In BREAKING THE TONGUE Vyvyane Loh successfully brings to life the myriad of cultures and languages resulting in a rich tapestry of colors and flavors of Singapore, situated at the tip of the Malay Peninsula. The days of the British Empire are numbered as the Japanese threaten to invade Singapore in the days leading up to Second World War. Within the unstable economic and political landscape is Claude Lim, a young Chinese boy who was raised to only speak the language and admire the mannerisms of England. His parents taught him that the Chinese along with other non-whites are barbarians; the British are much more civilized and cultured. There is little uncertainty that the British will succeed in protecting Singapore from the Japanese menace.

Despite their initial beliefs the Japanese experience minimal difficulties advancing south through Malaysia towards Singapore. After his family flees to the relative safety of the countryside Claude is left behind to resume his studies. However, shortly after their departure the routines of everyday life are interrupted when the bombings begin and war becomes more apparent. Claude along with Brit Jack and Chinese Ling-li who strive to survive day by day while running a defunct medical clinic. They dodge bombs and the chaos of the streets to buy food and run the injured to the hospital without knowing when or if any type of normalcy will return to Singapore.

One of this novel's strengths is the manner in which Loh highlights and exposes the issues of cultural identity and belonging. There is Claude who is a devout Anglophile and who has essentially turned his back on his cultural identity, Jack who is British but is interested in the peoples of Singapore, and Ling-li who is strong pro-China. These three divergent individuals bunker down and explore their own cultural identity. Throughout the course of this book Claude slowly realizes that all his father taught him is not necessarily true. He begins to regret not knowing the various Chinese dialects and opens his eyes to the futility of his parent's choices.

BREAKING THE TONGUE is a book that is well worth seeking out and reading. It is filled with mystery, intrigue, and action and there's much to enjoy.

Reading THE KING OF AMERICA is like taking a breath of fresh air. It's been a while since I've read a book that moved me the way this one had. At the center is Stephen Hesse, young heir to a fortune and life of privileges. His mother raised him after his parents divorced when he was two years old and throughout his childhood Stephen and his mother have remained close. Although his parents reside in the same building on Park Avenue they live completely separate lives. Father and son are virtual strangers and don't attempt a relationship until his early adulthood when Stephen yearns to win his affection despite his mother's hurt feelings.

While attending Harvard Steven joins an anthropological expedition to Netherlands New Guinea to study the native tribes. While he has an interest in anthropology his real intention is to gain his father's admiration. The passages pertaining to the rituals of tribesmen and the descriptions of the physical surroundings were fascinating to say the least. As I was reading I felt that I was accompanying them while traveling through the jungles and watching the death ceremonies.

One of the true strengths of this book is how the narrative dove headfirst into Stephen's motivations, inspirations and feelings. It was beautiful how his strained and flawed relationships with his father, mother and girlfriend Sheila were portrayed in a fluid and multi-dimensional manner.

THE KING OF AMERICA is undoubtedly a small book but there is so much contained within the 213 pages. Large issues of colonization and the appropriation of native cultures are told in a brilliant and fascinating manner. Highly recommended.

It's a shame and a wonder that The Butchies aren't better known or receive more recognition from the music industry that they so clearly deserve. In the meantime I'm keeping The Butchies close to my heart. There is little doubt that this punk rock trio from North Carolina is my favorite band around. I've been waiting for the release of their fourth record for a year, since they announced that they're working on a new album when they toured Chicago last April, and MAKE YR LIFE doesn't disappoint. It includes all the hypnotic and seductive rhythms we've come to expect from Kaia, Melissa and Alison and also the incredible guitar and drums. There's nothing more uplifting and satisfying than listening to MAKE YR LIFE on the way home from work. The only problem is that I hardly ever listen to the entire CD in sequential order, rather I find myself continuously hitting the rewind button to listen to the same song over and over. When a Butchies song captures your attention so strongly it's difficult to listen to any other song. Kudos to The Butchies for another spectacular release, and I sincerely hope that there's lots more in the future. Very highly recommended.

After the death of her parents Esther, a ten-year-old girl, is sent to live with her cousin Mordechai who is a successful tax collector for the king in a distant city. As she travels ancient Persia she doesn't know what to expect in her new life; being twelve years younger she is betrothed to wed him when she becomes a woman. But when Esther arrives she discovers that Mordechai has relinquished his Jewish identity to save his reputation and keep him from harm; furthermore, she is encouraged to follow his lead. While Esther is disturbed to hide her faith she is determined to learn the necessary cooking and housekeeping skills to make a good wife. Four years later Esther while sitting in her cousin's courtyard she is abducted by the king's soldiers to serve as a virgin concubine in the royal court.

I had mixed feelings while reading THE GILDED CHAMBER. While I found the general premise of the story to be interesting, I felt the writing was too flat and clunky in parts. I was never drawn into the plot nor was able to 'get into the heads' of the characters. At times the story felt too scripted, such as during the parts when Esther had flashbacks to the day of her mother's death, and the author came through. I really wanted to learn more about life during these ancient times but I was let down.

This is Rebecca Kohn's debut novel, and I do believe that there is room for improvement. I just wish that her writing will evolve into the next level in her future novels.

Eleven years after backpacking through India with complaints of the poverty, heat and pollution Australian Sarah Macdonald relented to never return; she even went to the extreme of flipping the middle finger to the ground below as her plane ascended into the sky. Sarah wasn't necessarily happy to quit her successful job in Sydney to relocate to New Delhi to live with her journalist boyfriend; she often wondered if she was making the right decision. Upon arrival she started having flashbacks of pugnant body odor and beggars with leprosy. The pollution and thick smog affected her health and wellbeing. It is clear that she isn't quite cut out to live in New Delhi.

After reading the first couple chapters I expected HOLY COW to be filled with constant whining of India's derelict living conditions and complaints based on a Westernized perspective resulting in a mediocre travel narrative. But low and behold, I was soon pleasantly surprised how Sarah slowly evolved and reevaluated the country that she has scorned for so many years. After she started becoming reacquainted in her new home she started looking beyond the mayhem and dirt and began to see the beauty of India. Being a devout atheist when she first moved to New Delhi she slowly awoke and embraced the dynamic religions of Hinduism and Buddhism; she began to appreciate the sounds and surroundings of her new home.

While her husband is busy working Sarah was able to travel throughout India with her new perspectives and begins to enjoy the dichotomies that India offers. My favorite side trip was the Buddhist retreat in the Himalayan footsteps that taught her to meditate by concentrating on her breathing. I cannot imagine undergoing anything close to that endeavor.

Throughout HOLY COW Sarah Macdonald succeeded in digging past a traveler's first impressions of India to highlight the beauty of this varied land. By reading HOLY COW I now understand just a little bit more of India, and that was my initial goal when I first picked up this book.

Set in the Icelandic capital 101 REYKJAVIK follows the life of underachiever and slacker Hlynur: he's unemployed, in his 30's, and still lives at home with his mother. What's more, he has absolutely no ambitions for his life, hardly gets up before noon, and loves porn. He certainly didn't have good role models; his absent father is a drunk and his mother smokes hash with him. At first I don't have any sympathy for Hlynur, but there's something about his interactions with the other characters that kept me engaged to keep watching. There are indeed some very funny scenes that certainly made me laugh out loud. As the story progressed I couldn't help but be drawn into Hlynur's predicaments, pathetic as they seem. Though most scenes were filmed indoors the cinematography of Reykjavik and the surrounding areas was gorgeous. This film was entertaining and funny. Recommended.

Despite the title, virtually every woman would benefit from reading this book since very few are immune to distorted body images or have never dieted before. In THE FAT GIRL'S GUIDE TO LIFE Wendy Shanker superbly exposes the brutal truths of the revolving-door diet industry and shrinking sizes of the fashion industry. She intelligently writes with compassion since she has suffered most of her adult life from being overweight and spent a substantial amount of money on diet and exercise in an effort to slim to society's ideal size. Shanker has since made peace with her body and is adamant to let other women know that they're not alone in their battle for the perfect body. She dispenses practical diet and exercise advice that every woman can benefit.

While reading I was continually surprised at how Shanker manages to curtail popular ideologies including avoiding the ineffective diet regimes of Weight Watchers along with the commonplace practice of counting calories. Most surprising though was her unsatisfactory experiences of her month-long stay at the highly esteemed Duke Diet & Fitness Center. I have heard much about Duke's reputation but Shanker paints a very different picture of Duke being slow to adopt to new exercise programs and having futile support systems. Her tidbit of frequently seeing a pizza delivery van outside the center's hotel made me chuckle.

Throughout her book Shanker sidesteps the stereotype of an overweight person: she's healthy, beautiful, socially active, has a successful career, and is intelligent. She is also feisty and her personality shines through in her book. THE FAT GIRL'S GUIDE TO LIFE is at the same time serious and insightful, funny and original. Highly recommended.

I have a weakness for quality historical fiction and HOLY FOOLS certainly satisfied my cravings. Set on the remote rocky seashore near Brittany, France in 1605 this novel tells the story of a young woman and her child who have taken refuge from her past in a dilapidated abbey. After five years of posing in her new identity as Soeur Auguste she begins to believe that she has escaped her former life as a member of a traveling carnival that often flirted with the law. But the past comes to haunt her as her former lover and nemesis Guy LeMerle under a new disguise has arrived at the abbey with his own plans for sweet revenge.

Joanne Harris successfully brings to life the superstitions and witchcraft of early 17th century Europe. I enjoyed the rustic setting: unpredictable weather and the forces of Mother Nature along with the force of wind and rain that has beaten the alley over the decades.

HOLY FOOLS is a suspenseful book that contains plenty of plot twists and turns. I surely didn't know how it was going to end until the last couple pages. While I question some of the historical details I managed to look past them and enjoy it without picking it apart. It's a good and satisfying book. Enjoy!

Along the Welsh border is the small village of Hye-on-Wye that has attracted avid readers and dedicated book collectors from around the world. Why? There are forty booksellers but only 1500 residents. This fact alone is surprising considering the fact that readership in general is falling and booksellers are consolidating or shutting down at an alarming rate. In SIXPENCE HOUSE writer Paul Collins and his family decide to sell their San Francisco home and relocate to Hye-on-Wye to live in their ideal setting dominated by books. What follows is an often-humorous tale of their transatlantic move and acclimation to British life. Upon arriving their first obstacle is to buy a house that turns out to be an undaunted task; the types of houses they are interested in are either out of their price range or require significant repairs.

One of the most interesting aspects of SIXPENCE HOUSE deals specifically with the destiny of old forgotten books of yesteryear. A tremendous amount of books have been published since the invention of the printing press; yet one ponders the riddle of where all of these books have gone. An indication of the answer lies within this book as Collins details how bulk containers filled with books are shipped from America for resale in Hye-on-Wye on a continuous basis. Book buyers have combed the American countryside buying the libraries of estates and libraries which nobody else had any interest; the dusty books often end up in piles in the bookstores of Hye-on-Wye waiting to be searched by eager bibliophiles like Paul Collins.

SIXPENCE HOUSE is a decent read, though Collins' tangents of juxtaposing life in America versus Britain can be taxing and tiring after some time. I would have enjoyed more focus on the books instead of his writing career or taking care of his child.

In recent years there has been a proliferation of books about books, and this is another one to add to the growing stack. Enjoy!

By all accounts Trezza Azzopardi's REMEMBER ME is a dark gloomy novel set in England during the 1930's and 1940's. A box of keepsakes is stolen from a woman who is swatting in an abandoned house and she is determined to recover the goods - her only worldly possessions. Switching from the past and present the reader slowly uncovers the woman's secrets. The protagonist is a young girl with "tell tale" hair who is continuously abandoned, forgotten, and passed among the family after the death of her mother. Throughout her young life each caretaker gives her a new name but is emotionally absent to take care of her needs. She is essentially left to herself while growing up and is often taken advantage of. To make her life more complex she has a gift of seeing ghosts that interferes with her vision of reality. During her childhood she was convinced that the ghosts were responsible for taking away her mother, and later in adulthood her gift was used to capitalize on the grief of the war widows and others who have deceased loved ones. She routinely roams the streets resembling a homeless person with no real purpose or ambitions.

The first half of REMEMBER ME is slow and daunting. Azzopardi's prose is described as "spellbinding" on the book's cover but I found it to be lackluster and opaque. I was more confused as the story progressed, and I admit that I was tempted to give up on several occasions. About halfway through the story dramatically picked up and some of the pieces started to come together, and I started enjoying it for the first time. But despite this my overall impressions of this book are jaded. There were simply too many questions left unanswered, or answered in an effective manner. I wanted to sympathize with the main character for her neglectful childhood but the book's eccentric strange tone prohibited me. It's too bad because the plot first appeared to be interesting and I was looking forward to enjoying this book.