Book # 20                         Words: 150,300 (3 books)                                   Date: February 20, 2015

Title: Gweilo – A memoir of a Hong Kong childhood              Author: Martin Booth  

Genre ~ Non-Fiction / Fiction Type: Non-Fiction, cultural, autobiography, biography, travel, history                                                           

• Opening Sentence: Fifty feet below, my grandparents stood side by side.

• Favourite word / phrase / sentence: Plank by plank, hand in hand, clutching our lucky grasshoppers, we slowly climbed the gangway.

• Vocabulary and new terms (with part of speech) and definition:

1. scrofulous – could not find definition
2. surreptitiously (adv.) secretly
3. adroitly (adv.) cleverly or skillfully
4. callous(adj.) showing or having cruel disregard for others
5. assiduously (adv.) showing great care and perseverance
6. ablutions (n) an act of washing oneself

(so many words that it interrupted my reading to stop at all of them so stopped very quickly)

• Reflection, Connection & Personal Response: I think this was one of my favorite books I’ve read for a while because it takes place in the same place as where I live. It was extremely interesting to read about how Hong Kong was 50 years ago and under British rule. It was all much more disorderly and traditional. While reading it, I was kind of jealous that I was not around to experience the traditional Hong Kong with it’s own cultures and not adapted to Western ways yet.

Book #19                                 Words: 181,115 (3 books)                                        Date: February 8, 2015

Title: Stolen Innocence                                                   Author: Elissa Wall with Lisa Pulitzer                                 

Genre ~ Non-Fiction / Fiction Type: Non-Fiction, Biography, Crime, Adult, Religion-Cults, Sociology Abuse, Mormonism, Mystery Crime

• Opening Sentence: I clutched the delicate silk nightgown and embroidered robe of my bridal gown as I hurried to the bathroom. 

• Favourite word / phrase / sentence: “‘Opinion is a flitting thing. But truth outlasts the sun’ Emily Dickinson”

• Vocabulary and new terms (with part of speech) and definition:

1. polygamy (n) the practice of having more than one wife at a time
2. pervaded (v) for a smell to spread through an area
3. tumultuous (adj.) to be an uproar
4. culminate (v) to reach a point of highest developement
5. monogamous (n) the practice of having one wife a time
6. relegated (v) to assign an inferior position to
7. pall (n) a cloth spread over a coffin
8. centennial (adj.) relating to a 100th anniversary
9. pivotal (adj.) of crucial importance in relation to the development or success of something else
10. subpoena (n) a writ ordering a person to attend a court
11. affidavits (n) a written statement confirmed by oath or affirmation, for use as evidence in court

• Reflection, Connection & Personal Response: I think this was a good book for everyone to read at some point. It shows how among people around us, and not just in countries that we know to have different customs, there can be different beliefs that may not always be positive. The description of all the events and all in perfect chronological order make the reader feel like they are actually part of the story and make it hard to put the book down. If I were to come across another version from someone else’s perspective, I would definitely also read it.