Books, books, books

So I was reading Sharna's latest blog post, and it reminded me of a rant I need to do on books. As well as being heat deprived (yay for weather that's actually above 10 degrees in California), I'm also book-deprived. I brought over a total of two book, 'Hush Hush' and 'Ink Exchange'. I bought 'Hush Hush' on eBay because I managed to snag the sequel, 'Crescendo', for a pretty good deal so I thought why not read the first book before I read that one. I got 'Ink Exchange' because it was a good deal too. Sit back if you plan on reading this, guys, because this is going to be one long post about books. I know Claudine and Sharna enjoyed 'Hush Hush', but sorry guys I DO NOT see what all the hype is about. I'm only halfway through, that's how uninteresting it was. I got through about five chapters on the plane (only after doing an hour of theory work and favouring 'Hush Hush' over French revision). In my opinion, when a book is still a bore after halfway it's pretty much a lost case. It's just a dull book. I'll probably finish it because I don't have anything else to read on the plane. I mean, it kind of screams 'Twilight' to me. The mind-speaking, forbidden love when supernatural handsome-guy falls for human. It's an annoying book. The 'series of terrifying encounters' that girl experiences are just annoying to read about. And her character is unrealistic. Oh no, I just got cornered by a creepy guy at school in a dark alleyway but you know what, I'm going to accept the ride he offered to me on his motorcycle because even though the author emphasises my practicality and level-mindedness, I seem to be a bit of an idiot anyway. I may check out Chaterhouse Booktraders, for some okay English books tomorrow. I've got more money now because my great-aunt insisted. Although she would give me a huge lecture if she knew I was about to spend 100 yuan on a book. 'Ink Exchange' is the second book of a series. I discovered this about two weeks into my holiday, so that was lame. I refuse to read sequels before the original book, for obvious reasons.

I was going to bring one of my favourite books, 'Shanghai Girls', but decided against it because I'd already read it and I'm all for broadening my book-reading. I so wish I'd brought 'Shanghai Girls' now. It's an amazing book, seriously amazing. Lisa See is an amazing author. I love the type of book that isn't a huge long read, but has so much to it at the same time. I couldn't put down either of the two books I've read by her. 'Shanghai Girls' is such a fitting read too, because the plot is set in Shanghai and Los Angeles (It'll be like reading about the history of the places I'm visiting). How sad that I decided not to bring it.  I NEED THE SEQUEL> NOW. I'm definitely looking for it in America. By the same author is another good book, 'Snow Flower and the Secret Fan'. I can honestly say that although 'Snow Flower' is a good book, it's not good enough to be one of those books I have to read on a regular basis.

Before I came to Shanghai I read 'Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother'. I LOVE that book. It has got to be another favourite of mine out of the books I've read in the last several months. I kind of hate that 'Asian parents' stereotype. E.g., possibly when you achieve something: Oh, that kid's Asian so they must have strict parents so that's the reason why they got that Maths trophy or whatever, it wasn't based on ability but because I bet her mum forced her to do three hours of maths a day. I can't tell you how many times people have assumed my mum is strict, or asked something like, 'did your mum get really mad when she found out about that mark?'. Oh yes, my mum got so mad she made me eat cow poo for getting that mark. Nom nom nom. And even creepier: 'You're so lucky you're Asian. I want your brain' (I think you can guess who said that). It's genius of someone to think of writing a book about it though. The book is hugely controversial, which is kind of surprising but I guess growing up surrounded by my mum's friends and their overachieving kids (and lots of people at my primary school had that type of mum), I sort of took their parenting habits for granted. I suppose it might come as a surprise to some people.

I also read Lang Lang's autobiography, 'Journey of a Thousand Miles' for the second time recently. Now, I'm not a giant fan of the book, but I like it well enough to read it twice. It's slightly depressing when I compare someone else's willpower to my own, but I like reading about his 6-hour practices and the drastic measures his father took to make sure he didn't practise any less. It makes me feel a bit better about my own meagre-in-comparison practising. I guess overall, I kind of like the book but I don't at the same time. It's more of a wow-I-can't-believe-how-amazing-his-determination-was type of book. It reminds me of 'Falling Leaves' and 'Mao's Last Dancer', but kind of not-as-good because at least with those books, you could sort of relate to them to some extent whereas this was just BAM, I loved piano since I was three and I've never had any doubts about it. Because that just sounds a bit too fake. And it doesn't really explore his 'relationship' with it as much, it's more a book about how he got famous. I think he's trying to counteract the assumption that his skills are based on his parents forcing piano on him.