Catching Up Part I

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).

Embroideries - Marjane Satrapi

...and in this way we began a long session of ventilation of the heart...

This one the most entertaining read I've read recently. It was the perfect Read-a-thon choice. Short, smart and absolutely hilarious. If you loved Persepolis, like I did, you don't want to miss this little gem. If you still don't know Marjane Satrapi's work, this is a fast and delightful way to realise what you've missing out all this time.

What do women talk while drinking tea, away from men's ears? Sex, of course! And marriage, men, plastic surgeries...the usual. Only, these are Iranian women, living in a patriarchal society where they have half of the rights of their male partners, so what's usual becomes outrageous!
I'm in awe of Satrapi's gift for irony and subversiveness. Even the sole idea that, behind doors, women talk about these themes, is refreshing. But she just adds that magic touch of lightness and humour that makes it completely irresistible.
Of course, though, being Iranian, the secrets they share are part of a culture that we only know from the media, and from what we read on books (if we do at all). This is a rare opportunity to have a sneak peek at their private lives and thoughts. It's addictive! I wish there were a whole series of these books:D
It was also really interesting to know what is the image that they have of the western culture. For example, when talking about virginity, Marjane's aunt, a free-thinking, divorced artist, declares:

...Why don't we behave as westerns do!? For them, since the problem of sex is resolved, they can move on to other things!
Ha!
I wish. I mean, I see her point, but the "problem" is far from resolved. Especially when you look at the new wave of conservatism which encourages boys and girls to join pledges not to lose their virginity till marriage and advocates abstinence for adolescents as the solution for every problem. I find this very scary, considering it's coming from the so called liberated western society.
But aaaaanyway. I recommend this book wholeheartedly. It's clever, bold, and definitely too damn short!

need more encouragements?
read these:
Tripping Toward Lucidity
American Bibliophile
Things mean a lot
Biblio File
Books of Mee


Shop Indie Bookstores

Herding Cats II - Attack of the Hairballs!

And it's here again! Last time I managed to read only 2, but they were among my favourite reads of the year, High Fidelity and Fingersmith. So if I can just equal that, I'd be happy. I'm expecting a mindboggingly long master list to choose from, but the most fun part is to choose the books to recommend. So here we go.

Here are the rules Herding Cats II (April 1st, 2009 - December 31st, 2009):

1. Make a list of five books you love. Directions:

• Five. I'm as serious as a beached whale.
• All titles must be books you've read in 2007, 2008 or 2009.
• Please don't list a series; just the first book. If you really want to list a book in the middle of a series, you can, but it has to be that specific book.
• Feel free to share why you're putting the book on your list, because I am nosy.

2. Post your list:

• in your own journal, in the comments here, whatever is fine. Share the list here.
• Lists should be public (no locked entries, no logging in to view).

3. Browse the new book list. Stay a while. Read a few (eta: if you want; not even reading is required this time around if you don't have time to commit to a new challenge but still want to share your favorites).

4. If you review your books, you can share the reviews. You know, if you want. No pressure. Definitely not.

Five Books I Love:

Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli My very first post! I don't think I've blabbed enough about it here. I thought it was wonderful. So read it.

Hellfire by Mia Gallagher So completely absorbing and mesmerising.

Gold by Dan Rhodes A gem of a book that every fan of Nick Hornby I think should read. And everyone else too.

War for the Oaks by Emma Bull Where urban fantasy began.

Finding Violet Park (for US readers: Me, the Missing and the Dead) by Jenny Valentine Among the best YA I've recently read.

Provisional List of Books I might read:

Life as We Knew it
Invention oh Hugo Cabret
Amulet of Samarkand
Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks
Shadow of the Wind
Embroideries
Tender Morsels
The Ice Queen

(still to be decided...)

High Fidelity - Nick Hornby

I loved this book so much, I giggled all my way through it. I had seen the film but it was enough time ago not to see the differences and make too many comparisons. This was pure pleasure reading.
It's not really a story. It's more a window into the mind of a 30 something guy, Rob, who is not ready to be an adult yet, but feels like his life is slipping away from him. The trigger to everything is his girlfriend Laura breaking up with him. He starts remembering his past top five break-ups, in chronological order, and try to find an answer to his current situation. My favourite of his break up is probably the first one, with Alison Ashworth. They were only twelve or thirteen and their relationship, based on snogging in the park, lasted only three days:

What did I think I was doing? What did she think she was doing? When I want to kiss people in that way now, with mouths and tongues and all that, it's because I want other things too: sex, Friday nights at the cinema, company and conversation, fused networks of family and friends, Lemsips brought to me in bed when I am ill, a new pair of ears for my records and CDs, maybe a little boy called Jack and a little girl called Holly or Maisie, I haven't decided yet. But I didn't want any of those things from Alison Ashworth. Not children because we were children, and not Friday nights at the pictures, because we went Saturday mornings, and not Lemsips, because my mum did that, not even sex, especially not sex, please God not sex, the filthiest and most terrifying invention of the early seventies.

At page 4 I was in love with the book already. Not that I sympathize with the guy at all. But it was fun to read into his mind. It felt so real sometimes I had to remind myself that this was not a memoir but fiction. He made me laugh a lot, but I couldn't help to be annoyed sometimes, because I could put myself into all his girls' position and totally see their point of view!
Poor Penny Hardwick who was dumped because she wouldn't let be touched, but was secretly mad for him. She only needed more tenderness.
And what about his pining for Laura? It's all a matter of ego:
I'm unhappy because she doesn't want me; If I can convince myself that she does want me a bit, then I'll be OK again, because then I won't want her, and I can get on with looking for someone else.

Arghhh!

But despite all this, he is irresistible. The writing is irresistible, his snobbish obsession with music is irresistible. His friends and employees, Dick and Barry, are irresistible. The whole package.
Of course Nick Hornby knows his Rob is a bit of a tosser, but it's probably why he feels like a real person who's trying to analyse the reasons why he manages to mess up his love life all the time.
Some of the most insightful conclusions about Life come from Rob's relationship with music:

What came first – the music or the misery? Did I listen to music because I was miserable? Or was I miserable because I listened to music? Do all those records turn you into a melancholy person? People worry about kids playing with guns, and teenagers watching violent videos; we are scared that some sort of culture of violence will take them over. Nobody worries about kids listening to thousands – literally thousands – of songs about broken hearts and rejection and pain and misery and loss. The unhappiest people I know, romantically speaking, are the ones who like pop music the most; and I don’t know whether pop music has caused this unhappiness, but I do know that they’ve been listening to the sad songs longer than they’ve been living the unhappy lives."

Some other conclusions, like the one about unrealistic expectations that pop music puts into young impressionable minds, I think are due to Rob not having found real love yet, otherwise he'd know what those romantic songs talk about:)
But I should stop arguing with him as if he was a real person! I wish he was, so I could have a proper chat with him about some stuff :p

So, to put an end to this messy review...You should read this book. Even if you are not a music nerd, or 30 something, or a man. You're in for a brilliant read.

other blog reviews:
Books I done read
Where lemon melt like lemon drops
Trish's reading nook
Know any more? Please let me know!

Fingersmith - Sarah Waters

This book was exhausting. It kept me turning its pages frenetically, impatiently, just to know what happens to its heroines.
I loved it because it never let go, and shot one plot twist after the other, keeping me always in tension, waiting for the next surprise.
I hated it for the same reasons. For making me suffer with and for its heroines, waiting for an happy resolution to arrive, which instead kept eluding them, finding endless ways of slipping away. It was an emotional roller coaster. And to this day, I'm still not sure if I enjoyed it more than I hated it for that. One day I basically did nothing but reading it, and I didn't put it down till I finished it. Was I satisfied at the end? I don't know! It was a great piece of storytelling and it must have been pretty well-crafted to manage to keep my attention for so long. Still, at the end I was like, is this it? Can I have some more, please?

I can't tell you much about the plot, for obvious reasons. If Angela's Ashes had no plot, this is all about it. I can't tell you much about the writing style either, because, to be honest, I didn't stop enough to notice it, so much I was gripped by the story.
I can tell you it's set in Victorian London. 1862, to be precise. And it's about two young women, whose destinies interlock at some point in their lives.
Sue is an orphan, her mother was hanged for murder, and grows up among petty thieves.
Maud is also an orphan, but grows up in a dark mansion in the countryside, brought up as a secretary for her uncle.
When Sue accepts to take part to a fraud that will make her richer than she has ever imagined, she becomes involved in a series of events that bring up old secrets, treachery and lies. But also unexpected love and desire.

The first book by Sarah Waters I read is Tipping the Velvet. It was also set in Victorian London but it was much more daring and decadent in its portrait of lesbian love. I loved it, but I can see why it's not for everyone. Fingersmith instead, seems to be more suitable for a broader audience. It's far more focused on the fast-paced action and on its unravelling of hidden truths, than on the romance side of the story. I wouldn't have minded, though, if the romance had been developed a bit more. Actually, that's the main issue I have with it. But other than that, an absolute winner. If you want gripping historical drama to keep you awake at night, try this.

Other blog reviews:
Books I done read
Among the Jumbled Heap
A work in progress
Dear Reader
Tammy's Book Nook

Did you review it too? let me know and I'll add it here.

342,745 Ways to Herd Cats, OR tl;dr

This is brilliant. Another challenge, similar to "Something about me", but not quite.
Choose 10 favourite books. Then browse the master list and choose 3 books or more to read between May 1st and November 30th. Easy Peasy. Click on the pictures for details and for joining.

My list(I've looked at the list so far and people already added some of my favourites so maybe I'll try and choose different ones)

The Ruby in the Smoke by Philip Pullman
The Tiger in the Well by Philip Pullman
Charlotte's web by E.B. White
Momo by Michael Ende
The Snapper by Roddy Doyle
The Blue Girl by Charles De Lint
Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters
To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
The clan of the cave bear by J.M.Auel
Ronja by Astrid Lindgren

A very random mix. Some children's, some classics, some (very) adult fiction...something for everyone and books I think should be in that master list.

For what I can see now the books I'd like to read are:

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
Fingersmith by Sarah Waters
Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer
Watership Down by Richard Adams
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer
Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. LeGuin
The Onion Girl by Charles de Lint
Life Of Pi by Yann Martel
Castle Waiting: Volume 1 by Linda Medley
Leven Thumps and the Gateway to Foo by Obert Skye
The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer
The Changeling Sea by Patricia A. McKillip
I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith



Of these I only own 3 so this is definitely a provisional list to be changed or updated shortly before the challenge starts!