Half the Sky

I read Nicholas Kristof's columns in the New York Times every week, so when I heard he had published a new book with his wife (Sherry Wudunn), I knew I had to read it.

Half the Sky is about the struggles of women around the world, but unlike so many other books, it offers solutions. Ways to get involved. Things to do. And the authors realize that even though we can't all quit our jobs and work for the Peace Corps (as much as I'd like to!), that we can each have an impact in our own way.

Ever since I heard about the cutting of girls genitals in a college religion class, I have followed the efforts to curb this practice. It's interesting to read how it has gotten some attention, but not nearly enough. Kristof and Wudunn also write about sex trafficking, maternal mortality and other gender based violence. But they use individual stories of women who often have survived the crimes committed against them to bring the point home.

The only negative reaction that I had was a question that kept popping up in my head "where are the men in this? Do they not have a responsibility?" And I get that if you educate a woman, you help an entire village, but there was some acknowledgement I didn't get from the book. However, when I checked their website (to confirm the spelling of Sherry's last name) I noticed they have a headline "Women aren't the problem. They are the solution. Along with me." Maybe I wasn't the only one.

The Girl Who Played with Fire

The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson finally came out in paperback and I bought it and quickly consumed it. The second novel in a series of three, was much better than the first one. It moved quickly, was much more suspenseful and intriguing.

You quickly find yourself siding and routing for Lisbeth Salander, even though all evidence suggests that she has murdered two innocent people and one not-so-innocent man. It ends with a cliff-hanger and the hardcover comes out in the US at the end of next month. How tempted am I to pre-order it from Amazon? VERY.

Weekends at Bellevue

I had heard Julie Holland on NPR and was interested enough in what she had to say, so picked up Weekends at Bellevue at the library. There were parts of the book that were interesting, particularly the stories about the clients, but the details about her personal life and the scheduling and personality issues at the hospital were boring.

I guess she was a better doctor than writer.

The Help

I read The Help by Kathryn Stockett for our April book club and I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised. Often times, books that are hot best sellers and get lots of buzz from book clubs, popular media, etc don't live up to my expectations.

But The Help was a character rich, plot driven and entertaining read. I felt like I got to know these women and I felt like so many of the themes weren't necessarily limited to the South or the 1960s. The Junior League women ostracizing Skeeter when she doesn't agree with their racist points of view is familiar to any woman who has had a close group of girlfriends and then experiences a life change and finds those friends treating her as an outsider. Skeeter's mom wanting to shield her daughter from the fact that she is seriously ill and hell bent on beating itis another universal theme.

When we discussed this book at book club, one woman who had grown up in Louisiana and who's mother and grandmother had always had help took such offense to this book and the fact that it was riddled with stereotypes. It led to an interesting discussion, but never having any experience with domestic help I just couldn't relate. And no matter what job someone is doing, I have always tried to treat them with respect. Side thought: isn't that a tenant of Christianity? And isn't the South filled with lots of Christians?

In short, the book was a great read and good for lots of thought-provoking discussion.