Digging to America

While I was home over the holidays, I was reading Digging to America by Ann Tyler. The book had been recommended to me, so I was eager to read about the story of two families that both adopt young Korean girls. The two families end up becoming close friends as the daughters grow up together.

I was generally disappointed in this book. It had the potential to be a really intriguing story about the difficulties of a multi-national family. It ended up being a rather boring account of their lives and the short love affair of the grandparents. While there were definitely parts of the story that were sweet or touching, overall, the novel lacked much depth.

Although, I really didn't feel fulfilled at the end of the novel, I did keep reading the book even though I was bored. Tyler was able to create a connection between the reader and the characters which kept your attention; however the novel took place over many years and it felt like the novel just jumped from period of time to the next. I'm having a hard time pinpointing what I didn't like about the novel and why I kept reading. What I'm tying to say, I think, is that while the story was interesting it lacked much substance.


Digging to America
by Ann Tyler

A Long Way Down

At my roommate's urging, I read A Long Way Down by Nick Hornby a couple weeks ago. My roommate, Sara, and her mom were going to hear him speak and since they were raving about Nick Hornby I figured I'd read one of his books and go along to hear him speak.

The book was pretty amazing. The unusual premise focused on several strangers that meet on top of a building on New Years Eve because they were all planning on committing suicide. The four main characters all face various problems in their lives--a severely disabled child, public disgrace, lack of a career, no girl friend, no boy friend. Despite their problems, though, they all come down from the building that night and become a sort of support system for each other. The characters couldn't be more different from each other but nonetheless find something in each other that creates a friendship strong enough to keep them alive.

Despite my somewhat corny synopsis, the book is actually really funny and touching. Hornby really finds a way of getting into the heads of these characters and creating unique voices for each one of them. Despite the sobering topic of suicide the book is quite light hearted and fun. I really enjoyed reading and felt as though I connected with the characters.

I was lucky enough to finish the novel just before Nick Hornby was coming to speak at the DC bookstore, Politics and Prose. The bookstore was totally packed, apparently he has quite the fanatic following. Mainly, he read from his newest book but Hornby also answered many questions and was very gracious as readers asked all about his writing process and the details of his book.

A Long Way Down
by Nick Hornby

Girl with a Pearl Earring

When I was in eighth grade, I went with my family to New York City for the first time. We were there for my cousin Molly's beautiful wedding but there was obviously time for sight seeing, too. We went to the Met and they were having an exhibit on Vermeer; of the paintings featured, Girl with a Pearl Earring was the focus. I saw the painting about the same time that Tracy Chavalier's Girl with a Pearl Earring came out. So, I've been meaning to read it for the last eight years...

Finally, this fall I read and completed the novel. I wasn't expecting much but I still found it disappointing. It was a cute story but not really much more than that. Its always fun to learn about the story behind a famous piece of work, but I found the plot line kind of silly and over dramatized. Griet, the girl in the painting, works as a maid for Vermeer and somehow their long eye contact and touching of hands means that they've fallen in love and closely connected. It just didn't seem very believable to me.

Generally, I don't finish books I don't like but I did finish this novel. Which, I suppose, suggests that I really didn't hate the book. And, that's probably true. It was worth reading while I took the metro back and forth to work (its a small paper back, so it was light in my purse, too). I would recommend this as a vacation read or for something to read when nothing else is around...

I do want to see the movie, though.

Girl with a Pearl Earring
by Tracy Chevalier

Book Festival, Book Club, etc.

I've had a really book focused weekend. Among other things, the highlights of this weekend were going to the National Book Festival and joining a book club. On Saturday, I met up with my old friend Jenny who I hadn't seen in years. The book festival was the perfect place to reconnect--it was free, there was enough time walking around that we could catch up, and the festival provided lots additional things to talk about. Jenny and I went to see Julia Alvarez speak and she was amazing. I had only read one of her books, In the Time of Butterflies, which I had loved and now I really want to read her newest adult fiction book, Saving the World. Alvarez really did not spend that much time talking about her books, the talk was focused on her love of reading and how powerful books can help us all live in another world, if only for a few hundred pages.

Then, today, I met up with another old friend, Gwen, and we went to a book club sponsored by the Women's Information Network. The book club was discussing Time Traveler's Wife which I read a couple months ago, so this was the perfect chance to meet new people and talk about I book I really liked. For sure, talking about it made me question if I really loved it as much as I thought I did. Time Traveler's Wife is a great read, but I realized as we talked about it that there is a lot of questionable focus on the role of women. For example, Clare who is the time traveler's wife seems to be defined by that role--she is only a time traveler's wife and very little else. That being said, there is a lot to like about this novel and overall I really enjoyed it.

Book I want to read:
Saving the World by Julia Alvarez

Books I've already read (and liked):
In the Time of Butterflies by Julia Alvarez
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffennegger

in the kitchen

i read about in the kitchen by monica ali at the beginning of the summer in the chicago tribune book section. although I was never able to complete ali's earlier novel, bricklane, this one had a more appealing (and seemingly creative) storyline. my roommate recently checked it out of the library and this seemed the perfect time to give the newest monica ali book a chance. as i began to read, the story seemed to simply tell the story of gabe lightfoot, the head chef at a fancy london hotel. this first half of the novel highlights the many frustrations of gabe's life: his job, his ambition, his family, his girlfriend, his international coworkers.

overall, i found liked the book but it seemed at times to lack direction. the first two hundred pages slowly builds to the second half of the book where the plot develops more quickly and strangely. as the book progresses, ali addresses more serious topics than simply the life of a chef as she attempts to incorporate issues of bipolar disorders, prostitution, and the role of human trafficking in modern london. while these turns are fairly surprising and seem a little out of place, the characters are so well developed that i felt compelled to keep reading despite the somewhat disjointed story line.

in the kitchen is a pretty easy read and certainly held my attention, but the trajectory of the story line may leave the reader surprised and a little confused. i recommend the book for anyone interested in cooking, multiculturalism, or london but the treatment of human trafficking is light and perhaps incomplete. if you're looking for a serious discussion or appraisal of trafficking, look else where.

In the Kitchen
by Monica Ali