Wild Ginger by Anchee Min I've always enjoyed reading book about other cultures. I read all of Lisa See's books not too long ago and have since been missing that cultural aspect. So I searched a bit for similar authors and was able to find this author and this book at my local library. I did like that the book took place in the late 60s early 70s in China during the cultural revolution. I liked learning about the cultural and historical aspects of this time period. Overall I wish I had started with another of Min's books because while I liked the writing I didn't particularly enjoy the plot line. A young girl coming of age during this tumultuous time and her only friend at school meet a young man that attempts to help them in this difficult time. Of course a sort of love triangle develops in a culture that does not value love at that time in history. The story was interesting enough and kept me turning the pages but perhaps I had too high expectations since I still found it to be lacking.
The Lolita Effect by M. Gigi Durham This non fiction book has been on my list for some time. The author provides her perspective on the media and it's sexualization of, especially young, girls. The author takes us through reasons why girls are sexualized and various cultural differences around the world. I liked the informative research provided, what I didn't like was that it felt like the whole book was telling us as readers we shouldn't be allowing this instead of accepting the reality we do live in. It seemed to me that she was advocating for radical change rather then education. Then at the end of the book she stated the opposite that she realized the culture and times we lived in but that by being informed users we could make choices as parents and consumers through education. It was a bit of a confusing message at least to me.
Eight Girls Taking Pictures by Whitney Otto- This book was not on my list but I saw the picture of the old camera on the front of the novel and the title and got sucked in to putting it in my bag. I really liked the book but it is advertised as a novel, says it on the front cover, but more so seemed like a collection of short stories to me. In any case each section is narrated by a different character but all have a love of photography in common. The stories are told throughout the 20th century with each woman having to make choices about the sacrifices she will or will not make to further herself in life. I loved reading the different stories from different years and across the globe. I loved the vivid way the author captured each characters story.
"Nothing was fixed. Nothing is any one thing really, and isn't that the beauty of it all?"
Book Four will not be blogged about.
Dupont Circle by Paul Kafka-Gibbons I picked this book up at the library simply based on the title and my recent move. Little did I know when I picked it up how timely it would be for last month. The story is told through many characters voices but all center around a DC family and several of it's members. The oldest member of the family is a judge and his wife has died and he is in need of new company and continuing to advance his career. Another set of characters is his son and his son's partner who want to marry but are not allowed to legally at the time. The judge is hearing a case about gay marriage and has to pass a decision on the case. His son and his son's partner are also the parents to two young children born to his daughter who is unable to care for them due to her prevalent mental illness. While I liked reading the book and hearing about now familiar places to me, since the book was published in 2002 thankfully the gay marriage issue has moved much further forward and hopefully will continue to do so. Because of this though, the book seemed to be timely but is really too far in the past already to be as timely today given how much this issue has changed recently. I liked the book though and do not regret reading it and it served it's purpose as far as why I took it off the shelf to begin with.
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