Susan and her traveling partner “Claire” decide to spend a year traveling the world after they graduate from Brown University.  Neither have done any exotic travel.  Susan comes from a middle class family and Claire comes from a wealthy one.  They are what sounds like casual friends prior to the trip but they decide to go and decide to start their travel in China.  It is 1986 and China has just opened it’s borders to tourists, although it is heavily monitored.

Susan and Claire travel to China.  They immediately are disoriented by the language, the temperature, the food, the smells and just about everything.  They take turns having moments of weakness and homesickness while the other pushes to carry on with the trip.  During this time Claire writes diligently in her journal and talks of people watching her and spying on her.  After a dramatic incident Susan realizes that she is having a psychiatric breakdown and works to get her out of the country as fast as she can.

The story wasn’t really what I expected.  There were parts of it that I liked, such as the author talking about the Americans and expatriates traveling in Asia trying to prove how authentic they were by how little they paid for things and how much they roughed it.  She points out that you have to be a wealthy person to have the privilege to travel internationally and “rough it.”  It was also interesting to hear about China during this time and it definitely took some bravery as well as naivety in order to travel there without any preparation.  It is hard for me to identify what I didn’t like about this book but there was just something missing that kept it from meeting my expectations.

The Summer of My Greek Taverna is about an American who went to Greece as a break from real life in order to try to write a book.  He fell in love, both with the country and with a girl who became his wife, and made a life for himself in Greece.  Patmos is the small island where they met and that is where most of the story took place.  I did not visit it during my few months there, but the descriptions in the book brought to mind some of the beautiful places that I did see.

Tom and his wife are both struggling in work that they are not passionate about in order to support their two children.  She had been an artist and he was a writer but these careers were difficult for them to maintain after having children.  When a Greek friend offers Tom to rent his Taverna for the summer on a 50/50 split, Tom looks at this as a chance to make a large sum of money that will help them to be secure for the rest of the year.

This story is about that partnership, the hard work that is put into managing a restaurant, and the many relationships that formed and grew during this period.  There are insights into Greek culture (the love of negotiating), Greek food (including recipes at the end), and the life of expatriates living in a home away from home.  I thought it was a quick enjoyable read.

Rhoda Janzen has a car accident the same week that her husband has left her and these coinciding events lead her to go home to live with her parents while she is recovering.  Much of her story is different anecdotes from her marriage and from her childhood growing up.  She is a good story teller and there were several moments that she described that made me laugh out loud.  Most of these had to do with her mother who is out spoken and has an interesting logic.  The author does describe parts of her Mennonite background such as a built in nature to cook (from scratch) and she details some traditional Mennonite meals that she always had to eat.  She talks about a Mennonite’s lack of style, and how it is looked at as sinful to dance, drink or play cards.  However she did not go into several of the things that I always felt differentiated Mennonite’s from other protestant religions such as their pacifist beliefs.

Overall this was a quick read and it was a book that I enjoyed.  It started a little rough for me because she put these little box quizes into the beginning of her story that I was not a fan of.  This was a story about going home and how that made her examine her background and culture after being away from it for some time.  I think we would all find surprises in doing that at the things that bring back fond memories and the ones that horrify us.

Jo Tatchell first went to Abu Dhabi in 1974 when she was a small child.  Her father was working there and it was a city that was just starting to realize and develop the wealth that it had based on oil reserves.  Before the oil wealth that flooded the area people had lived a simple, almost nomadic lifestyle going where they needed to in order to survive.  The desert climate is harsh and the main ways to make a living were pearl diving and farming.  With the money that started to come into the city within the last forty years there has been a great deal of development and urbanization.  The style of life has changed dramatically within people’s lifetimes.  However it has also lead to Emirates needing to redefine who they are and how they want to present themselves to the world.

The development of Abu Dhabi has been planned and there has been a recently more of a push to become a center for art and culture.  This was what brought the author back to the region because she had a hard time understanding how the society she had known could be open in the way it would need to in order to embrace art.  She describes a society that brushes the bad things that happen under the rug in order to present a good face in public.  She also describes a society in which there are strict rules to live by and how a lot of business is taken care of through connections, backwards deals, and with a lot going on under the surface.

I found this book very interesting and was happy to be both entertained by the personal accounts of the author’s time there as well as being able to learn about a different place and culture.  I was struck that some would put the number of Emirates living in Abu Dhabi at about fifteen percent, making the majority of the people there having come from around the world.  The author seemed to describe her time there as in some ways being part of things but in others being separate as she would always be an expatriate and an outsider.  I also found it fascinating to think how quickly a place has changed and gone from one simple lifestyle to a more complex modern one.

Lily Casey was born in 1901 on a ranch in Texas and grew up there and in Arizona striking up a life as it came and making the best out of what there was.  In the beginning of the book Lily survives a flash flood and protects her younger siblings from it by climbing up a cottonwood tree and hanging on throughout the day and night until the waters subsisted enough to escape.  She has a quick mind and a quick wit and while she seems to try anything new that comes her way, she also has enough confrontation in her that she rubs some people the wrong way.

Lily is not able to finish school as she is a girl and her parents plan for her to get married.  She is able to become a teacher anyhow, at age 15, because of the teacher shortage in the southwest with the war going on.  She has numerous teaching jobs and is known at one as the horse back riding, poker playing teacher.  Lily is very independent and does what she can to stay that way.  After some family tragedy she decides to have children of her own and Rosemary, Jeannette’s mother, is born.

Some of the highlights of this book were the sassy character of Lily and the setting and time frame when it took place.  I also enjoyed getting to know Rosemary as a child since I had previously read The Glass Castle and had read about Rosemary as an adult.  I did find it a little bit odd to be reading in the first person a story that was like a memoir, knowing that Lily Casey was no longer living.  Jeannette Walls interviewed a lot of people to have a pretty complete picture of her grandmother, yet no one can tell accurately tell someone else’s story without a small piece missing.  This was a quick read (in fact I read it in the car on a four hour trip) and I was entertained throughout.  I will definitely read more of what Jeannette Walls writes.

Chinese families would come together to pay the upfront price of bringing a family member to America as an investment in the family’s future.  The cost could be anywhere from $17,000 to $30,000 and the immigrant would then work in any number of jobs to pay off the debt to their family.  Many people took long (and sometimes tragic) routes to reach the United States and the hope of future wealth.

The story starts with the Golden Venture.  The Golden Venture was a boat carrying over 280 illegal Chinese immigrants that ran ashore off of the coast of New York City in 1993.  The people on the boat jumped off and tried to swim to shore.  Many needed to be rescued and some died.  Almost all of the immigrants were caught and arrested and eventually held in jail for years as their cases were appealed and re-appealed.  Previous to this incident illegal Chinese immigrants were coming to America primarily by plane from countries such as Thailand that were a little more relaxed with thoroughly checking the validity of passports.  Once the immigrants reached America they would ask for refugee status due to a number of reasons.  The INS began investigating illegal Chinese immigration more after the incident of the Golden Venture and found that Sister Ping was one of the primary people involved.  Yet it took many many years to catch and prosecute her.

This book takes you through the underworld of Chinatown, the desires of many to come to America at any cost and the world of human smuggling.  It was very interesting and I learned of things, such as the Gold Venture incident, that I had never heard of.  It was a great book.

The different stories start in the 1770s with the creation of the song Amazing Grace.  It covers the founding of the chiropractic form of medicine, Alcoholics Anonymous, Netflix and Barbie.  Each of these stories in their own right are interesting.  I found some of the commonalities even more interesting such as that many of the people were out of their home country when they had their Eureka moment.  It also amazed me how many people (who became rich and important) knew or were friends with others who were rich and important.  Lastly, it seemed as though many of these people were so involved and passionate about their creation/idea that they neglected personal relationships or suffered in that area.

I also found the facts that the author included at the end of each short chapter interesting. Who knew that “if every Barbie doll ever manufactured were laid end to end, they would circle the earth three and a half times?”  Slinkys would circle the world 126 times!  Or that Dr. Seuss books have sold more than 500 million copies.

This was a great book filled with short chapters of information about moments of brilliance.  It made it seem as though these moments are attainable to anyone…if you actually try to make it happen.

He talks about growing up in a time when people were innocent and didn’t see danger in every little thing.  He describes different places in Des Moines where the kids would hang out and how they spent most of the time running around outside… sometimes behind trucks spraying DDT, playing happily in the mists.  I did not live during these happy times and, to me, some of it was a little hard to imagine.  However, told by Bill Bryson, it was very enjoyable.  He is one of the few authors that I find myself laughing out loud.

While this was not quite as entertaining to me as In a Sunburned Country or A Walk in the Woods, if you like Bill Bryson, you will like this book.

Claudia is a woman who immigrated from Dominca and is trying to make a better life for herself and her daughter.  She is legally in the country but has the perspective of many women who come to the country illegally and caring for someone’s children is the only option they have.  Claudia works for a couple in New York City caring for their two children.  She is happy with her employers who not only employ her but advocate for her as well.  Claudia lives on the brink of poverty, barely making ends meet, and for her one of the most difficult parts of nannying is that she does not see a future.  She talks of how her employers do better in their employment and make advances and more money, yet she stays the same.  She dreams of taking classes and becoming a nurse but doesn’t find the time or money to do so.

Vivian is a professional nanny.  She belongs to nanny organizations and she strives to make her profession more respected.  Vivian works for a couple who have twin boys.  She has cared for the boys since they were born and takes a very active stance in how they are raised, disciplined and educated.  She considers herself as someone equally involved and invested in the children’s upbringing yet tries to be sure to differentiate her role so that the boys understand who the parents are.  She has a salary with benefits and is very confident and sure of her role in the home.

Kim takes a job with a young couple expecting their first baby as a live in nanny.  She does it mainly because she needs a place to live as she is getting a divorce.  The match does not work from the first day as she is continually disrespected and treated as much as a maid and assistant to her employers as she is a nanny.  Her role is not well defined and Kim continues to work in a place where she feels belittled because she does not know what other options she has.

This book brought up a lot of interesting points in how there are many things to think about when hiring one person to care for your children.  There are issues of jealousy, control, and matching personalities as well as parenting methods.  I would recommend this book to anyone who is thinking about their options of child care.  It was a quick read and gave perspective into the lives of nannies.

I had heard about Pat Tillman as most of us have.  It is one of those events like the Jessica Lynch capture and rescue that were construed as defining moments in the Iraq/Afghanistan war by the media.  The interesting part of this story is that Jon Krakauer writes about how Pat Tillman had gone out of his way to avoid media attention since leaving the NFL.  He did not do interviews and did not want to be made into anything special.

The biographical information that Jon Krakauer provides describes Pat as someone who was always driven and worked hard to meet his goals.  He was small when he was young and still went on to be a great football player in high school, college and later in the NFL, mostly due to hard work.  He challenged himself in many ways through doing marathons and triathalons in his off season.  It sounds as though he lived to experience life and did his best to learn and challenge himself.  After 9/11 Pat started having doubts about his career as a football player and felt that he needed to do something more and he joined the military.  His brother, Kevin, joined as well and served with him throughout his time.  This made the cover up of what truly happened even more remarkable, to me, since his brother was on scene when it happened and just out of view from what had happened.

From the way the book describes the circumstances surrounding Pat’s death, it was obvious pretty quickly that it had been due to friendly fire.  Their platoon had been split in two and one section ended up firing on Pat who had thought he was coming to their aid.  The videos of the battle went missing, the clothes that he was wearing were destroyed and those who were aware of what had happened, which was the majority of the platoon were ordered to keep it a secret as a deliberately misleading account was provided in order to garner better press.

Pat’s wife, Marie, worked with the author in providing information for this book but most of the rest of Pat’s family declined to take part.  His mother has also written a book Boots On the Ground Before Dawn which I am interested in reading.  The one thing that this book really brought to my attention is that the people who are serving in the military and their families are so greatly affected by the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, but for many of the rest of us we live our daily lives without really thinking about it.  The sacrifice is so great for those involved.