The namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri

The Namesake is a pretty awesome book. I'm about three quarters through and I'm really enjoying every word.

This is a quiet book and not much happens although it does trace a man's life from birth until at least his 27th birthday (where I am now in the story). I assume it'll continue through his entire life.

The central characters are a Bengali couple who move to the U.S. shortly after their marriage and their two children who are born in America. Their oldest son, Gogol, is "the namesake" and he is really the main character. It's a really interesting look into the clash of Indian and American culture and how it's hard for Gogol's parents, especially his mother, to function in the U.S. especially when their children are totally American.

It's really interesting to me to see the perspective of the parents who never quite feel at home in the U.S. and how puzzled they are by their children and vice versa. It's cool to see their side of it when most of what I'm exposed to is the Americanized kids version of things.

This will sound strange, I think, but I find that Lahiri's style of writing is particularly soothing. Her words have a very quiet tone and they seem to just wrap you into the cocoon of a world she's creating in her novel.

I can't wait to finish this and I've also checked out her book of short stories: The Interpreter of Maladies which won some awards a few years ago.

The audacity of hope : thoughts on reclaiming the American dream

I checked out the Barack Obama book because I find him a little bit fascinating. I haven't heard him speak very much and I really don't know why he has so much buzz about him other than that he's young.

I'm ashamed that I sat on the book for about a month and never cracked the cover until the day it was due back at the library. I took it to work and managed to read nothing but the Introduction -- and that part was enough to make me want to read the rest of the book.

I've heard that his political views are pretty far to the left, and I generally am middle of the road leaning to the right, but I can't argue with what he says he wants to do in his introduction. I guess it's what everybody wants to do, it's just a matter of you actually get there. A quote:

"... another tradition to politics, a tradition that stretched from the days of
the country's founding to the glory of the civil rights movement, a tradition
based on the simple idea that we have a stake in one another, and that what
binds us together is greater than what drives us apart, and that if enough
people believe in the truth of that proposition and act on it, then we might not
solve every problem, but we can get something meaningful done." (Page 2)

That makes sense right? Idealistic, sure, but it makes enough sense that I should probably check the book out again and read it! (or at least skim it!)

Then we came to the end : a novel -- by Joshua Ferris.

I just started this book today. I must say that I'm not loving it to start. It feels very heavy and pretentious for a book that is supposed to be funny.

It's about an office that is going through layoffs. It sounded like it would be like the movie Office Space but I'm not getting that vibe. We'll see but as of now I'm not sure I'll be able to plow through this before it's due back at the library.

Update 6/20: I finished the book today at lunch. I'm not sure how I feel. It had some funny elements but mostly it was just strange and depressing. This was all about how people in cubes hate their jobs, they hate their cubes, the mostly hate their co-workers and in a lot of cases they hate the rest of their lives too.

The worst part of it is how familiar so much of the depressing vibe was. People droning on about how pointless and annoying work is and how they have their assigned roles within the office eco-system. But I guess that's also the best part of the book. The author certianly captures a feeling that is uncomfortably familiar.

Bottom line: don't bother, it's kind of depressing despite the fairly good writing

Eat, pray, love : one woman's search for everything across Italy, India and Indonesia - Elizabeth Gilbert

Words can't express how much I hate this book. I love the concept, I love the cover, I even liked the author (before I read this book!). Everybody seems to love it.

I HATED it!

She's annoying and pretentious and completely nuts. And possibly lying through her teeth about everything.

Here's an example. She leaves her husband of 10 years to take up with her "soulmate" with whom she has a wild affair that leads her to meet her guru. Anyway, this is a tumultuous affair where they hate each other as often as they get along. She runs away to Italy for four months and tells the soulmate not to contact her while she's away. Six months later, after no contact from the guy, she e-mails him and says: "I think we should break up". His response? "I adore you more than words can say."

BLAH! She's a big faker.

Then she went to India to live in an ashram for 4 months. I didn't even make it to the part where she gets to Indonesia to live with a medicine man or something.

Little girls in pretty boxes : the making and breaking of elite gymnasts and figure skaters - by Joan Ryan

Wow! This book is an eye-opener!

It's kind of a grusome tell-all about how horrible Bela Karolyi (and all his protege coaches) is and how terrible it is for young girls to be involved in gymnastics.

The figure skating stuff is less shocking - more like how they told Nancy Kerrigan to get veneers on her teeth to get better endorsements and how Tonya Harding lost competitions because she was trashy. The gymnastics stuff is more about horrifying injury and eating disorders and all sorts of abusive treatment by coaches. I don't think I'll ever be able to watch that sport again. (not that I watched it much anyway!)

It was a total page turner but it's also a lot of stuff I wish I didn't know.

The book also killed the dream of the Olympics -- all the girls they talked to hated the experience. Mostly because their coaches wouldn't let them eat or participate in any of the fun parts.

Educating Esmé : diary of a teacher's first year - by Esme Codell

I got this one from Barnes & Noble's book a day calendar.

Esme sounds like an awesome teacher and the book is easy to read but I still found it a little bit self congratulatory and kind of irritating.

Still, I read it in one sitting. It's a tiny book.

Review: I feel bad about my neck : and other thoughts on being a woman - By Nora Ephron

I think I'm just a tiny bit too young for this book but I still found it quite funny. It's about the hassles of growning old as a woman and still trying to look good.

It's short and easy to read and probably should have been a magazine article.

I'm back!

After a VERY long hiatus from posting book reviews, I decided to start up again.

Not all my reviews are negative....but a lot are. I try to tell the truth. I also don't give much analysis - I just say if I like it or not.