Summer Reading

Anyone who says they have only one life to live must not know how to read a book." 

~Author Unknown

I love to read and it seems that there is always a little more time to read in the summer with longer days, traveling, trips, and a little less busy-ness than usual.  I had a large stack sitting next to our bed and I have now made my way through most of them, so I thought I'd post some short reviews and recommendations.  (Okay - I recommend all of them!)

1.  I just finished reading a book entitled Infidel by Ayyan Hirsi Ali.  It is a fascinating autobiographical account of the author's life growing up in Somali with a strict Muslim upbringing. After fleeing an arranged marriage, she ends up in Holland and through hard work and defiance of her own family and culture, ends up renouncing Islam, and becoming a member of Parliment, speaking out for Muslim women's rights.  It is not a lighthearted book at all, as it covers topics and some descriptive passages on child and domestic abuse, female genital mutilation, the experience of starvation and poverty, and religious extremism, but she is a great writer and storyteller. Most of all, she boldy stands up for the rights of oppressed Muslim women even though her life is now on the line for doing so.  I see a lot of Muslim patients at Siloam, so this was an area of interest to me and has opened my eyes to some of the issues that my patients, especially the women, are faced with.  

2.  The Help is another book I couldn't put down.  It is a fictional story based on what life was probably like for many African American women in the deep south in the 60's.  The story takes you through the lives of 3 different women as they begin to speak out for change and take a stand and against some of the injustices they experience as "the help" for the white families they work for.  Kathryn Stockett, the author, was inspired to write this book because she herself was raised in the south by a black woman and she wants to examine what life must have been like for her.  Really, it is a book about friendship and crossing lines that have never been crossed before.  

3.  Marley and Me - I thought I'd throw something more lighthearted into the mix here.  I bought a used copy of this at Powell's bookstore on our trip to Portland, and though I'd already seen the movie, the I had always wanted to read the book.  The author wrote a column for his local newspaper for many years about his family, life and of course, Marley, the huge yellow lab that brings humor and chaos to all areas of their lives.  The book is a sort of compilation of all of his columns and thus, covers a 12 year period of his life and the events that take place in their family, always somehow centered around Marley and another disaster he has caused. Really, it is the story of the ups and downs of life, and while it doesn't always happen the way one plans or expects it to, Marley can always be counted on for both consistent loyalty and disaster.  Also, I refused to read the last chapter of this book.  I saw the movie, and I know how it ends, and I didn't want to read about Marley's end, and so I put it back on the shelf in a state of denial.  Just thought I'd admit that...  

4.  Julie and Julia  - If you've ever been frustrated with learning to cook a new recipe, then you will easily empathize with the author as she tries to cook all of the recipes in Julia Child's book The Art of French Cooking in one year.  This is an honest and funny look at her life as it begins to center around this goal.  She has to conquer her fears of killing live lobsters in her kitchen, cooking and eating calf brains, and most of all, the thought that she may not be able to recreate all these ridiculously complicated recipes.  (Julia Child wrote her book well before the days of food processers and other kitchen gadgets).  Shortly after finishing it, our friends had us over for dinner and there on the stove in their kitchen was The Art of French Cooking open to the recipe for the hollandaise sauce that causes so much distress for the author, but my friend Katy made it beautifully and deliciously and I know I wouldn't have appreciated it nearly as much without reading this book!   Also, don't read this book if you are stuck on an airplane during a 5 hour flight and very hungry and all they have to eat is peanuts...