Unfinished: Kabul Beauty School by Deborah Rodriguez

Book Info:

Kabul Beauty School: An American Woman Goes Behind the Veil by Deborah Rodriguez

Paperback: 320 pages

Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks (December 18, 2007) 

ISBN-13: 9780812976731

Genre: Non-Fiction

Source: My Shelves

Rating: 0/5

Soon after the fall of the Taliban, in 2001, Deborah Rodriguez went to Afghanistan as part of a group offering humanitarian aid to this war-torn nation. Surrounded by men and women whose skills–as doctors, nurses, and therapists–seemed eminently more practical than her own, Rodriguez, a hairdresser and mother of two from Michigan, despaired of being of any real use. Yet she soon found she had a gift for befriending Afghans, and once her profession became known she was eagerly sought out by Westerners desperate for a good haircut and by Afghan women, who have a long and proud tradition of running their own beauty salons. Thus an idea was born.

With the help of corporate and international sponsors, the Kabul Beauty School welcomed its first class in 2003. Well meaning but sometimes brazen, Rodriguez stumbled through language barriers, overstepped cultural customs, and constantly juggled the challenges of a postwar nation even as she learned how to empower her students to become their families’ breadwinners by learning the fundamentals of coloring techniques, haircutting, and makeup.




Sometimes an unfinished book is the victim of circumstances, and that was the case with this one.  I was about halfway through Kabul Beauty School when Claire was born.  The book up to that point was good, but it wasn't one I was telling every one about. I thought that Rodriguez had a wonderful program that empowered Afghan women, but I had a hard time matching her enthusiasm for hair color and makeup.

Once Claire arrived my reading time dwindled to nothing and I never picked this one back up.  About two months later it was requested on Paperback Swap and I mailed it out without finishing it.  If you've read this one, did I miss out on a wonderful ending, or was reading half the book sufficient?  0 stars

Unfinished: The Zookeeper's Wife by Diane Ackerman

Book Info:
The Zookeeper's Wife: A War Story

by Diane Ackerman
Paperback: 368 pages
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company (September 17, 2008)
ISBN-13: 9780393333060
Genre: Non-fiction
Source: My Shelves
Rating: 0/5

When Germany invaded Poland, Stuka bombers devastated Warsaw—and the city's zoo along with it. With most of their animals dead, zookeepers Jan and Antonina Zabinski began smuggling Jews into empty cages. Another dozen "guests" hid inside the Zabinskis' villa, emerging after dark for dinner, socializing, and, during rare moments of calm, piano concerts. Jan, active in the Polish resistance, kept ammunition buried in the elephant enclosure and stashed explosives in the animal hospital. Meanwhile, Antonina kept her unusual household afloat, caring for both its human and its animal inhabitants—otters, a badger, hyena pups, lynxes.

When I read (or listen to) a book about WWII or the Holocaust the one thing I expect in the book is emotion. How can you tell a story about such a devastating time and not have the emotions come through loud and clear? I didn't think it was possible until I started reading The Zookeeper's Wife.

I made it about 100 pages into the book and the story was terribly dry. I know that a story needs to be set up and explained, but those 100 pages were pretty much background info. I was a third of the way through the book and these still wasn't any mention of helping to smuggle Jews out of the country.

Since I left this one unfinished, that means my WWII Challenge was left one book short of completion. If any of you have read this one, does it get better? 0 stars

3 Recent DNF Books...

It's been a while since I last set a book aside, but in the last month or so I've had 3 unfinished books. None of them were terrible, they just weren't really holding my attention.


A Disobedient Girl by Ru Freeman
Hardcover: 384 pages
Publisher: Atria (July 21, 2009)
ISBN-13: 9781439101957
Genre: Multicultural Fiction
Source: Publisher/Book Tour

I really wanted to like this book. I enjoy multicultural fiction and it had been a while since I'd read any. I read between a third and a half of A Disobedient Girl and had a hard time staying engaged. The story and the characters were interesting, but didn't keep me drawn into the book. I found that I kept putting it aside to read other things.


Heat Wave by Richard Castle
Hardcover: 208 pages
Publisher: Hyperion (September 29, 2009)
ISBN-13: 9781401323820
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Source: Publisher

I have a friend who loves the show Castle. When this book arrived she snapped it up and quickly read it. I, on the other hand, have never watched the show and had no connection to the characters. I read 50 of the books 200 pages, and while it was a quick read and would have been easy to finish, there just wasn't anything special about the book for me.

Becoming Jane Eyre by Sheila Kohler
Paperback: 256 pages
Publisher: Penguin (December 29, 2009)
ISBN-13: 9780143115977

Genre: Historical Fiction

Source: Publisher

I didn't get very far in this book, only about 25 pages, before I set it aside. Usually I read more of a book before I quit, but those 25 pages took me a long time to get through. I haven't read anything by any of the Bronte sisters, and maybe I would be more drawn into the story if I had, but right now this one isn't working for me.

The Good Thief by Hannah Tinti

Twelve year-old Ren is missing his left hand. How it was lost is a mystery that Ren has been trying to solve for his entire life, as well as who his parents are, and why he was abandoned as an infant at Saint Anthony's Orphanage for boys. He longs for a family to call his own and is terrified of the day he will be sent alone into the world.

But then a young man named Benjamin Nab appears, claiming to be Ren's long-lost brother, and his convincing tale of how Ren lost his hand and his parents persuades the monks at the orphanage to release the boy and to give Ren some hope. But is Benjamin really who he says he is? Journeying through a New England of whaling towns and meadowed farmlands, Ren is introduced to a vibrant world of hardscrabble adventure filled with outrageous scam artists, grave robbers, and petty thieves. If he stays, Ren becomes one of them. If he goes, he's lost once again. As Ren begins to find clues to his hidden parentage he comes to suspect that Benjamin not only holds the key to his future, but to his past as well.

From the description I thought this book would be something I really enjoyed and I couldn't wait to read it. I have been disappointed though. I thought it would have some mystery with Ren looking for clues to his parents, and some adventure along the way. What it turned out to be was the story of some petty thieves that really weren't all that interesting to me. The storyline of Ren's parents doesn't even really get brought up until the last hundred pages.

There were some mildly interesting minor characters, but those couldn't keep me reading. As a disclaimer, I haven't currently finished this book. Maybe it all comes together beautifully in the end. But, even though I don't know who Ren's parent's are, I don't really want to spend the time reading the last hundred pages to find out. 2 stars

Her Last Death by Susanna Sonnenberg

Her Last Death begins as the phone rings early one morning in the Montana house where Susanna Sonnenberg lives with her husband and two young sons. Her aunt is calling to tell Susanna her mother is in a coma after a car accident. She might not live. Any daughter would rush the thousands of miles to her mother's bedside. But Susanna cannot bring herself to go. Her courageous memoir explains why.

Glamorous, charismatic and a compulsive liar, Susanna's mother seduced everyone who entered her orbit. With outrageous behavior and judgment tinged by drug use, she taught her child the art of sex and the benefits of lying. Susanna struggled to break out of this compelling world, determined, as many daughters are, not to become her mother.

Sonnenberg mines tender and startling memories as she writes of her fierce resolve to forge her independence, to become a woman capable of trust and to be a good mother to her own children. Her Last Death is riveting, disarming and searingly beautiful.

I don't know if I have just read too many my-mother-was-terrible-and-it-wrecked-my-life type memoirs, or if it was my frame of mind (I've had a hard time getting through books lately), but I couldn't have cared less about this story.

The author came across as whiny to me. Yes, her mother was a drug addict and far from a good role model, but that doesn't excuse the author's poor choices at nearly every stage in her life. At some point you have to grow up and take responsibility for yourself, and I never felt Sonnenberg did that.

There wasn't all that much in the book that I found all that interesting or humorous. I keep reading, expecting it to get better and finally put it aside with about 40 pages left. If I have made it that far in a book I will almost always finish it, but I couldn't justify wasting anymore time when I have so many other books to read.

Beasts of No Nation by Uzodinma Iweala

I don't usually write about books I don't finish but wanted to say something about this one, as I was really looking forward to it. It is a short book, about 150 pages, and I made it about a third of the way through before giving up.

It is about the civil war in Africa, and is a novel, but is written from the perspective of a young boy who gets caught up in the fighting. What I didn't like is that is is written as if English isn't the narrators first language. The entire book is one big grammatical error. I know the author was going for authenticity, but I found all the errors distracting.