Shanghai Girls by Lisa See

I enjoy books set in China and Japan. Not entirely sure why - perhaps because they're so different and exotic to me. I read Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club when I was 12 or 13 and just devoured it in a few days. I then read everything else I could find by her. I read Memoirs of a Geisha by Arnold Golden several years ago, and then proceeded to read everything I could find about geishas. I tend to get involved in these kinds of books as a phase of sorts. This book has been no different.

Honestly, I was attracted to the pretty cover of this book. It was propped up on the New Releases bookshelf, and I picked it up to look at it. I'd never read a book by Lisa See before I happened to pick this one up at the library. I've since picked up two more of her books at the library. I immensely enjoyed this book, though it is quite different from her previous novels, so if you're already a Lisa See fan, be prepared for a serious change in time period.

The book begins in Shanghai, shortly before WWII, and takes the reader on a journey through parts of China all the way to the U.S. during wartime and afterward. It's an incredible story. It was compelling, and gripping, and I certainly was anxious to finish it to find out what happened. Admittedly, there was a lot going on - lots of historical facts and a lot of plot points to keep straight - but I really enjoyed this book. I couldn't wait to read it every night. I definitely give it two enthusiastic thumbs up.

Now, I'm reading Snow Flower and the Secret Fan and then I'm reading Peony in Love, I think. I'll probably even look for Lisa See's nonfiction work, On Gold Mountain: The One-Hundred-Year Odyssey of My Chinese-American Family, at the library, too, as I'm sure it's also quite interesting.

What's on My Nightstand: January

It's been a busy reading month this month, thanks to lots of good finds at the library. But the best thing I read all month, by far, was "The Help," which I re-read for my book club's meeting next month. I swear, that's the one book I tell people about these days, when people ask me for a book recommendation. It's such an amazing book. If you haven't read it, go to Amazon right now (because it's ridiculously cheap there for a hardback at $9.50), and buy it. You will thank me, I swear.

What I finished off this month:

1. Plan B: A Novel by Jonathan Tropper

2. Juliet, Naked: a novel by Nick Hornby

3. Twenties Girl: A Novel by Sophie Kinsella

4. Mrs. Astor Regrets by Meryl Gordon

5. Food Network Favorites: Recipes from Our All-Star Chefs

6. Gourmet Today cookbook

7. Top Secret Restaurant Recipes: Creating Kitchen Clones from America's Favorite Restaurant Chains

8. Rachael Ray's Big Orange Book cookbook

9. The Help by Kathryn Stockett (again - a re-read for next month's Book Club meeting)

What I plan to read next month:

1. Shanghai Girls: A Novel by Lisa See

2. How to Talk to a Widower: A Novel by Jonathan Tropper

3. Roses by Leila Meacham

4. The Piano Teacher: A Novel by Janice Y.K. Lee

Plan B by Jonathan Tropper

I've been reading a lot of Jonathan Tropper lately. I'll admit it. I really enjoyed This is Where I Leave You so much that I've purchased his entire bibliography of works. I have not yet enjoyed one of them as much as This is Where I Leave You, however they all have been enjoyable in their own way, just not as amazingly perfect as that one book.

This was a perfect book for me to read, here at the start of my 29th year, the last year of my twenties. Plan B is the tale of four friends from college who are all now 29 or recently 30 and coming to grips with not being the person they thought they would be at 30. It caused me to ask myself a lot of questions -like who did I want to be when I was 30? Am I happy with the person I am here, on the verge of 30? I'm still pondering a lot of these questions.

As usual, the characters were very real and their dialogue was extremely well-written. I have a hard time understanding why no one has purchased this book to turn into a movie, it would make a good one, especially given some of the subject matter in the book - though I won't give it away.

I will definitely recommend this book, although I wouldn't call it a 5 Star book. It was definitely a good read. Next, I'm re-reading The Help by Kathryn Stockett for my book club, which I'm very much looking forward to.

What's on My Nighstand: December

This was a good month for reading - I just started another Jonathan Tropper book, he's my favorite author at the moment. After this one, there will only be two more of his that I haven't read, so that's a little sad, but I'll survive. I happened to read "The Firm" this month, I'm sure I'm one of the last well-read people on the planet to read the darn thing. I enjoyed it, and it reminded me that on occasion, John Grisham can write a good book. I've been disappointed by a lot of his later works, but I've heard his newest, a collection of short stories, is quite good. I'll have to try to find that one at the library.

I didn't particularly enjoy "Dear John" - saw the trailer for the movie with a friend of mine when we saw "New Moon" last month, and thought I ought to read the book. It was okay, but it wasn't something I'd necessarily recommend reading.

I enjoyed "Push" but in a way that's kind of indescribable. I will never read it again, because it was a difficult read, due to all of the violence and abuse in the book, but at the same time, I'm glad I read it in a way because the growth of the main character was just astounding given her circumstances. I also went to see the movie with my best friend, and we bought cried our eyes out, it's one of the better fiction-to-film adaptations that I've seen in a while.

What I polished off this month:

1. The Book of Joe by Jonathan Tropper

2. Dear John by Nicholas Sparks

3. Push by Sapphire

4. The Firm by John Grisham

5. The Steamy Kitchen Cookbook: 101 Asian Recipes Simple Enough for Tonight's Dinner by Jaden Hair

What I want to read next month (and this is all subject to change if Santa saw fit to bring me any books for Christmas!):

1. Plan B by Jonathan Tropper

2. 1-2-3 Magic: Effective Discipline for Children 2-12 - I started this recently and just haven't finished it, though I need to, as Baby's hitting the terrible two's early with a vengeance.

3. My Life in France by Julia Child

4. Juliet, Naked by Nick Hornby

The Book of Joe by Jonathan Tropper

It's no secret that I'm a fan of Jonathan Tropper. I happened upon a review of his This is Where I Leave You and suspected I would enjoy it. I did more than enjoy it, I loved it, and promptly began searching for the rest of his works. I think I have all but one at this point. The Book of Joe
was the next one that peaked my interest.

The premise of the book is that Joe, the protagonist, had some truly rough teenage years that he fictionalized in a book that not only hit the bestseller lists but also was made into a feature film. He is estranged from his family, and hasn't found a reason to head back to the hometown that he fictionalized, and subsequently infuriated in the process, until now. His return home is nothing short of notable. Between run-ins with past friends and acquaintances as well as his family members, the book takes you from hilarious to heartbreaking sometimes within a single paragraph.

While I suspected I would enjoy this book, I had no idea how much. This is definitely a good book, I would highly recommend it, especially to anyone who has a dysfunctional family or feels like the black sheep in the family.

Don't forget, I love book recommendations! Tell me what you're reading these days!

The Lovely Bones

I've picked up "The Lovely Bones" several times since I first purchased it, when it first came out, and put it back down for various reasons. Many times, other books have just called to me louder than this one did, but this time, I was able to pick it up and polish it off pretty quickly.

This was an interesting book. I didn't find it to be as transcendent as some people have, but I did enjoy it. I don't want to spoil the plot for anyone, but I was disappointed by some of the plot points that were left hanging at the end. That doesn't mean I didn't like the book, just that it was real, in a way - I mean, in real life, not all the loose ends get tied up into a pretty bow. This was no different.

I am very curious how this will translate into movie format, as I understand they have turned this into a movie, to come out in December. I just watched the trailer for the first time on Apple.com, and it looks pretty darn promising. Read the book first, though, really.

I must say, though, that if you enjoyed this book, you would enjoy Alice Sebold's nonfiction work "Lucky" even more. I read that quite some time ago, and couldn't put it down. It's an amazing memoir about a traumatic experience the author went through in college and how it shaped many years that followed.

I've been reading some dark fiction lately, with lots of horrible things happening to children, between this and "The Deep End of the Ocean" and "Nineteen Minutes." Clearly, I ought to read something a little more light and cheery next.

The Wednesday Sisters

This book sat on my to be read shelf for many months before I finally felt compelled to pick it up recently. I'm glad I did, because it did wind up being an interesting, enjoyable book, though it wasn't as awe-inspiring as I hoped it would be. Then again, because it was about a group of women set in the 60's, I kind of hoped that it would be as wonderful as The Help. I'm starting to think that's not possible.

This was a good read in its own right. The basic story is about a group of women who happen to meet in their neighborhood park, and discover that they love books. They wind up becoming a writing society, inspiring each other to put pen to paper and just write. They share their works with one another, they critique them, and of course life gets in the way as well, as it so often does.

The characters are well shaped, and they each experience the turbulent late sixties and early seventies in different ways. Reading this book made me realize how much I've forgotten from history class about the plight of the womens' rights movement. I think this book would make a great choice for a book club, with lots of interesting issues for discussion.

I have to say, I felt awfully inspired when I read this book. I wanted to rush out and start my own writing society, try to get back into fiction writing. I wrote my first book at 13. It's garbage, total garbage, but I still have it. All 437 pages of it. I've written several short stories and novellas over the years, ceasing some time not long after I graduated from college. I think I started to feel like my writing wasn't amounting to anything, wasn't any good, and so I slowly stopped. In the last year, with having started this blog and going back to journaling every day, I'm starting to feel like I'm rediscovering the writer I once dreamed I could be. And maybe one day, I'll manage to write something I'm proud of again. I can dream, can't I? I sure can, and this book, though I know it is entirely a work of fiction, makes me feel like I can do more than that.

What's on My Nightstand: November

This was a good month for reading, I got through a lot of books, which made me super pleased. I can't remember the last time I polished off this many books in one month. I'm looking forward to several of the books in my to be read, but none more so than The Book of Joe by Jonathan Tropper.

Read this month:
1. Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult
2. Family Affair by Caprice Crane
3. Finger Lickin' Fifteen by Janet Evanovich
4. American Pie: My Search for the Perfect Pizza by Peter Reinhart
5. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
6. The Deep End of the Ocean by Jacqueline Mitchard
7. The Wednesday Sisters by Meg Waite Clayton
8. Everybody Loves Pizza: The Deep Dish on America's Favorite Food by Penny Pollack


To be read:
1. The Book of Joe by Jonathan Tropper
2. Sleepwalking in Daylight by Elizabeth Flock
3. The Kids Are All Right by Diana, Liz, Amanda, and Dan Welch
4. How I Became a Famous Novelist by Steve Hely
5. Heaven to Betsy/Betsy in Spite of Herself by Maud Hart Lovelace
6. Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Discovery That Revolutionizes Home Baking
7. The Bread Baker's Apprentice: Mastering the Art of Extraordinary Bread
8. Hello, Cupcake!: Irresistibly Playful Creations Anyone Can Make
9. The Bell Jar (P.S.) by Sylvia Plath

And if you're looking for some awesome holiday recipes to try out tomorrow, visit my Thanksgiving post from yesterday, with links to all of my holiday recipes.

Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult

I'm a big fan of Jodi Picoult's books. I've read most of them at this point, with a few exceptions of her older works, and I usually devour them quickly. They all involve surprising plot twists, well developed characters, and interesting story lines. Earlier this year, I read her newest book, Handle with Care, and I've just finished re-reading Nineteen Minutes for my book club.

I first read Nineteen Minutes when it first came out, which was right before the Virginia Tech shooting several years ago. It was heartbreaking and timely, telling the story of a fictional school shooting, and I couldn't put it down. Even in re-reading it, I couldn't put it down, though I recalled the basic storyline, I couldn't remember every detail or every nuance in the story. This was definitely an enjoyable re-read.

The thing that strikes me so much about Nineteen Minutes is how authentic the feelings the teenage characters convey are. I remember my teenage years all too well, and remember many of the feelings of confusion and wanting to belong expressed by the teens in the book. Like many of her other books, Nineteen Minutes feels real. Jodi Picoult creates these stories in which you experience a complete suspension of disbelief, where you find yourself immersed in the world the author has created. To me, that's the mark of a good book.

I won't reveal any of the plot twists, that's half the fun of reading a Jodi Picoult book. I will, however, recommend this book, and have since I read it the first time. Definitely a worthwhile read.

Next, I'm starting The Lovely Bones. I tried to read this once before, and lost my way at one point, I think thanks to a another book that I was just too desperate to read at the time, and I never went back to pick this one up. Stay tuned to hear my two cents on that one!

Are you looking for more worthwhile reads? Check out my A+ Reads collection, full of wonderful books, personally recommended by me!

The Deep End of the Ocean by Jacqueline Mitchard

I had a hard time with this book. Perhaps because it's every mother's worst fear for her child to be kidnapped. Or perhaps because it just wasn't as good as I'd heard it would be. I think if I had read this before I had Baby, I probably could have enjoyed it more as a realistic piece of fiction, as opposed to my worst nightmare.

The only reason I was able to finish this book quickly was the swine flu quarantine we've been under lately. It's like there was nothing to do other than read when Baby was sleeping because it wasn't like I needed to pack the diaper bag to go some place, and I was too frustrated to clean (not to mention, I knew I was going to have to clean all over again when the swine flu was all over), so I read. And read. And read. And here we are.

I was hooked by the premise of this book - what happened to a family who endured the kidnapping of their middle child, but I had a hard time enjoying reading about what actually happened to them. Normally, I enjoy depressing fiction - some of the best books are depressing! But this one just didn't sit well with me. I kind of rushed through it to get it over with because I just wanted to be done with it. I don't think I would recommend this book to a friend.

My next read (which I'm already almost done with) is Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult. It's a re-read for my December book club meeting, so it's going by pretty quickly. Stay tuned to hear what I thought about it. And don't forget, since I have been entirely inept lately at picking out books for myself, drop me a line if you've got a great book recommendation! And don't forget to enter The Anti-Socialite's book recommendation contest while you're at it!

What's on My Nightstand: October

I had a really hard time this month remembering what I read...I knew I read Kitchen Confidential, but for the life of me, I couldn't remember what else I read. I picked up and put down a ton of books, trying to find something that would really hook me. I've got some great reads planned for this month, and I'm hoping I can really get through them. I'm disappointed that I have read so few books lately!

What I read this month:

1. Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain

2. The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown

3. Christmas Cookies by Lisa Zwirk

4. Betty Crocker Christmas Cookbook

5. The Joy of Cookies by Sharon Tyler Herbst

6. Perfect Light Desserts by Nick Malgieri

What I plan to read next month:

1. A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving - I'm reading this now, but I'm thinking I may have to put it down for a while. I am enjoying it, but I'm having a hard time getting through it.

2. Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult - This is our December book club selection, and I need to re-read it so I can pass it around to my friends in book club

3. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

4. The Deep End of the Ocean by Jacqueline Mitchard

5. The Wednesday Sisters by Meg Waite Clayton

BTW, if you know of a good book that I positively ought to read, please let me know!! I'm desperate for book recommendations, because ever since I read "The Help," I'm starting to feel like it's possible that I now have too-high-expectations for other books, because I don't know that anything else can hold a candle to that book. So, if you know of a book that's as good or better, share it with me!!! I beg of you! With all this cabin fever, reading (and cooking/baking) is the only thing keeping me sane!!