I'm currently reading Empress Orchid by Anchee Min. I like her style of writing. I first encountered her when reading Katherine. Its amazing how both memoirs of a geisha and empress orchid raise a similar expectation yet are set in such vastly different countries. It challenges my preconcieved notion of the orient as a unit rather than the diverse amalgam that it is. A poem from Anchee Min's book struck a chord in me: Like a singing river, you break out to flow freely. I am the mountain behind; happily I watch you. Memory of us full and sweet