"Book of the Dead" by Patricia Cornwell

The Kay Scarpettas series is one of the most interesting I've read. She is a medical examiner/forensic investigator. This latest book takes place in Charleston, SC. If you've read the previous books, you will appreciate the twist of events that takes place with Scarpetta, Marino and the other characters. I won't give anything away in my blog, but I was shocked at where Cornwell took this book. There's a big cliff-hanger at the end too so I guess we'll all just have to wait and see what comes from her next book.

Now back to the Boleyn Inheritance...

The next book for my book club is "Love in the Time of Cholera."

Books and holidays

I finished "Lipstick Jungle" during my week off from work last week. It was a really fun read. I got sucked in right way and really enjoyed the story about three successful women and what it takes to stay on top of their game. I enjoyed this book by Candace Bushnell much more than "Trading Up."

I started reading "The Female Brain" recommended by Amy in my book club. Sorry Amy, but I just can't get past the second chapter. I think there are tons of differences between men and women and this book explores those differences by explaining what's happening hormonally in the female brain. there are huge generalizations in this book. I'm just not into it right now.

So on to "The Boleyn Inheritance" the sequel to "The Other Boleyn Girl" and I've decided that I need LIGHT reading this month! Have a good weekend everyone!

Lipstick Jungle By Candace Bushnell

I started Lipstick Jungle on Sunday. It's a bit like Sex and the City without the sex. It's fun and just what I need this week since I'm off work.

I have HUGE pile of books to get through. Here are some of them:
Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
Wuthering Heights by Bronte
Wings of the Dove by Henry James
In A Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson
My Antonia by Willa Cather
Jane and the Stillroom Maid
The Painted House by John Grisham

and more....can you tell I've been wanting to catch up on reading the classics?

Have a very Happy Thanksgiving! I'm very thankful for books and stimulating conversation around books! :)

The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri

What does your name mean to you? How does it define who you are?

For Gogol Ganguli his name is significant. He should have originally been named by his grandmother but unfortunately the letter never arrived from India to his parents in Boston. So his father chooses Gogol. Gogol doesn't like being named Gogol--it's different. When he's older he changes his legal name to Nikhil which confuses his family, his friends and the ones who know him by Gogol. He doesn't learn the significance of his name until he's older from his father. He's known that he was named after Nikolai Gogol, but wasn't sure why. Guess you'll have to read it to figure it out.

The book was easy to read--Lahiri has a way with words. She won the Pulitzer for "Interpreter of Maladies", a great collection of short stories. I really enjoyed her writing and can't wait to see what she brings us next.

One thing I didn't know was that Indian food is all eaten without silverware. I didn't know that at all. I guess the only Indian restaurant I've been to served food with utensils. maybe it wasn't truly authentic after all. :)

Lean Mean Thirteen by Janet Evanovich

Fun fun fun! This is a fun series (starts with "One for the Money") about a bounty hunter in Trenton NJ. Sure the writing isn't fabulous or what would be considered great literature, but they sure are entertaining. Stephanie Plum finds herself a murder suspect for her ex-husband Dickie. All kinds of things happen yet she manages to entangle herself from the mishaps. She can not decide between her two beaus, Joe Morelli (the Italian cop) or Ranger (the stud bounty hunter/who knows what he really does). We find out Tank's real name is Pierre! It was just the book I needed after the serious ones I've read lately.

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

This was the book that my book club just read. This was a fascinating book. It is about two girls in China who grow up communicating with a secret language "nu shu" that Chinese women invented. This was passed down to daughters from their mothers. They write the symbols on a fan that they send to each other when they aren't together.

The book goes through in great detail of the footbinding that each girl had to endure. It sounded painful and we all wondered how could any mother make their daughters go through this--the answer is that it would help them to marry well. See the author's website for pictures: www.LisaSee.com.

These two girls (Lilly and Snow Flower) are called laotongs or "old sames" and are the best of friends until one betrays the other. I won't spoil it--you'll have to read it in order to find out what happens.

I haven't read many books about China. If you liked "Memoirs of a Geisha" (that's about Japan) then you will like this book.

Suns

After finishing "A Thousand Splendid Suns" I am thankful to be a woman who lives in the US. I get angry sometimes seeing the good old boy network in play around the office, but compared to what the women in Afghanistan have gone through, I am reminded that I don't have it so bad after all.

This novel was well written and the story opened my eyes to the struggles that many families have gone through in Afghanistan. I can't understand what it would be like to live in a country that has been at war for over four decades. There are something like 4 million refugees from Afghanistan that are living in Pakistan. I can't imagine feeling like it is unsafe to go back to where you grew up or lived for years and years.


The bond between the main characters (Mariam and Laila) is so volatile yet in the end they are almost like mother and daughter or sisters. Mariam lived through so much--she was born to a single woman so right off the bat she was looked down upon. Then at 14 she goes to live with her father (she didn't know if was her father until later) and he immediately marries her off to this abusive middle-aged widower. She can't have a baby and suffers for it. At the same time Laila's story begins and she is orphaned when her family dies from a bomb exploding right near their house. She is taken in by Rasheed (Mariam's husband) and eventually becomes his second wife.

This has been one of the best books I've read this year and I've read quite a few good ones! (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Animal Vegetable Miracle, Jane Eyre)

On to "Snowflower and the Secret Fan" which is our next book club read.