Green Books Campaign: Paris Times Eight - Deirdre Kelly

Title: Paris Times Eight
Author: Deirdre Kelly
Published: 2009 Pages: 304
Genre: Memoir/Travel
Rating: 4.5/5

Before I begin, this review is part of the Green Books Campaign organized by Eco-Libris. Today 100 bloggers are posting reviews at the same time of books that were printed in an eco-friendly manner. It is a worthy cause, so be sure to check out and the other participating blogs. Paris Times Eight is printed on FSC-certified, acid-free paper.

Paris Times Eight is Deirdre Kelly's memoir of growing up as a Canadian with a deep love for Paris. Throughout her young adulthood and as an adult she traveled to Paris eight times and each time her experience was shaped by the events that were happening in her life: from the first time when Deirdre traveled to Paris as an au pair in her late teens and falling in love with the city for the first time but feeling like an outsider to later slowly feeling the embrace of the city in her other visits as a news correspondent or as an adult seeking refuge from the craziness of her life.

I really loved this book. I fell in love with Paris along side Deirdre and I loved seeing how her mindset at each point in her life gave her a different outlook to the city. For Deirdre Paris is a city of intrigue and mystery, comfort and connection, heartache and loneliness. Each time she visited she learned a little more about herself and her desires. Paralleled with her travels to Paris are the events in Deirdre's home life in Canada with a difficult mother and a career as a journalist that sometimes took her sky high and sometimes to rock bottom. Deirdre Kelly takes great care in writing about all of her experiences and made me feel like she was pulling me into an intimate embrace.

Two quotes. The first comes from the first chapter and the second from one of the later chapters. The quotes parallel one another and show how the city treats her on each visit. In the second she is with her fiance, Victor, who has never visited Paris before:

"In Paris it seemed I would always be on the outside looking in. No matter how much I wanted the city to embrace me, it would always keep me at arm's length while wagging a finger in my face. I had rarely fit in--at home, at school, among my peers. But in Paris that feeling of alienation intensified. I didn't belong there, either" (46).

"I thought of the times I had wandered there alone, feeling lost in thought if not in purpose. I remembered that Paris, on previous trips, had sometimes made me feel alienated, isolated, alone. I felt Victor's arm around my shoulders, holding me tight. There was a logic to Paris when seen from above, close to the clouds. The streets had an obvious order that made them easy, all of a sudden to navigate. I told Victor we should go back down into the city to explore it for ourselves" (231).

I really recommend this book, especially to those who love armchair travel or memoirs. Kelly's writing style is fairly straight forward but she writes with such a raw honesty that it was impossible not to feel a connection to her. Due to the span in years this book covers, the growth that Deirdre accomplishes is also easy to feel and recognize. She shows such passion for Paris as a city but also Paris as a feeling and a way of life and I love how varied the city is, like a living organism that is constantly changing and growing and evolving. Just as we all are.


Again, thanks to Eco-Libris for sharing this book with me and allowing me to be apart of their Green Books Campaign.




I am an Amazon Associate. If you purchase Paris Times Eightthrough this review I will receive a small portion of the purchase.

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas - John Boyne

Title: The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas
Author: John Boyne
Published: 2006 Pages: 216
Genre: YA Fiction
Rating: 3/5

My poor brother has been asking me to read this book for months now (he's thirteen). I'm always reluctant to borrow books from people because I know my turnaround will never be as quick as if I loan out a book. There's so many I've obligated myself to read for challenges or for authors/publishers, not to mention the giant shelf of TBR books. I promised him I'd read BSP for the readathon and I'm so glad I did. When I texted him that I had finished the book he texted me back "it's about time." Yup, it sure is.

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas begins with nine year old Bruno and his family who live in a nice big five story home in Berlin. Bruno's father is a very important person, though, and has been asked by the Fury (Hitler) to take post at a strange camp in a far away place called Out-With (Auschwitz). Bruno is upset because the house is much smaller and his sister Gretel (a Hopeless Case) refuses to play with him. As Bruno begins to explore the new home, he discovers that there is a giant camp across the yard with lots of men and boys all wearing the same striped pyjamas. In his exploration, he meets a boy sitting by the fence of the camp whom Bruno befriends.

What I loved about The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is the simplicity and innocence. Bruno doesn't understand why his parents have moved, he doesn't understand the camp beyond his home's yard, and he doesn't understand why his friend can't come across the fence to play or why Bruno can't go to the other side of the fence. There is something so sweet about Bruno's innocence and refusal to judge those who are a little different from him. I also have a tough time believing, though, that the son of a Commandant who is overseeing one of the largest concentration camps in the world doesn't know what a Jew is and whether he is a Jew or not. That aside, Bruno's innocence came across as genuine.

"What exactly was the difference? [Bruno] wondered to himself. And who decided which people wore the striped pajamas and which people wore uniforms" (100).

This is a short book that can be read within a couple of hours, and while I do recommend it, it isn't as powerful as some of the other books I've read about the Holocaust or World War II. Could this partly be because it was written for young adults? I don't know--I've read some pretty powerful young adult books (The Book Thief is one I highly recommend). I guess the unbelievablity of the story continued to tug away at me. I was shocked by the ending of the book, and even though it's not hard to guess this book would not have a happy ending, it left my heart hollow.

Have you read this book or seen the movie? How did you feel about it?




Join Cym Lowell's Book Review Party Wednesday!

Fingersmith - Sarah Waters

Title: Fingersmith
Author: Sarah Waters
Published: 2002 Pages: 582
Genre: Literary Fiction
Rating: 4.25/5

Fingersmith begins with a poor orphan, Susan Trinder, who has been taken under the wing of a band of thieves after her mother was hung for murder when she was an infant. When Susan is around seventeen years of age, her adoptive mother Mrs. Sucksby agrees to let her partake in plot to deceive an unsuspecting and rather innocent woman out of her inheritance. Gentleman, the head of the plot will woo and marry Maud Lilly, who is also orphaned and lives a sheltered life with her uncle, and then commit her into an asylum while Susan and Gentleman make off with a small fortune.

I finished this book over a week ago and have since been trying to formulate my thoughts in a coherent fashion. While I really liked this book a lot I keep wanting to focus on some of my more negative feelings. I think those feelings come, though, from knowing too much about the book before going into it. Everyone has raved about this book--calling it the best plot ever devised and twists and turns that will cause your head to spin. Yes, both of those things carry weight, but knowing that going into the book caused me to anticipate too much and so for the final third of the book I felt a little let down. This is why I don't read plot summaries--the less I know about a book going into my reading, the better the outcome for me.

All that said, let's get on to the good bits. I loved the atmosphere Waters created in this book. It is foggy and gritty and seedy and every bit the Victorian London Dickens would have written. There are pickpockets and colorful characters. Mrs. Sucksby is quite the lady (rolls eyes) and Gentleman--well, don't let the name fool you. My favorite characters, though, are Susan and Maud. In many ways the two are perfect companion characters, each highlighting the characteristics of the other in their many differences. The book switches between the two girls' perspectives and so the reader gets a clear look into the motives and emotions of each. I love perspective and point of view and Waters did an amazing job creating a distinct voice for Susan and Maud.

And then there is the writing. For me Waters' writing snuck up on me--in many ways it is simple and nothing to shout about, but the way that she turns a phrase is quite beautiful. She writes with passion and breathes life into her characters. I don't need a lot of dialogue in the books that I read, mostly because I feel like dialogue is often forced, but Waters hits the language of the characters dead on. Their conversations are realistic and she uses this as well as the characters' inner thoughts to show what is going on--she lets her characters develop the book rather than laying it all out by herself. Does this make sense? Some authors just tell you, but Waters shows. It makes sense to me. :P

But an example--taken from the second half of the book narrated by Maud:

"I think she must see it [desire]. Now he has named it, I think it must colour me--I think it must mark me crimson, like paint marks the hot red points, the lips and gashes and bare whipped limbs, of my uncle's portraits. I am afraid, that night, to undress before her. I am afraid to lie at her side. I am afraid to sleep. I am afraid I will dream of her. I am afraid that in dreaming, I will turn and touch her..." (293).

I love the parallelisms in her writing, but more than that the passion. And let me tell you this book is passionate! Nymeth gave this book the Most Beautiful Sex Scene Award and I'm going to have to agree with her completely. Oh my goodness. Prudes don't fear--there is nothing terribly graphic about this book nor the sex scenes. There is a bit of language, but it's sparse and not overly offensive. And more than anything, this book is the epitome of a page turner. Even at 582 pages long this book is a fairly quick read and a rollercoaster of a ride.

One more bit that made me chuckle then be grateful of times changed:

"Fancies, Mrs. Rivers. If you might only hear yourself! Terrible plots? Laughing villains? Stolen fortunes and girls made out to be mad? The stuff of lurid fiction! We have a name for your disease. We call it a hyper-aesthetic one. You have been encouraged to over-indulge yourself in literature; and have inflamed your organs of fancy." "Inflamed?" [Maud] said. "Over-indulge? Literature?" "You have read too many books" (447).

Ok, I guess that ended up much better than I thought it would. I do really recommend this book. Besides--everyone else is reading it, why shouldn't you? Even a week and a half after finishing I'm still mulling over the events and characters of this book!

The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafón

Title: The Shadow of the Wind
Author: Carlos Ruiz Zafón
Published: 2001 Pages: 487
Genre: Literary Fiction
Rating: 4/5

The Shadow of the Wind is a book for book lovers, but more than that it is also a book for lovers of words and mystery and atmosphere. In other words, this book is the perfect cozy-up book for cool, eerie October. While The Shadow of the Wind is a somewhat convoluted and twisty story, I’m going to try and keep the summary as brief as possible. Some books are better when you discover what they are about on your own, and this is definitely one of those!

The Shadow of the Wind begins as a father, who is a bookseller, takes his young son to a secret library, the Cemetery of Forgotten Books, so that he can select one treasure to take home. Daniel, chooses a book entitled The Shadow of the Wind by Julián Carax, and through his adolescences and young adulthood he becomes entranced with both the book and the author’s mysterious life. The mystery begins to thicken when Daniel begins to uncover stories/rumors of a man who is burning copies of Carax’s books. This man takes the same name as a character from The Shadow of the Wind: Lain Coubert, the devil.

Oh the things that this book contains! Mystery! Romance! Books! Creepy old houses with strange crucifixes all over the walls! Coming of Age Story! Murder! Villains! Comedic Interjections! This book was so jam packed with elements that I really believe there is a little bit of something for everyone. We read this for our September book club meeting and my 4/5 rating was probably one of the lower ranks of the group—everyone really loved this book. I, on the other hand, only mostly loved it. While there was everything I could have hoped for in this book, I often felt like Zafón was trying to do too much.

When trying to formulate my thoughts on this book, I can’t seem to pinpoint the correct word to describe the writing. Not heavyhanded or stilted; I’m not even sure the term overwriting applies. All I can think of is the term “deadwood.” During one of my first literature courses in college, my professor made one of my papers bleed with red pen—all marked with the term, “deadwood.” According to my prof, deadwood is filler material--not really relevant to the story (or topic). Yes, I obviously haven’t learned to edit any better since then. But as I was reading this book I was continually asking myself “what does this have to do with the plot.” There were so many subplots and details that I felt really lost for the first half of the novel. This book, in my eyes, could have been at least a hundred pages shorter and a few characters less. The writing is beautiful, don’t get me wrong—in fact, take a look at this:

"Without further ado I left the place, finding my route by the marks I had made on the ways in. As I walked in the dark through the tunnels and tunnels of books, I could not help being overcome by a sense of sadness. I couldn't help thinking that if I, by pure chance, had fund a whole universe in a single unknown book, buried in that endless necropolis, tens of thousands more would remain unexplored, forgotten forever. I felt myself surrounded by millions of abandoned pages, by worlds and souls without an owner sinking into an ocean of darkness, while the world that throbbed outside the library seemed to be losing its memory, day after day, unknowingly, feeling all the wiser the more it forgot" (76).

And to sum up how I felt for the first half of the book:

"Then, please, sire, could you get to the frigging point? Because with all the metaphorical spin and flourish, I'm beginning to feel a fiery bowel movement at the gates" (152). hee hee :)

Deadwood aside, I really found myself hooked to this book about halfway through. By that point I was so deep into the story with twists and turns and even a few “What!!” moments that the reading became much easier (and maybe the story was just more focused at this point). I think I’m in the minority with my feelings for the writing, and despite my feelings for the writing I found this book to be incredibly engaging. Sometimes I fear that my reviews are too negative, even when my feelings for the book were not completely negative. Do I focus too much on the bad? Anyway, I heartily recommend this one, especially for this fall season. There is something so comforting about curling up with a great mystery on a cold, dreary day.

For a balance of opinions:
Valentina
It's All About Me
Devourer of Books
Fyrefly
You GOTTA Read This
Stephanie’s Written Word
WordLily
Chapter Chit Chat
Library Queue

I’m sure there are more—let me know if I missed your link. When I searched for this title in Google Reader the search results were crazy. It is helpful if you put the name of the book in the title of your post! Some of you like really catchy titles for your book reviews, which is fine, but it doesn’t make searching for your reviews very easy.

A Golden Age - Tahmima Anam

Title: A Golden Age
Author: Tahmima Anam
Published: 2007 Pages: 276
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 2.5/5

Let me begin by saying that much of how I felt about this book is probably directly related to my mood and circumstances while reading this one. A Golden Age was our August book club pick and I was really excited when I learned we were going to read it. But then our trip happened and I only read 20 pages. Last week I struggled through the last 250 pages wishing I was reading something else. Something lighter. Something that didn't make me think (I've since started Eclipse). So, just keep that in mind while reading my review.

A Golden Age is set during 1971 in East Pakistan during the Bangladesh War of Independence. At the center of the story is Rehana Haque who is celebrating the ten year anniversary of the return of her children after her husband left her a young widow and they were sent to live with family in West Pakistan. While life seems to be incredibly sweet at the moment, a rebellion is brewing among the Bengali people that will change the Haque family's life forever. Rehana's love for her children Maya and Sohail are her guiding force as her strength and will is tested again and again.

Sounds good, right? Let's start with the good. The writing in A Golden Age is beautiful and moving and transports the reader directly to the scene:

"Outside, it was raining. Thick sheets of water fell heavily from the sky, hardened by the bellowing, circular wind. The sucking sound of her feet accompanied Rehana as she made her way back across the field and on to the main road. An uneven line of tea stalls greeted her at the roadside, surrounded by a cluster of rickshaws. Rehana tried her best to cover her head with her achol, but it was no use; the wind attacked from all sides, knocking the achol out of her hand and sending her flailing to gather her sari together" (196).

I found many of the images in the book very vivid and distinct and often times emotional and heartwrenching. If there are plot-driven books and character-driven books, this one falls into a different category--writing-driven books. But books focused on writing are tricky little things because words without characters or plot are just words, and for me that's how this book felt: a bunch of lovely words strung together.

What went wrong? First, I didn't feel there was sufficient background and history provided for a reader who doesn't know very much about Pakistan. I knew that when India was created, hundreds of princely states were joined together into a very disjointed nation (thanks to Rushdie and his Midnight's Children for the crash course), but I only knew that Pakistan was a divided country not only in geography but also economic and other differences. Until reading this book I couldn't even tell you that Bangladesh was the former East Pakistan. And perhaps it was the disjointed way that I read this book--pages here and there--but I never completely got what was going on in the book in terms of the actual action.

Second, already feeling lost and confused about the events taking place, I never felt I really knew the characters. We spend so much time in Rehana's head, even though the book is told in third person, but I couldn't tell you very much about her other than she was stronger than she often thought and that she loved her children very much. Again, maybe just my personal timing, but even halfway through the book I didn't get what made the characters tick and basically I just didn't care. But the writing--it was very beautiful.

Sorry to give you such a negative view of this book. We have our meeting tomorrow, so I'm not sure what most of the others thought. I think generally pretty receptive and another who is kind of "eh" about it like I was. If you like reading about other countries and other cultures, keep this one on your list because everything I've heard has been fairly positive. Sometimes a book just doesn't click with you the way you had hoped. What is a book you can remember reading that you wanted to like but just didn't for some reason or another?



For a balance of opinion (let me know if I missed you):
~ Eva ~ Book Chronicle ~ Katherine ~ Diane ~
~ Literary License ~ Teddy Rose ~ Lotus Reads ~

*On another note, I'm reading Eclipse and for Twlight and New Moon I interviewed myself for my post. Do you want to ask me questions this time? If not I can fake another interview, but...eh... :) If you've got a question you're dying to ask, email me at trishsreadingnook at gmail dot com by Wednesday or Thursday or so. Anything goes...! Well, maybe not anything you sneaky little devils...

The Septembers of Shiraz - Dalia Sofer

Title: The Septembers of Shiraz
Author: Dalia Sofer
Date Finished: April 2, 2009 #16
Published: 2007 Pages: 338
Rating: 4.25/5

I first heard about this book from Bethany and Dar and immediately after reading their reviews I put the book on my wishlist and shortly after ordered it from Amazon. And on my floor this book has patiently been sitting for months. Oh the life of a book addict. :) Gotta have it now so that I can read it later...you know you do it too...

The Septembers of Shiraz takes place in the early days of the Iranian Revolution (1981) and is centered around the Amins, a wealthy Jewish family. Parvis, the elder son, is living in New York City to attend school, but the rest of the family is trying to survive among the political and religious upheaval in Tehran. Isaac, the patriarch, is arrested and taken away to a terrible prison. It seems his crime is living a prosperous life and possibly his Jewish connections to Israel. In his absence, Farnaz, his wife, and Shirin, his young daughter, do what they can to protect their family and safeguard their lives.

I was truly swept away by this book. It is incredibly fast-paced and easy to read, but at the same time Sofer forced me to slow down and really take in what was happening to the Amin family. Each chapter focuses on one of the four characters--Parvis in New York, a non-practicing Jew who falls in love with a Hassidic neighborhood girl; Isaac in prison, not knowing what his crime is or if he will ever see his family again; Farnaz trying to hold together the household when her life has become so uncertain and she doesn't know who she can trust; and little Shirin who doesn't quite understand the new rules of her new world.

Sofer gives her readers a lot to contemplate in this debut novel. I dont' think I've read any accounts of Jewish people in Iran, so it was an interesting perspective--especially while imprisoned, Isaac is trying to come to terms with the differences in his beliefs and the Muslim beliefs. Last year I read My Father's Paradise, a non-fiction book about the author's Jewish family in Iraq. The book talked a lot about the treatment of Jews after Hussein's rise to power, and I would highly recommend to those interested in the topic. Along with different religious themes, Sofer also tackles the subjects that the revolutionaries grappled with--education, treatment of women, wealth--what makes a person worthy and who decides what is worthy.

The simple and flowing style of Sofer's writing made it a pleasure to read, and while the subject matter is oftentimes heartbreaking I didn't feel like the events were ever sensationalized. For the most part the book is very introspective and contemplative, something that I look for in books. If I had a complaint about this one, it would be that it was too short. It seemed that everything happened so quickly and I only got to know the characters a little bit; the story of Parvis in New York was especially underdeveloped. All in all, though, I would definitely recommend this book. I'll definitely be looking forward to future books by Sofer.

Also read by:
~ Lesley ~ Bethany ~ Dar ~ Literary Feline ~ Amanda ~
(If I missed your, I apologize--please provide me with a link and I'll include it)

A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian - Marina Lewycka

Title: A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian
Author: Marina Lewycka
Date Finished: March 14, 2009 #12
Published: 2005 Pages: 294
Rating: 4.5/5

I had heard good things about this book from Bethany and Corinne, but I didn't expect to fall in love with the characters and story like I did. Isn't that always a pleasant surprise? Plus, I just realized today that this is on the 1001 Books list! I'm on a roll so far this year!

"Two years after my mother died, my father fell in love with a glamorous blond Ukrainian divorcee. He was eighty-four and she was thirty-six" (1). Thus begins A Short History of Tractors. As Nadia, the narrator, and her older sister, Vera, begin to investigate their father's new romance, they realize that Valentina, the Ukrainian tramp, is probably seeking marriage in order to obtain a UK visa. But their father is hell bent on marrying his little Ukrainian strumpet--the one with the marvelous chest. The story is a battle between logical reality and very illogical romance as the daughters watch their father's situation go from bad to worse.

While the premise sounds amusing, A Short History is full of deceptively heavy themes. Lewycka tells an endearing story of two daughters trying to take care of their father, but the daughters themselves don't get along. Nadia begins to discover that while she is a "Peacetime Baby," her sister suffered much in labor camps as a "War Baby" after her parents fled Soviet controlled Ukraine and before they found refuge in the UK. Nadia and Vera have polar opposite views of immigration, social reform, feminine rights, marriage and divorce, education, post-colonialism, really anything where one can take a definite side. Nadia seeks to discover her heritage while Vera does everything in her power to keep the family history in the past.

Even while this slim novel surprisingly contains so much meat, it is Lewycka's writing style that endeared me to the book. While the writing is in many ways simple and fluid, Lewycka also plays a great deal with the language, especially as Nadia's father and Valentina are not native speakers of English. Nadia herself has such a personable voice that beckons the reader to take her side, to like her and trust her despite her continued impatience with her father and her continued disdain for Valentina. In a sense the writing is very intimate, like listening to a best friend's narrative about her childish father.

I don't think I'm doing this book justice. In a few words this book is funny and heartbreaking, endearing and thought-provoking. I'd definitely recommend A Short History, and while it didn't take too terribly long to read, I'll be remembering the characters for a time. This book is my first for the 2009 Orbis Terranum Challenge (Ukraine--although Lewycka was actually born in a refugee camp in Kiel, Germany).

**Also reviewed by Bethany ~ Corinne ~ Tricia ~ Hedgie ~ Trixie--if you've reviewed it too, let me know and I'll include your link!


ORBIS TERRANUM CHALLENGE 2009
*The Inheritance of Loss - India
*Cry The Beloved Country - South Africa
*Doctor Zhivago - Russia
*Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian - Ukraine
*Suite Francaise - France
*Graceland - Nigeria
*The Horseman's Graves - Canada
*Septembers of Shiraz - Iran
*Possession - UK

Zorba the Greek - Nikos Kazantzkis (And some finished challenges)

Title: Zorba the Greek
Author: Nikos Kazantzkis
Date Finished: Nov 26, 2008 #67
Published: 1946 Pages: 311
Rating: 2.5/5

First of all, HAPPY THANKSGIVING! I hope everyone is well and stuffed to the brim with delicious food.

Zorba the Greek is another one of those books that has been lurking on the shelf for years and years. I'll be glad to move it to the "read" bookshelf!

Zorba the Greek is about a man on his way to Crete to start a lignite mine. Along his way, he encounters a curious and aging man, Zorba, whom he befriends and hires as his foreman. Zorba and the narrator couldn't be more different from one another. The narrator is a scholarly bookworm who buries his nose in such works as Dante's Divine Comedy and is writing a book about Buddah (or maybe that is just the title?). Zorba, on the other hand, is full of life and zest and chastises the narrator for writing and reading about life but not living it. The two characters, in their adventures, learn a lot from one another, and in the end the narrator decides he will continue nosing around in books but will do so with vigor and purpose.

Bottom line? I felt like I was reading the surface of the book the entire time. The language (although this is translated, so not sure how to "review" that) is at times gorgeous, but I never really understood what was going on in the book and what the purpose was. Eeeks! Zorba, while an endearing character difficult not to like, spouts off so much philosophical crud that I was often lost and confused. I guess I just didn't get it. And I had a tough time finding anything about the book online-even the wikipedia entry is short and incomplete. I could definitely use another reading of this book, but not next year--and probably not the year after that either.

A taste of the reading:
"The aim of man and matter is to create joy, according to Zorba--others would say "to create spirit," but that comes to the same thing on another plane. But why? With what objects? And when the body dissolves, does anything at all remain of what we have called the soul? Or does nothing remain, and does our unquenchable desire for immortality spring, not from the fact that we are immortal, but from the fact that during the short span of our life we are in the service of something immortal?" (272).

My head hurts. :P But, finishing this book allows me to cross of two challenges! Yippee!!! Below are my lists. I usually provide links, but I'm really really hungry (because I dropped my hot lunch on the floor today at work), and I don't think anyone actually links from here, so...that's that.

ORBIS TERRANUM CHALLENGE COMPLETE - 9 books, 9 countries--Thanks Bethany!!
Zorba the Greek - Greece
*Half of a Yellow Sun - Nigeria
Swiss Family Robinson - Switzerland
**The God of Small Things - India
The Picture of Dorian Gray - Ireland
Anne Frank Remembered - Netherlands
*The Robber Bride - Canada
A Long Way Gone - Sierra Leone
The Translator - Darfur (Sudan)

Wraping it up for Bethany:
1.) What did you like about the challenge? I loved getting to "visit" so many different countries and "experience" so many different cultures.
2.) What would you like to see change for next year? I like Corinne's idea about having a "database" where we can search for reviews by country for new ideas.
3.) About the rules, or the non-existent rules...did you like that? Yup!! I like rules. :P
4.) Are you going to join us next year? Definitely!
5.) Pretty please give me any suggestions for changes, the betterment of the challenge, or just anything that you would like to see changed for next year. See above about database. Also, an easy link for the Mister Linky would be great, too. Until I finally bookmarked it, I had to do a lot of searching to find it.
6.) Would you like the challenge to be more involved? What if we read books together sometimes? Would that interest you? I like the idea of group books, but unfortunately my schedule doesn't always allow for it. Boo!
7.) would you be interested in helping somehow next year? How would you like to help? I'd love to help with anything! Just let me know. :)

TBR CHALLENGE COMPLETE - sitting on my shelf for an embarrassing amount of time (Thanks MizB)
Zorba the Greek
Emma
Mother of Pearl
A Map of the World
A Rumor of War
The Left Hand of Darkness
*The Robber Bride
*Tender at the Bone
Angela's Ashes
*Snow Crash
All the King's Men

* denotes favorites although most of them were great reads! So hard to define a favorite anyway when they are all soooooo different!

The Swiss Family Robinson - Jan Wyss

Title: The Swiss Family Robinson
Author: Jan Wyss
Date Finished: Nov 5, 2008 #64
Published: 1812 Pages: 304
Rating: 2/5

Talk about books that have been sitting on your shelf for years! I’m not even sure how long this puppy has been decorating the shelf (collecting dust is more like it), but I think maybe I got this from my Grandma years and years ago. To be honest, I haven’t really had much of a desire to read it, but I was tired of looking at it!

The Swiss Family Robinson is about a husband, wife, and their four boys who are shipwrecked and deserted on an island in the East Indies. The rest of the crew is able to sail away to safety in the lifeboats, but the family is left behind on the boat so they must make their way to the island in order to survive. They learn the terrain and the flora and fauna and eventually make various homes on the island.

I started off liking this book much more than I expected. I disliked Robinson Crusoe (perhaps because I HAD to read it for a grad course) and I expected this one to be similar. But I was surprised at how easy the reading was and how engaging the characters were. There was a lot of dialogue, especially between the father and his sons, which was nice since Crusoe didn’t have much dialogue except with Polly (the parrot) until Friday came along. But, then I realized that this isn’t an adventure book like I thought it was going to be.

The Swiss Family Robinson is more of a didactic book about survival in the wilderness. The father is constantly creating lessons out of every daily aspect and is often condescending to his children. He chides them for not having knowledge, but the knowledge the father possesses is completely from books he has read (how convenient!). After getting further into the book, I had to change my perspective and read this book for the interesting things the family built and how they survived in the wilderness instead of for a wild adventure. The book is an interesting look at the nature of animals as those in the early nineteenth century understood them (before Darwin and his theories) as well as European imperialism and colonial ideals.

I wish I could say that I ended up enjoying this book as much as I did when reading the first few chapters, but the reading became redundant and almost a chore. It sparked an interesting conversation between Scott and myself about what makes a classic a classic and if this even qualifies. It is still being read (although not sure I’ve seen any other reviews of it around here), but I wonder if its popularity comes more from the Disney adaptation than from the actual text. Are there books that you read that are considered classics and you just can’t figure out why? I’d love to hear about it!

Half of a Yellow Sun - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Title: Half of a Yellow Sun
Author: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Date Finished: Sept 18, 2008 #54
Pages: 541
Rating: 4.25/5

I have been wanting to read this book for a long time--ever since Adichie was announced as the winner of the Orange Prize last year--so I jumped on the opportunity it read it with an online discussion group this month. For some reason I had it in my head that this was going to be a tough book to get through and I was going to need some motivation, but despite the week it took, I felt like I drank this book down quickly.

Half of a Yellow Sun is an incredibly emotionally moving story of the Nigerian-Biafran War during the 1960s. Oh how I am learning this year! I feel a little sheepish saying I had never heard of Biafra before reading this book and actually looked it up to see if this was a fictional war for the purposes of this story (eeks...don't tell anyone!!!). The book is steeped in post-colonial theory that I can't even begin to cover in this post, but basically the book deals with the after-effects of the Africa carving table and the country lines being drawn willy-nilly mostly by the Europeans (am I being unfair??). When the Igbo people began being targeted and massacred by the Northern Nigerians, they seceded to create their own country, Biafra, which existed for three years.

The book focuses on five main characters and how they and the people around them cope with terrors the war brings. The characters are all so different and Adichie develops them fully and beautifully. Olanna, who is elegant and desired, comes from a rich, educated, upperclass family. She and her lover, Odenigbo, have taken in Ugwu, a local village boy, first as a servent but later almost as their own. Olanna's twin sister, Kainene, makes a colorful contrast to Olanna's coolness with her sharp tongue and attitude. The final member of the cast of characters is Kainene's lover Richard, a British expatriate, who feels as Biafran as anyone else but struggles to prove himself to others because of his whiteness.

Each chapter shows a different side of the story as we see the effects of the war through Olanna, Richard, and Ugwu. Although they are not narrating their own stories, each perspective adds to the richness of the book. I have to be honest, though, that I had the toughest time with Richard's portions of the book. Because Olanna and Ugwu reside in the same house, at times it felt like Richard's story was something completely tangential and separate from the rest of the book. Also, the female characters in this book are so incredibly strong that Richard always seemed like a weak person--not really one who I always admired.

Overall I really liked this book. However, I think I set the bar pretty high with The God of Small Things and I really wanted this one to compare. Unfortunately it didn't for me--but in many ways I think I am being overly critical of the book. I didn't understand why Adichie jumps from the early 60s to the late 60s to the early to the late. I think one jump might have been effective, but by the time I finished the book I had forgotten much of the second portion except some of the foreshadowing effects that were used there. Also, some of the transitions in the book were a little off for me. For example, she would mention someone's death and immediately move on as if it didn't happen. It never really sat well with me and seemed too casual for the subject matter. Finally, I hated the ending. *Sigh* I was really caught up in "how the heck is this thing going to end!" and when it did finish, I couldn't believe that was it. Fell completely flat. BUT, other than those minor minor things, I really liked the book and recommend it wholeheartedly. :)

Don't believe me??...just check out what these guys thought:
Natasha; Gautami; Dewey; Literary Feline; Eva; Raidergirl3; Caribousmom; Jill; Marg
(my Google reader isn't liking me today and I had to dig for a few of these--so let me know I missed yours)

The God of Small Things - Arundhati Roy

Title: The God of Small Things
Author: Arundhati Roy
Date Finished: August 8, 2008 #45
Pages: 321
Rating: 4.5/5

Let's start off being honest. It took me a good 80 pages (the first two chapters) to get into this book. I can certainly see why people are turned off from this book and my potential enjoyment of the book was incredibly questionable. But after that first 80 pages (yes, a quarter of the book!) I fell in love with the writing, the characters, and couldn't put this book down. For me, this is the type of book that comes along a few times a year and keeps me reading in search of the next one. (Yes, I am incredibly stingy with those 5/5 ratings!).

The God of Small Things is the story of how everything can change within the course of a day. Whole lives can be uprooted, fates can be changed, innocence and childhood can be lost, and death can find anyone. The story, oscillating between past and present, centers around twins (separate egg twins), Estha and Rahel, and the events that lead up to and follow the death of their English visiting cousin, Sophie Mol. Roy focuses on how so many intricate but separate details slowly come to fit together and how the ripple of all of these small things combined can still be felt years after.

Because part of the pleasure for me was slowly piecing together the timeline of the book and how everything fit together, I don't really want to give any more plot details than that. Roy gives the basic facts of the story in the beginning chapter, but the frequent jumps between past and present and the movement between so many character descriptions make it difficult to grasp anything solid in the book until later (hence my initial frustration). I'm not sure if after the second chapter I simply got used to the writing style and was able to discern whether I was reading about Estha and Rahel as children or adults or if the writing became more fluent, but I soon found myself absorbed in the story, devouring every word and being consumed by Roy's language.

I simply can't do this book justice with my thoughts--they are too many and I could write about this book forever. Some of my favorite aspects were Roy's descriptions--sometimes funny and more often heartbreaking. Her descriptions are often repetitive, taking ideas and playing with them throughout the novel, and because of that I felt I really knew and understood Estha and Rahel in all of their misunderstood childhood innocence. This repetition also helped me to remember events that were previously mentioned but soon forgotten because of the lack of development at the time. She describes everything in such detail that I could almost feel what the characters were feeling or see what the characters were seeing. And even though only little snippets of the plot were allowed at a time (teasers, really), I found myself wanting more, needing to know what happens despite the fact that I already [mostly] knew at the beginning the outcome of the novel.

In addition the the rich writing style, there was so much food for thought in this book. Roy combines a number of difficult themes that are crucial to the outcome of the story. Most important, for me, was the "Love Laws"--who deserves to be loved and how much and why. Set mostly in India during the late 1960s, untouchability was still prevalent for so many (I don't really know the history of the caste system and from what I understand this has been outlawed now??), and one of the key characters, Velutha is an untouchable. Estha and Rahel love him despite this, mostly not understanding what makes him so different, but the treatment of this special character was at times incredibly difficult for me to read. Other important themes seem to center around Western and Eastern ideals and the incongruities that exist between them. Sophie Mol's half whiteness and the ability for the grownups to immediately love her because she is white (a lot of these incongruities are seen through the children's eyes), Christianity versus Hinduism (and even Western Catholicism versus Eastern Orthodox), democracy versus communism, etc. Plot aside the book had me thinking about so many different ideals and why certain things are the way that they are.

This is a difficult book and has gotten mixed reviews from others, but this book captured my heart and will stick with me for a long time. I was incredibly affected by the book--something that hasn't happened for me since the beginning of the year (particularly with Atonement and The Book Thief) and I am glad that I finally experienced its magic. I hope to re-read this book again one day and could easily do so this weekend and discover so much that I missed. If you haven't read this book and plan to--stick through the first couple of chapters and don't forget to savor every word.

They also read it:
Joy - Thoughts of Joy
Nymeth - Things mean A Lot
Rhinoa's Ramblings
Wendy - Caribousmom
Raidergirl3 - An Adventure in Reading
Fyrefly - Fyrefly's Book Blog
(this book comes up so many times because of the 1001 list, so forgive me if I've missed you and let me know in your comments--but please leave more than just your link for some reason I find it really annoying when all I get is a link with no other commentary--eeks!)

The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde

Title: The Picture of Dorian Gray
Author: Oscar Wilde
Date Finished: July 31, 2008 #44
Pages: 165
Rating: 3/5

Why why why do I let things get so behind? I've been neglecting my reader this week because most of my spare time has gone into house hunting (which is proving to be futile). I'll be around, I promise--slowly but surely, but I really don't want to write up my thoughts on this book. Really really don't want to. I'd say I'd keep it short, but I've come to learn that I have a tough time taking the red pen to my own writing to cut out the crap that I write. Hopefully this will not be as long as my thoughts on Tess, which frankly turned into a kind of novel. Bleh!!

The Picture of Dorian Gray is about a beautiful young man who sits for his portrait to be painted by a man who idolizes Gray. While Basil has painted a masterpiece, the painting in actuality turns out to be anything but. Upon seeing his portrait, Dorian exclaims:

"How sad it is! I shall grow old, and horrible, and dreadful. But this picture will remain always young. It will never be older than this particular day of June....If it were only the other way! If it were I who was to be always young, and the picture that was to grow old! For that--for that--I would give everything! Yes, there is nothing in the whole world I would not give! I would give my soul for that!" (19).

First, glad Mr. Wilde's loves his use of exclamation marks as much as I do!! Um...see what I mean? :) Second, thus is the premise of the book. Be careful what you wish for Dorian!! Grrr...there I go again. Mostly at the persuasion of his friend Sir Henry, Dorian begins to enter into a seedier type of lifestyle and as he does so he remains pure and beautiful but his portrait begins to become marred and haunting. The picture becomes a mirror of Dorian's soul to show the horrid darkness it contains.

I half liked/half disliked this book. First the good--I was surprised at how suspenseful this book was! There were several unexpected twist and turns that kept me interested in the book despite some heavier and more boring elements. It contained wonderful character development, and gave fascinating insight into the turn of the century thought. I read parts of this book for an undergrad course years ago and through it first learned the words ennui and dandy. It was an opulent culture that was in for a great big awakening--especially with the onset of WWI.

But, not a fan of the writing style--thank goodness for Modernism!! The writing is incredibly rich and decadent and I found myself skimming through whole pages of descriptions. Sir Henry, Dorian's cohort, is a misogynist and incredibly full of himself (I think that was the point), but I couldn't stand his character and even most of the time Dorian's. I had to roll my eyes at some of their dinner conversations and the topics they discussed. The only other Wilde I've read is The Importance of Being Earnest, which I loved and will read again, but the wit contained in this book was lost to me among the heavy language. Ladi-da. :) Good story, any way.

The Translator - Daoud Hari

Title: The Translator
Author: Daoud Hari
Date Finished: June 28, 2008 #36
Pages: 189

I don't really know how to explain a book when I can't understand the things that it tells about. Unfortunately I know very little about Africa--and I am trying to remedy that by reading about different parts of the continent--earlier this year I read A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier (my thoughts here). And while this book takes place on the other side of Africa, the heartache it contains is the same.

The Translator--Daoud Hari--is from Darfur, a small corner of Sudan, which is directly south of Egypt. His country is torn apart by different rebel groups and it seems to me that the government supports a different rebel group on any given day based on whim. Hari, who is wanted by the Sudanese government, has retreated to Chad where he meets reporters from other countries. Using his knowledge of the Arabic and English languages he takes the reporters across the Chad/Sudan border so that they can interview villagers. Hari's main goal is to prove that genocide is occurring in Sudan--genocide is apparently difficult to prove. Natasha from Maw Books has written several posts about the genocide that is occurring in Sudan as well as other African countries--this is a problem that is prevalent and doesn't seem to be going away any time soon (the link for Natasha's blog will take you to her post about Genocide in Darfur).

What I can't understand is how something like this happens--how does a country continent become so torn--where people--kids even--are carrying around guns and machetes and killing others based on nothing (not nothing--but it seems that way). I don't think I'll ever really be able to understand no matter how many of these accounts I read. Hari's memoir was chilling and at times difficult to read, but like Ishmael Beah, he offers a message of hope as he continually reaches out to others in his cry for help.

I realize these books aren't for everyone, but I think it is important for us to be aware of what is happening in our world. It is unfathomable to me in every conceivable way, but that doesn't mean that genocide is not occurring every day in some corner of the world. In terms of the actual book itself--Hari's writing is very clear, even a little simple. Sometimes I was not always sure of the time frame as he seemed to skip around at the beginning, but he soon finds a rhythm and tells a strong story of his time as a translator to reporters. There is an incident in the second half of the book that gripped me as a reader and I couldn't put the book down until there was a resolution. There was a resolution, of course, but not the one that Hari is hoping for--not yet anyway.

Also reviewed:
Natasha at Maw Books
Debi at Nothing of Importance
Wendy of Caribousmom
Literary Feline at Musings of a Bookish Kitty
3M at 1 More Chapter
*let me know if I've missed you

Tagged?!?!? Orbis Terrarum and 123 Page Memes

So, I guess I was only officially tagged for the 123 Page meme, but I wanted to participate in the Orbis Terrarum meme as well since I'm loving the challenge so much.

First, if you are participating in Bethany's Orbis Terrarum Challenge, pop over HERE to participate in her fun meme.

1.) What country do you always go back to in your travels (not just while reading for OT)?

It seems that the country I read most from (outside the US) is the United Kingdom--particularly England. Although last year I traveled a lot to the Middle East (Iran, Afghanistan, Turkey) and this year I've been to Africa and will continue to go back (Sierra Leone, Sudan, Nigeria). Maybe next year I'll focus on Asia and Russia!

2.) If you could visit 4 of the countries you have read about in your life (that you haven't been to yet), which would they be and why?

Holland - Anne Frank Remembered (Gies)
India - Midnight's Children (Rushdie); Eat, Pray, Love (Gilbert)
New Zealand - The Bone People (Hulme)
Eastern Europe - The Historian (Kostavos)

3.) Have you ever dreamed about a country you have read about, that you have never actually traveled to- except in your dreams?

I don't remember a whole lot of my dreams, but the other night, while in the middle of Anne Frank Remembered, I had horrible dreams about hiding people and being caught by the Nazi's. The only other thing is that while in grad school, I would fall asleep while reading but be dreaming that I was still reading--very freaky!

4.) In what ways has reading about different countries opened up your perspective about global issues?

I think that I haven't really ventured out of my comfort zone until recently, so I am just starting to discover these global issues through reading (versus other media like the news). Reading these books has certainly helped me not be so ethnocentric and has helped me be aware of some of the things that are happening in other cultures/countries. The thing that reading gives me to that the news doesn't, is for a minute (or few days), I can see what is really going on not just at the forefront, but also in individual people's lives--how these events are really affecting people.

5.) What countries have you felt your judgment was off about-after reading about that nation?

I can't claim to be completely judgment free, but I try try try not to be. If anything the books help me understand a little more.

6.) Which is your favourite book that you would recommend for this challenge (you don't have to have read it during the challenge)?

I really liked The House of the Spirits by Allende and The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Kundras.

7.) I am thinking about hosting again, for a full year next time starting in January, do you have any constructive criticism, is one book a month about right...more? less? Give me some thoughts.

I like the shorter challenges better. If I have 12 books on my list I tend to get a little bored and antsy. But for you, Bethany my dear, I will do a 12 month-12 book challenge if I have to. :)

8.) Anything else that you have been wanting to tell us all about? let us have it!

You've been a great hostess and I love your enthusiasm! AND I love the map you periodically put up showing our progress!
***********************************************************************************
I was tagged by Valentina for the 1 2 3 Pages Meme:

1. Pick up the nearest book.
2. Open to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people, and acknowledge who tagged you.

Anne Frank: The Diary of Young Girl (yay...picked it up yesterday! Can't wait to read)

"Still, I wouldn't dream of pointing out to Mummy that, in the case of her daughters, it isn't at all as she imagines, because she would be utterly amazed and wouldn't know how to change anyway; I want to save her the unhappiness it would cause her, especially as I know that for me everything would remain the same anyway.
Mummy certainly feels that Margot loves her much more than I do, but she thinks that this just goes in phases! Margot has grown so sweet; she seems quite different from what she used to be, isn't nearly so catty these days and is becoming a real friend."

Since I think I am the last person on the planet to actually do this meme, if you think YOU are the last person on the planet who hasn't...TAG YOU'RE IT! :)

Happy Sunday.

Anne Frank Remembered - Miep Gies

Title: Anne Frank Remembered
Author: Miep Gies
Date Finished: May 29, 2008
Yearly Count: 28
Pages: 252

It has been so long since I have read Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl that I could only remember a few of the details. I don't even actually remember reading it (I think I must have been in 7th grade), but many of us are familiar with Anne's story of her life in hiding for two years.

While this book suggests a remembrance to Anne, it is more specifically Miep's own story of courage and survival as she helped the Franks into hiding in German-occupied Holland during World War II. While working for Otto Frank in the early 1930s, Miep also became his confidant as life became more and more difficult for the Jewish population in Amsterdam. Eventually, Frank asked Miep and her husband Henk to help hide his family and eventually another family (altogether eight people) in the cramped upper level living quarters of Frank's business.

Over the course of more than two years, Miep and her husband Henk provided sustenance, safety, and above all friendship to the families they kept in hiding. As I was reading this book, I was struck by Miep's undying compassion and courage to do unthinkable things--putting her life at risk to helps those around her whose lives were also in such grave danger. I simply cannot fathom the things that these people had to live through. Things that people are currently living through. This book broke my heart, but at the same time the strength of all of those who resisted the cruelties of the Nazis showed such hope for mankind.

Miep's writing style is effortless and flowing; she has the natural voice of a storyteller, which made this book absorbing. My grandmother has a beautiful accent (she is Swiss but also studied in France and England before moving to Toronto after the war--so her accent is a little mixed), and I could hear her voice through Miep's writing. Soft but at the same time urgent:

"As I sat, I became aware of what it meant to be imprisoned in these small rooms. As this feeling registered, I felt a taste of the helpless fear that these people filled with, day and night. Yes, for all of us it was wartime, but Henk and I had the freedom to come and go as we pleased, to stay in or go out. These people were in a prison, a prison with locks inside the doors" (128).

My only regret about this book is in the ending. It seems as though Miep isn't quite sure how to end such an important story and so the last few pages are a little forced and awkward. Otherwise, this was such a powerful and important read. There are only little bits and pieces about Anne in the book, so it really makes me want to re-read Anne's diary. In addition to this book, I'd also recommend The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom--also a woman who helped in the Dutch Underground during WWII.

The Robber Bride - Margaret Atwood

Title: The Robber Bride
Author: Margaret Atwood
Date Finished: April 12, 2008
Yearly Count: 19
Pages: 466
Rating: 3.75/5

I feel a little sheepish writing this review after I JUST commented on someone's blog that the only less than favorable reviews I've read of Atwood have been for Oryx and Crake and The Penelopiad. Don't get me wrong, I still liked this book...some parts a lot...but not as much as the others I've read. I guess that happens.

In October 1990, when the first Gulf War is brewing, the Soviet Bloc is crumbling, and Canada is in a resession, Zenia comes back from the dead. A group of three women, Tony, Roz, and Charis are having lunch together at a trendy restaurant, The Toxique, when Zenia is first sighted--alive. She was killed in a bombing in Beirut; the three women saw her ashes, attended her funeral. The catchy thing about this book is that things aren't always what they seem.

What I love about Atwood is her careful characterization. The novel gives the stories of each of the women whose common thread is Zenia--who lets face it, is a cold manipulative um...I'd like to type the word, really I would, but I won't...you get the point. :) While I found some similarities in each woman, namely their ability to be duped again and again by Zenia, they were each so different, and Atwood is able to tease out these subtleties in each woman's section. Not as obvious as Barbara Kingsolver's narratives in The Poisonwood Bible, but each woman had a very distinct voice and personality (well, and each section is written from third person narrative--not first, which also makes a big difference).

What I could have done without: What is it with this book and mothers?? With each woman's story comes an explanation of her childhood and her relationship with her mother. Are the mothers to blame for the negative qualities each woman possesses? What do the mothers have to do with Zenia? Honestly, I didn't get the connection and because of that I got bored during these sections (which is a big part in the lower rating). I wanted the meat of the story--the Zenia story. And I got it, but there was too much in the middle.

All in all The Robber Bride is an engaging story. Atwood's writing is beautiful as always and she always leaves just enough bait dangling to keep the pages turning. She's never a "quick" read for me, but I don't mind--remember that "lit-ra-chur" question going around a few weeks ago? Atwood falls into that category for me. I would recommend it, but I would recommend The Handmaid's Tale and The Blind Assassin first. This one was reminiscient of Cat's Eye with its focus on female relationships, but it still very different. I think Atwood is trying to tell us that women are not to be messed with! Ha!

A Long Way Gone - Ishmael Beah

Title: A Long Way Gone
Author: Ishmael Beah
Date Finished: April 5, 2008
Yearly Count: 18
Pages: 218

Sadly, everything I knew about Sierra Leone came from the movie Blood Diamond with Leonardo DiCaprio. When I first saw A Long Way Gone on display at Starbucks quite a while ago, I didn't realize what it was about and it wasn't until I saw the movie that I started to piece them together. While this book isn't about conflict diamonds, it is about the atrocities of war--especially a war where children are on the front lines.

Ishmael was twelve when his village was attacked and he was separated from his family. After trying to survive on his own for some time, he is picked up by the army and "recruited" as a soldier. I put "recruit" in quotes because Ishmael makes it clear that he didn't have much of a choice. The army broke his spirit, and after much exposure to violence, propaganda/brainwashing, and drugs, he himself becomes a killer. After a few years, UNICEF buys his freedom and he is put into a rehabilitation facility.

A Long Way Gone is a truly heartbreaking story which at times is difficult to read because of the horrendous acts of the soldiers, including Ishmael. In my cozy little corner of suburbia it is difficult for me to imagine such things occurring in the world, but Ishmael delivers a story of hope--but I can't help wonder how much of it was sheer luck for him. Even after he broke from the war and rehabilited, many of those who were also "rehabilitated" rejoined the fighting once they were exposed to it again.

There has been a lot of controversy surrounding this book--how much of what Ishmael says happened truly did. But is that really the point? Somewhere these things are happening to someone; are we simply in denial? Anyway, I recommend the book. My only regret is that the book ended too soon for me--I want to know what happens next for Ishmael.

Salem Falls - Jodi Picoult [and a new challenge]

Title: Salem Falls
Author: Jodi Picoult
Date Finished: March 12, 2008
Yearly Count: 12
Pages: 434
Rating: 4.25/5

Since starting my blog in June I've written about three other Picoult books and before that I had read three, so I'm not going to go into whole lot of detail with this one. I really enjoyed the book, which was almost a relief after feeling wishy washy about Plain Truth (review here). I just picked up her new book Change of Heart and hope to read it in a few weeks (or months--eeks!).

Salem Falls begins with Jack St. Bride being released from prison after serving time for a rape he did not commit. He leaves his old life behind and heads to the sleepy New England town of Salem Falls to start anew. Unfortunately, though, he finds himself in the middle of another rape case--one where the lines of truth are blurred and nothing is what it seems.

It's true that Picoult's books seem very formulaic, but the formula worked very well for this book. She was able to withhold enough secrets to keep me guessing and biting my nails through the entire book. At the end I even had to cover the text with my hand so my eyes wouldn't cheat--I LOVE THAT!! This is the first book I've read since The Book Thief (review here) that I absolutely could not put down. Part of the reason why this book was so interesting to me is because the girl who accuses Jack of rape is the priestess of a teenage Wiccan coven (forgive me for butchering the terminology if I am). I don't know very much about this religion and have only known one person who openly practices, but from what I know I find it to be fascinating. I can't pretend to know how accurate Picoult is in her descriptions (although she usually does her homework), but I was intrigued by this storyline.

While still not my favorite Picoult book, I would recommend it to fans of hers.

Gautami Tripathy also reviewed this book here

On another note:

ORBIS TERRANUM CHALLENGE

I have joined another challenge. I'm feeling *really* good about my reading so far this year, so I thought why not! And I've wanted to stretch my horizons a bit. Plus, a new-to-book-blogging-blogger is hosting the challenge! How cool is that? Go to B&b ex libris to see Bethany's Orbis Terrarum Challenge and the rules.

I'm cross-posting a few books with other challenges, and my list is NOT set in stone, but here is what I've put together so far:

*Zorba the Greek (Greece)

*Half of a Yellow Sun (Nigeria/Biafran)

*A Long Way Gone (Sierra Leone)

*The Robber Bride (Canada)

*The Swiss Family Robinson (Switzerland)

*The Autobiography of Saint Therese of Lisieux (France)

*The God of Small Things (India)

*The Picture of Dorian Gray (Ireland)

*Anne Frank Remembered (Austria)