'Imperfect Birds' by Anne Lamott

I picked this book to read because I have liked some of Anne Lamott’s non-fiction work in the past; her book Operating Instructions about her son’s first year was lovely. This book is fiction and tells the story of a tense mother-daughter relationship. Elizabeth, the mother, is a recovering alcoholic; Rosie, the daughter, is 17 and rebellious. They live in California with Elizabeth’s second husband, James. The book follows the family as Rosie becomes more lost in a mess of teenage drugs and lies.

I'm of the opinion that you don't really need to go out searching for profound experience in order to properly appreciate the universe, but Lamott's characters seem to constantly want to hammer it into my head. They spend so much time reflecting on amazing, intellectual things that their revelations completely fail to impress or amaze me intellectually.

The point of a good book isn’t really about liking the characters in the story; people who are not especially likeable can be engaging and interesting. That being said, I didn’t really have any sympathy for the characters. I thought that Elizabeth was wimpy and pathetic and Rosie was hateful and self-centered. Have I just described the dynamic of every parent-child relationship? Possibly. Maybe that’s the point of the book; everyone in the world is awful beyond description. But I was still frustrated and irritated with these people. It’s a given that the daughter is making bad decisions, but the mother makes some of the dumbest choices imaginable too. I guess I’ll have to wait until my daughter is 17 before I pass judgment.

‘For all the tea in China’ By Sarah Rose

Do you wonder how tea production moved from China to India in the 19th century? I certainly never did, and I suspect that you’re in the minority if you spend your time thinking about that sort of thing. Even though I had never wondered about Asian tea production, I decided that For all the Tea in China sounded like an interesting book. Sarah Rose follows the travels of Robert Fortune, a British Horticulturist, as he travels to China to learn tea production methods and smuggle plants and seeds out of the Chinese mountains. I’m always impressed by how well documented some people’s lives are; even though he lived over 100 years ago, Fortune’s movements in China are very precise. It is fairly obvious that some parts are imagination on Rose’s part – a smile, a meal, a wince of pain, are these really things that can be proven by historical records? But these interactions that I’m assuming are not necessarily factual are probably good educated guesses on the part of the author.

There was a short mention of something in the closing paragraphs of this book that bothered me a little bit, mostly because the subject had been nagging at me the entire time I was reading. Rose brought up the fact that imported plants can overrun indigenous plants and wreak havoc on natural habitats. As the subject of this book is Robert Fortune’s botanical espionage and not environmental conservation, I can understand that much time was not spent on the subject, but Rose spends so much time putting his actions into context, that it seems awfully abrupt the way this in mentioned.

For all the Tea in China manages to be adventurous and engaging, while also sparking an interest in other historical events that provide context for the tea trade (such as the opium trade and health benefits of tea). Hopefully readers of this book will not only be tea aficionados; the story and writing is sure to appeal to a wide variety of other readers as well.

'Don't Sleep There are Snakes' by Daniel Everett

Lately, I’ve been becoming increasingly interested in off-grid living; relying as little as possible on public and government programs and funds to support oneself. With this in mind, reading Don’t Sleep There are Snakes has been enjoyable and thought provoking. Author and linguist Daniel Everett has been regularly spending time with the Pirahã population of the Amazon since the 1970’s. This book, discusses not only the linguistic implications of what has been learned from Everett’s work, but also the lifestyle and values of the people being studied. Of course, the reader will see that the culture of the Pirahã is crucial to the linguistic conclusions that Everett has drawn, but even if it weren’t, it’s just so darn interesting.

Since I’m not an expert in linguistics (and one doesn’t have to be to enjoy this book), I’ll have to take Everett’s word for it when he writes that his conclusions are controversial and unusual. Instead I’m inclined to focus on the lifestyle and the anecdotes that illustrate their personalities. After reading this book, I’m impressed with the comfort and contentedness that the Amazonian people have in their lives. They have certainly achieved something that I can only hope to attain.

A favorite passage from the book:
They [the Pirahãs] have no craving for truth as a transcendental reality. Indeed, the concept has no place in their values. Truth to the Pirahãs is catching a fish, rowing a canoe, laughing with your children, loving your brother, dying of malaria. Does this make them more primitive? Many anthropologists have suggested so, which is why they are so concerned about finding out the Pirahãs’ notions about God, the world, and creation.

But there is an interesting alternative way to think about things. Perhaps it is the presence of these concerns that makes a culture more primitive, and their absence that renders a culture more sophisticated. If that is true, the Pirahãs are a very sophisticated people. Does this sound far-fetched? Let’s ask ourselves if it is more sophisticated to look at the universe with worry, concern, and a belief that we can understand it all, or to enjoy life as it comes, recognizing the likely futility of looking for truth or God?

In Conclusion, it is a wonderful book, one that I certainly recommend.

'The Privileges' by Jonathan Dee

The Privileges is the story of one family that enjoys spectacular financial success. The book begins with the marriage of a very young and attractive couple shortly after college and follows them for approximately the next 25 years as they have a family and become gradually wealthier. There are many moments that made me feel as though I were standing on the edge of a cliff – how successful can people be without suffering some great disappointment? This may be the trick that kept me reading; a constant, paranoid feeling that things always go wrong. But maybe I’ve just read too many books.

I always expect books about money and wealth to end by reaffirming what all middle-class people are taught to believe – that money isn’t everything, money will be your undoing, love and friendship is far greater. Though the characters in this novel do place a good deal of importance on family, this isn’t the message that I took away from this book. Instead, when I finished this novel, I was left with the feeling that wealth should be comforting and endless. You’ll still get older, and you’ll still lose loved ones, but if you have enough money, you won’t have to suffer in the same ways that other people do. Having enough money means being attractive, being comfortable, and enjoying the ability to make people do whatever you want.

"Everything you always wanted to know about organ donation* ... but were afraid to ask"

Now, how could you not read an article with such a headline? This intriguing subject is explained inside the leading article of this month's CMA Today, the premier research, educational, and generally informative publication of the American Association of Medical Assistants. CMA Today is designed to assist students planning a career as a medical assistant or administrative assistant in "the office, hospital, clinic, or school setting," and is one of more than forty specialized or general journals, periodicals, or magazines to which the Vine Street library of Southwestern College subscribes and puts on display for reading and enjoyment by both our students and faculty.

The Vine Street library is one of 23,000 subscribers nationally to CMA Today. This month's issue also contains a four-page summary on salaries nationally and regionally for medical assistants and also information on scholarships available for those medical assistants who want to pursue their nursing degrees. And, in an article sure to warm the hearts of Mr. Stikeleather and Mr. Weisgerber here at Southwestern College, this month's CMA Today also has advice for instructors on how to motivate their medical assistant students to get in touch with their inner love of math.

For those students studying criminal justice or business management, the Vine Street library also subscribes to and displays magazines of great interest to those who want to enter these careers. Just look to your right as soon as you enter the library, and the periodicals display will be in front of you. All our magazines and other periodicals freely circulate, and we'll be happy to check any of them out for you. Here's a complete list of those magazines and periodicals currently available at our Vine Street library:

American Journal of Nursing
American Legacy
American Police Beat
Black Enterprise
Body and Soul
Business Week
Campus Technology
CMA Today
Consumer Reports
Defense Tech Briefs
Ebony
Elle
Elle Décor
Entrepreneur
Fast Company
Forbes
Health
Inc.
Information Week
Jet
Juvenile and Family Justice
Law Enforcement Technology
Maximum PC
Medical Laboratory Observer
Mental Floss
Multicultural Review
NASA Tech Briefs
National Institute of Justice Journal
Newsweek
Nursing 2010
Nursing 2010 Critical Care
Nursing Made Incredibly Easy
OR Nurse 2010
PC World
Psychology Today
Security
Shape
SPIN
T.H.E. Journal
Website
Wired
Working Mother

--David Robertson

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

It is really difficult to criticize a great book like Speak (PZ7 .A54385 2009) . The layout, plot and characters are all wonderful and just as they should be. If I were in a position to require such things, I would say that every girl from 12-18 should be required to read it, and most other people would benefit from it as well. All in all, this is a really good book about the horrifying yet realistic life of a teenager.

The book begins with Melinda Sordino’s first day of high school. Melinda called the police at an end of summer party, getting several kids into trouble. Before high school even begins, she is ridiculed and ostracized. Melinda starts school lonely and misunderstood and things just keep getting worse.

I’ve read this book multiple times, and I was especially struck by how little identity people seem to have; I think this is intentional. There is a running joke throughout the book about the school being unable to select a mascot. Girls seem to change themselves to fit into the clique of their choosing. Melinda sits in an outdated bedroom that no longer reflects who she really is. I feel as though Anderson is telling us that the trauma and depression that Melinda is suffering is all-consuming. But then again, does anyone really know who they are in high school?

Never Let Me Go By Kazuo Ishiguro

This is a difficult book to review, because aspects of the plot are quite mysterious for long periods of time, and I would be doing the reader a great disservice by revealing many details. The protagonist of the novel is Kathy who is now 31 years old. Never Let Me Go is written as a memoir might be; the bulk of the novel tells of her childhood and her friendships at Hailsham. Though the children’s lives could be described as sheltered and idyllic, the reader is aware that this is simply a façade.

In many ways, this is a science fiction novel; the students of Hailsham exist in a world that differs from our own, even though the similarities are abundant. I might refer to this as “light science-fiction” – more than anything it is a relationship/friendship drama. I think that this is all for the better; there are many, many, many books that talk about the conflicts of relationships and friendships (almost every book). Ishiguro’s book introduces another element to this fiction equation, but without making the story unrelatable.

Though this is a side note, I am always impressed with authors who choose to write novels with protagonists of the opposite sex. In this case, Ishiguro is a male with a female narrator. (The Harry Potter series is another excellent example of this phenomenon) My point in mentioning this is that I think Ishiguro does an excellent job. The attitude of the narrator seemed plausible and natural.

I based my selection of this book on the fact that I really enjoyed Ishiguro’s Remains of the Day, and I didn’t really know what to expect. In many ways, the books are similar, personal dramas with disturbing back stories (Remains of the Day’s protagonist was employed by a Nazi/Nazi sympathizer). And more importantly, both books are touching, well written novels that readers will enjoy.

(Also, I didn't realize until I finished this book, but it is being made into a movie. I want to see it, but knowing me, I'll wait until it comes out on DVD)