avatiakh goes for 15 in 2015

Joining in for another year. I've been doing the category challenge since 2009 and enjoyed every year.
This time I'm planning on spreading my reading over 15 categories and hopefully getting to a minimum of 5 books in each one. I'll list my initial ideas for categories but these are subject to change.

My current 2014 category challenge, I've only one book left to read to complete: http://www.librarything.com/topic/159815
Also my 2014 thread in the 75er group: http://www.librarything.com/topic/177944

1) Israel: political nonfiction - I plan to read biographies of Israeli politicians

1:Menachem Begin: The Battle for Israel's Soul by Danial Gordis - finished 28 Jul

Suggestions:
The Prime Ministers by Yehuda Avner
Menachem Begin: The Battle for Israel's Soul by Danial Gordis
Ben-Gurion: The Burning Ground, 1886-1948 by Shabtai Teveth

2) Arab Spring - Middle East/North African/Islamism - fiction & nonfiction

1: Terror in Black September: The First Eyewitness Account of the Infamous 1970 Hijackings by David Raab - finished Jun 01
2: ISIS: Inside the army of terror by Michael Weiss - finished 08 Jun
3: Zahra's Paradise by Amir & Khalil - finished 08 Jun
4: Woman at point zero by Nawal El Saadawi - finished Jul 21
5: The crackle of thorns : experiences in the Middle East by Sir Alec Kirkbride - finished 16 Aug

Suggestions:
Egypt on the Brink: From Nasser to the Muslim Brotherhood by Tarek Osman
A fort of Nine Towers by Qais Akbar Omar

3) Latin Roots - fiction & nonfiction from/about Spain, Portugal & Latin America

1: The dangerous summer by Ernest Hemingway - finished Jan
2: Beaumarchais in Seville: an Intermezzo by Hugh Thomas -finished Jan
3: The Tunnel by Ernesto Sabato - finished Jan
4: The Crime of Father Amaro by Jose Maria Eca de Queiros - finished May 05

Suggestions:
Death in the Afternoon by Ernest Hemingway

4) Favourite Writers - continuing to read them and hopefully completing the ouevre

1: Frenchman's Creek by Daphne Du Maurier
2: There once lived a mother who loved her children until they moved back in: three novellas about family by Lyudmila Petrushevskaya - finished Mar 30

Suggestions:
Bernice Rubens
Michael Chabon
Alan Garner

5) Shocked that I still haven't read this

1: The history of love by Nicole Krauss - finished Jan
2: Cider with Rosie by Laurie Lee - finished Jan
3: The Valley of Bones by Anthony Powell (Dance to the Music of Time #7) - finished Jun 19
4: Goodnight, Mr Tom by Michelle Magorian - finished Jul 15

Suggestions:

The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien
Under the Volcano by Malcolm Lowry
In the woods by Tana French
The man who loved children by Christina Stead
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
The Wind-up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami

6) The young ones - YA and children's fiction

1: The Berlin Boxing Club by Robert Sharenow - finished Feb 09
2: The Coldest girl in Coldtown by Holly Black - finished Feb 20
3: The Vanishing Moment by Margaret Wild - finisihed Feb 20
4: Hostage three by Nick Lake - finished March 12
5: Pretty Monsters by Kelly Link - finished Mar 29
6: Heartsinger by Karlijn Stoffels - finished Apr 02
7: The Crossover by Kwame Alexander - finished Apr 03
8: King Matt the First by Janusz Korczak - finished Apr 03
9: Shadow on the mountain by Margi Preus - finished Apr 09
10: Kaytek the wizard by Janusz Korczak - finished Apr 11
11: Fairest by Marissa Meyer - finished Apr 14
12: Love by the Morning Star by Laura L. Sullivan - finished May 10
13: Under the Egg by Laura Marx Fitzgerald - finished May 11
14: How I alienated my grandmother by Suzanne Main - finished May 19
15: I love I hate I miss my sister by Amélie Sarn - finished May 22
16: The Last of the spirits by Chris Priestley - finished Jun 02
17: The Handkerchief Map by Kiri English-Hawke - finished 06 Jun
18: Half Wild by Sally Green - finished Jun 08
19: I lived on Butterfly Hill by Marjorie Agosin - finished 13 Jun
20: Falling by Anne Provoost finished 16 Jun
21: The Thought of High Windows by Lynne Kositsky - finished Jun 19
22: A stone in my hand by Cathryn Clinton - finished Jun 19
23: Wanting Mor by Rukhsana Khan - finished Jun 20
24: Life in Outer Space by Melissa Keil - finished 24 Jun
25: Boy in the tower by Polly Ho-Yen - finished Jun 25
26: Never fall down by Patricia McCromick - finished 25 Jun
27: Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith - finished 18 Jul
28: Buffalo Soldier by Tanya Landman - finished 19 Jul
29: Boo: a novel by Neil Smith - finished 27 Jul
30: Daniel Half Human and the good Nazi by David Chotjewitz - finished Aug 04
31: Hide and Seek by Ida Vos - finished Aug 09
32: The mystery of the clockwork sparrow by Katherine Woodfine - finished 12 Aug

7) Challenging - shared reads, theme reads, group reads, CATs etc, shortlists, long lists etc etc

1: Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro - BAC (British Author Challenge) - finished Jan
2: Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively - BAC (British Author Challenge) - finished Jan
3: The Scar by China Miéville - BAC - finished Mar 28
4: In the heart of the seas by S.Y. Agnon - (Reading Globally translated Nobel Winners) - finished 31 Jul

Suggestions:
The Children's Book by A.S. Byatt
Fingersmith by Sarah Waters - (Orange Jul)

8) Fact - nonfiction general, hopefully some travel literature

1: Occidentalism: The West in the Eyes of Its Enemies by Ian Buruma
2: Jerusalem: a biography by Simon Sebag Montifiore - finished January
3: Garlic, Mint & Sweet Basil: Essays on Marseilles, The Mediterranean, and Noir Fiction by Jean-Claude Izzo - finished Mar 04
4: Catch the Jew by by Tuvia Tenenbom - finished Apr 03
5: Reasons to stay alive by Matt Haig - finished Apr 06
6: Look me in the eye by John Elder Robison - finished Apr 13
7: Financing the Flames: How Tax-Exempt and Public Money Fuel a Culture of Confrontation and Terror in Israel by Edwin Black - finished Apr 22
8: Barack Obama's Rules for Revolution: The Alinsky Model by David Horowitz - finished Apr 24
9: Being mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande - finished Apr 27

Suggestions:
The Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain
Childhood under siege: how big business targets children by Joel Bakan
We die alone by David Howarth
Philip Gibbs

9) Comfort reads - lighter reading and continuing series

1: A walk among the tombstones by Lawrence Block (Matthew Scudder #10) - finished Jan
2: The Samaritan's Secret by Matt Rees (Omar Yussef #3) - finished Jan
3: Piece of my heart by Peter Robinson (DCI Bank #16) - finished Feb 04
4: Personal by Lee Child (Jack Reacher #19) - finished Feb 12
5: Foxglove Summer by Ben Aaronovitch (Peter Grant #5) - finished 27 Feb
6: The Devil's Star by Jo Nesbø (Harry Hole #5) - finished Apr 21
7: Cockroaches by Jo Nesbø (Harry Hole #2) - finished Apr 26
8: The Redeemer by Jo Nesbø (Harry Hole #6) - finished May 03
9: The Snowman by Jo Nesbø (Harry Hole #7) - finished May 07
10: Game of Mirrors by Andrea Camilleri (Commissario Montalbano #19) - finished May 13
11: Phantom by Jo Nesbø (Harry Hole #9) - finished May 25
12: Police by Jo Nesbø (Harry Hole #10) - finished May 27
13: Headhunters by Jo Nesbø - finished Jun 01
14: Stealing People by Robert Wilson (Charlie Boxer #3) - finished 29 Jun
15: The Soldier's Art by Anthony Powell (Dance to the Music of Time #8) - finished 19 Jul
16: The Military Philosophers by Anthony Powell (Dance to the Music of Time #9) - finished 27 Jul

Suggestions:
Robert Goddard
Pepe Carvalho series

10) Down Under - New Zealand & Australian fiction

1: Let the River Stand by Vincent O'Sullivan (NZ) - finished Jan
2: The Rosie Effect by Graeme Simsion (Aus) - finished Feb 15
3: Magpie Hall by Rachael King (NZ) - finished Feb 16
4: The house of strife by Maurice Shadbolt - finished Mar 07
5: Wake by Elizabeth Knox - finished Mar 17
6: The Chimes by Anna Smaill - finished Mar 26
7: Breath by Tim Winton - finished Mar 31
8: An unreal house filled with real storms by Elizabeth Knox - finished May 17
9: Once were warriors by Alan Duff - finished May 23

Suggestions:
James McNeish
Maurice Shadbolt
Derek Hansen
Garry Disher
Wake by Elizabeth Knox

11) Shiny New - new writers and/or new books

1: The Martian by Andy Weir - finished Apr 07
2: Dear Thief by Samantha Harvey - finished Apr 09
3: The Fishermen by Chigozie Obioma - finished May 01
4: Sacred by Eliette Abécassis - finished 16 Jun
5: The Book of Aron by Jim Shephard - finished Jun 24
6: How to Fight Islamist Terror from the Missionary Position by Tabish Khair - finished 30 Jun
7: Uprooted by Naomi Novik - finished 04 Jul
8: My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante - finished 10 Jul
9: The girl on the train by Paula Hawkins - finished Jul 14
10: Konstantin by Tom Bullough - finished Aug 04
11: Touch by Claire North - finished Aug 10

Suggestions:
Elena Ferrante
Siri Hustvedt
Kate Forsyth

12) Spotlight: New Zealand YA - so many titles to catch up on

1: The beginner's guide to living by Lia Hills - finished Mar 06
2: A Winter’s Day in 1939 by Melinda Szymanik - finished 12 Jul
3: The Eternal City by Paula Morris - finished 20 Jul

suggestions:
Fleur Beale
I am Rebecca (2014) - sequel to I am not Esther
Heart of Danger (2011) - last in the Juno trilogy
The boy in the olive grove (2012)
Speed Freak (2013)

Mandy Hager
Dear Vincent (2013)
Singing home the Whale (2014)
Into the wilderness (2010) & Resurrection (2011) - #2, #3 of Blood of the Lamb trilogy
The nature of Ash (2012)

Anna MacKenzie
Cattra's Legacy (2013)
Donnel's promise (2014) - sequel

David Hair's Aotearoa series #3,4,5
The Last Tohunga (2011)
Justice & Utu (2012)
Ghosts of Parihaka (2013)

A Winter’s Day in 1939 by Melinda Szymanik (2013)
Felix and the Red Rats by James Norcliffe (2013)
Bugs by Whiti Hereaka (2013)
Speed of Light by Joy Cowley (2014)
1914 Riding into war by Susan Brocker (2014)

'why we need fairy tales' article by Mandy Hagar: http://booknotes-unbound.org.nz/mandy-hager-need-fairy-tales/

13) Food Writing - cookbooks and food writing in general

Suggestions:
MFK Fischer
Ruth Reichl
Anthony Bourdain
Laurie Colwin
Barbara Abdeni Massaad
Taste of Beirut by Jouman Accad

14) Images - photography, graphic novels, illustrated and picturebooks

1: The Plot: The Secret Story of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion by Will Eisner
2: Saga vol 1 by Brian K. Vaughan illustrated by Fiona Staples - finished Feb 28
3: El Deafo by Cece Bell - finished 03 Mar
4: Sam Zabel and the Magic Pen by Dylan Horrocks - finished 11 Mar
5: Through the woods by Emily Carroll - finished Mar 20
6: Henni by Miss Lasko-Gross - finished Mar 28
7: Beautiful Darkness by Fabien Vehlmann - finished Mar 28
8: Chico & Rita by Javier Mariscal - finished Mar 29
9: Blankets by Craig Thompson - finished Apr 03
10: Scalped: Indian Country Vol 1 by Jason Aaron - Apr 03
11: To the heart of the storm by Will Eisner - finished Apr 04
12: Saga Vol 2 by Brian K. Vaughan - finished Apr 15
13: Saga Vol 3 by Brian K. Vaughan - finished May 01
14: A bag of marbles by Joseph Joffo - finished May 01
15: My First Kafka: runaways, rodents & giant bugs retold by Matthue Roth, illus Rohan Daniel Eason - finished May 10
16: Unterzakhn by Leela Corman - finished May 14
17: El Iluminado: a graphic novel by Ilan Stavans - finished May 17
18: Saga, Volume 4 by Brain K. Vaughan - finished May 22
19: enormous smallness: A Story of E. E. Cummings by Matthew Burgess - finished Jun 14
20: Baddawi by Leila Abdelrazaq - finished 26 Jun
21: Mike's Place: a true story of love, blues, and terror in Tel Aviv by Jack Baxter - finished 26 Jun
22: Old Winkle and the Seagulls by Elizabeth and Gerald Rose - finished 27 Jun
23: The Spider and the Doves: The Story of the Hijra by Farah Morley - finished 30 Jun
24: I remember Beirut by Zeina Abirached - finished Jun 30
25: Pablo Neruda: poet of the people by Monica Brown - finished Jul 05
26: The cute girl network by MK Reed - finished Jul 06
27: Shackleton's Journey by William Grill - finished Jul 07
28: Bandette Volume 1: Presto! by Paul Tobin - finished Jul 08
29: A River by Marc Martin - finished Jul 08
30: Primates: The Fearless Science of Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, and Biruté Galdikas by Jim Ottaviani - finished Jul 09
31: Delilah Dirk and the turkish lieutenant by Tony Cliff - finished 14 Aug
32: Nimona by Noelle Stevenson - finished 16 Aug
33: Bandette : Stealers keepers! vol 2 by Paul Tobin - finished 18 Aug
34: The Scraps Book: Notes from a Colorful Life by Lois Ehlert - finished 18 Aug
35: Marzi: a memoir by Marzena Sowa - finished 19 Aug

Suggestions:
The Sandman series by Neil Gaiman

15) Spies - both fiction and nonfiction

1: Spies against Armageddon by Dan Raviv - finished 17 Aug

Suggestions:
Alan Furst
Eric Ambler
Mossad by Ronald Payne
The Lawn Road Flats: spies, writers and artists by David Burke
A Spy Among Friends by Ben Macintyre
The Informer by Liam O'Flaherty

Dropbox - extra category for books that don't fit

1: Gone to Soldiers by Marge Piercy - finished Jan
2: Troubles by J.G. Farrell - finished Jan
3: Out of Tune edited by Jonathan Maberry - Early Reviewer bk - - finished Jan
4: Eat him if you like by Jean Teule - finished Jan
5: Stoner by John Williams - finished Jan
6: Little Exiles by Robert Dinsdale - finished Feb 02
7: The camp of saints by Jean Raspail - finished Apr 20

suggestions from Mt tbr:
The camp of saints by Jean Raspail

You have my respect for reading the books you do. Political nonfiction? I would probably not be able to get past page 2. Happy reading for 2015!

>18 avatiakh: I need to push myself to read beyond just news articles so I can really understand the issues.

Ooh, spies! I'll definitely be following that category in particular. Looks like a good setup. Enjoy your challenge!

>21 rabbitprincess: The spy category was a last minute addition. Thanks

I'll be looking forward to following your reading again next year, Kerry. I take a lot of book bullets from your threads!

As usual, looking forward to following along and take the many bookbullets you hand out. :)

Hi Judy and Eva - I'm already looking forward to a fresh reading focus for next year. Must visit some more threads.

Interesting themes, especially the spies. I wonder how Eric Ambler holds up? I read him decades ago. And I love the picture for the young ones, the dragon is adorable!

Hi Birgit - the pic is of the late Margaret Mahy reciting one of her magical poems to her granddaughters. She did great performance poems in her heyday, I saw her a few times with my children.
http://www.productionshed.tv/home/in-the-shed/margaret-mahys-rumbustifications

I haven't read Eric Ambler as yet, his name comes up on classic espionage booklists. I've enjoyed vintage Graham Greene thrillers so hoping Ambler is to my liking. I've amassed a small collection of tatty paperbacks.

Spies! Love it! :) I haven't read A Spy Among Friends, but I've read two of Ben Macintyre's other books and really loved them both!

>27 avatiakh: Thanks for the link, Kerry!

A suggestion for your food writing category (if you can find them or if you haven't already read them) is Laurie Colwin's Home cooking and More home cooking They're compilations of columns that Colwin published in Gourmet magazine and I think they're wonderful. Like M. F. K. Fisher, Colwin was interested in the way food brought people together, but Colwin seems like she was a nicer person than Fisher. I admire Fisher's writing style, but I don't think I would have liked her much.

Thanks for the suggestion, I do have a book by Colwin as she was recommended a year or so ago and I haven't read it yet. I read Fisher's book, Long Ago in France: The Years in Dijon a couple of years ago and quite enjoyed it. I picked up a number of excellent food related books and cookbooks in a clearance sale earlier this year, so need to get onto them.

Love Alan Furst! Good luck with your challenge. I'll be lurking.

Just catching up on 2015 threads and I'll be adding my star this year again. I anticipate lots of BB.

I am slowly making my way through the 2015 threads that are here and happy to see you are back for another year of category reading!

Love the categories! My RL LT book group is reading The Coldest Girl in Coldtown in January. I'd love to see your thoughts on it.

Love your categories. I can't wait to see what you read and how you like them.

DS
(bruce's evil twin :-))

Happy New Year Kerry! Looking forward to all the inevitable book bullets I'll get from your thread.

A walk among the tombstones by Lawrence Block (1992)
crime fiction (Matthew Scudder #10)
I have finished my first book, my first by Laurence Block. I was surprised at how long ago he started the Matthew Scudder series (1976) as the copy I picked up in a hotel swap library was a 2014 film tie-in reissue with Liam Neeson on the cover. It was an ok read, I liked his teenage sidekick, TJ, though overall a bit brutal.

Added to category #9: Comfort reads - lighter reading and continuing series


The dangerous summer by Ernest Hemingway (1960)
Nonfiction
Hemingway was commissioned by LIFE magazine to write a series of articles about the rivalry between two bullfighters during the 1959 season. Antonio Ordonez and Luis Miguel Dominguin were both at the top of their game, had different styles, and both felt they deserved to be named the 'best' of the best. I enjoyed reading this, while not a fan of bullfighting, I still appreciated Heningway's insightful commentary, his knowledge is stupendous, the book as a travel narrative is pretty wonderful as well.

Added to category #3: Latin Roots - fiction & nonfiction from/about Spain, Portugal & Latin America


The remains of the day by Kazuo Ishiguro (1989)
Fiction
Read this for the British author Challenge. My second Ishiguro book, I read Never let me go a couple of years ago. This one has been on my 'to read' list for a long while so was good to be prompted to read it finally.
Loved the structure, the slow revelation of all that was Stevens and his life of service. Wonderful.

Added to category #7:Challenging - shared reads, theme reads, group reads, CATs etc, shortlists, long lists etc et

Moon Tiger by Penelop Lively (1997)
fiction
Read this for the BAC challenge. While I appreciated the writing style I was never that taken by the story and other books I was reading at the same time felt more exceptional. I'll keep reading Lively's children's books and will try another of her adult books at some stage.
Added to category #7: Challenging - shared reads, theme reads, group reads, CATs etc, shortlists, long lists etc et


Troubles by J.G. Farrell (1970)
fiction
Loved this, the cast of characters, the decrepit hotel and the troubling political situation in Ireland at the close of World War 1. Hugely entertaining.
Added to category #16: Dropbox - extra category for books that don't fit


The History of Love by Nicole Krauss (2005)
fiction
This will be one of my outstanding reads for the year, I just loved everything about the book, the characters, the structure, a plot involving unrequited love is almost always a winner for me. I read this for Orange January.
Added to category #5: Shocked that I still haven't read this


Out of Tune edited by Jonathan Maberry (2014)
Early Reviewer bk / short story collection
A collection of stories based on old folksongs or ballads. I need to do a full review for Early Reviewers but will say here that I really loved some of the stories and others were more so so. I found the historical notes on each ballad that were included to be invaluable, sometimes more interesting than the story itself. Also included is a list of recordings or performances.
Added to category #16: Dropbox - extra category for books that don't fit

Eat him if you like by Jean Teule (2009 French) (2011 Eng)
novella
I picked this up in a book sale in Puerto Banaus and can say that it isn't a book for everyone, based as it is on a mob frenzy incident that really happened in 1870 in a French village. Riveting yet horrific reading.
Added to category #16: Dropbox - extra category for books that don't fit


Frenchman's Creek by Daphne Du Maurier (1941)
fiction
A dashing adventure with romance set on the Cornish coastline. I enjoyed this though I felt at times that I'd read it before, must have been in the distant past.
Added to category #4: Favourite Writers - continuing to read them and hopefully completing the ouevre


Beaumarchais in Seville: an Intermezzo by Hugh Thomas (2006)
nonfiction
I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this account of the French nobleman & playwright, Beaumarchais, and his relatively short 1764 stay in Madrid, where he was much affected by Spanish society. He was sent there by his father to collect some debts and clear up his sister's broken engagement to a Spanish official. His patron and financier Duverney also had several deals that he wanted Beaumarchais to negotiate with the Spaniah government such as exclusive contracts for the Spanish colony of Louisiana and the right to import slaves to the Spanish colonies in the Americas.
Added to category #3: Latin Roots - fiction & nonfiction from/about Spain, Portugal & Latin America

The Samaritan's Secret by Matt Rees (2009)
Omar Yusef #3
This book was set in Nablus soon after the death of Yasser Arafat when there was much intrigue over corruption and the millions of aid money that had disappeared. I very much enjoy this series and have one book left to read.
Added to category #9: Comfort reads - lighter reading and continuing series


Occidentalism: The West in the Eyes of Its Enemies by Ian Buruma & Avishai Margalit (2004)
nonfiction
Not fond of the cover pic for this. Buruma & Margalit look at the way the Oriental world looks at the West and rejects Western values, and is in a way a response to Edward Said's Orientalism. Rather than just tackling the Islamic view, the authors first look at Japan and Russia and how this occidental viewpoint developed partly from German Romanticism. The reader is introduced to many interesting ideas in this short book but would need to find other reading to get more depth.
Added to category #8: Fact - nonfiction general, hopefully some travel literature


Gone to soldiers by Marge Piercy (1988)
fiction
This 800+pg chunkster follows the trials and tribulations of a group of women and several men during World War 2. What sets it apart is that Piercy focuses on the changing role of women especially in the US, how the war gives them jobs and a sense of autonomy and then as the war is starting to be over they are expected to return to their previous role of homemaker so the returning servicemen can have their jobs back. There is also a focus on the Jews in Europe and in the US. A great accomplishment and a worthwhile read if you like a chunster length read.
Added to category #16: Dropbox - extra category for books that don't fit


Stoner by John Williams (1965)
fiction
This is a wonderful novel. Read it.
Added to category #16: Dropbox - extra category for books that don't fit

Let the river stand by Vincent O'Sullivan (1993)
fiction
A wonderfully bleak novel about life in rural New Zealand in the early part of the 20th century. The book jumps between characters and between generations to slowly knit together a full story of how all the characters came to be. I was captivated.
Added to category #10: Down Under - New Zealand & Australian fiction


Cider with Rosie by Laurie Lee (1959)
memoir
This is the first of four memoirs that Lee wrote about his life, I'd read and enjoyed the other three. This one covers Lee's idyllic childhood in a small village. Though I say Idyllic, the family was poor, the father absent and the mother quite eccentric, but loving. Anyway Lee describes his early years with his wonderful gift for language that just brings it all to life. A wonderful read.
Added to category #5: Shocked that I still haven't read this


The Tunnel by Ernesto Sabato (1948 Spanish)
novella
Truly wonderful noirish look at a painter's descent into madness as he obsesses over his love for a woman, and his growing paranoia over her actions. In the first paragraph you become aware that he has murdered her and the novella is his side of the tale.
Added to category #3: Latin Roots - fiction & nonfiction from/about Spain, Portugal & Latin America

Jerusalem: a biography by Simon Sebag Montifiore (2011)
nonfiction / audio
I listened to narrator John Lee's silken tones on and off for three months to get through this. I generally have a regualr routine that allows a couple of hours of audio listening each day but on vacation in Spain, I just didn't. This gives an extremely thorough overview of the history of Jerusalem. Why bother if you've read other books? Possibly because Montifiore had access to new sources for some of the more modern material. The British open up new archives from the times of the Palesinian Mandate period from time to time.
Added to category #8: Fact - nonfiction general, hopefully some travel literature


Little Exiles by Robert Dinsdale (2013)
fiction
Very well done piece of fiction about child immigration to Australia and the dreadful lives they were mostly made to lead until theycame of age. I've mostly read nonfiction or children's literature about this so it was a pleasant change to read one that ventured into adulthood. Robert Dinsdale is becoming a favourite author, I think I have a couple more to read.
Added to category #16: Dropbox - extra category for books that don't fit


Piece of my heart by Peter Robinson
fiction
I think this is about #16 in the Inspector Banks series, I picked it up as it was a flip book edition for a couple of euros, a fun way to read while travelling as the book is really small. Really enjoyed this and will be continuing with the series. Lots of music references especially as a murder happens at a 1969 music festival.
Added to category #9: Comfort reads - lighter reading and continuing series


The Berlin Boxing Club by Robert Sharenow (2011)
YA fiction
Really good YA set in 1930s Berlin. Inspired by the boxer, Max Schmeling who is reputed to have helped a couple of Jewish boys during Kristallnacht. The story revolves around Jewish teenager Karl Stern, a promising young boxer and his family as they try to survive in the increasingly hostile atmosphere generated by the growing power of facism.
Added to category #6: The young ones - YA and children's fiction


Personal by Lee Child (2014)
fiction
Jack Reacher #19. Another instalment that I enjoyed for its London setting.
Added to category #9: Comfort reads - lighter reading and continuing series


Hansel and Gretel: A Toon Graphic by Neil Gaiman, illustrated by Lorenzo Mattotti (2014)
illustrated story
Gaiman retells quite elegantly and simply the story of Hansel and Gretel. This is a fairly straightforward classic version of the tale and there is at the back of the book a short history of how versions of the tale evolved over the years. The illustrations are deliciously dark adding a sophisticated element to the 66pgs.
Doesn't inspire me enough to get my own copy.
Added to category #14: Images - photography, graphic novels, illustrated and picturebooks

That is a very impressive lists of completed books!

You've been very productive on the reading front! :D

I was considering seeing the movie of A Walk Among the Tombstones because of Liam Neeson. The library doesn't have the book, though, so maybe I'll just see the movie first.

Piece of My Heart is my favourite Inspector Banks. The music references are great!

>44 mamzel: I have been reading but not updating since start of the year. I was away from home till about 10 days ago.
>45 rabbitprincess: A walk among the tombstones is quite sexist and violence towards women fairly extreme in the serial crimes they were committing. I think the film has made changes but still set in the 1970s. The only female characters are either survivors of sex crimes, prostitutes or already dead.

Oh a fan of Inspector Banks, I really enjoyed my first one.

Ew, extreme violence towards women is definitely a turn-off for me in crime fiction. I'll avoid the book and read some more reviews of the movie before deciding whether to see it.

You've been doing some great reading, Kerry! It's great to have you back here posting.

Some great books in there!

Great to see you back. I carrying lots of BB-gifts as usual, I see. :) Great to hear the audio-version reader of Jerusalem is good!

The Rosie Effect by Graeme Simsion (2014)
fiction

This is the sequel to The Rosie Project and I suspect there'll be more. I have to say that while I found tRP to be a fun read, quite refreshing and basically chick lit written by a male, I didn't feel the need to carry on to book #2. I read this due to all the positive comments I kept seeing for the book but its charms eluded me. I found the characters other than Don all quite unlikeable especially Rosie this time around. I still carried a small amount of sympathy for Don, and he does get himself into some hilarious predicaments, so finished the book to see how it all ends. So a reasonable light read for those who loved tRP and want more.
Added to category #10: Down Under - New Zealand & Australian fiction


Magpie Hall by Rachael King (2009)
fiction, new zealand
I've had this on my shelves since it was first published but never got round to reading it till now, and I read the library e-book version instead of my own copy. I liked her debut novel, The Sound of Butterflies more than this one though it's been a few years now since I read it. This one is mainly set in modern day New Zealand, with several chapters narrated by the main character's great grandfather and his first wife. If you like tattoos or are interested in taxidermy then you'll love this gothic influenced story. Rose is in the final stages of completing her PhD thesis on gothic literature and takes herself away from an unhappy love affair to the dilapidated country home of her late grandfather. She's either haunted by ghosts from the past or someone in the present is trying to frighten her or both. There is quite a bit about the Victorian-era obsession with the collecting of natural specimens, bones and tattooing which is interesting though creepy.
I have to add that while writing thiese comments I came to the conclusion that I liked it more than I first thought I did and will probably amend my rating on goodreads from 3 stars to 4 star rating, here on LT I gave it 3.5.
Added to category #10: Down Under - New Zealand & Australian fiction


The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black (2013)
YA
I haven't read a vampire tale for a long while, and I really enjoyed this standalone read a lot. The strong female lead is great and the love interest is a fascinating mix of old world vampire, but one who has been abused in a power struggle. Anyway since the infection outbreak vampires, their victims and wannabe vamps are all ghettoised into Coldtowns across the country. You can enter a Coldtown but you can't leave. The live feeds, blogs etc show life as an endless party inside and there are lots of teens who would like nothing better than to become famous, even if it means having to embrace the life of the undead. Great setup for the story to unfold in.
Added to category #6: The young ones - YA and children's fiction

Like how similar the book covers are on my last two reads.


The Vanishing Moment by Margaret Wild (2013)
YA fiction
I saw this in the library e-catalog and had to read it as I've only known Wild through her wonderful children's picturebooks such as Fox, Woolvs in the Sitee , Our Granny, Let the celebrations begin, The pocket dogs etc etc
I enjoyed the storyline and the unsettling premise of choosing an alternate life if your own life is so unbearable. If she writes more YA I'll definitely pick it up.
From an online review: 'With a hat-tip to Jorge Luis Borges’ The Garden of Forking Paths, this book explores the possibility of alternate realities and the pitfalls of running from your problems. The Vanishing Moment is an eerie, mysterious novel for teenagers, richly textured with vivid, memorable scenes and cleverly painted details.'
Added to category #6: The young ones - YA and children's fiction

>48 DeltaQueen50: >49 MissWatson: >50 -Eva-: Thanks for visiting my thread. I need to visit more in this group, I seem to be stuck in the 75er group much of my time.
>50 -Eva-: Yes, John Lee is a great narrator, I love him for scifi too.

On a personal note, I've added some photos to my FB albums, mainly so my mother can see what we've been up to.
Tel Aviv: https://www.facebook.com/kaluf/media_set?set=a.10152813849093495.1073741830.6536...
Israel: https://www.facebook.com/kaluf/media_set?set=a.10152813603853495.1073741829.6536...

What great pictures, Kerry. Tel Aviv looks like a very modern, clean and beautiful city.

Lovely pics!! And the foooooood - YUM! I so miss wandering around Mahane Yehuda - so much interesting stuff to see! And Jerusalem has the prettiest YMCA in the word, I think. But I'll never do the tunnels in Akko again - I'm not hugely claustrophobic, but there were a couple of places where I really wanted out. :)

Foxglove Summer by Ben Aaronovich (2014)
Peter Grant #5

Really enjoyed this and still enthusiastic about the series. Book #6 The Hanging Tree is due out later this year.
If you haven't tried this series yet, you need to start with Rivers of London (Midnight Riot in the US).

Added to category #9: Comfort reads - lighter reading and continuing series

The Plot: The Secret Story of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion by Will Eisner (2005)
graphic novel
I didn't know about this GN until I saw it listed on TIOLI (monthly LT 75ers group challenge) and so requested it from the library. Now that I've finished I've also requested Eisner's Fagin the Jew. I've read lots of his graphic novels already.
Eisner wanted to give the world an accessible book to explain the history of this antisemetic publication and he worked on this project for several years. I think he succeeds, I found it an interesting read though I doubt that those who need to read this will do so. The artwork is superb.

'Eisner, 86, said, "I was amazed that there were people who still believed `The Protocols' were real...I decided something had to be done." He is fighting for justice in a bleak world, the way his most famous comic-book character, the Spirit, did in American newspapers throughout the 1940's. Enlisting the help of N. C. Christopher Couch, who teaches a course on graphic novels at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, the two began piecing together the facts, helped by a French comic-book fan, Benjamin Herzberg. Historians say "The Protocols," first published in 1903, were fabricated in Russia by the czar's secret police as a way of undermining a growing social reform movement. Jews figured prominently in this movement, and the police theorized that they could discredit it by making it appear to be a front for a sinister Jewish agenda.

Mathieu Golovinski, a propagandist, concocted the 24 fraudulent "protocols" or minutes, of an international meeting of Jewish bankers, journalists and financiers outlining a purported Jewish-Masonic plot to dominate world affairs. The forgery was revealed in 1921 when the Times of London published a series of articles demonstrating that the actual source for the text was a a French political satire published in 1864 by Maurice Joly, in which Machiavelli and Montesquieu discuss a plan for world domination by Napoleon III. In "The Plot," which is about 160 pages, Mr. Eisner reveals this fabrication through three different methods that draw on all phases of his 70-year career. In a short introduction he provides an account of how he came upon "The Protocols" and learned the truth behind them. ' from website: myjewishbooks.com
Educational link: The Resilience of Anti-Semitism: The Lies of The Protocols of The Elders of Zion: http://archive.adl.org/education/curriculum_connections/the-protocols/


Although the Protocols has been known to be a complete fabrication it continues to be published in many languages and is a best seller in many Arab countries.
Oct 2014: 'Several publishers from Arab countries displayed books featuring anti-Semitic content, Holocaust denial, and terror glorification, at the Frankfurt Book Fair last week, an annual report from the Simon Weisenthal Center said. The worst offenders were Qatar, a Palestinian publisher, Egypt, and Iran, the report indicated, with examples including children’s books condoning jihad, a text honoring child murderer Sami Kuntar, and an adaptation of “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. The Nablus-based Palestinian Bait Almaqdes Centre featured its texts at a Kuwaiti stand, including the volumes “Jewish Terms: Beware of them!” and “The Zionist Deception Dictionary,” the latter an adaptation of “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.” The “Jewish Terms: Beware of them!” book, authored by Issa Qaddoumi, recommends the term “Islamic East” in place of “Middle East,” “surrendering” instead of “normalization,” “Jews” instead of “Israelis,” and “The Myth of Nazi Crematory” rather than “Holocaust.”' http://www.timesofisrael.com/anti-semitic-books-displayed-at-frankfurt-book-fair...

Added to category #14: Images - photography, graphic novels, illustrated and picturebooks

Saga vol 1 by Brian K. Vaughan illustrated by Fiona Staples (2012)
scifi fantasy graphic novel
Saw a lot of LTers reading and recommending this series earlier this year so had to have a read. Liked it a lot.


Added to category #14: Images - photography, graphic novels, illustrated and picturebooks

El Deafo by Cece Bell (2014)
children's graphic novel
This was a Newbery Honour Book and is a quite delightful memoir about Bell's childhood. Being deaf and having to wear an outsized but powerful Phonic Ear in the classroom was an oversized problem for Bell, who just wanted to have a real friend and fit in. Very well done, I love the illustrations.

Added to category #14: Images - photography, graphic novels, illustrated and picturebooks

Hostage three by Nick Lake (2013)
YA
I really enjoyed Lake's In darkness which was based on the 2010 Haitian earthquake. This one is about a luxury yacht being taken captive by Somali pirates and was probably not quite as good. First I've read too many novels lately incorporating 'flashback' in order to give some back story to the main character so while it's unfair to judge this novel by that, I was raising my eyebrows and thinking 'not again'. Overall a YA version of Captain Philips' A Captain's Duty: Somali pirates, Navy SEALs and dangerous days at sea with the inevitable teen romance thing almost taking off, though Lake manages to keep it almost within the realms of possibility. I liked it especially as Lake has managed to give a little story to the pirate side of things.
_
I recommend the film, Captain Phillips, if you haven't already seen it.

Added to category #6: The young ones - YA and children's fiction

Garlic, Mint & Sweet Basil: Essays on Marseilles, The Mediterranean, and Noir Fiction by Jean-Claude Izzo (2013)
nonfiction
I wasn't that taken with this collection of sketches of Izzo's home city of Marseilles, thankfully it was a quick read of only 104pgs. The language is evocative but too vague for me at this time. I enjoyed the brief glimpse of Fabio Montale, hero of his Marseilles trilogy, that he gives in the last pages. The book is divided into three parts 1) the Mediterranean 2) Marseilles 3) Fabio Montale
Another Europa Edition read

Added to category #8: Fact - nonfiction general, hopefully some travel literature

The house of strife by Maurice Shadbolt (1993)
fiction
This is the third book in the New Zealand Wars trilogy, though in the omnibus edition I'm reading from the book is considered #1 as the action predates the other two books. Anyway they are all considered to be standalone reads. I wanted to read it first as we had a week in the Bay of Islands last year where the book is set and had visited some of the sites mentioned in the text.
Successful writer Ferdinand Wildblood is forced to flee the UK when his plagiarising is about to be uncovered. He's taken a badly written memoir from New Zealand and turned it into a series of adventurous South Seas yarns (under the name of Henry Youngman) for his publishers over the past few years. He flees on the first ship to New Zealand and arrives just as the 1845 adventures of John Heke, Maori rebel, Christian and fan of aforesaid swashbuckling books are about to unleash mayhem on the northern tip of the country (the Flagstaff Wars).
I thoroughly enjoyed this, a sort of irreverent look at the ineptitude of the British army commanders and their complete misreading of Maori military tactics, the local geography and weather. While not a fan of Mr Wildblood, I appreciated that he enabled us to see the strife from both sides of the conflict and I loved the framing of the whole adventure in the publishing world of the times. Now I need to check out and refresh my memory of the actual history around these times.
I'm intending to read the next 2 books later this year.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flagstaff_War

Added to category #10: Down Under - New Zealand & Australian fiction

Sam Zabel And The Magic Pen by Dylan Horrocks (2014)
graphic novel, new zealand

Horrock's first graphic novel since his outstanding 1998 Hicksville, not that he hasn't been busy doing other stuff such as Batgirl for DC comics. Last year I tried his Incomplete Works GN which had come out earlier in the year, a collection of his short works, but at the time it just didn't appeal.
This one is great, sort of autobiographical but then veering into fantasy. A cartoonist is fighting depression, causing writer's block or vice versa and when he buys a vintage comic ends up inside the world of the comic where he meets a cute Japanese girl who seems to have mastered the travel between the worlds of the comics drawn by a magic pen. Throughout the GN our hero explores the morality of fantasy and comics and whether artists have a responsibility to their readers. I saw this expressed best in a review by a GR friend:
'It's a strange and often lurid story- seeing a space-alien orgy drawn in the style of Herge really quite something- but there's a moral heart to the story, one put forward in such a heavy handed manner that it's impossible to miss. It's a story about the responsibilities of art, about asking whether fantasy should be held accountable for its influence on culture, and especially whether certain sexual fantasies influence violence in real life.'
There's also a feminist young woman who tells our cartoonist: "Look- I'm a geek, but I'm also a girl. Fantasy is what I live for. But most of the imaginary worlds I spend my time in were made up by men- often with some pretty icky ideas about women...
I've learned to take those imaginary worlds and make them my own- subverting them to serve my fantasies- not theirs."

So a great little story plus gives you something to think about.
NB: some erotic content.
_


Horrock's blog: http://hicksvillecomics.com/
Adrian Kinnaird's New Zealand comics site: http://fromearthsend.blogspot.co.nz/

Added to category #14: Images - photography, graphic novels, illustrated and picturebooks

37) Fagin the Jew by Will Eisner (2003)
graphic novel
Very good imagining of the back story to Dicken's Fagin. I'm slowly getting through all of Eisner's work, did a big chunk a few years back and this one called to me after reading his Protocols book a week or so ago. The introduction gives you the reasons for Eisner deciding to 'challenge' the antisemitic treatment of Fagin by Dickens in Oliver Twist's story. He had a character called Ebony in his early Spirit comics and he felt bad about the stereotyping of the character later on. The appendix gives you some of Eisner's thoughts on Fagin and the Jewish community in London around these times, as well as examples of illustrations of Jews from this period. I found this interesting but even more interesting was the afterword by Jeet Heer - a short quote - ' what makes Fagin the Jew such a rich work, one that rewards many readings, is that Eisner manages the complex task of arguing with Dickens while also paying homage to the great novelist. In humanising Fagin, Eisner strikes a blow against anti-Semitism, but he also does it in a way that the creator of Fagin would surely have understood and admired.'
Now I must read more Dickens too.


Added to category #14: Images - photography, graphic novels, illustrated and picturebooks

Wake by Elizabeth Knox (2013)
fiction, new zealand
I've been wanting to read this since it came out and kept putting it to one side so the March ANZAC challenge was timely. Don't want to say too much about the plot as it's best going into this one not knowing too much. I'd describe it as light horror. Great read, Knox is a great storyteller.

Added to category #10: Down Under - New Zealand & Australian fiction

Through the woods by Emily Carroll (2014)
graphic novel
Loved this set of gothic-style horror tales, not totally scary more entertaining scary. The stand out is the illustrations, really impressive use of the colour red and white on black as well the gorgeous glossy paper. I love how the last story, The Nesting place, wraps up. I got it from the library and my daughter grabbed it and read it straight through and bugged me till I read it as well. We're getting our own copy.

see more images and a review here: http://comicsalliance.com/emily-carroll-through-the-woods-review/

Added to category #14: Images - photography, graphic novels, illustrated and picturebooks

The Chimes by Anna Smaill (2015)
fiction, new zealand
I found this debut novel a rewarding though complex read, one with echoes of other dystopian novels but maintaining its own unique edge. Smaill is a poet and an accomplished musician and both these qualities have been put to use in this novel. The language is eloquent, though I found I had to always read slowly and my pace remained ploddingly slow right through to the last pages. She laces the prose with musical terms, people move lento, or jump presto, quite fun if you know the musical terms. Her dystopian story is also based on music, the people have come under the control of the Order who rule through The Chimes, a daily musical ritual that cause amnesia. Writing is banned and music is now the main form of communication, directions given in song, market traders sing their wares etc etc. Most of the book is set in an alternate London.
'Is there solfege for the word of what I feel? There are hand movements for harmony, accord, consonance. Could it be told in music by the longing in a scale? The urge of the seventh to rise to its octave, the fourth to its dominant? I think of an urgent minor key, of dissonance resolving into sweetness, but it doesn’t really get close to the feeling. Those things are in it, but it is more complicated, less ordered, harder to understand.'

Added to category #10: Down Under - New Zealand & Australian fiction

The Scar by China Miéville (2000)
weird scifi/audio
(New Crobuzon #2)
I really enjoyed Perdido Station but have to say that I did not find much joy in this one. Miéville 's world-building is impressive but this book was populated with too many monsters and human-hybrids and the ugliness of them all was a turn off for me. I'm going back to Peter F Hamilton and Iain Banks.

Added to category #7: Challenging - shared reads, theme reads, group reads, CATs etc, shortlists, long lists etc etc


Henni by Miss Lasko-Gross (2015)
graphic novel
Quite an impressive little number. 'A bold fairytale championing the spirit of the individual'. Henni questions the rigid rules of her community and when she leaves, finds the next community to have rules that are even more rigid. After a few pages you get used to Henni as a cat-human creature.

Added to category #14: Images - photography, graphic novels, illustrated and picturebooks


43) Beautiful Darkness by Fabien Vehlmann (2014)
graphic novel
This is one that lives up to its title, luscious beautiful illustrations hiding a dark dark tale.
More here: http://nerdist.com/exclusive-fabien-vehlmann-kerascoet-beautiful-darkness-previe...
'Beautiful Darkness is a harrowing look at the human psyche and the darkness that hides behind the routine politeness and meaningless kindness of civilized society. The sweet faces and bright leaves of Kerascoet’s joyful watercolors only serve to highlight the evil which dwells beneath, as characters allow their pettiness, greed, and jealousy to take over. Beautiful Darkness presents a bleak allegory on the human condition; Kerascoet and Vehlman’s work is a searing condemnation of our vast capacity for evil writ tiny. '

Added to category #14: Images - photography, graphic novels, illustrated and picturebooks

_
Chico & Rita by Javier Mariscal (2010)
graphic novel & movie
Based on the true story of Grammy Award–winning Cuban pianist and bandleader Bebo Valdes.
The graphic novel was based on the animated film and while I began reading the GN first, I switched to watching the movie as I could see that music plays a big role in the story. After I went back and skimmed through the rest of the book. This evokes the 1940s 1950s era of Havana just before the revolution, my recommendation is to go with the movie.
From wikipedia: Director Fernando Trueba met designer and artist Javier Mariscal ten years ago when he asked him to create a poster for his Latin jazz documentary Calle 54. So began a collaboration that saw Mariscal design all the artwork for Trueba's Calle 54 Records, make animated pop promos for the label, and together create a jazz-music restaurant in Madrid. Chico & Rita would be Javier Mariscal’s first animated feature film as designer. The idea to make an animated feature film emerged from one of those pop promos, La Negra Tomasa by Cuban musician Compay Segundo.

Mariscal's younger brother Tono Errando, with a background in music, film and animation, leads the audio-visual side of the multi-disciplinary creative company, and was chosen to collaborate with Trueba and Mariscal. From the beginning, all three men were excited by the idea of making a film set against the Havana music scene in the late-40s and 50s. "That age is beautiful in design and architecture, so visually it belongs very much to Mariscal's world," says Errando.

"And in music it's a moment that's fantastic: it's the moment where Cuban musicians go to New York and join the Anglo Saxon jazz musicians. This fusion changed the music at that time."

Added to category #14: Images - photography, graphic novels, illustrated and picturebooks

Pretty Monsters: stories by Kelly Link (2008)
fantasy
Finally read this long term resident of my tbr pile and delighted in every story. I had come across one story before in an anthology. If you haven't already read one of her collections and you like urban fantasy then I recommend you give her a try.

Added to category #6: The young ones - YA and children's fiction

There once lived a mother who loved her children until they moved back in: three novellas about family by Lyudmila Petrushevskaya (2014)
short stories
I really love reading Petrushevskaya's work and this is another little dark gem. She gives us a glimpse into life in the Soviet capital during the years of brutal repression. The first story, 'The Time is Night', is the longest and fairly unrelentingly grim read about a mother, an unemployed poet, dealing with her adult children, their partners and offspring, stealing her food, taking over the rooms in her apartment, looting her money, her possessions. The second story is 'Chocolates with Liqueur' is black humour at its darkest, a mother tries to survive marriage to a brutal unstable man. The last very short story, 'Among Friends' has a decidedly bright ending, a dying mother ensures the future of her young son by a simple trick.

Added to category #4: Favourite Writers - continuing to read them and hopefully completing the ouevre

Breath by Tim Winton (2008)
fiction / audiobook
Raced through this one fairly fast, it's a breezy listen. It's my first book by Australian writer Tim Winton and I picked it out right now as he'll be one of the guests at the Auckland Readers and Writers Festival in May. I read a review after I finished over on the ANZLitLovers blog, where the consensus seems to be that Winton just writes the same novel over and over and you either love it or get tired of it. But for me as a first time reader I found quite a bit to like with its endless descriptions of surfing adventures that reminded me of the film Big Wednesday. The book is basically a coming of age novel where two young teen boys are 'mentored' in surfing by an older ex-pro surfer who takes them on extreme surfing adventures that they should not at all be doing. I didn't like the sex in the book, I'm not a prude just don't want to read about erotic asphyxiation.
A good review from a first time reader of Winton is here, note that Lisa from ANZLitLovers gives this link in the comments to her own review: https://roughghosts.wordpress.com/2014/09/27/inhale-deeply-reflections-on-breath...

Added to category #10: Down Under - New Zealand & Australian fiction

Yentl the Yeshiva Boy by Isaac Bashevis SInger (1962)
novella
My ex-library edition has this beautiful cover showing the crown of a 17th century Torah Scroll and woodcut prints by Antonio Frasconi throughout the short story. I saw the Barbara Streisand film years ago and keep meaning to watch it again (did he sing in it?), just like I've kept intending to pick up this book and read it. Well known plot about a young woman who poses as a man and goes to study in a yeshiva in the Polish countryside. Well worth reading.

Added to category #16: Dropbox - extra category for books that don't fit

Heartsinger by Karlijn Stoffels (2006 Dutch)
YA fantasy
The cover does not reflect the story inside I have to say. Looking at the cover one imagines a teen angst type story, but one gets an imaginative little folktale. Two children born on the same day are destined to come together in order to save a young princess from herself. One child has taught herself to love life and be happy no matter what, the other uses sadness in song to bring out the beauty of a lost life. I enjoyed this.

Added to category #6: The young ones - YA and children's fiction

The Crossover by Kwame Alexander (2014)
YA fiction
This verse novel won the Newbery Award earlier this year among other awards and was a deserving winner. A great story about twins who play basketball. Their father was a star player who retired just as he hit the big time. The book is narrated by the quieter twin, Josh 'Filthy McNasty' Bell and the story covers the period leading up to a championship playoff. There's a girl, the game, their father's reluctance to own up to health problems and a mother who's also the assistant principal at their school.
At times I felt the twins were much older than they actually are, I think they are meant to be about 12 years old.

Added to category #6: The young ones - YA and children's fiction

King Matt the First by Janusz Korczak (1923 Polish)
children's fiction
I have a biography of Janusz Korczak, The King of Children: The Life and Death of Janusz Korczak by Betty Lifton that I picked up amongst other Holocaust books. I didn't realise that he was the author of this classic children's book, it was my husband who mentioned the book when we were watching the Dutch film Koning van Katoren based on How to become king by Jan Terlouw. Korczak's other book Kaytek the wizard is another precursor to Harry Potter and I was lucky that my library acquired a few copies on my recent request to purchase so I will be reading that in a couple of days.
From wikipedia: 'Janusz Korczak, the pen name of Henryk Goldszmit (22 July 1878 or 1879 – August 7, 19422), was a Polish-Jewish educator, children's author, and pediatrician known as Pan Doktor ("Mr. Doctor") or Stary Doktor ("Old Doctor"). After spending many years working as director of an orphanage in Warsaw, he refused freedom and stayed with his orphans when the institution was sent from the Ghetto to the Treblinka extermination camp, during the Grossaktion Warsaw of 1942.
As of late 2011, The Polish Book Institute have embarked on an initiative to publish or re-publish many of Korczak's books, both in Polish and in other languages'
http://www.timesofisrael.com/court-confirms-janusz-korczak-was-killed-in-treblin...

Matt becomes king when he is only 12 years old and left an orphan on the death of his father. He starts out by making mistakes such as agreeing with his ministers about going to war, but then decides to take control of his kingdom and institute reforms such as introducing a more democratic type of rule. He also wants to be known as the King of Children and creates a parliament for the children as well as one for grown-ups, a massive zoo and holiday camps. However it all descends into chaos that neighbouring kings take advantage of. Fascinating, fun introduction into politics, social reform and how giving everyone a voice doesn't always work, especially when there are agents at work to weaken your rule.
The book was written around the time of great change in Poland and reflects that. There's a sequel but not widely available in English.

Added to category #6: The young ones - YA and children's fiction

Blankets by Craig Thompson (2003)
graphic memoir
Much already said on LT about how great this coming of age memoir is and I heartily endorse. First love perfectly captured here along with vivid boyhood memories of growing up in rural Wisconsin. I've already read his Habibi so have requested Carnet de Voyage which is a travelogue of his research trip for Habibi.


Added to category #14: Images - photography, graphic novels, illustrated and picturebooks

_
Catch the Jew by Tuvia Tenenbom (2015)
nonfiction
The cover is pretty corny especially considering the more normal cover on the Hebrew edition. This is Tenenbom's summary of about seven months he spent in Israel/Palestine going 'undercover' as Tobi the gentile German journalist. Tenenbom is Israeli-born but speaks fluent German and Arabic as well as English and Hebrew. He's been based in the US for many years and founded a theatre so has acting credentials as well as journalistic ones. So he puts all this to good use by posing as a German journalist out to interview everyone and anyone he can. This process means he actually does uncover some interesting stuff, it also means he hasn't got the space to do any of it any justice or do in depth, but overall if you can put aside his terrible humour, sexist talk, well, it leaves you wondering as there is quite a lot of content in the 460pgs, he meets a lot of people, follows up...
...he travels alongside several peace activists who come to Israel to support the Palestinian cause, he finds a whole industry of American, European and Israeli NGOs (non-governmental organisations, over 300 pro-Palestinian and 1 pro Israel that is internally funded) set up to cater to their needs. He finds that most activists come and never speak to an actual ordinary Israeli, they're not interested. He fronts up to lots of these organisations and talks to the staff, the volunteers etc, he meets and spends several days in the company of Palestinian politician, Jibril Rajoub.
He meets Palestinian Arabs, Israeli Arabs, Bedouin, Druse and Christians both Arab and European/American evangelicals, leftist Haaretz journalists in Tel Aviv, filmmakers, writers, MKs (Members of Knesset), rabbis, settlers and ordinary Israelis and because of his 'act' finds many talking openly about themselves and their organisations. He hides the fact that he understands Arabic most of the time and Hebrew some of the time.
From the WSJ review: 'The effects of foreign money—particularly European—in little Israel is another major theme of “Catch the Jew!” Following some interesting leads, Mr. Tenenbom discovers how “human rights” and foreign-funded “cultural” organizations in Israel are more often than not mere vehicles to attack the Jewish state. A director of one foreign-funded Israeli cultural NGO, the New Fund for Cinema and TV, estimates that 80% of political documentaries made in Israel are co-produced by Europeans. A documentary called “10%—What Makes a Hero,” which equates the Israel Defense Forces with the Nazis, was funded by Germany and Switzerland and produced by a Jewish Israeli. No contemporary German would dare make this movie him- or herself, says Mr. Tenenbom, but German-sponsored NGOs apparently have no objections to paying left-wing Israelis to make such movies themselves.' http://www.wsj.com/articles/book-review-catch-a-jew-by-tuvia-tenenbom-1427929898

He finishes with a final chapter about the ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross) and how they have more power possibly than most of the other NGOs put together, yet they are an unelected, undemocratic organisation that only accepts Swiss citizens to its board of directors.
https://www.icrc.org/en/where-we-work/middle-east/israel-and-occupied-territorie...

Plenty of food for thought here about the massive investment by Europeans and the US to undermine Israel's ability to govern democratically, though other books and articles are necessary to delve further into what Tenenbom uncovers. A good place to start is NGO Monitor.

I noticed this reluctance of pro-Palestinian activists to mix with ordinary Israelis in the graphic novel Jerusalem: Chronicles from the Holy City by Guy Delisle. DeLisle and his wife go out of their way not to shop in Jewish neighbourhoods and live with other NGO activists in Arab areas when his wife was working for Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) or Doctors Without Borders.

Added to category #8: Fact - nonfiction general, hopefully some travel literature

I also liked El Deafo very much. I loved how she turned her Phonic Ear into a superpower. And the part about her crush was so adorable (and very, very easy to relate to).

Good to see more praise being heaped on Saga. I really need to get to that soon. Also glad you enjoyed Foxglove Summer but shame that The Scar didn't meet with expectations for you. Lots of other good reading too by the looks of things.

Taking BBs galore, as usual... :)

>57 avatiakh:
And the series keeps getting better too.

>70 avatiakh:
That's a great title!

>77 avatiakh:
I can't believe those covers are for the same book.

You've been reading some very interesting books!

Scalped: Indian Country Vol 1 by Jason Aaron
graphic novel
This came highly recommended by -Eva- but I just didn't find the same love for it. Set on an Indian Reservation, it's set around the imminent opening of a casino on the reservation with flashbacks to an unsolved murder of 2 FBI agents from 10 years earlier. A bit too much violence and poor quality paper, I had to push myself to get through this one.

one of the better images


To the heart of the storm by Will Eisner (1991)
graphic memoir
Eisner tells the story of his childhood, including flashbacks to his parents' early lives. He frames it round a train trip he takes after enlisting for World War 2 in 1942, the train takes him through NYC neighbourhoods where he has lived his life as he travels to army camp. The cover image is also the last illustration in the book.


Added to category #14: Images - photography, graphic novels, illustrated and picturebooks

>78 rabbitprincess: >79 AHS-Wolfy: >80 -Eva-: >81 hailelib: My apologies for neglecting this thread and your comments. I'm going to update my current reading tonight and then hope to visit dome threads in this group. I've been a slack commenter so far this year.

>78 rabbitprincess: Good to see another fan of El Deafo
>79 AHS-Wolfy: I've read all four vols of Saga now and quite enjoyed it
>80 -Eva-: Hi, BBs are good
>81 hailelib: Thanks, I must visit your thread.

Reasons to stay alive by Matt Haig (2015)
memoir
A brave book about surviving depression, suicidal thoughts and anxiety. Haig is a great writer and talks here about his personal battle, surviving the black black depression he woke to 15 years ago at the age of 24 while living on one of the most beautiful spots in the Mediterranean. It is full of hope, love and raw honesty.
His recovery included a lot of reading (he has a MA in Literature & History) before he went on to have his first novel published and he lists some of the books that 'helped' him, some were rereads from his university study -
The Power and the glory by Graham Greene
Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino
The Outsiders by S E Hinton - one of his favourite childhood reads
The Stranger by Albert Camus
The Concise Collins Dictionary of Quotations
Letters of Keats
Oranges are not the only fruit by Jeanette Winterson
Vox by Nicholson Baker
Money by Martin Amis -
The Diary of Samuel Pepys
The Catcher in the Rye by J D Salinger
The Penguin Book of First World War Poetry
A history of the world in ten and a half chapters by Julian Barnes
Wilderness Tips by Margaret Atwood
Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys

There's also a further reading list at the back of the book:
Bad Pharma: How Drug Companies Mislead Doctors and Harm Patients by Ben Goldacre
Darkness Visible: a memoir of madness by William Styron
The Depths: the evolutionary origins of the depression epidemic by Jonathan Rottenberg
Madness and Civilisation ny Michel Foucault
The Man who couldn't stop: OCD and the true story of a life lost in thought by David Adam
Making friends with anxiety: a warm, supportive little book to ease worry and panic by Sarah Rayner
Mindfulness: a practical guide to finding peace in a frantic world by Prof. Mark Williams & Dr Danny Penman
The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression by Andrew Solomon
Sane New World: Taming the Mind by Ruby Wax
Why zebras don't get ulcers: A Guide to Stress, Stress-Related Diseases, and Coping by Robert M. Sapolsky

Book promo - 5 reasons to stay alive: https://youtu.be/qYV7pS9jULs

Added to category #8: Fact - nonfiction general, hopefully some travel literature

Currently watching in April:

Sherlock the miniseries - already seen a few but starting from the beginning again

Watched:

The year my parents went on vacation (2006)
Wikpediai: The story takes place entirely during a few months in 1970, in the city of São Paulo. Mauro, a 12-year-old boy, is suddenly deprived of the company of his young parents, Bia and Daniel Stein, who are political activists on the run from the harsh military government, which was strongly repressing leftists all over the country. Against this backdrop of fear and political persecution, the country is at the same time bursting with enthusiasm for the coming World Cup, to be held in Mexico, the first one to be transmitted live via satellite.

The Martian by Andy Weir (2014)
sci fi
Enjoyed it, though it felt like reading a movie. I wasn't drawn at all to the main character or anyone else in the book, there was also a lot of technical data that could have been condensed somewhat. The plot lurches from one misfortune to the next, and unfolds in your mind as a spectacular movie.

Added to category #11: Shiny New - new writers and/or new books


Shadow on the mountain by Margi Preus (2012)
YA fiction
Based loosely on a real hero of the Norwegian underground during WW2. Espen is 14 when the Nazis invade Norway and he soon finds himself running increasingly more daring tasks for the resistance. He lives in Lillehammer, the headquarters of the Nazis. Preus grew up listening to her father's stories of life in Norway under the Nazi occupation.
You can read about real life hero, Erling Storrusten, at www.wwiinorge.com

Added to category #6: The young ones - YA and children's fiction

Dear Thief by Samantha Harvey (2014)
fiction, audiobook
I decided to read this novel after reading a recent Telegraph article, 'Why great novels don’t get noticed now' which is talked about here: http://www.thepassivevoice.com/03/2015/why-great-novels-dont-get-noticed-now/ or http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/booknews/11470185/Why-great-novels-dont...
The book has made the Bailey Prize longlist and the Folio Prize shortlist, but its US publisher went under and so the book disappeared in the US.
I liked the idea of a novel just being a long letter by a wife to the woman, an ex-friend, who stole her husband twenty or so years earlier. The writing can't be faulted, murky memories abound here, suppositions and long delayed fury let loose on paper. It is a great novel though not one that especially appeals to me as I'm not so interested in books that focus solely on relationships.
'Dear Thief is based on Leonard Cohen’s “Famous Blue Raincoat,” and centers around the complexities of a female friendship and a love triangle.' http://nhpr.org/post/best-overlooked-books-2014

Added to category #11: Shiny New - new writers and/or new books


Kaytek the wizard by Janusz Korczak (1933 Polish) (2012 Eng)
children's fiction
This is the first book to be re-translated and published by The Polish Book Institute which has the rights to all of Korczak's work. I wrote about Korczak back in post #75.
One has to remember while reading this that it was written in 1920s Poland and reflects some of the concerns of the times, yet this story is also quite timeless. Kaytek is a typical school boy and when he discovers his powers he uses them impulsively and mischievously, creating chaos first in his school and then in downtown Warsaw. So much disruption that the League of Nations meets in Switzerland to discuss the troubles of Poland. Kaytek is forced to leave Warsaw and travels to Paris and on to the USA as he tries to come to terms with himself, his power and those now in pursuit. Overall a delightful read.

Janusz Korczak Memorial at Yad Vashem
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janusz_Korczak

Added to category #6: The young ones - YA and children's fiction

I Can’t Imagine How That Happened by Aimee McNaughton (2014)
picturebook, new zealand
A young girl and her Grandpa are on a camping trip at a beach. They both play small pranks on each other and then say 'I can't imagine how that happened' but the last prank is played on both of them in a very satisfying ending, unique to NZ.
The manuscript won the Joy Cowley Award in 2013.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/bay-of-plenty-times/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503343&...


Alphabet Squabble by Isaac Drought (2013)
picturebook, new zealand
This is a fun story and introduces the topic of prejudice in a safe manner. X, Y & Z are the least popular letters and the other letters think that maybe they should leave the town where they live. It's up to X, Y & Z to prove their mettle by bringing 5 words each to the next meeting to show their worth. Little small case 'x' brings along 'xenophobia' which causes a rethink. It's cute because while 'z' can have 'zoo' & 'zebra', the other letters have already taken, 'elephant', 'monkey', 'tiger' etc etc. The illustrations are by Jenny Cooper a renown Christchurch illustrator.
The manuscript won the Joy Cowley Award in 2012.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/taranaki-daily-news/news/midweek/9004100/Test-driving-sto...


Wolfie the bunny by Ame Dyckman (2015)
picturebook
Adorable. Baby Wolfie is left in a basket on the doorstep of the Bunny family and is taken in. Only Dot the little bunny seems to be aware that this could all end badly.


The day the crayons quit by Drew Daywalt (2013)
picturebook
With illustrations by Oliver Jeffers this book can do no wrong. A young boy finds that his crayons are on strike, each colour leaves a letter to the boy telling him the reason why. Fun.
_


The Rabbi and the Twenty-nine Witches by Marilyn Hirsh (1976)
picturebook
Cute Talmudic folktale about how the rabbi solves the problem of 29 witches bothering the villagers each full moon

Look me in the eye by John Elder Robison (2007)
memoir / audio
Unfortunately I had to listen to an abridged audio of this book. I went ahead as I already had the cds from the library and I was mainly listening to it for Autism April and I'd already read his brother's memoir, Running with Scissors. I loved the part where Robison describes working for rock groups including Pink Floyd and Kiss and his helping Ace with the special effects for his smoking guitars.

Added to category #8: Fact - nonfiction general, hopefully some travel literature


Fairest by Marissa Meyer (2015)
YA fantasy
This is an in-between short book in the Lunar Chronicles series, explaining the back story to Queen Levana who is the villain of the series, it also explains a little about the births of two other characters. Overall it is not a necessary read and doesn't propel the main story forward at all.

Added to category #6: The young ones - YA and children's fiction

63) Saga Vol 2 by Brian K. Vaughan
graphic novel
Continues the storyline very well. I'm enjoying this but also don't feel compelled to keep reading. I love the illustrations though a few minor characters are rather grotesque.

Added to category #14: Images - photography, graphic novels, illustrated and picturebooks

_
I've become a fan of Orphan Black. I watched a couple of episodes of season 1 last year and got a little confused by it all and decided a couple of weeks ago to finish the season which I ended up enjoying a lot, especially the acting performance by Tatiana Maslany who plays several versions of herself exceedingly well. I ordered season 2 from the library and watched all of that over the weekend and then sneaked a look at the first episode of season 3. I'm hooked, though the plot can be a little over the top at times.

Also finally watched the second season of 'The Bridge', a Swedish Danish co-production which features a Swedish detective, Saga Norén, who has aspergers syndrome, and her partner, Danish detective, Martin Rohde, who has to deal with Saga's unusual personality. They come together again to deal with another investigation which involves a second incident on the bridge that links Copenhagen in Denmark with Malmö in Sweden. Really good stuff.

___
I also watched in the past few weeks the 3 seasons of Sherlock which was pretty good. We've also started The Village which is like Downtown Abbey but less highbrow.

The Camp of Saints by Jean Raspail (1973)
fiction
I enjoyed Raspail's The People a few years ago and have wanted to read more by him. This apocalyptic novel is quite different, probably best viewed as satire as some of the content is controversial, racist and not PC. For all that it is interesting to read a book where the writer decides to buck a trend and be antagonistic in this way.
The plot centres on a flotilla of ships, packed to the brim with its third world cargo; poor, uneducated, diseased and brown, the people of the Ganges, a million of them floating towards the Western World. Which country will they land in? What reception will they receive? Can they be given aid as the voyage progresses?
Raspail writes of the liberal left, the activists, the church, the immigrants already in the West and how they begin to respond as it becomes clear that the flotilla will be landing in the French Riviera. The mass of people on the flotilla come to see themselves as a weapon against the West, they are not coming to assimilate, to give thanks, they are coming to grab material advantage. Western society begins to fragment as the fallout from the approaching flotilla causes an uprising of the immigrant masses against the establishment and with army personnel, prison officers, church leaders embracing their leftist ideals but being lost in the masses of third world people coming to overrun the West. As the flotilla approaches, there are similar actions now waiting - the Chinese poor massing on the border to Russia, Indonesian & Filipinos ready to board their own flotillas to Australia & New Zealand, Africans ready to cross the Limpopo to (apartheid) South Africa. Immigrants and oppressed marching on London and New York.
Raspail divides his groups into white and coloured, leftists and conservatives, a little too un-PC but also is what gives the novel its impact. The book begins and ends in The Village, just a couple of miles from the coast where the flotilla makes landfall.
I found this hard to read at times, there are lots of comical incidents but also fairly ugly scenes regarding the flotilla and Western women don't have it easy in the end (where I write Western, you could also possibly just write 'white')....
...but with the current debates across the Western World about illegal immigration, economic migrants, refugees including Australia's asylum seeker policy, the US and their seemingly open border with Central America and now the European problem with illegal immigration by boat from Africa, tied in with this weekend's controversial article by Katie Hopkin in the UK Sun newspaper - well seemed like a good time to read this.
http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/2015/04/shes-wrong-but-katie-hopkins-ha...

From wikipedia: The novel depicts a hypothetical setting whereby Third World mass immigration to France and the West leads to the destruction of Western civilization. Almost forty years after publication the book returned to the bestseller list in 2011
From NR: The theme of the book is based on a moral quandary: What steps will a liberal society take to preserve its way of life? Is liberal society too humane and compassionate to protect itself from those who would undermine and destroy it?
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/380211/camp-saints-2014-style-mackubin-tho...
'Raspail makes it clear that this horde has no desire to assimilate into French culture. Instead, they seek the plentiful material goods that Europeans have produced and Indians have not. In Raspail’s telling, the confidence of the West — which was once called Christendom — has been undermined by multiculturalism and the like. Accordingly, hardly anyone is willing to say that this flotilla must be stopped. Instead, liberals and Christians foolishly embrace the idea that the onslaught of migrants should be welcomed into the wealth and comfort of Europe. Indeed, the French military is directed to attack those who seek to resist the horde.
The book is full of historical allusions. The title of the novel comes from the Book of Revelation. A character who opposes the armada — portrayed in the French press as a villain — bears the name of the last Byzantine emperor. Raspail was ahead of his time in demonstrating that Western civilization had lost its sense of purpose and history — its “exceptionalism.” If the loss of self-confidence on the part of Western liberal society was apparent in 1973, it is much more so today. The pious nonsense spouted in the novel by apologists for the overwhelming onslaught against France merely adumbrates what has become mainstream today.
Of course, Raspail was denounced as a racist, and his emphasis on the white race can indeed be off-putting. But the central issue of the novel is not race but culture and political principles. The United States has always welcomed immigrants, but until recently, it has expected them to assimilate — in other words, to become “Americans.” The traditional focus of American society has been the individual. Instead, multiculturalism has spawned a balkanized society of resentful members of various groups that seek favors for themselves, often at the expense of other groups — identity politics at its worst.'

Added to category #5: Shocked that I still haven't read this

The Devil's Star by Jo Nesbø (2003)
crime
Harry Hole #5. I really enjoyed this Harry Hole thriller where Hole is forced to work alongside his adversary, Tom Waaler. I'll probably read his earlier one next, Cockroaches, I think this was one that was translated later as it's set in Bangkok and doesn't have the main storyline that began with #3.

Added to category #9: Comfort reads - lighter reading and continuing series

Financing the Flames: How Tax-Exempt and Public Money Fuel a Culture of Confrontation and Terror in Israel by Edwin Black (2013)
nonfiction
This was a good followup to Catch the Jew which I read earlier this month. Black has done a fastidious investigation into charity organisations, human rights organisations and how they take American taxpayers money to Israel to work on confronting and destabilising the chances for peace. Also a good chapter on how the Palestinian Authority prioritises salary payments to prisoners in Israeli jails, making it worthwhile to be a terrorist as you and your family get a better than living wage, paid for by Western governments. I was 67% through my kindle read when the book finished, the rest were pages and pages of notes, references, bibliographies, weblinks, lists of interviews, organisations etc etc. Everything he writes about has been documented somewhere, very thorough.
From Amazon: pulls the cover off the robust use of US tax-exempt, tax-subsidized, and public monies to foment agitation, systematically destabilize the Israel Defense Forces, and finance terrorists in Israel. In a far-flung investigation in the United States, Israel and the West Bank, human-rights investigative reporter Edwin Black documents that it is actually the highly politicized human rights organizations and NGOs themselves—all American taxpayer supported—which are financing the flames that make peace in Israel difficult if not impossible. In addition to documenting questionable 501(c)(3) activity, Black documents the direct relationship between taxpayer assistance to the Palestinian Authority and individuals engaged in terrorism against civilians.
'These are the best salaries in the Palestinian territories. The Arabic word ratib, meaning "salary", is the official term for this compensation. The law ensures the greatest financial reward for the most egregious acts of terrorism....About 6% of the Palestinian budget is diverted to prisoner salaries. All this money comes from so-called "donor countries" such as the United States, Great Britain, Norway, and Denmark. Palestinian officials have reacted with defiance to any foreign governmental effort to end the salaries.'

Here's an article he wrote in the Guardian when the book first came out: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/nov/11/british-american-aid-subsid...
and a recent report that came out last week: http://www.algemeiner.com/2015/04/24/new-report-documents-extensive-foreign-fund...

I also read an article about World Vision that followed similar territory, how charity groups can cause disruption just by bringing in aid. Interesting in that it covers the back story of World Vision too. http://philosproject.org/world-vision-and-the-middle-east-part-1/
'In responding to the Ethiopian famine and other catastrophes, Alex de Waal, one of the researchers who struggled the hardest against the taboo of criticizing aid organizations, concluded that humanitarian organizations did more harm than good. “Throughout the world, relief aid delivered by international agencies has become integrated into processes of violence and oppression,” he wrote in 1994, adding that there was a “synergy between relief and violence.”'


Barack Obama's Rules for Revolution: The Alinsky Model by David Horowitz (2009)
nonfiction / booklet
I've seen mention several times of the Alinsky Rules for Radicals when reading about Obama and Hilary Clinton and wanted to know a bit more. I've had Alinsky's book out from the library before but felt that this 37 pg booklet would be a good way to find out a bit more. Author David Horowitz is now a conservative but grew up in a radical home with communist parents and was a Marxist till he rejected leftist ideals in the late 1970s. It's an interesting read, much more about Alinsky and radicals than about Obama and introduced me to radical politics on the US left. Interesting that it's about the pursuit of power at almost any cost. Clinton wrote a thesis on Alinsky's theories back when she was in college.
I need to do some follow up reading, Horowitz's autobiography might be interesting, Radical Son: A Generational Odyssey.

From Amazon: Barack Obama’s Rules for Revolution: The Alinsky Model examines the roots of the current administration’s effort to subject America to a wholesale transformation by looking at the work of one of the President’s heroes—radical Chicago “community organizer” Saul Alinsky. The guru of Sixties radicals, Alinsky urged his followers to be flexible and opportunistic and say anything to get power, which they can then use to radically change existing social and economic institutions. In this insightful new booklet, Horowitz discusses Alinsky’s work in the 60s—and his advice to radicals to seize any weapon to advance their cause. This became the philosophy of Alinskyite organizations such as ACORN and influenced the future President who came up through the Chicago network created by Alinsky’s network. After analyzing Saul Alinsky’s work and pointing out that the godfather of “social organizing” created “ not salvation but chaos,” Horowitz then he asks the crucial question: “And presidential disciples of Alinsky, what will they create?”

Added to category #8: Fact - nonfiction general, hopefully some travel literature

Being mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande (2014)
nonfiction / iPod audio
I really enjoyed listening to this, a book that everyone should consider reading at some stage. The book is mainly about care for the elderly and dying in the US and has lessons for us all. In the last chapter he covers The Netherlands and their 'right to die' or 'dying with dignity' laws and how this process might not be as great as it's cracked up to be. That reminded me of an article I read recently about the growing number of disabled babies being euthanised there. Scary when you delve into this a little.
http://www.breitbart.com/london/2015/01/02/650-babies-euthanized-in-the-netherla...
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22129580.200-the-world-needs-to-talk-about...
http://time.com/7565/belgium-euthanasia-law-children-assisted-suicide/
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2779624/Number-mentally-ill-patients-kil...

Added to category #8: Fact - nonfiction general, hopefully some travel literature

Cockroaches by Jo Nesbø (1998 Norway) (2014 Eng)
crime
Read this early Harry Hole (#2) and now I can get back on track and pick up The Redeemer. I've decided to read through the series over the next few weeks, I have all the books and they've sat by my bedside table being ignored for a bit too long. They're satisfying crime thrillers, I like Harry and they're so easy to read.
Cockroaches is set in Bangkok, Harry is sent out there to investigate the murder of the Norwegian ambassador. I haven't read a book set in chaotic Bangkok for a long time and this one covers traffic, sex, drugs and karaoke bars

Added to category #9: Comfort reads - lighter reading and continuing series

The Fishermen by Chigozie Obioma (2015)
fiction
This is a great debut novel that I didn't mind incurring a small library fine on as I kept it a couple of days past its due date. It's set in the 1990s Nigeria and is about four brothers, the youngest is 9 year old Ben who narrates the story. It is an exemplary family, the father works for the bank, the mother is busy with two toddlers as well as the four boys. They are regular church goers, the boys are doing well at school, their futures are assured, maybe even they will end up in Canada for further education. All falls to pieces when the father is promoted but must move to a distant town and decides due to the unrest not to take his family with him and can only return home monthly. The boys drift towards the nearby forbidden river where they become fishermen. They meet the local madman who is considered to have the power of prophecy who predicts the fate of the oldest, he will be killed by a fisherman, one of his brothers.
The story is riveting, the brothers can't extricate themselves from the prophecy and their father's promise of a bright future takes a tragic turn. Excellent.
'Nigerian tale mines rich vein of myth and superstition...the novel excels in its depiction of the tribal landscape and the townspeople. The close-knit community pay deference to nature and its elemental power. Salt-of the-earth takes on new meaning in such a climate. This harks back to the title, to the image of the fisherman and its religious and historical connotations. As the boys venture to the river and cast their rods, there is the feeling that centuries of myth and superstition are being reeled in.' - from the Irish Times http://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/new-fiction-the-fishermen-by-chigozie-ob...
A great review at the Guardian, though perhaps best read after reading the book:
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/mar/13/the-fishermen-chigozie-obioma-revie...

Added to category #11: Shiny New - new writers and/or new books

Saga Vol 3 by Brian K. Vaughan (2014)
graphic novel
Continuing this 'sweeping tale of one young family fighting to find their place in the universe.' A good installment and I'm looking forward to the next one just waiting my turn at the library.

Added to category #14: Images - photography, graphic novels, illustrated and picturebooks


A bag of marbles by Joseph Joffo (2013)
graphic memoir
This is an adaption of Joffo's 1973 memoir of how he and his family survived the Holocaust in France. The artwork is by Vincent Bailly and the adaption has been reworded by Kris. The artwork is great and I enjoyed following the adventures of the two brothers as they made their way from Paris and around southern France to avoid Nazis and Vichy authorities. They first made a perilous journey from Paris to Menton in unoccupied France to meet up with their older brothers who worked there. Eventually they reunited with their parents in Nice though once the Italians left the family had to split up again. While their father was arrested and died in a camp, the rest of the family survived the war.
Added to category #14: Images - photography, graphic novels, illustrated and picturebooks

The Redeemer by Jo Nesbø (2005)
crime
Harry Hole #6. Really enjoyed this one and will continue with the next one asap. A Salvation Army official is shot in a downtown Oslo square during a public concert.

Added to category #9: Comfort reads - lighter reading and continuing series

The Crime of Father Amaro by Jose Maria Eca de Queiros (1874 Portugal) (English 1962)
fiction
I read this for Darryl's Iberian challenge over in the Reading Globally Group. Late last year I read his The city and the mountains and found it quite delightful, this one however is rather more serious.
Father Amaro is a newly ordained priest, he hasn't chosen the Church, it has been chosen for him. The youthful and decidedly handsome young man is sent to a small town where he lodges with a widow and her daughter of marriageable age, who Amaro ends up seducing. The novel explores the religious zeal of the townspeople, the corruption within the Church both political and sexual. In the beginning one's sympathy lies with the young Amaro, who isn't really cut out for priesthood but as the novel progresses and Amaro begins to become overwhelmed by his love/lust for the daughter, he becomes more and more conducive to corruption in order to achieve his goals.
While it's a serious novel, Queiros is a masterful writer and gives us many incidents and characters to enjoy.
I came across this book first in the 2002 film, El crimen del padre Amaro, it was adapted and set in 20th century rural Mexico and starred Gael García Bernal.
I enjoyed this and will definitely be seeking out his most well known novel, The Maias.

Added to category #3: Latin Roots - fiction & nonfiction from/about Spain, Portugal & Latin America

The Snowman by Jo Nesbø (2007)
crime
Harry Hole #7. An exciting instalment though I guessed a few things fairly easily. A serial killer who builds a snowman outside the home of his victim and at first only takes his victim after the first snowfall of each winter.
I've already read the first chapter of the next book, The Leopard and that one is definitely going to be a grisly read.

Added to category #9: Comfort reads - lighter reading and continuing series


Love by the Morning Star by Laura L. Sullivan (2014)
YA fiction
Light entertainment after my previous two reads. This was a fun read with a delightful heroine, Hannah, a refugee from Germany who comes to stay at a grand home in the English countryside, she has connections through marriage to the family who live there. Upon arrival she is mistaken for the expected new maid and ends up working in the kitchens while the maid, Anna, who is actually the daughter of a British fascist and has been sent to spy on the family ends up living the privileged life. After trials and tribulations, mistaken identities etc etc both fall in love and all ends happily.
There is some light risque content throughout the book but overall a youthful and charming read. One of several I've found recently on the Jewish Book Council's website.

Added to category #6: The young ones - YA and children's fiction

My First Kafka: runaways, rodents & giant bugs retold by Matthue Roth, illus Rohan Daniel Eason (2013)
picturebook
Not sure of the target audience as it is a bit sophisticated in intent and the artwork is very stylish. However a beautiful piece of work to serve as an introduction to Kafka for the young.
'Sylvia Plath believed it was never too early to dip children’s toes in the vast body of literature. But to plunge straight into Kafka? Why not, which is precisely what Brooklyn-based writer and videogame designer Matthue Roth has done '
More info here: http://www.brainpickings.org/2013/07/19/my-first-kafka-roth-eason/



Added to category #14: Images - photography, graphic novels, illustrated and picturebooks

Under the Egg by Laura Marx Fitzgerald (2014)
children's fiction
I loved this, it's described '....from the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler meets Chasing Vermeer in this clever middle grade debut...'
Theodora has a mystery on her hands when her grandfather dies suddenly, leaving her to fend for herself and her dysfunctional mother with $800 in the kitty and an old old house in Greenwich Village , New York. The discovery of a mysterious painting, possibly a masterpiece, that has hung in the house for over 40 years is sparked when Theo follows her grandfather's advice and looks 'under the egg'. Theo must discover the provenance of the painting and in the process she discovers a number of helpful friends in her community. This is a great story that delves into the world of the Holocaust and Monuments Men from World War II.
Another gem from the Jewish Book Council website recommendations list.

Added to category #6: The young ones - YA and children's fiction

Game of Mirrors by Andrea Camilleri (2015 Eng) (2011 Italian)
crime
Commissario Montalbano #19. I enjoyed this even though I'd already seen the episode on the tv series.

Added to category #9: Comfort reads - lighter reading and continuing series


Unterzakhn by Leela Corman (2012)
graphic novel
Follows the fortunes of two Jewish sisters, children of immigrants on the Lower East Side of New York in the years before WW1. Life isn't easy and the fate of the two reinforces life's painful lessons. The book includes a back story of how their parents met and came to America. Adult content, one girl ends up working in a burlesque theatre/brothel while the other works for a woman doctor who performs back street abortions as well as doling out contraceptive advice. Realistic and gritty. The title is Yiddish for “Underthings”
Again, a recommendation from the Jewish Book Council website.


Added to category #14: Images - photography, graphic novels, illustrated and picturebooks

An unreal house filled with real storms by Elizabeth Knox (2014)
speech
This was the text of Knox's inaugural 2014 Margaret Mahy Memorial Lecture given last year. I think I'd have got more from it if I'd listened to it, was a bit flat on the page. So I have the link and will take a listen sometime soon.
To listen: http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/writers/20150322
Added to category #10: Down Under - New Zealand & Australian fiction


The Leopard by Jo Nesbø
crime
Harry Hole #8. This was a really exciting read that again I could not put down once I got into it. I fear I won't get much other reading done till I finish the last two books in the series. I've already got Phantom sitting here beside me.
Added to category #9: Comfort reads - lighter reading and continuing series


El Iluminado: a graphic novel by Ilan Stavans & Steve Sheinkin (2012)
graphic novel
Another one that was recommended on the Jewish Book Council website. Professor Ilan Stavans stars as himself in this fictional mystery surrounding some secret documents of Luis de Carvajal the Younger and the history of the Crypto-Jews or Maranos. Stavans arrives in Santa Fe to give an academic lecture on the long history of the Crypto-Jews and Conversos in Latin America and the Southwest USA. After the lecture he is approached by a young woman and the mystery begins.
Informative and entertaining, I've only read a YA, Blood Secret about Crypto-Jews in the US up to now. Stavans gives some additional reading in the 'notes on sources'.
The story is set around the same cathedral that is in Willa Cather's Death comes for the Archbishop.
A couple of links to articles about the GN:
http://articles.latimes.com/2012/nov/23/entertainment/la-ca-jc-ilan-stavans-2012...
http://www.abqjournal.com/148422/north/graphic-novel-sheds-light-on-cryptojews.h...
The Carvajal Family: 'a family of Maranos in Mexico at the end of the sixteenth century and the beginning of the seventeenth, all connected with Don Luis de Carabajal, governor of New Leon. Several members of the family suffered martyrdom at the stake for Judaizing.'
http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/4015-carabajal
https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fcadn


Added to category #14: Images - photography, graphic novels, illustrated and picturebooks

How I alienated my grandmother by Suzanne Main (2015)
children's fiction
This won the Tom Fitzgibbon Award last year which is for an unpublished writer's manuscript for children and comes with a contract to publish. This was a lot of fun to read and hopefully it will get into lots of school libraries.
Michael digs up a strange metal object with his friend's metal detector and when he accidently points it at his grandmother something quite alienating happens.
Added to category #6: The young ones - YA and children's fiction

I love I hate I miss my sister by Amélie Sarn (2005 French) (2014 English)
YA fiction
Excellent teen novel set in an immigrant neighbourhood of Paris. Two teen sisters, one wanting to break away from her Algerian culture and Muslim religion and the other sister wanting to embrace it. Sarn bases it around the 1989 L'Affaire du Foulard (the Headscarf Affair) which led to the 2004 French law that makes it illegal to wear religious symbols in public schools. She was also inspired by the horrific death of Sohane Benziane in 2002.
Sarn writes a balanced novel, with the older sister, Sohane, as narrator and Sohane's inward struggle to be both French and Muslim while her younger sister embraces a more secular approach with tragic consequences.
What I liked about this was that Sarn shows how the girls' grandmother's generation is far less fundamentally religious with their love of Algerian culture, jewellery, colourful clothing and Arab music within the same Paris neighbourhood.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sohane_Benziane
Added to category #6: The young ones - YA and children's fiction

Saga, Volume 4 by Brain K. Vaughan
graphic novel
Another good instalment.
Added to category #14: Images - photography, graphic novels, illustrated and picturebooks


Hurayrah the cat:the snake catcher by Farah Morley (2014)
picture book
This is published by Kube Publishing an offshoot of the Islamic Foundation (UK) who have published several interesting children's books about Islam. This is a folktale that introduces Abu Hurayrah to a young audience. Abu Hurayrah was his nickname, it means 'Father of the Kitten' because he loved cats and was often seen playing with a kitten. He was important as he was a companion of Muhammad and was able to remember all the hadiths or sayings and actions of Muhammad before they were saved in written form. The kitten goes looking for Abu Hurayrah who has left the house and ends up catching a snake and saving a life. The book introduces a few Arabic words and there is a glossary to explain them.
The illustrations by Alexandria Nyerges are not that memorable. I'd like to read Morley's other picturebook, The Spider and the Doves: The Story of the Hijra.
Wikipedia about Abu Hurayrah: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abu_Hurairah
Islamic Foundation children's books: http://www.islamic-foundation.com/product-category/books/children/



Golden Domes and Silver Lanterns: a Muslim Book of Colors by Hena Khan (2012)
picture book
This is a beautiful picturebook that introduces the Muslim culture through the theme of colour. The artwork is by Iranian Mehrdokht Amimi who now lives in the UK. There are several Iranian illustrators whose work I've admired and now I have another to add to the list.

henna = orange

hijab = blue

kufi (traditional hat) = white

Mehrdokht Amimi's website: http://www.myart2c.com/

not sure which book this is from but I love this illustration
Here is an interview with her and lots more illustrations: https://kathytemean.wordpress.com/2014/09/13/illustrator-saturday-mehrdokht-amin...

Watching series 3 of French crime tv Spiral - wow, this is soooooo good. Have had to put to one side as I have Season 1 of The Fall to watch and it is due back on Friday.

We watched a documentary, The real history of science fiction yesterday as well. The focus was mainly on film though some books were also discussed. Each episode had a different focus - Time, Invasion, Space and Robots. Lots of nostalgia and we have decided that at some point this winter we'll have a scifi marathon weekend of movies and tv. I'm also keen to read Asimov and Kim Stanley Robinson - both authors not read at all so far though I own their books.

_
Once were warriors by Alan Duff (1990)
fiction, New Zealand
Alan Duff was the New Zealand ANZAC author of the month in April, though it took me most of May to finish this. I listened to the audiobook which was read by Jay Laga'aia, a NZ actor. Wow, powerful stuff, a very violent story that still resonates all these years later. I really liked Duff's storytelling though not sure if I want to race to another one of his books that quickly, definitely not read the sequel any time soon. This tells the story of the Heke family, an urban Maori family that is locked in a cycle of poverty, domestic abuse, violence, gangs, drugs. One of those stories where you have to hit rock bottom before salvation can begin to find its way in.
Beth is ultimately rescued from Jake's violence by her ties to a rural marae, and she brings this influence of Maoritanga to her neighbourhood. I thought this resolution was more wishful thinking on the part of the author than anything else. I did appreciate Jake's journey towards redemption at the end which isn't shown in the movie..

After I read the book I watched the movie for the first time and found the storyline was altered from the book though still has impact. The ending is more realistic for Beth, just hinting at the Maoritanga influence reentering her life.

I have to mention that Alan Duff started Books in Homes, a very successful charity that started in 1992 and is still going. After visiting a school he discovered that many of the children came from bookless homes and he decided to change that...'The programme was developed following a visit by Alan Duff to Camberley School in Hastings in 1992. He found that the majority of those children came from bookless homes and showed little, if any, interest in reading. From this grew the key concept of book ownership prompting an interest in reading and a love of books. This would also create the opportunity to share the books with other family members.' http://www.booksinhomes.org.nz/

Added to category #10: Down Under - New Zealand & Australian fiction

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Phantom by Jo Nesbø (2012)
Police by Jo Nesbø (2013)
crime
Harry Hole #9 & #10. The last two Harry Hole novels and as you can see I read them back to back, you really have to as book #9 leaves you on a knife edge. Anyway overall now that I've finished the series I can say I really enjoyed them a lot, I loved the character of HH though he changed quite a bit through the years, he suffered from addiction and alcoholism and these demons came and went, as did the serial killers. I did tire a little of Nesbø's plotting and little tricks of assumption, though not enough to throw any of the books at any walls, rather I just devoured them as fast as I could.
So 5 Harry Holes this month and 2 last month. I still have Headhunters a standalone to read as I also have the movie waiting to be seen. Happy to see that I can still devour a series all at once as since I joined LT I've tended to graze across several series in dribs and drabs. I've also made a good dent in the pile of crime books in my 'should read soonest' pile. Next series I tackle will possibly be Bernie Gunther as I have the omnibus Berlin Noir by Philip Kerr.

Added to category #9: Comfort reads - lighter reading and continuing series

_
Headhunters by Jo Nesbø (2008)
crime fiction
I ended up enjoying this even though there weren't any characters to like that much, the main character does end up a better person by book's end. Roger is one of the top recruitment agents in Oslo, a headhunter, but he has another side, he is also an art thief which supplements his income for he has a very expensive wife. Recruiting the right person to work at one of his most important client companies leads Roger into more trouble that he could ever have dreamt about.
After finishing I watched the film and enjoyed it almost as much, a few tweaks to the plot didn't worry me as this is pure escapism anyway. I thought the film was really well cast.
Added to category #9: Comfort reads - lighter reading and continuing series

I haven't read much this weekend. Instead I watched the delightful movie Spud which is based on a YA book I read a few years ago which I really enjoyed. The film was great, it's set in South Africa, the year that Nelson Mandela is freed and is about a boy's first year at an elite boarding school. John Cleese acts as the inspirational though alcoholic literature teacher. All the books he recommends to Spud are well read paperback editions that just look so familiar, loved this. The book had two sequels and there are also two more films.

Wow, lots of great reading here, Kerry, and I've taken a few Book Bullets.

Boy have you been busy!
Hands tired with all that typing??

>113 DeltaQueen50: BBs are good for us, I must go round a few threads and collect a few for myself.

>114 mamzel: Not too much typing as I cut and paste from my 75 Books challenge thread and just alter a few bits here n there.

My present goal is to get into The man who loved children and finish a couple of nonfiction reads.

A lot of good books in there, I wrote down The Crime of Father Amaro, The Fishermen and Fagin the Jew as BBs. And I'm happy to see so much love for Jo Nesbø! I've only read the first 5 in the Harry Hole series, but the others are waiting on the shelf.

Your thread might also become my reference point for TV series. I'm so bad at this! I lived in Copenhagen for a few years, and everybode recommended The Bridge - but I never got around to it. Now, with another positive recommendation I might finally get to it. So thanks for bringing it back to my mind! :)

>82 avatiakh:
Too bad Scalped didn't work for you - it's been one of my favorite reads this year.

>87 avatiakh:
That is such an evokative sculpture. Putting Kaytek the wizard on the wishlist.

>91 avatiakh:
I love The Bridge!! I picked up season 2 in Sweden and can't wait to binge on it.

>100 avatiakh:
I do hope you enjoy The Maias - it's (so far) my favorite of his books.

Hi Eva - ooh more love for The Bridge, Saga has a boyfriend in season 2!

>116 Chrischi_HH: I hope you can recommend some German tv series, my new love is foreign tv.

>118 avatiakh:
What?! I need to watch it now!!! I have to see the man who can handle her. :)

well, it's an interesting relationship that's for sure.

Terror in Black September : The First Eyewitness Account of the Infamous 1970 Hijackings by David Raab (2007)
nonfiction
Raab was compelled to write this book years after the incident because nothing has ever been published directly about the hijackings. He was 17 years old and travelling home to the US with his mother and younger siblings after a long holiday in Israel.

'On September 6, 1970, terrorists from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) hijacked TWA flight 741 from Frankfurt to New York and Swiss Air flight 100 from Zurich to New York, diverting them both to a disused airfield in the Jordanian desert. Terrorists also hijacked Pan Am flight 93 from Amsterdam and diverted it to Beirut and then Cairo. El Al officials thwarted another hijacking attempt on their flight from Amsterdam. On September 9, another PFLP sympathizer seized a British Overseas Airways Corporation flight in Bahrain and brought it to the same Jordanian airstrip as the first two. The terrorists removed all hostages, separating fifty-four Jewish and other captives, and blew up the empty planes.'

Raab writes about the terrible day to day happenings for the hostages but also and most compellingly writes about the diplomatic efforts and also about the civil war that broke out between the PLO/PFLP/Fatah and Jordanian forces in the midst of the hostage negotiations. Yasser Arafat was ready to topple King Hussein and takeover Jordan, his fedayeen fighters were incredibly well armed and well entrenched in Amman as well as other cities especially in the north. Syria sent in tanks painted as belonging to the PLA (Palestinian Liberation Army). Israel, the US and Russia are on the sidelines ready though unwilling to intercede. Indeed it looked like only Egypt and the Arab Council would be able to organise a ceasefire and what happens...Nasser dies... In all this the remaining hostages are holed up in camps and apartments across Amman & Irbid surrounded by mortar fire, snipers and land mines.
Compelling reading, I now know much more about how the PLO were ousted from Jordan, they went on to establish themselves in Lebanon.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_September_in_Jordan
An account from Raab's book is here: http://www.meforum.org/1768/terror-in-black-september-an-eyewitness-account

Added to category #2: Arab Spring - Middle East/North African/Islamism - fiction & nonfiction

The Last of the spirits by Chris Priestley (2015)
children's fiction
This is a retelling of Dicken's A Christmas Carol and is a great adaption of the tale. It is told from the POV of Sam and his sister who are street waifs sleeping in the graveyard where Marley's ghost appears. They are orphans, their father owed money to Marley and went to prison, their mother joined him and the children were taken into care which they ran away from. So there is a tie to Scrooge and the children also partake in a Christmas past, present & future. Needless to say it looks bleak. Overall I loved this blend of a younger POV to the Scrooge story.
In the afterword Priestley talks of his experience of a teacher reading the original version when he was eight and how he just loved that first description of Marley's ghost. He immediately knew he'd become a writer.

Chris Priestley has written other retellings which are also good:
Mister Creecher - Frankenstein
The Dead Men Stood Together - Rime of the Ancient Mariner

Added to category #6: The young ones - YA and children's fiction

>118 avatiakh: As I said, I'm really not good at this. In Germany we watch mostly foreign series, after having them synchronized to our language. :D But there are a few, such as The Pillars of the Earth (German-Canadian co-production), Stromberg (German version of The Office), Türkisch für Anfänger or Borgia (German-French). And then we have a lot of crime fiction series, daily soap operas, shick lit style series and series with hospital settings, but I'm not sure if any of that is translated/synchronized.

The Handkerchief Map by Kiri English-Hawke (2010)
YA fiction
Not sure where I came across mention of this slight YA epistolary novel, '...the author wrote it while still a high school student in Australia, with no direct contact with survivors of the war. Several years on, she returned to it with the benefit of further research and experience...'
Ok, to be honest this just didn't engage me and then I took quite a dislike to it, possibly because I saw it described as a Holocaust novel and it is so far from that.
The book is in three sections, the first is a young German soldier, Franz, who eventually deserts the army and becomes a partisan fighter in East Europe. The second is Helga, a young Russian woman he meets as the war ends, she has been a fighter as well. Thirdly we meet Jewish Susannah who has been separated from her husband and then children and sent to Bergen-Belsen. Miraculously Susannah's children are located in East Europe and miraculously they share a cabin in the train trip back to Germany with Franz & Helga where miraculously Franz's mother has been helping Susannah since the end of the war at the displaced persons camp. Miraculously they all love each other so much that they decide to emigrate to Denmark with the friendly Danish/German soldier who helped Susannah when she was in the concentration camp (he gave her the paper & pen for her letterwriting).
So the writing is too hopeful and for me unrealistic.
Susannah in her 'letters' to husband talks about the fate of their children only once or twice. Once she is reunited with them she doesn't want to know their experiences as it will be too awful.

The handkerchief map of the title is a WW1 map embroidered on a hanky that is Helga's sole reminder of her friend Olga and from their childhood. She writes (unsent of course) to her lost friend. Franz writes to his mother and about halfway through stops mailing his letters as he becomes disenchanted with the Nazi philosophy.
Most of the letters in the book were unsent so really written as an outlet for the fictional letterwriter.

I've read many YA novels about World War Two and the Holocaust and would definitely recommend other books over this one.

Added to category #6: The young ones - YA and children's fiction

Half Wild by Sally Green (2015)
YA fantasy
The second installment in the Half Bad trilogy. Pure escapism about white witches and black witches, our hero who is a half-black and half white. I enjoyed this one, quite the page turner with an especially grisly ending. Now to wait till 2016 for the final book.

Added to category #6: The young ones - YA and children's fiction

ISIS: inside the army of terror by Michael Weiss & Hassan Hassan (2015)
nonfiction
I haven't read any nonfiction about the US involvement in Iraq over the years, only relied upon articles and news reports so I came to this with the bare bones of knowledge of the various factions and back story.
Weiss and Hassan gives the reader all the background necessary on understanding how Al-Qaeda and ISIS evolved.
interesting points were:
1) how much the US prison camps such as Camp Bucca in Iraq helped the eventual ISIS leadership to organise and recruit
2) Assad in Syria allowing so many extremists freedom at the start of the civil war as a tactic against the more secular FSA.
3) the tribal nature of the various factions especially in Iraq. The media seems to focus more on the foreign fighter and recruits, but they're mostly not hardened fighting material like the Iraqis who've grown up with constant conflict or the Syrians with military conscription.

The last chapter about how ISIS takes over an area or town and then stays in power is quite illuminating as well.

I set up a pinterest board while reading the book, I find this a useful device for these types of reads.
https://www.pinterest.com/jelsamina/middle-east-politics-terror-war/

Added to category #2: Arab Spring - Middle East/North African/Islamism - fiction & nonfiction

Now on to some lighter material such as another YA fantasy....

>123 Chrischi_HH: I'll have to look out for some German productions. I remember that the film Death of a superhero which is written by a New Zealander was a German/Irish film production. I think the Germans funded it because the book was a big hit there. I loved the movie.

Happily getting caught up with all of your reading. Great comment about The Martian.... it did feel like reading a movie!

Love the crayon book and The Last of the Spirits! I must track those books down. To bad about The Handkerchief Map.... that one sounded promising, although I am impressed that the author wrote it while still in high school.

>128 lkernagh: Great to see you here and yes, I never thought about writing a book when in high school. LAst thing on my mind, too many exams to worry about.


Read a few pages of East in Eden by Bulgarian Izabela Shopova (2015) which is promoted as a hilarious look at a Bulgarian family's 6 years in New Zealand. Shopova now lives in Australia, so I can presume that like many other immigrants to NZ she waited only for the NZ passport before jumping ship to Oz.

Anyway the book is based on the blog she kept for family and friends back in Bulgaria. I found numerous spelling mistakes and overall just didn't like the tone she took. The 'funny' is not funny just jabs at NZers and our country. She talks about how we drive on the left like she's never heard of this phenomenon before and how she never can get used to it, how she's always grabbing the door handle instead of the gear stick and driving the wrong way round roundabouts. Well, I've driven on the left all my life but have no problems switching to right-hand driving when renting a car in South America, USA or Europe, it takes only a few minutes to adjust.
The book starts with flying in to Auckland airport and only seeing fields and sheep, then the inevitable sheep jokes. Well I normally see an urban area with lots of green spaces and harbour views when I fly in to the city.
She raves about how everyone talks about fishing in every conversation, I haven't had a conversation or overheard one about fishing for several years. Maybe I'm too cranky but this is a DNF for me.

Can't resist quoting from pg xvi: 12 September 2002 blog post - 'Singapore Airport - at the airport before our flight to Auckland, while waiting at the gate I got really scared. For the first time then I realised that I have taken my child to the ends of the earth. Literally. All passengers around us were Asians or Polynesians, heavily tattooed, in flipflops or barefoot, with Indian saris or turbans, big dark-skinned men stripped to the waist, with neck bone amulets and sarong skirts, women wearing exotic flowers in their gorgeous long hear. All speaking tongues, carrying surfboards, guitars, bundles and sellotaped boxes in addition to the suitcases. Very much like that scene from 'Star Wars'.' - are you kidding me!!!


I finally watched Yentl, I saw it years ago but felt like a re-watch after reading the novella recently. Mandy Patinkin is delightful in it and I'll now have to re-watch The Princess Bride. Barbara Streisand produced, directed, wrote the script and starred in the film, she's good, the singing is beautiful though I would have liked a less well known actress to play Yentl.

Just watched a disturbingly great New Zealand movie, The Dark Horse (2014), based on a real life character, Genesis Porini, a former speed chess champion who suffered from bi-polar disorder. Cliff Curtis put on 30kg to play the part.
'Though battling bipolar disorder himself, Potini managed to turn around the lives of a group of rebellious local youth, coaching them in chess and leading them to a national championship. Curtis takes on the lead role of Potini, while James Rolleston (Boy, 2010) plays his nephew Mana, who has been brought up surrounded by gangs, drugs and violence.' I saw this described as 'Once were warriors' meets 'Shine'.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3YopiaQ3k8
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&object...
http://www.3news.co.nz/nznews/kiwi-film-actor-wayne-hapi-returns-to-busking-2015...

Now I'm hanging out to see 'Pawn Sacrifice'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFHvH9FtACg


I lived on Butterfly Hill by Marjorie Agosin (2014 Spanish) (2014 Eng)
children's fiction
Based on Agosin's own childhood experiences growing up in Chile during the 1970s.
Must mention the delightful illustrations throughout the book by Lee White.
Eleven year old Celeste's idyllic childhood, nestled in a loving family of mother, father, nana and her mother's old nanny comes to an abrupt end with Pinochet's overthrow of the government. Her parents, doctors who've run a free clinic for the poor, must go into hiding and Celeste herself is sent to live with her estranged aunt in Maine, USA.
The language is quite delightful in this gentle story based on the terrible years Chile suffered under Pinochet, though we follow Celeste away from this and into her new life in Maine where she lives for two years before returning to Valparaiso in Chile.
We get glimpses at the horror of the disappeared in ways appropriate for this age group. She finds her father after a harrowing journey into the south with her friend Cristobel. Her mother hides out in and around the cottage of poet Pablo Neruda on the remote Isla Negra and returns home a few days after Celeste's father. Celeste is an interesting character, full of dreams and hopes and wishes for a world of peace and love...near the end she wins an essay competition about her vision for a new Chile and shares her prize money with her community on a literacy program rather than on her own future college/university studies.
My only complaint would be that at over 400 pages the book is very long and only the most keen junior reader would finish this. It should have been published as two books as there are clear cut off points.

University of Minnesota website: Marjorie Agosín was born in Maryland and raised in Chile. She and her parents, Moises and Frida Agosín, moved to the United States due to the overthrow of the Chilean government by General Pinochet's military coup. Coming from a South American country and being Jewish, Agosín's writings demonstrate a unique blending of these cultures.
Agosín is well known as a poet, critic, and human activist. She is also a well-known spokesperson for the plight and priorities of women in Third World countries. Her deep social concerns and accomplishments have earned her many awards and recognitions, and she has gained an international reputation among contemporary women of color.

Wikipedia: Marjorie Agosín (born June 15, 1955) is a Chilean-born American writer.

Not sure which site is correct on her birthplace.


Pablo Neruda's cottage
http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20141020-chile-through-pablo-nerudas-eyes

Added to category #6: The young ones - YA and children's fiction

Falling by Anne Provoost (1995 Dutch), (1997 Eng)
YA fiction
I picked up this book as I'm familiar with previous translations done by John Nieuwenhuizen (he's married to Agnes, a well known children's literature specialist in Australia).
The book is set in 1990s Belgium and is one that I had to force myself to keep reading, as one knows from the first pages that something dreadful has happened before we hit backstory mode.
I had done a library search for 'extremism' in children's and teen fiction and this book had been one of the results of that search. I'm interested in how this concept is being addressed in young people's literature.
It's about a 17 yr old boy whose grandfather has recently died. Over the summer he and his mother go to her childhood home on the edge of a small town/village with the idea of cleaning up the house and garden. There has always been a secret about his grandfather, something not so honourable about the war, and so Lucas is either shunned by some locals and lauded by others but finding out truth behind the secret is difficult, his mother refuses to tell him. The local population now includes large numbers of Arab immigrants, who some locals despise as they take their jobs and are responsible for many of the burglaries that are rife throughout the town. With the anticipated conversion of a church building into a local refugee centre for more immigrants, protests are inevitable, violence is going to happen. Lucas gets caught up in all this, and somewhere along the line we know that something bad is going to happen involving his grandfather's chainsaw, fire and a visiting American girl who is now in hospital.
Quite a challenging read for a teen.
Note that the book was written in the 1990s so relates to tensions about Arab immigration of those times.

I see that it was made into a film (2001) by Hans Herbots - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Pw18uO6o1g
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFNpeiHu-eQ

Added to category #6: The young ones - YA and children's fiction

_
94) Sacred by Eliette Abécassis (2003 French)
novella
Possibly the Israeli film, Kadosh (1999), which was based on this novella is more well known. I'm going to watch it this evening. This novella tells the story of a woman living in the Mea Shearim quarter of Jerusalem. Her ten year old marriage has not been blessed with children, though the couple are deeply in love and now according to Rabbinic Law her husband is within his rights to divorce her and marry another.
The story has been translated from French and is quite elegantly written, I did have one moment of displeasure with the language, when instead of 'children' the book referred to 'offspring' which sounds too blase for my liking though could perhaps have been used as a legal term.
'No man may abstain from keeping the law “Be fertile and increase” (Gen. 1:28), unless he already has children'
There is a discussion of this Rabbinic Law here: http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/infertile-wife-in-rabbinic-judaism
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMBY-4stUak

Added to category #11: Shiny New - new writers (to me) and/or new books


95) enormous smallness: A Story of E. E. Cummings by Matthew Burgess (2015)
picturebook
Lovely lovely biographical look at the life of poet e.e. cummings. In the author's notes Burgess tells of leading a literary walk around Greenwich Village and the chance meeting with the woman who lives in the apartment where e.e. cummings lived and how the group were invited in to see the room where he wrote. Eventually this book evolved from the inspiration Burgess felt in that room.
The arrangement of text is playful and the illustrations by Kris de Giacomo seem perfect for conveying cummings' distinct personality.
“It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.”
http://www.brainpickings.org/2015/03/30/enormous-smallness-e-e-cummings-matthew-...



Added to category #14: Images - photography, graphic novels, illustrated and picturebooks

The Thought of High Windows by Lynne Kositsky (2004)
YA fiction / Canada
I really warmed to this Holocaust novel. It starts out with an unsympathetic protagonist, a German Jewish teen, Esther' or 'Mouse'. Esther's parents originally came from Poland and as WW2 looms her father, a baker, is sent back East. Esther insists that her mother applies for her to go to a Belgium Children's Home through the Jewish Agency, the eventual fate of her mother and baby brother remains unknown but easily guessed at. Esther joins the group of Jewish children and they eventually end up in Vichy France. Slowly Esther's survival instincts emerge and she shines as a fallible heroine of the Jewish Underground in the south of France. Esther and windows are an escapism theme running through the book.
Kirkus reviews: 'Esther is plagued with guilt and self-hatred as well as terror of dying in the looming Holocaust. Kositsky deftly describes the twisted pains of war, genocide, and cruelty. Kositsky’s poetic and piercing language honors Esther’s severe loneliness and the horrors she witnesses.'

I'll be looking out for more by Kositsky, Claire by Moonlight looks interesting, I've never read about the Acadians.


A stone in my hand by Cathryn Clinton (2002)
children's fiction
I was less impressed with this story set in Gaza during the 1988/89 First Intifada. The story is reasonable, a young girl finds solace with a wild bird that keeps returning to the roof of her Gazan home after the disappearance of her father. Her father was probably a victim of an Islamic Jihad bombing of an Israeli bus, when he ventured into Israel looking for work. Her brother is becoming seduced by extremism and the constant presence of IDF soldiers is always in the background.
What I didn't find convincing was the author's portrayal of some Muslim customs, in the Middle East especially, Muslim burials are held as soon as possible, generally before sunset on the day of death. Coffins are used rarely, usually the bodies are wrapped in a shroud. So when a funeral is 3 days after a death and the coffin is carried through the streets of Gaza, one does wonder whether Clinton has done her research. By stating that Muslims usually abstain from alcohol during Ramadan, Clinton is again confusing the young reader. Her IDF soldiers are extremely trigger happy, opening fire at the slightest provocation or even less.

The book was inspired by a Creative Writing class exercise, the participants were asked to write something inspired by a cover photo from a collection of National Geographics. Clinton chose one of a young Arab girl holding a bird.


Wanting Mor by Rukhsana Khan (2009)
YA fiction / Canada
This was inspired by a true story that Khan read in a report on children in crisis from a Kabul orphanage (she'd sponsored a library in the orphanage from the proceeds from one of her books). The story is set in post-Taliban times and is about Jameela, who loses her mother in the first chapter, is eventually abandoned by her father in a Kabul marketplace after he remarries. She ends up in an orphanage and blossoms, though chooses to continue to wear the chador. This story, apart from a few coincidences for plot purposes, feels authentic. Jameela is a strong character even though she is continually in positions of powerlessness, relying on kindness and charity, she stays strong through her devotion to her religion and eventual love of learning. I loved this story, the kindness shown by some of the characters balanced out the cruelty of others.
There's a great book talk by Khan here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEGxki41L-U


Mixing It by Rosemary Hayes (2007)
YA fiction
This focuses on extremism in the UK and Hayes consulted a group of Muslim teen girls before writing the book. Fatimah is walking to school with best friend Aiesha, just behind them is Steve also a student at the school. There is an explosion as they pass a church, Aiesha is dead and Fatimah saves Steve's life, using her head scarf as a tourniquet on his broken and bleeding leg. The resulting photo of the uncovered Fatimah with Steve is on the cover of all the newspapers along with the media story speculating at their relationship. Muslim extremists are behind the bombing, angry at interfaith attempts by the local iman and vicar to build understanding and tolerance. Now both devout Fatimah and nonreligious Steve and their families have become targets. I ended up liking this more than I thought I would as the book started off a little too didactic for me, with the writer instructing the reader on various aspects of Islam through the conversation between Fatima and Aiesha.

All of these added to category #6: The young ones - YA and children's fiction

Of Guns and Mules by David Lawrence-Young (2010)
fiction
Novella that I've been meaning to read since Eva reviewed it when it first came out. It's a fictionalised account of the Jewish Legion and Zion Mule Corps from World War One. When WW1 breaks out, Tel Aviv based David and his father are deported by the Turks to Egypt, along with all the other fighting age Jewish males. David is drafted into the British Army's Zion Mule Corps which serves in Gallipoli and then in the newly formed Jewish Legion which after much time training in Britain and Egypt serves in Palestine and helping to drive the Turks from the Judean Hills, Es Salt and Um Es-Shert areas around the Jordan River. Many of the soldiers succumbed to maleria rather than Turkish fire.
Ironically they find several dozen of the Turkish prisoners they capture are Jewish, drafted in Turkey to serve in the Ottoman army.
This was an interesting read, a good starting point to find out more about the service of the Jewish Palestinians in the British Army. My husband's grandfather was one of these soldiers.

added to Dropbox - extra category for books that don't fit


The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling (2012)
fiction
J.K. Rowling's first book after the Harry Potter phenomenon and her first adult novel. I had this staring at me for a long time, it's quite a hefty tome, another reason not to pick it up, but I wanted it out of my home and I had read enough reviews to know that it would probably appeal and so it did.
Slow and steady with a great bunch of divisive characters ends up as a entertaining read. Not one I'm going to recommend as it isn't a page turner.

All of these added to category #4: Favourite Writers - continuing to read them and hopefully completing the ouevre


The Valley of Bones by Anthony Powell (19640
Fiction / Dance to the Music of Time #7

I'm listening to the audio of The Third Movement of the DTTMOT series and have just finished this book and have two more to go. I started the series just as I joined LT groups and the series fell to the wayside at the halfway point as I got hooked onto what everyone else was reading. Anyway one of my goals this year is to finish books 7, 8 &9. These deal with Nick's experiences during WW2 and I keep feeling I'm back in Evelyn Waugh's Sword of Honour trilogy.

Added to category #5: Shocked that I still haven't read this

The return of the Dapper Men by Jim McCann, illus Janet Lee (2010)
graphic novel
I found this a bit weird. It was a recommendation by Mark @msf59 and I don't think I liked it quite as much as him though if I simmer on the storyline I might come to like it a bit more than my initial reaction. It's about the land of Anarov, a place where time has ceased to exist since the clocks first stopped ticking and then stopped tocking. The upper world is full of robots who keep working in the endless day and underground is the playground for human children bar one. That exception is our hero, Ayden who is friends with a robot girl. The arrival from the skies above of the Dapper Men begins a process of the remembering and taking things forward. It's sort of a modern fairytale and reminds me of several stories and books that I've read over the years. The artwork is really detailed on some of the pages and quite stunning at times. There is a gallery of art at the back that shows other artists' interpretation of the characters, an interesting addition.

There is this mingling of the natural with the manmade throughout the GN

Added to category #14: Images - photography, graphic novels, illustrated and picturebooks

Films over the weekend:
I've still got to watch Kaddosh but watched two German films, both were entertaining.
_
Vincent wants to sea (2010)- comedy drama - 'Florian David Fitz wrote and stars in this tragicomic road movie about a young man with Tourette syndrome taking his mother’s ashes from Germany to the Italian coast. Warehoused in a private institution by his blustery politician father, Vincent enlists anorexic doper Marie and obsessive-compulsive roommate Alex to drive him over the Alps, pursued by the odd couple of dad and combustible clinic head.'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KE_yskjXBOA

Go for Zucker (2004) - comedy - 'Jakob Zuckermann alias Jaeckie Zucker is Jewish. But he says he's got nothing to do with "that club", ever since his mother and his little brother left him behind the Iron Curtain in East Germany when he was young. Therefore when he learns of the death of his mother, he does not care. However he has to care. His religious younger brother pays him a visit with his family, because according to Jewish tradition, they have to observe the seven-day Shiv'ah period of mourning, and their Mamme's will requires them to reconcile in the presence of the rabbi and the family. If they fail, her assets will be bestowed upon the Jewish community of Berlin, and not them.'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axXGQ1gWPj4


Mrs Mo's Monster by Paul Beavis (2014)
picturebook
This is a great story and the illustrations are delightful and bold. The text is great to read aloud and the book is just fun and full of colour. Beavis lives in New Zealand though grew up in the UK and studied graphic design in London. The book has just won our Russell Clark Award for illustration.

Just watched another German film, Two Lives (2012) - riveting drama. 'Europe 1990, the Berlin wall has just crumbled: Katrine, raised in East Germany, but now living in Norway for the last 20 years, is a "war child"; the result of a love relationship between a Norwegian woman and a German occupation soldier during World War II. She enjoys a happy family life with her mother, her husband, daughter and granddaughter. But when a lawyer asks her and her mother to witness in a trial against the Norwegian state on behalf of the war children, she resists. Gradually, a web of concealments and secrets is unveiled, until Katrine is finally stripped of everything, and her loved ones are forced to take a stand: What carries more weight, the life they have lived together, or the lie it is based on?'

Now we have 2 films and 1 miniseries, all Polish, to watch. Dekalog is based on the 10 Commandments and all episodes are set in one apartment building.


Close to the Wind by Jon Walter (2014)
children's fiction

The ship on the cover figures large in this enjoyable story. Malik, a 10 year old boy arrives to the port area along with his Papa, grandfather in the middle of a war in their unnamed country. His mother was taken by soldiers and his Papa says that she'll be meeting them on the docks. They must get on the ship that has come to take refugees but find that they'll need tickets, prices for which are escalating.
This is a great story, involving trust, who should Malik trust and has his grandfather been telling the whole truth? The relationship between Malik and his Papa is written really well and the plot is exciting and tense.

Added to category #6: The young ones - YA and children's fiction

The book of Aron by Jim Shepard (2015)
fiction
First note that this adult novel has a young child as narrator. We meet Aron at the start of WW2 and the invasion of Poland by the Germans when he is just 8 years old. He and his family move to Warsaw and the book chronicles Aron's life and the eventual last few weeks/months spent with Janusz Korczak and his orphanage in the ghetto.
The book can be seen as an attempt to tell the story of Korczak though through the eyes of a small boy and while I'm really happy to see his story brought to today's readers I feel that there are more interesting novels and nonfiction accounts on the Warsaw Ghetto. It was a terrible time with much deprivation and horror, yet even though Shepard tells of some of these things I just didn't feel it. At one point Aron is taken by one of the Jewish Ghetto police to a cafe where he buys two hot chocolates and when Aron doesn't agree to be an informer he drinks both. For me, I can't see how there would have been a cafe serving hot chocolate at that point in time in the ghetto, I understand that when the ghetto is first walled up there would have been, but when the Germans were well into the deportations I'm not so sure. Overall this is a good read but not one I'd recommend before others if you wanted to know more about the Warsaw Ghetto.
At the back of the novel Shepard has listed the many many books he referred as well the people he consulted with, to to write this, very extensive and I would have liked to take more note of these references but the book was due back at the library and I finished it while at a nearby cafe before dropping it back. I read a couple of Korczak's children's books earlier this year and hope to read Betty Lifton's biography sometime in the near future.

For children's books /YA on Poland during the war: Uri Orlev's Run Boy, run, The island on Bird Street, The man from the other side and Milkweed by Jerry Spinelli.

Janusz Korczak - The King of Children: the life and death of Janusz Korczak by Betty Lifton
Review by Geraldine Brooks in the NYT: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/24/books/review/the-book-of-aron-by-jim-shepard.h...

Added to category #11: Shiny New - new writers (to me) and/or new books

Life in Outer Space by Melissa Keil (2013)
YA fiction
This was a delightful quirky romance, I'd probably say like Eleanor and Park but without the difficult bits. Set in Melbourne the book is narrated by 17 yr old Sam, a Horror film fan, who has 3 good friends who are all at the mercy of the 'in' crowd at their high school. Enter new girl, sophisticated Camilla who is able to fit in with any crowd but chooses to focus much of her time with Sam's group of friends, to their amazement.
I like that while the romantic prospect is obvious from the get go, for most of the book Cam and Sam are developing a real friendship over common interests.

Added to category #6: The young ones - YA and children's fiction

Boy in the Tower by Polly Ho-Yen (2014)
children's fiction
Ade and his mother are trapped in their tower block when buildings all around them begin collapsing. His mother has hardly left her bedroom for weeks, and everyone else seems to have evacuated their area of London. The collapses are blamed on a new type of plant life, named the Blucher after a street in their area. When the water and electricity stop working, Ade must explore his building for more food and water, it's too unsafe to go outside as the plants send out deadly spores. I really enjoyed this survival tale aimed at the younger reader.
Added to category #6: The young ones - YA and children's fiction


Never fall down by Patricia McCormick (2012)
YA fictionalised biography
This book caught me by surprise, from the cover I was expecting another YA angst tale of an American-Asian fitting in at high school or some such. I knew that the book had been praised in many reviews and awards nominations but hadn't even read the back cover before picking it up.
What I found was a riveting survival tale of a young boy caught up in the 1970s Khmer Rouge takeover of Cambodia. The story is terrifying, horrendous and also inspiring. So I get to the end of the book and finally realise that it's actually the novelisation of a real person's story, Arn Chorn-Pond. who founded the Children of War & Cambodia Living Arts charities.
I read this in one late night sitting as it was a pageturner. Amazing story and one that needs to be told, but the acts of cruelty and deprivation also mean that the book could upset sensitive readers.
2012 National Book Award Finalist: 'One day, Arn Chorn’s world is transformed into a moveable hell ruled by Angka and black-pajama soldiers, where again and again he must yield the price demanded to go on living. Based on interviews, the harsh vignettes of Cambodian life under the Khmer Rouge are indelible, as McCormick’s narrative never flinches from scenes of murderous anarchy, or from the consequences of a boy’s four-year quest to survive a nightmare by bending like grass and never falling down.'
Arn Chorn Pond -TedTalk: Music saved my life: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Crv9Bre_T2g
Guardian article about Cambodia Living Arts: http://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2015/mar/31/...
Another children's book, A Song for Cambodia by Michelle Lord is also based on Arn's life.

Added to category #6: The young ones - YA and children's fiction

>139 avatiakh: Never Fall Down was a jaw dropper for me as well. I was so impressed that Desmond Tutu wrote a blurb for it. After I read this book I read First They Killed My Father which was a memoir about the same events. I felt almost a shock when the author talked about the musicians who came to her camp.

I would also recommend McCormick's book Sold which is about children who become sex slaves in India. It's written for teens so there isn't anything very graphic in it. That doesn't affect the impact in any case.

I'll have to look out for First They Killed My Father. I was just blown away by Never Fall Down, I picked the book up and didn't put it down till I finished at about 1am. So unexpected, I'd had the book lying around for over a year. I've read some great books from my tbr pile lately so why am I always picking up too many books from the library.

I was looking at the other books that McCormick had written so I'll add Sold to my list now you've recommended it.


Baddawi by Leila Abdelrazaq (2015)
graphic novel
Abdelrazaq tells the story of her father's life growing up as a Palestinian refugee in Lebanon. The story is fairly bland, her father is not political, he gets a part time job and studies hard and eventually goes to the US to study in Texas. Abdelrazaq is an activist who has been very much involved in pro-Palestinian campus politics in the US and the book reflects this. Starting with the cover image, she has deliberately depicted her father as a child in the style of the late Palestinian cartoonist, Naji Al-Ali's Handala who is considered an icon of Palestinian defiance. Her text is polemic, depicting the 1948 Independence War as ethnic cleansing and the 67 Six Day War as another opportunity for ethnic cleansing.
The artwork is difficult to describe, she is an untrained artist and the art is almost naive. Scattered throughout are small examples of traditional Palestinian embroidery patterns.
I enjoyed Zeina Abirached's A game for swallows more though that is about a Lebanese family. I've requested her GN I remember Beirut from the library as a follow up.


Mike's Place: a true story of love, blues, and terror in Tel Aviv by Jack Baxter (2015)
graphic novel
Film-maker Jack Baxter arrived in Israel with the intent of making a documentary about the 2003 trial of Palestinian Marwan Barghouti. He was scooped but in the meantime he discovers a little bar on the Tel Aviv beachfront that functions on the rule no talk on religion & no politics. Regulars are locals including Arabs and expats, the language is English. After a talk with the owner, Gal, Baxter decides to make a documentary about the bar, the staff and clientele. The bar has also been chosen as the target for a Hamas suicide bombing mission by two British born men which takes place a few days later. Baxter is severely injured in the bombing, there are 3 dead and over 50 wounded. Thanks to the bravery of the bar's security guard, Avi who was badly injured, the number of fatalities was low. Baxter's camera keeps rolling in the days after by cameraman/director Joshua Faudem, catching reactions, recovery and eventually the reopening of the bar.
This graphic novel is Baxter's story and that of the people he befriends in these few weeks and also traces some of the steps taken by the terrorists in their journey. The artwork is well drawn, the lettering easy to read. Each chapter opens with a verse from the Quran, chosen to reflect more peaceful messages.
From a news website: 'At about 1:00am on April 30, 2003, Hanif attempted to enter Mike's Place on Herbert Samuel Street in Tel Aviv, not far from the United States Embassy. The security guard posted at the entrance detected the bomber and immediately blocked him from entering the pub. Hanif self-detonated on the spot, killing three people and injuring 55. His partner, Sharif, fled the scene, apparently when his explosive device failed to detonate. His whereabouts at the time were unknown, but the body of the would-be suicide bomber turned up on a Tel Aviv beach two weeks later.'

Book trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxFzZGm4nuk
Blues by the Beach documentary trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UN-ORfYk2ZE

Both added to category #14: Images - photography, graphic novels, illustrated and picturebooks

Just adding to Mamzel's recommendation for Sold by Patricia McCormick, both it and Never Fall Down are two of my most memorable reads. This is an author who doesn't sugar-coat or talk down to her readers.

>129 avatiakh:
I've known a few examples of "travelogues" where all the writer does is complain about the area they go to - if you dislike new experiences so much, then why the heck do you travel?? It is possible to point out a new culture's foibles in a positive way and still be funny.

>132 avatiakh:
Very good film, that. I didn't know it was based on a novella - BB taken.

>134 avatiakh:
Glad you found it interesting too.

Old Winkle and the Seagulls by Elizabeth and Gerald Rose (1960)
picturebook
I requested this from the library after noting that it was a Kate Greenaway Medal winner in 1961. The story is fairly straightforward, a fisherman who feeds the seagulls is the one who is rewarded by being shown where to fish by one of the gulls when the usual fishing grounds have no fish. The story shows the reliance of the whole village on the fish industry. The illustrations are typical for that era, mostly black and white line drawings with a little greyish wash, and 4 or 5 pages of colour. I loved the comic detail and overall was quite charmed.
__


The Spider and the Doves: The Story of the Hijra by Farah Morley (2011)
illustrated folktale
I judged this book by the cover, and now that I've read the story I'm less enthused. I expected the text to be more suited for a very young audience, but it's probably more for schoolaged listeners/readers. It's a folktale about how a spider helped Muhammad hide in a cave on the Hijra when he was ousted from Mecca and journeyed to Medinah where his teachings were accepted and the Islamic faith was founded. I hoped that the illustrations would be more inspiring than they were. I read Morley's Hurayrah the Cat a few weeks ago, both books are probably worth having in a public library.
Both added to category #14: Images - photography, graphic novels, illustrated and picturebooks


Stealing People by Robert Wilson (2015)
crime fiction
This is the third Charlie Boxer book and I'm enjoying these reads in the same way that I enjoy my Jack Reacher books. Boxer has had a complicated past, ex-Army & ex-police, and is now a freelance kidnap consultant based in London. Pure over the top escapism with lots of action.
Added to category #9: Comfort reads - lighter reading and continuing series


How to Fight Islamist Terror from the Missionary Position by Tabish Khair (2012)
fiction
This was first published in India and only recently republished in the UK. Khair is an English literature academic based in Denmark and so too is the narrator of this enjoyable little tale. I think the title will perhaps put some readers off, it did intrigue me and then the first sentence included the f-word which put me off a bit. Once I got going I really enjoyed this tale about judging people by your suspicions rather than by their actions.
'Funny and sad, satirical and humane, this novel tells the interlinked stories of three unforgettable men whose trajectories cross in Denmark: the flamboyant Ravi, the fundamentalist Karim, and the unnamed and pragmatic Pakistani narrator.'
I'm going to look out for his The Thing about Thugs.

Added to category #11: Shiny New - new writers (to me) and/or new books


I remember Beirut by Zeina Abirached (2008) (2014 Eng)
graphic novel
I really liked her A game for swallows and this is a looser story, more a collection of memories, still highly enjoyable. I really really love her style of illustration, the emphasis on black is powerful and dramatic. Do read the Swallow GN first.

_

would love to have a look at this book, French only I believe

Added to category #14: Images - photography, graphic novels, illustrated and picturebooks

>143 -Eva-:: Hi Eva. I still haven't watched Kaddosh.

Uprooted by Naomi Novik (2015)
fantasy
I really loved this. Novik has written a fresh new story, one that is deeply nourished by East European folktales of dark forests and Baba Yaga. I raced through this in a couple of days, so different from my current meandering read of Shadow Scale (which is finally picking up). Every ten years a girl raised beside the woods is chosen by the Dragon wizard to be his companion helper. This coming year it's expected that the Dragon will choose Kasia, best friend of Agnieszka, as she has all the qualities of the previous chosen ones. The Dragon protects the local villages from the evil that lurks in the forests.

Added to category #11: Shiny New - new writers (to me) and/or new books

>146 avatiakh: Glad to see more love for what will undoubtedly be a future read for me.

Dave - it was good. Now I want to read her Temeraire books.

>146 avatiakh: So glad you loved this one too! It's so good!!!

>149 christina_reads: Yes!!


Shadow Scale by Rachel Hartman (2015)
fantasy
This is the sequel to Seraphina and although I dragged this read out to several weeks I ended up enjoying the final section quite a lot. One of the biggest obstacles I found with this book was the small print and also the thinness of the font they chose to use. These two points combined to make the book hard to read at night, which caused me to avoid the book rather than giving me a reason to keep picking it up. I won't mention the plot as this is a sequel and I'm not sure what would be a spoiler for the first book.
Added to Dropbox - extra category for books that don't fit


The cute girl network by MK Reed (2013)
graphic novel
This caught my eye what with the title in hot pink and cute couple on the cover. Some of the language is a bit raunchy which was a little unexpected. Anyway skater girl, Jane starts dating Jack, the guy who runs a soup kiosk on her way to her job in a skater shop. She's new to town and soon finds out through the interference of the Cute Girl Network that they don't approve. Apparently Jack has 'history' with some of the members. The 'history' isn't really that bad, basically he's lazy and forgetful and the stories the women tell also reflect how unsuitable they were for Jack anyway. An exploration of gender as Jane's role in the skater shop is also focused on plus the attitudes of the various flatmates.
Added to category #14: Images - photography, graphic novels, illustrated and picturebooks


Pablo Neruda: poet of the people by Monica Brown (2011)
picture book - nonfiction
Slightly bland offering on the life of Pablo Neruda for younger readers. The illustrations are more interesting with lots of words incorporated into the art on every page.
Brainpickings did a more positive review: http://www.brainpickings.org/2014/11/04/pablo-neruda-poet-of-the-people-book/

Added to category #14: Images - photography, graphic novels, illustrated and picturebooks


Shackleton's Journey by William Grill (2014)
picturebook - nonfiction
This has just won the 2015 Kate Greenaway Medal for Illustration and I have to say the entire book is a beauty. it's not often that a nonfiction book wins these awards. Grill is also the youngest award winner at 25 yr old.

I really like his comments at the awards ceremony - 'William Grill spoke of how non-fiction and illustration could encourage those with reading difficulties to enjoy reading – and of his own experience of being dyslexic. “I believe there is a large, untapped reserve of non-fiction stories waiting to be re-interpreted that, handled correctly, can be educational and entertaining. They can also be more accessible for those who struggle with reading, as dyslexics like myself have. Picture books and graphic novels are a way into reading for us, and I was moved to create my book after reading of Shackleton’s heroism and endurance.”
Grill hopes his book will inspire children to succeed in life: “In Shackleton’s case, children can see that he and his crew proved that just because you fail it doesn’t make you a failure. In Shackleton’s own words, ‘the only true failure would be to not explore at all.’”
A passionate advocate of children drawing, Grill told us, “It’s sad that we lose the confidence and freedom of drawing as we age. As Picasso said, ‘every child is born an artist, the problem is staying one as you grow older’. Apart from being simply enjoyable, drawing has many benefits. It can be a way of thinking and communicating in a more lateral way. Observational drawing sharpens the eye and makes us more aware. I tell the children I draw with that to draw well you don’t have to be good-looking, but you do have to be good at looking!”' Guardian Books
I have the 2015 Carnegie winner out from the library also based on a true story - Buffalo Soldier.

Again Brainpickings has a great review of the book: http://www.brainpickings.org/2014/02/26/shackletons-journey-william-grill-nobrow...


Added to category #14: Images - photography, graphic novels, illustrated and picturebooks

The Towers of February by Tonke Dragt (1972)
YA scifi
The book's description is 'A fourteen-year-old boy finds himself transported to another dimension and unable to remember his past.' This is quite a read, at first a little exasperating and then a puzzle until pieces begin to slot in and sense is finally almost made. The book is mostly a diary, starting from Tim's first memory of standing in the dunes by the sea, and sighting two compelling towers in the distance...
Quite different from her A letter for a king.
Added to category #6: The young ones - YA and children's fiction


Bandette Volume 1: Presto! by Paul Tobin (2013)
graphic novel
What a charmer, bold colours and a joie de vivre heroine along with a bunch of great characters. I loved this and my daughter did too. The intro by Paul Cornell is well worth reading before starting as it fully explains what to look out for and what makes this a great little GN without spoilers. At the end we are given an extra treat, short 2 page spreads by a selection of other artists giving a better glimpse into the other characters as well as a short story.

Added to category #14: Images - photography, graphic novels, illustrated and picturebooks


A River by Marc Martin (2015)
picturebook
Gecko Press tweeted a pic from this picturebook (not their publication) and that was enough to convince me to request it from the library. Melbourne-based artist Marc Martin has produced a beautiful study of a river and its path through forest, pasture and city to the sea. The cover is really striking.


http://www.marcmartin.com/
from an interview at The Design Files: Marc Martin is a quiet achiever. He has authored and illustrated four beautiful picture books, and has amassed a back catalogue of commercial illustration work which is SO seriously impressive. His clients include Monocle magazine, Wired magazine, The Financial Review, The Australian Centre for the Moving Image, Readings, Hitched Magazine and various festivals.

Much, though not all, of Marc’s work is influenced by nature. His work often depicts lush tropical flora and fauna, and with its hand rendered textures and meticulous detail, Marc’s work often channels creatives of the modernist era – Charley Harper and Bruno Munari count amongst his many influences.
Added to category #14: Images - photography, graphic novels, illustrated and picturebooks

Zahra's Paradise by Amir & Khalil (2011)
graphic novel

This is a powerful political statement about the 2009 Iranian protests. Done as fiction the GN follows one family's search for their missing son. Throughout the book are scattered beautiful sayings from classical Persian poets & philosophers.
ZP was started as a web-comic with weekly episodes by Amir Solani and 2 others who remain anonymous to protect their families in Iran.
Zahra's Paradise is the name of the huge Islamic cemetery on the outskirts of Tehran.
Included in the informative glossary is a list of 16,901 names of the Omid Memorial project, these are the names of those executed, shot in demonstrations or assassinated since the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
https://www.iranrights.org/memorial/about
The story of Neda Agha-Soltan, a young woman who was shot is touched on, her story is covered in The Gaze of the Gazelle: The Story of a Generation by Arash Hejazi. Arash tried to save her life during the protest, but failed, he is a friend of the author.

in the jaws of the Mullahs
An interview with the author: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VaYBT7YCO70
NYBooks review: http://www.nybooks.com/blogs/nyrblog/2011/nov/01/slide-show-in-jaws-of-mullahs/

Added to category #2: Arab Spring - Middle East/North African/Islamism - fiction & nonfiction


Primates: The Fearless Science of Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, and Biruté Galdikas by Jim Ottaviani (2013)
graphic novel
Captivating graphic novel for younger readers about the lives and work of Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey and Biruté Galdikas. It's fiction based on fact.


Added to category #14: Images - photography, graphic novels, illustrated and picturebooks

My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante (2012)
fiction
The first in a trilogy, this is a beautifully written novel, set in a poor neighbourhood of Naples, Italy in the 50s & 60s, about two friends and their journey through childhood and adolescence.

Added to category #11: Shiny New - new writers (to me) and/or new books

Zahra’s Paradise looks amazing!

It was a great read, I love the mix of politics and story.

Back from my sojourn around the countryside. We were based in the Coromandel and then a few days near the Tongariro National Park in the centre of the North Island. Enjoyed the time out of the city and will post a few photos once I have them off my camera.


A winter's day in 1939 by Melinda Szymanik (2013)
YA historical fiction
This novel is based loosely on Szymanik's father's story. His parents had a farm in the part of Poland that was disputed by the Russians and when Germany invaded Poland, the Russians also moved in to grab this part of the country. The Poles were forced off their land and families with ties to the military or army service were taken to camps in Russia. Once Germany declared war on Russia, these Poles were allowed to enlist again in the Polish army in Russia, their families ended up in Iran after suffering much hardship. The story follows the experiences of one family and their struggle to be together. This is well written, the hardship, starvation, work conditions, the endless travel are all in here. The book was a finalist for several awards here in New Zealand and was the winner of Librarian's Choice at the 2014 LIANZA Children's Book Awards.
I've read a couple of Szymanik's books, she did an outstanding picturebook, her debut publication I think, several years ago based on East European folklore, The Were-nana: (not a bedtime story), the illustrations by Sarah Nelisiwe Anderson are very evocative, a great collaboration. Her Jack the Viking, a junior novel, is on my to read pile.

were-nana illustration
http://www.sarahandersonillustration.com/Sarah_Anderson_Illustration/Sarah_Nelis...

Added to category #12: Spotlight: New Zealand YA - so many titles to catch up on

The girl on the train by Paula Hawkins (2015)
mystery/thriller
I was about #690 in the library queue back in February and finally got the book a couple of weeks ago. I rushed through reading it as I noticed that the queue was still at about 800. Anyway, I'm pleased that I didn't fork over money for this one, it is an enjoyable read though doesn't really earn the hype that surrounds it imho. I felt that the characters acted in unrealistic ways in order for the plot to work. Enjoyable but not great.

Added to category #11: Shiny New - new writers and/or new books

Goodnight, Mr Tom by Michelle Magorian (1981)
children's fiction
I thought I'd read this, then realised a few months ago that I was getting it mixed up with Tom's Midnight Garden (1958) by Philippa Pearce. So when I saw it available as an e-book on the library website downloaded it for holiday reading. Quite a tough little story, I did feel that the mother was borderline unrealistic. The story is set around the child evacuees from London's blitz. In a small village, a young boy is taken in by reclusive widower Tom. Tom sees fairly quickly that the young boy has suffered from an abusive parent and treats him gently. Willie slowly emerges from his private hell and begins to blossom, but their story is far from over. Overall this is a wonderful story.

Added to category #5: Shocked that I still haven't read this

Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith (2014)
YA
I read Smith's The Marbury Lens which was fairly weird in a good way and this is sort of similar. He writes for teen boys and there is an element of constant 'horniness' going on for the main character. Anyway there is a lot going on here, first you have an almost love triangle - Austin loves his girlfriend Shann, but his best friend Robbie is gay and and Robbie loves Austin. Austin is really unsure how he feels about Robbie sexually. Robbie and Shann are friends who 'share' Austin. Sounds weird but as you read the book it sort of makes sense in an adolescent sort of way, hormones being hormones. On top of this is the actual plot of scifi apocalyptic proportions, the story is based on the few days when hell on earth is set loose in their Iowan hometown, in the form of six foot tall praying mantis creatures. And there is also the humour.... Austin's only way to deal with these fast moving events, you're also treated to the back story on Austin's Polish family background. Believe me, this crazy mix actually works.
If I make this sound like confusion on hormones then best just to read this NYT review here:
'Andrew Smith does it astonishingly well. “Grasshopper Jungle” is a rollicking tale that is simultaneously creepy and hilarious. Its propulsive plot would be delightful enough on its own, but Smith’s ability to blend teenage drama into the bug invasion is a literary joy to behold. Austin and Robby are intelligent and observant kids, keenly aware of how messed up the world is, even before the praying mantises begin their rampage.'

Added to category #6: The young ones - YA and children's fiction


Buffalo Soldier by Tanya Landman (2014)
YA historical fiction
This book recently won the Carnegie Medal which is the main reason I picked it up. I have had Landman's I am Apache on my 'to read' list for a few years after seeing several of my childlit friends give it rave reviews. While researching her Apache novel, Landman came across mention of the Buffalo soldiers and the story of Cathy Williams, this novel eventually was written.
The Civil War is over, the black people have their freedom from slavery, but attitudes have not changed. A young black girl after many many months of deprivation poses as a boy and signs up to join the US Cavalry, protecting the settlers heading west from marauding Indians. The men of the 9th and 10th US Cavalry Regiments were black and faced discrimination from their fellow white soldiers. They can also see that the evolving treaties, agreements and peace talks that are being made with the Indians are basically worthless. Really interesting corner of US history being covered in this very fine novel.
Judge's comments: '“We were particularly impressed with how Buffalo Soldier explored what it means to be truly free: the evolving idea of freedom is an essential part of this gripping, often traumatic book.
Tanya Landman’s Carnegie winner, Buffalo Soldier, was inspired by the true story of former slave Cathy Williams, who was the only known African-American woman to enlist in the US army, under the guise of a man, serving for three years before her true identity was discovered.

Good review here: https://historicalnovelsociety.org/reviews/buffalo-soldier/
wikipedia about buffalo soldiers: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffalo_Soldier

Added to category #6: The young ones - YA and children's fiction

127) The Soldier's Art by Anthony Powell (1966)
fiction
A Dance to the Music of Time #8 and the second book of the Winter sequence which focuses on the War years. I enjoyed this, I'm getting back into the characters a little more, this novel had more interaction with various ones which added to my enjoyment. I'm heading straight into listening to The Military Philosophers.

Added to category #9: Comfort reads - lighter reading and continuing series

The Eternal City by Paula Morris (2015)
YA
I was reading Paula Morris's blog when she was doing her research trip to Rome, so was keen to read this even though I'm not a total fan of her YA books. I've loved her adult fiction and also have enjoyed attending events at the Auckland Writers & Readers Festival where she has interviewed several writers, a highlight was her talk with Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

Laura is on the last day of a high school classics tour of Europe, the small group is in Rome, and a storm is brewing. The ancient gods of Rome are about to go to war, and it seems to be over Laura and the gemstone bracelet her grandfather obtained in Rome during WW2, a stone he found in bombed ruins seems to have more significance than one could ever think.
This is the third YA I've read of Morris, she injects supernatural elements, adding a small touch of romance, it works but these can only be considered lighter reading. She's writing for a US market, her characters are American and the other books are set in York, UK and New Orleans.

From the book I noted a few buildings and fountains in Rome that I want to find out more about, one of the joys of reading. This book gave us Mercury in boy form and as a crow as well as harpy seagulls. I'm quite enjoying these books where statues or paintings come alive, Charlie Fletcher's trilogy comes to mind.
Santo Stefano Rotondo / Fontana del Api / Fontana delle Tartarughe / Domus Aurea (Nero's Palace), also want to read more about the Pantheon.

Added to category #12: Spotlight: New Zealand YA - so many titles to catch up on

Woman at point zero by Nawal El Saadawi (1973)
novella
This novella is quite a powerful statement on the role of women in Egyptian/Arab society. Firdaus has been sentenced to death for killing a man, and the night before her execution, she agrees to tell her story, and what a story it is.
Nawal El Saadawi has had an interesting life, and her foreword for this story is compelling. This book was republished in 2007 in a new series of classics of contemporary Middle Eastern literature by zed books.
I've added her The Hidden Face of Eve to my 'to read' list.

Added to category #2: Arab Spring - Middle East/North African/Islamism - fiction & nonfiction

Hi Kerry, way back at the beginning of the year, you asked me to let you know when I was going to be reading Yellow Blue Tibia by Adam Roberts. I think it will fit nicely with the SFFFCat's theme next month of Aliens/First Contact, so I will giving it a try in August.

Thanks, I'll pull out my copy as well.

His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik (2006)
fantasy/alternate history
Loved this first book in the Temeraire series. Will Laurence, a naval captain in the fight against Napoleon, suddenly finds himself bonded to a dragon and having to join the wayward Air Corps to learn the intricacies of aerial combat. Reminds me of the Pern novels, though quite different enough.

Soon after finishing this book, I saw a facebook post by Brian Falkner showing the cover of his latest YA book, Battlesaurus: : Rampage at Waterloo - Napoleon has developed a fearsome new monster weapon. So will be reading this asap, looks like lots of fun.


Added to category #?:


Exquisite Corpse by Pénélope Bagieu (2010, French), (2015 Eng)
graphic novel
While I didn't quite gel with the plot, I adored the illustrations for this amusing tale. Zoe isn't that clued up on anything especially books and famous writers so when she meets reclusive writer Thomas Rocher, there is no instant fandom. She eventually moves in and becomes his muse....but when she finally works out the truth about this guy things get a bit awkward.
Zoe is drawn so beautifully, I love in the beginning her journey home from work, she starts off in high heels, hair in chignon and smart uniform, slips into runners, survives being squashed in the metro and by the time she reaches her unemployed boyfriend who spends all day in bed she looks as neglected as he does.
_

Added to category #14: Images - photography, graphic novels, illustrated and picturebooks

The Military Philosophers by Anthony Powell (1968)
fiction / audio
Book #9 in the Dance to the Music of Time series, I only have three left to read. I really enjoyed this one, Nick is working in London, liaising with first the Polish Free Army and then the Belgians towards the end of the war. I'm really keen to press on and find out what happens to Widmerpool, he so needs to be checked but probably won't be as these horrid types of people usually go from success to success. I've enjoyed listening to these 3 books on audio. Such an ugly cover.
Added to category #9: Comfort reads - lighter reading and continuing series


Boo by Neil Smith (2015)
YA fiction
This was a great read. I saw a good review of it somewhere and so requested the book from the library. It's the first novel by Canadian Smith, his short story collection Bang Crunch was well received back in 2007. My only complaint would be that the font should have been slightly larger, as the dense print could be off putting to the target audience.
I loved the use of the periodic table to head the chapters or just play with space for pausing.
13 yr old Oliver 'Boo' Dalrymple finds himself in heaven or Town as it's known here, he thinks his weak heart gave out on him, though when he's soon joined by Johnny, another 13 yr old from the same school, he discovers they are both victims of a school shooting. Town is not what anyone could expect, they are in a walled off zone for 13 yr olds from the US and this environment of 13 yr olds who live on for 50 odd years before 'passing on' is quite fascinating. There is also the mystery surrounding their deaths, Johnny is convinced he'll know 'Gunboy' if he sees him, he's sure he's in Town by some administrative mistake.
There's lots to like in this.

Wanted to add a couple of reviews from elsewhere:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/book-reviews/review-neil-smi...
http://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/review-boo-by-neil-smith-1.2255931
'The plot of Boo has real-life resonance for the author, who was on campus at the Université de Montréal in 1989 when a 25-year-old man, Marc Lepine, shot and killed 14 female engineering students. One of the stories in Bang Crunch details the aftermath of such a massacre at a university. In Boo, Smith moves to a high-school setting, where the focus is on bullying and mental health.'
'For all its dead characters, the novel is alive from the outset. Town is a captivating landscape, far away from Hollywood notions of heaven. The tagline on the book’s cover – “Even in heaven, life can be hell” – prepares the reader for horrors, but instead the author cleverly offers a banal no-man’s-land of an afterlife that is neither stereotypically hellish nor heavenly, just utterly believable.'

Added to category #6: The young ones - YA and children's fiction

>155 avatiakh: I hope Scholastic releases that one in the U.S.

Boo sounds absolutely fantastic. What a unique concept!

Menachem Begin: the battle for Israel's soul by Daniel Gordis (2014)
biography
While I felt I was covering ground I've been reading about constantly of late, this all serves to heighten my awareness of certain points in history and also reinforces current events in more perspective than just believing what I see in the day to day media which tends not to be as balanced as it could be when it comes to Israel.
What stood out in this book is the Jewishness and morality of Menachem Begin, he really was a great man for his country. I also became much more aware of the rift between Begin and Ben-Gurion, both before the establishment of the state in 1948 and then again afterwards. Ben-Gurion let Begin and the Irgun take the fall for much of the bad press in fighting during the Independence War such as the Deir Yassin incident, much of which that happened there has been exaggerated and become a main story for the Nakba. At the time it suited the Jewish leaders to let this impression given by the Arab radio reports of large numbers of dead be broadcast as it affected the morale of Arab fighters and communities.
The other huge clash was the Atalena affair, and as I had spent some time exploring the Atalena monument/memorial in Tel Aviv I found this also very interesting. Towards the end of the book Gordis relied several times on quoting Yehuda Avner, whose book The Prime Ministers I'm enjoying on audio at present. Avner was the English speechwriter for four Israeli Prime ministers as well as an ambassador, so was present at many pivotal moments in Israel's political history.
Overall this is a good introduction to Israel's modern history and to Menachem Begin, though to know Begin well you do need to read his The Revolt. I think also that The Prime Ministers, which I'm currently listening to, will give an even greater understanding of Begin as Avner has lived and documented the events he writes about. Begin remains my favourite Israeli Prime minister, probably because he was PM when I lived there.

I picked up Michael Oren's Ally: My Journey Across the American-Israeli Divide from the library yesterday and just have to read it asap. I think I'll be forced to take a break from Israeli politics once I finish up these two books. I've also just started A crackle of thorns by Sir Alec Kirkbride which is a memoir of his times in the Middle East especially Jordan in the early 20th century. I've just read his take on Lawrence of Arabia which was interesting.

Link to Begin's Nobel Peace Prize speech from 1978, he was awarded alongside Anwar Sadat of Egypt who did not attend the ceremony.
Begin quote: “It is terribly important for an educated man, if he wants to know things, to read a minimum of 150 pages a day.”
Gordis wrote this article a couple of years ago about Begin: http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Columnists/Menachem-Begin-His-legacy-a-century-afte...

Added to category #1: Israel: political nonfiction

In the heart of the seas by S.Y. Agnon (1934)
novella
I read this for LT Reading Globally's theme read of Nobel Laureates Writing in a Language Other Than English.
I really liked this though I can see it won't appeal to too many readers, rich as it is in Jewish traditions, biblical references and magical realism. It's the story of a group of Hasidic Jews who leave rural Poland (Galicia) to travel to a new home in the Land of Israel during the early 19th century. They are simple, religious folk who want to be buried in Israel so they can be counted among the first to rise when the Messiah comes. This is a religious pilgrimage and these aren't terribly worldly folk. When they come to the Black Sea and must abandon the wagons and voyage by ship, the womenfolk are terrified. They demand to return to their village, a rabbi must be found to divorce them from their husbands so they can return and the men continue. This is done, but now the women calm down and decide to continue the journey, the rabbi must now remarry all the couples and so the journey goes on. But in their haste, they forget their companion, Hananiah, a poor unmarried man whose own journey takes on magical proportions.

My edition has simple line drawings by Theodor Herzl Rome, who I discover on doing a bit of online sleuthing was the President of Schocken Books, the original publisher of Agnon's work in English.
'Under the leadership of Mr. Rome, who was considered by scholars as an authority on Jewish learning, literature and culture, Schocken published works of Franz Kafka, Martin Buber, and S. Y. Agnon. Mr. Rome was also known as an artist and book illustrator, and painted in Persia and pre-Israel Palestine before entering the publishing business in 1959.'


Added to category #7: Challenging - shared reads, theme reads, group reads, CATs etc, shortlists, long lists etc etc

>166 thornton37814: Hopefully it will see the light in the US

>167 cammykitty: Yes, Boo was unique.

Oh dear, Yellow Blue Tibia was definitely NOT the book for me! I will be interested in seeing what you think of it when you get to it.

Ok, I've only read a couple of paragraphs so far as I have a couple of library books that need attention. The premise of YBT sounds interesting, I'll try to get a couple of chapters read this week.

Some picturebooks I've read of late -


Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins by Eric Kimmel (1985)
folktale/picturebook
Another Hanukkah story for children to enjoy. I loved the illustrations and will be looking out for more work by Trina Schart Hyman. Hershel comes to a village just before the Hanukkah holiday only to find that they cannot celebrate due to the goblins haunting their synagogue. Hershel must outwit the goblins and their king to save the village. A Caldecott Honor Book.
I've read a few of Kimmel's stories and they are always well told.



First to the top by David Hill ill by Phoebe Morris (2015)
picturebook
Informative book for a young audience on the life and achievements of Sir Edmund Hilary. David Hill manages to keep the text very simple though informative and interesting while balancing the achievements with info on Hilary's childhood and interests. The climb to the top of Everest and down again is an exciting few pages. Well done illustrations, I just love that cover image with the mountains reflecting back in the googles. Would suit 4+


http://phoebe.design/


The Iridescence of Birds: A Book About Henri Matisse by Patricia MacLachlan (2014)
picturebook
A look at the early life of Henry Matisse and the influences that led to his love of colour. Brilliantly told in simple sparse text, the artwork by Hadley Hooper is delightful.



The Right Word: Roget and his Thesaurus by Jen Bryant (2014)
picturebook
Wow, this picturebook is an illustrated superstar. Melissa Sweet uses a combination of collage, illustration, fonts and lists of words to engage the reader in the simple story of Roget's life and how after a lifetime of making lists for himself, he came to publish his thesaurus (Greek for treasurehouse). A treat from cover to cover.




The king and the sea by Heinz Janish (2015) (2008 German edition)
picturebook
The artwork is by Wolf Erlburch and you either love it or dislike it. I'm close to the dislike on this one though I see how it works for the text, I just think this art style is too sophisticated for the audience perhaps. Anyway it accompanies 21 short tales about a king, each only a couple of sentences long. Would provoke good discussion among young children as they could make up and add their own stories to the mix.



Three samurai cats: a story from Japan by Eric Kimmel (2003)
This retold tale is illustrated by Mordicai Gerstein and is a lot of fun. I liked the use of traditional Japanese names for the various people eg daimyo, docho. There's a glossary at the back to explain, though most is explained within the text. Anyway a fairly straightforward folktale, a giant rat is taking over the home of a Japanese nobleman and it takes three attempts by three different styles of samurai cat to get rid of him. The artwork combines hilarity with authenticity.
I would love my own copy.




Squishy squashy birds by Carl van Wijk (2014)
picturebook
I mostly loved this one. Sammy carries around his beloved copy of New Zealand Endangered Birds in his backpack all week and only gets to bring it out for the weekly show and tell in class. Inside the book the birds are all squished and squashed and can't wait for their weekly outing.
The artwork is extremely well thought out, the squashed bird takes up every bit of space on the page. When released they all have their own personality and illustrator Alicia Munday has tried to give a good depiction of wing span and size.


The artwork is available on tote bags (very effective) and other general merchandise here, I'm tempted to get a tote if I can make up my mind to which one: https://society6.com/vanwijk

The Princess and the Pony by Kate Beaton (2015)
picturebook
My daughter and I spotted this tucked in amongst a display of picturebooks. Dana is a fan of Beaton's web comics and was delighted to see a book featuring the beloved pony. Needless to say she is now the proud owner of something at least by Kate Beaton.
A subversive story, quite cute, that both adults and children can enjoy.




Shh! We Have a Plan by Chris Haughton (2014)
picturebook
Love Haughton's books and this one is especially good. Love the colours, love the art, love the story.



Book trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyJx9cu7snc

Konstantin by Tom Bullough (2012)
fiction
Historical fiction that tells the story of Konstantin Tsiolkovsky (1857-1935) from childhood in the 1860s through to the birth of his first child and how he develops his theory for space travel. Told almost as vignettes, I found the second half of the book especially interesting, Tsiolkovsky teaches himself physics and mathematics by studying each day in a library in Moscow where he is supervised by librarian, Nikolai Fyodorov. Fascinating look at how the theory of rocketry and space travel developed. The launch in 1957 of Sputnik was timed to coincide with the centenary of his birth.
http://www.space.com/19994-konstantin-tsiolkovsky.html
https://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/rocketry/home/konstantin-tsiolkovsky....
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikolai_Fyodorovich_Fyodorov

Added to category #11: Shiny New - new writers and/or new books


Daniel Half Human and the good Nazi by David Chotjewitz (2004 Eng) (2000 German)
YA historical
I'm surprised that this is less known than other books, it seems quite a worthy read. Chotjewitz focuses on Germany in the 1930s and the growth of anti-semitism and the Nazi threat. Most YAs I've read have either focused more on the war itself or on an action plot whereas this book looks at the complex relationships at play within the family setting and with Daniel's friends.
Daniel at first is keen to join the HJ, the Hitler youth group, his best friend Armin is going to join. His father is against it, and then it comes out that Daniel's mother is Jewish, though her parents converted to Christianity and renounced their Jewish faith many years earlier. Daniel is so angry with his mother for betraying him like this. He has to come to terms with his heritage while his father is advised to divorce and let his wife and son emigrate. At school the students are taught that worse than a Jew is the half-Jew, a corruption of the Aryan race and barely half human, a monstrosity.
The book begins with Daniel as an adult, a US army interpreter, back in Hamburg after the war ends, about to begin questioning German soldiers who are being demobbed.
The book won several awards in its English translation.

From Kirkus reviews: 'Readers will feel Daniel’s self-loathing upon learning that he is half-Jewish, his mother’s growing hysteria as she realizes her blood damns them all, his lawyer father’s increasingly desperate faith in the German capacity for reason, and Armin’s conflict as he struggles to be both a good friend and a good Nazi. There are many Holocaust books for children, but this one stands out in its careful dissection of one family’s experience before the war, and in its nuanced approach to the complexity of emotions and relationships under stress. '

Added to category #6: The young ones - YA and children's fiction

Hide and Seek by Ida Vos (1981 Dutch) (1991 Eng)
children's fiction
This is an autobiographical novel that closely follows the experiences of Vos and her family during the years of WW2.
I found it very heartfelt in the young girl's experiences of the early days of Nazi occupied Holland, the shame of having to wear a star, giving up her birthday bicycle when Jews were no longer allowed them, not being allowed to sit on benches, go into shops, follow friends into the park, walking past the horrid 'Jew' poster on her way to school (Jewish children were no longer able to ride the trams) etc etc.
While many Dutch agreed with the antisemitic policies, there were many who helped hide families, though oftentimes as in Vos' case the parents were separated from the children.
Especially telling were the chapters about the aftermath of the war, how so many people never came back.

From wikipedia: 'During the 1970s Vos was admitted to a hospital due to her war traumas. This led to writing about her experiences, first as poems, but soon in the shape of stories and - eventually - children's books. Central in her work was the infringement on her freedom by the Nazi occupiers and the time she spend in hiding.'

Last year it was brought to light that Jews, returning from concentration camps were forced by the Amsterdam city council to pay back taxes and fines on their property seized by the Nazis - http://www.timesofisrael.com/amsterdam-fined-taxed-holocaust-survivors-in-hiding... - City of Amsterdam fined hundreds of Jewish Holocaust survivors for failing to pay taxes while they were in hiding or in concentration camps.

excellent review here: http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-395-56470-7

Added to category #6: The young ones - YA and children's fiction

Touch by Claire North (2015)
fiction
I enjoyed her The first fifteen lives of Harry August but didn't love it. This one feels like the same sort of read but with different premise. The protagonist is able to move through human bodies through touch, sparked by a violent death eons ago, where he jumped from his dying body into that of his killer. Forever chased by mystery people who want to kill off these 'parasites' who live in host bodies. Well written enough to keep me reading, though again, not that great a read that I feel I can recommend it either.

Added to category #11: Shiny New - new writers and/or new books

The mystery of the clockwork sparrow by Katherine Woodfine (2015)
children's fiction
This was a lot of fun to read. Most of the action takes place in a newly opened department store, Sinclairs, reminiscent of Selfridges or suchlike. Newly orphaned Sophie with a riches to rags story to match is lucky to join the staff as the eccentric American owner readies it for opening. The opening day exhibition of Mr Sinclair's jewellery collection is marred when his collection is robbed and Sophie's innocent movements are deemed suspicious. Most precious is the mysterious clockwork sparrow.
Great read for tweens.

Oh and so I went to look at Katherine Woodfine's bio and boy, she has one of the best jobs going, working at Booktrust in London and project manager for the children's laureate.
'Today, I live in London, where as well as my own writing, I also work as Arts Project Manager for reading charity Book Trust. I’m lucky enough to be the project manager of the Children’s Laureate programme, which gives me the chance to work with children’s writers and illustrators including the likes of Anthony Browne, Julia Donaldson and Malorie Blackman. I also manage book events such as YALC (the UK’s Young Adult Literature Convention), run book prizes and create materials such as Book Trust’s annual Best Book Guide.' - http://katherinewoodfine.co.uk/about-me/

Added to category #6: The young ones - YA and children's fiction

Delilah Dirk and the Turkish Lieutenant by Tony Cliff (2011)
graphic novel
Swashbuckling adventure set in the Ottoman Empire. Fun with swords and flying sailboats.


Added to category #14: Images - photography, graphic novels, illustrated and picturebooks


Nimona by Noelle Stevenson (2015)
graphic novel
Fun GN starring Nimona, an annoying but adorable shapeshifting girl who turns up to be the sidekick to Lord Ballister Blackheart, villain. Entertaining.



Added to category #14: Images - photography, graphic novels, illustrated and picturebooks

A crackle of thorns : experiences in the Middle East by Sir Alec Kirkbride (1956)
memoir
I came across mention of this book in an online article about Middle East history and was pleased to see my library had it stored away in their stack room.
Kirkbride was a British diplomat who spent 30 years in Jordan, first as an advisor and then later as the first British ambassador. He was also governor of Acre and of the district of Galilee in Palestine from 1922 to 1927 and from 1937 to 1939. This memoir was a fascinating read, so many historical moments that Kirkbride was present at; he was part of the team that surveyed the border between Syria and Jordan in 1932, taking the straight lines from the map drawn up in Paris and marking it out on the terrain itself. He describes numerous hunting trips, archaeological adventures in his favourite part of Jordan, Wadi Rumm and even includes some ghost stories.
Kirkbride first travelled to the Middle East at the age of nine. His family lived in Cairo and Kirkbride grew up fluent in French, English and Arabic and developed an understanding of the Eastern mindset. He was still in Egypt when WW1 broke out and enrolled in the British Army there.

Added to category #2: Arab Spring - Middle East/North African/Islamism - fiction & nonfiction


Spies against Armageddon : inside Israel's secret wars by Dan Raviv and Yossi Melman (2012)
nonfiction
An indepth look into Israel's Mossad, Aman and Shin-Bet and their activities of intelligence collection, covert operations, and counterterrorism. The book covers the historical perspectives, the various leaders over the years and some of the most well known missions. Very interesting read, I'm fairly sure that I've read an updated edition of the book.
Here are a couple of links:
Review: Spies against Armageddon : http://www.jewishpost.com/news/secret-wars-of-israel.html
Raviv's website: http://israelspy.com/about-the-book/

Added to category #15: Spies - both fiction and nonfiction

Marzi: a memoir by Marzena Sowa (2005 French) (2011 Eng)
graphic novel

Sowa tells the story of her childhood growing up in 1980s Poland under communist rule. I found it really interesting to read, there's a lot of humour and also a child's worry for her father when the factory goes on strike. The tales of the shortages of basic commodities is done really well, and she also tells of her annual holidays in rural communities visiting family. All told it gives a fairly decent overview of life in Poland from a child's perspective. The GN is a omnibus of 4 vols of Marzi.
She would never have written this if it wasn't for her partner, Sylvain Savoia, who encouraged her to write these stories down, which he proceeded to illustrate. The illustrations are wonderful, I loved his depiction of the child 'Marzi'.
There's an interview with both here: http://www.cafebabel.co.uk/politics/article/marzena-sowa-in-communist-poland-id-...



Added to category #14: Images - photography, graphic novels, illustrated and picturebooks

Message to Adolf part 1 by Osamu Tezuka (1983 Japanese) (2012 Eng)
graphic novel
I flew through the first volume of this manga epic. The story is dark, set in Japan and Germany during the late 1930s and going into the start of WW2. The story involves 3 Adolfs: Hitler and two boys, one a Jewish refugee in Japan and another a Japanese/German whose father is a Nazi, also living in Japan at the start. The story also follows Sohei Toge, a Japanese sports reporter who is covering the 1936 Olympics in Germany when he uncovers a mystery when his brother, a student radical, disappears in Berlin and then turns up dead. The premise is that there are documents proving that Hitler is part-Jewish and everyone wants to get their hands on them.
A good overview is here: http://au.ign.com/articles/2005/05/03/required-reading-adolf - 'Osamu Tezuka is best known for creating fanciful characters including Astro Boy and Kimba the White Lion. Often likened to Walt Disney, some may find it surprising that one of Tezuka's most stunning works focuses on World War II. Though a work of fiction, the 1983-1985 work Adolf (originally titled "Tell Adolf" in Japan), examines three lives from the 1936 Olympics in Berlin through the end of WWII and years beyond. All three men happened to be named Adolf.'

'Osamu Tezuka (1928-89) is the godfather of Japanese manga comics. He originally intended to become a doctor and earned his degree before turning to what was still then considered a frivolous medium. His many early masterpieces include the series known in the U.S. as Astro Boy and Kimba the White Lion. From the early seventies on, he increasingly targeted older readers as well, employing a grittier style and mature themes. With his sweeping vision, deftly intertwined plots, and indefatigable commitment to human dignity, Tezuka elevated manga to an art form. Since his passing, his international stature has only grown, his eight-volume epic Buddha winning multiple Eisner and Harvey Awards in the United States.' - http://www.vertical-inc.com/books/adolf.html



Added to category #14: Images - photography, graphic novels, illustrated and picturebooks