Thursday - March 27, 2008
5 more titles
Empress, by Shan Sa, Don't
Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight, by Alexandra Fuller, The House of
the Spirits, by Isabel Allende, I'm America and So Can You,
by Stephen Colbert, and Take Big Bites, by Linda
Ellerbee.
So it's been a long time, and I've been mostly
too busy to read much more than that paragraph as I fall asleep at night... but
in my desperate attempt to track it all, I think these are it, so here
goes:
Empress, by Shan Sa - Many thanks to Shan Sa for writing this book! What a fantastic story and so well written - I do remember this one keeping me turning the pages late at night. She opened a new world for me - the intricate interpersonal and political world of China as seen through the life of one astounding woman, the Empress Wu Zetian (625-705).
on to another continent:
Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight, by Alexandra Fuller - Now here's a gritty reality story, a child's eye introduction to dysfunctional families and societies in Africa and the struggle for survival and maybe a little bit more... justice, truth, or at least a good laugh.
yet a 3rd continent:
The House of the Spirits, by Isabel Allende - This was a smoother, softer story, though no less violent - it's a richly woven tapestry saga of Chilean family struggling to adapt through turbulent, rapidly changing times. Allende sucks you in with finest detail, slams you with unsurpassed beauty and unbearable brutality, and somehow leaves you with hope... I like that in a book.
okay, back to America:
I'm America and So Can You, by Stephen Colbert - What can I say. It's a silly book by a silly character. Not without insight or humor, but it is what it is: pop rocks for your brain.
oh heck, give me the whole freakin world:
Take Big Bites, by Linda Ellerbee - Well, it's official: I'm a middle aged woman. How do I know? Because I found myself nodding and laughing and enjoying this book. When I wasn't wondering why my mother-in-law underlined the parts she did... I'm too anal to read a book after someone else has marked in it. But that woman really travelled, and much of it alone, and she wasn't afraid to eat off street carts. And she included plenty of recipes. Food and adventure. Okay, maybe life is worth living a little while longer. (BTW, if I ever disappear - read Chapter 19 and you'll know where I am. But don't bother trying to find me.)
