Finished 10-12-10, rating 4.5/5, fiction, pub. 1989

The novel starts after the death of Sunyan Woo when her daughter Jing-Mei is asked to take her place at the mahjong table.  And so begins the stories of four Chinese mothers and their American daughters.  Jing-Mei finds out that before leaving China her mother abandoned two daughters and now Jong-Mei’s sisters have been found.  Waverly Jong has a daughter, but not much respect for her mother or her heritage.  Lena St. Clair is in an unhappy marriage and her mother considers herself a ghost.  Rose Hsu Jordan is getting divorced much to the consternation of her mother.

The most interesting parts of this book are the stories of the mothers and their youth in China.  I loved learning about the culture and history and how their lives changed when they moved to San Francisco.  They all seemed to have real issues with the American way of life and values and lamented how it affected their children.  It was fascinating.

As much as I loved the stories of the women there were too many to invest in completely.  There was not a resolution for every  story and that’s okay, but I would have liked one.  This didn’t really detract from the beauty of the book, but it is worth mentioning. 

I didn’t expect to love it, but I did.  It wasn’t what I expected, it was so much better.   It was fun escaping into another culture for a few hours. I will definitely be checking out more books by Amy Tan. 

This is from my personal library and was chosen by Hannah, Golda, Margot, Jackie, Staci, Jenners, Mystica, and Mom.  Here’s what they had to say…

“A modern classic, I think. Really well done.”  Jenners

“Fantastic book by a wonderful author. You’ll remember this one well after you’ve read it!”  Staci

“Because it’s an engaging tale of immigrants and generations, but also because this is one of those books that will be (or already is) a part of our collective consciousness.”  Hannah

Finished 10-6-10, rating 4.5/5, fiction, pub. 2001

“You called me fat in a magazine.  You turned me into a joke.  You don’t think you did anything wrong?”

“Face it Cannie,” he said.  “You are fat.”  He bent his head.  “But that doesn’t mean I didn’t love you.”

The box of tampons bounced off his forehead and spilled into the parking lot.

Chapter 1

Cannie has a good job as a reporter, close friends, a dog she loves, but she is unhappy with the extra weight she carries.  To make matters worse her ex-boyfriend of five years has just written an article in a national magazine titled “Loving a Larger Woman.”  Although she was the one to initiate the break-up she’s not sure she did the right thing and she makes some questionable decisions.

Cannie is a great character, full of humor, intelligence, laughter, and wit. It is light at first, but also addresses serious family issues with both of her parents that I found very real.  And the fact that the reality wasn’t all tied up with a pretty bow at the end made it great for me.  It managed to maintain the fun while still showing that not all things in the real world can be solved the way we want.  It is chick lit at its best, but moves beyond that to a heartfelt story about starting to love yourself.

This was a great debut novel and I’m not sure what took me so long to read it.  Oh wait, it’s the hundreds of other books I own.  Anyway, I’m happy to discover a new author who I look forward to reading.  My only complaint comes from the fact that I’m pregnant.  The pregnancy storyline was a little flat for me only because it felt like Weiner just took things from a pregnancy book and threw them in.  I’m sure that if you are not pregnant this would not bother you, but since I’ve had over eight months of living it it just didn’t ring true for me.  Still loved the book!

This is from my personal library and was chosen by Shanyn, Debbie, Em, and Mom.

“Hilarious, love her.”  Em

“I became an instant fan after I read this one.”  Debbie

“I love that book.”  Shanyn

Finished 9-28-10, rating 4.5/5, fiction, pub. 2005

The floorboards creaked under my weight.  There were books everywhere.  There were pens, and a blue glass vase, an ashtray from the Dolder Grand in Zurich, the rusted arrow of a weather vane, a little brass hourglass, sand dollars on the windowsill, a pair of binoculars, an empty wine bottle that served as a candle holder, wax melted down the neck.  I touched this thing and that.  At the end, all that’s left of you are your possessions, Perhaps that’s why I’ve never been able to throw anything away.  Perhaps that’s why I hoarded the world: with the hope that when I died, the sum total of my things would suggest a life larger than the one I lived.

“Die Laughing” chapter

Leo Gursky, a man who escaped the Nazis in Poland before following the love of his life to New York City, is staring a lonely death in the face.  He has one friend, he makes a scene when in public so that people will remember him, and he is willing to embarrass himself just to be seen.  He is alone, the love of his life is dead and his son doesn’t know he exists.  Leo is full of wit and wisdom and sadness.  I just wanted to give him a hug.

Alma Singer is a girl who wants to know who her namesake is.  Her dead father had given her mother a book, The History of Love, and the woman in it, Alma, represented all women.  Young Alma’s search for the author provides the catalyst and the mystery for this original novel. 

The language is beautiful and the story bittersweet.  It is both funny and confusing, touching and depressing.  It came close to being perfect for me and I loved it.  It is very difficult to describe, but pick it up and take a look.  It may be just the unique voice you are looking for.

This is from my personal library and chosen by Vasilly, Heather, Mille, Alita, and Wendy.  Here’s what they had to say…

“Best book ever. Really. Please, please tell me this came from your Holiday Book Blogger Santa? I might cry otherwise.”  Mille (my very sweet Secret Santa :))

“You want to dig deeper into the book as you read.”  Vasilly

Finished 9-17-10, rating 3.5/5, fiction, pub. 1991

Was she crazy? Had she just escaped from an asylum? From jail? Was she on the run? She laughed at her own histrionics.  If she hadn’t been crazy before all this started she certainly would be by the time it was over.  Would it ever be over?

Chapter 1

Jane is aimlessly walking around Boston, not knowing who she is or why she’s there.  She has blood on her dress and $10,000 in her coat pocket, so she checks into a hotel to get her bearings.  After a few days she realizes her memory is not coming back so she turns herself over to police, who in turn send her to the hospital.  She is told that she had temporary amnesia and in a stroke of luck is recognized by one of the nurses.  Jane’s husband, Michael is a pediatric surgeon at another hospital.  The two are reunited, but Jane is still lost and confused.

The premise is a terrifying one.  All of the sudden to be in a big city, not know who you are and to realize no one is looking for you would be quite a shock to the system.  Jane was an interesting character.  Since she didn’t know who she was I wasn’t sure who she was either.  I grew frustrated at her docile ambivalence to her situation at home, especially when she was repeatedly told how feisty she really was.  Who was the real Jane?

It’s a page turner, but my frustration with Jane and the too long chapters on her contemplating her unknown life kept it from being excellent.  I kept wanting it to read faster.  But once things started happening halfway through the pace and story picked up.  The end was great and I did enjoy it.

This is from my personal library and chosen by Kristie, GMR, and Debby.  Here’s what they had to say…

“One of my all time favorite books.”  Debby

“This was one of the first fiction novels I read as I was growing up (aside from kids fiction and such)…didn’t actually realize the author until a few weeks ago when I read a review on the title. Definitely a fast paced thriller…”  GMR

“I just finished reading this one Saturday and enjoyed it. You can see a review on my blog!”  Kristie

Finished 9-10-10, rating 3.5/5, fiction, pub. 1997

Bode rapped his knuckles on the dinette.  “Here’s my prediction: The shitweasel holding the other Lotto ticket, he’s either a Negro, Jew or Cuban type.”

“Go on!”

“That’s how they do it, Chub.  To fuck over decent Americans such as you and me.  You think they’re gonna let two white boys take the whole jackpot?  Not these days, no way!”  Bode’s nose angled back toward the newspaper.  “Where’s Grange?  Over near Tampa?”

Chub was stunned at his friend’s theory.  He didn’t understand how the lottery could be rigged.  If it was, how had he and Bode managed to win even half?

Chapter 2

 Bode and Chub have just won the Florida lottery and hope to get their racist militia, White Clarion Aryans, started.  When they find out there was another winning ticket and they would have to split the $28 million they decide to find the ticket and steal it so they could have all of the winnings to themselves.  JoLayne Lucks is a single woman who plans to use her $14 million to rescue swampland from commercial development.  When she is attacked by Bode and Chub all hell breaks loose.

The premise is fun as is the wackiness of Hiaasen’s writing.  No one gets a pass in this one.  The horrible and awful Bode & Chub would have been more funny only if you didn’t realize that there were plenty of idiots like them out there.  And the religious zealots and the people who take advantage of them provide plenty of zaniness.  The two heroes of the novel are JoLayne and reporter Tom Krome provide the common sense and the common good of the novel. 

I liked this one, but my distaste for Bode and Chub probably stopped me from liking it more.  I thought the end was maybe a bit too easy for me, but not really bad.  With such a crazy cast of characters I was expecting more of a crazy ending.  But, Hiaasen always pushes the envelope and is always funny, so you really can’t go wrong with his books.

This is from my personal library and chosen by Kristie, Jessica, Sharon, Sue, and Jason.  Here’s what they had to say…

“I’ve read all of Hiaasan’s books and love the humor in them.”  Sharon

“Love his books!”  Kristie