A Few Good Reads 2: By the Ladies

My 80-minute round trip subway commute affords me a lot of time to read and since I'm short on outfit posts due to this stinky, no good stomach flu I figured it was time for another book review.  Now that I'm in a book club I'm reading a lot of different books about a multitude of topics.  Left to my own devices I read frivolous chick lit, heavy non-fiction, anything historical or about women.  I love reading about woman in various stages of life and places in the world.  Here are a few good books I've recently read written by women, about women and all the issues we face.

Funny:  If you loved Tina Fey's Bossypants, try Mindy Kaling's Is Everybody Hanging Out Without Me? on for size. The chapter titles and pictures alone are hysterical; as are her keen observations about men and relationships, friendships, working her way into the industry and being a normal weight woman.  I haven't watched the Office in years but it was a lot of fun learning about how Mindy got into comedy writing.  Hearing the story about her play, Matt & Ben that gave her her big break was really funny as was her experience writing for SNL. If you need a laugh, give this one a shot.

Controversial: There's been much hype and discussion over Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua.  I was curious so I gave this a try and wow, was I surprised.  This book tells the story of one mother's tale of raising two daughters in a traditional way here in America.  Amy is uncompromising, incredibly strict and structured with the girl's schooling and music lessons. I found the whole thing very eye opening. Not to toot my own horn but I was also a very good student who played the violin for most of my youth, and yet my childhood was nothing like this book. I really appreciate the honestly with which Amy presented her parenting approach and her daughter's opinions of it. The book is really easy to read and hard to put down. This is a great book club read, much conversation fodder in here!

Eye on the World: Katherine Boo's Behind the Beautiful Forevers is a beautifully written, emotional collection of stories about the Annawadi slum in Mumbai, India.  This book is non-fiction but reads more like a novel.  Much of the book focuses on the life of children trash pickers, sorters and sellers and their mothers trying to eek out a decent life for their families. I was very surprised by how much corruption is present in India today, I naively thought that was in their past. I really loved reading about the children and their optimism as well as one young woman's dreams for a better life.

Have you read anything good lately? I just finished Shanghai Girls and am working on the 19th Wife, I guess I really do love lady books.