|
July 02
|
|
Terri
gave  to:
Gilead: A Novel (Paperback)
by
Marilynne Robinson
bookshelves:
2009,
battle-of-the-prizes-challenge
|
my rating:
|
| |
read in June, 2009
|
|
Terri
gave to:
Tom's Midnight Garden (Paperback)
by
Philippa Pearce
bookshelves:
2009,
children
|
my rating:
|
| |
read in June, 2009
|
|
Terri
is currently reading:
The Glassblower of Murano (Paperback)
by
Marina Fiorato
bookshelves:
2009,
currently-reading,
early-reviewers
|
my rating:
|
| |
|
|
June 30
|
|
Terri
is currently reading:
Shadow of the Silk Road (Hardcover)
by
Colin Thubron
bookshelves:
2009,
currently-reading
|
my rating:
|
| |
|
|
June 26
|
|
Terri
gave to:
Wife of the Gods: A Novel (Hardcover)
by
Kwei Quartey
bookshelves:
2009,
early-reviewers
|
my rating:
|
| |
recommended to Terri by:
LibraryThing
recommended for: Those interested in character driven regional detective novels.
read in May, 2009
Terri said:
"Inspector Darko Dawson is part of Criminal Investigations in the Ghanian capital of Accra. He is called to the small town of Ketanu to help solve the murder of a young NGO volunteer and med student named Gladys. Gladys has previously clashed with a l...more
Inspector Darko Dawson is part of Criminal Investigations in the Ghanian capital of Accra. He is called to the small town of Ketanu to help solve the murder of a young NGO volunteer and med student named Gladys. Gladys has previously clashed with a local fetish priest and a local healer, yet a young ruffian is targeted by Ketanu law enforcement as the "doer."
Inspector Dawson has a history with the town of Ketanu. His mother was last seen here before she mysteriously disappeared twenty-five years ago. So it is with some apprehension that he returns to work this case and reacquaint himself with his mother's sister and her family.
One of the best aspects of Wife of the Gods is the character of Darko Dawson. He is a family man with strong loyalties to his wife and young son. He also has quite a temper and a keen sense of justice, the combination of which sometimes gets him into trouble. Among his other foibles is a lusty admiration for the female form and the occasional consort with a known thief in order to obtain the weed he smokes to unwind. Regardless, Inspector Dawson is ultimately likeable in spite of, or perhaps because of, his flaws. I look forward to the author's development of this character in future novels.
Regional novels are a favorite of mine. They allow me an enjoyable opportunity to learn about places with which I am unfamiliar and to revisit places that I love. Wife of the Gods was a chance to learn something about the place, people and customs of Ghana. For instance, some "teenage girls are offered by their families to fetish priests as trokosi, or Wives of the Gods" (from the back cover). This practice is a form of slavery and is controversial amongst the Ghanians.
You may have heard this book compared to the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency books by Alexander McCall Smith. I don't really find Smith's and Quartey's books to be similar except that they are: a) both regional detective novels, b) both character driven, and c) both set in Africa. Smith's books are set in Botswana and Quartey's book is set in Ghana. Quartey has his own voice which I found much grittier than the charm that infuses Smith's books. They are both fantastic storytellers, but they are different.
If you like character-driven-regional-detective novels, I encourage you to read Wife of the Gods by Kwei Quartey. It is a strong beginning to a new series.(less)
"
|
|
Terri
gave to:
A Nameless Witch (Mass Market Paperback)
by
A. Lee Martinez
bookshelves:
2009
|
my rating:
|
| |
recommended to Terri by:
Mr. Distortion
read in June, 2009
Terri said:
"A Nameless Witch is yet another of Martinez' humorous novels awash in the supernatural. The humor in this book is more quiet than his previous two and tends toward the wry.
A nameless witch is on a quest ... a quest of vengeance and, hopef...more
A Nameless Witch is yet another of Martinez' humorous novels awash in the supernatural. The humor in this book is more quiet than his previous two and tends toward the wry.
A nameless witch is on a quest ... a quest of vengeance and, hopefully, self discovery. But mostly vengeance. She takes along her contentious familiar, a demon duck. Ok, let me say that again. A demon duck. With a bad case of blood lust. As my husband noted at dinner the other night, this duck is probably the funniest duck in all of recent literature. And his name is Newt.
Along the way, a troll and a knight join the quest. The troll is rather endearing and the knight is virtuous. He is a White Knight. A dark skinned White Knight to be specific.
Nameless is a very beautiful witch. Of course, everyone knows that witches look like hags ... right? So every attempt is made by Nameless to hide her incredible beauty underneath rags and dirt and a carefully placed wart or two. Wyst, the White Knight, is able to see beneath the hag routine and falls in love. She too is smitten, but knows she must hide her increasing attraction to the knight in order to protect his virtue and his life. You see, Nameless is a witch who can not tell the difference between "a smitten heart or accursed appetite." She is afraid she will lose control in the heat of passion and eat him, literally. Ok, so moving on ...
One of my favorite bits pokes fun at the old Norwegian tale of the Three Billy Goats Gruff. The questing party comes to a bridge guarded by a pack of surly elves, goblins and ogres who demand a toll. "As a troll, Gwurm knew something about bridge-tolling" so, of course, he negotiates. Various demands and threats are made by the leader of the surly bunch who ends his diatribe with a laugh meant to send chills down the spines of the hearers. Unfortunately, "elf voices are terrible for sinister cackling." Not in the least intimidated, Newt asks: "Can I kill him?"
On the more thoughtful side, Martinez includes some passages like this one:
"Your conscience is your misery...."
"Conscience is my burden, but all worthwhile gifts have their price...."
"But it could be so simple" the ghoul hissed. "Why hold on to that which only makes your life difficult?"
"Because life is complicated and difficult. Anyone who says otherwise hasn't truly lived."
Martinez throws in a few philosophical musings in A Nameless Witch making it a bit more thoughtful than his previous books, but it remains overall a dark comedy.(less)
"
|
|
June 22
|
|
Terri
gave to:
Seldom Disappointed: A Memoir (Hardcover)
by
Tony Hillerman
bookshelves:
2009
|
my rating:
|
| |
recommended for: Fans of Tony Hillerman's fiction.
read in June, 2009
Terri said:
"I was hesitant to read this book since I love Tony Hillerman's Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee novels so much. I've found that sometimes it is better not to know too much about the author and to just enjoy the writing! This wasn't the case for me with Seldom Disappointed...more
I was hesitant to read this book since I love Tony Hillerman's Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee novels so much. I've found that sometimes it is better not to know too much about the author and to just enjoy the writing! This wasn't the case for me with Seldom Disappointed. The first two thirds of the book deal with the author's childhood, WWII service, and marriage to his wife Marie. The last one third of the book was more interesting to me as Hillerman describes his tenure in academia as a professor at University of New Mexico (some HILARIOUS stories there for those who are familiar with academia from the faculty side of things) and then moves on to talk about writing his various novels. An overall joy to read for fans of Hillerman who will miss him now that he is gone.(less)
"
|
|
Terri
gave  to:
The Tales of Beedle the Bard (Hardcover)
by
J.K. Rowling
bookshelves:
2009,
children,
once-upon-a-time-challenge
|
my rating:
|
| |
read in June, 2009
Terri said:
"The Tales of Beedle the Bard is a piece of fantasy that purports to be "a collection of stories written for young wizards and witches." It was, of course, translated by the fictional Hermione Granger with extensive footnotes by the equally ...more
The Tales of Beedle the Bard is a piece of fantasy that purports to be "a collection of stories written for young wizards and witches." It was, of course, translated by the fictional Hermione Granger with extensive footnotes by the equally fictional Professor Dumbledore. The very non-fictional J.K. Rowling has clarified Dumbledore's notes, when needed, for us muggle readers.
The tales seemed very similar to the old slavic folk tales I remember from my own childhood (e.g. Baba Yaga, etc.). I loved the tales of Beedle the Bard, but was more intrigued by the continuation of the Harry Potter world that this book provides.
Don't you just love the titles of these tales?
The Wizard and the Hopping Pot
The Fountain of Fair Fortune
The Warlock's Hairy Heart
Babbity Rabbity and Her Cackling Stump
The Tale of the Three Brothers
The Fountain of Fair Fortune was, hands down, my favorite tale. The Warlock's Hairy Heart was the most disturbing and made me shudder. And I can't stop saying "babbity rabbity," so Babbity Rabbity and Her Cackling Stump gets my vote for best title.
The Tales of Beedle the Bard was a charming way to keep the Harry Potter magic alive.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5(less)
"
|
|
June 19
|
|
Terri
gave to:
How I Live Now (Paperback)
by
Meg Rosoff
bookshelves:
2009,
young-adult
|
my rating:
|
| |
read in June, 2009
Terri said:
"How I Live Now is Meg Rosoff's first novel and won the Printz Award for young adult literature. That said, I would recommend it for the more mature YA due to certain ideas presented.
Daisy is a New York teen exiled to live with her aunt an...more
How I Live Now is Meg Rosoff's first novel and won the Printz Award for young adult literature. That said, I would recommend it for the more mature YA due to certain ideas presented.
Daisy is a New York teen exiled to live with her aunt and cousins in the English countryside. Daisy's "evil" step-mother is about to have a baby of her own and is not interested in handling a smart-aleck teenager with an eating disorder. Daisy settles in easily with her British relatives and lives a rather idyllic country life ... until the unthinkable happens. While Daisy's aunt is out of the country at a conference on terrorism, England is invaded by an unknown enemy. Living in the countryside the children are far from the bombs and trouble and they continue to laze away their summer days, as children will. These happy and peaceful days are highlighted by Daisy's passionate and secret relationship with her cousin Edmond. Daisy knows that this relationship is wrong, but with no adult supervision Daisy and Edmond give in to their attraction to each other.
"The real truth is that the war didn’t have much to do with it except that it provided a perfect limbo in which two people who were too young and too related could start kissing without anything or anyone making us stop."
I am not sure why the author included a forbidden relationship in this story. The love story is integral to the novel, but I remain baffled by the author's choice of family relation.
The atmosphere of the novel takes a dark turn when their country home is sequestered by the British military, and the children are separated and sent to live with other families. The enemy is placated by the docility of the populace for a time, but tensions soon rise and nearly every encounter is highly charged and fatal to someone. Electricity becomes non-existent and food is scarce. As everyone around her begins looking gaunt, Daisy realizes the irony of her situation now that the starvation is not self imposed. The children witness terrible atrocities and are left to struggle against the elements and hunger in their search to find a safe place and, hopefully, each other.
How I Live Now is a terrifying story made more so by an unknown enemy with an unknown purpose. It is a love story and a war story that tells how war changes people, sometimes devastatingly so, and how love can heal even the most destroyed souls.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5(less)
"
|
|
June 08
|
|
Terri
gave  to:
The Road from La Cueva (Hardcover)
by
Sheila Ortego
bookshelves:
2009
|
my rating:
|
| |
read in March, 2009
Terri said:
"This beautifully written novel tells the story of one woman's journey of self-discovery. The novel doesn't only contend with Ana Howland's increasing sense of being smothered by a domineering and controlling husband, but also shows her growing realiz...more
This beautifully written novel tells the story of one woman's journey of self-discovery. The novel doesn't only contend with Ana Howland's increasing sense of being smothered by a domineering and controlling husband, but also shows her growing realization that she has always lived under the overbearing weight of an oppressive relationship. Neither her authoritarian mother nor her dictatorial husband can accept her as a separate and imperfect person.
The Road from La Cueva is full of metaphor and in the hands of Sheila Ortego, the use of this device brings a richness and poetry to a topic that might seem trite in other hands. We are given a deeper glimpse into Ana's struggles through the images of the hostile road from La Cueva, the stubborn clay shaped by the potter, and the Changing Woman Ceremony (sometimes called the Sunrise Ceremony).
The road to and from Ana's home is a very tangible representation of those oppressive relationships in her life. When this dirt road is dry, it is as hard and unyielding as rock ... ready to tear up and break what dares to pass over it. Wet, the road is even worse. It oozes over and sucks everything into it with "a satisfied, brown belch."
The beauty of the imperfect is gorgeously represented through the craft of pottery. As Ana learns this craft from Michael, a co-worker, she notices that one of his creations has an uneven rim.
He ran his fingers around the rim of the cup. "See how this isn't even? The Japanese call this <span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">shibui, the flaw that makes something beautiful. The shape has to have some room, some freedom." ... "Like with people," he said, and she nodded.
It is this very room and freedom that is lacking in Ana's life. She has allowed the oppressive behaviors of others to weigh down her very being and she knows that it is something only she can change.
One of the most beautiful chapters in the book is the one describing the Changing Woman Ceremony, a Native American ceremony celebrating the change from girlhood to womanhood. Ana already knows that the means to change her life is within reach. It becomes more apparent as she watches the ceremony and recognizes her own internal strength and power as a woman. No longer will she be passively shaped by others. Ana already has the ability to gain command over her weaknesses, to be physically and emotionally strong, and to endure and suffer with dignity. Before the readers' eyes, "[she is shaped:] ... into the woman she [is:] to become." Her deep compassion and resilience form a strong core around which to emerge.
The Road from La Cueva is an encouraging look at the power we all have to shape our own lives. The passion and beauty of the writing is something that will draw me back to this story repeatedly.(less)
"
|
