My Thoughts: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Shaffer and Annie Barrows

My second audiobook finished this week (can you tell its the holidays and I've had lots of spare time!), this one was as great as Sabriel although very different.
You've probably read and seen hundreds of posts for this book so I'll keep it short and sweet.
I loved it. I fell in love with the characters and place. I would happinly go live in that book.

A quick synopsis: Juliette, a war-time writer starts a correspondence with a reader in Guernsey, a small island. The correspondence develops and she form a friendship with many of the members of the reading society. It doesn't sound exciting but it is.

The audiobook was read by a single woman who gave each character a different voice which enhanced their personality.

Read it if: Your looking for something quaint and English

Challenges:
999 (New Fiction)
War through the Generations: WWII
Notable Books

Orbis Short Story Sign Ups and Recommendations

Sign Ups and Recommendations to be left in the comments please.

My Thoughts: Sabriel by Garth Nix (audio book)

Just spent the last hour and a half playing solitaire on the computer so I could finish listening to Sabriel on my ipod. This is only the second full audiobook I have managed to get through, but unlike the first this was no struggle.
I first picked this up in paperback a few years ago after a friend raved about it and I have to say I didn't get very far. So when I saw this was avaliable as a audio book I thought I'd give it one last try. And I'm so glad I did!

Sabriel, for those of you who do not already know, is an Abhorsen. Well, she suddenly finds herself to be when the previous Abhorsen, her father, is trapped in death.
She has to travel over the wall which protects the world from the Old World and go in search of a way to save her father's life. Once their she is greeted by many things, including a magical cat who once was an evil spirit and has been rendered a slave cat as both a punishmet and a method of control.
She also goes on to meet a handsome youngman trapped as a statue for 200 years who turns out to be King of the country. Romance blossoms. All fairly fairy tale like till this point.
The pace and tension speeds up as Sabriel has to find a way to fight the dark force which threatens to over both the old and new world.
A very dark and pacy novel meant for older teens I would assume 13+ As an audiobook, read by Tim Curry, I was hesitant at first when he attempted to sound the voice of a scared teenage girl, but after this point he is fabulous. The voices of Mogget the cat is particuarly brilliant and resounding. This was my dark bedtime story each night, making me remember being read to as a child.
Challenges:
A-Z (Author)
999 (YA )
2009 YA Challenge

My Thoughts: 2 for 1

I'm being lazy and posting two reviews in one post - its been a lazy day, only 25 papers marked (I was aiming for 100), I joined a new gym but still haven't popped out to cancel the new one, most of the day has been spent dwindling time away.

I did however finish a book and read a short story.

The Polysyllabic Spree by Nick Hornby.
This is one of the many Nick Honby article collections that has been doing the rounds on the blogsphere lately so I had to pick it up to see just what all the fuss was about.
Hornby writes each month in Believer magazine about his thoughts on his months reading, along with comments about Arsenal football club (I support their rivals), his children and friendships with other authors.
The articles are generally short, witty and make some interesting comments on reading. However I was shocked that at the end of the collection I hadn't even written down one book title to search out.
I did enjoy the collection but won't be racing out to pick up the next book in the collection for a while yet.
Challenges:
999 (Non Fiction)
Non-Fiction 5


Now for the short story.

'When I Was A Witch' by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
opening line:
"If I had understood the terms of that one-sided contract with Satan the Time of Witching would have lasted longer - you may be sure of that."
The narrator having oe of those bad days where nothing turns out makes a wish. A wish that the horseman she has just witnessed thrashing his horse could feel the pain he inflicted whilst the horse went free from pain. She is a little shocked when she sees the horseman wince and rub his head but thinks nothing of it.
The next day she makes another wish that all the cats which are trapped in the city die peacefully, and that anyone harming a horse is inflicted with an equal amount of pain. She gradually realises that these whimsical wishes are coming true and starts to make more and more wishes.
After exposing the lies in newspapers, making parrots tell the truth to their owners and killing off unhappy dogs Perkins-Gilman gets her narrator to express a wish that she herself was fighting for. She says:
"I thought of all the other women, the real ones, the vast majority, patiently doing the work of servants without even a servants pay - and neglecting the noblest duties of motherhood in favour of house-service; the greatest power on earth, blind, chained, untaught, in a treadmill."

I really enjoyed this story and I'm looking forward to reading more of the works in this collection

My Thoughts: The Secrets of a Fire Kig by Kim Edwards

Isn't the cover gorgeous!

I've been dipping into this book of short stories for the last couple of months and I have to say I loved the vast majority of them. Eacg story is vastly different: people living in a secret society; the discovery of gold; rat stories and a housewife who befriends Marie Curie to give but a few examples. The writing in each story is rich, creating pictures to feed your mind.

I have read a few negative reviews elsewhere on the net but most of those people seem to want Edwards to replicate The Memory Keeper's Daughter. For me this showed that she had more to her. I loved The Memory Keeper's daughter but it was a 'Jodi Piccolt' novel, heart wrenching but not well written in a literary sense. These stories hint that a literary novel could be brewing.

Read it if you love dipping into short stories.

Music Mundays

I've seen this band live a few times and they're very cool. A small indie band who are yet to make it big time. They dance like crazy and have random songs with random titles. I could only find one 'proper' music video.

Check out their myspace page for a proper taster: http://www.myspace.com/thekabeedies

Little Brains

Salon Sunday: Library Loot and stuff...

It's half term and it is hot outside!!! (Tomorrow rain is predicted) I think this is the first summers day this year when I've been able to go out and appreciate the sunshine. I took a leisurely walk to the library which involved walking across a meadow and down the side of the river - perfect setting, whilst listening to Sabriel on my iPod. Then I spent an hour or so weeding (not quite so appealling as the walk).
Eventually I came in so my poor skin doesn't get too shocked by the sudden feeling of sunshine - I SHALT NOT GET SUNBURN this year!
I also took a break in my reading (Buddig Prospects by TC Boyle - not sure I'm that bothered by this book), to read a YA classic, Stone Cold by Robert Swindells (review to come).

Library Loot: Hosted here by Eva.
Well I arrived at the library hoping some of my reservations would have arrived but no such luck. So I went browsing....





So Many Books, Gabriel Zaid apparently 'a conversation about reading'. For the Non-Fiction 5 challenge and it may fit into the culture section of Eva's World Citizen Challenge
The Waste Land, Martin Rowson a Graphic Novel version of my favourite poem, a book I may either love or despise.
The Picture of Dorian Gray, Wilde, Edginton, Culbard both for the graphic novel challenge.
Orbiter, Ellis, Doran, Stewart another Graphic Novel

Now off to try and finish Budding Prospects (only another 100 pages to go) and read some more of the fantastic Polysyllabic Spree. Then going to watch 24: Redemption

A Fraction of a Whole, Steve Toltz

This is one of last years Booker Nominees which I'm still trying to read through! The novel is a sons account of living with a father who is livig in the shadow of his dead brother. Sounds confusing, huh! Terry Dean became a national hero despite being a serial killer, he took it to himself to rid the sporting world of cheats and was killed whilst in prison.
His brother, Martin, had a pretty strange life, even without the murderous brother, he spent 7 years of his childhood in a coma, travelled the world, fathered and 'looked after' our narrator, rarely worked, ended up being sectioned then tried to make Australia a country of millionaires. And then became Australia's most hated man.
As you can see from above, Martin's son Jasper had a pretty strange background he writes the novel telling his own story within that of his father's.

According to Amazon this is the book they felt should win, I still haven't read White Tiger (It's waiting on a shelf). I loved the first 500 pages, the text was fast paced and amusing but then it started to drag. Last night I decided just to skim read the last 150 pages. I still loved the characters and wated to know what happened, but I didn't need the detail - and things were getting far fetched even for this book.
I'm glad I read it, but I feel the 720 pages could be edited down by a good 200 pages. Anyone else read this? What did you think?

Challenges:
Booker
A-Z (Title)
Chunkster Challenge
Orbis Terrarum
999 (New Book)

My Thoughts: A Fraction of a Whole by Steve Toltz

This is one of last years Booker Nominees which I'm still trying to read through! The novel is a sons account of living with a father who is livig in the shadow of his dead brother. Sounds confusing, huh! Terry Dean became a national hero despite being a serial killer, he took it to himself to rid the sporting world of cheats and was killed whilst in prison.
His brother, Martin, had a pretty strange life, even without the murderous brother, he spent 7 years of his childhood in a coma, travelled the world, fathered and 'looked after' our narrator, rarely worked, ended up being sectioned then tried to make Australia a country of millionaires. And then became Australia's most hated man.
As you can see from above, Martin's son Jasper had a pretty strange background he writes the novel telling his own story within that of his father's.

According to Amazon this is the book they felt should win, I still haven't read White Tiger (It's waiting on a shelf). I loved the first 500 pages, the text was fast paced and amusing but then it started to drag. Last night I decided just to skim read the last 150 pages. I still loved the characters and wated to know what happened, but I didn't need the detail - and things were getting far fetched even for this book.
I'm glad I read it, but I feel the 720 pages could be edited down by a good 200 pages. Anyone else read this? What did you think?

Challenges:
Booker
A-Z (Author)
Chunkster Challenge
Orbis Terrarum
999 (New Books)

The Sunday Salon: A mix of book stuff

I've only read one short story today (reviewed below), I read quite a lot yesterday and had some work to o today. One of my friends cooked a good ole Sunday Lunch plus Strawberries and cream which we devoured while watching Batman: The Dark Knight. He probably regrets watching that film with me as I kept getting confuse the whole way through: definately needs a rewatch. Oh, and was anyone else freaked out by the Joker keep poking his tongue out? I swear it'll haunt my sleep tonight

Short Story Sunday: 'Aristotle's Lantern' from The Secrets of the Fire King by Kim Edwards.
Anna's boyfriend suddenly calls her up and asks her to drop everything and join him on his travels just of the shore of Singapore. On her final day in the tropical paradise their is an accident during a diving trip in which she saves another mans life. This 'accident' turns out to be a test to see if she should be welcomed into a secret hidden community. I can't say much more without giving away what happens but you should go check out the story. It wasn't so much the story that grabbed me but the descriptions of the area created startling images in my head, I wanted to looking up at the phosphorescence and illuminated fish.

I also had a stack of books coming into my house this week, some through the post and several from the library.
Through the post:





The Golden Apples of the Sun, Ray Bradbury
A History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters, Julian Barnes
Budding Prospects, TC Boyle
Blindness, Jose Saramago
The Lost Dog, Michelle de Krester
All of these were recieved through bookcossing.com

My Library Loot: This weeks library loot can be found here







Dr Johnson's Dictionary: The Extraordinary Story of the Book that Defines the World, Henry Hitchings
The Hard Facts of the Grimm Fairy Tales, Maria Tatar(I have Nymeth t blame for these two)
The Gurnsey Literay and Potato Peel Pie Society, Shaffer
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian, Sherman Alexie
all fighting in the 'who can have the longest name for a book comp'
One Thousand and One Nights Vol 1, Han SeungHee and Jeon JinSeok
Heart-Shaped Box, Joe Hill

I may have to take another break from the net just to catch up! All of the books fit for at least one challenge. Half-term is in one week so it looks like my week off school will be sat behind a stack of books ;D (And not the ones I claim to spend the holidays marking).
Hopefully the sky might remember we are nearing summer and kill off the grey windy dreary days we seem to have been stuck with forever.
Hope you all had a good weekend

My Thought: Mendel's Daughter by Martin Lemelman

Well I haven't posted in a while, I'm in the middle of reading 3 books and listening to 2 audiobooks and not getting anywhere, this is mainly due to revision. I sat my exam yesterday (blah!) so now I can try and catch up with everything I need to read - I have a stack of library books and bookcrossing bookrings that have to be read asap, plus lots of challenges that need tackling.
Today I thought I'd tick a library book off the list, so I started with this Graphic Novel Memoir, which is a subgenre I've discovered in the last year and really enjoyed.

Mendel's Daughter is written and illustrated by Martin Lemelman. When his mother was nearing the end of her life he asked her to talk about her experiences of life as a Jewish person during the war, he recorded her thoughts. He created this graphic novel using those thoughts, his illustrations and family photographs.
The mother's tale is intimate and allows the reader to get a glimse at life at this time. The illustrations are lovingly produced and the use of family photographs is a touching addition. I tried to find some images from the book to share but no luck, you'll just have to go borrow a copy from the library ;)
Challenges:
A-Z (Title)
In Their Shoes 4/4
Orbis Terrarum (Poland) 10/12
999 (Non-Fiction) 33/81
Non-Fiction Five 1/5
Graphic Novel Challenge 7/12

My Thoughts: The Giver by Lois Lowry

I wouldn't normally ahve picked this book up as the cover and size of the font suggest that it is for children of around the age of 8-9, I prefer books aimed at older teens for my YA selection, so I'm glad this come up as a goodreads monthly read.
The novel is based in what appears to be a utopian world, there is no pain, class or races, no hunger, jealousy or need. Yet when you delve deeper you also discover that there is no free will, love or truth.
The novel features Jonas a young boy who is assigned the job of the Reciever of Memories. He is trained by the old Reciever who passes on memories of what the people of the community used to experience. It is only with these memories that you truly realise what this community has lost - great things like love, freedom and playing in the snow and also the things we'd like to abolish from the world like war, hunger and loss. Jonas' job is to keep these memories so no-oe else in the community has to experience pain, but you also wonder if it is so the community remains easy to control.

This is a great read for both adults and those over 11 (there are some big issues to deal with), and highly recommended, it's a book that will certainly leave you thinking.
Challenges:
2009 YA Challenge
999 (YA)
A-Z (Authors)

My Thoughts: The Blood of Flowers by Anita Amirrezvani

Today was a bank holiday in England so rather than doing the planned list of things that are desperately calling my name, I curled up and read this in its entirety.

The Blood of Flowers is written in the first person, the young girl tells the tale of her teenage years living in 17th Century Iran.
The book opens with the fortelling of a bad year brought by the arrival of a comet to the skies. The comet's fate leaves her father dead, and her and her mother fated to live a poor relatives in an unknown city in that vital year that she should be marrying.
After moving to the city of Isfahan the girl ad her mother are fated to servitude and compliance at the hands of distant rich relatives. Whilst their the girl is able to work on her skills as a carpet maker under the guidance of her uncle, the Shah's main carpet maker.
Being headstrong and defiant she upsets the rich relatives and has no choice but to have a sigheh - a 3 month long marriage - to a rich man. A man that helps her discover a world she never knew.
She then has to make that fatal decision stay with the rich man and gain his favours to keep her and her mother from poverty's grip or chance life as a carpet maker.
This tale is gripping and is interspresed with Iranian fables, told to explain the fates, would be good as a holiday read. My only problem with the novel was that the young girl was far too modern, she stood up to men, was defiant and bold all things which surely in 17th Century Iran wouldn't have been allowed, and would have been stopped by her parets long before she got to the age of 14.

Challenges:
Orbis Terrarum
Olympic Challenge
Chunkster Challenge

Southern Reading Challenge 2009

Maggie is hosting the Southern Reading Challenge again, yay! I think this was one of the first challenges I participated in when I started blogging and I enjoyed it loads so I had to sign up again, even though I'm bogged down in challenges.

My three potential reads:
Mudbound - a book I can't wait to get to
Cold Mountain - been on the tbr pile for a long time
The Sound and the Fury - which I think was on my list last year and never got read.

Exploration: Latin American Fiction Challenge Round Up

I've had a hectice week so this is later than expected (by a couple of days!)
I fiished my last couple of books for the Latin American Challenge this week. Firstly I read Love in the Time of Cholera, I brought this book about 8 or 9 years ago after I first read and loved One Hundred Years of Solitude. I then read a few pages of this, thought it wasn't might type of thing and it got relegated onto the bookshelves to gather dust.
This time I picked it up willing to give it more of a chance and loved it. The book starts with the death of two elderly men, both in perculiar circumstances. One of the men is the husband of the main character of the novel. As a young girl she sent countless love letters to a young man, whom she secretly agreed to marry. After her father found out about the proposal he banned them from seeing each other forever and see eventually married another. He on the other hand swore to marry her when her husband died. The love story and all that happens in their lives in between is mesmerising. I really must read more of Marquez.
Also used as a challenge book for:
A-Z (Title)
1%
1001 Challenge
Orbis Terrarum
999 (1001)
What's in a Name (Medical Condidtion)
Guardian 1000


Then I read The Aguero Sisters by Cristina Garcia. This book started off slowly but picked up after 70 odd pages. The novel tells the story of two sisters brought up seperately - because the elder child kept trying to kill her younger sibling, as her mother had emotionally abandoned her in favour of a new life. The sisters are brought together again during their mid-life crisis. One lives in poverty striken Cuba, in the middle of the revoluionary campaign whilst the other lives in New York. Their mothers mysterious death, followed by their father's suicide leaves them both unstable. Full of magical realism this is definately a good example of Latin American Fiction.
Also Used for these challenges:
Orbis Terrarum
999 (TBR)

I also read Bel Canto and The House of Spirits, I loved 3 of them and enjoyed the other - The Aguero Sisters.

Other Challengers Books:
Ex Libris
Malinche by Laura Esquivel Reviewed by Ex Libris
In the Time of Butterflies by Julia Alveraz, Reviewed by Richard
Battles in the Desert by Jose Emillio Pacheco
Amulet by Roberto Bolana
The Posthumous Memoirs of Bras Cubas by Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis


Anyone else with reviews or wrap up posts please comment here and I'll add it to the page.