Falling Leaves

I took a temporary break from my dystopian novels to read Falling Leaves by Adeline Yen Mah for Chinese New Year. I had already read one memoir by her called Chinese Cinderella when I was 13 years old, but my dog Lucy has since chewed up that particular book by her. I had remembered really liking Chinese Cinderella, however Falling Leaves did not live up to the fond memories I had of the previous book. Mah was a much abused child who always strived for her father and stepmother's approval, but was never able to gain it, no matter how well she did in school or how wealthy she became. Much of this novel is composed of Mah's woes over her childhood memories, which I understood but a 250 page book without much color or change grows tedious. Mah is obviously a good writer, but is lacking of any emotional changes. She never had much of a bright spot in her life, so there was no good that at least made you smile occasionally. You just had to sit and grimace at her misfortunes throughout the whole book. You would at least imagine that when she became an adult things would have gotten better, but her parents continue to rule over her a continent away, and even choose her job for her. I still found the culture interesting, but there are still far better books that you can read about China. I am sure that you are all now rushing to the bookstore to pick up a copy. (2/5 stars)

Half Broke Horses

The first book that I have read for this here blog is called Half Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls. I wanted to read this book because I absolutely loved Walls own memoir, The Glass Castle. As I got about to actually reading this book however, I felt an increasing sense of disappointment. It is well written, but not The Glass Castle. I put this down to the fact that Walls actually lived Glass Castle, but had to go off second hand information for Half Broke Horses. It lacked the personal effects that Glass had, and was both barren in details and lacking in emotions. However, Horses was still a good book. It was focused on the author's grandmother, Lily Casey Smith. Lily lived a difficult life on a ranch. Here, tornadoes and flash floods were common, and her parents didn't do all that they could to help her. Perhaps I feel emotionally unconnected to this book because it has been snowing outside for the past 24 hours, gathering over a foot of snow and leaving me feeling not very sorry to other people's weather problems. Boy it has been fun here (heavy sarcasm).  Since Lily was six she began breaking horses for her father's business. She eventually moved out of this life to try her hand at city living, but the country always beckoned her home. This book is a good read, and is an even better companion to the Glass Castle. Walls' life becomes more interesting the more I read about her family. I must say that my initial disappointment abated and I became quite excited when I read this book, because I had such a good activity in mind for what to do with it. I will learn how to ride a horse, preferably a half broke one. How perfect will that be? So later this week (hopefully this weekend) I will ride a horse, and more importantly, I will not fall off and die. So wish me luck, and I hope you enjoy Half Broke Horses. Next time I write, I will also be writing as a horse rider. Maybe I should be a rodeo clown, that would be cool, right? I digress. Happy reading!

Alissa
3/5 stars