Sunday Salon: Augusst 8, 2010

I am writing this Sunday Salon from the balcony of my hotel room in sunny Cancun Mexico on Day 4 of my 5 day vacation while I listen to the crashing of waves and feel sun on my face - it doesn't get much better than this!  The trip has been perfect - completely telaxing and rejuvenating - exactly what I needed right now. I only wish is would last a little bit longer . .  ..

I have gotten some reading done while here - one of the best parts of vacation is having uninterrupted time to read an really fall into a story.  The two books in the pic above (I know it is a little shadowed) are

 I have been meaning to read this forever - it is on a few challenge lists too- and since it is large I thought it would be great for vacation


 Her books and their covers just scream summer to me and this one set in Nantucket delivered - a perfect pooiside/beachside read

Week in Review.

In case you missed them,  I posted two reviews this week:

Jan's Story by Barry Petersen
Waxed by Robert Rave

Hope you are all having a wonderful Sunday no matter where you spend it!  I am off to the pool and a frozen drink!

Jan's Story by Barry Petersen

Jan's Story: Love Lost to the Long Goodbye of Alzheimer's tells the story of Barry Petersen's struggle as his wife declined into the confusion of Early Onset Alzheimer's Disease at the young age of 55.The story is heartbreaking but also inspiring as Barry conquers his loss and moves through it.

Alzheimer's Disease destroys brain cells causing problems with thinking, memory and behavior.  It is progressive and ultimately fatal.  Early Onset Alzheimer's Disease, defined as a diagnosis before the age of 65, is particularly devastating because it can be more aggressive, progressing quickly and rendering its victims significantly handicapped and unable to conduct a normal daily life.  The person left is merely a shell of the their former self and is often unable to care for themselves at all.  The impact of the disease to the patient's family is tremendous - in addition to the horrific loss of their loved one before their eyes, the family must also deal with the logistics of providing care for the increasing limited patient and the financial burden of that care.  Barry Petersen's story follows that journey and beyond.

Jan Petersen first showed signs of being "altered" while they lived abroad when Petersen was posted outside the US for his work as a network reporter.  The event that precipitated her diagnosis at age 55 was  dramatic and also had many hallmarks of the disease.  Although she returned to "normal" after the approximate 3 day episode, her behavior, memory and personality began to show signs of decline.  Barry devised ways to keep his wife safe - employing friends to take her shopping, managing all her medication, ordering in so she wouldn't have to use the stove and perhaps forget to shut off the burner.  All the while, he mourned the loss of the Jan he knew as pieces of her slipped away.  It was particularly difficult to read about Jan as she became antagonsitic and fought with Barry - her sunny disposition was a part of her character that drew Barry to Jan so I can imagine it must have been horrible to see that sunny disposition replaced with anger and vitriol.

There were some choices that Barry made that seemed unusual but I cannot judge without having been in his shoes.  For example, while posted in Asia and after Jan's diagnosis, Barry shuttled the couple between Japan and China every few weeks. For someone with memory impairment, it must have been very disconcerting and scary to be in a different country every few weeks - different apartment, different friends, different currency.  At the same time, Barry could only afford to continue to care for Jan's increasing care by maintaining his job which required this travel.  It is not surprising, then, that Barry was the focus of criticism from Jan's family and friends who felt his decisions were not in her best interest and even questioned if Jan was really as impaired as Barry had indicated.  To suffer this judgement must have been terrible as he also lost the love of this life.

Althought the book is entitled "Jan's Story", the story is just as much Barry's.  It is the story of his loss, his hitting rock bottom as the rigors of being a caregiver completely wore him down and the story of his renewal as he recognized that his wife was lost and he needed to move on.  I appreciate that Barry shed a light on this devastating disease - how it destroys the patient but also the family and caregivers.  It seems the caregivers are really the unsing heroes of this fight and there is a need to figure out new ways to adequately support patients and families through this disease as its incidence rises. However, what I most appreciated about this story was the courage shown by Barry in moving through this horrible time in his life and pulling himself from the depths of despair - his story is inspiring and gives hope to anyone facing a terrible loss.

Barry will donate a portion of the proceeds from the sale of this book to the Alzheimer's Association - you can also visit their site for information about the disease, resources for families and patients, and information about how to help.

Thank you to Tricia from Media Muscle for providing this copy for review. 

Review: Waxed by Robert Rave

 Waxed: A Novel by Robert Rave
From Amazon.com:
Waxed is the story of three relationship-challenged sisters working together at New York’s hottest waxing salon, catering to socialites, actresses, and regular folk alike.
Yank. On the surface, glamorous Carolina Impresario---big sister and owner of Impresarios---unapologetically wants it all, but secretly she is caught between her successful boyfriend and the only man she has ever truly loved.
Pluck. After a painful divorce, middle sister Anna reluctantly reenters the workforce and puts on a brave face while attempting to raise her children, one of whom is decidedly different.
Tear. Newlywed Sofia is a hybrid of her two older sisters: She loves the idea of a domestic life like Anna’s, but is entranced by New York nightlife and a new best friend, resulting in some major complications at home.
Amid the sticky confines of a perfectly manicured world, these three sisters search for love, friendship, and better versions of themselves.

My Review:
Combine 3 trendy women running an upscale waxing salon in NYC where the clientele dish the latest gossip while baring their nether regions and you have the makings of a perfect summer beach read.  And Waxed: A Novel delivers on that front - I enjoyed reading about the buzz of the salon as the perfectly dressed actresses, socialites and city elite flitted in and out for their waxing maintenance.  The snarky banter between the Impresario staff adds to the light entertainment offered by the book.

Beyond the waxing humor, the trendy club scenes and the great dinners at the last "hot" Manhattan restaurants, however, is the story of the three sisters and each of their different (although also similar) relationship struggles.  While I did not relate to all three sisters equally, I think most readers will find one sister in which they see themselves.  Watching these three sisters navigate their love lives and maintain their relationships with each other despite their very different personalities added another dimension to this book and kept it from being superficial.  Don't get me wrong - these characters are not particularly deep or insightful - but their struggles are a nice balance to the lighthearted salon scenes.

This book fits squarely in the "chick lit" category and is told from a woman's point of view  - I had to keep reminding myself that the author, Robert Rave, is a male!  He actually answers the question of how he wrote from the woman's POV in an interview on Trashionista - check it out to learn more about the author.  You can also learn more at Robert Rave's website here.

All in all this is a fun summer read - pop it into the beach bag and settle in for a birds eye view into what goes on beyond the closed doors of "those" elite salons!

Thank you to Matt from Period Media for my copy of this book for review.

Sunday Salon: Aug 1, 2010

July seems to have flown by - as I reviewed my July posts, I realized I did not post a single Sunday Salon!  That is a shame - I find these posts anchor my week and I enjoy catching up with everyone via their Sunday Salon posts.  I am glad to be back!

Challenge Check-In
Now that we are part way into the 3rd quarter I thought it was a good time to assess my challenge progress:

Finished:
Memorable Memoirs - read 4 memoirs.  Here is my wrap-up post if you want to see what I read for this challenge

New York Challenge - only 1 NY book required for this one (gotta love a slam dunk!)  I read and reviewed Brooklyn by Colm Toibin for this one.

Ireland Reading Challenge - I signed up for the "Kiss the Blarney Stone" level which required 6 books - I am, finished but haven't done my wrap-up posts yet.  My "Books Reviewed" link has a segment dedicated to books in/about Ireland

In Progress (there are many more of these!)
Battle of the Prizes (British Version) - this challenge pits the Booker prize (English) against the Tait Prize (Scottish) - participants read one book that read each prize and one that won both (for a total of 3).  I am reading Rushdie's Midnight's Children (in progress), Corrections by Jonathan Franzen (will read later this week on vacation) and Life of Pi (not started).

TwentyTen Challenge - I won't go into all the categories for this one (although they are clever) - check out the link for the challenge.  My progress thus far? 8/20

Social Justice Challenge - Each month this challenges focuses on a social justice issue and asks participants to read a book around the theme and/or take action around the theme.  Some of the most impactful books read this year have been done for this challenge (Mountains Beyond Mountains immediately comes to mind)

World Religion Challenge - fortunately I took the "unshepherded path" so I set my own requirements (1 book finished so far)

Typically British Reading Challenge - Gordon Bennett level (4 books by British authors).  Almost there - 3  books finished!

South Asian Authors Challenge - 3/7 complete.  Swapna recently lauched a database of South Asian Author reviews on her blog  - check it out!

What's In A Name Challenge - 2/6 complete.  Suggestions for books with a "plant" in the title welcome!

Non-Fiction Five - 1/5.  I read a lot of non-fiction so I am confident I can make this one even though it ends Sep 30th

Not Started (aka in jeopardy)
Gilmore Girls - I love, love, love this show and the books included in the challenge are excellent (and diverse) but I better get a move on if I am to finish 5 books by the end of the year

451 Challenge - this challenge also has some of my all time "must read" books but I need to plan to work in 2 before the end of the year

How are your challenges going this year?

In other news . . .

photo credit: pdphoto.org

I am heading to sunny Mexico later this week for a 5 day minbreak - yay!  This has been a tough year at work and I am looking forward to the following schedule for a few days - nap, read, nap, bar, dinner, bar - repeat!  I am debating which books will make the suitcase cut and I may use Jenners's Vacation Books Selection Algorithm (my name, not hers - and because I live in a world of acronyms  - JVBSA) - I love the analytical approach to picking books and think she has nailed it perfectly!

Hope you all have a wonderful week - no matter where you spend it!

Read a Long: The Space Between Us - Final Installment

Lisa from Lit and Life has hosted "Thrity Thursdays" aka a readalong of The Space Between Us by Thrity Urmigar.  This is week the final week of the read a long - I missed posting the last 2 weeks due to some craziness at work and I have to admit that read straight through the book after week 2 because I was enjoying it so much!  My first two posts are here and here.

In the first part of the book, Urmigar sets up each character giving the reader a picture of who they are today while providing brief glimpses into the pasts that created them.  We meet Bhima, see hardships she endures daily and feel her disappointment and frustration with her granddaughter Maya who has dropped out of university due to an unexpected pregnancy.  We also meet Sera, for whom Bhima serves as a housekeeper and cook; she is a proud, self-contained woman but it is clear there is much beneath the surface.   In addition to presenting these two characters, Urmigar begins to demonstrate the "space" between them - both literal (floor versus chair; slum versus highrise) and metaphorical (high versus low class, educated vs. uneducated).

In the last half of the book,  the pasts of each of these characters unfold and we learn how they have been shaped by their experiences as young women.  Their stories unfold rather quickly in the last half of the book and we learn that although these women are at very different stations in society they have both suffered in their own ways and been deeply hurt by those they most love.  Loss and betrayal is the great equalizer for these women.  I did feel, however, that Bhima's losses were more tragic.  With limited resources, she seemed less equipped to recover from what befalls her.  In addition, she was betrayed by her husband but also by society when she was taken advantage of due to her lack of education.  The deck seemed so stacked against her and I found the inevitability of her fate due to the class into which she was born very grim.

Urmigar is a talented writer - this book was beautifully written with excellent character development - while still being easy to read.   I will certainly be reading more by this author!

Mailbox Monday/In My Mailbox: July 26, 2010

Story Siren hosts In My Mailbox where book bloggers offer a peek into the books that arrived in their homes over the past week. Mailbox Monday hosted by Marcia at the Printed Page has the same objective. These memes are great in that they offer us a chance to see what others are reading- it's like candy for book addicts!

Here is what has arrived since my last IMM/MM post (almost 3 weeks ago!)




What arrived in your home this week?

Readalong of "The Space Between Us" by Thrity Urmigar

Lisa from Lit and Life is hosting "Thrity Thursdays" aka a readalong of The Space Between Us by Thrity Urmigar.  This is week two of the readalong (check out my post for week 1 here) and we are covering Chapters 7-12

The stories of Bhima and Sera's lives unfold in these chapters.  We are taken back to each woman's younger self when each were first married.  As we learn more about each woman's life, we are also given insight into each woman's mostly private suffering.  Sera's husband, Feroz, was physically and emotionally abusive - there is one scene that was hard to read because Feroz's rage was so intense and I could almost feel Sera's fear of him and anguish that she had married a man that would treat her that way.  We are also given glimpses into Bhima's younger life - interestingly she and her husband seem to be enjoying their young married life, despite their meager means, but betrayal is foreshadowed - I am anxious to read on and see what happens with Bhima's husband. 

In addition to the stories of these two women, the novel also provides glimspes of life in contemporary Mumbai.  Scenes of the slums and the markets are vivid.  I visited India in January - my friends and I took a 2 week tour through North India and finished our trip in Mumbai.  On the way into the city, we stopped at a slum in which most of the residents provide laundry service to households and businesses throughout the city.  I included two photos below because when I read descriptions of the slum in which Bhima and Maya live I  think of this scene. 

If you are interested in reading the book stop by Lit and Life and sign-up for the readalong.  For more thoughts on the book, stop by the blogs of the other participants:

Ti at Book Chatter
Dar at Peeking Between The Pages
Staci at Life In The Thumb
Kathy at Mommy's Reading
Bailey at The Window Seat Reader
Mari at Bookworm With A View

In addition, Swapna at S. Krishna's Books is hosting a giveaway for 4 of Thrity Urmigar's books and The Space Between Us is one of them!