vancouverdeb's 2012 Orange Reading

Here are my past Orange Reads in no particular order

Small Island by Andrea Levy - Excellent!
The Help by Kathryn Stockett - Okay.
The Household Guide to Dying by Debra Adelaide. meh. not so good.
The Long Song by Andrea Levy - Excellent!
Case Histories by Kate Atkinson - so glad I discovered this author!!! Love her!
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver - Excellent!
Lullabies for Little Criminals by Heather O'Neill - Excellent!
Annabel by Kathleen Winter Very Good!
Grace Williams Says it Loud by Emma Henderson - Excellent!
The Memory of Love by Aminatta Forna - Very Good.
Room by Emma Donoghue a little better than meh.
The Hero's Walk by Anita Rau Badami - quite good
House of Orphans by Helen Dunmore - really quite good.
Island of Wings by Karin Altenberg - Excellent!
Hero's Walk by Anita Rau Badami. Very good!
The Seige by Helen Dunmore Excellent!
The Translation of the Bones by Francesca Kay
Half A Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
The History of Love by Nicole Krauss
One Hundred Secret Senses by Amy Tan

I plan to read at least one Orange in January.

Hi Deb, nice to see you here!

For this Orange January, I am trying to decide between

The Observations by Jane Harris
The Seige by Helen Dunmore
A Spell of Winter by Helen Dunmore
The Girls by Lori Lansens
Hero's Walk by Anita Rau Badami

I also have a few others in mind!

Hi everyone! Time has been short for me over the Christmas/ New Years Season!
I'll try to get to visit you fairly soon!

Happy New Year to Everybody! :)

Hi Tania!! Great to see you! :)

Whoops, sorry, snuck in there with a message when you were still planning and outlining your reading! Sorry about that. *blush*

I've only read The Observations from your January shortlist, but it was a good one!

Hi Deb! Looking forward to hearing what you choose and how you get on!

Welcome back, Deb! =)

Love your list :)

Hi Deb - Great to see you here and ready for Orange reading!

Deb - the only one on your list I've read is The Girls and I was really disappointed with it. Others liked it better.

>1 vancouverdeb: Glad you like Kate Atkinson; so do I. I discovered her recently and have already read 3 of her books.

I keep collecting Helen Dunmore's books, and I have yet to read a single one of them. I should probably choose her for an Orange month and just read across the shelf!

- Hi Tania! Thanks for dropping by! :)

@6 - Hi Dee! Finally finding a few minutes to get onto Library thing!

@7 Thanks Jill! We've had a busy start to the new year! Thanks for running Orange January! :)

@8 Thanks Kim!! As of now , I'm about 50 pages into The Siege by Helen Dunmore and very much enjoying it. What a fascinating and well written book about the Russians during WW2.

@9 Hi Lori! I hope you are enjoying your Orange January!

@10 - Joyce - thanks for the warning reThe Girls. I decided to start with The Siege as I wanted something to sink my teeth into.

@11 Dallenbaugh - yes ! I love Kate Atkinson and read about 4 books of hers in row, once I discovered Case Histories I hope you enjoy as much as I have.... ;)

@Hi Buried in Print!;) I have both A Spell of Winter and The Siege by Helen Dunmore, but The Siege was calling more loudly from my shelves... :)

I understand that The Seige is part of triology by Helen Dunmore and Betrayal is the second in the series and I think the third book has yet to be written.

The Siege is fascinating so far. I really get the sense of distrust among the people in Russia - some who follow the party line, other's who don't, some who fake following the Party line of Stalin - and no one knows who to trust. There is mention of " black vans" that arrive and pick someone up - and then they are gone - and one is guiltly relieved that it was not them that was picked up. Really a fascinating and enlightening book so far.

I loved A Spell of Winter! I'm very curious about Hero's Walk. And I'm about to start The Observations as my first Orange Jan book. :D

Well, I've finished The Siege by Helen Dunmore and it was fantastic! I know already that it will be one of my best reads of 2012 , that's how powerful the novel is. I've yet to create a review for it, but I will be giving it 4.5 stars. Maybe more. Truly a worthwhile and powerful read! Wow!

Helen Dunmore really can write, can't she? I have copies of Siege and Betrayal and hope to get to them before long.

#15 Glad you enjoyed that one so much - I've got it on my list for this month too!

Wow, that is certainly a ringing endorsement for The Siege! I own it and plan to read it later this year and am now eagerly looking forward to it.

I am just starting The Siege also. I have never read Dunmore before so this is a real treat.

I just finished The Siege by Helen Dunmore and wrote a review -

It's also on the main page:

The Siege tells the historical story of The Siege of Leningrad primarily through the eyes of a 23 year - old Leningrad woman named Anna, although we also view the Siege via her family. During WW 11, for 900 days ,the German army surrounded Leningrad and essentially cut off all supplies including fuel and food. Anna, her family and all of Leningrad endeavor to survive.

The Siege is an amazing and powerful story. Using no fewer than 17 sources listed in the author's bibliography, it is difficult to believe that author Helen Dunmore was not a prisoner of The Siege herself. Although the story is many times heartrendingly tragic, it is also pleasingly lacking in sentimentality , which can so often bog down a a book.

The twin forces of starvation and bitter cold conspire to kill many people during the Siege. People died while sleeping in their homes , while out lined up for rations, or simply falling into a snowbank due to exhaustion and hunger. Anna and her family resort to boiling shoe leather for protein and burning furniture and books for heat. Usually I am not keen on romance in novels, but the two love stories in this book are very understated and integral to understanding the forces of love and hope that are part of the will to survive.

The Siege is a deeply affecting , a very worthwhile piece of historical fiction and destined to be one of my top reads of 2012.

4.5 stars

Great review! I need to read more Dunmore!

I am almost finished with The Siege, and agree it is a very powerful and moving novel. Your review is spot on!

Oh I'm so glad that you are enjoying The Siege . It really is a wonderful novel, isn't it! Thanks so much!

Loved The Siege! I'm glad to see so many of you enjoying it this month.

I'm always intrigued by books that describe massive events from the perspective of the small, through ordinary individuals. Your (thumbs up) review has just put The Siege on my wishlist. With thanks from my brain and curses from my bank account!

Another The Siege fan here; I've actually never heard anyone say they didn't like it.

Laura, I'm glad that you've enjoyed The Siege in the past.

Letterpress - I've got to get to know your name,but yes, it's amazing how an enourmous event like the Siege of Leningrad can be told through the eyes of ordinary people. LOL! Sorry about the bank account and thanks for the thumb!

Ah - Bonnie, you've read The Siege too.

Well - next in that series is The Betrayal. I'm very much enjoying it, though it is not an orange book - shhh!

I'm just beginning The Hero's Walk by Anita Rau Badami. I've read a couple of other books by the same author, Tell it to The Trees and Can You Hear the Nightbird Call - so I expect to enjoy it.

Hi Deb. I have The Siege lined up for this month too - glad you enjoyed it.

I'm glad that you enjoyed The Siege, Deb. I'll probably read it for Orange July, if not sooner.

I loved both The Siege and it's sequel, The Betrayal. The Siege is the better book of the two -and also the Orange book - but The Betrayal was very good too.

I'm about 1/3 of the way through my second Orange , The Hero's Walk by Anita Rau Badami. It's shaping up into a big , luscious read.

I've added The Hero's Walk to my TBR list. I'm not sure why it wasn't on there as it sounds like a good book! Look forward to your final review.

Thanks , HR Orangeness - here is my review for The Hero's Walk

The Hero's Walk is a somewhat sad, but beautifully told story. Happily the sorrow is leavened with the small humours of everyday living. There is something beautiful and lush about the story, and the insight to characters is rich and detailed.

The plot does move slowly and I expected it to focus more on the multi -racial Indian - Canadian child who is orphaned by her parents, Maya and Alan Baker. After both parents die early in the novel of a car crash, the father of Maya, Sripathi Rao , goes to Vancouver, Canada to pick up his one and only grandchild, Nandana and take her back to India. Father Sripathi Rao has been estranged from his now dead daughter, Maya, ever since she married a Canadian man. Young Nandana is just beginning grade 2 and is understandably shocked by the death of her parents and moving to the noisy and poor part of India. However, this is but a small part of the story. Sripathi Rao has had his confidence taken away by his still living mother, Ammayya, who is a tyrant in the Rao family home. She is a bitter, complaining woman and jealous of everyone. Not only has she eroded her son's confidence for most of his life, she also has forbidden her 42 year old daughter to marry, citing that each suitor is not worthy, because she prefers her daughter Putti , to wait on her hand and foot. Residing in the run down family home is also Sriapthi's wife, Nirmala, who has been worn down by her mother in law, Ammayya. Nirmala and Sripathi are in their early 50's , and their son Arun seems to be a somewhat shiftless lad , at least at first glance. This is the home that young Nandana suddenly finds herself living in.

There is much tension and anger in the Sripathi Rao home, most of it is from the passive anger and disappointment that each family member has for another. As the story meanders on, with the exception of one person, the family gradually changes and passivity gives way to anger and action. It's a rich and beautiful story, in which the small epiphanies of the character's result in most of them being Hero's in their own way.

The Hero's Walk is lovely, thought provoking story. 4 stars

The Hero's Walk sounds marvelous! Thanks for the in-depth review.

Like the use of the word 'luscious' to describe the Badami novel (@31, not the review proper): makes it sound particularly good! Sounds like you've had a great January so far!

#33 Thanks for the review Deb, another one for my Orange wishlist!

Oh, by the way, I've read another long -listed Orange back in February Helen Dunmore's lovely House of Orphans. I had not really even realized that it was a long- listed Orange until I notice here on LT. I'm pretty sure that I did not write a review for House of Orphans but I think I wrote a review for The Betrayal.

Currently I am half -way through Island of Wings by Karin Altenberg. It's on this years Orange Longlist. I'm just LOVING it! It's a harsh, sorrowful and beautiful story. I'll say more when I'm finished the book. It reminds of why I love the Oranges!

I finished Island of Wings by Karin Altenberg and at long last, her is my review

Island of Wings by Karin Altenberg is a darkly beautiful read.

Newly married couple, Lizzie and Reverend Neil MacKenzie, travel by boat to an outlying island of the Scottish Hebrides, St. Kilda. In the 1830's, when this novel begins, St. Kilda is characterized by extreme isolation, rugged cliffs, a terrible lack of sanitation, and a small Norse population. The inhabitants of St. Kilda speak only Gaelic. Reverend Mackenzie speaks both English and Gaelic, but wife Lizzie, speaks only English, which serves to increase her isolation.

Reverend MacKenzie arrives at St. Kilda with a sense of misson, to convert the heathens to to Christianity and also to improve their lot in life. He is also driven by a mysterious incident in his past, as well as his own personality weaknesses. In contrast, young bride Lizzie is initially driven to please and support her husband, despite is his frequent bouts of bad temper and his habit of turning away from her.

Life of the indigenous St. Kidan's is intriguing in itself Most notable to me was the neonatal death rate of about 60 %, usually caused by a strange " 8 day sickness." The St Kildan's lived communally off the land. Knowing the story is loosely based on historical fact I found both the story and the way of life on St. Kilda to be fascinating.

As time goes on, Rev. Mackenzie's character flaws become more evident. Even as he chastises the people for worshiping idols , he regards himself as " the minister - and master - of the island." page 148.

Conversely, young Lizzie, initially intimidated by her husband, and extremely isolated, gradually makes friends with the Islander's and recognizes her husband for what he is. Neil and Lizzie's marriage shows much strain , as does Neil's relationships with his "subjects." Despite Rev. Neil's self- importance, personal weakness, he is portrayed as a well rounded character, who occasionally questions himself and shows tenderness to his wife.

Beautifully atmospheric, an unblinking look at a difficult marriage, a fascinating look into a primitive culture and a meditation on faith, this is wonderful, compelling novel. 4.5 stars

I'm quite excited! :) I picked up a long- listed Orange from the Library today, and it looks quite appealing and interesting to me. After my current book, I hope to read it next.

The Translation of the Bones by Francesca Kay.

Okay, I broke down and ordered Painter of Silence by Georgina Harding. I should get it next week...

I've finished up The Translation of the Bones. Initially I found it very slow going, but towards the 3/4 mark, I found it really picked up and was full of meaning. I need some time to digest and understand of the meaning there. For now, I'm just going to say " wow." I could see it needing a reader's guide and being a great book to discuss at reading group.

Review of The Translation of the Bones by Francesca Kay - also on the main page

While browsing my local bookstore, I ran across The Translation of the Bones . I knew that it was a 2012 long - listed Orange Prize contender, but it takes more than that to get me to read a book. Flipping through the pages of the book, I quickly realized that one of the character's, Mary -Margaret O'Reilly , a slow -witted but devoted parishioner of a Catholic Church in South London, believes that while dusting a plaster depiction of Christ, she has seen blood flow from from his crown of thorns.

Like most of us, and as author Francesca Kay acknowledges in her novel, I felt great both great curiosity and skepticism about this event and wondered where the author would go with this. As it turns out, the bleeding of the plaster Christ remains shadowy happening. Parish Priest Father Diamond discourages discussion the event, and blocks off that area of the church . As the Diocese office replies to Father Diamond " The Face of Our Lady on a pizza, Our Lord on a Slice of Toast! Outbreaks of hysteria are to be discouraged." p. 62.

Whether one is a believer or a vigorous atheist, this is the most interesting and thought - provoking look at faith, why we believe what we do, and the ambiguity of it all.

Stella Morrison is the married mother of ten year old Felix, who she misses dearly because her husband has insisted that Felix attends a Catholic Boarding school . Alice Armitage is in a relatively happy marriage , but is counting the days until her soldier son returns from Afghanistan. Fidelma is the obese, agoraphobic , single mother of Mary- Margaret, still suffering anxiety from her days as a Catholic boarding school student.

Mary -Margaret, and fellow parishioners Stella Morrison , Alice Armitage and non - believers alike serve as an intriguing vehicle for author Francesca Kay to explore the ambiguity of faith. Stella Morrison ponders on Mary - Margaret's happening, telling herself that" we accept all sorts of things on other people's say so . The way the Internet works, or that there was once water on Mars." p.139

Weeks after Mary - Margaret is convinced that she has seen the blood of Christ, she discovers that she is a " child of sin" (quotation mine), and sets off to prove herself worthy of the Jesus' love. Inadvertently she sets off a tragic chain of events.

Later, as psychiatrist Dr. Azin Qureshi examines Mary- Margaret , even he is left with questions. He spends time reflecting on the secular and sacred in his life. He concludes that " people like him had no use for supernatural solace" p 211, but goes on to remember the Muslim faith of his grandparents, and reflects to himself " who are the arbiters of what is true and what is not?" p.212 .

The only fault I could find with the book was the slow moving nature of the first 2/3 of the book. After that, I could barely stop turning the pages.The novel is beautifully and profoundly written and I was left with much to reflect on. Francesca Kay writes beautifully, and the novel is full of humanity , as well as questions of faith.

4.25 stars

That's a great review that really captures the essence of The Translation of the Bones. Glad you liked it more than I did!

Thanks your HRO! :) I enjoyed your review too. Each person is so different in what they " see" in a book. There are few long - listed Oranges that wild horses won't get me to read!;) I have to run -but I'll let you know what they are later on...

BTW - I've also read House of Orphans by Helen Dunmore back in Feb or March . She is now one of favorite authors.

I've got a few of those "wild horses" longlist books myself. I'm curious what yours are!

Okay, here is my list of long listed Oranges that " wild horse won't get me to read " . or so I think for now. The Song of Achilles -not my cuppa!
There But For The - sounds too ? complex - what is true and what is not? I've also had the Half-Blood Blues on my shelf since it was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and a Canadian Fiction prize -but reading about Jazz musicians in WW11 - zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Perhaps The Lord of Misrule - I loathe stories about horses. I hope to read The Flying Man, I've got the Painter of Silence and I plan to read The Pink Hotel. I have a few others , but I'm not going to rush to read them til the short list comes out.

The good side to having a 'wild horses' list is that it frees you up to read the other Oranges you are interested in :-)

I think my only wild horse book is Lord of Misrule, like you because it's about horses.