While growing up I heard so much about this book. Since it’s republished as 2004 edition I picked the book from the library. There are a few things thWhile growing up I heard so much about this book. Since it’s republished as 2004 edition I picked the book from the library. There are a few things that surprise me about the book.
I did not expect the book to be an epistolary novel, so easy to read, entertaining and full of wisdom. The novel takes on a distinct voice of the protagonist who has a very narrow view of the world, particularly since her letters are written in dialect, slangs and from the perspective of a naïve, uneducated adolescent. Warning: If you plan to read this book, my review may contain spoilers.
t is a risk to write a book that readers around the world knew about the ending. The risk is that there are not many surprises but also the journey mut is a risk to write a book that readers around the world knew about the ending. The risk is that there are not many surprises but also the journey must be more rich and luxurious to make the reading journey worthwhile for the readers. In this case, the journey was too short, it didn’t do Antoinette justice. Besides the noble intent of giving the forgotten woman a voice, I regret to say this novel didn’t touch me more profoundly than it should. Mr. Rochester has never loved Antoinette and upon listening to the slandering of Antoinette only choose to believe it. I never like Mr. Rochester anyway and I thought it was disappointing that such a wonderful girl like Jane Eyre would fallen for him, so this book (although not related or meant to relate to Jane Eyre) has validated that Mr. Rochester is a control freak and a criminal to lock Antoinette up and I felt in this book, Antoinette has been redeemed.
If there is anything that you should take away from this book, it is that for every story “there is always another side, always”.
Us is a must read book for all of us who lives in the UK because David Nicholls’ books are so popular that every one of them was made into a movie andUs is a must read book for all of us who lives in the UK because David Nicholls’ books are so popular that every one of them was made into a movie and so I heard the same from this one.
This one is close to my heart because it is set in somewhere in a village near Reading. Compared to One Day, this one feels more mature, with more depth, grounded and melancholic, without losing the humour.
Douglas Petersen described himself as inconspicuous and lacks the attractive feature that draws a second look from any passers-by. A bio-chemist by profession, Douglas wants what is normal, routine and believes in being methodological, hard work and discipline. Above all he loves his family. Connie, is the opposite. Unkempt, sweet wrappers on the floor, liberal and laissez faire, is an artist. On a rebound from a bad relationship with Angelo, Connie thinks the stable and secure Douglas is what she needs.
So one night after 18 years of marriage, when his wife Connie (Moore) woke him up at night and told him that she is thinking of leaving him. Douglas’s mind went into disarray. He is confused and he looked for an answer and asked himself for a thousand times “Why???”
I have always known Kate Atkinson to be a versatile writer. So after Life After Life, I decided to give the Jackson Brodie’s series a go.
The book openI have always known Kate Atkinson to be a versatile writer. So after Life After Life, I decided to give the Jackson Brodie’s series a go.
The book opens with a horrifying crime. On a glorious summer day, six-year-old Joanna Mason becomes the only survivor of a horrible, inexplicable crime. 30 years later, Joanna has become Dr. Hunter, a high achiever, married with a young baby boy. The perpetrator of the crime is about to be released from prison and Joanna has to act fast.
Originally published in 2000, The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly was an instant success and remained on bestseller lists for almost ten years and adaptOriginally published in 2000, The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly was an instant success and remained on bestseller lists for almost ten years and adapted one of the highest-grossing animated films in Korea. It has only recently been translated into English by Chi-Young Kim. It was brought to my attention due to recommendation at my local Waterstone’s bookstore.
Hwang tells the story of Sprout, a hen destined to live out her life fenced in a chicken coop on a farm. She lays eggs and the farmer collect them from her everyday. She lives a monotonous existence in the coop, looking out of the chicken wire and the sky, wondering what is out there. One day she stops eating, , grow weak and stop laying eggs; when she was about to be culled, miraculously she broke loose and escaped the farm. Out in the wild, there were more dangers abound.
Tóibín’s depiction of the most famous mother of all. The Testament of Mary is a sceptical account of Mary witnessing the miracle and the eventual CrucTóibín’s depiction of the most famous mother of all. The Testament of Mary is a sceptical account of Mary witnessing the miracle and the eventual Crucifixion of her son. This wasn’t the first time I read about unsympathetic Mother Mary to her son’s cause, the first disturbing account I read was from Naomi Alderman’s The Liar’s Gospel.
Both books mentioned are published on the same year, 2013, and I will question the coincidence of having two books that is written about Mary’s lack of faith in her son’s mission. Who is copying who? What has sparked the idea?
If you have been following my blog for the past few years, you would know that I am a big fan of Haruki Murakami. Who isn’t? Under my A to Z Review InIf you have been following my blog for the past few years, you would know that I am a big fan of Haruki Murakami. Who isn’t? Under my A to Z Review Index you can see a string of Murakami’s books reviewed under M. “Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage” sold more than one million copies in its first month of publication in Japan in April 2013, and we waited 16 months before fans queued up the night before for the premier and launch of the book in London in early August. I owe my thanks to Dolce Bellezza hosting a read along that this book came into my attention. With my hectic work schedule and in the midst of moving house (by the way I have moved), it was a miracle I am able to finish the book........
The blurb: “When Emine Aksu, the flamboyant wife of an Istanbul style guru, suddenly goes missing, Inspector Cetin Ikmen’s investigation leads him deeThe blurb: “When Emine Aksu, the flamboyant wife of an Istanbul style guru, suddenly goes missing, Inspector Cetin Ikmen’s investigation leads him deep into her strange and colorful past. Emine was a hippie when she was younger, who wholeheartedly enjoyed the liberated lifestyle that swept across Istanbul in the sixties. Her husband suspects that she was visiting an old friend at the time of her disappearance. Meanwhile, Inspector Mehmet Suleyman is called to a terrifying scene at the art deco Kamondo Stairs in the old banking district of Karakoy. The skeleton of a woman has been discovered in one of the large plant containers. Could these two bizarre incidents be linked?”
I picked this book judging by it beautiful cover and also the lure of atmospheric crime scene in Istanbul. A city I long to go but yet to plan to travel there. Pretty Dead Things is a decent read and offers enough juicy past of Emine’s and a twist of the crime resulting in some hair raising moments because it takes you into underground dungeons and tunnels. A good crime and mystery escape into an exotic location, read Barbara Nadel’s Inspector Ikmen series.
The unnamed narrator is one of three German soldiers. In a bitter Polish winter they hunt down a Jewish man. Their prey has gone to ground inside a hoThe unnamed narrator is one of three German soldiers. In a bitter Polish winter they hunt down a Jewish man. Their prey has gone to ground inside a hole hidden in a forest, but the fires he lights give him away. His captors are taking him away to be shot, when they chance upon an abandoned cottage and decide to stop to eat.
Everyone is half-starved and food becomes the heart of the narrative. The soldiers smash furniture and fittings for firewood. They begin to make soup from simple ingredients, cornmeal and salami prominent among them, to consume with their meagre ration of bread. Their actions become imbued with ritual overtones.
Then a Pole seeks shelter from the snow. Tension rises as he harangues the Jew with vituperative anti-Semitism.The soldiers themselves are sick of killing. They volunteered to hunt Jews, because then it falls to others to shoot them back at the camp. The trio are haunted by nightmares which they can never shake off. Part of the horror of their predicament is not knowing when it is to end.
I don’t think I was in the right mood or right frame of mind to appreciate what this book was trying to convey. I found it a little abstract and meandering despite this being a short book that I couldn’t quite put an anchor on the central theme nor the message that comes out from it.
When people talk about war novels, it conjure images of violence, massacres, cruelty and other horrible images that make your stomach churned. I was pWhen people talk about war novels, it conjure images of violence, massacres, cruelty and other horrible images that make your stomach churned. I was pleasantly surprised with how moved I am by this novel despite the incredulous revelation of Jason’s father fate which almost made me want to fling the book away. Lea Carpenter is an author to watch.
Almost English, the story of a part Hungarian school-girl trying to find her place, is the second Women’s Prize Longlisted books I read. In part, one Almost English, the story of a part Hungarian school-girl trying to find her place, is the second Women’s Prize Longlisted books I read. In part, one of my fondest memory was a holiday in Budapest so I have decided to read this.
Home is a foreign country: they do things differently there. In a tiny flat in West London, sixteen-year-old Marina lives with her emotionally delicate mother, Laura, and three ancient Hungarian relatives. Imprisoned by her family’s crushing expectations and their fierce unEnglish pride, by their strange traditions and stranger foods, she knows she must escape. But the place she runs to makes her feel even more of an outsider.
At Combe Abbey, a traditional English public school for which her family have sacrificed everything, she realises she has made a terrible mistake. She is the awkward half-foreign girl who doesn’t know how to fit in, flirt or even be. And as a semi-Hungarian Londoner, who is she? In the meantime, her mother Laura, an alien in this strange universe, has her own painful secrets to deal with, especially the return of the last man she’d expect back in her life. She isn’t noticing that, at Combe Abbey, things are starting to go terribly wrong.
Besides the painful awkward experience of a girl born to immigrant parents which I can empathise with, I find the end of the novel a little inane and lack of purpose.
I am not the rom-com sort of girl, so the only thing I find interesting in this book was to have a glimpse into how an autistic mind works. Don’s listI am not the rom-com sort of girl, so the only thing I find interesting in this book was to have a glimpse into how an autistic mind works. Don’s lists are my favourite. Other than that, good luck with Rosie for putting up with Don and let’s hope there is no sequel to this.
Dr Yvonne Carmichael is a geneticist so eminent in her field that she is invited to speak at parliamentary select committees, which is where her troubDr Yvonne Carmichael is a geneticist so eminent in her field that she is invited to speak at parliamentary select committees, which is where her trouble begins. “DNA made me and DNA undid me,” she says at the start of her trial. At 52, she has a nice house, a long marriage to Guy, also a scientist, and two children. Though this seemingly ordered life is not as neat as it appears on the surface, it has held together through the storms of her husband’s infidelity and her son’s mental illness. She met a stranger at Whitehall one day, a security consultant. From the moment she surrenders to the thrill of that desire, her life begins to slip out of her control.
I am grateful that I found Louise Doughty, as I found this novel to be most compelling and thought provoking.
Before I started this blog, I read all of Jhumpa Lahiri’s book and is a fan of Jhumpa Lahiri. I have read all of her books, the short stories and a noBefore I started this blog, I read all of Jhumpa Lahiri’s book and is a fan of Jhumpa Lahiri. I have read all of her books, the short stories and a novel “The Namesake”. I thought Lahiri is superb in short stories but I wasn’t sure if her novel would live up to my expectations. It tends to drag a little….
Drag a little it did but I was glad that I haven’t read any reviews about the book, so I have no preconceptions whatsoever, and now that it is shortlisted for Bailey Women Prize for Fiction and once shortlisted as Man Booker Prize last year, it have me really curious.
From Subhash’s earliest memories in Calcutta in the 60’s, at every point, his brother was there. In the suburban streets of Calcutta where they wandered before dusk and in the hyacinth-strewn ponds where they played for hours on end, the lowland was their playground. Udayan – impulsive and charismatic finds himself drawn to the Naxalite movement, imagines himself Che Guevara, secret messaging, plotting and planting bombs. Subhash, quiet and submissive, on the other hand, just want to go away and study abroad in America.
There were three books that I read before this that I’d like to share with you but since this book is on the Bailey’s shortlist, I think it’s good to There were three books that I read before this that I’d like to share with you but since this book is on the Bailey’s shortlist, I think it’s good to talk about it now. When I first read the blurb, I was intrigued. Murderess, Iceland, death row? Wow!
It’s a story about Agnes Magnusdottir. Agnes was the last person to be executed in Iceland, together with two of her accomplice, for the murder of two men in March 1828. As the Danes and Icelandic want to set an example of the execution, they have decided that Agnes will be executed in Iceland. So the permission was granted by the Danish government, money is spent on the axe. As Iceland had no prison at the time, Agnes is sent to live and work with a family in Kornsa, ironically the village where Agnes grew up (to rub it in), to await her death sentence. She has chosen a young and inexperienced Assistant Reverand Thorvardur Jonsson (Toti) to absolve her. Instead of guiding Agnes to repentance and prayer, Reverand Toti lended a listening ear to Agnes instead. Here the story is narrated in first person and third person narration, mostly Agnes and Toti, to unveil the past and the current animosity that is felt by family in Kornsa. Jon, Margret, Lauga and Steina. The more revealing segment of the story though is reserved in Agnes’ private thoughts....
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