Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie

I had really high expectations for this book. Unfortunately my expectations weren't completely met. I say that, because I did enjoy this book, but I think it could have been a better story.

It's about two young men in the 1970s in China that have been highly educated. They are sent to the country for their re-education (to learn how to farm and lead a simple life). Luo meets a pretty girl (the little seamstress). Luo gets her pregnant. The other main guy whose name I'm forgetting now helps the little seamstress with her problem.

The two main characters find that their friend has a suitcase of forbidden books which leads them on an escapade to steal the books. This part was pretty funny and entertaining. The boys yearn for Western literature because it's all been banned by Mao's regime. There are, of course, other side characters and side stories, but this thread stuck with me.

It's always interesting to me to read about Chinese culture--this book had some of it, but not as much as Lisa See's or Amy Tan's books. This author is French and it has been translated into English. Interesting that a French author has written such a poetic book about China!

"The Last Song" by Nicholas Sparks

Ok, cheesy and squishy, fast and corny, fun and romantic. In typical Nicholas Sparks fashion, we have a 17 year old girl who doesn't get along with dad because he left them 3 years earlier. Ronnie (short for Veronica) is spending the summer with her dad along with her little brother. She is resentful and rebellious. She meets a boy (of course) and falls in love. It's very sweet, but the boy comes from a well-to-do family and his mother does not care for Ronnie.

Throughout the summer she begins to let her guard down and comes around finally towards her dad. Ronnie finds out her dad is terminally ill. She decides to stay. And that's all I'll say about the plot...

I enjoy Sparks' books. They are about real people, with real problems. And though it can be squishy, cheesy, corny etc. they make you feel good.

The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest

"The Girl Who Played With Fire" is the second in the series after "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo". This book follows Mikael Blomkvist into the heart of two murders of which Lisbeth Salander is now a suspect. Mikael is performing his own investigation of the murders to try to prove Salander's innocence.

This book could stand on it's own, but I would recommend reading the first one because you'll get a better understanding of the relationship between Mikael and Lisbeth.

The third book in the series (to be released in the States in May--I borrowed this British copy from a co-worker) is "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest". Aptly titled, Lisbeth ends up in the hospital with three gunshot wounds one of which is in her head. The most fascinating part about this book was the interaction of Lisbeth with Mikael where Lisbeth has hacked into Mikael's computer with a PDA. Very cool how it's done even though I don't understand it all.

This book wasn't as fast-paced as the first two in the series, but definitely held my interest. It brings the series to a close, as sadly, Larsson passed away. Maybe another author will continue the series, but for now we have three really entertaining books that has overtaken a lot of people's lives (esp. in my office!).

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

I listened to this book and to be honest I was not that impressed with the narrator especially her botching up the French language. Now I have never learned French, but I have heard quite a bit of it and I know that it is not pronounced like this narrator has done so. (Think southern accent with each letter pronounced. Oy) So I suggest reading this book as opposed to listening to the version that Dean Robertson narrated.

And the reason there is a lot of French--it takes place the 1960s in the Belgian Congo where French is one of the main languages. I love the descriptions of the jungle and Africa--you really felt like you were there. The story is about a missionary family from Georgia who goes to the Congo to bring the villagers to Jesus. Lots of good characters in this and it's told from the 4 daughters and mother's perspectives so you get 5 different points of view.

I liked the book, however it wasn't my favorite Kingsolver book. I liked "The Prodigal Summer" and "The Bean Trees" better.

The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo by Stieg Larsson

This book is a major bestseller in the US and it's apparent why so many people like it. This Swedish author passed away in 2005 shortly after delivering the manuscripts for this book, The Girl Who Played With Fire (currently reading) and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Next. It's sad because this would have made for a great ongoing series such as Patterson's Alex Cross books and Kathy Reichs' Bones series.

The premise: A journalist, Mikael Blomkvist, is hired by a wealthy patriarch to find out what happened to his niece 40 years earlier. Blomkvist hires a scrappy, punky young woman to help him investigate the case. Together Blomkvist and the girl, Lisbeth Salander dig deeper in the family secrets and get to know one another.

I couldn't put it down for the last 200 pages, it was that engrossing. The translation to English is pretty good and the writing style is easy to follow. The amount of characters can get confusing sometimes due to the foreign names, but the author gives you little reminders to help remember who each person is. Highly recommended again!

Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri

If you haven't read any of Jhumpa Lahiri's books, I highly recommend that you get on your local library's website and reserve them all. They are so engrossing and you learn so much about Indian culture by reading her books. She is a Pulitzer Prize winner of fiction for "The Interpreter of Maladies" a work of short stories like "Unaccustomed Earth."

Even though this book was filled with short stories there are three that have the same characters so it's more like a mini-novella. Each one is engaging and I wish she could write a book about each. She manages to develop the characters in each short story in a short time-frame while taking you on a mini-journey. I loved it.

I must admit I've been reading and listening to some great books so far in 2010. I have yet to be disappointed by one yet.

The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson

This is my pick for book club on Saturday night. I'm not going to put my thoughts down right now about this one just in case my pals from book club decide to check out my blog (do you girls read this??? anyone? Bueller?).

I promise to write more because there is a lot to say about this one! :)