What I've been reading

"Red Azalea" by Anchee Min, a memoir about the author's life growing up during the Cultural Revolution in China. The book covers her childhood, losing her faith in communism while working on a farm and falling in love with one of her comrades, and being chosen as one of several candidates to audition for a role in an opera/movie written by Chairman Mao's wife. There's a huge air of suspense in the book, even though you know she lives to tell the tale, and the love story is sweet and hot. I think the book will stay in my thoughts for a long time. I highly recommend this one.

and

"The Mark of Athena," the third in the "Heroes of Olympus" series by Rick Riordan, as an audiobook. This book is very much about how the 7 demi-gods learn to work together. They must get to Rome, facing several adversaries along the way, and once they get there, they have to defeat two giants and rescue Niko DeAngelo, start Annabeth on her own quest to follow "The Mark of Athena," and figure out if they can keep Rome from being totally destroyed. I always enjoy finding out how Riordan is going to update the myths and the bits of humor he sprinkles throughout these books. I'm looking forward to the last two books in the series.

My full comments on both books here.