Counterfeit by Kristin Chen

This is a multi-layered book that has a lot more to it than meets the eye. The uncomplicated summary is that Ava Wong, a strait-laced Chinese American lawyer, reconnects with her one time college roommate, Winnie, and becomes entangled in a scheme that involves importing counterfeit luxury handbags and passing them off as the genuine article in a unique, hands on, and dodgy way. When their operation is uncovered, Winnie disappears, leaving Ava to deal with the consequences. The book opens with Ava telling her story to a detective, so from the get go you know that they get caught. The subtext is where it gets interesting. Ava followed her family's ambitions for their children--she worked hard, got good grades, went to high powered schools, worked for a competitive law firm, and married a doctor. Then she stepped out of most of those roles to become a mother and the unraveling began. She has a child who pretty clearly needs to be evaluated for developmental delays, feels out of her depth and doesn't know how to ask for help. Winnie stepped in and there are a lot of ways to see what she provided for Ava. The book is told in a pretty linear fashion, but the undercurrents it plumbs are anything but straight forward. This seems like fluff but I found myself thinking a lot about it in the days after I finished it.

The Water Museum and the History of Sanitation, Buenos Aires, Argentina

This is also known as El Palacio de las Aguas Corrients, or the Palace of Running Water, and it is spectacularly beautiful inside and out. In the mid-19th century, Buenos Aires was experiencing massive population growth and several epidemics, including cholera and yellow fever. So the city decided to fix the water supply. It took 7 years to build, finiahws in 1894, and it contains 12 water tanks (provided by a Belgian firm) with a total capacity of 72 million liters of water. The style of this building is quite eclectic and is yet another example of the upper classes of Argentina fancying everything European. Almost everything was pre-fabricated in Europe. There are over 300,000 tiles making up the exterior of the building, each individually numbered to enable easy placement. In addition to being a water and plumbing museum, it is also where you go to pay your water bill.

The Lotus Shoes by Jane Yang

I enjoyed this book on two levels. It is set in the 1800's in China, at a time when the role of women was shifting. Tightly bound feet, or “golden lilies,” are the mark of an honorable woman, eclipsing beauty, a rich dowry and even bloodline in the marriage stakes, but they are also like chains, as bound feet made it very hard to walk, and so women were almost literally tied to home. The book is set in the time between when bound feet were valued and when they were seen as ancient rather than modern. This is the story of two women and gives some insight into the corrosive effects of power over another has on both parties. When Little Flower is sold as a maidservant—a muizai—to Linjing, a daughter of the prominent Fong family, she clings to the hope that one day her golden lilies will lead her out of slavery. Not only does Little Flower have bound feet, uncommon for a muizai, but she is extraordinarily gifted at embroidery, a skill associated with the highest class of a lady. Resentful of her talents, Linjing does everything in her power to thwart Little Flower’s escape. The only thing she has that puts her at an advantage over Little Flower is that she owns her--and she clings to that in a very Mean Girl way. When scandal strikes the Fongs, both women are cast out to the Celibate Sisterhood, a charitable institution where Little Flower’s artistic prowess catches the eye of a nobleman. His attention threatens not only her improved status, but her life—the Sisterhood punishes disobedience with death. It is a book where the issue of power and control are repeatedly utilized to worsen the lives of those who have it and those who do not.

The Wedding Banquet (2025)

I really liked this and my only regret is that I did not watch it during PRIDE month, when I should have been celebrating that while women are now second class citizens in terms of personal autonomy, being gay and married is still allowed. This is an homage to Ang Lee’s ahead-of-its-time classic of the same name and retains some of the basics of that wonderful movie. They are both the tale of a queer couple and one of the life partners’ arranged marriage to their female tenant to both trick his conservative parents and help the bride with her green card. This version first and foremost recognizes that a lot has advanced in America when it comes to the LGBTQ+ community, cultural representation, and the country’s multi-racial construct--at least for now--anything the Nazis hated the current GOP party feels similarly about, but for now we rejoice in the gains. And in that vein (the celebration, not those who seek to queel it) it also understands that the core of everyone’s shared humanity hasn’t changed: love still matters, families (especially chosen families) are worth fighting for, and generational relationships are as complicated as ever. Don't miss this one, and if you haven;t seen the original, see it first!

The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin

I did not know that this author was originally an illustrator and that she drew the original 'Wrinkle In Time" cover--so she is a multi-talented person. Instead, I read this in search of a challenge on Goodreads, and and picked this amongst other choices because it is Newberry medal winner. One review that I read called it a baby "Knives Out", which I think is an apt description. Samuel Westing, a reclusive man who had been a humble immigrant before becoming a union-busting paper-products magnate. Westing is found dead, presumed murdered, and sixteen letters are quickly delivered from his estate, inviting the inhabitants and workers of his engineered apartment complex called Sunset Towers to a reading of the tycoon’s will. A lawyer divides the group into eight pairs and announces that they are all potential heirs to Westing’s two-hundred-million-dollar fortune. He distributes eight envelopes filled with seemingly nonsensical clues and instructs the guests that the objective of the unexplained game is to win. There is a lot left unsaid, and the trick is to figure out not only how to stay in the game, but what exactly winning entails.

Benito Quinquela Martín Museum

Benito Quinquela Martín was a painter of ports. This arts museum in the heart of La Boca was donated to the city by the artist--he is the man responsible for the bright colours of La Boca neighbourhood. His intention was to create an educational and cultural centre in the neighbourhood. As I learned from reading a biography of the city, Buenos Aires did not have an exceptional port. The river is too shallow and it was never the thriving port of other Latin American cities--but because of the enormous wealth coming out of Potosi in the form of silver, there was money to be made and and the port thrived despite it's failings. The museum's collection is representative of the history of Argentine art and features several key figurative artists working from the late 19th century to the present day. It houses the largest collection of Quinquela Martín’s oil paintings and etchings in existence, all completed between 1922 and 1967. There’s also a unique collection of ship figureheads, and, on the terrace, a display of Argentine figurative sculptures. Temporary exhibitions are held in the Sívori room, and on the third floor, the Casa Museo Benito Quinquela Martín exhibits some of the artist's personal possessions.

Did You Hear About Kitty Karr by Crystal Smith Paul

I do a lot of reading of lists. The Booker Prize long list, the New York Times notable books list, the National Book Award short list to name a few. On a lighter note, I have been reading the Reese Witherspoon recommendations--I find these enjoyable, thought provoking, and they are stories written by women about women, which is an added plus. This is one such book. This is a story about blacks passing as whites. I get why in a racist society that would hold an attraction. What I didn't get is what the downside is, and this story really fleshes that out. This is a grand, epic tale that spans multiple generations. Kitty Karr was a white actress and celebrity icon. When she passes away, the world is shocked to find out she left her massive multi-million dollar estate to her next door neighbors: the St. John sisters, three young, wealthy Black women. This tells the complicated why of it. The denying of who you are, where you are from, and how you got to be who you are is soul sucking. That becomes very clear in this story, as it did in Passing (both the book and the movie). This is a good read.

Moana 2 (2024)

Let's just say that while we all love animated feature films in our house, and we have had a long love affair with Disney, which really, I do not want to have to explain or think too deeply about but it is definitely true and will likely always be true, even if there are more than a few cli=unkers. Of which thisis one.Don't get me wrong, it is visually stunning, the action is pretty much non-stop, there are songs where songs should be in a Disney movie worth its salt, but it just was not for us. The follow up to the original does bear a burden--with the exception of Toy Story and Paddington 2, the follow up usually carries a bit of disappointment along with the diversion. This had a heaping helping of that and while we watched it through to the end, we would not recommend it. Even the presence of the delightfully charming Duane Johnson could save it for us.

The Postcard by Anne Berest

May their memories be a blessing. This is s story that swings between the time before the Nazi's, the time of the Nazi's and more modern times. The take home message, besides these were horrible people who committed horrible acts through out the war, even when no one was looking, is to demonstrate generational trauma, how it happens, what it consists of, and how to work on confronting it and getting over it. The book opens on a snowy Paris morning in 2003. The protagonist is Anna and her mother, Léila, steps outside for her first cigarette of the day, only to find a mysterious postcard in the mailbox. On it are four names: Ephraim, Emma, Noémie, Jacques. Her grandfather, grandmother, aunt and uncle – all killed at Auschwitz. No signature, no explanation. For Léila, the postcard is a threat, a provocation. For Anne, it poses a question: why does she know so little about those ancestors? Her quest to find the sender will open rifts between mother and daughter; it will also unearth the family’s origin story. Their early years of wandering; their fate under Vichy France and the Nazis; the risks her grandparents undertook in the Resistance. And then afterwards, the pain of survival; the long reach of the Holocaust through the generations. Two things I liked about this book--one is the nomadic existence of many European Jews before the war and the other is the perspective looking back from the 21st century. We are undergoing another round of "othering" in the United States, and it is more important now than ever to remember how frightful that was for all involved, bot the perpetrators and the victims. Nobody wins, it is just ugly.

The Othering of America

It is unacceptable. Our neighbors are being taken and we don't know where they are being taken. As we start our 249th year as a country, we are in the midst of a movement of "othering" black and brown people in general and immigrants specifically. ICE agents, wearing masks, tactile gear, semi-automatic weapons, and dark glasses, operating without badges or warrents are very similar to kidnappers. The "process of othering" involves categorizing people into groups and emphasizing differences to create a distinction between an "us" and a "them," often leading to the marginalization and stigmatization of the "them". This process frequently involves assigning negative stereotypes and reinforcing power imbalances. Here's a breakdown of the process: 1. Categorization: . Individuals or groups are categorized based on perceived differences, such as ethnicity, religion, gender, or other characteristics. 2. Othering: . This categorized group is then positioned as fundamentally different from the "in-group" or "us". 3. Dehumanization: . In extreme cases, this can lead to dehumanization, where the "othered" group is seen as less than human, potentially justifying discrimination, abuse, or even violence. 4. Reinforcement of Identity: . The process of othering helps solidify the identity of the "in-group" by defining itself in opposition to the "out-group". Othering can have serious consequences, including human rights violations, prejudice, and social exclusion. It is a common tactic used to justify conflict, discrimination, and violence. Understanding the mechanisms of othering is crucial for promoting inclusivity and challenging these harmful practices. Having just watched "I'm Still Here" about the disappeance of people the government wanted to silence in Brazil, I am struck by how many times history has repeated itself. The Nazi playbook holds a lot of appeal for the Republican party. It is time to do what they do, which is othering those who do not agree with them, calling them by labels that largely don't fit--as a twist on their playbook, just be truthful. Their policies are racist. They are White Supremacists. They are fascists. They disregard the Rule of Law. They are terrorists. Call your congress people and ask them to do their jobs, but know who they are. Morally bankrupt. There is no healing this, there is only protesting for the country that my ancestors founded.