Haiku Friday July 31-09

Hosted by Christina at A Mommy Story.

I write haiku in the Japanese tradition, not counting syllables or always restricting them to a three line form.

Haiku are about images and the five senses, they do not use the poetic devices of Western literature. Read them very slowly, one line at a time, and do not think with your mind, but visualize and engage all your other physical senses. Enjoy.

Three of my own haiku that were chosen for The Herb Barrett Award anthology Through the Spirea (1998) edited by Michael Dylan Welch:


the last basket
of root cellar apples
rain in the orchard


late chores
a pair of moths
follow the lantern


leaves in the wind
the carousel horses
riderless


I have two copies of a The Tree It Was (2002), a 16 page chapbook of haiku that I'd like to give to followers of my blog who appreciate this kind of poetry. I'd be happy to sign them if asked.
Leave a comment indicating that you'd like to be entered and verify that you are a follower. Entry is open worldwide until midnight Thursday August 13. I will announce the winners in this column the next day.

*All of the poetry on this page is copyrighted by Sandra Fuhringer and may not be used without permission from the author.

Is the only reason we blog to receive free books?

We've been challenged to show what the source of our books was for our last 20 reviews.

I have listed the number of reviews that appear on my blog each month this year and the source of the reviewed books.

Jan - 8 reviews/2 arcs from the authors/3 library books/and 3 guest reviews- their own arcs
Feb - 0
April - 3 reviews/3 library books
May - 0
June - 3 reviews/2 librarybooks/and 1 guest review
July - 6 reviews/4arcs, 3 through LibraryThing, 1 from a request from a publicist/2 library books

So for the last 20 reviews; 6 arcs/10 library books/4 guest reviewers with their own arcs.
We'll call it half and half, although 4 of those arcs got at least two blog reviews each.

The figures will reflect that at the end of the year I stopped requesting arcs because of illness. This includes turning down unsolicited requests, even from authors and publicists I had worked with before. I receive one or two requests to review every week.

In the first week of July I received notice from LibraryThing that I was delinquent on several reviews for arcs going back a year, and telling me beside each title to "Check out the list of books you've won and get reviewing". So I've banged out several for the first time in months. Three for them and one for a lovely publicist who patiently waited since January. I am grateful for being well enough to write reviews at the moment. But I have a serious quarrel with the word "won" that LT uses toward the arcs they give out. Even the notes from the publishers that arrive through the LT program tell me I "won" the copy they've sent me. Mind you, sometimes I get a real copy, even a hardcover now and again, and I always acknowledge that in my reviews.
When did an arc become a "win" for the reviewer? Spending several hours reading an untried book of possibly dubious quality, and two more hours trying to be complimentary about the experience isn't a win for me-it's work. And it cost me a day or two of my life to do it.

Marie, the Boston Bibliophile posed the question: “But no more freebies- no more purely promotional work. What would that mean for our blogs? For our reading? Is the only reason we blog to receive free books?”

Let the facts show that I turn down more requests to review than I accept. That I blog to get and to give good reading recommendations. My personal library contains 2000 books, with 400 novels as yet unread, so I give away my arcs after reviewing them. And if people stop offering me books to review I would spend more time reading tried and true literature and discussing it with other readers on my blog.

What do you think about this suggestion of lack of integrity (King Rat made that comment to Marie) on the part of those of us who accept arcs and blog about them?

Other bloggers on this subject:

The Boston Bibliophile
Kittling Books
Hey Lady! Whacha Reading'?

Color Me Brown Book Challenge

Hosted by L. at Color Online.

Read and review three Persons of Colour books during August.

Books I have on hand to choose from. Those completed will be linked to reviews:

And Let the Earth Tremble at its Centers by Gonzalo Celorio (Mexico) Translucent Tree by Nobuko Takagi (Japan)
Into the Beautiful North: A Novel by Luis Alberto Urrea (Mexico)
The Translator: A Tribesman's Memoir of Darfur by Daoud Hari (Sudan)
The Stillborn by Zaynab Alkali (Nigeria)
Breath, Eyes Memory by Edwidge Danticat (Haiti)
Monique and the Mango Rains by Kim Holloway (Mali)
So Long a Letter by Mariama Ba (Senegal)
1959: A Novel by Thulani Davis (US)
Jazz by Toni Morrison (US)
Love: A Novel by Toni Morrison (US)
The Man in My Basement by Walter Mosley (US)

Won't you join us? A lot of interesting books will be reviewed and there are book prizes to be won.

Japanese Literature Challenge 3

Hosted by Bellezza at Dolce Bellezza.

July 30, 2009 - January 30, 2010.

Read at least one work of Japanese origin.

Books on hand, with those completed highlighted or linked to reviews:

Translucent Tree by Nobuko Takagi
The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa
The Woman in the Dunes by Kobo Abe
The 210th Day by Natsume Soseki
Shipwrecks***** by Akira Yoshimura
Why She Left Us by by Rahna Reiko Rizzuto
In Praise of Shadows by Junichiro Tanizaki
The Samurai's Garden by Gail Tsukiyama
The Sound of the Mountain by Yasunari Kawabata
The Master of Go by Yasunari Kawabata
The Decay of the Angel by Yukio Mishima
Spring Snow by Yukio Mishima
Runaway Horses by Yukio Mishima
The Temple of Dawn by Yukio Mishima
The Samurai by Shusaku Endo
The Twilight Years by Sawako Ariyoshi
Japan, the Beautiful and Myself by Yasunari Kawabata
Strangers From a Different Shore by Ronald Takaki
The Strangeness of Beauty by Lydia Yuri Minatoya

Recommendations of good literary fiction in this or any other category are always welcomed.

Molly Fox's Birthday by Deirdre Madden - Review

Hardcover: 232 pages

Faber and Faber (Aug 26, 2008)

Orange Prize shortlist 2009

From the back of the book:

"Exploring family, friendship, and love, Molly Fox's Birthday is above all a novel about identity, calling into question the ideas that we hold about who we are; and showing how the past informs the present in ways we might never have imagined."

An unnamed playwright narrates the story over the period of one long day, summer solstice as it happens, June 21. It also happens to be her friend Molly's birthday. The writer is using Molly's home in Dublin while Molly, a well known actress "with a velvet voice", takes a holiday in the playwright's home in New York. It's a story about knowing and not knowing the people we trust and call friends, lifelong friends. It's well done and shows how one small remark can throw sudden light on everything we know about someone and make things fall into place about their personalities, or quirks and preferences. We all come to realize in our lives that family members are often unknowable while we're young and even difficult to know well when we age and begin to lose them. Then we often have as family those we've chosen to be around us as friends. But Deirde Madden is here to shows us that the relationship we have with even close friends can be based on a few small bits of information only.

Molly hates her mother but is it really warranted? And she has a strong aversion to any reference to her own birthday, and it's not about her age, it's about something so deep she won't talk about it. We often accept our friends fears and eccentricities, often accomodating them without knowing what the cause is. After some years Molly does tell her friend the playwright why she feels that way but she allows no discussion of the subject, not even from her own brother, who feels quite differently. All the information we have about a friend is what they've told us. While they don't usually deceive us deliberately, they leave a lot out because well, it hurts. Things come out in bits over time. The question is obliquely raised too What do I really mean to this person? If I'm their best, longest, oldest etc. friend, why are there parts of themselves they haven't shared with me. For as our narrator says, they are always things we hold back.

Our playwright had planned to write all day and just when ideas start to form, she's had to deal with another person who's stopped by to ask about Molly. She meets people who she is surprised to find are part of Molly's life but not part of her own and she learns a few things about her friend. She has this lovely day of long summer light to sit and think too. An easy read and a quiet story but good and very thought-provoking. Four stars out of five.

From the London Observer about Madden's writing in general:

"Madden's achievement is to make partial revelations about obscure lives as gripping as a thriller. Her style is passionate, emotional, but never obvious and does not admit a single cliché or badly written sentence."

Deirdre Madden's novels include The Birds of Innocent Wood, for which she was awarded the Somerset Maugham Prize; Remembering Light and Stone, Nothing is Black, One By One in the Darkness, which was shortlisted for the Orange Prize, and Authenticity. She lives in Paris.
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Orange Prize 2009

Molly Fox's Birthday is the third of the six novels shortlisted for the 2009 Orange Prize that I have read. I regularly find very enjoyable books among the nominees, including those on the longlists. And while I don't always favour the actual winner, this year I was pleased with their choice of Home by Marilynne Robinson.

The shortlist:

Home***** by Marilynne Robinson (winner)
The Invention of Everything Else**** by Samantha Hunt
Molly Fox’s Birthday**** by Deirdre Madden
The Wilderness by Samantha Harvey (currently reading)
Burnt Shadows by Kamila Shamsie (tbr)
Scottsboro by Ellen Feldman

The longlist:

A Mercy****+ by Toni Morrison
The Lost Dog**** by Michelle de Kretser
The Household Guide for Dying by Debra Adelaide (tbr)
Girl in a Blue Dress by Gaynor Arnold
Their Finest Hour and a Half by Lissa Evans
Blonde Roots by Bernardine Evaristo
Strange Music by Laura Fish
Love Marriage by V.V. Ganeshananthan
Intuition by Allegra Goodman
The Russian Dreambook of Colour and Flight by Gina Ochsner
Evening is the Whole Day by Preeta Samarasan (may read)
American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld
The Flying Troutmans by Miriam Toews (may read)
The Personal History of Rachel DuPree by Ann Weisgarber

Orange Prize Reading Project

Which have you read and can you recommend them? Any plans to read titles from either list? Would you rather have seen another book take the prize? Have you read any other books by Deirdre Madden?

Feel free to leave links to any you've reviewed, I'd love to read them.

Waiting on Wednesday/Wondrous Words July 29

Hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.


This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is:

The White Garden : A Novel of Virginia Woolf by Stephanie Barron

Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Bantam (September 29, 2009)
ISBN-10: 0553385771
ISBN-13: 978-0553385779

Product Description:

In March 1941, Virginia Woolf filled her pockets with stones and drowned herself in England’s River Ouse. Her body was found three weeks later. What seemed like a tragic ending at the time was, in fact, just the beginning of a mystery. . . Six decades after Virginia Woolf’s death, landscape designer Jo Bellamy has come to Sissinghurst Castle for two reasons: to study the celebrated White Garden created by Woolf’s friend Vita Sackville-West and to recover from the terrible wound of her grandfather’s unexplained suicide. In the shadow of one of England’s most famous castles, Jo makes a shocking find: Woolf’s last diary, its first entry dated the day after she allegedly killed herself. If authenticated, Jo’s discovery could shatter everything historians believe about Woolf’s final hours. But when the Woolf diary is suddenly stolen, Jo’s quest to uncover the truth will lead her on a perilous journey into the tumultuous inner life of a literary icon whose connection to the White Garden ultimately proved devastating. Rich with historical detail,The White Garden is an enthralling novel of literary suspense that explores the many ways the past haunts the present–and the dark secrets that lurk beneath the surface of the most carefully tended garden.

An interesting fact: Sissinghurst Castle is now owned by The National Trust, given to them by Vita Sackville-West's son Nigel. Its gardens are famous and remain the most visited in England.

I have only read Orlando, Jacob's Room, A Room of One's Own, The Death of the Moth and other Essays, Passionate Apprentice:The Early Journals, 1887-1909, and Congenial Spirits: The Selected Letters of Virgina Woolf. So mostly non fiction, and not her best known works, because the woman herself and her intelligence fascinate me. While I'm waiting I may get to Mrs. Dalloway and To The Lighthouse, which I've now acquired copies of.

The White Garden, albeit fiction, sounds intriguing to me and I can hardly wait. If you work for Bantam or have a contact there that you'd be willing to share, I would happily accept an advanced reading copy of this book.

Which new release are you waiting for?
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Wondrous Words Wednesday

Hosted by Kathy at Bermudaonion's Weblog.

"Wondrous Words Wednesday is a weekly meme where we share new (to us) words that we’ve encountered in our reading. Feel free to join in the fun."

These words are from Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome UK (1889)

1.bean feast - The book actually provides a definition in the notes at the back as "annual dinner given by employees for their workers".

But I wanted to know the etymology of the term and that turned out to be interesting.
According to the Free Dictionary a bean feast is "primarily an annual dinner given by an employer to his workpeople, and by extension, colloquially, describes any jollification. The phrase is variously derived. The most probable theory is that which connects it with the custom in France, and afterwards in Germany and England, of a feast on Twelfth Night, at which a cake with a bean buried in it was a great feature. The bean-king was he who had the good fortune to have the slice of cake in which was the bean. This choosing of a king or queen by a bean was formerly a common Christmas diversion at the English and Scottish courts, and in both English universities. This monarch was master of the revels.

2.scold's bridle - "There is an iron scold's bridle in Walton Church. They used these things in ancient days for curbing women's tongues. They have given up the attempt now. I suppose iron was getting scarce, and nothing else would be strong enough."

The chapter notes for the book explain: "a scold was a nagging wife, the bridle was a metal contraption which fitted over the head and prevented her from opening her mouth". There are so many things that I could say right now but this may not be the place for it so I'll resist.

3.riparian - "the riparian boors one meets"

He referred to those who shouted at them or otherwise behaved badly toward them while out boating on the Thames. The word "riparian" is derived from Latin, meaning river bank. It refers simply to what is found around the margins of a river, riparian vegetation, etc.

4.cynosure -"We were the cynosure of every eye."

Literary noun: a centre of interest or attention; from the Greek Kunosoura, dog's tail (name of the constellation of Ursa Minor).

What new words have you discovered lately?

What's On Your Nightstand? July 09

Hosted by Jennifer at 5 Minutes For Books.

Books read since June's Nightstand, with links to those reviewed.

68.Belong to Me***+ by Marisa de los Santos
69.The Fifth Child**** by Doris Lessing
70.Becoming Abigail***** by Chris Abani
71.Ben, In the World**** by Doris Lessing
72.Home Repair*** by Liz Rosenberg
73.The Little Stranger***** by Sarah Waters
74.The Jewel Trader of Pegu***** by Jeffrey Hantover - winner announced today
75.Little Bee****+ by Chris Cleave
76.The Weight of Heaven****+ by Thrity Umrigar
77.Molly Fox's Birthday***+ by Deirdre Madden - Review to be posted on Thursday, July 30
78.The Angel's Game****+ by Carlos Ruiz Zafon - Forewords about the book/Afterwords (review) to follow

The good news is that I was well enough to write several reviews this month, including

A Mercy****+ by Toni Morrison
No Such Creature***+ by Giles Blunt, my current giveaway.

Still on my Nightstand:

Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome (UK) 1889
And Let the Earth Tremble at its Centers by Gonzalo Celorio (Mexico 1999) 2009 in English translation
Nada by Carmen Laforet (Spain 1945) 2007 in English translation
The Wilderness by Smantha Harvey (UK) 2009
Into The Beautiful North by Luis Alberto Urrea (Mexico) 2009
A Lucky Child by Thomas Buergenthal (US) 2008
The Entropy of Aaron Rosclatt by James Sandham (Canada) 2008
Graceland by Chris Abani (Nigeria) 2004
Addition by Toni Jordan (Australia) 2008
Map of the Invisible World by Tash Aw (Indonesia) 2009
Every Man dies Alone by Hans Fallada (Germany) 1947
The Children's Book by A.S.Byatt (UK) April 21, 2009
The Music Room by William Fiennes (UK) August 18, 2009
A Short History of Women: a novel by Kate Walbert (US) June 16, 2009
Brodeck by Philippe Claudel (France) 2009 in English translation

What's on your nightstand?

What are you reading on Mondays? July 27

Hosted by J. Kaye at J. Kaye's Book Blog.

Books completed last week:

75.Little Bee****+ by Chris Cleave (UK) (272 pages) Reviewed
76.The Weight of Heaven****+ by Thrity Umrigar (India)(367 pages)
77.Molly Fox's Birthday**** by Deirdre Madden (Ireland)(232 pages)
78.The Angel's Game****+ by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (Spain)(531pages)

Review of Molly Fox's Birthday to be posted on Thursday, July 30.

Forewords about The Angel's Game/Afterwords to follow soon.

Currently Reading:

Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome
Maggie: A Girl of the Streets by Stephen Crane
Ulysses...the Irish one

Next up:

And Let the Earth Tremble at its Centers by Gonzalo Celorio (Mexico)
Nada by Carmen Laforet (Spain)
Into The Beautiful North by Luis Alberto Urrea (Mexico)
A Lucky Child by Thomas Buergenthal (US)
The Entropy of Aaron Rosclatt by James Sandham (Canada)

What are you reading this week? I welcome questions, comments, opinions, reading recommendations, links to books I've read, reviewed or mentioned. I'd love to read them.
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Mailbox Monday

Hosted by Marcia at The Printed Page.

Wins:

Janeology by Karen Harrington

I tried to win one of these in several giveaways over the past few months and never did. Then I looked around Ms. Harrington's site and found another chance to win one by answering a question or two. I was a little cheeky with my answer, but technically still correct and she gave me one! I know she might have given me an ARC if I'd asked nicely but then I'd feel pressured to get a review done and my health suffers even more when I'm under pressure. I'm really looking forward to this story. I can't imagine taking on this subject in fiction. But I see that it averages a little more than 4 stars out of five at LibraryThing. There are a lot of well known books of literature that don't score that rating on LT. So I have high hopes. It's about a mother who kills her children, that's all I know.

Thank you Ms. Harrington.

Pigs in Heaven by Barbara Kingsolver

I was supposed to get The Bean Trees but this arrived. No worries, I'll read it too. I do have a copy of The Poisonwood Bible, which I got in a lot of Oprah Club books I bid for at E-bay, $40 for 23 books (including shipping)! I have yet to read Kingsolver but everyone says she's good so I'll get to it one of these days.

From Color Online. Thank you L.


Flight From the Enchanter by Iris Murdoch

Bookmooched: all the way from Texas, thank you Donna.

I now own 17 of Murdoch's novels and have read 4. I've been slowly collecting them through swapping, many are quite old but I don't mind a bit. I began reading her and liked each one. Then I discovered that Nancy Pearl of Book Lust lists all (or close to all) of Murdoch's novels as must reads. Anyone else enjoy her books? Would a post about those I've read interest anyone?

If you've reviewed any, please leave me a link. Feel free to leave links to reviews of any book I've read, reviewed or mentioned. I'd love to read them. Questions, comments, opinions, including dissenting ones, and good reading recommendations are always welcomed.

Little Bee by Chris Cleave - Review

The Other Hand in UK

Fiction 266 pages, Hardcover

Doubleday (2009)


Set alternately in Nigeria and a refugee center in England, Little Bee is not an easy story to read but it is one that needed to be written. A young girl and her sister are a target of the violence that comes with the ruthless corruption in Nigeria. Sarah and Andrew, an English couple on holiday happen upon the girls and attempt to save them from their attackers in an incident that is truly shocking. The remainder of the story takes place two years later in an immigration detention center in England when one of those girls, Little Bee, manages to escape and make her way to the couple's address hoping for help to remain in the country. She claims if she's sent back she will be killed, but who believes that about a 14 year old girl?

The issues of immigration, racism, and deportation are complex. As is the question of how far we are willing to go to help someone who is not one of our own, so to speak. And unresolved feelings around the original incident in Nigeria again threaten to tear Sarah and Andrew apart. One of them wants to help her and the other is terrified for reasons of their own and wants nothing to do with her. I devoured the story in one day, I had to know how it turned out.

It's an eye opener regarding immigration centers, the living conditions therein and the length of time people can languish in them, hoping for asylum. It's a terrible but entirely believable story. It is well written, narrated in alternating voices between Little Bee and the wife Sarah. It is also original and unforgettable. For those who asked Little Bee has more than one brutal moment in it. However, nothing in the book is invented or exaggerated beyond what is actually happening to people. My personal take is always that we need to know what's going on in the world and fiction can be an easier introduction to that than other means. Four and a half stars out of five. I recommend it highly.

Thank you to Doubleday for sending me a lovely hardcover true copy of the book and to the LibraryThing Early Reviewers Program.

Also reviewed by Claire at the view from chesil beach
and Bookworm with a View.



Comments, questions, dissenting opinions, requests for reviews, reading recommendations, or links to reviews are always welcomed. I'd love to read them. No Spoilers please.

Read 'Em Yet? Wednesday July 22

Hosted by Veronika at True Harbour.

"Read 'Em Yet? Wednesday features an author that keeps showing up on your booklists, but may or may not have been tackled yet. Now's your chance!

Your mission: Read about this week's author, then investigate their bibiliography. If you have read one of their works in the past, post about it on your blog (book review, thumbs-up or thumbs-down recommendation, or a short synopsis; it's up to you!).

If you haven't read one of their works, take a look at their bibliography, select one or two titles that interest you, and post about your finds on your blog, along with an idea of when you might read them.

If you're not convinced that they're worth your time, that's fine; still post about it. Why don't they interest you? What do you dislike about their genre or writing style? Make sure to link back here with your answers so others can read them!"

Veronika makes it all very easy with links to authors works and biographies.

Authors she's featured thus far:

Stepen Crane
Gail Carson Levine
Lord Alfred Tennyson
Rosemary Suttcliff

Stephen Crane is this week's author. I guessed from his photo who it was last week and won a personal desktop background. She features a different writer each week and a photo of next week's author to name for a prize.

It's a lot of fun and I am learning things. Please step over to True Harbour and check it out.

I will be reading Maggie: A Girl of the Streets by Stephen Crane and posting my thoughts within the week.

Library Loot July 22

Hosted by Eva at A Stripped Armchair and Marg at Reading Adventures.

Only one book came in this week:


Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog) by Jerome K. Jerome 1889 (UK)

I've been hearing about this book for years and people are still reading it so I've decided that it's time. Besides, I could use some humour in my life right now. This edition also contain the story Three Men on a Bummel (1900), a sequel that finds the same three companions on a bicycle tour of the Black Forest region of Germany. If you come back and read my review you'll find out what "bummel" means.


Library books completed since last LL:


Ben , In the World**** by Doris Lessing

Reviewed and recommended.

Sequel to The Fifth Child (also reviewed)






The Little Stranger***** by Sarah Waters

Loved it. Highly recommended.








The Weight of Heaven****+ by Thrity Umrigar

Great Story. Highly recommended.






Molly Fox's Birthday**** by Deirdre Madden

Shortlisted for the Orange Prize. Recommended

Review to be posted July 30.




On the reserve list for:

The Children's Book by A.S.Byatt (April 21, 2009)

The Music Room by William Fiennes (August 18, 2009)

A Short History of Women: a novel by Kate Walbert (June 16, 2009)

Brodeck by Philippe Claudel (June 23, 2009) Brodeck's Report in UK and US, translated from the French.

In each instance I read one book by these authors and can't wait to read their latest. Those books were Possession*****, The Snow Geese****, The Gardens of Kyoto**** and By a Slow River**** respectively.

What did you find at the library this week that's got you excited?

Comments, questions, requests for reviews, reading recommendations, or links to reviews are always welcomed. I'd love to read them. No Spoilers please.

Current giveaways: The Jewel Trader of Pegu***** by Jeffrey Hantover
No Such Creature***+ by Giles Blunt

Current Reading Challenges

What an Animal II Reading Challenge

Support Your Local Library Reading Challenge

Compass Points Reading Challenge


Cultural Diversity Reading Challenges

German Reading Challenge 2009



LibraryThing Author Challenge



To Be Read Challenge



21 Cultures Reading Challenge



Read the Bible Challenge



Reading Through the Seasons

Whitcoulls Reading Challenge

Classics Challenge 2009

Dewey's Books Reading Challenge

Numbers Reading Challenge

Essay Reading Challenge

New Authors Challenge

The Four Month Challenge

Summer Reading Challenge 2009

Forewords - The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

Hardcover: 544 pages
Publisher: Doubleday (June 16, 2009)
ISBN-10: 0385528701
ISBN-13: 978-0385528702

Publishers Weekly:

In 1920s Barcelona, David Martin is born into poverty, but, aided by patron and friend Pedro Vidal, he rises to become a crime reporter and then a beloved pulp novelist. David's creative pace is frenetic; holed up in his dream house—a decrepit mansion with a sinister history—he produces two great novels, one for Vidal to claim as his own, and one for himself. But Vidal's book is celebrated while David's is buried, and when Vidal marries David's great love, David accepts a commission to write a story that leads him into danger. As he explores the past and his mysterious publisher, David becomes a suspect in a string of murders, and his race to uncover the truth is a delicious puzzle: is he beset by demons or a demon himself? Zafón's novel is detailed and vivid, and David's narration is charming and funny, but suspect. Villain or victim, he is the hero of and the guide to this dark labyrinth that, by masterful design, remains thrilling and bewildering.

Forewords:

The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon has just arrived. I have not read this author. I understand that the events in this story are a "gothic semiprequel" to the popular The Shadow of the Wind. So it appears that there is no loss by reading this one first. Reviews for both books have been mixed, although I have not read them in detail as I prefer everything in my stories to be a surprise. This is not the sort of book I would usually buy or even borrow from the library. It's not a straightforward mystery which would be a light read for me. It suggests adventure and intrigue, not my first choice either. But it was the best literary fiction that was offered to LibraryThing Early Reviewers in Canada last month. And the selection of ARCs available to reviewers in Canada this month is so dismal that I did not bother to try for one, but that is another story.

So I have to confess that I am reading The Angel's Game basically by default. I must say that Doubleday has sent me a true hardcover copy, a beautiful edition, not an ARC. The entire cover is imprinted with library shelves full of older books and it has a partial paper jacket over that, a nice one too. A lovely gift edition. The plus side for me is that the story is set in Spain, Barcelona to be exact. And it's literary fiction in translation, by an award-winning author. That and the preceding PW review are all I know about it. So I will give it my full attention, without expectations. Watch for my upcoming Afterwords (aka a review) about the book.

Have you read The Shadow of the Wind? Did you enjoy it? Any plans to read The Angel's Game or are you waiting for the reviews first? If you've read anything else by Zafon, can you recommend it?

Comments, questions, reading recommendations or links to reviews are always welcomed. I'd love to read them. No Spoilers please.

What Are You Reading On Mondays? July 20

Hosted by J. Kaye at J. Kaye's Book Blog.

Books completed this week:

The Jewel Trader of Pegu***** by Jeffrey Hantover (US)
No Such Creature***+ by Giles Blunt (Canada)

Currently reading:

The Weight of Heaven by Thrity Umrigar (India)
Molly Fox's Birthday by Deirdre Madden (Ireland)
Ulysses by James Joyce (Ireland)...ongoing project at Dovegreyreader
*The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein (US)

*For Book Club Girls' interview with the author on July 22.

Upcoming books:

Graceland by Chris Abani (Nigeria)
Addition by Toni Jordan (Australia)
The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (Spain)
And Let the Earth Tremble at its Centers by Gonzalo Celorio (Mexico)
Into the Beautiful North by Luis Alberto Urrea (Mexico)

What are you reading this week?

I welcome questions, reading recommendations, or links to any books I've read or reviewed. I'd love to read them.

No Such Creature by Giles Blunt

Hardcover: 288 pages
Publisher: Random House (Oct. 14, 2008)
ISBN-10: 0679314318
ISBN-13: 978-0679314318

I've read every book Giles Blunt has written and loved them all. No Such Creature is a departure from his award winning John Cardinal police mystery series. Even his first novel, Cold Eye, which is also a stand alone, had some chilling intrigue and great psychological insights. I can highly recommend them all. But No Such Creature, though well written and interesting to a point is a weak entry in this writer's oeuvre for me. I just didn't feel very attached to the characters and I don't think it's because they are all criminals.

Young Owen was tragically orphaned at nine and groomed to a life of summertime crime by his uncle Max who raised him. We do want to see the boy get away from all the dangers of this lifestyle, especially when a poor choice ends in their being pursued by infamously brutal mobsters. Old Max likes to quote Shakespeare and Owen likes to imagine they're like Robin Hood because his uncle insists on robbing only rich Republicans. If it sounds funny, it is to some degree but there is some terrible violence too, which makes for a dark story at times, though the tale does ends in a somewhat hopeful way.

This is a coming of age story for Owen, who at eighteen has begun to realize that the person he loves most in the world is most likely to lead him to harm. It's also a road trip with the hounds of hell on their tail. The pace is right and emotional attachments to family are something Blunt is always good at. I think after such powerful entries as Forty Words for Sorrow and By the Time You Read This, or even Blackfly Season, I was expecting too much from No Such Creature. And I was ill when I read it. So, though it's a reasonably good story for anyone not already familiar with Blunt's writing, I can only give it three and half stars. My recommendation is definitely read this man's works, but don't start with No Such Creature or you'll have the wrong impression. He's capable of, and usually serves up so much better.

His next book is already out and I can't wait to read it. Yes, I'm still in love with the man's writing and the way he thinks. Breaking Lorca is another departure for him, historical fiction set in El Salvador during the 1980s, and I suspect not for the faint of heart. A woman is detained in a government torture center and Blunt gives us "a terrifying journey into human cruelty and courage". Now all I need is for someone to send me a copy (big hint to his publicist).

Thank you to Random House Canada for the lovely hardcover copy and LibraryThing's Early Reviewer program.

Giles Blunt's site.

Also reviewed at:

Book Reviews by Bobby

Any followers who comment before midnight Sunday August 2 may be entered in a draw for this book. Please indicate clearly that you do want to read it and that you are a follower.

*Edited: Winner was Upper West Side Writer.

Cover Attraction - The Jewel Trader of Pegu

Hosted by Marcia at The Printed Page who says:

"I’m a very visual person and love beautiful or interesting cover art. It entices, and invites me to stop and take a peek instead of walking right on by."

This week’s Cover Attraction is:

Title: The Jewel Trader of Pegu
Author: Jeffrey Hantover
Release date: December 30, 2008

I just finished this wonderful book and posted my review yesterday. I think the cover is just beautiful. It makes me feel good every time I look at it, much like an attractive painting does.

What’s your favorite cover attraction this week?

Waiting on Wednesday July 15

Hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is:

31 Hours by Masha Hamilton

Hardcover:240 pages
Publisher: Unbridled Books (September 8, 2009)
ISBN-10: 1932961836
ISBN-13: 978-1932961836

Product description:

Jonas is isolated in an apartment near the Brooklyn Bridge, and on a devastatingly confused path toward violence. His parents and his girlfriend have just 31 hours to reach him. A woman in New York awakens knowing, as deeply as a mother's blood can know, that her grown son is in danger. She has not heard from him in weeks. His name is Jonas. His girlfriend, Vic, doesn't know what she has done wrong, but Jonas won't answer his cell phone. We soon learn that Jonas is isolated in a safe-house apartment in New York City, pondering his conversion to Islam and his experiences training in Pakistan, preparing for the violent action he has been instructed to take in 31 hours. Jonas's absence from the lives of those who love him causes a cascade of events, and as the novel moves through the streets and subways of New York we come to know intimately the lives of its characters.

About the Author: 31 Hours is Masha Hamilton's fourth novel, following the acclaimed The Camel Bookmobile. She is also a journalist who has reported most recently from Afghanistan, and from the Middle East, Russia and Africa. She lives in Brooklyn.

I read and reviewed The Camel Bookmobile, which I enjoyed immensely. I am also a reader for the Camel Book Drive in the The Year of Readers 2009 charity effort.

Watch for my review of 31 Hours in September.

Which upcoming book are you waiting for?

The Jewel Trader of Pegu by Jeffrey Hantover - Review

The Jewel Trader of Pegu by Jeffrey Hantover

Historical fiction, 227 pages, Paperback

Harper Collins (December 30, 2008)


Abraham is a devout Italian Jew of the sixteenth century. He travels to strange and exotic places as a jewel trader for his uncle's business. No matter how far from the eyes of fellow worshippers or in what circumstances he find himself, he continues his morning prayers and religious rituals. He deals honestly in business and tries to be kind and tolerant even in unusual circumstances. When he reaches the Burmese port city of Pegu in 1598 he expects to remain the man he is. But a shocking stumbling block to his faith will be put squarely in his path and how he handles it will affect his being tolerated in this strange kingdom and how well he will do in business. He struggles fiercely against compromise for some time.

Told entirely through the daily letters home to his beloved cousin Joseph, it is at once an adventure and a compelling story about what is really important to us. How far would we would go to experience and keep true love? When the pressure to follow the local custom of deflowering young brides to bring luck to the families becomes intolerable he reasons with himself "The law and my heart must be one. How could I follow my heart and betray the law and still call myself a Jew? But how could the law demand I betray my heart? I would be lost if I had to do either." The Jewel Trader of Pegu is not about sex as some have imagined. It's about the moral dilemma of a man who wants to do the right thing. The choice Abraham makes will change his life forever.

This is sensitive story telling, often with profound philosophical or spiritual insights into the differences of religion, culture and social customs. Abraham slowly realizes that it's not really his place to judge these people who tattoo their legs with grotesques images, or scar their faces and blacken their teeth. He is surprised to find himself beginning to view their customs and Buddhist thinking in a different light. Though he will be happy to finish his uncle's business and leave for home. Then war, along with looting and reprisals threaten the town. All other foreigners have reasonably fled for home but Abraham has suddenly and unexpectedly found, in a young widow named Mya, a reason for staying and risking everything.

This is one of the best novels I've read this year. A gem of a story, I give it five stars and my highest recommendation.

Jeffrey Hantover's web page

Thank you to Danny Goldstein at Harper Collins for the review copy.

Also reviewed at:

Devourer of Books
Everything Distills into Reading
Bleeding Expresso

I welcome questions, comments, dissenting opinions, or links to your reviews of this or any book discussed on this blog.

Any followers who comment before midnight Monday July 27 qualify to be entered to win my gently read copy of this book. Please indicate that you wish to be entered and that you are a follower.

*Added on July 28: The winner is teabird.

What Are You Reading On Mondays? July 13

Hosted by J. Kaye at J. Kaye's Book Blog.

Books completed this week:

73. The Little Stranger****+ by Sarah Waters (UK) 466 pgs.

74. The Jewel Trader of Pegu***** by Jeffrey Hantover (US) 243 pgs. - review to be posted tomorrow

Only two but what good ones they were!

Books in hand...

The Weight of Heaven by Thrity Umrigar
And Let the Earth Tremble at its Centers by Gonzalo Celorio
Ulysses by James Joyce...ongoing project at Dovegreyreader's

Upcoming books:

Molly Fox's Birthday by Deirdre Madden (UK)
Graceland by Chris Abani (Nigeria)
Addition by Toni Jordan (Australia)
*The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein (US)

*For Book Club Girls' interview with the author on July 22.

What are you reading this week?

I welcome questions, reading recommendations, or links to any books I've read or reviewed. I'd love to read them.

TSS June in Review

Salon Sunday may be found here.

Books read:

60.The Accordionist's Son**** by Bernardo Atxaga (US)
61.Hard Rain**** by Janwillem Van De Wetering (Netherlands) mystery
62.Carpentaria**** by Alexis Wright (Australia)
63.The Italian Girl**** by Iris Murdoch (UK)
64.Last Night in Montreal**** by Emily St. John Mandel (Canada)
65.Wanting***** by Richard Flanagan (Australia)
66.The Great Lover**** by Jill Dawson (UK)
67.The Pages**** by Murray Bail (Australia)
68.Belong to Me**** by Marisa de los Santos (US)
69.The Fifth Child**** by Doris Lessing (UK)
70.Becoming Abigail***** by Chris Abani (Nigeria)

Pages read: 3,065

Books Reviewed:

The Fifth Child by Doris Lessing
Becoming Abigail by Chris Abani
Ex-Cottagers in Love by J. M. Kearns

Giveaways: Testimony by Anita Shreve

Challenges completed:

Spring Reading Thing
The 2nd Canadian Book Challenge Eh?
Themed Challenge
Pub Challenge 2009
Do Re Mi Challenge
Unshelved Challenge

New Challenges posted:

Summer Vacation Reading Challenge 2009
The Four Month Challenge

Special events:

Bloggiesta June 19 - 21

18 hours of blog improvement and writing over 2 days

48 Hour Book Challenge:

8 hours of reading, 1 1/2 books read, illness prevented more

Books and Reading Memes:

What Are You Reading On Mondays? 4
Mailbox Monday 4
Library Loot 3
New Crayons 3
Weekly Geeks 2 (Reviews Catchup)
Musing Mondays 2
What's on Your Nightstand? 1
Cover Attraction 1
Booking Through Thursday 1 (15 books that have stuck with you)

July's upcoming reviews:

Ben, In the World by Doris Lessing (sequel to The Fifth Child)
A Mercy by Toni Morrison
Little Bee by Chris Cleave (The Other Hand in the UK)
No Such Creature by Giles Blunt

My best month since January, no complaints here.

Questions, opinions, reading recommendations or links to reviews are welcomed. I'd love to read them.