REVIEW: SOLD BY PATRICIA MCCORMICK

SOLD by Patricia McCormick
Young Adult

I read this book in three hours.  This is not to say that I am some super human speed reader, it's to say that the book is that good and a fast read due to the almost poem-like format that the author uses.

In a giving circle I attend, our very first meeting we donated our dining out dollars to a charity called Nepal Youth Foundation.  Here we learned about how NYF has rescued over 4000 girls, thus far, from indentured servitude.  In other words, these girls, some as young as 6 years old, were sold by their poverty stricken parents, to what they thought were rich people who they then would work for as maids.  In some cases, this was partially true, in that the girls worked as maid slaves working in horrible conditions, with very little, if any, money going back to their families.  Some were sold to brothels.

And this is the story of Lakshmi.  She is a thirteen year old Nepali girl who loves her family, but maybe not her gambling stepfather.  She enjoys the simple pleasures of rural life in Nepal; taking care of her pet goat, talking with her loving mother, and eyeing the boy with the slanted eyes that she has been betrothed to.  Her future looks bright ahead, full of love and babies and family.  She even is allowed to go to school.

Suddenly the monsoon season comes and devastates their rice paddy, and her stepfather announces that she must go to the city to get a job.

What happens next is not hard to guess, but the way that Patricia McCormick has written this story is powerful and heart wrenching in its innocence.

The opening pages plainly spell out what I believe so passionately.  It is not just the burdens of women in the developing world, but the power you give to women, their families, and the community when you empower women in the world.

"Let me go to the city,"  I say.  "I can work for a rich family like Gita does, and send my wages home to you."

Ama strokes my cheek, the skin of her work worn hand as rough as the tongue of a newborn goat.  "Lakshmi, my child," she says.  "You must stay in school, no matter what your stepfather says."

Lately, I want to tell her, my stepfather looks at me the same way he looks at the cucumbers I'm growing in front of our hut.  He flicks the ash from his cigarette and squints.  "You better get a good price for them."  He says.

When he looks, he sees cigarettes and rice beer, a new vest for himself.

I see a tin roof.  

RATING:  5/5

For more information about the rescuing of girls in Nepal, you can visit Maiti Nepal (where the author did many interviews for research for this book) the winner of last year's CNN Hero Award, and Nepal youth Foundation.

REVIEW: STORIES I ONLY TELL MY FRIENDS by Rob Lowe

Stories I Only Tell My Friends 
by Rob Lowe (Kindle Version)

Okay, so normally I would never have picked this book up, let alone read it.  But, a friend of mine said it was awesome, and because I work in the film business, she thought I would appreciate it on that level.

She was right.

Rob Lowe can actually write, as it turns out, and I literally could not put this book down.  Basically there are no big surprises here, but one thing that I really appreciated about this book was the way he handled certain... shall we say... more colourful areas of his life.  Rob Lowe is classy, or at least he writes his memoirs with candor and discretion.  Where some other celebs would dive right in to every meaty and pornographic detail of every aspect of their life, Rob Lowe does none of that.  Oh, he covers all of the bases, even the hugely popular video romp he had with a couple of underage girls, but he glosses over things in a way that at the same time leaves you actually wanting the meat and porn, but being relieved and kind of satisfied that he has left you not feeling dirty after you have read it.

The book starts with his childhood and moves up through to his life as it stands today.  I have to respect the fact that although he did veer off the highway of life down the road of has-been child actor a la Gary Coleman, he managed to course correct and create a great and memorable career in the drama world and, who knew, comedy of all things!

There is only one criticism I have of his book, and really it's a very minor one and actually made me kind of laugh in a way.  Okay, well maybe there was two.

The first one was that he had a tendency to end chapters with a BIG REVEAL, which started to become extremely annoying and contrived and had me eye rolling a few times.  Okay, Rob, I GET IT, you are describing something that happened, and describing the person it happened with and low-and-behold the paragraph/chapter ends with..."so, I turned to her as she walked away and said, 'Nice to meet you too, Daryl Hannah!'"  Or, after talking about how much he wanted to meet his buddy Charlie's Dad, who was a famous movie star and then fatefully one Halloween night Charlie, Emilio, Chad and Rob were out creating shinanigans and a crazy man in camouflage make-up and fatigues jumps out of the bushes yelling about how he is "on patrol tonight!  And there will be no monkey business!"  And the paragraph ends with "Hey, Lowe, you said you wanted to meet Martin Sheen?  Well, now you have."

I guess you have to read it to see what I mean, I could list about a dozen examples like this.  I'm not saying that none of these events ever happened, I'm just saying that a little variation in delivery would have been nice.

The other thing is how Rob managed to stumble across people and points in the history of the entertainment business where, although they probably did happen the way he describes, are so numerous in number and he just casually happens to be in certain places, that I have to admit it makes me want to call foul.

For example:  He was at a baseball game with his brother, who was getting harangued by another fan.  An older guy steps in to help out, and it turns out he just happens to be the head puppeteer of the Muppets.  Okay... it could happen.  But then he invites them, kids he has JUST MET, to visit the set of a "little known film" (as he is always refers to in these such situations) called The Muppet Movie.  It just so happens that he just coincidentally managed to stroll onto the set when they were filming the most famous scene in the entire film, the part where Kermit sings "The Rainbow Connection".  Once again, leaving the name of the film to THE END, like I didn't see it coming like a parade float down the #1 highway with police lights flashing.

And then the time when he was in England and Sting invited him and his wife to visit, which they did, which I think is completely believable.  And as they were hanging around at his house, Pavarotti "dropped" by and him and Sting started recording their duet "Panis Angelicus" for a new album.  Sting and Rob weep openly as Pavarotti hits the high notes.  Beautiful image.  And then after Pavarotti leaves Rob says that him and his wife Sheryl are once again wowed as Sting records "If I ever Lose My Faith in You".  Not some other obscure song from any other album, but one of his most famous ones.

There are a million of these.

I'M JUST SAYING.

But then again, I have a few stories that I no longer really share unless someone asks that involve famous people and visiting them in LA etc, that I am quite sure nobody believes, but they actually did happen exactly as I tell it.  No lie.  And I am not a celebrity.

I have to tell you there is one brilliant bit that still has me laughing.  Rob worked with Christopher Walken and writes how Christopher talks in a way that I could have never imagined doing, but it WORKS.  It goes like this...

"I saw.  Your name.  It's good.  It was on a list.  Of the cast.  I'm ...glad it was you.  I wasn't sure. If it was true."

Seeeriously!  Is that not the best?  I love Christopher Walken, like HUGE love, like if I worked with him I think I would pee every single day, kind of love.

I am going to give this a 4/5 because I think it is a great fast read that, if you knew anything about Rob Lowe in the 80's, or even if you know him from his recent work, it is a very honest look into how fame is lusted after like a porn star, and once claimed, it can have the same affect.  It is ellusive, and can disappear as quickly as it showed up, and leave you feeling used and abused and taken advantage of.  But once someone like Rob Lowe has the right perspective, life just seems all the more sweeter.  I loved the arch he painted with his words, the arch of his dream, and how now he is living the dream he never knew was his to begin with.

RATING:  4/5

REVIEW: INFIDEL by Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali

I have wanted to read this book for ages, and I am so glad that I did.  This is a perfect example of me not knowing much about a subject and then learning A LOT by reading a book about it.  In this case, Ayaan Hirsi Ali's life was a window into the muslim world from a woman's perspective;  although I know that this is not necessarily atypical of a muslim woman's life.  I get that.  But the opening of this book is just riveting.  It starts out with the violent murder of Theo Van Gogh in the streets of Amsterdam.  The killer shot him numerous times, and then plunged two knives into his chest pinning a note to his victim's body.  The note threatened Ayaan Hirsi Ali along with western countries, among other things.

Now THAT got my attention.

Ayaan's life was filled with spiritual questions that at times had her re-embracing Islam and at other times questioning the very existence of Allah.  Having been there in my own life, I related to her on this very basic level.  As a young adult I imagine many people question the faith that they were raised in, and some embark on their own way, and others cling to the religion of their youth.

One area that I felt I learned the most about was in female genital mutilation, which she talks about a fair amount, and being a chapter leader with Dining for Women and an activist for women's rights all over the world, I was fascinated to have an insiders look into this practice.  Many women in cultures that still practice FGM actually take it as an honor and a right of passage.  Some women hold it as proud badge that they have been cut, and worried that if they were not, that no man would ever marry them because they would be seen as "unclean".  After reading "Half the Sky", Nicholas Kristof also alluded to this fact, and wrote that in order for this practice to end, it would take many years of undoing the traditional, religious and cultural beliefs of the people with which this is an everyday occurrence.  It reminded me that when trying to fight for women's rights in other countries, that we must also look at how certain barbaric practices in our culture, may have other meanings for women in those areas.  It reminded me how complicated these issues are.  And I needed reminding.

The other thing that struck me, was how Ayaan was living a cloaked life as a muslim, she was covered, she was following all of the rules of Islam, yet at the same time was reading American romance novels and watching North American television shows.  She was seeing how women in the west had much more freedom, they talked back to their husbands, they had jobs.  This was all very appealing to her, and planted a seed that would stubbornly grow, until she could not reject the desire to be free any longer.  It made me realize that countries that suppress the female population, would feel the need to censor their lives, because once the women see how other women are living, some would be like Ayaan and want to escape to another area where they could live free, or more free.

Ayaan was severely abused by her mother, I mean like "Mommy Dearest" kind of abused.  But what is interesting is that she doesn't really realize it, I don't think.  This made me very sad for her.

The first 3/4 of the book was excellent, but once she entered school and politics, I felt it just lost its personal touch and was just a list of accomplishments and more of an autobiographical list of events.  In fact, after her first relationship, which she presented in such interesting detail, and her fears of intimacy with a man etc, when she finally did fall in love with a European, there was no mention of anything that after almost 1/2 of the book spent on her cultural differences and religious issues surrounding relationships and men.  That was frustrating.  It was just plainly put, we met, we fell in love.

Ayaan's tireless and relentless call to action to give more rights and freedoms to muslim women all over the world must be applauded, but it does not come without controversy and threat to her personal safety at all times.  She started a foundation called AHA Foundation that works to protect and defend the rights of women in the West from oppression justified by religion and culture.

So, all in all, I'm glad I read it.  I have no plans to read Nomad, because quite frankly, I can't imagine what else could have happened since Infidel that could fill an entire other book, but maybe I'm wrong.  Anybody out there read both books?  Is it worth reading?

Love to hear your thoughts...

RATING:  3/5

Please help my friend's niece 15 year old LEXI!

Lexi is a beautiful 15 year old girl who lives in Calgary, Alberta Canada.  She has an EXTREMELY rare disease and desperately needs your help!  Read her story:

Lexi is a beautiful 15 year old girl with a                             bone tumor in her skull. It causes her incredible pain. We are     here to support her and her family to get the care Lexi needs.

Lexi is a stunningly gorgeous 15 year old ballerina. Who loves nothing more than to spread her wings on stage. One of the most gentle souls I know Lexi always puts everyone before her.. Her outlook and smile are an inspiration to all. Lexi has a rare bone tumor in her skull (5cmx7cm) that has caused an even more rare nerve dystrophy in her head called CRPS or RSD. Usually found in the arm or leg CRPS causes excruciating debilitating pain that is untouched by narcotics. With intense physio this can be treated in the arm or leg however there is no treatment for CRPS of the cranial nerves. Lexi has multi system issues.. She is believed to have an undiagnosed mutation of the cyropyrin gene that has left her allergic to her internal organs. She becomes covered in painful rashes and struggles to take breaths. Her body spasms, her jaw locks. Her skin splits and bleeds. Every movement or trauma causes more pain.Because of the cryopyrin issue drugs like morphine and 90 percent of the drugs that would help her suffering cannot be given as they compound the problem. Her lips swell so much they split open. Her hearing is so sensitive breathing around her makes her cry. She can no longer eat and is tube fed...even with the tube feed she continued to lose weight and at 102 lbs she is now on intravenous feeds running the risk of liver damage. No one in alberta knows how to diagnose or treat Lexi so we have spent a year trying to get help and really only putting out fires or what we call symptom chasing. She is so complex we are left just trying to keep her alive. We have exhausted ALL options at Alberta Children's Hospital. We are currently awaiting a transfer to toronto sick kids to meet with the specialists and genetic immunologists who might be able to help her. In the meantime she suffers incredibly. I have not really been able to work since may and her insurance provider removed her. She does not qualify for health insurance as she has been deemed critical. Since when I am working I do quite well she does not qualify for govt assistance. The govt drug programs do not cover most of her drugs and now even the hospital doesn't cover some of them. I have exhausted my savings and the bills keep coming. We aren't even sure what the bill for the transfer to toronto will be as her testing flights nurses etc may not even be covered. With med bills well into the thousands each month I am running out of options. I hear everyday what can I do to help...help me save her. Even the comforts she needs like the softest of blankets and massage therapists that will come to the hosp ...all add up. Even trying to pay our reg bills with no income is becoming a struggle. Childrens cancer is the most funded area... Millions upon millions are donated each year. Diseases like lexi's get nothing...the rest of the hosp gets nothing. These kids die. This is a kid that would do anything and everything to make someone smile or ease their pain for a minute...please help me to continue to do it for her. Please visit her Facebook page right now and donate as much as you can!  She is fighting for her life!

REVIEW: HALF THE SKY BY NICHOLAS KRISTOF

This book has changed my life. I never went anywhere without it while I was reading it. There has never been a non-fiction book that I have read that I did not want it to end! I inhaled every single word of it, and was disturbed, moved, inspired, and most importantly driven TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT MATERNAL HEALTH AND THE RIGHTS OF WOMEN WORLDWIDE. Nicholas and Sheryl paint vivid portraits of many women throughout the world, and some of whom I will never forget.  But perhaps the one that moved me most, and had me sobbing, was the story of the 14 year old girl, named Mahabouba, who was a second wife and was in labour with her first baby for over 7 days.  On the seventh day she delivered her dead baby only to realize that she was uncontrollably leaking urine  and feces, and could no longer walk due to the nerve damage in her legs.  The leaking of her bodily wastes was caused by a fistula, an all too common traumatic birth injury that currently affects more than TWO MILLION WOMEN in developing nations. Disgusted by her foul odor, and convinced she had been cursed, the villagers and her family forced her to live in a hut outside the village, but not before taking the door off so that the hyenas could come and attack her in the night.  After darkness the hyenas came.  Mahabouba could not move her legs so she grabbed a nearby stick and waved it at the hyenas and yelled as they circled her all night;  all night long she fended them off. The next morning the only hope that Mahabouba had was to crawl to find help.   She had heard of a Western Missionary close by, and with a fierce determination to live, Mahabouba began pulling her self along the ground by her arms, her useless legs dragging behind her.  It took her an entire day to arrive at the compound, and she was already half dead..... Can you even imagine?  I can't.  I CANNOT.  And it is stories like this that have turned my rage into action.  I am now an advocate for women's rights in a way I never was before.  I have recently became a Circle Of Friends Volunteer Ambassador for The Fistula Foundation, and have also started our only local Chapter of Dining for Women, where we meet once a month and donate our dining out dollars we would have spent at a restaurant to causes that focus on women and children all over the world.  I am inhaling everything I can on the topic of women and maternal health, and have recently enrolled in a University course (which I had enrolled in about 6 years ago, only to cancel my registration due to me feeling that I didn't have the time... seriously.) in International Community Development. I urge every single person reading this to pick up your copy today and read it. Then tell everyone you know about it. I think this should be required reading in high schools, and I believe this could be one of the most important books of our generation on the topic of women's rights. If you live in the LA area, there is a great Half the Sky exhibit going on at the Skirball Cultural Centre until March 2012. Thank you, to Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn for shedding light on the issues of women in developing countries, and yes even women right here at home. If I could give it more than 5 stars I would. For more information please visit Half the Sky website.

REVIEW: THE CELLIST OF SARAJEVO BY STEVEN GALLOWAY

The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway
Kindle version

This is one of those books that I would have never heard of had it not been for our municipality coming up with a really cool campaign called - One Book One Calgary.  The premise was "What would happen if an entire city read the same book?"  The program was launched last month and there were cool events for people of all ages throughout the city.  They had a launch with a fancy schmancy night with appies, and the author doing a talk, and then a performance by a local professional cellist.  They had work shops with the author for teens, and book club discussions at various libraries across.. you get the idea.

So my family book club (which consists of my Mom, my two sisters, and two of my nieces) decided to all read it.  Even though we did not make it to any of the events I have to say I am SO GLAD I picked it up!

Galloway's book takes place during the Bosnian conflict in the early 90's, when Sarajevo was under siege by rebel forces.  It follows the story of three people as they try to cope with what is happening in their beautiful city.

There is ARROW, she is a sniper who deeply loathes the men in the hills, and struggles with who she has become as a human being....

And DRAGAN, a 65 year old husband and father whose wife and son fled to Italy.  In the hopes that he can be reunited with them, he continues to slog through the day to day nightmare of survival in a war zone.

KENAN is the one I can most relate to.  He is a young father with three children and a doting wife.  It is his part of the story that most resonates with me in the shocking reality of... what would it REALLY BE LIKE if suddenly I woke up to find my city completely overrun by rebels and that we have no electricity or water?  WHAT WOULD WE DO?  His part of the story is told in incredible detail that makes you feel his jubilation when the light bulb flares to life for a moment while he is shaving, or the horror as he is witness to the carnage that he encounters while simply getting water.

And then there is the CELLIST... he is based on a real person, Vedran Smailovic,  who played in ruined buildings during the siege. He specifically played Albinoni Adagio in G, which happens to be a real rip-your-hear-out kind of piece... just beautiful.
(Photo is of Smailovic playing during the war)

This story takes us into modern warfare... takes us into the lives of three people who love their city and yearn for the return to normal life... the fear that normal will never be... and within its pages it shows us how as human beings we all are heroes and cowards, and until we walk in the shoes of war, we will never know which of these we are.

RATING:  5/5

What I'm reading now...

Hey there everyone!

Sorry there have been lack of posts, but it has been very busy around here for various reasons.  ANYway, I thought I would just pop in and chat about what I'm reading now and giving some thoughts thus far.

The most riveting thing I am reading at the moment (although I can't read it at night because it gives me literal nightmares) is an extremely powerful book called Half the Sky by Nicholas Kristof.  This book is UNREAL.  I have looked at it for the last year or so, and lately with being involved with BeadforLife fundraising efforts, I have discovered my true passion... for REAL.  Advocating and being involved with organizations that empower women and girls in developing nations and right here at home.  So, I decided to finally pick up the book and my God, what a devastating, painful, and inspiring piece of work it is.  I am half way through and already have so many answers to questions, and many many many more stories that fill my head and MOVE ME TO ACT.  I highly recommend this book to EVERYONE.  Because of reading this book, and working with BeadforLife, I stumbled across this amazing website for this great organization called Dining for Women.  It is an international giving circle where women gather worldwide each month for a potluck dinner (or lunch, or breakfast!) and then pool the money they would have spent dining out and make a collective donation to a carefully selected charity or non-profit featured that month.  When I wanted to join a chapter in my area, I discovered that there was none, so I decided to start my own and registered as a Chapter Leader.  We will be having our first meeting in January and I am super excited about it!  I fell in love with BeadforLife and after selling out of beads in October, I quickly registered for another bead party as I was still finding people were asking me if they could buy more.  Once I sell out of the beads again (I HOPE!), I felt I still wanted to be involved somehow and make a difference, and Dining for Women is the answer.  Check them out!  :0)

The other book I am reading is an ARC for Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare, whom I LOVE.  I loved the Clockwork Angel, you can read my review here, and am really enjoying this one as well.  And btw... TEAM WILL, ALL THE WAY!  (Although I liked the other cover Will better than this one.)



Have an awesome day!