I've been reading Memoirs of a Geisha. It's a great book, and I'm really enjoying it, although it makes me very grateful for having been born an American woman of my generation. Those poor women had almost no freedom. Geisha may seem glamorous, but it is definitely not a good life.

I was telling Dave that reading this book makes me more interested in Japanese art. We went to a kimono exhibit at the Mandarin Oriental hotel in Washington, D.C. not too long ago, and was saying that I think I would have appreciated it more had I read this book first. I'm not very good about reading non-fiction. I get bored too easily. A good historical novel, however, at least one that is well-researched and accurate in its depictions of the cultural setting, can be very educational.