Two more posts to come. . .

Coming soon, book reviews for The Social Animal by David Brooks, and Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese

Being Peace by Thich Nhat Hanh

Ahh. I borrowed this book from a friend in April when things were emotionally rough for me. I have continued to hold it hostage though because I would like to read it again, now that I feel that I've regained my emotional footing, I've learned a few things, and I can add the emotions and thoughts from April into my life-experience bag. Whenever I read the book again, I can remember how much the book gave me peace and calm, and then feel comforted by the fact that in the moment I read it next, I read it for affirmation and not for its previous crutch for dependence or new breath.

One line I love in particular from the book is the following:
"[On meditation:] One smile, one breath should be for the benefit of the whole day, not just that moment. We must practice in a way that removes the barrier between practice and non-practice."

This especially spoke to me because some days, I felt that no matter how much I'd practice my meditations in the morning (I've been doing a 10-minute sitting meditation whenever I wake up, before I get ready for the day), I'd still feel pangs of anger and frustration in the middle of my work day, in the middle of my thoughts and concentration. I realized that the idea behind what I do to kick off my idea is to allow it to carry through during the day. I've applied this attitude to my yoga practice too, and it seems to help my overall understanding and patience with things whenever I get off the mat.

I noticed that by the time I finished this book, these moments of frustration decreased, in both frequency and in intensity. Having the book on my nightstand also comforted me in that it reminded me of my friend who let me borrow it, and her care and compassion during my angst and sadness. Ah, the power of friendship. . .and peace.

The Help, by Kathryn Stockett

The Help by Kathryn Stockett is absolutely wonderful. The story, the characters, the range of emotions, the heart, the soul, everything. This is a MUST read, especially because the movie comes out later this summer! I'm excited to see how the movie compares. . . although we know how that usually goes (ugh, did you see Eat,Pray, Love??) I'm willing to take the risk to be disappointed though because I am so supportive of the book. The previews look promising, so let's hope for the best.

This is a work of fiction, but I feel like parts of this book are probably autobiographical. The jacket tells us that this is Stockett's first novel; her notes at the end reveal the sentiment that this debut was long overdue.

The story centers primarily around two groups of women--the white women of Jackson, Mississippi, and their maids who double, triple, and quadruple as nannies, cooks, gardeners, and in the rare instance, friends. Through a rotation in narratives, we meet these women in their daily settings, as they give first-person accounts of their work, their thoughts, their hopes.

One of the white women decides to write a book. Her idea is to give personal accounts of the help and the secrets they've kept for their white women, the children they've raised for their white women, their heartaches, and their strength to hold their tongues. In order to put this book together, she must interview these women, but secretly because they can only begin to think of what would happen if the white community were to find out. I found myself holding my breath at times, scared that someone was going to find them, and cheering for them when the women come up with a brilliant way to guarantee that nobody knows the origin of the book whenever it is published.

This book is witty and heartfelt and there are two moments I can talk about where I completely burst into tears. There is at least one point in the story where I remember laughing out loud and many times where I sighed in exasperation, raised my eyebrows in surprise, or "HA!"ed at women's banter.

I can't wait for the movie and I can't wait for Stockett to write more!

It's been awhile, but here we go. . .!

Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger

If you loved The Time Traveller's Wife, you will like this. I enjoyed TTW much more, but this one had some heart and intrigue to it too. Niffenegger doesn't stray from her fascination with the passage of lifetimes or the communication between the after-life and our reality in this one either. The basic plot is about two sets of twins. The older set comprises of one twin who has twins of her own. Their aunt--their mother's twin--passes away and mysteriously leaves them as her beneficiaries, even though they have never met, and with the one condition that first they must live in her apartment--ahem, flat--in London for one year.

Throughout their year there, the twins discover more about their mother and aunt; their individual selves; their odd-duck neighbors; and in between it all, the wrestle between their close (almost creepy) twin-sistership and each's independence. Meanwhile, the reader also catches a closer glimpse of the other characters through their own subplots. The ending is a bit of a tongue-twister for your head.

I read this book for a book club, so it was interesting to hear what the others in the group thought. One of my friends who read the book, and attended the meeting, is an identical twin herself. So, there were various moments the sisters shared in the book that she could very well relate to, moments that may not have meant much else to us non-twins.

Overall, the book was good. It had its slow points, but for the most part, it was a good read. I'd recommend it, but I wouldn't say it is a must to jump to the top of your reading list. If little else from the basic storyline, it does stimulate some thought to where we might go whenever we leave this physical reality. It also raises a great reminder that although two people can look identical, their different personalities can completely alter each's appealability. It confirms the notion that character and beauty truly come from within, creating an aura that envelopes and enhances whatever exterior we are housed in.

Along those lines, something my friend once told me has always interested me. She once said that growing up, and even now, the people who are drawn to her sister tend to be ones who may not feel the same way magnetism toward her, and vice versa. I have met her sister and they look exactly alike, but within minutes I could tell them apart.

Knit Two and Knit the Season, both by Kate Jacobs

Kate Jacobs continues to delight in Knit Two and Knit the Season, the last two books of her mini-series. Each lady of the Friday Night Knitting Club has taken a different path since the end of the first book, The Friday Night Knitting Club. But despite the different pathes their lives take them, they continue to grow closer.

Although all of the ladies feel a kinship to one another, bonded together by their experiences in the first book, in the second book, Knit Two, we see how some of them begin to grow deeper in their friendship with one or two other ladies they may not have felt so close with before. The ladies also make new friends along the way, expanding their circle, but still maintaining their core for advice, laughs, and yarn.

In Knit the Season, readers revisit the wisdom and wit of Dakota's great-grandmother. One scene at the end of the book is especially touching with all sentiments completely sponsored by her humor, grace, and thoughtfulness.

All in all, if you loved TFNKC, you will fly through these next two books. I would love for Kate Jacobs to continue writing more to this series so that I can see how Dakota, Catherine, Peri, and the rest of the FNKC crew continue to grow, develop, and change.

Kate Jacobs actually has a website, http://www.katejacobs.com/ and another, non-Knitting Club novel, Comfort Food. I'm on to this one next!

Shanghai Girls by Lisa See

See is known for her ability to transport
the reader into a different time and place, and out of her three
bestselling books (which include Snow Flower and the Secret Fan and
Peony in Love, both set in old-world China) the concept of "Shanghai
Girls" sounded most appealing. Shanghai is a beautiful city, often
described as the "Paris of Asia," and the 1930's was a time of great
change as the world was on the brink of war. According to the summary,
this book starts off in 1930's Shanghai but the characters end up in
San Francisco, which obviously is another amazing city. Setting aside,
the characters are what really make this book, and I can see why See
(haha) is such a popular writer. Her actual writing style is not
particularly standout, you wouldn't be able to recognize it, but she
is able to choose and capture characters and setting in an engaging
way that makes it hard to stop reading. The main characters in this
book are sisters Pearl and May Chin, and anyone who has a sister can
immediately relate to them. I have an older sister (who is amazing and
I love to pieces) and I definitely saw her mature, hardworking type-A
personality in Pearl, while I saw a lot of myself in the impulsive,
immature younger sister May (hey, gotta keep it real here). Although I
can't relate, I'm sure many sisters could relate to the rivalry and
jealousy between them, but that drama filled relationship is part of
what makes the story interesting. here were points in the book where
the dialogue was a little ridiculous and contrived, but maybe that's
how they roll in the 1930's. There were also a few wartime scenes that
were painful to read or seemed to drag on too long, but otherwise this
was a terrific, and SISTER-rific, read.

West Virginia-grown roots and wings: The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls and Half Broke Horses, also by Jeannette Walls

The Glass Castle was a title I'd seen time and time again on reading lists and book reviews and heard about several times in conversations about West Virginia authors and all-around good reads. I finally picked it up recently and once I did, I couldn't put it down (okay, truth be told, I did put it down momentarily, but only because I was sooo into the John Edwards book. . .once I finished that and I then picked up Walls's book again, THEN I couldn't put it down. I flew through it in the next few nights). In her memoir, Walls takes us on the journey her parents took her and her three siblings on from Phoenix to Texas to West Virgina, where they eventually settled (as much as this family could "settle," as you'll understand once you read it) and where the Walls children spent the majority of their childhood. Walls not only paints the picture of her upbringing and lifestyle in impoverished Welch, West Virginia, so well, but also vividly takes us through the emotions she and her siblings went through as their father battled alcoholism and their mother led a lifestyle so flighty that at times, I felt like she was just two steps short of growing her own wings (and, I'm getting off on a tangent here, but wings = flashback to The Black Swan) and flying away from the family.

The anecdotes Walls shares with her readers induce a range of emotions, sometimes stirring multiple emotions at the same time! She recalls when she first learned to swim: her father basically took her out to the middle of a local pond and dropped her, arms flailing, until she was just moments short of drowning. He then grabbed her and threw her back in the middle. This process continued until Walls, in an effort to avoid her father's hurls, began moving her body about on her own until she realized that she was swimming. I remember feeling such angst for her, frustration and disbelief toward her father, but then triumph--and relief--when she found herself afloat in the middle of the muddy water. As they were leaving the pond, I continued to feel frustration toward her father as he smugly told her how proud of her he was for learning how to swim, but admiration toward Walls for holding her tongue and quietly holding in her own disbelief at how it all went down.

Aside from some of the crazy family antics, there are many, many touching moments in her story as well. We see how much the children loved and respected their parents, in spite of their shortcomings, but at the end, maintained their perseverance to break away from their unconventional and unhealthy lifestyle. (I won't provide any other details or examples for fear of spoiling!!)

This is an excellent story overall. I thought it was interesting that it seemed like she matched her writing to her changing age throughout the book. For instance, at the beginning, when she is still a child, much of the writing is spoken in short, simple sentences.

One quote I enjoyed reading in the story came when Walls met a man outside of West Virginia. After a brief exchange, he said (something along the lines of), "My, you West Virginian women are mighty strong."

And although that is true, we learn in Half Broke Horses that much of Walls's strength must have come from her grandmother.

Walls gives an account of her maternal grandmother's story in Half Broke Horses. Although we only meet her mother's mother very, very briefly in The Glass Castle, the glimpse we are given is enough to know that her grandmother must have lived a very rich life, full of zest and absent of regret. Walls writes this story in the first-person, in what she explains in her notes as how she would have imagined her grandmother to have told her story. There are parallels between Jeannette's life and her grandmother's. Both are strong and determined women who grew up with unstable parents, but value their past and appreciate how it contributes to their future.

Walls writes Half Broke Horses just as colorfully as she did her own memoir. Although it is a bit shorter, the adventures her grandmother enjoyed, the hard work she endured, and the emotions she portrays (at least, by Walls, according to her research through her mother's recollections) bring Walls's own memoir full circle. This read is just as uplifting and inspiring as her first.

(Faith, I can't wait until you read these so we can discuss in more detail!!)

The next grouping of books I'd like to read and review together are: The Tao Te Ching by Lao-tzu (and translated by Stephen Mitchell), The Dalai Lama's Book of Inner Peace, The Imitation of Christ, and The Analects of Confucius. So far, I have finished the first two, and am working on finishing up the second two.

Also next up: I have begun reading Knit Two, which is proving to be just as delightful as the first Knitting Club book.