Here I Go Again by Jen Lancaster, 2013

A quick-paced, funny book that kept me engaged, Here I Go Again centers about Lissy Ryder, the uber popular girl in high school who wielded her power ruthlessly.

Twenty years later, reality still has not set in for Lissy as she continues through adulthood self-centered and unaware of those around her.

Lissy is in for a rude-awakening during her 20th year high school reunion where she realizes that those whom she tormented are now highly successful while she is jobless, living with her parents.

New age healer Deva, formerly Debbie in high school, offers Lissy a chance to go back to her high school days to redeem her Mean Girl behavior, which she does, but with surprising ripple effects.

Having reformed her bullying behavior, Melissa is now a successful business woman.  However, she soon realizes that her other classmates, including best friend Nicole, who had found great success previously, are now failures.

Melissa now needs to decide whether she should sacrifice her adult successes for others, and go back in time again to re-enact her Mean Girl ways. 

Filled with interesting twists on how Lissy's parents' lives evolve based on her behavior, and how she treats her slightly geeky neighbor Brian, Here I Go Again contains poignant scenes that keep the reader interested.

Lancaster is a very funny author with quick wit and I plan to read her other books. 

One particular witticism that I enjoyed involves Lissy discovering that her high school crush and love of her life is still single after all these years...but has just gotten married days ago.  Her reaction: Joy.

As in, Joy being the name of the woman he has married.

baby proof by Emily Giffin, 2006

Emily Giffin has a knack for capturing people's true motives, thoughts and feelings.  As a result, her writing is always readable, if not making for the most compelling stories. 

Her stories do tend to have a unique twist where the situation itself is not unique (e.g. someone in a marriage does not want a child), but the perspective is.

In the case of baby proof, Claudia Parr, the wife, is the one who is not interested in having her child, while her husband Ben desires one.

The story starts off with a divorce where Claudia and Ben are unable to settle their differences over having a child.

Claudia moves in with her best friend and former roommate Jacqueline, who is stuck in a relationship with a married man she is convinced will be leave his wife and family for her.

The move back with Jacqueline is a welcomed solution for Claudia's situation, but in a way, she feels like she is taking a step back in life and moving back home.  Something that I have done before. 

(At the same time though, for me, it was also comforting to know that I had some place to go to while I started up a new life again.)

Claudia's support network includes her sisters Daphne, who is desperate to have a child with her husband, but unable to; and Maura, who has two children, but a philandering husband.

Life after Ben proves difficult, but Claudia manages to move on and starts dating a fellow co-worker Richard.  Ultimately though, Claudia comes to term with what is really important to her and there are happy endings (the Disney kind) for all the characters.

Babyville by Jane Green, 2003

I always enjoy books by English authors so that I can read the cultural references to my fiance, who sometimes gets homesick for all things British. 

Babyville was not the most compelling book I have read, but it held my interest.

The novel tells the story of three women at different baby-stages in their lives:
1) Julia, desperate to have a baby to save her relationship
2) Maeve, single with no interest in settling down or having a baby
3) Sam, happily married until her baby is born

Broken up into three distinct sections which focus on each women, the book reads like three mini-stories and may have been more interesting if the stories and women's lives were more woven together.

Instead, with this format, we only get a glimpse of the women's lives and how they predictably all reach their happy endings.

Euphoria by Lily King, 2014

Poetically and sparsely written, Euphoria is the story of three anthropologists living amongst the natives along the banks of the Sepik River in New Guinea.

Nell Stone, her husband Schuyler Fenwick, or Fen, and Andrew Bankson have been in New Guinea conducting research in attempts to achieve recognition in the field so that they are able to support their research.

Fen is a ruthless and brutal man who flourishes in the Mumbanyo tribe.  In Nell's shadow due to her successful anthropology book, Fen lashes out against her.

Bankson is the opposite of Fen and in Nell, finds a reason to live after years living with the Konia and feeling lost in his career.

With Bankson's help, Fen and Nell find the Tam tribe to live with and study.

Months later, the three anthropologists re-unite with the Tam where the story climaxes with Nell, Bankson and Fen collaborating together, while Fen plots out his devious and selfish plans to obtain fame and wealth.

Based on Margaret Mead's life, Euphoria is a compelling story of a world that I'm not familiar with - anthropologists living with remote tropical tribes.  The novel is a fascinating read and provides a glimpse into the fascinating world of primitive tribes that still exist today.

(This is a belated post from January 2015)

Fresh Off The Boat by Eddie Huang, 2013

Eddie Huang definitely has a voice.  A funny, fast-paced and enjoyable read, Fresh Off The Boat is an insightful and entertaining autobiography.

The eldest son of Taiwanese immigrants, Huang grew up an outsider in the predominately white suburb of Orlando.

Lacking ethnic diversity or culture - although, to be fair, Huang notes that he is often told to go back to China in New York City as well - Huang is called names and picked on by not only his classmates, but also his parents.

Huang ends up in a bad crowd and actively resents the assimilation Asian-Americans strive for - to be doctors, lawyers or accountants.

Throughout his childhood, he is always able to relate to food.  The love and appreciation of food from Taiwan to the 'mystery' food he is served at a Caucasian friend's house - macaroni and cheese.

Despite being a self-acclaimed rotten banana, Huang excels in school and although too short and slow to be a star athlete, commits and gives it his all to the football team he joins in high school.

After a few hiccups, including an arrest, record and interview with the Orlando Sentinel that was cut short because of his 'face,' Huang does take the 'traditional' path and enters law school.  His decision to attend law school is to prove something, to gain respect that he never had as a Asian-American.

His career as an attorney is short-lived as he eventually follows his passion and opens a restaurant, Baohaus, in New York City to rave reviews.

Huang's autobiography has inspired the ABC sitcom of the same name.  Clearly, the rotten banana has hit his stride and disrupting the stereotypical way that Asian-Americans are perceived.

Younger by Pamela Redmond Satran, 2005

A light, quick read, Younger is an entertaining story that revolves around the theme of stay-at-home moms versus career women.

Alice is a forty-four woman going through a divorce who gets a makeover on New Year's Eve.

With a new hair style and wardrobe, Alice looks decades younger and starts off her new year "younger."

Passing for someone in her twenties, Alice is able to recapture her life twenty years ago when she decided to stop working to raise her daughter with her husband Gary, a poet she met in Paris who would become a dentist.

With her younger look, she is able to get a job that she had interviewed for earlier while she was her dumpier self.

Although Alice is older and much has changed since she last worked, she still finds it difficult and intimidating to speak up at work.

She befriends a co-worker Lindsay, who is in her twenties and plans to get married soon, enjoy married life for a few years before having children, whom she would take are of full time.

Reminiscent of my frame of mind in my 20s, Lindsay's timeline startles Alice, who advises her to consider whether she wants to give up up her career, since returning to work after staying at home to care for children is not that simple.

Of course, having the optimistic outlook of someone in their 20s, Lindsay's is not able to comprehend future difficulties in achieving anything she desires.

Alice's best friend Maggie faces the reverse dilemma.  Focused on her career, Maggie has become a reknowned artist and now wants to start a family.  Alice is skeptical of whether it's too late for Maggie to become a mother given the work and energy needed to raise children.

The lesson of course, is that it's not too late for either women to start a new life, whether it involves being a professional or being a mother.

The Lowlands by Jhumpa Lahiri, 2013

Having read Jhumpa Lahiri's first novel The Namesake, I picked up The Lowland even though the synopsis did not interest me too much.

I was not disappointed - Lahiri writes so simply and elegantly.  Her writing truly is poetic. 

There are no quotes to represent dialog; instead, you read the dialog like you are actually part of the conversation, listening to what is being said.

The Lowland tells the story of two brothers, Subhash and Udayan, growing up in India during the 1960s Naxalite movement, a Marxist and Maoist rebellion.

The brash, outspoken Udayan becomes wrapped up in the movement while Subhash decides to study in the United States.

The brothers will never meet again or talk honestly with each other, but their lives will become entwined.

Against his parents' wishes, Udayan marries Gauri, the sister of a friend, instead of allowing his parents to arrange his marriage.  The  married couple return to Tollygunge to live with Udayan's parents.

In Rhode Island, Sabhash continues his studies and settles into a routine, never feeling the urge to return home.  Only when there is a family emergency does Subhash return home to India, bringing a pregnant Gauri back to Rhode Island.

Through different view points and time periods, unspoken truths are revealed where Uduyan's political activities lead to a crime in which Gauri becomes complicit.  As a result, she is not able to confide in Subhash, even as they raise her daughter Bela together.

Every familial relationship is strained in this novel, as the sons make decisions irrespective of their parents' wishes.  Similar to The Namesake, the familial strain of making one's own decision instead of following tradition is captured so well (and poetically) by Lahiri.