A mixed bag

I've read a real mixed bag of books lately and whilst on holiday to South Africa so now that I'm back I thought I should briefly mention the ones I loved (there have been a few that I only just got through so I won't bother writing about them as well).

Firstly, The Moment by Douglas Kennedy. This book was a fantastic story about a writer, writing his travel books, his history, his romances, combined with a fascinating insight into life in East and West Germany before the Wall came down.

'Thomas Nesbitt is a divorced American writer in the midst of a rueful middle age. Living a very private life in Maine - in touch only with his daughter and still trying to reconcile himself to the end of a long marriage that he knew was flawed from the outset - he finds his solitude disrupted by the arrival, one wintry morning, of a box postmarked Berlin. The return address on the box - Dussmann - unsettles him completely. For it is the name of the woman with whom he had an intense love affair twenty-six years ago in Berlin - at a time when the city was cleaved in two, and personal and political allegiances were haunted by the deep shadows of the Cold War. '

There were so many parts of this book that I loved - it was very sad as well as stunningly written. It was mostly about not realizing that we are in 'the moment' - whatever that might be and how wonderful it is and the rest of your life can be shaped by it.

I don't want to give too much away as I think its a brilliant book and I highly recommend it to all.

Next post: 'Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness'.

Quick book update

Ok - I won't even try to apologise for the lack of blogging again.

I've recently read two great books - both very different and both worth reading.

The first was brilliant - very beautiful, soulful, fascinating and different. I highly recommend The Tiger's Wife by Tea Obreht. Its difficult to describe as its so different:

'Having sifted through everything I have heard about the tiger and his wife, I can tell you that this much is fact: in April of 1941, without declaration or warning, the German bombs started falling over the city and did not stop for three days. The tiger did not know that they were bombs...' A tiger escapes from the local zoo, padding through the ruined streets and onwards, to a ridge above the Balkan village of Galina. His nocturnal visits hold the villagers in a terrified thrall. But for one boy, the tiger is a thing of magic - Shere Khan awoken from the pages of The Jungle Book. Natalia is the granddaughter of that boy. Now a doctor, she is visiting orphanages after another war has devastated the Balkans. On this journey, she receives word of her beloved grandfather's death, far from their home, in circumstances shrouded in mystery. From fragments of stories her grandfather told her as a child, Natalia realises he may have died searching for 'the deathless man', a vagabond who was said to be immortal. Struggling to understand why a man of science would undertake such a quest, she stumbles upon a clue that will lead her to a tattered copy of The Jungle Book, and then to the extraordinary story of the tiger's wife.

The next book also has Tiger in the title but is completely different to the first. The book The battle hymn of the tiger mother by Amy Chua is summarised by:

 A lot of people wonder how Chinese parents raise such stereotypically successful kids. They wonder what Chinese parents do to produce so many math whizzes and music prodigies, what it's like inside the family, and whether they could do it too. Well, I can tell them, because I've done it...Amy Chua's daughters, Sophia and Louisa (Lulu) were polite, interesting and helpful, they were two years ahead of their classmates in maths and had exceptional musical abilities. But Sophia and Lulu were never allowed to attend a sleepover, be in a school play, choose their own extracurricular activities, get any grade less than an A, and not be the #1 student in every subject (except gym and drama). And they had to practice their instruments for hours every day, as well as in school breaks and on family holidays. The Chinese-parenting model certainly seemed to produce results. But what happens when you do not tolerate disobedience and are confronted by a screaming child who would sooner freeze outside in the cold than be forced to play the piano? In Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, Amy Chua relates her experiences raising her children the 'Chinese way', and how dutiful, patient Sophia flourished under the regime and how tenacious, hot-tempered Lulu rebelled. It is a story about a mother, two daughters, and two dogs. It's also about Mozart and Mendelssohn, the piano and the violin, and how they made it to Carnegie Hall. It was supposed to be a story of how Chinese parents are better at raising kids than Western ones. But instead, it's about a bitter clash of cultures, a fleeting taste of glory, and how you can be humbled by a thirteen-year-old. Witty, entertaining and provocative, this is a unique and important book that will transform your perspective of parenting forever.

The book was interesting - it did make me think about my own parenting style (both positive and negative comparisons) but I feel like the book made its point by the end of the first half / three quarters and the book could have been wrapped up sooner. However I would still recommend the book to all parents, potential parents or grandparents  - it provides an interesting case study that you may or may not want to adopt aspects of.

Bad blogger

Yes once again I am here to apologise for neglecting my blog and hoping there are still a few people out there who check in now and again!

In the long time between blogs I have actually read 4 books - all very different but only one I really loved.

First cab off the rank was Edmund de Waal's The Hare with Amber Eyes

264 wood and ivory carvings, none of them larger than a matchbox: potter Edmund de Waal was entranced when he first encountered the collection in the Tokyo apartment of his great uncle Iggie. Later, when Edmund inherited the 'netsuke', they unlocked a story far larger than he could ever have imagined.

The book took ages to grow on me and it was a complicated family saga, but provided a fascinating insight into various periods and locations (Odessa, Paris, Vienna and Tokyo) around the world. Beautifully written but certainly not a book I cruised through.

Next book was The Weekend by Bernhard Schlink.

Old friends and lovers reunite for a weekend in a secluded country home after spending decades apart. They plumb their memories of each other and pass quiet judgments on the life decisions each has made since their youth. This isn't, however, just any old reunion, and their conversations of the old days aren't typical reminiscences. After 24 years, Joerg - a convicted murderer and terrorist, is released from prison on a pardon. A former member of the Red Army Faction (or Baader-Meinhof Group), the announcement of Joerg's release is sure to send shock waves throughout Germany. But before this happens, his group of friends - most of whom were RAF sympathizers - gather for his first weekend of freedom.

I had been hoping for a lighter read after the saga of the Hare with Amber Eyes - although this book was an easy enough read, the topic was dreadfully depressing and the characters didn't resonate with me. Bernhard Schlink is the same author who wrote 'The Reader' so it is a beautifully written book but I found it oppressive.

So the next book was purchased in the airport bookshop and was definitely chosen to be a very light, easy read that would not distract from my holiday fun. The book A Long Way Down by Nick Hornsby did not disappoint.

'For disgraced TV presenter MArtin Sharp the answer's pretty simple: he has, in his own words, 'pissed his life away'. And on New Year's Eve he's going to end it all...But not, as it happens, alone. Because first single-mum Maureen, then eighteen-year-old Jess and lastly American rock-god JJ turn up and crash Martin's private party. They've stolen his idea - but brought their own reasons.'

The book was such a great ride even though it touched on some very sad topics and situations - I couldn't put it down and wanted to keep reading till the end. Good trashy novel.

My FINAL book was fantastic and if you've managed to read this far - well done, because this is the best book I've read for a while. When God Was a Rabbit by Sarah Winman was so different and beautiful that I read it in the space of two (quite long!) nights.

WHEN GOD WAS A RABBIT is an incredibly exciting debut from an extraordinary new voice in fiction. Spanning four decades, from 1968 onwards, this is the story of a fabulous but flawed family and the slew of ordinary and extraordinary incidents that shape their everyday lives. It is a story about childhood and growing up, loss of innocence, eccentricity, familial ties and friendships, love and life. Stripped down to its bare bones, it's about the unbreakable bond between a brother and sister.

Just when you think you know where the book is going and what will happen to each of the (really likable, complex and interesting) characters, the book veers off into an unexpected, yet perfect way. I really recommend this book as something quite unique and lovely.

Happy reading all.

Sister

I have been a very bad blogger of late.

Two books I have read lately that were very different from each other but were both good - not amazing, but I did enjoy both.

Firstly, Sister by Rosamund Lupton. I had been seeing this book in several book shops and finally got around to buying it - and reading it.

Its a great mystery, crime story involving two sisters. At the premise of the story is the notion of 'how well do you really know your sister / brother etc'? The book has a great twist in it, that I didn't see coming and it was a very enjoyable, easy read.

Nothing can break the bond between sisters ...When Beatrice gets a frantic call in the middle of Sunday lunch to say that her younger sister, Tess, is missing, she boards the first flight home to London. But as she learns about the circumstances surrounding her sister's disappearance, she is stunned to discover how little she actually knows of her sister's life - and unprepared for the terrifying truths she must now face. The police, Beatrice's fiance and even their mother accept they have lost Tess but Beatrice refuses to give up on her. So she embarks on a dangerous journey to discover the truth, no matter the cost.


I would recommend this book - not overly intellectual or trying, just a hard to put down page turner.


The next book I read was the Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton. You may remember I reviewed her previous book, The Shifting Fog and had enjoyed the romantic, English setting and the easy story.


I think this book, the Forgotten Garden was better.

The brief outline of this story is that a young girl is abandoned on a ship headed for Australia in 1913. She is raised in Australia and on her twenty-first birthday the family she thinks of as her own explain the truth. "Nell" then sets out to discover who she really is and how she came to be abandoned. Her quest leads her to Blackhurst Manor on the Cornish coast and the secrets of the doomed Mountrachet family. But it is not until her granddaughter, Cassandra, takes up the quest that the mystery is solved.


It was a lovely book with lots of whimsy, mystery and a multi-generational saga to keep the pages turning. Once again, not an overly intellectual read, but a lovely escape. 


I'm sorry these are terribly short reviews of these books and I did have great thoughts about discussing the bonds of sisterhood etc, but I just don't seem to have the time at the moment!


I am now reading a book that I am REALLY struggling with - The Hare with Amber Eyes by Edmund de Waal. God knows what possessed me to buy it as I'm finding it very hard going and I am however perservering as it has won literary awards so it must be good... I will let you know how it goes and whether my opinion changes!

Bounce

What a brilliant book. Thought provoking, fascinating and probably a bit controversial too..

Bounce by Matthew Syed is a book on a theory that champions are made not born. That champions are created from circumstance, practice and determination. It was a fascinating book that everyone should read - I'm sure not everyone would agree with the theories, but it did make me think. Some of his insights into what motivated children - even to do well in a maths test - really made me consider how I approach encouraging my children to keep trying at challenging tasks and how I praise them for any 'jobs well done'.

In Bounce Matthew Syed - an award-winning Times columnist and three-time Commonwealth table-tennis champion - reveals what really lies behind world-beating achievement in sport, and other walks of life besides. The answers - taking in the latest in neuroscience, psychology and economics - will change the way we look at sports stars and revolutionise our ideas about what it takes to become the best. From the upbringing of Mozart to the mindset of Mohammed Ali - via the recruitment policies of Enron - Bounce weaves together fascinating stories and telling insights and statistics into a wonderfully thought-provoking read. Bounce looks at big questions - such as the real nature of talent, what kind of practice actually works, how to achieve motivation, drugs in both sport and life, and whether black people really are faster runners.


This book would make an interesting choice as a book club read. Its not your normal book club type of choice, but I think it would invoke a great deal of debate. THere were bits of the book that were a bit tedious to get through, but the theories and examples he gives are all brilliant. The book would make an interesting companion book to Andre Agassi's autobiography too.


Read.


Fascinating - thanks Kate for the lend of the book.

The Long Song

I do still exist.

I am still reading.

I am now back in the corporate world and work is putting a very unwelcome dent in my free time to read and especially, to write about it!

The number of books I have been getting through has also therefore sadly been reduced, but I am trying to get back into the habit.

The last book I finished was The Long Song by Andrea Levy - she is also the author of a Small Island.

Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize and longlisted for the Orange Prize, THE LONG SONG is breathtaking, hauntingly beautiful, heartbreaking and unputdownable You do not know me yet. My son Thomas, who is publishing this book, tells me, it is customary at this place in a novel to give the reader a little taste of the story that is held within these pages. As your storyteller, I am to convey that this tale is set in Jamaica during the last turbulent years of slavery and the early years of freedom that followed.


As described, the book sets out the story of July - a house slave upon the Amity sugar plantation in Jamaica in the early 19th century.  July is conceived when her slave mother Kitty is raped by overseer Tam Dewar.  After a traumatic birth, July is fortunate to live with her mother for some years, helping in the fields to bring water to the field slaves.  That is until the arrival upon the plantation of Caroline Mortimer, plantation owner John Howarth’s widow sister, who takes one look at little July and steals her from her mother to be her personal companion within the grand plantation household.  It is a theme that will continue throughout the book.. It tells her story, in her words and her voice, of growing up in the last years of slavery in Jamaica.


I usually tend to find books about slavery and the associated history fascinating - and this was no different. However, I really struggled with the narrator, July's voice. It is appropriate that it is written in her language and from her viewpoint, but I found the language and her tone to be very grating and it did not create a feeling of sympathy or understanding with me.


The book has been shortlisted for numerous prizes so once again I feel like I missed something. I realise that an extraordinary amount of research must have gone into the book and it is a fascinating, well written story  - but I just didn't like the lead character which made it very hard to get engrossed in the book. I did want to know what happened to her throughout the story and I did finish the book, but I wouldn't be rushing to recommend it to my friends.

Apologies

I'm so sorry I haven't written for so long - I just haven't been inspired of late. I've been reading lots of books lately,but unfortunately they have been mostly (ok, all) trashy novels picked up at the surf shop on our summer holiday.  I am now truly out of books to read and am waiting for my new arrivals from book depository that I will review as soon as I get them (will have to keep you in suspense until then).

There was one book of note during the whole of January though - Kate Atkinson's 'Started Early, Took My Dog'. This was given to me by a very brave friend for my birthday - I had seen it in the shops and it had been recommended by the book shop, but I hadn't got around to getting myself a copy.

The book was ok - I'm sorry Kate, but I didn't love it - I enjoyed it and it certainly ticked all the boxes for a good holiday read, but it didn't tick all my boxes.

The book is essentially a detective story with a few twists. There were lots of interesting side stories within the story (such as cases of child disappearances and the detective work required to try and find them), but none of these issues were further explored. I didn't find the main detective story to be gripping or madly interesting. The main character was a man that I didn't really connect with or feel much empathy towards. I really wanted to love this book, but it just wasn't what I thought it would be and was a bit disappointed.

I do still love getting books as presents though!!!! You just never know what you might discover....