Amazon – Page 6 – …on the B.L.

The Art of the Good Life by Rolf Dobelli

June 8, 2019June 8, 2019 RaeAnna

Worth A Read Yes
Length 272
Quick Review Dobelli compiles 52 guidelines for living a good life and avoiding the unnecessary in The Art of the Good Life.

The Art of the Good Life by Rolf Dobelli | Skirt | Shirt

Living a good life is kind of everyone’s goal. I hope, anyways. The meaning of life may always be elusive, but living a good life shouldn’t be. Rolf Dobelli is a businessman and well known author. He started out as a novelist but gained international acclaim for his book The Art of Thinking Clearly. His latest The Art of the Good Life compiles 52 guidelines for finding happiness no matter what your life looks like.

As I get older, it seems like my peers are looking to self help books more than in my younger years. I don’t necessary love them. I think they’re a little pretentious and boring. Dobelli seems to have his life pretty well figured out. I wouldn’t necessarily say his advice is ground breaking. In my 28 years on this Earth, I’ve already figured out most of these and have been living from that place for a good while. There’s advice, I wouldn’t follow, but that’s just me!

What I do appreciate about The Art of the Good Life is the prose. It’s well written and interesting. Dobelli pulls from his own life and the lives of others. The guidelines are very much grounded in real life. He has a huge sense of humor, which makes for an entertaining read. There is a lack of oxford comma usage, which I am not a fan of. I won’t hold it against him personally, but his life would be better if he used it. I very much appreciate his appropriate swearing. There’s a harsh honesty to the book. It has a bit of: humans are inherently dumb because we follow our emotions and that’s not smart. Dobelli isn’t condescending, but he doesn’t mince his words about how much time we waste on stupid shit. He is an amateur pilot and uses a lot of plane related examples, which I’m here for. I love flying.

I may not love self help books, but I did enjoy reading this one. I would say overall the guidelines he lays down in The Art of the Good Life are good rules to live by.

Have hard, unbreakable boundaries.
Feelings will lead you down the wrong path, so don’t follow them.
Money is not the key

Although, I wholeheartedly disagree about his sentiments on reading… kind of. One hundred books over ten years… goodness “Once you hit thirty, life’s too short for bad books.” I don’t think I could stick to one hundred books over ten years…. Ugh.

The Art of the Good Life is an interesting read. I enjoyed it, and there are some fun factoids throughout the pages.

Memorable Quotes
Radical acceptance “With each explicable pick-up, your life will get better.”
“A dog is authentic. You’re a human being.”
“A book is something qualitatively different from crème brûlée, a scenic flight over the Alps or sex.”

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Title: The Art of the Good Life; 52 Surprising Shortcuts to Happiness, Wealth, and Success
Author: Rolf Dobelli
Publisher: Hachette Books
Copyright: 2018
ISBN: 9780316445061

Books, Fiction

Unmarriageable by Soniah Kamal

May 30, 2019May 28, 2019 RaeAnna

Worth a Read Yes
Length 352
Quick Review Pride and Prejudice is set in modern day Pakistan in the Binat home. Kamal fills Unmarriageable with all the wonderful judgements one would expect from a Jane Austen novel.

Reading Unmarriageable by Soniah Kamal in Houston’s Museum District | Dress

I’m not necessarily a fan of love stories, but Jane Austen tells far more than how two people fell in love. She had a sharp eye and a quick wit. Pride and Prejudice is beloved by the world for so many reasons. Soniah Kamal brings the plot and characters into the world by setting it in a world not so different from Victorian England: Pakistan. Unmarriageable is a beautiful retelling.

Alysba Binat is the second oldest Binat Sister. At 30, she is all but unmarriageable. She helps support her family as an English Lit teacher alongside her older sister Jena.

I’m not going to give the plot line because you are probably familiar with it anyways. Unmarriageable does a good job sticking to the plot while making it modern and global.

I love well Kamal does at bringing this classic story into the modern era while also making it relatable to a completely different demographic. Muslim girls in Pakistan face similar life choices as the Bennet girls did in Victorian England. As much as times have changed, for so many women and girls life has not progressed that much. Unmarriageable is able to point this out to the demographic who do have choices. Kamal also makes the point that Pakistan was colonized by the British and taught to revere British Literature while looking down on their own cultural heritage. Through this novel, Kamal is able to combine a mixed literary heritage into something beautiful transcending religion, gender, and culture.

Reading Unmarriageable by Soniah Kamal | Dress

I love how Kamal uses Pakistani versions of the character’s names throughout Unmarriageable. It’s really interesting to see how that translates. The use of Urdu words and phrases is also a great way of blending Pakistani culture into the book while making it accessible to Western readers. Alysba teaches Pride and Prejudice to her class, so it comes up often throughout the book. It works within the novel, but I don’t particularly love this literary device. It feels a bit overdone and boring. What I do appreciate is how many books Kamal mentions of Pakistani heritage.

I never thought I could dislike Mr. Collins more than I already do. He’s an odious and boring character. Kamal out does herself with Mr. Kaleen when he says, “Alysba was lucky he was not the sort if man who’d respond to her insult of a refusal by throwing acid on her.” Oh how lucky she was. Ugh. This hurt me.

Unmarriageable is a lot more pointed than Austen’s original. Austen tells the story and lets the reader surmise. The satire, observations, critique, and sarcasm are left for the reader to take in. Kamal points out relationships, dynamics, hypocrisies, etc. There is a lack of nuance requiring much less analysis. The plot moves faster than the original work and is a much smaller book. I wouldn’t say this is better or worse; it just is. It does appeal to the modern reader more than the original would if published today.

I really enjoyed reading Unmarriageable by Soniah Kamal. It is a wonderful retelling of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. It has a lot to offer readers of all ages and backgrounds. Perfect for summer vacation.

Memorable Quotes
““But reading widely can lead to an appreciation of the universalities across cultures.””
“Perhaps you truly could not make someone disbelieve what they’d been so thoroughly conditioned to believe.”
“A woman is nothing and no one without virtue. Her virtue is the jewelry of her soul.”

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Title: Unmarriageable
Author: Soniah Kamal
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Copyright: 2019
ISBN: 978124799717

Books, Fiction

China Rich Girlfriend

May 21, 2019May 16, 2019 RaeAnna

Worth A Read Meh
Length 479
Quick Review Rachel Chu and Nick Young are newlyweds, but not everything is honeymoon perfect when they decide to spend the summer in China.

Reading China Rich Girlfriend by Kevin Kwan in Houston’s Museum District. | Red Dress | Shoes

I have mixed feelings about the Crazy Rich Asians the book and the movie. You can read that review here. I have a thing about always finishing every book I read. I don’t often read series, but when I do, I read the whole thing. Since is Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month, I thought I’d read Kevin Kwan’s China Rich Girlfriend.

Rachel Chu is an economy professor in New York with her new husband, Nick Young, a history professor. They get married even after opposition from his wealthier than shit Singaporean family. Due to random circumstances, Rachel finds her biological father and spends her honeymoon in China getting to know her brother. She and Nick get swept up in Hong Kong high society and all the drama the uber wealthy find.

The issues I had with the first book are pretty much the same issues I have with China Rich Girlfriend. The plot is engaging and moves very quickly. It’s easy to keep reading. The fast moving, drama filled plot distracts from the flat and empty characters. It’s hard to have any emotional connection with the characters because they don’t seem to exist in a human realm of emotion. If it weren’t for the great acting done by the cast in the movie – especially Constance Wu – I would have no thoughts or connection to any of the characters. It’s all story and drama with no depth. It’s a great mindless read to get swept up in while by the pool watching your kids, a bird, or napping. You don’t have to pay that much attention to this book.

China Rich Girlfriend by Kevin Kwan | Dress

The lack of character development doesn’t take away from the fun narrative style Kwan brings to China Rich Girlfriend. The narrative style was equally fun and satirical in Crazy Rich Asians. There’s a lot of grandiosity and throwing around of wealth, which, honestly, sounds like a heap load of fun if I had a gold bar pooping unicorn in my backyard. Like in the first book, Kwan utilizes footnotes to bring the reader into his high-society world full of drama with fun tidbits, gossip, and more. Footnotes are also used to alert the reader to cultural things most [Western] readers probably wouldn’t pick up on. He does a good job highlighting the hypocrisy of the uber wealthy. One fun one is the women carrying Birkin bags but cutting out coupons. It seems ridiculous, but I whole-heartedly believe women like this exist in the world. (I would probably be one of them.)

Overall, China Rich Girlfriend has a lot of redeeming points as a vacation or summer read. If you’re looking for an insightful look into the meaning of life or quintessence of humanity, this is not it. It’s a soap opera in book form. Fun but not good.

Memorable Quotes
““Bernard has no money. He only gets about ten million a year to live on,” Carol confirmed.”

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I absolutely love this red dress from Target. It’s such a cute wrap dress. I have terrible luck finding wrap dresses that won’t blow wide open at the thought of wind, but this one doesn’t! Also these shoes from Target are perfect. I love a good pointy-toed nude shoe.

Title: China Rich Girlfriend
Author: Kevin Kwan
Publisher: Anchor Books
Copyright: 2015
ISBN: 9780804172066

Books, NonFiction

Under Red Skies by Karoline Kan

May 16, 2019May 16, 2019 RaeAnna

Worth a Read Yes
Length 320
Quick Review A memoir about growing up under the one-child policy in China as a second child and the collision between traditional and modern values.

Under Red Skies by Karoline Kan at Iowa State University in Ames. | Shorts | Shirt | Sandals | Sunglasses |

For many of us, it’s hard to imagine living in a world where there is a ban on how many children you can have.* It is even harder to imagine one’s existence being illegal. Karoline Kan grew up in both of those realities. She documents her coming of age story in her memoir Under Red Skies.

Chinese history is not common knowledge for most Americans. Tiananmen Square might ring a bell if you were really paying attention in history class. Thankfully, Kan starts Under Red Skies off with a brief historical timeline starting in 1945 with the Chinese civil war to ground the reader in the history affecting the world she grew up in. Most people are aware of the one-child policy in China. For the most part, the effect that policy has on the people probably does not come to mind. Kan’s mother wanted a second child and did everything in her power to make it happen, which is why Karoline Kan is in this world.

The women in China endured a great deal of hardship because of the one-child policy. Kan bore witness to forced sterilization. She was there when the government kidnapped her mother to force her into a tubal ligation. Surgeries were done by non-qualified doctors in outdoor tents. Many women became ill and suffered lifelong difficulties due to these procedures. Some women even died. The first year, 1983, more than 16 million women were sterilized.

Communism rocked the foundations of the Chinese culture. Under Red Skies touches on a great deal of her experiences. Religion was banned; people were arrested, reeducated, beaten, and even killed for having religion. Hukou was a fundamental part of Kan’s growing up. It defined where people lived and where they could go. Essentially, hukou defined who they were. People very rarely amounted to any more than what their family’s had. Kan’s parents worked hard to make sure she and her older brother were not as limited by hukou.

Under Red Skies is about more than just the one-child policy. It’s about growing up in a changing time. With the advancement of technology, life in China was changing. Traditional values clashed with modern values. Kan was born in 1989 and grew up in a time of change. She grew up to become a journalist and a writer. Sharing her story and the story of so many other people.

Kan writes a moving and brilliant memoir. Her experiences are incredibly unique as a second child during a time where that was wrong. She is also incredibly relatable but does not shy away from the gut wrenching details of her childhood. Under Red Skies is a beautiful testament to love and dedication.

*Considering everything that is going on in the U.S. states of Alabama and Georgia where abortions are all but banned. Limiting the number of children a person or couple can have is the exact opposite of what is happening.

Memorable Quotes
“Globally, the voices of young Chinese – especially those of young Chinese women – are often neglected.”
“Scholars believe 30 to 60 million girls “disappeared” because of the One-Child Policy.”
“China was far from being a free country.”

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Title: Under Red Skies
Author: Karoline Kan
Publisher: Hachette Books
Copyright: 2019
ISBN:9780316412049

Books, Fiction

Home Remedies by Xuan Juliana Wang

May 11, 2019 RaeAnna

Worth a Read Maybe
Length 256
Quick Review A collection of short stories exploring family, love, and identity for a generation of Chinese.

Home Remedies by Xuan Juliana Wang | Cherry Shoes

Home Remedies by Xuan Juliana Wang is a collection of incredibly moving short stories oscillating between depressing, funny, tragic, and cringy.

There is a lot going on in this little book. The short stories in Home Remedies are divided up into three sections: Family, Love, Time and Space. The first story does a great job setting the tone of the book. It’s serious and pulls the reader into the book. There is no way you can put the book down once you start reading.

One of the most impactful scenes in the entire book is a scene on page 89. It made me angry, uncomfortable, and feeling a little gross. Good writers don’t shy away from the tough topics, and Wang dove right into the difficult stuff throughout all of Home Remedies. There is never a moment she doesn’t shy away from the human topics. Life is complex and difficult, and Wang captures these moments in her short stories. It focuses on a generation of people in China and Chinese immigrants.

Wang bridges a gap. Giving a voice and story to people who have had very little representation in the Western world. Wang helps define people as human and not by their culture, skin color, or place of birth. Things may be different on the surface, but deep down humans all have similar desires, feelings, and experiences.

Wang’s debut book, Home Remedies, will be available May 14, 2019, and it’s going to make an impression.

Memorable Quotes
“Love could be a burden, too.”
“She was keenly aware of time lines, expiration dates of food, the shelf life of flowering plants, and the appropriateness of behavior at any given age.”

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Title: Home Remedies
Author: Xuan Juliana Wang
Publisher: Hogarth
Copyright: 2019
ISBN: 9781984822741

Books, NonFiction

The Art of Leaving by Ayelet Tsabari

April 20, 2019April 19, 2019 RaeAnna

Worth a Read Yes
Length 336
Quick Review Ayelet Tsabari was born and raised a Yemeni Jew in Israel. The death of her father was a catalyst leading her into a transient lifestyle always leaving for her next “home.”

The Art of Leaving by Ayelet Tsabari | Romper | Black Pumps

The Art of Leaving is an apt title for this moving and sometimes cringe worthy memoir. What can be seen as a memoir about leaving people and places can also be read as a search for belonging, home, and being seen. People yearn to belong to someone, somewhere. Ayelet documents her life of wandering around the United States, loving, gaining citizenship in Canada, roaming Southeast Asia, returning to Israel, becoming a mother. She is not only leaving people and places, she’s leaving herself. The parts she doesn’t like, the parts she doesn’t want in her narrative, the parts that other people have forced upon her. Tsabari yearns to belong in the world and in her own skin.

Tsabari grew up in the Tel Aviv area of Israel. She was the daughter of a beloved lawyer and the second youngest in a large family. At the tender age of ten, her father passed away. She spent her adolescence rebelling and searching for an identity while simultaneously flaunting and avoiding the stereotypes hounding her as a Yemeni and a woman. She joined the army as all Israelis do; instead of being a good soldier, Tsabari pushed all the boundaries and buttons (literally). After completing her time, she left. Exploring life in foreign lands, she did what many young people do: experiment in many ways. At one point landing on a beach in Goa, India, she didn’t even own shoes.

I had no idea about the racism in Israel towards people of Yemeni heritage. The Art of Leaving greatly opened my eyes to a culture and country I know very little of. The plight of Yemenis in Israel is reminiscent of the treatment of blacks in the United States; different, of course, but similar. Tsabari references childhood bomb shelters and gas masks like they were as every day as an ice cream and a swing set. Maybe, they were.

Tsabari touches briefly on the irony of her very Jewish urge to wander and find a home when her home is Israel in The Art of Leaving. Jewish people wandered for centuries searching for a place to call home with no success. She wanders with the same yearning of her ancestors. She looks for a home for her body and a home for her soul.

In Chicago’s Little Italy | The Art of Leaving | Romper | Pumps

I loved how Tsabari writes her memoir. It is very much in the present even though the events are in the past. The syntax and tense pull the reader into her life, identity, and crisis of being. There is a transparency between herself and the reader. She has no qualms about looking back into her diary and stating she wrote a story she could live with. Human. Reshaping stories and lives to fit in a pretty box. Her narrative was not the only narrative reshaped with years and in memories. Her great-grandmother was demonized and hated. Life is rarely as simple as walking away. Life and stories are complex and layered. Many of Tsabari’s life choices are questionable at best and downright stupid at worst. That’s the point. We all make choices in moments without thinking or ignoring what should be done. Tsabari took her own path and doesn’t apologize for it. I always admire the unapologetic even when I want to save them from their mistakes, which you can’t do. Saving people doesn’t really exist.

The Art of Leaving is a very personal, unique, and beautiful memoir. Even though she grew up under very unique circumstances, her story is very relatable. Many people wander with the need to find home.

Plot hole question: What happened to your feet??? I need to know!

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Memorable Quotes
“…they are proof that you don’t have to stop traveling to grow up.”
“Leaving is the only thing I know how to do.”
“Stories to her were luxuries, like dreams and regret.”
“I never feel that much anymore, which I suppose is the trade-off for not falling apart.”
“I didn’t want to become someone else. I wanted to be me.” (Motherhood)

Title: The Art of Leaving
Author: Ayelet Tsabari
Publisher: Random House
Copyright: 2019
ISBN: 9780812988987