I'm on a Roll!

I haven't blogged on this blog in a long time, so scroll down to see what I have read lately.

On a friend's blog a couple weeks ago, she asked for recommendations for a picture book. Here is one of my all time favorites.

King Bidgood's in the Bathtub is written by Don and Audrey Wood. I think my mentor teacher, Shenla Jones, introduced me to it. The illustrations are fantastic (which is why it won an award!) and it's a predictable book, which is always good for the young ones.

Kate and Clark come over and I watch them while Jel does her lessons. We play, eat, sing songs and of course read books. King Bidgood is one of their favorites. One day, we decided to be King Bidgood ourselves.

I put pillows in the bathtub and they played in it for a while. Then they went and got books and had quiet reading time in there. I'd say this is one cool reading corner!

The Bonesetter's Daughter

I loved The Joy Luck Club when I read it in high school (don't ask me what's it's about now because I can't remember!). So, when I saw this one at a used book sale, I thought I'd give it a chance. I started reading it probably over a year ago, but never got past the first chapter. It went back on my shelf until just a week or so ago.

After we moved into this new house, we couldn't get reception for the TV on our digital antennae. It was a real bummer because we had gone so long without dish or cable, and I was glad. Well, we had to do something, otherwise we would have had no TV. So we got cable. And I hate it! I waste so much time watching total trash like "Keeping up with the Kardashians". Seriously, I have way better things to do with my time. One night there was nothing on, so I turned off the TV and went into the office. There I saw this book on the shelf and thought I'd give it another try. I'm glad I did.

The first part of the book is set in current day San Francisco. Ruth is the daughter of a woman who came over from China as an adult. Ruth resented the fact that her mother didn't speak very good English and really didn't get along with her mother at all. She discovers that her mom has Alzheimer's and it really shakes her world. She remembers a pile of papers that Ruth's mother had given her, all written in Chinese characters. She gives the papers to a professor to have it translated.

The second part of the book is the words from those papers. It's Ruth's mother's story told in her own words about what her life was before she came to America. This was the best part of the book. I am fascinated with Asian culture and I really know so little about Asian history. It's quite sad. After reading The Last Empress I wanted to know more, but I hate to admit I still haven't learned much!

Ruth comes to understand and love her mother so much more after reading her life story. I thought to myself, how would reading my mom's journals help me understand her better? Would I love her more? (Would she let me read them while she's still alive?) I know my mom has written many journals, so I hope someday I do get to see a part of her life that I wouldn't have otherwise.

The book ends with Ruth putting her mom in an assisted living place, but it really is a happy ending. I highly recommend this book.

The Wedding

The Wedding by Julie Garwood, was another romance novel. (Not the Danielle Steel kind, more like a romance comedy). I borrowed this book from my mom actually. After reading The Chocolate Lovers' Club, I had stopped reading for a while and really wanted something quick and easy to read.

This was a perfect book for that. It's not the world's greatest literature, but it was interesting and captivating. Set in Scotland in the 11th Century, the setting provided a lot of interest in the book. I've always loved books set in the Middle Ages, and this was no exception. I have no idea how accurate the portrayal of the times was (probably not very), but I didn't really care.

It's a love story between 2 unlikely people, but they end up being a perfect match for each other. The romance was a little mushy, but not explicit (again, an improvement from the Chocolate Lovers' Club). It's your typical romantic comedy, where they fight and hate each other at the beginning. Lots of misunderstandings cause problems, but in the end, everything works out.

If you're looking for a cheap, easy romance to read, I would recommend this one!

The Chocolate Lovers' Club

I read this book forever ago, but just never got around to posting about it. Maybe that's because it wasn't my all time favorite book. It was ok, a very easy read, but not really my cup of tea. I've never seen Sex in the City, but as I read this book, I felt like it was a British version of Sex in the City. (Take that for what it's worth). There are 5 Brits who become friends through their mutual love of chocolate. I love chocolate myself, but not enough to go to an expensive chocolate shop and eat it all the time with my friends.

I guess that's why this book was hard for me; I couldn't relate to a single character. Not one. I don't think it was because they were Brits (actually, there was one American, but she lived there, so whatever!). Anyway, the book is basically about each of their problems and how they help each other deal with them. There's romance, infidelity, comedy, drama, etc. all throughout the book. Even though there was a lot going on, it wasn't like I was dying to find out what happened next.

If Sex in the City is your thing and you like lots of romance and drama, read this book. If not--don't waste your time!

eat pray love

I finished this book ages ago, but never got around to writing about it. I guess I'm better at keeping up my other blog than this one.

Written by Elizabeth Gilbert, this is a story about a year of her life when she travels to find inner peace, essentially. She has just finished a nasty divorce and wants to find herself. The first part of her year is spent in Italy (the "eat" part). She gains a lot of weight as she eats the delicious food and learns a lot from the Italian people while she studies the Italian language. I loved this section of the book. I think her voice is so honest and endearing.

The second leg of her trip is spent in India in her guru's ashram. I of course had heard of gurus, but I had never heard of an ashram and didn't know that Yoga was a religion and not just stretching exercises. In the ashram she has spiritual experiences as she learns to come to terms with her true self through meditation. I found this section of the book very interesting (because I don't know much about the religion), but also I thought there were golden nuggets of truth that were universal to all religions, including mine. I really enjoyed reading and learning from her experiences.

The last section is when she spends time in Bali. She went to Bali 2 years prior and had met a medicine man. He predicted she would come back to live in Bali for a time, so she did. Again, I didn't know much about the Balinese culture (if anything at all), so it was interesting to see the country through a westerner's eyes. Here she meets a man from Brazil named Felipe (and since the section is the "love" section, I'll let you figure out what happens in Bali!). Anyway, I think it served as the perfect ending to her journey because she had found herself and peace before she met a man and fell in love with him. It's my opinion that love works out so much better when you can love yourself first and then give love to the other.

I highly recommend the book, and yes! This is a non-fiction book I actually finished and enjoyed! Maybe because it was more of a memoir/biography than anything else, but I found it very easy to read, engaging and enlightening. I hear they're making a movie out of it (what book isn't these days) and Julia Roberts will play Liz. Should be interesting, but I'm not sure a movie will be able to convey the transformation she goes through as well as the book does. We'll see!