Kell
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Posts posted by Kell
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I just read I, Lucifer by Glen Duncan very recently & thouroughly enjoyed it - I've been thinking of picking up a few more by him...
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OK, I haven't done very many yet, & I backtracked to cover the last month or so, but here goes:
Finished:
Life of Pi by Yann Martel - Spain
Broken by Kelley Armstrong - Canada
Q&A by Vikas Swarup - India
Geisha of Gion by Mineko Iwasaki - Japan
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov - Russia
The Five People You meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom - USA
On the list:
Empress Orchid by Anchee Min - China
The Sunday Philosophy Club by Alexander McCall Smith - Zimbabwe
Beneath the Pyramid by Christian Jacq - France
The Magicians Guild by Trudi Canavan - Australia
A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian - I'm not sure - she was born in Germany to Ukrainian parents, so what would she be?
Currently reading:
Emma by Jane Austen - Great Britain
So, a long way to go, then - LOL!
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So are the grits sweet or savoury? I'm getting all confused now!
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Hope you enjoy it, Kitty!
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In search of grits, I came across this lovely little site (which has a very humourous "basic grits" recipe - go have a look) & whiled away a few minutes, quietly giggling & wondering whether or not I might be able to find Quaker Quick Grits in any supermarket over here in good old Blighty!
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In an attempt to further my forays into uncharted reading territory (well, uncharted by me, at least - LOL!), I've just requested three books (via RISI) that I think couldn't possibly prove to be more different: Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte, American Psycho by Brett Easton Ellis & Pope Joan by Donna Cross. Let's see if the swaps get accepted...
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I have another five books currently winging their way to me:
1. The Mistress of Spices by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
Tilo, an immigrant from India, runs a spice shop in Oakland, California. While she supplies the ingredients for curries and kormas, she also helps her customers to gain a more precious commodity: whatever they most desire. For Tilo is a Mistress of Spices, a priestess of the secret magical powers of spices.
Through those who visit and revisit her shop, she catches glimpses of the life of the local Indian expatriate community. To each, Tilo dispenses wisdom and the appropriate spice, for the restoration of sight, the cleansing of evil, the pain of rejection. But when a lonely American ventures into the store, a troubled Tilo cannot find the correct spice, for he arouses in her a forbidden desire - which if she follows will destroy her magical powers...
2. We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver (Reading with The Posh Club)
Two years ago, Eva Khatchadourian's son, Kevin, murdered seven of his fellow high-school students, a cafeteria worker, and a popular algebra teacher. Because he was only fifteen at the time of the killings, he received a lenient sentence and is now in a prison for young offenders in upstate New York. Telling the story of Kevin's upbringing, Eva addresses herself to her estranged husband through a series of letters. Fearing that her own shortcomings may have shaped what her son has become, she confesses to a deep, long-standing ambivalence about both motherhood in general and Kevin in particular. How much is her fault? Lionel Shriver tells a compelling, absorbing, and resonant story while framing these horrifying tableaux of teenage carnage as metaphors for the larger tragedy - the tragedy of a country where everything works, nobody starves, and anything can be bought but a sense of purpose.
3. Gentlemen & Players by Joanne Harris
The place is St Oswald's, an old and long-established boys' grammar school in the north of England. A new year has just begun, and for the staff and boys of the school, a wind of unwelcome change is blowing. Suits, paperwork and Information Technology rule the world and Roy Straitley, Latin master, eccentric, and veteran of St Oswald's, is finally - reluctantly - contemplating retirement. But beneath the little rivalries, petty disputes and everyday crises of the school, a darker undercurrent stirs. And a bitter grudge, hidden and carefully nurtured for thirteen years, is about to erupt. Who is Mole, the mysterious insider, whose cruel practical jokes are gradually escalating towards violence - and perhaps, murder? And how can an old and half-forgotten scandal become the stone that brings down a giant?
4. A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian by Marina Lewucha (Olympic Challenge - Germany)
For years, Nadezhda and Vera, two Ukrainian sisters, raised in England by their refugee parents, have had as little as possible to do with each other - and they have their reasons. But now they find they'd better learn how to get along, because since their mother's death their aging father has been sliding into his second childhood, and an alarming new woman has just entered his life. Valentina, a bosomy young synthetic blonde from the Ukraine, seems to think their father is much richer than he is, and she is keen that he leave this world with as little money to his name as possible. If Nadazhda and Vera don't stop her, no one will. But separating their addled and annoyingly lecherous dad from his new love will prove to be no easy feat - Valentina is a ruthless pro and the two sisters swiftly realize that they are mere amateurs when it comes to ruthlessness. As Hurricane Valentina turns the family house upside down, old secrets come falling out, including the most deeply buried one of them all, from the War, the one that explains much about why Nadazhda and Vera are so different. In the meantime, oblivious to it all, their father carries on with the great work of his dotage, a grand history of the tractor.
5. Forever Odd by Dean Koontz
This is the follow-up novel to "Odd Thomas", from worldwide bestselling author, Dean Koontz. Odd Thomas, that unlikely hero, once more stands between us and our worst fears. Odd never asked to communicate with the dead - they sought him out. As the unofficial goodwill ambassador between our world and theirs, he has a duty to do the right thing. That's the way Odd sees it, and that's why he has already won over hearts on both sides of the great divide. For, though Odd lives in the small desert town of Pico Mundo, he stands between two worlds, and for him the heroic and the harrowing are everyday occurrences. A childhood friend of Odd's has disappeared and the worst is feared. But as Odd applies his unique talents to the task of finding the missing person, he discovers something worse than a dead body. New allies and new enemies gather around Odd, some living and some not. But the enemy he encounters is unspeakably cunning, and every sacrifice is needed to tip the balance between despair and hope as a life-changing revelation rushes towards us. In the battle to come, there can be no innocent bystanders...
So, it looks like I'll have some very interesting reading to add to my list!
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I've just reached a point where Mr Knightley is pointing out how vain Emma is where her cleverness is concerned, which is rather funny, because I was already beginning to feel that way about her, so I now feel I have an ally - LOL!
I have to admit that even another chapter's-worth into it, it's starting to grow on me - especially if Mr Knightley continues to be so vocal on the subject of Emma & her friendship with Harriet, as Harriet is clearly in a hero-worship position.
I was a little worried before I got to read a little more at coffee-break there, as I was wondering whether or not I would be able to get into it if I thought the heroine so flighty & imperious, but I think Mr Knightley may prove my knight in shining armour by being more objective - hurrah!
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I might take you up on that offer if I can't get hold of a copy, Sarah, thank you - that's very kind of you.
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Thoughts on Emma by Jane Austen
I'm only 3 chapters in, but I'm wondering if I'm being coerced into seeing Emma as she is seen by Mr Knightley, as he appears to feel she is a thoroughly spoiled creature who is completely enamoured of her own cleverness - exactly as I do so far. One could almost believe that the story is actually being narrated by Mr Knightley & that he is including himself as a character in the third person.
Although I'm having difficulty in getting to grips with the very formal language and style of writing, it's getting a little easier & I think it'll be easier still once I have a few longer reading sessions with fewer distractions!
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I started Emma this morning during my teabreak & got through one chapter - all's well. During lunch I kept getting distracted, meaning I didn't quite finish another 2 chapters (I'll possibly finish ch3 during my afternoon coffee break). I'm already finding it very difficult to get to grips with the very formal style - I know it's very much "Of the period", but it's something I'm just not used to - I'm hoping I'll settle into it soon as I'm easily distracted if I can't get into the style (as demonstrated at lunchtime!). I'm also already of the opinion that Emma herself is both arrogant & childish - especially for someone who's 21 years old.
I've never read any Austen before (although I did see the film adaptation of Emma, starring Gwyneth Paltrow, a few years back) & I'm finding it a bit hard-going so far, even though I vaguely know what's coming.
I feel that if I were ever to have met Emma in the flesh, i'd have given her a good shake & made an effort never to have met her again. I hope my opinion of her improves as the story progresses because right now I'd dearly love to see her get her come-uppance - LOL!
How's everyone else getting along with it? Anyone care to share their thoughts so far?
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I've been trying to get Wideacre on RISI, but so far no luck!
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I know - I couldn't believe it once I'd got them all listed! A fair few of them are either shorter or aimed at a younger market & so didn't take as long to read, but I still couldn't believe it! If I can match it in the 2nd half, I'll be well happy!
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Short Stories (21)
The Canterville Ghost ~ O Wilde - 9/10
Dracula's Guest ~ B Stoker - 9/10
The Country of the Blind ~ H G Wells - 7/10
The Door in the Wall ~ H G Wells - 7/10
The Magic Shop ~ H G Wells - 8/10
The Jilting of Jane ~ H G Wells - 5/10
The Mask of the Red Death ~ E A Poe - 7/10
An Essay on Vampires ~ D Shan - 6/10
Annie's Diary ~D Shan - 7/10
Tiny Terrors ~ D Shan - 6/10
Transylvania Trek ~ D Shan - 6/10
Lonely Lefty ~ D Shan - 7/10
Bride of Sam Grest ~ D Shan - 6/10
(all the D Shan short stories connect to The Saga of Darren Shan series)
The Case of the Four & Twenty Blackbirds ~ N Gaiman - 9/10
I Cthulu ~ N Gaiman - 6/10
Bampot Central ~ C Brookmyre - 7/0
Mellow Doubt ~ C Brookmyre - 7/10
Playground Football ~ C Brookmyre - 7/10
Out of the Flesh ~ C Brookmyre - 7/10
Truth andConsequences ~ K Armstrong - 6/10
The Halloween House ~ K Armstrong - 6/10
I ran out of space on the previous post, so I had to continue it here!
I've followed Michelle's example & started a new thread for my reading log for the 2nd half of the year, as the old one was all over the place - LOL! My reading list is now shown in the 1st post & the books I've finished in the 2nd one - all nice & tidy.
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RC = Reading Circle
PC = Posh Club
OC = Olympic Challenge
CBUK = Reviewed for Children's Books UK
A = reviewed at request of author
P = reviewed at request of publisher
Red = Unfinished
Green = 10/10
So far this year I've read (with marks out of 10):
Ongoing:
The Case of El Chupacabra by K Armstrong (online novella - being posted on her official site in instalments throughout the year) - 7
December (8) (ave. 7.75)
124. The Eagle's Prophecy ~ S Scarrow - 9
123. Buried Fire ~ J Stroud - 7
122. Hearts of Stone ~ K Ernst - 7 (P)
121. Never Let Me Go ~ K Ishiguro (OC) - 8
120. Gentlemen and Players ~ J Harris - 8
119. The Nanny Diaries ~ N Kraus & McLaughlin - 7
118. The Mistress of Spices ~ C B Divakaruni (OC) - 7
117. About the Author ~ J Colapinto - 9
November (10) (ave. 7.3)
116. Single White Vampire ~ L Sands - 7
115. The Snow Spider ~ J Nimmo - 8
114. Autobiography of a Geisha ~ S Masuda (OC) - 7
113. Notes on a Scandal ~ Z Heller (PC) - 5
112. Oracle ~ I Watson - 8
111. Bitten and Smitten ~ M Rowan - 7
110. Bimbos of the Death Sun ~ S McCrumb - 7
109. Undead & Unemployed ~ M Davidson - 7
108. The Secret Purposes ~ David Baddiel (RC) - 8
107. Dying Light ~ S Macbride - 9
October (10) (ave. 7.6)
106. The Angel Stone ~ L Michael (CBUK) - 7
105. The Abortionist's Daughter ~ E Hyde (PC) - 7
104. The Black Tattoo ~ S Enthoven (CBUK) - 7
103. Frankenstein ~ M Shelley - 7
102. Artemis Fowl and the Lost Colony ~ E Colfer (CBUK) - 8
101. Clash of the Sky Galleons ~ P Stewart & C Riddell (CBUK) - 8
100. Vampire Beach: Initiation ~ A Duval - 8
99. The Kite Runner ~ K Hosseini - 9
98. The School for Husbands ~ W Holden - 7
97. A Tale Etched in Blood & Hard Black Pencil ~ C Brookmyre - 8
September (14) (ave. 7.6)
96. Wintersmith ~ T Pratchett - 7
95. Girl With a One-Track Mind ~ A Lee - 8
In the Frame ~ various (CBUK)
Redwall ~ B Jacques (CBUK)
94. The Medici Seal ~ T Breslin (CBUK) - 8
93. Freeglader ~ P Stewart & C Riddell (CBUK) - 7
92. Vox ~ P Stewart & C Riddell (CBUK) - 7
91. The Last of the Sky Pirates ~ P Stewart & C Riddell (CBUK) - 8
90. Midnight Over Sanctaphrax ~P Stewart & C Riddell (CBUK) - 7
89. Stormchaser ~ P Stewart & C Riddell (CBUK) - 8
88. Beyond the Deepwoods ~ P Stewart & C Riddell (CBUK) - 7
87. The Winter Knights ~ P Stewart & C Riddell (CBUK) - 8
86. The Curse of the Gloamglozer ~ P Stewart & C Riddell (CBUK) - 9
85. Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief ~ R Riorden (CBUK) - 8
Eragon ~ C Paolini (RC)
The Queen of Tambourine ~ J Gardam (RC)
84. The Tale of the Miller's Daughter ~ J Vauderhooft (A) - 8
83. Ithaka ~ A Geras (CBUK) - 7
August (13) (ave. 7.5)
82. Captives ~ T Pow (CBUK) - 6
81. Vampire Mountain ~ D Shan - 8
80. The Big Over Easy ~ J Fforde - 8
79. A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Bad Beginning ~ L Snicket - 6
78. Cold Granite ~ S McBride (PC) – 9
77. Hitler’s Canary ~ S Toksvig (CBUK/OC) – 8
76. Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters ~ R Riorden (CBUK) – 7
75. The Mob ~ C Martini (CBUK) – 7
74. The Cleopatra Curse ~ K Roberts (CBUK) – 7
73. Vampire Beach: Bloodlust ~ A Duval (CBUK) – 7
72. Empress Orchid ~ A Min (RC/OC) – 8
71. The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists ~ G Defore – 9
70. Vernon God Little ~ DBC Pierre (OC) – 7
July (6) (ave. 6)
69. The Case of the General’s Thumb ~ A Kurkov (OC) – 4
68. Bad Kitty ~ M Jaffe (CBUK) – 8
67. We Need to Talk About Kevin ~ L Shriver (PC) – 3
66. The Rainbow Bridge ~ A Flegg (CBUK/OC) – 7
65. Emma ~ J Austen (RC/OC) – 6
64. Lolita ~ V Nabokov (OC) – 8
June (11) (ave. 7.7)
63. Eats, Shoots and Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation ~ L Truss – 7
62. How to Kill Your Husband (and Other Handy Household Hints) ~ K Lette – 8
61. The Wicker Man ~ R Hardy & A Shaffer – 7
60. Undead and Unwed ~ M Davison – 7
59. Broken ~ K Armstrong (OC) – 8
If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things ~ J McGregor
58. The Five People You Meet in Heaven ~ M Albom (PC/OC) – 7
57. The Historian ~ E Kostova (RC) – 7
56. Orphan of the Sun ~ G Harvey (CBUK) – 8
55. Geisha of Gion ~ M Iwasaki (OC) – 9
54. Set in Stone ~ L Newbury (CBUK) – 9
53. I, Lucifer ~ G Duncan – 8
May (17) (ave. 7.2)
52. Sickened ~ J Gregory – 6
51. Tunnels of Blood ~ D Shan– 8
50. The Vampire’s Assistant ~ D Shan– 8
49. Cirque du Freak ~ D Shan – 8
48. The Constant Princess ~ P Gregory (OC) – 8
47. Confessions of a Bad Mother ~ S Coleman – 7
46. A Long Way Down ~ N Hornby – 7
45. Her Rightful Inheritance ~ B Brown – 7
44. A Man Named Dave ~ D Pelzer – 7
43. The Lost Boy ~ D Pelzer – 7
42. 44 Scotland Street ~ A McCall Smith (OC) – 6
41. The Doomspell ~ CMcNish – 6
40. Red Wulf’s Curse ~ C Priestley (CBUK) – 8
39. The White Rider ~ C Priestley (CBUK) – 8
38. Death and the Arrow ~ C Priestley (CBUK) – 9
37. Endymion Spring ~ M Skelton (CBUK) – 7
36. The Wise Woman ~ P Gregory – 6
April (9) (ave. 7)
35. Things We Knew Were True ~ N Gerard – 4
34. The Undomestic Goddess ~ S Kinsella – 8
33. Q&A ~ V Swarup (PC/OC) – 8
32. Life of Pi ~ Y Martel (OC) – 8
31. Wolf Girl ~ T Tomlinson (CBUK) – 9
30. Who Was Boudicca?: Warrior Queen ~ S Busby (CBUK) – 6
29. The Virgin’s Lover ~ P Gregory – 7
28. Plague Sorcerer ~ C Russell (CBUK) – 7
Jerome's Quest ~ D Hill (A)
27. A Ghost Among Us ~ D Hill (A) – 6
March (7) (ave. 7.4)
26. Chocolat ~ J Harris – 9
25. Not Quite a Mermaid: Mermaid Friends ~ L Chapman (CBUK) – 7
24. Blindsighted ~ K Slaughter (RC) – 6
23. The Queen’s Fool ~ P Gregory – 7
22. 24 Hours ~ G Iles – 9
21. The Land of the Wand ~ D Hill & S Brandenberg (A) – 7
20. Dying Voices ~ L Wilson – 7
February (9) (ave. 7.6)
19. Tambourlaine Must Die ~ L Welsh – 6
18. The Other Boleyn Girl ~ P Gregory – 8
17. Troll Fell ~ K Langrish - 7
16. How I Live Now ~ M Rosoff – 6
15. My Sister’s Keeper ~ J Piccoult (RC/PC) – 9
14. The Eagle’s Prey (Book 5) ~ S Scarrow – 10
13. Cross Stitch ~ D Gabaldon (PC) – 9
12. Otherworld Tales 2005 (e-collection) ~ K Armstrong – 6
11. American Gods ~ N Gaiman – 7
January (10) (ave. 7.3)
Letters From America ~ A Cooke (PC)
10. Beginnings (e-novella) ~ K Armstrong – 8
9. Ascension (e-novella) ~ K Armstrong – 8
8. Savage (e-novella) ~ K Armstrong – 7
7. The Devil in Gray ~ G Masterton (RC) – 6
6. The Jane Austen Book Club ~ K J Fowler – 7
5. Morality Play ~ B Unsworth – 8
4. The Eagle and the Wolves (Book 4) ~ S Scarrow – 9
Trace ~ P Cornwell (RC)
3. The Dark Behind the Curtain ~ G Cross – 5
2. The Bad Mother’s Handbook ~ K Long – 7
1. Labyrinth ~ K Moss – 8
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In alphabetical order by authors' surnames:
On My Shelf:
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - Purple Hibiscus (OC - Nigeria)
Isobel Allende - Daughter of Fortune (OC - Chile)
Monica Ali - Brick Lane (OC - Bangladesh)
Adam Ant - Stand and Deliver: The Autobiography
Margaret Atwood - The Robber Bride
Louis de Bernieres - Captain Corelli's Mandolin
Trudi Canavan - The Magician's Guild (OC - Australia)
Elizabeth Chadwick – Shadows and Strongholds
Paulo Coelho - The Alchemist (OC - Brazil)
J M Coetze - Disgrace (OC - South Africa)
Kate Constable - The Waterless Sea (CBUK)
Michael Cordy – The Messiah Code
Bernard Cornwell – Excalibur (Warlord Chronicles Book 3)
Bernard Cornwell – Stonehenge
Bernard Cornwell – The Winter King (A Novel of Arthur Book 1)
Donna Cross - Pope Joan
Lindsey Davis - One Virgin Too Many
Bret Easton Ellis - American Psycho
Ben Elton - Chart Throb
Barbara Ewing – The Trespass
Michel Faber - The Crimson Petal & the White (OC - Netherlands)
Robert Finn – Adept
Richard E Grant - By Design (OC - Swaziland)
Philippa Gregory - The Boleyn Inheritance (OC - Kenya)
Philippa Gregory - A Respectable Trade (OC - Kenya)
Philippa Gregory - Wideacre (OC - Kenya)
Paul Hoeg - The Woman & the Ape (OC - Denmark)
Phil Hogan – Hitting the Groove
Conn Iggulden - Emperor: The Gates of Rome
Eddie Izzard - Dress to Kill (with David Quantick & Steve Double)
Christian Jacq – Beneath the Pyramid (OC - France)
Brian Jacques - The Ribbajack & Other Curious Yarns (CBUK)
Jeanne Kalagoris – The Borgia Bride
Nikos Kazantzakis - Zorba the Greek (OC - Greece)
Anthony Kedis - Scar Tissue (autobiography)
Alexander Kent – With All Despatch
Raymond Khoury - The Last Templar (OC - Lebanon)
Dean Koontz - Forever Odd
Nicola Kraus & Emma McLaughlin - The Nanny Diaries
Marina Lewycka - A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian (OC - Germany)
Tim Lott – Rumours of a Hurricane
Arnost Lustig - Lovely Green Eyes (OC - Czech Republic)
Gregory Maguire - Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West
Valerio Massimo Manfredi - The Last Legion (OC - Italy)
Henning Mankell - The Faceless Killers (Kurt Wallender Mystery S.) (OC – Sweden)
Gabriel Garcia Marquez - Of Love and Other Demons (OC - Colombia)
Richard Montanari – The Rosary Girls
V. S. Naipaul - The Mystic Masseur (OC - Trinidad & Tobago)
Jenny Nimmo - Emlyn's Moon (2nd in Snow Spider Trilogy)
Jenny Nimmo - The Chestnut Soldier (3rd in Snow Spider trilogy)
Michael Ondaatje - The English Patient (OC - Sri Lanka)
Jodi Piccoult – Salem Falls
Jean Plaidy – The King’s Secret Matter
Jean Plaidy – The Lady in the Tower
Christopher Priest - The Prestige
Simon Scarrow - Youngbloods (Revolution # 1)
Åsne Seierstad - The Book Seller of Kabul (OC - Norway)
Ahdaf Soueif - The Map of Love (OC - Egypt)
J M Warwick - An Open Vein
OC = Olympic Challenge
PC = Posh Club
CBUK = Children's Books UK
RC= Book Club Forum Reading Circle
I'll update the list as I work my way through it & add more books as I get them.
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Nope, but I have A Respectable Trade in my pile, just waiting to be read...
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Glad to see you're enjoying those Brokmyres!
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This sounds rather interesting - I may add it to my own to-read list later on in the year...
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The Five People You Meet in Heaven
Author: Mitch Albom
ISBN # 0751536822
Publisher: Time Warner
First Published: 2003
231 pages
Eddie is a grizzled war veteran who feels trapped in a meaningless life of fixing rides at a seaside amusement park. As the park has changed over the years - from the Loop-the-Loop to the Pipeline Plunge - so, too, has Eddie changed, from optimistic youth to embittered old age. His days are a dull routine of work, loneliness, and regret. Then, on his 83rd birthday, Eddie dies in a tragic accident, trying to save a little girl from a falling cart. With his final breath, he feels two small hands in his - and then nothing. He awakens in the afterlife, where he learns that heaven is not a lush Garden of Eden, but a place where your earthly life is explained to you by five people who were in it. These people may have been loved ones or distant strangers. Yet each of them changed your path forever. One by one, Eddie's five people illuminate the unseen connections of his earthly life. As the story builds to its stunning conclusion, Eddie desperately seeks redemption in the still-unknown last act of his life: Was it a heroic success or a devastating failure? The answer, which comes from the most unlikely of sources, is as inspirational as a glimpse of heaven itself.
At first glance, I thought this would either be deeply depressing or incredibly deep; it turned out I was wrong on both counts. This is actually a very light, easy read, with a gentle style and a positive outlook on both life and death, which ultimately shows that every life, no matter how trivial it may seem at the time, impacts on every life touched. Presented in dual form as a
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The Historian
Author: Elizabeth Kostova
ISBN # 0751537284
Publisher: Time Warner
First Published: 2005
704 pages
Late one night, exploring her father's library, a young woman finds an ancient book and a cache of yellowing letters addressed ominously to 'My dear and unfortunate successor'. Her discovery plunges her into a world she never dreamed of - a labyrinth where the secrets of her father's past and her mother's mysterious fate connect to an evil hidden in the depths of history. In those few quiet moments, she unwittingly assumes a quest she will discover is her birthright - a hunt for the truth about Vlad the Impaler, the medieval ruler whose barbarous reign formed the basis of the Dracula myth. Deciphering obscure signs and hidden texts, reading codes worked into the fabric of medieval monastic traditions, and evading terrifying adversaries, one woman comes ever closer to the secret of her own past and a confrontation with the very definition of evil. Elizabeth Kostova's debut novel is an adventure of monumental proportions - a captivating tale that blends fact and fantasy, history and the present with an assurance that is almost unbearably suspenseful - and utterly unforgettable.
Deciphering obscure signs and hidden texts, reading codes worked into the fabric of medieval monastic traditions, and evading terrifying adversaries, one woman comes ever closer to the secret of her own past and a confrontation with the very definition of evil. This novel blends fact and fantasy, history and the present.
From the outset, a large amount of historical information is laid out for the reader, so that, at times, this novel reads as rather text-bookish, but none of the information is extraneous and every fact presented winds itself into the storyline and makes it all the more interesting. Having read Dracula years ago at school, it was interesting to see how much I remembered and how much of the history was new to me, as well as delving into another culture in a time just slightly before our own.
I found that I occasionally lost track of which character was narrating the tale if I only had short periods of time for reading, but on the whole it was easy to decipher who was narrating after a short while and the threads picked up again. The story was slow-moving at times, with quite a lengthy lull in the middle, after which the pace quickened once more until it felt slightly rushed at the end, but, nevertheless, the closing chapters felt quite satisfying and the ending seemed quite natural.
Even if this novel is sometimes a little dry, it
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Geisha of Gion
Author: Mineko Iwasaki
ISBN # 074343059X
Publisher: Pocket Books
First Published: 2002
334 pages
'I want you to know what it is really like to live the life of a geisha, a life filled with extraordinary professional demands and richly glorious rewards. It is a life in which I was a pre-eminent success; many say the best of my generation. And yet, it was a life that I found too constricting to continue. And one that I ultimately had to leave. It is a story that I have long wanted to tell. My name is Mineko.'
Mineko begins with her initiation into the profession she would perfect. Following her blossoming over the years, we learn all about the intricate training and rigid education system by which Japanese girls become geishas, and the extraordinary foundation of wealth upon which their culture rests.
This is quite possibly one of the most intriguing autobiographies I have ever read. Having loved the novel by Arthur Golden, Memoirs of a Geisha, I delved into the true story of one of the most successful Gion Geiko of recent history, translated from her own words by Rande Brown without losing any of her own voice. Mineko
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Orphan of the Sun
Author: Gill Harvey
ISBN # 0747579008
Publisher: Bloomsbury
First Published: 2006
310 pages
Thirteen-year-old orphan, Meryt-Re, lives with her uncle's family in the ancient Egyptian village of Set Maat, the home of the pharaohs' tomb-builders. Under pressure to marry Ramose, a dull, plodding stonecutter, she resists, and begs for guidance from the gods, but she's unable to decipher the message behind her vivid dreams. When her cousin falls gravely ill, her uncle accuses her of turning the gods against him and banishes her from the house. Meanwhile, Meryt discovers other strange and suspicious activities going on in the village: Why is Userkaf, a boisterous draughtsman, trying to cause trouble by making accusations against one of the foremen? And why is his servant girl stealing precious and holy gold amulets from the embalmers? Meryt's worried too, that her aunt Tia seems to think that her father has not gone peacefully to the Next World, and when she discovers Tia is not the only other person to have been making offerings to him in his tomb, she is even more puzzled. It is not until she meets Teti, the village wise woman, that Meryt can begin to unravel the meaning of her dreams and in so doing, solve the mysteries surrounding her.
Meryt-Re is a very likeable character and it
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Reckon I'll finish Lolita tonight, so I'll be starting on Emma tomorrow - looking forward to it.
Foreign food
in Food, Cooking & Recipes
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I get the "duh?" look from supermarket folks even when I'm asking for sliced turkey at the deli & pointing to the required item - LOL!