio cakefeuille d automne passionato celiacupcake de vanillesupreme fraisemousse a la menthe

"On Writing:A Memoir of the Craft" by Stephen King

    "On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft" by Stephen King.  The  most memorable part of this memoir is when King describes his early beginnings as a writer.  King says that he began writing short stories about his teachers, at a young age, and these stories became popular in his school, and even got him into some trouble .  Later on he'd write for the school's newspaper.  (the global Dig)

 When King got his first break as a writer with  his novel "Carrie"  I was awestruck by his happiness , he drops the phone and is amazed at how writing this book would change his life.   King had been writing for a long time and it was hard work.  He wrote in between teaching jobs,  he wrote while making his family larger:getting married and having his first child. 

 He had written hundreds of query letters to publishers, with proof of those letters returning to him through rejection letters.  He posted  those rejections on his bedroom wall and counted them. 

 I liked the way King, epitomizes each rejection letter, and he counts each one as a small success.  The success comes in that he put effort in writing the letter in the first place.  

Finally, King talked about his drug addiction and how drugs put him toward the dark side:helping him to write characters like, the kidnapper character in Misery, the mind-possessing monsters in The Tommyknockers.

 The dark side would eventually eat away at King's lifestyle and his marriage, when a devastating accident happened to him on the road, King is forced to come clean from his drug habit and enjoy everyday events that change because they do not overlap with drug abuse.

"The Piano Teacher" by Janice Y.K. Lee

"The Piano Teacher" by Janice Y.K.Lee.The novel opens with a description of Hong Kong:dirty with people everywhere: businessmen from all parts of world, Indians, British and Philippinos, Pakistanis with Pakistani rug stores and lastly, the Chinese.

Lee describes the British and the Chinese their ability easily mingle with one another.  And how the fish mongers butcher their fish in an unsanitzed manner, how feculence can be smelled and found in the alley ways of the tallest, high rise buildings.

The plot engages readers in the tell tale story of young newly wed by the name of Clair and her exposure to a brand new culture in Hong Kong.  Clair, the piano teacher would come to teach Locket, a young Chinese girl how to play the piano.  Clair is initially baffled by the prospect that a Chinese, upper class, family in Hong Kong would be well known in the community.  She's surprised that the the family speaks immaculate English and at the parents interest in pushing their daughter, like an animal, to learn the piano.

When Clair asked the mother about whether Locket, the daughter, will be attending school in America, the Chinese mother simply retorts "I don't want to talk about Locket's education, I want to talk about yours." 

 When Clair becomes infatuated with the family's riches, she decides to take some for her own:stealing a trinket and scarf without being caught by anyone.  Unfortunately, the family servant gets fired for stealing the items instead.  Clair is once again baffled by the Chinese traits in the home, as the young pianist she teaches seems unruffled at the dispearance of the servant, exclaiming that her mother had always  taught her that "all servants steal".

This incident would stick with Clair, putting her on edge in the family's home. Clair would come to have an affair in the novel, masking her obvious unfamiliarity in China with a new sudden interest.

Lee's generalizations of Americans and their over confident zeal, in this novel ,is obvious.  But what is even more stunning is how Lee depicts the character of Clair.  How could Clair be so unconscious of up-and-coming Chinese super power?

"Dancing with Cuba" by Alma Guillermoprieto

    

"Dancing with Cuba" by Alma Guillermoprieto. Alma's story is extraordinary. 

Alma left New York to take a teaching job at Cuba’s National School of Dance. For months, she'd work in a run down studio with students who had very little interest in dance, much less Cuban dance.

She would spend her time there eating rice and beans with government issued rations.   She's stand in line with hundreds of people to be served.  She'd plea with the government; insisting that her dancers needed to eat more due to their extreme work out schedule and insisted that eating food with corn syrup was just not healthy.

 She'd get sent to pick sugar cane along with other Cubans in an involuntary draft for Cuba's Ten Million Ton Sugar Harvest . That year, Cuba conceived a plan late in 1963 that aspired to break all historic sugar production records.http://faculty.mdc.edu/tpedraza/MMF-Ten%20Million%20Ton%20Harvest.htm.

Throughout her teaching debut in Cuba Alma would come across many challenges.  One of them being, learning the specific dance moves that she'd be forced to teach.  She would write out all of her dance moves on flash cards and organize those cards on the floor repeating the moves until she got them.