Rebellin

Catching up on book reviews here, as I’ve dropped behind.

The Nanny Diaries by Emma Mclaughlin – This was one of those cheap thrills chick lit reads, which I got through very quickly, and the best thing I got out of this book was that it made me feel better about myself as a working mother.  It was fascinating to read about the rich women in NYC that don’t work, but hire full time nannies so that they can go to the country club, spa, shopping and plan excessive parties.  I also learned a discipline trick that works like a charm on Little Miss.  It was referenced as something like “Good Witch/Bad Witch”.  The idea is that when a child is being good, you talk to them like Glenda the Good Witch — high pitched and super sugary.  When they do something wrong, you turn into the Wicked Witch of the West, using a low, imposing voice.  As soon as the child corrects the behavior, you snap back into being Glenda the Good Witch.  Works like a charm with a toddler — go ahead, try it.

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert — I read this one while on our Mexican cruise, and it was highly enjoyable.  After divorcing her husband in her early thirties, the author goes on a year long trip of recovery in three stops: Rome, for pleasure (mostly gluttonous, with a special emphasis on gelato); an ashram outside of Mumbai, for spiritual searching; and Bali, for “balancing.”  I enjoyed the part about Italy the most, as it brought back lovely memories from our honeymoon.  It was interesting to read about her spiritual journey, but what this book did for me was make me feel remarkably normal.  While reading about her having a panic attack on the floor of her bathroom when she realizes that she married the wrong man and doesn’t want children, I felt a calm, as I’ve had similar strong feelings telling me that I married the right man and that I was meant to be a mother (and those feelings didn’t require a panic attack).  It made me slightly more interested in meditation, but not enough so to actually meditate myself.  Anyway, I highly recommend this book.

Why Moms are Weird by Pamela Ribon – This is another chick lit light read, but I devoured it in less than a week.  Pamela Ribon is a writer for the new show Samantha Who?, and I’ve been reading her blog, Pamie.com, for a while.  I also read her first book, Why Girls are Weird when it first came out (a fun read about how a girl’s blog lets her create a sort of alternate reality).  Anyhow, this book wasn’t at all what I expected (kind of thought it would be from a Mom’s point of view), but it was a light hearted read with good bits of humor.  And I’m proud to report to Pamela that the writer’s strike has driven me away from the TV and back into books (on her blog, she said the best way to support the writers was to not watch the reality shows currently filling the space for the shows currently off air due to the strike).

I’ve managed to take a lot of time recently to read, and wanted to share with you my thoughts on the three books I’ve finished recently.

1.  Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez.  This book was billed by Oprah as the “greatest love story ever”.  I’m a sucker for a good love story, so I bought the book, and was disappointed to find it was really more of a story of a rather disturbing man who remains obsessed with a woman for over 50 years, and deals with his obsession by having sex with countless women and even a child.  I found it more creepy than romantic, and I had to fight my way through the book more than I would like. 

2.  A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Housseini.  I received this book from my Mom for my birthday, and have to say it was a truly splendid read.  I was sucked in right away, and learned a lot about Afghanistan and the Taliban.  I found it fascinating to read from the perspective of a woman in such a male dominated and oppressive culture.  I gasped out loud when a c-section was performed on a woman without any anaesthesia because the Taliban had confiscated all drugs and medical supplies from the women’s hospital.  I also enjoyed that the story took place in recent times, and it was interesting to compare what my life was like growing up in comparison to the two main female characters in the same time.  The scenes about how the daughter of Laila was treated had me in tears.  I highly recommend this book.  It really opened my eyes to the plight of women in Afghanistan.

3.  The Kite Runner by Khaled Housseini.  This was yet another book given to me by my Mom.  I had tried to start it several times before, but really had difficulty getting sucked into the story initially.  However, after I enjoyed A Thousand Splendid Suns so much, I decided to give it one last shot.  This last time, the story sucked me in immediately, and gave me yet another vantage point on Afghan culture — that of a young boy and an Afghan man who moved to America.  It is another heart breaking tale that ripped my eyes open to what the Taliban has done in Afghanistan and what has happened in recent history there.  I am haunted by some of the characters and what happened to them.  Another highly recommended read!

For the past few months, I have been spending my evenings reading Harry Potter.  Before the last book came out, I got out book 6 and read it again so that I’d be brought back up to speed before reading the last book.

I can’t tell you how much I’ve enjoyed this entire series.  Every once in a while a book just sucks you in and consumes you.  I look forward to reading every night, and go to sleep dreaming about the plot.

I’m in the midst of the grand finale fight scene right now, and it is just riveting.  I stayed up way too late last night pushing my way through.

But I’m also kind of dreading the end of the book, as I have enjoyed all of the Harry Potter books so much over the past five years.  I have two weeks of business travel coming up, and I’ll have loads of time to do some more reading.  But what can follow on the heels of Harry Potter?!

So I ask you, my friends…  What is the best book you’ve ever read?  I’m looking for suggestions for another book that will just suck me in and totally enthrall me.

While I was on my business trip, I read Knocked Up: Confessions of a Hip Mother-to-be by Rebecca Eckler. I know, I know… I have been tending to read books that parallel what is going on with my life. Last year it was books on engagement. This year, well, I started with Knocked Up.

It was a great book, and I highly recommend it to anyone that has been pregnant, is pregnant, or wants to get pregnant. I found it very entertaining, and it made me feel like I’ve been a saint, as I read about how she drank, smoked, ate sushi and took a ton of Advil while she was pregnant. Ha! I haven’t done any of those things!

Rating: Five stars out of Five. It’s a quick, fun read and a totally guilty pleasure.

I just finished listening to the audio version of Confessions of a Sociopathic Social Climber: The Katya Livingston Chronicles by Adele Lang.

It was horrible. In fact, I’m pretty amazed at myself that I was able to listen to the entire book. It centered around a woman that was just plain self centered, alcoholic, and evil to the core. There really wasn’t much of a plot… The book just followed her along as she treated her friends and co-workers like *you know what*.

This book was part of the Kelly Rippa Book Club, which is basically a cheap knock off of the ever successful Oprah’s Book Club, in which I actively participate. I had never read a “Rippa Read”, and let me tell you, I lost a lot of respect for Kelly Rippa after listening to this book. The fact that she would put her smiling face on the cover of this book as an endorsement really tells me how much she should not be in the book recommendation business.

So, out of a ratings scale of four stars, I give this book zero stars. A big fat goose egg. Don’t waste your time. Don’t bother straying from Oprah’s Book Club.

I just finished reading The Good Wife by Stewart O’Nan. It was a pretty good book. Basically, it’s about a woman who is pregnant when her husband murders an old lady during a burglury attempt, and is convicted to 20 years to life for the crime.

The faithfulness of the main character, the Good Wife, is astounding. She scrapes by on welfare and menial jobs as a single mother, meanwhile driving hours on the weekend to go visit with her husband. She lives anticipating conjugal visits, and stays faithful, never once cheating on her husband, until he is released 25 years later. The story has a happy ending, but I shut the book and wondered what I would have done in her shoes.

The marriage vows are ‘for better and for worse’, but I’m not sure if I would stay with a husband that did something so horrible — something that effected me in such a drastic way for most of my adult life. I guess it’s easy for me to sit here and judge her, because not in my wildest imagination could I imagine my own husband doing anything to land himself in prison for that long, or for any period of time.

Throughout the book, her husband kept encouraging her to divorce him and move on with her life, but she refused. And in the end, the reader is led to believe that it was worth the wait for her.

I guess it was a bit troubling for me, but it did provide for an interesting read. The author did a lot of research on what it is like for families of prisoners in maximum security prisons, as well as the trial and appeal process.

So, overall, I guess I’d give this book two and a half out of four stars. It definitely didn’t wow me, but it did grab me enough to finish it in a relatively short period of time.

Last night, I got two pages into my new Harry Potter book. I’m going to have to really pick up the pace if I intend to finish it this year!

I have finished a few books lately (thanks to some recent travels), and thought I’d give you the down low on them.

The Virgin Blue by Tracy Chevalier:

I really enjoyed this book, which chronicles the life of two women, living centuries apart in France. I’m a sucker for books that use French, as it gives me a chance to brush up on my ailing French skills. The story line, although a bit complex, was very interesting, and offered a bit of historical fiction. I definitely recommend this book. My rating: **** four stars out of five

We Are All Fine Here by Mary Guterson:

This book was about a woman that had been married for 15 years, and then has a one night fling with her ex-boyfriend and winds up pregnant. Problem is that she isn’t sure if her husband or her ex-boyfriend is the father. It makes for an entertaining read that made me feel remarkably sane. My rating: *** three stars out of five

I am currently reading The Good Wife by Stewart O’Nan. It is about a young woman who is pregnant when her husband commits murder and burglary and is convicted for 25 years to life. I have been amazed at the loyalty this woman has shown to her husband, who managed to screw up their entire lives in one drunken escapade. So far, it’s a really good read. I’ll let you know when I’m done!

Up next: What else? Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince! I purchased my copy this weekend, and it is waiting for me on my bed stand.

I was sobbing on the drive home from work yesterday. I couldn’t contain myself. I was finishing listening to the audio book of In the Presence of My Enemies by Gracia Burnham.

It was an amazing book. It was a true story about a married couple that was held hostage in the jungles of the Phillipines for over a year. Gracia’s account of the day to day living as a hostage, beheadings of other hostages, and how their faith remained strong was truly an inspiration.

Gracia’s husband died during the ordeal. I won’t give details just in case you want to read the book. But it was at the point where her husband, Martin, died that I completely lost it.

I really need to stop reading books about women losing their husbands.

But anyway, just imagining losing JB in that manner just tore me apart. Gracia then went on to describe her husband’s funeral and the reunion with her family, and although it was beautiful and I admire her strength, I couldn’t help but cry for her.

When I got home, JB said, ‘You look sun burned’, as my face was all red.

‘No, I’ve been crying.’ I then explained about the book, and hugged him, telling him how much I love him and that I never want to lose him. I also made him promise to let me die first, because I don’t even want to think about losing him.

Of course, he hugged me and soothed me, but also poked fun at how upset I was over a book.

Let me tell you, it wasn’t just any book. Go read it yourself and you’ll see what I’m talking about.

While on our trip, I finished reading Pushing 30 by Whitney Gaskell. I seem to have stumbled upon a new genre of fiction books about my life stage…. Last year I was all about books about people getting engaged or married, and this year I’m reading Pushing 30.

I’m so not happy to be personally pushing 30.

The book was entertaining, but it wasn’t excellent. I find it hard to believe that a 29 year old will shack up with a 52 year old, but other than that it was a fun read.

So, if you’re pushing 30 yourself, perhaps you’d enjoy this book!

I just finished listening to the audio book version of Tom Brokaw’s The Greatest Generation. It is a book with real stories about people that came of age during the Great Depression and WWII.

I picked up this audio book because I’ve been thinking a lot about my grandmother lately, who was admitted to hospice a few weeks ago. She is part of ‘The Greatest Generation’, and I thought it would be a good way to learn more about what her life was like during the depression and the second world war.

I remember asking my grandmother what it was like living through the Depression. I was expecting some really vivid description, but all she said was, ‘It was depressing’. Which, I guess sums it up, but I did enjoy Tom Brokaw’s stories, as it brought that time period to life a bit more for me.

Tom Brokaw describes that generation as being hard working, filled with honor and pride for their country, humility, and a strong respect for marriage and the marriage vows. The book is filled with descriptions of battles, reunions with loved ones, and death. One description that stands out in my mind is one soldier’s first hand description of seeing Hiroshima shortly after it was bombed.

I highly recommend this book. I felt like it was a refresher course in US History… A subject that didn’t interest me at all when I was in high school, but one that fascinates me now. I like learning about what it was like when my grandparents were young.

I just finished listening to a few audio books that I thought I’d review for all of you:

Skipping Christmas by John Grisham — A book about an empty nester couple that chooses to go on a cruise instead of celebrating Christmas. The book was mildly entertaining, but I think would be more enjoyable for someone who actually is an empty nester (unlike myself, who is still building the nest!) I’d give this 3 stars out of 5.

We Were the Mulvaneys by Joyce Carol Oates — Yet another Oprah’s Book Club selection, this one didn’t really appeal to me as much as Oprah’s books usually do. I was maddingly upset with the father of the main character, who disowned his daughter after she was raped. It was interesting, but I’d only give it 2.5 stars out of 5.

Currently reading: Tara Road by Maeve Binchy — I’m about half way through this very long book, and so far, it has been wonderful. Now this is an Oprah’s Book Club selection that has not let me down!

I finished listening to the audio book of The Pilot’s Wife by Anita Shreve.

Wow.

It was truly an amazing book. There were almost poetic descriptions and heart wrenching discoveries. The whole premise of the book is exploring how well you can truly know another human being. Basically, the main character’s husband dies in a plane crash, and only then does his wife start to learn about the double life that he had been leading.

The wife had trusted her husband unfailingly for 15 years of marriage, only to learn that their entire marriage was based on deception.

It’s a tough concept for me – as a newlywed – to grasp. I can’t imagine JB being deceitful or having an affair. But I guess that’s the author’s whole point… I think I know him, but do I really? The main character in the book thought she knew her husband, but then discovered that there was a whole other side to him that she had never known.

In a previous relationship, I had trusted in The Man Now Known as The Ex, and even though I thought that he would never lie to me or do me wrong, he did so in a big way. Luckily, he was just a boyfriend. I shudder to think of that actually happening in a marriage.

Anyway, it was an excellent book. And no, I do not doubt for one second that JB is worthy of my unquestioning trust. I’m just saying it’s an interesting concept to ponder.

I also just finished the audio book of The Good Body by Eve Ensler. I had heard an interview with the author on NPR back in November, and wrote my reactions to that here on this site.

Actually, I think the interview with her on NPR was better than the book. The book was merely OK. The audio book was actually read by the author herself, and she was very dramatic — so much so that it detracted from the book for me. I think I would have gotten more out of it if I would have read the actual book instead of listening to it.

The Good Body focuses on Eve’s obessive hate for her stomach, which I can completely relate to. She then interviews women from around the world, asking them, “Do you love your body?”

The interviews are interesting, and I couldn’t help but be envious of the woman in India that says she loves her stomach and its softness and its roundness, and that her husband said that her body is like a continent he has claimed, and if she lost weight, he wouldn’t know that continent and its contours anymore.

But I don’t ever see myself getting to that point. I have outright hated my stomach as far back as I can remember. And in the past 10 or so years, that has extended to my body. I can’t help it. All the dieting and working out just don’t seem to make a difference. Yes, I’m glad that I’m healthy, but I can’t help looking at other women with envy, and wondering why being slender can come so easily to some people, while it is so difficult for others.

Case in point: For the past two weeks, I have been eating extremely healthy and exercising every day. In fact, Monday and Tuesday of this week, I worked out twice each day while maintaining about a 1200 calorie diet. The result?! I gained a pound. Now don’t lecture me on how muscle weighs more than fat. The fat is not going away. That is my problem.

I still intend on working out twice a day at least for the next month, which is exhausting, but in the past, that is what it has taken for me to break through a plateau. Meanwhile, JB thinks I’m a bit loopy… Which, I guess is understandable, since the man can consume 4000 calories a day and not have to worry about gaining a single ounce.

I started checking out audio books from the library to keep me entertained on my long commute to and from work. I just finished listening to Stolen Lives: Twenty Years in a Desert Jail by Malika Oufkir.

This is a true story about a family that is imprisoned for 20 years because of the actions of their father. It’s amazing to think that they went through this ordeal in modern times. I felt especially bad for the three year old boy that was imprisoned until he was 23. He had absolutely no semblance of a normal childhood.

I would definitely recommend this book if you’re looking for some good non-fiction.

On my ride home today, I’ll start listening to The Pilot’s Wife by Anita Shreve.

I spent my sick day on Friday reading the entire book of Boy Meets Girl by Meggin Cabot. It was a really cute and fun read. The book is entirely composed of e-mails, voice mails, journal entries and instant messages, which gave me the feeling of reading someone else’s e-mail (and was a very guilty pleasure).

I highly recommend this book!

I am such a geek. I just pre-ordered a copy of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, which isn’t even set to release until July. However, Borders is offering a 40% discount if you pre-order the book.

Only 7 months to wait!

I am reading a great book right now. It’s called The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck.

After reading about three pages, I realized that I had already read this book in my high school honors English class. I remember that I really enjoyed the book back then. In fact, I have occassionally thought of the characters and the story, but could not for the life of me remember the name of the book.

And then, it just dropped in my lap, as my Mom handed it to me after she had read it. I was thrilled to be reunited with such a classic.

I don’t want to give away too much of the plot, but a few things have struck me about this book, which is set in old world China:

• Women back then were property. Wives are purchased, daughters are sold.
• The leading woman character in the book worked in the fields up until the final day of her pregnancy, when she would calmly put down her hoe, go into a room all by herself, and give birth. The next day, she’d be back out in the fields and would also make dinner that night. Damn.
• It gives you an intimate view of true poverty, with the family’s children starving and subsisting off of water mixed with soil. It made me appreciate how truly easy us Americans have it, and how comfortable our lives are.

I’m only about half way through the book, but look forward to completing it over Thanksgiving break. If you’re looking for a good read, this is it!

TGITurkeyWeek!

I confess that I have read every Harry Potter book published, and I am one of the masses that has ordered the next installment on Amazon.com. It is scheduled for delivery next week.

I was first turned on to Harry Potter by a DVD copy of the first book that was given to [The Man Now Known as The Ex] as a gift. I listened to the entire book during my commute late last summer, and after I was finished, I headed straight to the library for the second book. Then, two weeks later, I was back for the third, and I had a continuous stream of Harry Potter books until I walked up to the librarian and said “I just finished reading Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire — I’d like to check out the next book.”

The librarian kind of chuckled, and said “Wouldn’t everyone.” That’s when I discovered that it wasn’t even published yet.

So I now await delivery of the 900+ page Order of Phoenix, and am completely unashamed of being all wrapped up in childrens’ books. J.K. Rowling is an amazing author, and I could only dream of writing like her one day.

In the mean time, I have this to tide me over.