I haven't read as much over the last couple of months, but here's my thoughts on what I have read.
The Heart Principle by Helen Hoang
This is another rom com by Hoang which features a person diagnosed to be on the autism spectrum. Anna Sun is a violinist and one of her performances went viral making her a huge star. Unfortunately, it has also led to burnout and extreme anxiety - so much so that she cannot even complete playing a piece. She just starts them over and over again, certain she has made too many mistakes. At the same time her long time boyfriend tells her he wants to have an open relationship.
She decides to address the anxiety created by these situations through embarking on a series of one night stands. However, even that doesn't work out how she's planned. She hooks up with Quan, a tattooed, motorcycle riding man who looks very different from anyone she's previously been involved with. The only problem is their three first attempts at a one-night stand fail - and as they keep trying, and spending more time together, it starts to feel like a relationship. Which is exactly what Anna was trying to avoid.
Quan has issues of his own as he is recovering from certain health issues and is scared the physical manifestations of his treatment will make it hard to be intimate with anyone. More tension is created by the fact that Anna's family think Quan is an inappropriate choice for her, even though he really steps up when her father is hospitalized.
Because this is a rom com with a predictable arc, all of the issues are eventually resolved and Quan and Anna both end up with the type of the relationship they didn't know they were looking for.
The Sisters of Auschwitz by Roxanne van Iperen
I almost avoided reading this because I have read so much Holocaust literature I wasn't sure I felt like reading more. But this narrative non-fiction is quite interesting.
The author begins her research as she moves into a house in the Netherlands that was used as a safe house for Jews and other Nazi enemies during the war. Through her research she learns of the Jewish sisters, Lien and Janny who became active members of the Dutch resistance when the Nazis invaded the Netherlands. They sourced false identity cards, hid fugitives and printed and distributed an underground newspaper. All the while they also entered into relationships and had children. Both were married to non-Jews, although one of the women was involved with a German who escaped Germany to avoid military service so was also very at risk.
When life got too tough in Amsterdam they moved with their families, including their parents and younger brother, to a home in the forest which became a centre for the resistance. After many close calls the sisters were betrayed by an informant in 1944 and sent on the last transport to Auschwitz and then Bergen Belsen, together with the Frank family. Fortunately, their husbands and children were able to escape capture and did not end up in concentration camps.
Unlike the Frank women, these sisters survived and were in fact a source of information regarding Anne Frank's fate.
The book is well written and a compelling read while still filled with factual support for all the statements made. The author was even able to interview some of the sisters' children. While it is an interesting read, it is yet another Holocaust book, and you do need to be in the mood for that.
Em by Kim Thúy
I did enjoy this book, but I'll warn you from the start that it was hard to follow at times. There were a lot of characters and it was sometimes hard to keep them, and their connections to each other, straight. The central story is about Louis, the child of an American soldier in Vietnam who ends up living on the streets after his father returns to the US and his mother dies as a result of a poison gas attack during the war.
Louis adopts another baby who is abandoned at the market and names her Em. Louis and Em both eventually end up being evacuated from Vietnam and living abroad.
The book covers not only their lives, but the lives of their parents and the impact of the war on them, and covers broader historical events such as the rubber plantations ins Vietnam prior to the war, the massacre at My Lai, the airlift of biracial orphans from Saigon and the building of the international nail salon business by Vietnamese women.
I enjoyed the book, and it was short and easy to read, but I did keep having to flip back and forth to keep track of the characters.
Becoming Eve by Abby Stein
This is another non-fiction book which tells the story of the author who was born as the first son in a rabbinical Hassidic dynasty family in Brooklyn. Though she is raised to marry, study Torah and carry on the family name, she always knows that she's really a girl.
Because she lacked access to television or the internet, she sought out whatever secular information she could find through books, including forbidden religious texts and secular examinations of faith. While she follows the path expected of her for years, including marrying and having a child, eventually she can no longer live the life of a Hassidic man.
Against tremendous odds she orchestrates an escape from her insular community. And with the help of a more mainstream and welcoming Jewish group she embraces a different form of Judaism and ultimately transitions. A Rabbi in her new group tries to broker a relationship between her and her father, but this is rejected outright. She is not allowed to see her mother ever again. In the afterword she suggests she is in touch with two of her numerous siblings, but they are so afraid of the implications of maintaining a relationship with her that she agrees not to name them.
This is a fascinating insider's glimpse into a world that we can generally only see from afar. It clearly illustrates how difficult it would be to remain in that world and have any semblance of individual autonomy. The author deserves tremendous admiration for having the strength of character to escape rather than live a lie.
There were also a few little tidbits that I found interesting. For example, whenever the author introduced a new character she explained how they were related to her - and it was always in multiple ways. Despite all of this inbreeding apparently it is common practice before approving a marriage match to do genetic testing to ensure there will be no issues as a result of the inbreeding.
The Education of Augie Merasty by Joseph Auguste Merasty
This is a first hand account of the author's experiences in a residential school. At the time the book is written, Merasty is a retired fisherman and trapper - so he's not young. And it's very clear how his time in residential school as a child continues to haunt him and impact his ability to function.
Merasty describes the efforts that were made to "take the Indian out of" the children in residential schools. The tales of physical and sexual abuse are no longer surprising, but still extremely disturbing. He was also taught to be ashamed of anything relating to his Indigenous heritage - and still struggled with conflicting feelings about it.
This is a very short book and really only tells a limited number of stories, but it packs a punch.
How to Save a Life: the Inside Story of Grey's Anatomy by Lynette Rice
As a loyal watcher of Grey's Anatomy over its entire 18 seasons, I had to read this book. It is really a collection of interviews by an Entertainment Weekly reporter. It is entirely unauthorized and some key people (read Shonda Rhimes) refused to be interviewed for the book so it only includes old interview material with these people, and much of that is undoubtedly taken out of context.
As much as I wanted to like this book, it was actually kind of boring. It didn't really tell me anything that I hadn't already read on social media and it seemed to have quite an agenda in supporting some of the players and not others.
If you're really into Grey's Anatomy you might want to read this, otherwise I'd definitely pass. In fact, even if you're really into the show your time might be better spent watching reruns.
