tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-87865764263315124242024-03-05T10:10:23.531-08:00Wordy CandyUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger22125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8786576426331512424.post-29844078920088897192013-01-09T05:59:00.004-08:002013-01-09T06:00:06.491-08:00The fault in our stars <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<li style="margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0em; margin-right: 0em; margin-top: 0.5em; text-align: left;"><b>Pages:</b> 336 pages</li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0em; margin-right: 0em; margin-top: 0.5em; text-align: left;"><b>Publisher:</b> Dutton Juvenile; First Edition edition (January 10, 2012)</li>
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<i>The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars. But in ourselves </i></div>
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With a title inspired by Shakespeare's famous quote, how do I even begin describing this book. Immediately after reading it, a hundred thoughts raced through my mind but the one that screamed loudest expressed the deep sadness I felt at having finished the book. Considering the main issue that the book is based on, it is difficult to write a review that will do it justice, but I'll try.</div>
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At first glance, Hazel Grace appears very much like the typical 16 year old teenager. Bright, angsty and with an unconventional sense of humor, it's heartbreaking to read that she has terminal lung cancer with her cancer being suppressed by a particular drug. At a Support Group for Cancer victims, Hazel meets 17 year old Augustus Waters; handsome, athletic and perfect if you ignore the prosthetic leg his osteosarcoma left him. Together, Hazel and Augustus form an unlikely pair who fall in love and face life's most merciless killer : cancer. Like all good books, this one has a jarring twist that eventually left me sobbing and breathless. </div>
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John Green takes a very realistic approach by baring a truly honest account of cancer stricken children. I found it particularly moving to read about the tangled emotions experienced by the parents, friends and of course the kids themselves. This is not a book about brave battles against cancer, and of survivors. Ultimately, it is a book about death, love and most of all <i>living</i>.</div>
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The Fault in Our Stars made me question a lot on the values and priorities we have in life. It's a jolting reminder of how fragile and precious life is. Seeing these very real issues through the eyes of teenagers makes the honesty even more heartbreaking. Throughout the course of the book, I asked myself if I could ever fall for a person who's terminally ill, if I could be as strong if my bright, young child were to be diagnosed with cancer, and would I have been able to make any decision at all if faced with those circumstances. </div>
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The book has been categorized as YA fiction, but I think it's something relevant for adults as well. With characters that will resonate with me for a long time to come, I'm sure I'll be reading this book over and over again. You'll laugh, you'll weep, you'll hurt, but most of all you'll definitely remember Hazel, Gus and everyone so perfectly portrayed in this little book juggling huge issues. </div>
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You have a choice in this world, I believe, about how to tell sad stories, and we made the funny choice </blockquote>
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John Green is a wonderful writer. He has the ability to use simple words to express really strong emotions.</div>
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" Sometimes people don't understand the promises they're making when they make them " I said. Isaac shot me a look.<br />
" Right, of course. But you keep the promise anyway. That's what love is. Love is keeping the promise anyway " </blockquote>
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It looks like 2013 has kicked off on a reasonably good start book-wise, with 2 authors that are new to me ( Jojo Moyes and John Green ) making it onto my list of Must Read authors. Have you read The Fault in Our Stars or are you planning to ? What did you think ? </div>
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You gave me a forever within the numbered days, and I'm grateful </blockquote>
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My Rating : 5 / 5 stars </div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8786576426331512424.post-24316535047013940822013-01-07T05:57:00.000-08:002013-01-07T05:57:06.813-08:00The Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared <div style="text-align: justify;">
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*Read on the Kindle<br />
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Now that sure is a book with a long title ! Upon reading this in a flurry, I found it quaint and charming, yet biting and sarcastic in wit at certain parts. Comprised of an unlikely cast of characters, the story takes wild turns of imagination, with flashbacks of the now 100 year old Allan's life, and what an interesting life indeed. From chance meetings with the President of the USA, Winston Churchill, Stalin and Madam Soong May Ling, you know you're in for a ride. <br />
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I've been trying to come up with a proper way to introduce Allan, but words evade me. On the whole, he is quirky, eccentric and has a tendency to make very matter-of-fact statements. There are lots of funny parts in the book because of his affinity for telling the blunt truth.<br />
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At one point, the story seemed too ludicrous to be realistic, but for most parts, the main character seemed devoid of all normal emotions, taking things in stride as they came. However, it is this unfeelingness that leads to pretty straightforward observations such as these : </div>
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" Revenge is like politics, one thing always leads to another until bad has become worse, and worse has become worst "</blockquote>
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Another interesting point to note is that the book had vague references to history, after all, it is the recount of a 100 year old man's life, so there is bound to be mention of the key events that have happened in the past. It is a cheeky attempt at looking at history in a light hearted manner, but what I liked was the 'alternative' scenarios that the author cleverly included as part of the story.<br />
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I'm not sure if this is a book that I will read again, but it wasn't a bad way to kickstart the year.<br />
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Rating : 3.5 stars </div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8786576426331512424.post-31447203430362585692012-12-31T19:40:00.001-08:002012-12-31T19:40:30.092-08:002013<div style="text-align: justify;">
And thus we start writing 2013 whenever we sign the date. 2012 has been slow in terms of reading, but the only resolution I have for this blog is to be more disciplined in my reading habits. </div>
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Happy New Year dear all !! May the year be wonderful in all bookish sense and charming in everything else ! </div>
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xoxo ! </div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8786576426331512424.post-9534462494473735882012-12-31T00:54:00.000-08:002012-12-31T00:54:31.152-08:00Me Before You by Jojo Moyes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>Publisher</b> : Michael Joseph ( 2012 )</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>Pages</b> : 528 pages </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>ISBN</b> : 978-0718157838</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I'm not quite ashamed to admit that I'm writing this review through red-rimmed eyes and a snotty nose, but I feel like I have to capture all these emotions whilst they're still fresh in my mind. Me Before You is quite possibly simultaneously one of the best and worst books I've read this entire year. I mean worst in the way that it made me bawl like a baby and best because it is definitely a book I'll remember in days to come.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">First off, I picked up the book wanting a light read before the end of the year, but boy was I in for a rollercoaster ride of a surprise. Jojo Moyes is wonderful in the way she makes her characters jump out of the pages and before long you find yourself identifying with them. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I initially assumed that I would be reading something funny and easily digested but I soon realized ( somewhere past the 2nd chapter ) that the book was going to be dealing with some really heavy issues. The two main characters of the book were really interesting to start with. Louisa 'Lou' Clark spent her entire adult life caring for her family, and sacrificing a significant part of her youth helping to make ends meet. One day, she loses her job and finds herself desperate for anything that could help her current financial crises. Reluctantly, she signs up as a carer for the handsome, enigmatic Will Treynor. The twist is, Will is a quadriplegic who's made a deal with his mother for 6 months after which he'd go to Dignitas in Switzerland to end his life. Then it's up to Lou to convince him that life is still worth living. Determined to change his mind, Lou comes up with a list of adventures her sister calls " the antibucket list " and thus follows a series of hits and misses and poignant discoveries.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Now the context of the story sounds harsh and cold, and I had trouble accepting the fact that anyone would voluntarily allow their loved ones to kill themselves. However, over the course of the book, Moyes spins a beautiful tale of love, of selflessness and understanding. It is an understanding that wrenches at the heart of the reader, a love story that extends beyond the regular horizons but also a gorgeous tale of new beginnings, self-belief and questions the right to making choices. The heavy context is lightened by the playful banter between the characters in the book, and I found myself laughing out loud in certain parts. Nonetheless, this is a book that has touched me and impacted me in a way that I never expected. It is as much a tale of letting go as of holding on. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">At its core, Me Before You is a wonderful story, a 'romance' novel but not in the traditional sense. I wanted so much for things to work out at the end for the both of them, and in retrospect, things did work out, just not in the way I would have envisioned. Moyes successfully crafted the fine balance between jarring reality and surreal make-believe, and the fact that it so delicately deals with the taboo subject of assisted suicide and the delicately sensitive way in which the story was written makes this book worthy of many re-reads, boxes of tissue and sleepless nights. </span></div>
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<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">" You only get one life. It's actually your duty to live it as fully as possible " </span></i></blockquote>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">My rating : 5 stars </span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8786576426331512424.post-47129201340852148012012-12-27T22:32:00.004-08:002012-12-27T22:34:03.989-08:00Life of Pi by Yann Martel<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>Publisher</b> : Mariner Books</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>ISBN</b> : 978-0547848419</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I must be one of the last persons to read this book but for posterity's sake, I thought it worthwhile that I jot down my initial thoughts before I forget them. Rife with powerful passages, the simple way in which the author phrased his sentences masked the much heavier meaning behind the words. More than just an intricate plot, the story unfolds with very cleverly written analogies of human natures and the strength of survival. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The book on whole was a pretty fast paced read, and I found myself racing towards the end, just wanting to know the famed 'twist' at the end of the story. No spoilers here, but for those who've watched the movie, perhaps you'd agree that the twist added a much applauded punch to tie up the entire story. Equal parts vivid imagination and clever messages, Life of Pi was a delight to read, and a literary sensation that will last for a long long time. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I liked how the book delicately questions issues on life and religion. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">And that wasn't the end of it. There are always those who take it upon themselves to defend God, as if Ultimate Reality, as if the sustaining form of existence, were something weak and helpless. These people walk by a widow deformed by leprosy begging for a few praise, walked by children dressed in rags living in the stress, and think " Business is usual ". But if they perceive a slight against God, it is a different story. Their faces go red, their chests heave mightily, they sputter angry words ... These people fail to realize that it is in the inside that God must be defended, not on the outside. </span></blockquote>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I particularly loved a paragraph written close to the ending. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It's important in life to conclude things properly. Only then can you let go. Otherwise you are left with words you should have said but never did, and your heart is heavy with remorse. </span></blockquote>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I have yet to watch the movie, but for now the imagery so excellently painted in the words of Yann Martel more than suffices to make this a memorable read, and it's safe to say it's one of the best books I've read this year. </span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8786576426331512424.post-55224462663279854262012-01-21T02:00:00.000-08:002012-01-21T02:00:29.125-08:00Never let me go by Kazuo Ishiguro<div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb0fSJ8-tck_oSHnvACvGTLJgMXofAnlfT4Ln0-QMHnfQYVY9NCPADBtNWPizH7uhypq1RGNK0ru8OX7v3K4jy1SJ1rb3byitxI-GiVWLqNM5AXQDIp7kAIFgwvs0emQ2_KDrHnsWUqXU/s1600/Never+let+me+go+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb0fSJ8-tck_oSHnvACvGTLJgMXofAnlfT4Ln0-QMHnfQYVY9NCPADBtNWPizH7uhypq1RGNK0ru8OX7v3K4jy1SJ1rb3byitxI-GiVWLqNM5AXQDIp7kAIFgwvs0emQ2_KDrHnsWUqXU/s320/Never+let+me+go+.jpg" width="216" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Publisher</b> : Faber and Faber limited</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Pages</b> : 282 (paperback)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Language</b> : English </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>ISBN</b> : 978-0-571-27213-6</div><br />
It's been a while since the last time I had the chance to jot down some thoughts on a book I've read, but Kazuo Ishiguro's <i>Never Let Me Go</i> was just too moving for me not to write something here. I've been meaning to read something by him for a while now, so I picked this up on a whim the other day and finished it in one 5 hour sitting. A page-turner indeed.<br />
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Briefly, the novel centers around some students from a parallel society set in England. Right from the start, there is an aura of mystery surrounding the main plot and readers will be kept guessing as pieces of the puzzle are slowly unveiled. I made it a point not to read the blurb although I had a vague idea what the main topics would be since there's been so much hype about the book ever since the movie was released. There might be some spoilers ahead, but I'll try my best to keep the main twists hidden.<br />
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What I liked about the book was the way the author painted the entire picture in small parts, leaving the reader hanging on the edge of every word. Prose wise, he keeps the language simple yet precise.<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">" Madame <i>was</i> afraid of us. But she was afraid of us in the same way someone might be afraid of spiders. We hadn't been ready for that. It had never occurred to us to wonder how <i>we</i> would feel, being seen like that, being the spider..... It's like walking past a mirror you've walked past all your life, and suddenly it shows you something else, something troubling and strange " </blockquote><br />
The main themes in this novel surrounds that of cloning, humanity but mostly, the story centered around friendship, love and relationships. A lot of attention went into character development and we get to know these characters right from their childhood experiences. Towards the end when the last strings are tied and double-knotted, I found myself questioning things that would otherwise not have crossed my mind. The book challenges boundaries in science and research and questions just how far humans will go in the name of self preservation. It's definitely a book in which the lines of right and wrong, black and white aren't clearly drawn and there's a lot of 'grey' thought-provoking questions put forth.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq"><br />
" There was no way to reverse the process. How could you ask a world that has come to regard cancer as curable, how can you ask such a world to put away that cure, to go back to the dark days ? There was no going back. However uncomfortable people were about your existence, their overwhelming concern was that their own children, their spouses, their parents, their friends, did not die from cancer, motor neurone disease, heart disease. " </blockquote><br />
I find it enchanting that Kazuo Ishiguro was able to weave these serious topics into a novel that as a whole focused on very human needs, feelings and emotions placed into 'clones'. There were lots of sweet parts in the novel, but the tension and long buried longings of the main characters could very well be felt in the tone of the story. All in all, this is definitely a story that will stay with me for some time to come.<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">" It might be some trend that came and went " I said. " But for us, it's our life " </blockquote></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8786576426331512424.post-47763915437915601642011-05-14T01:23:00.000-07:002011-05-14T01:24:40.866-07:00Max on Life by Max Lucado<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIPTfDL_I1B990D49o-P0RTZMGm8d9kJvKkARL3FnMj4Zu2gUnAHr7ey0WIxR_4d8bswqTNJNDlNEgODiSRFmCwt4fg96pKcDbK9UAXUsKoQCo9eCjhsj53lwmDl-m3eQgTKsy9eSmJcE/s1600/max-on-life.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIPTfDL_I1B990D49o-P0RTZMGm8d9kJvKkARL3FnMj4Zu2gUnAHr7ey0WIxR_4d8bswqTNJNDlNEgODiSRFmCwt4fg96pKcDbK9UAXUsKoQCo9eCjhsj53lwmDl-m3eQgTKsy9eSmJcE/s400/max-on-life.jpg" width="264" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><b>Publisher</b> : Thoman Nelson Inc.<br />
<b>Pages</b> : 237 ( hardcover )<br />
<b>Language</b> : English<br />
<b>ISBN</b> : 978-0-8499-4874-9<br />
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<div style="text-align: justify;">I was excited when I came across Max on Life written by Max Lucado. In a nutshell, the book focuses on answering questions that we all have in our daily lives. The questions range from topic for new Christians, to topics on personal struggles as well as biblical advice on love and romance. Flipping through the book, one will find these topics grouped together according to various categories. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Upon completing the book, I have to say that I absolutely adored Max's writing and the approach that he takes to answer these questions posed to him by readers. The questions in this book are questions that we all have, and in a way it is easy to relate with the strives and confusion that are addressed throughout the book. Max answers each question in a concise, practical manner, sticking close to Biblical truth, supporting each argument with passages from the Bible. The little bits of his personal life and struggles as a Christian, husband and father adds a touch of understanding to the confusion that people often face. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Max on Life is a great book for both new Christians as well as matured Christians alike. It's a great little compendium to have for those of you who are constantly counseling others and want something to fall back on or to aid you in your task. A collection of short essays, and easy to read passages, this is one book to have for the times when the weight of uncertainty and curiosity get the better of you.<br />
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I have had the pleasure of reviewing this book as a courtesy of the wonderful people at Booksneeze.com </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8786576426331512424.post-62859685942151773252010-05-30T09:39:00.000-07:002010-05-30T09:39:37.860-07:00Cutting for Stone<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFKcjJnG8Ew2bA4LWFQ5HENX9D-ypj6F1UQfpbnLNPgVuwjKX26KcYWyOi9rnu5O9FbRPxTMQL0ZHtlG3j8qBDmgROpw7-zOk79XU1uCu6RgXV7QFM9IJOa4NkLh29-8cRfk1r09_SAn8/s1600/n297038.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFKcjJnG8Ew2bA4LWFQ5HENX9D-ypj6F1UQfpbnLNPgVuwjKX26KcYWyOi9rnu5O9FbRPxTMQL0ZHtlG3j8qBDmgROpw7-zOk79XU1uCu6RgXV7QFM9IJOa4NkLh29-8cRfk1r09_SAn8/s320/n297038.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Cutting-Stone-novel-Abraham-Verghese/dp/0375414495">Cutting for Stone</a></b> by Abraham Verghese</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"></span></div><ul style="list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0em; margin-right: 0em; margin-top: 0.5em;"><b>Publisher:</b> Knopf; 1 edition (February 3, 2009)</li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0em; margin-right: 0em; margin-top: 0.5em;"><b>Language:</b> English</li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0em; margin-right: 0em; margin-top: 0.5em;"><b>ISBN-10:</b> 0375414495</li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0em; margin-right: 0em; margin-top: 0.5em;"><b>ISBN-13:</b> 978-0375414497</li>
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">First of all, sorry for the long absence. Things have been pretty chaotic the past few weeks so whilst I've been able to do some reading, I haven't had the chance to write about the books that I've read these past weeks. I chose to write about Cutting for Stone simply because it was a book that completely blew me away. Described by many as 'fiction at its best' I had expectations for the book, but suffice to say, my experience reading it was beyond any expectations. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">If I were asked to choose a book that has had a profound impact on my life thus far, I would have to say that for now, Abraham Verghese's 'Cutting for Stone' tops the list. The story circles around conjoined twins, Marian and Shiva Praise Stone who are conjoined at the head, but separated at birth. If being conjoined and separated at birth under medical conditions in Ethopia that are far from being ideal isn't enough, Marion and Shiva are the sons of famous British surgeon Thomas Stone and a nun, Sister Mary Joseph Praise. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">The plot is thick with an aura of mystery and mystic, not only from the twins mysterious conception and birth, but the fact that the story is set in Ethiopia lends an air of surreality to this epic book. Narrated from Marion Stone's point of view, the book has an extensive timeline, starting from the meeting of his parents, right till the time Marion returns to Ethiopia after a stint as a successful surgeon in Boston.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">Although identical, Shiva and Marion are worlds apart when it comes to character, interests and outlook in life. The twins are raised by Indian doctors, Ghosh and Hema, who stand in as great parents after the death of their mother and abandonment of their father. Rich in setting, and suspenseful in plot, this is a story that's not only a joy to read, but it also highlights the challenges and selflessness of doctors and humanitarians who sacrifice time, effort and emotions to minister to the needs of the people of Africa. I found it particularly heart wrenching reading about the suppression of women, and genital mutilation that's so rampant in certain parts of Africa and amongst certain tribes. When all these are coupled together with the practice of child brides and the mental and emotional torment that these women go through is spoken so clearly through the author's writing. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">I especially enjoy the way Verghese describes emotions : </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><blockquote><i>"You are so brave." This was my consolation : all was well between me and Rosina. </i></blockquote><blockquote><i>If this was what brave felt like - numb, dumb, with eyes that could see no farther than my bloody fingers, and a heart that raced and pined for the girl that hugged me - then I suppose I was brave. </i></blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">At times, he writes in a way that is so lyrical it hits me as simultaneously stupefying and beautiful. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"></div><blockquote><i>The observer, that old record keeper, the chronicler of events made his appearance in that taxi. The hands of my clock turned elastic while I imprinted these feelings in memory. </i>You must remember this<i>. That was all I had, all I've ever had, the only currency, the only prove that I was alive. </i></blockquote><blockquote>Memory</blockquote><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">A book that's based on part fact and most parts fiction, this reads smoothly and is enjoyably engaging. What I love besides the intricate and well thought out plot is the attention to detail and the beautifully crafted language that's used throughout the book. Abraham Verghese is a doctor by profession, but he is also a great writer and has been compared to the likes of literary heroes such as Shakespeare. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8786576426331512424.post-29416354881211012172010-05-13T06:41:00.000-07:002010-05-13T06:41:06.809-07:00Sophie's World<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHOCyQ3gjX79TXkVkyePdhTo1i2bwkeP9xkOLfiABVR7qwOHdsHJx50-m1QeDSal2BGEwmzZCXcQWwbvxW_94AXsUzXXOfA5MdO9ihN7Lc5915sbdTCmPFA7d9YZuGvSA5bFR__LjDo-8/s1600/imgsophies+world3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHOCyQ3gjX79TXkVkyePdhTo1i2bwkeP9xkOLfiABVR7qwOHdsHJx50-m1QeDSal2BGEwmzZCXcQWwbvxW_94AXsUzXXOfA5MdO9ihN7Lc5915sbdTCmPFA7d9YZuGvSA5bFR__LjDo-8/s320/imgsophies+world3.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b>Sophie's World</b> by Jostein Gaarder</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"></span></div><ul style="list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0em; margin-right: 0em; margin-top: 0.5em;"><b>Paperback:</b> 544 pages</li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0em; margin-right: 0em; margin-top: 0.5em;"><b>Publisher:</b> Berkley (March 1, 1996)</li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0em; margin-right: 0em; margin-top: 0.5em;"><b>Language:</b> English</li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0em; margin-right: 0em; margin-top: 0.5em;"><b>ISBN-10:</b> 0425152251</li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0em; margin-right: 0em; margin-top: 0.5em;"><b>ISBN-13:</b> 978-0425152256</li>
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">I've finished reading Sophie's World over the Mother's Day weekend and boy was it a read or I should say ride! The book talks about Sophie Admunsen , who walks home from school one day to find a letter in her mailbox addressed to her from a stranger. The letter starts with a huge question : Who are you? From then on, Sophie gets enlisted onto a philosophy course, one that starts way back from the days of Socrates, Plato right up to modern philosophers such as Sartre and Freud. The book has an element of mystery, as Sophie gets postcards that are meant for a girl named Hilde Moller Knag. This aura of enigmatic mystery sends readers on a quest to not only think about the many philosophical questions, but also to try to unravel the mystery lurking within the plot. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">I picked this book up some time back because I saw that it was listed in many "Must Read List"s around. Besides, who can resist a book that's been compared to a modern day Alice in Wonderland tale, although I must say the context of the book was way better than that of Alice, as much as I loved her and Wonderland. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">This is a perfect introduction to philosophy and the art of thinking. I won't be quoting anything from this book, because if I were to start doing so I'd end up quoting the whole book ! 3000 years of history and philosophy is very cleverly weaved into the storyline, and I particularly liked the twist right in the middle because I certainly wasn't expecting that (now, I wouldn't want to spoil the surprise for you!). The intricate, complex world of philosophical thinking is explained in very simple, easy to understand, bite sized chunks, making the book both enjoyable and educational. Well-researched, well thought out, wonderfully imaginative and genius writing makes this a must read book! This is a book that's great for sitting down to read with someone, or for teenagers who are still curious enough to question, evaluate and come to their own reasonings and deductions. I most certainly loved it. </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8786576426331512424.post-91614753324454825602010-05-06T02:40:00.000-07:002010-05-06T02:40:14.901-07:00The Kabul Beauty School<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMXfDpIzmHKgwRKxH7yMsd5Mhf8BrHidro2jaI11Ge8S7Rk3PZF9viUyNSej6a2SHIZB6onq6-T3PYrhQwzVKItQn0MZcxuY3E9tHpSRH_WRpPXD0syJkXF90sGaW0N7WLVywxzDJXlDA/s1600/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMXfDpIzmHKgwRKxH7yMsd5Mhf8BrHidro2jaI11Ge8S7Rk3PZF9viUyNSej6a2SHIZB6onq6-T3PYrhQwzVKItQn0MZcxuY3E9tHpSRH_WRpPXD0syJkXF90sGaW0N7WLVywxzDJXlDA/s320/images.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b>The Kabul Beauty School</b> by Deborah Rodriguez</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"></span></div><ul style="list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0em; margin-right: 0em; margin-top: 0.5em;"><b>Hardcover:</b> 275 pages</li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0em; margin-right: 0em; margin-top: 0.5em;"><b>Publisher:</b> Random House; First Edition edition (April 10, 2007)</li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0em; margin-right: 0em; margin-top: 0.5em;"><b>Language:</b> English</li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0em; margin-right: 0em; margin-top: 0.5em;"><b>ISBN-10:</b> 1400065593</li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0em; margin-right: 0em; margin-top: 0.5em;"><b>ISBN-13:</b> 978-1400065592</li>
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</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">After much anticipation, I finally found a copy of The Kabul Beauty School and instantly bought it. Eagerly, I started reading this, in between doses of The City of Joy. The Kabul Beauty School is not so much fiction as it is a memoir of Deborah Rodriguez, an American hairdresser who goes into Kabul, with the ambition of helping the women of Kabul achieve a semblance of independence by opening a beauty school there. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The book isn't as serious as other stories I've read on Afghanistan, but it cannot be denied that the trials and tribulations that the women in the book face are very real. There is domestic abuse, poverty, desperation and yet there is the triumphant fight that some of the women put up against their circumstances and often abusive husbands. It's a book about friendship and love amongst women and the bond of sisterhood that knows no boundaries ; both geographical and cultural. I have to say though that as interesting and easy to read as this book was, at times I found myself getting irked by her ignorance as to the cultures and ways of life of the Afghans. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Deborah is married to an Afghan man, Sam, and at times I find their marriage stupefying. For one, they hardly speak the same language. Deborah speaks elementary Dari, whilst Sam speaks a smattering of English, and then there is the huge cultural difference that both of them face. I know it's not uncommon for people from different cultural backgrounds to get together, but the fact that independent Debbie allows herself to be match made the traditional Afghan way to a man she's only known for 20 days just seems a little odd. At times, the conversation between Sam and her is comically cute : </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><blockquote style="text-align: justify;">At one of these parties, I introduce Sam to a guy who was working in the opium poppy eradication program. "He's one of the poppy killers" I said. </blockquote><blockquote style="text-align: justify;">"Poppy killers?" Sam's eyes widened, He almost shuddered as he looked at the guy. " Debbie, I thought you loved dogs!"</blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">All in all, the book isn't about Debbie's personal life so I shan't go too deeply into my thoughts on that, I do find it amazing however how she's brave enough to plunge into the depths of Afghan household chaos and other problems that her students at the beauty academy face.A true champion for women's rights, she seems to have made a difference in the lives of her students, with the help of generous endorsements by beauty products manufacturers such as M.A.C , Clairol and Revlon to name a few. So, have any of you read the book yet? If so, what are your thoughts on the book ?</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8786576426331512424.post-25312872561331909862010-05-04T07:51:00.000-07:002010-05-04T07:51:20.436-07:00CIty of Joy<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.infibeam.com/img/67eec4ea/568/5/9780446355568.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://img.infibeam.com/img/67eec4ea/568/5/9780446355568.jpg" width="189" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b>The City of Joy</b> by Dominique Lapierre</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"></span></div><ul style="list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0em; margin-right: 0em; margin-top: 0.5em;"><b>Mass Market Paperback:</b> 552 pages</li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0em; margin-right: 0em; margin-top: 0.5em;"><b>Publisher:</b> Grand Central Publishing; later printing edition (May 7, 1990)</li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0em; margin-right: 0em; margin-top: 0.5em;"><b>Language:</b> English</li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0em; margin-right: 0em; margin-top: 0.5em;"><b>ISBN-10:</b> 0446355569</li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0em; margin-right: 0em; margin-top: 0.5em;"><b>ISBN-13:</b> 978-0446355568</li>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">I actually finished reading this book a week ago, but due to time constraints,haven't been able to jot down my thoughts properly. The City of Joy refers to a slum in Calcutta, an ironic place to be called "The City of Joy" because this is where lepers, the poor and the outcast reside. The story centers on three protagonists, Hasari Pal, Father Stephan Kovalski and multimillionaire, the young Dr. Max Loeb. Following a drought in his village, Hasari ventures out into the big city of Calcutta in search of better opportunities. With his wife and children in tow, he makes the journey there on foot, only to be shocked by the state of Calcutta. Beggars, prostitutues and poverty fill the streets of the city Anand Nagar, which means City of Joy. It is depressing, reading about child beggars, and little children going through rubbish dumps to look for scraps to eat.Reading about child prostitutes was probably one of the worst parts for me : </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><blockquote><i>The adolescent girl's face was shuttered, hostile. There were traces of red on her lips and she smelled of perfume. Freeing herself from her mother's grasp and gesturing to her two small brothers, she handed over a ten rupee note. </i></blockquote><blockquote><i>"Tonight they will not cry" </i></blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">On the other hand, Stephan Kovalski is a Polish missionary, who sought out the poor in order to minister to their souls, only to find himself touched and transformed by their way and philosophies in life. Deciding to settle in the slums with the very poor, Stephan brings a ray of hope to the destitute and abandoned, making life so much more bearable for the leper colonies especially. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Max Loeb comes into the story bright eyed and bushy tail, thinking that money itself is the panacea to all troubles only to be shocked at the state of life in Anand Nagar. Operating from a 'clinic' which is basically a small room in a rest house, Max comes face to face with living conditions unlike any he has ever been exposed to. There, he goes through life changing experiences that will forever change the way he lives the rest of his young, sheltered life. This is a scene of an amputation, which took place on a pavement, without anesthetics, due to lack of medical care. : </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><blockquote><i>Neither Kovalski nor Sister Gabrielle had time to catch it before it fell onto the ground. Max put down the saw to wipe his forehead and the nape of his neck. It was then that he witnessed a scene that was to haunt him for the rest of his life : " a mangy dog carrying off in its mouth a human arm".</i></blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The beautiful part of this story is the way people are so giving despite being so terribly in need themselves. Reading this book does give you a fresher perspective of life, and if you're like me, you'll probably find yourself realigning your priorities in life. All in all, this was a riveting read, one that will stay with me for some time. I loved this Hindu saying which was in the book, I think it epitomized what the entire book was about : </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>If you have two pieces of bread, </i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Give one to the poor, </i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Sell the other, </i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>And buy hyacinths, </i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>To feed your soul. </i></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8786576426331512424.post-52222665326917190922010-04-19T08:07:00.000-07:002010-04-19T08:07:27.350-07:00Sea Glass by Anita Shreve<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCbD_CWjll8NDJ9OK-EPtqyUUf6XI5U2JV9TXxqPJ4CKilCRg36Hqd2hB8Srbyohu0wyaw6sdG91A0Ki9DEuF0KgzjWG2IERZzxQhlddE1MKU0vT-9jdDdMUJcEUL6H3hbpW0jxOo74MM/s1600/0316780812.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCbD_CWjll8NDJ9OK-EPtqyUUf6XI5U2JV9TXxqPJ4CKilCRg36Hqd2hB8Srbyohu0wyaw6sdG91A0Ki9DEuF0KgzjWG2IERZzxQhlddE1MKU0vT-9jdDdMUJcEUL6H3hbpW0jxOo74MM/s320/0316780812.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg" /></a></div><b>Sea Glass</b> by <b>Anita Shreve</b><br />
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<ul style="list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0em; margin-right: 0em; margin-top: 0.5em;"><b>Paperback:</b> 400 pages</li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0em; margin-right: 0em; margin-top: 0.5em;"><b>Publisher:</b> Back Bay Books (January 21, 2003)</li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0em; margin-right: 0em; margin-top: 0.5em;"><b>Language:</b> English</li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0em; margin-right: 0em; margin-top: 0.5em;"><b>ISBN-10:</b> 0316089699</li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0em; margin-right: 0em; margin-top: 0.5em;"><b>ISBN-13:</b> 978-0316089692</li>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">I've read a few of Anita Shreve's books prior to this, and whilst I loved those, I admit I had trouble connecting with the characters in this book. The way the story unfolds is rather unique though, with the story narrated from different viewpoints, each character telling the story in his or her own way. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Honora is a twenty year old, newly married bride of Sexton Beecher, and like all newly weds, the couple is optimistic, blissfully oblivious of the tests that are coming their way. Then there is McDermott, a young man working in the mills, socialite Vivian from Boston adds a contrasting view to this motley group and little Alphonse is probably my favourite character in this book. This unusual group is united in the face of the economic downturn in the 1920s and 1930s, and the story develops to envelop the struggles that small town people of that era had to face. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The story centers upon the inhabitants of the fictional city, Ely Falls and different aspects of life are explored. Marriage and betrayal, love and friendship, economic trials and even growing pains ( in the case of 11 year old Alphonse) are all tossed around and debated, and readers will often be left guessing and wondering where it's all going to lead to. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">What I liked though, is Anita Shreve's lyrical description of the sea glass that Honora loves collecting : </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><blockquote style="text-align: justify;">She picks up a chunk that looks like dirty ice after a long winter, ice that has been skated on and has gone cloudy with use. She fingers a piece the color of young dandelions and finds shards that look like flower petals : hyacinth and wisteria and lilac. </blockquote><blockquote style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</blockquote><blockquote style="text-align: justify;">She finds scraps of celadon and cucumber and jade, specks of pea and powder and aquamarine. </blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Truth be told, I did not like the way the story had to end, but all in all, the plot was based on true events that occurred during that time, and it was a pretty 'educational' read in a way. The story had such great potential for further development, I found it disappointing that the beginning of the book was a little draggy, but when things started to speed up towards the end, I was begging for more details that just weren't there. All in all, this is recommended if you like somnolent reads, made for long, lazy Sunday afternoons. </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8786576426331512424.post-82171516782762242132010-04-13T00:41:00.000-07:002010-04-13T00:42:22.258-07:00A Hundred and One Days : A Baghdad Journal<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhda3yfx7jhaP3D7ZrFKRr06FWGShAwAIwizz2FnhQWVBg6OKEZmsOMjJqiSERT5_4VuXDabkZraBCCNnza79oThYo5cMwhUDuhQD-drrcBkjXuYpn_x_VGLiEUpGO3XW5sHDQDZlRnQsc/s1600/ahundred_and_one_days.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhda3yfx7jhaP3D7ZrFKRr06FWGShAwAIwizz2FnhQWVBg6OKEZmsOMjJqiSERT5_4VuXDabkZraBCCNnza79oThYo5cMwhUDuhQD-drrcBkjXuYpn_x_VGLiEUpGO3XW5sHDQDZlRnQsc/s320/ahundred_and_one_days.jpg" /> </a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"></span></div><ul style="list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0em; margin-right: 0em; margin-top: 0.5em; text-align: left;"><b>A Hundred and One Days : A Baghdad Journal </b></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0em; margin-right: 0em; margin-top: 0.5em; text-align: left;">by<b> Asne Seierstad</b></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0em; margin-right: 0em; margin-top: 0.5em; text-align: left;"><b>Hardcover:</b> 336 pages</li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0em; margin-right: 0em; margin-top: 0.5em; text-align: left;"><b>Publisher:</b> Basic Books (April 12, 2005)</li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0em; margin-right: 0em; margin-top: 0.5em; text-align: left;"><b>Language:</b> English</li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0em; margin-right: 0em; margin-top: 0.5em; text-align: left;"><b>ISBN-10:</b> 0465076009</li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0em; margin-right: 0em; margin-top: 0.5em; text-align: left;"><b>ISBN-13:</b> 978-0465076000</li>
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It would be difficult for me to put into words what I felt after reading this book. It is a journal detailing the journey that Asne Seierstad takes in her efforts to cover the Iraq war. The book is split into three parts : Before, During and After. In each section Asne Seierstad does a great job encapsulating all the events that occurs in a very straightforward, journalistic approach. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">So many emotions are captured very vividly by the author as she goes about her work. The frustration at being denied proper access to interviews, the hawk-eyed control of the Ministry of Information, </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><blockquote style="text-align: justify;"><i>I am here to find dissidents, a secret uprising, gagged intellectuals, Saddam's opponents. I am here to point out human rights violations, expose oppression. And I'm reduced to being a tourist</i>. </blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">the discretion that people insist on practicing, and most of all there is an air of distrust amongst neighbours because you never know who'll betray you. It is a book set in the harsh times during the reign of Saddam Hussein and in each sentence, you feel the oppression of the people. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><blockquote style="text-align: justify;"><i>We are exhausted from lack of sleep. It is as if we are ice cold inside, immune to feelings of happiness, to brandy, fear, hunger. We walk the earth in a numb existence, an existence filled with trauma and insomnia.</i> </blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">At times, the book left me teary eyed, especially at the loss of innocent lives. Readers get a first hand description of the images that will never make it in newspapers and TV because staring at the vacant eyes of infants would be dancing too close to the line of reality. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">All in all, this is a good book for those of you who would like an insider's point of view on the happenings of the Iraq war. Asne Seierstad has done a remarkable job in bringing in the fear, the frustration and the fruitlessness of war. The book is really about the Iraqis and their voicelessness and inability to command the hands of fate that sets their destiny. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><blockquote style="text-align: justify;"><i>They're forgetting one thing, Yves says, looking out through the taped balcony door. The battle for hearts. He empties his glass - That too must be won.</i> </blockquote>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8786576426331512424.post-53009532236134184682010-04-12T06:24:00.000-07:002010-04-12T06:24:56.615-07:00Mailbox Mondays<div style="text-align: justify;">A week has flown by so very quickly and it's time for Mailbox Monday again , a meme hosted by Marcia at The Printed Page. This week has been pretty productive for me, and readers of my other blog might already know what I've been up to .. :p So, this week, these books came into my home. </div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5I-vDMmzrQnTUMCSzVIRXhcUIp21tRIkzJIZRiwozBhStC98zmEnQvBvHi-5NTLrldmxArfIp6uoyhf2J7zXxK-sLpd6hLnD3rz1L-fQRZ2y8KVJUKTDW0dImsXbZaEqq7CSVge7r3LU/s1600/wolf-hall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5I-vDMmzrQnTUMCSzVIRXhcUIp21tRIkzJIZRiwozBhStC98zmEnQvBvHi-5NTLrldmxArfIp6uoyhf2J7zXxK-sLpd6hLnD3rz1L-fQRZ2y8KVJUKTDW0dImsXbZaEqq7CSVge7r3LU/s320/wolf-hall.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">This requires no introduction, being the winner of last year's Man Booker prize was enough to pique my curiosity. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUGndo2W-G2XD4h_SWrl9Zh8twldOXA8-6BMgf4cga1RuaNCqL6SHdlyzMPuuK_RtuMKE3tnXjQldLy41T5Kdyow2y59QeNFYol7kW2JsnKKshE7fZP1Gt3wP57a42H671305ArpUqLlo/s1600/r334922_1516004.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUGndo2W-G2XD4h_SWrl9Zh8twldOXA8-6BMgf4cga1RuaNCqL6SHdlyzMPuuK_RtuMKE3tnXjQldLy41T5Kdyow2y59QeNFYol7kW2JsnKKshE7fZP1Gt3wP57a42H671305ArpUqLlo/s320/r334922_1516004.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Hour-First-Believed-Novel-P-S/dp/0060988436/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1271078160&sr=1-1"><b>The Hour I First Believed</b></a> by Wally Lamb. I've been meaning to read the previous book, <b>This Much I Know is True</b>, but then I saw this lying around in the bookstore and decided to pick it up first. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6g7EfgiI0b8NZs3zPt3GJ7KvJ_Q2Gh7bECBzmzIxBhuIzv3X7KTulQJT8gzube54febNYMxW6aSheISKQku2sfNaausT_gsrDhgxkmgC7shh43ZAeSBC9PlAr_smwJQLL803jMTD9cWY/s1600/florence(book).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6g7EfgiI0b8NZs3zPt3GJ7KvJ_Q2Gh7bECBzmzIxBhuIzv3X7KTulQJT8gzube54febNYMxW6aSheISKQku2sfNaausT_gsrDhgxkmgC7shh43ZAeSBC9PlAr_smwJQLL803jMTD9cWY/s320/florence(book).jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Curiosity got the better of me with <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Enchantress-Florence-Novel-Salman-Rushdie/dp/0679640517/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1271078123&sr=8-1"><b>The Enchantress of Florence</b></a> by Salman Rushdie. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfZdte6p1wX_ZBlwfgfTlAN6tUSULPKgmFqZ6TNaK1g6JhLIViRPe2jYwCxv9cygP6gcLVT10NuD0tr-ePKBsMNqut-O8M0tDh_0fKmNgztuE-CarqBHlXBerF9OpYTpGfeOKm5vzdkRc/s1600/n147063.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfZdte6p1wX_ZBlwfgfTlAN6tUSULPKgmFqZ6TNaK1g6JhLIViRPe2jYwCxv9cygP6gcLVT10NuD0tr-ePKBsMNqut-O8M0tDh_0fKmNgztuE-CarqBHlXBerF9OpYTpGfeOKm5vzdkRc/s320/n147063.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Another author on my To-Read list is Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, and when I saw <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Half-Yellow-Chimamanda-Ngozi-Adichie/dp/1400095204/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1271078348&sr=1-1"><b>Half of a Yellow Sun</b></a> the other day, I just had to grab it. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYB7FfnkzjlK18ukSHFaNRMX0aQSX7n6VqMIyPa_BYBx8DA6radx0UbTINVxVYk-Cr4J3RIgvKCFIlsxKGCWw8SHu8nvsHCeL5TwJQsI9x7rWyn7GguA4Qsh90l2mFaAegbHtD_POOh2o/s1600/9780375707278.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYB7FfnkzjlK18ukSHFaNRMX0aQSX7n6VqMIyPa_BYBx8DA6radx0UbTINVxVYk-Cr4J3RIgvKCFIlsxKGCWw8SHu8nvsHCeL5TwJQsI9x7rWyn7GguA4Qsh90l2mFaAegbHtD_POOh2o/s320/9780375707278.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Nobel laureate, V.S Naipaul's <b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Magic-Seeds-V-S-Naipaul/dp/0375707271/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1271078462&sr=1-1">Magic Seeds</a></b> was going for a steal the other day at a local bookfair and I just couldn't resist the temptation to bring it home with me. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1K3lwk_HfWIXdupM-grfsAqivgW16T2Yuqxyh7-9YlLknEAE10e6OTIAti-S4vDgFn9vTQI6WSG2_lgYgihfcDd6kUsum_ufEX8dnBpbZuQ6dApFaIrNKLSSunfod8ZRwn4XB__d6oog/s1600/0316780812.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1K3lwk_HfWIXdupM-grfsAqivgW16T2Yuqxyh7-9YlLknEAE10e6OTIAti-S4vDgFn9vTQI6WSG2_lgYgihfcDd6kUsum_ufEX8dnBpbZuQ6dApFaIrNKLSSunfod8ZRwn4XB__d6oog/s320/0316780812.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I like Anita Shreve's books and I've been meaning to read <b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Sea-Glass-Anita-Shreve-Author/dp/B003ET30EM/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1271078570&sr=1-6">Sea Glass</a></b> for some time now. Finally decided to bring home a copy when I saw it at a book clearance sale the other day. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">That's all for this week's Mailbox Mondays. What books came into your home ? </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">P.s : I've finished Guardian of the Dawn and A hundred and One Days is proving to be a really good albeit frustrating read. Reviews on both coming up! :) Have a good week ahead everyone!</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8786576426331512424.post-793488220215076312010-04-05T20:43:00.000-07:002010-04-08T22:29:47.303-07:00Mailbox MondaysMailbox Monday is hosted by Marcia at <a href="http://printedpage.us/">The Printed Page</a>, and I've loved reading about what other bloggers have been adding to their book collection. So, here's my latest bookish acquisitions :)<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe5u19M62MizVKmmNMvu4t9xG1YEYCfOxzQvQEjVLFzEZ-Xs5SXde59enwfI_FeZKXmKWajiO4l0rnMF9-hW5QxzjBhJRW2AblMNQRfIFZeBsBNT2uAgsroN1I2DczCBkFJjkC4VQc3co/s1600/n131397.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe5u19M62MizVKmmNMvu4t9xG1YEYCfOxzQvQEjVLFzEZ-Xs5SXde59enwfI_FeZKXmKWajiO4l0rnMF9-hW5QxzjBhJRW2AblMNQRfIFZeBsBNT2uAgsroN1I2DczCBkFJjkC4VQc3co/s320/n131397.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<b><a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_1804159063">Guardian of the Dawn</a></b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Guardian-Dawn-Richard-Zimler/dp/0385338813/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1270523977&sr=8-1"> by Richard Zimler</a><br />
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<div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>Picking up where he left off in The Last Kabbalist of Lisbon, Zimler tracks the travails of a young Jewish manuscript illustrator who flees with his family from Portugal to India to escape the Portuguese Inquisition in the last decades of the 16th century. Tiago Zarco, whom his family calls Ti, is the precocious protagonist, and he and his family constantly face religious persecution, particularly when Ti's sister Sofia develops an ill-fated attraction for her cousin, a Moor nicknamed Wadi. Ti, meanwhile, has his own troubles, which revolve around his romance with Tejal, the beautiful Hindu girl he hopes to marry. Family betrayal eventually leads to the arrest of Ti's father for his involvement with the "secret Jews," a group targeted by the Catholic authorities. Ti ends up in prison as well, but, upon his "confession" and release, he embarks on a complex mission to avenge his father. The narrative and dialogue are occasionally melodramatic, but the historical authority in Zimler's prose is impressive, as is his surefooted plotting and formidable character writing. The riveting final chapters pick up the pace, a welcome change from the novel's overall slow burn. Still, Zimler's treatment of an obscure period of history makes for an exotic, colorful novel. </i></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i><br />
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.</i></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><b><a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_1804159067">A hundred and One Days</a></b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Hundred-One-Days-Baghdad-Journal/dp/B000WCTQY2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1270524407&sr=1-1"> by Asne Seierstad</a></span></span><br />
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<div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I picked this up because I read the Bookseller of Kabul and fell absolutely in love with it. This book comes after the Bookseller of Kabul and I can't wait to continue reading on Asne Seierstad's future explorations of Baghdad. </span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZqOZe-UmFuDk8vFU58kAg6qoMoSwkjqzWixwZVJrK5L6CxO5IEWShDH3rGcREl1Tts3DqOl4TkxHkVMkxia9hw1xxi1brvdg9fpOfiAgC54wiSd8KRnlxC5P3QLq9s9jCP_-6yqkGPbo/s1600/309815_f260.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZqOZe-UmFuDk8vFU58kAg6qoMoSwkjqzWixwZVJrK5L6CxO5IEWShDH3rGcREl1Tts3DqOl4TkxHkVMkxia9hw1xxi1brvdg9fpOfiAgC54wiSd8KRnlxC5P3QLq9s9jCP_-6yqkGPbo/s320/309815_f260.jpg" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; color: black; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></a><a href="http://www.amazon.com/City-Joy-Dominique-Lapierre/dp/8176210528/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1270524609&sr=1-1"><b>City of Joy</b> by Dominique Lapierre</a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
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<div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">This is an international bestseller that has been made into the movie starring Patrick Swayze. The story centers on the slums of Calcutta, ironically known as Anand Nagar or 'City of Joy'. It's a tale of resilient human spirit, compassion and love in the worst conditions. A tale that is bound to tug at heartstrings and make you ponder.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
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</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitDVTpFh1L0ygkdSOWjvA3sp0TYNAaJeH74NQ_W5N6USBlOkfcaTbir1McBOub6fiPaTMXx3ao2UP5qWOSXxZzpeq8G83KlEOxUOYybpTaRvWFr1WuMOv5gKvjdnU_XebeCPS2p88lCYM/s1600/n308256.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitDVTpFh1L0ygkdSOWjvA3sp0TYNAaJeH74NQ_W5N6USBlOkfcaTbir1McBOub6fiPaTMXx3ao2UP5qWOSXxZzpeq8G83KlEOxUOYybpTaRvWFr1WuMOv5gKvjdnU_XebeCPS2p88lCYM/s320/n308256.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> <b><a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_1804159083">Alex Cross's Trial </a></b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Alex-Crosss-TRIAL-James-Patterson/dp/0446561800/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1270525353&sr=1-1">by James Patterson & Richard Dillalo </a></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><i>Separated by Time </i></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><i><br />
</i></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><i>From his grandmother, Alex Cross has heard the story of his great-uncle Abraham and his struggles for survival in the era of the Klu Klux Klan. Now, Alex passes the family tale along to his own children in a novel he's written - a novel called Trial. </i></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><i><br />
</i></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><i>Connected by Blood</i></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><i><br />
</i></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><i>As a lawyer in early-twentieth-century Washington DC Ben Corbett represents the toughest cases. Fighting against oppression and racism, he risks his family and his life in the process. When President Theodore Roosevelt asks Ben to return to his hometown to investigate rumours of the resurgence of the Klu Klux Klan there, he cannot refuse</i></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><i><br />
</i></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><i>United by Bravery </i></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><i><br />
</i></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><i>Arriving in Eudora, Mississippi, Ben meets the wise Abraham Cross and his beautiful daughter, Moody. Ben enlists their help, and the two Crosses introduce him to the hidden side of the idyllic Southern town. Lynchings have become commonplace and residents of the town's black quarter live in constant fear. Ben aims to break the reign of terror - but the truth of who is really behind it could break his heart. </i></span></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8786576426331512424.post-29865620258422331302010-03-29T01:41:00.000-07:002010-03-29T01:41:46.413-07:00Musing Mondays<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv102SYzIY1Kmv1sf3Dx_sMeeXpvz74-mZjLgjo4yzx55aaZ7sK603V-3fXCqYk_1z9zdM3PRm1EonXVTg9mdqeKkwshzBM15FG7IA5VMtJdV3soM_d6RcdJrYsmr8DIYAj38hdVxI6wg/s1600/Musing+Mondays2%5B7%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv102SYzIY1Kmv1sf3Dx_sMeeXpvz74-mZjLgjo4yzx55aaZ7sK603V-3fXCqYk_1z9zdM3PRm1EonXVTg9mdqeKkwshzBM15FG7IA5VMtJdV3soM_d6RcdJrYsmr8DIYAj38hdVxI6wg/s320/Musing+Mondays2%5B7%5D.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cccccc; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px;"></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Today’s MUSING MONDAYS post is about multitasking.</span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Do you – or are you even able – to do other things while you read? Do you knit, hold a conversation, keep an eye on the TV? Anything?</span></b></div><br />
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<div style="text-align: justify;">This depends on the type of book that I'm reading, although most of the time, I'm pretty bad when it comes to reading and multitasking. I do read and eat though, often carrying a book around with me even when I eat outside (alone that is), so I can catch up on my reading whilst waiting for the food. Other than that, I can't hold a conversation and read, reading takes me out of this world and into another so I find myself nodding without registering anything (DANGEROUS because <i>the mother</i> often gets me to agree to things I never normally would...) </div><br />
What about you?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8786576426331512424.post-58576497540524050802010-03-26T01:09:00.000-07:002010-03-26T01:09:57.506-07:00A Teaser<div style="text-align: justify;">There is this Teaser Tuesday meme that's been going about on a lot of book blogs, and I was thinking of starting them, but then I'm currently reading this book that I think is beautifully descriptive and captures the human emotion so very well that I thought I'd go against traditions and post up a bit from <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Three-Junes-Julia-Glass/dp/0385721420">this book</a> although today's not yet Tuesday... </div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP0tIMbRpUyCUae77F83JQDJRvMtxEbj8irJKy94HlS_pLiFxDu76hR4Lwqk7WnF-9Rr_XHhI2XnIPUva7l602JRkDGY0bW2txXyLu-0qappi3tXrpyykvLJhNTlMIavl0H_iNYdJM26Y/s1600/7035179%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP0tIMbRpUyCUae77F83JQDJRvMtxEbj8irJKy94HlS_pLiFxDu76hR4Lwqk7WnF-9Rr_XHhI2XnIPUva7l602JRkDGY0bW2txXyLu-0qappi3tXrpyykvLJhNTlMIavl0H_iNYdJM26Y/s320/7035179%5B1%5D.jpg" width="205" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><blockquote><i>I was in the shop well before opening time, browsing shelf by shelf through New Fiction, to see which not-so-new fiction I must relegate to the less prominent Novels & Stories shelves. Because of that dreary human predilection for the shiny and new, I always feel when I make this shift as if I'm sending so many bright, hopeful creatures out to pasture before their youth is spent. (Though I would never condemn them, as other shops do, to a section entitled Literature, a word which to my admittedly overschooled mind is ossified and clubby. I picture a mausoleum, filled with sagging armchairs and lamps that cast inadequate, jaundiced light ) </i> </blockquote><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">Don't you just love the way the author gives life not only to her characters, but also character to books. How many of you have the same attachment for books ? I know I do :)</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8786576426331512424.post-15246462409344637362010-03-22T08:23:00.000-07:002010-03-22T08:24:11.373-07:00The Tiger Claw<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">Things have been pretty busy lately and I've not had the time to update this book blog of mine .. I have been reading quite a big though so here's a review of Shauna Baldwin's The Tiger Claw</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdwemCuTlqz_D5zw5LsPA9OMUNgtR1YU_tToqWmYriaY_5ov21iwWXm_31qARpLWFRRqB8vqG0CqY_EIPUbQXhL5n4E5KM3rReqUeU6ip6ZIbIg4kFwEeTlbUEAg_iRf5G4Yw7bFRNwrw/s1600-h/1246_arts-books1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdwemCuTlqz_D5zw5LsPA9OMUNgtR1YU_tToqWmYriaY_5ov21iwWXm_31qARpLWFRRqB8vqG0CqY_EIPUbQXhL5n4E5KM3rReqUeU6ip6ZIbIg4kFwEeTlbUEAg_iRf5G4Yw7bFRNwrw/s320/1246_arts-books1.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"></span></div><ul style="list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0em; margin-right: 0em; margin-top: 0.5em;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Hardcover:</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> 592 pages</span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0em; margin-right: 0em; margin-top: 0.5em;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Publisher:</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> Knopf Canada; First Edition edition (January 1, 2004)</span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0em; margin-right: 0em; margin-top: 0.5em;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Language:</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> English</span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0em; margin-right: 0em; margin-top: 0.5em;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">ISBN-13:</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> 978-0676976205</span></li>
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</span></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">The tiger claw is based on the life of Indian Muslim spy Noor Inayat Khan, who is of mixed parentage. Being brought up in France by her American mother after the demise of her Indian father, Noor, or Madeleine as her code name goes, has a unique upbringing spanning Muslim laws peppered with western liberal thoughts. </span></div></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Acting as a spy for the British government, Noor falls in love with Jewish pianist Armand and this is a story of bravery, courage, espionage and beneath all that, love. The forbidden love between both Armand and Noor is heart breaking and parts of the story is narrated through Noor's letters during her imprisonment, which adds a sense of realism to the story as these are true letters written by Noor herself.</span></div></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;">I was enraptured by Shauna Singh Baldwins' captivating prose and narrative skills as she brought back to life the legend of the woman known as Madeleine to her colleagues. The undertones of courage and bravery to fight for a love that could be punishable by death never leave the plot and this is what makes the story so much more different than any other espionage tale out there. </div></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;">Suffice to say I could not put down the book and would totally recommend it to anyone with a taste for thrillers, fiction based on true stories and through it all, the power of love. </div></div><div><br />
</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8786576426331512424.post-53869142882396517492010-03-09T23:47:00.000-08:002010-03-09T23:51:53.771-08:00Mid Week Lusting<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcfkHsglXJgOFIBSZzXMmwHPBAY2lucks-gEDny1hwxUh_FxvuOJTkpCy5VJ-dTjBvcBAyVF9LplmilJQ1f_GdOe6DoP8fO3Jex5QBDeT-ERN0L_BIzP8TR0HL6P6zQo1GSWibiUGLQm0/s1600-h/ImageHandler.ashx.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 196px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcfkHsglXJgOFIBSZzXMmwHPBAY2lucks-gEDny1hwxUh_FxvuOJTkpCy5VJ-dTjBvcBAyVF9LplmilJQ1f_GdOe6DoP8fO3Jex5QBDeT-ERN0L_BIzP8TR0HL6P6zQo1GSWibiUGLQm0/s320/ImageHandler.ashx.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5446909077289885474" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Quickie : I saw this at the bookstore this morning. Been wanting to read this for ages now ! Should I get it? *refuses to cast guilty glances at TBR pile</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8786576426331512424.post-21887654460606800952010-03-08T21:54:00.000-08:002010-03-08T22:06:23.417-08:00Island of Lost Girls<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-njffPlZbhC5LG-gkyLkhmDsgXr3L2TAcrgx45J8jyRPJuvEBBrswcVsWGFGU1hq34p-UhHUVW1wn_DYNR5MubT6GbZSwL-U1y9Tz1Wal-msunfp2snfL3hny9cp02Sr-MU2ct-dxiDU/s1600-h/9780061445880.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 212px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-njffPlZbhC5LG-gkyLkhmDsgXr3L2TAcrgx45J8jyRPJuvEBBrswcVsWGFGU1hq34p-UhHUVW1wn_DYNR5MubT6GbZSwL-U1y9Tz1Wal-msunfp2snfL3hny9cp02Sr-MU2ct-dxiDU/s320/9780061445880.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5446509189367915042" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:small;"><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span></b></div><ul style="list-style-type: none; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; "><li style="margin-top: 0.5em; margin-right: 0em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0em; "><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Paperback:</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> 272 pages</span></span></li><li style="margin-top: 0.5em; margin-right: 0em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0em; "><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Publisher:</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> Harper Paperbacks; 1 edition (April 22, 2008)</span></span></li><li style="margin-top: 0.5em; margin-right: 0em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0em; "><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Language:</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> English</span></span></li><li style="margin-top: 0.5em; margin-right: 0em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0em; "><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">ISBN-13:</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> 978-0061445880</span></span></li></ul><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">This is a story full of twists and turns and unexpected revelations that kept me guessing right up to the end. The plot starts when Rhonda witnesses a little girl getting kidnapped by a man in a bunny suit at a gas station. The fact that it happens right before her eyes and that she kept quiet about it made her a prime suspect and part of the story deals with her trying hard to prove her innocence. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">There are parallel plots in this story, one concerning Rhonda's past and the other, steeped in the present. The kidnapping of 6 year old Ernie brings back buried memories of the disappearance of Rhonda's best friend Lizzy when the girls were about the same age as little Ernie. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">As the plot thickens and the story takes on form, we see how the lives of these characters in a small town intertwine and how fate messes with the path they each take. The language is simple and straightforward, but boy was the ending a big surprise ! A definite recommendation for lovers of light thrillers with a twist of human drama. </span></span></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8786576426331512424.post-12967768215105113092010-02-28T21:17:00.000-08:002010-03-08T22:06:55.297-08:00The Bookseller of Kabul<div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">This is my first 'official' book review on this site. The site still has miles to go before becoming the full-fledged book blog that I hope it will be. So, I present to you..</span></span></div><div><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoP4bpw3MqxwDCa4xR9WFnbbLa_fBG5qDezd74DlqLnRuK6a1TAdbDsMYA1Q_GoA7ViQBsgukzKKHSs0bx2hQ5lPtG2jJpg33goODdag4g3rjzRr-vMrsTtPh6L3l73PnrNslZspGzTSM/s1600-h/bookseller.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 203px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoP4bpw3MqxwDCa4xR9WFnbbLa_fBG5qDezd74DlqLnRuK6a1TAdbDsMYA1Q_GoA7ViQBsgukzKKHSs0bx2hQ5lPtG2jJpg33goODdag4g3rjzRr-vMrsTtPh6L3l73PnrNslZspGzTSM/s320/bookseller.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443530733865806562" /></a><br /><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Bookseller of Kabul</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> by Asne Seierstad</span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">ISBN-13:</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> 978-0316734509</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Publisher:</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> Little, Brown and Company</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Language:</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> English</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">An award winning journalistic fiction centered around a family in Kabul, Afghanistan, this book was in turns heart-wrenching and frustrating to read. The Khan family is lead by Sultan Khan, a successful bookseller in the sandy deserts of Afghanistan. It is rare for an Afghan to be literate, what more to continually strive and fight to protect literature. Sultan Khan has been arrested, beaten and imprisoned all on accounts of selling books forbidden under the strict rule of the Taliban, but yet he strives on to save the books that mean so much to him. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The story also brings us into the home of Sultan, where readers meet his two wives, three sons and two daughters. It is common in Afghanistan that unmarried sisters live with their brothers and it is here where we read about Leila, Sultan's youngest sister, the subject of much compassion. The books not only focuses on the struggles fighting the battle of illiteracy but also gives a touching account of the struggles of women in Afghanistan. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Sensuous culture and strong willed determination is exposed as the story takes twists and turns. A rich narrative based on a true family, The Bookseller of Kabul left me speechless right till the very end. It was with a stray tear in my eye that I read the last word in the book. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:small;"><br /></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8786576426331512424.post-59822946100038676592009-11-07T18:13:00.001-08:002009-11-07T18:14:27.097-08:00Hello world<div><br /></div><div>This site is still currently under construction. But do check back soon if you have a propensity for books and all things written</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0