Recent reads

These books were all lent to me to read by my dear friend Jodi - she and I share very similar reading tastes so I always love getting new recommendations from her.

Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin: Still in the process of reading this, but its very quirky and almost an old-fashioned book set in San Francisco in the 1970s. Yet to decide if I love it..

Noah's Compass by Anne Tyler: This novel tells the story of a year in the life of Liam Pennywell, a man in his sixty-first year. Noah's Compass is about memory and tis loss, about incidents and relationships which open up sight lines into a painful past long dead for a man who becomes aware that merely trying to stay afloat may not be enough. Nice easy read but couldn't relate to any of the characters and found Liam's apathy to life a bit depressing- probably won't recommend it to any of my friends.

The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga: I've read so many great books lately that were set in India (Q&A, The Usual Suspects come to mind instantly) that I wasn't really in the mood for another one. The White Tiger is very funny, very sad and very cleverly written - its reading books like this that make me realise I could never be a writer! ITs hard to describe what this book is about - but I would definitely recommend it to anyone.

Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: Beautiful, sad, fascinating ,sad, stunning. Purple Hibiscus is about fifteen-year-old Kambili who lives in fear of her father based in Nigeria at the time of a military coup. Although I loved the book, her father was such an unlikeable character that any time he was mentioned in the book I felt fear in the pit of my stomach for Kambili - its horrifying to try and comprehend that anyone could do these thing to children (even if it is only in a book).

Thanks for those Jodi - looking forward to reading 'The Elegance of the Hedgehog" next.

In future blogs I will write about some of my past favourite books - the ones I would recommend without hesitation - there are SO many.....