Lust in Translation: Infidelity from Tokyo to Tennessee by Pamela Druckerman

This is by the same author as Bringing Up Bebe, one of the more interesting books I've read in 2012. I really liked Druckerman's writing, so I checked this one out.

She travels to a bunch of countries - South Africa, Russia, Japan, China, etc. and investigates what the cultural norms and thinking are around infidelity. Basically, she finds out that most other cultures in the world don't think about infidelity the same way that Americans do.


This book was so-so. However, it's good for me to be reminded that people think about things differently, and how big a role culture plays in forming our morals and judgments.

The Secret Lives of Wives: Women Share What It Really Takes to Stay Married by Iris Krasnow

The author interviewed over 200 wives who have been married for 15+ years. Some of their stories are included in the book, and some are pretty interesting. Some are just plain sad.

Along the way, Krasnow discusses her own marriage. Her husband isn't that emotionally engaged - when she has big news about an upcoming trip, he asks her to go talk to the neighbor (a male) instead of pulling him away from watching a hockey game.

Anyway, the main secret seems to be to have your own identity apart from your husband and children.

I have mixed feelings about this book. It was sometimes interesting, sometimes discouraging, and sometimes sad. I know that I can't recommend it to you.

No Cheating, No Dying: I Had a Good Marriage. Then I Tried To Make It Better. by Elizabeth Weil

Elizabeth and her husband had two rules for their marriage: No cheating and no dying. After ten years of marriage, she starts to wonder if maybe their expectations are too low. And so begins a time of intentionally seeking ways to improve their marriage - marriage counseling, reading self-help books, seeing a sex therapist, etc.

A very interesting premise for a book, eh? But her husband comes off as not very likeable, so I didn't really care that much about them. Fortunately, it was a very, very short book.

I'm all for being intentional about taking care of your marriage, but if you're looking for a book to help you out, I recommend that you skip this book.

The Butterfly Mosque: A Young American Woman's Journey to Love and Islam by Willow Wilson

The author grew up in Colorado with atheist parents, and moved to Boston for college where she started studying Islam. She converted to Islam and moved to Cairo to teach. In Cairo, she fell in love with Omar, an Egyptian man, and eventually married him.

For me, this was a mildly interesting book. I learned more about Egypt and Islam. But there was something about the writing and the language that made it not such a pleasant and easy read.

The author was actually in the area speaking at a local library this morning. I was thinking about going. If I had loved the book, I would had definitely gone, but since the book was just so-so for me, I didn't end up going.

The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey

This was recommended to me by Karen, a faithful reader of this blog. Thanks, Karen!

To all my readers: Please keep sending me your book recommendations. I do check out what you suggest!

The Snow Child is sent in 1920s Alaska. Jack and Mabel, a childless couple (not by choice) from the East Coast, move to Alaska to farm. It's an isolating and challenging place to live, and they are both weighed down with it all.

During the first snowfall, they build a little snow child, complete with red mittens and a red scarf. The next morning, the snow child is gone, along with the scarf and mittens. And then, Jack and Mabel begin to see glimpses of a young, blonde-haired girl running through the woods with a red fox by her side. Who is this girl? Is it just their imaginations?

Delightful, well-written, and enchanting. One of my favorites so far this year. I'm thinking of buying it for a friend's graduation gift now that she'll have time to read for fun.

Bringing Up Bebe: One American Mother Discovers the Wisdom of French Parenting by Pamela Druckerman

The author of this book is an American journalist living in Paris and raising her family there. While out in a restaurant with her husband and her 18-month-old daughter, she realizes that her lunch experience with a toddler in tow is a mess and a struggle, and not at all relaxing. Meantime, the French families around her, also with young children, are calmly enjoying their meals together. This experience prompts her to wonder, and then to research, what makes French parenting different from American parenting?

She finds that, in general, French kids start sleeping through the night around two months old, have a higher tolerance for waiting and frustration, and they eat well-rounded meals. French kids also seem to be in better control of themselves and more well-behaved.

Druckerman finds that the French view of what a child actually is and what he/she is capable of is quite different from the American view. 

This book was super interesting! It made me think that there’s another way to raise kids than how I see it done in the United States. For example, while American kids seem to be snacking all day long and mothers keep an endless supply of cheerios in their purses, French kids eat breakfast, lunch, afternoon snack, and dinner. When a child buys a treat from a bakery, she knows that it’s not to be eaten right away. The treat will be saved until the afternoon snack time.

I like that French kids are raised to eat well-rounded meals. They don’t just eat “kid food.” This is how Druckerman describes lunch at her daughter’s daycare: “Lunch is served in four courses: a cold vegetable starter, a main dish with a side of grains or cooked vegetables, a different cheese each day, and a dessert of fresh fruit or fruit puree” (p. 112). Cool, huh? I’d eat that. Especially the cheese!

I’d definitely recommend this book for some good food for thought. It's thoughtful and funny, and the author is quite likeable. It’s one of the most interesting books I’ve read so far in 2012.

Great with Child: Letters to a Young Mother by Beth Ann Fennelly

This is a collection of letters written by the author to one of her old graduate students who is expecting a baby. She writes about various aspects of pregnancy, childbirth, and raising a young child. The letters are in chronological order as she sent them to her old student.

I found the letters to be thoughtful and readable. However, it was kind of weird to only read one side of the story. The voice of the graduate student is missing (her letters in response are not included although the author alludes to them and the questions that the student asks in her letters), so the conversation is one-sided and therefore, not totally satisfying. It would have been interesting to read what kinds of questions, doubts, and feelings the student was experiencing throughout her pregnancy.

I give this a so-so rating. I am planning on giving it to one of my pregnant friends this week, and I'm interested in what she thinks.