Whatcha readin'?

In typical Jo-Lo fashion, though I have little time to read, while idly internet surfing at work, I ordered two books from Amazon.com. The first, to no surprise, was the latest Harry Potter, which I am now about half-way through. It's a good read, of course, and requires little thought, which is welcoming for a Jo-Lo stressed by thoughts of a big trip, then a big move, studies and a long distance relationship, but having read 5 Harry Potters before, I can't say it is anything earth-shattering thus far.

I am more anxious, perhaps, to finish this Harry Potter so I can move on to my second purchase, which I came upon by chance through a review written up in the Japan Times. The book seemed to fit exactly in my area of interest, even being dubbed (perhaps on the back cover of the book) as an extension of Edward Said's critique of the Orientalism theory, and ever since, it seems I just keep finding more and more commentary about this book. Perhaps I have a slight bias since I found out the author received a B.A. in international affairs from George Washington University and did her Masters at Cambridge, but she seems to have approached a topic academically that for the first time has gone mainstream by book: Asian exoticism.

For Asians and Asian Americans who have been looking for some methodological academic research on "yellow fever," "traditional" Asian wives, and relationships between Asian women and Western men, this seems to be the book. Too bad I didn't get around to writing it first...

300 more pages of Harry Potter and I'll give you a better review.