Reading on a Rainy Day

  Published in : 2019   ||    Format : ebook   ||    Location : US One line review : Decades before George Takei would grace our screens as the very capable Sulu, his family was one of several thousands to be interned in a camp right after the Pearl Harbor bombing. ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ Thoughts : George Takei is best known for his portrayal of Sulu in The Original Series of Star Trek. However he has a different (real-life) story to share in They Called Us Enemy . On December 7, 1941, when he was four years old, Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, and that set in motion a series of events, many of which were going to directly impact him and his family. A few months later, President Roosevelt issued an executive order, giving regional military commanders the right to designate military areas from which any or all persons could be excluded. This order was used primarily along the West Coast states to forcibly remove persons of Japanese origin from their homes ...

   Published in : 2019   ||    Format : ebook   ||    Location : US One line review : What does it mean to be American if you have to constantly question your place, especially as a six year old? ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ Thoughts : When Mira Jacob's six-year-old son, Z, starts asking her some very difficult questions on race (Does the new President hate him? Can he make his hair like Michael Jackson's? Is it bad to be brown? Are white people afraid of brown people? Is daddy afraid of them?), she can't say that she has all the answers, and even when she did, that she was ready to discuss the answers. As a child of a first-generation Indian American mother and a Jewish father, Z's questions span many topics, many of them touching on identity, belonging, and acceptance by his country. Neither Mira nor her husband want to package the truth with a nice bow for Z even though they are tempted, but the truth is not pretty. How do you tell your child that yes, ...

  Published in : 2020   ||    Format : ebook   ||    Location : South Korea, US One line review : When Ha Chuna's mother decides to relocate them to the US from Seoul, little does Chuna know just how challenging a year is ahead of her while she tries to fit in despite not understanding the language. ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ Thoughts : Ha Chuna is very happy with her life in Seoul - she has friends she loved to hang out with, favorite haunts that she visited after school with her friends, and a mother she loved. Every summer, Chuna and her mother went overseas on vacation so this year, right before she was to start eighth grade, when her mother said that Alabama was their destination this time, she did not think much of it, even though she had not heard of the place before.  Once in Alabama, she learns that they will stay with her mother's friend, Kim Minsik, and his entire family. So far, this is turning out to be an unusual vacation for Chuna. St...

I've recently read a ton of graphic novels and memoirs - some I loved and others not so much but were still a thrill to read. Guts by Raina Telgemeier I am always on the lookout for Raina Telgemeier's comics, so when I found Guts available at my library's Overdrive catalog last year, I had to request it right away. Her comics are always delightful, designed for the middle-grade audience, and written very well. Guts is a continuation of her Smile nonfiction graphic memoir series (see Smile and Sisters ) and recounts a period in her childhood when she experienced IBS for the first time. When Raina wakes up one night with an upset tummy, she just assumes it's a stomach bug as her mom is also showing the same symptoms. But when it doesn't go away soon but is instead influenced by the daily highs and lows of being a middle grader - good friends, not so good ones, and then the bullies, she realizes there's something else going on. If you have not read the previous...

Last month, I read two essay collections that I loved tremendously. I usually do enjoy reading essays - they are among my most favorite nonfiction categories. Nothing Like I Imagined by Mindy Kaling Published in : 2020 Format read in : ebook Location : US Rating : 4/5 Why I read it : Truly chance. I was looking for another book on Amazon when I came across these Prime freebies. Of course, I grabbed them. One line review : Wonderful essays about what it means to be an Indian American, a parent, (not) being religious, and famous. Who should read it : If you are a Mindy fan, you will enjoy these. I have not read Mindy's previous books so I don't know how similar (or not) these essays are to those. These six short books are each focused on a different topic - parenting was a predominant theme, but the essays also spanned religion, relationships, fame, and her mother. Each book had 1-3 essays - all very endearing and funny. My favorite was Kind of Hindu , which is a book I identifie...

Recently, I read two verse books in quick succession, which is very unusual for me, because I don't read a lot of verse. The first book I read - Garvey's Choice - was so beautiful and worth every word that I quickly moved on to the very next verse book that I could find - Brown Girl Dreaming. The latter is a very popular book and most of you may have already read it, but I haven't seen much of Garvey's Choice around. Or maybe I've missed its hype. If you haven't read either, I hope you'll pick one of them to read, and oh, don't let the verse tag get to you, these books are incredibly readable. Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson Published in : 2014 Format read in : ebook Location : Ohio, South Carolina, New York Rating : 4/5 Why I read it : After reading tons of great reviews of this book, it was simply begging to be read. One line review : Great memoir in verse and often very moving. Who should read it : Anyone who loves verse or is interested in ...

Adulthood is a Myth : This is essentially a book of drawings / scribbles on some of the author's experiences. Some of them were outright hilarious, some were more observational, while others were just meh. There were several that I liked a lot and I went crazy on Litsy sharing them. Definitely recommended, especially if you are looking for a fun read that won't take more than half an hour. The Trouble With Women : This is a quick satirical look at all kinds of condescending remarks made by male "geniuses" who thought they could explain why there are not enough famous or talented women, especially in STEM. I initially started reading it as an amusing take on the history of men's comments on women, and although the entire book is written in a tone of jest, there were several eminent men that I lost my respect for, including Darwin and Baron Pierre de Coubertin. This is yet another coffee table book that was quick to read.

Josephine : This book was my introduction to Josephine Baker - French dancer, singer, actress, and Civil Rights activist. From a very young age, Josephine was involved with the show business. She somehow managed to get a few opportunities to dance at some theaters but it was in Paris that she actually shone. It bothered her all her life, as it rightly should, that America was not ready for her, a talented black woman. It impressed her that France didn't care about her color and so she eventually gave up her US citizenship to be a French citizen. It amazed me that she adopted 12 kids from across the world but I wish there was more in the book (and the internet) about the kids because I was intensely curious about how they fared. I didn't care much for the fact that the book was written in poetry but it didn't hamper my enjoyment. Josephine saw colored people -beaten- fleeing their homes across the bridge over the Mississippi River to Saint Louis. To he...

But here was a woman taken without her own consent from the free world to an asylum and there given no chance to prove her sanity. Confined most probably for life behind asylum bars, without even being told in her language the why and wherefore. Compare this with a criminal, who is given every chance to prove his innocence. Who would not rather be a murderer and take the chance for life than be declared insane, without hope of escape? I can't remember where I first heard of this book - it was probably in an article discussing the 2015 movie based on this book. But when I heard that this book features a woman reporter going undercover, pretending to be "mad" (which means so many things in this book) in 1887 , I knew I had to read it. While Nellie Bly's investigative effort was remarkable to read about, her opinions about how women were treated in those days by men (aka feminism) were also very interesting to read. When Bly's employer, Joseph Pulitzer, asked ...

I'm not sure how I ran into this book. But as soon as I did hear of it, I wanted to read it. There is a lot of awesome geeky stuff out there, in books, movies, and on TV, and I generally enjoy many of them when I do read/watch them. So, when I saw this book, I wanted to see what more I can add to my list, and also what people generally thought of the ones I do like. I was also looking for where to start with certain series like Doctor Who and Star Trek. (I am big about starting a series in order, even where it's not necessary.) The Fangirl's Guide to the Galaxy definitely had a ton of recommendations but not much of it was new to me. The recommendations were also not very diverse. They were all mostly women/girl-friendly but beyond that? Meh. Some of it is probably not the author's fault because there isn't a whole lot out there that can be considered diverse. I liked what the author did with this book - there are several recommendations on how to be mo...

"Siberia," historically, has been less a geographical designation than a state of mind, a looming threat—the frozen hell on earth to which czarist and Communist Russias sent their political undesirables. In 1959, nine highly experienced hikers ventured to hike the Ural Mountains. All except one were students at the Ural Polytechnical Institute and were highly skilled mountain climbers. Part of the reason they were making this particular trip was due to their passion for this activity but the other reason was because they got credits at school for completing such treks. Despite being lauded as some of the most experienced hikers ever, none of them (except one) were going to return from this hiking trip. The lone survivor had turned back much earlier due to a severe back injury that only threatened to get worse. When the rescue party came across their campsite weeks later, they were puzzled by what they saw. The contents of the camp looked undisturbed, as if ...

It remains an astonishing, disturbing fact that in America - a nation where nearly every new drug is subjected to rigorous scrutiny as a potential carcinogen, and even the bare hint of a substance's link to cancer ignites a firestorm of public hysteria and media anxiety - one of the most potent and common carcinogens known to humans can be freely bought and sold at every corner store for a few dollars. This might be the first scientific and technical book that I read for leisure. As a science student in school, I used to read books like these to help my grades along; so for the longest time, I resisted the idea of reading them for fun. After reading a lot of book reviews though (of this and other subject-focused books), I have begun to love the idea of reading technical books about a certain topic, though I haven't really gone out of my way to read them. But it took me two tries to finish this book - the first try was short-lived (just a couple of pages) and the second wa...

What mindfulness does is create some space in your head so you can, as the Buddhists say, "respond" rather than simply "react." This year, I have been on a self help kick. Mostly on topics related to mindfulness, productivity, and being happy. I think feeling overwhelmed occasionally is the reason for it. And stress of course - who doesn't have that problem? When I came across Dan Harris' 10% Happier , all my neurons were intrigued. Besides, It has a promising title. It is a story of one person's attempt to be happier rather than a general 'How to be Happy' book. Also, it sounded like a light read - something I was looking for to complement the other heavy reading I was doing at the time ( Emperor of all Maladies ). Dan Harris starts off with the story of what triggered his interest in meditation. In 2004, he suffered a meltdown in front of millions of viewers of Good Morning America. He attributes the episode to stress, ambition, a...

I wasn't exactly planning to read this book. I hadn't heard about it previously nor do I remember seeing it on any blogs. I was searching for some other book when this one showed up in the search results. The title sounded interesting and when I read the description, I was more than eager to read it. Who doesn't like to read essays? -- Especially, when they are about topics that you can relate to. Now is probably a good time as any to talk about something I have been doing lately. No, this has nothing to do with parenting or this particular book I'm reviewing, but everything to do with how this book even got to be read. Like most of you, I have a huge TBR - at home on my bookshelves, on my Kindle, and also on a virtual bookshelf on Goodreads. There is no way I am going to read all those books, and that's fine. That doesn't really bother me. What bothers me is that there are all these books listed somewhere (physically and virtually), knowing fully well that...

It is very tempting to take the side of the perpetrator. All the perpetrator asks is that the bystander do nothing. He appeals to the universal desire to see, hear, and speak no evil. The victim, on the contrary, asks the bystander to share the burden of pain. The victim demands action, engagement, and remembering... Missoula has been on my wishlist ever since it was released early this year. This book isn't a typical Jon Krakauer book - there is no outdoor adventure gone wrong here. Missoula is all about rapes in college campuses. Besides, much of the cast of his other books are predominantly male. This book, however, is filled with mostly women. (I did think that this was an interesting choice of subject for Krakauer, but he explains in the end that someone close to him had been raped in college, resulting in her adopting several destructive coping mechanisms, such as heavy alcohol consumption and promiscuity.) Missoula is a typical college town - much of its population...

Now I had learnt that honour requires large sums of money to protect it, but that large sums of money could not be obtained without losing one's honour. Firdaus was sentenced to death for killing a man, and although several people have offered to apply for a pardon or some kind of mitigation of her sentence, she has staunchly refused any such interference. Our narrator is curious about this prisoner and wants to meet her, but Firdaus is firm - she doesn't want any visitors. However, on the night before she is to be executed, she changes her mind and decides to talk to the narrator. What follows is her story from her birth to the present, and all the ways she has been mistreated and taken advantage of. Firdaus' story is not pleasant. Her father only wanted sons and didn't care for this girl who outlived all or most of her siblings. Her earliest memories of her mother show a woman who may have cared for her, but very soon she was replaced by someone (either a crue...

I have never met a woman, or man, who stated emphatically, "Yes, I have it all.'" Because no matter what any of us has—and how grateful we are for what we have—no one has it all. Sheryl Sandberg's Lean In was released at a time when memoirs and self-help books by famous people were quite the rage. That in itself turned me away from this book. Plus, the fact that it was seemed to be catered more towards a woman reader rather than any reader but with an emphasis on women topics made me not want to read it. I prefer to read a feminist book that I can recommend to a male reader as well - there is no way only one half of the world can fix the problems that ail that same half. Last month, however, I went through an increased interest in feminist matters, bordering on obsession. At that point, Lean In came into my radar again. This time, I was keen to read it (interesting how your perceptive or general mood can influence your approach to a book). It was also inter...

I'm not crazy about the implication that pregnant women are incapable of deciding for themselves- that you have to manipulate our belief so we do the right thing. That feels, again, like pregnant women are not given any more credit than children would be in making important decisions. Ever since Aarti and Nomadreader reviewed this book, I knew I had to read it too, but only after I got pregnant. Since then, it's been on my TBR and I finally listened to this book a few months back. Unlike most books about pregnancy, Expecting Better is less about what to expect while pregnant and more about how to navigate through the tons of information out there about pregnancy and make a wise decision without living to regret it. The author, Emily Oster, and her husband were economists used to looking at quantifiable data and statistics - rarely did they make a decision without looking at some supporting numbers. So when she got pregnant, Oster was disappointed that there was so mu...