May Lee: Live and in Person by May Lee John Wiley & Sons HK$160

May Lee grew up a shy cookie-cutter Asian child in Dayton, Ohio. Fulfilling the stereotype in one of the whitest parts of the United States, May Lee, a Korean, was supposed to be brilliant, which is why, by 12, she was busy excelling at the piano, the cello and a host of sports. Then she won an internship at the top television station in San Francisco. Readers who get this far are probably already fans of Lee or in need of an inspirational tale. Or perhaps they have had to fight to fit in. Like Lee, who, after becoming a television anchor, faced racist taunts. Sequential in its telling, May Lee: Live and in Person takes Lee from the US to Japan where she worked for NHK and then CNN. In 1997, she came to Hong Kong to tell the story of the handover, although she ended up being 'big-footed' (when local staff are sidelined by stars sent to cover big stories). Now she's the chief executive officer of Lotus Media House, a Singapore-based production company that she founded. This book isn't detailed or hard-hitting enough to be of interest to journalists. But those in need of motivation might find it's what they need to move on and up.