May

Rising Class: How Three First-Generation College Students Conquored Their First Year by Jennifer Miller, 2023

I was an FLI (First Generation Low Income) student before the term existed. 

College and high school now provide support for these students, but transitioning into college can still be challenging.

There is so much privilege (like being able to afford thousands dollar Canadian Goose coats) that low income students who can not afford any winter coat can get lost.

The students profiled in this book include Briani and Connor of Columbia, and Connor's girlfriend Jacklynn, who plans to live at home and attend Ozarks Technical Community College before transferring to Missouri State University. 

Although each student has compelling stories (Briani's parents own a Mexican restuarant and vote for Trump for his support on small business; yet he actively seeks to reject people like them from the U.S.; Connor's father died from his Opiad addiction while his mother is a recovering addict; Jacklynn's father is an alcoholic who is not in her lfe), the book fails to engage and goes deep.

The reporting on the impact of COVID - during their freshman year - is fascinating, but nothing new that has not been written about in newspapers. I wish the stories had gone deeper or perhaps told in less of a disjointed way where Connor and Jacklynn's story were told together while Briani's story was separate.

April

Lies and Weddings by Kevin Kwan, 2024

Kevin Kwan books are so fun. They're a romp through the ultra rich, elite and materialist world of the, well, world... 

Crazy Rich Asians centered around the affluent in Hong Kong, Singapore, etc. while Lies and Weddings take place in England, Hawaii and Los Angeles.

Hong Kong raised model Arabella Leung marries the Earl of Greshambury. An old English title cannot be bought and Arabella knows this. 

The Earl has a life of privilege but not the riches that are made in Asia, like that of Rene Tan, billionaire from the Phillipines.

The story follows the Greshams and the Earl's long-standing friendship with Thomas Tong, a doctor. Thomas lives with his daughter Eden, also an NHS doctor.

Eden and Rufus, the eldest son and future Earl, grew up together and have fallen in love. However, being an Earl and needing to marry into wealth to sustain not only the town of Greshambury, but also debts from his mother's extravagent spending (she is Asian after all) leads to complications.

With far flung locations including Morocco for a wedding and quirky characters include Gopal Das aka Whitney Payne Cabot V, Lies and Weddings include numerous cultural references including exclusive members-only clubs in LA to the latest collectables in modern art.

The footnotes are another level of fun. Similar to RF Kuang's Babel, the footnotes themselves tell their own stories.

Oona Out of Order by Margarita Montimore, 2020

After reading the detailed biography of Plath including the days leading up to her suicide, I need some light reading.

Oona Out of Order tells the story of a woman who travels to another year of her life on her birthday. This starts when she turns 19 and although internally, she is 19, her 'outer' age is 51.

This time travel gives her perspective. Only two people know about this - her mother and Kenzie, who helps to manage her home.

Lighthearted with the over-arching message that despite what we do, sometimes our fate can not be changed. And perspectives that we have about the people we love may change with experience and age.

Red Comet: The Short Life and Blazing Art of Sylvia Plath by Heather Clark, 2020

After reading The Bell Jar, I wanted to know more about Plath. With her wry humor and vivid writing, Plath was someone I had known about but never read before.

The Red Comet is the definitive biography with almost 1,000 pages of details and 130 pages of references including newly released materials about Plath's life and her struggles with the role women were assigned to in the 1960s. 

She was expected to be a wife and mom, and nothing more, despite her talent for poetry.

Her struggle with the norm is evident in The Bell Jar and throughout her life at Smith College then at Cambridge on a Fulbright Scholarship and finally posthumously. 

As Clark points out, many brilliant writers and artists have intense emotions and thoughts of suicide, but that is what Plath is known for desite her immense talent.

A recognized and published poet while at Smith, Plath decides against marriage after college to pursue her craft at Newnham College at Cambridge University, where she meet Ted Hughes. 

Wtth her American spirite and drive, she pushes Ted and types up his poems to submit them for publication. Withouth Plath's support, Hughes would have settled for a life as a laborer.

Plath and Hughes have a happy and creative marriage. They both enjoy creative success although Plath's letters show that space is also needed for her to work on her writing. They had a daughter and despite Plath's insistent of not choosing between motherhood and a career, she insisted on both, a rare occurance at the time.

Desipte Hughes agreeing to care for their daughter in the mornings (unheard of back then) so that Plath could write, Plath still finds motherhood consuming. She writes The Bell Jar and another novel (which she eventually destroyed), but will find that when she has two children, she can only manage poems, which are shorter to write.

With the stress of the children and constant worrying about money (the Hughes would benefit from the generous checks from Plath's mother Aurelia and benefactor she was introduced to through Smith Olive Prouty), Plath and Hughes's marriage would fall apart.

Hughes would have an affair with a married friend of the couple. Affairs were common at the time and Plath's friends encouraged her to wait out the affair as he was sure to come back to her. However, Hughes had betrayed Plath's trust and she did no longer wanted to be married to him. Although extremely rare in the 1960s, Plath requested a divorce.

Plath would go on to kill herself at 31. A history of depression ran on her father's side of the family, something the family only realized in retrospect since depression and mental illnesses were not hidden and not spoken about. Her son would also commit suicide.

A fascinating and deeply researched and rich biography, Red Comet was a Finalist for the 2021 Pulitzer Prize for Biography.

March 2026

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath, 1971

I am glad I finally read this classic. It's a mark of a good book if it holds up 50+ years later. The story of Esther Greenwood, a young woman working for a woman's magazine in New York who struggles with what society expects (for a woman to be pretty, be able to set a nice table, to make a good wife and mom) versus what Greenwood wants from life.

Autobiographical, Greenwood rails against fellow co-workers who are obsessed with the latest styles, boys she date who have a double standard regarding sexual experience, and her mother who pushes her to confirm to traditional roles, to not aim for too much. 

Despite Greenwood's desire to be a writer and a poet, her mother pushes her to take dictation class so that she can support herself. Greenwood blanches at taking notes for men.

The Bell Jar also outlines Greenwood's experience with thoughts of suicide, shock therapy and her stay at a mental instutition. Wry observations, tight writing. Easy to see why this is a classic.

Alibaba: The House That Jack Ma Built by Duncan Clark, 2016

An authorized biography of Chinese tycoon Jack Ma, Alibaba is named after the company founded by Ma. 

The book is partially biographical (where Jack's hustle is evident as a child befriending Australian kids visiting China so that he could practie English) as well as a business book outlining the competitive landscape of the internet entering the Chinese market.

Charasmatic despite his looks being compared to ET, Ma focuses his companies and entrepreneurial spirit around the people of Hangzhou, where he grew up. 

Struggling to score well on entrance exams, Ma does well enough to earn admissions to a local university for teachers. This proves to be an advantage as his familiarity with the culture of China is untainted by spending time and studying in the States.

The approach of these entrepreneurs, including founder of Yahoo! Jerry Yang (Taiwainese, studied at Stanford) are markedly different fom Ma. When the internet browser first started becoming popular, Google's clean lines and simplicity worked in the States and Europe, but not in China.

From Alibaba, a word Ma liked because of it could be easily pronoucned across multiple languages, Ma created Tmall (business to consumer platform) and Taobao (which means seeking for treasure in Chinese; consumer to consumer platform) which generate billions of dollars in sales during Nov. 11 on Singles' Day in China.

Alibaba does a deep into competitors who attempted to enter the Chinese market and the missteps that happened. Ma's approach was to always focus on the customer first, even if it meant less profit, which as a private company, he was able to do without pressure. Even when Alibaba did become public, Ma never pressured the CEOs on short-term profit.

Ma had a vision and remained focused on that vision. He also made savvy moves such as raising money when it was not needed. One of his axioms is that when companies go to raise money when it's needed, it's already too late.

Babel: An Arcane History by R.F. Kuang, 2022

Beautifully written. Slight mysticism with the 'magic' of silver but used as an approriate stand-in to talk about colonialism and power. Would highly recommend this epic. There is a deep dive into etymology as well, since words really are the power.

The story revolves around Robin Swift, a boy from Canton who is brought to England to live with Professor Lovell, who teaches linguistics at Babel's, Oxford fictional school of language. 

Babel is an exclusive instituational and the scholars respected throughout the Empire. At Babel, Robin meets fellow students Ramy (an Indian Muslin), Victoire (originally from Haiti) and Letty (the wealthy English daughter of a British General).

Reminds me of Donna Tartt's Secret History except the group of students are at Oxford. Having spent a summer at an Oxford program, was neat to be reminded of the campus.

Despite it's 500+ pages, the story never gets stuck or predictable. I dragged my feet finishing the book because I did not want the story to end! 

February

An Offer From A Gentleman by Julia Quinn, 2001

Such a fun read! 

After obsessing over Bridgerton's latest season with an Asian female romantic lead, I had to read Julia Quinn's novel. 

The Lady Whistledown Society Paper excerpts are so clever. The tone is wonderfully acerbic. 

The Bridgerton family and characters are familiary and cozy. I very much enjoyed the story. A nice light read to get through the winter storms and doldrums. 

The show does take liberties, but the overarching themes and characters remain the same.

The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran Desai, 2025

After the gorgous Inheritance of Loss, which won the Booker Prize in 2006, I was looking forward to reading Desai's The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny, which was short-listed for the Booker Prize.

The language is beautiful. We are in Allahabad, India where Sonia and Sunny's grandparents reside. And then in Vermont and New York City, following Sonia's isolating time at college during winter break where she enters a relationship with much older artist Ilan.

Sunny is also in New York City, working as a journalist and living with Ulla, a blonde American from Kansas.

The same beautiful language is in this story, but it does drag a bit. There are the wry observations of human nature, the cultural contrasts between India and America. The relationship between Sunny's mother Babita and her Uncles and what happens with the shared townhouse are fascinating.

There is much beautiful language but some parts seem quite tedious. Some portions of the story, such as the more mystical parts of the story around Badal Baba and its symbolism, seemed like it could be edited down.

Eat a Peach by David Chang, 2020

Chang is the founder of Momofuku, which means 'lucky peach' in Japanese. 

Tells the story of growing up Korean American in Virginia, greater DC area. Has bits of details and intense pressure of a professional kitchen that is seen in The Beef.

Comments on how if an Asian ingredient is used for a European dish, it is still European with the Asian influence, but once an Asian dish has a touch of Europeanness in it, it becomes 'fusion'.

Also talks about his battle with depression. An ode to food but also business and building an empire.

January

A House In The Sky by Amanda Lindhout and Sara Corbett, 2013

The autobiographic story of Amanda Lindhout, A House In The Sky centers around Lindhout's harrowing account of being kidnapped in Somali and held in captive for over a year for ransom. 

The abuse that she suffers, how she manages to keep her spirits up, along with fellow captive and former boyfriend Nigel is inspiring.

A free spirt, Canadian Lindhout falls into a pattern of working as a waitress for a few months to save money to travel onto exotic places that she has seen in National Geographic. She travels to South America, India - places that are difficult to get to with few comforts. 

She becomes a country-count checklister, always chasing another country to add to her alread impressive count of over 40 countries by the time she was in her late 20s.

During her travels to far flung countries, Lindhout meets foreign correspondents who inspire her to become a journalist as a means to support her travels. 

She manages to get a job writing a travel column for her local newspaper, and also does freelance work. Withough a college degree, she is often snubbed by the more well-known media outlets but her passion for travel drives her to continue to explore counties like Iran and Aghanistan. 

Although warned against traveling to Somalia, Lindhout decides to travel to the county in support of her journalism career. She has traveled to other counties like Pakistan after being advised not to because of the danger. She manages to convince fellow wanderlust Nigel Brennan, an Australian she met and dated during one of her trips, to join her.

Despite paying for a local 'fixer' and armed security, Lindhout and Brennan are kidnapped by a gang of Somalian men. The men are not part of a clear faction, but youths organizned by older men with money who are in charge of the ransom negotiations.

The kidnappers demand a million dollars (the year is 2008) for each hostage, which is not feasible, especially from Lindhout's family. Lindhout and Brennan end up held hostange and moved around Somalia for over a year.

During the year, they convert to Islam, hoping to receive better treatment. They are treated well at first and allowed to stay in the same room, but then separated. They find a way to communicate through a shared bathroom and plan a daring escape, which Lindhout is blamed and severely punished for. During the escape. Lindhout and Brennan flee to a mosque, where few people help them as they are dragged away by their captures. When Lindhout shouts that she is being sexually abused by her captures, a woman does come forward to try to help, but Lindhout is still dragged away by her kidnappers.

The abuse is ratcheted up after the escape. Despite the physical and sexual abuse, Lindhout maintains a positive spirit. When she is tortured as part of the plan to escalate ransom negotiations, she contemplates ending her life. That is short-lived though as Lindhout continues to focus on the good in the world.

She learns about her kidnappers, especially the boys in charge of guarding her and Brennan. One is planning to use the money from the ransom to marry. There is Hassam, son of an Iman, who works diligently to teach the hostages and other boys the book of Islam and lead them in prayer. Others like Abdullah are violent and want to destroy the infidels.

Given the isolation, the fear for her life and torture, Lindhout focuses on reading whatever materials are provided for her, including an old course catalogue from a British university. At her lowest, she imagines a house in the sky, where she can escape to while locked up in dark room filled with rats and pests.

Lindhout and Brennan are finally freed with the help of a private negotation firm that the families hire after little success working with their respective Canadian and Australian governments. Both are now motivational speakers, with Lindhout also founding and spearheading a nonprofit aimed to empower women and girls in Somalia.

We Just Might Make It After All: My Best Friendship with Kate Spade by Elyce Arons, 2025

It seems tacky to write a biography about a best friend who has passed away due to suicide, but Aron's memoir is a loving tribute to Katy Spade focusing on the early years of her friendship with Spade and the building of the Kate Spade New York brand.

Arons meets Katy Brosnahan at the University of Kansas where they strike up a friendship after going early one morning together to pick up their financial aid checks. 

They become fast friends and visit each other's family. A visit to Brosnahan's sister in Arizona inspires them to transfer to the University of Arizona.

The impulsive decision is spurred on by each other with little thought to things like the cost of tuition at Arizona given that they will not be in-state residents. This will be the theme throughout their lives - supporting and building off each other in leaps of faiths.

Kate Spade's genesis came from a need that Brosnahan spotted as a fashion editor for Mademosielle. She always had trouble finding purses for her photo shoot. Bags were either too ornate where they distracted from the clothes or too dull to be noticed.

Prototyping simple clean line bags from construction paper, Brosnahan had a vision reflecting her distinct style. Her clothes favored clean classic lines with a hint of whimsy and playfulness; the sucess of Kate Spade was due to this aesthetic. 

The book itself, true to brand, has an inside cover of a bold red, pink and white rose print. An unexpected surprise with a touch of whimsy for a book - very much on brand reflecting the fun linings Kate Spade bags would somtimes have.

Beyond a strong vision and creative voice, Kate Spade's success was due to a strong and focused team. Brosnahan's husband Andy Spade (brother of comedian David Spade) was Brosnahan's college sweetheart, meeting at a clothing store they both worked at in Kansas. 

Spade was in advertising and used his quirky sense of humor to build strong brands. The Spades enlisted Arons, who was the marketing and PR lead for 80's jeans juggarnaut brand Girbaud. The team also enliseted friend Pamela Bell, who started her own accessory line and understood production and operations. 

With the core team in place. Brosnahan had the space to focus on product and trust in her leadership team to remain true to the brand. In their early 30s, the founders worked non-stop to grow the brand. They spent their savings and retirement funds to support themseles, not taking any salary and relying on Andy Spade's salary as an advertisitng executive to fund the business.

The founders dedicated countless hours and hustle. They tackled problems together and figured things out as they went. Without such a team and support system in place, Kate Spade would not have achieved the growth that it did.

Kate Spade would take off and the founders would all be the toast of the town in their 30s. Kate Spade the brand became iconic, defining a generation of woman with its strong vision and aesthetics. In 1999, the founders decided to sell the majority stake of their busines (56% despite Bell's insistence on keeping majority control) to Niemen Marcus, making the founders wealthy. 

The partnership would prove divisive with a new CEO installed that led to off-brand decisions like selling a luxury bag for over $1000 when the Kate Spade brand had focused on young women starting out in their professional lives. These women sought a stylish bag and were proud to treat themselves to a bag costing a few hundred dollars. They were not looking to spend over a thousand dollars on a bag.

Eventually Kate Spade gets sold to Liz Claibourne, and Brosnahan and Arons decide to launch another brand, Francis Valentine. 

A side note is that I have always believed that successful people tend to befriend other succesful people. People who are driven and have the same outlook tend to gravitate towards each other, bolstering and feeding off of each other. One of Spade and Aron's college friend is Lily, of Serena and Lily home decor brand!

In Five Years by Rebecca Serle, 2020

After the delightful One Italian Summer, I was intriuged by interviews with author Rebecca Serle about her fascination with time and whether we would do the same thing if we knew what was to happen. 

I don't necessarily believe in one set fate but do believe that the choices we make impact our lives and there are many choices (some bigger than others) that are made that lead us to a different path.

In Five Years follows the story of Dannie Kohan, a 25-year-old attorney shooting for partner. She lives with her boyfriend David, who is in Finance. Dannie is the stereotypical Type A personality who has a plan as to when she will get engaged, married and made partner.

On the night of her engagement, she wakes up and sees herself five years into the future. She is in an apartment that she has never seen before. She is with another man Aaron. She sees the news broadcast and realizes it is five years into the future.

Dannie wakes up again and she is back in present day, well aware of where her life will be in five years. She meets Aaron, who ends up dating and becoming the boyfriend of her best friend and free spirit Bella. She sees the apartment that she woke up in when she was in the future.

Dannie does everything she can to change the outcome, but the future is the future. Her fate is fixed. The beginning scene replays in 'real time' - a clever way to tie the novel together. A light comedy, there is gravity in the storyline of Bella's battle with cancer. 

With notes and ideas in my head about decisions and alternate lives, I was keen to read In Five Years. I would not necessarily recommend it but it was a nice quick read.

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid, 2017

Monique Grant is given an opportunity of a lifetime. Evelyn Hugo, the iconic movie star, has requested her for an interview. A rookie reporter for Vivant magazine, Grant has been requested specifically by Hugo.

When Grant and Hugo meet, Hugo offers to tell her life story. A colorful life full of grit and determination, Hugo talks of her ruthless, shrewd and calculated acts to flee an abusive father and further her career to the pinnacle in Hollywood. 

The story reflects the glamor of the 1950s where she uses her body to gain roles and star power to decades later when she needs to shock to remain popular to turning her back on Hollywood in the 1980s. 

Hugo's life story unfolds through the telling of her seven husbands mixed in with gossip column updates:

1. Poor Ernie Diaz - the man Evelyn seduces once she discovers he is planning to move across the country to work in lighting in Hollywood
2. Goddam Don Adler - Hollywood royalty, a movie star whose parents are movie stars; he hides a dark secret and fragile ego though
3. Gullible Mick Riva - A quick Las Vegas marriage that is annulled shortly after, serving both party's purposes 
4. Clever Rex North - Another marriage of convenience, a true Hollywood marriage
5. Brilliant, Kindhearted, Tortured Harry Cameron - Hugo's first friend in Hollywood turned Producer whose star rises along with Hugo's
6. Disappointing Max Girad - French film director obsessed with Evelyn Hugo (unfortunately, not Evelyn)
7. Agreeable Robert Jamison - brother to Celia St. James, fellow actress who has a tumultuous relationship with Hugo

Filled with twists and deliciously ambitious scheming, The Seven Husband of Evelyn Hugo is a well crafted story.

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides, 2019

Perennially in circulation at the high school library, I decided to read this to relate to the kids. Although I had been obsessed with Agatha Christie when I was a child, I tend not to read mystery or thrillers.

The Silient Patient did not dissapoint. Meticulously plotted, the story centers around artist Alicia Berenson and her brutal murder (shot in the face) of her husband. 

Berenson is locked up in a mental ward while psychotherapist Theo Faber becomes obsessed with her and her case.

After the murder, Bereson refuses to speak. Before she is jailed, she paints a picture of Alcestis, a mythological woman who volunteers to die in her husband's place. When she returns to the mortal world, she refuses to speak, remaining mute.

Faber is assigned to Berenson and begins treating her to determine the mysterious circumstances around her murderous act and why she refuses to speak.

Being an avid reader and consumer of television, I tend to spot twists but I did not see this twist at all. I recommended this book to my husband, a fellow Cambridge grad like the author, and he too was spellbound by the book.

One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle, 2022

I had seen and read recommendations for this book, but had not been ready to read it since it revolves around the death of the protagonist's mother. Otherwise, a tale taking place in another country is my jam.

While in New York City for the holidays, I saw this at Rizzoli's bookstore and decided that I was ready to read it (and support such an beautiful bookstore).

Katy's mother has passed away and she is no longer sure of anything, including her husband Eric. Katy and her mother Carol were best friends.

Before Carol's passing, she and Katy had planned a trip together to Positano, Italy, where Carol had spent formative time in her thirties. Katy decides to continue with the trip anyway, and goes alone.

At the Hotel Poseidon in Positano, Katy is able to breathe and consider her life and how she met Eric in college and then ended up marrying him. She wonders if she has really lived.

While in Positano, Katy befriends Nika and Marco, owners of the hotel, and fellow guest Adam, a businessman who returns to Positano often. On this particular trip, Adam is looking to acquire Hotel Poseidon, which is struggling financially.

While in Positano, Katy also meets her mother, aged 30... Befriending Carol, Katy learns of her mom's past and realizes that her mom had a life before becoming a mother. That she was complicated and not always the organized taskmaster for the family.

A sweet story with details about the delights of Postitano, the ocean the city overlooks onto and the delicous food, One Italian Summer is a fun read and makes one consider the lives parents led versus how they are known to their children.

Another fun detail is that Hotel Poseidon is an actual hotel that the author stayed at, inspiring the novel. 

 

December

I Know How This Ends by Holly Smale, 2025

A British writer, Holly Smale wrote the Geek Girl YA series, which I purchased for my nieces as souuvenirs from the UK. The book cover caught my eye though, and the reason I chose the book.

The story starts with Margot Wayward internet dating and tracking the red flags and deal breakers. She has committed to going on 20 online dates though and powers through.

While her dates unfold disastriously, she leans on her best mates Eve (an optimistic going through IVF) and Jules (a straight forward journalist). Her parents, who recently moved to Austrailia, and grandfather also support her.

As the story unfolds, we realize that Margot is going through a break-up, quitting her job and getting a new apartment. 

A meteoroligst, Margot now attempts to be an influencer like Lily, an influencer she obsessively follows, even making up a fake account to do so. Except for Margot, her videos are about what she loves, the weather.

Margot starts having visions and when her visions start coming true, she realizes that she has the power to see into the future. Things get complicated when she meets Henry, a waiter and widowed father of a little girl named Winter.

An interesting tale of fate and whether people would do things differently if they knew the outcome, I Know How This Ends is an endearingly fun read with some nice twists.

Matisse in Morroco by Jeff Koehler, 2025

Reading in Matisse in Morocco has grown my appreciation and understanding of Matisse's mastery. I was familar with the prolific and advant gaurd art scene of Paris in the early to mid 1900s but did not understand the nuances and how radical it was to paint pictures that were not realistic (a la the Dutch Masters) but filled with color and emotions.

The book focuses on Matisse's 1912 and 1913 travels to Tangier where his use of color to capture the essense of people flourished. His paints are filled with rich fabric that he carried around with him. 

Similar to Van Gogh, Matisse grew up in a textile town where both men gained an appreciation for color and patterns. 

Understanding what the Moroccon Triptych (painted in 1912) - Landscape Viewed from a Window, Zorah on the Terrace, and the Kasbah Gate - represents makes me see Matisse's work with new eyes. 

His Morrocon Cafe (1913) with it's wash of blue, strokes of limbs and white turbans and clear black keyhole arches is a masterpiece. It also includes two goldfishes, a theme throughout his paintings.

The bright colors are muted during World War I, reflected Matisse's mood and despair with friends serving in the war when he was deemed too old to do so. The Moroccans is an abstract painting from 1916 that started with black as the base color. Matisse has been credited with introducing black as a color itself when previously, it had been used to represent shadows.

Matisse was fortunate in that he had a wealthy sponsor in Russian businessman Sergei Shchukin who supported him and his art. Shchukin funded his trip to Morrocco, his studio and provided income for Matisse so that he could focus on painting. During Lenin's revolution, Shchukin's extensive collection of Matisses were confiscated. One of his most famous works, Dance, was scorned by Russian soldiers and left to be burned, but the canvas survived.

Matisse was fortunate in that he was recognized for his art while still alive. His first taste of praise was with the bright colors of his fauve paintings, but then his paintings were scorned and mocked, while Picasso and others led the cubist movement. Matisse continued to paint and with the influence of his time in Tangier, was able to achieve success as a painter.

November

Jump by Larry Miller, 2022

A compelling autobiography that proves it is never too late to turn your life around, Jump tells the story of Larry Miller's early involvement with gangs while growing up in Philadelphia. Well, perhaps it is too late now... 

Part of Miller's redeption includes earning his GED in college as well as receiving training as a software engineer and getting paid to work as a software engineer while serving out his sentece for murder and armed robberies. These rehabilitation programs are no longer offered in many penitenceries, something Miller highlights and pleads to put back in place.

Miller talks about his headaches and constant nightmares about has past as he gets promoted through the ranks at Campbell Soup, Jantzen, Nike, Portland Trailblazers, and Jordan Brand/Nike.

A few intersting notes:

* Miller is able to transition companies without a background check. It shows how muhc of success in business is tied to networking: He was hired by references and word of mouth rather any formal vetting process.

* Miller started off in Accounting before transitioning to Operations/COO before becoming President/Chairman of Portland Trailblazers and Jordan Brand respectively. Ultimately, running a company is about numbers/requires knowing your numbers. 

* A vision is important to be a leader. When Miller joined Nike, he pushed for apparel to match with the shoes. This initial forray into fashion laid the foundation in the billion dollar industry that is athleisure ware today.

* Miller was also able to make hard decisions. Firing people who would not align with where he needed the company to go, pushing to have the business side of basketball work with the operations/sports side of basketball (e.g. the head coach) at the Trailblazers. The latter example also shows the importance of teamwork and building a cohesive leadership team.

Searching for Sylvie Lee by Jean Kwok, 2019

A story about a Tsoisonese-American woman who grew up in the Netherlands, this book was recommended by a co-worker after my return from a reent trip to Amsterdam.

A thriller with cliched characters, the story is told from the vantage point of the missing Sylvie Lee, her American sister Amy and their mother. 

The story centers around Sylvie, who grew up with her Dutch cousin Lukas and his parents Helena and Willem. 

Sylvie's grandmother was also brought into Helena and Willem's household to help raise Sylvie as Sylvie's parents in America were unable to care for her.

As meek Amy travels to the Netherlands in attempts to retrace Sylvie's last steps, she unravels the facade of Sylvie's 'perfect' life, including her childhood.

The book dragged a bit but did provide insight into Dutch culture. There is a straightforwardness to the Dutch and quirks such as keeping their curtains open as to note that they have nothing to hide. 

Despite it being a liberal and welcoming county to immigrants, there is also racism with a children's song mocking the Chinese and pulling slanty eyes gestures.

Their language (and culture) though, is neither whimsical, quirky or insightful as the French, Japanese and Indian languages can be respectively. 

Good Inside: A Guide to Becoming the Parent You Want to Be by Dr. Becky Kennedy, 2022

A compelling read, I took so many notes. Kennedy's basic premise is that children are good inside and if we remember this, we realize (bad) behaviors are due to emotional disregulation and if we address the deregulation, the good behavior will follow.

This is a switch from the reward charts (where behaviors are rewarded) to address parenting a child's actions and behaviors.

The biggest take away for me is that when a child is engaging in bad behavior (throwing a tantrum, not doing what is asked), that a parent needs to connect to the child first, and then work with the child on the desired behavior.

This take-away spills over to the high school students I now interact with at my new job. Even the kids who are disrespectful and break the rules, I remind myself that they are good inside and focus on how to connect with them.

Part of me is conflicted by the thought that sometimes a child needs to do what is being asked, regardless of whether the child wants to or if the child feels connected. 

Overall though, the tips on connection are something I take to heart and have proven to be successful with my 10-year-old daughter. A particular favorite now is to hug my daughter until her Mom-o-Meter is filled to defuse potential conflict.

Another take-away is that when we think of breaking parenting dramas that have been passed down, it does not start with our children, but with ourselves. So if I want my daughter to be more self-assured in her identity, I need to be more self-assured in mine and modeling this for her.

I do remember my friends discussing this book when it first came out since it there was a lot of buzz about it. My daughter was a toddler then and behaving 'well' so not something that caught my attention.

October

the yellow house: Van Gogh, Gauguin and Nine Turbulent Weeks in Arles by Martin Gayford, 2006

After visiting the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam, I was all about learning more about van Gogh. I found this book at the English Book Shop in Amsterdam and it is a deep dive into the 2 months that Vincent van Gogh and Paul Gauguin spent together in Arles.

Van Gogh had settled in a yellow house in Arles, with the idea to create an artist studio where artists could collaborate and paint together.

Gauguin, a client of van Gogh's art dealer brother Theo, took up van Gogh's offer and after weeks of anticipation, arrived in the sleepy southern town of Arles.

Both prolific letter writers, Gayford pieces together the initial harmony and shared artist life that van Gogh and Gauguin built together in Arles, before van Gogh started having a spell and frightening Gauguin, who eventually fled Arles.

The book is filled with van Gogh's paintings and does a deep dive into the many famous works painted during and after his time in Arles. 

It was frustrating that the photos were in black and white given the way van Gogh's mastery of color and his way of conveying emotions through colors. Something I mentioned quite a few times to my husband. 

Thoroughly researched with details on the cafes and prostitutes that the artists visited, the yellow house is is filled with details for those who are truly interested in either van Gogh and Gauguin. 

I doubt that I would have been able to finish the book before visiting the museum and becoming inspired by van Gogh's works.

The Tennis Partner: A Doctor's Story of Friendship and Loss by Abraham Varghese, 1998

Abraham Varghese is a beautiful writer. I read Cutting for Stone decades ago and was captivated by his writing. Before writing fiction, Varghese wrote non-fiction books, including The Tennis Partner.

Tennis Partner reflects on Varghese's move to El Paso, TX where he befriends an intern. With his marriage falling apart and in a new city, Varghese turns to an intern for companionship.

The intern is David, an Australian who was briefly on the professional tennis circuit before turning to medicine.

Varghese discovers that David is a recovering cocaine addict, sober for two years and re-admitted into the Texas Tech internship program despite crashing out earlier due to his addictions.

Fresh from rehab and struggling with being back in an environment with haunted memories from the bridges he burned as an addict, David also seeks companionship.

One of Varghese's talents is writing complicated medical terms in simple language. Despite the highly clinical content, a non-clinician can still follow the emotion of the story. 

Filled with lessons about addiction, mainly that David is responsible for David, that we can not force or influence others to behave in a certain way. This was freeing considering my tendancies to take over and control, problem-solving problems as I see them.

Wildfire Days: A Woman, a Hotshot Crew, and the Burning of American West by Kelly Ramsey, 2025

Kelly Ramsey is a bad ass. She trained intesively (hiking, lifting weights) to join the Rowdy Rivers Hotshots firefighting crew. 

Once she made the team, the hard work really starts. Despite her best efforts, she is one of the weakest and slowest on the crew of men, which frustrates her.

As the only female, she needs to handle having her period and finding a place to pee when the team is out in a flat field with no trees.

She starts to become part of the Hotshot crew as the team realizes her grit. She never gives up, volunteers to carry a heavier load and soon finds herself accepted by the team.

Intertwined with her troubled childhood growing up with an alcoholic father, Ramsey grows up as an insecure woman but finds solace in nature and her strength in challenging and pushing herself to become a Hotshot firefighter. 

A good example of a picture is worth a thousand words, a diagram of the firefighting gear  (Nomex yellow shirt & green pants) and tools (Pulaski ax, chainsaw, Fiver to carry five gallons of water) is included to provide a sense of the challenges of being a Hotshot firefighter.

September Reads

Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr, 2021

I had started this book a few years ago, but could not get into it. After reading Doerr's Pulitzer Prize winning All The Light We Cannot See though, I knew I wanted to give this book another go.

It did not disappoint. Intertwining characters this time around are spread through different centeries: Anna of Constantinople and Omeir, a village boy with a cleft lip in the 15th Century; Korean War hero Zeno and Seymour in Idaho durin gthe 21st Century; and Konstance in the future.

With the same compelling stories, emotional depth and vivid worlds created in his previous novel, Doerr adds a few twists to connect the characters across the centuries.

Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham, 1915

Ever since reading The House of Doors over a year ago, I have wanted to read a Somerset Maugham book since I have never read anything by him.

A keen observer of human behavior, Maugham writes truth so keenly. His language is simple, wry and humorous. 

Of Human Bondage is a story of Philip Carey, loosely based on the author, whose parents also died young, became a doctor and most distinguishing, was born with a club foot.

The novel is long at 600+ pages. There were points when I wished the novel was shorter but by the time I got to the end, I wished it was longer.

Carey is sent to live with his vicar uncle, who is cold and harsh, in Blackstable. He is sent to a public school where he is bullied and embarrassed by his club foot. Despite his strong academic performance, he insists on spending a year in Germany instead of competing for a scholarship to Oxford.

He questions his decision before he is to leave for Germany, but due to youth stubbornness, commits to his decision and moves to Germany.

Without university, Carey is directionless and through Hayward, an Englishman Carey befriends in Germany who speaks of the beauty of Paris, Carey decides to move to Paris and attempt to be an artist. 

His Parisian years are filled with adventure and friends. There are many tortured souls and limited funds amongst the artist friends, but Carey thrives in the conversations and comraderie.

Realizing that he is not talented enough to become an artist, he moves back to England where he pursues a medical degree like his father. At St Luke in London, Philip makes new friends and leaves behind the artist life of beauty and debate.

He finds his calling as a doctor and his studies are going well. A fellow student named Dunsford befriends Philip and tells him about a waitress named Mildred, whom he has a crush on.

Soon, Philip finds himself going to the diner where Mildred works and eating at her table. A one-sided relationship ensues where Philip splurges on theater tickets to take Mildred out and dutifully walks her home.

Philip is crushed when Mildred informs him that she is marrying a suitor and despite his heart breaking, he continues his studies and manages to build a content life for himself, filled with friends and even dating a Norah, introduced to him through a friend.

Things are turned upside down when Philip runs into Mildred. Mildred never married as her suitor was already married. She does have a child with the man though, and finds comfort in Philip, who financially supports her and her child.

Philip is devastated when Mildred and his close friend and fellow medical student Griffiths have an affair. He cuts both out of his life and focuses on his studies. He befriends patient Thorpe Athelney and makes a routine to stop by the Athelney household every Sunday for tea.

As Philip has rebuilt his life, he runs into Mildred. She is destitute, resorting to selling her body in attempts to support herself. Although Philip is no longer infatuated with Mildred, he takes her and her baby into his househould and hires her to replace his maid and chef.

When Mildred realizes that Philip is no longer in love with her, she rages and destroys everything in his posession. The misfortunes continue as Philip runs out of money for medical school. He appeals to his uncle for funds, but his uncle, still incensed that Philip spent his funds and time in Paris to become an artist, refuses to provide additional funds.

Philip is forced to drop out of medical school and loses his apartment. His only solace is the Athelney's on Sundays. He is forced to sleep in the rough and when Thorpre realizes Philip's situation, arranges Philip for an interview as a shop boy.

The work is tedious and pay low. Philip shares a room with other shop boys. He is miserable and even finds himself wishing his unclde would pass away so that he can inherit funds from his uncle so that he can quit his job and continue with his medical education.

Philip eventually becomes a doctor and realizes what he has been yearning for after so many directionless years. I could not help but cheer for him by the end of the novel.

Some of my favorite passages from the story:

Enthusiasm was ill-bred. Enthusiasm was ungentlemanly. They thought of the Salvation Army with its braying trumpets and its drums. Enthusiasm meant change. They had goose-flesh when they thought of all the pleasant old habits wiich stood in imminent danger. They hardly dared to look forward to the future.

- In reference to Mr. Perkins, the new headmaster for King's School at Tercanbury, where clergy sent their sonds.

This exchange reminds me of an exchange with my English husband:

'I say, I want you to com and see anohter play with me,' he [Philip] said.
'I don't mind,' she [Mildred] said. 
'You might go so far as to say you'd like to.'
'Why?'
'It doesn't matter. Let's fix a day, Would Saturday night suit you?'
'Yes,' that'll do.'

The following from Philip sums up my philosophy:

'Well, I can't say anything about other people. I can only speak for myself. The illusion of free will is so straong in my mind that I can'g et away from it, but I believe it is only an illusion. But it is an illusion which is one fo the strongest motives of my actions. Before I do anything I feel that I have choice, and that influces what I do; but aftewars, then the thing is done, I believe that it was inevitable from all eternity.'

'What do you deduce from that?' asked Hayward.

'Why, merely the futility of regret. It's no good crying over spilt milk, because all the forices of the universer were bent on spilling it.'

And the following, so true (about his friend Hayward):

It was one of the queer things of life that you saw a person ever day for months and were so intimate with him that you could not imagine existence without him; then separation came and everything went on in the same way, and the companion who had seemed essential proved unneccessary.

August

 All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr, 2014

Beautifully written, All The Light We Cannot See is about Marie-Laure LeBlanc, a blind french girl who lives with her adoring father, a locksmith for Museum of National History in Saint-Malo, France.

To ensure his daughter is able to navigate the city, Monsiour LeBlanc carves buildings with intricate compartments and secret doors to create a mini replica of the city that his daughter can memorize through touch.

The novel also centers around Werner Pfennig, a German orphan whose skill in fixing transitors allows him to escape e a life in the mines, where his father was killed. 

He and his little sister Jutta listen to contraband broadcasts from around the world to escape their bleak life.

Their stories are compelling and draw you in from the beginning. As World War II rages, we discover the connection these two peopel have.

When I read long novels with mulitple story lines and characters, I tend to forget the details and references that occur a few chapters later. 

However, with Doerr's concise and vivid writing, the details were memorable and I was able to make connections and recall references.

Original and breathtaken, filled with memorable characters like Frank Volkheimer, Werner's fellow Nazi soldier; Etienne, Marie-Laure's great-uncle who fears leaving his house; and Von Rumpel, a German precious stones expert on the trail of the legendary Sea of Flames.

July

The Expat by Hansen Shi, 2024

A digitial/knowledge esponiage thriller that reflects today's world, The Expat is an entertaining story that captures the experiences in America of Asians who are born here as well as those who emigrate here from China.

Michael Wang is a disenfranchsed Princeton graduate working on autonomous driving technology. His research and attempts to get management's attention is overlooked. 

He suspects that he is not managing up correctly, but continues to focus on the breakthrough technology he is working on.

Friends like his former classmate Lawrence have the ability to fit into the 'white' world while Michael gets lost and struggles with his identity.  

He meets Vivian on Samarkand, a hacking website, and is introduced to her uncle Bo, who connvinces him to join an automous driving technology firm in China, runnng the division. At last, Michael's ideas and work are being recognized and rewarded.

When Michael moves to China though, Vivian can no longer be found. His job does not seem to exist. Michael is soon entangled with the FBI and works with Ferris Guo, a handler who is a Chinese American English teacher. 

An enjoyable book highlighting an Asian American male experience, I would recommend The Expat.

Hope by Andrew Ridker, 2023

I picked up Hope after browsing at the library since it was set in Brookline, MA. It's always enjoyable to read about places that I know. 

It also allows me to imagine the characters clearer as they navigate familiar places.

Hope is about the Greenspans. 

Scott is cardiologist with his own practice. Stay at home mom Deb undergoes an awakening after being a dedicated Mom to daughter Maya and son Gideon, with her life orbiting around her children.

The picture perfect Brookline family starts to fall apart when Scott cuts some corners at work to pay for his overbearing mom's retirement home.

Deb awakens to freedom in the arms of a woman. Maya's high school crush, former teacher William re-enters her life with a twist in the end as he tries to get his book published.

Gideon is lost when he questions his desire to follow his father's footsteps as a Columbia pre-med. 

Of the stories, Maya's coming of age is the most interesting. Gideon's the most drastic as he joins a youth trip to Israel and befriends war photographer Ernie Power.

Deb's story has elements of the grass is greener on the other side while Scott faces his demons (his mother) and starts a more true and meaningful routine including as a volunteer physician at a jail. 

Bad Company: Private Equity and the Death of the American Dream by Megan Greenwell, 2025

I have known that Private Equity is evil for a few years now. They are focused on short-term profits and not looking to build anything or invest in anything or anyone.

What I did not realize until reading this book is how little risk private equity companies take on. The millions and billions to purchase a company is saddled back to the company, not the private equity firm.

The firm gets to enjoy the proceeds from management fees, selling off real estate that retail or healthcare companies own while renting it back to the company for a fee. 

The original company clearly loses out on this type of deal while the private equity firm(s) will make literally millions.

The millions and billions keep growing though and the 1% get even more unfathomably wealthy while industries, companies and SO many people are left poorer and must worse off.

Private equity is truly killing the American dream. In addition to wringing money out of the poor, private equity continues to get involved in new industries to make their millions, leaving industries decimated.

Bad Company follows four people and how their lives have been impacted by private equity. 

Liz works at Toys R' Us, represening how private equity will drive retail outlets to the ground. Even for stores that are performing well, Toys R' Us will not invest in any of the stores, letting them go out of business while profiting millions.

Roger is a physical at a small rural hospital in Riverton, Wyoming. How private equity has decimated rural hospitals by cutting budgets was highlighted a few years ago. 

After private equity has taken over Roger's hospitals, staffing has been cut and whole departments (like obstetrics) have been cut while informing the community that they are in search of an OBGYN to provide delivery services again.

Riverton residents must drive 30 minutes to another hospital to deliver a baby or for other services. Yet, in the winter, the road out of Riverton is not able to be traversed. Private equity is ruthless, making decisions on care for towns and people whom the executives have nothing visited, much less spoken to.

Natalia is a journalist. Private equity has killed off many local newspapers, leaving a dearth of news and accountability for communities, leading to increased fraud and misconduct. 

Many newspapers are now filled with generic wire stories instead of local news since paying for reporter is much more expensive than copy and pasting stories.

Loren lives in an apartment complex owned by private equity. The ruthless cost-cutting is the most heartbreaking when dealing with housing. Many impacted are lower income residents who are unable to afford to purchase a house or have a voice.

Apartment repairs are delayed, rodent issues are ignored. There is no emergency contact as Loren finds out when a pipe bursts and floods her and her neighbors' apartments. For millionaires to make money off of lower income people is truly horrendous.

Private equity has also gone into mobile home parks. The greed and lack of emphathy is just incredible.

People have fought back and Congress has proposed legislation to scale back the loopholes that allow private equity firms to ruthlessly make billions, but private equity has deep lobbying pockets for both Republican and Democratic leaders.

There are victories here and there against private equity once a community gets involved, but they are few. 

The company I worked with went through a few private equity hands. And, I profited from the change of hands each time with generous bonuses. Others were not as lucky as their positions were eliminated shortly after each acquisition.

Despite being a part of the evilness, I stayed with my company, getting promoted and collected bigger paychecks and bonuses. It finally got to be too much and I gave notice. 

I worry what the economy will look like for my daughter and hope a tipping point is coming up.

By The Fire We Carry: The Generations-Long Fight For Justice on Native Land by Rebecca Nagle, 2024

How we have treated, and continue to treat, Native Americans is shameful. 

Our government forcibly moved Native Americans from their land, slaughtered those who refused to move and continue to repress these people.

It goes beyond prejudice. 

I had no idea of the systemic lies that were told, and continue to be told, to take away from the Native American leaving them destitute and barely able to survive.

What is even more shameful is that the every aspect of power - whether governmental, judicial or societal - participated in the repression and illegal taking away of land for personal gain. 

And, this maltreatment continues to be reinforced even to this day. Lies and misinformation are spread by the people in leadership positions like the Governor of Oklahoma. These lies are then parrotted by Supreme Court Justices

Nagle's extensive reporting covers histories, bills, legal language, and humna interest. She includes black and white photos of the people she writes about, which add a very real face to the injustices that are brought against Native Americans.

With her engaging writing, even the dry details of the law and its nuance makes for interesting reading.

The book centers around the story of Patrick King, of Muscogee blood, who appeals his death sentence for for the murder of George Jacobs by arguing that the murder took place on the Muscogee reservation; therefore, the state of Oklahoma's punishment of a death penalty should not be upheld.

Ruling in King's favor recognizes the Muscogee (or Creek) reservation, as well as the reservations of the other Five Tribes: Cherokee, Choctaw, Seminole, and Chickasaw. This is a major telling of the truth as states have claimed the land for themselves.

Despite the legal victory, the injustices against Native Americans and what truly belongs to them remain unrecognized. There is simply too much money spent by those who benefit from the stolen land (like the oil industry) for there to be real change.

As a side note, conservative Supreme Court Judge Neil Gorsuch is a surprising advocate for recognizing reservations given that no laws have ever taken them away. When I was a Research Assoicate at a Washington DC K Street firm, Gorsuch was one of the attorneys. 

June

The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah, 2015

Kristin Hannah writes such compelling characters. Characters that I become invested in and really care about. 

Leni Allbright is a child who has moved around numerous times as her father Ernt attempts to escape his demons after coming back as a POW from the Vietnam War. 

Her mother Coralina is doing her best to hold the family together.

The Allbrights end up moving up to Kuneq, Alaska after Ernt inherits a cabin and house from a fellow POW. Alasak is burtal and harsh and the Allbrights struggle, but with help, they learn how to survive the cold and dark Alaskan winters as well as the bears and wolves.

In Alaska, Large Marge befriends them. Tom and Matthew Walker live along their outpost road. They have running water in their home.

Mad Earl, father of Ernt's POW friend Bo, has a homestead with family members including his daugther Thelma.

The beauty and dangers of Alaska are so vividly written as Leni grows up in Kuneq. Similar to other Hannah novels, the 'happily ever after' comes after much loss and hardships. There are twists, falls and lost dreams, but always hope.

The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen, 2015

Beautifully written with such innovative ways to use words and descriptions (e.g. decisions being made about Vietman by white men wearning linen suits and lies), The Sympathizer is a gorgous read. 

It is also incredibly dark though, and something I could only take a chapter at a time at the most.

The narrator is a Viet Cong double agent, someone who has lived as an outcast due to being the bastard son of his young Vietnamese's mother and older French father priest. Even his mother's family shamed him.

At university, he makes literal blood brother friends in Man and Bon. He ends up fleeing Vietnam when it falls to remain spying on the General, who flees with the help with American CIA agent Claude.

In America, life is hard for people who have left everything and must begin working hourly jobs despite their previous success and identity in Vietnam. They have fallen and need to deal with the shame of this as well as losing their country.

With English perfected when he stuided in the US, the narrator knows he will never fit in despite how perfect he makes his English. He works at an Asian Studies department at a University in California, where he befriends Japanese American Ms. Mori.

He meets Sonny from his univerisy days again. He remains an idealist anti-communist and has started a newspaper in America focusing on news about his homeland.

There is the Major who has been nicknamed the crapulent Major. Someone who is pauchy and will always be middling, working at a gas station to support his family.

The General runs a restaurant, a shell of a place that he would never be caught dead eating in in Vietname, with his wife. Their daughter Lana decides to become a singer, dressed provacatively during performances, to the shame of her parents.

Biting commentary on colonialism, racism in America, being an immigrant in America, America's action during the Vietnam war - so much packed in these pages.

The Symphasizer was awarded the Pulitzer. The story of the narrator and Bon continue in The Committed, which I plan to read since it is set in France, but need a break from the darkness and heaviness.

Brooke Shields is Not Allowed to Get Old: Thoughts on Aging as a Woman by Brooke Shields, 2024

An interesting read about how older women (i.e. over 40) become invisible. Brooke Shields was 59 when this book was published and talks about how there is is little respect for older women. We are not marketed to, despite our spending power, nor are our medical conditions (like menopause) understood.

Filled with interesting data points (e.g. under a quarter of gynecologists received any lectures or training about menopause), BSINATGO talks about Shield's journey of entering her later decades feeling stronger and more confident than ever despite what society says.

With wry humor, Shields also reflects on the gender inequalities against girls where they are made to feel less than as she considers her daughters. In many ways, I find this book very relatable. 

There are Hollywood tidbits here and there that include Tom Cruise and her neighbor Bradley Cooper, but mostly this book is a reflection of Shields coming into herself as a woman who has lived 59 years and is over the bullshit.

An exerpt: 

For me, the journey to becoming more confident was also about wanting to feel less stressed-out and worried all the time. There came a day when I was simply tired of judging myself and feeling like I wasn't enough. I was over the angst. I didn't want to be mean to myself anymore, and I started to wonder where I got the idea that I needed to be perfect at everything anyway. What would it feel like in my body if I told myself I'm smart, I'm talented, I'm strong, I'm beautiful, I'm a good person and friend? I asked myself. What if I just assumed I was good enough as is? Turns out, it's liberating!

May

Tilt by Emma Pattee, 2025

An imagining of the catastrophic Cascadia earthquake hitting Portland, Oregon, Annie is at IKEA nine months pregnant. She is trapped under boxes and saved by IKEA employee Taylor.

The description of the apocolyptic scene is searing. Phones aren't working, dust is in the air, people are hungry and death is everywhere. There is only chaos - no police, firemen. In other words, no one is coming to help.

Buildings are collapsed, roads and highways are ruined, people are hungry and frantic, searching for loved ones.

The story takes place over the hours that Annie treks across Portland, searchng for her husband Dom. 

Throughout the march across the ruined city, Annie reflects back on the past telling her yet to be born baby Bean about meeting Dom, memories of her mother and how her dreams of being a playwright has died over the years while Dom's dream of being an actor still burns strong.

The despair of Annie's surroundings, her and Dom's life of constantly being in debt while Dom chases his dreams, and Taylor's desperation to find her daughter Gabby is beautifully written.

The ending felt incomplete but appropriate in the way the focus is on Annie and her transformation as she is thrown into the unknown.

Costas: Warrior for Life by Costas Theocharidis, 2024

Written and self-pubished by a friend, this autobiography sheds light into what discipline and hard work can achieve. The focus, intentionality and drive that Costas has is rare and amazing. My Amazon review of his book says it all:

5.0 out of 5 stars Inspiring story about sports and life

Reviewed in the United States on May 19, 2025

Verified Purchase

Costas: Warrior for Life is a fascinating story about what it takes to make it as a Division I champion athlete. There are many 'naturally talented' athletes, but Costas's story sheds light into what it takes (beyond talent) to become a champion. The book is not just a one-dimensional story about sports though. Costas talks about applying the same hard work and intentionality that got him to the States playing for a top team like Hawaii to his life beyond sports.

Filled with Life Lessons gleaned from his collegiate and post-collegiate career in Finance and Real Estate, Costas also talks about his family, living in major international cities and passion for ultra marathons. It's an inspiring biography that goes beyonds stats and accomplishments. A great read! 

James by Percival Everett, 2024

This reimaging of James, the slave from the Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn adventures, is beautifullly written and imagined.

The power of language is a theme as James and fellow slaves must learn to speak 'slave' language and never correct a white person. 

The morality of slavery and 'kind' masters and white people who oppose slavery (but do nothing to stop it) is also at play.

A heartbreaking novel with its honest depiction of how slaves were treated lead me to tear up a few times. 

The brutality and racism that humans are capable of are staggering. 

A Pulitzer Prize Finalist, James is a powerful book that had me turning the pages as James ran from one cruelty to another in his escape towards freedom. 

The realizations and growth from James as he meets fellow slaves and white people leads him to returning to where he once fled to reunite with his wife and daughter. His initial naive plan to buy them back no longer a consideration.

Next on my list is to read Mark Twain's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. I don't recall if I read it i school or just know the stories through popular culture. 

I look forward to reading Tom Sawyer with fresh eyes, knowing what I know about James.

[I realized after the fact that The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a separate book; the one that centers around Huck's adventure with James and the one that I want to read...]

A few weeks later... James has won the Pultizer Prize for fiction! I picked up Huckleberry Finn and it is such a different style and voice. I do not see myself geting into it...