Jennifer's Books

This blog is a weblog by Jennifer about books she's read, favorite books, books she wants to read. Anything book related! Don't forget to check out "The Last Movie I Saw" on the right hand side.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

My Next Read

After mulling over the 10 or so books I have I decided to read......

NISEI DAUGHTER by Monica Sone

So far it's interesting and a pretty fast read. The descriptions of Seattle bring back memories of our trips there and the Underground Tour we took.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Snowflower and the Secret Fan

by Lisa See

This book was chosen by my book club in Utah. I had heard good things about it so I thought I would get a copy to read.

The story is told about two women who were matched at age 7 and are to be friends through their entire life. Since they are matched they do not have any other close friends, or sworn sisters. After they separate in marriage and go to different villages they communicate more using the fan with their secret language. Being a woman I found it to be so true of women friendships at any time, we all chronicle our lives through events and family.

The book is very well written and an eye opener to the classic Chinese culture of the 1600s. The story is told by an 80 year old woman named Lily about her childhood and years with her old same, Snowflower (or what I interpret as matched best friends). During her life she talks about all the traditions that women uphold to make themselves more valuable in life, the most value being from having sons and helping her husband to carry on his family line. Lily and her friend Snowflower encounter a lot during the years. Throughout time they send messages back and forth about their life on a fan using a secret language that women know called nu shu. Women are not taught to read and write except for nu shu, they mostly learn embroidery, cooking, sewing, and only what they need to be a good wife and daughter in law.

I found the book easy to read and again very enlightening about the chinese culture and how women are valued or not valued during their lives. As I am sure it is like today, in the 21st century and all cultures, most women take great solace in knowing your friends or sisters are there for you in your time of need. A great read!

5 of 5 rating

Sunday, September 21, 2008

2 new books...

Well I was in Walgreen's today and saw these 2 books on the Buy 2 for $10. I need these like I need a "hole in the head" but I like the authors and $5 for a hardback book I couldn't pass it up.

Blaze by Richard Bachman (aka Stephen King)
The last of the Richard Bachman novels, recently recovered and published for the first time. Stephen King's "dark half" may have saved the best for last.

Blaze is the story of Clayton Blaisdell, Jr. -- of the crimes committed against him and the crimes he commits, including his last, the kidnapping of a baby heir worth millions. Blaze has been a slow thinker since childhood, when his father threw him down the stairs -- and then threw him down again. After escaping an abusive institution for boys when he was a teenager, Blaze hooks up with George, a seasoned criminal who thinks he has all the answers. But then George is killed, and Blaze, though haunted by his partner, is on his own.
He becomes one of the most sympathetic criminals in all of literature. This is a crime story of surprising strength and sadness, with a suspenseful current sustained by the classic workings of fate and character -- as taut and riveting as Stephen King's The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon.


Ine's of My Soul by Isabel Allende
From Isabel Allende, author of novels beloved across the globe, comes a magisterial work of historical fiction that chronicles the astonishing life of Inés Suárez, a daring Spanish conquistadora who toiled to build the nation of Chile—and whose vital role has too often been neglected by history.
Born into a poor family in Spain, Inés works hard to make ends meet. It is the sixteenth century, and when her shiftless husband disappears to the New World, Inés uses the opportunity to search for him as an excuse to flee her stifling homeland and seek adventure. After her treacherous journey takes her to Peru, she learns that her husband has died in battle. Soon, she begins a fiery love affair with a man who will change the course of her life: Pedro de Valdivia, war hero and field marshal to the famed Francisco Pizarro.
Inés of My Soul is a work of breathtaking scope: meticulously researched, it engagingly dramatizes the known events of Inés Suárez's life, crafting them into a novel full of the narrative brilliance and passion readers have come to expect from Isabel Allende.

Friday, September 19, 2008

Excited about Book Discussion at Library

I am very excited! I am planning to go to a panel discussion on the One Community/One Book that was been selected.

The book is Nisei Daughter by Monica Sone. She is a second generation Japanese immigrant who grew up in the Seattle area and spent time in a Japanese internment camp in World War II.

I really liked the book When the Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuka which was the One County/One Book program in Salt Lake County last year. It made me do some more research on the Japanese camps in the US since I was not aware of that until I read this book. There was a camp in Utah called Topaz and I watched a PBS documentary about that too.

I hope I can get her book read beforehand and if she's there I may see if she can sign it for me!

Thursday, September 18, 2008

A Challenge to Read!

Try to read 1 book by the end of 2008!

Check out this challenge at My Friend Amy's blog.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Reading by flashlight

Do you remember the days when you were a kid and you used to read with a flashlight under the covers in bed because you were supposed to be sleeping?

Well, here in Northeast Ohio we had the biggest wind storm, remnants of Hurrican Ike, Sunday evening which knocked out power to some 500,000 or more people. My house was one of them! So for the past few nights I have been reading by flashlight before going to bed. My eyes aren't as good as when I was young so they got tired faster but without power what else is there to do but read by candlelight or flashlight. My Dad read the paper by candlelight or he read it before work next to the window by natural light.

The power came on today, Wednesday, midday so we can read again like we do in the 21st century.

Thursday, September 11, 2008

A Booktalker Book Blog

Say that 10 times fast!

I wanted to mention my WW Booktalk Friend Bonnie who has started her own Book Blog and is having a giveaway!

Check out her site at Red Lady's Reading Room and enter to win a copy of The Professor's Wives Club by Joanne Rendell.

Sunday, September 07, 2008

Nothing....

Still reading Snowflower and the Secret Fan. It's just kind of slow and not grabbing me but I think that's my life right now too.

I have constructed in my head how my office will look in the new house. It is a bedroom so a nice square size and it has a cutout for the closet which we probably won't need to use much, so I think I am going to put in a comfy chair and lamp and make a reading corner there. Then bookshelves and desk/computer will be on the other side of the room. The other nice thing is the office will be on the second floor in this house. It was off the dining room and long and narrow in our old house so it wasn't very cozy and tended to always look full and messy no matter how clean it got.

My Utah book club picked Lazy B: Living on a ranch in the American Southwest by Sandra Day O'Connor. I requested it already on bookmooch so hopefully I'll get it soon... not sure I'll get to reading it :-) but I can see what it's about.

I haven't gotten a library card yet either since we don't have an address and stuff I figured I'd wait. I did go and check it out. I may sign up to take a Basic Geneology class in October for something fun to do! The adult section is as I remember it :-)
They have lots of things there, meetings, and book signings, etc. their One Community/One Book is Nisei Daughter by Monica Sone