Book # 44 Cassandra & Jane by Jill Pitkeathley. Since I am an avid Jane Austen fan, I can never get enough of reading about her in novel form. This story is from the viewpoint of her older sister, Cassandra. The story runs true to the ideas Jane proposes in Pride and Prejudice and the other stories Jane wrote. For instance, the fact that women were expected to marry so someone could take care of them. If they were unmarried they were expected to take care of elderly parents, sibling's children, and run households especially when women died so frequently in childbirth. Her writing reflected the status of women. Jane and Cassandra become best friends as both suffer from painful romantic loss and total dependence on relatives. Of course, Jane's career as an author was frowned upon and it was a struggle to get her work published. Cassandra vows to keep her sister's image pristine and burns all correspondence that might be taken as negative. The two sisters share ideas, opinions, and secrets about love, loss, and the general family drama of women in this time period. Nothing too heavy or intellectual, so I really enjoyed this fast read.

Book #43 Stealing Buddha's Dinner by Bich Minh Nguyen. Growing up in Grand Rapids, Michigan would be difficult for an outsider, but even worse for a Vietnamese refugee. Bich, pronounced Bitch, escapes Vietnam with her father, grandmother, sister, and two uncles. They end up in GR where a community of Vietnamese refugees have settled. Bich guides us through her growing up as an American "wannabe" with all the pain of being an outsider. Much of the memories has to do with food: fast food, food Nori, her grandmother makes, Mexican food her stepmother, Rosa, cooks, food for Tet, food for lunches that would show you were cool at school, and food during her later visit to her family in Vietnam. She craves acceptance and can never get enough to eat. She hoards food, sneaks food, and is torn between each culture's food. This is a memoir of a child who grows up before mixed marriage and racial and ethnic diversity are celebrated. Being a Buddhist in GR would be difficult back in the 80's. I really wonder how accepting the community would be today? This book is a Michigan Reads selection. So, I read it.