blue_lotus13 | What I've been reading lately

1. A is for Angst by Barbara Haworth-Attard- A teen fiction about fitting in with a family, boys and friends. Fun, but nothing too amazing.

2. The Way we eat by Peter Singer and Jim Mason- This book explores the American food industry by following three families and their food choices. There were some interesting details, but I thought this book was pretty pretentious and elitist and I really preferred "The Omnivore's dilemma."

3. American Born Chinese by Gene Yang- This was a comic book about Chinese identity, a monkey king and annoying relatives. The animation style is fun and all the stories are woven together at the end.

4. Turtle Valley by Gail Anderson-Dargatz- I LOVED this gothic story set in the Okanagan Valley. The main character, Kat is in Salmon Arm to help her aged parents escape from a fire that is encroaching their farmstead. She discovers an ancient secret about her relatives and has to confront her husband, who changed personality after a stroke, and her former lover, who lives next door to her parents. This was a creepy story with excellent characters. Highly recommended, especially if you're familiar with the Okanagan.

5. The Golden Notebook by Doris Lessing- This book took me almost a whole week to read! I couldn't believe it because I normally read really fast. After I heard that Doris Lessing had won the Nobel, I realized that I'd never read any of her books. This is one of her most well-known works. It's a book which weaves together the present and diaries of the central character, Anna Wulf. The book is pretty complex, but was known for its intimate portrayal of women's inner lives and gender relationships. It's very well crafted, but it's not an easy read. Still I struggled through, and was glad I did.