The Bonesetter's Daughter - Amy Tan

Having never read Amy Tan but knowing her good reputation as a writer, I was disappointed with this book. There is a good story in the middle about her mother's life in China. Unfortunately, the China story is wrapped around a tiresome tale of a daughter dealing with an aging mother's decline. The daughter struggles with issues, but the reader is never really engaged in the story. It felt a little like being stuck in an airport with someone next to you explaining far more details about their life than you cared to know.

Tan has a simple and clear style of writing that makes the book easy to read. When she writes of life in China fifty ago, the contrast with our lives is interesting. I didn't enjoy reading a dozen pages about a nursing home employee explaining the benefits of modern day facilities. The main story is all too predictable and the lead character unique as a child, but one dimensional as an adult.

Genghis Khan - Jack Weatherford

Although he arose out of the ancient tribal past, Genghis Khan shaped the modern world of commerce, communication, and large secular states more than any other individual. He was the thoroughly modern man in his mobilized and professional warfare and in his commitment to global commerce and the rule of international secular law.

Yes, Genghis was a ruthless conqueror who killed large numbers of people and destroyed cities and cultures. Put in the context of history, this book does a very good job of looking at the great Khan in perspective. The book is well written and researched. It is a fascinating tale about a most interesting time and one of histories most powerful an influential individuals.

The book covers more than just the life of Genghis. He actually dies in the first half of the book. The story is more about his legacy and influence than the individual. The ancestors of Genghis continued to rule and affect the world long after his death. I enjoyed the author's ability to weave personal story-lines with vast military expeditions and cultural changes. While there is a total disregard for human life in the conquering, there is also an amazing ability to build an empire. The details of the Mongols' military genius are written in an interesting way for those like myself who don't have an over-riding interest in military power.

Divisadero -Michael Ondaatje

"Everything is biographical", Lucian Freud says. What we make, why it is made, how we draw a dog, who it is we are drawn to, whe we cannot forget. Everything is collage, even genetics. There is a hidden presence of others in us, even those we have known briefly. We contain them for the rest of our lives, at every border that we cross.

Ondaatje is a wonderful writer who can craft evocative, emotional, and poetic phrases in his prose. This book, however, didn't work for me on the whole. It has moments that made me smile and pause to appreciate the beautiful way the author describes a thought, emotion, or a compelling metaphor.

The book is two separate stories. The first one is interesting for those of us who live in Northern California. It starts on a ranch in Petaluma which I pass through several times a week and includes a radio station in Nevada City, KVMR, which I often enjoyed. The story is emotion packed, wild, and violent. It ends abruptly leaving me unsatisfied. The second part of the book is entirely different set in a different time and place. Try as I did, the latter part of the book never grabbed me and the interweaving of the two stories never really worked to arrive at a satisfying conclusion.

I began reading this book excited to be reading a great book, but by the time I got to the last third, I found myself having to force my way to the end.