Colors

was a fantastic movie.  The Astonishing Color of After?  Well, it just didn't work for me.  I think it was the writing style, maybe?  Just too descriptive and flowery for my personal taste.  I guess I also didn't get all of the drama there was about Leigh not getting to know her grandparents.  A lot of people don't get to know their grandparents, for a lot of different reasons.  But this seemed to be SUCH a huge point of contention.  Not to say it shouldn't be a point of contention-- everyone would love to have a close family.  Yes, that is ideal.  But for it to be SUCH a big deal...well...
I did appreciate the mention of the good uses of electroconvulsive therapy, which is so often misunderstood.  I have a dear friend who found this to be the only cure for her depression.  And I know it does work for some.  Most times when it is demonized, it is because people get it confused with a lobotomy and think of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest or they don't realize how different it is now, from when it was first used.  Not to say that others wouldn't like it, but I had a hard time finishing it. 

Dumping Days and Dumpling Nights

One of the best songs ever!  Good ole Freddy Fender.  There probably aren't a lot of blog posts out there that link Fender to Grace Lin, but I bet this isn't the only on.  Dumpling Days is the latest in the series about Pacy "Grace" Lin, from Upstate NY.  A Taiwanese-American, in this book Pacy and her family spend a month in Taiwan.  At first Pacy doesn't want to go, but by the end of the trip, she really feels a love for Taiwan.  Like the previous books in the series, The Year of the Rat and The Year of the Dog, this book is packed with really cool information about Taiwanese and Chinese traditions and it also just a plain old great growing up story full of humor and truth for people of any background.  I now understand the difference between Taiwan (officially known as the Republic of China) and the People's Republic of China.  Forty years old and only learning this now?  Shame on me.  Seriously.  That is kind of embarrassing.
It was cool to learn about Ghost Month and all of the different kinds of Asian dumplings.  But there are also very real lessons in here, like how to live with the ghosts of our past, how to live in two worlds, how life isn't black and white.  Great, great, great, great book.  I hope there are more to come.