Dreams of Joy (Shanghai Girls #2) by Lisa See (3 stars)
So... turns out living (just barely) through the Great Leap Forward as a peasant in the Chinese countryside is actually worse than suffering your lame, provincial-minded parents who worked their tails off their whole lives to provide a decent home and education for you in America, not to mention tuition to University of Chicago. So discovers Joy, the starry-eyed budding communist fed up with her parents' deceptions and her own guilt, who runs off to the open arms of Mao and his minions just in time for a first row seat to one of the most horrendous moments in human history. Take that, comrade! Overall the story is implausible, and like See's earlier book I found the characters and relationships shallow, but as historical fiction it does a very nice job of illuminating a point in time.
Shanghai Girls (Shanghai Girls #1) by Lisa See (3 stars)
Interesting historical fiction! If you like historical fiction in general, you'll probably like this more than I did. I tend more towards character-driven fiction, and this was not it. So if you're looking for deep or convincing characters or relationships, look elsewhere. But for a glimpse into pre-revolution Shanghai and then the Chinese immigrant experience in California in the first half of the twentieth century, look no further! I had no idea of how the anti-Communist hysteria reached into Chinese immigrant communities in this country in the 1950s. (It is enough to make you feel a little shocked that our very own freedom-loving country would treat people so rotten. Luckily, the next book takes you to the Great Leap Forward in communist China, which makes a few overzealous, threatening INS agents harassing your family look like a pleasant picnic in the park.)
Bossypants by Tina Fey (2 stars)
Meh. There were quite a few parts where I was laughing out loud. But somehow still didn't really like the book. Mostly I felt like Tina Fey and I didn't have a lot in common. But still I'll always love her, because when she pulled out that flute on SNL it was so genius. And she talks about the whole Sarah Palin time, which was a little interesting. Anyway, if you read it you'll laugh, but probably forget about it a week later.
Maphead: Charting the Wide, Weird World of Geography Wonks by Ken Jennings (4 stars)
This is a very fun book. I'm all inspired to get a globe for our living room. And take up geocaching. And how could I not like a book that mentions my husband my name?! Really, we're so famous. Plenty of interesting, well researched ideas here interspersed with very funny anecdotes.
A Mighty Long Way: My Journey to Justice at Little Rock Central High School by Carlotta Walls LaNier, Lisa Frazier Page (3 stars)
I'm on a roll these last few years with civil rights books. And every time I read one, it's just almost impossible to believe how awful things were in our very own country a mere fifty years ago. People behaved in despicable, horrifying ways. It is terrible to consider. And important to consider, too. I'm glad Carlotta gutted out her time at Central High School despite incessant threats, humiliation, and loneliness. I'm glad she didn't get killed. I'm glad she and the other Little Rock Nine have gone on to lead successful, meaningful lives. I'm glad that the hate and bigotry and violence that were once tolerated out in the open are now forced into darkness and nasty internet sites.
Understanding the Book of Mormon: A Reader's Guide by Grant Hardy (4 stars)
If you love the Book of Mormon, you should read this book. It offers many fascinating new ways to consider the text and what it has to teach us. You will wonder how you have read the book through x number of times and never noticed many of the things Hardy points out.
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