Waiting on Wednesday

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill @ Breaking the Spine.  We post about all the books we are waiting to be published.


I'm waiting for A Taste of Salt by Martha Southgate.  I've loved her other work so far and have high hopes for this book.


 
From Amazon:
Award-winning novelist Martha Southgate (who, in the words of Julia Glass, “can write fat and hot, then lush and tender, then just plain truthful and burning with heart”) now tells the story of a family pushed to its limits by addiction over the course of two generations.

Josie Henderson loves the water and is fulfilled by her position as the only senior-level black scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute. In building this impressive life for herself, she has tried to shed the one thing she cannot: her family back in landlocked Cleveland. Her adored brother, Tick, was her childhood ally as they watched their drinking father push away all the love that his wife and children were trying to give him. Now Tick himself has been coming apart and demands to be heard.

Weaving four voices into a beautiful tapestry, Southgate charts the lives of the Hendersons from the parents’ first charmed meeting to Josie’s realization that the ways of the human heart are more complex than anything seen under a microscope.


What are you waiting for this week?

Review: The Dressmaker of Khair Khana

 

Title: The Dressmaker of Khair Khana by Gayle Tzemach Lemmon
Publisher: Harper Collins
Published: March 15, 2011
ISBN: 978006173237
Pages: 288

 The Dressmaker of Khair Khana is the inspiring story of Kamila Sidiqi, an Afghani woman who through her hard work and perseverance managed to support her family and her community.  Shortly after Kamila's graduation from a secondary course, the Taliban took over the city of Kabul.  Every day the Taliban issued edicts restricting more and more freedoms.  People could no longer listen to the radio, dance, sing, fly kites, among other things.  The prohibitions against women were damning.  Women were forbidden from working, attending school, or leaving home without a male chaperon.  In a country where there were few men due to war and migration, significant number of women were condemned to a life of poverty by these rules.

Kamila Sidiqi was tired of seeing her father and brother struggle to support the family.  She kept looking for a way to help support her family while avoiding interference from the Taliban.  Her older sister Malika had steady business making clothes for friends, family, and acquaintances.  Seeing the brisk business her sister was doing, Kamila decides that being a seamstress would be a beneficial occupation.  She made sample clothing, scouted for shopkeepers to sell her goods, and gained a network of customers.  As word of her endeavor got out, more and more women came looking for work.  Kamila decides to start a school  to train seamstresses and run an apprenticeship program. 

Due to the success of the school, Kamila was invited to participate in programs run by foreign organizations that worked to educate schooldchildren and develop women entrepreneurs.  After working for these organizations, Kamila decided to form another business.  She had opprotunites to travel to Washington D.C. at the invitation of Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice.  Kamila had the opportunity to travel to Italy for training and to be part of a MBA program for Afghani women.

The book provides a wider representation of Afghanis.  Mr. Sidiqi was very adamant that his daughters be just as educated as his sons.  He saw the way women benefited from access to educations and work opportunities.  A female doctor was able to complete her education when her father offered to pay the Talibs not to disrupt her education or work in the community.  Several neighbors became Taliban to feed their family and watch out for their neighbors.  The woman, many of whom were widowed or separated due to better work opportunities elsewhere, supported their families any way possible..

Ms. Lemmon clearly admires Kamila and all the effort she put into creating a safe way to support her family and her neighbors.   She spent time living among the people she was writing about.  Clearly Kamila can be lauded for following through on her ambitions and selflessly sharing her knowledge with others.  Ms. Lemmon manages to convey the will power and determination of all the women who banded together to create a vast underground network to maintain their communties and families.

Review: Groundswell by Katie Lee

  

Title: Groundswell by Katie Lee
Publisher: Free Press
Published: June 21, 2011
ISBN: 9781439183595
Pages: 240

From Amazon:
   . . .
Sometimes the biggest ripples come from the smallest events. Like the day that Emma Guthrie walks into world-famous movie star Garrett Walker’s trailer. When she steps through the door, she’s a novice PA who’s just dropped out of college after losing her scholarship. When she walks out, she’s on her way to becoming Mrs. Emma Walker—wife of an A-list actor. Soon, Emma has made the transition from nobody to red-carpet royalty, trading jeans and flip-flops for closets full of Chanel and Birkin bags, swishing past velvet ropes to attend every lavish party and charity gala on both coasts. With her husband’s encouragement, Emma pens a screenplay based on her life, Fame Tax, which becomes a blockbuster sensation. Through it all, Garrett is her ally and her mentor . . . until their relationship is thrown into question by an incriminating text message that Emma discovers on Garrett’s phone the night of the Met Costume Institute Gala.
Devastated by her husband’s infidelity and hounded mercilessly by the paparazzi, Emma must flee New York City to get away from it all and clear her head. Her destination? A sleepy coastal town in Mexico where no one recognizes her and there is nothing but unspoiled beaches for miles. Here, she meets Ben, a gorgeous, California-born surf instructor, who teaches her about the healing powers of surfing, shows her the joys of the simple life, and ultimately opens her up to the possibility of love........


Groundswell is a great read for the beach or train, plane or car ride.  It's a quick, enjoyable read.  The only downside is that most of the novel talks about her life just before and during her marriage.  It would have been great for her period of self-discovery in Mexico was longer.  All in all, Emma was a realistic character; we were there with her every step of the way..  Cookbooks aren't the only thing Katie Lee can write.

10 Places to Get Your Book Fix

Good Sites for Social Networking with Other Bookworms
Shelfari 
   A self-described encyclopedia for books.  Shelfari lets you catalog your books and form groups about anything.  You can also meet authors of some of you favorite books.

LibraryThing
   Librarything accesses hundreds of library catalogs worldwide allowing you to add books from all over the world.  You can also enter to get books from authors, publishers, and even other members.
Copia
   Great site that lets you create and join study groups and even download free ebooks (current ones at that).. 
GoodReads
   This site lets you catalog all your reads, provide and receive recommendations, play games, discuss books, meet your favorite authors, and enter to win advance copies of books.
Scribd
   Great social networking site with tons of documents and areas to discuss pretty much any kind of book or genre you can come up with.

The Big Two:Wide Selection of Books at Great Prices
Amazon
   To me, Amazon is the premier site for reading customer reviews of books.  For most books, it's easy to decide if a book is right for you based on comments.
Barnes & Noble
  Home of the Nook, the new generation is getting rave reviews.  Also a great source of free and inexpensive ebooks.  The best thing about them is their retail stores.
PaperbackSwap

   You can create an account to trade books with other members.  With tons of members, you're likely to find the book you want.

Good Sources for Out of Print Books
Powell's 
  One of the largest independent books store - a prefect place to buy books if you want to give your money to an independent publisher.  They have a large stock of used and new books and plenty of out of print books.
AbeBooks
   AbeBooks acts as a middleman between booksellers and book buyers.  This site is a great source for textbooks and books from other countries.

What are some of your favorite book sites? 

Movies or Books

 



Lately, it seems like there have been tons of books and graphic novels that have been turned into movies.  Most of the time, the movies either suck or pale in comparison to the book.  Occasionally, the movie is great  and really complements the book it's based on.  Granted, visual imagery and written words are very different and are processed differently by us consumers.  Written images require a certain amount of investment and interest in the characters and plot; whereas, visual images can often distract us from a thin or lacking plot.

Personally, I prefer to read the book and then see the movie.  Sometimes, I'm willing to take a chance and see the movie before reading the book.  The slant the director decides to take with the movie can often give us a fresh way of looking at the book.  I'm often left very disappointed.