January 2015 Reviews

The Jungle by Upton Sinclair (Evening Edition book club)

I remember reading this book in high school and really liking it, so I was looking forward to re-reading it as an adult especially because of my interest in food issues. While this book caused quite a stir when it first came out because of what it brought to light about the food industry of the day, the majority of the book is not about food. Jurgis Rudkus comes to America with friends and family from Lithuania hoping for a better life. What he finds is pretty much hell. They are barely able to scrape by and all work in some capacity in the "packingtown" meat packing district of Chicago. The working conditions are horrific, the pay is horrific, the food being produced is horrific, and immigrants are constantly being scammed because they can barely speak the language and don't know any better. Most of the book is Jurgis' life getting worse and worse - until he finds socialism in the last few chapters. Then suddenly all is right in his world. Sinclair wrote this book as an argument for socialism, but when it came out the public was horrified by what he revealed about the food industry - to the point that this book inspired the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906. I found the parts about socialism the hardest to take, just because it was so obviously trying to beat that point of view into the reader's head. Overall, it was WAY longer than it needed to be and all the things that Jurgis get involved in over the course of the book seem pretty far-fetched. What did seem obvious to me was how little the food industry has changed overall - corporations still create food laws to benefit their pockets, industrial food workers are treated incredibly poorly and are often illegal immigrants, and industrial food is far from "pure." But there are MUCH better non-fiction books about the food industry if that's what you're interested in.

The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe (Books & Banter book club)

Will Schwalbe and his mother Mary Anne always talked about books. Will worked in publishing and his whole family were big readers. So when Will's mother is diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer, they form an informal book club to pass the time during Mary Anne's treatments. Pancreatic cancer patients sometimes only live a few months past their diagnosis, but Mary Anne lived for almost 2 years after her diagnosis and her family made the most of that time with her. While some parts of the book were tedious in describing basically the same things over and over, but two things stood out to me - how close the Schwalbe family was and what an incredible woman Mary Anne was. Overall it was a good book and not overly sad or sentimental. 
[originally read July 27, 2013]

I re-read this book for book club and it made for a great discussion - about books, book clubs, life and death, family, etc. I did enjoy re-reading it and might even give it 4 stars this time. This is a great book for book clubs and I printed the list of books at the end of the book that are discussed in the book for my book club. Overall, a really good book about the love of reading and not as sad as you might think based on the subject matter.
[re-read January 9, 2015]

Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult

Jenna Metcalf's mother disappeared when she was three years old after an incident at the elephant sanctuary where Jenna's parents Alice and Thomas work. Her father has a mental breakdown and ends up in an institution after the incident. Jenna has spent her whole life wondering what happened that night. She decides to enlist the help of a psychic and one of the original detectives on her mother's case. Both Serenity and Virgil have seen better days and the last thing they want to do is help a thirteen-year-old with a ten year old missing person's case, but something about Jenna draws them both in. Jodi Picoult is known for her surprise twist endings, but I really did NOT see this ending coming. It's like The Sixth Sense meets Ghost in book form. The story is told from Jenna, Serenity, Virgil, and Alice's perspectives so you really get the whole story of what happened that night at the elephant sanctuary. I'm not a fan of psychics, so when I realized what was happening at the end it made me like the book a little less, but the way the story unfolds you definitely want to keep reading to find out what happens.

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo

This book was definitely unique. The author has created a "tidying" empire that supposedly has changed the lives of all her clients. While she does have some good ideas and she explains why she suggests everything that she does, it is pretty hardcore. She thanks her clothing, shoes, etc. every day and empties her purse completely every day when she comes home. Her biggest suggestion is only keeping things that "spark joy," but she is also against stockpiling anything for any reason, which I don't agree with. There are some good tips for organizing and storing, but overall it's pretty hardcore and almost neurotic in my opinion. Her descriptions of herself as a child I find hard to believe - she LOVES tidying and does it EVERY day after school. She also said that by 1st grade she was using an alarm to get up on her own because she didn't trust anyone in her family to get her up on time - yikes! I might think about discarding things differently after reading this, but it didn't inspire me to want to be like her. Overall, OK, but pretty rigid and strict.

Some crazy quotes:

"Every piece of clothing has its own 'sweet spot'where it feels just right - a folded state that best suits that item." (p. 76)

"I pointed to the balled up socks. 'Look at them carefully. This should be a time for them to rest. Do you really think they can get any rest like that?'" (p. 81)

"Once you've experienced the freedom of a life without surplus stock, you won't want to give it up and will naturally stop stockpiling." (p. 123)

"There is no need to keep soaps and shampoos out when we are not using them, and the added exposure to heat and moisture when they aren't in use is bound to affect their quality. It is therefore my policy to keep everything out of the bath or shower. Whatever is used in the bath should be dried after use anyway, so it makes far more sense to just wipe down the few items we use with our bath towel and then put them away in the cupboard." (p. 158)

Mambo in Chinatown by Jean Kwok

I loved Jean Kwok's first book Girl in Translation, so I was excited to read this one and she does not disappoint! Charlie and her sister Lisa are ABCs - American Born Chinese. After their mother died Charlie works extra hard to help her father raise Lisa and also help contribute financially. When Charlie has the opportunity to work as a receptionist for a ballroom dance company she doesn't know that her whole life will change. But, as Charlie's life gets better Lisa's gets worse - she starts having nightmares and physical problems that no one can figure out. Plus, their father doesn't trust western medicine. As Charlie becomes more and more involved in the ballroom dancing world she feels like she is living two lives. Kwok does a great job of showing how Charlie is torn between two worlds - her father's traditional Chinese world and all the possibilities of American life. Another great book by Jean Kwok - I can't wait to read whatever she writes next!

I Am Pusheen the Cat by Claire Belton

This book is SO cute that after checking it out from my local library I immediately bought it! I also bought a Pusheen keychain and a little stuffed Pusheen toy. I had seen some of the Pusheen gifs online and thought they were cute, but this book just takes it to another level. The illustrations are great and I actually laughed out loud when reading it. I only takes a few minutes to read through the book since it's mostly pictures, but if you love cats then this is a must have book!

The Call of the Farm by Rochelle Bilow

When Rochelle Bilow was working on her freelance food writing career, she stumbled upon Stonehill farm - a small, sustainable CSA farm in central New York. She plans to volunteer for a day and write a day-in-the-life piece about it. But, after that first day she is inexplicably drawn to the farm and the work - she is also drawn to Ian, one of the farmers. Soon she is hired to cook meals for the staff and that turns into actually working on the farm. Pretty quickly she and Ian start dating too, but it's obvious that her feelings are much stronger than his are. Over the course of a year Rochelle learns the ins and outs of working on a small, sustainable farm - how hard the work is and how long the days are, but also how beautiful it is and how satisfying the work can be. But, you can see it coming a long way off that her relationship with Ian is probably not going to work out. I felt bad for her, but I also know that sometimes when you're in a relationship like that you just can't help yourself. 

Overall, it was disappointing because from about half way through you realize the relationship isn't going to work and it puts a damper on the book. Plus, the end just drops off and I would have liked to know at least what happened after she left the farm - an epilogue or something. She does include a few seasonal recipes at the end of each section which I liked. It wasn't a terrible book, but I just felt really bad for her with how painful this relationship was for her. There are a lot better, and happier farm memoirs out there.

Saving Grace by Jane Green

Grace and Ted Chapman are a literary powerhouse couple. Ted is known as "the thinking man's Grisham" and Grace is by his side as the beautiful, loving wife and homemaker who sits on charity boards. They have an enviable life, but on the inside Grace has to put up with Ted's drastic and terrible mood swings and rages. When his long-time assistant Ellen leaves, Grace steps into her role and honestly can't take much more. Then at just the right moment Beth comes along, she has experience as a personal assistant and it seems like there isn't anything that she can't do. Even though she seems like a dream come true, Grace feels like there is something not quite right about Beth. Soon, Grace realizes that Beth may have been after more than just a "dream job," but might be trying to take over Grace's life. Will Grace be able to save her family and her comfortable life or once she takes a step back will she even want to go back?

THIS is the Jane Green that I love! I really didn't like her last book Tempting Fate and I was hoping that was a one-off not-so-great book and it seems it was. This is a fast paced novel that will keep you guessing until the end about what will happen with Grace and what she will choose for herself in the end. I would highly recommend this one!