Review: The Leavers

The Leavers by Lisa Ko
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was a Book of the Month selection, and I was glad to have chosen it. It follows Deming, a boy from childhood to adulthood, as he copes with separation from his mother as a young child, when she lives in America, trying to earn enough money to support him, while he lives in her childhood village in China. Once he comes to the US, they make a life together in New York City, but he is again separated from her at age eleven, when she mysteriously disappears from her job at a nail salon one day.

Deming ends up adopted by a WASPy couple in a small suburban town, and while they do their best to be good parents to him, he never fully belongs to them. The rest of the book tells the story of his search for his birth mother, for his identity, and for solace - of any sort. Well-written with compelling characters, this was a winner in my book.

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Review: Half Broke Horses

Half Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Glass Castle is one of my favorite memoirs, so when I tried this book a few years ago and couldn't get into it, I was disappointed. This time around I got into it, and enjoyed it. This book is a "novelization" of Walls' grandmother Lily's life. I went into it hoping to understand how Walls' mother became the woman she was, the neglectful parent depicted in The Glass Castle.

However, I soon forgot that goal and got lost in the wild, wild West of Lily's life. From her childhood on a ranch to her attempts to get an education, her failed first marriage and her unwavering bravery and pluck, every page of this book was engrossing and entertaining. I don't know what it would be like to read this not having read Glass Castle first, though I suspect it would still be good. As a companion book, it's spectacular.

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Review: American War

American War by Omar El Akkad
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book was spectacular. I really enjoyed it - it was a Book of the Month pick. It takes place starting in 2074, in an America that has experienced a 2nd Civil War. This 2nd War is because of fossil fuels, the two factions differing in whether to use renewable energy sources or not. Most of the story follows Sarat, a young woman who grows up in the post-war era, following her from the south through a refugee camp, prison, and ultimately revenge - if not outright redemption.

While a timely commentary on climate change, this book is much more - it is also brilliant social commentary on war, politics, and individual responsibility. Well-written, with memorable characters and plot.

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Review: The Wangs vs. the World

The Wangs vs. the World by Jade Chang
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I'm rating this book 3 out of 5 with an acknowledgement that I wanted this to be as good as Crazy Rich Asians and it wasn't. It wasn't bad, per se, but it wasn't the fun, wild ride that is.

This book is about a self-made Chinese-American businessman who loses everything - goes completely broke. His (second) wife and children are used to living in luxury, and overnight they must give up their house in Southern California, their expensive schools and cars, and their pride. What keeps them afloat is the belief that there is ancestral land in China that belongs to them, and he decides to go seek it out.

I liked most of the characters (except for the ones I wasn't supposed to like, which I, appropriately, disliked), and the writing kept the book at a good pace. However, I didn't like how the plot came together in the end, which took an otherwise good idea and left me with a mediocre experience.

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Review: Eat, Pray, Love

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Admission: I missed this book when everyone else read it, 10 years ago. It was like that Sex and the City scene where they wonder why they stopped drinking Cosmopolitans, and realize they stopped "because everyone else started." I thought it was over-hyped self-help so I ignored it.

Big mistake - turns out I loved this book. I reminded me of Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail in its generosity with inner voice, and I felt like I really got to know Gilbert. I wouldn't say she is as good a writer or as calming a soul as Anne Lamott, but she's on the road to that for sure.

The book is divided into three sections. After the end of her marriage, which Gilbert's initiation of doesn't make it any less difficult for her, she travels to Italy and EATS her way to comfort, then India where she learns to PRAY at an ashram, then Indonesia where she falls in LOVE. (Get it?) While there are some boring passages and some hippy-dippy passages about meditation, all in all the book moved pretty quickly and was a lovely memoir.

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Review: The House of Journalists

The House of Journalists by Tim Finch
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I really wanted to like this book. I found it at the library and thought it was one of those hidden treasures. The premise was great - journalists from different countries living in exile for political reasons all found a temporary home in a building in London. The characters had rich back stories, though some with stories that read more like exile tropes than unique narratives. That aside, there was intrigue, a really interesting collective voice, and some mystery. However, the plot and payoff just didn't live up to its setup. I wish it had - there was a lot of great stuff here to work with.

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