avatiakh is busy reading in 2015 #3

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Keskustelu75 Books Challenge for 2015

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avatiakh is busy reading in 2015 #3

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1avatiakh
Muokkaaja: tammikuu 9, 2016, 11:12 pm

New thread as my last one was overloaded with images, will hopefully have this all up and working later this afternoon.

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I took this on a recent trip down to Turangi. This is the area where Peter Jackson filmed many of the Mordor scenes for Lord of the Rings.

Currently Reading:

2avatiakh
Muokkaaja: elokuu 24, 2015, 8:55 am

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Taken at Horopito Motors which is near Ohakune in the central North island. The film, Smash Palace (1981) was filmed here. The motor wreckers has been there for years and years and covers several acres of ground. It was too cold to get out and have a look around, especially as I had lost my jacket on the trip down.

My 2015 reading plans are best reflected by my 2015 category challenge. I'll also be trying to fit in the British Authors Challenge and the ANZAC authors challenge, though not sure I'll succeed every month.

My 2015 categories (and some possible reads):

1) Israel: political nonfiction - I plan to read biographies of Israeli politicians
The Prime Ministers by Yehuda Avner - READING
Menachem Begin: The Battle for Israel's Soul by Danial Gordis

2) Arab Spring - Middle East/North African/Islamism - fiction & nonfiction

3) Latin Roots - fiction & nonfiction from/about Spain, Portugal & Latin America
Death in the Afternoon by Ernest Hemingway
Hotel Florida: Truth, Love, and Death in the Spanish Civil War by Amanda Vaill

4) Favourite Writers - continuing to read them and hopefully completing the ouevre
Bernice Rubens - I still have 3 or 4 left to read
Michael Chabon
Alan Garner

5) Shocked that I still haven't read this
The history of love by Nicole Krauss - DONE
Cider with Rosie by Laurie Lee - DONE
The man who loved children by Christina Stead - READING

6) The young ones - YA and children's fiction
The Coldest girl in Coldtown by Holly Black - DONE

7) Challenging - shared reads, theme reads, group reads, CATs etc, shortlists, long lists etc etc
The Children's Book by A.S. Byatt
Fingersmith by Sarah Waters - (Orange Jul)

8) Fact - nonfiction general, hopefully some travel literature
The Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain

9) Comfort reads - lighter reading and continuing series
Robert Goddard
Pepe Carvalho series

10) Down Under - New Zealand & Australian fiction
James McNeish
Maurice Shadbolt - ONE DOWN
Wake by Elizabeth Knox - DONE

11) Shiny New - new writers and/or new books
Elena Ferrante - DONE
Kate Forsyth

12) Spotlight: New Zealand YA - so many titles to catch up on

13) Food Writing - cookbooks and food writing in general
MFK Fischer

14) Images - photography, graphic novels, illustrated and picturebooks
The Sandman series by Neil Gaiman - I failed to read past the 3rd volume last year

15) Spies - both fiction and nonfiction
Alan Furst
Eric Ambler

3avatiakh
Muokkaaja: elokuu 24, 2015, 7:45 pm

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Some of the birds we saw at the Otorahunga Kiwi House - yes, we saw the kiwi but it's nocturnal and no photos allowed in the kiwi house. They made a lot of noise calling to each other. (l-r) native duck, German little owl, NZ native wood pigeon or Kereru

ANZAC Reading and BAC challenges - I've basically dropped out of these since getting bogged down by the Christina Stead book which I've had on the slow burner since May. I'm hoping to finish it in the next week.

ANZAC:
Feb: Maurice Shadbolt - The House of Strife
Mar: Elizabeth Knox - Wake
Apr: Alan Duff - Once were warriors
May: Christina Stead - The Man who loved Children - READING STILL
Would like to finish the Shadbolt trilogy before the end of the year

BAC:
January: Penelope Lively - Moon tiger & Kazuo Ishiguro - The remains of the day
not managed any more though want to read something by Somerset Maugham before the end of the year

4avatiakh
Muokkaaja: elokuu 24, 2015, 7:58 pm

I also spent a week in the Coromandel, these photos hardly do justice to this region.
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Thames shop frontage & metal road across the Coromandel Range from Tapu to Coroglen
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Port Jackson, the far north of Coromandel Peninsula & dolphins swimming in a bay on the drive up the coast.

5avatiakh
Muokkaaja: elokuu 31, 2015, 5:10 am

Reading Plans for August:

copied from last thread -

shared read with Judy DeltaQueen50: Yellow Blue Tibia by Adam Roberts - yet to start
and with Ilana - The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair by Joël Dicker - going with the audio

ongoing reads:
The Man who loved children by Christina Stead
Spies against Armageddon by Dan Raviv - my kindle read, I'm about 32% done, just don't pick up the kindle that often
The Prime Ministers by Yehuda Avner - iPod audio - about 12 hrs left and I'm really enjoying this, Avner had an interesting job

Library books:
Konstantin by Tom Bullough
Marzi: a memoir by Marzena Sowa - graphic novel
Nimona by Noelle Stevenson - graphic novel
The Seven Good Years: a memoir by Etgar Keret
Dave at night by Gail Carson Levine - YA
A crackle of thorns : experiences in the Middle East by Sir Alec Kirkbride - memoir
Ally: My Journey Across the American-Israeli Divide by Michael Oren - memoir
Gods of tango by Carolina De Robertis
Touch by Claire North
Daniel half human: and the Good Nazi by David Chotjewitz - interloan / YA Holocaust fiction
The Spring of Kasper Meier by Ben Fergusson - spy thriller
Dancing on the Bridge of Avignon & Hide and Seek by Ida Vos - Holocaust children's fiction
the cage by Ruth Minsky Sender - YA Holocaust fiction
The drowning girl by Caitlin Kiernan - YA
The story of Owen: dragon slayer of Trondheim by e.k. johnston
Delilah Dirk and the Turkish Lieutenant by Tony Cliff
The watchmaker of Filigree Street by Natasha Pulley

from my own shelves:
The stone book quartet by Alan Garner - childrens
The Reckoning: How the Killing of One Man Changed the Fate of the Promised Land by Patrick Bishop
The French Intifada: The Long War Between France and Its Arabs by Andrew Hussey

looks like a lot but I have that TIOLI approach to my reading, so....

6avatiakh
Muokkaaja: elokuu 24, 2015, 5:18 am

August Reading by pictures:

Fiction
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Non fiction
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YA & children's
_____

Graphic Novels
______

Picturebooks
___
_____

7ronincats
elokuu 24, 2015, 12:29 am

Lovely new thread, Kerry, and a whole lotta reading going on here!

8nittnut
elokuu 24, 2015, 12:38 am

Hooray for a new thread!

Love the photos at >1 avatiakh:. I was just through there last weekend. It was cold, but lovely.

9avatiakh
elokuu 24, 2015, 5:20 am

>7 ronincats: Hi Roni
>8 nittnut: Hi Jenn, I'm looking forward to going back when it's warmer, lots of great walks to do.

10avatiakh
elokuu 24, 2015, 6:08 am


148) Honey by Sarah Weeks (2015)
children's.
This was a joyous little read that I found hard to fault. Fun but dealing with tough issues. Melody is trying to find out who her father is calling 'honey' on the telephone late at night. Her mother died when she was born, and her father has never talked about her. There's also a slightly mixed up dog, Mo, who's new to town.


149) This one summer by Mariko & Jillian Tamaki (2014)
YA graphic novel
Depicts a summer holiday of a tween girl and her parents. The parents' relationship is strained, Rose and her younger friend, Windy, are on the cusp of adolescence so observing the local teenagers is a new interest as well as watching horror movies. But most of all it's summer, the beach and the water are the biggest attractions.
The illustrations are just beautiful. Jillian and Mariko are cousins and this GN won them a Caldecott Honour Award. I'm going to have a look at Skim which they also collaborated on.

11avatiakh
elokuu 24, 2015, 6:24 am


150) The story of Owen: Dragon Slayer of Trondheim by E.K. Johnstone (2014)
YA fiction
I really enjoyed this one. Lots of dragons, a modern setting with an alternate world history and a highschool student cum apprentice dragon slayer. The story is told by fellow student, Siobhan, who becomes his bard and good friend.
Johnstone has imagined a really interesting alternate Canada, one seething with carbon emission seeking dragons that are a destructive menace to mankind and need to be slain by old fashioned dragon slayers, the best are descended from Vikings. Dragon slayers are the new celebrity.
I've already asked my library to order in book 2, Prairie Fire.

12avatiakh
elokuu 24, 2015, 6:59 am


151) The watchmaker of Filigree Street by Natasha Pulley (2015)
fiction
I felt this one run away from me a little towards the end, a little confusion on my part, a bit too much chaos in the plot possibly. Overall I loved the setup, the characters were really interesting, I loved Katsu, the clockwork octopus. The story revolves around Thaniel and his friendship with Mori, a Japanese watchmaker who is suspected of being a bombmaker for the Irish. The world is Victorian London, with a touch of Imperial Japan. Mori has mysterious abilities, his clockwork creations are futuristic.
'When a coincidence or accident alters the course of a life, we call it chance, destiny, a twist of fate. But if you could anticipate these random forces and use them to your own ends, what would you set in motion? And what sort of person might you become?' - http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/02/books/review/the-watchmaker-of-filigree-street...

13avatiakh
Muokkaaja: elokuu 25, 2015, 12:20 am


From Foe to Friend & other stories illustrated by Shay Charka, written by SY Agnon (2015)
graphic novel
Three stories by Agnon have been adapted to the graphic novel form by Israeli cartoonist Shay Charka. The stories are typical Agnon and the illustrations are sympathetic and will appeal to both children and adults.



152) Message to Adolf, part 2 by Osamu Tezuka (2012)
graphic novel/manga

I raced through this second volume, the story line is so compelling, jumping between WW2 Germany and Japan. It is manga so not to everyone's taste. Very pleased to have come across this, though I really need to take a break from graphic novels.

14msf59
elokuu 24, 2015, 8:04 am

Happy New Thread, Kerry! Love the Turangi Topper! Wasn't This One Summer terrific?

15drneutron
elokuu 24, 2015, 8:45 am

I've got The Watchmaker of Filigree Street on my list - good review!

16avatiakh
elokuu 24, 2015, 8:03 pm

>14 msf59: Hi Mark - yes, very much enjoyed This One Summer.

>15 drneutron: Hi Jim, You'll enjoy this one, my problem was reading too many books at the same time instead of immersing myself into the story.

Looking at what's due back at the library, what can't be renewed etc etc. So have to move up Seven Good Years by Etger Keret and The Cage by Ruth Minsky. I'm taking Michael Oren's memoir, Ally, back to the library and will request it again to read at a later date.

17ronincats
elokuu 24, 2015, 11:50 pm

Hey, Kerry, I finally got Uprooted from the library and picked it up last night at bedtime. I put it down a few chapters in to go to sleep. However, when I picked it up again today, I could not put it down again and actually carried it with me when we went out to run some errands, reading it during every waiting time! Loved it, you called it right!

18avatiakh
elokuu 25, 2015, 12:03 am

That's great, it is an unputdownable type of read. I'm one of the last on LT to discover the charms of Novik after seeing so many rave about her Temeraire series.

19nittnut
elokuu 25, 2015, 1:06 am

Hi Kerry. I just started the 4th Temeraire. It's set in Australia. I'm a little confused at the moment, not sure if it's due to reading several things in between or if some stuff was skipped. I sort of feel like we went from the end of the last book and jumped forward a year to a new situation. Waiting to see if it gets explained. Or I might need to go back to the end of the last book and see what I've forgotten.

20avatiakh
elokuu 25, 2015, 2:00 am

Hope you sort that out, I've had to put Temeraire on hold for now as I'm looking at the neglected parts of my category challenge such as spy fiction and NZ children's books for my upcoming reading.

21roundballnz
elokuu 25, 2015, 3:00 am

Nice review of The Watchmaker of Filigree Street thanks to your earlier rec, its sitting on my kindle's TBR

Great pics from travels, I never tire of Central plateau, Tongariro & its surrounds .... shd find a excuse for weekend escape soonish

22kidzdoc
elokuu 25, 2015, 9:56 am

Nice new thread and holiday photos, Kerry! I especially liked the one with the dogs in the wheelchair gazing into the store window.

23cameling
elokuu 25, 2015, 1:19 pm

Nice GN roll you're on Kerry. I had some time to kill between meetings a few months ago and happily read The Story of Owen at a bookstore. I love it when I can squeeze in a good read in the middle of a work day. If only more of my meetings were in buildings next to or near bookstores.

24nittnut
elokuu 25, 2015, 9:39 pm

Ha! Figured it out. I skipped a book. Sigh. Only halfway through the wrong one. My library has book four, so I will have it tomorrow. In the meantime, I've got loads of other stuff to read. :)

25avatiakh
Muokkaaja: elokuu 26, 2015, 8:41 pm

Will get back to all the messages here but need to return this one to the library so comments needed first. Just noticed that I've passed the 75 mark for the second time this year.


153) The Seven Good Years: a memoir by Etgar Keret (2015)
nonfiction
Israeli writer Etgar Keret gives us a glimpse of his life in Tel Aviv during the seven year period between the birth of his son and the death of his father. Each chapter is quite short as is his style. He decided to publish only in English not in Hebrew as this book is more for his International audience rather than the home crowd, after reading I'm not quite sure why. Anyway this has a lovely focus on being part of a family as a brother, a son, a father and a husband. Recommended.
The guardian review is worth a look: http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/jul/19/etgar-keret-seven-good-years-review...

As an aside, when I looked for online reviews yesterday as I was reading it and found a nasty one on an anti-Israel website, one that I normally wouldn't bother with.
Extract: 'There is a friendly readability to the writing style, and I tried to approach the book with an open mind, but I disliked the politics, and, to a lesser extent, the personality of the narrator. The book is a bit of a work of Zionist propaganda. In addition, it is clear to me that Etgar Keret looks inward, but doesn’t look outward enough.... There is something in Keret’s personality that is lazy and entitled— entitled in a literal sense, as if he is an aristocrat from pre-revolutionary France. In that era, aristocrats were not subject to normal laws. It was written into the legal code. A nobleman could gallop through a peasant’s freshly planted, delicate field, and ruin it, if the nobleman was engaged in a fox hunt and the fox ran through the field. This was the law....Have modern-day Israelis become aristocrats, as a result of their over-the-top, privileged legal status? Are they simply in love with themselves, because they have more rights than other people in their vicinity? Keret describes how, by his late thirties, he was almost handicapped due to overeating and inactivity. His poor health seems to be the result of sloppiness, and a peculiar lack of shame about his body. He acts like his physical condition is funny and cute— wonderful, even. That attitude is definitely not charming. ' - Mondoweiss website

26Smiler69
elokuu 26, 2015, 8:32 pm

Hi Kerry, nice to catch up with you on your new thread. Congrats on a double 75! I read your above review with interest and must say I found the second review quite chilling. Haven't started on Harry Quebert yet, as am back to one of my favourite series, The Accursed Kings by Maurice Druon. I do intend to start on the Dicker book when I'm done with it, in a day or two. Maybe we'll find a September TIOLI challenge to fit it into...

27avatiakh
Muokkaaja: elokuu 26, 2015, 8:49 pm

>21 roundballnz: Alex, the Pulley novel is definitely up your street.

>22 kidzdoc: Darryl - we didn't go into the shop but I'm fairly sure it sold vintage bric a brac. There were lots of amusing madeup news clippings on the window as well.

>23 cameling: Caro - Yes, the ultimate would be to work out of a bookstore though less work would be done. When I worked in a library I was surprised at how much of the day was pure admin versus being out on the 'shop floor'.

>24 nittnut: Jenn - good that you worked that out quickly. I have to say that most publishers do a really bad job of telling you what number in a series a book is on the actual book itself (does that make sense?)

>26 Smiler69: Hi Ilana - that review is only part of a long diatribe against Keret & his book, several anti-semitic tropes in there. The irony is that Keret and his wife are leftists in their political outlook, like many in Tel Aviv, but the fact that they are Israeli is enough for the mud to be slung. I didn't link to the review but it can be easily found through a google search.
Yes, the Sept TIOLI would be good. I'm listening to a good nonfiction at present and have 12hrs to go, so would like a novel to listen next.

28ronincats
elokuu 27, 2015, 12:25 am

Kerry, I think you will enjoy this.

Patrick Rothfuss had a wonderful article on his blog about the first interview he read with Sir Terry Pratchett and Sir Pterry's answer to the condescending question of "why fantasy?" It's great! All of you who wonder why some of us love fantasy so much--please take a moment and read it. And in the comments of the blog, a link to another article by Ursula Le Guin. I've read a fair deal of her writing on fantasy, but not this, and it's another amazing piece.

http://blog.patrickrothfuss.com/2015/08/thoughts-on-pratchett/

http://elenajube.blogspot.com/2013/01/leguin-in-defense-of-fantasy.html

29charl08
elokuu 27, 2015, 1:56 am

>25 avatiakh: Sounds interesting, I will have to have a look for it.

30nittnut
elokuu 27, 2015, 5:08 am

>27 avatiakh: Why don't they just put the number on the book? They did it for HP.

>28 ronincats: Great articles. Love the Le Guin one, especially the bit about how if imagination was eradicated in children, they would grow up to be eggplants. Lol.

31PaulCranswick
elokuu 27, 2015, 6:07 am

I close one eye Kerry and you fly past the double 75 already!

As always, I really enjoy the mix of reading in your little part of the world.

Thanks for stopping by my thread recently whilst I have been busy treading shark infested waters in Malaysia. xx

32cameling
elokuu 27, 2015, 10:50 am

Good review of The Seven Good Years, Kerry. Yours that is, not the other anti-Semitic one. I'll have to add this to my OWL. Interesting that Keret would choose only to publish this memoir in English but not in Hebrew. I'm sure his is a plight shared other Israelis and they would have been able to identify with his emotions.

33avatiakh
elokuu 27, 2015, 2:46 pm


The Stone Lion by Margaret Wild (2014)
picturebook

A stone lion that sits on a plinth outside the city's library comes to life on the night of a blizzard in order to save the lives of a homeless girl and her baby brother. A timeless story, Ritva Voutila's stunning illustrations evoke the depression era.
The book came to my notice last week when reading through the winners of 2015 Australia's Children's Book Council Awards, it received an Honour Award in the picturebook category. The YA winner, The Protected by Claire Zorn has also been added to my 'to read' pile.


34jnwelch
elokuu 27, 2015, 2:54 pm

Oh, I like those Ritva Voutila illustrations, Kerry. Sounds like quite a book, too.

35avatiakh
Muokkaaja: elokuu 27, 2015, 3:11 pm

>28 ronincats: Thanks for those links, Roni. I'll try to get them read today.

>29 charl08: >32 cameling: The seven good years can be read in one sitting. I do recommend it. His wife is a filmmaker and they have collaborated on a couple of projects.

>30 nittnut: my thoughts exactly. So many times I've had to resort to fantastic fiction or wikipedia to work out the sequence of a series when all it would take is for the publisher to include that info on the title page or back cover. ALso when they don't tell you a book is a sequel.
I just noticed that Fleur Beale's last book in her YA I am not Esther trilogy is out, Being Magdalene. The first book was published years ago and then recently she wrote a sequel, I am Rebecca, which I've still to read. You and/or your daughter might like them. I'm hoping to get to them during September's series & sequels theme read.

>31 PaulCranswick: Hi Paul, thanks for visit. i'm now playing catchup on my category challenge, that means lots of spy fiction and nonfiction, NZ YA, food writing & cookbooks.

Spy books:
I'm currently reading (slowly on my neglected kindle) The spy who loved, a biography of Churchill's favorite spy, Christine Granville.
I've also started Ken Follet's Triple which was mentioned in Spies against Armageddon.

NZ YA:
I've got a few series and trilogies to tie up so will focus on
Fleur Beale
Mandy Hager
David Hair
That said I've just started Brian Falkner's Battlesaurus: Rampage at Waterloo.

Food writing & cookbooks:
I've been browsing through cookbooks and not reading any food writing so I might end up reviewing some cookbooks before year's end.

36avatiakh
Muokkaaja: elokuu 29, 2015, 4:47 am


154) The Cage by Ruth Minsky Sender (1986)
YA nonfiction
Sender writes of her experiences as a girl during the Holocaust. Her mother is taken in one of the roundups and she becomes responsible for her younger brothers in the Lodz ghetto at the age of sixteen. Eventually she ends up in Auschwitz and then is moved on to other work camps. Through it all she never stops writing poems, and this actually saves her life, when she gets an infection in her hand, the doctor convinces the commandant that the poems raise the morale of the other inmates, and Sender is sent to a hospital for treatment. After the war she is reunited with two of her three older siblings (her mother had sent them into Russia at the start of the war). Reading this makes one aware once again of the horrors that the Jewish people faced during the war years. Her mother's mantra, 'as long as there is life, there is hope', a saying that sustains Sender throughout as she loses friends and family.

I noticed that illustrator Anita Lobel, wife of children's writer Arthur Lobel has written a memoir of her life during WW2 in hiding in Poland, No pretty pictures : a child of war. She was only 5 yrs old and was hidden along with her baby brother by the family's nanny in a convent.


The day the crayons came home by Drew Daywalt & illustrator Oliver Jeffers (2015)
picturebook
A followup to The day the crayons quit, not as good but still very good enough.

37avatiakh
Muokkaaja: elokuu 29, 2015, 5:26 pm


Sidewalk Flowers by Jon Arno Lawson & Sydney Smith (2015)
picturebook
Utterly charming wordless picturebook for all ages. A girl in a red coat (illustrations mostly in b&w) goes for a walk with her father, picks flowers growing in cracks on pavement etc and then leaves them in surprising places such as in a friendly dog's collar. Delightful. The concept was dreamed up by Lawson, a poet, and Smith, the illustrator.
A more indepth review with lots of images is here at brainpickings: http://www.brainpickings.org/2015/03/17/sidewalk-flowers/




A book is a book by Jenny Bornholdt (2013)
illustrated book
This one is hard to place, it's really an ode to books rather than a children's book. Bornholdt is a New Zealand poet and illustrator, Sarah Wilkins is an expat NZer based in Paris. There seems to be too many words, they don't always scan that well and the illustrations seem more suited to a magazine editorial which is why together, I don't feel it is so much a book for children but rather a 'gift book' for a booklover, the compact size is also a factor.
'A book is to read.
A book belongs in a library, on a bookshelf, in a bookshop, in your house.
A story belongs wherever a story belongs.
If it’s Sunday and raining, a book is the perfect thing. Even a small book, because boredom can be very big.
You can read a book while you walk, but you have to be careful not to bump into things.'

I also liked this which goes so against the digital read -
'If you love a book you can lend it
to your friend and they might lend
it to another friend and then they
might lend it to a different friend
and it can go on like that to infinity'


38charl08
elokuu 30, 2015, 12:59 am

Might just get a book is a book as a gift to myself! Some lovely picture books here.

39Smiler69
elokuu 31, 2015, 2:45 am

Just thought I'd let you know that I've been plodding through Harry Quebert and can't wait for it to finally be over. Not sure why I'm even sticking with it to be honest. In other words, you are released from any obligation to pick it up. I'd suggest not wasting your time. Too many good books out there and this is not one of them.

40avatiakh
elokuu 31, 2015, 3:09 am

Thanks for that, I've just finished The man who loved children which took me 4 months to read. A worthy read, but one where you hate all the characters.
I'll probably give the Harry Quebert a miss then as I know it was going to be either a love or hate thing and I have other books lined up already that I'll probably enjoy more. I'm ready for some scifi.

41avatiakh
elokuu 31, 2015, 3:15 am

>38 charl08: I was lucky to find it in the children's clearance section at my local bookshop. I'd missed the book completely when it first came out. Wilkins has done design work for Barnes & Noble merchandising.

42avatiakh
elokuu 31, 2015, 6:42 am


155) The man who loved children by Christina Stead (1940)
fiction
I started reading this back in May for the ANZAC challenge but quickly found it a bit of a slog with no one to like. So I read a bit here and there, determined to eventually finish it as I've been interested to read the book for a few years. Decided to pull the stops out and whizzed through 220pgs in the last two days.
Set in 1930s USA, this is the story of the Pollit family, a couple who should never have married each other, now saddled with too many children and not enough income. Henny is from a well -to-do family and they live in a big old house provided by her father in Washington. Sam, a biologist, is a child-man, enthusiastic about everything, loves his children but has no idea about responsibility. Louie is Sam's daughter from his first marriage, she is the backbone of the book, a child of 14 but forced to do many of the tasks of the mother or housekeeper, and mercilessly teased by the father (he thinks it's being playful but I'd note it almost as an abuse). The children are almost bringing themselves up on their own. The descent into full poverty occurs at the halfway point of the story, they are forced to move to Annapolis to a run down property by a river. Tensions rise between husband and wife as the children run around (mostly) happily in rags delighting in the open spaces.
I found it an interesting read, the father is childlike in his gaiety and experimenting schemes, while the mother is so stressed out making ends meet, though the financial problems are from her own spendthrift ways.
This has to have one of the ugliest covers of all time. I started reading an e-book on my iPad but switched to this book version towards the end.

Considered a lost classic, Jane Smiley wrote about it here: http://www.theguardian.com/books/2006/jun/10/featuresreviews.guardianreview29
'One of the few novels that come close to attaining the grandeur of tragedy is The Man Who Loved Children, and the tragedy it most recalls, perhaps, is Medea. It is also a thoroughly modern novel and a fascinating social document. Christina Stead's father was a Fabian socialist, and she was born in Australia. She lived for many years in the United States, was married to a prominent Marxist writer, and was up-to-date in her understanding of all the myriad subjects and ideas that come up in the course of this long and dense work of fiction. Most important, though, is that she actually does give her ordinary government bureaucrat and his unhappy wife that sense of unstoppable and fated intensity that literature usually reserves for kings and queens.'


156) The Prime Ministers: An Intimate Narrative of Israeli Leadership by Yehuda Avner (2010)
political memoir
I ended up listening to the audiobook and it was an enthralling experience. UK-born Avner served under 4 of Israel's prime ministers and was also Israel's Ambassador to Britain, Ireland and Australia.
wikipedia: 'He has also been speechwriter and secretory to Levi Eshkol and Golda Meir before becoming adviser to Yitzhak Rabin, Menachem Begin and Shimon Peres.He had also worked with Rabin when he was serving as an ambassador to the United States. Impressed by Avner's writing skills, Begin called him "his Shakespeare." During his service he made notes and recorded several important events and conversations'

I saw it described as the "ultimate insider’s account" - it sure is. I've read a lot of Israeli political stuff but this is the best so far. I'm lining up Michael Oren's Ally: My Journey Across the American-Israeli Divide for my next nonfiction audio, but first I'll listen to something lighter.

43avatiakh
Muokkaaja: syyskuu 29, 2015, 9:07 pm

Plans for September -

I haven't got much ongoing reading having finished two longer reads today.
So books I've started in August and need to finish:

The spy who loved: The Secrets and Lives of Christine Granville by Clare Mulley - kindle read
The Gods of Tango by Caroline De Robertis - historical fiction
Yellow Blue Tibia by Adam Roberts - shared read in August that I didn't get finished, Judy only gave it 2.5 stars
The Cut Out by Jack Heath - YA spy fiction
Battlesaurus: Rampage at Waterloo by Brian Falkner - YA alternate history/fantasy
Triple by Ken Follet - spy thriller

Audio:
Angelmaker by Nick Harkaway
Ally: My Journey Across the American-Israeli Divide by Michael Oren

Library books:
Dancing on the Bridge of Avignon by Ida Vos - YA Holocaust
The Bakehouse by Joy Cowley - YA fiction
One by Sarah Crossan - YA about conjoint twins
Dave at night by Gail Carson Levine - YA
The drowning girl by Caitlin Kiernan - YA
The Protected by Claire Zorn - YA
Oreo by Fran Ross - fiction, mentioned by Darryl and looks interesting
Dear Committee members by Julie Schumacher - saw on Amber's thread
The Divine by Boaz Lavie - graphic novel, rec by Mark
The girl in the spider's web: A Lisbeth Salander novel, continuing Stieg Larsson's Millennium Series by David Lagercrantz - I just read a compelling review
The rest of us just live here by Patrick Ness

plus I have September series and sequels:
I want to catch up on some NZ YA so -
I am Rebecca & Being Magdalene (I am not Esther #2&3) by Fleur Beale
Heart of Danger (Juno#3) by Fleur Beale
Into The Wilderness & Resurrection (Blood of the Lamb #2&3) by Mandy Hager
Cattra's Legacy & Donnel's promise (Cattra #1&2) by Anna Macknezie

will also tackle a couple of cookbooks for my neglected foodie category
Last but not least is a poetry book out from the library, far to much of a chunkster to do anything but dip into: The poetry of Pablo Neruda, over 900pgs.

44Smiler69
elokuu 31, 2015, 12:09 pm

Good, I'm glad I've dissuaded you. I'll do my best to finish it; the only reason I want to at this point is to find out "who did it" and listening at x1.5 speed to get there faster. I often listen to audiobooks at x1.25, so this does sound rushed, and I'd even go at x2, but had trouble following the narrative. I think the book might have been tolerable cut by half, but as it is it's really insufferable. I'll keep further comments for my upcoming scathing review.

45cameling
elokuu 31, 2015, 12:32 pm

That's a really nice reading plan for September, Kerry.

One of the problems I've found with reading other people's reading list is that I end up becoming interested in some of the ones they've listed or reviewed and then I am compelled to add them to mine. It's a nice problem to have, don't get me wrong since there are just so many books out there, most of which I've not read or even heard of, but it does sometimes give me pause to wonder if I'll ever get to all the books I already have, sitting and getting dustier by the day on my bookshelves. ;-)

46avatiakh
elokuu 31, 2015, 3:14 pm

>44 Smiler69: I added another Prix Goncourt winner to my 'to read' list instead Momo/ The Life Before Us by Emile Ajar / Romain Gary, a book with two titles and a pseudonym for the author.

>45 cameling: Caro - several of my reads are pickups from other threads.

47Smiler69
elokuu 31, 2015, 3:32 pm

>46 avatiakh: Oh I love Romain Gary! I've had The Life Before Us on my shelf for much too long. Already way overbooked but I'll put it on my "to read very soon" pile right away! I simply adored his Gros-Câlin. I also have his Promise at Dawn on audio to look forward to...

48avatiakh
elokuu 31, 2015, 9:31 pm

Thanks for sharing your enthusiasm, I've requested that one from the library. I was a bit confused to start with as it started off as Momo by Emile Ajar and then Gary's name kept coming up, then a different title!

Just picked up more from my library:

Aesop's Secret by Claudia White - cover image by Larissa Kulik is captivating, rec from blog I follow
Havana Blue by Leonardo Padura - my daughter is going to Cuba next month and recommended this series
War brothers - graphic novel, another Mark rec

49avatiakh
syyskuu 1, 2015, 4:56 am


157) The cut-out by Jack Heath (2015)
YA
A fast paced boy spy thriller that would appeal to a reluctant boy reader. It has the feel of the recent Ukraine/Russia conflict, starting with Faro sneaking out to participate in a huge demonstration. So it's actually set in two tiny fictitious states between the Ukraine and Russia.
A young Australian writer, Heath wrote this during a NaNoWriMo month. He had his first book published while a teenager and seems to specialise in writing for reluctant readers.

I was reading his bio and noted that as part of his research he read only books written by women for a year in 2011. He recently revisited his thoughts on that...'Four years on, I still read mostly books by women. They tend to be better—hear me out—because women (and people of colour, and LGBT people) face more barriers to publication and to success. A book which is 80% awesome might get published, reviewed and stocked in bookstores if a white, heterosexual man wrote it. But if it was a woman behind the keyboard, the book has to be at least 95% awesome to reach the same level of success. '
http://bookedout.com.au/find-a-speaker/author/jack-heath/

50charl08
syyskuu 1, 2015, 10:10 am

I think that Christina Stead book falls into the category of books I like reading what other people think about it, but have no hesitation in saying I wouldn't ever read it! Sounds like a marathon of a book.

51flissp
syyskuu 1, 2015, 2:21 pm

Just dropping by to say hi after a prolonged absence! Love the photos.

#10 This One Summer - lovely pictures indeed.

52avatiakh
syyskuu 2, 2015, 7:28 pm


158) Triple by Ken Follett (1979)
fiction
Reasonable spy thriller based on true story of how Israel managed to get a supply of uranium back in 1968. I hadn't heard of this book but came across mention of it in my recent read of Spies against Armageddon. One of the other novels that was discussed was Mishka Ben-David's Duet in Beirut which I have already read.

53avatiakh
syyskuu 2, 2015, 7:30 pm

>50 charl08: I'm definitely not pushing anyone to pick it up, it has to your own decision. I can see its worthiness, just don't enjoy spending so much time with characters I'm not enjoying.

>51 flissp: Hi Fliss, lovely to see you back on the threads

54avatiakh
Muokkaaja: syyskuu 3, 2015, 12:00 am


Just came across this debut short story collection and love the cover. It longlisted for a couple of awards, so I'll have to give it a try.

___
Picked up some interesting reads from the library today, they all seem to come in at once:
The sound of our steps by Ronit Matalon - fiction set in Tel Aviv in the 1950s
No pretty pictures: a child of war by Anita Lobel - children's nonfiction, a memoir of her childhood in hiding
Tell me i'm here by Anne Deveson - I think I saw this mentioned on Megan's thread, nonfiction about mental illness
Momo or The life before Us by Emile Ajar / Romain Gary - won the Prix Goncourt in 1975
also got On Market Street.


On Market Street by Arnold & Anita Lobel (1981)
alphabet book
This is one of several collaborations between the husband & wife team, though being an alphabet book I guess Arnold had much less work to do. Anita Lobel was inspired by 17th century French trade engravings and the book came together after she did a similarly themed 1977 poster for Children's Book Week.
You can view the book through a sampler on HarperCollins website here: http://www.harpercollins.com/web-sampler/9780688803094
_

55charl08
syyskuu 3, 2015, 2:00 am

Wow. Those illustrations are stunning.

56nittnut
syyskuu 3, 2015, 3:06 am

Love the illustrations for On Market Street. Gorgeous.

57avatiakh
syyskuu 6, 2015, 12:05 am

>55 charl08: & >56 nittnut: Aren't they stunning!


159) I am Rebecca by Fleur Beale (2014)
YA
Back in 1998 Beale wrote her classic YA I am not Esther about a girl sent to live with her cousins in a religious sect, Children of the Faith. Now all these years later she has revisited the story with two sequels to the original story. Rebecca is the young cousin to Esther (Kirby) and along with her twin sister at fourteen are old enough to be betrothed and then at sixteen married. This is Rebecca's story and is a stand alone read, I picked up enough in my reading to remember the gist of the first book which I'd read back when it was first published. Couldn't put this one down and will be reading the final book asap.
The final book in the trilogy Being Magdalene was published earlier this month and is set four years later and about the younger sisters in the family.
Several years ago I went to a talk that Fleur Beale gave just around the time her nonfiction book about Gloriavale, Sins of the father : the long shadow of a religious cult : a New Zealand story was being published. She'd researched the cult when writing her Esther book and had become involved with some of the young people who had left it. It sounded like she had no more energy left to explore this issue but I'm so glad she has gone back to write more fiction set in this world of strict religion. Gloriavale has been on the tv rather a lot this year, though I must admit to not having followed it at all.

58avatiakh
syyskuu 6, 2015, 12:12 am


160) The Gods of Tango by Carolina De Robertis (2015)
historical fiction
A great look at the early years of tango and the life in Buenos Aires in the early 20th century. 17 yr old Leda arrives in BA, an immigrant bride, only to find that her husband has been killed just a few weeks before her arrival. To survive on her own and not return to her restrictive life back in rural Italy means making some very bold decisions.
Ok, I could have done without some of the sex scenes but overall this story of the tango was compelling, passionate and worth the journey.
Thanks to Suzanne for reading and recommending this one.

59nittnut
syyskuu 6, 2015, 3:56 am

Just picked up The Boy in the Olive Grove from the library since they didn't have I Am Not Esther. I like the look of it.
I've started Being Pakeha for the ANZAC challenge. It's more autobiographical so far than I really wanted, but we'll see how it goes.

60avatiakh
Muokkaaja: syyskuu 6, 2015, 4:55 am

I still haven't read The Boy in the Olive Grove though I have read almost all her earlier books. I'm about to read the third book in her Juno of Taris trilogy as well as Being Magdalene.

Michael King - I read his At the edge of memory a few years ago. I've read all three books his daughter, Rachael King wrote, though I suppose that doesn't count.

61flissp
syyskuu 6, 2015, 8:02 am

Like the sound of the Fleur Beale books - shall investigate. Have also got Gods of Tango on my wish list courtesy of Suzanne - it's rather expensive in the UK though and not available in Cambridgeshire libraries (due to cutbacks, they're having a moratorium on buying requested books at the moment too), so it'll probably be a while before I get to it. Boooo.

Read the most recent Patrick Ness yesterday and he's definitely back on form. Highly recommend it to you - suspect you would enjoy it.

62msf59
syyskuu 6, 2015, 8:22 am

Hi, Kerry! The Gods of Tango sounds like a good one. I hope you had a great weekend.

63nittnut
syyskuu 7, 2015, 3:44 am

I am curious about Rachael King. Did you like The Sound of Butterflies? It looks to have very mixed reviews here on LT.

I finished Being Pakeha today. It was interesting, but not exactly what I had expected. Also, even with my limited experience here, I would say it's somewhat dated.

64avatiakh
syyskuu 7, 2015, 6:24 am

>61 flissp: I hope to get into the Patrick Ness later tonight, I'm trying to get going on a few books. Fleur Beale has written some lovely YA, I can recommend her The Transformation of Minna Hargreaves which has a great premise though Juno of Taris is probably more your thing.

>62 msf59: Thanks, the weekend was ok, a bit wet. Must warn you that The Gods of Tango features a woman posing as a man so those sex scenes were a bit weird!

>63 nittnut: I liked both The sound of butterflies and Magpie Hall though they aren't great reads. The butterfly book is partly set in the Amazon area so Journey to the River Sea is a good stand-in. Magpie Hall is about Victorian era taxidermy, tattoos and NZ birds. Her children's novel, Red Rocks is set on the Wellington coast and is very good.

Regarding Michael King, I really need to read some more of his work. I can see that Being Pakeha would be dated, we are far more culturally aware than back in 1976, that was around the time that Maoritanga was coming alive again.

Audiobook - I couldn't handle Angelmaker in audio, it requires careful concentration at the beginning, anyway it didn't work for me. So I tried a few more fiction audiobooks but have settled with Michael Oren's memoir Ally which I want to read though he has a high pitched voice that I have to get used to.


161) Being Magdalene by Fleur Beale (2015)
YA
This is the concluding book in the I am not Esther trilogy and I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this. Beale gives us another look at surviving a religious sect, this time the last third of the book is about the life after leaving. Want to say more but won't as it would spoil the read.
My only niggle was some of the slang used by one of the brothers just didn't ring true for me.

65flissp
syyskuu 8, 2015, 1:16 pm

#64 Oooh, they both sound good. Definitely putting her on my "to investigate" list!

66avatiakh
syyskuu 10, 2015, 8:06 am


162) Battlesaurus : rampage at Waterloo by Brian Falkner (2015)
YA
Loved this and recommend it for teen boys especially. An alternate history adventure story set around the Battle of Waterloo, one with rampaging dinosaurs on the side of Napoleon. The story revolves around Willem who is the son of a famous magician who went into hiding many years earlier after earning the wrath of the Emperor. Very exciting and I hope there's a sequel at least as the story leaves interesting loose ends.

Now I can turn my attention to Patrick Ness's latest The rest of us just live here which I'm enjoying, I'm also slowly getting drawn into The girl in the spider's web.

67avatiakh
syyskuu 10, 2015, 8:21 am

We made bigos (Polish Hunter's Stew) again today and then my son informed me that it's even referenced in an epic poem:

The great Polish epic poem "Pan Tadeusz" written by poet, writer and philosopher Adam Mickiewicz, features a poetic description of bigos eaten by members of the aristocratic szlachta returning from hunting:

In the pots warmed the bigos; mere words cannot tell
Of its wondrous taste, colour and marvellous smell.
One can hear the words buzz, and the rhymes ebb and flow,
But its content no city digestion can know.
To appreciate the Lithuanian folksong and folk food,
You need health, live on land, and be back from the wood.

Without these, still a dish of no mediocre worth
Is bigos, made from legumes, best grown in the earth;
Pickled cabbage comes foremost, and properly chopped,
Which itself, is the saying, will in ones mouth hop;
In the boiler enclosed, with its moist bosom shields
Choicest morsels of meat raised on greenest of fields;
Then it simmers, till fire has extracted each drop
Of live juice, and the liquid boils over the top,
And the heady aroma wafts gently afar.

— Adam Mickiewicz, Pan Tadeusz, Book 4: Diplomacy and Hunt
Translated by Marcel Weyland (wikipedia)

68avatiakh
Muokkaaja: syyskuu 11, 2015, 2:28 pm


163) The rest of us just live here by Patrick Ness (2015)
YA
Another impressive read from Ness, focusing on mental illness but with a brilliant twist. In lots of YA urban fantasy, our hero finds out he's the chosen one, the one who'll save the world, fight the monsters or battle the supernatural, but here Ness turns this around and we focus instead on a minor character, Mikey, who struggles with low confidence and OCD, he's concerned about his sisters and fed up with his dysfunctional parents. He now has only a few weeks till graduation (and/or the end, of the world) to tell his friend, Henna, that he's in love with her and then there is his best friend, Jared, who is gay and the only one who seems to understand him.

What makes this idea so effective are the chapter descriptions which tell us what's going on offstage with the 'heroes', the indie kids, in their battle with the immortals. Occasionally their doings end up as something Mikey notices in the background as he focuses on his growing anxiety.

69avatiakh
Muokkaaja: syyskuu 11, 2015, 4:05 pm


The adventures of Beekle: the unimaginary friend by Dan Satat (2014)
picturebook
Story is about Beekle, who lives on the island where imaginary friends start out, slowly they all get chosen by a real child and when Beekle is left all alone he decides to come to our world to find his friend. Imaginative story with lovely illustrations, Beekle is very cute.
Winner of the Caldecott Medal (2015).


Keys by Sacha Cotter (2014)
picturebook
The Maori edition won the Maori Language Award recently at the New Zealand Children's Book Awards, so I thought I'd check out the English language edition.
A cute story, a father who works late, a little daughter who wakes up most nights from the sounds of his key unlocking the front door. As he settles her back into bed, she asks about each of the keys on his keyring and what they are for. Each key gets more elaborate and so do the stories that go with them, in the end the best key is his housekey as that unlocks the door to home and family. Delightful. Illustrations by Josh Morgan (of Te Aitanga-a-Mahaki and Rongowhakaata descent) are good too.

Cotter - '‘Even more, the story that would be my first published book, was a story based on my earliest childhood memory of my Dad arriving home and his keys jangling in the door. Every time I read Keys I get to relive that feeling; the excitement I felt to see my Dad and the way I thought he was so clever and strong, like he could do anything!’

70avatiakh
syyskuu 11, 2015, 9:27 pm


Benno and the night of broken glass by Meg Wiviott (2010)
picturebook
A story from a cat's perspective of Kristallnacht and the growing Nazi threat to Jewish families living alongside their German neighbours in a Berlin neighbourhood. I especially liked the illustration style used by Josée Bisaillon. There is a short bibliography and additional reading list as well as a factual afterword with two photos of the events described in the text including the burning of the Neue Synagogue, the largest in Berlin.



The Butterfly by Patricia Polacco (2000)
picturebook
Based on the true story of Polacco's aunt whose mother was in the French resistance and hid a Jewish family in the cellar. Young Monique wakes to see a ghost of a young girl in her room, but it turns out to be a real girl who is living in her cellar. They share a friendship until it becomes dangerous and Sevrine and her parents must be moved. A compelling story and equally compelling images.
The cat and the Star of David necklace reminded me of an excellent Holocaust YA read, The Thought of High Windows which is also set in the south of France.

71avatiakh
Muokkaaja: syyskuu 12, 2015, 5:00 pm


164) Dancing on the Bridge of Avignon by Ida Vos (1989)
children's fiction
Rosa, a young violin virtuoso, describes daily life under German occupation and the slowly diminishing rights of the Jewish population; sudden deportations, only permitted to shop between 3-5pm, a curfew at 8pm, no visits to the park, rides on the tram, no longer allowed to visit non-Jewish homes and the much hated yellow star they are forced to wear even in their homes. She keeps a list on her bedroom wall along with the date of each new regulation.
There are many Dutch who thrive on this oppression of the Jewish community, even so Rosa's parents refuse to consider going into hiding as that will put their compatriots at risk if they are found. Because Rosa can no longer have lessons with her music teacher as she can no longer go to a non-Jewish home her uncle finds her a remarkable Jewish musician and famous conductor, Mr Goldstein, to learn from. Her uncle also has a plan for the family to get to safety, to Avignon in the south of France.
Ida Vos's own experiences of the war provides the background to this novel. She bases the character of the uncle 'Sandor' on real life Friedrich Weinreb - who 'became notorious for selling a fictitious escape route for Jews from the occupied Netherlands in the Second World War. When his scheme fell apart in 1944, he left his home in Scheveningen and went in hiding in Ede. He was imprisoned for 3.5 years after the war for defraud as well as collaboration with the German occupier. In his memoirs published in 1969 he maintained that his plans were to give Jews hope for survival and that he had assumed that the liberation of the Netherlands would take place before his customers were deported. .' from wikipedia

The characters of Mr Goldstein, the musician and Brammertje, the hairdresser/cleaner are both especially memorable.


165) One by Sarah Crossan (2015)
YA verse novel
Oh this is a beauty and so unusual. Grace and Tippi are conjoint twins, fused into one at the hip. Their parents have homeschooled them but now at sixteen the family finances dictate that they must go to school for the first time. Told from the POV of Grace, their story is sensitively told - the father who can no longer provide, the talented younger sister who could be a ballet star if only, the crippling health insurance costs which take priority over everything, an overworked mother and now the prospect of being ogled by all the normal students. Just as they start attending school and finding two wonderful new friends, Grace can feel that her shared body is beginning to falter.

I'm a huge fan of the verse novel, this one is just wonderful and I can also recommend Aleutian Sparrow by Karen Hesse.

72avatiakh
syyskuu 12, 2015, 6:04 pm


166) The Bakehouse by Joy Cowley (2015)
children's fiction
Bert, an old man in his 80s, looks back to his school days during World War 2 in New Zealand and tries once again to come to terms with his role in hiding a young soldier who had deserted and was hidden in the derelict old bakery near his home. He's carried a secret all his life. This was a satisfactory story though trying to moralise at the very end about New Zealand troops in Afghanistan didn't quite gel for me.

73avatiakh
Muokkaaja: syyskuu 15, 2015, 1:48 am

Missed my 8th Thingaversary by a week - I'm allowed 8+1 books.
I made a book order last night, the books had been in the Book Depository shopping basket for a few weeks:
____

One Night, Markovitch by Ayelet Gundar-Goshen - debut novel from Israel published by Pushkin Press - sounds really good
The Balloonist by MacDonald Harris - I've read a nonfiction on this ballooning expedition to the Arctic years ago or maybe I read this, anyway it stuck with me and I've always wanted to revisit
The Jewish Dog by Asher Kravitz - Israeli novel with intriguing Holocaust plot
Spies and Commissars: The Early Years of the Russian Revolution by Robert Service
The Piper by Danny Weston - YA horror/fantasy - read a great review for this

___

I've also added some kindle titles:
The Mantle of the Prophet by Roy Mottahedeh - first written in the late 1970s and considered a classic for understanding Iran - updated edition
Latest Readings by Clive James - contains his reflections on what may well be his last reading list.
The Silk Roads: a new history of the world by Peter Frankopan - love to own the hardcopy
Csardas by Diane Pearson - Hungarian family saga

74nittnut
syyskuu 15, 2015, 3:58 am

Wow! Great book haul! Happy Thingaversary! Some of those look really interesting...

75roundballnz
syyskuu 15, 2015, 4:09 am

Now that is excellent, but interesting haul indeed ...... Enjoy!

76avatiakh
Muokkaaja: syyskuu 16, 2015, 5:50 am


167) The girl in the spider's web by David Lagercrantz (2015)
crime fiction
Subtitled, A Lisbeth Salander novel, continuing Stieg Larsson's Millennium Series.
I was at first reluctant to go here but then read a great review of the book and that persuaded me. It's been several years since I read the trilogy, so I wasn't as invested in the characters, and so for me it was a pleasant read. A fairly complex plot, when I started telling my daughter about the plot I realised how implausibe it all sounded but I really enjoy these reads. If you liked the original trilogy then go for it.

>74 nittnut: & >75 roundballnz: I'm looking forward to collecting these from my mailbox.

Picking up too many interesting books from the library of late:

Blood of the wicked by Leighton Gage - Brazilain crime
The girl from the garden by Parnaz Foroutan - Iran fiction
Alexandrian summer by Yitzhak Gormezano Goren - israeli fiction
The Distant Marvels by Chantel Acevedo - Cuban fiction
The secrets of the Wild Woods by Tonke Dragt - Dutch children's fiction
Arcadia by Iain Pears - scfi
Happy Birthday, Turk by Jakob Arjouni - German crime
Forbidden Love in St Petersburg by Mishka Ben-David - Israeli spies
Displaced Person by Lee Harding - Australian YA
The Walls around us by Nova Ren Suma - YA
What on Earth happened?: The Complete Story of the Planet, Life, and People from the Big Bang to the Present Day by Christopher Lloyd - nonfiction

77souloftherose
syyskuu 16, 2015, 12:17 pm

Hi Kerry.

>68 avatiakh: The Rest of Us Just Live Here sounds interesting - I haven't got round to most of Patrick Ness' standalone works yet.

>71 avatiakh: You also hit me with a BB for Sarah Crossan's One. I loved her earlier verse novel, The Weight of Water. I do recommend it if you haven't read it?

>73 avatiakh: Happy thingaversary! Love the cover of One Night, Markovitch and The Silk Roads.

78flissp
syyskuu 16, 2015, 12:21 pm

#77 Heather, re The Rest of Us Just Live Here - read it! And read A Monster Calls if you haven't. They're his best books since the Chaos Walking Trilogy :o)

79avatiakh
syyskuu 18, 2015, 9:20 pm


168) The Divine by Boaz Lavie (2015)
graphic novel
While I liked this I have to mention the struggle I had with text, such tiny print. The story about an undercover job in a fictional Asian kingdom by two US ex-soldiers, one roped in by the other for his skill in working with explosives. The explosives expert ends up working alongside a small group of child soldiers who despite their age are completely ruthless. They are led by two brothers, one of whom has powers drawn from the area that they live in. Not for everyone but an interesting read.
The writers based the book on the Htoo brothers who led the God's Army guerilla group in Burma in the 1990s.


169) Displaced Person by Lee Harding (1978)
YA fiction
The alternate title was Misplaced Persons. The book won Australia's Children's Book of the Year back when it was first published, 'a powerful fable about a teenager who finds that the rest of the world cannot see him.' It's really good and I can see it being an intriguing teen read. Graeme who's 17 starts noticing that he's being ignored, first at McDonalds where he struggles to get his order taken and then the food never comes. At home his Mum sets a table for two not three and then his girlfriend walks past him on the street. At the same time he notices he's beginning to see things in shades of grey, colour is disappearing. Eventually he finds himself in a kind of 'limbo', separated from the world and unable to interact with people or objects anymore. Then he sees a man playing a flute, he's also in limbo.
I like reading these older books, so many have been childhood favourites of today's writers.

80charl08
syyskuu 19, 2015, 12:59 am

>76 avatiakh: Some intriguing titles here, I'd be looking forward to the post too! The only one I'd come.across was the Arjouni so will look forward to your comments when they arrive!

81avatiakh
syyskuu 19, 2015, 3:24 am

>77 souloftherose: Hi Heather. I really enjoy reading Patrick Ness. I still have to go back and read his earlier adult work. I'll look out for Sarah Crossan's other books as I love the occasional verse novel.

>78 flissp: Ha! another vote for Ness.

>80 charl08: I'm feeling quite snowed under with all these interesting library books and yesterday I picked up the latest Lee Child which I'm ploughing through already as the waitlist is over 1500 so I want to get it back asap.

82PaulCranswick
syyskuu 19, 2015, 4:34 am

Wishing you a lovely weekend Kerry. The premise of Misplaced Person is an interesting one by the looks of it. A pretty useful tool though if it could be switched off and on!

83LovingLit
syyskuu 19, 2015, 6:08 am

>42 avatiakh: wow, that cover is really unattractive! Sometimes those ones can reveal a fantastic read...the odd time :)

84avatiakh
syyskuu 19, 2015, 6:36 am

>82 PaulCranswick: Hi Paul, I'd like to become invisible from time to time especially around the house.

>83 LovingLit: Hi Megan - you'd probably get a lot out of The man who loved children as it's quite interesting from political and social points of view.

I'll be finishing up Make Me tonight, it's an exciting read.

85souloftherose
syyskuu 19, 2015, 3:40 pm

>78 flissp: I loved A Monster Calls - think that's the only standalone book by Patrick Ness I've read so I will make sure I read The Rest of Us Just Live Here :-)

86avatiakh
syyskuu 19, 2015, 4:42 pm


170) Make Me by Lee Child (2015)
thriller
This is Jack Reacher #20 and does not disappoint.

87ronincats
syyskuu 19, 2015, 10:55 pm

*waves cast*

88nittnut
syyskuu 20, 2015, 1:24 am

>87 ronincats: Uh, cast? What's happened?

Hi Kerry. I've only read one Jack Reacher. It was OK, but quite bloody. I suppose I should try another one before I give up. :)

89Whisper1
syyskuu 20, 2015, 10:30 pm

>42 avatiakh: I've added this book to the tbr pile. As always, your thread is one where I find many great books.

90avatiakh
syyskuu 22, 2015, 8:03 am


171) Heart of Danger by Fleur Beale (2011)
YA
The final book in the Juno trilogy and while most of the danger and adventure was over well before the end, it was a pleasure to read how all the inhabitants from Taris finally settled into their new lives back in Aotearoa. The book is set about 60 years into the future.
A 20pg bonus read is available on the publisher's website which settles a final question about Juno's future. I went straight there on finishing the book, couldn't wait to find out the extra bit of happily ever after.

91weird_O
syyskuu 22, 2015, 5:40 pm

Don't think I've been here before. Just cruisin' around, seeing what people are reading and talking about.

I was interested particularly in your report on The Man Who Loved Children. Liked the comments from Jane Smiley. I've seen the book on several of those "oh-you've-got-to-read-this!" lists. Ring Lardner Jr. really wanted to make a film of the book, he reported in his memoir I'd Hate Myself in the Morning. "The beauty of the story lies in the title character, who loves only himself but devotes all his time to his children because they alone are tolerant enough to listen to him recount his virtues and accomplishments." I believe I'll follow >50 charl08:

92avatiakh
syyskuu 23, 2015, 10:00 pm

>91 weird_O: Hi Bill, thanks for visiting. I'm really pleased that I finally read The Man who loved Children though it's not one I'll be pushing on other people. It's a book that I'm now enjoying reading about. That quote by Lardner Jr says it all! I became fairly motivated to read when Jeffrey Eugenides mentioned it as the one book he still hasn't read that keeps getting recommended to him to read, I went to hear him talk a few years back and this was one of the memorable moments for me. I still haven't read anything by him as yet.

93avatiakh
syyskuu 24, 2015, 6:37 am


172) Yellow Blue Tibia by Adam Roberts (2009)
fiction
More alternate history with a lashing of scifi. Imagine that in 1946 Stalin decides to get some scifi writers together to write an alien invasion, it's then all hushed up until around the time of Chernobyl when one of these writers resurfaces and says that what they made up is actually coming true. Implausible but entertaining read that lost me a little at the end when it went sort of The Matrix. I loved the array of characters especially poor old Konstantin Andreiovich Skvorecky, our underrated hero.
Apparently Stalin was really interested in UFOs which was the starting point for Robert's novel.

This was meant to be a shared read last month with Judy who liked it a bit less than me.

94weird_O
syyskuu 24, 2015, 11:40 am

>92 avatiakh: Ah! Jeffrey Eugenides. Haven't read him either, but I did get a copy of Middlesex at a library sale. I'm thinking I will do a Pulitzer-winner challenge for myself in 2016. One winner a month. At library sales this year, I've accumulated quite a pile of them--five at one sale last week alone. I see that I have 12 winners on the unread-books shelf (I just looked) right now, beginning with The Age of Innocence in 1921 through The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao in 2008.

95ronincats
syyskuu 25, 2015, 1:19 am

*waves cast*

96avatiakh
syyskuu 25, 2015, 6:15 am


173) Into the Wilderness by Mandy Hager (2010)
YA, new zealand
The second in Hager's dystopian trilogy, Blood of the Lamb. Hager comes from a family of political activists and this worthy novel which continues the story from The Crossing is partly based on the experiences of the Tampa refugees who ended up in Nauru back in 2001. So a great read for budding human rights activists.
I'm looking forward to the final book, where Maryam and her companions will return to their home islands. Hager has written several books since this trilogy that I've been wanting to get to, her latest YA won the NZ Children's Book of the Year, Singing home the Whale.

From wikipedia: In August 2001, the Howard Government of Australia refused permission for the Norwegian freighter MV Tampa, carrying 438 rescued refugees (predominantly Hazaras of Afghanistan from a distressed fishing vessel in international waters) to enter Australian waters. The government introduced the "Pacific Solution", whereby the asylum seekers were taken to Nauru where their refugee status was considered, rather than in Australia. Most were held in two detention camps, 150 were diverted to New Zealand where they eventually gained citizenship. Internationally, Australia was criticised by several countries, particularly Norway, which accused it of evading its human rights responsibilities.


The Little Green Drum retold by Lucy Coats (2015)
children's fiction
An early reader that Lucy Coats has retold from the original Arabic story written by Jordanian Taghreed Najjar. The illustrations by Hassan Manasrah are great. This simple Ramadan story would also work as a picturebook, in fact I felt a little cheated to have these exuberant illustrations bursting from the smaller page size.
Coats writes about the book here: http://girlsheartbooks.com/2015/06/03/we-need-diverse-books/
__
The original book in arabic, titled Why Not?

97avatiakh
syyskuu 25, 2015, 6:18 am

>94 weird_O: The Pulitzer challenge sounds good. I'm always happy setting myself challenges as long as there's plenty to choose from.

>95 ronincats: Hi Roni

98avatiakh
Muokkaaja: syyskuu 25, 2015, 6:26 am

Even though I have a swag of library books to work through I'm going to focus on my two nonfiction reads this weekend, one is on kindle and the other an audiobook;

Ally: My Journey Across the American-Israeli Divide by Michael Oren
The spy who loved: The Secrets and Lives of Christine Granville by Clare Mulley

I've also started Murder in Amsterdam: The Death of Theo Van Gogh and the Limits of Tolerance by Ian Buruma

99Whisper1
syyskuu 25, 2015, 6:24 am

stopping by and waving hi.

100charl08
syyskuu 25, 2015, 7:35 am

>98 avatiakh: Your upcoming reading sounds so varied! I like coming here as you are reliably reading books I've not come across before.

101avatiakh
syyskuu 26, 2015, 4:17 pm

>99 Whisper1: Hi Linda

>100 charl08: Thanks Charlotte. I'm not sure how I came across The Spy who Loved but it was a really interesting read and what I really liked is that it covered territory that I read in a fiction novel earlier this year, Gone to soldiers, about the French resistance in the south of France.
I've read two of Michael Oren's histories on the Middle East so his memoir is a must read for me. And Suzanne recommended A murder in Amsterdam a couple of years ago when I was looking at nonfiction about the rise of Islamism in Europe. I have The French Intifada: The Long War Between France and Its Arabs by Andrew Hussey on my shelves as well.

Yesterdays trip to the library yielded a few books from the sales table:

The secret pilgrim by John Le Carre - a Penguin classic, the last Smiley novel
The drowning pool by Ross MacDonald - another Penguin classic, a crime novel that I've not heard of before
The Meat Tree: new Stories from the Mabinogion by Gwyneth Lewis - from a publisher series that I've been wanting to read
The Killing hour by Paul Cleave - NZ crime, I read his first book and really liked it

also picked up (why does everything come in at once?):
The Ambassador by Yehuda Avner & Matt Rees - alternate history, looks good
Submission by Michel Houellebecq
Malice by Keigo Higashino - crime novel recommended by Alex
Witch Wars by Sibéal Pounder - children's book with good reviews
The Sending by Isobelle Carmody - I'm ready to read this as the final Obernewtyn book will be finally published in November (she started the series in the 1987)

102avatiakh
Muokkaaja: syyskuu 26, 2015, 4:53 pm


174) The spy who loved: The Secrets and Lives of Christine Granville by Clare Mulley (2012)
nonfiction
Excellent biography on Krystyna Skarbek, a young Polish aristocrat who became Britain's first female agent for the British Special Operations Executive (SOE) during WW2. She was extremely daring and brave and was one of Britain's most successful agents, yet struggled after the war to even obtain British citizenship and be recognised for her achievements as the government refused to give military honours to women. The men who knew her during the war years came together after her brutal murder to suppress/censor any biographies as they didn't want her reputation to suffer due to the many lovers she had had. Mulley has managed to finally crack the silence all these years later and give us a more thorough glimpse of her life.

The book also illuminated for me the fate of the many thousands of Polish people who fought for the allies and could not return to Poland after the war due to the communist government. Most of the members of the Polish Free Government in exile, Polish free army, the Polish resistance etc would be executed on return. So many became stateless as they were now unwanted in Britain, seen as foreigners rather than allies, as the returning British servicemen were given priority for work etc. Some of the most esteemed Polish diplomats from the war years were reduced to taking menial jobs such as dishwashing. The British government banned the Polish Armed Forces from taking part in the postwar Victory Parade in London to avoid offending Russia.
I think the Yalta Conference in Feb 1945 was where Britain basically sacrificed Poland to the Russians in order to win the war.

'Churchill tried to dodge questions about Russia's trustworthiness, and expressed his confidence that Stalin would
respect the terms of the Yalta Agreement. He stated, " I know of no government which stands to its obligations more
solidly than the Russian Soviet government." . But three months after the Yalta Conference, the Russian government already reneged on its agreement. The NKVD had embarked on a massive manhunt for the members of the Polish Home Army. They were arrested, tortured, and hanged. Thousands more Poles were deported to the Russian gulag.
Polish troops which had helped the Red Army drive the Germans out of Lwow, Wilno, and Lublin, were repaid for their
efforts by execution. Among those arrested were sixteen prominent leaders of the Polish Underground. The Polish
government was aware that their disappearance was linked directly to British interference. The British Foreign
Minister, Anthony Eden convinced the Polish government to give him a list containing the names of all the Polish
Underground leaders. In turn, he surrendered the list to Stalin, with a warning that should any of the Poles be
harmed, Russia would be severely reprimanded. With this list, the NKVD was able to track down each member, and
invited them to a meeting to discuss the future of a coalition between the Red Army and the Polish Underground. The sixteen men were never seen or heard from again.
With the British economy in shambles, the public and the government showed little if any appreciation to the Poles for their sacrifices in the war, especially for their part in winning the Battle of Britain. Attlee, who replaced Churchill as Prime Minister stated emphatically that "everything should be done to ensure that as few Poles remain in...England.”
The presence of the Poles had become an embarassment to Britain who had betrayed it's most trustworthy and
valuable ally. Poles were subjected to vicious diatribes by the British public. A survey indicated that the British
wanted the Poles to repatriate. The British government used propaganda to impress upon the Poles how bad their
future would be in England if they remained. The Atlee government ordered all Polish military personnel to return to
Poland. If not, there was no guarantee they would be allowed to stay in England. The Poles could not return to
Poland, now under Soviet domination. Many who had already repatriated were immediately arrested and deported to
Siberia. Less than 20 % of Polish military (approximately 30,000) returned to Poland. The remainder chose to live in
Britain, or other western nations. In the meantime, the British government set up a Polish Resettlement Corps to help the Polish soldiers find work.' from http://www.polishgreatness.com/yaltaconference.html

103roundballnz
syyskuu 27, 2015, 12:21 am

Nice Book haul there ..... Submission is also on my watch list

104avatiakh
syyskuu 27, 2015, 12:48 am

Hi Alex - I've been looking forward to Submission since I first heard about it, had to wait for the translation. I have so many books out from the library I'm not sure I'll get to it this time round and might have to request it for reading later in the year.

Very much enjoyed my first day of daylight saving here in Auckland - spring is in the air and great not to have to wear a jacket when I go out.

105roundballnz
syyskuu 27, 2015, 5:04 am

Very Spring/Summer like, most definitely shorts weather wasn't it, was up for the ENGvWAL games so got to enjoy rest of the day ....

106avatiakh
syyskuu 27, 2015, 3:45 pm


175) Dear Committee Members by Julie Schumacher (2014)
fiction
I enjoyed this. As a professor of creative writing in the Department of English, Jay Fitger writes numerous letters of recommendation for students, fellow professors, department employees and through his letters which don't always stay on point we discover much about his own failed career as a writer, his failed relationships with women and the undermining of funding for his beleaguered department. Rather hilarious.

“Belatedly it occurs to me that some members of your HR committee, a few skeptical souls, may be clutching a double strand of worry beads and wondering aloud about the practicality or usefulness of a degree in English rather than, let’s say, computers. Be reassured: the literature student has learned to inquire, to question, to interpret, to critique, to compare, to research, to argue, to sift, to analyze, to shape, to express. His intellect can be put to broad use. The computer major, by contrast, is a technician—a plumber clutching a single, albeit shining, box of tools.”

107avatiakh
syyskuu 27, 2015, 4:14 pm


Walking your octopus: : A Guidebook to the Domesticated Cephalopod by Brian Kesinger (2013)
picturebook
A picturebook targeted at adults rather than a child. A sort of steampunk look at keeping an octopus for a pet. Endearing illustrations.

108weird_O
syyskuu 28, 2015, 1:14 pm

>106 avatiakh: Sounds like a fun read. Added it to my "Hmmm, That Sounds Interesting" collection.

109charl08
syyskuu 28, 2015, 2:02 pm

>106 avatiakh: Read this as a netgalley preview. Really enjoyed the rather dark view of teaching humanities.

110avatiakh
Muokkaaja: syyskuu 28, 2015, 4:35 pm

>108 weird_O: >109 charl08: It's a finalist for the 2015 Thurber Prize for American Humor which will be announced in a few hours.

111avatiakh
syyskuu 28, 2015, 4:55 pm


176) The wonderful O by James Thurber (1957)
children's
I wouldn't have read this now, but thanks to TIOLI challenges I decided to read a book by James Thurber. First I need to draw attention to the delightful illustrations by Marc Simont which have been included in the NYRB edition. The story is highly amusing, imaginative and full of word play that even adults will enjoy. A story about a pirate who hates the letter 'O' driving a community on the island of Ooroo to despair as he tries to uncover a hidden treasure.


177) Witch Wars by Sibéal Pounder (2015)
children's
I loved this fun story about Tiga Whicabim, an orphan who discovers she's a witch, her name is actually an anagram of I AM A BIG WITCH. She's also been nominated to take part in Witch Wars, a reality tv competition to find the next leader of Ritzy City. So first a trip down the drain pipe to the world of witches and midget fairies where she finally meets some true friends. The illustrations by Laura Ellen Anderson are suitably hilarious.
Can't wait for the next one Witch Switch

112avatiakh
syyskuu 28, 2015, 9:03 pm

>110 avatiakh: Dear Committee Members just won the 2015 Thurber Prize, Schumacher is the first woman writer to do so.

113avatiakh
Muokkaaja: lokakuu 27, 2015, 7:29 pm

Plans for October:

My current reads, I won't finish these in the next couple of days:
Ally: My Journey Across the American-Israeli Divide by Michael Oren - iPod audio
Mantle of the Prophet: religion and politics in Iran by Roy Mottahedeh - kindle
Murder in Amsterdam: The Death of Theo Van Gogh and the Limits of Tolerance by Ian Buruma
The secrets of the Wild Wood by Tonke Dragt - sequel to The letter for the king
Momo / The life before us by Emile Ajar/ Romain Gary

I still have a swag of library books to choose from and have taken a few back this month unread, mainly YA.
I've started freezing my requests so I won't be bringing home so many this coming month:

Alexandrian summer by Yitzhak Gormezano Goren - Israeli novel about an Egyptian Jewish family forced to flee to Israel
Forbidden Love in St Petersburg by Mishka Ben-David - followup to his Duet in Beirut - about a Mossad agent
The Ambassador by Yehuda Avner & Matt Rees - alternate history
The sound of our steps by Ronit Matalon - Israeli novel

Malice: a mystery by Keigo Higashino - Japanese crime
Happy Birthday Turk by Jakob Arjouni - German crime

The distant marvels by Chantel Acevedo - Cuban novel - my daughter is visiting Cuba this month
The girl from the garden by Parnaz Foroutan - Iran fiction
Childhood by Jona Oberski - Holocaust fiction based on true story
Arcadia by Iain Pears

Tug of War by Joan Lindgard - Holocaust YA based on her husband's experience in Latvia
Only ever yours by Louise O'Neill - YA, 'The Handmaid’s Tale meets Mean Girls'. O'Neill's latest book Asking for it has caused a bit of a buzz of late.
Girl on a plane by Miriam Moss
No pretty pictures: a child of war by Anita Lobel - autobiographical Holocaust writing for children
Prairie Fire by e.k. Johston - YA sequel to The story of Owen, dragons.
The Sending by Isobelle Carmody - YA, Obernewtyn #6, #7 will be out in Nov
Longbow Girl by Linda Davies - YA historical fiction
The walls around us by Nova Ren Suma - YA fantasy
The big lie by Julie Mayhew

Nylon Road: A Graphic Memoir of Coming of Age in Iran by Parsua Bashi

from my own books that I've added to TIOLI challenges -
Room by Emma Donoghue - charity shop purchase from earlier this week
Premlata and the Festival of Lights by Rumer Godden - ditto

and again I should be reading about food for my last category challenge, but with so many library books to work through.....

114avatiakh
Muokkaaja: syyskuu 29, 2015, 11:24 pm


178) Oreo by Fran Ross (1974)
fiction

This ended up in the Not my type of book pile, though when I first saw mention of it over on Darryl's thread I thought it sounded intriguing. I struggled with the language, lots of Yiddish and 'black vernacular'. Best I quote from the back cover: 'a playful, modernised parody of the classical odyssey of Theseus - with a feminist twist, immersed in seventies pop culture.'
A teenager, Oreo, has been raised by her maternal African American grandparents, her mother's work takes her away from home constantly. She's had no contact with her Jewish father and now sets out on a journey to the streets of New York to find him.

Kirkus reviews: 'A brilliant and biting satire, a feminist picaresque, absurd, unsettling, and hilarious ... Ross' novel, with its Joycean language games and keen social critique, is as playful as it is profound. Criminally overlooked. A knockout.'

115Whisper1
syyskuu 29, 2015, 10:44 pm

>101 avatiakh: What a great book haul!

116avatiakh
syyskuu 29, 2015, 11:24 pm

>115 Whisper1: Library books not a book haul, and now i'm under pressure to get them read in the next few weeks.

117banjo123
syyskuu 30, 2015, 1:06 am

I read The Sound of Our Steps--it was pretty good, but I thought a little too long.

Nice review of The Spy WHo Loved -- on my wishlist.

118avatiakh
syyskuu 30, 2015, 1:59 am

Thanks for the feedback on The Sound of Our Steps, I've read a few pages and like the style so far but won't really get into it for a week or so. I've had to start Iain Pears' Arcadia as I won't be able to renew this one and it's a hefty book.

119charl08
syyskuu 30, 2015, 3:52 am

Good luck with the library books. Oreo did sound good from the publisher's description, I was wondering about it too.

120avatiakh
syyskuu 30, 2015, 4:19 am

>119 charl08: It was a bit like reading a YA version of Tarantino's Jackie Brown movie. Well not really, but definitely full of 70s street talk. In the afterword I read that she predates hiphop language and I think that sort of summed it up, I'm just not the target audience.

121avatiakh
syyskuu 30, 2015, 4:23 am

Found my Montalbano, Beam of Light, which I misplaced a couple of days ago and am now firmly immersed, though I've already seen this one played out on the tv series. Also making a tentative start on Arcadia.

122jnwelch
syyskuu 30, 2015, 10:27 am

>121 avatiakh: I had the same experience, Kerry, having seen Beam of Light first on the tv series. Like you, I got totally immersed. Loved Catarella speaking Latin!

123avatiakh
Muokkaaja: syyskuu 30, 2015, 9:46 pm

Joe, Catarella always makes me smile and Fazio is so efficient. Love them on film as well.


179) Nylon Road: A Graphic Memoir of Coming of Age in Iran by Parsua Bashi (2006)
graphic memoir
Fairly interesting look at the contrasts between Bashi's life in exile in Switzerland and her coming of age in Iran. Another insight into Iran under the mullahs and also the difficulties of settling into a new life, language and more liberal way of life. Bashi in Switzerland is constantly visited by her 'former self' at various ages and together they explore these issues. Overall I'd recommend Persepolis if you haven't already read it and also Zahra’s Paradise before this one.
Bashi married when she was young and unfortunately the marriage was very repressive, her husband who was also an artist forbid her to work outside the home, meet with her friends and lambasted her mother. They had a child who Bashi was unable to have contact with when she divorced him, only realising that she was losing custody as the divorce was being processed.
Bashi went back to Iran to live in 2009 after 5 years in Switzerland, presumably to try again to have contact with her daughter.


I came across an academic text that looks interesting, Rethinking Orientalism: Using Graphic Narratives to Teach Critical Visual Literacy: http://www.amazon.com/Re-thinking-Orientalism-Narratives-Critical/dp/1433122286

Also more library books hauled home today:
Signs preceding the end of the world by Yuri Herrera
Girl on a plane by Miriam Moss - YA based on Moss' own experience of the 1970 hijackings.
Che: A Graphic Biography by Spain Rodriguez

124avatiakh
lokakuu 1, 2015, 12:42 am

I came across an interesting interview with Linda Davies, author of Longbow Girl, she talks about all the research she did for her book. Adding it here so I can refer to it when I get round to reading it.
http://teenlibrarian.co.uk/2015/08/31/longbow-girl-interview-with-linda-davies/

125avatiakh
lokakuu 1, 2015, 3:17 am


180) A beam of light by Andrea Camilleri (2015)
crime
Montalbano #19. Another good installment of Montalbano. Some sadness in the end and a couple of nifty phone calls with the Mafia about hunting lions.

126charl08
lokakuu 1, 2015, 5:47 am

Nylon Road sounds and looks good. I have several on order with the library, so am hoping for a bit of a graphic memoir binge in a month or two. Includes Not Funny Ha Ha by Leah Hayeswhich I am intrigued by: like Alison Bechdel and Lucy Knisley dealing with such a a heavy subject (in this case abortion).

127ronincats
lokakuu 2, 2015, 12:43 am

*waves cast--4 more days!*

128PaulCranswick
lokakuu 4, 2015, 10:03 am

>125 avatiakh: Can't go wrong with Montalba for sure, Kerry.

Hope your weekend has been a good one.

129avatiakh
lokakuu 4, 2015, 6:24 pm


181) Childhood by Jina Oberski (1978)
novella
Beautiful autobiographical novella from the perspective of a very young child (4yrs to 8yrs old) set during the Holocaust. The boy accompanies his parents from Amsterdam to Bergen Belsen and is the only one to survive the war. The Penguin classics edition has a moving essay by Jim Shepard of The book of Aron fame about writing from the viewpoint of a young child.


182) The Search Warrant by Patrick Modiano (1997)
novella
The narrator tracks down the clues left behind by a young Jewish girl who was a runaway during WW2. He comes across an old newspaper with an advert for information on the missing girl, put in by her parents and 30 yrs later begins a search for her identity, that of her parents and her ultimate fate. In the process he meditates on his father and himself. I can admire Modiano's writing but really it doesn't appeal to me, I read more for story than meditation.


183) Tug of War by Joan Lindgard (1989)
YA
Lindgard bases this loosely on her husband's own experiences of being a Latvian war refugee fleeing the Russians in the closing months of WW2. Twins Hugo and Astra must leave their homeland with their family as the Russians will have their father on a wanted list as he's a prominent academic. Interesting and there is a sequel.
I'm keen to read more of Lindgard's writing, she's written several books that appeal.


184) The Big Lie by Julie Mayhew (2015)
YA
Speculative fiction set in 2013 Nazi England. Mayhew writes an interesting story about a teen who finds herself questioning the indoctrination she has been brought up with. Jessika is a great character, so mixed up, wanting to be a good Nazi but she has feelings for her best friend, Clementine. Clementine and her parents aren't so committed to the German ideals, in fact, Clementine is keen to kickstart a revolution.
This look at an established world of Nazi rule has been well researched and Mayhew explains in her Historical Notes how she included genuine Nazi organisations and publications for girls and applied them to a more modern society. There's also a glossary of German words and phrases as well as a bibliogpraphy. I'm definitely going to try her debut novel, Red Ink.
She mentions being impressed with a documentary, We Are Legion. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zwDhoXpk90

130ronincats
lokakuu 4, 2015, 7:10 pm

*waves cast--ONE MORE DAY!*

131avatiakh
Muokkaaja: lokakuu 5, 2015, 12:22 am

132ronincats
lokakuu 5, 2015, 11:16 pm

*waves* I always appreciate your book suggestions, Kerry.

133charl08
lokakuu 6, 2015, 8:20 am

Just really enjoyed Hark a lark. Only problem is I want my own copy, and copies to send to friends!

134avatiakh
lokakuu 6, 2015, 6:16 pm


185) Momo by Emile Ajar (1975)
fiction
The book won the Prix Goncourt, though the real author was not revealed for several years until it was republished as The Life Before Us under the writer's real name, Romain Gary, after his death in 1980.
I really enjoyed this. Momo is short for Mohammod, one of several children under the care of Madame Rosa, an old Jewish woman, a former prostitute who has survived Auschwitz. The book is set in the 1960s or 1970s in the poor immigrant neighbourhood of Bellevue in Paris and is about their last months together.
It seems to have been a common undertaking where immigrant prostitutes left their young children in the care of a person such as Madam Rosa in order that they weren't seized by the authorities and thrown into institutional care. At the heart of the book is the relationship between Momo and Madame Rosa but the other inhabitants of the building and surrounding neighbourhood also shine.

135nittnut
lokakuu 8, 2015, 9:08 pm

Hi there. :) Just catching up over here. You have such a variety of books going. :) I love James Thurber. I read The Thirteen Clocks to the kids last year. Fun read.

136PaulCranswick
lokakuu 10, 2015, 5:23 am

Some wonderful reading here as always Kerry.

Momo
The Big Lie
Tug of War
&
A Childhood

will all have me searching for more additions to my already slightly overburdened shelves.

Have a lovely weekend, Kerry.

137ronincats
lokakuu 10, 2015, 12:19 pm

Such diverse and interesting reading, as usual, Kerry!

138PaulCranswick
lokakuu 16, 2015, 9:30 pm

Do you have end of year travel plans this year Kerry as usual?

I tried to order Momo this week from Book Depo but it is listed as presently unavailable.

Hope your weekend has started swimmingly.

139avatiakh
lokakuu 16, 2015, 11:01 pm

>135 nittnut: Jenn, I think I liked this Thurber more than The Thirteen Clocks.

>136 PaulCranswick: >138 PaulCranswick: Hi Paul, great to see you finding some BBs from my reading. I think that Tug of War isn't that necessary a read, I presume you are looking at it for your daughter rather than for yourself.
Momo is probably more easily available under the alternate title, The Life Before Us.

We have a trip planned for February, details to come. The weekend is a bit overcast and windy, so staying indoors at present.

>137 ronincats: Hi Roni. I picked up The Wolf Wilder and A thousand nights from the library to day, both look like great YA reads.

I have about 6 read books to comment on. Currently I'm completely immersed in Mantle of the Prophet: religion and politics in Iran by Roy Mottahedeh and finding it quite fascinating though rather dry at times. I read somewhere that it's the go-to book if you want to understand present day Iran.
My audio is Books do furnish a room by Anthony Powell, #10 so I should finish the series this year. I have both The Ambassador by Matt Rees and Yehuda Avner and Submission by Michel Houellebecq due back at the library next week so I need to finish them asap. My YA read is The walls around us by Nova Ren Suma, a fairly creepy one so far.

140Whisper1
lokakuu 17, 2015, 8:43 am

>129 avatiakh: I am going to the library later today in search of this book. Thanks for your recommendation.

141avatiakh
lokakuu 18, 2015, 4:15 pm


186) Malice: a mystery by Keigo Higashino (1996 Japanese) (2014 Eng)
fiction
Gripping mystery which alternates between the journal kept by one of the main suspects/witness about the incident and ongoing investigation and also the thoughts of the head detective on the case. A well known writer is murdered in his home and the investigation looks at the timeline and alibis of those who visited on the fatal day. The key is the motive.

142avatiakh
lokakuu 18, 2015, 4:24 pm


187) The Secrets of the Wild Wood by Tonke Dragt (1963 Dutch) (2015 Eng)
children's fiction
Finally translated and published in English, I think I enjoyed this even more than the first book, The letter for the king. I've put it down as children's fiction but these two books are great for all ages. Tiuri (now a knight) and his squire Piak venture into the Wild Woods to find a missing knight. A brilliant sequel.
An interview with the author here: My knights’ tales belong in England


Hopefully all these will get translated into English

143avatiakh
Muokkaaja: lokakuu 18, 2015, 9:13 pm


188) Ally: My Journey Across the American-Israeli Divide by Michael B. Oren (2015)
nonfiction
Oren was the Israeli Ambassador to the US from 2009 to 2013, before that he was best known as a writer of historical nonfiction and now he is an MK in the Israeli parliament. I'd already read two of his books, Six Days of War and Power, Faith, and Fantasy: America in the Middle East: 1776 to the Present both of which I rate highly. In this memoir which also covers his childhood in the US and aliyah to Israel as a teenager, Oren gives us a look at what an ambassador's work is actually like in the day to day grind. He was not a diplomat before becoming ambassador so had to learn it on the run and this is really interesting.
He also goes into the relationship between Israel and the White House in great detail, debunking some media claims and reinforcing others. He attempts to 'understand' Obama and the direction that Obama has taken the US. What comes over most in this book is Oren's great love for both countries.

There have been many articles about Oren & the book in the media:
http://www.jewishjournal.com/cover_story/article/the_loyalist_david_suissa_revie...
http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2015/06/michael-oren-interview-...

144charl08
lokakuu 18, 2015, 4:51 pm

>141 avatiakh: I didn't like this one as much as I expected to, but I did find it atmospheric.

145avatiakh
lokakuu 18, 2015, 4:58 pm


189) Longbow Girl by Linda Davies (2015)
YA
I really liked this timeslip novel set in Wales. I loved all the archery details, Davies clearly understands the sport and has also done her research thoroughly. Merry Owen lives on her family farm granted to the family over 700 years ago for the service of her ancestor as a longbow man. A stipulation of the grant is that each generation must be ready to bear arms for their king, and so she has been trained in the skill of longbow archery since she was a young child. The novel sees Merry travel back to the times of Henry VIII in order to save the farm from confiscation when one of her ancestors is wrongfully imprisoned.
I've added one of Davies nonfiction books to my 'to read' list, Hostage: Kidnapped on the High Seas.
An interview with Linda Davies is here: http://teenlibrarian.co.uk/2015/08/31/longbow-girl-interview-with-linda-davies/

146ronincats
lokakuu 18, 2015, 5:04 pm

>139 avatiakh: Drat, my library has neither of those, and they both look good. I'll be looking for your reviews.

147avatiakh
lokakuu 18, 2015, 5:10 pm


190) Forbidden love in St. Petersburg by Mishka Ben-David (2005 Hebrew) (2015 Eng)
fiction
Another great espionage novel about the Mossad. I really like how Ben-David is most concerned with the psyche of the agent himself and how his job affects his relationships with his family etc. In this one, 'Paul' is still recovering from a messy divorce and is sent to live in St Petersburg, to set up business opportunities and create a cover for possible future operations. So he meets a woman and falls deeply in love and is convinced she also loves him. He's one of Mossad's most experienced agents yet dismisses some of the niggles he feels as probably being coincidences. When Mossad tells him to break off with Anna, he has to decide between his love and his job. Mossad has to launch an operation to get their agent out of Russia before he is caught by the authorities, but where has he gone and who is Anna.

148avatiakh
lokakuu 18, 2015, 5:18 pm

>140 Whisper1: Linda, oops there are about 4 books listed in that post so I'll assume you mean Oberski's book Childhood

>144 charl08: I liked the idea of plagiarism and ghost writing as a possible motive.

>146 ronincats: Does your library take suggestions for purchase? I'm amazed at how many of my suggestions get taken up, the latest success was Railhead by Philip Reeve, another that you will probably love. There's a great Railhead article/review by SF Said about space fiction for the young in the guardian - http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/oct/17/railhead-philip-reeve-review-all-ab...

149avatiakh
lokakuu 18, 2015, 8:01 pm


191) Happy Birthday, Turk! by Jakob Arjouni (1985 German) (2011 Eng)
fiction
This is the first in the Kemal Kayankaya series, German Turk detective who was adopted at a young age by an ordinary German couple so has grown up estranged from his Turkish roots. Set in Frankfurt this plot is rather noir, featuring the seedier side of life, that of drug dealing, addicts, prostitutes and pimps. A little violent but overall a great read. I'll be reading all 5 books in the series.

150PaulCranswick
lokakuu 18, 2015, 8:04 pm

>149 avatiakh: It is a dreadful title but an intriguing looking book, Kerry. I'll keep a watch out for that one for sure.

151avatiakh
lokakuu 18, 2015, 8:08 pm


There's a Lion in My Cornflakes by Michelle Robinson (2014)
picturebook
Hilarious picturebook about two children who send away for a lion after collecting vouchers from 100 boxes of cornflakes. Unfortunately the cornflake company has run out of lions and their mother is making them eat cornflakes for every meal. Jim Field has done the illustrations.



Cats Are Cats by Valeri Gorbachev (2014)
picturebook
An old lady brings home a kitten from the pet shop and calls it Tiger, and indeed it grows to be a tiger. Later she headsa off to buy a goldfish... Amusing, typical of its type.

152avatiakh
Muokkaaja: marraskuu 2, 2015, 12:58 am


192) Girl on a Plane by Miriam Moss (2015)
YA
Having read David Raab's memoir of the 1970 Dawson Field hijackings, I was really interested to read this one. Moss was also on one of the hijacked planes, the BOAC flight from Bahrain that was hijacked by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) in order to force the UK to release the terrorist, Leila Khaled who was part of the failed hijacking of an ELAL plane from Amsterdam. Moss's experience was of much shorter duration than Raab's.

So all these years later she has produced a teen novel based on what happened to her when she was 15, travelling alone back to boarding school in the UK. She strips the novel of most of the political background as she's writing from the POV of a naive young teenager. It's quite a good read, a good introduction to the politics of terrorism and the Middle East. And again, it's apparent the the Red Cross did nothing to help these passengers access food and water. The only interaction they had with Westerners was when the media were allowed to come and interview them, all the time all she wants is a drink of water which was being rationed.
'I was a child on my own, in a hijack: scared, hungry and thirsty, and sleeping for three days on a plane wired with explosives'

153avatiakh
Muokkaaja: lokakuu 18, 2015, 9:05 pm


193) The Walls Around Us by Nova Ren Suma (2015)
YA
Rather creepy YA based around ballet and a reform prison. What gives it atmosphere is the structure, Suma throws us into the story at the midway point and from there we get to work out what happened and what will happen. What we know; two friends both talented at ballet, though one has more natural talent than the other; two girls from the ballet class murdered during a dress rehearsal of The Firebird; Was the wrong girl found guilty? What happened at the prison?
I liked it and consider it my Halloween read as there is a supernatural element. Definitely consider reading other books by the writer.

154avatiakh
lokakuu 18, 2015, 9:29 pm

>150 PaulCranswick: Hi Paul - I really enjoyed this. He's a drinker, a loner and the grubby side of Frankfurt is not a pretty sight. Also interesting from the Turkish-German dynamic.

I'm slowly making my way through The Mantle of the Prophet which is fascinating reading. I've had to make Submission by Michel Houellebecq my main read as it is due back at the library in a couple of days while The Ambassador has been renewed so I have it for 4 more weeks.
On the YA front I'm reading the dystopian The Scorpion Rules by Erin Bow, excellent so far, I liked her Plain Kate.

155avatiakh
lokakuu 19, 2015, 4:29 pm


194) Submission by Michel Houellebecq (2015).
fiction
This was my first Houellebecq novel and I was surprised at how easy it was to read and how literary. Set a few years into the future, the outcome of the French elections sees a Muslim Brotherhood party, under a charismatic leader, gain dominance when the two leftist parties can't bring themselves to form a coalition with the far right Le Pen party. The book covers the fallout in academia as the Sorbonne comes under the patronage of the Saudi government and all teachers must convert to Islam to keep their jobs..
We follow all this through the fortunes of Francois, a middleaged lecturer in literature, his whole miserable way of life is forced into change, can he adapt, does he want to adapt. He reflects on French writers and philosophers from the past, the past grandeur of Christianity, all the while being courted by male colleagues who've sold out and taken the plunge into Islamic lifestyles.
As for the controversy, this book isn't anti-Islam, Houellebecq uses the concept of Islamic politics to show up the fading fortunes of France's republican ideals and how it's all been sold out by politicians and modern society. The book has also been compared to Jean Raspail's 1973 novel The Camp of the Saints which I read earlier this year.

From the NewYorker: Houellebecq is, simply, a satirist. He likes to take what’s happening now and imagine what would happen if it kept on happening. That’s what satirists do. Jonathan Swift saw that the English were treating the Irish as animals; what if they took the next natural step and ate their babies? Orwell, with less humor, imagined what would happen if life in Britain remained, for forty years, at the depressed level of the BBC cafeteria as it was in 1948, and added some Stalinist accessories. Huxley, in “Brave New World,” took the logic of a hedonistic and scientific society to its farthest outcome, a place where pleasure would be all and passion unknown. This kind of satire impresses us most when the imaginative extrapolation intersects an unexpected example—when it suddenly comes close enough to fit... Houellebecq is not merely a satirist but—more unusually—a sincere satirist, genuinely saddened by the absurdities of history and the madnesses of mankind...
Like most satirists worth reading, Houellebecq is a conservative. “I show the disasters produced by the liberalization of values,” he has said. Satire depends on comparing the crazy place we’re going to with the implicitly sane place we left behind. That’s why satirists are often nostalgists, like Tom Wolfe, who longs for the wild and crazy American past, or Evelyn Waugh, with his ascendant American vulgarians and his idealized lost Catholic aristocracy. Houellebecq despises contemporary consumer society, and though he is not an enthusiast, merely a fatalist, about its possible Islamic replacement, he thinks that this is the apocalypse we’ve been asking for. http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/01/26/next-thing


156kidzdoc
Muokkaaja: lokakuu 20, 2015, 7:35 am

Great review of Submission, Kerry. Thanks for including the link to The New Yorker article as well. I did pause when I read Adam Gopnik's sentence about the only satirists worth reading were conservatives, though. I bought this book last month, and I'll probably read it early next year.

157charl08
lokakuu 20, 2015, 7:53 am

>155 avatiakh: Will add this to the wishlist, if only because I'd like to see for myself what the fuss is about! Thanks for such an interesting review.

158avatiakh
lokakuu 20, 2015, 8:58 am

>156 kidzdoc: >157 charl08: I also wanted to read Submission since I first heard about it. I was really surprised how readable the book was. I've had Atomised on the book shelves for many years and always felt it would be a difficult read.

Darryl - I liked that paragraph about satire in the New Yorker article and I also noticed that sentence about conservatives. Have to admit that I didn't take note that it was Gopnik writing it, another writer I have still to get to.

Shuffling what I'm reading as I check the due dates on all my library books. The Yehuda Avner & Matt Rees book, The Ambassador is now further down the 'to read' pile and The sound of our steps by Ronit Matalon is now my priority along with The girl from the garden by Parnaz Foroutan.
I'm also well into Katy by Jacqueline Wilson, a retelling of What Katy did, which is proving rather fun.
Also The Scorpion Rules is holding my interest.

159avatiakh
lokakuu 21, 2015, 7:41 am


The Fish in the Bathtub by Eoin Colfer (2014)
children's fiction
This is a delightful story, and beautifully illustrated. The publisher specialises in books for reluctant readers, and there is a note on the website that the 'book has a dyslexia-friendly layout, typeface and paperstock so that even more readers can enjoy it.'
Set in Poland during the communist era, a grandfather finally gets a carp which he keeps in the bathtub fattening it for the Christmas meal. His granddaughter befriends the carp, she has learning difficulties and this is the first time she has focused so clearly and for long periods, talking and reading to the fish. So will grandfather carry out the deed or not.


195) Katy by Jacqueline Wilson (2015)
children's fiction
I loved this retelling of What Katy Did. I read lots of Wilson's books many years ago and all these years later she still writes a fab tale. She's taken a beloved classic and breathed new life into the story. Katy Carr is now an English tomboy, always getting into trouble. The second half of the book deals with Katy's rehabilitation, this time she is not going to walk again and must get used to a life in a wheelchair.


And two books I brought home from the library and flicked through but won't read the text. professor astro cat's frontiers of space has a delightful retro looks and a well designed layout. I just don't have the energy to read it.
América Latina 1960. Fotos + Textos is from a photographic exhibition at Museo Amparo, Puebla in Mexico.
I only enjoyed a few of the photos, many were too experimental.


160charl08
lokakuu 21, 2015, 7:52 am

>159 avatiakh: I've not read any of Colfer's books for young people, but did find his two adult crime novels laugh out loud funny. The carp sounds like a great premise.

161avatiakh
lokakuu 21, 2015, 9:17 am

Charlotte, I've read lots of Colfer's fiction for young people. I also got to meet him way back when his first Artemis Fowl book came out. His work is fun to read, The Fish in the Bathtub wouldn't be my first recommendation.
His The legend of Spud Murphy is really fun, about a strict librarian. He also has one set in Tunisia, Benny and Omar. his latest is a picturebook collaboration that's getting rave reviews, Imaginary Fred.
I have both his adult novels but not read them yet and should read the last Artemis Fowl book too.

162arubabookwoman
lokakuu 21, 2015, 3:17 pm

I read something by Houellebecq years ago and hated it and vowed not to read him again. Your review of Submission changed my mind, so it's gone onto the wish list

163avatiakh
lokakuu 21, 2015, 3:23 pm

>162 arubabookwoman: Well, there were a few bedroom scenes I could have done without.

164avatiakh
lokakuu 23, 2015, 3:44 pm


196) The Scorpion Rules by Erin Bow (2015)
YA
This is the first in the Prisoners of Peace series and the premise is interesting - 'In the future, the UN has brought back an ancient way to keep the peace. The children of world leaders are held hostage—if a war begins, they pay with their lives.' So the UN is more or less the overall ruler of the world and is run by a great Artificial Intelligence, Talis. The story is told from the POV of Princess Greta, who has been a hostage since the age of five.
I enjoyed Bow's Plain Kate so was keen to try this one and wasn't disappointed.

165EBT1002
lokakuu 25, 2015, 10:30 pm

Hi Kerry. I hope you enjoy Snow in May when you get to it. I liked it quite a bit.

Submission looks like an excellent, thought-provoking read.

I also enjoyed Happy Birthday, Turk! and will read at least one more in that series.

166msf59
lokakuu 25, 2015, 10:48 pm

Hi Kerry! Hope you had a good weekend. I love following you around, in your reading life. The Walls Around Us sounds good. I will add that one to the list.

I am really enjoying the Queen of the Tearling. This might be your cuppa.

167avatiakh
lokakuu 25, 2015, 11:45 pm

>165 EBT1002: Elllen, thanks for recommending Snow in May, I really love that cover.

>166 msf59: Hi Mark. I gave up on Queen of Tearling at the halfway point for some reason, I don't quite remember now.

168cushlareads
lokakuu 26, 2015, 12:07 am

Hi Kerry - hope you're having a lovely long weekend. I am catching up on LT and think this time I might actually be back for a few months... mmmm we will see.

There are loads of books on here that you're making me want to get - T loves Jacqueline Wilson. and we haven't seen Katy yet. And Spud Murphy is a favourite here too, so I will look for The Fish in the Bathtub on our Tuesday trip to Marsden Books.

169avatiakh
lokakuu 26, 2015, 4:25 am

Hi Cushla, I'd recommend reading The Fish in the Bathtub while you're at the shop or library, it really is quite slight.
Do look out for Brian Falkner's Battlesaurus, I think it's a great boy's (and girl's) adventure story and I'm thinking that Railhead is also going to be great, can't find it in the shops as yet.
I loved What Katy Did when I was young and reread it a few years ago when my daughter wouldn't take the bait. So anyway I was interested in how Jaqueline Wilson dealt with 'Katy' and I feel she succeeds really well as she modernises the disabled quandary and makes it into a very positive book about a special needs, even to the point that the local highschool is forced to adapt to Katy rather than her attending a school further from home and friends that is already setup for wheelchair access.

170avatiakh
lokakuu 26, 2015, 4:29 am

Oh and look out for The Wolf Wilder, I've only read a bit so far and I think it will be a good YA about historical Russia with wolves.

171avatiakh
lokakuu 27, 2015, 10:23 pm

saw this in the Sideswipe column in newspaper today and especially love #7:
Unimpressed reviews of famous books

1. "Willy Wonka is a psychotic, sadistic child-hating manchild with a penchant for Third World labour." (On Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, by Roald Dahl)

2. "The Cat in the Hat is a psychopath."

3. "Much of the things that they mention, rabbits cannot physically do." (Watership Down, by Richard Adams)

4. "Shortly after finishing this book, my 8-year-old daughter began sneaking off behind the couch to write in her own notebook. A couple of days later, she showed it to me. It was full of negative words about each of the immediate family members and several of her friends." (Harriet the Spy, by Louise Fitzhugh)

5. "This is a story about belittling your child's love for you, and saying that your love for them is bigger and better. And if the child is tenacious enough to continue professing their love, wait 'til they're asleep and get the last word in. 'Yahoo! I beat you, you loveless varmint!'" (Guess How Much I Love You, by Sam McBratney -- right)

6. "Soo ... Heroin sounds rather unpleasant." (Naked Lunch, William S. Burroughs)

7. "The experience of reading this book is akin to being dragged through a bog of broken glass and Tabasco sauce. Face down. By a very slow mule." (Clarissa, by Samuel Richardson)

(Via One Star Book Review Tumblr)

172Deern
lokakuu 30, 2015, 7:22 am

Those are great, and yes - I'd quite agree to #7 as well! :D
Happy weekend, Kerry!

173roundballnz
lokakuu 31, 2015, 3:57 am

Heard great things about Railhead via Adventures with words podcast .... slightly tempted myself

174PaulCranswick
lokakuu 31, 2015, 4:45 am

>171 avatiakh: I enjoyed those. I think LT and the 75ers have had their share of fairly trenchant reviewers and sometimes, whilst of course I am disappointed that one of my pals has had a bad reading experience, the put downs can be wonderful to read.

Have a lovely weekend, Kerry.

175avatiakh
Muokkaaja: marraskuu 1, 2015, 7:01 pm


197) The Mantle of the Prophet: religion and politics in Iran by Roy Mottahedeh (1985)
nonfiction

I was reading an article 'How to Understand the Ayatollahs' in The Commentator, and the writer, Michael Rubin, in the first paragraph says 'When lecturing to practitioners, be they military, law enforcement, or intelligence analysts, a recurring question is, “If I could read one book about Iran, what should it be?”
I hastened to get this book after reading the article and wasn't disappointed, I read it slowly and tried hard to take it all in. I feel I now have a strong grasp of the Shia Muslim philosophy, I know more about Islamic jurisprudence than I ever thought I would ever know and I do now understand the why, who and how about the ayatollahs in Iran. A fabulous book, it takes you through the whole history of Iran finishing at the edge of the revolution in 1979. It will take another whole book to understand what has been done in Iran since then.
The festival of Ashura took place last week and it was a bit disconcerting to see the photos in the news after reading about it in the book. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3287819/Spilling-blood-religion-Tiny-Shi...

Rubin: 'One book, however, has always stood out: Harvard University Professor Roy Mottahedeh’s Mantle of the Prophet. It might be 30 years old, but it is the only book that takes the reader inside the mind of an ayatollah.....The true strength of Mantle is how smoothly Mottahedeh transitions from the biographical sketch to sidebars about shopping in a Persian bazaar, Islamic philosophy, and Iranian history. It’s not a political book, and it’s not going to detail the contemporary Iranian leadership’s embrace of terrorism or the details of a covert nuclear program. Nevertheless, more than any other work out there, it goes deepest into the mindset of the ayatollahs and the factors and philosophy which has shaped their thinking.'
https://www.commentarymagazine.com/foreign-policy/middle-east/iran/how-to-unders...

_
so alongside this book I also watched a culinary travel tv series, Spice Journey, by Shane Delia, an Aussie/Maltese, married to a Lebanese and renown chef of Maha in Melbourne. In series 1 he travels to Malta, Lebanon and Iran. So it was quite surreal to see the sights, foods and markets etc of Iran while reading Mantle of the Prophet. He visits a saffron farm and ends up spending $1000 on a kilo or so of saffron threads at the local market, a bargain all told.
He has done another series on Morocco & Andalusia and a third on Turkey, so I'll be looking out for those. His Maha cookbook is great and he has another cookbook based on his travels coming out next year.
Trailer: http://www.madman.com.au/series/home/17629
Recipes: http://www.sbs.com.au/food/program/shane-delias-spice-journey

176avatiakh
marraskuu 1, 2015, 7:30 pm


198) Honor Girl: A Graphic Memoir by Maggie Thrash (2015)
graphic memoir
Surprisingly refreshing account of a girl's summer at camp where she discovers that she has a crush on one of the camp leaders, a young woman. Romantic and funny. I enjoyed this.


Stan the Van Man by Emma Vere-Jones
picturebook
This won last year's Joy Cowley Award for a picturebook script. The fun illustrations for this fun story have been done by Philip Webb.
Stan volunteers to stand in for the missing van driver so the mail can be delivered, but he has a secret...there isn't time so off he goes, and so the secret that he can't read gets out as the parcels all end up in the wrong place. Needless to say the community rallies, teaches Stan to read and he keeps his job.

177avatiakh
marraskuu 1, 2015, 7:39 pm


199) Murder in Amsterdam: The Death of Theo van Gogh and the Limits of Tolerance by Ian Buruma (2006)
nonfiction
Really interesting look at modern Dutch society through the story of the death of Theo van Gogh. Van Gogh was a controversial film maker, murdered by an Islamic extremist. Buruma returns to his native Holland to try to make sense out of the mix of Muslim migrants, the legacy of the Holocaust and other questions that arise.

178avatiakh
Muokkaaja: marraskuu 2, 2015, 1:14 am


200) The Crossing of Ingo by Helen Dunmore (2008)
YA

The fourth in the Ingo series and finishes the story of Conor and Sapphire as far as I'm aware. The 5th book begins a new Ingo cycle.
Conor and Sapphy join the young mer in a coming of age ritual, the crossing of the oceans journey that takes them to the South Pacific and back. I'm enjoying this series and have the 5th book ready to go.

179avatiakh
marraskuu 1, 2015, 7:50 pm


201) Arcadia by Iain Pears (2015)
scifi
My first read for November, just couldn't quite manage to squeeze this one in by the end of October. Anyway I really enjoyed this, there are multiple storylines, alternate worlds, time travel and ends with most loose ends very nicely tied together. A story to wallow in and enjoy.

180ronincats
marraskuu 1, 2015, 7:55 pm

>175 avatiakh: The library has a copy of this, so I'm going to order it.

181avatiakh
marraskuu 1, 2015, 7:56 pm

>172 Deern: Hi Nathalie

>173 roundballnz: Alex, Railhead still hasn't come in to the library or my local bookshop. I'll be putting it right at the top of my tbr pile when it does.

>174 PaulCranswick: Hi Paul

182avatiakh
marraskuu 1, 2015, 7:58 pm

>180 ronincats: Hi Roni. I had thought of you when I was wondering who I could recommend it to. You'll find it fascinating.

183avatiakh
Muokkaaja: marraskuu 15, 2015, 4:18 am

Ok, my plans for November:

Already completed is:
Arcadia by Iain Pears
Books do furnish a room by Anthony Powell

and currently reading:
Cairo by G Willow Wilson - graphic novel
The Ambassador by Yehuda Avner & Matt Rees
The flavor of Jerusalem by Joan Nathan - basically a cookbook with lots of info on melting pot of inhabitants
Trotsky: a graphic biography by Rick Geary
The Wolf Wilder by Katherine Rundell

out from the library:
The Sending by Isobelle Carmody - Obernewtyn #6 (#7 is due out this month)
The Dharma punks by Ant Sang - GN
From the cutting room of Barney Kettle by Kate De Goldi - YA - ABANDONED
How to be happy: a memoir of love, sex and teenage confusion by David Burton - YA award winner
Let's kill uncle by Rohan O'Grady
a thousand nights by E.K. Johnston
13 hours in Benghazi by Mitchell Zuckoff
Theophillis Grey and the demon thief by Catherine Jinks
Where the bird sings best by Alejandro Jodorowsky
The Rider on the White Horse by Theodor Storm
The Kingdom and the cave by Joan Aiken

three going back to the library that I still want to read:
The distant marvels by Chantel Acevedo
Alexandrian Summer by Yitzhak Gormezano Goren
The girl from the garden by Parnz Foroutan

184avatiakh
marraskuu 2, 2015, 12:35 am


202) Books do furnish a room by Anthony Powell (1971)
fiction
And so I continue the Dance to the music of Time series with book #10. It's now after the war and Nick gets back into writing and publishing. I'm listening to an audio of these last three books, 2 to go.

185avatiakh
marraskuu 2, 2015, 12:46 pm


203) Cairo by W.Willow Wilson (2007)
graphic novel
A highly imaginative tale of djinns and myth set in modern Cairo.

186avatiakh
marraskuu 6, 2015, 2:03 pm


204) The kingdom and the cave by Joan Nathan (1960)
children's fiction
Lovely magical story about a young prince, a talking cat and horse who save their kingdom from the Underpeople. I read it after coming across an article a few weeks ago about how the book is to be republished. It was Aiken’s first novel, written when she was 17.


205) The wolf wilder by Katherine Rundell (2015)
children's fiction
Took my time with this one as I wanted to stretch out my enjoyment for a few days. Feo and her mother are Wolf Wilders, they take wolves who have been pets in Russian aristocratic households but no longer wanted and train them to live in the wild. The story is set during the winter when the country is on the cusp of revolution.
I liked Rundell's Rooftoppers but enjoyed this one much more. I ended up buying my own copy as the library hardback edition was not illustrated and the paperback edition has beautiful illustrations by Gelrev Ongbico throughout.
There's a good article about Ongbico's work for the book here: http://tygertale.com/2015/09/23/katherine-rundells-the-wolf-wilder-by-gelrev-ong...
Tygertale: Although Gelrev didn’t work directly with Katherine Rundell there were unexpected overlaps between her vision for the book and Gelrev’s realisation. ‘This is the photo that gave me the idea of Feo asleep in a pile of wolves‘, she writes.
_
And this was Gelrev’s finished image. ‘As far as I know, Gelrev never saw the photo – just a lovely coincidence’ says Katherine.

187ronincats
marraskuu 6, 2015, 3:01 pm

Thanks so much, Kerry, for the update on your kitty--how is he doing now that he's had time to settle back in?

Just read my first G. Willow Wilson, not a GN but a regular novel, Alif the Unseen, and really enjoyed it.

188avatiakh
marraskuu 6, 2015, 3:38 pm

Our black cat, Morrigan, went missing on Halloween and came back six days later just after all the fireworks our neighbours set off in celebration of Guy Fawkes on November 5. He had some nasty gashes on his back leg and looked as if he hadn't eaten for some time. We took him to the vet yesterday to get checked out, so he's now on antibiotics and we know there is a very nasty neighbourhood cat going around beating up the local felines including both of our cats.

We couldn't find Morri yesterday afternoon and again in the evening but finally saw that he has reverted to staying in a 'safe' place which is in the lining of our footstool, both cats loved going under and then climbing into this when they were kittens. I thought they would be too big for this but they must still fit into the space. Our late (and very much missed) beagle ripped an opening in the lining and used to hide there when she was a puppy.

189avatiakh
marraskuu 6, 2015, 3:42 pm

>187 ronincats: Update above. He's fine and starting to get some of his bounce back when we do see him. He's back in the footstool this morning after I gave him the daily pill. A relief to know where he is, last night I was getting worried as we hadn't seen him for several hours.
We're pretty sure we know the 'bully' cat, it comes up our driveway from time to time during the day.

190ronincats
marraskuu 6, 2015, 4:01 pm

>189 avatiakh: Got a hose with a spray nozzle handy?

191avatiakh
marraskuu 6, 2015, 4:20 pm

192souloftherose
marraskuu 7, 2015, 4:35 am

>142 avatiakh: Glad you enjoyed The Secrets of the Wild Wood - I will have to reserve it at the library. I enjoyed the interview with Tonke Dragt although her description of the nursing home left me feeling quite sad:

'They’re trying their best here, but sometimes I get really fed up with everything. That I’ve got physical difficulties, that’s clear, but sometimes they treat me as if my mind isn’t good either. They only believe I’ve written books when it is in the newspapers.’

>159 avatiakh: I loved the original What Katy Did books so will try Jacqueline Wilson's retelling. It struck me recently how many older children's books are based around children who have long illnesses in a way that I don't think modern children's stories often are (I'm thinking of books like Tom's Midnight Garden, A Traveller in Time, Marianne Dreams etc.).

>171 avatiakh: Those quotes made me chuckle!

>186 avatiakh: Glad you enjoyed The Kingdom and the Cave - that one's on my wishlist and I'm glad they're republishing some of Aiken's work in new editions.

>186 avatiakh: The Wolf Wilder has gone on the library list and I'm happy to see they have the editions with the illustrations by Gelrev Ongbic.

>188 avatiakh: Glad to hear Morrigan's back although sorry to hear that he's been hurt and that your cats are being bullied by another cat :-(

193avatiakh
marraskuu 7, 2015, 4:49 am


206) The Flavor of Jerusalem: international recipes from the many cuisines of the sacred city by Joan Nathan & Judy Stacey Goldman (1974)
cookbook
This is an interesting glimpse into the diversity of Jerusalem. Nathan & Goldman, both journalists, went around the city and outlying villages and interviewed a huge number of the city's inhabitants and collected special recipes. The 1970s was a period when the city was finally unified and the people were living together in optimistic harmony. While I knew that Jerusalem is the home to people from all round the world the book was still a revelation. Reading about each person, family or special tradition was really interesting. I probably learnt most about the different Christian denominations, so many including a long history of Ethiopian monks going back to the birth of Christianity. I've taken note of a few recipes.
The most memorable meal I've had in Jerusalem was in a small Kurdish restaurant about 15 years ago.
I'll now be able to read and cook from Ottolenghi's Jerusalem: a cookbook with a little more insight into the diversity of flavours.

194avatiakh
marraskuu 7, 2015, 5:24 am

>192 souloftherose: Hi Heather. Thanks for visiting. The Wolf Wilder is quite delightful. I loved the wolves and all the snow.
I'm adding here a link I posted on Ilana's thread, you'll probably enjoy this glimpse into book cover design as well.

Here's a link to a youtube clip on one of the cover designers for Penguin books, Coralie Bickford-Smith. The clip shows her design work before focusing on the illustrations in her own book.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qiP9qMc-Hg

I really adored What Katy Did and so when I first started reading Wilson's book I was a bit judgemental, but overall I think she did a real stellar job. Agree on those older books with the invalids - Marianne Dreams was really good.

Yes, so relieved he's back. He spent part of the afternoon in the garden, but is now back inside our footstool. We're all finding it rather hilarious that he's hidden himself in such a ridiculous place.

195PaulCranswick
marraskuu 7, 2015, 5:43 am

>193 avatiakh: That is one for Hani, Kerry. She collects books about cooking and food with almost as much avidity as I do generally.

Have a lovely weekend.

196avatiakh
Muokkaaja: marraskuu 7, 2015, 6:10 am

Paul, it's a bit dated, many of the recipes are fairly basic or forgettable especially the ones from the diplomats and politicians, it's the stories about the people that make the book interesting.
If you want to get an Israeli cookbook, I'd go for one by Janna Gur or Zahav. I've got Zahav home from the library at present and it is a beauty. Or just go for Jerusalem: a cookbook. The food from Israel is a wonderful blend of local, regional, Sephardi and East European. I'm a cookbook collector as well.

http://www.jannagur.com/
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/07/dining/cookbook-review-zahav-michael-solomonov...

197avatiakh
Muokkaaja: marraskuu 7, 2015, 7:41 pm


207) Trotsky: a graphic biography by Rick Geary (2009)
GN / nonfiction
I got it into my head to read some of these graphic adaptions of biographies. I have a Che one home from the library, though my initial enthusiasm has waned somewhat. Anyway this gives a brief overview of Trotsky's life and the illustrations are superb. Just that I probably need some more 'meat in the sandwich' than what i'm getting from 130pgs of comic strip bio.


208) How to be happy: a memoir of love, sex and teenage confusion by David Burton (2015)
YA nonfiction
This won last year's Text Prize for a YA manuscript which is why it came to my attention. Unusual in that it's a memoir rather than a work of fiction, but an incredibly strong, raw and powerful coming of age story that needs no fictional embellishment. Burton suffered from depression and anxiety as a young child, his younger twin brothers both diagnosed with Aspergers Syndrome (they communicate using lines from popular culture tv shows), both parents on anti depressive medication. So, when he starts high school, every day for for Dave is an act. The first part of the book is about his high school life and how debating and drama classes saved him from staying a loner with no friends, though the act goes on. Only at the midway point do we realise that he's living a lie, when he starts to detail how withdrawn with his own family, all the energy of the highschool day is draining. Then he gets really confused by sexuality issues and thinks he's probably gay.
This exploration of his sexuality is so frank and honest as he finds himself unable to identify with the 'strong dominant male' idea in a hetero relationship but abhors the lack of monogamy and flamboyance seemingly expected in the gay community. He comes out in the final weeks of high school, though several years later 'comes in'.
What I really liked about this was that instead of finishing at highschool graduation the book goes on, in less detail perhaps but covers his university years, his first real (disastrous) relationship, rebuilding his life and learning to be himself through therapy and the support of his friends. The book finishes with a welcome short recap on what happened to the many people he encountered on his journey. Very wonderful and funny too, not a promiscuous book at all, just an honest one, he doesn't have his first kiss till he's at university and that is during a bottle game.

Also his father gave him a copy of John Marsden's Secret Men's Business, Manhood: The Big Gig which I'd not heard of but now want to read.

198avatiakh
marraskuu 9, 2015, 11:53 pm


209) The Ambassador by Yehuda Avner & Matt Rees (2015)
fiction
An alternate history of WW2. Here Avner & Rees consider what could have happened had Israel come into existence 10 years earlier, in 1938 rather than 1948. Ambassador Dan Lavi is sent to Germany in 1938, his role is to aid Jewish immigration from Germany to Israel. He must liaise with Eichmann who runs the Office for Jewish Emigration.
With the War of Independence over, Israel is almost immediately caught in a no-win situation. The Germans demand that Israel remains neutral, if Ben-Gurion sides with the Allies then the Nazis will cease all Jewish emigration from German-controlled areas. The British demand that Israel sides with them, otherwise they'll be forced to invade Israel in order to protect the Suez Canal.

I loved the texture of the paper in this quality hardback novel, a joy to read. I do feel that the cover is a little unappealing and only those seeking it out will pick it up. I enjoyed this story, the writers kept as close as they could to actual events up to the Wannsee Conference.

199avatiakh
marraskuu 10, 2015, 8:13 pm


210) Let's kill Uncle by Rohan O'Grady (1963)
fiction
Suzanne recommended this a few years back and I finally read it. What fun! I loved One Ear, the cougar. I loved the two children, and Uncle was a great villain. All set on a remote island off the coast of Canada.

200avatiakh
marraskuu 11, 2015, 1:25 am


displaced visions:: Emigre Photographers of the 20th Century by Nissan N. Perez (others)
photography

Book is from an exhibition at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. There is an interesting essay about the earlier practitioners of photography and how 'many of these pioneers were immigrants - people displaced by choice or, quite often, by necessity. These photographers became observers and interpreters of their new surroundings through the filters of their different cultures, languages and religions. Photography in the 20th century (particularly the Modernist vision) is deeply indebted to them.
Photography in the 20th century (particularly the Modernist vision) is deeply indebted to them.
Displaced Visions reconsiders the work and influence of key figures in modernist photography from the point of view of their status as immigrants, considering how this condition affected their vision and creativity and enhanced the development of the photographic language in general. ' from publisher's website

Standout photos included a great one of a younger Dali by Luis Bunuel.

201avatiakh
Muokkaaja: marraskuu 11, 2015, 4:59 am


Israel: 50 years as seen by Magnum photographers (1998)
photography
Impressive selection of photographs taken from 1948 to 1997 in Israel. Each decade is preceded by memories and impressions by the featured photographers chosen to represent that decade. One of the memorable ones was from Micha Bar Am, who recalled being in Haifa 50 years earlier, watching the British troops leaving. He was on the rooftop of the Haifa Port Authority and watched a photographer shooting pictures at every possible angle. He looked up and they made eye contact. Years later he found himself at age 17 in a photo from that day, the photographer had been Robert Capa.


“In 1966, while working on a feature about a Picasso exhibition at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, I recorded the pre-opening preparations and observed a moment: One of the cleaners stopped, puzzled, in front of the Picassos—Micha Bar-Am

David Chim, 1952 - Wedding under an improvised huppah made with guns and pitchforks, Israel

Robert Capa, 1950 - Jewish refugee child from an Arab country in absorption camp near Haifa.

There's a selection of these photos at the Magnum website: http://www.magnumphotos.com/C.aspx?VP3=SearchResult&ALID=29YL53GEXPE

202charl08
marraskuu 11, 2015, 5:46 am

They're all strIking images but the one with the lady in front of the Picasso is just perfect.

I'm really tempted by your book about émigré photographers. I read about photographers in the African coastal towns in the 19c and it's an interesting interpretation to put on their work too.

203FAMeulstee
marraskuu 11, 2015, 8:27 am

>186 avatiakh: hope The wolf wilder will be translated one day, as I LOVE the pile of wolves images ;-)

204msf59
marraskuu 11, 2015, 8:31 am

Hi Kerry! Just checking in. I see you are doing some fine reading. I am glad you enjoyed Honor girl. I also found it refreshing. I will have to request Cairo and Arcadia, also sounds very good.

And speaking of GNs: The Story of My Tits was excellent. Hope you can find it.

205avatiakh
marraskuu 11, 2015, 4:25 pm

>202 charl08: It's definitely one to get from the library. The later photos become quite surrealistic and there are also some on industrial architecture which aren't as interesting imo. The earlier part of the book focuses on street scenes and portraits which is more my thing.

>203 FAMeulstee: Anita, it has just come out so hopefully will eventually make its way to Holland. I still can't believe that the hardback edition is minus the illustrations.

>204 msf59: Have requested the 'tit' book from the library, what a title!

206msf59
marraskuu 11, 2015, 5:12 pm

Check out my mini-review of "Tits", when you get a chance. It will give you a better idea, what it's about.

207avatiakh
Muokkaaja: marraskuu 11, 2015, 9:27 pm


The Palestinians: photographs of a land, its people from 1839 to the present day by Elias Sanbar (2014)
photography

This was first published in French in 2004 and Hazan publishing has done this English edition more recently. Elias Sanbar is a Palestinian historian, poet, essayist and currently the Palestinian ambassador to UNESCO. There is a long rather rambling essay Out of time, out of place where Sanbar explains the themes of the various sections. As it focuses on the history of photography in Palestine of the 19th and early 20th century, the early sections are mostly photographs of landscapes, biblical settings and stereoscopic images such as most of us would be familiar with from postcards of those eras. I'm currently reading The storyteller of Jerusalem: The Life and Times of Wasif Jawhariyyeh, 1904-1948 and was looking forward to seeing the life in Jerusalem that he writes about but the focus of this photography book does not provide such an insight into daily life during the Ottoman era or the British mandate period.

Overall it is in some ways a disappointing book despite the promise of the cover and quality and size of the book. My first disappointment is that there is not enough detail in the captions for the photos considering it is a history of photography. Many photos are not dated or the caption is fairly vague or the photographer credited as anonymous. There is not enough information on the photographers themselves and many photos I've seen before on the internet.
The last part of the book focuses on Palestinians as refugees. Missing are the photographs of the Israeli Arabs who stayed in Israel. The review I linked to below considers that at this point Sanbar's book becomes autobiographical.

There is a selection of photographs where the UNRWA photographers tried to draw a parallel with the biblical Israelites by posing refugees in biblical scenes. 'Virgin and Child': Palestinian refugees resemble all other refugees, but their country is like none other. This is the special 'touch' of the UNRWA photographers: by approaching this reality with 'the eyes of the Gospel', over the years they have produced an impressive gallery of 'Virgins and children' and scenes from the life of the Holy Family on its flight into Egypt' - from the text
I can't find examples of these images on the internet as the UNRWA photo archive is currently offline until 2016.

There is an excellent review of the book by Issam Nassar, a Palestinian historian of photography and the Middle East, in Frame by Frame magazine: http://www.palestine-studies.org/sites/default/files/jq-articles/31_nassar_1.pdf


Tiberias

Bedouin Encampment at Capernaum, 1893

Bedouins from Jericho by Bonfils, c.1876-85

The Jews wailing place, a friday. Bonfils, circa 1880s.

I'm now waiting for a copy of Revealing the Holy Land: The Photographic Exploration of Palestine by Kathleen Howe to arrive. It's an older book but promises to give more information on these earlier photographers. My disappointment with the above book might in some way be from the anticipation I had while I waited for my library to obtain the order. When I tried for an interloan copy I was informed that there were no copies available in New Zealand so it was suggested that I ask the library to purchase a copy which I went ahead and did. The book is a valuable archival resource as it collates so many early photos, just a shame that 99% of these are of barren, abandoned landscapes.

208avatiakh
marraskuu 12, 2015, 5:13 am


My son's band, The Essential Tremor, has put out two singles recently. The name of the band came from Nick, the lead singer, who suffered from essential tremor after an injury to his arm. Anyway Alon plays both lead and bass guitar on these.
I really like this one, 'Curious' - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61j7I7lRU1M&feature=youtu.be
'It's over now' has a three weeks in 3 mins time elapse of flowers budding, blooming and then withering which is quite stunning - https://www.facebook.com/136941693120988/videos/536878639793956/?pnref=story

I got to listen to 'Curious' a lot as I voted for the song every day for a month which helped them win a $10,000 grant with NZ on Air.

209avatiakh
marraskuu 12, 2015, 3:49 pm


New Zealand Cafe Cookbook by Anna King Shahab (2015)
cookbook
This is probably the third cafe cookbook of this type I've looked through and probably the least appealing for me personally. Most of the cafes verge on restaurant-level and many of the featured recipes are for trendy main meals rather than interesting salads or sweeter fare. 'well-known food writer Anna stops off at a selection of the cafés she feels collectively reflect the very best of what’s going on in our café scene.'
Each entry gives a bio of the owners and that's generally interesting reading, a photo spread of the cafe itself, generally a few sentences describing the design and decor, popularity and history of building. I wondered why they included the very few cafes where they is no info on the owners, it sort of sticks out when there are so many quirky or passionate stories. I also didn't care that they included three cafes in my region that are part of the successful HIP group, why should a corporate group get three entries no matter how good their cafes are.

So I took note of a couple of simpler recipes to try: one for a green dressing that looks good and has been used in the Wholemeal Cafe for many years -
Wholemeal Cafe, Takaka - Place all ingredients except oil in food processor & blend to smooth paste - 1 large handful flat-leaf parsley; 1 small handful other green herb - basil, mint, or tarragon; 1/2 c cider vinegar; 4 pickled gerkins; 2 cloves garlic; 1 tbspn mustard; 1 medium cucumber, chopped; 1 tsp salt.
With machine still running, slowly add 1/2-1 cup olive oil & blend till well emulsified and thick and creamy.

The Boatshed Salted Peanut Caramel Slice recipe from Queenstown, NZ:
Base: 200gms biscuit crumbs & 125gms melted butter, put in greased tin and chill.
Mix 1 can sweetened condensed milk, 1/2 c brown sugar, 2 tblsp golden syrup over heat till sugar dissolves. Add 250g roughly chopped salted peanuts.
Bake 25 mins 180C until golden brown. Cool before slicing.

Overall though I see it more as a foodie book, one to take note of the actual cafes and visit them rather than trying out their special recipes in your own home. I really liked the story of Lukes Kitchen, it's in Kuaotunu, Coromandel so a bit remote for me at present - http://www.lukeskitchen.co.nz/
For NZers here are 5 of the cafes: http://www.viva.co.nz/article/food-drink/favourite-cafes-5-great-holiday-brunch-...

210Whisper1
marraskuu 12, 2015, 4:25 pm

>148 avatiakh: Hi! I should have been more specific. I added two of the books in the list, including Childhood and The Big Lie.

I am very impressed with your ability to read so many books.

211FAMeulstee
Muokkaaja: marraskuu 13, 2015, 9:14 am

>208 avatiakh: Wow, that sounds good!

I like 'Curious' too, I would like to have a CD from The Essential Tremor, so I hope it comes available over here.
The other clip is very good too and I liked both on YouTube ;-)
They sound a bit like the German metalband 'Rammstein'...

212avatiakh
marraskuu 13, 2015, 2:52 pm

Thanks Anita. They're hoping to get some radio play in the next week or so. A couple of the band work behind cameras in the tv world so love the chance to get creative with their own stuff. I think Alon knows about Rammstein so I'll tell him that.

A little plug for The Netherlands: Ekseption is one of my favourite bands from the 1970s.

213avatiakh
Muokkaaja: marraskuu 14, 2015, 8:31 pm

>210 Whisper1: Linda, you should enjoy both of those.


Only a donkey by Celeste Williams (2007)
picturebook, Australia
One of the reasons I read this was because I love the work of illustrator, Patricia Mullins. I found out a few years ago that Mullins who has illustrated several beautiful picturebooks featuring horses, is also involved in the restoration of wooden carousel horses. http://patriciamullins.com.au/Restoration.html
This is a lovely ANZAC story told from the pov of farmyard animals. The donkey is teased, he's 'only a donkey', ridiculed especially by the big brawny bull.
The donkey has a dream and so they all set out on a journey eventually arriving at a statue of a donkey. They learn that this commemorates a donkey that served at Gallipoli in WW1 bringing the injured down a cliff under fire to the beach to be treated and hopefully evacuated out to ships. The various animals are a much more compassionate bunch on the return journey and the donkey never hears, 'only a donkey' again.
There is a big market each year here in Australia/New Zealand for children's books around ANZAC Day commemorating our participation in WW1 & 2.

_


Ms Marvel by G. Willow Wilson (2014)
graphic novel
A story about a Muslim girl who gains superpowers but has to deal with family life rather than villains. It's the first of a series and was quite good. I especially enjoyed the depiction of her family. This is the first in a series.


211) Can't we talk about something pleasant? by Roz Chast
graphic memoir
A good followup read to Being mortal. Chast tells us about the last few years of her parents' lives and how they manage, she manages and with flashbacks to earlier years. Her parents lived into their 90s so were very entrenched in their ways by the time they needed care.

214jnwelch
marraskuu 13, 2015, 4:33 pm

Oh good, I'm glad you liked Ms. Marvel and Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant, Kerry. Me, too. The two after that first Ms. Marvel also are good. I love that a Muslim girl is the hero and, like you, especially enjoy the depiction of her family.

215PaulCranswick
marraskuu 13, 2015, 7:23 pm

As usual the array of genres here is a pleasure to behold, Kerry.

The juxtaposition of the Israel/Palestine photographic 'histories' is particularly interesting and whatever one's views on the rights and wrongs in that part of the world one cannot help but admire the tenacity of those that forged the state of Israel from such unpromising beginnings and continue to persevere whilst surrounded by those who would only wish them ill.

Have a lovely weekend.

216avatiakh
marraskuu 13, 2015, 9:29 pm

>214 jnwelch: Thanks Joe, I'll have to check out the other MS Marvels. I collected a couple of books from the library this morning, The Arab of the Future by Riad Sattouf, a graphic memoir by an ex-Charlie Hebdo illustrator. He's French-Syrian and grew up mostly in Libya. So far I'm enjoying it. Also a children's graphic novel, An Anzac Tale about Gallipoli. The Australian soldiers are kangaroos, their officers are cockatoos, the Egyptians are cats and the Turks are cougars. The artwork is very good and those kangaroos look fierce.

>215 PaulCranswick: Hi Paul. Yes, I do like to mix my genres up. Once I had the Sanbar book of photographs finally in my hand, I felt the need to look at an Israeli perspective at the same time. My library came up with the Magnum book. I was delighted to see so many photos from David Chim and Robert Capa, both I'm familiar with from their work during the Spanish Civil War.

217avatiakh
marraskuu 14, 2015, 3:23 pm


An ANZAC Tale by Ruth Starke (2013)
graphic novel
Oh, this was unexpectedly a quite brilliant read. I got sucked in by the book cover when browsing a Pinterest board on ANZAC teaching resources, the teacher had repinned one of my pins and so I visited back and was rewarded with many interesting links and books.
I didn't notice from the cover image that the Australians were going to be depicted as muscled kangaroos, but how apt. I also thought I was getting a picturebook story, but ended up with a graphic novel for approx 10-14yrs. The book follows the fortunes of two outback friends as they enlist at the start of WW1 and end up in Gallipoli. The book finished with the withdrawal of the troops and a small speech bubble - 'Why would any Australian want to come to Gallipoli?', turn the page to a double page spread of our present day annual commemoration ceremony at Gallipoli, which is wonderfully striking way to finish. There is also a timeline.

The depiction of battle is not for all tastes, I always feel that it is respectful for those who died for our freedoms to read as much as possible about war and those who fought.

Ok, the illustrations are bloody brilliant. I've not heard of Greg Holfeld before.
http://gregholfeld.com/

Australians = kangaroos, koalas
Officers = cockatoos and other birds
Egyptians = cats
Turks = cougars



shame I can't find any images from his 'blue' pages, not many images from the book available online.

218avatiakh
Muokkaaja: marraskuu 14, 2015, 3:27 pm


'Because of them'
Not sure who did this illustration, the blog where I took it from says it might be a Turkish illustrator.

219avatiakh
Muokkaaja: marraskuu 14, 2015, 7:25 pm


The Pillbox by David Hughes (2015)
graphic novel
I saw this on display at the library and brought it home for a quick read. A trifle disturbing and with an illustration style that is sophisticated in some ways yet grotesque, think Ralph Steadman.
A boy on a seaside holiday stumbles into a ghost story from World War Two, unsettling ghost story that involves paedophilia, murder, innocent man sent to the gallows and a betrayal of a grieving family.
So not one i'll be recommending unless you like the odd and bizarre.

Here's a quote from Savidge Reads: 'I personally didn’t love the artwork yet I was mesmerised in a slightly haunted way by it, it captured my attention whilst also making me want to look away – a lot like some of the upsetting parts of the book as you read on. I loved how he uses colours around the emotions and feelings going on in the book when no one is speaking though. So I am conflicted between thinking this book wasn’t for me at all, yet also founding it deeply affecting and disturbing and won’t forget it in a hurry. Creepy and odd.'
https://savidgereads.wordpress.com/category/david-hughes/

Guardian review: http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/jul/19/the-pillbox-david-hughes-review



These are some of the friendlier illustrations

220charl08
marraskuu 15, 2015, 7:57 am

An Anzac Tale sounds like a great idea for helping young people understand WW1. I read The Harlem Hellfighters GN based on the African American group recruited to fight in WW1 earlier in the year and I learnt a lot that I hadn't known about the experiences of troops during that campaign.

221msf59
marraskuu 15, 2015, 8:10 am

Happy Sunday, Kerry. Love all the GN reads! Glad you got to the Chast memoir. One of my favorites. "The Pillbox" sounds very disturbing. Even for me.

I am currently enjoying Baba Yaga's Assistant. Have you read that one?

222jnwelch
marraskuu 15, 2015, 2:03 pm

An Anzac Tale sounds and looks quite intriguing, Kerry. Unfortunately, it looks like it's not available here. The only one of hers I found here so far is The Twist in the Tale.

223avatiakh
marraskuu 15, 2015, 4:00 pm

>220 charl08: I got the Harlem Hellfighters out from the library when I saw mention of it on LT, but was one of many I took back unread, as lately I've been feeling rather overwhelmed by all the library books I have piled up here at home. I really have to get my reading focused on books I own, my mantra for 2016.

>222 jnwelch: I can't see An ANZAC Tale getting much track on the international market, it's very much a book for Australia/NZ. I looked up the illustrator but didn't think to look at more by Starke. I'll have to check her out.

224avatiakh
marraskuu 15, 2015, 4:08 pm

>222 jnwelch: I see that I read and enjoyed her YA novel Fill out this application and wait over there a few years back. I remember that it was rather hilarious about a teen working retail through her gap year.

225jnwelch
marraskuu 15, 2015, 5:34 pm

>224 avatiakh: I'll look for that one, too, thanks.

226kidzdoc
marraskuu 16, 2015, 8:18 am

I really have to get my reading focused on books I own, my mantra for 2016.

Same here (although I seem to say that every year).

227avatiakh
marraskuu 18, 2015, 11:30 pm

Hi Darryl. Yeah, I seem to be reading only library books these past few weeks.

228avatiakh
Muokkaaja: marraskuu 19, 2015, 1:12 am


212) a thousand nights by E.K. Johnston (2015)
YA fiction
This is a retelling of the Arabian Nights. Taking note that Johnston is a forensic archaeologist who has spent time in Jordan, I felt that the descriptions of the desert, the folklore and life in the desert were really well done.

The story is about a young woman who gets herself chosen as the new bride of the prince in order to save the life of her more beautiful sister. Most brides rarely last 24 hours but this time it's a little different, the magic of the desert is part of the strength of the new bride and she will need it to defeat the djiin who has taken resident in the prince.
Something I didn't notice as I was reading this is that the only named character is the prince. Overall there is a lurking malice in the story that almost takes over the narrative, the evil to be defeated seems almost overwhelming, but Johnston is a great storyteller and weaves a magical ending.

I'm now looking forward to reading the other new release covering the same territory The Wrath and the Dawn. I'm also itching to get to Johnston's Prairie Fire which continues to tell the story of Owen.

229avatiakh
marraskuu 19, 2015, 1:28 am


213) The Arab of the Future by Riaf Sattouf (2015)
graphic memoir

I loved this, it's 'the unforgettable story of Riad Sattouf's childhood, spent in the shadows of 3 dictators—Muammar Gaddafi, Hafez al-Assad, and his father.'
His Syrian father is a student in Paris and meets a beautiful French student, they fall in love and get married. They have a child and the father gets his academic qualification, he can get a wonderful job anywhere but takes his family to Libya as he identifies with the new leader of Libya, Gaddafi. From there they end up living in the father's family village in Syria. It's tough in some ways being Riaf, he has beautiful curly blond hair so along with his non-Arabic speaking mother is bound to always be an outsider. The father is probably deluded.

What is portrayed is the utter poverty and desolation of living in these places. Everything is broken, unfinished (to avoid taxes sometimes) or polluted and one wonders why the family just doesn't stay in France, well the father is the one making the decisions. And it is funny, Sattouf finds many funny moments, Seinfeld-style perhaps but enough to make this highly enjoyable.

Sattouf was an artist for Charlie Hebdo for ten years, 2004-2014.

230avatiakh
Muokkaaja: marraskuu 19, 2015, 1:43 am


214) Railhead by Philip Reeve (2015)
YA scifi

Another great read, one I've been looking forward to since first hearing about the book. It's scifi, set off earth. Reeve puts us in a new era where planets across the universe are linked by gates and travel is by rail. The story is exciting and nonstop action. I'm really hoping that he continues with this and doesn't leave it at just one book.

I picked up another YA scifi from the library that also has drawn me in, Way down dark.

ok, time to say what I didn't finish - library books that I decided not to continue with:
Che: a graphic biography- I've read The Motorcycle Diaries and this was not anywhere near as interesting.
From the Cutting Room of Barney Kettle by Kate De Goldi - I didn't much like The 10pm Question and I felt that this was in the same vein of present day setting but feeling that it's set in the 1950s.

231avatiakh
marraskuu 20, 2015, 4:18 pm


215) Career of evil by Robert Galbraith (2015)
fiction
Cormoran Strike #3 and a very good one at that. I dived in and didn't take a break till it was all over.

232PaulCranswick
marraskuu 20, 2015, 7:12 pm

>229 avatiakh: Well, Kerry, I have never read a graphic novel or memoir but that looks like one I may care to try. Not sure that I will be able to find it in the shops here but I will certainly look it up.
Have a lovely weekend.

233avatiakh
marraskuu 20, 2015, 8:28 pm

Hi Paul - you will probably enjoy this format especially for memoir, it's amazing how good a job visual art can do to convey an idea. I created a list - Middle East and Maghreb Graphic Novels that you might like to look at.
Arab of the Future has just come out in English so is probably hard to find at present, I'm lucky that my library accepted my 'recommend a purchase'.

234avatiakh
marraskuu 20, 2015, 11:41 pm


216) The Dharma Punks by Ant Sang (2014)
graphic novel
Ok, this didn't hit the spot so much for me but it does for many other people. Ant Sang wrote a 8 part comic ten years or so ago and has long been out of print but thanks to a kickstarter campaign the 8 installments have been collected in one volume with an intro by Elizabeth Knox. It's set in 1980s Auckland, where I live and follows the exploits of 'Chopstick, an alienated young punk rocker' who along with other anarchist friends is plotting to make the opening of a multi-national fast-food family restaurant an explosive event. I still have his Shaolin Burning to read. Ant Sang is a fifth generation Chinese New Zealander and is well known for his work on the tv animation series Bro' Town.

http://www.antsang.co.nz/comics.htm

235avatiakh
marraskuu 23, 2015, 2:03 am


217) Way down dark by James Smythe (2015)
YA scifi
The first in The Australia Trilogy. The hype says that if you liked The Hunger Games you'll like this one. I went on after The Hunger Games and read The Inferior by Paedar O'Guilin which I ended up liking even more, it was on a list for post-Hunger Games readers. Way down dark has several twists in the plot so I won't say too much, except that it is action packed and with a strong female lead. Smythe has written several well received adult scifi novels that I've always meant to pick up and I'll probably do that while I await book 2 to come out.

236SandDune
marraskuu 23, 2015, 2:31 am

I'm looking forward to reading Railhead as well. Philip Reeve is a great writer.

237nittnut
marraskuu 23, 2015, 3:56 am

Just catching up and waving hello :).

238charl08
Muokkaaja: marraskuu 23, 2015, 10:04 am

Thanks for including the ones you didn't finish. I do this quite often with my library books (and it is nice to feel that I can just return them and maybe someone else will enjoy it more).

I've hardly read any on the list of gns you created, will have to do better.

239jnwelch
marraskuu 23, 2015, 9:27 am

>231 avatiakh: Glad to hear you had a good time with Career of Evil, Kerry. Me, too. Kudos to her for turning out to be a versatile writer.

240Whisper1
marraskuu 23, 2015, 9:59 am

>210 Whisper1: Illustrated books, and carousels, two of my favorite things! Thanks for pointing me in this direction.

241avatiakh
marraskuu 23, 2015, 9:50 pm


The Journey to Tunisia, 1914: Paul Klee, August Macke, Louis Moilliet by Zentrum Paul Klee (2014)
nonfiction
Ok, here's one I haven't read but just looked at the pictures. I'd like to read the text but life is short and I need to read some of my own books so...
It's a beautiful volume to accompany the Museum Zentrum Paul Klee's exhibition to mark the centenary of Klee's trip to Tunisia. While Klee, Macke and Moilliet were only in Tunisia for two weeks, the trip was a very important step in Klee's development as an artist and for modernist art. The book not only contains many examples of the art, but also beautiful sketches, some with light additions of watercolour, photos and pages from Klee's travel journal. Also examples of local art from Tunisia. Really beautiful, and if you love art I can see this as one to spend some time with.

'In the course of a stay in Tunisia that lasted just two weeks, Paul Klee produced 35 watercolours and 13 drawings, August Macke 33 watercolours and 79 drawings in three sketch books. Louis Moilliet was less productive in Tunisia, and produced his most important works during later stays in Morocco and Southern Spain. For Paul Klee Tunisia remained an important source of inspiration for a long time. He repeatedly drew inspiration from his memories of the trip or the pictures that arose from it, and even in the early 1930s he made over 20 works that refer to the event.

The Tunis trip is a key event in 20th-century art history. Since Ernst-Gerhard Güse’s 1982 exhibition and the catalogue produced to accompany it, now long out of print, new research has thrown up much new evidence. It sheds new light on the history and prehistory of the Tunis trip, as well as its after-effects, and illuminates the context, both historical and art-historical, of the birth of modern watercolour painting. Zentrum Paul Klee has taken on the task of re-examining and honouring the art-historically significant event in a comprehensive, art-historically grounded publication. All the works exhibited are given full-page illustrations of very high printing quality, thus allowing a wide audience to grasp the Tunis trip as a visual experience.' - Zentrum website


Zentrum Paul Klee is located in Berne, Switzerland.


Paul Klee, Hammamet, 1914

August Macke, Landschaft mit hellem Baum, 1914

'Of the stories that gathered around Klee perhaps none is more powerful than the one that he encouraged about his visit to Kairouan. ‘Colour and I are one’, he wrote in his diary, in response to his stay in the Tunisian town in April 1914. Though this comment may have been written later, the sentiment that Klee encouraged was that he ‘broke through’ from his skill as a draughtsman into colour during his North African trip. He even hinted that his Swiss mother might have had ancestors from the region, so powerful was the adventure. What is clear is that the experience of Kairouan, visited with the painters Auguste Macke and Louis Moilliet on the eve of the First World War, fuelled Klee’s work for years to come.' Tate Gallery

some images: http://www.orientaliststyle.com/blog/more-works-from-zentrum-paul-klee-bern-hund...
http://www.orientaliststyle.com/blog/the-journey-to-tunisia-klee-macke-moilliet-...

some more info: https://www.goethe.de/en/uun/akt/20465785.html

Just putting this post together makes me want to hold on to the book for a few more days. ZentrumPaul Klee goes on my to do list for the next time I'm in Switzerland for sure.

242avatiakh
Muokkaaja: marraskuu 23, 2015, 11:27 pm


Harry Miller's Run by David Almond (2015)
children's illustrated story

This story is very appealing. Almond sets his stories in Newcastle in the north of England and this story is no exception. Eleven year old Liam wants to train with his friends for the upcoming Junior Great North Run but his mum insists he comes with her for one last visit with their neighbour, old Harry who is about to enter a nursing home. They've been helping clear all the debris of his life and in this last visit they look through old photos with him. One photo is of a group of young friends at a nearby beach, and Old Harry tells the epic story of the big run of 13 miles he did one day with his friends when they were 11 yrs old. The illustrations by Salvatore Rubbino are delightful.
Almond wrote this for the Great North Run Culture which celebrates sport and art.
http://www.greatnorthrunculture.org/home

243avatiakh
Muokkaaja: marraskuu 23, 2015, 11:27 pm


My Gallipoli by Ruth Starke (2015)
YA graphic

After writing An ANZAC Tale Starke felt she had enough material for another book, this time using the firsthand accounts she'd read when doing research.
'I did far more research for An Anzac Tale than found its way into the book, and I found myself thinking about another Gallipoli book, one which focused on specific narrators who would explain what Gallipoli meant to them, from well-known names like war correspondent Charles Bean and the war artist George Lambert to the largely unknown individuals like the Sikhs of the Indian Mule Cart Corp and the heroic soldiers of the 6th Gurkha Rifles. Then, of course, there were the Turks, led by the brilliant Mustafa Kemal: what must it have been like for them in their trenches above the beach, watching the invaders pour off the landing crafts on April 25?' - RS
So each double page is dedicated to different participants, from both sides of the war, including the war artist, the nurse and the press correspondent. It's an interesting read, I'd never thought much about it, but learned that indigenous (Aborigine) Australians were barred from enlisting but in spite of this about 500 Aborigines did fight.
The art is by Robert Hannaford - 'Such was my interest in this project that it prompted me to go to the Gallipoli Peninsula myself, to see the landscape where soldiers of all nations fought and died for their country and their empire, and to take in the ‘mood’ of the place itself. As both a person and an artist, I found it impossible not to be stirred by the rugged terrain on which these people fought, or moved by the sight of the cemeteries and memorials to the thousands who died in that eight-month battle. This first-hand experience gave me an emotional (as well as a physical) background to Ruth’s poignant stories in My Gallipoli.' - RH

It's listed as a graphic book for teens, though it is really just an illustrated nonfiction book.

The book goes past the fighting and covers the forensic work done by the War Graves Commission so introduces other interesting aspects of the aftermath of war. There are notes at the back of the book giving information about on each double page focus.

244avatiakh
marraskuu 23, 2015, 11:35 pm


Uncle Peter's Amazing Chinese Wedding by Lenore Look (2006)
picturebook

Jenny is a bit upset that her favourite uncle is getting married. As the day advances we share her consternation at losing her uncle and apprehension about his wife-to-be, Stella and in the process the reader gets to see what happens at a traditional Chinese wedding. Jenny's fears are resolved before the night is out though not before she's sabotaged the important tea ceremony. Delightful illustrations by Yumi Heo.

245avatiakh
Muokkaaja: marraskuu 23, 2015, 11:45 pm


Lightning Jack by Glenda Millard (2012)
picturebook

I'm a fan of both Glenda Millard and illustrator, Patricia Mullins and so this book is a sure bet for me. Millard writes a beautiful lyrical narrative in the style of Banjo Patterson and Mullins' artwork is just stunning. Sam is at a muster of brumbies when he spots the most beautiful of all, a stallion that he names Lightning Jack and he goes for the ride of his life. I'll leave it at that except add the hint that Mullins is right into carousel horses.
Just beautiful and should be followed with Patterson's own The Man from Snowy River, the edition hat's illustrated by Freya Blackwood.

246avatiakh
marraskuu 24, 2015, 12:00 am

>236 SandDune: Hi Rhian - I was excited to finally get my hands on Railhead, I loved the Mortal Engines books too.

>237 nittnut: Jenn - hi

>238 charl08: Charlotte - I haven't read all the list, just tried to collect as many titles in one place for when I do feel like reading one. I recommend Jerusalem: The Story of a City and a Familyby Boaz Yakin as I'm assuming you've read Persepolis.

>239 jnwelch: Joe - yes, she's definitely getting into her stride with the crime writing. I really enjoyed that one.

>240 Whisper1: Hi Linda. I finally read Lightning Jack, especially good as the writer is a favourite of mine.

247souloftherose
marraskuu 24, 2015, 2:29 pm

>228 avatiakh: I've just taken a book bullet for A Thousand Nights by E. K. Johnston.

>230 avatiakh: Really pleased you enjoyed that one so much - it's near the top of my library list.

248avatiakh
Muokkaaja: marraskuu 25, 2015, 3:04 pm

The 2016 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards longlisted titles are:

Fiction:
____
___

The Antipodeans by Greg McGee (Upstart Press)
Astonished Dice: Collected Short Stories by Geoff Cochrane (Victoria University Press)
The Back of His Head by Patrick Evans (Victoria University Press)
Chappy by Patricia Grace (Penguin Random House)
The Chimes by Anna Smaill (Hodder & Stoughton)
Coming Rain by Stephen Daisley (Text Publishing)
The Invisible Mile by David Coventry (Victoria University Press)
The Legend of Winstone Blackhat by Tanya Moir (Penguin Random House)
The Pale North by Hamish Clayton (Penguin Random House)
Reach by Laurence Fearnley (Penguin Random House)

This is the first time in my memory that our NZ book awards has had a long list, usually we are presented with a limited short list, so kudos to the new sponsors for enabling the recognition of more talent.
There are three more awards; poetry, illustrated nonfiction & nonfiction.

I've read The Chimes which was also longlisted for the Booker Prize and have Pale North & The Legend of Winstone Blackhat on my tbr pile. I'm in the library queue for The Invisible Mile as it got a great review in the NZ Listener some months ago. Several others I'd like to read but have so much unread NZ fiction from the past to work through.

249avatiakh
marraskuu 25, 2015, 3:11 pm

>247 souloftherose: Heather - I hope you enjoy A thousand nights when you get to it. I like Johnston's writing. And Railhead is exciting.
I'm now reading Zeroes which feels like a YA version of the tv series, Heroes. It's not as enticing probably because it's set in a regular USA city. Also getting into Ancillary Justice which I'm enjoying but not able to devote my time to as yet.

250arubabookwoman
marraskuu 25, 2015, 3:24 pm

Paul Klee is one of my favorite artists (in fact if I had to pick just one favorite artist, it might be Klee) and Macke is also a favorite. I've not heard of Moilliet, so off to google him. In any event The Journey to Tunisia 1914 jumped straight to the wishlist.

251avatiakh
marraskuu 25, 2015, 4:25 pm

>250 arubabookwoman: Deborah - the Museum also published Paul Klee: Life and Work by Michael Baumgartner in 2013, so you should check that out also.


http://www.hatjecantz.de/paul-klee-2835-1.html

252avatiakh
Muokkaaja: marraskuu 26, 2015, 5:16 pm


218) Zeroes by Scott Westerfeld, Margo Lanagan & Deborah Biancotti (2015)
YA
I decided to read this as the idea of three writers, two of whom I really like, collaborating on a text is an interesting one and I wondered how it would pan out. Overall it's like a script for a tv series like Heroes, but only the teens have powers and they are all difficult powers. The most interesting one is Anon, who has the powers of 'invisibility' or just not being remembered which made for a pretty sucky childhood especially when his parents forgot about him when he had to go to hospital. The most useful is Flicker's power, she's blind but can see through other people's eyes. They're a group of 5 and call themselves the Zeroes. this particular adventure starts when Scam, who has a power of a persuasive voice (though he can't control what it says) gets in trouble with local drug dealers, while talking his way into a lift home.
Overall it is an entertaining read with some great characters.

253avatiakh
Muokkaaja: joulukuu 13, 2015, 2:55 am

December:

Really I'd like to just pull books off the shelves but in reality I still have library books dominating my reading time:

Temporary Kings by Anthony Powell - audio

Listed on TIOLI;

Challenge #2: Read a book that was on your list at the beginning the year as "to read in 2015"
Resurrection - Mandy Hager - bk #3

Challenge #3: Read a book that that has no red or green whatsoever on the front cover
The distant marvels - Chantel Acevedo - Cuban saga
Prairie Fire - E.K. Johnston - bk #2
The walled city - Esther David

Challenge #7: Read a book that is dedicated to a family member
Ancillary Justice (parents) - Ann Leckie
Asylum City (parents) - Liad Shoham - Israeli crime

Challenge #9: Read a book with the color blue on the cover
All the light we cannot see - Anthony Doerr
The boy who drew the future - Rhian Ivory - YA
The boy's own manual to being a proper Jew - Eli Glasman - Australian YA
Challenger Deep - Neal Shusterman - YA
A song or Ella Grey - David Almond - YA

Challenge #10: Rolling challenge: Read a book with a title starting with the next letter in Santa Claus
Arcadia - Lauren Groff
Carry On - Rainbow Rowell - YA -ABANDONED

Challenge #14: Finish a book you started before 01/Dec/15
The horses didn't come home - Pamela Rushby - YA
The storyteller of Jerusalem : the life and times of musician Wasif Jawhariyyeh, 1904-1948 - Wāṣif Jawharīyah
Temporary Kings - Anthony Powell - bk #11

Challenge #16: Read a book of nonfiction
The Cultural Revolution Cookbook - Sasha Gong - interesting

Others:

Illuminae by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff

254souloftherose
joulukuu 1, 2015, 3:05 am

>253 avatiakh: 'Really I'd like to just pull books off the shelves but in reality I still have library books dominating my reading time'

I'm in the same position, not helped by the fact that there are a number of books people have listed on December TIOLI challenges which I'd like to read and which will involve getting even more books out from the library in order to do so.....

255avatiakh
joulukuu 1, 2015, 3:13 am

Heather - only 4 books of mine in the above list, the rest are library books. And those that are mine are 1x kindle & 1 x audio so only two actual books of mine will be read.

256charl08
joulukuu 1, 2015, 3:24 am

That sounds like a lot of reading planned for December. Hope it all goes well.

257avatiakh
joulukuu 2, 2015, 5:25 am


219) Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie (2013)
scifi
Book #1 in the Imperial Radch trilogy/series. Most people who are going to read this have already read it. I've been guilty of having the book out from the library at least three times now so am pleased to have finally read it. It's good, interesting world building and I loved the relationship that slowly builds between Seivarden and Breq. I'll definitely read on.

258avatiakh
joulukuu 2, 2015, 5:26 am

>256 charl08: Hopefully I'll get through them, there's quite a bit of YA.

259jnwelch
joulukuu 2, 2015, 10:02 am

>257 avatiakh: I liked the second one, Ancillary Sword, even more than the first, Kerry, and I just raced out to pick up the third, Ancillary Mercy.

260FAMeulstee
joulukuu 2, 2015, 11:19 am

>257 avatiakh: Ancillary Justice looks promishing, haven't been in the library for years, but this might be a reason to go ;-)

261avatiakh
joulukuu 4, 2015, 7:35 am

>259 jnwelch: Good to know, I was wondering if they held up.

>260 FAMeulstee: Anita, I think you'll like these. Hope you're up to a library visit.

262avatiakh
Muokkaaja: joulukuu 5, 2015, 6:18 pm


220) Asylum City by Liad Shoham
crime
This was a new Israeli writer that I happened upon, he writes crime novels set in Tel Aviv. I really relished this one, I'm familiar with all the areas that the book was set in so could really picture the various locations.
An Israeli woman, an activist who works for the rights of the African illegals in Tel Aviv is found murdered and finding the killer is more complicated that it at first appears. The main character is a woman police detective.

263avatiakh
Muokkaaja: joulukuu 5, 2015, 6:21 pm


221) The storyteller of Jerusalem: The Life and Times of Wasif Jawhariyyeh, 1904-1948 by Wasif Jawhariyyeh (Eng 2013)
edited diaries
I came across mention of the diaries of Wasif Jawhariyyeh when reading Jerusalem: a biography by Simon Sebag Montefiore in the section about the British Mandate period. Jawhariyyeh was from one of the well known Greek Orthodox Christian families, he was a musician and civil servant. Montefiore accessed the diaries as edited by Palestinian scholars Salīm Tamārī &, Issam Nassar. These diaries were abridged and translated by Nada Elzeer into English only recently.
So The Storyteller of Jerusalem begins with two interesting introductory essays: Wasif Jawhariyyeh's Jerusalem by Tamari and From Ottomans to Arabs by Nassar and a foreword, Hearing Palestine by Rachel Beckies.

One of the reasons for the abridging of the diaries is to remove the excessive writings on music as Jawhariyyeh wrote endlessly about the playlists, the songs and the music he listened to and players who he was influenced by. Enough of this survives in the text to give you more than enough detail. Because he wrote his diaries up in the late 1940s after he left Jerusalem for Jericho, there are endless lists of people and extremely detailed descriptions of buildings and how they were placed in their immediate neighbourhood, the ownership of the buildings. At times this is quite tiresome though one can also see it as an act of remembrance. So I felt that as a reading experience the book could have been edited even more, though for academics searching for primary source material this detail could be invaluable.

So the text almost brings alive the late Ottoman period of Turkish rule in Jerusalem and also covers the full extent of the British Mandate period. Jawhariyyeh as a musician was extremely popular and invited to endless parties from all the social sectors of Jerusalem. From Montefiore's book I felt that this would be an illuminating read and in some ways it was. However there is always in the back of my mind that the material is only as good as the editors, what they choose to include and choose to leave out. I first noticed in an early section which is possibly headed 'Christian, Muslim & Jewish Festivals around Easter' - there are several paragraphs devoted to Easter for Christian Arabs and pilgrim visitors and also several paragraphs about Muslims sharing this festival at this time but the Jewish celebration of Passover gets only one fairly abrupt sentence. (Having read the book on kindle I find it impossible just to flick to the pages I want to refer back to)
Also the 1933 Arab Trade Exhibition is described as such a great success that the 'Zionists' who had been excluded from even visiting the exhibition decided to set up their own trade fair the following year, when in fact Jewish Palestinians had been doing trade fairs since the early 1920s. I was aware of this as I'd come across the Palestine poster project some years ago and enjoyed looking at the various styles of graphic design of the era including the posters for the Levant trade fairs.

Anyway Jerusalem's society parties sound incredibly hedonistic during the early Mandate period. Endless drinking to dawn, music, drugs, mistresses from an array of backgrounds, Russian, Armenian, Greek and Jewish. At first the Arab population welcomed the British and the overthrow of the oppressive Ottoman rule, though soon the tide turned against the British as Arab nationalism started to rise. Wasif's brother had been a gendarme in Beirut as part of his Ottoman conscription and on return to Jerusalem opened Cafe Jawhariyyeh, introducing the custom of serving mezze with drinks. Also of interest is how the Christian Arabs are educated almost as much in the Muslim traditions and religion as their own. There is no sign of dhimmitude in his descriptions though by 1922 (British Mandate census) the Jewish population was the majority at 33,000 and the Christian slightly edged out the Muslim population at 14,500 to 13,400.

Overall I'm pleased to have read this, many passages are extremely interesting and make me interested in reading more from this period of early to mid-century life in Israel/Palestine. There are several memoirs that I can track down, one by American, Bertha Spafford Vester, was referenced by Montefiore. On the other hand I felt that author's decision to leave Jerusalem as the Mandate was ending, influenced some of the tone of the book such as the Balfour Declaration always referred to as 'the sinister Balfour Declaration'. And always I felt that perhaps some of the passages concerning interaction with Jewish Jerusalemites has been excluded by either the editors or the translator... or not.

a selection of the books on this era I want to read include:
Soldiers' Tales: Two Palestinian Jewish Soldiers in the Ottoman Army during the First World War by Glenda Abramson - based on the diaries of two young Jerusalem Jews.
Our Jerusalem by Bertha Spafford Vester - hard to source
Rebels in the Holy Land: Mazkeret Batya, an Early Battleground for the Soul of Israel by Sam Finkel
Moses Montefiore: Jewish Liberator, Imperial Hero by Abigail Green - earlier period but interesting
Anonymous Soldiers: The Struggle for Israel, 1917-1947 by Bruce Hoffman
The Aaronsohn Saga by Shmuel Katz or Aaronsohn's Maps: The Untold Story of the Man Who Might Have Created Peace in the Middle East by Patricia Goldstone
and
The Reckoning: How the Killing of One Man Changed the Fate of the Promised Land by Patrick Bishop

264avatiakh
Muokkaaja: joulukuu 5, 2015, 6:53 pm

While looking for some of the titles in the list in the previous post I came across Matt Rees's top 10 novels set in the Arab world:
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/jan/13/matt-rees-novels-arab-world

Also for a look at Middle Eastern music, this performance by Israeli musicians for the movie 'The Ballad of the Weeping Spring' is fairly outstanding - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FA2Xku_THv0
From what I understand the music is Iranian.
also
http://faran-ensemble.com/about-us/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2X16HWbr87A

265avatiakh
Muokkaaja: joulukuu 5, 2015, 8:13 pm

My latest book haul cannot compare to Paul's though I'm very happy for all that:
charity shops -
Siege and storm bk 2 by Leigh Bardugo - on my list for 2016 so happy to find my own copy
The Beast's Garden by Kate Forsyth - her latest, a retelling of Beauty and the Beast fairy tale.
and from the bookshop
Wolf by wolf by Ryan Graudin - YA alt history, 1st in new series, the Nazis won. Described as Code Name Verity meets Inglorious Bastards.

Library sale table:
Behind the beautiful forevers by Katherine Boo
The Elegant Economist by Eliza Acton - food writing from the early 1800s
Marc Chagall by Jonathan Wilson - attractive looking bio
5 minds for the future by Howard Gardner
Embroidery from Palestine by Shelagh Weir
The companion guide to Rome by Georgina Masson, revised & updated

266avatiakh
Muokkaaja: joulukuu 6, 2015, 12:10 am


222) The horses didn't come home by Pamela Rushby (2012)
YA
Well, the title tells all. This novel is about the last great cavalry charge which took place at Beersheva during WW1 and is a great story. Two 16 yr old friends, Harry and Jack sign up for the Australian Light Horse when war breaks out. They're young but great horsemen. On the morning of departure, Harry's horse is found to be lame, so he takes his younger sister's horse, Bunty, who proves her mettle time and time again. I loved that Bunty writes letters to to Laura, the sister.
The author takes pains keep the storyline as close to the true events and there are many little details that make this an interesting read. I learnt that poet Banjo Patterson who arrived in Europe as a journalist was conscripted to help train horses arriving in Egypt straight from the Australian outback.
The end is terribly sad, the horses couldn't be repatriated to Australia or New Zealand, there were too many and they would all have had to be quarantined for many months on arrival. It was enough to get the soldiers home.

From the book -'By the end of 1918 there were 13,500 walers (Australian brumbies) in the Middle East. 2,000 injured and old horses were shot. Another 250 were destroyed 'without permission' (the fate of Bunty) as their riders couldn't bear to see them sold to the Arabs and used as carthorses. The rest were either sold or taken by the Indian and British Army, their fate unknown once these armies left Egypt. In 1930 an Englishwoman visiting Cairo was horrified to see these ex-cavalry horses being used to pull heavy loads or pull carriages. Many in appalling condition, emaciated, underfed, overworked and often badly treated. She went back to England and started a charity to set up a hospital for horses in Cairo, The Old War Horse Memorial Hospital.'
http://www.thebrooke.org/about-us/our-history/letter-to-the-telegraph

http://www.lighthorse.org.au/resources/history-of-the-australian-light-horse/the...
http://www.nzmr.org/alh.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Light_Horse


Monument in Beersheva

267charl08
joulukuu 6, 2015, 7:44 am

I've downloaded Asylum City, hope to get to it soon. I'm wondering if the North Run book might suit my godson. He's not ten yet but is reading around that level. I'm never sure if it's better to give him the voucher and let him choose himself though (on the basis that he might know his on interests better than I do). Tempted to get him some Anne Fine as I loved these at his age, but not sure if he will be able to get them at school so way that they will be duplication. The joy of the festive period.

268msf59
Muokkaaja: joulukuu 6, 2015, 8:18 am

Happy weekend, Kerry! Good review of The horses didn't come home. (You should post the review. There are no reviews available.) I had never heard of that title or author. Thanks!

Congrats on the book haul! I LOVED the Boo book!

Also, I am loving Cairo...

269avatiakh
Muokkaaja: joulukuu 6, 2015, 2:37 pm

>267 charl08: I'm not sure if the North Run book would be the best choice even though I liked it quite a lot. It's one of those quietly appealing books.
For gift giving I'd be considering Tonke Dragt's The letter for the king that's one he can grow into. Pushkin Press has a fairly new children's imprint for translating & publishing forgotten classics. Worth a look, I've read the two Tonke Dragt books and an Icelandic one, The Story of the Blue Planet, and they've all been really good. I've just looked through the list again and want to read quite a few more.
http://pushkinchildrens.com/
Also the new edition of The kingdom and the cave by Joan Nathan (Little, Brown) is out now if he likes magic. I also love Anne Fine and continue to read her, but her work does have that creepy element, so you need to be sure he can handle that.

Another less known but highly recommended would be Stephanie Smee's new translations of Comtesse de Ségur's A Room at Guardian Angel Inn & General Dourakine. I read both these last year and they are just brilliant and perfect for that age group. First published in the 1860s but fresh as a daisy and hilarious. Will also spark an interest in history.

A voucher is great in that he would be able to get his own copy of a favourite book, we all know how good that feels.

>268 msf59: Thanks Mark. I don't usually add my comments to the review page as I waffle somewhat and like to add links, quotes from other reviews etc. Anyway I'll have a look at posting something as the book is to be recommended. The Aussies did a movie back in the 1980s, The Lighthorsemen which I should watch. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdFsIYiq_jU


Good to know that Cairo is a hit. I have Alif the unseen as an e-book from the library at present but keep forgetting about it as it is 'unseen' unless I log into the reading app on the iPad.

270avatiakh
joulukuu 6, 2015, 2:55 pm

And keeping on the Middle East theme I just watched the trailer for Werner Herzog's Queen of the Desert and loved the look of the desert scenes. I can put up with Nicole Kidman in the lead role as Gertrude Bell in order to watch this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Stacvv4VK1A

271EBT1002
joulukuu 6, 2015, 4:17 pm

You've got my attention with The Horses Didn't Come even though I don't usually read much YA.
And I have Cairo from the library and plan to read it this week.

And Asylum City looks interesting....

272charl08
Muokkaaja: joulukuu 9, 2015, 6:05 pm

>269 avatiakh: Thanks! I've got some fun research to do trying to find something good.

273avatiakh
joulukuu 6, 2015, 7:13 pm

>271 EBT1002: Hi Ellen - there's lots of nonfiction out there about the Lighthorse Brigade. The author put her bibliography in the back of the book but I've already taken it back to the library without noting, something I usually do, so will have to request the book again.
Also I enjoy reading YA military history as the writers usually put lots of smaller details in that is possibly missed in an adult book. In NZ our army historian Glyn Harper has written many fine picturebooks and YA nonfiction on the various wars.
I also liked that Rushby gave the NZ Lighthorse men a good part in the book, sometimes the Aussies overlook us poor Kiwis.
I have Devils on Horses: in the words of the Anzacs in the Middle East 1916-19 which I'm now inspired to read. The centenary of the cavalry charge is coming up in 2017 and I'd love to be in Israel to help celebrate. Earlier this year when I was in Israel I wanted to include a trip to the ANZAC monument south of Beersheva but we didn't have access to a car so didn't.
I've requested Elyne Mitchell's Light horse to Damascus from my library's interloan, it's based on her father's experiences. She's well known for her brumby books. Also going to look at Armageddon : two men on an Anzac trail.

Asylum City was good, I'm familiar with all the neighbourhoods in Tel Aviv, so was doubly good. I passed areas where the African migrants hang out both by bus and when walking. The Levinsky Park has an outdoor library for foreign workers that I was keen to visit having read about it on 'green prophet' website, though was closed when I went there and had sleeping gear piled up against the shelves.



>272 charl08: Enjoy!

274avatiakh
joulukuu 7, 2015, 6:12 am


223) A song for Ella Grey by David Almond (2015)
YA
Winner of the Guardian children's fiction prize, 2015, this is David Almond yet again proving he is a wonderful writer. The story, like all his others, is set in Newcastle-on-Tyne but his teens, on the cusp of adulthood, also move a little north to the wild beaches around Bamburgh Castle, a truly magnificent setting. This is a story of first love, between Ella Grey and the strange but beautiful Orpheus as told by Ella's best friend, Claire. Beautiful mythical elements and a pure pure love. Music and poetry. Stunning and out of the ordinary.


Bamburgh Castle

275apoorvajoshiuk
joulukuu 8, 2015, 4:31 am

Tämä käyttäjä on poistettu roskaamisen vuoksi.

276FAMeulstee
joulukuu 8, 2015, 1:56 pm

> 275 a new David Almond :-D
Eagerly waiting for the translation!

277avatiakh
Muokkaaja: joulukuu 9, 2015, 3:25 pm


224) A boy called Christmas by Matt Haig (2015)
children's
An utterly delightful (and at times cheeky) story about how Father Christmas came to be. It all started in Finland in a one roomed cottage in the forest, a young boy called Nicholas lives there with his father, a poor woodcutter. Chris Mould has done the illustrations to accompany the story and they are quite perfect. There's magic, reindeer, elves, a truth pixie and an adorable mouse.

278avatiakh
joulukuu 9, 2015, 3:11 pm

>276 FAMeulstee: Hope you don't have to wait too long.

279avatiakh
joulukuu 9, 2015, 3:24 pm


Refuge by Anne Booth and Sam Usher (2015)
picturebook
This tells the bible story of the Nativity and then goes on to the journey into exile in Egypt. The book has been published to support refugees and every sale sends money to the War Child charity in the UK. The story is well known and Booth has kept the text very simple. The illustrations are great, Usher uses golden watercolour to emphasize hope otherwise keeping to muted blues and greys.
https://www.warchild.org.uk/what-we-do

280avatiakh
joulukuu 9, 2015, 8:31 pm


225) Temporary Kings by Anthony Powell (1973)
fiction

Book #11 in the A dance to the music of Time series, so I now have one book left to listen to. I took a long time with this one, I've been a bit remiss with audiobooks this year and plan to get back into them in the New Year. Anyway Widmerpool's antics remain the most interesting part of the series for me, his strange marriage, his political motivations.

281avatiakh
Muokkaaja: joulukuu 12, 2015, 8:11 pm


226) Ruins by Peter Kuper (2015)
graphic novel
Mark said I'd enjoy this and I did. A beautiful work of art, combining the annual journey of the monarch butterfly to the south of Mexico and the extended visit of a NYC couple to Oaxaca in southern Mexico. The book covers the 2006 period of protest against the state governor in Oaxaca. The husband is an especially interesting character, he's just been made redundant from his job as an artist in the entomology department of a NYC Museum of Natural History, so he's very observant of all the insects they encounter while he searches for artistic inspiration. Meanwhile his wife, a writer, is struggling to complete her latest work as memories of an earlier trip to the same region begin to surface.

_

282msf59
joulukuu 11, 2015, 6:31 pm

Hi, Kerry! I am so glad you liked Ruins! I hope you can spread the joy.

Did you read My Friend Dahmer? If not, it was excellent and extremely creepy. I am reading his new one, Trashed, which I am enjoying.

283avatiakh
joulukuu 12, 2015, 12:22 am

Thanks Mark. I haven't read My Friend Dahmer, I'm never going to run out of graphic novels to read at this rate. I'm also waiting for my library to get in Filmish. Also waiting for Baba yaga's assistant.

284charl08
joulukuu 12, 2015, 2:24 am

>281 avatiakh: This one sounds lovely. I can't order anything just now because the library systems are down, but will add it to the list.

285avatiakh
joulukuu 12, 2015, 8:11 pm

It's a good GN.

Abandoned Carry On by Rainbow Rowell. I loved Eleanor and Park, enjoyed both Fangirl and Attachments, thought Landline was rather lame and this one was just too Harry Potteresque. I'm not reading Rowell to get a wizard-hit, so back to the library it goes.

286avatiakh
Muokkaaja: joulukuu 12, 2015, 8:37 pm


227) The Walled City by Esther David (2002)
fiction
I almost forgot that I finished reading this a couple of days ago. This gives a glimpse into the painful world of a minority population that is in its last stages of stagnation. Following the life of one Gujarati Jewish girl living in Ahmedabad and her hopes and disappointments. We also experience the lives of her mother and grandmother, the falling away of rituals and customs, the family members who decide to marry outside their religion and convert. The young men are sent to either Israel or England or where ever to study and rarely return to live, leaving many sheltered girls little choice but to remain unmarried, destined to be companions for their parents in their old age.
The writing style was a little different but the subject matter compelling though sad. I've got others by David on my tbr pile.

An article about the Gujarti Jews - http://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-news-and-politics/970/a-passage-to-gujarat

287PaulCranswick
joulukuu 12, 2015, 8:51 pm

>286 avatiakh: Interesting, Kerry. I must admit that I have never heard of Esther David but her book looks like something I would enjoy reading.

Have a lovely Sunday.

288avatiakh
joulukuu 12, 2015, 10:41 pm

Paul - I found out about her a couple of years ago when there were a few news items about the aliyah of the Bnei Menashe Jews and so I was looking for a book about Jewish communities in India.

289avatiakh
Muokkaaja: joulukuu 13, 2015, 2:51 am


228) Illuminae by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff (2015)
YA
First in a new trilogy, The Illuminae Files, is set in 2575. Girl breaks up with boy in the morning, then in the afternoon their planet gets attacked. They end up evacuated on different spaceships and there's a third ship carrying evacuees who've been exposed to some form of bio-warfare plague. Helped and hindered by a corrupted AI called AIDAN that runs the fleet, the three ships must outrun a warship that's chasing them.
The story is told through a dossier of documentation, so you are reading emails, interviews, journal entries, messaging, reports, summaries of surveillance footage, wikipedia type data etc etc....this makes it visually appealing and rather fun to read.

The film rights have been purchased by Brad Pitt's company. I think it would make a fairly awesome teen movie.
http://www.thebookseller.com/news/brad-pitt-warner-bros-illuminae-oneworld-amie-...
The authors are Australian and I've not read either of them before.
https://misterkristoff.wordpress.com/
http://amiekaufman.com/

290avatiakh
joulukuu 13, 2015, 3:05 am

I seem to make trouble for myself, just keep bringing more and more home from the library. These last few days I hauled home Lineup by Liad Shoham as I liked Asylum City so much. I've also grabbed Even dogs in the wild by Ian Rankin from the bestseller shelf, I need a Rebus fix.
Also brought home -
The reader on the 6.27 by Jean-Paul Didierlaurent - sounds so interesting
The Spring of Kasper Meier by Ben Fergusson - tried to fit this in earlier in the year
A court of thorns and roses by Sarah J Maas - took the freeze off this hold, thinking it would take a couple of weeks, but book arrived immediately

Currently reading:
Hearing Secret Harmonies by Anthony Powell - on audio
The Man Who Spoke Snakish by Andrus Kivirähk - Estonian fantasy, library bk
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr - finally, library e-book
Resurrection by Mandy Hager - a real book that I own, last in the trilogy
The Tail Wags the Dog: International Politics and the Middle East by Efraim Karsh - library e-book
Alif the unseen by G. Willow Wilson - library e-book

291Deern
joulukuu 14, 2015, 7:53 am

>290 avatiakh: "I seem to make trouble for myself, just keep bringing more and more home from the library." Sometimes... just sometimes I'm relieved that my library has such a limited selection of English books and that I don't like reading translations. So I have to weigh most BBs I catch here on LT for a while to decide whether or not I'll buy the book. Of course there are exceptions ( like 101 Dalmatians) :)
I'd save some money reading more library books, but the deadline watching would totally get out of hand quickly.
Very tempted by A Boy called Christmas, but I might wait with it for the season of 2016.

292jnwelch
joulukuu 14, 2015, 11:16 am

>285 avatiakh: Oh, darn. I'm on your wavelength with the other Rowell books, Kerry, including loving Eleanor and Park and finding Landline rather lame. I was hoping Carry On would be another good one. Oh well.

I've been wanting to try Illuminae. I'm glad you liked it.

293avatiakh
joulukuu 15, 2015, 12:03 am

A look at New Zealand as the location for The Shannara Chronicles tv series based on the books by Terry Brooks: https://www.facebook.com/theshannarachronicles/videos/949348311768037/

294avatiakh
joulukuu 15, 2015, 12:11 am

>291 Deern: Nathalie - yeah, I'm always tempted to get books from the library, it's great but also a nuisance as I own so many books that need to be read. A boy called Christmas is a cute rather than necessary read. I'm surprised that it hasn't made it to our bookshops here in New Zealand. Matt Haig has been tweeting massive the huge adverts on the London Underground.

>292 jnwelch: Yeah, I just couldn't do the Rowell this time around. I think I'm over her now. You should enjoy Illuminae though it is definitely aimed at the YA market.

SO I picked up WInter from the library today so have to decide whether to dropeverything else and read or wait a day or two and clear some of my current reading. Decisions, decisions.

295jnwelch
joulukuu 15, 2015, 11:59 am

^Drop everything else. :-)

296ronincats
joulukuu 15, 2015, 9:29 pm

Also just picked up Winter from the library--am dropping everything else.

297charl08
joulukuu 16, 2015, 1:47 am

>294 avatiakh: Totally in the drop everything else camp. Have fun!

298avatiakh
joulukuu 16, 2015, 3:12 am

>295 jnwelch: >296 ronincats: >297 charl08: Ok, I'll just have to finish The door that led to where which has really pulled me in this last day or so. So Winter will sideline my other reading, at least at this time of year the library has extended all the due dates by two weeks.

Home from the library today:
The mussel feast by Birgit Vanderbeke - recommended by Bianca
A problem from hell: America and the Age of Genocide by Samantha Power - will possibly just look at this, maybe take in a chapter or so.

Need to start working on my best of 2015 list, I didn't do one last year.

299avatiakh
Muokkaaja: joulukuu 16, 2015, 5:42 am


229) The door that led to where by Sally Gardner (2015)
YA
Ooh this was fun. A time travel book where a teenage boy gets to solve a mystery about his long lost father. AJ has only passed 1 GCSE and his Mum is angry and ready to throw him out, a last chance is a job interview she's wrangled for him with some poncey law firm in the City of London. Lots of interesting characters and a great plot.

300charl08
joulukuu 16, 2015, 5:31 pm

You've convinced me - Ordered it! Glad it's good.

301avatiakh
joulukuu 16, 2015, 6:07 pm

>300 charl08: Hope you enjoy it.

I've made a start on Winter though I think Ian Rankin's Even dogs in the wild might become my go to read in the next couple of days as I need to go back and refresh my memory on some plot points for the Meyer book.

302PaulCranswick
joulukuu 16, 2015, 6:42 pm

Going right back up to the Ockham Award Longlist, Kerry - I do like the format especially Novel, Non-Fiction and Poetry with ten books each as it does help inform our reading. Many of the nominees are unfamiliar to me but I will look out for a few of them over the coming months. Was interested to see that for the non-fiction there is a biography of Maurice Gee featured.

303avatiakh
joulukuu 16, 2015, 7:32 pm

Hi Paul - this is the first year ever that there's been a longlist in NZ Book Prizes which the reading public and publishers have asked for for many years.
sampling from the fiction longlist -
The Antipodeans by Greg McGee - gets good reviews
The Back of His Head by Patrick Evans - I have his first book
Chappy by Patricia Grace - nittnut liked this
The Chimes by Anna Smaill - Booker longlisted
The Invisible Mile by David Coventry - cycling in France and poetry if I remember rightly, I'm on a long wait at the library for this
The Legend of Winstone Blackhat by Tanya Moir - want to read, love the bookcover
The Pale North by Hamish Clayton - loved his debut, this I own
Reach by Laurence Fearnley - highly praised writer I've yet to discover

Not sure about the poetry - I'm not up with it. Iconic NZ poets include Sam Hunt, novelist C.K. Stead, Hone Tuwhare, James K Baxter. Also Glenn Colquhoun.

I own that biography of Maurice Gee, must crack it open in the New Year.

304avatiakh
joulukuu 19, 2015, 1:07 am

As Mark did on his thread, here's my GoodReads 'My Year in Books' - https://www.goodreads.com/user/year_in_books/2015/1674550

305avatiakh
joulukuu 19, 2015, 4:30 pm

A pesky interloan has to be dealt with as it's due back in a couple of days. Whispering in the wind is an Australian children's book, a traditional fairy tale of a boy setting out to save a princess from a dragon but set in an Australian landscape with a magical kangaroo companion and a bunyip standing in for the dragon, so interesting in its departure from the traditional European setting.

I'm making progress on both Winter and Even dogs in the wild, other reading is treading water though I also hope to finish my audiobook in the next couple of days, the last in the Dance to the music of time series.

Just posted my shortlist for a Geo-cat South America read over in the category group for January -
Andean Express by Juan de Recacoechea (Bolivia) - writer has long been on my tbr list thanks to TadAD
Blow up & other stories by Julio Cortazar (Argentina)
The Peron Novel by Tomás Eloy Martínez (Argentina)
Near to the wild heart by Clarice Lispector (Brasil)
Money to burn by Ricardo Piglia (Argentina)
News of a kidnapping or Clandestine in Chile by Gabriel García Márquez (Colombia)
The secret in their eyes by Eduardo Sacheri (Argentina) - I loved the original Argentine film

306avatiakh
joulukuu 19, 2015, 7:06 pm

A trip to the library resulted in an interesting haul from the sales table:

A family matter by Will Eisner - graphic novel
Largo Winch: The Heir #1 by Philippe Francq - graphic novel
Grandville: a fantasy by Bryan Talbot - graphic novel
A century of wisdom: lessons from the life of Alice Herz-Sommer by Caroline Stoessinger
Boredom: a lively history by Peter Toohey

and from the shelves I borrowed a novella, Saving Mozart by Raphaël Jérusalmy, a French-Israeli and an audiobook, The Driver's Seat by Muriel Spark.

307avatiakh
Muokkaaja: joulukuu 20, 2015, 3:54 pm


230) Whispering in the wind by Alan Marshall (1969)
children's fiction
Delightful fairy tale story set in Australia. So our hero is a boy who has been raised by a stockman and sets off on a journey to rescue a beautiful princess from a dragon (which turns out to be a bunyip), as young men do in fairy tales. Along the way he picks up a companion, a kangaroo called Greyfur, who has a magical pouch from which just about anything can be pulled.
Overlooked when it was published, Marshall is well known for his adult work including his memoir about growing up with polio, I can jump puddles.

There's an interesting article about Whispering in the Wind here, Australia’s forgotten fairy tale: http://www.lib.latrobe.edu.au/ojs/index.php/tlg/article/view/594/555

308avatiakh
joulukuu 20, 2015, 4:05 pm


Chanukah in Chelm by David A. Adler (1997)
picture book
Apparently there are many tall tales in Jewish folklore that are set in a fictional Chelm where all the residents have 'good hearts, great dreams, and very little sense'. Here the caretaker of the synagogue can't find the table on which to place the Chanukah menorah. Illustrations are by Martin O'Malley.


231) Even dogs in the wild by Ian Rankin (2015)
fiction
Inspector Rebus #20. Another good outing for Rebus, he's now retired but called in as a consultant and works with Fox and Clarke to help solve two cases both of which involve in small ways his old nemesis, Cafferty.

309ronincats
joulukuu 20, 2015, 4:20 pm

Well, the thread is taking a while to load,but it is still accessible! Your Goodreads year in books almost makes me wish I had logged my books read there as well.

310avatiakh
joulukuu 20, 2015, 4:53 pm

>309 ronincats: I keep on at goodreads as I log all my reading there, here I don't add every library book to my catalogue so total reading is hard to take in at a glance. I also keep my 'to read' list there though I've added so many books that it's a meaningless list by now, still it's fun to go there to add a book and find I already added it a year or so ago.
Also I have non-LT literary friends on GR and I get lots of recommendations for YA and children's books from them.

311ronincats
joulukuu 23, 2015, 3:36 pm



For my Christmas/Hanukkah/Solstice/Holiday image this year (we are so diverse!), I've chosen this photograph by local photographer Mark Lenoce of the pier at Pacific Beach to express my holiday wishes to you: Peace on Earth and Good Will toward All!

312msf59
Muokkaaja: joulukuu 23, 2015, 4:14 pm



^And may your New Year be filled with books and bookish friends!

313SandDune
joulukuu 23, 2015, 4:31 pm



Have a great 2016!

314souloftherose
joulukuu 23, 2015, 4:42 pm

>274 avatiakh: Another book bullet hit for A Song for Ella Grey.

>279 avatiakh: Refuge also sounds good and raising money for a great cause too.

>228 avatiakh: Illuminae sounds like an interesting concept too - although if it's a trilogy I may wait until the later books are released.

>299 avatiakh: And Sally Gardner is an author I've been meaning to try more of as I recently loved Tinder (I think that was an old BB from you) so The door that led to where also goes on the list.

>307 avatiakh: Whispering in the Wind also sounds interesting but not available at the library and very expensive second hand so I will dodge that one for now and hope someone reprints it.

Bookish Christmas/holiday wishes to you and your family!


315FAMeulstee
joulukuu 24, 2015, 8:14 am

Happy holidays!

316PaulCranswick
joulukuu 24, 2015, 10:00 am



Have a lovely holiday, Kerry

317roundballnz
joulukuu 24, 2015, 3:42 pm

Seasons greetings whatever you celebrate enjoy - smell the roses , slow down, enjoy your time with yours

318avatiakh
joulukuu 26, 2015, 6:38 am


232) Hearing Secret Harmonies by Anthony Powell (1975)
fiction, audio
Last at #12 in the Dance to the music of time series. I started reading these about 8 years ago, read the first 4 or 5 before getting on LT and then managing only 1 or 2 more over the years. This year I was determined to finish the last 6 so switched to audio and they've worked well for me in that format. I remember first hearing about the series when watching a local book tv show around 9 or 10 yrs back. An author was plugging the series as their favourite read and made a convincing case. I loved watching all these eccentric British characters interact with Nick over the years. I have Hilary Spurling's Invitation To the Dance: A Handbook to Anthony Powell's A Dance to the Music of Time to browse as well. I didn't want to read it before finishing the series as I was nervous about spoilers.
And I also have the tv miniseries to watch, I've held off for about a year.

My end of year reading is going slowly as I'm bitten again by the family history bug. I'd got disillusioned a few years back when I lost all the info I had on my hard drive but my son recently got his DNA test done so that has spiked interest once again. Luckily I had kept my paper trail and had the documentation.

319jnwelch
joulukuu 28, 2015, 4:19 pm

Happy Holidays, Kerri!

Wow, congratulations on finishing all the Dance to the music of time books! What a project. I tried the first one once, and it just wasn't the right time.

Hope your having a relaxing end of the year.

320avatiakh
joulukuu 28, 2015, 8:31 pm

Hi Joe, there was a group read a couple of years ago and most LTers managed to get through the series, but it wasn't my time then.

My next goal is to finish the last Lymond Chronicles book, it's over a year since I read book #5. Being on LT means too many book bullets and library book requests that keep me distracted. Anyway I have it down for reading in January.

321avatiakh
Muokkaaja: joulukuu 29, 2015, 5:28 pm

Still haven't been doing enough reading so have switched priorities to try to finish a few shorter works rather than press on with Winter.
So hoping to finish:
The distant marvels by Chantel Acevedo - enjoying this historical saga set in Cuba
Resurrection by Mandy Hager - last in a trilogy
The Reader on the 6.27 by Jean-Paul Didierlaurent - enjoying this one as well

I did finish an audiobook - Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman - great YA about mental illness

322jnwelch
joulukuu 30, 2015, 1:34 pm

I've been seeing positive comments about Challenger Deep, Kerry. I liked his Unwind back in the day. This new one is on my WL.

323avatiakh
joulukuu 31, 2015, 1:01 pm


233) Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman (2015)
YA

I listened to the audiobook version which was well done, though I've just read a review that says that some of Shusterman's son's art is featured in the book, I'll have to have a look next time I'm in a bookshop. I also just found out that the book is based on the mental health problems of Shusterman's son who collaborated with his father for the book.
This is a powerful depiction of what is going on in the head of a teenager who is suffering from schizophrenia. It feels very realistic in its depiction of the paranoia Caden experiences, the voices in his head, the lack of sleep, the excessive walking etc. And how Caden hides it all for so long, that his parents and school don't really realise how bad things are.
In Caden's rich inner life he is on board a pirate ship heading for the deepest part of the ocean a place called Challenger Deep. Highly recommended.

There's a book trailer here: http://www.storyman.com/books/challenger-deep/

324avatiakh
Muokkaaja: joulukuu 31, 2015, 1:09 pm


234) The reader on the 6.27 by Jean-Paul Didierlaurent (2015)
fiction
A delightful short novel about love. Guylain Vignolles doesn't have much of a life, while his mother thinks he's a publishing executive, in reality he has a job he hates, operating a huge machine that turns remaindered books into mulch at a rundown factory. Each day on his commute he reads from random salvaged pages to his fellow commuters. Charming and quirky, this one grows on you.

325avatiakh
joulukuu 31, 2015, 1:23 pm


235) The distant marvels by Chantel Acevedo (2015)
fiction
Sheltering from Hurricane Flora in 1963, several old woman have been taken from their homes to sit out the storm in relative safety. To pass the time, Maria Sirena, tells the story of her childhood to the others and what a story it is, completely woven into the island's fight for independence from the Spanish which ends with the Spanish–American War of 1898. Wonderful.

And so ends my 2015 reading....

326charl08
joulukuu 31, 2015, 1:50 pm

>324 avatiakh: Adding this one to the wishlist, sounds like fun. Congrats on the reading this year, looking forward to seeing you on the 2016 thread.

327avatiakh
joulukuu 31, 2015, 2:22 pm

From my category challenge:

Highlight reads per category:

1: Israel: political nonfiction
The Prime Ministers : an intimate narrative of Israeli leadership by Yehuda Avner

2: Arab Spring - Middle East/North African/Islamism
Zahra's Paradise by Amir & Khalil
Mantle of the Prophet: religion and politics in Iran by Roy Mottahedeh

3: Latin Roots - fiction & nonfiction
The Tunnel by Ernesto Sabato
The Crime of Father Amaro by Jose Maria Eca de Queiros

4: Favourite Writers
The seven good years by Etgar Keret
The secrets of the Wild Wood by Tonke Dragt

5: Shocked that I still haven't read this
Cider with Rosie by Laurie Lee

6: The young ones - YA and children's
Wanting Mor by Rukhsana Khan
Never fall down by Patricia McCromick
Buffalo Soldier by Tanya Landman
One by Sarah Crossan
Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman

7: Challenging
In the heart of the seas by S.Y. Agnon

8: Fact - nonfiction
Jerusalem: a biography by Simon Sebag Montifiore
Being mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande

9: Comfort reads
Harry Hole series by Jo Nesbø
Dance to the Music of Time series by Anthony Powell #6-12

10: Down Under
Wake by Elizabeth Knox
Once were warriors by Alan Duff

11: Shiny New
The Fishermen by Chigozie Obioma
Uprooted by Naomi Novik

12: New Zealand YA
A Winter’s Day in 1939 by Melinda Szymanik
Being Magdalene by Fleur Beale

13: Food Writing
The Depot: the biography of a restaurant by Al Brown

14: Images - photography, graphic novels etc
Bandette Volume 1: Presto! by Paul Tobin
This one summer by Mariko & Jillian Tamaki
The Arab of the Future by Riaf Sattouf

15: Spies
The spy who loved: The Secrets and Lives of Christine Granville by Clare Mulley
Forbidden Love in St Petersburg by Mishka Ben-David

Dropbox:
Gone to Soldiers by Marge Piercy
A Childhood by Jona Oberski

Overall a good year of reading, I enjoyed almost everything I read, I try to choose carefully and I also ditch books that I'm not enjoying.
Hardest book I read was The man who loved children by Christina Stead - one I did struggle with but one I was determined to read.

328avatiakh
joulukuu 31, 2015, 2:26 pm

>326 charl08: - Hi Charlotte - that one is well worth looking out, I can see it being made into a delightful movie. OK, time to move on to 2016!

329avatiakh
joulukuu 31, 2015, 3:23 pm

Last new additions in 2015:

Library sale table:
Signs for lost children by Sarah Moss - high ratings over on GR
Leaf storm and Other Stories by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Within a budding grove by Marcel Proust (In Search of Lost TIme #2) - one day I'll take the plunge

Bookshop sale:
Period Piece by Gwen Raverat - compact Collectors Library edition
The secret battle by AP Herbert - ditto
I love these CL editions, they slip into a handbag more easily than a tablet or kindle
The Meursault Investigation by Kamel Daoud
Trigger Warning by Neil Gaiman

330roundballnz
joulukuu 31, 2015, 4:41 pm

May we all make the best of what 2016 brings us .....

Trigger warning is deceptively good .....

331FAMeulstee
tammikuu 1, 2016, 6:37 am

>324 avatiakh: Challenger Deep sounds good, if a translation does not come soon I might try this one in English ;-)

332alsvidur
tammikuu 9, 2016, 11:05 pm

There are so many books I've looked into and read based on what you've reviewed here. Thank you! (My only problem is that many others that interest me aren't available in the States, so I have to put them on my list of books to look for at used book stores and hope I run into a copy sometime in the future. It's not a terrible problem to have.) Again, thank you for sharing your reading with us!

333avatiakh
tammikuu 9, 2016, 11:17 pm

I hope you eventually come across some of them. I try to read across the world as I like exotic settings.