Valentina's room

Books read - 2011

2012-01-09T13:27:00.000Z

21) Never let me go by Kazuo Ishiguro
20) The Thornthwaite Inheritance by Gareth p. Jones
19) The Whisper Jar by Carole Lanham
18) A greyhound of a girl by Roddy Doyle
17) Looking for Alaska by John Green (re-read)
16) One foot wrong by Sofie Laguna
15) The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud
14) A star called Henry by Roddy Doyle
13) The Runner by Keith Gray
12) Junk by Melvin Burgess
11) The amazing Maurice and his educated rodents by Terry Pratchett
10) The Ice Queen by Alice Hoffman
9) The growing pains of Adrian Mole by Sue Towsend
8) Charmed life by Diana Wynne Jones
7) Margherita Dolcevita by Stefano Benni
6) Gifts by Ursula Le Guin
5) About a boy by Nick Hornby
4) Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
3) Skim by Mariko and Jillian Tamaki
2) The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle
1) The Tygrine Cat : on the run by Inbali Iserles

The Whisper Jar - Carole Lanham

2011-10-31T12:21:00.006Z

Spooky Halloween everyone!

Tonight is not just the time for witches and monsters to come out of their hiding holes and haunt us. It’s also the day The Whisper Jar is released. It’s no coincidence, as the whisper jar is the keeper of horrible, unmentionable secrets that should never be told. And yet, here they are, for everyone to read, all wrapped up in one deliciously creepy collection, beautifully crafted by author Carole Lanham. Read if you dare.

And you should dare, because they’re all great.

If you’re looking to extend the Halloween feel to the cold and windy nights of November, you should look no further and give this book a try. It’s the perfect choice. Here you’ll read tales of vampires, zombies, torture chambers, werewolves and mad creatures in the attic. They are tales of bitter jealousies and unhealthy desires, of sexual awakenings and dangerous games. Some of them deal with the supernatural, some others are simply human, but not less freaky because of that.

You’ll learn about the wonderful power of the jilly jally butter mints, and the terrible fate that has fallen upon those who dared to mess with them unsupervised. You’ll get acquainted with a flower fairy and how she came to be the bearer of a secret too painful for her to handle. There are all sorts, but ultimately they all share something: the power to make you want to read more, even if you know it’s not going to be pretty.

My personal favourite is the one called "The Blue Word". It’s a different setting than most of the other stories’ in the collection, which seem to have an early 1900s feel. "The Blue Word" is one of the exceptions. It’s set in a post-apocalyptic/dystopian world, during an unspecified future, where a virus has transformed half the population in flesh-eating zombies. The story is confined within the walls of the Salvation House, a school run by nuns, who are keeping their students from the dangers of the outside world. But of course nothing is what it seems in Carole Lanham’s world, and when the secret is revealed, it’s both chilling and heartbreaking. It would have been a fantastic idea for a novel, but I also see the appeal of keeping it short, it certainly heightens the final revelation’s effect.

I honestly can’t think of a better book to read this Halloween. OK, I haven’t read any other horror fiction books this time, but it doesn’t matter, ‘cause this was more than enough. It’s eerie, surprising, beautifully written, with dark humour and a strange, playful, inventive language. It was also very sensual, which is unusual seeing that it involves children and teenagers. So, yeah, it is about children, but it isn’t for children. I wouldn’t give it to them anyway, but I can imagine curious kids stealing it from their parents’ nightstand and reading it sneakily under their beds…and then scare the crap out of them for days to come.

One more thing. It seems like most of the stories have an underlining Christian theme. Nuns and priests are abounding, but definitely not in a comforting way. This brings me back to a line from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which is useful for the Whisper Jar too. “Note to self. Religion: creepy”.

This review is part of a blog tour.

To read what everyone else is saying about The Whisper Jar follow these links:

Kinder Trauma - Oct 28

http://www.kindertrauma.com/?p=25069

The Deepening World of Books - Oct 29

http://www.thedeepening.com/world-of-books/2011/10/29/the-whisper-jar-by-carole-lanham/

Author Cate Gardner - Oct 30

http://www.categardner.net/

Words words Words - Nov 2

http://ericanaone.com/

Storytellers Unplugged Nov 2

http://storytellersunplugged.com/

Littlebird Blue -Twitter Interview with Author Camille Alexa - Nov 3

http://littlebird-blue.blogspot.com/

To know more about the author visit her websites at the horror maker and carolelanham

New passions

2011-08-24T13:48:00.007+01:00

Last Sunday I've been to the Ukulele festival in Dun Laoghaire. Beside having a wonderful day in the sunshine (and occasional liquid sunshine, too), listening to great gigs and meeting beautiful people, I've been struck with a sudden and irrepressible desire to own a ukulele. I entered the raffle convinced I'd win one, but alas, it wasn't meant to be so easy. By Tuesday my fickle desire hadn't evaporate yet, so off I went to by myself one! I am now the proud owner of a cheap but lovely wooden ukulele and I am on my way to "accomplish my goal of becoming a proficient ukulele player", according to the Ukuelele Method Book 1 's introduction.
Now, the last time I ever read a note on a music sheet, I was probably thirteen. And they were in Italian. Playing an instrument or reading music, I can safely say, is NOT like cycling. But I'm hopeful. I've only practised for about two hours last night and it's going swimmingly. Let's see how long it'll last.

It will be easy to remain inspired, if I keep attending gigs as great as the ones I've been to lately. There are so many amazing musicians here and everywhere. The Dublin scene is full of them.
One of these special musicians I'd like to introduce you is the crazily talented Riona Sally Hartman. I had the pleasure to listen to her live last Monday in the International Bar, during the Glor Sessions, and I was mesmerised. Listen to her and you'll know why.

Seasnail by Ríona Sally Hartman

Kamikaze by Ríona Sally Hartman

"Oh Rapunzel!" by Ríona Sally Hartman

04 Song for the Dead, Song for the Living by Ríona Sally Hartman

Also, not a new passion, but FLORENCE HAS A NEW SONG AND VIDEO OUT!
And a RELEASE DATE (November 7th) for her NEW ALBUM!

*happy happy dance*

A Star called Henry by Roddy Doyle

2011-05-25T20:13:00.006+01:00

I've been a slow reader lately, but I'm very proud of myself because I've been sticking to the TBR list quite closely and reading books that have been on my shelf for way too long.

One of these veterans is A star called Henry by Roddy Doyle. Henry has been waiting since early 2008 to make his acquaintance with me. It was worth it, although I did struggle through it a bit and towards to end I almost felt like giving it up. But then my curiosity to know how it all ended made me continue and I'm glad I did, because it did pick itself up again.

A star called Henry follows the life of Henry Smart, a boy growing up in the early 1900s in Dublin. He is a street urchin who looks much older than he is and who learns quickly how to survive in the dark Dublin alleys. He's smart by name and by nature, always working out the best way to bring food into his and his little brother's mouth.
I was really absorbed by Henry's accounts of his adventures on the streets. One of the most memorable scenes for me happens at this time, when at only 8 or 9 years old, he decides he's going to get himself and his brother an education. So he shows up at a school's door, demanding just that. Here he meets Miss O'Shea, the teacher, another strong, amazing character who you will look forward to meeting again. The time that the two kids spend at the school is short, but very meaningful. It shows Henry the plain injustice of the system and it sets the scene for what comes later: the 1916 Rising and all the hopes of change that will come with it.

The second part of the book jumps straight from Henry being a child to him being a soldier fighting for Ireland at only 14. I was taken aback by this abrupt change of scene, I would have preferred to have followed Henry up to that point. But I got over it quickly as the accounts of the Rising and especially of the battle at the GPO ( the general post office) is so vivid that it takes you all the way back then, as if it was happening now. For someone who lives in Dublin, it was even more exciting. Reading the names of familiar streets being under fire or siege, realising that O'Connell street was actually still called Sackville Street, and that Eason's (a bookshop) was already there (!), were some of the reasons why I was captivated by this section. I also loved that Henry had such a close relationship to famous names like Michael Collins and James Connolly. If it wasn't for the strong language and the explicit sex scenes it would have been a great way to learn history at school.

The story after the rising remains as engaging . It's only when Henry starts being involved with the IRA again and training soldiers for Collins, that I started to doze off. I'm not one for war stories at all. Keep it short and sweet and I'll be yours. Drag it too long and you might loose me.
Also, I didn't like what the war did to Henry. It stripped him of his humanity, like any war would do. For all his cockiness, Henry had been a lovable character. His love for his brother, his charm, his energy, were palpable. But it was sometimes hard to find that Henry beneath the ugliness of what he was doing.

All in all, I'm glad I read it, even though it felt really long. I've learned a lot from it and I've seen a different side to Roddy Doyle's style. A richer, more ambitious way of writing, which worked well in this historical setting. To be honest though, I'll probably won't read the next two in the trilogy. They sound even murkier than this one, and I'm a bit of a softie. So I'll pass.

other reviews:
An adventure in reading
50 books project

Some speedy reviews

2011-03-24T16:34:00.011Z

Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
(<---by the way this cover here is not OK. What's up with Adam's face? Ugh).

With two writers as Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, there was really little chance I wouldn't like this. And yet, at first, I struggled a bit. There are so many story-lines and characters that it's hard to love it at first sight. I liked almost every one of them, but there wasn't time to get acquainted with one that you had to leave it and start with another. It gets better when you begin to know the characters. It's easier to leave them and follow others. But even then, I was always looking forward to spending more time with Adam and the Them. He's the kid who's supposed to bring forth the Armageddon, and the Them are his gang. But Adam, even with his powers, and being the Antichrist and all, is really hard to fear. I loved him to bits, him and his friends. Second close comes Anathema Device, because she's a witch and she reminds me a bit of Tiffany Aching. Then there's the angel Aziraphale and the demon Crowley, who are supposed to be mortal enemies, but get along better than they would ever admit. They also should facilitate the Armageddon, but none of them is keen on the idea of the world ending.

But most of all I loved to know I was in safe hands. There's nothing more comforting than that. Whatever happens, you're going to enjoy it, because it's Terry Pratchett and because it's Neil Gaiman and that's that. So I did. I laughed and I giggled and I was sorry when it ended, just like with every good book, although the ending was absolutely perfect, and probably my favourite part of the story.
Now I'm looking ever more forward to what that photo promises. How long do we have to wait?

About a boy by Nick Hornby
Again with the comforting here. It's Nick Hornby, I won't be disappointed. At least, it hasn't happened yet, so don't start listing all his worst books now, OK?
Anywho, this was brilliant and I wanted to hug it and the characters lots. Especially Marcus, the boy of the title. For those who never heard of this book, it's about a boy, (!), who is too grown up for his age and sticks out a lot. It's also about this other guy, Will, who hasn't grown up at all and still feels like a teenager. In a way they complement each other but they take a while to realise that. The funny bit is that I identify with both, at different times. It's easy to identify with Marcus, the outsider, generous, bullied kid. With Will was different. He's shallow at first, with no real purpose in life except to just get on with it. But I could sympathise with him when people criticised his seemingly aimless life. Since he doesn't have a job and doesn't have a family, people fail to see what use his life is. Sometimes, being unemployed I feel in a similar situation. I know I'll have to get a job, but even though I tell people I don't do anything, I do lots of things. Things I enjoy, but that I'm not paid for :P I'm great at filling my life with these little things, and if I could keep doing them for the rest of my life, I'd be happy. But for some people, it still looks like I don't do anything.
But anyway, the similarities with Will end here. He's a bit of a wanker to be honest, and even Marcus doesn't understand why he keeps going back to him. But he does, and their relationship gets stronger and stronger, until even Will starts seeing that Marcus is good for him. And how couldn't he? He's ADORABLE. And wise, and kindhearted and everything that's good in the world.
I can see this book making the top list of best books I have read at the end of the year :)

Gifts by Ursula Le Guin

This one was a slow burner. For a while I wasn't sure I was going to enjoy it, because the introductory part seems to go on forever. Nothing much happens for a long time as we're introduced to the world and powers of the Domains. But sure enough, almost without realising it, I found myself caring deeply for its main characters and enjoying the time I spent with them. It definitely isn't an action-packed story, but aside from the start I can't say it's slow either. It's definitely unusual. Intimate. And ultimately very powerful. I couldn't expect anything else from Ursula Le Guin.

The story take places in the imaginary rural Uplands where its communities are plagued by perpetual feuds and where each lineage has a particular power called gift. The story is told by Orrec, a teenage boy whose lineage possesses the power to undo, to destroy. But Orrec's gift only manifests itself wildly, and since it can't be controlled his father is forced to blindfold him, so not to harm anyone accidentally. Orrec's dear friend is Gry, a girl who has the gift to call animals. Traditionally this gift is used to call animals to the hunt, but Gry refuses to do so, putting her in a similar situation as Orrec's. They both struggle to be accepted and to find a suitable role in their rural society. Their relationship is beautifully portraited. You can feel their strong bond any time they're together, in very gesture and word. I really liked the two of them together. I also liked Orrec's mother, Melle. She's an outsider, a lowlander, and all her life she struggles to understand the ways of her husband's people, never fully grasping the meaning of the gifts and their importance. She's the only one in the Uplands to know the beauty of the written word which she teaches to both her son and Gry. Her love for storytelling is her gift to Orrec, and one that he treasures more than anything, his only moments of light in his blind dark years.
It was a wonderful book, one that shows its beauty little by little and will stay with you for a long while.

Quick update about stuff: crafty market, trip to London, etc...

2011-03-04T23:21:00.008Z

Hiya!
I meant to write this ages ago, but I never got around it, of course...
A while ago I managed to participate in my first crafty market, selling what I've been making in the last few months, so I thought I'd share.
I was really proud of it, even though it was tiny, in a badly lit corner, and I didn't make much of a profit. But I got the support of my wonderful friends and lots and lots of praises from random people, so I was quite happy with the experience. Next time I'll try and team up with someone else to share the costs, or just got to a cheaper market.
I love having a stall. It's what I've grown up with. My parents were jewellery makers and all-around artists back in the 80's. When they weren't in their shop they would be selling their products at fairs and such and I'd be sleeping beneath their stalls during those hot Italian summers, or running around during the day wearing tiny rings still too big for my fingers. I kept loosing them and coming back for more.
After my parents split up and sold the shop, my mother kept doing markets and I'd stay with her sometimes. I remember making earrings with her with just some bits of metal and some permanent markers to decorate them. I must have been 10 or 11. I was so proud of myself when I sold my first pair!
Today my mum still runs a successful stall, where she sells crystals and handmade jewellery, so it really runs in the family :)

Here is how my first solo stall looked like (click the photos to see the details):

This is from the front

and this is from the back

I thought it looked pretty:)

So, that was the old news. The new news is that I'm just back from a week in London. I went to see my brother who lives there, and to see "Season's Greetings", a play which starred Katherine Parkinson, from the IT Crowd. The play was brilliant, although I lost a bit of concentration on the main action when Katherine Parkinson was on the side of the stage doing nothing. I could't help but stare:P I was in the front row, and it was amazing. After the play I waited for her to come outside, and I managed to meet her and get a photo with her. I know most of you don't know who she is, so probably you can't share my excitement, but I was absolutely over the moon. Especially cause she was so lovely. She asked me if I was Irish! I'm quite pleased with that. And when I told her I was Italian she said she lived in Italy for a bit, but I can't remember much of that, cause I was too excited. I took a photo with her and three other girls and I really hope I didn't mess it up cause my hand was shaking like a mad thing!
Here's me with her:

Isn't she just gorgeous?
Oh yeah. The other bit of news is that I dyed my hair purple! It's not exactly the colour in the photo. It's lighter, and it's already starting to fade, but I love it! I'm gonna get a proper haircut soon, this is just messy, overgrown hair with no shape. But I love the colour:) It took ages to get it right. It turns out my hair doesn't give up its brown colour that easily. But in the end we managed. Now I feel like I could experiment with lots of other colours. Blue, pink, red...

So yeah, that's it for now. I'm not gonna promise a post soon, cause it's probably not gonna happen, but you never know. I'm almost finished with Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, and wouldn't you know it, I adore it! So I'll probably share my thoughts on that one. Can't say when tough:P

The Tygrine Cat : on the run by Inbali Iserles

2011-02-17T19:05:00.005Z

Remember The Tygrine Cat? He’s back! And I had the pleasure and privilege to receive a copy to review. Of course, it has taken me ages to actually write the review, but better late than never.

It was great to meet Mati again and read about his adventures with the cats of Cressida Lock. I immediately plunged into that comforting sense of familiarity that I get when I read sequels of books I loved. It feels right from the beginning, there’s no need to wait for it to grow on you. I like that. But here that sense of comfort didn’t last very long. There was no time to get too cozy because an imminent danger is threatening the cats’ lives and soon enough Mati has to convince all of them to leave their homes and follow him into the unknown.

You can pretty much guess from the title that this is a fast-paced story, with very few quiet moments. These cats are on the run, and they have a good reason for it. Although it’s hard for Mati to make them understand that. Again, like in the first book, Mati has to struggle to be trusted. He knows that danger is coming, but he doesn’t know in what form, and thus can’t exactly explain to them why they need to run away. He has the support of the leader Pangur, but this is not enough to convince everyone of the necessity to leave their beloved home. He is still struggling to be accepted, to belong, to be believed no matter what. Eventually, the majority of the cats follow him, including his best friend Binjax, and later on Jess, who returns to stay with Mati, after her hind dies. But as their journey becomes more and more dangerous, and as their destiny remains uncertain, even Pangur begins to question Mati’s judgement. Even Mati himself. The only thing that keeps him going is his instinct. And his growing understanding of the other dimension, Fiåney. In here, he can talk to the spirits, find help and guidance. It’s in here that most of the important action takes place, this time. We learn that Fiåney is not a single dimension, but it’s multilayered and sometimes treacherous. Mati spends a great amount of time in it, exploring it and learning the different kind of worlds that exist there. While doing so, he becomes stronger and more confident in his own abilities, but he also detaches himself from his friends, who begin to see him in a different way, and feel like they can’t reach him or even recognize him. Even so, their bond remains strong. One of the main themes of the book, I thought, was their friendship. Mati couldn’t go on without the help and support of their friends, and they still love him, even if they don’t understand him, and would never leave him. Another theme was the strength of family ties. You can feel it in the cries of despair of a mother who has lost her catlings, in Mati’s longing for his dead mother and his constant search for her in Fiåney, even in the shadow monster’s anger (although I can’t say how without spoiling the story). Then of course there’s the need for freedom and independence that belongs to every cat. That’s why humans are always in the background, seen as strange species, hard to understand and dangerous to trust. They are not their concern. The cats belong to another world, and they have to fight their own battles.

I really enjoyed reading this. I love Mati and his friends, I liked how Fiåney was more detailed and structured, and most importantly, I enjoyed the writing. Always so smooth and elegant, without being overwritten. It flows so well, it makes the reading experience a real pleasure. It reminded me of why I loved the first book so much. This could be the last we read of Mati, but I certainly hope not. I’d love to read more of his adventures, because I’m sure there’s more to tell!

Some tunes...

2011-01-30T13:41:00.005Z

So, I'm almost ready to post my first review of the year, I just need to write it...But in the meantime I'd like to share with yous some tunes I've been loving recently. My old mac has passed away few days ago unfortunately, and I'm waiting for the IT guys to back it up for me, so I'm left with NO music on my new laptop. Thank the Elders of the Internet for sites like the hypemachine and we7, I'm not left completely musicless.
I'm really into happy, carefree, summery songs so that's what this post is gonna be about.
Here we go:
The Magic Kids - Hey Boy

	The Magic Kids - Hey Boy .mp3

	Found at bee mp3 search engine

Summer Fiction - Chandeliers

	Summer Fiction - Chandeliers .mp3

	Found at bee mp3 search engine

Tennis - Marathon

	Tennis - Marathon - Mastered AAC .mp3

	Found at bee mp3 search engine

The Love Language - Hard to Tell

	The Love Language - Heart to Tell .mp3

	Found at bee mp3 search engine

Generationals - Trust

	Generationals - Trust .mp3

	Found at bee mp3 search engine

Avi Buffalo - What's in it for?

	Avi Buffalo· - Whats In It For? .mp3

	Found at bee mp3 search engine

Summer Camp - Ghost Train

	Summer Camp - ghost train .mp3

	Found at bee mp3 search engine

Cults - Go Outside

	Cults - Go Outside .mp3

	Found at bee mp3 search engine

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes - Home

	Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros - Home .mp3

	Found at bee mp3 search engine

Also, I'm falling in love with Adele. I haven't listened to her new album yet and can't wait to! Rolling in the deep is such a powerful single, the whole album must be amazing. What I'm going to share here is her version of Promise this by Cheryl Cole. I'm glad she has a soft spot for Cheryl as I do. She's my guilty pleasure. Luckily I don't need to feel guilty to like Adele's version :)

	Adele Covers Cheryl Cole& 39;s "Promise This& 39;"For BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge.mp3

	Found at bee mp3 search engine

and that's all for now :)

Books read in 2010

2011-01-11T17:12:00.000Z

33) Harry Potter and the chamber of secrets by J.K. Rowling (reread)
32) Blankets by Craig Thompson
31) The Green Guide for Business by Chris Goodall
30) The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle
29) Rubyfruit Jungle by Rita Mae Brown
28) Rebel Angels by Libba Bray
27) La caccia al tesoro by Andrea Camilleri
26) Il Visconte Dimezzato by Italo Calvino
25) Ho Paura Torero by Pedro Lemebel
24) Wolf Brother by Michelle Paver
23) A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray
22) Epic by Conor Kostick
21) Framed by Frank Cottrell Boyce
20) Monsters of Men by Patrick Ness
19) Oceano Mare by Alessandro Baricco
18) La Rizzagliata by Andrea Camilleri
17) Yeats is dead! by various Irish authors
16) The Various by Steve Augarde
15) Skunk Girl by Sheba Karim
14) Shine Coconut Moon by Neesha Meminger
13) My family and other animals by Gerald Durrell
12) Enna Burning by Shannon Hale
11) The Dreaming PLace by Charles de Lint
10) The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale
9) Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
8) Piggy Monk Square by Grace Jolliffe
7) Does my head look big in this? by Randa Abdel-Fattah
6) Of Bees and Mist by Erick Setiawan
5) Just Like Tomorrow by Faïza Guène
4) Il Mistero dell'Inquisitore Eymerich by Valerio Evangelisti
3) Box Office Poison by Alex Robinson
2) The Deportees by Roddy Doyle
1) Wintersmith by Terry Pratchett

Notes on a non-blogging year

2011-01-06T19:24:00.005Z

As much as a non-blogger I've been this year, I'd be really sad if I didn't at least write a little about what this year has been about for me. I know it hasn't been much about reading. I have hit my lowest reading level since 2007. I have also more than halved my posts compared to last year. At some point I nearly thought I was done with blogging. But to be honest, I miss it.
So as for a first New Year's resolution, I'd like to try to make friends again with regular blogging and stick to my earlier idea of blogging about anything I want to, whenever I feel like (although, obviously, more often than I have done lately).
Aside from neglecting my blog, this has been a very good year for me. I have lost my bookselling job at the end of February, but that has given me the opportunity to figure out what I really want to do with my life and start planning it. I haven't finished planning yet, but I'm working on it, which is good. My idea was to open a cooking business delivering vegetarian lunch boxes to shop and office workers. I'd still love to do it, but in this current Irish climate, I doubt I will be able to get funds. Also, I need people who are willing to be my partners, cause doing it alone is out of the question. But I'll see what the new year brings.
In the meantime, I'm back to the idea of taking my writing seriously. I do mean it this time. I'm very proud of myself for finishing and editing my first novel with Nanowrimo, but I don't want that to be my only finished project. This year I'm going to finish my neverending children story which I started aeons ago. And hopefully I'll get more ideas after that.

Looking back to my 2010 resolutions, I can say that I stuck to the one about creativity. With so much time in my hands, I was free to create lots. And had great fun with it. Knitting, photographing, painting jars and making bookmarks. That's probably what I liked most about this year. That's exactly what I needed, and what I want to keep doing in the new year too.
My digital camera was my favourite buy of the year. I haven't parted with it since. My jar-decorating thing is getting better and better. And the knitting thing has produced some much appreciated Christmas presents. I'm gonna have to learn how to knit socks next. It'd be amazing.
Also a jumper would be nice...

The other resolution from last year was to reread more. That, I must say, wasn't followed through. I only reread one Harry Potter book, and I have listened to Neil Gaiman reading The Graveyard book, while knitting. It was such a treat. I wish he had read more of his books, so I could enjoy his voice again and again.
As for the new books read, they weren't many, but there were some great ones.
My favourite in no particular order have been:
The Deportees by Roddy Doyle - a very entertaining collection of short stories about being an immigrant in Ireland.
Of Bees and Mist by Erick Setiawan - an engrossing story with a fairy tale touch to it.
The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale - the blogging hype on this one wasn't without reason. Such a good book.
Monsters of Men by Patrick Ness - a wonderful ending to an epic story. I still sometimes think of Todd and Viola and miss them.
Rubyfruit Jungle by Rita Mae Brown - a lesbian coming of age story. I didn't think I would enjoy this as much as I did. So ahead of its time. I will never forget the main character.
Blankets by Craig Thompson - It's unbelievable how the art and the narrative mix so perfectly well in this memoir. Mesmerising.
Framed by Frank Cottrell Boyce - I really wish I wrote a proper review for this one. I had so much to say about it, but now I can only say it was adorable, and funny, and clever, and you should read it.

I have to admit I haven't read much not just because I was busy being all artistic and stuff. I've also spent an insane amount of time online. Specifically on that evil invention design to suck you in and never let go until it's too late to do anything else, aka Tumblr. I could say that it helps my mind find inspiration, but what really it's pure procrastination.
So another New Year Resolution is to be strong and Spend. Less. Time. On. The. Internet.

OK?

Another way I have used my time was watching the It Crowd obsessively since this summer, and having a massive crush on Katherine Parkinson.
If you have never watched the It Crowd, I sort of envy you, because you can still experience its awesomeness for the first time. But don't leave it too late, cause it's worth it.

And now I'm going to wrap it up by sharing with you some of favourite songs of this year,meaning songs I have discovered this year, not necessarily *released* this year.

Cathy Davey. She has released a great new album this year called the Nameless, but I have discovered her previous album, Tales of Silversleeve, and fell in love with it. I like all the songs in the album so it's hard to choose, but anyway, I have to. (Oh by the way, if you know of a better way to upload music on blogger, please let me know, I'd love to use one of those streaming devices, I just don't how to).
"Harmony"

and "Mr. Kill"

The Concretes "Kids"
I've listened to this band a lot this year. They are a bit similar to Camera Obscura, so I had to love them. This song in particular is the one that made me listen to them more.
I love this line: Music could really knock you over back then, so we would lie on the floor just to be safe.

Of course I'm gonna have to repeat myself, because this is a year's summary and I've posted this video already. This song is part of this year's soundtrack so it has to feature:
Slow Club - "When I go"

In my opinion, the coolest, most faboulous Irish singer around at the moment. I can't wait to see her live in February
Imelda May - "Mayhem"

Marina and the Diamonds - "Seventeen"
Why the hell wasn't this on the album??

Amiina - "What are we waiting for?"
The discovery of this band was such a gift. Their music makes me enter a state of incredible relax and well being. I love them so much I bought the full album.

This band's only a recent discovery, but I like them very very much
Allo Dalin' - Kiss your lips

OK, I better stop here. I realise I could go on and on about all the songs and bands I've discovered, so maybe I'll leave it to future posts.
Hope everyone's year has been a satisfying one, or at least one to remember for a few good things. I also wish everyone's new year to be full of new exciting discoveries, love, art, moving reads, tasty food, fun parties, and good company.
Talk soon,
Val :)

Santa's early visit

2010-12-13T13:18:00.008Z

I got my Secret Santa package in the post! All the way from County Cork :) It's the first time that my Santa doesn't have to travel outside the country. I've lived in Ireland for about six years now and I don't know how I have managed to never visit Cork city, but now I'd love to go and say thanks to Em in person. Maybe a trip in the new year?
I opened the package immediately, because I'm like that. I prefer instant gratification than later delight. But I did pause for a second to take a photo of the content. I couldn't believe how generous my Santa has been. Huge virtual hug to Em from C'est la vie! Seriously, thank you so much. This was way more than I expected, you made my day! I looked for an email on your blog to thank you immediately but I didn't find one, so this is the only way I have to show you my appreciation ;)

Em sent me 3 books - Dracula by Bram Stoker, The Tent by Margaret Atwood and Perfume by Patrick Süskind. Two cds - Mick Flannery (Irish) and Basia Bulat (Canadian), who I had never heard of before, and two mysterious packages which turned out to be two special kind of French artisan sea salts: Fleur de sel and Gros sel both from Nairmoutier in Brittany. Em describes the first as being the gold of salt, and I'm almost hesitant to try it out as it's so precious!

About the books, I've read Perfume before and really enjoyed it, but I have never read Dracula (I know!) and the only book by Margaret Atwood that I've read is The Handmaid's Tale which was fantastic, so I'm glad to have another one of hers handy.
Also, I've listened to the cds once each, and yes, it's my kind of music. Will be playing them lots, especially Basia. So thank you so much again for everything, you've been a wonderful Santa.

Wow, I can believe this is the 4th Secret Santa exchange. The 4th! I'm just going to let that sink in...
And then warmly thank all the people who make this possible every year:
Allie, Amanda, Amy, Jen, Jen, Kelly, Lenore, Nicole, Selena.

Big hugs to ye too!

http://holidayswap.wordpress.com/

It's Time for Secret Santa a.k.a. The Book Blogger Holiday Swap again!

2010-11-11T22:42:00.006Z

It's that time of the year...Time for gift swapping among book bloggers!
I've taken part in it every year since Nymeth from Things mean a lot started it and it's one of the most fun thing I've done blog-wise. The rules are simple: send a gift - receive a gift :)
Obviously, being a book blogger thing, the gifts tend to me bookish. But not strictly so!
Go on, join now. You'll love it.
Ah go on, go on, go on.

Green Books Campaign - The Green Guide for Business by Chris Goodall

2010-11-10T14:26:00.011Z

Hello Internet People! I haven't reviewed a book in months and so I feel a bit out of practice, but I could not miss this event.
It's the Green Book Campaign organised by Eco-Libris, in which bloggers around the world review eco-friendly books and help raise awareness on the importance of sustainability in the publishing industry. I took part last year, when I reviewed "Sustainable Sushi" and learned a lot about the fish industry and the impact it has on our oceans. This year I decided to take part again, because I think it's important to always keep educating ourselves and others on the big issues facing our mistreated planet.
And the Green Books Campaign does just that. Here's the official introduction:

This review is part of the Green Books campaign.Today 200 bloggers take a stand to support books printed in an eco-friendly manner by simultaneously publishing reviews of 200 books printed on recycled or FSC-certified paper. By turning a spotlight on books printed using eco- friendly paper, we hope to raise the awareness of book buyers and encourage everyone to take the environment into consideration when purchasing books.
The campaign is organized for the second time by Eco-Libris, a green company working to make reading more sustainable. We invite you to join the discussion on "green" books and support books printed in an eco-friendly manner! A full list of participating blogs and links to their reviews is available on Eco-Libris website.

The Green Guide for Business by Chris Goodall

(printed in Britain on paper from well-managed forests and other controlled sources = FSC certified)

I chose to review this book for mainly one reason. I'm looking to start an independent business soon, and one of my main goals is to do it in the most eco-friendly way. Before reading it, I had a vague idea of what I wanted to do to implement green measures: recycle as much as possible, source materials from local suppliers, use transport with low-carbon impact, such as bikes and hopefully an electric car or van, use a compost bin and natural cleaning products.
After reading this, I realised that my ideas were set in the right direction, but, also, that there is so much more to consider.

It challenged some of my most firm beliefs and urged me to read even more about many issues, from recycling to alternative renewable energies.
This doesn't mean to say that I necessarily agree with everything Mr Goodall advocates. I found myself shaking my head more than once at the blatant way the book often refers to (and endorses) financially convenient choices and corporate hierarchy. The author addresses his advices to the CEO of businesses of any size, while referring to the junior staff in a, sometimes, dismissive and patronising way. Maybe it's just me who's allergic to this king of talk. Maybe Chris Goodall and I won't be the best of friends. But that's not the point. The important thing here is that I learned A LOT. I gathered lots of insightful information, useful tips and a general, clearer idea of how I'd like to run my business, so I can say it was an important read.
I should also say that, as insightful and well-researched as it is, this guide is almost completely UK-centred. It speaks to a British audience, so whoever doesn't live there, like me, needs to do their own local research on regulations, allowances, statistics etc.

But let's go more into details on what the book is actually about.

The first chapter looks at the reasons why a business should go green:

Contrary to general beliefs, going green doesn't mean spending more simply to be kind to the environment. It means being more efficient. A green business is able to monitor its costs better than a non-green one. It's also going to be ready to face changes in energy prices and respond quicker to changes in environmental regulations. It's basically saying that it makes all kinds of sense to switch to more sustainable options, even financially.

Having established that going green is a necessity, and not a luxury, the guide goes on to look at what it means to be a green business and what it can be done to implement real changes, from simple housekeeping to bigger but still easy steps, to major and revolutionary green projects. It also contains a whole chapter on how to calculate your carbon footprint (not an easy feat, I'm warning you), another one on how to reduce emissions on transports, and another on recycling, reducing and reusing (focusing on paper, water, stationery, and even furniture).

The major lesson I've learned is that whatever you do, you can never hope to achieve a completely green business. Everything we do is bound to be linked to carbon emissions, like it or not. But the answer isn't to seat back and keep doing nothing. The sensible and smart way to deal with it is, firstly, to be aware of the impact of our actions on the planet. Then to make informed choices on what to do to minimise this impact.

Maybe not surprisingly, the general public and the media, is apparently focused on things that don't matter as much as others, in terms of reducing emissions.
For example, the emphasis is on reducing stand-by power use of electrical appliances but the electricity consumed when things are in use has a bigger impact.

The attention is directed on issues such as recycling domestic waste, but this is generally a trivial matter compared, say to the importance of home insulation or the role of car and air transport in adding to carbon footprints.

Also:

Not buying stuff in the first place, or only purchasing from suppliers that minimise the amount of energy or materials used, is not something that is well understood.

Now, while I would agree that awareness should be raised on those issues, because saving energy and using less things are essential ways to reduce CO2 emissions, I wouldn't call recycling a trivial issue, in any case. And this lead to the main criticism I have about this book. It focuses almost solely on carbon emissions. It's definitely vital that the world learns how to reduce them, but I wouldn't underestimate the importance of other factors as well, such as chemical or plastic pollution in the oceans.
It was certainly interesting to learn that it's greener to choose plastic cups in a business instead of china or metal ones. They takes less energy to make compared to glass or ceramic, and if recycled, will have a small carbon footprint.But I'm wondering, why can't paper cups be used instead of glass or china? If the paper comes from sustainable forests and it can be recycled again (up to 5 times, as I've learned from this guide), wouldn't it be better than plastic? It would come from a renewable source and it would be easier to recycle.
These are all doubts than I have which I'm still trying to work out in my head. They, by no means, intend to diminish the value of the author's researches. I just like to question everything. And I do hate plastic with a passion.

The section on energy saving in building was interesting and definitely alarming. Did you know, for example, that refrigerators can be the single most important contributor to climate change for some businesses? I had never even thought about it.
The book shows small and big changes that can be done to effectively reduce energy needed and thus reducing emissions AND costs. Some ideas are very alluring, like the possibility of having a green roof (look them up, they look amazing!). Some other sound very daunting. But I'm grateful that now I know about the existence of all these different options and I can carefully ponder if I should invest on them or not.
The section on travel and transport has convinced me even more that choosing an electric vehicle is the best choice. Don't know if I will afford it, but I will definitely aim for it.
The section on reducing, recycling and reusing was possible the most interesting for me. I always thought that biodegradable products equal good. Think again. If not recycled, paper will end up in landfill and will rot, releasing methane, a potent climate change gas. Bio-plastic (PLA made from maize) is not currently recyclable, so it's even a bigger problem. Recycled plastic seems a better choice than the bio alternative. Also, I had never really thought about green stationery or furniture.

I realise this review is getting very long and I haven't managed to mention everything I intended. I know I won't be able to. This guide contains so much information and valid options, not to mention examples coming from existing companies who are trying to or have already succeeded in becoming greener. I could stay here all night telling you all about it. The truth is that it'll be boring. Better to go and read it for yourself, if you're running a business or planning to, like me.

I know this won't be the last book I read before taking all my decisions on how to run my future business. Nevertheless, this was a great start and I will be returning to it again for future references.

The Dublin Flea Market

2010-10-14T21:05:00.010+01:00

Back in August I visited the Dublin Flea Market, and I was enchanted. The atmosphere is great, very laid-back and very colourful. The stalls, being a flea market, are a mix of everything, as you would expect: gorgeous vintage clothes, jewellery, old books and furniture, boxes full of random stuff...On top of that it's also in a really cool location, both indoor and outdoor, with a café, a sunny (weather permitting) veranda and live music (although I wasn't there at gig-time, so I can't report on that. I'm sure it just added to the coolness of the whole thing). And I didn't even mention the handcraft section. It's small, and it has its own little room away from the big crowd, but I liked it too.

The indoor venue.

The Newmarket Square

Every month a new artist is commissioned to illustrate the market's poster. You can buy them for €5 and the proceeds go to the artists, or so I'm told. There's a gallery here and if you have a moment go and look at them, I think they're beautiful. I wish I could buy the whole collection! .

The stalls:

Oh and there's a co-op, as well, that sells organic/eco-friendly stuff for less.

It's on every last Sunday of the month :)

Crafty me

2010-10-06T17:13:00.020+01:00

Hello blogworld! I've finally made friends with photoshop so I present you with my latest achievements, i.e. the photoshop collages!
The jars and bottles and bookmarks were made in August and so were the photos. I can use my camera better now, but again I can't be bothered to take better pictures of them, so these ones will have to do :)
I've also made few more jars and I've added bits and pieces to the existing ones, such as beads and lids, but I haven't photographed them yet.
First with the bookmarks.
These below are my personal favourites:

Here's the rest of them:
The bottles:

The jars:

And that's all for now :)
Knitting season ahead!

A quick note

2010-08-21T21:24:00.004+01:00

[one of the things I've been making]

Hey guys,
my book reviewing has been put on hold lately, but I've been busy busy making artsy stuff out of magazines and glass jars, photographing anything shiny that catches my eye with my new gorgeous digital camera, watching episodes of the IT crowd over and over again, and generally playing with the internet a lot. The latter activity has resulted in me adventuring into new blogging grounds i.e. TUMBLR! It's a mysterious land, and I'm still finding my feet there, but it's fun, and quick.
This is my page: La stella piumata. Feel free to have a look!

Well...

2010-07-14T18:06:00.003+01:00

I haven't been around much, have I? But that's how it is at the moment. I've read some incredibly good books, and I will one day talk about them, probably in one post filled with mini-reviews, but I will, definitely. For now, though, I'm going away again, to Sicily and to my beloved, tiny, magical island of Levanzo. I will have to spend the night in London airport, but I have lots of books with me, should I not be able to fall asleep on a chair.
For my 10-day-holiday I chose books that have been waiting for at least 3 years to be read:
Wolf Brother by Michelle Paver
A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray
Epic by Conor Kostick
and My Tender Matador by Pedro Lemebel.
With the exception of the last one, they are all YA and mostly fantasy (not sure about Wolf Brother), so it's pure indulgence. Exactly what I want on my holidays.
Oh and Framed by Cottrell Boyce which I'm halfway through it and loving it.

Talking about great books, I've literally just finished Monsters of Men by Patrick Ness, the third volume in his stunning Chaos Walking trilogy. I'm not going to write a proper review, I'm somehow too invested in it. Besides, lots of people have already done it brilliantly before me. I just want to join the choruses of "OMGOMGOMGOMG"s and "WOW"s and "I'm still recovering from it, I can't really talk about it"'s. It was just that good. I was forced to read it faster that I would have, cause I didn't want to bring the huge hardback with me, hence making it an even more intense experience. I have never been that much on edge reading a book as I was with this one. I was almost scared to turn the pages, knowing something terrible was gonna happen, but that didn't make me turn them any slower. I love the characters so much, I had to hope things were gonna turn out well for them, but at almost every end of paragraph, especially towards to end, I was like "f***k's sake! Can't it go smoothly for once?" And of course I can't tell you if it does, you'll have to read and suffer exactly like me! And no peeking ahead, it's wrong.
OK, off to the airport, see you when I'm back, all tanned and rested.

pic from http://tomorrowmaybe-megone.blogspot.com/

My family and Other Animals - Gerald Durrell

2010-07-14T16:58:00.001+01:00

When Gerry Durrell was 10 years old his family, composed by his mother, 23-year-old Larry, 19-year-old Leslie and 18-year-old Margo, decided to move to the Greek island of Corfu and lived there for five years.
This is an "accurate and unexaggerated picture" of how Gerry saw his family and the animal world which richly populated the island.

Although the book title refers to the author's family I found myself a lot more interested in Gerry's love for zoology. It must have been heaven for a kid with such a passionate interest to live in an island like Corfu. It literally buzzed with life and the book portraits this so well. You can feel just how much the author loved this place by reading the lengthy descriptions of the beauty of its flora and fauna. The natural wonders of the island provided him with all sorts of entertainment and his houses (because the family moved from villa to villa quite a lot) often became the home for the strangest and sometimes scariest pets, including snakes, scorpions and owls.
Some accounts of animal lives were more hilarious than others, like Achilles', the strawberry-loving tortoise, whose favourite pastime was climbing on people in the garden:

If [...] you were lying on a rug, sun-bathing, Achilles would be convinced that you were lying on the ground simply to provide him with amusement. He would surge down the path and on to the rug with an expression of bemused good humour on his face. He would pause, survey you thoughtfully, and then choose a portion of your anatomy on which to practise mountaineering.

Or the over-enthusiastic male swallow's:

He seemed determined to leave no stone unturned to provide his young with the finest nest-lining in the colony. But, unfortunately, he was no mathematician, and, try as he would, he could not remember the size of his nest. He would come flying back, twittering in an excited if somewhat muffled manner, carrying a chicken or turkey feather as big as himself, and with such a thick quill it was impossible to bend it. It would generally take his wife several minutes to convince him that, no matter how they struggled and juggled, the feather would not fit into the nest.

Or the grumpy owlet Ulysses', and the fierce gecko Geronimo's and his epic battle with the giant mantis Cicely.
But really, the whole book was a pleasure to read. The author's family was definitely bizarre, and so were their friends who were invited once in a while, and for whom the family moved villa more than once, just to fit them all in. The matter-of-factly way of recounting the events by the author makes everything even more endearing. That was just what happened, even though sometimes it sounded surreal or just straight out of a slapstick comedy.
I admit I wasn't always comfortable with how Gerry treated the animals he found. He often captured them and brought them home with him, even when they were clearly wild creatures. A couple of time he actually hunts the mother's nest or den and brings the tiny newborn with him. I wanted to shout at him to leave the poor thing alone, but then I had to remember that he was only a kid enamoured with the animal life and way too eager to observe it as close as possible. Moreover, he didn't have anyone to tell him otherwise, so why shouldn't he?
Gerry grew up to be a notable naturalist so I'm sure he learned to respect the wild life in time.
So, despite some occasional criticism, I enjoyed this book very much, definitely one to recommend in the future.

other blog reviews:
BookNAround

Nerds Heart YA: Shine, Coconut Moon VS Skunk Girl

2010-06-27T09:39:00.008+01:00

And here we are again for a second year of Nerds Heart YA. I'm judging the first round again. The books I have read are

Shine, Coconut Moon by Neesha Meminger

and

Skunk Girl by Sheba Karim

Shine, Coconut Moon by Neesha Meminger

The Summary
Samar is a seventeen-year-old girl living in Linton, New Jersey. Her family is of Indian origins but her mother, who brought her up as a single parent, has always tried to keep her away from her heritage and her grandparents. She's taught Samar to feel like an American, rather than Indian, with the same rights and freedoms of any other citizen, regardless of her ethnicity, but her mother's intentions to save Samar from the restrictions that she had to endure as a child are turning her into a coconut: brown on the outside and white on the inside.
An unexpected reunion with uncle Sandeep, whom Samar had never met, soon after the 9/11 attacks, ignites Samar's need to reconnect with her heritage and find out more about herself.

What I liked:
I thought the idea of linking the typical teenager's need of self-discovery to the exploration of one's cultural identity was a great idea. When Samar says: I couldn't feel more different. I feel like the epitome of different - from everyone. I feel like there's no one else like me on this whole planet she's channeling, unknowingly, the spirit of being a teenager. In her case it's symbolised by her new-found origins. But I challenge anyone to raise their hand and say they haven't felt this way at 17.
The 9/11 setting added some edginess, some uncomfortable moments, which at first they felt a bit deliberate but they all came together in the end.
Of course, I loved learning about Sikh culture, of which I know little about. Especially what it is like for a Sikh to live away from the homeland and still carry on the faith. Just as much as I was interested in reading about being a Muslim in Does my head look big in this? I enjoyed the parts which dealt with the rituals and the traditions of the Sikh.
Regarding the characters,I must say I loved uncle Sandeep. He's the sweetest, most likeable character, always ready to help, to talk, to hug. Although he's a bit too willing to please Samar and do whatever she asks him to do. Also, for all her faults, I thought Samar's mother was an example of an independent spirit, a women who rebelled and tried to instill the same spirit into her daughter, with unexpected results. I couldn't not like her.

What I didn't like:
Unfortunately I found Samar's character to be flat and occasionally annoying. Aside from her journey of self-discovery, there wasn't anything that made her stand out as a person. Was that the point? That she needed to find her true identity before developing a personality? I don't know, but aside from being a rebelling teenager, which is normal, I couldn't find any special likable qualities about her. At some point I even thought she was taking her anger against her mother a bit too far and I ended up siding with her mother. Am I getting too old?
Actually all the teenager characters were sort of bland, bordering toward boring, which was a little disappointing.

Skunk Girl by Sheba Karim

The Summary:
At 16-year-old, Nina Khan had two main things that plagued her life: the constant comparison to the super genius older sister and body hair.
She's also from a Pakistan family and one of the only brown kids in her school, which, as she puts, sucks.

It's not that I hate high school. It's just that I wish it would hurry up and end already.

A part from that, she's a normal teenager, who has friends, and would like to party and date like any other kid. But her family, unlike Samar's, is of the strict kind and won't allow Nina to mingle with boys. Things, of course, get harder for her, when a new kid, Asher Richelli, arrives in school and Nina falls for his Italian charm, like half of the female population in the school.

What I liked:
First of all, the writing was excellent. I loved Nina. She's smart, pessimistic and sarcastic, and completely lovable. You just want to squeeze her in a bear hug and tell her she's gorgeous. I also loved her friends, Bridget and Helena. Bridget seems to be the perfect Sagittarian: athletic but clumsy, and always blurting out whatever comes up in her head. Helena is the romantic, pretty type, always looking for the endless love, and always looking at the positive side of things. They are great counterparts for Nina's shy personality.
I also thought Nina's family was very likable. They are strict Muslims, but they visible love their daughter to bits. You can see it in her dad, especially, in his awkward attempts at bonding with Nina. So adorable. Also irresistible is his love for food, for Sufi mystical music, and for bear hugs.
All these great characters come to life thanks to Nina's hilarious sarcastic comments and humour. I frequently laughed out loud, while I kept my grin on almost all the time. And what can I do, books that make me laugh will always win my heart.
Like Shine, Cononut Moon, Skunk Girl is a journey of discovery. But unlike the other, this story is more about acceptance. As a teenager Nina feels restricted and repressed, but she also slowly comes to realise what a great gift it is to have a family who loves you and will care for you always.
Her parents are very similar to Samar's grandparents, and it'd be interesting to see how the two characters would fare if they could swap families. Nina would experience a greater freedom, but wouldn't be part of a bigger community of people sharing the same cultural background. Samar would understand what it meant for her mother to live under repressive rules, but would experience that comforting choral feeling of big family reunions. I think it would enrich both of them

What I didn't like:
Not much. I was a bit disappointed by the ending, but not completely. I knew it had to be that way, I just can't help wishing Nina would stand up to her parents just a bit more. Her religion seems to be imposed on her, as something she can't change, just accept, while I'd love for her to be free to experience teenage love without fearing her parent's fury. But I guess that's just how things are sometimes.
All in all, it was a great realistic insight into a Pakistani girl's life, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

So, decision time. I'd say you will have guessed by now, but let's make it official.
The book that will go to the next round is:

Skunk Girl!

Knitting away

2010-06-24T22:54:00.012+01:00

So today I attended the end-of-year certificate night for my knitting class. It is organised by a community centre for adult learners which also offers a whole range of other courses for ridiculously low prices. Next time I'll try to do the dress-making course, if the class is not all booked out. Anyway, tonight they organised the ceremony to hand out all the certificates (not just for knitting, but for all the classes) including a gorgeous dinner. I was surprised to see the Lord Mayor of Dublin Eamer Costello (who's actually a woman, isn't it weird to be called Lord?) there who gave an introductory speech and handed out the certificates. She seemed like a lovely woman.
This whole thing reminded me that I never posted anything of what I made this year. I'm very proud of some of the things I made, I will probably set up a chain factory for Christmas to make hand-knitted gifts for everyone...
Here we go.

These are the first pair of hand-warmers I ever knitted. I was so excited when I made them, because they're so simple to make and they look really cool. I'm almost sad now that's too hot to wear them.

This pair was harder to make, but only at first. I didn't know how to do the lace. Thank the internet gods for youtube and the knitting-for-dummies videos.

This is probably the easiest thing you can make after a scarf. Should make a whole range of colours to go with different outfits.

and here's the scarf. You can't see it but there's a hole where you can slip the scarf in on windy days. I added the buttons on the edges, they weren't in the pattern.

If anyone fancy making any of these things, most of the patterns can be found on the web:
First pair of hand-warmers
second pair of hand-warmers
bow head-band
The scarf is in the Stitch 'n bitch book.

I'll keep you updated with future creations!

I'm back...

2010-06-24T22:38:00.003+01:00

...and I have the winner of my little contest:

Maeve!

Congratulations :D
I don't even have to post it out (I'm so cheap)

Oh by the way, it was my blogiversary

2010-06-22T19:13:00.000+01:00

Three days ago, this blog turned three! I didn't forget, I was just lazy. But I like traditions, and blogiversary means giveaway. I can't skip that. Now, since I'm even poorer than last year, I'm going to give away only one book. But the good part (for me) is that I get to browse around all the fabulous charity shops and pick a book for the lucky winner. You know the feeling you have when you look at second-hand books you really love and are really cheap? You're really tempted to buy them again and bring them home, but usually there is no point. You already have that book and you also already read it. I keep seeing books I love all over the place, because I'm more than even browsing charity shops few times a week. And it's OK when there's someone with me whom I can recommend the book to. But when I'm alone I feel very guilty to just buy it for future gifts. So now you have a chance to make me feel less guilty! See, I'm not generous at all, it's all for my selfish pleasure :D
All you have to do to get the book is comment below. If you don't have a wish list, start making one! Also, if you don't have an online catalog, get one! Otherwise, you'll just have to go with whatever you get and risk to get a book you already read/have.
Deadline is June 22. I know, it's ages from now, but I'm going on holiday next Monday, and it's not even a week from now, so I thought I'd give more time to spread the word, until I come back. Good Luck!

photo credit:http://blog.pinkcakebox.com/

Enna Burning - Shannon Hale

2010-06-05T17:08:00.003+01:00

I won't even attempt to write a proper review as I've read this a while ago, but I did want to write down some impressions, because Shannon Hale is quickly becoming one of my newest favourite writers. I can't just mention this one briefly.
Returning to Bayern was like revisiting some old friends. True, I've only read The Goose Girl recently, so it hasn't been that long ago, but it was still comforting. The story though, wasn't. Also, it was a little hard to get into it at first. It didn't have the familiar beginning of a fairy tale like The Goose Girl had. It left Ani aside, to focus on Enna, who was one of the best secondary characters in the first book, but somehow it took a while to warm up to the story.
The writing was always enchanting, though, and I knew I was gonna fall in love with the story soon enough. Enna is easy to love, just like Ani (or Isi as she calls her) but they are different. Ani had to grow from being too shy and awkward to be confident and brave. Enna's journey is different. She's already confident enough, being from the Forest and all, but she's very impulsive, strong-minded and proud. All great traits which make her a beautiful character, but which also lead her to make some big mistakes.
My favourite part was the second half, and if you haven't read it, skip this paragraph as it's hard to talk about it without some spoilers...
We come to realise, as hinted by Ani/Isi, that Enna's gift is a dangerous one, even more than expected, and that it won't be easy to get rid of it. Just like a drug, it starts to take over Enna's life from the inside and there seems to be no solution. The ending was absolutely beautiful. It showed the strong friendship bond that exists between the two young women, and it reminds us that the only way nature work is by maintaining its balance. You can learn its language but it can literally eats you up if you don't understand it as a whole. Loved it.
(end of spoilers)
My favourite fantasy books never take magic lightly. They show there's always consequences, laws and balances to learn before you can master it. That's one of the reasons why I will always refer to Ursula K. Le Guin and her Eearthsea series as some of the best fantasy ever written.
I love the Harry Potter's books because they're entertaining and cleverly plotted, but their careless use of magic will always slightly annoy me.
I'm happy to say Shannon Hale's works falls into the "best" category. At least her fantasy books, which are the only ones I've read so far.
I'm really glad there's another one to read in this series, River Secret, which I know nothing about. Another chance to get that cosy warm feeling of revisiting a beloved world and characters.

other reviews:
Things mean a lot
Nothing of Importance
Melody's Reading Corner
Rhinoa's Ramblings
Words by Annie
The Written World
Always dreaming
Please let me know if you've written about it too.

A Moorehawke giveaway and other stuff

2010-05-31T19:45:00.006+01:00

The lovely Celine Kiernan is hosting a giveaway for her fab fantasy Moorehawke Trilogy. The third and final book, the Rebel Prince, is coming out soon but the winner of the competition will be able to hold the book in their hands five months before the publication date. They will also win a copy of the first and second volume, The Poison Throne and Crowded Shadows.
I read The Poison Throne last year and loved it, so you should probably get your hands on a copy too. I'm ashamed to say I haven't read the second yet, but its time will come! Might give it a try with the competition, but if I don't win, I'll probably wait till the third is out to read the second.
So, all you have to do to win the three books is cast the main characters. We always do that anyway, right? Or at least I do it almost all the time. So just pick the people you think are the best to play Razi, Christopher and Wynter and tell Celine. She'll pick her favourite ones and they will be announced on her blog. You have until the 22nd of June to send your suggestions.
I'd say you give it a try even if you haven't read them. At least you have a chance to win the books!

On my life front, I'm having a good time these days. One of my best friend came to visit me from Italy for the first time and it was amazing to have her here. I introduced her to the town and all the places I love, and we had a great time together.
Among the things we did, there was a Eurovision Party in Pantibar, a gay bar. So, being Italian I had a vague idea of what Eurovision really was, and this only because I live here. None of my italian friends even knew it existed. I only knew the gays were mad for it here! Anyway, we went and it was MENTAL! People screaming, cheering, singing along, with their eyes glued on the big screen for the whole bloody thing. I can't believe the scoring system took so long and that the people there followed it so closely...That aside, I LOVED it. Only saw bits of the performances, cause we got there late, but I knew the Irish song (not the best, unfortunately) and the German one, which is kinda cute, despite what everyone's saying (because I like Kate Nash and she sounds just like her). But nothing prepared me for THAT! The trashiness, the costumes, the trashiness, the global flash mobs, the trashiness, the people going crazy, the sparkles, the bad songs, and the trashiness! I'm telling you, it was like being stuck in the 70's. But in a good way.
After the competion, the drag queens completed the night with some oldie eurovision songs, and, of course, being in Ireland, with a mad rendition of Riverdance. Can't wait for next year's.

Today I got my two books for Nerds heart YA. I'd say I should get starting with those asap, as I'm so slow these days. I'm still reading the Various, and I'm loving it, because...hello? fairies, but I might have to put it aside to do my nerdy judge duty. Life is tough, sometimes.
OK, I'm off to eat me dinner, which is an improvised experiment of sautéed potatoes and onions, with mushrooms, eggs and melted cheese on top. Hope it's yummy.

I leave you with a lovely, but sad comic about the love for books, read it:)
Mister Bookseller by Darko Macan

New Directions

2010-05-26T12:07:00.005+01:00

Lately I've been trying to come up with a cool name for a new blog, a place where I could talk about other things beside books. About all the stuff that are going on in my life, about the music I listen to or the things I've knitted, or what my latest cooking experiment tasted like. I thought I wanted to leave this place for books only, although there hasn't been much of those here either.
But then I realised the easiest solution would be to just use this one. It's my blog after all, I can post whatever I want, right?
So yeah, from now on, officially, I will talk about anything, which will include books too (I could never give up those. Actually, I will post two reviews soon), but not exclusively.

Ever since I lost my job at the bookstore (oh yeah, another thing I never mentioned here...) I have had lots of time to dedicate to the things I love doing. Less reading and more "making". I'm editing my NaNoWriMo novel, which is due to be finished by the end of June, in order to avail of the offer for a free printed copy. I still very much doubt my ability to write anything close to good, but it's a good exercise and I'm taking it for what it is.
Also, only recently I've started to exercise again. I live just beside a wonderful park, and I've taken up jogging there in the morning. I like it so much that I have to stop myself from going every day. Apparently there needs to be a day of rest in between training. I'm increasing gradually the running time and I love to see how much I'm improving each time.
Then of course there's the knitting. I haven't made much lately, but I'm not giving it up. I can't wait to get those photos ready so I can show you the pretty stuff I have made.
More importantly, being unemployed meant that I could apply for a training course free of charge. I had been thinking of starting my own business for quite a while now, and here was my opportunity to make it come true. I won't talk about what it is until it's closer to being actually real, but I'm really excited about it. So now I'm still doing this business course, there's about a month to go and then there will be hundreds of things to do to make it happen. It will involve cooking, this I can say. I have long given up teaching. It was cool for a while, but it's not my thing. While I think this may very well be it.
So that's about it. I hope it's going to be fun:)
I leave you with some more videos of songs I've recently come to love. Hope you like them. xxx

"Old Times" by Whispertown 2000

"The ghost who walks" by Karen Elson

"Rabbit Fur Coat" by Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins

and lastly, a band I'm loving lots at the moment. This song sounds so much like those cartoon songs of my childhood, and obviously I'm mad for it:)
"I'm glad I hitched my apple wagon to your star" by The Boy least likely to

Nerds Heart YA 2010: the shortlist is here

2010-05-22T14:51:00.007+01:00

Finally the shortlist is ready! I'm in the first bracket and the books I will read are
Shine, Coconut moon by Neesha Meminger and Skunk Girl by Sheba Karim. They're both about ethnic minorities in America written by two women with similar backgrounds as their characters.
Shine, Coconut moon is about an Indian American girl.

While the second one, Skunk Girl is about a Pakistan American girl
My bracket seems to go perfectly with my resolution of reading more multicultural books. It'll be interesting to compare the two, and see how they deal with similar themes of identities and prejudices. I'm really looking forward to starting reading.

I've hardly heard of any of the books in the list, but I'm very excited to read all the reviews and decision. As usual I expect them to add buckets to my wish list!
Here are all the books in the tournament:

Donut Days - Lara Zielin

Me, Just Different – Stephanie Morrill

Pure – Terra Elan McVoy

The World is Mine – Lyah B. LeFlore

Gringolandia – Lyn Miller-Lachmann

Wanting More – Rukhsana Khan

Devil’s Kiss – Sarwat Chadda

Jumped – Rita Williams-Garcia

Guantanamo Boy – Anna Perera

Shine, Coconut Moon – Neesha Meminger

Skunk Girl – Sheba Karim

Last Night I Sang to the Monster – Ben Alire-Saenz

The Rock and the River – Kekla Magoon

Purple Heart – Patricia McCormick

Alligator Bayou – Donna Jo Napoli

A Wish After Midnight – Zetta Elliot

Medina Hill – Trilby Kent

Lost – Jacqueline Davies

In the Path of Falling Objects – Andrew Smith

Funny How Things Change - Melissa Wyatt

Blessing’s Bead – Debby Dahl-Edwardson

The Blonde of the Joke – Bennett Madison

Say the Word – Jeannine Garsee

In Mike We Trust – P E Ryan

Evil? – Timothy Carter

Beautiful – Amy Reed

Tilmon County Fire – Pamela Ehrenberg

The Vast Fields of Ordinary – Nick Burd

Once You Go Back – Douglas A. Martin

Anything but Typical – Nora Raleigh Baskin

Border Crossing – Jessica Lee-Anderson

Rowan the Strange- Julie Hearn

I recently picked up Guantanamo Boy from the library, but haven't got to it yet.I'm glad it made the list.
Do you know any of the others?

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Speaking of young adult books, I've failed to mention that recently my blog as been added to a list of recommend blogs for teen readers on the Online Degrees website. Check it out (Although they seems to think I'm a teenager. Ehm. Maybe at heart, yes...)

Other stuff I've listening to (and stuff I've been doing)

2010-05-09T14:37:00.005+01:00

Slowly I'm returning to my usual self. I'm just back from a much needed holiday in Madrid. I had never been to Spain and I loved it. I struggled at first with the language, but by the second day I was already able to have a simple conversation with the locals! When they learned I was Italian they stopped answering to me in English and let me experiment with my elementary Spanish, which was fun. I took Spanish in school but that's like more than twelve years ago (at least)...I remember liking it very much but I never used it until this week. I was surprised at how much it came back to me speaking it.
It was also my first experience at travelling alone and it was definitely a hit. There were so many other people travelling alone and always ready for a chat or to join me to explore the city. I met some very strange but joyful people, and ate lots of delicious food (mostly tapas). I will post the pictures as soon as I develop and scan them (yes, I still don't own a digital camera...)

This holiday also brought me back to books. I started reading The Dreaming Place by Charles de Lint on the plane. I chose a short book as I didn't trust myself to read something too long. But by the end of the first day in Madrid I had finished it. So I went book-hunting. I found a bookshop which had books in English and bought My family and other animals by Gerald Durrell and I am enjoying it very much. Then I also got a YA book in Spanish, cause I plan to keep re-learning it. I've already read two chapters, for which I'm really proud. The book is El coleccionista de relojes extraordinarios by Laura Gallego García, who, according to the local bookseller, is a good author. I'm really intrigued by it so I'll let you know my thoughts on it.
I decided to leave Enna Burning at home, cause I only have the last few chapters left, and didn't want to finish it too soon and then carry it around for nothing. But I will finish it today or tomorrow. I did love it, although it has taken me ages to read it.

OK, so now for the music part of this blog post:

I love love love the Slow Club. I wish they played here. I wished they did the Electric Picnic, it'd be perfect. I need to see them live! I love almost all their songs but this one, I can't get enough of. I love singing along to it, it's lovely.
ps: I was sure there was a beautiful music video for this song, but I can't find it anymore.

Another band I'm loving for their soft 60's sound is Camera Obscura. This is their best song i think:

As most of these artists, I've only started to listen to Cathy Davey very recently, but I immediately loved her style. She's playing here soon, but I'm still thinking whether I should go. 26 euro seems a lot for someone I just started to know, but I know I would enjoy it. Hmm, dilemmas...
This is her latest single:

On an extremely different note, I'm loving the latest Beth Ditto look on Gossip's new video for Pop goes the World. The song is cool, but her hair is the best part. It's purple! And Blue! And her make-up! And her whole thing! Fantastic.

GOSSIP - POP GOES THE WORLD from V Magazine on Vimeo.

I'm finishing here with a treat for myself, basically. It's Florence's new song. She debuted it in Dublin, but I couldn't get tickets. Thank the Internet Gods for Youtube. I knew she was going to play something new, and I couldn't wait to listen to it. You can barely understand any lyrics, but it doesn't matter. It's Florence's new song for Pete's sake!! What else could *you* want?!

What I've been listening to

2010-04-27T17:08:00.005+01:00

OK, so the truth is, I haven't read anything in more than a week. Must be a record. But I have been doing lots of knitting, and listening to music in the meantime. So I thought I'd share my latest discoveries with yous, and keep this neglected blog afloat.

One of my favourite songs of the past week or so is Johnny Flynn's Tickle Me Pink.
I have no idea what it means, just that it sounds very poetic and deep, and has an infectious melody.
Here's the video:

Another band I've been into recently is She & Him. They make this soft 60's pop which puts me immediately in a good mood. It's the perfect music to listen to in the morning. I love Zooey's voice!
Their first track in the album is my favourite.

Most of this new discoveries come from LastFm. Sometimes the recommendations are a complete failure and sometimes they are a revelation, or just a very pleasant surprise.
Lykke Li falls into the latter category. I thought she was so so at the beginning, but the more I listen to her the more I like her.

Then there's First Aid Kit. There's something about these two Swedish sisters that I find irresistible. They have catchy songs, the play guitars and some other weird instrument I can't identify cause I don't know shit about music, and they do all this in a forest!

And how can I not mention my latest crush Amanda Palmer? I went to her gig in Dublin at the last minute and it was the weirdest most amazing thing I've ever been to. It was messy and chaotic and fun and full of heart and enthusiasm. I've been listening to her stuff and the Dresden Dolls ever since and they're fantastic. But what you need to watch here is a video from the gig I was in. It's called Fuck the Ash Cloud. It's hilarious. It's a song she and Neil Gaiman wrote over skype the night before or something. The two other guys on the stage are from Bitter Ruins, an improvised supporting band who were pretty cool in their own right. You can't see it on the video but Jason Webley was on a big screen on Skype beside Amanda and he was posting some cute pictures of Amanda and Neil being kept apart by the ash cloud. That's why people go "awwww" at some point!

Ok, this is getting way longer than I thought. I'll have to post a part II later. I have some many more bands I'd like to share.
But I'll leave you with something which will explain my recent moods. The lyrics are basically almost exactly what she's been telling me, and why I've been in some a shitty state. I know there's nothing I can't do to change her mind, but it still hurts. So there.

What I've been reading

2010-04-12T11:05:00.008+01:00

Not much really. Haven't been in the best form. Life isn't going exactly like I wanted, and that has affected my reading habits big time. As usual, when I feel down, books are not what I look for. I just can't concentrate long enough. I need mindless jobs like knitting, or cleaning the house. Or even movies, although they can lead to even more tears so I'm avoiding them for now as well.
But anyway, I hope everyone who's participated in the Dewey's Read-a-thon last weekend has had a wonderful time. I know I did when I took part last year. Maybe I'll be in better form in October.
So, what I'd like to talk about now is the two books I've read recently.
One is Piggy Monk Square by Grace Joliffe
Set in Liverpool in the 70's, it's the story of 9-year-old Sparra who lives in one of the toughest districts in town, and is used to play in the streets with her best mate Debbie. Their favourite place is a bombed-out square called Piggy Monk. Of course it's dangerous and of course it's forbidden, but that is exactly why they love it so much. One day a young policeman patrolling the area discovers their secret hidey-hole and warns them to keep out. Then an accident occurs and the two girls are faced with something bigger than them and can't think of anything but run away.
As usual with the best books I've read, this is not just about the story. There's much more going for it. There's Sparra's parents who are struggling to hold together their marriage although they love each other. There's the witchy mad auntie Mo who likes to stir up trouble, and Sparra's mother's cool best friend Josie who takes care of Sparra when her parents need to sort things out.
Then there's school. Where beating and abusing the kids for being late or giving the wrong answers is still acceptable. Especially in a working class area like where Sparra lives, in which children's rights are not a priority that concerns the authorities.
Piggy Monk Square reminded me a lot of Paddy Clarke Ah Ah Ah by Roddy Doyle, in a good way. It enters the mind of a 9-year-old child perfectly, showing us what the world looks like at that age: there's the monsters, which can take the form of coppers with handcuffs, or of imaginary psycho-killers, or of school principles with anger-management problems. There's the delights of sudden trips to the beach, or of getting tons of your favourite sweets with the change in the shop. And then there's the adult world, which can be so confusing and complicated. The coppers who are supposed to protect you, are abusive and scary and your parents who are only supposed to be together and love you, are splitting up and there's nothing you can do about it.
The book also does a good job in giving a feel of the time. Of what it meant to be a working class family in the 70's in Liverpool. And more importantly, it is written in this deceptively simple way which is so easy to fall in love with. It's a shame is not more well-known, it deserves to be read.

The other book I've read (finally!) is The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale.
I can't imagine anyone not liking this book. It's just one of those which are just too good to find something that can be said against them. I for one wasn't familiar with the original fairy tale, so I also had the unknown factor working on my favour. But what really got me was the writing. So beautiful, and original, and at the same time so perfectly in tune with the fairy-tale atmosphere. Shannon Hale uses the original story as a canvas to paint her own imagined world for princess Anidori. The storyline is something like a guide around which the author as let her imagination flow wonderfully.
I was drawn into it since the beginning. The writing won me over immediately, but then it was the characters which I longed to return to. Ani's journey is not only physical. She leaves her kingdom as a frighten child, and she becomes a confident, smart and brave young woman by the end of the book. She's just the perfect heroine. And then there's all the minor characters which make the book so special. I'm talking about the Forest born, Enna, and Finn, and Gilsa, and all of them really. I almost didn't want Ani to leave her geese and achieve her destiny. I loved the part where she slowly becomes a part of that community the most.
I'm sorry if I'm gushing about it without even an hint of an introduction to the story and the characters. I sort of assumed everyone else has read it except me, which is of course not true. But if you haven't by this stage, I think you should definitely go and read it, and after that, my review will make more sense to you, that's all I can say.
Now I'm in the middle of its sequel, Enna Burning, which features one of my favourite characters, so I'm expecting a lot from it. I don't think it'll disappoint.

Once Upon a Time IV

2010-03-22T22:26:00.004Z

This is the first challenge I officially join this year, and I've been really looking forward to it.
I'm not reading as much these days as I used to, but I'll try my best to do Quest the Second, which means reading a book for each category: Fantasy, Fairy Tales, Folklore and Mythology.
My pool of possibilities is not very exciting as they are books I've been listing more than once and never actually read them. Let's see how I get on this on this time.

Fantasy: The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud. (This one has been on my shelf for aaages, it's unbelievable).
A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin (A reread, of sorts. I have read this three times in the Italian translation, but never in English).

Fairy Tales: The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale. (I promise I'll read it this time!)
The Ice Queen by Alice Hoffman
The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter (again, yes).

Folklore: Wonder tales of Ancient Wales
The Dreaming place by Charles de Lint.

Mythology: The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood

That's it. I can't wait to start reading them!

Does My Head Look Big In This? - Randa Abdel-Fattah

2010-03-20T16:41:00.006Z

"What's the big deal? It's a piece of material."
My mother snorts. "Since when do people see it as a mere piece of material? You and I both know that's a tad optimistic, ya Amal."
"So what? I can deal with all the crap...I want to try...and I want that identity. You know, that symbol of my faith. I want to know what it means to be strong enough to walk around with it on and stick up for my right to wear it."

So that's why sixteen-year old Amal decides to go full-time. That means wearing the hijab anytime a man who's not part of the family is around. Outside her house, at the mall, at the cafè, but especially in school. Not a decision to be taken lightly, when you're an Australian-born -Palestinian-Muslim student in a posh non-Muslim school. It takes guts, but Amal is dead serious and won't listen to anyone telling her it's a crazy idea.

I really enjoyed reading this. My first thought was that it should be given to anyone who's ever wondered what a girl who wears the veil thinks and feels. What are the reasons behind her custom. Whether she was forced to wear it or she's proud of it. It answers all these questions and more, in a straight-forward way. But this is not simply a book with a message.
It's mainly a very funny, witty and engrossing read. Its main character Yamal is a strong-minded and extremely smart girl who sticks up for her traditions and culture, while being a normal teenager with everyday teenage problems like zits, boy crushes, bitchy queen bees and best friends with weight complexes. It's hard not to like her.
Then there're a myriad of secondary characters: Amal's classmates, her Muslim friends, her family, her grumpy Greek neighbour. They all make this book a pleasure to read. I especially loved Amal's relationship with Mrs Vaselli, the Greek neighbour. It has a bumpy start, but it gets warmer and heartfelt and bittersweet.

One underlining theme of the book was the different ways in which human beings can experience immigration. Some will try to forget their past and blend in with the locals, in the hope of being accepted as equals. Others will cling on their cultures, and stick together, so not to feel too far away from home, and to remember who they are. Others will never truly feel at home and will end regretting the journey all their lives.
And then there's the second generation, the kids like Amal, who are born in a country, but for many people, they will never belong because their parents came from somewhere else.
To Amal she is a real Australian and is entitled to the same rights as any other Australian citizen, but at the same time she's also a Muslim whose parents happened to be born in Palestine. Just like her friend Eileen whose parents are Japanese.
Although Amal is proud of her heritage and will always defend it against its detractors, you can definitely sympatise with her when she's constantly asked to respond for terrorists actions done in the name of her religion. Wearing the hijab makes it even harder, because it exposes her immediately to the public and it seems to give people the right to associate her with murderous acts committed by complete strangers. And while Amal can't tolerate to always having to defend herself, the author is also showing that is just ignorance and the media depiction of terrorists as simply Muslim which causes confusion and misunderstandings among people. When Amal decides to respond, she's always spot on: it's not about religion. Just like it wasn't about religion in Northern Ireland. It's about politics. It seems like a very easy thing to grasp when she says it, and yet, TV and newspapers makes it a lot harder to tell the difference.

Another aspect that it brilliantly dealt with is the treatment of women in Islam. Most of non-muslim would think that Islam would be suppressive of women's rights. While Amal has being brought up to stand up for herself, to believe in education as a means to achieve independence, and to protest when she's called a "chick" by her male friends.
When her Muslim friend is pushed by her mother to find a suitable husband so that she can leave school and be a good wife, Amal is appalled that her friend's mother considers this part of being a good Muslim. To her it's just part of a tradition, not of her religion.
While I don't know enough about Islam to say if this it true or not, I appreciate the author's efforts to show that not every Muslim thinks the same, and that there can be multiple interpretations of the same religion.

One thing that I had a bit of a problem, though, was with Amal's decision to avoid any physical contact with the opposite sex before marriage. I understand that it's part of her religion of which I know little about. But I do feel that it's very similar to the Christian idea of virginity as the highest form of purity and the idea of sex as sinful and impure. I strongly oppose this view , I believe it's unhealthy and unnatural. In the same way I shudder at the thought of virginity pacts and rings, I can't bring myself to warm up to Amal's idea of refusing any kind of promiscuity until she finds the right one with whom she will spend the rest of her life. I see it as a very unrealistic expectation which is bound to bring her disappointment. I know many won't agree and will tell me I should respect her right to choose not to have sex until marriage. I do respect it, but I don't agree with it, and I can't shut up about it.

Anyway, I'm really happy I read this, it has definitely open up my mind about many issues, and it has given me a rare insight in the mind of a teenage Muslim in a way both entertaining and satisfying. You shouldn't miss it.

Other views:
Reading in color
Books love me
Adventures in reading
Bookshelves of doom
What Kate is reading
Becky's Book reviews
I was a teenage book geek

Please let me know if I missed yours.

Ahhh look!

2010-03-10T12:48:00.005Z

I hadn't realised but the new cover for Magic Under Glass has been revealed!

I know I'm stuck with this anyway,

which is alright, but the US cover has much more meaning now. I wish I could just have it in my hands now and read it. Knowing that it exists only because lots and lots of bloggers showed their outraged to the publisher. It's not just more accurate and fair, it's also a lot prettier than the old one, I think.

Of Bees and Mist - Erick Setiawan

2010-03-08T15:04:00.007Z

Why isn't this huge?
I haven't heard much about this gem of a pageturner around the blogs, but as soon as I saw it in the shop I knew I wanted to read it. The tag line reads: "Three strong women. Two feuding families. A singular story of enchantment". I didn't need more encouragement than that.
I was immediately hooked. The story was so easy to fall into although at first I was baffled by the use of supernatural elements, which I didn't know how to interpret. As soon as I got the hang of them, and managed to give them some kind of meaning, I dropped all my doubts and let my self be swept away by the story, the characters and the atmospheres.

Of Bees and Mist could be called a family saga, as it reminded me of how I felt when I first read The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende. It has also many elements of fairy tales, but I think it is ultimately a story of powerful and extremes emotions. Love, Pain, Jealousy, Loss, Betrayal, Forgiveness. It's a story of relationships, of strong friendship and strong hate. There's not a lot of mild feelings going on here.
Like The Thirteen Tale it avoids carefully to be set in any particular time. It also doesn't give you any name for the country is placed in, not even for the town the whole story revolves around.
This helped to achieve the feeling of a mythical story, with no time or space, which could have happened anywhere, and anytime. Not today though, at least not in Europe. Women here bring a dowry to their spouses. They give birth at home. They wear long dresses and have maids if they're rich. It definitely tells of a world gone by albeit one which can't be confined to any country.
Its mythical features were enhanced by the lack of a specific religion, and the influence that the "spirits" have in the characters' lives. They can take form in ghosts, good or bad omens, premonitions, dreams, visions. They are alive and present the whole time.
It's human beings, though, who have the leading roles, no matter how many supernatural elements it contains. Two women especially: Meridia and Eva.
We follow Meridia's life from her birth in a house chilled by an unforgiving cold, haunted by ghosts in mirrors and by misbehaving staircases, and by an angry mist that surrounds it constantly.
The trick to enjoy this story, I warn you, is to not ask too many questions. Everything has its own interpretation, but you need to keep reading, and to fall into the story, to capture them, layer by layer.
So, yes, there's the mists, and there's the cold. But there's mainly Meridia, a lonely and neglected child of a couple who used to adore each other and now can barely stay in the same room. Meridia's mum Ravenna who teaches her how to be proud and never show her true emotions, suffers from forgetfulness and thus is a vague presence in Meridia's childhood. Her father Gabriel is a stern and cruel man who has never shown her affection. So there's no wonder that when Meridia falls for charming and playful Daniel, she can't wait to marry him and get out of the house. She thought she was escaping the mists to embrace lightness and warmth. Instead she clashes against Eva, Daniel's mother, and from then on she embarks on a lifelong struggle to become independent, smart and strong, while holding on to her marriage and keeping away Eva's bees.
I'll stop here, cause as much as I'm dying to tell you everything I loved about the story and the characters, I'd hate it to spoil it for anyone.
So what more can I say to convince people to read it? That its writing is beautiful? It definitely is. That sometimes when I was reading it I'd forget where I was and outside noises (i.e. cars) would startled me a bit? Er, yes.
That you'd have great fun interpreting the various magical elements? I certainly did. For me they were both real and symbolic. They were simply manifestations of human feelings and actions. There were smells, winds, bees, fireflies, flowers, people becoming invisible, ghosts. Really, there's lots.
You could also say that it's a story about senses. There's plenty of them and they all have important roles. The smells, the tastes, the colours...They are strongly a part of the story and the characters. The food especially is ever present, and you can tell the author had a great time listing the wonderfully exotic and delicious-sounding dishes that Meridia shares with Hannah, her first friend at the Cinema Garden, or with Daniel at the festival of the spirits, or that Ravenna cooks furiously in her kitchen. When food is concerned be sure it won't be your regular meat with three veg.
Not everything is wonderful, though. There were few little things that annoyed me sometimes. I couldn't believe it when I read a passage where Meridia is furious and the narrator describes her by saying "She did not seem like a woman then, but a man far more determined than he was". Really? It seemed ironic, coming from a book like this, where female characters are so much more powerful and strong-minded than male ones. Which brings me to this other thing I didn't like much. The lack of good strong male characters. Daniel is a bit of a wimpy kid, and Gabriel is a block of ice. Like, literally. But the good thing is that these characters grow and change and they all come to show different aspects of themselves, which I really appreciate. No one-dimensional characters here, except for some very minor ones, but that's OK. Because there's this other minor character who I loved to bits and who makes up for all the weak ones, and I'm not gonna tell who it is, but if you read it you'll know.
So, there, when is everyone going to read this now, so I can talk more about it?

other opinions:
In the Shadow of Mt TBR
Joyfully retired
I'm booking it
Gaskella

The Deportees - Roddy Doyle

2010-02-20T19:19:00.006Z

The recent literary racefail events made me realise how much my reading (and the bookshelves around here) are mostly dominated by white authors writing about white characters. It's not always necessarily stated that characters are white, but it's implied. After the Bloomsbury debacle, I skimmed the shelves of the bookshop I work in, focusing on the kids/YA section, and noticed how little ethnic diversity was represented there. Same goes with my bookshelves. Not enough non-white characters or authors.
It's not today news, it's something I should have always been aware of. And I sort of was, but not completely. I've always been intrigued by books with characters from different cultures, because most of the times, it's the only way for me to get to know closely and personally someone whose background is so different from mine, even if this person is fictional. I'd love to be able to travel more, meet people from all over the world, with any kind of skin colour, and know how they live, what they think. But I'm stuck in Ireland, a sort of immigrant myself, with all of my friends being white (very white!) and almost all Europeans. I'm also not the most sociable person, and although Ireland is more multicultural than ever, I've never being friends with a Black or Asian person, for example. And that's where books come in handy. They supply me with what my lack of sociability should provide. That's a way of seeing it anyway.

And that's why I picked up The Deportees and other stories. OK, also because I heart Roddy Doyle to infinity and have been waiting to read this for ages.
This is a collection of eight stories which Roddy Doyle wrote for Metro Eireann, the first and only multicultural paper in Ireland. At the end of the 90's and the start of the noughties, Ireland's celtic tiger was beginning to roar. "I went to bed in one country and woke up in a different one", writes Doyle in the foreword. This new Ireland was the home of hundreds of thousands of "new Irish" coming from all over the world: Poland, Zimbabwe, Romania, Spain, South Africa, Philippines, Nigeria, Italy, Lithuania, France, Pakistan ...
In the 80's Jimmy Rabbitte, the character who forms the band the Commitments, famously said that the Irish were the niggers of Europe. Now Ireland is the place many Africans choose as their home, and Jimmy Rabbitte wouldn't even dream of saying the same again. No, now what he dreams about is forming a band made entirely of immigrants! In the story which gives the books its title, "The Deportees", we get to meet Jimmy again, years later, married with kids. And dying to form another band, even though his wife is expecting another child and hates the idea. But he can't help himself and one day he grabs his laptop and writes the ad for Hotpress:

Brothers and Sisters, Welcome to Ireland. Do you want the Celtic Tiger to dance to your music? If yes, the World's Hardest-Working Band is looking for you. Contact J. Rabbitte at 089-22524242 or rabbittej@banjo.ie. White Irish need not apply.

This was one of my favourite of the collection. It's basically a sequel to the Commitments, which despite being way too short for my greedy taste, manages to recreate the same cheerful, upbeat, and absolutely hilarious atmosphere of the original novel. Alone, it would make the book worth reading. But it's not the only great one in the mix. It's true that it's a very diverse collection, in every sense, but I found it had more highs than lows and I loved it in its entirety. I devoured it. And now I'm afraid I'll have to buy my own copy 'cause I can't bare to be without it.

I'd definitely want to reread some of them. Especially "Black Hoodie". It's a story told from the point of view of a white Irish teenager who teams up in school with an extremely intelligent and proud Nigerian girl and two other teens, one of which on a wheelchair, to tackle the issue of prejudices against black people and youths in hoodies. It has a real YA feel, the usual Doyle's irresistible humour and some great characters I'd love to know more about.

Another one which intrigued me but left me ambivalent at the end was "The Pram". It's a genuinely spooky story about a Polish child-minder, a baby, a pair of creepy twin girls, and an old pram. Taken out of contest, as a sort of ghost story, I would have loved it. It actually spooked me out quite a little bit. It's cruel, and it shows the condition in which child-minders, especially foreign ones, are treated by wealthy Irish families. But I felt uncomfortable about the way the polish nanny comes across. Without spoiling the ending, if I were one of those wealthy southsider kind of mothers...let's just say I probably wouldn't feel very welcoming towards a Polish nanny again. Maybe the point of the story was only to write a well-crafted urban-gothic story without any other intent. That's fine. But in a collection where the main point seem to show the beautiful country Ireland has become because of the arrival of foreign folks, and to present a different take on some urban legends about what these foreign folks do in the private of their homes (setting up brothels and slaughtering Irish sheep, for instance), this particular tale seemed to me out of tune.

New Boy wasn't out of tune at all. It was short and moving, and just about perfect. It shows how the introduction of a new boy, from Nigeria, into an Irish class, causes some disruption. But it's nothing different than to what happens to a newbie in almost every school. Kids are cruel, at first, and bullies love to show their muscles at every occasion. But the new boy is tough too, and he won't be an easy target. I loved how it shows the little kid's thoughts, his bewilderment at the absurd behaviour of his teacher and his classmates, and I loved the ending. Wonderfully bittersweet.

Another one I really enjoyed was "Home to Harlem", about a black Irish young man, who goes to New York looking for his roots, trying to understand where exactly he can fit in. It was seriously funny, if maybe lacking of a real plot. I didn't mind, cause the dialogues, and the Roddydoyleness made up for it.
So, yeah, I enjoyed most of them, with the exception of "57% Irish" which was too confusing, and too rushed, although I liked its basic idea.
Although not all perfect, they were truly enjoyable, and more importantly, they were necessary.

P.S. While posting the link to Metro Eireann I found out that you can read even more stories on the website. I never even thought of that. Score!

P.P.S.
I also found this video of Roddy Doyle talking about his book.What he says about the meaning of Irishness is important. That the act of defining a nationality is an act of exclusion and thus it's problematic. I completely agree. The idea that permeates the Deporteess instead is one of inclusion. It's embracing as opposed to confining. And that's why I can't help but sings its praises with all my heart.

There are cats in this book - Viviane Schwarz

2010-02-06T21:36:00.005Z

I'm excited about a picture book again! It hasn't happened in ages. I'm sure there are floods of brilliant picture books out there, but we as a shop don't get that many recently, and as a result I'm picture book-starved. This one here was a pleasant surprise, and definitely one of my favourite ever.

It's a lift-the-flap book, but it takes the concept to a whole new ingenious level. There's no story, just the interaction with three cats - Moonpie, Tiny and André - who get woken up by you turning their blanket up and then ask to play with them. They literally become your playmates. You can engage in a pillow-fight with them, throw wool at them, save them from drowning, drying them up and then tuck them in, all in one book!
I not only love the concept, but also the humour, the kittens' expressions, the bold sketchy lines, the bright colours, everything!
While I was looking for some web images to show you the book, I found a youtube video where the author Viviane Schwarz reads the whole thing, with sound effects included! If you have 4 minutes to spare, you can watch it here:

and you could even visit her website, where you can view her gallery, read her blog and bio.
In fact, I recommend you do all of the above. This woman rocks!

Unsung YA Heroes, a.k.a. My Favourite Young Adult Books you (probably) haven't read yet

2010-01-22T20:00:00.002Z

Kelly at Yannabe has come up with this awesome project - Unsung YA heroes - and it's all about celebrating the love for lesser known YA books in need of more TLC...how could I not be in it??
It's a bit like the Nerds Heart YA Tournament (which btw, is happening again and why didn't I know anything about it until yesterday?!) except that it's not a tournament and that we can pick books published any year, as long as they haven't reached the big audience they deserve (yet).
If you would like to read more about the project, learn how it works and maybe even post your own list, go read Kelly's master post here.

I have chosen to talk about 5 young adult books, which I have loved, reviewed, but somehow haven't praised enough. In no particular order:

The Year the Gypsies Came by Linzi Glass

I read this back in 2008 and I still think of it as one of the most lovely-written YA I've come across. Skimming through my review makes me want to read it again right now. I had forgotten so much. Set in the '60 in Johannesburg, South Africa, it's the story of 12-year-old Emily and her dysfunctional family and how their lives are forever changed by the arrival of another strange family, one summer.
This what I wrote in my review:

What I loved most about this book is the way it’s written. The only word that I can find that describes it it’s gentle. It feels like a petal that softly touches the story and never intrudes too much. You can almost smell the flowers and the trees with exotic names (jacaranda, poplar, bluegum…) while you listen to a story told by Buza, the Zulu watchman who sits on a wooden stool all night at the edge of the garden, holding his stick who has been passed through generations and holds the power of sixty dead Zulu warriors.

I loved its sense of nostalgia, the wisdom and the beauty of those Zulu tales, the atmospheres that the writing created...It definitely deserves a much broader audience.

The Poison Throne by Celine Kiernan

To be fair, this one hasn't been released in the US or UK market yet, which is why it doesn't feature prominently on LibraryThing. But it did really well in Ireland, where it was first published, and also in Australia.
According to Amazon it will be released in Us and UK in April 2010, with brand new covers which look really cool, so look out for it!
From my review:

This story is not your usual fantasy adventure for teenagers. And maybe that's why it took me a little longer to get into it. It's a story about intrigue at court, yes, but at its core it's a story about relationships, about the strong bond that can exist between friends, family or lovers. It's real, and it's intense, but in a world ruled by protocol and politics, personal affections can become obstacles, or even powerful tools, depending who is using them.

I thought the honesty in the writing was unusual. It's very elegant but very physical and intimate too. As for all the books featured in this post, I'd love to read it again, especially before reading the second chapter "The Crowded Shadows".

The Foretelling by Alice Hoffman
I've read this before I started blogging, so I haven't written any reviews for it. But I still remember it as one of my favourites. It's the story of Rain, daughter of the queen of the Amazons, and next in line to take her place. Rain's birth was the result of a horrific rape, and that is why her mother shuns her. It's up to Rain to prove to her clan and to herself that she's worthy of being a leader.
Sparsely and skillfully written, this is a book you can read in one intense afternoon, and still carry it with you for a long time. It has a poetic, mythical quality to it which is matched by a wonderful message of peace and acceptance. It's also about women warriors, strong, independent and proud. What's not to like?

My Most Excellent Year by Steve Kluger
This is pure undiluted feel-good pleasure. It doesn't pretend to be anything else that great fun. The subtitle says it all: A novel of love, Mary Poppins and Fenway Park. Now, I don't know much about Fenway Park, but Love and Mary Poppins...yeah, definitely big hits with me:)
Especially when The Love was between two boys, Augie and Andy. This is what I wrote in my review:

The romance, oh the romance...Of course I'm talking about Augie and Angie. Maybe I don't read much YA gay romance between boys, but I thought this was the sweetest, most romantic, most adorable, most everything boy-on-boy literary love. The way their family and friends reacted was even cooler. They knew all along Augie was gay and they were wondering how long it would take him to figure it out. I probably felt closer to him than to any of the other characters.

I literally smiled and giggled all the way through it. And when I wasn't smiling I was fighting back emotional tears of empathy.
No wonder it managed to win all its rounds for The Nerds Heart YA Tournament and claimed its crown!

Broken Soup by Jenny Valentine
Although I still love Finding Violet Park more, I have gushed over it enough, I think. Broken Soup is great, too. Jenny Valentine needs to be HUGE!
This is what I thought after reading Broken Soup:

The charm of Jenny Valentine's style relies in the characters, I've already said that. But of course is not just that. It's in the way she describes emotions, which belies an attentive observation of human nature. It's in the metaphoric language, exemplified in the title, which can say so much with very little words. It's in the palpable love for all her characters. And in the fact that I feel I should reread this book right now to be able to explain why it was so good, because there's so much to highlight and to appreciate.
Oh, and there's a bit of a surprise ending, which combined with everything else that happens before, is a wonderful heart-warmer.

There's nothing else I can say, except READ IT!

Here endeth my "Unsung YA heroes" love letter. *Off to check out all the other unsung heroes*

Bloomsbury steps back!

2010-01-22T01:58:00.002Z

From the Bloomsbury Kids website: “Bloomsbury is ceasing to supply copies of the US edition of *Magic Under Glass*. The jacket design has caused offense and we apologize for our mistake. Copies of the book with a new jacket design will be available shortly.”

Three brief sentences. But they mean a lot. Our voices have been heard, and thanks to many readers who complained to the publisher, one step toward a wider multicultural visibility has been taken.
I'm really looking forward to seeing the new cover now!

Bloomsbury Cover Fail

2010-01-20T21:22:00.012Z

I first heard about Magic Under Glass by Jaclyn Dolamore and its problematic cover yesterday, thanks to Ranay's post. I went on to read more posts and more comments about this, and now I'll try to gather my own thoughts on the subject.
It has happened once again, that a publisher, Bloomsbury in this case, has chosen the picture of a white girl to represent the main character in the book, who is actually dark-skinned.
It's a fantasy book, so the main character doesn't have a real ethnicity, but to quote the author's own words:

Nimira is from a fictional land which is not meant to be a parallel to a specific country in our world. Her culture has elements, such as costume and music, that might be drawn from Eastern European, Asian and Roma cultures, and I love that readers are interpreting her look in different ways.

Now, the issue is definitely NOT with the author. Quite the opposite. The problem here is the publisher and whoever is in charge of the marketing. I'm not going to talk about the book itself. It actually sounds like something I would really like, and I'm looking forward to reading it, especially after seeing the author's personal blog and discovering such an interesting person behind the book. I don't want to hurt her or her book in any possible way, especially since it's her first, and I can only imagine how over the moon she is feeling right now. I don't want to spoil this special moment.

But something needs to be said, and I believe the more people show concern and outrage about this issue, the more likely our collective voice is to be heard. This kind of exclusion towards non-white people from book covers is unacceptable. If you think the same, let the publisher know. I did. Their contact page is here.

But instead of pouring your anger onto this particular book by calling for a boycott, and thus hurting a young author's expectations, why not show our thirst for diversity in books by reading and reviewing more of them? Chasing Ray has an excellent and inspiring post about why diversity in kids and YA matters and how we should demand it more. READ IT!
I know I don't read enough of them these days. And since I'm a white person, living in a western country with mostly white friends, I sometimes forget how important this is. I forget because I can, not because I want to. This is not an excuse, though. That's why I'm going to actively try and include more ethnic diversity into my reading and search for books about non-white people (kids and adults) which are not about Afro-American slaves or about the holocaust.
And then I will spread the word about them!

Some thoughts about reading and blogging in 2009

2010-01-01T21:30:00.009Z

So, it's January, and here comes the annual post, where I go through everything that I have read, reviewed, and blogged about, and try to sum up what this year has meant to me. There will be stats, best of, blogging highlights, resolutions, considerations and all that. It's going to be a long post, so be prepared.

Never before, since I started blogging 2 and half years ago, life has come in the way of my reading, as this year. I've slowed down everything, reading and blogging, since about June. The reason being a very painful break up which is still very much affecting me, in everything that I do and say. I have never really shared my private life here, since I started this blog to talk about books only, but the truth is that it's almost impossible to separate our reading experiences from our life experiences. They influence each other in many ways, sometimes more than we would want them to. So, yes, it's been hard, but I'm healing, slowly. Reading has been hard too, cause my mind is so full of everything else, that it wonders away from the page constantly. That's also why I haven't reviewed that many books in the past few months.

But I believe 2010 is going to be better. It has to be. I'm starting fresh, with a new house and new flatmate. I have many good resolutions that I want to follow, and the keyword to all these is confidence: I want to believe in myself more, in what I do and what I could do.
I want to dedicate more time to creativity, in any form.
I also want to liberate myself from the burden of the looming TBR mountain. Which means not what you think it means, but quite the opposite. No more guilty feelings if the unread books are left unread. I'll just read what I feel like reading. So what if I have many unread book? It's not like they go out of date. They can wait. I will keep my ban on buying books, though. I discovered it's not that hard to keep to it, when you're so broke as I am! I'll just use the library more. They usually have almost everything I'd like to read. And if they don't, well, I'll deal with that problem when it comes.
Speaking of bookish resolutions, I want to start rereading. It's not something I have ever considered. I always thought there's too many books in the world to waste time going back to the ones I have already read. But that was my younger self speaking. The older, wiser one is saying: rereading is not wasted time. It enriches the experience of a book. It makes you notice things you hadn't notice the first time. It lets you meet beloved characters and place again. And let's not underestimate my inability to remember...stuff. Rereading helps a lot on that front, too. So I'll compile a list of recent reads that I would like to revisit soon. The list is going to be solely for entertaining purposes. No commitment attached. Me no likes commitments.
Which brings me to the next resolution: Challenges. I quit them. Officially. We're done. It has been fun till it lasted. But now I'm over them. Except for those I will join, of course. I don't think I'm ready to quit The Once Upon a Time, yet. And I want to give another chance to Amanda's LGBT challenge. But other than that...goodbye yearly challenges!
This year I have only finished the Young Adult one. No surprise (or struggle) there. As for the rest, let's not hover on those failures. Really, there's no need. I know I suck at challenges. Hence the drastic decision.

Before I start with the stats and the annual list of favourite reads, I'd like to highlight some of the best moments of my 2009 blogging life:

My second Read-a-thon, in April: So.Much.Fun. I wouldn't enjoy it so much if I just had to sit there for 24 hours doing nothing but reading. I always say I should read more during Readathon, but to tell the truth, it's the blogging (with the games, the mini challenges, the comments, the sharing) that makes it so awesome.

The Ya Tournament, a.k.a. Nerds Heart YA, created by Renay.
I loved every step of it. From proposing the books to read, to selecting the short list, and then of course, reading the books, reviewing them and seeing how the tournament proceeded. It didn't hurt that the book I chose as winner of the first round, My Most Excellent Year by Steve Kluger, ended up winning the Tournament!
I sincerely hope we're doing this again this year.

NaNoWriMo. OK, it's not strictly a blogging activity, but it is very much linked to it. I wished I had more time to share about the whole experience here, but I hardly managed to write the daily quota, let alone blog about it! It has thought me a lot about what it really means to write every day. It's HARD! But also very satisfying. I haven't even started revision yet, but I will. I definitely, most certainly, absolutely will!
Again not strictly blogging related, but definitely book related, is the Coraline premiere, at the Jameson International Film Festival in February. And the Gaiman/Palmer signing few days later. Geek heaven:)

Now for the stats:
Total books read: 52
Adult Fiction: 19
Ya+ Kids fiction: 21
Written by Women: 18
Written by Men: 19
Authors new to me: 25 out of 37
Rereads: 0!
Graphic Novels: 6
Manga: 5
Non fiction (including graphic novels): 5 (Although, does Laika qualify as non fiction? it's a mix of both really).
Books left unread: tons! better not start listing.

What all these numbers say about my reading habits in 2009? That I haven't read much non-fiction, that's obvious. That's why one of my goals for next year is to extend my knowledge about the world in general, by reading non-ficiton books on science, current affairs, travel and maybe even history.
It also says that for all my "graphic novel frenzy" phase, I've ended up reading merely 6 titles. Although I've counted The Absolute Sandman as only 1 book, while it could have easily been considered as 3 volumes! Still, I want to read a lot more than that this year.
Something else I need to read more of is just plain adult (as in grown up, non-kiddish stuff) literature. Everything from modern to classics, I have neglected it a bit. I need to keep in touch with my inner adult self, I know she's there somewhere:P

Favourite reads:
As I go through my list of read books, I realise how many great ones there are. It will be hard to narrow it down to just a few!
First the ones that really stand out from everything else in no particular order.

The Knife of Never Letting Go + The Ask and the Answer by Patrick Ness.
I never got around to write a review for these two. Now it's too late. All I can say is, they're fantastic. Loved loved loved the first (and cried so much when that thing happened) and loved even more the second, for its complexity, for being political and touching and heartbreaking, and completely impossible to put down. I've also read the short story here. I cried there too.

Looking for Alaska by John Green

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenneger

The Absolute Sandman by Neil Gaiman

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

The Dust of 100 dogs by A.S. King

Loser by Jenny Spinelli

My Most Excellent Year by Steve Klueger

Tapping the dream Tree by Charles de Lint (I had already read half of it in the past 4 years,but I finally finished this year, so it counts. Beside, the stories I have read this year would have definitely made the list on their own, anyway).

Safe Area Goradze by Joe Sacco

Death: the high cost of living by Neil Gaiman

The Wee Free Men + A Hat Full of Sky by Terry Pratchett

I also really enjoyed: The Restaurant at the end of the Universe by Douglas Adams; The Tale of One Bad Rat by Bryan Talbot; Honey and Clover by Chica Umino (first 3 volumes); Paradise Kiss by Ai Yazawa (first volume - it's impossible to get the 2nd vol.); Fun Home by Alison Bechdel; Broken Soup by Jenny Valentine; Embroideries by Marjane Satrapi; Laika by Nick Abadzis; The Poison Throne by Celine Kiernan; The Brief Wondrous life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz; The elegance of the hedgehog by Muriel Barbery; Missing Angel Juan by Francesca Lia Block; The Hunger Games + Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins; A bear called Paddington by Michael Bond; all the Scoppettone books except one; Speak by Laurie Halse-Anderson; Juliet, Naked by Nick Hornby.

Biggest disappointment: The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry. And the Owl Service by Alan Garner

Books I'd like to reread soon:
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
Nation by Terry Pratchett
Looking for Alaska by John Green
Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
My Most Excellent Year by Steve Kluger
The Brief Wondrous life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
The Wee Free Men + A Hat Full of Sky by Terry Pratchett
The Book thief by Mark Zusak
Finding Violet Park by Jenny Valentine
Tipping the velvet by Sarah Waters
Fire and Hemlock by Diana Wynne Jones
Holes by Louis Sachar
and more to come...(to tired now).

The end.

Books read in 2009

2010-01-01T09:00:00.000Z

52) Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
51) Juliet, Naked by Nick Hornby
50) Sustainable Sushi
49) Creature of the Night by Kate Thompson
48) A hat Full of Sky by Terry Pratchett
47) The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett
46) The Ask and the Answer by Patrick Ness
45) The Knife of never letting go by Patrick Ness
44) In the hand of the goddess by Tamora Pierce
43) A Bear Called Paddington by Michael Bond
42) What I Saw and How I lied by Judy Blundell
41) Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
40)I'll be leaving you always by Sandra Scoppettone
39) Let's face the music and die by Sandra Scoppettone
38) Everything you have is mine by Sandra Scoppettone
37) Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
36) La Danza del Gabbiano by Andrea Camilleri
35) The hunger games by Suzanne Collins
34) The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
33) Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
32) Tapping the Dream Tree by Charles de Lint
31) Missing Angel Juan by Francesca Lia Block
30) The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery
29) The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
28) The Opposite of Invisible by Liz Gallagher
27) My Most Excellent Year by Steve Kluger
26) The Absolute Sandman vol.1 by Neil Gaiman
25) The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
24) The Poison Throne by Celine Kiernan
23) L'Età del Dubbio by Andrea Camilleri
22) Laika by Nick Abadzis
21) Loser by Jerry Spinelli
20) Embroideries by Marjane Satrapi
19) Safe Area Gorazde by Joe Sacco
19) Broken Soup by Jenny Valentine
18) The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry
17) Ten Stations by Jenny Valentine/Mates, Dates - the secret story by Cathy Hopkins (World Book Day)
16) Fun Home by Alison Bechdel
15) The Kite Runner by Kaled Hosseini
14) Honey and Clover vol. 4 by Chica Umino
13) Honey and Clover vol. 3 by Chica Umino
12) Honey and Clover vol.2 by Chica Umino
11) Looking for Alaska by John Green
10) Il delfino by Sergio Bambarén
9) The Owl Service by Alan Garner
8) Death: the high cost of living by Neil Gaiman
7) The Dust of 100 Dogs by A.S. King
6) Paradise Kiss vol. 1 by Ai Yazawa
5) The Anatomy of Wings by Karen Foxlee
4) Honey and Clover vol 1. by Chica Umino
3) The Tale of One Bad Rat by Bryan Talbot
2) The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
1) The Restaurant at the end of the Universe by Douglas Adams

Frustrations of a bookseller - a post about kids books and clueless customers

2009-12-16T19:56:00.004Z

On my first week working in a bookstore an old lady came to me and said "I heard about that book on the radio today...do you have it?". I asked "what book?", and she just said "well, that book...I don't remember the title...you don't have it, no?".
I was lost for words, but it taught me something, which could be Rule n. 1 of bookselling: "Never be surprised by the level of vagueness or inaccuracy that a customer can achieve when desperately trying to remember the title of THAT book!". It's always on the tip of their tongue. They always wrote it down on a piece of paper and left it at home. Sometimes they're polite enough to apologise for not even being able to provide the subject of the book, let alone a title or author. Sometimes instead they throw fits if proved wrong. Example:

Angry customer:"No, I'm absolutely certain that this is the title, it can't be the one you just said".
Me: "But your title doesn't come up anywhere. It just doesn't exist. Could it be...".
Angry Customer:"Achh, I'll just go somewhere else!". And storms off.

This is not daily routine but it happens often enough to make you realise that customers are a dodgy breed.

But what frustrates me the most these days, what pushed me to write this ranting post in the first place, is the way adults see children's books. Or actually, how they don't see them. I understand that not all of us are kids books experts and therefore need an advice on what to buy. Fair enough. But it's how they ask for it which drives me mad. Their favourite question is "where do you keep books for _ year-olds?" (fill in the blanks with any age up to 16/17).
Now. Why do we bother to have
-a new books section.
- a chart.
-a non fiction section by subject.
- a character section.
- a picture books section.
- a fiction organised by reading level.
...when all they want is books by AGE? I'm usually very nice and ask "what kind of book were you thinking of?" or "do you know the child?" so that I can narrow the request down. But when they go "Could you not just point me in the direction, please?" I don't know what to do. I want to help them, I really do. Because I think of the children who will get a random book based on their age or on the idea that an adult have of children of that age, and feel sorry for them.
Would you go in a bookshop and ask "where are the books for 43 year olds?". No, I didn't think so. Then, why do you think that for children is different? Just give me more information! Are they fluent readers? What genre do they normally like? What are their interests?
I feel like a nosy intruder asking all those questions, and indeed sometimes they look annoyed cause I'm delaying their shopping time or being too particular!
I understand that for whatever reason it can happen that the person doesn't know the kids very well, and has no idea of what to get for them. Fine. But still I don't get why they think kids books should be categorised by age.
Age doesn't define them!
The only fine line I can accept is when it comes to "adult" content, which normally means that a book contains sex/drugs/drinking/swearing or all of the above. For that we have a clearly marked "Young Adult section", which is for teenagers.
For all the other books it really comes down to personal judgment.
Not all 6 year olds can read at the same level. We're not robots which can be programmed. I would have thought it to be a concept easy to grasp, as we've all been there, right? But perhaps, I'm beginning to think, I have an exceptional good memory of my childhood. I remember my first book, I remember what I used to read at 4,5,6,7,8,9,10 etc...I use this parameter when recommending books to avid readers. Now I wonder, why can't people do that? Just think of what kind of level of difficulty you were reading at a certain age, and then take it from there? It's sad to think that people don't remember these things. But it would explain a lot. Certainly it would explain the lost looks they have when they step in the kids section.
Then there's the matter of picture books or books for babies and toddlers. They are completely helpless when coming to choosing those. I am no expert either but I know enough to know that:
- They can't read. So, no, activity books with word searches and puzzles are NOT suitable.
- Small parts can be ingested by babies, yes, but babies should never be left alone. You'll have to be there with the baby to play with her/him. This part usually discourage grannies and aunts, I don't know why. They just want books to keep the children quiet, probably.
- Toddlers tend to tear up pretty much everything they have in sight, so probably a board book is the best option. But passed that stage, normally, they can follow a story and enjoy a good bedtime read. Any picture book. It doesn't matter if it's not perfectly suitable for them. Nothing ever is. No matter what the back of the cover say.
I stand by my position that every child is unique. I haven't studied child development, or child psychology or anything like that, really. It's just my perception.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that adults should try to think of children as individuals. With their own taste and preferences. Regardless of their age.
Age guidance at the back of books just encourages this laziness of thinking. They let the "age groups" decide for them, while they could take their time looking at the book, maybe read a page of two to understand the tone of it, and then decide.
Oh I've so much to rant about when it comes to these issues. I should just stop here or it will never end.
And don't get me started on the whole gender thing. The "tractors are for boys and flowers are for girls" crap. That's definitely a subject for the next ranting post.

For now, just take this lolcat's word.

My Secret Santa!

2009-12-15T15:31:00.012Z

My Secret Santa delivered her present last week!
I got a big box which didn't fit into the chimney so Santa left a note saying that my present had to be collected at the post office...and I couldn't even wait to get home to open it. I'm so bad. But what's the point of getting packages if you don't open them as soon as you get your hands on them??
So inside were not one, not two, but THREE books. All from my wishlist. Two of them hardbacks!
The Girl with Glass Feet by Ali Shaw.
Remember my pretty covers post ? That one was on top of that list:)

What they always tell us by Martin Wilson.
The fact that I coveted this book is a tangible proof of the influence that the Nerds heart YA Tournament has had on me (and I'm sure on so many others). I had never heard of it before. It's not published this side of the Atlantic (yet?) so it would have remained in the dark as far as I am concerned, if it hadn't been for that wonderful thing Renay put together. PLEASE Renay let's do it agaaaaain.
Read Jodie's review for the 1st round.

and last but not least is....

The Amazing Maurice and his educated rodents by Terry Pratchett!
How fitting that I just wrote a post about how much I loved his two kids books I read and then ZAC!, I get another one.
Santa's magic, I'm telling you :)

Now I wish I could have a time-extending machine, or a timeless hole where I could hide for as long as I like, only to reemerge after I'm finished reading everything I want. Alas, such things don't exist. Hope someone invents them soon.

Secret Santa didn't just send me books. I also got a badge "Spell check yourself before you wreck yourself" (good advice!), a pretty necklace, and a beautiful bookmark by Suzanne Woolcott. I wasn't familiar with this artist but the more I look at her stuff, the more I like it!
Look how cute this bookmark is!:

For all her awesomeness, my Secret Santa has decided to stay secret.
But I'd LOVE to know your name, Secret Santa, so that I can thank you personally. So if you don't mind, let me know. I promise it won't spoil the magic :)

ETA: I completely and shamefully forgot to thank the amazing people who made this Santa Exchange possible. It's my third year taking part in it, and I wouldn't want to miss it for the world! It's just so much fun. This is Holiday Swap central and this is the crew who made it possible: Amanda, Amy, Ana, Chris, Debi, Eva, Jen, Jenn, Jill, Kelly, Lena, Lenore, and Nicole.
THANK YOU!!!

"The Wee Free Men" and "A Hat Full of Sky" by Terry Pratchett

2009-12-11T14:37:00.000Z

Picking up The Wee Free Men defied all the rules I had made up about my reading arrangements. But since I was still recovering from a reading slump, I felt - no, I required to be completely free to choose whatever I wanted to read, no matter whether I owned the book or not already.
I'm still in this kind of mood, and since it feels so good and liberating I might even adopt it in the long term. I don't care how many books I have at home!! If I feel like reading something else, I will. This doesn't mean I will buy books like there's no tomorrow, because contrary to logic, this will automatically discourage me from reading the newly bought books. It's as if as soon as they are mine, they are not appealing anymore. Go figure. So here comes the library. Or the "read it now, buy it later" attitude that I've started to adopt in the shop (but this only applies if you're working in a bookshop like me!).

But back to the books...They were awesome! I loved them just as much as I expected I would. And they had a certain soothing effect, which meant that whatever crappy mood I was in, they calmed me and cheered me up a bit. Totally recommended for when you're in need of some comfort reading. Guaranteed to do the business.

The Wee Free Men is a novel set in the Discworld universe, but you don't need to have read any other book in the series to enjoy this one. In fact, this was my first ever Discworld novel!
The main character is Tiffany Aching, a 9 year-old wannabe witch, living in the Chalk country. One day her toddler brother gets stolen by the Fairy Queen and Tiffany needs to go to her world to save him. But she's not alone in her quest. The Nac Mac Feegles, aka the Wee Free Men have made her their new Kelda, and that means that they would follow her to hell if necessary!
Even though the basics for this story aren't new - a fairy queen who steals babies, the hero who faces one test after the other so that she can continue her quest, the wee free men that reminded me of the little people in Truckers - the story felt fresh and original, thanks to its wonderful characters.
Tiffany first of all. She's only 9 but she kicks ass! She's smart, inquisitive, brave. She has Third Thought and First Sight, which according to Miss Tick are essential to be a good witch. She fights monsters with a frying a pan, and gets angry at them for taking what is rightfully hers! You gotta love her for that. She's also a creature of the Chalk, just like Granny Aching. The hills are in her bones. The smell of sheep, jolly sailor tobacco and turpentine is what she grew up with. That, and the cheese, which she makes better than anyone at the farm.
I love Tiffany unconditionally, even though sometimes you wonder how such a small child could be so smart. It makes me feel ashamed of my younger self!
But who I love most, who made me giggle all the time, and who I wanted to meet again at the end of the book, were definitely the wee free men. All of them! I can't pick a favourite. I loooooooooooove them. Seriously. They rock. How can you not love a bunch of little blue men, with a Scottish accent, a disruptive temper, an allergy to every authorities, but with a soft spot for the "wee hag"? I can't get enough of them.

I said the basics for this story are not new, but the way they are developed definitely is. Especially the scenes in Fairyland which were wildly imaginative. And the way the quest is resolved is beautiful and deep. Something I wouldn't have expected in a children's books, although I should have known better, being an advocate for the relevance of children's books in literature.
So it shouldn't be a surprise that I ran to get the second book straight after finishing this one, which is:

A Hat Full of Sky.
"Wise, witty and wonderful", reads the blurb on the back of my copy. And I couldn't choose a better way to describe it myself.
I wanted more wee free men, and I got them. I wanted more of Tiffany's wisdom, and I did. But what I loved about this second story is that it showed the weak side of Tiffany, too. The one that's growing up, and trying to fit in the witches' world. The one that makes mistakes.
Tiffany is sent away from her hills, to learn the art of witchcraft, at Miss Level's house. There's something odd about Miss Level, but I won't say what it is or else I'll spoil the revelation it for you. She doesn't do tricks or hard spells, instead she chooses to help the people in the village who needs to be looked after. A healing potion here, a stitch on an injury there...No spells or potions. Tiffany is skeptical at first and feels she's not learning enough. Then a meeting with fellow apprentice witches makes her feel uncomfortable about herself for the first time, and fuels her annoyance for Mr Level's humble ways of practicing the art.
Meanwhile, an ancient and terrifying creature, a Hiver, starts stalking Tiffany, waiting for its moment to take advantage of her inexperience...

There's so many things I liked about this second book. It's funny and wise, just like The Wee Free Men. But also it added more depth to Tiffany's character, which I liked.
The ending was beautiful and touching, and completely fitting to the philosophy of the book.
I'd recommend it to anyone.
I'm sure I'm going to go back to these books soon, and I won't let too much time pass between them and the third in the series, Wintersmith. It's already on my shelf!

I survived Nano!

2009-12-03T22:15:00.004Z

and I won!
I never thought it would be so exhausting. Since I'm such a slow writer (I found out), the most I wrote in one day was 4500 words. And that meant hours sitting down at the desk trying to type something legible. My back wanted to kill me for putting it under so much strain. And let's not talk about the quality or the coherency (is that a word?)...
But I made it, and I'm sort of proud of it. I was probably too sure of myself at the beginning, and crumbled a bit toward the middle and the end, but I made it to the finish line JUST one hour before the deadline! OK, I cheated just a tiny bit by adding the whole lyrics for a song (calling it extra features) but it was an important song, very meaningful (not really...)
I guess I should start editing and rewriting pretty soon, but I'm taking a week off to recover. Right now even thinking of going back to The Novel makes me feel queasy.
I was writing in Italian, and as I struggled to think up words in my own language (how many times I had to look an English word up to translate it into Italian, you'd be amazed!) I realised I need to start reading in Italian again asap, so I can expand my vocabulary - again. This is a bit embarrassing considering I'm not even THAT fluent in English. I'm already forgetting my native tongue. In other words, I should go back to school. Me not happy.

Other non-Nano-related news...I turned 30.
Holy Moly.
It's scary even to type it.
But anyway, let's not dwell on that unspeakable round number. The fun bit is that I got to go to London to see my long lost brother (I hadn't seen him in I don't know how long, 3 years maybe?), see The Gossip gig (loved it!) and meet two of my best friends. It was lovely even if very short. It was literally a 24-hour visit. I felt a bit overwhelmed by London and all those people running about...Dublin is so provincial in comparison. Or maybe it was just the short stay that made everything feel very rushed, even the emotions.

On the books front, I haven't got my bookworm mojo back, yet. I'm still working on it. But I finished the new Nick Hornby, Juliet, Naked, which was nice. I enjoyed it, it took me ages to finish it, but I did enjoy it. There was a kind of low-key cynical mood to it, which was pleasant at times, and a bit boring at others. I loved the dialogues though. They were never ever boring. And the metaphors. I wish I could come up with those myself.
Awww will I ever be able to read a book again without thinking "Hmm this turn of phrase is brilliant, why did I never think of that?"
I'm reading Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, now, and I'm doing the same thing. It's good though. It means I'm learning something...right?
I'll stop blabbing now. I just wanted to apologise for not answering to all your comments lately and for neglecting the book blogging community. I promise I'll go back to being a better blogger soon!
In the mean time, thanks for your supporting comments, I really appreciate them:)

Green Books Campaign: Sustainable Sushi - a Guide to Saving the Oceans One Bite at a Time

2009-11-10T18:00:00.005Z

This review is part of the Green Books campaign. Today 100 bloggers are reviewing 100 great books printed in an environmentally friendly way. Our goal is to encourage publishers to get greener and readers to take the environment into consideration when purchasing books. This campaign is organized by Eco-Libris, a a green company working to green up the book industry by promoting the adoption of green practices, balancing out books by planting trees, and supporting green books. A full list of participating blogs and links to their reviews is available on Eco-Libris website.

The book I have chosen to review for the campaign is Sustainable Sushi, a guide to saving the oceans one bite at a time by Casson Trenor.
I have mentioned a couple of times here how I am a sushi lover. If fact, I could eat sushi every day and live happily ever after. Except the oceans wouldn't be as happy as my tummy. The truth is that the way many of our favourite sushi staples such as the bluefin tuna and the eel have been heavily overfished to supply for their ever-growing demand have affected the ecosystems and are in danger of threatening their survival.
This is something anyone could have guessed. After all we are used to being told that the our world is being squeezed out to its limits and it's running out of resources. But did you know that it's not just wild fishing to blame and that fish farms (or at least some types) are just as dangerous? Do you know the difference between trolling, purse seine and long line fishing? Have you ever wondered where your delicious maguro sashimi come from and how it has been caught?
Personally I knew little about these issues before reading this book. I had a sort of idealistic idea in my head that eating fish is better than eating meat, because it's less polluted, or because it doesn't involve industrial farming. Clearly I was wrong. Very wrong.

This little but informative - and surprisingly entertaining - guide does a wonderful job in debunking these myths and in providing an unforgiving view on the state of our oceans. Thankfully, at the same time, it provides us with a choice. It doesn't tell us "Stop eating sushi now". Instead it offers valid alternatives which promise to be just as good. It also invites us to be more inquisitive at the sushi bar counter. If you want to know whether your salmon is wild or farmed, the only way to find out is by asking!
Ultimately, it encourages us to be more aware. To think with our minds and not just with our gluttony.

The format of the book is an A to Z to the most popular shushi choices. For each it gives a concise but well-researched profile which includes informations on how and where they are caught, whether or not they're an endangered species, and whether or not they are at high mercury risk. It also has great colourful illustrations for each fish.
At the end there's a short section on sushi packaging and its recycling. Again, I found myself realising how little I know about this topic.
But my favourite part was, possibly, the very last one. A small section called "Taking it further", where the author suggests some vegan and vegetarian options for our handmade sushi rolls. Some ideas include sweet potatoes, mushrooms, and even strawberries. I can't wait to try them all out.

Even though I agree with the author when he says that changing the eating habits of few individuals isn't the magic solution for every problem, I also agree about what he says after: The point of this book is to help you start thinking about sustainability in all aspects of life.
I think it has worked on me so far. I feel like there's a big dark hole in my knowledge that needs to be filled. I want to be more aware of how our world works and what I can do to make it work better. I hope it will push lots more people to do the same.

My only complain is that this book is very much US-oriented. It has been written by a North-American guy for a North-American audience. And although I am interested in knowing how fish farms work in the US, it doesn't always help in making a responsible choice here, at my local sushi bar. It's still a valuable introduction on the topic and I will treasure it for this, but I will have to make my own research locally, to know more details.

A bit of information on the author:
From saving the whales of the Antarctic to studying the salmon of Alaska, Casson Trenor has worked to support stewardship of our marine resources in all five oceans and countless seas. Trenor has extensive experience and expertise: he has stalked the fetid warehouses of Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo, spent two months journeying by ship along the Antarctic coast, berthed on leaking wrecks off Central Pacific islands, and gone octopus fishing with holy men on the Island of Yap. In thousands of conversations with fishermen around the world, he has heard one statement repeated: “The fish are gone.” Born in Seattle and living in San Francisco, Trenor speaks five languages, has traveled to over forty countries, and holds an MA in International Environmental Policy from the prestigious Monterey Institute of International Studies. He is a top consultant for the first fully sustainable sushi restaurant in the United States: Tataki Sake and Sushi Bar in San Francisco. Sustainable Sushi is a culmination of Trenor’s life work.

If interested, you can purchase Sustainable Sushi at this link

And now head to the other 99 reviews that will be posted today for the campaign! That's a lot of reviews:)

NaNoWriMo - Day 1!

2009-11-01T23:01:00.004Z

It's started! I've joined the National Novel Writing Month for the first time and I'm really excited about it!
I couldn't wait to start writing, I've been itching to see where my story will bring me for the past two weeks, and now the wait is over! Needless to say the reading and the blogging this month will be down to almost nothing (which is not a big change from what I've being doing to be honest! lol).
I know Chris and Amanda have joined. Has anybody else? Let's be buddies:)

More mini reviews

2009-10-29T11:47:00.006Z

I was first drawn to this book after it won the National Book Award in the US. Then the cover and the post-war "noir" setting did the rest.
But as much as I enjoyed reading it, it didn't stay with me for long. I suspect that this is one of those ones that I'd have loved more at 13 or 14. It definitely reminds me of the YA books I used to read at that age anyway.
It wasn't so much a mystery as a coming of age story ( and aren't they all?) of a girl, Evie, who discovers first love, first heartbreak, and first painful clash with reality.
The writing was excellent, and so was the characterizations. I probably wasn't crazy about the story, as I was always waiting for something more exciting to happen, which it never did. Maybe that's why I was a little disappointed. Nevertheless, a good read.

How can you not love Paddington? He's a cuddly fuzzy little bear from Peru! And he loves jam sandwiches. And he's messy and curious and tries hard to be a good bear but he's always in trouble. I want to keep him! Enough said.

In the Hand of the goddess is the second book in the Song of the Lioness series by Tamora Pierce. Last year I read the first one, and although I wasn't crazy about the writing I enjoyed reading about a strong young woman who disguise herself as a boy to become a knight. I have a soft spot for fighting women (see Buffy to name one!) so I couldn't skip it.
A lot happens in this second book. Alanna takes part in her first war, faces the chamber of the ordeal, survives countless attacks from Duke Roger, both Prince Jonathan and the thief lord George fall for her, and she even tries on her first dress willingly!
There's so much happening that everything feels a bit rushed and sketchy. Times flies and before you know it Alanna is eighteen and almost ready to leave the school. Also, the fact that Duke Roger is behind everything bad that happens at court and beyond is so obvious that it's puzzling how anybody can't see it, even Alanna at times. But if you don't ask for anything deeper than a bit of "sword & sorcery" fun, then Alanna's adventures aren't the worst.

Done! Next time I'll try to post a proper, articulate and insightful review. Until then, goodnight:)

Lots of catching up to do

2009-10-17T21:28:00.011+01:00

I'm still here! Gawwd I don't even know where to start! I've been reading great books lately and I can't wait to share my thoughts about them, but first I'll try to do a very speedy weedy catching up cause I can't bare to not say something about some of my favourite reads of the year. I wont' even pretend to post proper reviews, just residual impressions on stuff I've read up to 3 months ago...

I'll start with The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger.
It's just every bit as good as everyone is saying. I started reading it on the plane to Sicily, and those two and a half hours passed completely unnoticed! This rarely happens. I'm nervous at every shake, and can't wait to get down. This time though, it went so smooth, I kinda wanted it to last a bit more so I could keep reading! It wasn't just about the story. The writing was just as captivating. So clever. And so heartbreaking. The movie didn't completely do justice to it, but it could have been much worse!

Next is The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. Another book that, if you haven't read, you probably are tired of hearing about. Gripping it was. Exciting, fast and moving, too. The only thing it wasn't was being unpredictable. You can pretty much guess the ending, although this won't stop you from frantically keep turning those pages. Catching Fire was just as exciting. I probably enjoyed it a bit more because I knew the characters and cared for them. And I honestly didn't know where it was going. I'm definitely looking forward to the third one, because the ending left it veeeery open to anything!

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. I'm so not ready to talk about this book now. All I can say is that it was beautifully written and I didn't expect that. Also I don't think I understood it completely, especially the final part. It was bleak, melancholic, suffocating, but lyrical too. I think I should read it again one day, when I'm ready to take everything in.

This summer I've started reading a (kind of ) new author to me, Sandra Scoppettone. I read a couple of her young adult books when I was younger, but nothing more. She's more well known for her series centred around the lesbian detective Lauren Laurano and that's what I've been reading. Unfortunately the Italian publisher hasn't released them in the proper chronological order, so I didn't follow the time line, but even then, I completely enjoyed them. There's something about the summer+beach+crime fiction combination that I can't explain, but that just works so well for me. These books were especially easy to enjoy in the sun, although they deal with tough subject such as rape, aids and violence against women. They are always socially conscious, but also ironic and funny. The writing style wasn't very polished, but it didn't matter much. I loved reading about Lauren and her love of her life Kit. In the first book I read, Everything You Have Is Mine, they had been together for 11 years and still rocking it. It's not usual to find such attraction and intimacy in a long-term relationship, not even in fiction. I loved their relationship so much that the mystery didn't even matter that much in the end. In the second book I read, Let's face the music and die, the mystery was an utter disappointment because I guessed it from the start. But Lauren's personal story made it worth reading. There was so much tension, what with her dealing with the man who raped her years before, and at the same time dealing with her growing attraction toward a much younger woman, while Kip is away. I think Sandra Scoppettone put so much into these story-lines that forgot to put some mystery into the mystery itself!

In the first story, I loved seeing Lauren trying to come to terms with computers and technology. The book has been written during the early days of internet, and I have to say the word "bulletin board" didn't mean anything to me, but it has a central role in the story so I had to look it up. Seriously prehistoric internet stuff! She becomes an internet junkie later on, and with that I can relate:P

I recommend these books as a light read with some edge and some good gay romance. Unfortunately they're not easy to find in the shops, but maybe libraries still stock them?

OK, I'll finish here, cause I'm tired. I hope I'll manage to finish the catching up part soon, so that I can talk extensively about the latest amazing reads!

Slowly but surely...

2009-09-26T23:06:00.003+01:00

I've finished a book! After starting I don't know how many books and never finishing them, I'm very proud of myself. It was the second volume in the Song of the Lioness series by Tamora Pierce, In the hand of the Goddess. It was alright, nothing earth-shattering, but it was such an easy read that I finally made through the last page. So for the next book I've decided to scrap the rules, and forget about Mt. "To be Read". I've picked The Knife of Never letting Go and so far it's going good. I still don't feel great, I'm going through some pretty hard times, but knowing that I can read again makes me feel a tiny bit better!

The Electric Picnic 2009

2009-09-19T19:46:00.020+01:00

After few days away from the blogosphere, it's scary to come back and try to fit in again. So much it's been going on and I haven't been part of it. Not that I'm much of a blogger socialite, but looking at my 1000+ unread posts on my Reader, I feel overwhelmed and intimidated. I'll take a step at a time and just post some photos of the festival I was telling you about. It was so much more than I expected. It's not just about the music, even though the thing that will stay with me forever and which is standing out from the whole experience, was seeing Florence and the Machine live. I tried to get tickets to see them again in Dublin but it was physically impossible. They sold out in minutes. So here's few photos I took personally:

I also really enjoyed Julie Feeney. She's so unique, and such a great performer, even though ever so shy when it comes to the talking bits.

Another gig I loved was the Flaming Lips. Such a show!
But if I have to be perfectly honest, the reason that made me decide to go was the presence of my beloved drag queens. They had their own tent, called Poptopia, and they were amazing.

Photo taken from Facebook, can't remember from who!

Especially Veda Beaux Reves. She should be a huge rock star, she looked stunning on that stage and the reviewer on The Irish Times loved her too!

I was saying there was so much more than music. It's not called Music and Arts Festival for nothing.The whole festival was so artistic. It looked to me like a big fun fair for adults. Everywhere you turned there was something to photograph, especially in the Body and Soul Area. It was so pretty!
This is a part of the stage there.
This is me inside the sculpture of an elk!

This is Natasha's food stall. She makes everything completely raw, with no dairy, no wheat, no gluten, no sugar. And it's delicious. The chocolate cake was the best chocolate cake I've ever had. No kidding.
The rest of the food stalls were also really good, if not cheap. The tofu burgers at the Vegan and Vegetarian place were a favourite. So were the "bloody mary" crumpets at the Strumpets with Crumpets stall. I wish I took a picture of those. But my camera battery barely lasted to take pictures of Florence on the last day.
More pretty things on the stalls.

A new thing I tried there was the silent disco. SO MUCH FUN!

I bought myself a wholly hat because it was freezing at night. Here it is, where is sort of makes me look like a hobbit.
So many parents were carrying their kids around in these carts, and so many kids were dressed up as fairies. So cute:)
The ground was very very very very veeeeery muddy, sometimes resembling quick sands. It was great fun. You would have been very brave (or very foolish) not to wear a pair of wellies. I don't think I've ever seen that many people wearing wellies all in one place. The variety was incredible, I was jealous of basically every other girl who passed by me. I had nice pink flowery ones, but they leaked so I in the end I had to buy sensible green farmer-style ones, which weren't fashionable, but they kept me dry and warm!

I only have good memories about this festival. Even though the last day our tents got flooded, and we were covered in mud from head to toe and had to leave the tents there. Even though at night I barely got any sleep because the wankers beside us stayed up 24/7, drinking and being really annoying (I wondered if they saw anything else in the festival beside their gazebo). Even though I was freezing at night, and I didn't take any shower for 3 days, and my hair looked horrible all the time cause there was no power to use straighteners and if you wanted to use 10 minutes of hairdryer you had to pay 10 euro!
So despite all this, I can't complain one bit. It was awesome. I'd do it all again tomorrow. (although I'd bring warmer pjs, stronger tents and would find a quieter spot to camp!)

Blogging Break

2009-09-10T17:45:00.004+01:00

I haven't written anything in a while. I haven't read much either. I start a book and then I put it down, and start another another one. I'm definitely not in the mood for reading, let alone talking about books. I hope this feeling goes away quickly because it doesn't feel like me. I want things to go back to normal, but I'm in such a state of internal turmoil these days, that I don't know when it will happen.
On the other hand music is easier, it makes me forget about things, and it heals.
I have been to a wonderful festival of music and arts called Electric Picnic last weekend, which happens in Ireland, in a big country field, like Glastonbury. It was my first time and it was amazing. I was walking in mud with wellies most of the time. We were camping out and barely got any sleep for three days. And it was all worth it!
I fell in love with Florence and the Machine. Such a powerful voice. I listen to her music on repeat now.
If you don't know her yet, check her out, but keep in mind that she sounds a million time better live. Mind-blowing!

Drumming Song

Rabbit Heart

Cosmic Love

Gotta go now, I'll be back to post some photos of the festival. And when things get calm again, I'll be a bookworm again.xxx

A trip to the National Gallery: Harry Clarke's Illustrations

2009-08-22T12:47:00.012+01:00

I went to the National Gallery the other day, with a new friend of mine. It's not something you do normally, when you're living in a place. It's what tourists do. Besides, I had been to the gallery two times already. But it turned out a completely new experience this time. I watched the paintings more carefully. We admired them, laughed at them, we were moved by them.
But what sticked with me most of all was a little temporary exhibition of an artist called Harry Clarke. In 1916 he illustrated Hans Christian Andersen's Fairy Tales, and now 10 of these illustrations are exhibited in our Nation Gallery until 20 September.
If you are anywhere near Dublin, I urge you to go see them, cause they are amazing!

These are in colour:

These in black and white:

They were so rich and detailed, so imaginative and wild. I wished I could have bought the reproduced booklet, but it was too late and the shop was closed. I'll definitely go back and buy it so I can look at them whenever I want and be amazed by them again and again.

Catching Up Part I

2009-08-14T23:19:00.013+01:00

I think it's time I face my fears and start blogging again!:P
I have stayed away, kinda overwhelmed by the amount of reviews I have to write. So what I'm gonna do is skip the detailed ramblings and cut to the essential. I want to say something about everything I read lately, but it's gonna be short! Hopefully.
During holidays I was on fire! I read non-stop, it was brilliant.
But before getting to the holiday read I have to catch up on some even older reads:

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
It was good, but not great. Didn't like the writing much, maybe it has to do with the Italian translation. It felt a bit redundant, melodramatic, and old fashion. I liked the story, just not the way it was told. Also the fact the twists were told instead of shown took away from the wow factor. I foresaw one of the main ones, it wasn't too hard. It was entertaining, though, and I get why many people loved it. The premises were good, the pages were easy to turn. It just probably didn't feel very close to the narrator. It also rambled about secondary plots that weren't useful for the main one and were a bit confusing. There was definitely a lack of good female characters, which is usually a big factor for me for liking or not liking a book.
For the good bits: Fermin. I loved him! I liked the ending. I liked how the two lives of Daniel and Julian paralleled. I liked the role of books. And the faith of Hugo's pen...
But, what's with the angels? So many of them. Obviously he likes angels very much.

The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery was a pleasant, amusing mix of domestic storytelling and philosophy. I'm not a big fan of philosophy, but I am of good writing.
I loved Renee, the concierge of an exclusive Paris apartment building and Palome, the 12 year-old girl who lives in it. They were very similar as they both hid from the world, pretending to be someone they're not. They're both exceptional in their own way.
The essence of the book could be about the importance of little things, of the little miracles, the "small always in the never". Like the blossom that falls off its plant; the feeling of the rain on your shoulders; the music that stops everything in a bubble of eternity.
Some of the philosophical stuff was useless talk to me (is a table really a table or the idea of a table?). It bored the hell of out me, but if you don't linger too much on those parts, it's definitely worth a read.

Missing Angel Juan by Francesca Lia Block.
My honeymoon with FLB's writing is still on. More of Witch Baby, all by herself in the huge New York. Who could ask for more? Still magical, still ethereal, still urban fairytale. I want to write like her!

Tapping the Dream Tree by Charles de Lint.
I finished it!!! Wow!
I shouldn't even be talking about it cause I've raved enough about it, but the thing is that the last story was actually a short novel and it was BRILLIANT!
It's called Seven Wild Sisters and if you can find it anywhere on its own BUY IT! Here's the cover for it.
Reading it put a happy feeling in me. It really made me feel good about being alive and being able to read stories like this one. It wasn't extraordinary. It was simple, in a comforting way. Like eating fresh bread with butter and honey, or any of your favourite food, on a summer day, lying on the grass. There are fairies, there is danger too. But you know there will be a happy ending.
So so so recommended.

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman.
OK, how do I do this? It's Neil Gaiman, so it's hard, but I have to be honest. I didn't fall in love with this one. I enjoyed the characters (Door!). I loved the idea, the humour, the wild imagination. But I didn't connect with the story that much. I was a bit like Richard, never knowing what the hell was going on and why people were doing what they were doing. It all came together in the end, and I wish there were more books set in London Below, but for the most part I was like "so...why are they doing this now?" It's still Neil Gaiman so it was pretty good, just not super good.

And that's the end of my efforts to catch up! More to come, soon (maybe).

Some photos...

2009-07-29T09:45:00.015+01:00

Hi everyone, I'm back to my usual cloudy life...and blogging:)
As promised I'll post some pics of my beautiful holiday in Italy. I didn't have my camera, so I only took few pictures with somebody else's camera in Sicily, while I didn't take any in Tuscany.
I was for a week in Levanzo, a small island off the coast of Trapani. It's my favourite place in the entire world. It's my little paradise. This year my father rented a house away from the town. To reach it you had to climb up a very steep road, called "pittata".Or you could just use my dad's quad :D

Here's the entrance to the house, from the inside. There's also a lovely kitchen garden.
This is the house.
And this is me with my dad's partner's son, Ruggiero, in the veranda. It was one of our favourite reading spots.
Usually my father collect lots of sea shells and sea food snorkeling around. This was part of his loot one day. I think I'm gonna try and make ~~one of those things you hang from the ceiling, with them. I forget what you call them:P~~ a mobile! One day...And now I'd like to show you some photos I didn't get a chance to post last year. We saw some dolphins while we were on the boat. It was beautiful! Click on them to see better!
This is a little guy my dad caught. He was released soon after we finished playing with him:)
This is our fierce cat.
A view of the village.

And a little taste of what the sea looks like:)

There. Gotta run to work now. Hope you enjoyed them:)

A quick update

2009-07-14T17:59:00.005+01:00

I'm back to civilization and internet, although not at home. I had a wonderful time in Sicily and I will post some photos when I can use my laptop. For now I thought I'd write few lines about what I've read recently. I can hardly keep my mouth (fingers?) shut! I loved absolutely everything and I finished both books so fast that I had to borrow the next book to read on my flight to Pisa.

The Time Traveler's Wife is everything that I thought it'd be, only I didn't think it's be such a page-turner. My flight to Sicily was more than 3 hours long and I didn't feel them at all! I kept reading like a mad thing till I finished it. I cried a bit almost at the end, and felt sort of melancholic from then on, but it was beautiful and it was worth it! Now I can't wait to watch the trailer for the movie.

The Hunger Games was also incredibly absorbing, adventurous and even sort of romantic. I thought it was the perfect summer read, mostly because it made me feel good that I was lying on the beach sunbathing while those poor souls had to fight for their lives with little water and food.Ahah!I can't wait to read the sequel, obviously. Has it lived up to the expectations?

My third book is La Danza del Gabbiano, the new inspector Montalbano book by Andrea Camilleri. I thought it was very good, better than the last two. It was also a very quick read.

Now I've borrowed Fahrenheit 451 and I'm already half-way through. All I can say now is that I'm happy it shows just how horrible a society without books would become. Ugh!

So, yes, I'm loving my summer holiday reading so far! But I miss blogging and reading other people's blogs. Hope everything is good in the bookblogging sphere.

Any new amazing unmissable books I should know about?

I'm off!

2009-07-05T00:44:00.003+01:00

On Holidays to Italy! Good-bye interwebbers, I'll see you in three weeks with hopefully some reviews to post:)
I'm taking The Time Traveler's Wife and The Hunger Games with me, they should keep me entertained enough! Those and the sun and the swimming and the ice-creams :D

Happy Summer!

The Absolute Sandman vol. 1 - Neil Gaiman

2009-06-25T12:56:00.004+01:00

Thanks to my awesome library, I've been able to finally read this first volume of The Absolute Sandman. A comic series that's almost a legend, a cult among those in the know.
I had read some individual issues found on secondhand stalls, and also the beautiful novella The Dream Hunters.
But this is the real deal, where everything begins. And I loved it.
There were three major narrative arches:
- "Preludes and Nocturnes"
- "The Doll's House"
- "Dream Country"
If I had to choose a favourite, it would be "The Doll's House", although I loved every single story in its own right.
It wasn't anything I expected, primarily because it was so eclectic.
Sandman for one, is ever-changing. At the beginning he appears trapped in a human-conjured prison, and it takes him years to free himself. When eventually he manages to break free, he finds that his dreamworld has changed, that Nature has created other Sandmen to fill the gap left, and that he has to fight to regain his absolute power.
It's not what I expected from Dream. In my mind he was somewhat intimidating. Unreadable. Even invincible. He's an Immortal, after all. Lord of the Dreams. While here, at the very beginning, he's weak and powerless. It takes time to track down his tools - the pouch, the helmet, the ruby - and even after he's done, he feels empty, as if after achieving his goals he doesn't have anything left to do.
It wasn't something I had expected, but it was fascinating.

Also, I didn't think it would be a horror comic. I thought it would lean more on the fantasy side. But some stories are definitely scarier and gorier than what I thought they would be. Take "24 hours" for example. Or "Collectors". These stories, and their atmospheres reminded me a lot of an Italian comic series I used to read as a tween/teenager and which is still printed, called Dylan Dog. Dark Horse apparently has published some issues in English. If you can get hold of them, I highly recommend them, by the way.

As I was saying, one of its most striking feature was its diversity. Because if some stories are horror, some others were completely different. "Tales in the Sand" is a version of the myth of Sandman seen through an African perspective. "Men of good fortune" is a story of a man in the 14th century, who doesn't believe in death, and he's granted the gift of immortality, as a sort of game between Dream and Death. Then "A dream of a thousand cats" is a story showing us cats' view of the world, which is not pleasant nor cute.
There was so much into these stories, I find it hard to review it without failing to mention some great things about them. What I can say is that for a week or two, this volume sat by my nightstand, granting me one bedtime story, each night. I figured it was fitting for a comic all about dreams:) And it was a moment I looked forward to.(Although I wouldn't recommend it at night-time to the faint-hearted. It was, after all, a horror comic, at times!)
About the art...at first I wasn't too impressed . The stories made up for it, though.
Then with "The Doll's House" it really takes off. Some stuff was wonderful, especially the visualisation of people's dreams. I loved them.
Also, of course I have to mention all the fantastic extra material which would make any fan drool: the initial original Sandman proposal, the provisional sketches, the characters outline, and then the surprisingly-funny-to-read script for "A midsummer Night's Dream".

It pains me to bring this back to the library, but I have to let other people enjoy it too.
Thankfully, I have volume 2 ready to go:)

other bloggers' reviews:
Firefly
Stuff as dreams are made on (Preludes and Nocturnes)
Andi of Tripping Towards Lucidity (Preludes and Nocturnes)
Chain Letters (Doll's House)
Dewey (Preludes and Nocturnes)
Debi (Preludes and Nocturnes)

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LGBT Challenge - Once Upon a Time III Challenge wrap up

2009-06-22T09:00:00.000+01:00

I had promise to myself not to join anymore challenges, because there is not much point when I don't actually read the books meant for that challenge. Even without lists! But since there's no challenge police, I'll join anyway! I can't resist this one.
It's hosted by Amanda at The Zen Leaf, and it requires the reading of 6 books in 6 months, all LGBT related, starting July 1 and ending December 31.
Incidentally, I'm already reading Baby Be-bob by Francesca Lia Block so the first book is sorted!
What else could I read?
I'm thinking:
Carol by Patricia Highsmith (The first lesbian novel with a happy ending, or so I'm told)
Beebo Brinker by Ann Bannon (lesbian pulp fiction of the 1950's)
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides (the T is for Transgender, after all)
I'm not myself these days by Josh Kilmer-Purcell (about the life of a drag queen)
My tender matador by Pedro Lemebel (which has been waiting for 3 years now, as it's also about a transgender woman)
Also I should probably try to read Oranges are not the only fruit by Jeanette Wintersone again...

These are already at home...don't let me start with whatever I could get in the library because it's a road full of perils, we all know it ends in me wanting to read too many books as humanly possible.

ps: Here we say LGBT instead of GLBT. I'm used to it, and also I like it more ;)

Now for the Once upon a time III...er...

...I probably was in the mood for more realistic fiction than usual lately, because I managed to read 2 books only, out of the original 4:
-The Poison Throne by Celine Kiernan (fantasy)
-The Absolute Sandman vol 1. by Neil Gaiman (I decided to consider it mythology although it could fit in basically all four genres. But I thought The Sandman is a mythological figure, and these comics are a reinterpretation. Also there are many other mythical references in it).
I read some Charles de Lint stories for the Short Stories Weekend, but I reviewed only one, from Tapping the Dream Tree. Still have one to go, to finish the collection.

Speaking of Challenges, I think this year is the last for me. I know I haven't joined too many, but they're a lot for me and I feel constricted. Next time round I will stick to a VERY limited selection of these torture devises. I think they are fun only when they are the exception to my reading routine, not the norm.

Wandering through the library shelves...

2009-06-21T09:00:00.001+01:00

...I didn't take anything out because I coulnd't, but I found some pretty interesting looking books, and not just because of their cover!
I wonder if anybody has read any of these or anything by these authors:

An Invisible Sign of My Own by Aimee Benders.

An Invisible Sign of My Own tells the story of Mona Gray, a math wiz and a high school track star, whose ordinary childhood comes to pieces when her father is stricken with a mysterious illness.

You can't see it from the picture but the copy the library has is an old hardback, battered, with yellowed pages and worn edges. I loved the feeling of it, it looked like a proper library book.
I thought it was a little-known, forgotten and forlorn book, but it turns out it's being made into a movie starring Jessica Alba! A real holy shit! moment.

The Visitor by Maeve Brennan

Recently found in a university archive, The Visitor was written in the mid 1940s but was never published. This miraculous literary discovery deepens the ouevre of Maeve Brennan and confirms her status as one of the best Irish writers of stories since Joyce.

I never read anything by this author, but it looks like I might have missed out on something huge!

The Man with the Dancing Eyes by Sophie Dahl and Anne Morris

I don't know what it is about but an illustrated story for adults will always catch my eye. This looks like a poetic fairytale. Also it's by Roald Dahl's grand-daughter. Something might have rubbed in through the generations?

My Side of the Story by Will Davis

'A coming-of-age tale that combines the coolness of Queer as Folk with the tenderness of Adrian Mole' Elle

This is the second time this book catches my eyes in the library. I'm sure I'll end up reading it soon.

The Kingdom Beyond the Waves by Stephen Hunt

...a hugely engaging, Victorian-style adventure, filled with perilous quests, dastardly deeds and deadly intrigue - perfect for all fans of Philip Pullman and Susanna Clarke .
Professor Amelia Harsh is obsessed with finding the lost civilisation of Camlantis, a legendary city from pre-history that is said to have conquered hunger, war and disease -- tempering the race of man's baser instincts by the creation of the perfect pacifist society.

Why haven't I heard about this book more? It just looks and sounds like it's the epitome of awesomeness!

Just like Tomorrow by Faiza Guene

"a fizzing first-person account of a black teenager's life on a Parisian sink estate" The Glasgow Herald

I think the back says it's the Bridget Jones of the Paris Banlieues. Sold!

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao - Junot Diaz

2009-06-20T13:10:00.001+01:00

Oscar Wao is not your average Dominican kid. First of all he's fat. He can't get a girl no matter how hard he tries. He reads a lot, especially fantasy, sci-fi and comics. He uses erudite words when he speaks, such as I'm embarking on a new cycle of my life. We writes. He plays at dungeon and dragons. There's only one word for him. Nerd.
The book, though, it's not just about his life. It's about his parents and grandparents, who lived their lives in a country ruled by the super dictator Trujillo, and who suffered what some people call fukù, a curse. Once you get the fukù, there's no coming back, your life is doomed. So you pretty much know from the start that this is not going to be a happy story.

What I didn't know is that there was so little about Oscar. Or at least not enough. I enjoyed the harsh, colloquial style, I didn't mind the footnotes, because being footnotes they can be ignored when necessary, the Spanish wasn't too hard to guess and for the rest there's the internet, and the fantasy/sci-fi references were ice-cream for the eyes. I flew through the first part thinking this was the best book ever. THEN, it skipped few years and went to talk about his mother, and then his grand-parents, and then his aunt. Only then it goes back to talk about Oscar. There's also a brief chapter told through Oscar's big sister Lola, which I also enjoyed. But I was eager to get to know Oscar more, to be with him a bit more, and there wasn't much time. You know, his life is brief.
So, this is not to say I was bored reading about his family. I 'd actually love to re-read it knowing that the story is a much broader one, but on the first round I was too impatient to get back to the Oscar bits to fully enjoy the rest of the characters stories.

Now, having said that...I was happy to learn more about the Dominican history. I'm one of those who never even heard of Trujillo, nor of the Haitians persecutions. It wasn't easy to read about all the violence, but at least it was realistic and informative.
What I was more uncomfortable with was the role of women in the stories. Not the violence against them, but the way they reacted to it. I get it that that's the way it was back then, and it is still, in some ways. But I would have wished that, at least, some of them would react against it.
Lola's character is a good one, strong-minded and ass-kicking. But she also is guilty of some acts I couldn't defend. So there was definitely a lack of really good female characters.
Still, I finished the book thinking it was awesome, despite of its flaws.
Oscar is the ultimate anti-hero, and is utterly charming. I loved the way he talked, how he put all his energies and passion in everything he did. I wish I could read his books. I can't believe none of the women that crossed his roads managed to see that. Well, except one, maybe.

I could have read about him for ever. . I'm sure we would have been friends:)

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Pretty Covers

2009-06-17T09:00:00.000+01:00

a.k.a. The Books I want to Read Because of How They Look Like.

Some people think it's shallow to choose the books by their covers. Some others, like me, think it's fun, and it leads to some wonderful discoveries, even new favourite writers, if you're lucky. Of course it can bring to huge disappointments, but at least you're left with a pretty book...right?
So here I'd like to share with you the books that are on my wishlist mainly for their attractive exteriors. There's LOTS! Sometimes it can be just a pretty design. Sometimes the title, or the quirky feel. I can't get enough of collecting list of books based on their appearance. And frankly, I think that's what they are supposed to do. Attract you. Otherwise they will all be just plain covers with the name and the author written on them. True, it's not fair for those unfortunate books stuck with horrendous covers that might be awesome, too. But for those I have the internet to rely on, we have recommendations, reviews, word-of-mouth...
That comes after. Also, I believe in the publishers. They know our tastes, what we are attracted to. An ugly cover for me can be an irresistible cover for someone else. An interesting cover for me, can repel some others. I'm not saying it's a rule we should stick to. I'm only saying it's fun! And rewarding some times. So here we go. Let's call this my introduction to the "Cover Attraction" feature hosted by Marcia at the Printed Page every Wednesday.

The Girl with Glass Feet by Ali Shaw.
You can't see it but the pages are lined with silver. Oh so pretty.

From Amazon: A mysterious and frightening alchemical metamorphosis has befallen Ida Maclaird - she is slowly turning into glass, from the feet up. She returns to St Hauda's Land, where she believes the glass first took hold, in search of a cure. Midas Crook is a young loner, who has lived on the islands his entire life. When he meets Ida, something about her sad, defiant spirit pierces his emotional defenses. As Midas helps Ida come to terms with her affliction, she gradually unpicks the knots of his heart, and they begin to fall in love...

Falling by Sharon Dogar.
It's also endorsed by Philip Pullman so...

From Amazon:Neesha is haunted by violent visions of the past; of another Southeast Asian girl, far away and forever ago. Just when the echoes in her head threaten to overwhelm her, to rob her of her fragile sanity, rescue comes in the form of Sam--a white boy she's known since childhood.

Scatterheart by Lili Wilkinson.

From Amazon: It's 1814 and Hannah Cheshire leads a privileged life in London, with fine clothes, servants and a handsome tutor. Then one day her father disappears and she is left to fend for herself. Not equipped for the real world she ends up penniless, and sentenced to transportation to the colonies for a crime she didn't commit...

Ghosts and Lightning by Trevor Byrne.
Also, It's Irish and it's recommended by Roddy Doyle.

From Amazon: Happy or unhappy, all families are a mystery. None more than the Cullens. Having escaped their clutches and moved across the water, Denny is just beginning to make a life for himself when a call from his sister brings him back to Dublin, city of his birth. Back to square one. As if squabbling siblings and unhelpful childhood friends weren't trouble enough, a ghost starts making appearances in the family home and Denny's life starts to get a lot more complicated.

These are only the latest I've fallen for. The following have been on my list for a while now, but they still look awesome:

aaaand I think that's all, for now!
And what about you? What kind of book covers do you feel attracted to? And do you feel ashamed for choosing them because of that?
As I said, I don't. I've discovered Daniel Pennac, one of my first favourite authors, thanks to one of his covers. Then there's Jenny Valentine, Meg Rosoff, Diane Setterfield...
The disappointments that first come on to my mind are fewer. The History of Tractors in Ukrainian was alright, but not brilliant. The White Tiger was also alright, but not my favourite. I'm still happy I read them, otherwise I'd be still here dying to open the pages of those faboulous cover!