Dragon Bones

Dragon Bones is Lisa See's third book of the Red Princess series. I haven't read the first two, but I still understood it pretty well. It's a murder-mystery love story between Inspector Liu Hulan and Attorney David Stark, who happen to be married, but estranged as they separately mourn the death of their young daughter. Together they are assigned to cases near the 3 Gorges Dam along the Yangtze River in China. Liu is to investigate a suspicious death and David is to find out how Chinese artifacts are being smuggled out of the country. See paints a modern picture of China while tying in the mysteries of the past.  i like how See shows me her perspective of China and occasionally characters speak in Chinese that See translates for the reader. It wasn't an awesome book, but it was certainly enjoyable.  I liked reading about modern China (okay, 1990s China) and I enjoyed the characters as well as the mystery and journey of the novel.  If you think you might enjoy this Chinese murder-mystery style romance, give it a try!

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

A few weeks ago, Cass and I were redboxing and I saw that Snow Flower and the Secret Fan was made into a movie, so I absolutely had to get it.  It's one of my favorite books and I thought Cass would like it, since it has to do with China (he did!). 

Well, so the movie inspired me to re-read the book, so that I could remember everything as well as compare it to the movie. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan  is about two little girls, Snow Flower and Lily, preparing for their footbinding.  Instead of being sworn into a sisterhood with girls from their village, they form a laotong relationship, or an eternal bonding of two as kindred sisters. They are soul mates. Snow Flower tells the story of Snow Flower and Lily as they grow up and lead their separate lives. 

As I said, this is one of my favorite books. It is so relate-able. It is timeless. All women form intimate friendships. We all have heartaches. All of our friendships wax and wane. We all have misunderstandings. But when it comes down to it, your true friends are always there when you need them, as with Lily and Snow Flower.