Okay, really TWO book reviews this time

Let's get right to it, shall we?

Fallen Leaves: The Memoir of an Unwanted Chinese Daughter
by Adeline Yen Mah

Wow. Joan Crawford ain't got nuthin' on the stepmother in this book. Actually, the whole family is very dysfunctional. This book reminded me quite a bit of Memoirs of a Geisha, in that its amazing that the two women survived the emotional and physical trauma of their childhoods without losing their minds.

I was riveted; it was hard for me to put the book down. Since I read the back cover of the book before I bought it, I knew that she survives, and I knew what ultimately becomes of her. But the book was still engrossing, because there is much more to the story than her breaking free of the tyranny of her family. This is due to the fact that she never really does gain independence of them. For long after she is an adult, has a successful career and family of her own, and lives on another continent from much of her relatives, they continue to exert emotional torture on her. Her lifelong desire for love and respect from her family causes her to be susceptible to mental blackmail and financial difficulties. You have to read the whole book, because the person you think is behind the whole campaign against the author turns out to be only partially responsible for all that she goes through. As I said at the beginning, the stepmother is a real piece of work, but she isn't the only one. And even family members that the author insists are on her side make you wonder as you go through the pages.

And now for something completely different...

Be forewarned: Possible language/sexual content

Dork Whore: My Travels Through Asia as a Twenty-Year-Old Pseudo-Virgin
by Iris Bahr

How could I not buy this book? I had to buy it for the title alone. But it also has so many elements that interest me. She is Jewish, she was born in one place but grew up in another place, she has neuroses, its a biography, she is visiting foreign countries, she has a brother with a disability, and she is scared of sex.

My kind of book.

Its also absolutely freakin' hilarious. I was frequently laughing out loud as I read it. Its raunchy, its funny, its totally gross in places. Do not read this book if you are prude, or if you can't handle reading about bodily functions. I actually came close to gagging over one passage, even as I was laughing at the same time. Its that kind of book.

So now you're going to ask me, "So? Does she get laid by the end?" And my answer, of course, would be, "Read the book and find out!"

To tie in both of the reviews, people often ask me why I read what they consider to be depressing books. I read a lot of Holocaust literature, as well as the kind of books like Fallen Leaves, where someone is physically or emotionally scarred. But to me, they're not depressing books. I mean they are to a certain extent, but I don't read these kinds of books to focus on the bad stuff that happens. I read these books because they tell stories of people triumphing over adversity. "See what all she had to go through, and she managed to succeed. She beat the odds." I also read these kinds of books because they help me cut down on my bad habit of self-obsessing. When I read what others have had to go through in their lives, it makes my problems feel much less insurmountable.

librarianintx