The Kitchen Shrink by Dora Calott Wang, M.D.

The Kitchen Shrink: A Psychiatrist’s Reflections on Healing in a Changing World by Dora Calott Wang, M.D.

Published by Riverhead Books, an imprint of Penguin

The Kitchen Shrink is part memoir, part a history of medicine, as Dora Calott Wang seeks to explore how and why practicing medicine has changed so drastically over the course of the past two decades.  Through Wang’s own personal experience as a psychiatrist, she brings the reader into a world where the medical industry is out to solely make a profit, where hospitals do not create rest and respite for patients but instead create headaches and heartbreaking moments, where doctors aren’t allowed more than ten minutes a week with each of their patients.  Sadly, this is the world Americans live in every day, even though we may not be aware of it, and Wang is dead set on giving the reader a look into the world which has nearly broken her down as a professional over the past twenty years.

I believe The Kitchen Shrink is the first book about the health care industry I’ve ever read, and it was a fantastic place for me to start.  Dora Calott Wang has an excellent writing style that allows the reader to get to know her as a person yet also delivers the facts in a completely honest, bare-bones way.  The mix of memoir/medical history was so perfect for me and I really got a lot out of this book.  I’d be more than willing to read anything else Ms. Wang delivers.

Unfortunately, the message The Kitchen Shrink has is an incredibly sad, disheartening one.  It’s clear from Wang’s experience and years working as a psychiatrist that she knows what she’s talking about, and what she tells the reader is that the health care system in the U.S. is broken.  She takes the reader on a journey through hospitals and insurance companies that sees patients as dollar signs instead of people, through homeless shelters where people end up dying for lack of basic medical care and attention, and psychiatry practices where doctors are encouraged to spend as little time as possible actually helping patients.  Everything Wang describes for the reader can only be described as a sad state of affairs.  This book made me angry, to be honest, because I cannot understand how insurance companies and hospitals cannot see the damage that’s being done here.  It made me feel sick to my stomach, truly.

Yet at the same time, while the book was difficult to read and made me feel angry and depressed and helpless, it’s an important read.  It is interesting and important and we should be listening to what Ms. Wang has to say.  As human beings, if we don’t have our health we don’t have anything at all, and The Kitchen Shrink is a reminder to us that health care can be better.  It can be much more efficient, it can be less expensive, and it can take better care of people.

Wang doesn’t offer many answers, just her observations and frustrations over the years of practicing medicine. The Kitchen Shrink may not be able to solve all of the problems we have with health care in this country, but it certainly opened my eyes to a lot of them.  Which is a great start.

Mini-reviews: The I Am Way Too Far Behind Edition

I’m beyond behind on my reviews, so I thought I’d do another edition of mini-reviews in an attempt to catch up.  None of these books were sent to me for review, I acquired them all by the library, bookstore, or in one case through a giveaway.

First up is Children of God by Mary Doria Russell.  This is a reread for me, and I actually reviewed it years ago, so I won’t say too much here.  It is the sequel to The Sparrow, my all-time favorite book.  I like Children of God, although not nearly as much as its predecessor.  My biggest problem with Children of God is the fact that most of my favorite characters are absent, and I spend about the first half of the book missing them tremendously so I find it difficult to get to know and love the new characters.  But I do think that it completes the story set in motion in The Sparrow, and it is a must read for fans of the first book.  

Next, The Stuff That Never Happened by Maddie Dawson.  I picked up this novel based on the glowing reviews I’d read from several bloggers, and I’m glad I did.  This is a compelling and believable story about a marriage built upon deceit and years of covering up secrets.  From the outside, Annabelle and Grant have the perfect marriage and the perfect life, but what people don’t know is that after almost thirty years of marriage, Annabelle still harbors feelings of love for someone from her past.  When she leaves Grant to care for their pregnant daughter, all those feelings resurface and she has to honestly figure out what she wants and what she’s willing to do to get it.  The characters in this story made it excellent for me, they were so well drawn, so precise and flawed to the point of absolute believability.  I raced through this one and would absolutely recommend it.

Things I’ve Been Silent About by Azar Nafisi took me forever to finish, which is probably why I thought it was just okay.  I listened to this one on my iPod for what seemed like months, but was actually about four weeks, and although I enjoyed parts of it, I found myself distracted and bored throughout a lot of the narrative.  I really enjoyed the parts about the political situation in Iran throughout the years, but honestly Nafisi’s family drama got to be a little much after awhile.  By the time I was halfway done with it, I just wanted to move on to another book, so my own impatience probably had a lot to do with my feelings towards the book.  I’d be willing to read more from this author, but this book in particularly wasn’t one of my favorites.

The Handbook for Lightning Strike Survivors by Michele Young-Stone, on the other hand, I definitely liked.  The story is told in alternating viewpoints from Becca and Buckley, both of whom survived being struck by lightning as children, and their stories are very different but have many elements in common.  And while they grew up in different times and in different parts of the country, you can probably guess that at some point throughout the story they meet and realize they have a lot in common.  The circumstances surrounding their meeting are just as quirky and interesting as the book itself.  This novel is sort of “out of the box” from my typical fare, but I really did enjoy it and am happy I gave this story and these excellent characters a chance.

I loved, LOVED The Patron Saint of Butterflies by Cecelia Galante.  This novel is about 14-year-old best friends Honey and Agnes, growing up in the Mount Blessings religious commune.  Agnes is completely indoctrinated in the lifestyle, to the point that she punishes herself for her sins by fasting and sleeping on rocks, while Honey is not sold on the religion and spends entire days dreaming up ways to escape.  When Agnes’ grandmother, who does not live among the community, learns of some of the atrocities going on at Mount Blessing she whisks the girls away, against Agnes’ wishes.  There comes a point in the story when each girl must decide for herself what to believe and how to live her own life.  I have to be honest, I could NOT put this book down.  These characters were so intricately drawn, so interesting and fantastic, I loved both Agnes and Honey in different ways.  And the story absolutely fascinated me – who isn’t fascinated by the idea of a religious commune?  I know I certainly am.  So, yes, this one is a total winner in my book.

Promise Not To Tell by Jennifer McMahon, on the other hand, I did not love.  I’ve had this book on my radar for a long time so when I saw the audio at the library I decided to pick it up.  Unfortunately, the story just did not click with me.  While I liked the main character, Kate, the mystery aspect of the book had a lot of strange elements and felt very contrived.  Basically the story is that when Kate was a child, a friend of hers was killed.  Twenty or so years later, she comes back to her hometown to care for her Alzheimer’s-afflicted mother, and another young girl is killed in a similar way.  There was a supernatural element to the story and I don’t think that aspect was done very well.  The audio production wasn’t bad, Celeste Ciulla was the narrator and she did a pretty good job channeling the personality of Kate.  Just, overall, I didn’t fall in love with this book.

War on the Margins by Libby Cone is another book I’d been meaning to read for a while, and unfortunately I felt rather ambivalent about the experience when I finally got around to reading it.  The book focuses on the Nazi occupation of the channel islands, Jersey most specifically.  There were elements of the book I liked – I do enjoy reading about history, World War II in particular, and one character in particular, Marlene, I really connected with.  But overall I couldn’t get myself invested in the book.  I would pick it up and read only a chapter or two before finding myself disinterested and I’d have to put it down again.  I’m not sure if it was the structure of the story, or the pacing, or what, but something just did not work for me.  I want to point out, though, that the issues I had with this novel are specific to my reading experience and I do think it would be a worthwhile read for fans of historical fiction.  It just wasn’t the perfect book for me.

So, there you have it!  A few books I enjoyed, a few I did not.  Now I’m almost caught up on my reviews and it feels fantastic.

TSS: Where I’ve Been Lately

Good morning all.  You may have noticed that I’ve been semi-absent from the bloggy world this past week or so.  I was thrilled that I was able to make the time to participate in Book Blogger Appreciation Week, but as soon as it ended, I found myself distracted, big time.  First, last Thursday evening I traveled to Chicagoland for my niece’s third birthday.  I hadn’t missed a birthday of hers yet (including the day she was born, of course) and I was able to find a really affordable flight with free checked bags (go Southwest!) so I couldn’t pass up the opportunity.  I am so happy I went but man did we fit a lot into four days!  My mom and I took her to the Children’s Museum at Navy Pier on Friday while my sister was at work, she had her birthday party on Saturday, we did more family stuff on Sunday and Monday and then Monday evening I flew back to Orlando.  I even managed to see a few of my best friends in between all the family time.  Needless to say, I didn’t get any reading done the entire weekend.  I read on the flights, but nothing else.  Totally worth it, though, to see my niece dress up in her new princess clothes on her birthday:

I know I’m biased, but isn’t she just adorable?

Since I’ve been back, another thing has consumed my time:  TV.  My husband and I are HUGE fans of TV shows, in fact I love TV almost as much as I love books, and fall shows started this past week.  Luckily, we have a DVR so our lives aren’t dictated by which shows we need to watch which evenings, but still – that DVR is filling up pretty fast.  To be honest, I have just felt in more of a TV mood than a reading mood lately, so I’ve been catching up on shows and abandoning my books these past few evenings.  I’m okay with that, honestly, I plan on reading when I feel like it and not feeling guilty about watching shows instead.

This is all to say that I don’t know what my reading and blogging moods are going to be like these next few months.  I hope to get back to my normal swing of things, but if I don’t, that’s okay too.  I’m trying not to put too much pressure on myself and just go with it.  I am reading some really excellent books right now, but if it takes me longer than usual to finish them, so be it.  I want to enjoy reading rather than feeling like I need to do it.

What are y’all up to this Sunday?

The Life You’ve Imagined by Kristina Riggle

The Life You’ve Imagined by Kristina Riggle

Published by Avon A, an imprint of HarperCollins

Review copy provided by TLC Book Tours

Cami and Anna, friends from high school who have moved on to separate, very different lives, both end up back home, living in their childhood homes, in their thirties.  Cami is recovering from a recent breakup and trying to dry out from her gambling addiction, but unfortunately living with her abusive, alcoholic father once again brings back painful memories of her childhood she’s not sure she’s ready to deal with.  Anna, a Chicago attorney, is in mourning over the death of a very good friend when she takes a leave of absence from work to return to her mother’s home and the convenience store she runs. The Life You’ve Imagined also introduces us to Maeve, Anna’s mother, who is still clinging to hope that her husband will come back to her, after abandoning her and Anna more than twenty years earlier, and Amy, a former classmate of Anna and Cami’s, now engaged to one of the most prominent men in their town, but can’t quite believe she deserves this life she’s about to walk into.  These four women have the unique opportunity to take a step back, look at the lives they’ve been living, and take the time to decide whether new choices, new directions need to be taken in order to arrive at the lives they’d imagined.

I had high expectations going into The Life You’ve Imagined because I’ve heard really great things about Kristina Riggle and the quality of her writing and storytelling ability.  I was pleased when I really enjoyed this novel.  Kristina Riggle definitely has a way with characters, and with telling a compelling, thought-provoking story that also moves along at a good clip.

What I liked most about this book were the characters, and the developing relationships between them.  Yes, Cami and Anna had been friends years ago, but they really had to get to know one another again as adults, and reignite their friendship after being apart for so many years.  They were both complex women, dealing with a lot of issues, but trying to put a brave face on for the world.  Anna in particular intrigued me, because she was such a stone-faced lawyer in some instances, but at the same time so sweet with Cami, so protective of her mother, and still harboring feelings for her high school boyfriend, now married with a child.  A great example of a realistic, flawed character if I ever saw one.  I also liked Amy’s character, she reminded me of myself in a lot of ways.  No, I did not lose a lot of weight by exercising my butt off and restricting every single thing that goes into my mouth like she did, but I could really relate to the insecurity she felt.  She never felt like she was good enough for the life she was living, she constantly tore herself down and punished herself for every little thing, and I have to admit to having a bit of that inside myself as well.  I believed in Amy as a character from the start, and of all four of these women, I enjoyed reading about her progression throughout the novel the best.

I found the events in the novel to be believable and realistic.  Sometimes with these kinds of books, there can be silly coincidences or too-happy endings, but things in The Life You’ve Imagined just made sense.  There were a few aspects of the plot that were a bit strange to me, but overall I was happy with the way things turned out and I loved reading about these characters’ journeys.  They went from letting life just happen to them to taking charge of their own lives and creating their own destinies.  I loved that about the novel, it felt so authentic to me but also had a great “message”, if you will.

The Life You’ve Imagined is just the book I hoped it would be – an engaging story, excellent characters, good writing, and a book that held my interest and absolutely did not let go.  I will be reading more of Kristina Riggle, that is for sure.  And I definitely recommend this one!

BBAW: Unexpected Treasure

Today’s daily blogging topic for Book Blogger Appreciation Week is to talk about a book choice inspired by another blogger, which was an unexpected treasure – a book we loved but didn’t expect to love.

I have to say that, hands down, the most unexpected delightful reading experience I’ve had since blogging has been trying graphic novels for the first time.  Before blogging, I’d never heard of a graphic novel, and when I first heard the term I thought it meant erotica (LOL).  Once I figured out what a graphic novel really was, I didn’t think it would be my cup of tea.  Pictures?  In a novel?  What??

However, inspired by some of my favorite bloggers I decided to give American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang a chance.  I was shocked when I ended up LOVING this book.  Obviously, my love for this one resulted in reading more graphic novels, and while I haven’t loved all of them, some highlights include The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, Maus I and II by Art Spiegelman, and Blankets by Craig Thompson.  Interestingly enough, most of my favorite graphic books have been graphic nonfiction, mostly memoirs.  Perhaps it’s because I like the idea of someone telling their own story in a nontraditional format.  And when great art and a great story combine, it just ends up being a fantastic reading experience.

My reading of graphic novels was most inspired by Nymeth at Things Mean A Lot, who would probably get mad at me right now for even alluding to the idea of graphic novels as a genre.  No worries, Nymeth, I know they’re not a genre!  But they are a fantastic category of books and I’m so glad blogging gave me the opportunity to explore how wonderful they can be.

Ugly as Sin by Toni Raiten-D’Antonio

Title:  Ugly as Sin: The Truth About How We Look and Finding Freedom From Self-Hatred

Author:  Toni Raiten-D’Antonio

Release date:  September 1, 2010

Publisher:  HCI

Pages:  268

Genre:  Self-help

Source: TLC Book Tours

Toni Raiten-D’Antonio begins Ugly as Sin by making a radical statement: that she is ugly in the eyes of the world.  Her goal in this book is to free women everywhere from the shackles that society’s perceptions have on us.  She talks about how the debilitating fear of being ugly wreaks havoc on our bodies, minds, and hearts.  She talks about how, as a society, we have developed these insane standards of beauty that ensure every woman believes herself to have tons of flaws.  And she talks about how we can free ourselves from these impossible standards and embrace ourselves for the ugly and beautiful parts we all have.

I went into Ugly as Sin with the expectation that I would learn something.  I was expecting to get some new knowledge, some new information, or at least a new perspective on how society has construed women’s perceptions of themselves and their self-esteem in negative ways.  I wanted to know how we got here, how we evolved into this society that puts beauty before all else, and puts so much pressure on women to be perfect in every single aspect.

I don’t want to say I didn’t get what I was expecting at all, but I was mildly disappointed when Ugly as Sin was just an okay reading experience for me.  It was much more a self-help book than a sociological examination of beauty standards in our culture, and to be fair, I think it’s marketed as a self-help book and I somehow missed the memo.  And I really don’t like self-help books.  So the fault is more mine than anything else.  I will say, however, that I think this book could be a great tool for a lot of women, so instead of going into too much detail about what I didn’t like about it, I’ll explain what Raiten-D’Antonio did well.

I think there are a lot of women out there who hate their bodies, who obsess over every single flaw they see, and don’t ever think about exactly why they do this.  They don’t ever take a second to think about the fact that society has conditioned them to be so critical of themselves, instead they constantly pick and prod and worry and diet and obsess, blaming their own bodies and minds for every single thing they think is wrong with themselves.  These women absolutely need a copy of this book.  These women need to understand that no matter what they do, no matter how perfect they actually become, the world will always find something ugly about them.  And they need, somehow, to become okay with that, and to embrace themselves for who they are anyway.

What I believe was missing from this book was an in-depth look at teen girls.  A look at how parents, teachers, and other adults important in the lives of girls and young women can help teens avoid some of the negativity and low self-esteem issues that most women suffer from.  We all have little girls and young women in our lives, and I know that most women wouldn’t want their daughters to grow up feeling awful about their looks, so what can we do to prevent that?  I think a discussion about this would have been a nice addition to the book.

Ugly as Sin is an important book in that it examines what adult women can do to understand that the feelings they have about being ugly, about not being good enough, and wanting to be perfect in every way are the norm and almost every single woman out there suffers from the same thing.  Women who need to be reminded that these issues stem from societal pressure and not personal imperfections will definitely benefit from this book.  While the book isn’t really my cup of tea, it will resonate heavily with many, many women.

BBAW Interview Swap: Emily of Emily’s Reading Room

For my Book Blogger Appreciation Week interview partner, I was lucky enough to be paired with Emily of Emily’s Reading Room, a new-to-me blogger.  Emily mostly blogs about children’s and young adult fiction, and she does it with a style and class all her own.  She is a very sweet person with an absolutely gorgeous baby daughter.  Please visit her if you haven’t already!

I’m always interested in learning how and why bloggers begin blogging, so what inspired you to start your blog?

I think my blog started out like so many others. I wanted to keep track of the books I was reading. Also, I had a lot of friends that were asking for book recommendations. I have such bad book retention that I needed a way to keep them straight. I honestly had no idea what an ARC was or that there was a book blogging community when I first started.

I love young adult fiction, so I’ve enjoyed looking through many of your reviews, but I’m curious: what made you decide to review primarily young adult and children’s fiction?

When I was in college, I had this crazy notion that I had to read all these “important and influential” books.  But, I had a friend that said that she read young adult and middle grade novels as a way to remove herself from her life. It was how she unwound. I knew I had always liked those kinds of stories. She gave me the courage to shop in the children’s section again.

I’m enjoying reading through your Ask HTMily posts, and I have to ask – what’s the strangest question you’ve received so far?  The most interesting?  The most difficult to answer?

I haven’t received a lot of strange questions. Sometimes I think people don’t think their question all the way through, and make it very unclear to read. But, other than that, they have all been pretty awesome.  The most difficult to answer by far was the one that involved image mapping. I didn’t even know it was possible until a commenter pointed it out to me. I am the master of google. If I don’t know how to do something, I will find it out.

In your BBAW survey, you said your favorite book is The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale.  I haven’t read it, but now you’ve got me intrigued.  What about this book makes it your favorite, and why should I read it?

This was the first book I read after my great book awakening that I mentioned before. Once I realized that it was okay for adults to read young adult fiction, I was introduced to Shannon Hale’s work. I fell in love with the characters. I love all of Shannon Hale’s work, but Goose Girl is my favorite probably because it was my first.

Do your friends and family know about your blog, and if so, what do they think of it?

Oh yeah, everyone knows about my blog. My husband is very supportive of it, in fact, he often designs graphics for me for it. He watches the baby while I go to events and such. My friends also love the blog. I often get comments from them in real life like, “Okay, so I checked out/bought a book that you recommended on your blog and I loved it!” That is so wonderful to me.

In addition to reading and blogging, you have a career, a child, and a husband.  How do you manage to balance it all?

I don’t. Well, that’s not true. Some days I do better than others. I went through a period this summer where I was beating myself up trying to post every single day.  Now, I have weeks where I post every day, and other weeks where it’s only twice during the whole week. I’ve allowed myself to become flexible with my schedule and have realized that my baby is only a baby once. I only blog while she is asleep. Period.

If you were stranded on a desert island, which five books would you want to have with you and why?

Goose Girl by Shannon Hale because it was my first love, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins for the survival tips, Harry Potter (any of them) by JK Rowling to keep a little bit of magic, The Book of Mormon because it is my scripture and the most important book in all of history, Anne of Green Gables by LM Montgomery for the beautiful, yet simple story.

Outside of reading and blogging, what is your favorite way to spend your spare time?

Playing with my daughter, and talking to my friends. I don’t have a lot of spare time, but I do try to make sure that I keep in touch with my friends. My daughter gets a lot of attention from me while she is awake.

There are so many things I love about book blogging.  What do YOU love about it?

The people. Readers, fellow bloggers, publishers, and authors. I would not have done this as long as I have without the wonderful relationships that I have developed over the last year.

What is your favorite part of BBAW?

How much everyone supports each other. Even if they don’t win any awards or prizes, people are so kind to one another. I think we all recognize how hard it is to stay active in something that we don’t get paid for. I also enjoy finding new blogs to read.

Giveaway of Rooftops of Tehran

Remember a couple of months ago when I raved about Rooftops of Tehran by Mahbod Seraji?  Well, you are in for a treat because the author has generously offered to give away one copy of the book on MY little ole’ blog!  The book is currently in its second edition, fifth printing, and has been extremely successful.  Rooftops of Tehran has received many accolades, including San Francisco Chronicle top 50 noticeable books of the year, an Indie Next Notable, an Outstanding Debut pick by the American Booksellers Association, as well as many more.

If you’d like to win a copy of Rooftops of Tehran, simply leave me a comment on this post telling me why you’re interested in reading the book.  This giveaway is international, so anyone can enter!  You have until September 30th to enter, and I will announce the winner the following day.  Please make sure to provide an email address so I can get in contact with you if you win.

Thanks!  And good luck!

Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan

Title:  Will Grayson, Will Grayson

Authors:  John Green and David Levithan

Release date:  April 6, 2010

Publisher:  Dutton

Pages:  304

Genre:  Young adult fiction

Source:  Library

Will Grayson and Will Grayson are two high school kids, both growing up in the Chicago area, both oblivious to the fact that there is another Will Grayson attending a similar high school in a similar town in the same state.  Until one night, when a set of very strange circumstances forces the two Wills together and allows them to meet for the first time.  And neither of them will ever be the same.

So, you all know how much I love John Green, right?  And you know how much I loved the one David Levithan I’ve read, right?  These things in mind, it’s understandable that I hyped up this book in my mind.  It’s understandable that I knew for sure that it was going to be fantastic, and I was going to love it, and I was going to recommend it to everyone.  It’s also understandable that I went into it with a little bit of nervousness, because you know, what if it wasn’t as great as I was expecting?

Thank goodness I loved it!  This book was everything I was hoping it would be, and I’m so thrilled about that.  This book is so full of awesome I’m not even sure where to start.  The characters, maybe?  I loved all of them.  Even the annoying, whiny Will Grayson (who stopped being annoying and whiny by the end, and he sort of had reason to be that way, anyway, so I forgave him).  The first Will Grayson was also sort of whiny, but in a much different, more endearing way, and I really enjoyed him.  I also really, really liked Jane and hoped SO much that Will and Jane would eventually figure out their drama and get together.  But Tiny absolutely takes the cake – Tiny was such a fantastic character, so hilarious and adorable and about as real as it gets.  I loved him, and I could SO picture him in my mind – I wish I had a Tiny Cooper in my life!

And these relationships…. my goodness.  My absolute favorite thing about John Green is the relationships he creates with his characters, and how these teenagers are able to have these complex, serious relationships with serious and profound conversations, while still being, you know, teenagers. Will Grayson, Will Grayson definitely had that down perfectly.  The character development in the novel is nothing short of fantastic, as you can see each of the characters coming into their own, understanding more things about the world and their part in it, and developing more mature and adult relationships with one another.

The ending… I cried.  It’s not a sad ending, but a beautiful one, and I couldn’t help the tears.  They were good tears, though.

I listened to Will Grayson, Will Grayson in audiobook format, and it was a great way to take in the story.  There were two separate narrators for the two Wills, and that structure worked perfectly.  The actors really channeled the characters and the production was really fantastic.

Highly recommended.  If you are a young adult fiction fan, you absolutely cannot miss this one.

BBAW: First Treasure

Today’s Book Blogger Appreciation Week writing prompt invites us to share a recently discovered book blog.  Today I’m going to encourage you all to check out Michelle’s blog, my books. my life.

I’m not sure how long Michelle’s been blogging, but I do know that I only discovered her this year.  And I’m so glad I did discover her – she writes excellent, thoughtful book reviews, always of books I either want to read or have read.  Examples:  The Unnamed, Blankets, and Mr. Peanut.

Michelle also writes interesting discussion posts which never fail to make me think.  (Even though, admittedly, I am not the best commenter in the world!)

Please take a minute to visit my books. my life. You will not be sorry.