Archive for August, 2010

Crossing

Posted in Books on August 18th, 2010 by Janet – 2 Comments

CrossingCrossing by Andrew Xia Fukuda

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Xing is clearly misunderstood, but his understanding of others is also shallow and one-dimensional. My feelings about Xing took an interesting turn about halfway through the book and I had a hard time reconciling some of his choices.

Bottom line: it’s tough sometimes not to default to a well-known stereotype about a group of people, or to resist the temptation to form our opinions based on what somebody appears to be when placed in the context of popular culture or mass media. I’m challenging myself to try to become more aware of my own perceptions of others rather than focusing on wrongs done to me or members of my family — I don’t want to perpetuate the myths or the stereotypes. In other words, it’s human nature for people to misunderstand or mistrust that which is unfamiliar and I can’t change that — I can only change my own behavior.

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Confessions of a Shopaholic

Posted in Books on August 18th, 2010 by Janet – 1 Comment

Confessions of a Shopaholic (Shopaholic, #1)Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A perfect book to read while waiting for an oil change and tire rotation.

This is one of a handful of books that spawned the Chick-Lit genre. And while I think this is the only one I’ll ever read, it wasn’t as horrible as I expected it to be. At 89 cents for the Kindle version, I feel like I got my money’s worth.

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