This month's Books

• The Guernsey Potato Peel Pie Literary Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows- Delightful! No other was to say it. The last part of the book is one of the best romances I've read in a LONG time.
• Wicked All Day by Liz Carlyle- Nothing compares to Lisa Kleypas' stories. Sorry Liz!
• The White Tiger by Arvind Adiga - Enlightening. The antidote to lyrical India. Reminds me of Kiran Desai's book "The Inheritance of Loss" - It has a certain sadness to it although the narrator is so witty and edgy and so easily uses the "F" word that I found it funny. Just love it.
• As The Great World Spins by Colum McCann- Takes you right back to the 70's and it very thought provoking. Reminds you of the Vietname, Nixon, sex and Studio 56 days. I simply LOVE the writing. So smooth and clean and well thought out. Its as if the text is just scrubbed clean for the reader but it is not sterile by any means.
• The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey by Trenton Lee Stewart - Action packed. A Great book with many good moral lessons and how kids can use their smarts to get out of tight situations. I love watching my son getting into the book and imagining himself as part of the Benedict Society and how he might have been able to contribute to help the situation.

The Antidote to Lyrical India: The White Tiger

Balram Halwai is about a man who manages to improve his lot in life by becoming a driver for a rich family. The book is one long letter to the premier of China as he writes about India's entrepreneurial skills. The narration has a sarcastic edge to it and makes him very endearing. 

I'm still reading the book but can't help myself writing about it. So far, there was a few things that surprised me.

• How easily accepts someone as "Master" and not question the system. And how early in the book the master talks about the Balram as if he is not there and talks about how ignorant Balram is as his master's wife giggles. Later we find this guy also punches his wife in the face.
• He kills his master. Slits his throat...wow...
• When his father tells him he wants his son to be a man and not treated as an animal. His dad pulls rickshaws.

He also goes by several different names and White Tiger is one of his names. Earlier in the book you learn that his family were too busy and had too much on their minds to actually name the boy. So when he gets to grade school his teacher gives him the name Balram who is the sidekick to Krishna. At home his name in Muna which simply means "Boy." He receives the name White Tiger by being considered the smartest boy in his village.

Stimulus Package helping out Scholastic

Ever since the Harry Potter series have ended, Scholastic has been experiencing a slump in it sales. Fortunately, the Stimulus Package is helping the company out:


Scholastic Graduates From Harry Potter to Stimulus for Sales


President Barack Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan are using $100 billion in stimulus funds to try to reshape U.S. education. About $22 billion of the money allocated so far has gone to federal programs for the low-income and disabled students Scholastic’s remedial programs target.