Review: The Vegetarian

The Vegetarian by Han Kang
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This novella was a very pleasant surprise for me. I didn't think I would really like it, and as it turned out I loved it! It kept me intrigue and I felt as if I had to keep reading it just to find out what happens.

My heart went out to Yeong-hye, a young married,completely ordinary wife ( other than she doesn't like to wear a bra.) and home-maker who, one day, suddenly decides to stop eating meat after a dream. She can't explain to her husband what the dream was about it, but because of this dream it haunted her and soon she finds herself distanced from her family and from society, who can't understand why she has chosen to do this. This begins her down-ward spiral.

The story is told in three parts, by three different family members. The first part is told by Yeong - hye's husband, Cheong. The second part is told by her brother-in-law, an artist, and the third part is told by Yeong-hye's sister In-hye, and is the only family member that still stands by her after her decline. However, since this book is about Yeong-hye turning into a vegetarian, the reader never even see her perspective of. There is some dialog of her talking and a some about her feelings, but not much.

One thing I must say about this book, it does not talk a lot of the vegetarian ways of eating, or of the diet itself, this is just a story of one woman who chooses to not eat meat. It basically deals with desire, shame, and empathy reflected by the characters' faltering attempts to understand the people around them. This is a darker book, so if your thinking this is going to be all unicorns and chocolates, you'll be very disappointed. It is a wonderful book, that brings out many different emotions. You might not connect to easily to the main character, since the reader doesn't hear from her much, but you do feel something for her. In a way I can understand how making a decision, and other people around you, especially your family, who are suppose to love and support you in whatever you decide to do, criticize you, don't attempt to hear you out, and past judgement, because they don't believe in you enough. These are some of the things that everybody did Yeong-hye. She was basically fighting a battle within a battle all on her own.





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Review: My Sergei: A Love Story

My Sergei: A Love Story by Ekaterina Gordeeva
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Ekaterina Gordeeva and Sergei Grinkov were two times Olympians who won gold and four times World champions. When the two skated, they moved as one, the moves were breathtaking, excellence. beautiful and romantic, technically, but also emotionally, they were so incredible as a team. They really set the bar high in pairs figure skating, for all who came after them. What made Ekarterina and Sergei most unique was their chemistry with each other as they became one of the most romantic and beloved pairs teams of all time.

Their love story isn't just about them being one of the greatest pair skaters in the world, but also as a team, a man and a woman, husband and wife, father and mother, and then tragically, a skater without a partner, a single mother, a widow, alone.

It was one of the greatest tragedies in the sport of ice skating, when in November 1995, while training in Lake Placid, for the 'Stars on Ice' tour, and with his partner (wife) Ekaterina "Katia", as family, friends, call her, along with people in the skating world calls her, Sergei Grinkov collapsed at the Olympic Center. He died of a heart attack.

Katia, found herself lost after Seregi's death, and writes not only how she felt in those dark, lonely days after he passed, all the questions she had about how she would go on, how will she be able to raise her daughter and answer the questions she will have about her dad, the dad who she'd never know, who wouldn't be there for her first day of school, who wouldn't walk her down the isle when she got married.

She tells their story in this book, not only about herself but also Seregi's from the time he was born, to how he became a skater, to their marriage, becoming a father for the first time. As she tells their story, you can feel the love they had for each other, their happy times when they were off the ice as well as on the ice. She shares into their lives. She talks about the other skaters who were around them, many who were there when Seregi passed, those who helped them both with their english, who became their friends, and later her friends who stood by her, were there for her not only at the rink, hospital or funeral, but after all of it was said and done. They stood by her when she made the choice to return to her home, Russia. She felt she needed to be around family, and Sergei, as that is where they buried him, in his home country.

She talks about life after losing her husband, how she thought how difficult it was and how it might be for the rest of her life, as she says in the book, she just didn't lose her skating partner, she didn't lose just her husband, but she also lost a part of herself, her heart. She writes about how life went on around her, how she, herself, had to make a life for her and her baby girl Daria, how hard it was at times to look at her daughter who reminded her so much of her father, and feel her heartbreaking again, and again, and again. But Daria, was always their for Katia, through the good times and the bad, and she helped her to realize it was up to her to survive, to move on, to continue to live.

The whole time you can feel the same emotions she was feeling, she did a wonderful job of showing you her world, her love for Seregi, and how she herself had to move on. She needed to tell not only her story, but his as well. Her love for him, and someday for her daughter to be able to read this book, and get to know who her father was, and to truly love him the way Katia, loves him. After all, he was her Seregi.



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Review: Cat Playing Cupid

Cat Playing Cupid by Shirley Rousseau Murphy
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Joe Grey is back at it again, helping the Molena Point PD solve a murder. Only this time it's a little different, there wasn't much of a mystery here, yes two dead bodies are found, both of them about ten years old, a cold case. Lindsay Wolf, was engaged to the victim that was found in Oregon, and the other was found in Molena Point.

When Willow one of the talking feral talking cats, brings a wounded Sage to Charlie, one of the only humans that Willow trusts, she takes him to the local vet. It turns out that the old vet, has always known about the talking cats, and informs Charlie she needs to bring him some "special" cats, meaning Joe Grey, Dulcie, and Kit. Here is where we learn about how these cats are so special. However, Clyde, Joe's human is finally getting married to Ryan Flannery, his long time girlfriend, and Joe is please, he likes Ryan but isn't crazy about her dog coming along and invading his house, but he does like Ryan, who has figured out on her own about the cats.

If you haven't read any of the previous books I would suggest you do first, this book might be a little confusing for someone to just jump in and not know the who's who in the book. In all the books, the story is well written, all at a pretty face pace, the character's are well developed, but that also stems from the other books that have helped them along the way to grow and build relationships.

The Joe Grey series isn't as far fetched as some of the other series out there about talking cats, but is a fun series to read, to escape what's going on in your life, or the news around the world, this series is such a fun, entertaining, relaxing read. You'll find yourself smiling, laughing, especially at some of the things Joe does and then him and Clyde getting into their little arguments, or even if you just want to escape along the San Francisco area, with all the beautiful descriptions along the way of the scenery.


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