I have had A Golden Age on my Kindle for such a long time. I have no idea why it has taken me so long to read it, but I have been missing out. What an amazing book this is! For one thing this is a history lesson on the Bangladesh Liberation War and the genocide that took place in 1971. The story is set mainly in the area of the University of Dhaka. It's a story about Rehana and her two children, Maya and Sohail. The children both attend the university. Maya is a feminist who is frustrated with not being able to contribute more to the war, and Sohail is a pacifist who becomes a guerilla soldier. The book is full of colorful characters that show many different perspectives on the war. I loved so many of them. Rehana's character development throughout the book was my favorite, but I also became very attached to Sohail. I've seen some reviews that say that this is the beginning of a trilogy. I will definitely be looking for the next book. 5/5
What is Left the Daughter is told by Wyatt through a letter to the daughter he hasn't seen since she was a baby. He writes to confess his reasons for being absent in her life. Most of his story takes place in Nova Scotia in 1942, during WWII. Wyatt's parents both die on the same day in bizarre identical suicides when he is a teenager, and Wyatt goes to live with his aunt, uncle, and the "cousin" he falls in love with. Don't worry, none of that is spoiler information. You can find it on the book flap. The main conflict in the story comes when a German immigrant arrives in town, a love triangle begins, and a family is torn apart.
I enjoyed reading about this history from the Canadian point of view. The author shows how regular people can respond to situations and other people in such surprising and often brutal ways when they are living through extraordinary conditions such as war. I thought the characters were well developed and felt real, and the style of the book was perfect for the story. One criticism that I would have is that the story seemed to end before the book did. The ending kind of puttered along for a bit. Overall I thought it was very good, and I would recommend this to anyone who likes reading about WWII. 4/5
After finishing Kitchen Chinese by Ann Mah, I am a little surprised to look back at Amazon and see so many five star reviews. It's not that I think it's a bad book, I actually enjoyed reading it, but it was very predictable and there isn't much that makes it stand out. The story is about Isabelle, a Chinese American woman approaching her thirties, who has lost her job at a New York magazine and is looking for a fresh start. She decides to move to Beijing to live with her sister, Claire. Once she is in Beijing she finds a job as a food critic for an expat magazine. The typical chick lit romantic storylines follow.
Isabelle didn't evolve much as a character, but she did find her way to happiness as the main characters tend to do in these type of books. I did learn quite a bit about Chinese cuisine, and a little bit about life in modern China. This is a book that I would easily suggest to a friend heading on vacation. It's light and easy to read, and at times it is pretty funny. However, I would not consider it for a bookclub discussion so the reading group guide in the back surprised me. I would rate this one as a 3/5.
Room is told through the eyes of Jack, a five year old boy who is born in captivity to a mother who was kidnapped. The two of them live in a twelve foot square soundproof shed. The story follows them through their escape and experiences adjusting to the real world.
I expected this to be an upsetting book to read so I almost didn't pick it up. It really wasn't that type of book. Since it is told through Jack's innocent perspective, the horrors are implied instead of described. It wasn't shocking in the way that I thought it would be. The author captures Jack's bewilderment with the world very well. However, there are some things that I thought were overdone and somewhat annoying, such as Jack's issues with breastfeeding and his fixation with his mother's tooth. I could have done with a little less of that although I understood her purpose. Overall it was a very good read. Don't avoid it because you think it might be too creepy. 4/5
