What is the What - Dave Eggers

Sorry we haven't posted lately. I haven't been reading anything ground breaking. I have spent the last month reading mystery books. Nothing to write about! A month ago I finished What is the What and really liked it. So here is a delayed review.

3.5/5 stars.

We have heard so much about Darfur and the massacres happening there. It seems that some people are fed up with Sudan and pretty much every other world misery thrown at them -that's compassion fatigue. Angelina Jolie just wrote an op-ed urging Obama to do something about Darfur, and I am not sure anyone noticed. Thsi book is interesting because it is about Sudan, but not about Darfur. Atrocities also happen in the south of the country -now more than ever, since elections are looming.

Valentino Achak Deng was a little boy when his village was ransacked by the government's militia. He had to flee, leaving behind his family -not sure whether any of them survived- and his friends, and started a long walk to a refugee camp in Ethiopia, then in Kenya, where he stayed 10 years before being authorized to emigrate to the US. I found that the most compelling parts of his story were not the bis about his walk -though they were certainly interesting- but the bits about his life in the camp and in the US.

Life in a refugee camp is not what we imagine. When you stay in a camp for 10 years, you get organized, you go to school, you flirt with people your age, etc. Pretty much you try to have a life as normal as possible. But social hierarchy was strong, even in the refugee camp, and boys without a family were at the bottom of the ladder. So Valentino had to find ways to survive and thrive in this environment.

Life in the US for a new refugee is definitely not what we might imagine. I don't know actually what one imagines, but I was taken aback by the difficulties these men and women encounter. I watched a documentary, "God grew tired of us", which highlighted some of these challenges: find a job, go to school, figure out how everything works, from electricity to getting a driver's license to using micro waves to eating new food. Usually, life in the US means work 2 menial jobs and go to school if time permits. This is not at all what these refugees imagined life would be like, and it is not what some immigration adversaries have in mind either ("taking your jobs away?" Give me a break!). Also, relationships with the African American community are not easy (in the first scene of the book, Valentino is held hostage in his own apartment by two African Americans). Finally, it seems that anytime Valentino said he was from the south of Sudan, people would lose interest -"oh... you're not from Darfur..."- and that refugees expected too much of their mentors in the US -as Valentino said, they have no boundaries to their demands- and can make people who wanted to help them tired and weary.

This is what struck me the most. There are a lot of refugees all around us, and this book made me want to help them get acclimated to the US. Have I done anything in the last month? No. Will I? probably. I hope after reading this book you will know more about what is happening in the Sudan and I hope it will be a call to action.

Confections of a Closet Master Baker by Gesine Bullock-Prado

3 out of 5 stars

This is a book that I desperately wanted to love. After all, I am a total foodie and nothing helps me devour a book like lustful descriptions of my all time favorite, the pastry. Gesine did a delightful job recounting her story. A Hollywood cog burnt out on Hollywood life, discovers a love of baking, moves to Vermont with her Husband and on the fly opens a bakery. She recounts her struggles in becoming a baker and small business owner, as well as, shares a little of her personal life. I was fascinated to read about her mother, a beautiful German opera singer, who sadly died to young. I loved reading about her experiences in Germany, with her family, the traditions they shared and the food that came to shape her. I especially enjoyed the part when she went on a sugar bender through the neighborhood. Each chapter ends with a mouth watering recipe, which I loved! She did have a poor me tendency, which after awhile I found bothersome. But in all, it was a fun (and quick) read. Oh and by the way, she's Sandra Bullocks sister.

Rape, A Love Story - Joyce Carol Oates

4/5 stars.

Teena Maguire is gang-raped after a 4th of July party. Her daughter, 12-year-old Berthie, hides while Teena is beaten and left for dead, and is the one asking policemen for help. The story addresses Berthie -"you see your monther..."- as we follow the aftermath of the rape and how it changed the lives of Teena, Berthie, and those close to the case -prosecurot, policeman, the accused.

The story is short -about 150 pages- and Oates does not waste any word on useless details. The title itself is proof of this, bringing together two opposite ideas -rape and love, central themes of this book- without a pause. She focuses on actions and thoughts, adeptlly describes people's feelings with a few words, from depression to despair to hope, and writes powerful dialogues. The reader is drawn to the characters and the outcome of the ordeal.

I finished the book quite depressed, recognizing all too well the dynamic between an abused and depressed mother and her teenage daughter, and amazed at Oates' talent.

The Lost Symbol - Dan Brown

2/5

Professor Robert Langdon is back! This time he's in Washington DC, trying to save his friend Peter from a very certain death at the hand of a lunatic seeking the lost word, which will make him the most powerful man in the world. His sidekick is Katherine, Peter's sister, a noetic scientist who analyses the power of the mind on objects and events. This adventure focuses on the Masonic world, myths, and symbols.

I really enjoyed The Da Vinci code, didn't read Angels and Demon, and was interested in this book. I was disappointed. I didn't really care for the story itself -quite boring and without surprises. I felt that Brown's main goal was to impress the reader with his knowledge of symbols and of the Masons without linking much of the knowledge to the story. Readers who like puzzles will evidently enjoy this book, since Langdon has to fit all the pieces and symbols together. The end of the book sounds like a summary of The Secret, whereby our minds are the center of the world and have the power to alter anything. After finishing the book, I felt I lost my time and didn't care much for what I had learnt about the Masons -much of which I have already forgotten.

The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs

3.5 out of 5 stars

Kate Jacobs first novel hits at the core of female friendship. Main character, Georgia Walker, is the common thread to the relationships formed in an after hours knitting club in her Manhattan yarn shop. At first this group of regulars and a couple oddballs come together for knitting tips and help. Soon enough the walls begin to come down and each woman's life becomes its own story. Each woman's struggles are unique. Each story woven together. It is through this that their lives begin to change. Through a series of twists and turns the stories take on real meaning.

I really enjoy this theme. The bond of women, each struggling with her own issues, coming together. It is a book about friendship, love, and forgiveness. I came way being so thankful for the amazing friendships I have.

The Help - Kathryn Stockett

5/5 stars

The Help is a magnificent book recounting the lives of African-American maids and their white employers in Jackson, Mississippi, at the beginning of the 1960’s through 3 narrators. Skitter is 22 years old, just graduated from college, wants to be a journalist in New York, and is back home in Mississippi. Aibileen is a 50 year old maid working for Elizabeth and practically raising Elizabeth’s children. Finally, Minni is another maid and has a hard time finding a job because of her big mouth. The focus of the book is simple: all three women are united in an undercover and dangerous endeavor –which I am not going to reveal so as not so spoil half of the book.

The author succeeds in writing in all three voices, including the two maids’ voices, with their grammatical errors and approximations, with such love and understanding for her characters that you cannot but love them and root for them as well. My emotions ran high while reading this book: anger at the white women, ignorant, intolerant, and happy in their status quo; tenderness at the way the maids raise kids who are not their own, while neglecting their own; hope in the project the 3 women undertake; mainly, a sense of wonder at how people lived then.

This book is a work of fiction, but almost feels like a sociological study of the lives of the South in the 1960’s. The reader is thrown in a world where love and anger, despair and expectations cohabit daily, where manners and social status are more important than feelings and true friendships. I adore this book. It is courageous and beautiful, like its protagonists.

An Expensive Education - Nick McDonell

4 out of 5 stars.

I loved this book! This has to do with the fact that it takes place in an elite grad school, that it deals with Africa and politics, and that the main character is really witty and smart. I might not have liked it so much had it not had all the ingredients of my dream life -you are now warned!

Susan Lowell -who will remind most readers of Samantha Powell, award-winning author and Harvard professor- just received a Pulitzer price for her book on Hatashil, a Somali rebel leader. Meanwhile, Michael Teak, a 25-year old Harvard graduate, goes into a village to meet the Somali leader, and unknowingly sets up a series of events that will turn his life, and the lives of all those involved, amock. The village gets bombed -and the US blames Hatashi for this. Lowell, who described Hatashil as a peaceful leader, might see her Pulitzer price pulled. Teak has to figure out what happened and who was behind the bombing. Other characters are David Ayan, Lowell's Somali student, Razi, Lowell's friend and journalist, or Jane, David's girlfriend and journalist for the Crimson, Harvard's newspaper. All these lives are intertwined and linked somehow.

I read this book in an afternoon. I found it clever both in its description of the politics of Harvard or the US toward Africa but also in its characters' development -though I wish Nick McDonell had spent more time on his character. When I finished the book, I felt that it went too fast. All the facts were presented but I wanted more out of the characters. At the same time, I also felt that this lack of development was perfect the way it was, since everything (from facts to people) seemed to be so superficial, almost on the surface. I really enjoyed this book. Again, people who do not share my interests in education and African politics might not enjoy it as much.

Every Man Dies Alone - Hans Fallada

5 out of 5 stars

What a pleasure it was to read this book! The characters are wonderfully developed and the storylines enthralling.

Otto and Anna Quangel's son dies at war, prompting the two normally discreet parents to start a resistance movement of sorts, writing and leaving postscards against the Hitler regime in various public places in Berlin. We follow these two in their attempt to change Berliners' minds while being pursued by the Gestapo. We encounter other characters, all interesting in their own ways. The narrator chose to be omniscient, allowing us to know what everyone is thinking at all times -which makes this story more touching and, at times, disturbing.

Hans fallada was incarcerated in a psychiatric hospital during the war because of his alcoholism. He wrote this book in 24 days only and killed himself soon after. I wonder whether the story was edited. Often, the author swithces from past to present tenses, which unsettled me a little, but apart from that, I found this story well written and beautiful. Some interrogation scenes are quite disturbing.

This book shows us that not all Germans were in favor of Hitler. The change of heart Otto and Anna go through was revealing and sudden. The other characters -from neighbors to Gestapo officers- help us get a better picture of what it was like for Germans to live through these difficult years of dictatorship. I highly recommend this book for its storyline, its characters, and for its devastating reality.

The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

4 1/2 out of 5 stars

I loved this book so much that I didn't trust myself to review it properly, so I present you with the best review I could find : “Traditional without seeming stale, and romantic without being naive” (San Francisco Chronicle), this epistolary novel, based on Mary Ann Shaffer’s painstaking, lifelong research, is a homage to book lovers and a nostalgic portrayal of an era. As her quirky, lovable characters cite the works of Shakespeare, Austen, and the Brontës, Shaffer subtly weaves those writers’ themes into her own narrative. However, it is the tragic stories of life under Nazi occupation that animate the novel and give it its urgency; furthermore, the novel explores the darker side of human nature without becoming maudlin. The Rocky Mountain News criticized the novel’s lighthearted tone and characterizations, but most critics agreed that, with its humor and optimism, Guernsey “affirms the power of books to nourish people during hard times” (Washington Post).Copyright 2008 Bookmarks Publishing LLC

This book is so beautifully written, romantically written, that it was such a pleasure to read. I often felt as though I was reading someones personal letters. Admittedly, the style was a bit hard for me to embrace initially but it didn't take long before I was hooked. Who would the next letter be from? What information would be divulged? And so on. By all accounts, do yourself a favor and read this book.

I'm So Happy For You: A novel about friendship by Lucinda Rosenfeld

3 out of 5 stars

Lucinda Rosenfelds depiction of friendship is venomous. Main character Wendy and her so-called BFF Daphne have been friends since college. Daphne the beautiful unstable one and Wendy the shoulder to cry on. Flash forward 15 years. Wendy works as a low paid editor for a left wing magazine, she's now married to a slacker husband and is unsuccessfully trying for a baby. Wendy's world comes crashing down when Daphne's life comes together. Within a few months Daphne is married to a handsome rich man, living in a newly renovated brownstone and pregnant.


Initially I sought this book out because of the many great reviews that portrayed this to be an honest , if even dark, account of modern friendship. Dark it is! With friends like these, you certainly don't need enemies. Wendy is pathetic. I often found myself reading on just to see what she'd do next, knowing that at each turn she would dive deeper in the hole she was digging. Eventually, pushing away her slacker husband and ruining her questionable friendship. This book portrays women's relationships that don't pass high school level.


I was hoping to find a book that had a little more depth and insight into the complexities of the female friendship. Instead, I found a book whose characters were shallow, insecure, jealous and often malicious.

It's Our Turn To Eat - Michela Wrong

4/5 stars

Michela Wrong's account of John Githongo's attempt to end corruption in Kenya is compelling. John Githongo got a job as the anti-corruption guru in the newly elected government of Mwai Kibaki, who took over after Daniel Arap Moi. Kibaki represented the renaissance of Kenya, a new way to conduct politics, but soon enough it appeared that he was as corrupt as his predecessor, as John Githongo would find out and try to mediatize.

Wrong shows that tribal ties is a huge issue in Kenyan politics. Kikuyus will always vote for and support their leaders, just as Luos will support theirs. Wrong compares this to a mafia, where family ties are more important than ethics. Githongo, by taping conversations with corrupt ministers, and later by divulging these to the media, was dubbed a traitor to his tribe.

Michela Wrong is adept at making the stories she writes about deeply personal and filled with comprehensive details about the context she describes. I recommend this book for anyone who wants to know more about politics and corruption in Kenya as well as for anyone wanting to understand the issues and implications of tribal dependencies in this country -and elsewhere in Africa.

The Last Supper: A Summer In Italy - Rachel Cusk

2 1/2 out of 5 stars

In The Last Supper novelist Rachel Cusk chronicles her families 3 month trip to Italy. Though an accomplished and prize winning novelist, in this memoir she shows herself to be a bit of a snob. In a desperate attempt to leave behind the dreary English weather and the routine of daily life, her family sells their home and heads to Tuscany. Although I found the book to be beautifully written and stylish, I also found it to be lacking human interest. At no point does she mention the names of her husband or children and goes into little, if often no, detail about their personal experiences. At best she complains about tourist and expatiates as though feeling herself to be superior to them. Unfortunately, this is as deep as she goes. I often found myself reading on for hope and desire of depth. Never really finding it but continuing on because of the beauty of her words. The most appealing part of this book is the art that she encounters and writes on. This I found to be very interesting, as she touches on the great masters of Italian art. At first I was excited to read this book, having spent much time in Italy myself. However, Cusk never really delved into the qualities that make Italy so wonderful - the food and people. Although, she seems to consider herself a cultural elitist above those of the "herds" of tourist. She simply shows her ignorance and lack of adventure.

The Wishing Year - Noelle Oxenhandler

3 Stars / 5

This books recounts one year of the author's life, in which she decided to apply the power of positive thinking to reach three goals: find a spiritual community, own a house, and find love.

I found this book quite refreshing, mainly because the author refrains from "The Secret" type of methodology. Yes, the main premise is similar (positive thinking is the key to getting what you want) but unlike most books on the topic, her quest is not monetary or uber-materialistic. Oxenhandler analyses the positive thinking movement from as far back as the Greek philosophy and doesn't take a simplistic view of this form of wishing -even though she sometimes gives in to tricks such as wishing only in 8-syllable sentences. The bottom line of her experiment is that you have to think positively and act on what you wish for. Wishing alone will not work.

This book worked for me because I read it when I needed it. Had I read it at another time, I might have thought it was one of many nice-but-without-substance books on the topic.