From the back cover:
From oy vey to arigato...
A hilarious and heartwarming memoir about a nice jewish girl from the west coast who learns to negotiate a new marriage, a new culture, and a new outlook on life when she moves to the far east.
Six days after an InStyle-worthy wedding in Los Angeles, Lisa Fineberg Cook left behind her little red Jetta, her manicurist of ten years, and her very best friend for the land of the rising sun. When her husband accepted a job teaching English in Nagoya, Japan, she imagined exotic weekend getaways, fine sushi dinners, and sake sojourns with glamorous expatriate friends. Instead, she's the only Jewish girl on public transportation, and everyone is staring. Lisa longs for regular mani/pedis, valet parking, and gimlets with her girlfriends, but for the next year, she learns to cook, clean, commute, and shop like the Japanese, all the while adjusting to another foreign concept -- marriage. Loneliness and frustration give way to new and unexpected friendships, the evolution of old ones, and a fresh understanding of what it means to feel different -- until finally a world she never thought she'd fit into begins to feel home-like, if not exactly like home.
When I first started reading this, I thought it would be fun to learn about the Japanese culture from an American girl standpoint. I was not expecting it to be as funny as it was! I was actually laughing outloud at many points (and getting strange looks from my boyfriend). Lisa Cook writes her story in such a way that I found myself totally engaged in her year in Japan. I felt like if I were the one in her shoes, I would be doing, saying, and feeling the exact way she did! I have always wanted to live abroad, but never thought about how many things I take for granted over here in the US are completely different in other cultures.
I also loved her husband, Peter. I can only hope that he is really as great in real life as he was in the book. He was totally supportive and understanding of how she was feeling and I loved the way their relationship was!
And I loved the ending. I only wish that I could have read more about her second year in Japan! What a great memoir!
I gave this book a rating of 4.5/5!
Visit these other sites on the blog tour:
The Life (And Lies) of an Inanimate Flying Object: http://haleymathiot.blogspot.com/
The Neverending Shelf: http://neverendingshelf.blogspot.com
Drey’s Library: http://dreyslibrary.blogspot.com/
A Sea of Books: http://aseaofbooks.blogspot.com/
Libby’s Library News: http://www.libslibrary.blogspot.com/
Bookin’ With Bingo: http://bookinwithbingo.blogspot.com/
Readaholic: http://bridget3420.blogspot.com/
That’s A Novel Idea: http://thatsanovelidea.blogspot.com
Starting Fresh: http://startingfresh-gaby317.blogspot.com/
Just Another New Blog: http://justanothernewblog.blogspot.com/
Blog Business World: http://www.blogbusinessworld.blogspot.com
My Friend Amy: http://www.myfriendamysblog.com
Chick With Books: http://www.chickwithbooks.blogspot.com/
Book N Around: http://booknaround.blogspot.com/
My Book Views: http://my-book-views.blogspot.com/
Keep on Booking: http://keeponbooking.blogspot.com
Reading at the Beach: http://ilratb.blogspot.com/
Found Not Lost: http://jmomfinds.amoores.com/
Brizmus Blogs Books: http://brizmusblogsbooks.blogspot.com/
I Read: http://sumanam.wordpress.com/
* This book was provided for review by Pocket Books
This really was a fun read. I'm passing it on to my sister. Great review!
ReplyDeleteI'm in the blog tour too. My review is here if you'd like to check it out: http://jmomfinds.amoores.com/2009/10/japan-took-the-jap-out-of-me/