Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mom by Amy Chua, 2011

...is really funny!  Tongue in cheek memoir written by one (high achieving Yale Law professor) Chinese-American's take on raising her two daughters, Sophia & Lulu.

She sets high standards, not buying into the 'Western' way of parenting that every child deserves a ribbon & should explore their every heart's desire since they are special snow flakes.

The book & Chua got a lot of backlash, but I imagine it's from people who only read the blurb that talks about how Chua did not allow her daughters to go on sleepovers (true because her daughter came home crabby & exhausted after attending one) & forced her daughter in the snow without a jacket for refusing to practice her violin (she did this for a minute before accepting defeat & admitting it was a bluff). 

Similar to Lean In, if people had actually read the book, they would have understood the message.  For some reason, books about motherhood result in visceral & passionate reactions just from the jacket summaries.

Chua was very strict with her daughters & made them practice their respective instruments for hours each day, even on vacation.  Her children loved their instruments though, which provided feelings of accomplishment & confidence when performing, including a performance at Carnegie Hall & international music festival.

She also makes the point that it is hard work to be a 'Tiger Mom'  - the hours driving her children to & from lessons, the notes she takes to help them improve, being 'hated' for her strictness & the opportunities she makes for them to excel.  I realized at this point, I am too lazy to be a Tiger Mom.

Her method 'worked' with her two daughters attending Harvard & speaking of their love for their family & happy upbringing.

One of the funnier moments is when Chua realizes her pet dog is not picking up on basic tricks like catch & fetch.  She finally realizes that he has trouble with his eyesight & rushes him to the vet, who declares that his eyesight is perfectly fine...he is just not the brightest, over-achieving dog Chua was expecting.

The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead, 2016

Beautifully written book about the brutality of slavery.  Cora escapes the Randall cotton plantation & the brutality of Terrence Randall, risking her life.

Through the help of safe houses provided by the Underground Railroad, Cora & Caesar travel up North where there are free blacks.  She is not able to escape the brutality, whether she escapes North or West.

It is shockingly appalling and sad the public displays of torture inflicted on slaves & blacks in general.  The violence extended to any whites who assisted escaped slaves.

Slave catcher was a profession.

The book depicts an actual underground railroad, which I never knew existed, but after researching realized that it did not exist but a metaphor for what did happen in the 1850s.

This novel piqued my interest while highlighting my ignorance of our country's history and what happened during such a barbaric time.

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng, 2017

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng, 2017

A bit slow going in the beginning with the introduction of so many characters, but really picked up and then couldn't stop reading until I finished. 

Takes place in Shaker Heights, OH where a typical mid western couple (met in college, married & moved back to the wife's home town) for the mother Elena Richardson to raise four children: Lexie, Trip, Moody & Izzy.

Diversity present in that Lexie has an African-American boyfriend & Mia Warren, a tenant of Richardson's, works in a Chinese restaurants & befriends the staff. 

I appreciated the attorney Ed Lim's character, with him having grown up in the 'white' world of the midwest & representing Bebe in the custody battle against Elena's childhood friend, Linda McCollough.

Ng captures sibling rivalries, adult friendships, a mother not able to stop herself & the microcosm that is the midwest.  She also captures the broken working class families of the East coast when a daughter will sacrifice anything for her art.

Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine by Gail Honeyman, 2017

Such an original book & enjoyable book.  Funny, touching & warm.  Eleanor Oliphant is literally & figuratively a character.

She accidentally & reluctantly develops a friendship with a co-worker who brings her out of her routine and obsession with a local musician.

Filled with wry observations about what are considered 'normal' behaviors, Eleanor's point of view is truly unique.

Read this during my Italian vacation & was as much a treat as all the delicious pasta, charcuterie & fresh vegetables I feasted on.

Fall

Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts, 2003
An odyssey through India.  Semi-autobiographic story of Roberts, an Australian who breaks out of prison & feels to Mumbai.  He talks about the people, how they are full of smiles and warmth, love of dancing and celebration.  Generous, good-hearted people.

The narrator goes by Lindsay, the name on the stolen passport, which is shortened to Lin in India.  Lin embraces the friendship of hustler-guide Prabakar and is invited to Prabakar's home village hours from Mumbai where he learns Marathi, the local language foreigners rarely learn.

Part of Lin's adventures include living in the infamous Mumbai slums, spending time in prison, joining the Abdel Khader Khan Mafia, pursuing the love of American Karla Saaranen & embarking on a mission to deliver arms to Afghanistan.

Written while Roberts was serving time in prison, the story includes many insights on human characteristics and philosophical discussions, which to be honest, I found a bit tedious.  Regardless, the novel is magnificent.

Fully Alive: Using the Lessons of the Amazon to Live Your Mission in Business And Life by Tyler Gage, 2017
Fascinating story of how a young college student Tyler Gage wanted to bring guayusa tea to the western world.  A staple of Amazonian tribes, guayusa is a natural caffeinated tea with a pleasing taste.

After graduating college, Gage and fellow Brown student Dan MacCombie move to Ecuador to start working on manufacturing guayusa to eventually use in energy drinks, a $3.2B marketing in 2008.  The work these two do to start up the business in Ecaudor is incredible, not counting the work that must be done in the States to produce the end product.

A good general business primer, Gage discusses the need to listen to experts, swallow your pride, continuously prune & weed your team, focus on customers & know your numbers.

Although Gage was almost fired by Runa's Board of Directors, he did manage to stay on and make the transition from starting a company to the very different job of managing an established company.  Factoring in providing a livelihood of the Amazonian Kichwa tribe of Ecaudor, Runa is a pretty amazing story.

Fully Alive provides insight into the spiritual rituals of the Amazonian tribes, balancing the focus on profits and revenue with mindfulness and social responsibility.

Mrs. Fletcher by Tom Perrotta, 2017
I often find male authors lacking in capturing a woman's voice, and Tom Perrotta is no exception.  Although Mrs. Fletcher was very readable, I did not buy into the choices Eve Fletcher made.  A single mom whose only son Brendan has started college, Eve is left with an empty house.

She takes a class on gender, taught by transgender teacher Margo Fairchild.  She agrees to meet her employee Amanda for a drink outside of work.  None of these decisions seem odd, but the habit Eve embarks on & the wild night that ensues after having her classmates, including her son's high school classmate Julian, over for drinks do not ring true to me.

While Eve adjusts to her empty house, Brendan is also having difficulties adjusting to college life.  In high school, Brendan was the popular, cocky, superficial lacrosse player.  In college, Brendan's jock behavior is no longer acceptable and while his roommate Zach outgrows the behavior, Brendan struggles to do so.

Three Sisters, Three Queens by Phillippa Gregory, 2016

Yet another 16th Century royal page-turner, Three Sisters is told from the viewpoint of Margaret Tudor, Henvy VIII's older sister.  Filled with political maneuverings, wars and constant plotting for the gain of power, the Tudors were not a boring family.

Betrothed to James II, King of Scotland, Margaret's union establishes peace along the English-Scottish border.  At the Tudor court, Katharine of Aragon lives in penury as the widow of Arthur.  Her father refuses to support her until Arthur's father, Henry VII pays her dowry.

With Henry VII's death, Margaret's brother Henry VIII becomes the King of England and marries Katharine of Aragon, making her Queen.  Katharine is restored to her proper place in the royal court & the two queens now focus on producing an heir for their respective thrones.

During Henry's reign, he attacks France, who has a treaty with Scotland, thus going to war with Scotland.  During Henry's siege of France, James II sees an opportunity to claim English lands given the lack of men remaining in England.

With Katharine Queen Regent during Henry's absence, she leads a decisive and brutal victory over James and his men.  She even orders the head of James, her brother-in-law, leaving Margaret a widow.

Margaret is seduced by a Scottish lord, Archibald Douglas, and marries him without approval from the Scottish lords.  Margaret writes to her brother & Katharine to send men and reinforcements, but none are provided. 

With no defense against the Scottish lords who turn on her, she is forced to flee to England.  She returns to Scotland to be with her son, but she and her son remain siege under the Douglas clan.  The Scottish lords who do rise to defend her are slaughtered by the Douglas clan.

Henry's and Margaret's younger sister is a renowned beauty betrothed to Charles of Castille, the grandson of Louis XII, King of France.  Before Charles becomes of age, his grandfather becomes a window and sends his men to the Scottish court to discuss a possible union between Scotland and France.

As Margaret considers the proposal and the powers he would have, she discovers that her brother Henry has been making arrangements and betroths Mary to the much older Louis XII to unite England and France.

With Mary's marriage, she becomes Queen of France.  The three sisters had all successfully ascended the throne, a remarkable political feat.

End of Summer Books

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, 2005
Amazing story of extreme poverty (growing up without indoor plumbing) & chaos (an alcoholic father) mixed with adventures (dreams of building a Glass Castle) & unconditional love (the sibling bond between Jeannette, Brian & Lori).

The ups & downs that are captured with Jeannette's magical yet destructive childhood are honestly & simply told in this gripping memoir.  So many unbelievable moments where Rex & Rose Mary Walls inadvertently abused their children.

That the Walls children were able to escape is due to the love of reading that was instilled in the children, and the support of a concerned adult, that encouraged them to do well in school & that they could achieve things even if they scavenged the school restroom garbage for lunch.



How to Start a Fire by Lisa Lutz, 2015
Story of college friends Kate Smirnoff, Anna Furry & George Leoni.

The story jumps around chronologically so was tough to follow, but set up some twists.

Kate has been mysteriously traveling the country looking to give away her inheritance.  Anna is now a paralegal despite her MD.  George is onto her third husband & child, constantly in need of a man to love her.

The friends have fallen out over an incident when all three lived together & an intruder attempted to force himself onto George.

We realize that the event triggers Kate's road trip & that although everyone blames Anna for the incident, there is more to it.

Engaging vignettes revolving around no-nonsense, straight talker Kate with no greater ambition than being a barista; privileged Anna who will never shake her childhood demons or the cold, distant manner her parents treat her & her brother Colin; and gorgeous park ranger George who becomes addicted to men.


Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J.D. Vance

More academic than The Glass Castle, Hillbilly Elegy describes J.D.'s (or J-Dot's) upbringing in economically depraved Ohio and family reunions in Appalachian Kentucky.

Unstable families, violence & addiction plague the community.  Vance sees friends checking out of good paying jobs because they are tired of getting up so early.

The mentality is not that they can make something of themselves through education and hard work, but rather that the world is stacked against them.

These people do not realize that if they attended college out of state versus community college, the tuition would most likely be lower due to financial aid.  These people do not realize there is another life besides the vicious cycle of broken families and poverty prevalent in small communities left bereft when mines & factories closed.

When Vance does enter the Ivy Leagues (Yale for law school), the cultural shock is significant.  He describes things he never realized growing up in small town Ohio.  From social etiquette 'norms' such as wearing a suit to an interview and that fizzy water is not water that has gone 'bad' and to be spit out at a restaurant to life altering truths such as job prospects are not the same as the town he grew up in and that elite colleges have more to offer than just bragging rights.

Similar to my experience where my family rarely ate out & when we did, it was at a Chinese restaurant, I went on a date in college where I ordered a burger & the waiter asked how I would like it.  Having only eater hamburgers of the McDonald's variety, I did not know how to answer this question.


The Spellman Files by Lisa Lutz, 2007
Picked up this book because of How to Start a Fire & the hilarious, sarcastic heroine Kate.  Spellman files centers around Isabel Spellman, whose parents are detectives & proprietors of Spellman Investigations.

Based in San Francesco, Izzy lives with her parents, younger sister Rae & alcoholic Uncle Ray.  Her older brother David is an attorney.

The family spies on each other & Izzy is unable to draw the line between investigating people and her personal life, leaving to many failed relationships.

When she becomes too intensely involved & investigates a cold case that her parents had been hired for decades ago, her family starts tailing her to reign her in.

Quirky and humorous, the Spellman Files is the start to a series of Spellman books that I am not compelled to read, but may pick up at some point.