July 20, 2011 - Book Review

Bossypants by Tina Fey (2011)
recommended by lots of people

I happen to very much agree with most of what Janet Maslin wrote about this book in her review in the NY Times, so I won't try to recreate the wheel and write too much more.  Much like Fey's TV show "30 Rock", I thought her book was funny, but not quite as funny as I thought it would be.  I did laugh out loud 5 times and especially enjoyed/identified with her later chapters that involve parenting and family stuff.  She had way more messages related to feminism (or rather gender-equality) than I expected, which I liked because it wasn't just a funny book  - there were actual messages inside it!  And the details of Tina-Fey-as-Sarah-Palin were themselves worth buying the book for.  I'd say it is a great beach read this summer (unless you are having winter in Nairobi, in which case I recommend reading it in your wool socks while your baby is teething and awake all night).   

LMW

July 14, 2011 - Book Review

Since Noah was born, I haven't read anything for pleasure.  Lots of news and lots of parenting article/books/blogs.  Lots of emails and lots of facebook.  But nothing for pleasure.  Until last week!  And maybe the reason I enjoyed the book so much was simply the fact that I was reading it for me (because the New York Times critic who reviewed it didn't like it that much!).  I even gave up a 2 hour nap when every other person in this household was asleep yesterday so that I could lay on the sofa and finish my book.  Good stuff!  So here it is, for better or worse, my review of this book, should you be interested.

Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese (2008).
Fiction.  Read it for my book club's August book.

This is a story that mostly takes place in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), about the lives of two boys who were born to an Indian nun nurse and a British surgeon.  Their arrival was a surprise to everyone around them (who didn't know about one night of a love affair); their mother died in birth, their father abandoned them moments later, and they were raised by an Indian couple who were both doctors at that same hospital.  They were actually conjoined twins who were separated at birth, but spent their lives having some kind of super phenomenal connection to each other.  The book has a lot of medical jargon in it, but I found that the writer's medical descriptions were actually quite beautiful.  I also thought the beginning was a bit slow and hard to follow at first.  But, I loved the description of life inside this little African hospital. I particularly loved the characters who raised the twins as their own.  Of course the story gets complicated and tells a somewhat fictionalized version of political/historical events in Ethiopia and Eritrea, but that too was interesting to read.  Most of the story was not predictable, until the very end (a bit of a disappointment), and I found it had much to do with the human spirit, faith and exploring the definitions of family.  There were lots of great quotes in it and I also liked that there were moments in Nairobi, NYC and Boston in the novel (all the places I've lived!).  I don't think it was the greatest book I've ever read, but something in there spoke to me and I really enjoyed it.  

LMW

January 13, 2010 - Bedrest Book Reviews (or not)

Well...I have completely slacked in the reading department lately. Admittedly, I have read NOTHING but the news, my email, facebook and "What to Expect When You are Expecting" (also, the 1st year and toddler years "what to expect" books are frequently all open at the same time). It is not that I don't want to read for pleasure, because of course I do...but I blame a number of factors...

• I was writing some curriculum for a former professor of mine at Syracuse University, which took up 70 hours of my time. Basically, when I wasn't trying to sleep or eat or doing something with Grace & Kristoffer, I was doing that. Finished as of this past Monday.
• I have been uncomfortable in any (or every) position for long periods of time which means that sitting or laying down to read has been physically uncomfortable for me.
• I have had very little attention span for the last many weeks.
• Grace didn't have preschool for 6 weeks. Rose and I concocted a schedule so that I had a break from Grace each day to either work or rest and so that Rose also had a break from Grace to clean our house. And the reality is that Grace is actually very fun to play with, even if most of the things I play with her involve me moving as infrequently as possible (puzzles, legos, trains, bubbles, etc.). I left all of the swinging, sliding, sandboxing, running around to Rose. And now Grace is back in school every morning from 9-12.
• Nesting: when I have had a little extra time I have focused on getting our lives ready for Rocky.

All excuses aside, my "partial bed rest" is over in 11 days anyway when Rocky arrives and then I suspect the only things I'll be reading for awhile are the faces of my beautiful children. Children. As in more than one. Plural. WOW!

My apologies for not reading and sharing more. I did get a lot of positive feedback when I did share so whenever my pleasure-reading resumes I will continue to write review and hope that is OK with you.

LMW

November 28, 2010 - Bedrest Book Review

Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann (2009).

Fiction. Recommended by my friend Karen.

Karen described this book to me as, "Sort of like the movie Crash. You know, where everyone is somehow connected but you don't totally get it until the end." After reading it I would say that is a pretty fitting description. The event that centers the book happened in August of 1974 for real: a man named Philippe Petit walked a tightrope between the Twin Towers in New York City. The rest of the story is made up of fictional characters whose lives unexpectedly connect each to the other based on what happened that day. In all but one case, I thought the author did a nice job of weaving their stories and connections together and I really enjoyed reading the book. I was surprised when the book ended (reading on a Kindle has a different effect than reading an actual book when you know how many pages are left) and as much as I liked the stories, I had a lot of questions about the characters and some of the details that I would have liked the author to include. In the end I think it was a book about how people deal with real life and with tragedy, how they carve their place in the world, how they find or do not find love. It was well-written and thoughtful and at some moments actually quite a beautiful story to read. I would definitely recommend it - would make a great book club book! If you are a New Yorker or a New York lover, the book will mean something even more to you. A tribute to the Towers and all of their power and promise when they were young in the early 70s, the book is also a reminder of how they brought the people of New York together both at the beginning and the end of their existence.

LMW

November 21, 2010 - Bedrest Book Reviews

I'm a little behind on my book reviews, but the reality is I've only read two books in the last three weeks. I've slowed down on the reading because I'm actually working on a project for a former professor of mine at Syracuse University (for which I'm being paid! Wow! That feels good!) and while Grace is at school every morning I use those hours to work....because, you know, I cannot sacrifice my afternoon nap when she is napping!

In addition to the two books that I've read below, I started two others that I haven't been able to focus on getting through. We'll see how much reading I get done this week while Kristoffer is in Senegal for 6 days.

Confessions of an Economic Hitman by John Perkins (2004)

Nonfiction. Recommended by our friend Mike here in Nairobi and my cousin Jonathan. I bought this book for Kristoffer's birthday 2 years ago and he never got around to reading it.

In this book, Perkins claims to have worked as an "economic hitman" for a private firm with strong ties to the American government and intelligence community with the purpose of persuading developing countries to borrow money from the US (all of which would be invested in US firms for the expansion of infrastructure and social services) that they would never be able to pay back without granting the US access to their most prized natural resources (i.e. oil). A controversial narrative, the story reads really well and certainly gets one thinking about what is going on in the world of global finance and international development. Perkins wrote about several world events that I didn't know that much about (both before and during my lifetime), which was interesting for me, and made many connections between events from the last several decades with extremely current events (at least up through 9/11 and the starts of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan). A critical reader should be careful not to swallow everything Perkins writes as gospel, but could use the book as a jumping off point for thinking seriously about world economies and the US's role in their development. I thought it was well worth the read.

A Mercy by Toni Morrison (2009)

Fiction. Not recommended by anyone; I bought it when it was first published because I own and have read all of her other works, started it a few times, never got into it, and finally dedicated myself to reading it.

I don't know if it is enough to say that this book is "typically Morrison", but that is nevertheless my opinion. Morrison's books touch upon issues related to slavery and its aftermath, specifically for women, and this story is no different. Taking place at the end of the 17th century, the book profiles four different women and their connection to one man trying to make it as a farmer in the "new world" (America) while also dabbling in the importing of rum from the Caribbean. One of the women is his wife (an arranged marriage that brought her to Maryland from London) and the other three are their servants: a Native American woman and two distinctly different African American girls. The story describes unique elements of the slave trade, the effects of smallpox, and the significant role of religion in that time period. Without having "studied" the book too much, I liked that it offered new elements to her repertoire, such as the intersection of Native Americans and African slaves at that time. Like many of her books, it is often hard to tell in whose voice she is writing (which alternates each chapter) and requires a bit of re-reading as you go through it to understand their voices and perspectives. I can't say that I loved it - because of course it is pretty sad and heavy - but I did think she did a good job developing the characters of the four women and I didn't dislike it. I think that if you usually like her work that you should read this one too.

LMW

November 4, 2010 - Bedrest Book Review

This week I finished one book and am slowly working my way through another. The book I read is....

Freedom by Jonathan Franzen (2010)

Fiction. Recommended by my friends Amy and Joanna, read it with my friend Victoria, and Oprah's most recent book club pick.

So...I was really disappointed in this book. I have never read Jonathan Franzen before, although he is critically acclaimed. There has been a lot of hype about his latest work of fiction and, really, I just didn't get it. I thought it was often long-winded and boring; often trying way too hard, and my overarching feeling is that the book couldn't decide what it was about, or rather Franzen couldn't decide what he wanted the book to be about: freedom, environmentalism, war politics, family dysfunction, depression, love, feminism, religion, overpopulation, capitalism, and on and on. By choosing to comment on so many issues, I felt he actually didn't tackle any of them in a meaningful way. I didn't find any of his characters to be sympathetic, and really only liked 1, maybe 2, of them even a little bit (and they were the most minor characters!). His writing is definitely intellectual and even though I don't consider myself to be anti-intellectual, I just couldn't stand it. The book is quite long and I read it quickly in two days because I just wanted it to be over so badly. I actually wouldn't recommend this book, except perhaps to people who already love Franzen because maybe they get him in a way that I don't.

LMW

October 28, 2010 - Bedrest Book Review

This week I only managed to read one book, not necessarily for lack of wanting to read more, but this particular read was one that required a little more time and attention than anticipated. Note, this review is a long one.

It's Our Turn to Eat: The Story of a Kenyan Whistle-Blower by Michele Wrong (2009) Non-fiction.

Chosen for a "book club" that Kristoffer and I have started with each other; he is also reading it. Recommended by several friends in Nairobi.

I am not 100% a fan of Michela Wrong's style of writing; I think she often uses 20 words when she really only needs 10 and unnecessarily peppers her writing with dramatic cliches and proverbs. That aside, this was a very interesting and useful book to read and I learned a lot about the country I have lived in for almost 3 years now.

Wrong tells the story of John Githongo, a Kenyan man who, in his role as the government's anti-corruption czar beginning in 2003, uncovered an expansive corruption scheme within the government that robbed Kenyan taxpayers of over $1 billion (the scandal is known as Anglo-Leasing). The book recounts a lot of Kenyan history, much of which I didn't know, and specifically explores the roots of corruption at all levels of society. It provides an indepth look at the history of Kenya's tribalism - the good, the bad, and the very very ugly - and how corruption was more than just an extraneous factor in causing the post-election violence of 2007/2008. Wrong uses Kenya as one example to explore different opinions about what can be done to actually improve the biggest factor impeding Africa's development. She presents a balanced view of the strengths and flaws of Githongo - not ever completely glorifying him as a hero, to my surprise - and she does not hold back in describing in detail the conclusions to which his evidence pointed. It is a pretty scathing picture - true, no doubt - of the Kenyan government (past and present, equally) and the elite of Kenyan society, while also questioning the intentions and actions of the larger donor community and their actual commitment to ending corruption.

The last two chapters of the book cover the time period when we arrived in Kenya and what happened in the 2007 election. Reading this journalist's experience of our first days and weeks in the country was sort of a WOW moment for me. I can't believe we were here for that! Honestly, if I had read this book before our move, I am not sure that we would have ever made it...because those were extremely dark days for the country, and now I realize that they were much, much darker than we ever knew at the time. But, of course, John Githongo's story gives hope - not that corruption in Kenya is going to end any time soon, but that if more and more individuals stand up against corruption - regardless of the personal risk to themselves and even if only in very small ways - several generations down the line might have a chance of knowing a different Kenya.

If you are interested in learning more about "real" Kenya - not the cozy, expat, safari-on-the-weekend, easy-Africa Kenya that Kristoffer and I live in, but - the real Kenyan's Kenya, you should read this book (unless you're my mother. Then don't read it. Ever.).

LMW

*Note: almost every bookstore in Kenya refuses to sell the book out of fear of retribution from the government, so it is only sold at the UN and on the black market. That tells you something!

October 21, 2010 - Bedrest Book Reviews

I have read three books in my first official week of taking it easy and, because I am a little bit on the bored side, I'll take advantage of my blog to write some book reviews. Don't worry, it will only last until Rocky arrives (if that long) and I'll try to keep my reviews somewhat brief. I don't have a system - 4 stars, 2 thumbs up, or anything like that - but I will be honest about what I thought of the book or what it did/didn't do for me.

The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz (2007)

Fiction. Recommended to me by one of my former students in New York City.

Takes place in Paterson, New Jersey and chronicles one family's history in the Dominican Republic under the rule of Dictator Rafael Trujillo. Different from anything else I've ever read. It gave me a lot of insight into Dominican culture, which was interesting after teaching a large population of Dominican students in New York, and also taught me a lot about Dominican history. It isn't a happy story, though. The main character, Oscar, is a tortured boy who doesn't fit the typical Dominican male stereotype of his homeland, but also doesn't fit in in Paterson either. He is overweight, has no "game" whatsoever, is obsessed with science-fiction and fantasy and writing, and is possibly the biggest romantic ever to live, all factors which conspire against him. I am sure some of the magic of this story was lost on me with a lot of Spanish in the book, a lot of slang, and a lot of cultural references that I didn't understand. To help non-Dominican or non-sci-fi-loving readers at least somewhat, the author filled the story with historical, cultural, and literary footnotes. The writing style is non-traditional, very modern, and sometimes it took me a few minutes of reading to figure out who the narrator was or what time period/setting we were in. I can't say that I loved it, but I did find it interesting and was eager to reach its conclusion.

Zeitoun by Dave Eggers (2009)

Non-fiction. Recommended by Matt Weiss and Meghan Woo, who left the book here after their visit in the summer.

The story describes the experience of Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath for an upper-middle-class Muslim-American family living in New Orleans. The blurred lines between the government's approach to addressing the city's problems while still fighting its war on terror on the home-front were news to me. It is an educational story filled with rage and fear and love and sorrow and politics and EVERYTHING. Dave Eggers, already an amazing writer, really outdid himself with this book, working with and receiving full cooperation from the family, who donate all proceeds of the book to their foundation to promote religious tolerance and help rebuild New Orleans. It is, by far, the most important piece of writing I have read in a very, very long time. It should be used in high school and college classrooms the world over to teach writing, religion, politics, and history. B-r-i-l-l-i-a-n-t.

The Alchemist by Paola Coelho (1988)

Fiction. Recommended by lots of people in the world.

This was a book I've had on my "read" list for years, but I've just never gotten around to it before now and BOY WAS I MISSING OUT. Written in 1988 by the Brazilian Coelho, the story is spiritual and religious, it is "new age" and traditional, it is magical and down-to-earth. Telling the tale of one boy's journey towards his "Personal Legend", Coelho pushes the idea that if you want to achieve or accomplish something, all the universe will conspire to help you do it. The story teaches of love and courage and free-will. It is a simple story - a fable, actually - that reminded me of The Little Prince (I know I'm not the only one...); it was also a nice reminder that something so simple could be so profound. Kristoffer read it a long time ago and when I finished it last night, we ended up having a really important discussion about it and our lives for the rest of the evening. It also made me itch a bit to get into the classroom...from the minute I finished it my brain was coming up with ideas for teaching the text to my students! What fun that would have been!

Stay tuned for next week's reviews...and happy reading of your own in the meantime! Also, if you have suggestions for what I should be reading and reviewing, please let me know.

LMW